deercountry | (closed)

[Well, he resisted the call to bloodsport after the first and so far only time he let himself answer it. He didn't like how much he... liked it. It's frightening to feel that dark and chaotic side of yourself win over. So he has done his best to not let it happen again no matter how much he passes out...

Of course, it wouldn't be so easy. He wakes up to the sound of cheers in the fighting rink and groans, rubbing at his head. Then he spots someone in the ring with him who he's pretty sure should not be here ever under any circumstances.]

...Wu??

[He got the basics of the ritual from Vira-Lorr and hearing about it has made him reluctant to do it. But would there be consequences if he didn't? A new life... he hadn't wanted this, but he also didn't make a choice and this is what happens when it's decided for you: the whole trajectory of your life changes forever.

It makes him feel nauseous thinking about it, but... it's just a ritual right? Nothing magically binding about it. Does doing it mean that he can't ever change his mind or go back or... is he already locked into this path?

Mako can find Lance sitting in the dirt in front of what looks like a stable/barn in the Cellar Door district, right on the corner close to Prufrock, Crenshaw and the Willful Machine. There's a massive horse tied up nearby watching him placidly as he stares down at the hole he's made in the dirt between his feet where he sits.]

... This is stupid. [He huffs and starts to get up.]

[ Wu also resisted. He did his best, he channeled the feeling into fixing up the Raccoon Room, into playing music, even into training, which helps... a little. But clearly not enough, because he wakes up disoriented and woozy at the Gate. Again.

He's scared, but he's also feeling that feeling roaring up in him. This time, they push a spear into his hands, which is a little easier to control than the mace, but has a very pointy end which is scary.

He takes a deep breath and heads out into the arena, only to spot someone familiar. Is that good? Bad? He doesn't want to hurt Lance, but he doesn't want to hurt anyone! But he also really, really wants to fight. He wants to fight and that feeling is so incredibly strange for him, so foreign, that he doesn't know what to do with it except head for the middle of the ring with the spear in hand ]

Lance!

[ He wavers there, waiting for Lance to get ready, too, because even if he's going to fight Lance, he will do it the right way. ]

[The last time he ended up here, he was in the middle of some ahem, private time. And once the river ride revealed its nature and purpose, it was downhill from there. He was with Diluc, who had been through it before, but Lance... struggled to give the river what it wanted from him.

Today he'd been keeping a close eye out for the raven feathers, not wanting one to brush him and trigger a conspiracy of ravens to sweep him away. But it looks like he should have had his eyes on the sewer grates as much as the sky since one feather floated up out of the ground and landed on his foot. He had just a moment to notice is and go "Aw, hell-" before the ravens came and transported him into this boat.

He sputters and then immediately looks over to see who is in the boat with him. Then he huffs and his shoulders slump.] Oh... hey, Bolin.

[Earlier that day, Lance got to be swept into a hug and greeted by Shiro, so he knows at least he's not alone. And Hunk, he has to find Hunk. Lance starts to familiarize himself with the city as best he can and tries to find where the big guy is most likely to hang out. Aside from the house that apparently ended up here... with his part of the house totally wrecked.

He heads over to the Willful Machine since it's where all the creators live. Maybe Hunk's already looking into starting up a bakery here. But when he gets to the thick of the market where there's a lot of people and... emotions to pick up on he immediately regrets not just seeing if he can call Hunk with the new devices (that he is leery of so far).

So overwhelmed by the empathy input leaves him vulnerable to pickpockets and he has things on his person he would hate to lose...]

[Bolin is braced back against his end of the angst canoe, gripping both sides very hard. He has also been through this before but has only just this second realized it was triggered by touching the feather. Because, naturally, after surviving the first time (largely thanks to Mako) when he saw another feather in the city he thought he might take it to someone Who Knows to ask what all this crap is about.

But no. No, because picking up the feather is the GOSH DARN TRIGGER ARUGH.

He knows where they are immediately and groans, eyes closed as he shakes his head. This is not a cool magic boat ride. This is a horrible death parade.]

No no no, not again. Lance I don't want to be here.

[Hunk had arrived not too long ago himself, and although Shiro had brought him back to the house, where he promptly napped, he'd decided that exploring this new place was probably worth while, at least to give him something to fixate on.

He'd already thoroughly poked around the backpack he'd found upon his arrival, and stumbled across the intuitive device, and it hadn't been long before he'd found a map of their new environment.

He turns a relatively bustling corner and catches a glimpse of the slender guy; his intuition causes him to lock his eyes on the figure for the brief moment where recognition catches up with his eyes.]

Hey, Lance!

You and me both, man.

[Lance says with a heavy sigh and runs his hand through his hair as he tries to steel himself against the onslaught of not just ending up here again, but sensing Bolin's surface emotions. Empathic abilities are shaping up to be almost as much of a pain in the ass as his other powers.

It doesn't take long for the gruesome depictions of regrets to start showing up along the river. His breath catches as he spots Chloe slumped over and pale, looking sick and lost. More effigies of his and likely Bolin's regrets are further down the river, but why start here? He looks sharply away and can't really find it in himself to say anything about it.]

[Lance just sort of watches him for a moment as he heads into the ring with spear in hand and starts looking like he's trying to gear up for a fight. He doesn't need to be an empath to tell that that is the exact opposite of what Wu wants to do, but he clearly feels like he has to.

Lance throws up his hands.] Dude, I am so not fighting you. Are you kidding? [He looks up and around at the crowd. He's never tried this before, but:] So uh! I'm just gonna... take my friend here and go if that's alright! Haha. Ha. I'm.. sure there's plenty of other people waiting in line to kill each other, right??

[He starts to go over to Wu and put his arm around his shoulders to lead him out and whispers:] Just act casual, like this is totally normal.

[It's a scene not unfamiliar to Bolin now. Different people but he recognizes the sharp jutting shapes in the distance and knows who will be on them.

Seeing bodies he doesn't know is slightly less awful but, he quickly figures, it means they're people important to Lance. That seeing them hurts him as deeply as seeing Korra and Asami hurt Mako and Bolin.

Mako isn't here to be strong for him this time.

No.. no, this time he has to be strong. He can be strong for Lance. It's a purpose. A goal. That might make this slightly easier to stomach.]

Lance.. [Soft. Hesitant. Bolin shifts a little to come closer, carefully laying his hand on the other man's shoulder.

There's only one way to make all this stop. It's going to hurt but it has to be done.]

Who's that girl out there?

Edited 2021-09-30 22:57 (UTC)

[ Two parts of Wu are warring now: the part that feels this strange, disturbing need to fight, and the part that absolutely hates that idea and wants nothing to do with it.

But there's nothing sporting about fighting someone who doesn't want to fight. He lowers his spear, looking at Lance with wide eyes. This is Lance. He doesn't want to fight Lance! He's his friend, his buddy, they've been through some Stuff together. ]

Oh-- yes. Yeah! Normal. Totally normal.

[ He starts to go with Lance, but then a loud whooping cheer starts from the crowd and a shiver runs down Wu's spine, that need to fight rearing up again when his eyes shift across the arena to see a gate rising up, and a large beast trudging its way out of the gate with a low growling roar ]

Oh no.

[ He freezes, those two sides of himself at war again. He wants to fight. He wants to run. He's stuck in place, his eyes on the monster. ]

[ Mako's been wandering the city for a few reasons.

One: Wu's setting up a theater, and the building's in terrible shape, which means they need a lot of supplies.

Two: Mako absolutely hates feeling lost, and this city is a sprawling and evasive thing, hard to memorize. The only way to fix that is to put foot to pavement and move through it, learn its nooks and crannies and alleys and secrets. Those things have saved Mako's life more than once at home, and he's going to make sure they do the same thing here. If they're here forever, that's all the more reason to map it in his own head.

Three: It's something useful to do with all this building, placeless anxiety, this knot in his belly telling him not to trust anything happening to them.

He wanders to learn, and to find badly-needed resources, and since Cellar Door is their home and the market is nearby, he spends most of his time there, slows when he sees a familiar head and hears a familiar voice, and pauses just in time to see Lance push himself from the ground.

Frowning, Mako diverts his path, heading over cobblestone and dirt toward Lance and the horse. ]

What's stupid?

[ Once a detective, always a detective. At least it gives Mako an excuse to indulge his need to know about everything. ]

[Lance turns at the sound of Hunk's familiar voice ringing through the din like a church bell.]Hunk!

[A second after he spots his best friend, he spots a local pickpocket grabbing the little bit of values he's managed to gather since getting here for trading.]

Hey!

[The guy runs off through the market crowd. You gonna go on a scooby doo chase with him buddy?]

[Hunk spots the guy running, and with Lance's exclamation, it's hard to miss what had just happened. He's ready for a chase if Lance is!

He makes his way toward his buddy, ready to pivot and follow if Lance decides to engage in the chase.]

[Lance lets out a shuddered breath. Though he doesn't want to talk about any of it, he knows what happens if you don't. The painful feelings about Chloe are relatively easier to touch upon compared to other things, so he may as well…]

That's… Chloe. I met her in the nightmare, we were close. [Extremely close, but he's trying to somewhat undersell the whole situation to protect himself from the emotions by disconnecting. He scrubs both hands over his face then lets them drop with a slump of his shoulders as he hangs his head.] She got sick because of me… and I made her a promise I couldn't keep.

[Is that enough to satisfy the river? He doesn't know. Probably not, but it's the best he's got right now.]

Edited 2021-10-07 16:41 (UTC)

Smile and wave, smile and wave.

[Lance says with a hint of a nervous tremor in his voice. Partly out of the nerves about getting out of here, and also trying to resist the intense bloodlust. Not just from himself but from Wu and the crowd, thanks Empathic powers. But then everything shifts and he looks at the gate along with Wu.]

… Seriously? [That thing has a lot of teeth… and it's also something he can direct the bloodlust at. But Wu.. he looks over at him, seeing that he's frozen. There's no time to say anything, though as the beast starts charging and without thinking Lance hoists Wu over his shoulder and just starts running.]

[Lance is in the process of dusting himself off when he hears Mako's voice and approach. He looks up and then straightens with a tired half smile for a friendly face he's seen some shit with.] Hey, Mako…

[But the question registers a second later and has him looking a little shifty before he deflates with a sigh.]

Oh, you know, just that stupid ritual thing.

[Yes, very descriptive, that fully explains everything.]

[ At least he's saved from having to make a choice by Lance scooping him up. Wu lets out a shriek that unfortunately does grab the monster's attention. It lets out a roar and starts to thump after them, giant feet hitting the ground. At least it isn't too fast.

Wu keeps hitting Lance's back as he moves until he grabs on, wrapping himself tight around Lance's waist ]

Oh please oh please oh please get us out of here I really don't want to die today Lance!

[ Because begging and squeezing him tight will really help Lance get them out of here ]

[And chase they do. Lance tries to keep an eye on the thief, but the crowds are getting in the way. Then with a burst of smoke, his Omen forms, a dark furred coyote that then manifests ethereal wings so it can fly above the crowd.]

Woah. [He blinks at it, and then looks over his shoulder to see if Hunk has matched pace.] Dude, you see that??

[Lance nearly trips and falls and makes the equivalent of a verbal keysmash when Wu unfreezes and starts trying to full body hug him. Honestly, he didn't have a solid plan just yet, he just saw Wu frozen and knew there was no time to get him to unfreeze enough to work up a plan in time.]

Gah! We're not gonna die! Just. Stop. Suffocating me!

[The beast is thankfully not faster than him but it seems like it's matching his pace, which makes it a question of who has more endurance. His will surely shrink the more Wu squeezes the breath out of him.]

[ It takes Mako a second to place what he's talking about—he's had to get a lot more familiar with rituals, living here—but once he figures it out his expression turns kind of sympathetic. ]

The flower thing, right? It's a weird one. Wu and I did it a week ago.

[ Wu does as he's told immediately, but then he almost falls and grabs on again, but less tight this time ]

Sorry, sorry! Yep, anything to not die. Not dying today! No sir, no thank you.

[ He squeezes his eyes shut instead, like that could block out the monster, which he can hear its tromping footsteps, its loud breath. It's coming closer ]

Will they let us leave?!

Yeah. That. [He sighs.] I watched Vira-Lorr do it her way… but it still feels way too much like closing a door.

[He crosses his arms and looks down at the hole he dug one more time before looking at Mako curiously.] How is Wu, by the way? I haven't seen him since The Gate.

[That helps him keep up the running easier and gives him space to try and come up with a plan. He looks around for an exit as Wu asks.]

I don't see an exit!

[He looks over his shoulder at the monster chasing them and heaves out a breath a bit slower to steady his nerves.]

Okay, I think I can kill that thing. If I put you down somewhere, think you can stay out of the way?!

(closed)

Wu (bloodsport)

Mako (growing pains)

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Bolin (river of regrets)

Hunk (very early September just after Lance arrives in town)

1/2

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