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kaisou2024-10-03 12:45 pm
October Event Log (Space Horror Edition)
OCTOBER EVENT: HEAVY
TRIGGER WARNING: This event features heavy use of hallucinations, reliving past traumas, mental corruption and PVP death. Please proceed with caution.
Day OneWherever you drift off to sleep certainly isn't where you wake up the following day. Or... you assume it's day, as there is no natural light to truly clue you in. You wake on a bunk in a metallic room along with three other app users, also tucked into their comfy little bunks. A quick survey of your surroundings, and you will find you are on a sizeable spaceship. Outside the window, a blue planet slowly turns- those who have a knowledge of space might be able to recognize this as Neptune- you are far, far from Earth. Stepping out of the bunk room, you will find other doors opening to other bunk rooms, with similarly confused app users inside. No one has any idea how you got here. You will find your communications devices do not work- after all, you're a long way away from any cell towers. You'll be glad to see your abilities work just fine. Telepathy outside of the ship is impossible- perhaps distance matters here, too.
Exploration of the ship will show a worrying absence of any crew. You can see dried blood on several metallic surfaces as you move around. Canteens are stocked with freeze-dried astronaut meals, all perfectly edible, but there is no sign anyone has been eating anything in here for some time. You can see another ship docked outside the one you're in- the name on the side claiming it as The Lewis and Clark. There doesn't seem to be any way to get to it currently, though. The door leading to the docking station is locked tight. You eventually come across the bridge, with blood-crusted computer systems still running. Those tech-savvy amongst you might be able to get some informational screens up, which tell you that you are aboard The Event Horizon. This is a scientific vessel which was researching a means of faster space travel. They intended to do this with something called "The Gravity Core" - a device which would create an artificial black hole, which would in theory allow the user to bend space-time and cut a journey of thousands of years into a single day. So it turns out you're sitting in a spaceship with the means to create the most destructive force in the galaxy right next to you. Super! A few of the video files are corrupted, which will need some work getting to play. Ominously, every now and again the screens of the computer flash up a single, desperate message: Libera te tutemet ex inferis.
If you so decide to check out that Gravity Core, you will find a tunnel with sharp, moving sides. It moves like a meat grinder. Luckily there is a narrow walkway- wide enough for you to walk single file through it without getting hurt on the spikes. Worrying, some more of that dried blood can be seen on the spikes as they rotate. It's probably fine. The tunnel opens up into a big, circular, spiked room. There's a pool of water at the bottom of the room, and in the centre is a strange contraption, a ball with three spiked rings, about 10 meters in diameter. For now, they're just turning around one another slowly, never stopping. Congratulations, you found the Gravity Core! Anyone with demonic or holy ties will be deeply unsettled by this device. They can't put their finger on what it is, but they know it's deeply unsafe, and feel intense discomfort being anywhere near it. For now, there doesn't seem much to do other than get used to their surroundings. They can check the lock that could take them to the Lewis and Clark- their only way off this ship, but the lock is a complex series of rusted cogs. There seems to be no way to undo these locks no matter what you try- not even abilities will work on it. It's like some outside (or inside) force is preventing you from an early escape. For now, it seems you're stuck here.
Day TwoAt the start of day two, the whole ship shakes- anyone near the Gravity Core will witness the rings suddenly all line up, stopping their slow spiral. Everything is still for a moment, and then the center of the Core suddenly glows in a blinding flash of light, then... it settles- the lights around the center pulsing on and off like a heartbeat. The entire surface of the ball at the center of the core turns into a shimmering, water-like substance. Anyone nearby will feel an overwhelming urge to touch it. Should you give into the intrusive thought, you will find your hand sinks into the center as if it is made of water. With no warning, something on the other side GRIPS you, and pulls you in with a sharp tug. No one around can grab you in time before you vanish into the sludge.
For a moment, everything is still- then as quickly as they were pulled in, the poor souls dragged into the Core are unceremoniously spat out. The Core returns to normal, the rings spinning slowly around one another again. Those spat out will lay on the ground, catatonic, eyes open wide, staring in terror at... something - nothing seems to wake them. You may be left worried about what to do with your friends, but there's something else too. Something prickling at the edge of your consciousness. Perhaps it's a distant noise that almost sounds like a voice, a shifting shadow you swear was a person. Today, these things linger just on the periphery of your senses- there to unnerve you, but you cannot put your finger on what they are.
About an hour after they were spat out by the Core, the poor souls dragged into it suddenly bolt awake, that "the darkness is coming". It takes a hot minute for them to settle down again, and realise where they are. If you were one of those unlucky people, you cannot remember what you saw while you were inside the Core- all you remember is that it was terrible- and yet, you want to go to it again. You are convinced the absolute right thing to do is to open the Gravity Core again and for you all to step inside it. It's where you all belong. For now, you can be convinced to not do the blatantly stupid and dangerous thing and restart the Core, but as one day moves into the next, those urges only grow.
Day ThreeThose who were dragged into the Core are much, much worse off the next day. Your feelings about needing to restart the Core are even stronger - and those who weren't pulled in will need to guard the controls to prevent it from being forcibly started up. Those who fell in start calling themselves "corrupted" and you will do everything in your power to convince everyone that you need to open the Core. Perhaps you want to embrace what's on the other side of that Core- the horrors you saw. Or perhaps your spirit was so broken by the terrifying mixed-up memories you can only partly put together that you feel it's inevitable- that you may as well submit to the Core because there's no escape from it. The way you all speak about it makes it sound like hell, quite literally, and nothing will sway you from your desire to go back into it and drag everyone on the ship with you. You will be willing to fight and attack your fellow prisoners on the ship, to lie to and cajole them - anything that gets you to those controls.
Things aren't so hot for those not corrupted by the Core, either. The flickering visions you had yesterday turn into full-blown hallucinations today. These hallucinations are steeped heavily in your mental traumas and regrets. Perhaps you feel responsible for the death of a loved one- that person will appear and speak to you. Or perhaps you were attacked by someone in your past- now that attacker will stalk you through the ship. Perhaps your actions inadvertently caused a great disaster- victims of that disaster will appear to you, fingers pointing in blame. No matter what weakness of your mind is preyed upon, these hallucinations will chip away at your grasp of reality fairly quickly. They will do everything in their power to convince you to attack the others on the ship- be it through cajoling you or through simple trickery such as appearing before someone nearby, making you lash out at them, unaware you have struck the wrong target until it is too late. Worse still, everyone can see everyone else's hallucinations- there is no hiding from them or pretending they are not real. They are here and they are ready to push everyone into attacking one another. Those fully corrupted by the ship may see hallucinations of their own, too- but nothing overrides their desire to get the Core restarted.
Either through the efforts of those with tech-savvy skills, or from following old, tattered manuals you find stuffed behind a console, you are finally able to uncorrupt the ship's video files. The first shows the original Event Horizon crew, they are smiling and happy. The captain states they are about to open the Gravity Drive for the first time and hopes that soon they will be light years away from here, with minimal effort. Confidently, he smiles at the camera, stating "Ave, atque, vale. Hail and farewell." The screen suddenly goes fuzzy, and screams can be heard in the thick static. The screen goes dead. What follows are small video clips, tiny glimpses into madness. Once smiling happy crew go through a living nightmare as their world crashes down around them. You might see one sobbing about seeing her dead best friend she couldn't save, or perhaps another screaming at an invisible foe- you will even see the crew turn on each other, the camera catching the glint of a knife or a thrown punch. No matter what, it's clear that the previous crew went through exactly what you are going through now- and they destroyed one another over it.
There is one final video to play. This is of the captain, his face is bleeding from a deep gash in his cheek, and one arm hangs limp and useless at his side. In the background, screaming can be heard:
"I stashed the explosives around the Horizon. It's the only way to get the damned doors open. She won't let them free. She'll take them to hell. They won't even fight it. They're not interested."
Static fills the screen for a moment, and the screaming is louder, followed by banging. The captain gives a frustrated groan and smacks the camera with his good arm, clearing it up.
"If any of you are still alive, you've got to blow the doors apart. The ship's hull is designed to take it, just get into the umbilical and get the fuck out- it's oxygenated. Don't let her win. Don't let her drag you into hell with the rest of them. Don't-"
A loud CRASH occurs off-screen. The captain turns, to be tackled to the ground by someone else, covered in blood and barely recognizable as human. The figure drops to the ground on top of the captain, out of view of the camera. But his screams are heard. Terrified, bloodcurdling screams. When they stop. The figure stands. It's one of his crew, the woman who had been talking about her dead friend. She raises her hand, stained with blood, looking at it curiously for a moment, before turning to the camera.
"Liberate tutame ex inferis."
The video cuts out and there are no more.
The message is clear- the only way off the Event Horizon is to blow up the doors and get to the Lewis and Clark - preferably before the Gravity Core is activated again and you are all dragged, quite literally, into Hell.
Day FourSo now you know what you need to do. You need to find the explosives stashed around the Event Horizon and blow those doors to kingdom come. Not a simple task, with your corrupted friends and your own hallucinations trying to stop you from doing just that. You will likely have to fight your friends plenty in the search for the explosives- as the corrupted folks absolutely do not want you to escape. There are fives explosives to find, hidden in The control room, the engineering room, the med bay, the kitchen and finally, unhelpfully, near the controls of the Gravity Core. You will need to gather all of them and get them attached to the doors. They are, thankfully, simple to use and soon blow the doors clear off. They open to a yellow tube that leads into the waiting Lewis and Clark. There's no gravity in the tube, even if it is oxygenated, so you will have to float your way there. But...
The Event Horizon SHUDDERS in what you could only describe as anger when the doors are blown off. The captain's warning was right. The ship certainly doesn't want you to get away from this. The corrupted finally managed to get the Core started again, gleeful at pulling you all into hell. There is no switching it off, all you can do is fight your own hallucinations to get to the Lewis and Clark. Perhaps you have enough of your senses to try and pull the corrupted folks aboard with you- but they will fight you every step of the way. The only way you'll get them aboard the Lewis and Clark is by incapacitating them and dragging them to escape.
The Lewis and Clark is, blissfully, pre-programmed to return to Earth- though it may take a real long time to get there. Ship instructions bleep at you to put yourself into stasis for the long journey, but luckily, you do not need to worry about that. The Lewis and Clark pulls away from the Event Horizon- blasting quickly away. All you can see of it is a bright blue light as the Even Horizon swallows in on itself- taking whoever so remained on board with it. The hallucinations abruptly stop, and you are left only with the stark reality of all that has happened as the ship zooms forward.
After only about fifteen minutes on the Lewis and Clark, you feel yourself enveloped in a white light- then suddenly you'll find yourselves in a pile at the entrance to Blue Fish Park- as if you were spat out by any other spirit gate. Those who died on the Horizon will find themselves amongst you, none the worse for wear. Physically, at least. The corrupted will find their minds clear of the Core's influence, their memories of what they did aboard the ship can either either fuzzy or crystal clear. Regardless, you are now all back in Kaisou and safe- though the mental trauma of what happened may linger for a while.
The dominant element this month is Earth! Anyone with an affinity to the wind element will find themselves boosted throughout the month. This could mean a boost to their power, having more energy, feeling more inspired with creativity, having better luck on different attempts -- the boost can manifest in all sorts of different ways. By contrast, anyone with an affinity for Water will be experiencing the opposite. Perhaps their powers will be weaker, they have less energy, they're having a creative block or general worse luck - again it can manifest in all sorts of way and players are free to play with this mechanic as they'd like.
The original OOC plotting post for this event can be found here. There will be a midmonth Zodiac post on the 15th. If you wish to have your character in this event, you MUST SIGN UP by October 6th.
Characters NOT involved in this plot ARE allowed to comment as hallucinations that the characters on the ship are seeing. However, these hallucinations are hallucinations ONLY. They cannot relay any information the hallucinating character doesn't already know, and the real version of the hallucinated character will have know memory of being a hallucination.
Vash the Stampede -| Trigun Maximum|- OTA
Day One
[ for some, waking up in a spaceship drifting among the stars would be a horrifying concept. And certainly, Vash the Stampede recognises the danger of the unknown reason to why this is where they were--after a moment to check to make sure he hadn't somehow ended up back on No Man's Land--but. Truth be Told? Landing in the middle of a space ship was one of the least scary things for this man.
Once he recognised the sensation of being in space, there's even a twinge of excitement that runs through him as he quickly makes his way through the ship alongside those who'd been spirited away alongside him. Be them new friend or old, he's got a smile on his face and for now, he's entirely unconcerned. ]
If we can find the control room, maybe I can figure out how to fly this thing. I'm not unused to space travel. Touching down on a planet that's suitable for human life would be the best bet--the crew might be in stasis somewhere.
I grew up on a ship like this.
During long travels, the humans would all be in cryostasis while we tried to find a suitable planet to inhabit. The fact that the ship is empty save for us... we just have to find them.
no subject
[Robin looks at the newcomer; she doesn't recognize him, save for whatever Zodiac has shown her. But everyone that she's met in Kaisou so far have been good people, and she has no reason to suspect otherwise for Vash.]
That's relieving to hear.
In my past life, I also lived among the stars. But nothing like this; I'm afraid I won't be terribly useful here.
no subject
Were you just a passenger on the ship you lived on, rather than one of the engineers? That's okay--I think you have ways of being plenty useful even if you don't know how to fly a ship.
I work with someone who doesn't know how to use a stove and he's great.
no subject
For right now though, Noah offers a small smile, looking a little anxious all the same when things are explained.]
Do you really think there's other people here? Besides us? [...wait, that sounds kind of rude, actually. He pauses, biting his lip for a moment.] Ah, I'm sorry, I- I know I spent part of my past life in space, but I couldn't tell you anything about it whatsoever.
[Space is not so great when you don't have very many memories about it, whoops.]
no subject
[ if there was something wrong with this ship, they should have departed ages ago. And yet... ]
Usually if you abandon a ship, it's because something has gone wrong on it and it's decommissioned. Which usually means it's put out of flight. And yet, it's just idling out here. With all its systems still on and mostly functioning.
[ it's... wrong. ]
--Oh! Are you... remembering a past life? I have a few friends like that, too.
no subject
[The door was locked tight, the gears were rusted shut, with no way to that ship whatsoever. In some ways, it was distressing- as if being told forcibly by something that they were not being allowed off the ship at all.
Noah crosses his arms uncomfortably, shifting one foot to another.]
Someone told me the planet out there is Neptune- that's... I don't want to say impossible, because I'm finding what I thought wasn't possible before actually can be possible. But I don't know how I could suddenly arrive here, with no warning. Or any of us, really.
[He's never been in a situation like this before.]
Have you visited the Core, yet?
[At the question, though, he pauses, then nods.]
Yes. I lived on a planet called Penacony in my past life. I know at some point I left, but I have no idea as to why.
no subject
[ he's not entirely sure how he feels about EITHER option, truth be told. the makings of a frown starting to appear on his face. ]
Neptune, huh. That's a pretty far distance from Earth. It'd take ages to get between here and there...
[ how could a ship be all the way out here? maybe that's why it was empty--its so far from earth they couldnt possibly hope to make it back in their lifetimes--did all the people on board die...? ]
I haven't visited the core. I don't really understand technology like that, from what's been described. I'm better with computers and the machinery--that sort of thing...
[ ...hm. ]
Seems weird. Something organic in the middle of the ship like that feels... wrong. I don't know how to describe it, but it feels wrong. Like it's out of place even in reality? If that makes sense.
It probably doesn't I'm so sorry.
no subject
[There's no other explanation he can really make work at this point.
But when he hears Vash speak about the core being unnatural, almost organic, he blinks- and immediately responds.]
No, it uh... actually does. For me, at least. [There's a frown at this as he thinks, not upset at Vash, but more frustrated at the situation.] Anytime I get close, I get a headache. Usually I'd just associate it with being not used to space, but... something keeps telling me it's wrong.
[Noah offers a sort of half-hearted gesture. He's not quite sure what else to say.]
no subject
But Sunday understands and Vash is weirdly over the moon about it.
Even if the situation is shit. ]
I'm not used to space anymore either, but there's something about that thing that screams 'wrong'. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels it...
[ he gives a small breathless laugh. ]
I think staying far, far away from it is the best and only choice.
Usually, ships that go through a crisis like this have a... black box, a 'final message' from the attendants last in the cockpit.
It's missing, or hidden in code.
But it has to be somewhere. Someone must have hidden it, or messed with it.
Which makes this situation even more dangerous.
(no subject)
Day Two
a.
[ ...and this was the day where everything goes wrong. Vash will absolutely not be touching that gate. He might not be a holy man despite his standing as the Default 'High Priest of Spring' due to accidentally spreading Persephone's power all over Kaisou --but there's something deep in his DNA that tells him whatever is inside that portal is wrong.
It reminds him of a 'gate'. A portal to something else, where Plants accessed an infinite, but cursed power that would drain their life force in order to create matter. Whatever was beyond that rift...
It was wrong. And needed to stay on the other side of that liquid surface.
So while Vash, normally looking Chipper and delighted to be on a spaceship--doesn't look so upbeat today. Rather, he's going to be doing his best to get people away from that gate. Either by force, or Forcefully.
He keeps seeing something at the edges of his vision; a little girl whose body isn't whole, a floating eye, fingers in a jar...
telling him to get away from humans at all costs. ]
Don't touch it. Don't go near it. Nothing good can come from crossing that barrier.
We need to be anywhere else on the ship but here.
b.
[ whether he managed to get people away from that gate or not, he still has work to do. Fortunately, he only needs to sleep for two hours at a time, so Vash is doing his best to do what he can in the ship--trying to find a way to fix this one to make it flight-worthy, decoding the video left behind by the previous crew. It was badly damaged, but the technology on this ship wasn't as advanced as the one he was used to. If he kept working....
he'd manage to work through it and maybe get some information.
Using his plant growth ability, he's managed to create some food that isn't freeze-dried rations, the table he's decoding is covered in fresh strawberries and peaches, but
He doesn't look like he has much of an appetite. If you're hungry, he'll offer them to you. ]
Have you seen Wolfwood around? He went for a walk to clear his head since I told him he shouldn't smoke inside a space ship. But it's been hours since he's been back...
A
He turns his head slowly as he hears Vash talking to him. He stares, blankly for a moment, before turning back to the Gate.]
Don't tell me what to fuckin' do. I got people over there.
[He was reborn into this world, free from Hell. Maybe they could be, too...]
They could come out.
no subject
Which gives you one of two ideas here. One, the previous crew were killed and dragged into that thing with no way of coming back--or they tried to go in there and came back wrong.
Why the hell are you gonna risk your life for a 'could' or 'maybe?!'
no subject
[He raises his shoulders in a shrug, before starting towards the Gate.]
I can come back from pretty much fuckin' anything so, yeah? Actually. I am.
no subject
Because if you're dealing with anything like I am, you're hearing voices that aren't actually there.
You can't be stupid enough to think they're actually there, right?
[ says the man who still has the ghost of Nicholas D. Wolfwood following him, all while the man is smiling with his throat torn out. ]
You might be able to come back.
But not everyone can.
I won't let you risk their lives for your selfishness.
no subject
Go fuck yourself, I hear them just fuckin' fine. Don't tell me what I can and can't hear, you fuckin' Asshat.
[Husk flips the (obviously crazy) guy off, continuing towards the Gate.]
Don't care. And I'd love to see you fuckin' try.
cw: gun violence
Don't make me do it again.
[ There's a sound in his voice as he stares, and Husk's appearance... shifts.
Tall, clothed in white, bright blue hair...
He feels cold, and his hand moves to touch the gun at his side. ]
If I have to stop you by force. I will.
I won't let you hurt anyone. Not ever again.
cw: gun violence
cw; descriptions of murder, gun violence
cw; descriptions of murder, gun violence, gun death
(no subject)
Day Three
a.
[ Wolfwood was dead. He still doesn't fully understand what happened. Why Wolfwood didn't defend himself. Why the people who'd been around him in the moment decided taking his life was the only choice.
Why, once again, He'd not been there to protect the one person he'd sworn to never let die in his arms again.
And yet here he is. Curled up in one of the dark and bloodstained hallways of the ship with Wolfwood's body--wrapped in a bedsheet and idle next to him. Lamenting in his head over and over and over
that he'd let it happen
he'd let it happen again
he'd let it happen again and he'd done nothing to save the man.
this time he wasn't even there to Try, let alone manage to stop it.
What was he going to do. What was he going to tell Dante? Kni wasn't anywhere to be seen, either. He's sure the other can hear the cacophany that's his spirit right now, the music shared between them a baneful howl of pain as he tries to keep it together. Tries to.... ignore the words being whispered to him. He can't tell if they're real or...
Approach Vash as he is now, and you might get a gun pulled on you.
He doesn't look like himself, right now. ]
b,
{ Closed to Those who fate's decided he's destined to hurt. }
[ be it the voices in his head or the flashes of people who he can't tell if they're truly there--or a regression of his mind back to a time when he feared humans, even hated them for the things they did to Plants like him--Vash has gone from being the friendliest person you've ever met to something deeply, darkly dangerous.
He stalks the hall like a spectre of his former self, those round glasses hiding the eyes of a man who's slowly losing his grip on the world he'd once loved. Everything's wrong. There's no way off this ship. Everyone's killing everyone--the smell of blood is cloying and permanent in his nose, mouth, tasting like pennies that'd been in someone's pocket for too long.
His gun hasn't left his hand for some time yet, and... well.
be it that he comes face-to-face with your character via his quiet wanderings or he flies through the halls due to the sound of a clash, well...
It isn't long before the long barrel of his gun is pointing in the direction of those he suddenly can't trust. ]
...Walk away. Get out of here, and get away from the others. I can't--I can't trust any of you humans anymore. All you do is kill each other. Hurt each other out of fear, out of selfishness. All you do is... lie and smile about it.
Day 3; cw: evil hallucination Wolfwood. probably gore, violence, character death, manipulation.
because
he's dead.
he's dead, he's gone; the smell of cigarette smoke is gone and replaced by the tacky, cloying scent of iron as Wolfwood crumples in on himself, sitting vigil in silence next to Vash as neither of them appears to be in a hurry to start saying something.
... but Wolfwood's always been the one who's been less comfortable with quiet around other people. so maybe it's not that strange when he sits back with a soft sigh, straightening up from where he's been slumped, asleep at the wheel--and then shifts so that his veiled head comes to rest on Vash's shoulder, white-obscured face yet a mystery. ]
This again, hey, Spikey?
no subject
he won't have to see it.
If he just sits still...
it doesn't exist.
He's been hearing it, ever since Wolfwood died. That raspy, quiet voice that's forced up through torn and broken vocal cords. A ghost of the man haunting him, long after his body has already gone cold.
He's trying to think. He's trying to--figure out where to go from here. if there was anywhere to go from here.
Could he ... even face anyone anymore?
and then the cold body of wolfwood TOUCHES him.
And he's forced to look. Forced to hear.
he stares with wide, terrified eyes at the corpse of his loved one. As if trying to force the thing to stop talking with the strength of his mind alone. ]
...It.
It wasn't my fault.
It happened too fast.
cw; gore
'course, if you'd gotten your finger on the trigger just a smidge faster, maybe we wouldn't be in this situation right now.
We have got to stop meeting like this.
[ there's a joviality in that rasp as Wolfwood laughs through his ruined through, the white bedsheet-clad man wiggling a little, as if he expects Vash to unwrap him... and when the man doesn't, he gives a long suffering sigh and starts to do it himself. he writhes, slow and sinuous, flopping himself into Vash's lap--and it's like they're back home, Vash settled beneath a tree with Wolfwood stretched across his lap, looking up at him with a strangely soft contentment--
but there's no contentment here. there's a white sheet and Wolfwood thrashing as if he's been chained until finally one of his arms slips free, his fingers ashen and sallow in comparison to the usual hue of him skin. there's a rust-red sheen almost dyed on his digits, slicked up his palm, and he uses his newfound hand to unwrap his face just a little so he can peek up at Vash like it's the crack of dawn and they've both grumbled awake in the first filter of the light.
his pretty little silver ring is stained brown and black, gore tucked in next to the stone and hiding in the crevices. ]
Heya, handsome. [ he smiles with brown-stained teeth and lets more of the sheet fall away, revealing the ruinous, darkening hole that makes up his throat these days as he peels himself from the sheet like a caterpillar escaping a gore-filled cocoon, Wolfwood pushing up on his knees to swing a leg over Vash's lap so that he's sat up, flirtatious and coy with his own lifeblood soaked down his front, tacky fingers sliding around the back of Vash's neck to pull their foreheads closer. ]
It's almost like you don't like me or somethin', needlenoggin.
no subject
I didn't see Ragna until it was too late, I. [ did he even have a second to draw his gun? He certainly drew it after Wolfwood was cut down. Shooting the entire chamber empty and even clicking the trigger a few extra times when it'd exhausted its chambers.
he's wearing Wolfwood's glasses. His own were tucked away somewhere inside his hoodie, pressed together and forgotten as he decides to look at the world through Wolfwood's dull grey instead of his own usual bright orange.
and yet, when the man unwraps himself from the sheets Vash had carefully tied him in. and he's forced to look at Nicholas' bare, bloodied, and torn up face again. That hole in his throat creating the rasp. The smell of pennies filling his nose again and
he decides to stop breathing. He doesn't need as much oxygen--if any--like humans do. If it means he can stop picking up the scent of blood, well.
He's still trying not to look at the other. And he can feel tears streaking down his face as Wolfwood lies in his lap. A perverse, wrong mirror of better days, on the farm.
Days he may never see again, because this was a living nightmare.
Wolfwood was dead. Again. ]
That's not true.
I like you plenty.
I like you so much, that the world feels dead and grey without you in it.
[ their foreheads touch. Tears drip from his eyes, pooling down his cheeks and leaving rivulets of salty water that clean away some of the blood on Wolfwood's face. ]
Why does this keep happening.
cw; character death, gore
Which leaves suckers like me to pick up the slack. Every. Goddamn. Time.
[ and for a moment, Legato Bluesummers sprawls across Vash the Stampede's lap, the top of his head blown cleanly open and slow drip-drip-dripping down across his leg, the black in his golden eyes honed down to pinprick points as the life bleeds out of him--and then it's just Wolfwood again and his newly renovated throat, gaping and red. he drags himself up so that he's sitting nose to nose with Vash, ruby red still trickling down his chest, soaking the collar of his shirt, tracing the lines of his chest. ]
Maybe some guys are just doomed by the narrative. That'd be my luck, don't you think? That no matter what I do--who I hurt, who I save, who I push away, who I bring in, who I fall to my knees for--no matter what I do, I end up 6 feet down if I'm lucky.
[ he runs his blood-stained hands through Vash's hair, cupping his cheeks, drawing him up so they're nose to nose--his eyes are dead and gray, clouded over with a pale film of rot. ]
So what are you gonna do about it this time, baby? Am I just goin' in the meat grinder as usual, to be ground down to my last scrap of worth an' use until you find the next one?
[ Wolfwood is not Wolfwood--not as Wolfwood usually wears himself. he's bigger now, broader, his fringe heavier and hanging just a little lower to his eyes as he licks his lips--throat wholly pristine, but chest rising and falling at a rapid clip. like he can't get air, like his lungs are breaking down in his chest, and the only thing he has to show for it is dark blood staining down the corners of his mouth. ]
You gonna run 'til you can't again, Spikey?
no subject
His eyes are gazing woefully down at his ghost of a wife in his lap and
one moment it's him and the next it's the dead fish eyes of Legato Bluesummers, and every fiber of his being is suddenly on high, terrible alert.
He's got pocketfuls of bullets and a gun always at his side. He'd had to kill that man before in order to...
He blinks. Hard. Tears stinging in his eyes as Legato fades and Wolfwood returns. A gasp like relief, while still straddled with the horror that this is
Not Real
Not Happening
And yet, he can feel the warm blood, feel wolfwood's pallid breath on his cheeks.
Stinging tears become rivers as they once again pour down his face as he reaches to touch Wolfwood's cheek.
....Wolfwood
Wolfwood, Wolfwood, The one he knows, the one he's most familiar with. The change is subtle but it's something the detail-focused eyes of a Plant won't ever miss.
Kaisou's Wolfwood just became HIS Wolfwood and he's shaking all over again. ]
I can't run anymore. [ he whispers, gently, desperately as his hands move to grip hard against the blood-soaked collar of Wolfwood's shirt. ] I... I can't.
I need to get out of here alive.
I need to get Kni out of here, alive.
...I can't. Run. I won't run. Even if it means...
[ his free hand touches the holster at his side. He gasps out another quiet sob. ]
If it's to protect.
It's okay. Right?
If it's to keep people safe.
I won't become a monster, will I?
(no subject)
cw; somewhat suicidal ideation
Day Four
[ to be updated once things draw to a close. ]