bravenewworld | Descent into Darkness

Descent into Darkness

As the characters arrive, they will find what appears to be a rather deep cavern. Upon entering, the caverns are quite narrow, with twists and turns everywhere and different tunnels that all seem to be interconnected. As characters travel deeper within the caverns, reality around them will start to warp, they will start to see and hear things that aren’t necessarily there - images of old enemies, past failures, voices of condemnation, visions that strike at the soul and core of the characters. Once this begins, it will only increase in power and volume, demanding it be confronted, lest they be trapped within these caves forever.

[OOC: This event will run for a week. All characters who enter the caves will be subject to some of their deepest fears, darkest demons, and most abject failures. To overcome them, characters must help each other out, finding their purpose through strength of character and resolve to move forward. In general, these visions should require characters to come to grips with themselves. Illusory images and voices can and will appear and can take any number of forms, depending on what is most appropriate to a character. Additionally, characters may thread with each other and are encouraged to help each other out to overcome these personal demons. For those who wish to take part, they are able and encouraged to narrate their own personal demons, which will be on display for everyone who enters their thread. IC threads may be made in this post.]

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[Foreboding. It's not a strange, unusual, or foreign word, but it's meaning tends to always be just out of reach. Not these caves, though. Even before stepping into the dark, lightsource in hand, there's something about the caves that has James only bringing in Rex, Mike, and Mac. The three Pokemon who have been with him the longest, whose lives have most thoroughly intertwined with that of his family, before he had to start making hard decisions about who could come home and who had to spend most of their time in the habitat.]

[Gordon's in full regalia today, long, Steel Type coat, wide brimmed hat pulled low over his brow. It's ridiculous with the summer sun, but as soon as he's in the damp and the dark and the murk, it is a welcome bit of insulation. When, at first, the little band is only met with silence and damp, it's almost a letdown. Soon, though, there's... not a sound, not a vision, but just a sensation. A sensation of violin string being pulled taught, silently screaming in protest.]

Commissioner.

[The voice is distant, derisive, the old nickname, first given to a driven young rookie putting in long nights, a drive to help the people of union superseding all other needs, in its original tone. He stops at the familiar voice, hesitating before turning the next labyrinthian corner, to be met with a scent of perfume and a more familiar, if younger than he's heard it in years voice.]

The children and I need you, Jim.

[The pokémon perk up at the familiar voice, more youthful energy than they're used to, but still recognizably the same. The old argument continues, but with Jim's own voice, different, minus years of the passage of time and cartons of cigarettes, but unmistakably his.]

Union needs me too, Barbara.

[Meanwhile, Fuuka wasn't sure what to do. If her intuition was right, then there was something definitely off about the caves. Between the silence and the laughter that kept on echoing, it only frighten the poor girl. In fact, all she could do was breath in and out as slowly as she could to calm herself. Whatever or whoever the source of that laughter was? It clearly didn't want her here.

With her Espurr sitting right beside her shoulder, Fuuka only had one option and that was to find the exit as quick as she could. Although, before she could, she heard a voice nearby. As walked closer to the source, she didn't know if she should be happy or not to find someone else in the caves with her. However...

When Fuuka found Gordon, she didn't know if she should interrupt the conversation. In fact, she was hiding nearby. But then again, she wasn't the world's best hider was she?]

[Probably has something to do with the hair. As Gordon turns to look at her, she can see that the man is not the one speaking. The feminine voice returns.]

There's other Swords, Jim. You don't have anything to prove. Not to me.

[The young, male voice responds, as his older self's mouth compresses into a thin, tense line at the broken promise he knows is coming.]

When the baby comes. I promise.

[The tension grows with the words, accompanied by a half-sound, a violin bow pulled slowly over a string tuned to the upper end of human hearing. The note is played so long, so slowly, that it becomes a sort of white noise, a constant half-audible tone.]

Come on out.

[The voice is older, made deeper by the passage of time and a decades long smoking habit, the flesh and blood Gordon's lips visibly moving with the sound.]

[Was...was he talking about her? There was no way that he could see her! ...Could he? At any rate, Fuuka knew she couldn't hide forever and especially not after a conversation like that.

As she slowly emerged out from the shadows, a nervous chuckle escaped through her lips]

I'm sorry, it was rude of me to listen in on this wasn't it? I was worried what might happen if I interrupted this conversation…

[Gordon glances into the darkness, then back to Fuuka.]

The conversation happened long ago. You aren't interrupting.

[He gives an empty little smirk.]

I'm afraid you're not catching me at my best.

Still, it didn't seem like it was the best conversation for me to engage in.

[As she walked even further in, he could see that she was mumbling to herself and not bothering to look at him.]

But I hoped that everything turned out well in the end for you, sir.

[Although, that was her being optimistic]

More or less.

[Gordon considers the young woman for a moment.]

You alright, miss?

[And when she turned her head up toward him? A nervous giggle was heard]

H-Huh? Yes, I'm okay I just feel really guilty that I might have barged into that conversation!

It's really rude of me to eavesdrop like that!

commissionergrump - 2015-08-29 14:51 (UTC) - Expand

[The tension in the air, taut as a steel wire ready to be loosed, had never left Waver's awareness since he entered the cavern with an academic's curiosity and the field skills of a complete rookie. It was only luck that had kept him safe thus far, and a chance encounter of his own had given him a taste already of the sort of pain that the darkened underground tunnels could bring down upon the human psyche.

But, nothing was gained without enduring a little discomfort. That was a fact of life, and why Waver kept pushing forward in the darkness....

Until he took a turn and heard voices-- a man's and a woman's. Stilling his footsteps, he paused on the path and strained his ears to see if he could catch more details about what was on the trail ahead.]

[Rex picks up Waver's scent, it mingling with the phantom perfume. The Stoutland lets out a curious little noise, approaching cautiously. The woman's voice continues.]

There's other Swords, Jim. You don't have anything to prove. Not to me.

[The young, male voice responds, as his older self's mouth compresses into a thin, tense line at the broken promise he knows is coming.]

When the baby comes. I promise.

[The tension grows with the words, accompanied by a half-sound, a violin bow pulled slowly over a string tuned to the upper end of human hearing. The note is played so long, so slowly, that it becomes a sort of white noise, a constant half-audible tone. A voice joins in, so much like the man's voice before, but rougher, deeper, and with less of the energy of youth.]

Who's there?

[A few muttered words just under his breath and a Flash spell was activated, illuminating a small, slim young man with an embarrassed look in his eyes.]

--I'm interrupting something, aren't I?

[There was no denying the highly personal nature of the conversation he had accidentally overheard. He uncomfortably cast a glance further down the darkened passage, as if looking for a route to escape.]

Sorry. I didn't mean to intrude.

[Gordon frowns, looking around the nearly silent cavern.]

An old argument. Not exactly catching me at my best.

[He turns his attention more fully to Waver.]

Lost?

[He looks around and, waving the young man to follow, picks a direction and sets out.]

[Waver sighed, and stepped into place just behind Gordon.]

Frankly, I'm starting to accept it as a general state of affairs down here. I....forgot to leave a trail.

[An elementary tactic would have been marking walls with his knife, but there was no way to guarantee that the illusions wouldn't render such a technique useless.]

...And, if you don't mind my saying, I'll forget I heard anything. Everyone has their own personal business to deal with.

I appreciate it.

[Gordon continues leading the way, light-source in hand, though Waver's spell seems to make that redundant. Before too much longer, the voices are back, the woman's voice repeating her complaint with another whiff of perfume.]

The children and I need you, Jim.

[Scowling, the older man pushes on, only to come to a complete stop as if slapped when, this time, the counter argument comes with another, different whiff of perfume and a feminine voice.]

Doesn't she know the city needs you too?

[The Jim Gordon physically present looks to Waver, and pushes on, the next blind corner opening onto a Union Rooftop. A younger, though 'Young' would be a stretch, Jim Gordon, his hair still maintaining its original red, sitting on a low brick wall, cigarette smoke trailing away in the wind as he watches the blonde hair of the woman speaking whip in the wind.]

[Gordon--the real Gordon, with aging joints and grey hair--'s dark eyes go wide, staring at the impossible glimpse into his past.]

[Waver tore his eyes away, feeling once again like he was intruding upon affairs that were deeply personal. Whomever this man was, he clearly was still torn between duties both privately and professionally.

But still....]

Sir, I advise you not to get too caught up into this. The cave....it's showing us the things we don't want to see.

commissionergrump - 2015-08-01 01:42 (UTC) - Expand

[ Rincewind was on a roll. He was practically jogging through the eerie depths, accompanied only by the echo of his footsteps that, at times, sounded more like a battalion of marching men. Unease began to twang through him like a string pulled taut. He picked up the pace. As he hurtled through the darkness, he was starting to hear voices. Distant and fuzzy at first, they grew louder with every footfall, he hadn't tried to make out what was being said until he'd turned the corner and found himself speeding, at mach 10, towards a man he'd rather not upset just now. Things looked like they were pretty serious too. ]

[ Rincewind, shattering no one's expectations, attempted to engage his brakes and, instead, managed a graceless, windmilling flail into a low hanging stalactite. The Luggage cantered in after him. ]

[ From the ground, Rincewind's voice leisurely floats up to Gordon. ]

Sorry, sorry. I hope I wasn't interrupting anything.

[Rex leaps out of the way, eyeing The Luggage. Gordon turns his attention to from where Rincewind's voice speaks up.]

An old argument.

[Mike and Mac look the direction Rincewind came from, as if expecting something to actually be chasing him.]

[ Nothing had been chasing him. Rincewind made sure to run fast enough to elude even the quickest of predators. The keenest though ... he'd rather not say. He pulls himself to his knees and straightens his hat. ]

Yeah?

[ His head swivels around as he looks for something. The hair on his neck was standing on end. ]

Er, was there someone else here?

[Gordon briefly wipes his glasses before slipping them back on.]

Old memories. Ghosts.

[He watches the wizard for a moment.]

What are you running from? If it's your Luggage, it seems to be keeping up.

[ He ducks his head, pulling his hat further down on his head, his eyes doing a frantic dance around the area. ]

My Luggage is the last thing we ought to be afraid of if there's ghosts here. I know my Luggage. I don't know ghosts.

[ The other question leisurely nudges him ]

Oh. I was running from something worth running from.

[At Rincewind's comment regarding ghosts, Gordon looks to the Luggage, considering it for a brief moment, but leaves discussion of it's nature for another time.]

I work with a few ghosts. Not as bad as you'd think.

[Incredulous, he turns back the way Rincewind came, and continues along the path he finds himself on. Shortly after, the voices are back, the woman's voice repeating her complaint with another whiff of perfume.]

The children and I need you, Jim.

[Scowling, the older man glances back towards Rincewind, trudging on. His steps come to a complete stop, however, when the counter argument comes with another, different whiff of perfume and a feminine voice.]

Doesn't she know the city needs you too?

[ Well, Gordon didn't seem too bothered by the peculiar oddity of hearing a disembodied voice so, with a shrug, Rincewind jogged after him and soon fell in step. The Luggage obediently following in their wake. ]

Gosh, at least your ghost has the decency to smell nice. [ He wraps his arms around himself and peers into the darkness, as if by sheer will alone he'd be able to make something out. ] What's she going on about?

[Gordon frowns, turning a blind corner only to find himself on a rooftop in Union. Both of him. The second Jim sits on a low wall, smoking a cigarette, smoke trailing away in the wind as he watches the blonde who spoke. Beautiful, a little younger than the man, though the 2nd Gordon's hair still all has its original red, with maybe a few greys here and there. The older James, the real one, heads straight for the doorway to the stairwell, the exit from the rooftop, even as his younger reflection stands up, approaching the blonde.]

An old argument with my wife, about me spending too much time with work.

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I broke the serious ;(

Record Scratch

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