[semi-open] If you're trying hard to breathe in the dark

[likethelight]

Who: Allen & others, possibly Argonaut appearances
What: Event-log and other April-related prompts. Plotting prompt stuff!
When: Throughout April
Where: Various

Content Warnings: SAD THINGS, harm and death to NPC children, mutilation, nightmare fuel mindfuckery, high corruption and beasthood.




⛧ 1. if your screams don't make a sound (wonderkind/AKUMA) ★

[ You were probably just minded your own business doing something totally normal — and then you got caught in up in Allen Walker's vortex of bad luck. Sorry. It's just a thing that happens. He doesn't even have his unlucky rabbit's foot on him! He learned better really quickly...!!

Regardless of whether you might have been haggling with a bakery over the price of day-olds, sipping tea in some little shop, or maybe this is your house that he's... about to put a hole through. So sorry — but all of a sudden part of the nearby brickwork explodes as a slender figure is bodily slammed entirely through it.

Yeah. It's that kind of day.

It does not look comfortable. And it does not look like something anyone could have gotten away with without some broken ribs, but as the dust settles the boy that was indeed used as a wrecking ball of sorts starts coughing and trying to sit up. This is just -- ugghhh...

Coming to his senses quickly though, dressed in a black and red jacket underneath what seems to be a impossibly volumous feathered white cloak that seems to be made of moonlight itself he -- blinks. And then whirls around, realizing you're there.

His left eye has bled black throughout the sclera, and the iris has shifted to glowing red rings that shift in and out like a camera lens focusing. There's a dark, corrupted sort of smoke that seems to be pooling around it as well. His expression is wide with alarm, actual fear for a moment at seeing you there, before he stumbles back up to his feet. To square his shoulders, face the hole he just was thrown through—

And rip back, shouting at you over his shoulder as he spreads a single arm out in warning. ]

RUN!

[ Because, over the edge of the rubble... there's a faint sort of here-but-not dark glow. And the world seems to desaturate, fading from color into the black and white. It doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel like you're even looking through your own eyes.

And then you hear a faint sobbing. Distant, but far too close as well. Like it's there in your own skull. Faintly.

And a figure floats into view, cresting the stone. At first, it looks like... an extremely mummified corpse. Bone dry, curled up in a fetal position. It isn't even the thing crawling up and through the hole, but that seems deem and distant right now. It's attached to it.

Because the sobbing stops as soon as you look at it, and the specter stiffens suddenly. Socketless pits for eyes turning right towards you as it realizes you see it —

—and its jaw falls open as it screams. ]



⛧ 2. if your heart just cries too loud all the time (butterflies/beasthood) ★


[ He knew this worked like a game of Russian roulette, he really did. And he doesn't even want to have to destroy any of the butterflies that have flocked to the Trench. It's fine when they stay up and away from people, but when they choose to land near populated areas...

It's not even for misjudging his own ability to purge corruption from his own body! It has limits, he knows that... too much can still be too much if it's all at once. But he has to keep trying. Better him than someone else. Or at least, thinking about that...

...it's easy to forget the actual consequences.

Maybe you were there when he destroyed the butterfly, a boy who suddenly transformed into into a white harbinger wreathed in what looks like condensed moonlight taking the shape of a huge feathered cloak and wielding a great broadsword as long and broad as he is. Maybe you just see the consequences of that — or hear the sudden howling gale.

A whirling gale of feathers, light, and tattered wings made from moonlight themselves that rips upwards from a doubled over figure. A white and gold gigantic masquerade mask floats above as well, twisting to and fro from the feathered cloak like it's unsure how to hold its shape, like it's too angry to remember its shape and cares not for what it was, but is trying to contort itself into something new. But the winged sort of cloak looks almost angelic, glowing white-gold and ethereal. It's beautiful, and somewhat terrible as well. Especially as the figure, with his hands clutching his head like it wants to split in two, would not seem to have a normal left hand but a great white and gold monstrous sort of claw instead. But it too can't seem to hold its form, splitting into glowing feathers along his arm that twist in the air.

It's like a howling monster clinging to the figure even as it also tries to rip away.

And if you're caught staring, an edge of that tattered, feathery wing-cloak rips out towards you and slashes into—and through the brickwork by your head. And that's when you might realize that even though it looks like a cloak and feathers, it cuts as sharply as any sword. ]

Stay— [ It's a boy beneath all that. A teenager, pale and ethereal himself as the feathers around him, with a dark red scar cutting through the left side of his face. And he pants and rasps it out, gritting his teeth audibly and fixing a surprisingly sharp and hard dark eye on you. A window of raw clarity in a maelstrom.

Anguished clarity, his face twisted in tragedy.

But that eye is blood red and black, and the scar surrounding it twists itself restlessly across his face like an angry, living thing. Black smoke bleeds from that left side of his face, mixing in with the white. ]

—back...

More closed prompts below! I'm trying to do more closed/planned things since I have a lot going on this month and a bunch that are sequential, but please feel free to hit me up on my plotting prompt and I'm happy to plan something and do a private prompt for us! He will be generally collecting the hope orbs, mostly for Viktor, getting fucked up with his restored memories/tether and hiding from people later in the month, and trying to purify and reverse the corruption/beasthood of any turned, especially as a result of the butterflies. So, especially if you want to get your character in on realizing even full beasthood can be reversed by exorcists and other sorts of purification abilities and you want them to be able to see the human souls still in them... 👉👈 hit me up.

Comments

ashes fall from burning dreams; Sansa

[likethelight]

[ Hundreds of dancing lights get scattered into the air as one of the gentle behemoth butterflies takes flight, kicking up dust and lights both as it slowly begins to ascend, trailing back up through the mist to join its brethren. And with a fluttering of what sounds like both fabric and feather, another faintly luminescent figure drops down. With huge cloak almost as voluminous as the butterfly's wingspan trailing behind him like tattered wings, leaving a small scattering of feathers in the air like shards of light. It swirls about a little from how he had just leapt up and whipped it 'round himself.

He lands next to Sansa, as light on his feet as a cloud. His feathery cloak also seems to fold in on itself as he does so, because a much more manageable and expected size. And he gives her bright, gentle sort of smile as he holds up a hand -- the one that's human and is gloved in intangible white, as opposed to the claw that's now his other -- and lets one of the orbs of hope drift silently into his palm. ]

We should be able to collect a lot of these. [ And either return them to the affected people they came from or, in his case certainly, bring an extremely overfull sack back to Viktor to study.

Spooking the butterflies that do land away by becoming a bigger-seeming and more aggressive one? Yep. Lesson learned the hard way; this is better than trying to safely destroy the ones that get too close to people. This way no one has to get hurt. ]

[dohaeris]

[she can't help but smile back, though killing the butterflies makes her feel awful. it's not fair that they're so beautiful and gentle-seeming when they do so much damage. it feels like killing a dragon. not all the dragons were so pretty, and none so gentle in manner, but at least dragons could be taught not to hurt people.]

It's strange to think about having somebody else's hope. People can hope for such different things.

[she holds knight on a short leash as he bows to gleaming green-eyed citizens one at a time. Some of them press small colorful rocks and beads into sansa's hand by way of thanks. she demurs when she can, but many of them make their way into her satchel. it's funny, she thinks. the people who stole her hope had green eyes.

a murmur grows through the crowd. another massive bright bubble is falling somewhere behind her. lady circles around to face it, and sansa glances over her shoulder. she squints. there is a castle shaped like a dragon, curled around a mountain. and there seem to be dragons in the distance.]

Is that...Dragonstone?

[she knows other worlds have dragons. perhaps they also have dragon castles on volcanic islands? it's not like she knows what dragonstone looks like, except on a map, or old drawings. besides, all the dragons are long gone, and she doesn't know if the bubbles ever show (or mimic) scenes from the past.]

[likethelight]

[ While Sansa went among the people and helped to cleanse their corruption with Knight, Allen lets his invocation go and sets to collecting what scattered orbs of hope before they start to drift upwards again. It's a good division of labor, and he smiles a little at watching the three of them move through the affected crowd. ]

That's true. [ And she gets a thoughtful sort of hum from him. ] But if there's one intrinsically sort of human thing... I think it must be hope.

[ Truth be told, he isn't entirely sure how he feels to jar hope. But it doesn't seem to take it from others once it's already in this form, and it helps those who have lost it and started to become corrupt. That has to be good enough for now.

Still, his thoughts are interrupted before they can get any further when the murmur comes over the crowd, and he blinks at seeing one of the golden bubbles falling like a star. A portal--

His guard is up, just from his experiences thus far with them. And he begins to approach it, casting Sansa a surprised look that she seems to recognize the place. ]

Dragonstone? [ Did she mean as... a material? Or that castle? It was a castle, wasn't it? Embedded in the mountain? Except...

He stops, staring and suddenly rather awestruck. ]

Are those... dragons? [ Gold and misty white, circling in what seems like distant dance.

Or... combat? ]

[dohaeris]

[his response makes her smile. she thinks about the people she's met that aren't human, and wonders if hope is something humans experience more than other people, and considers saying something to that effect, but there are dragons. she peers at them.]

They certainly look like dragons, and it does look like what I know of Dragonstone. There were dragons on Dragonstone on my world a long time ago, but I have heard of other worlds with dragons.

[the dragons appear to be getting closer. she motions for everyone to step back, just in case.]

love will find you in your pain; Kokichi (CW: horrible things happening to children)

[likethelight]

[ For one of the busier intersections in the Trench, it's so very silent right now. Dozens of people all standing so very perfectly still and all turned in one direction, beholding one of the Moonlit Butterflies who's landed in their midst. It bats its wings slowly, spread wide as little dots of light drift up from each person into its wings and collect there, increasing its shine.

—maybe Kokichi is under their spell as well. Maybe not.

One of them though, a little girl held fast with childlike awe turned trance keeps walking forward. With a giggle of pure wonder, even as it continues to drain her -- she puts her hands flat against the side of the resting butterfly, feeling its slightly fuzzy body. ]

—! [ A streak of movement, the only movement in the square, partially collides with Kokichi in the crowd, clipping his shoulder. And he'd shout an apology under normal circumstances, the boy, except he's in a flat-out run towards the girl.

(As he bumps into him, the other boy might notice a sudden flare of luminescent white, so very similar to that of the butterfly's, and a scent that's wintery and thin, ozone. Like snowflakes and lightning—or magic.)

And he makes it to her! Dropping down and skidding in like some black and moonlit-clad player sliding into a home plate, cloak whipping out behind him, he scoops the enchanted child up, even as the green light in her eyes fades and becomes dark.

Except she... bubbles.

A little at first, like giant skin blisters. And then almost doubling in size as he begins to come to a stop with her in his arms. Burbling up higher and taller in a gross disfigurement and sudden, shrill sort of uncanny scream as her body contorts and shifts.

The butterfly takes flight, abandoning its collection as it quickly wings away from the danger—and the white-haired boy is left staring in absolute horror at the small, alien beast the girl has become still cradled in his arms.]

[violetlies]

[Still as the grave. That's a good way to describe what everything felt like right now. There's a silence that could be broken with a pin drop, and Kokichi is in the middle of it. For someone who is known for being a loudmouth at the worst of times, even he can't manage a word. All these people are entranced - entranced by the big creature in front of them.

Kokichi might've been, too, if he hadn't gotten a taste of what these things could do firsthand before he got away. Even now he can hear the opening notes of Clair De Lune in an inviting hum, but he doesn't dare look. His eyes instead scan across the crowd, and he sees a little girl making her way forward. Immediately, his breath catches in his throat.

Oh no.

But before he could manage to do anything himself, there's someone else - another boy around his age - bolting for the girl in a flash of white. A white coat that flumes out giving the impression of perhaps an angel. And he makes it to the little girl and starts pulling her away, and Kokichi is almost relieved....

Until the girl starts bubbling and blistering, and she doubles in size, and he himself stumbles back as the butterfly takes flight. Well. One threat gone, but now--

The little girl...she's turned into a beast. He'd read about turning into a beast in the library while he was putting himself through his paces learning everything there was to learn about Trench in his first couple of days. It's what most would call a worst case scenario. And his heart sinks.

He's reminded of the younger quazi-members of DICE, the ones he refused to consider full-blown members because they couldn't do the actual work, and moreso because he never wanted them to be in danger. The ones that'd tug at his cape, looking up at him with big bright eyes, somehow still filled with wonder despite the circumstances that probably led him to his 'organization'.

Kokichi had a remarkable grip on his emotions, but even he can't help himself from feeling infuriated at the notion of a wasted young life because of the hellish circumstances of this place.

But what is he supposed to do? The other boy has her, and he's not trained for combat. He wouldn't want to hurt her, anyway. Someone would. But he wasn't violent by nature, and he'd especially be inclined to show mercy in this case.]

...

[So he's stuck there, looking with worried eyes. As the other civilians fall out of their trances and start running away - running for their lives - Kokichi remains. Is that other boy going to--no. He doesn't want that to happen, but it's illogical to believe anything else would happen.]

FINALLY GOT OVER MY WRITERS BLOCK ON THIS im so deeply fucking sorry

[likethelight]

[ It's bad to be the only one standing still as the crowd disperses, Kokichi.

Just like it's also bad that Allen is momentarily frozen in horror as well. Even for someone so used to seeing horrors like these, almost his whole life really, to have a child little mutate in such a way in front of his eyes... ]

Ah... [ It's a dangerous second to waste.

Because the child-beast begins to raise up what look like glowing tentacles around its bulbous head that wind off and raise like some fiberoptic lamp. Raising its hands up to the night sky like some sort of gentle praise or chant -- it's beautiful, really. Light gathering around it like a starburst --

And then it releases it point-blank in his face, and he's blown back with a cut-short scream. Landing in a ragged pile of his own glowing cloak and motionless as a dark, curling sort of corruption wafts off him like smoke.

Better watch out, Kokichi. It's beginning to stumble towards you. Gangly and awkward, with a childlike sort of uneven gait in utter silence. Until it gurgles, arms outstretched towards him. _{Does he... want to play?}

Play with me. ]

tyijkijhb IT'S OK

[violetlies]

[He's well aware of that, but unfortunately, this is the hole he has dug himself into.

Kokichi swallows, but his throat is dry. It's the first time he's seen beastification right in front of his eyes - not just warned about it, or read about it, or gotten it implied by hushed whispers and startled stares...there was now a monster before him where there was previously a young child.

One that would have to die.

The beast raises its arms, and if he wasn't so aware of the danger, it might almost be a compelling sight in the sense that there's no malice behind the gesture, so far as he can tell. It's light, and befitting, and--then it blasts the other boy who previously had the child in his care with the blast of light.

And then it turns its attention towards him, and somehow he can recognize what it's saying. It doesn't even fully get that it's doing harm, does it...?]

No, I can't...I...can't...

[It probably doesn't even understand him at this point as he's stumbling back. This is why he needs to learn how to fight, this is why it's such a burden being a pacifist here, he has to change that, he has to become stronger somehow.

He takes a deep breath in that feels somewhat like a dry heave before he almost stumbles over himself walking backwards. He's almost hoping that Alvin or Ochako or Sayo or anyone might suddenly appear, call him out for being a moron, and then take care of this for him because he's too weak to do it, and a bleeding heart, at that, but it doesn't feel likely.

His gaze averts to where the other boy was blown back.

Maybe he'll recover...? Hopefully...]

like the beating of life in my veins; Shouto (CW: child death)

[likethelight]

[ It probably started as a foreboding sense. That uneasy sort of animal instinct where you know something's wrong; something's about to happen.

First, a whispering in your head. A faint buzzing before some words might begin to form; a hiccupping noise like a child's sob. A whimper, directionless at first but, as you look around, you would start to realize what direction it comes from.

"...Why?"
"It hurts..."
"M-mommy?"

Looking around, you might catch a faint glittering in the dark; easy to see in the permanent night of April. It's coming from blood on the ground just inside one of the alleys on the street, pale glitters around it that might make one think it's paleblood even when it becomes apparent it's not. But from where? Who?

(Forbidden blood. The slain innocents.)

There's no source in sight, but there are streaks along the ground like someone had been dragged. The whispering gets louder, and the faint glittering surrounding the blood continues to lead you on. Further back in, finally you can see a small pile of clothes on the ground. They aren't moving.

"It's cold..." ]

[swellter]

[ It's scary... hurts... home... want to go home.

The voices of the fallen lead him to the alley. Blood splatters the ground, glittering faintly in the dark. Not Paleblood. Crueler. Steadying himself for what's to come, Todoroki follows the streaks of forbidden blood down the stone alley to the end.

Piled high are torn clothes, small shoes; a broken world. Goosebumps break across his skin and he drops down to the ruins of innocence. Quietly, he touches a small glove, lifting it from the mass grave, heart breaking.

... please... don't go... ]

I'm... sorry.

[likethelight]

[ It isn't just clothing. There is that, piles like the body that had once worn them had been turned to ash. But further in, tucked between some trash cans, there are actual ones. Like this had been a group of school children, or perhaps brothers and sisters that had tried to huddle together for safety before passing. Death's embrace in a final hug.

They look blackened and cracked. One, a little girl, like she had been turned to stone and started to fracture. Black stars are spread over her skin like measles might. And if touched--

She would crumble to ash in your hands. ]

Todoroki... [ It's quiet, surprised and breathless as his tone sinks at the sight of them. Allen's standing at the mouth of the alleyway the other boy had just come through as well, looking a little breathless and like he had just stopped after running headlong.

His expression twists in a raw sort of anguish at the sight in front of him, swallowing hard as his gaze flickers between Shouto and the piles of clothing. The bodies. It isn't the first time he's seen something like this, but that doesn't make it any easier.

But it doesn't mean they can stop. He wants to grieve the loss; to give them a proper burial and let them rest. But there's something more pressing.

Something dangerous. And standing there his left eye is once again a pitch black sclera, the iris glowing red. But unlike in the catacombs, his scar is the same sharp, delicately detailed thing it is as ever. And putting his grief aside, his demeanor is quiet and urgent. ]

Something is here.

[swellter]

[ The shadow of death is etched on the brutalized stone bodies hidden just beyond his awareness. A sight he's spared when his name breaks the silence. His head snaps up, chin lined up with his shoulder. Finding Allen at the mouth of the alley somehow cements what he knows to be true. His face twists, appalled by the implications of what he's stumbled into.

He hears what he says in as much as he understands what he means by it: the thing that did it is still here. The cold seeps in, chilling his demeanor. This he understands. Embraces. He's a Hero, and heroes save people. If there was a chance that there was someone still out there... someone who survived the massacre.

He stands. ] Where? [ Then, he needed to stop it. ]

2. If your heart cries

[sparkknight]

[Klee is snapped out of her stupor as she sees a white haired teen destroy a butterfly. For a moment, she thinks it's Benny, but she remembers that he isn't in here. The boy, apart from the white hair, doesn't look like him with the long coat and the large sword. At first, she starts walking over thank him from saving her, but stops in horror as he transforms. The transformation looks awful as the boy underneath looks like he's in pain. Klee let's out a yelp and manages not to tumble over as the wing misses her head. That could have hurt her.

Klee is utterly terrified, but the boy turned into the monster because of her. As scared as she is, she needs to help him. Summoning Dodoco, she clutches the bomb in her pocket before the bottle knocks against her fingers. Wait, her present! Maybe it can help him. With a determined look on her face, she shakes her head. Dodoco, now in a more large fox like form, snatched Klee up onto her back. Bombs at the ready. It won't be easy, but she going to try to info this. If not, find someone who can help. ]

N-no. Klee's going to help you Mister.

Dodoco! [Her Omen leaps back and turns to run ]

[likethelight]

[ The little girl from the boardwalk...? His heart twists and he feels sick, the panic and despair written plainly on his face as he realizes he almost hurt her. Even Klee, who he had wanted to protect from that thing--

It seems to feed the chaos pouring off of him, the feather-like shards peeling off those monstrous wings nicking his own cheek and drawing a small amount of blood that glows a pale white under the April moon. ]

Klee... [ She's impossible to forget, even if it's been months. Even if he probably looks so strange now, the competing dualities of white and black energy clinging to and threatening to consume his body. Black from his left seeping into white like a spreading poison; white pushing back in a wild sort of rage.

But he's rooted. He's rooted to the spot and can't even take the time to flee from her from how hard he has to concentrate and fight against the corruption threatening to take over him. If he tried, he'd be consumed in an instant. Flinching and having to double over again as if in pain, he presses his palms tight against his skull as if pleading with something to stop. ]

It isn't safe-- [ it's a raspy breath, tight in his throat ] please...

[sparkknight]

[That voice! Dodoco turns around to face him. She remembers it now. It was that boy who spit all over her that one time, but apologize for doing that. He was super nice afterwards and helped her get everything to dry off again. Klee now knows she can't leave him and can't let him stay like this at all. She's scare, but won't walk away.

Gripping the bottle in her pocket, she shakes her head. Underneath her, she can feel Dodoco's agitation and holding back a growl before it goes away. Klee can feel the shock from her Omen as the boy turned monster writhe in pain. His pain and holding back only strength her resolve. She feels Dodoco's previous reluctance disappear and resolve to hell.

Klee may be scared, but she's taken down hordes of monsters all by herself. Even of those wings are scarier than a whole bunch of Ruin Hunters or Rift Wolves. She can and will help him because otherwise someone might do worse. As a Knight, she can't walk away from someone in need. ]

No, Klee is going to help you. You're hurting!

[She'd do the same for her friends from back home and the new ones she made here. Klee can almost feel the bottle approve of her actions. ]

CW: suicidal... implications?

[likethelight]

[ He means to answer her, truly he does. To do anything to plead with her to run away. He can't -- he absolutely doesn't kill people. He could never kill anyone. By accident or otherwise. Absolutely never a child, he can't let himself ever get to the point of endangering one.

If he could turn his claws on himself he would in a heartbeat. But he barely has enough presence of mind to stay his rampant, wildly amuck Innocence.

(But... no. What if he did? Do it, you should do it.

You're only a body holding two monsters in you that you can't even control.)

Pitching forward onto his knees, he lets out an anguished, furious scream and clutches his head. Wings and feathers whip about in a growing rage as he pleads with the maddened, corrupted voices in his head. Shut up shut up shut up shut up!! ]

( 2 )

[danserai]

[ stay back. mytho had said the same thing when he was under the power of raven's blood. ahiru couldn't shake the parallels. gripping her pendant, she quickly transforms to princess tutu. music starts to play in the background as she slowly approaches allen. ]

Will you dance with me?

omg I totally forgot it's a canon ping for her

[likethelight]

[ Teeth grit at first against what feels like competing monsters waging war inside him, it almost so very comical how she seems to startle him out of that struggle, clarity coming to his face from the shock of it. Of all the things he thought she would counter with, of every possible response...

That one leaves him absolutely dumbfounded. Her transformation in front of him notwithstanding.

(Somehow it's... soothing, too. The inexplicable music he couldn't even think to question, and the rage of the wings streaming off him begins to quiet.)

Will he.. what? Ahiru...? ]

Dance...?

hahaha

[danserai]

[ she smiles, so soft, cloaked in ethereal light. she doesn't seem like the clumsy duck or the enthusiastic girl. she feels like a song come to life, washing over your senses. ]

If we dance together, we can make our feelings known.

1

[anthropophagite]

[ kaneki's house is not... a particularly amazing house. In fact, it's tiny, mostly empty except for the dozens of books he took from the Archives to read, and it's not really decorated because Kaneki doesn't feel like he has a lot to bargain with in order to gain enough decorations. But he sure would have appreciated keeping the walls intact. that will be a pain to fix.

But that's not on kaneki's mind yet and instead he was caught on surprise with someone being rammed through the wall and destroying it. It takes Kaneki a couple more seconds to fully understand what just happened, and it takes him some more seconds to accept that someone was slammed through the wall just now. And he is getting u--

oh ]

Allen-san? [ what is happening? Kaneki opens his mouth to ask if the other is alright, and finally manages to stand on his feet and give a step forward towards the other, only to freeze in place when Allen tells him to run. Yes, Kaneki just did the exact opposite of what he was told to do, but can anyone blame him? This is all very surprising.

And instead of running, he looks back at the new entrance on his wall, only to find a creature coming through it. Whatever it is, Kaneki never saw it before, and whatever it is, Kaneki immediately recognizes as something dangerous. Something that should not be there and something he should not approach (something that should not be in his house, please boys, do this outside)...

Kaneki gasps before he mutters softly "Beast" because, in the end, this is how he imagines one to be. He never came face to face with one yet thus this is all he can imagine it to be. Naturally he is wrong, but in this case, it's probably a good thing, considering what beasthood can do.

And oh boy, the beast stares back at him and reacts.

Now Kaneki gets why he was told to run! He would, surely, but quickly looks back at Allen, worried. The other seems to be fighting it and that thing just slammed Allen through the wall, thus Kaneki decides right away: there is no way he is leaving the other to fight this thing alone ]

What do we do?!

👀!!!!! omg his poor house, I love it

[likethelight]

[ It's honestly so much worse that he got slammed into the house of one of his friends. What were the chances?! Shit.

What Kaneki saw wasn't even truly the thing he's fighting -- it's translucent and surrounded in a dark, corrosive aura that even he'll be able to see... thanks to Allen's own risen corruption. A soul, one who appears ghostlike and tethered by some sort of ethereal chain to the behemoth shadow now rising into view. Three giant heads attached to organically mechanical, spiderlike legs that skitter as it crawls forward to peer inside. There are further wraithlike specters tethered to the mass, alternatively turned inward on themselves and wailing or casting about.

Help us... please...
Save me? Can't you see me?
Love me... please love me...
LOVE ME LOVE ME LOVE ME...

They echo straight into your skull, reverberating like a wailing cacophony. And Allen twists towards Kaneki, eyes panicked at seeing him frozen there. ]

You can't let any of its blood get on you! [ With that he leaps forward, and there's a transformative burst of light as he draws his sword from his left arm and swings downward at the creature. The akuma; one merged from the bodies and souls of others in a twisted, writhing mess.

It hits the skull with a distinctive clang, but doesn't carve in. ]

It'll kill you instantly!

such is his life!

[anthropophagite]

[ What is even that thing-

And how they meant to fight it if they can't allow it to bleed? It's not like Kaneki has a fancy sword that will help him cut through things - or rather, his own fancy sword basically is part of his body, so if the blood touches it, it's touching kaneki and then he dies.

What what is he even meant to do in this situation? ]

Then what are we meant to do?!

[ apparently the fancy sword doesn't seem to do much either ]

screams don't make a sound

[peripheries]

[Kaworu is just leaving a little shop, picking up odds and ends for food. He's learned what people at his home like and how to buy them. It's one of those little things he's learned to do to help out his household. People appreciate it and it makes him feel wanted.

Then suddenly the back half of the store gets torn off. Second nature, almost automatically, he has his AT Field up, brilliant geometrical shield, creating glittering lights and pressure. It shields him (and those behind him from the debris from the impact.

Then he connects eyes with the thing, no the person, that ripped apart an entire brick building. It's a young man, about his age or a little older. His eye is curious and Kaworu moves closer, trying to unlock the puzzle of the strangeness it all. He's always drawn in by the strange.

Then there's a command: RUN!

Kaworu twists just to see a creature. Or perhaps a spector. It has a human face but the sounds it makes, though like crying, are clearly inhuman. It's unpleasant. He does not like this thing. But still, he falters when told to run, as though not concerned about harm just unnerved.]

What is that thing?

((ooc; sorry for the delay my brain was not for action tags over the weekend ahhh))

you're totally fine!! my brain goes splat on action sometimes too

[likethelight]

[ No one ever listens to him when he tells them to run. Is it something about his face? No confidence in him? I mean c'mon, he's not a macho guy but he isn't a complete toothpick...

-- but, no, his eyes widen slightly to catch the shimmering outline of the AT field. The debris that bounces back off it, and that everyone behind seems to be alright. A shield? From -- him? The other grey-haired boy? ]

An akuma! [ Does he look Japanese? He does not. Is he saying it like "devil" or "demon"? He is not. But he also doesn't have a lot of time to explain, gaze flickering to take in the crowd and Kaworu, then back to the form coming into sight.

The creature is not what the other boy saw first, no. The clownishly leering face of a giant head, attached at the back to two others, is what comes closer to the hole in the wall, staring down with blank eyes into the broken shop full of people and held aloft by spindly, spiderlike legs. No, the thing he saw first is indeed a specter -- a soul. One who gives a wail and melts back down into the body, only to bubble up again as a roiling mass. No one soul, not even two, or three--

A bubbling mass of devolved figures that might have once been human but now ooze together as one transluscent, ghostlike mass that stays chained in ethereal links to the monster below it. One face melting into the next with a pained sort of gurgle, over and over in a neverending cycle, but who turn as a unit at realizing the other boy and those Trench citizens too paralyzed with fear to run yet are looking right at it.

"Love... me?"

"See... me?"

It's a pitiable gurgle, one that hits not one's ears but echoes straight into your skull. ]

It's dangerous! Everyone needs to get out of here — please![ His eyes, though, lock to Kaworu's. One bright silver, the other that black and red void. The boy who shielded the others-- ]

Get them out of here safely!

[peripheries]

[Oh, Kaworu does not like that. Neither the bubbling mass nor the strange oversized head. He is not immune from the uncomfortable, visceral feeling of seeing a distorted human face. Perhaps that's the innate humanity in him.

He swallows, crouching down, preparing himself for a fight. He's never been in a fight, not really, but he thinks he could do quite well for himself.

Then the other boy meets his eyes and makes a request and... he flounders. He's been prepped for battle, even if it wasn't a directly physical one, but help?

Kaworu turns and looks at the crowd, they're panicking and running around indiscriminately, just thoughtless creatures in a mob. How is he supposed to protect that?

Well no matter.

He keeps his AT Field up and everyone behind it is protected. Those creatures unlikely possess the power to violate a divine barrier as it is rare thing.]

I'll do what I can!