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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[He can finally relax, if only marginally, when the cave begins to reappear. It really was finished, thank the Gods.]

[Those parting words were enough to give him a chill, however. The real fight was coming. That much of her words he could believe, even if he didn't want to. His voice is softer, not directed at anyone, as his scars slowly fade from his face.]

We'll do what we have to.

We always do.

[The shadow fades out, a haunting laugh the final sound she utters. It's that laugh that sends a chill up Yuuna's spine, and she drops her sword to the ground with a clatter. Very nearly falling over, she sinks down onto the cavern floor.]

Gods...what the...why that...

Yuuna-

[He was just glad it was over. He hurries to her side, or at least tries to, the pain and weakness in his arm more distracting now that the threat was gone. He holds that arm aside as he kneels to take her shoulder with his good hand.]

Whatever the reason, it's over. Are you hurt?

Hurt?

[She looks up at him, putting her hand on top of his.]

Me? No. Thanks to you, at least. That would've been really bad.

[She chuffs a weak laugh.]

That's another one I owe you.

Edited 2015-07-26 20:40 (UTC)

Don't mention it. You don't owe me anything.

[This was the least he could do after his absence. He tugs his hand out from under hers so he can push himself to his feet and offer her a hand up.]

Idiot.

[Up she does go, but she shifts at the last second and gives him a big hug.]

Now, show me your arm. I've got some Burn Heal and my medkit. We'll get that fixed up.

[And, after a minute of looking away, she finally says.]

Sorry, I guess...that's...probably what I'm most afraid of. Becoming that.

[He still gets tense for the hug, but not as badly as he has been. It would probably help if he wasn't in pain. His voice is firm after her confession, though.]

Don't be. It'll never happen. That's not who you are.

[As for his arm. He shakes his head, keeping it stiffly at his side as he goes to search for wherever he tossed his glove.]

I'll be fine.

It's as much the Enhanced...as...the personality.

[Yuuna doesn't budge there, she immediately reaches out and takes his arm at the bicep. Her eyes are stern, focused, and there's not an ounce of give in her.]

I'm a field medic. You're going to get treated even if I have to knock your ass down to do it. Now let me get some ointment on that so it doesn't get infected. That'll lay you out and hurt a billion times worse.

[That's exactly why he was certain she would never become like that. Even if Gigas tried to force her, he wouldn't allow it to happen.]

[He does go rigid when she grabs his arm, an it almost looks like he has half a mind to pull out of her hold, if he didn't have more self-restraint. The metal of his hand only looks a little singed what with being steel, but his sleeve covers any damage it may have done to his bare skin. Either way he's holding his arm folded in front of him now, as far out of her sight as he can manage.]

I can take care of it. We should get out of here anyway, it's dangerous.

That's right.

Run away.

Don't let her see.

[The voices seem to come from everywhere and nowhere at once, as if coming from inside her head. Takeshi shows no signs of having heard it.]

[Her hands do not let go. And a Burn Heal appears in her palm, a shadowy tendril of Spiritomb depositing it there. With a jerk, she uncaps it and the tendril floats out to spray his arm with the tincture.]

Thank you Kintsu. Takeshi, what's gotten into you?

[Yuuna freezes at the sound of the voices though, the lecture dying as her eyes harden into points.]

Did you hear that?

[Takeshi does yank away when the Spiritomb makes to pull his sleeve back, using all of his strength in a brief flare of panic. Predictably the movement hurt, and he winced. Shit, he needed to calm down, he was acting irrational. He didn't know what she'd heard, but he needed to smooth this over and get out of here.]

I said I'll take care of it. Let's just go.

Don't look.

He doesn't want you to see.

You can't help him.

[His expression shifts minutely, brow just barely furrowing. Of course she shouldn't be able to hear it, but why did it sound like they were talking to Yuuna?]

Takeshi.

[Yuuna's voice gets clipped, almost angry, and Kintsu's color shifts from purple to an unsettling shade of green as he smacks the Burn Heal into Takeshi's palm.]

Whoever you are, get the hell out of my head.

[With the medicine delivered, Yuuna pulls back, glaring all around the room.]

I can help him. I always have, just like he helps me. I know this game, asshole.

[Sorry Kintsu. He has the burn heal now, but he doesn't make any move to use it. He's too busy staring at Yuuna in some mixture of confusion and growing horror.]

You can... hear it?

She'll find out.

You should have run.

What will she think of you?

There's nowhere for you to hide now, Takeshi Hongo.

[The bottle drops from his hand, and he takes an unsteady step back.]

Why...

I can hear it.

[Yuuna's fists tighten, leather creaking as she angrily glares around.]

And I don't like what it's saying.

[A sound fills the air, an odd thrumming, almost like an electrical current. It fades quickly, but the scent of ozone lingers.]

What will I think of Takeshi Hongo? The man who just took a potentially lethal Thunder Punch for me? Gee, I don't fucking know what I'd think of that guy.

[Heady with scorn and voice dripping sarcasm, she looks everywhere but at Hongo, lips twisted in a sneer.]

That guy just saved my life. That guy's one of the most reliable people I know. And that guy? Is my friend. And you know what happens to people who badmouth my friends, voice?

Your friend? Saved your life?

Look at him now. Does he look like a savior? The abomination is ready to bolt.

[He's taken another step back, and his scars have crept back up his face. How could she hear it? Was it these caves, causing another tangible illusion...?]

[He couldn't let her hear them. She couldn't... see him like this. He had to get out.]

[The voices were a contrary buzzing in his head most days, easy enough to ignore. But sometimes, they were right.]

[He bolts.]

He doesn't have to be a savior to you, he's a savior to me!

[Her voice is a shout, rising to a fevered pitch of anger, the buzzing sound returning.

And then he's running...]

Hongo! Don't RUN from me!

[Her feet pound on the cavern floor after him, legs churning more rapidly than they have any right to, and she's sailing through the air after him, tackling him at the knees and driving him to the ground.]

You promised you wouldn't! And you can't run from this, it's not real!

[When he looks back on this later he may note the buzzing, but in the moment he has other things on his mind. He goes down with a half startled, half pained yelp. The voices' laughter fills the air.]

Not real, she says.

Thats right, we're not real.

We're all in your head.

That's what you've been telling yourself since Gigas.

You can run from her, but not from us.

[He stays down, head bowed, holding his injured arm.]

Edited 2015-07-27 04:13 (UTC)

Shut up! Stop saying that crap!

[She rolls off him, moving to the front, kneeling with him.]

Takeshi. These voices in your head. They aren't real. And you don't have to listen to them. Just...listen to me, okay? Focus on my voice. Only on that. Like we used to do in the dojo. Remember? The Spark and the Void. Focus on the spark, let everything else just become the void. That's the only thing to worry about.

That one point of light. My voice, okay. My voice is the spark. Everything else is the void.

[He won't look at her, but he can still hear her. The spark and the void.]

[It was hard, because he still wanted to hide. He was mortified that she could hear the voices, and afraid of what more she might find out if this went on.]

Useless. Weak.

[Just focus on her voice. Everything else was the void.]

You have no future. You are nothing. Monster. Murderer.

[He nearly covers his ears, but he knows that will only serve to block Yuuna's voice out; he holds his head instead, murmuring under his breath.]

This is the void... You are the spark...

You have a future. You have something. You have friends. You have the spark.

Everything else is the void, and there's nothing in the void. There's only the spark.

Relax, think about the light. Everything has an answer in the spark.

...

[The light. He remembered happier times, when they'd studied and trained together. When he knew exactly who and what he was and would be. That was gone now, but Yuuna would never turn her back on him, or look at him with disgust. He knew that, and yet the fear was still there. What if she did? Was he too transformed from the Takeshi she used to know? Is that what he deserved? The thoughts were always there, because the voices never let him forget.]

[And even if she wasn't repulsed by him, he was.]

[He lifts his head to look at her, and he looks lost in a way that she never would have seen in the 'old' Takeshi.]

What future do I have? What am I, now?

[He shudders in pain as the claws of his aching hand dig into the floor of the cave.]

A weapon... I never wanted this. But I have to make use of this hideous body... that's all I can do.

You can't hide from fate.

[Yuuna slides forward, reaching her arms out, and again with surprising strength just pulls him against her. She does not relent, her hold implacable, adamant, the kind of thing one might expect from a Machamp, not a dexterous fighter. And she shakes her head.]

You have a future, you always have one. You...your body isn't hideous. It's different, yes. You've changed. Hell, we both have. But some things never change.

[She looks up, addressing the voice.]

You can't hide from fate, no. But Takeshi Hongo was never fated for a normal life. He was always meant to be a spark in the void himself. And maybe it's not what he thought it would be? But...he's a force for good, not ill.

[It's an embrace that grounds him in its steadfastness. Yuuna was here, she was real. Not one of the countless hallucinations he'd been haunted by in captivity, fleeting glances of faces and places he knew only to leave him alone in his hell once again.]

You never really escaped. This hell will never end.

[...]

[He raises his uncovered hand, the metal still warm from the onslaught by Yuuna's doppelganger, to wrap his arm around her and rest his hand on the back of her shoulder.]

What are you doing? You'll hurt her. Stop.

[That's what he feared more than anything. That this body, these hands, were only capable of destruction, pain, and fear. That's why he kept running and hiding. For fear of what he was capable of, without even trying. But that was..]

This isn't hell. Even if it was, this is... exactly where I need to be. I can still... be a force for good. I don't need to run anymore.

[There's no response from the voices. He completes the embrace with his still-gloved hand, holding her much more firmly with that one.]

Yuuna... thank you.

You can. You have a choice, and you always have a choice.

[She leans against the embrace, trying to ground him all the more, her arms holding steady, tight and fast. Squeezing, and trying hard not to weep. This is hard, seeing him like this. Seeing what's been inside his head. It's...in some ways more frightening than her own doppelganger. Because this? Is what her double had been through. And she'd failed that trial. Yuuna was aware of this now, and it only made her heart go out to her old fried more.

Because he was getting it right. He wasn't giving up.

And that? That was good. He'd be a righteous force for heroism and goodness. And maybe? He'd be able to get some of his life back.]

Hongo. Anytime.

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Descent into Darkness

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