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]

The gesture was one of concentration and mild frustration both. Fear would have been a logical reaction for some in his position, but Kit felt only a bottomless desire to learn more, to unlock the memories he could see playing out before him or behind closed eyes.

And it seemed the harder he tried, the more elusive the details were. Like trying to hold onto water, things kept slipping through his fingers...

"Ankoku Bujutsukai..." Even in another language, the words came to him so easily. The Dark Tournament. "...we were invited, if you could call it that. Refusal was not an option. And the reward for winning was a wish for each surviving member of the victorious team."

He lowered his hand at last and turned his attention back toward his companion.

"They're fast."

As if on cue, the tracer eye's movements became more erratic, each strike of its wings at the air bringing it closer and closer to Chikusa and Kit.

[kokuyoyo]

What a charming title, but then again, is it any less on the noise than something like "the black market"? Chikusa keeps his eyes on the creature's movements even as Kit tries to work through his buried memories, waiting for a reaction. Any kind, it doesn't matter what. The shadowy foes it seems they're stuck fighting rarely do nothing, after all.

So it's no surprise when it darts forward, and Chikusa's crossbow jerks in kind, tracking it carefully. "You'll want to keep out of the way then," he murmurs, Astaroth's head following his gaze. If it's only one enemy so far, then... Anticipate has him move his crossbow suddenly ahead, firing off a Poisna right into the spot the Tracer goes next.

Judging by the burst of green light that sinks into the creature and how it wobbles off course, it's a success.

As an expert poisoner in his own right beyond this, Chikusa has no doubt that it'll eat through the creature in due time. So long as it stays away from Kit, that's the ideal. Adjusting his crossbow a bit, Chikusa keeps talking. "But you're a student, aren't you? That kind of thing isn't in the curriculum..."

[whitefox]

The eye's wobbling was a short-lived endeavor, its ear-piercing skreeeee the only warning either of them received before it detonated. Waves of heat rocked the air between Chikusa and Kit, but none of the fire from the ensuing blast reached them. It seemed it was a good thing the other boy reacted when he had, halting the eyeball's approach before it had the opportunity to venture dangerously close.

For the most part, Kit remained safely back as instructed, but it wasn't for a reluctance to be involved. By the time Chikusa spoke again he was already moving to investigate the charred remains of the pitiful creature.

"I'm..."

His fingertips followed the skeletal edges of what was left of the eyeball's wings. He was more than a student, he remembered that now. He was more than this body of his suggested. A silvery white fox with golden eyes and an indomitable spirit, a creature that had appeared briefly during the tournament and inspired fear both times in the hearts of his opponents.

"...a demon."

That's right. A youko, to be specific. He'd been reborn again into a human's body, but he had not lost any of himself in the process. Not the first time, at least. Things seemed different now, everything he could recall still hazy around the edges, and everything he could not still too numerous too imagine.

He turned his attention back to the other boy, his gaze piercing.

"You're a student, too. I remember you. This isn't in the curriculum, either."

[kokuyoyo]

With the threat already taken care of, Chikusa can let himself slump against Astaroth without worry. It'll be worth it to keep an eye out for anything like that while they're in here. If there are too many, or they sneak up on them... Well. He can imagine it quite vividly. As his eyes track Kit's investigation of where the bomb once was, another part of Chikusa's mind is already remembering something else.

During the second Awakening group... Le Rat Aux Milles Yeux had been outraged at the idea of anymore people Awakening. That had been one creature, the most intelligent they've faced so far (although that doesn't say much). However, with how careful they all have to be...

It's clear that Awakening will only draw more attention. Behind Astaroth's coils, his fingers go to brush against the head of a trident he has at his side.

Kit's words draw him out from his thoughts, and Chikusa's eyes go to meet that piercing gaze readily. His own is dull, empty, and doesn't reveal anything. It's what's always made him a useful tool to Mukuro. "This is a dream," is all he says simply. "Do you know how long you've been in it?"

[whitefox]

"Perhaps," he answered after a moment, but it was clear by the tone of his voice that Kit wasn't entirely convinced. "I've never had a figment of my imagination attempt to convince me I was dreaming before."

He rose to his full height, dusting off his hands. A futile gesture in a dream, but he nevertheless wanted all traces of that eyeball gone as opposed to clinging to him. The thought made his skin crawl, reminding him of the strange masked man he'd seen in the very first vision he'd had at the Leviathan Habitat, the man who'd had a bizarre fixation with him. Or with Kurama, at least. Probably...the eyeball was his creation or least connected to him somehow.

But Ciro had asked a question, one Kit wasn't sure how to answer. Time felt strange here, as time usually felt inside of a dream. Like it was stopped, but also like it was slipping by impossibly fast. After a few moments more he shook his head.

"How long doesn't matter." Meaning no, he didn't know. There wasn't any way to tell, either. "I'll stay as long as I can. I want to see more."

[kokuyoyo]

"Well. I never said I was."

It's a bit of an admission, or it probably would be moreso if Kit wasn't already and clearly catching onto everything very quickly. Perhaps there's something to be said for people who are into the occult. Still, if nothing else, Chikusa knows it's a confirmation: that the thing "Ciro" had talked about could really work.

If nothing else, in this specific circumstances.

Even as he continues to talk, Chikusa- and by default, Astaroth as well- continue to look around. Dreams can warp suddenly; he doesn't want to be caught off guard. "What if you could see more piece by piece? Is that not good enough?"

[whitefox]

Feeling as though Ciro may have missed the point (that this was more than a dream) but not wishing to dwell on an otherwise irrelevant topic, Kit chose to address the other boy's followup question instead.

It was a good one, after all. Albeit simply answered, at least for him. He knew what he wanted, and that was to stop being jerked around.

"Would you be satisfied with such a slow method?" he asked. It was like feeding a starving man through a tiny straw, easily more maddening than it was sustaining. What was worse was that the very thing being withheld in this instance was parts of themselves. Or what felt like it, at least. "I would prefer to get to the heart of things."

Something in the darkness around them shook at the mention of the word heart, and the dream began to shift, black velvety walls becoming old brick and the floor worn cobblestone. The light was not much improved, but what little existed was enough to see the massive shape rising up out of the floor...

At once a name came to Kit.

"Genbu..."

He'd been one of the four Saint Beasts, though who the others are he couldn't seem to recall. But what he did remember was fighting that creature, a scene that played out before his and Ciro's eyes in that small tower room. Acrobatic feats of prowess had preserved his life, but 'Kurama' had not gotten through the battle unscathed. Even when he'd thought he'd defeated his opponent, blasting him apart with his rose whip, Genbu had simply pulled himself together again. But it was in all his flitting around that Kurama had finally determined how to beat the demon. When Genbu's limbs scattered, so too did a portion of his brain...and with lightning fast reflexes Kurama had been able to steal the little red organ and render his opponent unable to properly reassemble.

Genbu had pleaded with Kurama, but his pleas had fallen upon deaf ears. With a cool goodbye and one single crack of his whip, the organ had been cleanly sliced in half and the monster destroyed...

...Kit wobbled a little with the memory, but the dark tower walls around them didn't disappear when it had ended. Instead, from a dark doorway behind there was an odd shuffling sound. And the darkness in that direction seemed to be growing. Something was coming, and it wasn't a part of the dream.

[kokuyoyo]

Well, it's not as if he prefers to go through this whole mess by choice... Perhaps the slight annoyance is apparent in the way he reaches up to adjust his glasses although they don't need to be. It'd been frustrating on his end, too...

...But at the same time, he supposes he sees Luci's logic. For a person who hasn't eaten in ages, just shoving food down their gullet won't do. There is a certain care needed.

There's no time for him to answer Kit's question, however. As the ground beneath them shakes, Astaroth reacts immediately, curling tighter around its master even as the one in question raises up his crossbow again. More of those bomb creatures, or something worse- he's not expecting what is essentially a flashback. Warily but with interest, he watches as it all plays out. So this is what this new ally of theirs is supposed to be like... Chikusa's gaze flicks to him again even as the other boy wobbles. Useful.

What's not is how the setting stays, and shuffling is just at his hearing.

Chikusa pauses for only a split second before he jerks his aim, Astaroth's head following, right towards Kit. Dash is an easy spell to cast, speeding the other up. Chikusa... Well. He'll manage on his own. "Run. Now."

[whitefox]

Kit didn't hesitate, not until he reached the base of the only other exit in that small tower room. A winding stone staircase stood before him and at his back...an ally and something that would surely kill him if it could. He could feel its malevolent intent and it was that feeling that led him back to Chikusa's side.

He wouldn't use the magic that had been cast on him to escape. He couldn't. The very idea of abandoning someone...

"It's here for me, isn't it?" He couldn't fight the shadows, but that didn't make him useless. The other boy had a long range weapon. He had precise accuracy. But those things wouldn't matter if whatever was coming overwhelmed him before he could get a shot off. "Use me as bait."

It was the only way to make the shadow be precisely where they needed it. The most efficient way to get a killing shot.

[kokuyoyo]

He's prepared to slow down what's ever coming best he can- it's the most Chikusa can do given the circumstances. Upfront combat isn't what he's meant to do. So it's a surprise to spot Kit from the corner of his eye, coming right back even as Astaroth is wrapped tight around him.

A team player. With the kind of people that have Awakened so far, it's kind of a surprise.

"Do you know what it's going to be?" he asks, as tense as his own Persona while he keeps his aim ready. "Since this is your dream."

[whitefox]

"No, not for certain." Because, if he was being completely honest, he didn't really know. But as whatever it was rumbled closer and with it came the fetid aroma of a ripe corpse, Kit had his suspicions. "I think it might be Genbu."

Or a shadow of the Saint Beast, at least. His putrid odor was still fresh in Kit's nostrils from the memory he'd witnessed of Genbu's fight with Kurama. And if that monster was what was coming up to greet them...

He gave a start and looked around. There was stone everywhere. Stone and shadow. He could attack from any direction. And if he could do that...Kit would be best not to stand too close to Chikusa lest he make him a target, too.

He moved away quickly trusting the other boy to watch him and be ready, and as he did, the swelling of shadow at the doorway seemed to flatten into the floor. Kit had barely gotten five steps before a whip-like tail lashed out of another shadow and swung at his head. It was a strike he was just barely able to dodge, crouching and rolling across the stone floor of the tower, but that gave other boy an opportunity to take a shot.

[kokuyoyo]

If he's saying that with such certainty- then the creature that just appeared in that relived memory? Chikusa can only assume so, because he doesn't have any time to think on it more indepth. Kit suddenly launches himself away, and Astaroth's gaze follows him, following the way Chikusa snaps his aim to him in turn.

This is a new enemy, one he can't afford to waste his shots on. He has to figure out what works. So he shoots off a Frei, just to make sure he can hit this new enemy at all.

Of all the times to happen, it would be when he's on his own like this...

[whitefox]

If nothing else, the attack caused the tail to splinter, though whether that was due to Chikusa's Frei or the shadow's manipulation of Genbu's biology was unclear. The scattered black pieces of stone seeped back like oil into the floor, but when the tower room didn't vanish, Kit knew it wasn't over.

Picking at the shadow piece-by-piece wasn't going to work. Somehow they needed to draw the creature out in full...

Unfortunately, Kit wasn't given more time to contemplate a method that would be successful. As if sensing Chikusa was the only thing standing in its way, the darkness converged again beneath him, and from it, a monstrous black as pitch hand shot upwards without warning.

"Below you!"

[kokuyoyo]

The unfortunate thing about being a Navigator is the inherent weakness in the position. Chikusa has had plenty of time to pick up on the differences between them, guiding from behind instead of being on the front lines. It's even worse for him. Astaroth's positioning doesn't enable him to move as quickly as he might want to. It's an enormous snake, curled tightly around him, and dodging takes some forethought.

Forethought isn't something that can happen during a sneak attack.

Gritting his teeth, Chiksua can only really do one thing even as his gaze jerks down towards the ground: he hauls himself onto Astaroth's massive body. Without the Navigator himself to grab, all that's left is the Persona itself... which might as well be the same thing. A massive hiss leaves the creature, and Chikusa's normally bland expression contorts. It doesn't stop him from aiming his weapon down at the hand, firing off another round.