[semi-open] harbinger of suffering and grief

[appraiser]

WHO: Ryoji and whoever doesn't sleep at night, I guess
WHERE: Apprassage to various places around the city, Recollé Woods
WHEN: midnight 5/17 and onward towards the end of the month
WHAT: Ryoji regains his Thanatos form; unable to control his powers, he flees, leaving destruction in his wake. He's generally very upset about it all. Please help.
WARNINGS: fighting, violence, mentions of death and suicide

[ —a screech pierces the stillness of night over the quiet streets of Apprassage, the bite of burnt rubber and asphalt filling in the space where a car now lies turned around and stalling traffic, shattered windshields spilling glass onto the street and the crumpled hood sending smoke into the air. The blaring of the car alarm falls on deaf ears of the boy standing before it, eyes wide and unseeing as he clutches his head and screams, the shimmering barrier around him dissolving back into darkness and then— ]

A. midnight, 5/17, various (CLOSED to those I talked to on May's plotting post here)
[ A brilliant flash lights up the sky outside, brief, overwhelming, then everything is plunged back into darkness. Whether the noise had woken you up, or you were awake in the dead of night to begin with, eyes lifted towards the sky might spot a shadow take off past the rooftops, deep rumble felt through the earth behind it.

Those who venture closer— the curious, the brave, the foolish— would find deep gashes on the roads, dragged long as if a sword pulled across the ground, scattered potholes still burning with the last wisps of an eerie glow. The sky flashes again, the shadow in the middle a dark hole that swallows up all light, monstrous figure apparent with the stark contrast that makes it easy to follow; even blind, one can do so by listening for the unearthly wail that cuts through the air and may dizzy the mind even from so far.

Close, it's hard to see, harder to believe: a sharp white mask reflecting the moonlight; serrated sword out of its scabbard and caked with dirt and rubble; coffins draped across its shoulder, rattling and coming for you. Every encounter brings it further and further out away from the innermost parts of the city, and each time, Thanatos stops and turns, breath visible as it chills the very air around it, waiting.

>> Hollingberry Field
>> Recollé Woods
>> Peach Beach
>> The ocean
>> ???

Select your arena, and let's go. ]

B. nights, 5/18 onward, Recollé woods (CLOSED to those above, and anybody who has interacted with Ryoji at least once before)
[ The pain disappears faster than it should have, but Ryoji would have preferred it to the emptiness in his chest, the way his hands won't stop shaking. He fumbles with his phone, startling when a twig snaps underfoot and he throws it from himself as if it burnt his hands.

He leaves the phone there for the time being, nestled on top of damp, rotting leaves as he picks his way a little deeper into the woods, a mutter under his breath: "Keep yourself together." Because whatever... whatever happened yesterday, he can't let it happen again, losing control and hurting others— killing, for all he knows, because he'd fled to the woods and hasn't gone back since the night before, hasn't talked to anybody in person except for some texts on the phone.

He's got to figure it out. Somehow.

It's here in the woods he'll stay until he can, out of the way and hoping nobody would come near after the unnerving draw of the woods earlier in the month, practicing under the veil of night. He'll manage it eventually, the flicker of shadow and a rumble, a light show, the splintering crack of felled trees. He's not as careful as he could be, frustrated, exhausted, distracted enough not to notice whoever approaches to see the arched back of a boy, head bowed and clutching his knees as he struggles back to his feet... or the back of a monster, sword in hand gleaming with the moon. ]

C. days, 5/22 onward, various (OTA)
[ Days pass, and it feels like he understands less and less of who and what he is... and why... The first time it happened, only a handful of days ago, it was a car accident. He'd frozen there in the middle of the street, staring down the pair of headlights as they approached. He had not died. He should have...

...Ryoji shakes the thought out of his head. Something had protected him, a power that welled up from within and then- gone. He couldn't do it again, hold out his hands and block the fluttering of petals onto his head in the park, or the cat that meets him on the road, rubbing its head against his ankles twice and then runs.

Maybe it had to be something similar, either to the situation or the feeling; there's no way he can know but to try, reckless and stupid as he stands by the busy streets of Tisse contemplating stepping out into traffic; holds a switchblade in his hand on the rooftop of an apartment building in Apprassage, flicking the blade in, out, in, out; up high on the bridges of the Towers, leaning dangerously over the edge as he stares down at the ground far, far below; at the zoo in front of the lion's cage trying to get it to wake up so he can climb the fence and stick his head inside its mouth; he doesn't know, nothing's working and he needs to know. ]

D. 5/26 onward, various (OTA)
[ the one lighter prompt, save me ]

Hey. Hold out your hand for a moment? I want your opinion on something.

[ If you comply, Ryoji tugs out from beneath his collar a thin silver chain, on the end of which a gold ring dangles momentarily before he presses it into the palm of your hand, closing your fingers back over it. Despite having been tucked under his shirt, the ring is cold against your skin, a faint glow emitting from in between your fingers while no sun reaches it inside your hand. ]

...How does this make you feel?

[ Stupid, probably, as if holding a ring would evoke some sort of emotion, but that's what it does for Ryoji, looking equal parts expectant and hopeful as he looks from you, to the ring delivered to his door courtesy of Retrospec, and then back. ]

--
( ooc: Aside from being able to shift into the form of Thanatos, Ryoji's powers include: ghastly wail (fearful opponents fall unconscious), tempest slash (sword attack), megidola (almighty magic attack), moonless gown (barrier that reflects all attacks, max three activation per day))

Comments

[appraiser]

[ It can answer questions, but heck if Thanatos wants to. You have to give it a better reason than "I'm with the police" to get it to answer anything, especially when it looks much more interested in her dog than herself at the moment, advancing and pulling back in the same place as if checking the dog out, waiting to see if it would summon another, larger hellhound or leap at it with a knife in his mouth. ]

[truedetective]

[Nope. Kanji the dog just stands its ground, growling and baring its teeth, but making no move to attack as long as Thanatos isn't attacking his master. Naoto climbs to her feet and shines the light in Thanatos' face, trying to get a good look at it.] --I know you can talk! What does "Koro" mean? Is that a name?

[appraiser]

[ Why is Naoto's drive for information so much stronger than her fear of Death? Ryoji's badgered Naoto enough about a detective's investigation process to know how this will go: every word or gesture or even still silence can be taken as a clue and used against him, and he will be followed incessantly until he is cornered or gives himself away or otherwise drops dead right there because that'll be the only way to end the trail of incriminating evidence. Ugh. Just running, before, makes him feel like a criminal— but thinking all this, makes Ryoji feel like a person, someone trying to understand the logic of a human mind instead of mindlessly following instinct as Thanatos. And the human in him knows when to give up. Wordlessly, Thanatos breaks upward through the canopy and takes to the sky, to find a clearing in the forest where Ryoji can grab hold of this world and pull himself back into it. Keep that light trained on it, Naoto, and follow. ]

[truedetective]

[Oh, she's terrified. This is so far beyond her comprehension at this point that she has no idea what to do. She's just going on instinct at this point, having come too far to just back down and slink away now.] You can't get away from me!

[Though, it can fly, so it probably can. Nevertheless, it doesn't seem to be going fast enough to want to escape... it wants to be followed.

So she follows it, training the flashlight on the creature as she runs.]

[appraiser]

[ The further Thanatos flies, the harder it is to keep sight on it. It flies straight and unhurried, but then dives down into the trees and its shadows meld into that of tree branches and leaves so wide and thick, the only light comes from the flashlight in Naoto's hands. The coffins, the chains, whatever she had the light trained on, disappears as the light itself seems to distort and then shine right through whatever had been there before, but no longer.

Paces away, there's the sharp snapping of twigs, and a thump of something hitting the ground below. Choked breathing, stifled under both hands in trying to keep quiet. ]

[truedetective]

[It... it vanished? Did she see it right? Or was it some trick of the light, some odd illusion through the trees... Kanji keeps growling, like he's sensing something.

But she hears a sound that seems unlike the ones before. It seems human.

She pushes through.] Stay where you are!

[appraiser]

[ Like Thanatos, Ryoji fails to listen. He doesn't run, but rather picks his way out of the bushes, clothes torn but skin unbroken underneath so that he turns and walks towards Naoto after making sure he isn't bleeding anywhere.

Like that, he comes into view, hands up not as a call for surrender, but to shield the light out of his eyes. ]

Hi Naoto.

[truedetective]

[A human coming out of the bushes is not expected. It's further unexpected that it's someone she knows.] --Ryoji? What are you doing here?! Did you-- did you see that thing? [Kanji, however, pulls towards Ryoji, sniffing him... and then takes a step back, his ears flattening against his head, whining. And a light goes on in Naoto's head.] ...that's impossible.

[appraiser]

[ Ryoji bites at his bottom lip, hardly daring to breathe and unable to look Naoto in the eye so instead he watches her dog. He doesn't know if he smells the same as Thanatos, but animals are sensitive too more than just smell, recognizing demeanor and intent— both dangerous as Thanatos, lost and confused as Ryoji, but they blend in together. ]

I've... been here.

[ He says this carefully. He's been here, in the forest, an excuse. He's been here, as Thanatos, an explanation he hopes Naoto can draw on her own so he doesn't have to divulge everything by himself. ]

[truedetective]

[Kanji doesn't seem as terrified of Ryoji as he was of Thanatos, but he's clearly uneasy of the boy, judging by his posture. And by the fact that he's literally the first person Naoto's met that he hasn't tried to jump on and greet enthusiastically. It's impossible, but there's no other interpretation of what's going on that she can think of...] That creature. It was you?

[appraiser]

...Yes.

[ Ryoji slides his hands in his pockets, a slow walk out of the thicket in an effort to appear nonthreatening while still open enough to encourage conversation. He walks around Kanji, and instead of stopping in front of Naoto, walks past her down the path back out of the woods. ]

I know you have questions. I don't know if I can answer them to your satisfaction, but you can ask.

[truedetective]

[She stands still, turning to watch him as he walks past; Kanji's ears are flat against his head and he whines but doesn't make any effort to jump or follow him.]

...what was that thing? How was it-- how was it you?

[appraiser]

[ Ryoji shakes his head. There were a lot of questions, and difficult ones to answer. ]

It's... only been a handful of days. I'm still figuring it out. I know it's called Thanatos, and that it's a Shadow. [ And that it's somehow him, like a simply fact of life that's impossible to explain because it just is. He turns his head to look over his shoulder at Naoto, but doesn't stop walking. ] ...Do you know or have heard anything about Shadows? Capital S.

[truedetective]

A Shadow...? [That strikes something in her memory, something along the lines of the Midnight Channel she'd seen. The city, red and black.] ...it sounds familiar. But I can't say any more.

[appraiser]

[ If it's in any way familiar, Ryoji hopes Naoto would have sensed in a memory just how dangerous Shadows are, just as he could sense from the small handful of memories he's hand in dealing with them. ]

There's not much else to say. I can't control it, so it isn't safe. You should take Kanji and leave.

[truedetective]

You were controlling it enough to refrain from attacking me earlier, weren't you? --I can't leave you like this!

Are you okay? How did you transform back?

[appraiser]

I'm okay.

[ That's the only question he can answer adequately, and even so, it doesn't tell the whole story. Ryoji runs a hand through his hard, frustrated about his lack of ability to understand so Naoto can understand. ]

...I think I was able to control myself because I knew you, and I was telling myself I can't hide things from you. It won't be the same for everybody else.

[truedetective]

[Kanji the dog, though clearly still a little wary, seems marginally less so by now. He actually walks towards Ryoji a few steps.] So there are situations where you can control the transformation...

...how long have you been able to do this?

i think i meant hair up there, sorry for a million typos all the time /o\

[appraiser]

[ Ryoji looks more wary than Kanji, stopping when the dog approaches but making no move to greet him or hold a hand out to reassure him that it's fine. Because it really isn't; there are situations where he can control it, but those situations aren't always. ]

Since Wednesday, so not very long. I don't know how it works. And I don't want people to be here when I troubleshoot.

totally fine!

[truedetective]

[She's quiet.] Did anything change on Wednesday besides this?

More importantly, have you been out here in the woods all this time?

[appraiser]

[ It was just Thanatos; strange new magical powers, but he can only assume it all ties back to Thanatos, so he shakes his head. ]

It's only been a couple of days. I... I don't need food or sleep, though I can use both. [ That's not a Wednesday thing, but a couple-weeks-ago thing that he'd become a Shadow. He's told like... three people, maybe. ]

[truedetective]

...you don't need food or sleep? Any sustenance at all? That has to be related to this-- this transformation somehow, surely.

[appraiser]

[ Ryoji shakes his head. ]

I don't feel hungry, nor do I get physically tired.

[ Mentally, yes, but that's through endless worry, for how he struggles to keep a human mind and heart even if the rest of him is no longer that. ]

I talked to Dr. Trevelyan about it, before... He said the condition doesn't appear to be harmful.

[truedetective]

No, I don't suppose it would be... if anything, it almost seems like a strange benefit? [Kanji, at least, doesn't seem as scared of Ryoji as he was a few moments ago, though he's still not approaching the boy.]

[appraiser]

[ Objectively, yes, but Ryoji can't help but make a face at calling it a "benefit," for what biological functions that help define life and now no longer applies to him. All he can do is pretend it doesn't affect him, eat and sleep as normal, carry on conversations like he's doing right now and appearing perfectly fine. Normal. ]

It isn't worth it. I would give it up if I could.