deercountry | (no subject)

[very useful to have a middleschooler point you towards the weirdo shit, it's true. mob follows, agreeing that the voices are probably more a symptom than the sickness itself, something like that.

probably. investigation is really not his forte but hey, he wants to try.]

I don't think it's alive. [that much he can say at least. a beat more and he concludes,] I guess it feels like something that shouldn't be there. That's the feeling I get.

Do you want to feel it? [he admits, he kind of likes being able to offer that now. sharing power like this, maybe more sharing his perception, feels a little like being understood where he wasn't before.

and it's mostly because of robby he's realized it at all, so thank you again robby.]

[ ...does Robby want to feel the creepy foreboding feeling in the air? Not particularly, but if Mob is-- ]

Yeah, sure. Time to learn what bad vibes actually mean.

[ And maybe it'll help? It'll help to understand what Mob means, anyway, even if Robby can't come to any thought or conclusion. He's beginning to wonder if it'll lead him to see the city in another sense.

Like, how utterly ignorant to how bad everything really feels around them. ]

[oh yes, time for delicious absolutely rancid vibes.

it's the same as always, mob lifting a finger in robby's direction and a refreshing warmth before- well, said rancid vibes. probably even more horrid with the frustration of being thoroughly ignored right now for this anime bullshit.

and, in the distance, something that probably feels like a tear where the odd door in the church stands.

mob has an understandably skewed view of things so he doesn't really process that this might be a lot to drop on someone. so just a glance over, like weird feeling huh?] Whatever we're going towards feels different. I'm not sure if it's dangerous, really.

[ Good, Robby is glad to piss off a piece of shit ghost!!

Not that he's particularly focused on their ghost friend so much as he is...well, the entirety of the vibes. A different level from normal-level vibes: this feels bad. Where negativity could almost be made palpable, and Robby stops just so he can take it in, wrap his head around it.

Mob's talking, and Robby hears him, if distracted; giving him a 'Yeah' half-heartedly, but after a moment looking at him. ]

...The world just feels like this to you?

[ Well, maybe not always like this, but... ]

[eat shit, ghost bullies. mob stops as robby does, regarding him curiously. maybe he's taking a moment to feel everything out? who knew maybe someone would need a second here, huh.

the question gets a tilt of his head.] The Trench doesn't feel like this. The spirits there are more scared than hateful. [a beat as he considers and finally realizes.] Is it that different from what you're used to?

[ He has an answer ready, though it's dumb, but when a second doesn't give him a better one-- ]

Yeah? [ How to describe it... Robby frowns as he thinks about it, what exactly this feels like. ]

You sometimes know how I'm feeling when you give me energy, right? [ ...he's not wanted to really talk about that, but!! ] It feels like that, but not as in my head? Like you know where something is just 'cause you can feel it, but you don't see it.

[ Is he just describing Mob's every day here. ]

That's not normal. [ A beat. ] For me.

[hey, short and sweet answer at first, fair enough. the explanation gives him a moment to process before he finds himself nodding easily enough.]

That sounds really quiet. [kind of spookily quiet, if he's honest, but he's also gotten used to the general noise of spiritual life around him.] I guess that is what it's like though. I never thought of it like that.

I think I get it better now, why people are so scared of spirits. They're in places that are supposed to be quiet and safe. [that actually does settle some odd, old confusions he had about all that.]

It'd be a lot different if someone was moving stuff around and you couldn't see them. [ For Mob, Robby figures. ] I'm pretty sure some people just like to be scared, though.

[ Considering how few ghost shows seem to be real... people are Just Into That.

But ah, look, they're approaching the church with enough visibility now that Robby can see it in the distance, a slight squint as he takes it in. ]

Hey--that looks like a church. ... Okay, [ okay, ] how spooky are things gonna get at a church?

[ Mob, you're the expert here. Nevermind we were just talking about how different our expectations of what spooky is, are.

Churches have to be spooky!! ]

Yeah, some people just don't like things they don't understand too. [ain't that the truth.

and there it is, in all its dramatic bloodstone windowed glory. a serious, important question robby poses, one that has mob putting his hand to his chin as he considers the many spooky angles.

verdict:] Pretty spooky.

[is that helpful.

to be fair even getting a little closer and the weird wriggling lights inside by the back of the church where the cursed door is might show in some of the windows. when they do get close enough mob will stop just to regard the church itself a moment.] I wonder who they worshiped here.

[even he realizes spooky bloodborne shit is probably not full of catholics or something.]

[ Pretty spooky. That gets a scoff out of Robby.

Which is the last decently-humoured he might be for a while.

Because a church looks like a church from a distance, but a church up close...still looks like a church. But features start to come into place, and structures can have similarities if one's familiar with their design.

Is it the feeling coming off from the place doing this? Or a real memory, the reddened sky and rumbling of thunder in the clouds above, the sermons taking place loudly and the ringing in one's ears from the constant activity.

Robby's stopped too, standing with a foot slowly withdrawing back. ]

Mob... [ He swallows, tearing his eyes away from the building. ] ...There's no one in there?

[ 'You're sure?' ]

[mob glances over, at least able to note robby seemed more nervous than before. it makes him take the question more seriously, actually pushes his power out to try and sense what he can within the church itself.

it feels... it's hard to put to words. bad, definitely. but:] I don't sense anyone inside. Just something weird, but I don't know what it is.

Should I go in first? [a way he can have robby's back against whatever nerves were going on.]

No. [ His answer is sharp, quick. He can't let Mob go in first, what if something's in there? (bodies, a bloodied mess; he can't let him see that, Robby doesn't want to see that, but--) ]

Wait out here. [ He's not asking, hurrying forward before Mob might suddenly be compelled to get some speed in him and want to go in (or, you know, get the idea that he doesn't want to, and go on ahead). Breathe, he's telling himself, refusing his mind the chance to think, approaching the double doors with hands that don't want to touch the wood they're made from. He hears no chanting inside (that's good), but it doesn't make him feel any less sink to his stomach to pull on the handle and open the door with a whining creak.

He leaves it ajar, stepping in just enough to see inside from the entrance, and...there's no one there. There's nothing like he was worried about, the church basking in a wash of multicolours from the gem-stained windows, but nothing else.

Nothing except that apprehensive feeling, somewhere deeper in.

... will Mob want to go in? ]

[that has mob freezing, watching in confusion as robby went ahead. something was clearly wrong but he can't sense anything other than the obvious, the place as it's always been. then... was it something about the church itself? to robby personally?

he trusts robby so he's willing to stay put, but- he doesn't want to. he's worried. his powers itch to creep out and follow robby, power him again to keep him safe, but he keeps them under a tight lid.

he will take a few steps forward, far closer to the door but only on the bottom steps, calling out hesitantly,] ... Robby?

[with the door open the feeling of some pulsing trouble is stronger, a bit like a headache. he's far more concerned with robby right now though.] Is it safe?

[ He doesn't want to go in.

Even with the necklace that burns against his skin granting bravery and compassion, he can't--not when he remembers the crowding of religious figures around him and the fishing folk, the man crying out before they put the knife in him, the one near his own throat. And this oppressive feeling coming from the church, that-- even if there's no one in there, what if?

What if something happens?

Robby hears Mob behind him, but he's reluctant to turn immediately, trying to find a good excuse. He pulls himself back out from the very entrance, his hands back on the door, stuck between closing it, or-- what? Going in? If Mob wants to. But Mob doesn't know, and this predicament Robby goes through in his own mind feels longer than it is, when he finally shuts the door and turns to Mob. ]

We shouldn't go in, not alone. [ Not ever. ] It isn't safe--not here, not with that feeling.

[ He's almost sounding panicked. ]

[mob blinks, still confused, still stretching out his power a bit to try and see what it is that's got robby so spooked. it still feels the same as it has, and the mean voice sneers and tells him to get a fucking clue.

maybe it's right this time. this doesn't seem to be about what he can sense, or spirits, or anything. robby is shaken.]

Okay. [it's easy to agree. his curiosity will never be worth more than robby's comfort, that's all there is to it. there's nothing in that church that matters more than the fact robby doesn't sound alright right now.]

We don't have to go in at all. There's other places to look. [it's okay to run away, after all.]

[ ...he's agreeing.

It's unexpected. Robby figured there might be some protest, or something about how he could stay back. Yet that's not a 'you', but a 'we'; a 'we' that has Robby staring at Mob in disbelief, but then dropping his gaze in a feeling close to shame.

It's okay to run, but it doesn't always feel great. ...still, Robby nods all the same, managing to get out a ] Yeah, [ as he comes down the steps. Relief shakily spreading over his limbs, even if the tight feeling that's gripping over his chest hasn't left. He should tell Mob, he knows, though it takes Robby a moment to build up the courage, half-tempted to just walk. But...

But if he keeps his head down, it feels easier just to get it out. Easier if he tells himself it is. ]

There was, uh, this place. People just ended up there from Trench, and it had these churches there, filled with crazy people who believed in this Patron, Riteior. They, uh...

[ A deep breath. ]

They were killing people. Non-believers. [ He fiddles with his fingers, mostly kept held in fists. ] I don't trust whatever's going on with that feeling or what it means.

[ He can't. He can't, not if it has anything to do with Riteior or those people. ]

[mob just regards him back, missing a lot of the cues here but deciding robby probably just needs a minute. there's so much going on he can't blame robby in the slightest, even just being in the city is overwhelming with the rancid ghost vibes and the whispering cruelty. let alone whatever has him so spooked.

he half expects them to start walking aimlessly to find something else, but robby seems to have something to say instead. something that explains a lot, really, making mob's gaze slide to the church.

robby's really been through a lot here, he thinks. even he can gather there's more to this story for robby.]

Ah, groups like that are terrible. [a small frown. just thinking of LOL cult but frankly that was baby shit compared to this riteor nonsense.] Maybe we should leave a note on the door, so people know it could be dangerous.

[ Other people are more hardened than him, Robby thinks--the note or uneasiness wouldn't bother them (it didn't even bother Mob, did it? He wasn't going to back away if it wasn't for him). It's why he's unsure, something wry in his voice as he says-- ]

We could. But I think most people came looking for danger.

[ Or expecting it. Regardless: a note wasn't going to stop most people. ]

I don't have any sticky notes anyway. [ Again: a misplaced joke, but this time Robby looks at Mob, his mouth pulled into a grimacing smile. ]

We could just run instead?

[ Not literally, but you know... Robby's definitely hung around here long enough. ]

[honestly good point, mob can't argue that. he wouldn't really know what to warn anyway, it was all so unclear.

what is clear is robby, and having robby's back, so he nods after a beat.] Run and go back to the Trench?

[back home, or as close to home as there was here. he's not sure if that's what robby means, but the voices stir and he's willing to admit,] I'm tired of the voices, and the feeling here.

[maybe he wants to run too.]

[ ...well, Robby hadn't meant to go as far as all the way back to the Trench, either, but when Mob continues like that? He isn't opposed to the idea. It even momentarily makes him forget about his own state, thinking back to Mister LaRusso and his worry about the both of them coming out here in the first place. Robby had gone because Mob had wanted to, and he figured at the very least, Mob would get to see how this world could be, but at least with plenty of other people around - and himself, too - to make sure nothing went terribly wrong.

...but, it's kind of funny too. To come this far and to throw in the towel.

Robby can't say he dislikes the idea, though. ]

The voices didn't bug us outside the city -- you wanna go and take a break? We shouldn't head back on our own, but we can stay out at camp.

[ Let's pretend people were responsible enough to have a gathering point outside the city.

But Robby pauses, and scoffs a little as he adds: ] Unless this is the part where you admit you can teleport us all the way back into town. Which, I'll be making you train karate all day for making us walk.

[ Sensei LaRusso is too kind... Robby can be more intensive!!! ]

[the dream of responsible camping point people can be real, and mob nods after a moment, a little relieved. now that a break is a possibility he allows himself to accept how much the voices are bothering him, the general terrible malice of the place. as much as he wants to help robby he can't deny it would help him too.]

Yeah, I would. I liked the camping. [sure the beasts were awful but it wasn't so bad, with so many people around, with the careful attempts to make everything as smooth a journey as possible.

the bit about teleporting makes him genuinely pause to consider if that's something he can do, because of course it does. could he?? he has no idea actually.] Well... I could fly us but it makes me nauseous.

[will he get in karate trouble for that... ]

[ ...Robby doesn't need as long to think, his expression something of a grimace. ]

...I don't weight train to get picked up and flown around by a guy with less body weight than me. So we're good.

[ Does that change the fact Mob can do it?? Shut up, we're never finding out, as Robby's turning on his heel. ] C'mon, I think the way back was this way.

[ He could use the compass, probably, but let's save the charge for now. ]

Camping's alright, but the weather and walking for days? Would be better if we had more than monsters and winter trees everywhere.

[ Bare, bare winter trees. ]

Oh good. [relief. he does not care for getting telekinesis flying motion sickness, even if it's pretty useful sometimes. rarely.] It's probably good training to walk anyway.

[body improvement is a lifestyle, obviously.

either way he follows after, a nod to that assessment.] Camping in the winter isn't very interesting. [also monsters are bad, there's that.] Did you camp much, Robby?

[and after a moment, a tad brighter,] Or sit under waterfalls for training? [he still has a very weird view of what karate is. to be fair he hasn't been as far off thanks to how karate drama is just that weird sometimes.]

[ Robby could complain about the idea of walking for 4 days being good training, but he's already complained some, so he won't!! Plus, the camping question does distract him. ]

Waterfalls? [ --but not as much as the waterfall question. ] Isn't that something Buddhist monks do?

[ but, well: ] Mister LaRusso took me out to the woods once for some training, but we didn't do anything crazy. 'Cept he made me balance on a tree and do some moves.

[ ... hey. Looking at Mob. ]

I can show you, if we find a good tree. Now that'll be good training.

I guess? I think it's supposed to make you tough. [surely the same thing karate people must do. baffling.

and see, this is exactly why he thinks of weird shit with karate. tree balancing... not super weird but still the image it conjures.]

Really? [faintly excited. he wants to see this...] I want to see that.

[he continues to just enjoy watching robby or daniel do Cool Karate Stuff. he is 14, sue him.]