team rocket 004

Hollyhock BastardYesterday at 7:20 PM
//Book 1, Chapter 4
Akane digs and digs and digs through the rich, moist earth of the fields, until, at one point... she isn't. The dirt is dry and dusty, and she finds herself digging upwards and then-

She breaks through.
The air is still, but not stale. Around her are all sorts of mausoleums  and graves and grave goods.
It is not dark, per se, in this place, but there is not a true light here either. There is a lightness that suffuses the dark, but things also glow dimly with a themness, of being themselves

just weponYesterday at 7:25 PM
She coughs and spits the dirt from her now-human mouth as she clambers from the hole. She takes a moment to lie there, panting, before she sits up and takes a good look at the place.
Akane frowns and shivers. This place...
She gets quickly to her feet and shakes the dirt out of her cloak before retying it around her neck. Thus prepared, she starts walking, reaching a hand underneath her shirt to draw out the dagger in her belt.

Hollyhock BastardYesterday at 7:33 PM
As she walks, the basic layout of this place becomes more clear: there is a great central road going in either direction through the tombs, with a gradual curve to it; off the road run countless byways between the graves and deathly architecture.  Sometimes, when she gets too close to a grave, small candles come to life, only to extinguish just as fast as when she backs away
This place is quiet, but sometimes she hears a note of music in the distance, drifting through the air. This place is dark, but somewhere ahead, she thinks she sees a lantern or a fire in the forest of graves

just weponYesterday at 7:38 PM
She starts and growls at the first flickering candles, glancing around wildly. When nothing jumps out of the darkness at her, she moves on, nerves jangling.
She walks faster and faster as the seconds slip past and gloom weighs down on her - where is Severin? Where could he possibly be? - until she find herself running. If she can just catch up to that light...

Hollyhock BastardYesterday at 7:45 PM
The stray notes become a hum become a melody; the lights become a flickering become a fire; and Akane runs into a clearing amongst the tombs.

It is a fenced in burial plot, and in the center is a burning bonfire; around it dance discarded toys and half-remembered shapes of friends from childhood. Next to the fire, a knight wearing armor of faded and ruined photographs digs, digs, digs into the dry earth.

Around this whole revel, their shadows cast a great, undulating shape upon the walls of the surrounding mausoleums.

just weponYesterday at 7:50 PM
Akane freezes. She almost bolts. But instead, she tucks her knife back into her belt; she takes a deep breath to steady her nerves; and she places a trembling hand on the fence gate.
After a long moment, she slowly pushes it open, watching the...creatures for the first sign of danger.

Hollyhock BastardYesterday at 7:51 PM
One or two of the dancers may glance at her, but they don't pay her much heed. They've music to make, a dance to dance, the dead to raise.

just weponYesterday at 7:53 PM
That's a relief, at least.
She steps in and prowls along the outside of the circle. Severin's not hiding somewhere here, is he?

Hollyhock BastardYesterday at 7:56 PM
It's strange... he's... he's here, but it's not him that's here.

There's something familiar about the smell of this place.

Something fresh.

just weponYesterday at 7:59 PM
Akane's lips draw back in a silent snarl. She doesn't like this at all.
She reaches out to grab the shoulder of one of the revelers.
:akane: "Hey. What's this place? What are you doing?"

Hollyhock BastardYesterday at 8:06 PM
The worn teddy bear turns its threadbare head, a blue button eye dangling from a long black thread. They look you up and down with a hint of confusion, but then break into what you are fairly sure is a smile- stuffed faces are not as expressive as one may suspect.
"We're in the Homesick Ward!  Is this your first time to the city?"
They will try and take you by the hands and bring you into the dance.
"We're celebrating, because another one of our kin is being raised! The master of this place, he throws great revels and wakes us from our sleep to join him!"

just weponYesterday at 8:08 PM
Akane shakes off their paws and takes a step back.
:akane: "And who's the master?" Her voice goes a few degrees colder. She shrugs her cloak higher on her shoulders.
[ :orange: adventure GET! +1 xp]

Hollyhock BastardYesterday at 8:14 PM
At her question, the tombs shake with laughter
:bust_in_silhouette: "Oh, little wolf"
The shadows around the revel quicken; resolve. Where once there was an undulating mass, here there is a coil, there there are scales.  Where once there was a round window overlooking the proceedings, a light ignites and there is an eye. On the roof, a jumble of crosses and masonry resolves and you may see a crown.
:snake: "I am the master of this place; I who conquered death; I who am larger than the world."
:snake: "Atrumarkinos, the Truth of the Heart and the Serpent Who Knew Not Death"
:snake: "What brings you to my revels? Have you learned to let go of pitiable boys?"

just weponYesterday at 8:17 PM
Akane whirls, and in an instant she is a wolf again, teeth bared and fur bristling.
:akane: "Where's Severin?"

Hollyhock BastardYesterday at 8:23 PM
:snake: "Severin? Ah, yes, I suppose it clings at that name."
He seems rather bored with the general concept of Severin right now.
The window-eye rolls
:snake: "Haunting its tomb no doubt, or maybe burying more of the dead."
Several of the dolls and half-memories spit on the ground at this.
:snake: "Forget that thing. It is not worth your time and will only bring you sorrow.  Lies always do, you know."

just weponYesterday at 8:27 PM
:akane: "Severin's not-!"
She snaps her jaws shut before she can get distracted. Whatever the hell this giant snake is, arguing with him is besides the point right now. Severin's in trouble.
:akane: "Where's his tomb?"

Hollyhock BastardYesterday at 8:34 PM
:snake: "It built this place, you know. One by one, it buried everything here with its own two hands."
As Atrumarkinos speaks, a distant and taller spire and window ignite, and his size grows, and this happens again, and again, and again.
:snake: "It built this place on it's lies, desperate to make itself true.  A hungry ghost."
The darkness parts, and the moon that is his eye becomes unveiled; his dark coils filling the heavens, his voice like thunder disturbing the silence of the grave.
:snake: "It's in the first tomb. The heart of the city, the last grave I shall liberate from death and the first ghost I shall cast into the endless dark."
He is but the shadows around the revel again
:snake: "Leave us, until you grow wiser and learn to let go of your ghosts, little wolf."

just weponYesterday at 8:40 PM
She doesn't need to be told twice. Akane bolts out of the burial plot, leaving Atrumarkinos and the macabre  celebration behind.
This snake, these remnants, that tomb...what the hell is this place? What's Severin caught up in?
Is this something she can handle?
She leaves the question behind behind her as she races for the center, claws clattering on stone. First things first. She's going to get them both out of here.
[ :red: foreshadowing: Atrumarkinos]

Hollyhock BastardYesterday at 8:41 PM
//scene

Severin [SELF-POSSESSED]Yesterday at 8:49 PM
The heart of the city is enclosed in a large dome, with its only entrance being a cavernous hall that is whittled smaller and smaller yet as it makes its way to him. To Severin's tomb... the only one empty, after all this time.

He's surrounded by paper, now, and let more light in from the top; what looks like schema and diagrams was, on closer inspection, sheet music.

Severin was in a throw of inspiration, hurriedly chasing his thoughts on the paper before they left him. Shaking, he raised his hand from the page, then crashed it down again, scribbling furiously over what he'd made.

:severin: "No, no... What am I thinking!"

He crumpled it up, tossed it... a little too deliberatively at the single lit brazier in the corner. It teetered on the edge, singed for a moment, and fell to the ground. Severin exhaled, and splayed himself out on the smooth tombstone he was working on.

just weponYesterday at 8:56 PM
While he's splayed there, he might hear the sound of something running at high speed down the paths between the graves. But he'll only have a moment to react before a large beast bursts into the room.
His papers go everywhere. Severin finds himself suddenly crushed under a furred weight.
:akane: "Severin! Severin!"

Severin [SELF-POSSESSED]Yesterday at 8:58 PM
:severin: "Wh-"

All air leaves his lungs as Akane pummeled him against the lid. He took a moment, then turned, clutching his now bruised chest.

:severin: "W... Akane? How did you... get here?"
He shook his head.
:severin: "No, really, how did you get here? That's, like --" He throws up his hands. "Impossible!"

just weponYesterday at 9:02 PM
Akane ignores his questions for now to investigate his body for injuries, sniffing for blood.
:akane: "Severin! Are you okay! Are you hurt! Did you hurt yourself!"

Severin [SELF-POSSESSED]Yesterday at 9:03 PM
:severin: "N... No? Akane, I..." He looks a little sheepish. "I've just been here working since I left you."
:severin: Quietly, "... Do you have to do this as a wolf?"

just weponYesterday at 9:10 PM
She stops abruptly, then sits back on her haunches - legs - as her skin unravels yet again, leaving a girl vibrating with some kind of emotional stew.
:akane: "You asshole! You..." She lowers her hair over her eyes. "You can't just run away like that!"

Severin [SELF-POSSESSED]Yesterday at 9:12 PM
:severin: Severin quickly turned away also. "I'm sorry. I... I didn't mean to hurt you."
His weary eyes looked back at her.
:severin: "Digging things up like that... only hurts."

just weponYesterday at 9:14 PM
She stays like that for a moment, head bowed, and then leans forward to gently press her head against Severin's shoulder.

Severin [SELF-POSSESSED]Yesterday at 9:15 PM
Severin instantly freezes up, his head frantically turning away to find something else to focus on.

just weponYesterday at 9:18 PM
:akane: "You can't just say dumb shit about dying and run away." She raises her head and gives his shoulder a push instead. She looks angry, but her eyes are wet.

Severin [SELF-POSSESSED]Yesterday at 9:19 PM
:severin: He only shrank away a little. "I'm sorry. It's not dying, though. Here."
He pulled together a bunch of the sheets he was writing on, pointing to the one on top.

:severin: "This is what I mean."

just weponYesterday at 9:20 PM
She takes the sheets and stares at them blankly.

Severin [SELF-POSSESSED]Yesterday at 9:23 PM
:severin: "I was made to... to settle the dead. In ways no simple person can do. This... world.... is where things can just be forgotten. Physically or... I don't know. Emotionally. When you settle one thing, you make room for something new."

:severin: "I hope." He picks up the sheet titled, 'Severin.'

just weponYesterday at 9:25 PM
:akane: "You're...writing a song about yourself?" She studies the sheet music for a moment, then suddenly looks up.
:akane: "Hey! What about the snake?"

Severin [SELF-POSSESSED]Yesterday at 9:27 PM
:severin: "It's a song that will lay me to rest." He looks at her. "Figuratively."
:severin: He shuddered. "So.. you met him. I think it's better to just stay away from him... I really can't stand him at all."

just weponYesterday at 9:30 PM
:akane: "What is he? He said he's the master of this place? He said..." She looks away. "Why the hell is there a giant snake shadow?"

Severin [SELF-POSSESSED]Yesterday at 9:31 PM
:severin: He.. shrugged. "He hates me, and he likes to ruin what I've done here, but I can't really do anything about it."
:severin: "Yet."

just weponYesterday at 9:33 PM
She steels her jaw.
:akane: "Yet." The way she says it, it's a promise.
She looks back down at the sheet in her hands. She's never learned music, but there's gotta be something here she can understand...

Severin [SELF-POSSESSED]Yesterday at 9:33 PM
:severin: "Do you.. like violin?"

just weponYesterday at 9:34 PM
:akane: "Yeah. I mean, I don't know much about music, but..." She shrugs.
:akane: "Are you going to...play this sometime?"

Severin [SELF-POSSESSED]Yesterday at 9:35 PM
:severin: He shrugs. "Maybe. I don't know what will work."
:severin: "I need to..." He waves his fingers around. "Change, for whatever that word means, and, well..."
:severin: "I was made to put something.. to an end. To settle it. Can't I do that to myself? End who I am, and start something new?"

just weponYesterday at 9:37 PM
:akane: "What part of you do you need to...end?"
She huddles up under her cloak. This conversation makes her nervous, but Severin did say he meant figuratively...

Severin [SELF-POSSESSED]Yesterday at 9:38 PM
:severin: "I think, ideally, it means I become forgotten..." He trails off. "And I am free to... become known again, differently."
:severin: "Forgotten in the sense of... dropping something into a river. Watching it go away. Or burning a candle and watching it melt completely."

just weponYesterday at 9:45 PM
She frowns, and gently raises a hand to place it on top of Severin's head.
:akane: "That's...I don't get it. I don't get what's wrong with who you are now. Melting completely...I don't get that!"
:akane: "Do you mean me, too? You want me to forget you?"

Severin [SELF-POSSESSED]Yesterday at 9:48 PM
:severin: "I'm.." He looks embarrassed. "Whatever. It's not super important anyway."

just weponYesterday at 9:48 PM
:akane:
She gives him a look of complete disbelief.
:akane: "Did you really just say that."

Hollyhock BastardYesterday at 9:51 PM
If she looks at the music sheet again, she'll see the title is gone, or rather, wasn't there

just weponYesterday at 9:59 PM
She glances away in frustration, and her gaze lands on the sheets in her other hand. That...
For a moment the world swirls around her. What...
Her grip tightens on the papers as she takes a shaky breath. Focus. Focus. What did she just say.
:akane: "Severin...your music..."
(Surface Wound - Bond: I won't forget Severin! [1])

Severin [SELF-POSSESSED]Yesterday at 10:01 PM
:severin: "What?"

just weponYesterday at 10:02 PM
She holds the sheet out to him.

Severin [SELF-POSSESSED]Yesterday at 10:02 PM
:severin: Severin goes quiet. "Hm.."
:severin: "My name is gone...."
:severin: "I do this sometimes... " He holds it curiously, but offers no other explanation.

just weponYesterday at 10:06 PM
The hand on his head slides down to grip his shoulder.
:akane: "What's. That. Supposed. To mean."

Severin [SELF-POSSESSED]Yesterday at 10:06 PM
:severin: "Nothing much. It happens, okay? It's normal."
:severin: "I wanted to.. ask you something."

just weponYesterday at 10:06 PM
There is, perhaps, a slight tremble in her voice.
:akane:
:akane: "That's..."
:akane: "Alright. Fine. What's the question."

Severin [SELF-POSSESSED]Yesterday at 10:08 PM
:severin: "How do you feel about learning exorcism? You know... helping me here. With all the ghosts."

just weponYesterday at 10:13 PM
She gapes at him for a moment, then grabs both his shoulders.
:akane: "Severin. Of course I'm gonna help you!"
:akane: "I've been trying to help you, what do you think I've been doing?"
:akane: "Whatever the hell's up with this place, we can figure it out! You can count on me!"
[ :purple: basic quest +1]

Severin [SELF-POSSESSED]Yesterday at 10:14 PM
Severin blinked and... beyond himself, smiled.
:severin: "Alright. Thank you, Akane."
[ :green: SELF-POSSESSED ]

just weponYesterday at 10:18 PM
She grins back genuinely.
:akane: "Yeah, of course!"
But she looks down at the sheets in Severin's hands, and for a moment her grin flickers.
:severin: "I think, ideally, it means I become forgotten..."
She shakes her head. No, it's fine. It'll be fine. They're gonna figure this out. She can do this.
It's fine.
[ :red: Foreshadowing: Severin's lost name]

Hollyhock BastardYesterday at 10:22 PM
//End chapter 4
[Akane take +1 Over Your Head]
[2 xp in the pot, each of you gain 1 xp]