( mini-plot post: open to all )

[jawdacity]

Who: jawdacity & all of cerealia!
When: towards the end of the event (so this won't conflict with any event threads you may already have going). 2-3pm.
Where: Abandoned village + surrounding jungle
What: THERE ARE EXPLOSIONS. And mushrooms.
Rating/Warning: Possible NSFW for gore?

Details about this mini-plot HERE

"World of Loudening Screams" (Watch on YouTube)

(theme song of this post, courtesy of moribound.)



[ it's another muggy, meandering day in the jungle; nothing seems to be out of the ordinary. ]

IN THE VILLAGE

[ if your character is near the center of the village, they'll bear witness to the curious sight of a herd of shuffling mushroom beasts. in terms of threat level, to the experienced hunter they may have ranked low on the scale: slow, lacking an external fang or claw, they seem to be interested only in their endless march forward.

but, if your character is close enough, they may catch sight of a red-haired young man, a manifesto of anger written across his face. one breathless moment, the calm before the storm, and then he hurls a metallic pair of gloves at the closest beast, the gloves trailing arcs of flame.

what may strike your character first is the searing heat, the thrum of the earth below their feet. the whole village is demolished in a moment, the dying cries of the beasts rising above the din. the explosion lasts much longer than it should, the line of mushrooms going up one after another.

if you're too close, you might be torn in two. you might lose a limb, or two, or three. you might go deaf, you might lose your sight. you might lose all your eyelashes, your clothes. maybe the bag of mushrooms you'd collected for dinner is now little more than ash.

keep running. the smoke trails into the air. someone is screaming. the smell of charred meat follows you even after you disappear into the jungle. ]

IN THE SURROUNDING JUNGLE

[ if your character is close enough to the village, they'll feel the blasts, one after the other. the jungle is on fire, quickly spreading. maybe you'll hear the screaming, too; maybe your lungs will fill with smoke. maybe you'll run into one of the last mushroom beasts, fleeing from the explosion only to trigger a lesser one in the depths of the jungle.

it came from the village, didn't it? maybe someone you love was swept up in the explosion.

if you manage to escape the stampede of terrified jungle beasts (some of which may stop to crunch you up as a quick meal as they dash away from the blast), maybe you can venture closer to see what's happened.

or maybe you should get as far away as possible. ]

Comments

DURING THE BLAST

[jawdacity]

"I can't hear you over the sound of how not dead he is" is not applicable today.

[reenacted]

[He hadn't ever imagined this. Yes, he's been in military training since he was 13, and the din and roar of violence has been an ever-present reality for a child soldier conscripted for a war waging long before his time. The world is harsh and unforgiving, and altogether too hard for a bright-eyed boy with a perpetually sunny outlook. He should have had the whole world laid open in front of him with countless possibilities.

"You're meant for more than this," his mother had said once, about a week before he'd packed his bags and slunk away from home in the dark hours when his only waking company had been the chirping cicadas that resided in the dense, unruly grass that grew along the outskirts of his village. Her voice had been laced with equal amounts of exhaustion and bitterness, with enough guilt to weigh down the dreams of boys who had tried twice as hard.

It's a memory that feels like a lifetime ago, the sort only brought to light when the Light starts fading away to embers.

An image that is a stark contradiction in terms to the reality Zack is blessedly numb to. Everything around him is on fire: the untamed, overgrown grass beneath him, the haunting, deserted houses that reminded him too much of a home he'd left willingly, long before this series of misfortunes, and as the acrid smoke fills the air, cloying, the sky too feels like it's aflame.

Yes, a child soldier, raised in an environment where the threat of death was pedestrian, normal, he's been trained for this. In theory. But practicing CPR on a dummy and administering it to a living human being were wildly different things, and much like that, dodging an explosion seems so simplistic on paper.

Surrounded by death, and yet he'd never felt the threat of it. Never considered the possibility, so trumped by his aspirations and daydreaming that it may as well have registered as nothing more than a statistical impossibility: a thing that happens to everyone else.

And yet, as he's flung backward by the force of the blast he hadn't been prepared for--how do you?--he couldn't have imagined it properly if he'd ever tried. The world suddenly feels distant, the only sound he can make out is the loud buzz in his ears, and the colorful terrain around him takes on a wholly unnatural, obscuring shade of grey, his vision blurring at the edges. He struggles to breathe around the shrapnel in his lung: a hefty, sharp chunk of wood that had once been the structure beam to one of the collapsed houses around him, jutting out half-a-foot past where it has broken skin.

Everything else is numb, either from loss, or a quickly creeping chill. The fingers of his right hand are tingling faintly, with the painful sort of "numb" that comes with the loss of circulation. He doesn't register the loss of the others.]

[beaconed]

We need a medic over here!

[ This scene is pretty chaotic, and Jaune's seen his fair share of crises. For a normally bumbling teenager, his instincts to coordinate group efforts when required are surprisingly impressive, perhaps more so than his natural fighting abilities. When he comes across Zack's body, he doesn't immediately register that it's the man he's grown to hero worship a little. They've been fighting monsters just the other day and this guy seemed utterly invincible, so to see him like this makes Jaune stop in his tracks for a moment.

They don't need a medic for this, right?

Zack's just gonna kip back up any second now. It's what he does.

...... ]

........Zack?

[ Any time now! ]

closed to beissen.

[jawdacity]

[ the thing is, rin hadn't wanted to leave the mushroom invasion to heine. he's tired of living with one eye open, fearing not only for his own life but for that of all his friends lost and wandering in this godforsaken jungle.

for once, he'd wanted to take care of the threat on his own.

he doesn't understand what's happened at first, the pain rendering him insensate, turning the world into white noise. he reaches out with bare hands - three where there should have been two? one where there should have been three? he can't count his own limbs. something's happened, but he can't quite figure it out.

he hears the cold pressure of heine's voice, first. he doesn't know how much time has passed since the first moment and the second. since the world disappeared.

maybe heine's turned into the Dog. or rin could just have gone fucking crazy, heat and pain and ash funneled into his heart by a hand other than his own. but he fumbles for the sensor that tadashi had given him, jamming the button down.

the hum of the containment field. the electric glow visible even behind rin's closed eyelids.

that's why he hadn't been able to see anything. his eyes had been closed.

he opens them to devastation; the earth shaking with secondary explosions, the shock of heine's white hair beyond the containment field. somewhere beyond all of it, scattered wood and raining ash, rin thinks — it hurts.

god, it hurts.

he stumbles to the bars of the containment field. he looks at heine instead of examining his own right arm, knowing and knowing but not wanting proof. ]

Heine? You dead?

[ his voice sounds like someone has taken a knife to his lungs, too soft, too rough. ]

closed like a closed thang

[beissen]

[ gravity of mistakes have always been written in harsh lines, in red welts unfading against raw skin. perhaps heine mistake was written in that fine sent one late night when he agreed to fuel open flame embodied.

(heine - the idiot king of bad decisions.)

to say that blame was already acknowledged would be untrue; it would come later that night, a small insidious prick he finds somewhere between the third and fifth ribs. inherent guilt intrinsic to his blood.

the first thing he sees is the flurry of red, of metal and his guns are drawn at that very sight, mind locked in past and present, in monochrome against greenery and he's snarling something, a start of don't, you moron - as he's about to pull triggers when the explosion hits him square.

ringing in his ears, white heat still staining his sight and for a moment he is more smoke that whole, acrid silverwhite palor and the first breath is a cough of broken bone and blood that stops after the next and there's dirt between his teeth.

familiar pain and it is almost like home; his collar rings, almost, telltale houndsong as the thing howls, rises and heine wants it out, wants to fight those slow lumbering fucks because that is what he is meant to do.

keepsake guns still clenched when he lifts himself up, a shard of sicklegrin and sicklesnarl before something else snaps. before something is terribly wrong, wrong when he wants the hound out, when they agree for once and he cannot move. he cannot breathe for a moment, and head spins.

he thinks he sees movement in front of him, against a haze, a surface distortion and the headache that cuts his temple is reminiscent of the one when he ventured into the below.

the hound swear, each cuss spat hey boss what the fuck's this? somethin's wrong.

pants, sucking in breath and he moves forward half bent before rin comes to clarity

and he knows who to accuse. he knows who to fucking ask about this and it is half formed words, starts of what, and he is no longer certain if the anger is the dog's or his.

if there ever was a difference.

it felt as though a part of him was ripped and it was beyond uncomfortable. he didn't know didn't know and it surprises him that he croaks out a - ] What does it look like.

[ he focuses on rin. focuses on shape and his red eyes burn, sharp embers against the white of his face, against the dried blood on the side of his head that no longer has a wound to come from. ] - What the fuck is this -

[ half formed, sharpened on whetstone before he stops on the arm. before that missing limb is screaming and he thinks of arthur - god he remembers his name too - and how the arm that was ripped from socket had grown back within days and

he knows humans are not like that. he knows and

drip drip drip should go the blood except it doesn't. he's seen that before. and still...rin ran on adrenaline right now. on something blocking out pain and heine looks through some damn containment field. helpless, it feels like. caged.

oh, he's angry. he's so angry so why doesn't he jump directly at that. were it his world, he would not have given his actions pause. ] Whatever you did, let me the fuck out. You need -

[ help? ] - you fucking moron. [ it wasn't accusation, his tone choked and low and strained against internal pressure ( god it felt like his head would crack open). it wasn't even in the same plane. it was a personal jibe, much like the ones he'd often hissed at badou when the one-eyed idiot wouldn't leave. ]

closed to heiwana

[reprizesal]

[Sayo's with his brother, using this abandoned village as a resting place before they go out into the jungle, when he can feel sudden heat coming. He didn't look back, even as the ground below them rumble, as he grabbed Kousetsu's hand and try to run.

But the sudden explosion and the force of it might be faster than Sayo's reaction.]

[heiwana]

[ The animals running and flying past them should have been Kousetsu's clue that something had happened. But out here in these untainted forests...one wouldn't expect such a disaster to spring itself upon them.

Whether or not Sayo is fast enough proves to be inconsequential given the magnitude of the blast and the sheer amount of force behind it. Kousetsu being behind will use his body as a buffer, instinctively protecting Sayo from the debris and the fire that comes forth from it.

Both are flung forward with some impact and Kousetsu manages to shield the tantou as flame and large rocks and debris fall from the sky around them. Sayo will find, when the dust clears Kousetsu hunched over him his expression pained but calm regardless. There's blood, lots of it, as Kousetsu remains in his bowed position. His back is in really bad shape but he looks relieved to see that Sayo has only come out of this with minimum damage from what he can see at least. He is at least grateful for that. He's silent the smoke and smell of fire barely making him able to speak as it chokes and overpowers them both. ]

...Sayo are you uninjured?

[bropane]

[ it's a really frustrating thing to die again, but what can you do when you're innocently mushroom hunting and checking out the village? tadashi isn't even hunting down these mushroom beasts, but edible mushrooms that grow by the village.

but things happen for a reason, don't they? he never suspected to die in the first place, when his main intention the first time was to save his mentor. what reason it might be to be caught in the fire this time is something nobody will probably ever know, save for rin.

much like how it happened the first time, his body gets cooked in the fire. he won't get caught in a blast this time around, but that sure is barbeque'd tadashi when the fire dies down and people start checking the village for any survivors after it all. he'll have a hand to his chest, and he'll seem to have passed due to lack of oxygen, and of course, the fire. (what else?) ]

[Locked to Ket for now]

[digiteyesed]

[It's a funny thing, pain. Being chronically ill as she was when she was alive, Ene had gotten used to a certain level of it. It wasn't all the time, but occasionally she'd spent entire days aching, head pounding and dizzy, feeling weak and upset and just wanting to curl up under the covers until it all went away. Not having to put up with that was one of the best things about not having her body anymore. Pretty much the only good thing really. Even so, she'd wished with all her heart to be able to feel again, to be real, she'd put up with any amount of pain if it meant being able to touch people again. She'd always been so sure of that.

Turns out really feeling pain again,true agony, is not nearly so romantic.

The blast knocks Ene out of the air, crashing to the ground with a scream. It hurts. It hurts it hurts it hurts, her lungs are on fire in a far more literal way than last time she felt them, her flesh feels like it's melting, she can hear her hair crackling and cooking, and Ene knows she has to get up, move, run. But it hurts, it hurts so much all she can do is lie there, curled up in a ball trying to protect as much of herself from the blast as she can. It's nothing like when she was sick, she can't curl up and go to sleep until it's over, if she sleeps here she'll die, but she can't get up, her body won't work, why won't it work?

Is she dying again?

No, no she doesn't want to die, not anymore, enough already, someone help!]

failsaver inc; burns, this is your only warning

[failsaver]

Ene? [ Her voice is the only warning Ket has before the blast sends him flying toward a tree. The tree erupts instantly in a pillar of fire; with it goes the back of his shirt, several layers of dorsal skin and a chunk of hair. Ket hardly notices. His wounds mean little, cauterized before they can even bleed.

To him, Ene's screams burn hotter than the flames. Her name tears at his throat, but by then he's already moving. Distance is irrelevant, as are the obstructing flames. They can't touch him. Wherever he approaches, they part, as if knowing not to get in the way. Subconscious Shifting has its perks.

Not that it matters. He'd just as readily run into a fire that didn't make way. A few chunks of flesh versus Ene's life – that's no contest at all. The bottom line is that Ene isn't going to die. Not today. Not ever, if Ket can help it. ]

Ene!! [ The flames leave Ene as he approaches, displaced in a tight circle around them – a reminder that they could close in any second, should Ket lose control. Not that he would. Fire's just an object, and objects have nothing on his Shifting.

Kneeling down beside her, he reaches out to scoop her up in a hug. Hopefully it won't make her hurt more. Hopefully the smell of charred flesh at close proximity won't bother her too much. And hey, it's not like she can see his back from this angle. ]

well, she's not dead, so there's that

[dontsaygou]

[ Gou knew that one day, her fascination with muscles would get her in trouble.

She thought it would be an innocent thing. Something someone took offense to and she had to correct. Or her friends would scold her, tell her to act like a lady. At the very worst, she expected to be so distracted that she stumbled and fell. She didn't expect to be caught in an explosion.

Someone had caught her eye. A strong back not entirely hidden by a shirt and biceps glistening as the sunlight caught beads of sweat, and Gou was entranced, stopping to stare with admiration. It was possible a sigh or two (or twenty) escaped her and people had to walk around her as she just stood there.

Gou's a lucky girl. Something she's always known, always been careful to not brag about. Most of that luck came because she worked hard to accomplish what she set out to do. Some of it was just inexplicable, boons granted her way because of the serendipitous whims of Fate.

It's the latter luck that's with her in the moment. She had been facing away from the explosion to start with, not quite in the direct center of the village. The force of the explosion bowls her over, but she doesn't hit anything too hard, though the ground is an unyielding mass that knocks the wind out of her when she finally falls.

So yes, she's a lucky girl.

The pain is immediate and intense. Bad enough that she wishes for numbness. Her legs are on fire and the smell of scorched skin and hair reach her nose. There's a loud, sharp ringing in her ears.

Every breath hurts and even trying to move her fingers, to curl them into the ground, makes tears spring to her eyes. There's no give, no purchase she can find, and the tears don't fall - can't - because it's just too much, before she blacks out. ]

SUPPORT: TENDING TO THE WOUNDED/PUTTING OUT THE FIRE

[jawdacity]

OPEN

[braavado]

Part A.

[The initial blast nearly knocks Korra over. She's not close enough to get caught in the backlash of Rin's attack, but close enough to feel the intense heat wash over before she can catch her breath. As soon as she's on her feet, Korra breaks into a run, ignoring the heat. The blast had come from the direction of the village--there were still people in there!

She dives straight into the burning ruins, using her fire bending to keep the worst of the flames away from her.]

Is anyone still here?!

Part B.

[Once Korra's managed to find a few survivors and get them to safety, another pressing issue makes itself known. With the fire from the explosion spreading to the trees, no place is going to be safe if they don't deal with it now.

Ignoring the burns going along her arms, Korra coughs to clear some of the smoke from her throat before calling out to the people around her.]

It's not safe here! If anyone has anything they can use to carry water from the river, or any kind of water powers, let's try to work together to put the fire out!

b

[journaler]

[Leia's attention is split between the growing fire and the injured. The heat is intense, making it hard to concentrate, but she focuses on the latter, since she has a lot more experience in it given her nursing background. Still, Korra's shouting is hard to ignore.

Leia stands after tending to her latest patient and leads him hurriedly to a path where she signals for him to leave.]

Go! As far as you can, and don't stop, okay?

[Just as quickly after he follows her instructions, she turns, running towards the fire again where her friend is.]

Korra! Is there anyone else?

B;

[moribound]

Understood. [Minato's voice is hoarse and raspy from all the smoke and the heat is getting to him even if the flames haven't, so he's forced to take a breather before continuing on.

It occurs to him briefly that his friends might still be in the village and that he should hurry, but there's little time to think about it- his friends are strong and they'd be fine for sure, which they won't be if the fire continues to spread.]

I can use ice magic to put out the fire and keep it from spreading to the trees, but we should hurry- there could some survivors in the village that we haven't found yet.

open!

[journaler]

[Leia's far enough from the blast, but she can still feel the rumble beneath her feet, which is enough to rattle her in more ways than one. Unfortunately, she doesn't quite shield her eyes fast enough to escape the pain from the blinding light; and already, her heart starts to beat faster to match her quickening breath. When only the flames are left, she opens her eyes and is met with the damage some distance ahead. She leans, nearly toppling over before her hand catches on a nearby tree. It takes a moment to process, but soon she pushes herself away from the comfort of the tree, and her steps are slow but decisive.

Something terrible has happened.]

H-Hey--!

[Rather than run away from it, she'll run towards the fire (if she's not stopped), enduring the heat and the increasing about of smoke and burning debris. If you're running in the opposite direction, she may run right into you, or if you're heading the same way--great!

Feel free to say hi. Don't mind her coughing and sputtering as she tries to pick up her pace to find out exactly what happened. When she gets closer:]

C . . . Can anyone hear me?!

[yasusada]

[ This is troublesome, he had a feeling that their stay here wasn't going to be entirely pleasant. Something about being within the city was where they were meant to be but having the chance of freedom was nice as well. He isn't sure about what has happened or what is going on but for a living sword spirit — he knows the situation is bad. So what catches his attention more than the various flames and the shake of the ground is the fact that someone is running towards the fire.

As a sword, he's meant to protect people and others — so he does want to stand by that rule. Worried that something may happen to the other, he jets after her and there's a quick apology under his breath as he grabs her wrist. That's dangerous is what he thinks and because of that, she shouldn't be going that way? Besides, who is she looking for. ]

You should be more careful, you could become seriously hurt if you go any closer. [ More importantly, he does have to ask just in case her reason of going that far is legitimate. ] Are you looking for someone? [ The uchigatana does loosen his grip on her for just a moment. ] If you are, at least take me with you.. this place is becoming dangerous. [ But why is it is what he wants to know. ]

[rebelia]

[With his eyes sore from the fire and so much smoke filling the immediate vicinity, IV can only stagger through the jungle while feeling his way around. He breaks into a mad dash when he hears the familiar voice, brushing aside the vines and foliage until he all but collides into Leia and jerks back into position. He seizes her by the shoulders.

Varying degrees of ash cover his clothes and face, signs that he'd been caught in the fire to a lesser extent than others. The ache in his body from going airborne with the impact feels numb, however, as he looks Leia in the eyes, his own wide and full of naked panic, voice unrestrained.]

Are you hurt, Leia!?

open!

[faradize]

[ lightning's here — as here as she can be. fortunately, she had only heard the blast, following the trail of fleeing fauna back to the village she had been in a few days prior. after a small moment of shock, instinct kicks in and she's charging in to find anyone she can that might be incapacitated. perhaps she approaches you, face steely but burning. ]

Are you hurt?

[ before being prompted by any kind of reassurance to their physical state, a soft, ambient light surrounds her, and a warm feeling emanates from your body. it's enough to heal minor wounds and alleviate some pain, but not enough to cure any sort of third degree burns, and certainly not enough to give you back a missing arm. ]

EVERYTHING ELSE

[jawdacity]

OPEN.

[jawdacity]

( A )

[ he keeps stumbling over his feet, his balance fucked to hell by the loss of --

he looks down at the charred remnants of his right arm. it's the smell that's the worst. cooked meat. his stomach growls, empty after days of substandard food, meat a luxury that he'd been unable to afford while hiding and flitting from tree to tree to avoid the monsters that appeared at the worst of times.

he tears his gaze away. the pain hasn't yet settled in. he's read about this, ravenous for information after sousuke's shoulder injury had rendered their shared dream impossible: the brain has a limit for pain. when it overextends, it's euphoria instead.

rin stumbles and tries to right himself with hand braced against the smoking remains of a house. the hand isn't there.

heine, too, eyes like glinting metal. rin had thought them friends, comrades-in-arms, something more than strangers. but heine's fury had been incomprehensible, a language too intricate to unravel in the wake of what rin had just done. he'd stepped over zack's body. he'd -- killed zack.

it feels like nothing. he should be crying, inconsolable after killing and injuring who-knows-how-many, but his mind is a blank canvas, no shade nor shape to fill its expanse. he can think only of the grit in his mouth. how his face itches, covered now with a fine layer of ash. his hair had blown into a disarray; thick locks of it stick to his cheeks, his nape. a dip in the river would be nice. a shower, with that sakura-scented bath wash that gou always bought for him without teasing him. a swim, maybe. butterfly, to flex his aching back. afterwards, he could ask one of the underclassmen to give him a rubdown with that new menthol salve he'd found at the sporting goods shop, the last time they'd taken the train into the city.

what would haru think?

rin takes a deep, gasping breath. he can't look behind him. he can't do anything but trudge forward, unrecognizable in tattered clothes and tattered hair, covered from head to toe in ash. he tumbles through the brush, catching himself with his remaining arm.

when he looks up, the bloody red smear of his gaze startling against his ashen skin, he could easily be mistaken for one of the jungle's many hungry inhabitants. ]

The hell are you staring at?

[ is the snapped response to any eyes upon him. his voice is gravel.

he struggles to his feet, refusing help if it's offered. ]

( B )

[ somewhere, far into the distance, gou tucks her hair ties into a drawer in the bureau that they share.

sometimes rin opens that drawer and runs his fingers through the colorful array, impressive already despite the short time she's lived with him.

he's thinking of her, remaining fist clenching and unclenching. he's sitting by the crater, surrounding by the remnants of a dozen mushroom beasts, of a ring of splintered wood. his scavenged gloves lay in his lap.

he's thinking about his sister. he hasn't been a very good brother to her, has he?

little sins, big sins. sins too huge to comprehend.

he won't deny his involvement in the explosion if anyone were to see the gloves and suspect. ]

OPEN

[reprizesal]

[There's an injured, dirty child weakly running away from the flames. He would've gotten away faster, but he's carrying a long sheathed sword in his arms, which looks far too big for him to reasonably wield. Not when he have his own, short sword in its sheath.

That's because the long sword is his brother's vessel, and Sayo can't let his brother melt in the flames.

But as he run, he tripped and fell forward to the ground. He's still clutching Kousetsu's sword in his arms, protectively and afraid. He must get away and find Haru, or someone, or a safe place. Two uncommon emotions were surging through him, fueling him to try and keep going. Panic and fear.

He's scared of losing Kousetsu next.

Anyone who came to check the explosion and fire would see a child on the ground, struggling to get up while holding a long, sheathed sword.]

open;

[zerotohiro]

a.)
[He'd heard the explosion from deeper in the jungle. He's only heard an explosion like this once before and it definitely didn't lead to anything good.

In theory he probably should be running the opposite direction. In theory he really, really should be running the other direction away from the flames and the smoke and the stampeding mushroom monstrosities but there's only one thing in mind and that's the older Hamada who'd gone ahead to scout for food while Hiro stuck to the outer fringes.

By the time he gets there he's managed to hide and dodge from the monsters and make his way to the dying flames and waft away smoke. He's walking through the village, yelling for Tadashi before his foot hits something and stops him in his path.

There's a lot of incoherent yelling suddenly as Hiro rips off his helmet and drops to the ground, grabbing his burnt (burnt?) brother by the shoulders and starts shaking him. He already knows the outcome of this situation. This isn't the first time, after all, but it doesn't stop him from yelling in his face for any kind of reaction.]

No...nonono, not this again. You can't do this to me again!

[Anyone nearby might notice the very audible wrath of a teenage boy in a purple flight suit who basically refuses to leave his barbecued brother. If you choose to approach him, it's best to do it cautiously or he will snap and snarl.]

b.)
[Later, after Tadashi's body disappears, is when he finally leaves the village. He bolts deeper into the jungle, frustrated that this is happening and frustrated that there's nothing that can be done and ultimately a little more than horrified that he still failed to keep Tadashi safe. Anyone in the jungle might come across Hiro either successfully beating up small monsters with his gauntlet-covered fists or trying to fight monsters bigger than him. That won't work out well, probably, but he's still angry.

Tadashi's gone again. They're still stuck in this stupid jungle. And maybe if he hadn't helped release the Bridge this wouldn't have happened…but it was the right thing to do, wasn't it? It had to be.

At the end of the day when it's starting to get dark anyone heading back toward the campsites can find him curled up at the base of a tree isolated from everyone else, not entirely set on going back just yet. He's being stupid. People who die here…they come back. But what about the people who were already dead to start with?]

CLOSED TO RIN

[complices]

[ The night after the fire died down, there is a lone figure in the devastation. Ardeo sits in the ashes of the fire, the size of an average fox.

His light is intense, burning with unabashed anger. In his small body, there is incessantly flickering emotion.

Wherever Rin is, a sudden flash of heat will wake him. In front of his eyes, there will be a flame, beckoning him to come closer. As he reaches that flame, another will appear in the distance, also calling him forward, compelling him to follow against his better judgment. He is expected to follow and if he tries to go backwards, the feeling of flame bites at his heels.

With that invitation, Ardeo waits. ]

[jawdacity]

[ his sleep has been troubled, nightmares plucking at him, his arm - the lack of his arm - sending the occasional quake of pain through him.

the wave of heat spreads through his dream, and all of a sudden he's back in that village, wood splintering around him, the flame like a living presence, hands pressed to the ceiling of the sky. rin wakes with a gasp. his skin is dotted with sweat, his shoulder aching bright. for a moment, he thinks he's back in australia in the height of summer, ready for another practice, missing japan as one would miss a phantom limb --

--ha. funny how that works.

it takes a moment for the fire to resolve into more than an afterimage of the dream he's sloughed off. he lurches to his feet, ungracefully three-limbed. he hesitates, the reality of his situation much worse than a lost swimming dream, his phantom right hand clutched into a fist that doesn't exist.

but he follows, eventually. the flame at his heels gives him little choice. maybe this is all a dream, a dream tucked into a dream, matroyshka-doll dreams, japan and haru and the olympics waiting for him once he finally awakens to the real world.

he's still blinking into awareness when he stumbles into the clearing. it's worse now in the bruise-dark of night time, ardeo's flames setting the destruction into stark relief. rin had done this, somehow. these hands, one torn away in recompense.

rin swallows, and swallows. ]

Yeah.

[ his voice is like stone dragging over stone, sleep-rough, exhausted. he tries again: ]

I'm here.

[ no attempt at an apology, not yet. but here is his sloping spine, his forehead dotted with sweat. rin matsuoka isn't good with apologies; never has been. but here, confronted again with the end result of an accident: he's the personification of an apology. ]