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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It's only natural. This is my world, so I'll protect it. [ He means it in a slightly different way from most people. As far as Tendou's concerned, the world belongs to him. Not because he has plans for world domination, that's boring, but because as his grandmother said: Force the world to revolve around you, life's more fun that way.

Now then, there's a fork in the road, and it looks like the lady wants him to choose. ]

This too, is only natural. If you're going to adventure, make it a big one. [ And with a hop, he's going over the rubble. He might be relatively new to this whole Enlightened business, but he's still more than capable of walking a rough road. ]

[ ...you are something else. Haruka snorts, but she follows. Whether this is the actual future or just shadows conjured to frighten them, the place where more seems to have happened is more interesting.

The desolation shows no signs of letting up. If anything, it begins to swallow even more sounds, until they can't even hear their own footsteps or Rushing Wind the Pidgeot's wings beating the air. ]

Still feeling this is natural? [ That's not what he'd meant, and she knows it. But Haruka doesn't like this silence. It consumes everything but their voices. ]

[ Tendou would have taken that as a compliment. He has no intention of bring the same as everyone else.

The quite continued to be disconcerting, growing stranger the further they walked. It was one thing for there to be a silent illusion, quite another for it to seem to absorb sound. ]

Nothing about this is natural. Which is why I intend to break it, and be home in time to make dinner. [ He raises a fist and smashes it through the nearest wall, and it shatters like concrete would, but with barely any sound. It definitely wasn't their imagination, or perhaps everything was their imagination. ]

[ They can interact with it to that extent? Haruka raises an eyebrow slightly, but that's all. ] You'll exhaust yourself.

[ Hence her searching for the source. Something has to be out there...

And a moving shadow does indeed seem to flit through the wreckage up ahead. ]

Just making sure of something. [ The ruined city definitely felt real enough, and it wasn't as though all sound had been cut off, just being mostly absorbed by some unknown force.

It was an illusion, and all illusionists had their tricks. When Tendou makes flowers appear out of nowhere, it's sleight of hand. This though, it's hard to tell.

With a sidewards glance at the lady to make sure they'd both spotted the same thing, he starts towards the shadow. ]

[ Haruka remains where she is, but she sends her Pidgeot to accompany Tendou. If there's something out there, and it notices pursuit, it might try to run. She'll be free to cut off its exit.

The shadow keeps moving, apparently heedless of the attention it's attracted. It turns down what had once been an alley before the buildings were razed, taking a shortcut towards one of the crumbling bridges. ]

[ Tendou didn't particularly care whether or not she followed him. Even without the Pidgeot for backup, he would have gone after the shadow anyway. Still, he appreciated the backup.

Following it was easy. It wasn't trying to hide, and was moving along roads that were easy to follow. Where it was going to was the real question. One that would eventually be answered as long as he kept it within his sight.

A bridge? Was it going to cross? It seemed dangerous, considering the state the bridge was in, but Tendou would deal with the bridge potentially buckling under his weight when he got to it. Hopefully, the Pidgeot would be willing to help out. ]

[ The figure flits as if insubstantial across the bridge - and then takes off like a shot. Haruka, who had been following warily, lifts her head up at that and frowns. Is this a trap, or is it just running to run?

Only one way to find out. Recalling World Shaking to her Warp Band, she heads for the bridge and nods to Rushing Wind, who dips down to see whether Tendou wants a ride. ] Let's go.

[ Haruka, for her part, streams a Gust from each hand behind her and leaps the bridge, propelling herself with her attacks. Nothing beats her at speed. It's on. ]

[ Tendou briefly considers his options before hopping onto the back of the Pidgeot. He could try to chase the lady on foot, but even if he won, (he wouldn't have,) it would be incredibly sweaty work. ]

Right. [ Hanging onto the back of a Pidgeot was not a smooth ride, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, but Tendou held himself together fairly well. Of course he would, newly Enlightened or not, dealing with speed was his speciality. ]

[ Rushing Wind is a good chaperone, too: she'll remain alert to the human's weight atop her and straighten out her flight path if he starts to feel insecure on her back. She'll also fly as fast as she can with a passenger in an attempt to catch up with that moving shadow, but it knows the terrain and remains ahead.

For her own part, Haruka can't keep pace with a Pidgeot, but she is making good time on the ground, eyes focused just on their quarry. But it's not getting any closer...and that half-broken pillar they just passed registers as odd in the back of her mind. She dismisses the feeling until it can work itself out unconsciously. All she has to do is run. This is simple. Racing right towards a goal, focusing only on that goal, comes easily to her.

Still, that pillar seemed kind of familiar. Like they'd passed it before. ]

[ Tendou could keep a clearer head from his bird's eye view, there were less distractions when he wasn't moving himself. So he was suspicious the second time they crossed the broken pillar. ]

Pidgeot, I know I'm not your trainer, but could you hold still for a moment? I need to check something.

[ Either way, he's hopping off the back of Rushing Wind, landing beside pillar and waiting, armed crossed over his chest. If his suspicions were right, he would be spotting the lady again soon. If he wasn't, well, he'd just have to run after her. Hopefully the Pidgeot was willing to land him a hand.

Or a wing, as it were. ]

[ Rushing Wind is happy to oblige, keeping close lest her rider need her services again. They're stopping? That's odd. All her training with Trainer has been about going, and going, and going...

...and here comes Trainer now. At first it seems like she might run past them, but at the last moment she looks up and slows. What's he think he's doing -

But Rushing Wind wouldn't have humored him if there wasn't a reason. ] What's wrong? It's escaping!

There's nothing wrong with having your eyes on the prize, but don't let that blinker you, or you won't even know if you've been led astray. [ Tendou taps the broken pillar behind him with a knuckle. ]

This is the second, possibly the third time we've passed this. If you don't believe me, keep running, I'll be waiting.

[ It was a strange phenomena, but this entire cave was a strange phenomena. In the first place, how could a cave fit the entirety of a ruined Union City within it? It simply made no sense mathematically, so of course it was always possible that they were running on the spot. Tendou had not thought of that at first, but now it seemed obvious. ]

The fleeing shadow was a trap? [ That's not difficult for Haruka to imagine. Stopping outright, she puts a hand to her chin to think. It's a closed world, then. That makes sense - but it also means that her original plan of "keep going and ignore the illusion" won't work.

She looks up at Rushing Wind. ] Can you see a boundary?

[ The Pidgeot shakes her head. There's just city as far as the eye can see... ]

It might have been a trap, or it could have set a trap. [ Tendou shrugged. ]

Does it matter?

[ They could pontificate on the nature of shadow monsters after they had figured out space looping in on itself. ]

I'm going to walk ahead, see if you can figure out where exactly this trap ends.

[ If they were lucky, they could just hit it with Brick Break and it should fall apart. ]

Right. [ Haruka climbs onto Rushing Wind's back and directs the Pidgeot up. First, she wants to see whether they'll hit the ceiling; second, she wants a look at the vista for herself. If it's a perfect cage, how will they break it? She doesn't like the idea of exhausting themselves by pounding away fruitlessly at fake scenery.

World Shaking, for his part, just wanders over to some wreckage and pokes it with its drill. Pieces crumble off, but everything seems intact otherwise... ]

[ It was easy to find where exactly the trap extended to when paying careful attention. Being fast was important of course, but there was no use being only fast if it meant they had missed something so obvious. It was something for Tendou himself to take home.

Unfortunately, the edge where space was folding in on itself was a little more complex than a Reflect barrier, so hitting it with Brick Break was apparently not enough. So he wandered through the barrier and walked back to the broken pillar, waiting for the lady to see if she had any ideas. ]

[ No ceiling. No end in sight from above, either: it's very cleverly done.

Haruka shakes her head as she and Rushing Wind return to earth. ] The shadow's vanished too.

[ It got what it came for, apparently. She looks away in frustration. ] There has to be a weak point....

[ That's how she's always worked. Find the most efficient, most permanent method of problem-solving. Identify the weak point and slam into it full throttle.

If this isn't like that... ]

Perhaps we've been going about all this wrongly. [ He had believed the illusion could be broken by means found within the illusion, that by being fast, by being strong, and being clever, they could get out. Perhaps only that last one was necessary.

He recognised how she felt, of course he did. They were similar people in many ways. Why wouldn't they be able to catch anything? If it were a shadow cast by their own nightmares, then he could simply run faster than even that and shake it all off.

Was that the reason? Did they have to surpass their own fears? ]

This is all in our heads. So if our minds stop running on the spot, maybe our bodies will too.

[ Now, how do they go about doing that? ]

You want us to just wait here?

[ ....The fact that every instinct in her body bridles against that might, in fact, be a compelling argument to give it a shot. An enemy with access to their heads might be savvy enough to pull that level of mind game.

World Shaking shifts in place; that, if anything, is enough to dispel Haruka's sourness. Her first Pokémon knows her in a way she didn't think it'd be possible for other people to achieve (until she'd met Michiru). If he isn't placid, then she's not thinking clearly. If he isn't content, her judgment's been clouded by emotion, and can't be trusted.

Stress draining from her shoulders, Haruka laughs - at the situation, and at herself. "Just waiting" is all they'll be doing in practice anyway if they try something futile, isn't it? ] You're a twisted guy.

[ But she's smiling. It's somewhat twisted amusement, in and of itself, but it's still amusement. ]

Grandma said this: "There's nothing wrong with waiting, as long as you know what you're waiting for." Use the strongest flame all the time and your dinner will end up burnt more often that not. [ Truly, an infinite font of grandmotherly wisdom.

Of course, Tendou Souji wasn't just waiting. He was trying to think, trying to figure out where exactly they were and the nature of this illusion they'd found themselves in. It's hard to say, but perhaps this dream simply wasn't his to wake from.

Turning the nearest flat piece of rubble into a makeshift chair, he smiles, amused by her statement. ]

I'm not twisted, I'm just waiting for the rest of the world to catch up with me. [ He's the centre of the world after all, at least according to him.

Which honestly, just proves that he's kind of twisted. ]

[ Haruka can't help but wonder whether Grandma was still around when bad things happened to this guy's hometown. She has a hard time believing anything, even Gigas, could have befallen it with a lady like that in the picture.

This all remains unconscious, however, since they have a problem to solve. She chuckles. ] I stand corrected.

[ So stand she does! In place, heedless of the apocalypse. A shadow flickers across the buildings, and though her eyes track it, she doesn't move. Then, she closes them. Cave. Can she hear it? She knows, deep down, that she's in a cave. If running won't defeat this enemy, she'll make it come to her.

Bit by bit, the scenery begins to grow...insubstantial. Tendou might find himself without a seat soon. ]

[ It was completely thanks to Grandma that anyone survived at all. Tendou himself was only seven at the time, and hardly in any state to be useful. He wasn't ashamed to admit it, but it wasn't something he spent too much time thinking about. The man Tendou Souji was far more important than the child who would become Tendou Souji. ]

It's good that you understand. [ He smirks. There weren't many people that would so readily accept such a ridiculous statement, and that she did said a lot about her. He might actually have to meet her again away from some nightmare cave. ]

Now then, it looks like we're getting somewhere. [ He hops off his perch before it has a chance to drop him on his ass, and simply waits. He knew what he was waiting for, after all: For the lady here to break the spell that had been put upon them. ]

[ He moves just in time: there goes the illusion. Now it's World Shaking's turn to look confused, sniffing the air and then snorting. The smudges all around them have changed. And that made Trainer feel better.

Huh.

Haruka opens her eyes to...just a cave. A long cave, with plenty of winding paths, but a cave nonetheless. She won't thank her companion for the new perspective, but she does incline her head. That's gonna have to be good enough. ] Let's go.

[ Time to go see whatever that illusion had been keeping them from. She'll keep walking as if nothing had happened, but the tension's gone. She almost seems amused. A cautionary tale, huh?

One point to Grandma. ]

[ Being this amazing was often a thankless task, but he wasn't in it for thanks, so it was fine. He would take that almost-nod. He had learned something too, though that wasn't something he would admit readily. ]

Right. [ He was more than happy to walk alongside her now, just about ready to find out whatever was in the depths of this cave and bail. It was clear by now that this wasn't a friendly place, and Tendou had lucked out in seeing somebody else's nightmare of desolation instead of his own, all things considered. ]

i think we're done here!

actsmagnificent - 2015-07-27 03:21 (UTC) - Expand

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Descent into Darkness

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbzflQJo6pI

not inaccurate, but with less daisuke ono

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i think we're done here!