APPLE ORCHARDS AND TORN DREAMS [OPEN]

[cordibus]

Who: Open Log (All)
Where: Around the city (one prompt at the Green Valley school
Summary: Welcome Ceremonies, Dreams, Stirring a shadow hornet's nest. No big deal.
Warnings: N/A

"Are you ready my black lambs? Let's get to work..."

Apple Picking (General Prompt)

As September begins, the apple orchards of Greenfield Valley school are bursting with thousands of apples of various flavors and colors. There's even an experimental breed that's blue!

Those who have been attending the school know that this means a few important things. The first (and most important of course) is that it means that fall vacation is coming in just a few weeks (despite school having started just a few weeks ago), the second is that the school's menu is going to have a high number of apple-themed dishes until winter, and finally, the opening ceremonies.

The opening ceremonies are - well - one would consider them mostly boring for typical schools. And truth be told, Green Valley is not an exception. A single camera posed at the school's main gymnasium, a large podium in the center. For those who can't be physically there, the school's televisions all synchronized to a live broadcast as does the audio feeds. You can't quite escape it. Yet most people don't - after all it's one of the rare times of the year where the principal appears to wish students good fortune.

The person who stands in the front, Ms Michelle Andersen, is the very definition of an ice queen. Her face is perhaps locked forever into an emotionless stare. Bright blonde hair with blue eyes, both contract to her orange and black outfit.

Behind her, three men, the vice principals, who tend to play the good cops to her bad cop routine and insist that most students call them by their first names unless something really bad has happened; Norman (the most average man on campus that no one would know who he was if it wasn't for his name tag), Jeremy (the tallest staff member standing at over 195cm, thin, a bit of a lisp but he always means well), and Felix (possibly the hairiest man on campus as far as the rumors go, muscular, and a black beard that matches his scowling face when he isn't laughing - which is usually all the time. In fact, he's holding back himself from doing so when Ms. Andersen speaks.)

The presentation is short, as the Principal wishes all the students a great year, gives a bit of data on the number of students (they are up 300 new students from last year), the number of important guests that have passed, then as quickly as she was there, she leaves, explaining that there are additional meetings and events she will explain in greatest detail in the upcoming months.

Afterwards the students are treated to the vice principals singing a welcome song (it goes as well as one would expect it to go), telling the students that they are free to pick as many apples as they want as long as they all get eaten, but everyone is limited to two of the new apples and report to the hospital wards if any of them feel anything unusual after eating them. Just in case.

When the ceremonies are done, students and staff can return to their day...although some of the staff can be heard commenting that the Principal seemed even more...cold this year. Of course asking them for details would just cause them to shoo anyone away and pretend they didn't say anything.

[OOC: Players are welcome to speak to themselves or go have some apples. It's a general school mingling prompt! Additionally, it will be possible to email the vice principals during that week should the characters want to talk with them or ask school questions. Typical school stuff.]

Sound the Rebellion

(Special Prompt for the Unawakened, Monday the 4th)
The school's opening ceremonies aside, the Unawakened’s Monday was rather...strange. The night was plagued with restlessness as they heard the voice of someone laughing. Waking up feeling 'odd', although that differed between all of then - some would feel sick, others have a headache, or some just deciding that wearing a piece of clothing they haven't wanted to worn would look great right now. Perhaps they got a few comments from their relatives about how strange they were acting that day, or a worried glance if they felt sick. It might get dismissed with a wave of a hand.

After all, how can you explain that when they sometimes look upwards, they hear the sound of a child laughing and briefly see a symbol above their heads? Or that this somehow feels...fine?

Maybe in their new state of mind, they might not even notice the people that keep following them around...

Better than a GPS

(Awakened prompt, Monday 4th, day and night.)
"Alright Lambs, time to get to work."

Luci's voice echoed in their phone, laughing. Was he doing a peace sign?

"There's only a few but they'll be useful. I want you to find them and see what you can do. Who knows! Maybe you might be better at this than me, although I doubt it heh heh heh…Now remember what I said! You have to get them to fall asleep...but there's no real rules for that!"

For the Awakened, the symbols above the Unawakeneds’ heads will be as clear as day - Luci will even go so far as play little musical tunes when the characters are close by or distract them using electronics. "Come on! Stop wasting time and do something!"

For the Unawakened who have a relative, it will be somewhat easy. It is the others that will be a pain. Maybe that's why Luci asked for help. Or maybe he just wanted to see his 'lambs' struggle. "Get them to bed! It's not that hard! If you have trouble, just show them the program I've put into your phone and toaster! Or knock them with your toaster first if you want, I don't care! Just go in teams when you go after them, got it?"

It's obvious that 'sleeping' as far as Luci is concerned, is when someone is unconscious - he seems to almost want someone to knock an Unawakened out and then drag him into a room and let themselves go to sleep.

Once the task is done, and the place is secure, the characters will have to do the same. While the hypnotic wheel from the program is the easiest way, there's no hard rule about knocking oneself out either.

MINDJACK
Once the characters get inside, they'll be in the person's mind and dreams. Eddan's memories are predominant, and the unawakened will be standing there wandering around. It will be up to the Awakened to peel back the fabric of reality, much like curtains and show them the true memories of their past...

But beware. Shadows lurk here, and transforming will be necessarily. And if a character dies in someone else's dream...they might never wake up. So be careful...

The main mission is to showcase the person a few memories. Give them an idea that something might be amiss...it can be a little or a lot. Just be careful that the more memories, the stronger the shadows become... When both are done and awaken, ten minutes will have passed. Perhaps it will be time for question afterwards.

[OOC:The Unawakened characters need to be isolated for the program to run, and so do the players, so half the 'fun' will be setting up the traps so that the characters will be alone.

Awakened might decide to have someone stand on guard while the others go to sleep with the Unawakened, or just all stupidly go together, or find an area where they won't be disturbed - everything is up to you.

The dreamscape can be anything the Unawakened desires! It could be good memories of their time in Eddan or bad memories, a mixture of both, or just silly dreams. Whatever it is, the Awakened will need to 'peel' those memories away - for example showing them that their mother was someone else in their other life, or even directing the person to a mirror so that they can see their true selves. But for each memory - both good or bad, shadows will start to attack both the Unawakened and Awakened. Be careful and let the mods know if a mission goes REALLY bad.]

Comments

[whitefox]

Unfortunately, that cobblestone was proving too large a hurdle for Kit to presently overcome. He wished it was just Kurama's memory, that stopping this exercise would remedy the newfound tightness in his chest or the acrid taste on his tongue, but he was beginning to suspect certain parallels in their lives were not happy accidents.

When he'd been young, much younger than Kurama had been in that vision, there had been someone in his gang who had proven unreliable. Knowing what he did now, he could not brush his actions off as those of a child who didn't know any better, because he knew now that he had a predilection for a certain ruthlessness, the sort that could not be shed.

If there was any scrap of him left that was decent, he would tell Reimi that he had seen enough, or that if he continued from this point on he would do so alone. He wanted to tell her what he thought, that she deserved the company of someone far better than himself in these dreams, someone who hadn't proven themselves to be so hard-hearted in two different lives, but the words didn't come. Instead, Kit found his curiosity piqued by her statement and, instead of running away, he lingered.

And he hated himself for it, for he knew deep down that his reasons were not conceived of sentimentality, but a matter of advantage. The more people were willing to offer him about themselves, the better prepared he would be to face whatever came next.

"I would like to hear about it, if it isn't too much trouble."

[failedhandjob]

His question takes her by surprise, and for a moment Reimi can only blink owlishly at him. But as she mulls it over, it makes much more sense - what better way to ease oneself into accepting such an ugly facet of themselves than by looking at others' for a time? It was an ideal distraction.

What Kit couldn't know was that the story she had to relate wasn't much prettier than the vision he'd just seen. She hadn't imagined he'd become interested in her offhanded comment, or she might not have ever made it. Would it really be good for him to listen to more suffering?

But that was his own decision, in the end. She wasn't ashamed of her fate, and in some ways welcomed the opportunity to tell her tale for the first time in this world. Perhaps if she could manage it with an acquaintance, one day she might be able to divulge the grim truth to her beloved friends.

Still, he deserved a warning. "It's not any trouble. But it doesn't have a happy ending."

[whitefox]

As if reacting to Reimi's feelings or perhaps even Kit's own, the void all around them began to shift.

The darkness ran like wet sand until the setting had become something completely different, and instead of shadows that stretched on for an eternity they found themselves standing on a road somewhere in Japan. It looked familiar to Kit, and at the same time completely foreign. People with blurred faces wandered by like static images, every blink carrying them further down the road and away towards a school. Their laughter echoed softly like chimes blown by the wind, as much a comfort as it was eerie, in particular when he heard murmurings of 'the disappeared.'

As he started walking, following the blurred shapes of those who were presumably students, albeit younger than him and Reimi both, he spoke...

"Happy endings belong in fairy tales."

They were a pleasant enough concept, but not very realistic. Kit wished they were, but even wishes weren't very practical. If one wanted something in life, they had to take it for themselves or fight and earn it. Desire by itself wasn't enough. He had learned that the hard way and he thought...Kurama probably had, too.

[failedhandjob]

"I guess so. But that just makes them even more precious."

As precious as the scene they now found themselves in, wrought with nostalgia as much as a silent sort of danger. Reimi can't help but find herself looking at the faceless students passing them by, checking their uniforms to see if perhaps this were a scene more closely tied to her heart. It wasn't, but that did nothing to dim the familiarity of the whole thing. Even the rumors of disappearances...

It must mean something completely different to the both of them, but it's enough to solidify her choice to share her story. Kit had given her what amounted to a confirmation, anyway. As she walks sedately alongside him her gaze remains fixed on the imagery in front of them, expression carefully neutral as she begins to speak again.

"When I was sixteen our neighbors had a family emergency. They had to leave town immediately, but couldn't take their little son with them. I babysat for him all the time, so they asked if I could watch him for the night."

Relating the memory makes it feel sharper than it had even when she'd first regained it, and there's a bittersweet note to the laughter that rings from her lips. It had all been such a trivial event in the beginning. How could anyone have known?

"I didn't mind. Rohan always liked to snuggle with me in my bed whenever we had sleepovers." The smile drains away slowly, leaving that same carefully blank look in its place. "Except, that night...I woke up to the sound of something dripping in the hallway."

[whitefox]

The school's gates came and went, students filing into the building through the front doors as the bell sounded. Ahead of them was a boy of average height with short, flaming red hair. A dark-haired girl walked closely by his side but, while she seemed to be enthusiastically talking about something, the boy's mind was elsewhere.

The parallel between himself and Reimi caused him to listen more intently to her story, and when she began to tell him about the strange sound in her home that night he felt a twinge of something. It wasn't fear. But anger...perhaps.

Had something happened to the boy she'd been babysitting?

He was fortunate that his hands were already buried deep in his pockets. Reimi wouldn't be aware of the tight fist that he was making, or the fact that his knuckles had no doubt turned white...and he could feel skin beneath his fingernails. Something about harm coming to a child left a bitter taste in his mouth and his heart ready to scream.

"I presume you went to investigate."

Because of course she had. There was no other way for this story to continue.

[failedhandjob]

She shakes her head gently. "I didn't think to at first. Ever since I was little I had a dog named Arnold; at night he'd sleep under my bed, and if anything terrible happened he'd get up and protect me."

Her most loyal companion. There was nothing in any world that Arnold wouldn't have protected her from, and even in the midst of a late-night fright she'd known that. "I put my hand down to check on him, and when he gave me a big lick I knew that everything must be fine."

The thought chills her to the bone, knowing what she does now. But it had been nothing but the reassurance her fretful mind had seen searching for then, delivered with the warm friendliness she'd come to know and love. With Rohan still tucked securely at her side, what did she have to worry about?

Only...

"But the sound didn't stop. It was so strange to me that my parents hadn't woken up to take a look - it was so loud. So eventually I got up and went into the hall to look."

Her gaze (and footsteps) had been following the boy and his little companion this entire time for no reason other than as something to focus on, but now Reimi looks up at the school as the lump in her throat forces her to pause. Even now, the image of what she'd found tore at her soul.

"It was Arnold. Someone had slit his throat and hung him from our coat rack."

She can still see him dangling there, tossed away as carelessly as if he'd merely been a dirty rug. Her friend, her greatest protector...he never deserved to see the end of his life like that.

[whitefox]

The scene before them flickered like an old film that had come off its reel, but the mishap seemed to last only for a second. If Reimi hadn't been watching Kit, she wouldn't have noticed the way he'd stopped with the staggering vision, but standing so close to his side she may have felt his incense at the source of the sound in her story.

And then...it was as if nothing had happened, and Kit continued unflinching toward the school following the younger students.

He was beginning to connect the dots. If Arnold hadn't been under her bed, then the one who had killed him was. And if that person had known how to behave to convince her all was well, he must have been studying her family and her. If he was studying her, then the unhappy ending Reimi was referring to...

...but that's impossible, or is it?

He'd recalled something similar of himself, when he'd buried his soul deep inside Shiori's womb and unborn child so as to ensure his rebirth. If he'd been able to do it, was it really so hard to believe she could, too?

Finally, Kit stopped in the entryway but, holding open the doors, he didn't dare look back at her.

"How did it happen?"

[failedhandjob]

Her eyes had been elsewhere, but Reimi was too attuned to her surroundings to miss the rage that rolled off her companion in waves. She knew that feeling all too well - it's what had been buried deep beneath her own blind terror.

This was why she'd pretended her past had been nothing more than a scary story to be passed around at campfires the last time she'd relayed it. No one else deserved to grapple with these emotions as violently as she'd been forced to.

Her pace slows to a halt just before she reaches the doors herself. Kit may not be looking at her now, but the shift in her voice was all the evidence required to understand that the following words weren't her own.

"Miss, your hand is so cute and silky smooth. I've already taken care of your parents...heh."

It's a poor imitation, but the frightening chill of that lovesick confession came through all the same. "That's what he told me when I ran back into my room."

Reimi passes through the doors at last, shoes clicking softly against the floor of the school building. It's understandable that her companion likely still doesn't want to look her in the eyes, so she proceeds several feet more before halting again to continue speaking.

"I never saw his face, but I found out later that it was a boy I knew from school. I'd even invited him over a couple times, which was probably why Arnold let him get so close."

She sighs, turning slightly to aim a humorless smile Kit's way. "It's funny how that sort of thing happens, isn't it?"

[whitefox]

Kit's response was cold and mirthless.

"I would have dismantled him."

It's a wonder the words didn't paint the scenery red for the blood lust that was present within them. He could imagine it, even. Slitting the throat the way that man had taken care of Arnold would be much too merciful. Instead, Kit would begin with what that man seemed to prize most. He would saw off each hand one at a time for daring to so much as look at Reimi's let alone touch them, and then he would make good on his promise to take him apart. He would unravel his very being and carve away at him until, little-by-little, nothing was left but a husk that didn't even...

...deserve...

...death's sweet embrace...

He clutched his head suddenly, the pain of two memories trying to surface at once bringing him to his knees. The vision wavered again, the musical cheer of children's laughter and chatter distorting. To the untrained ear it sounded almost like the manic amusement of some kind of demon closing in from the wings. His chest felt tight, but it was her voice that drew him back. Calling loudly from across the classroom...

Shuichi!!

[failedhandjob]

This was Reimi's fault.

She'd been so absorbed in relating her own tale, selfishly, that she'd forgotten where they were. This school wasn't just a convenient backdrop, it was memory. And her own tribulations had caused more of Kit's own to surface, hitting his unready mind with too much force.

Orias rises protectively above them both as Reimi immediately drops to her knees as well, one hand bracing her companion by his shoulder. He didn't seem to be outwardly injured, but that was hardly the most important aspect. No level of Dia could repair a damaged mind.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I should've been paying more attention. Are you alright?"

[whitefox]

Kit didn't charge Reimi with the onset of his headache. There had been no way for her to know what would trigger a memory in his mind or what commentary of theirs was truly benign. Besides, she had come here for the sole purpose of guiding him through this dream and opening his eyes. It would have been completely foolish to think they would would be able to navigate such a dangerous minefield unscathed.

What's more, he had accepted her direction and had refused to turn her away.

Reassuringly, Kit placed his hand atop hers and nodded. He was fine. The young girl calling his name had helped deflect the other memory, whatever it had been. Something told him that he didn't want to recall it, not yet. And now he didn't have to.

They were safe. Doubly so with Orias' many arms ready to cage them protectively. Kit no longer felt unnerved by its presence. In fact, he found the creature as curious as he did the new scene before them, a classroom with students congregating in a circle around their desks, and the red-haired boy stopped by the dark-haired girl to discuss the reasons for the possible disappearances.

Kit pushed himself back to his feet slowly, guiding Reimi with him by his grip on her hand, and only once they had both stood did he let go.

"Forgive me, I didn't expect any of these memories to be as forceful as the first." But clearly he would need to be more careful going forward. Kurama's life had obviously been one full of strife. "Betrayal is a soulless beast...I'm sorry that you had to endure such a thing."

But he was sorrier for what he was certain it had cost her.

[failedhandjob]

She rises easily with him, but it's only a moment or two after he's released her hand that she finally stops chewing her lower lip in consternation. With people who refused to share their burdens, it was difficult at times to perceive what was a lie and what wasn't. It seemed that, for the moment, he really was fine.

The persona backs away as she mentally accepts this, providing them with a less suffocating amount of personal space. Reimi shakes her head gently, brushing off the requested apology with the action. "It's not your fault. I'm supposed to be watching out for that, not you."

What kind of guardian couldn't even do that much? Not one worth any regard, and certainly not one whose forgiveness was merited for false transgressions. With a half smile, she moves her gaze away to watch the young children dissect the mysteries of their own life.

"And you don't have to feel sorry for me. I made him cry so much he forgot me for a while, but little Rohan grew up to be a famous manga artist. I think that's worth it - even if he's still got an awful personality."

Given the chance to revisit her own past and make any alterations, Reimi knew without a shadow of a doubt that she wouldn't change a thing. If fate had decreed that only one person could escape the Sugimoto house alive, then it had to be Rohan. It would always be Rohan.

The thought makes Reimi laugh, the sound a little sad but utterly free of regrets. She'd done pretty well for a naive teen, she thinks.

"But it's like I said before: justice is a natural part of the world. I had to wait a while, but I set things right in the end."

[whitefox]

A mirthless chuckle escaped him.

"How can you watch for something you don't know is coming?"

She hadn't told him whether or not she was new to this sort of thing, and if he had to hazard a guess he'd have said she probably had more experience than she let on, but navigating dreams could be nothing shy of unpredictable. Their very nature was unstable and given to change. Kit could not, and would not fault Reimi for not being able to predict what he himself hadn't anticipated.

"You sound like you had no regrets." Kit couldn't help but smile a little more sincerely at that. Disregarding Orias, Reimi was stronger than she looked. "But you can't skip ahead in a story. You didn't tell me how you managed to save Rohan."

See? He'd been paying attention. Very close attention, in fact. Such that he hadn't quite noticed the scene around them changing yet again. They were still on school property, but the classroom had disappeared and instead they found themselves in a hallway with the sun going down just beyond the windows. The boy with the short fiery red hair was also there, musing to himself as he wandered alone towards them.

[failedhandjob]

"I can actually sense some of what's coming, you know," she responds with false admonishment. While Reimi refused to allowing the burden of responsibility to shift off her shoulders, she was willing to simply let the argument lay as it was.

Especially when her companion proves that he isn't quite satisfied with her decision to cut her story short. It makes her laugh a little as she sweeps some wayward hair behind her ear. "Sorry. I didn't think you'd want to hear anymore after that."

Whatever the memory was, it had clearly been quite painful for him. She hadn't wanted to pile onto the suffering by drawing out a story that had almost nothing to do with him. But Kit had proved her assumptions wrong, and so she obediently continues where she'd left off.

"I'd never been so scared in my life; all I wanted to do was get away. But with him right under my bed, I knew we'd never make it to the door. Especially not with Rohan right on top of him."

Her head tilts to the side, expression inscrutable. "So I threw him out the window."

There had barely been any time to think in the moment, and so she'd only learned how much her actions had frightened Rohan much later. It had been necessary, but it still tugs at her heartstrings to thing about it. He must have been so afraid, roused from sleep only to find his protector flinging him out a window. And then to be forced to wait alone in the dark for someone to find him, listening to her scream...

She has to blink violently a few times to keep the tears out of her eyes.

[whitefox]

Kit remained where he was and offered his companion no consolation. The decision that Reimi had made to save Rohan's life at the cost of her own was not deserving of his remorse. She had done a brave thing and, after hearing the rest of her story, he was convinced that she had no regrets. A thoughtful nod of his head, as acknowledging as it was politely apologetic, conveyed all that he thought: little-by-little she was earning more of his respect.

Her story also did more for him than she realized. Listening to the rest of her tale, Kit was able to focus less on the discomfort he'd felt as one memory had collided with another and tried to emerge, and to recompose himself. By the time she was blinking away tears it was, to him, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all.

They were free to continue now...only, he saw that the classroom had vanished around them and where they stood now was a hallway in a school much later in the day. As his eyes settled on the young boy with familiar red hair, he spoke...

"You are a truly selfless person. But I don't think I can say the same of myself."

The memory was unfolding now, and all around them the atmosphere began to shift. It felt as though a heaviness and a feeling of dread were closing in from all sides. Crushing and suffocating, both.

Oozing from a crack in the wall ahead was a demon...or what was left of one, it seemed. It addressed the boy as 'Kurama' and threatened him, even promising to overtake the city Kurama now called home. The youth didn't seem to concerned until Hedoki mentioned a new and powerful ally, but before he could interrogate the vomit-like mass, it had retreated through the window in a shattering of glass.

So distracted by his conversation with that creature, Kurama had failed to notice the girl from earlier approaching from behind. Her eyes were wide, hands clutched together before her chest, but rather than remain silent she called out to her classmate. She had seen everything.

[failedhandjob]

The tension that had settled upon them at the end of Reimi's story was exceedingly familiar to her. It was the sort of heavy air that had invaded her home that night, and that accompanied her each time she decided to walk from the alleyway into the world of the living. It was not so much the feeling of another world so much as malevolence.

The demon which emerges to plague this memory is small, but she can't help the way her shoulders cock momentarily all the same. Size has very little to do with threat levels - but it seems in this instance it's simply another shadow playing out the past. It seemed that even in his new life, 'Kurama' couldn't escape intrigue completely.

She cocks her head to the side as the drama seemingly hits its peak, choosing now to respond to Kit's words. "I wouldn't be so quick to judge. I waited fifteen years to see Kira again."

There was no way to know completely what was in another person's heart - and right now the same could be said for an Unawakened like Kit. It was foolish to render judgement on himself like that when he still wasn't certain of all that he was capable of.

[whitefox]

While the young girl — her name was Maya, he remembered that now — discussed the legitimacy of what she saw with Kurama, she also confessed her feelings for him. Not knowing how best to respond, he'd simply told her that they needed to go home...and he'd walked with her.

She had been unwilling to let go of her confession, however. The topic followed them even as the school disappeared somewhere behind them. Maya wanted to know his feelings, too. Had he realized that she liked him? Did he like her back? These simple questions weighed so heavily on his heart, if she could have only known how seriously he'd taken them...

Instead, all she heard was "Sorry..." He couldn't tell her what she wanted to hear. Doing so would only put her in danger.

He could practically hear her heart break with his rejection, but just as she was turning to leave, Kurama sensed it...that black wave of dread. Whatever Hedoki had planned to send to kill him was already there with them!

...Kit watched the scene with what was almost complete impassivity. It was strange and yet not, feeling as though he agreed with Kurama's actions and the thought process behind them. Under the present circumstances, he didn't really have the luxury of being with anyone and falling in love. Not if he wanted to keep Maya from getting unnecessarily hurt. He thinks, in Kurama's shoes...he would want to do the same. But he doesn't know if he really would.

In the past many of his actions had been selfish. Done because he wanted this or that, or because by doing one thing he could get someone else to do a different thing for him. There was the odd instance of selflessness, of standing up for the weak or downtrodden...but really, he'd acted mostly on desire.

But now he doesn't think he would hesitate. At least not for something like this. So much of his heart, however, remains rooted in that past, and if that's the case, how can he really be anything other than a solitary and selfish creature?

"Your patience—" The rest goes left unsaid, the inky blackness behind them suddenly deciding to move, tendrils of shadow lashing out to wrap around both his and Reimi's ankles. This wasn't part of the memory!

[failedhandjob]

Damn. She'd barely sensed this shadow, even with her attuned senses, and it had crept up literally behind their back. How much of the featureless scenery behind them was an actual foe? There's no way to know at this point without attacking all of it.

Reimi's hand reaches out to grasp her companion's arm, a reassuring and steadying gesture all in one. Her face is hard again, but her tone remains steady. "Just focus on what you need to, ok? I'll take care of it."

This memory was far from over. There was no way that they could leave it half done, menacing shadows or not. The truth never moved in partial measures.

Orias leans over them for a brief moment, many hands following the path of her master's own. She calls down her Light spell, the energy moving over both of their bodies harmlessly to travel down to the blackness which has ensnared their feet. If she can at least free them of these shackles, their options would open up significantly.

[whitefox]

Reimi's spell was a success, the Light magic causing the shadows to physically recoil and relinquish their hold on their ankles, but the darkness hadn't left them unscathed. Kit was unable to move as the creature's form became more apparent, physically pulling itself into the dream and crawling like a massive squid across the open street and towards them.

Its size alone was greater than a truck, its many limbs flicking out like whips in different directions. Towards Orias and Reimi both...but also towards Kit.

She had told him to focus on his memory, but like this it was difficult. He wanted to help. To fight somehow. But what could he do? As he was, he was useless to Reimi...

...or was he?

Those tentacles continued to lash out, whip-like and unkind in the lacerations they left behind, but this time as that shadowy appendage shot towards him Kit's hand snapped out and caught hold of it. He had no weapons — but he had his two hands, and if this slowed the beast down long enough to allow Reimi to attack it, or even kept its attention off her, he would bear the brunt of its attack!

[failedhandjob]

"Hey, don't-!"

Her persona possessed what would seem to be an overabundance of arms, but in moments like these Reimi could only feel relief at the form her inner self had taken. The shadow was bigger than anything she'd ever faced by herself, made all the more daunting with the way its tendrils seemed to simply know exactly where they should be lashing out. It took nearly all of her heightened senses to simply keep up with the beast.

Unfortunately, that was more than enough opportunity for Kit to slip his heroics by undetected until it was too late.

The distraction causes another tentacle to slip through, slicing at her cheek before Orias can catch it. She barely even feels the pain, however, completely consumed with her companion's well being. He might be able to hold the shadow back for now, but he was only human; even with every ounce of determination at his disposal, it wouldn't last.

Even Orias only has so many hands. She's forced to relinquish several of the tentacles in order to free up enough of them to cast some spells - Stone Feet to keep the shadow from overwhelming Kit, and another light spell to coat her persona's hand like an ethereal blade. With a loud cry the being lunges forward, slicing through the tentacle in the other boy's grasp as if it were made of butter. She can hear the shadow screaming with the pain of it, an oddly satisfactory noise.

It's clear that they could only fight the branching pieces of the creature for so long. Leaving her persona to continue dealing with as many tentacles as she could, Reimi summons her grenades once more. How many of these would she have to force the thing to swallow before it gave in? There was only one way to find out.

[whitefox]

Despite its size and the advantage its many limbs had provided it, the creature wasn't strong. With Kit slowly recovering from its attack and Reimi's spell to aid him, as well as the ethereal blade of light she wielded, the shadow was forced back. Its remaining limbs curled up with every strike, and with every cry like a rusty hinge, its size appeared to diminish.

Kit was glad. He hadn't been able to do much. In truth, if it hadn't been for Reimi's swift thinking, his decision to act the way he had could have ended very poorly for him. But it seemed that things were turning out for the better. Excepting the cut across her cheek...she had come out relatively unscathed from her match with the shadow. And after two or maybe three of those grenades there was nothing left of it but smoke.

Still not paying much mind to the memory, which seemed to have paused itself behind them, Kit hurried to Reimi's side. If they continued, would the shadows get stronger and larger? He had a feeling that, at least for now, this memory would be the last. He wouldn't risk her well being, whether or not she wanted to press forward.

"Impressive. But how is your cheek...?"

[failedhandjob]

Finally. Reimi lets out a breath of relief as she watches the smoke dissipate, brushing some of the debris the beast had kicked up off her clothes. That had been a close call in some parts, but the end result was uniquely satisfying.

Her injury had completely escaped from her mind after the initial pain, lost in the adrenaline of the fight. When Kit rushes over to inspect the damage, a brief look of bafflement crosses her face. What could have him looking so concerned?

"My cheek..?" A hand rises up to brush her face; when it comes away with the palm covered in blood, realization blooms. "Oh! I'd totally forgotten about that."

It was a good thing that she wasn't an exception to her own healing spells the way Josuke was at home. Her fingers glow lightly as she runs them gently across the length of the cut. When they pull away the injury has already closed up, well on the way to healing. She wonders idly if it would scar, but the thought doesn't linger for long.

"What about you?" Even as she continued speaking, Reimi's glowing hand extended outwards for her companion to take if he needed some healing of his own. "You really need to practice your teamwork, you know that?"

[whitefox]

"I'm alright," Kit answered, disregarding his own fatigue and waving away Reimi's hand. Thanks to her, he hadn't sustained any injuries worth worrying over. They could finish this memory, leave this dream and, if they were lucky, do all of that without running into any other shadows.

A small smile flitted across his lips at her second question, but it was bittersweet. He turned away, back to the scene that had paused behind them: a young man who shared his face and the girl he had scooped into his arms as something attacked.

"I won't to abandon anyone again."

For all that he liked to do things himself and was fine operating alone, he didn't seem capable of bringing himself to turn away anyone in need. Not if there was something he could do to help. Even if it meant putting himself in harm's way, that was simply the sort of person he had found he had become over the last year. He was more than equipped to deal with suffering, and built to endure more than a little pain.

What he wasn't prepared for was the sudden sharpness as the memory started again, and the familiar face that rushed at the boy and Maya. It was Hiei.

A fight ensued, the smaller demon's sword versus his own made from a blade of grass, and it was a fight that he would regret for all the time it would waste and the trouble it would cause. By the time he had realized Hiei wasn't really his enemy, the other demon had already suffered a great wound. It would be four hours before he was recovered, during which time he was permitted to stay at Kurama's home and, in his sleep, he had mentioned someone named...Yukina.

The rest seemed to fly by quickly, perhaps for the urgency Kurama felt himself. After Hiei had left to go hunt down and question Yatsude, a friend from school had called and reported Maya as missing. Suspecting Hedoki and Yatsude, he'd chased down Hiei and insisted on going with him to take on the demon threats. And it was Yatsude who greeted them, a many-armed monster who took great pleasure in the dismemberment of humans. Were they alone, Hiei and he would have been outmatched and defeated, but in combining their strengths and abilities they outsmarted the beast and cut him apart.

Maya was rescued, but to keep her safe and to spare her the pain of remembering what had happened to her, including her love of him and his rejection, Kurama had used his special abilities and a pollen to induce amnesia...

Kit frowned. There was an unmistakable loneliness to both boys in that vision, one that resonated with him.

"...I think I've had enough. I want to wake up."

[failedhandjob]

The hand remains outstretched for a moment longer, just in case he changed his mind, before it drops gently down at his side. Kit seemed to have a habit of understating his problems in order to be less of a burden, but this time she was inclined to believe that he really was at a manageable pain level. If her intuition proved false she could always sneak a heal in later.

His words bring a soft smile to Reimi's face, but the expression doesn't last for long once the memory unpauses itself. There's no mistaking the reaction that the young Kurama's assailant evokes in his present day self, and while she makes no comment on it she certainly files it away for later.

Clearly this surly little demon had appeared in her companion's memories before. What relationship did they share in their last life, she wondered? And was this Hiei sleeping somewhere in Eddan right now?

Unfortunately she'd never know, because I play both of them.

There's a certain irony in many hands appearing again, even in the life of a completely unrelated person, and she can't help but stare at Yatsude with a particular hardness. The demons of this world really did resemble their personas in many ways. It was intriguing to contemplate the possibility of there being a connection.

By the time that Orias' counterpart was defeated Reimi found herself just as willing as Kit apparently was to leave this dreamworld. There was something immensely dissatisfying, almost wrong feeling, about Maya's fate. Who was Kurama to make such decisions for her? It chafed at her more than she'd expected it to.

None of these thoughts find their way onto her face when she turns to acknowledge her companion's request with a small nod. "Sure, whatever you want. But we should probably walk back a little first, just in case the shadows are still active."