kaisou | SeeD 10 - The Midnight Channel

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SeeD 10 - The Midnight Channel

WHO: Cottage Crew
WHERE: Persephone's Garden, then Kanto.
WHEN: Near the end of August
WHAT: Kni falls into Kanto via the Midnight Channel TV. Wolfwood and Vash panic.
WARNINGS: A little kid lost in the woods until his big brothers come and find him. Then they're all lost in the pokemon woods.

[ It was raining again. But at least tonight, it was a light patter instead of the deluges from the previous month--but that doesn't mean vash was gonna be taking any risks. Outside he had half a dozen little planter pots growing with tiny, cute little berry bushes--the berries from Kanto region that he's been trying to grow as Snacks for the Pokemon at the cottage--and for now he's busying himself moving them into the little shed on the side of the cottage for the night so they wouldn't get drowned with water.

And that's when he notices the glowing buzz from the new TV inside, and he has to quietly roll his eyes.
someone's become a TV bug ever since Varian set up a more reliable generator, and he can hear the sound of some old western playing as he looks in through one of the cottage window. ]

Cut-off time, Kni. It's almost midnight.

[ libra and wolfwood were already in bed--and politely not grumping at kni for the noisy gunfire on the tv. They might be dead asleep, maybe, but. Either way, Kni definitely should have been in bed an hour ago.

He's gonna tap the side of the cottage walls, in case he didn't get Kni's attention. ]

It'll still be there tomorrow, buddy.

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[kni rolls his eyes when he hears vash from outside calling to turn off the television. he certainly didn't mean to stay up this late, but the previous episode had ended on a cliffhanger with a promise to finish in the following episode, and what harm was there in staying up a little longer to finish? maybe it was a little inconsiderate to wolfwood and libra, who were also sleeping in the room, but neither had said a word, so kni took it as a go-ahead to finish the story.

he huffs this time when vash knocks on the wall and kni finally moves from his seat on the floor in front of the tv.] Yes, I know, thank you. [it's a little sassy, it is past his usual bedtime.

the clock on his phone flicks to midnight as the credits finish rolling and kni reaches for the power button to turn it off, when suddenly the roll of names changes in a flash of static to footage of a grassy field at night. kni squints at the screen, watching the grass slowly swaying to an invisible breeze for all of a moment before he touches the tv button.

one moment kni is there, inside the cottage, and the next moment he's gone. his phone left sitting on the floor where he last left it to check the time.]

[ it's, all things considered, a quiet night. the rain kicking up so late had been a bit of a surprise--and then Vash had started fretting about his potted whatever or anothers, and far be it from Wolfwood to not take up as much of the bed as possible while he has the luxury of doing so, considering how much Plant was sprawled next to or on top of him most nights.

Kni's late night television is inoffensive--Wolfwood's slept through louder and brighter, and he half-drowses as Kni's western plays through its dramatic beats--the gritty staredowns, the languind dialogue, the stern women, the gunfights. he's not bothered; the Punisher's used to stealing sleep when he can get it, so none of it really draws him out of the pleasant haze of warmth he's in, eyes heavy--

and then Kni's show switches to something? weird? a color field, grass emerald-dark under the nighttime sky, and that's not might of a rolling plain for rustling doggies and hustling cattle, and for a moment, Wolfwood wonders what the kid switched to, and then the TV is off and Kni is gone.

he drowses for another heartbeat
and then he shouts as he jolts out of bed--and where Libra probably also could sleep through most anything due to his war camp days, Wolfwood actively shouting was a whole other matter. ]

What the fuck?! [ he scurries upright and falls out of bed in a thump, tangled in the blankets for a moment, swearing and cursing as he comes and goes. ] Fuck! Vash! Kni's gone?!

[ and of course, Vash isn't in the room to see it. He isn't there--he's settling down the plants in the storage shed, reassuring them in a hushed voice that he'd be back before the sun rose, to make sure they got every bit of the morning sun. He never sleeps long, so the plants were always in good hands with him.

they whisper back, an odd feeling that's only started happening recently, and he's calm...

up until the moment Kni's music disappears.
It's always there, in the back of his head. Like a gentle breeze in the wind that only he and Kni can hear--it's something they can tune in and out of as something normal.

But oh, how noticable it is when it's there, and when it's gone.
Cut off so quickly that he feels his heart sink.

As if to double into the idea that kni's GONE, he hears wolfwood shout.

And in a momenthe's bursting into the cottage, panic on his face and his eyes wide with shock. Krusnik were supposed to be gone, how could he have been grabbed--out of nowhere? Suddenly? Without warning? He'd felt noone strange--wolfwood would have seen-- ]

Where did he go!?

[ the panic in vash's voice is so, so very clear. ]

Wolfwood--

Nico, did--
Did someone grab him!?

We have to find him, fuck--Fuck, we have to--Kni.

[ his eyes are darting around, he-- how could he have ....? ]

I don't know! He was turning off the TV and then he was gone?! Who the fuck could've grabbed him in two seconds?

[ it couldn't even be something dumb like the revenge of the foot ghost, because the foot ghost had been thoroughly and utterly besmoten, and at least Wolfwood has the dignity of not being a tangle anymore as he starts--looking around the cabin? was Kni playing a joke on them with some wild new power that Wolfwood had given more credence to in his half asleep state?

the kid's phone sits, almost smug in how useless it is given that it is here, away from its owner. ]

--I'm.
I'm going to check the garden.
Wherever he went, he couldn't have gone far, right.
You're right, noone could have grabbed him quick as that, I...

[ he shakes his head, and despite himself--those long, featherlike tendrils are starting to leak out of his face, his skin-- wings curling out of his back as he nods his head at Nicholas. ]

If I get in range of his music, I'll be able to hear him...!

[ sorry wolfwood, he's taking off, like a rocket.

Leaving you, and the still quietly buzzing TV alone in the cottage.

With the timer in the corner gently counting down, the surface of the Tv screen moving, like water... ]

[when kni comes to, the first thing he sees is the night sky glittering with stars he doesn't recognize. nearly every night since arriving, kni had gone outside their cottage to stare up at the dark skies and studied the constellations that sat overhead. if asked, he wouldn't have an answer for why he always looked up, mapping out the stars until their formations became familiar and recognizable. it was simply something he liked, maybe.

but these stars are unfamiliar and as he slowly sits up, reality rushes in like a wave. he must be in a field, with the way the grass towers over him, swaying lightly in the night breeze. the world is quiet aside from the sounds of insects chirping, wind rustling foliage nearby.

there are grass and dirt stains on his sleep clothes, but he isn't given much time to feel annoyed about that when the sudden quiet of all the insects nearby hits him. a twig snaps from behind him past the tall grass and when kni turns around he looks up to see the glowing eyes of a pinsir furiously glaring down at him. it snaps its pincers once, then twice, before kni's survival instincts finally kick in and he scrambles off the ground to make a run for it with the creature chasing after him through the fields.]

[ it takes him just a little longer to get put together--shirt on, fuck the shoes, Cross Punisher in hand, phone stuffed in his pocket as Vash leaps to the air and leaves Wolfwood alone with the ghost of where Kni had sat

... and a rather funny lookin' static on the TV. there's something about it that's unsettling, tingling, and Wolfwood finds himself drawn in, listening to the patter of the rain, the hum of electricity, and reaches a hand towards the TV as if he'll find something about where Kni's gone, what enchantment's taken him--

and then the TV warps and contorts, the image showing that night-bright grassy field, the surface of it rippling, eager like a maw as his fingers draw close, and, well. there's one way to find out, isn't there? and so Wolfwood touches the TV--

he comes to looking up at a night sky full of glimmering stars, tightening his grasp on his gun as he rolls to his feet and breathes in so that he can bellow. ]

Kni?! Hey, Kni?!

[ he'll text Vash, messy and short.

tuched tv. got taken smwherr. lokin fr kid. ]

[only the distant chorus of nightly creatures answers wolfwood at first, the warm summer breeze rolling over the open field. the peace is interrupted by the sounds of something crashing through the tall grass, running straight for nicholas.

a moment later, kni bursts out of the grass and just about slams into the older man's side with a muffled oof. he pants heavily, having been running since he first came to in this field. bits of grass stick out of his hair and his chin smudged with dirt where he might have stumbled over a fallen tree branch and fallen face first.]

Wolf- Wolfwood... [he manages to say as he catches his breath, not yet realizing he's leaning against the man.] Something- something was chasing me.

[ he's running around the orchard like a fool. Feathers lifting up and off his skin as he streaks through trees and past bushes and crops--into the little haybale maze he'd made to act as a sort of shooting range for himself.

nothing. no song. silence. no kni.

He's taking up into the air to try to get a better view from above--when his phone buzzes.

TV? What the hell does Wolfwood mean by --tv?

He's back inside in moments, touching the tv, and unlike wolfwood--and due to the fact that by the time he returns, it's 12:05am--the tv does not show him that reflection of the Kanto stable gate. There's no ripple. There's no portal.

Now wolfwood and kni are both missing.
And all he can think of is that maze he and wolfwood once got lost in.
Kni in a place like that....!!]

what do u mean tv
whats going on
where did you both go
tv is normal???? i touched it too
nothing happening
wolfwood where are you
where is knives

[ usually, Wolfwood would move with a measure more of caution, but--it's fine if things know he's coming. in fact, it's better if they do, because if something's picked Kni up, the kid'll likely scream, and sometimes Death likes it when people announce that he's on the way and Fucking Cross about it

he's drawing in another breath to bellow Kni's name again when the boy comes through the foliage, crashing into Wolfwood dirtied and out of breath, and it is pure, pure instinct that makes him curl to the boy, arm around him, pulling him close. ]

Hey, hey, it's all right, it's not gonna--

[ and then the crashing continues and Wolfwood pulls Kni back, around; putting himself between the child and the Pinsir that leaps out of the high grass in search of its prey--but there's a reason most predators don't try to take a pup when the bigger versions of them are around. Pinsir shrills its name and Wolfwood shifts his hold on Punisher, lightning quick, and swings it like he's batting for the fences regardless of the? animal abuse? that this probably counts for.

he sends the big bug shrieking back into the grass with a solid thwack, listening to the sound of it tumbling for a minute, fingers in the belts of the Punisher's cover as he listens for Pinsir to come back and try its luck a second time.

Nicholas D. Wolfwood may be the only man in the world to shoot a Pokemon, but by the loveless god he barely believes in, he will add some fun new holes to Pinsir if it doesn't buy a ticket to the first bus to Fuckoffsville it can. ]

My phone's in my back pocket, kiddo. Text or call your brother.

Edited 2023-09-03 02:42 (UTC)

[in the thick of the moment, when the pinsir emerges in a fury from the field grass, kni isn't thinking about the ethics behind shooting a pokémon in self-defense. he isn't naive, well aware that there were creatures that would hurt him first out of whatever instinct that drives them. pokémon seemed to be smarter than the usual array of earthian animals, but that didn't mean he was going to try and reason with this one - whatever it was - and hope for the best.

he had planned on running until the creature lost interest, but unbelievably, wolfwood's arrival is a blessing. too keyed up with heart-racing adrenaline, kni doesn't linger over the way wolfwood pulls him behind him to take on the creature himself. only after it retreats towards the forest line does kni realize himself and releases his grip on the back of wolfwood's night shirt. with nothing to hold onto, he suddenly feels adrift.]

R- Right.

[careful fingers fish phone from pocket, hesitating only a moment when he sees his fingers shaking slightly as they hover over the phone display. not even a moment later he pushes through and quickly dials vash's number, putting it to his ear as it rings out.]

[ he's trying not to panic. but he's absolutely panicking. both of them are gone and he's left in a quiet cottage. Part of him wonders if he should shake libra awake--but then his phone rings.

And he's never in his life answered anything so fast. Whipping it up to his ear with a short breath--it was wolfwood's name on the screen. ]

Nico--

Nico where are you?! Where is Kni?

I'm okay, Vash.

[the rushing worry in vash's tone has kni feeling some kind of way, stomach already tying itself into knots as the adrenaline slowly drains away. his free hand moves to run through his hair, catching some of the leaves between fingers.]

Wolfwood found me, but I don't know where this is.

[he'd never visited a spirit realm before and only vaguely knew that the pokémon here came from somewhere not at all nearby. he closes his eyes.] The television screen changed, and I remember trying to turn it off before I woke up here. [a pause,] It wasn't on purpose.

[ he only half-listens to Kni's status report, almost seeming disinterested in it given how he has his head down, still trying to pick out if the big ugly bastard was coming back for round two--eyes flicking to Kni when he mentions the TV, a frown coming to his face after a moment. ]

Tell Vash that we're--somewhere where them--whatever the fuck they're called, the Namedogs like Slappy an' Fritter come from. Some big ugly manbug had a grudge to settle but hopefully he's fucked off to do other shit that's not my problem anymore.

... Do you mean Pokémon?

[yes, he's sending wolfwood a very questionable look like really? keep up, wolfwood.] We're wherever the Pokemon come from, Vash.

I don't even know what a 'namedog' is. Is that really what you call Fritter?

[he must be feeling a little better if he has the energy to harmlessly banter at wolfwood.]

[ the worry is thick--loud in his voice--and it's only when Kni says he's okay does he start to settle. His feet shifting on the floor as he allows himself to squat down. Feathers curling around himself as he breathes, squeezing his eyes shut.

He'll let the pair of them bicker as he gets his thoughts together. Pokemon. Okay. Okay, he... knows where they are. He's not sure how they GOT there, but that doesn't matter, for now.

If they're where pokemon are... it's the Kanto region stable gate. Okay. Okay. ]

I know where that is.
I've been there a few times. It's where I got Fritter.

Just... start walking towards a town or somewhere with people.
Being in the wild can be dangerous, there are wild Pokemon that can jump out at any time.

I'll be there as fast as I can, okay?

Sure, I don't care. [ he's giving Kni a whole lot of Who Gives a Fuck right back, smirking a little as Kni picks apart his logic. ]

They're little animals that say their names. Namedog. Everytime I don't call them pokepoke whatever, there's this one guy on the network who gets closer to popping a bloodvessel, and Vash doesn't like it when I directly menace people, so slow version it is.

[ get hit by a bus, Yuuki.

he looks around slowly as the night goes... back from still, to just sort of sleepily alive, the night-sounds of bugs and birds and all the other little critters creeping in now that the Pinsir's fucked off back to jackassville. ]

Here. If you hop up on my shoulders and run the light on my phone, it should be--easier? For Vash to see from up high, like a lighthouse.

[ ... it is a logic, right? ]

Okay. Okay. [he's already well aware of the dangerous pokémon roaming around, but vash's assurances help ease some of the worst of kni's anxiety. everything would be fine, soon they'd be back home and from there he could take a look at that television again.

everything was fine.

he doesn't want to end the call, but it's fine so he does after a small goodbye. wolfwood gets another eye roll.]

That's a lot of energy spent antagonizing one person, you know. [not that he can really say anything, sometimes antagonizing is fun. kni steps closer to wolfwood, hesitating only for a moment.]

You want me on your shoulders?

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SeeD 10 - The Midnight Channel

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