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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[Where she died.]

[Before she was who she was, she was someone else, and that person died. Most likely full of regrets or unfulfilled promises. Because whatever she did...]

[...resulted in something like this.]

I've dreamed this place before. A few times. I never dreamed before I became a Shifter. It was...distressing, and now I'm seeing it when I'm awake.

It's an illusion, Saber.

[Yuuna's hand drops away, and she offers a weak smile. Because she can't really say she's fared much better today.]

We're being shown these images for a reason. I've seen more than a few.

For a reason...I can believe that. Do you suppose it's the gods' doing?

[She could believe in the gods testing her. Or trying to help. Whether she was human or Pokémon, they'd have an interest, certainly.]

Who else could it be? If not the gods, then who? I'm not sure there's a human capable of it.

[Yuuna smiles halfheartedly.]

[Saber nods again, and looks to the hill at the center of this mess again.]

I'm most likely meant to go up there, then.

Probably.

D'you...want company?

I don't know what I'll find there, or whether it will be as unpleasant as the rest of this. I won't refuse, though.

Pleasant or not, you're my friend.

[Nominally. She did fight you.]

Let's go.

[We're talking Pokémon here. That's basically how friendships are supposed to start.]

[She nods, and heads up the hill.]

[The dead and dying thin out somewhat on the hillside, not that it is any more pleasant. Blood and fallen weapons are still everywhere, testimony to the ferocity of the battle that must have taken place.]

[At the top of the hill, there are only two people visible. One is a a dead Bisharp, and the other is a bloodied, dirty, ragged human woman who doesn't appear to be in much better shape, her body covered in stabs likely inflicted by said Pokémon. Nonetheless, the woman is cradling the Pokémon's body and, though the illusion is a still instant and her face is covered by her hair, she appears to be sobbing. A discarded sword has been stuck in the ground nearby.]

[Yuuna's used to blood, she has to be, but the stench of death is heavy in this place, a pall over the whole of it that reminds her rather starkly of just how bad a battle can be. A real battle, anyway.

Slowly she follows, almost hesitant about it but she's not backing down after saying she would.]

Gods...this...

[It's all she can think to say, but she has an uncomfortable feeling about that Bisharp and that woman. Like she should know them?]

Edited 2015-07-27 00:54 (UTC)

[Saber looks on the scene, almost impassively. She's quite sure she should know these people, because she recognizes her own human form when she sees it. Even if her flesh is less gray and her hair less permanently coifed outside of the one lock, that's who this was.]

[But she doesn't. She doesn't know them. She just has one single idea that surfaces from this.]

She died trying to protect them, but...

She couldn't understand them, nor could they forgive her. This is the result.

[She lifts her head up, studiously looking away from everything.]

That's what the Cataclysm was, wasn't it?

Yes.

[Yuuna bends down to the figure, gently closing the dead woman's eyes with her fingertips before doing the same for the Bisharp.]

This is what the Cataclysm was. When humans were so foolish as to think that gods could be controlled by technology. [She looks over at a Pokeball laying in the blood-soaked muck and crushes it underneath her bootheel.] They...could, so they did. But they were so arrogant that they didn't stop to think if they should.

And that was what caused this.

[Saber grits her teeth, thinking for a long moment. She's overcome with regret, over something she didn't even properly remember and done by someone she wasn't even sure she was.]

[Her eyes drift slowly to the side, where a sword, presumably the woman's, is stuck point-down into the ground. This was a form she knew even better than her current one...]

Honedges are swords possessed by restless souls. It's not something we usually think about.

[She walks over and places a hand on her past (?) form's hilt.]

I don't know if this is a true memory, or if I really am that woman's restless spirit.

Regardless, I share her regrets...

[Yuuna nods quietly, not willing to break the silence even for a minute until Saber's done. When she is, though, the Ranger nods.]

We all do. The sins of the past are great, and proof that we need to learn better. We need to learn what we should do, not what we can do. And remember it.

Remember it...

[It was difficult. This one blasted hillside was the only clue she had to a time she felt responsible for, at least in part.]

If I could change this, I would.

[She closes her eyes and tightens her hand on the sword.]

But if all this is meant to be is a lesson, I will learn it, and prevent this from happening again.

[She pulls the sword from the ground, holds it up, and the illusion immediately disappears, leaving Saber just holding her arm up in the middle of a dark cave.]

...that was a bit abrupt.

I am certain that it's meant to teach us something. Absolutely certain.

[And when it does all fade out? She adds, lamely.]

I am so tired of magic caves.

Edited 2015-07-27 16:34 (UTC)

They have their own sort of---hgk!

[Saber is cut off by suddenly and reflexively Shifting back into her Honedge form. The cave fills with bright light as she begins glowing and the sword part of her body copies itself, leaving two glowing swords in the air for a moment before they dim to be visible as a new Pokémon - two swords crossed protectively over a single scabbard.]

Doublade!

[Saber's body jerks once again to be back to her human form - clothes and accoutrements slightly more purple and holding one half of her Pokémon body like a sword in its own right, but otherwise unchanged.]

[She blinks.]

Er...what just happened?

[Yuuna starts forward when she notices something is off, hand extended...but her steps falter when she realizes what's going on. Arms folded, she waits, eyes focused and alert.

And when it's done? The Master of Evolution in her beams.]

You evolved, dear. You're a Doublade now.

[Saber nods and, with a surprisingly practiced motion, sheathes...herself.]

I see. Having an extra body is a bit bizarre, but it's to be expected when I've been training.

I can imagine.

[That together with the cave is just...weird.]

Is it still fencing if you're swinging an actual part of yourself? Or is it body slamming?

Technically I think it's a Tackle...

[She jokes, but it will actually be easier to fight this way in her human form and not have to Shift every time.]

We should move on. If I try to think about how this matches up with this vision I'll likely get a headache.

Yeah. Let's get out of here.

[...fuck magic caves.]

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Descent into Darkness

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