worthallthis | IC Inbox: In the Night

[ Last Saturday, Sora suddenly announced to Soldat that he was going to take a short break from his patrols - something like four days starting Friday - and while he'd make it to his afternoon routine and dinner on Monday, he'd probably be out until possibly Wednesday. He and Naminé discussed it and thought it'd be best to put all his memories in his head it a controlled environment! He put it in context with Naminé doing some longterm technician work with him and the opals, but really, it was more like her sitting in his bedroom and putting his memories back while he took a lot of naps. That's how he probably explained it at first.

He's already told Soldat about the amusement park and definitely made sure to promise that he'd touch base with them one more time before they left. Still, Wednesday's cutting it pretty close.

Fortunately, Sora will text them bright and early Wednesday morning! ]

hey hi i think we're all done!
i'll be at practice tonight
i'm kinda woozy but i'll try not to dip out

actually can you meet me at the doors like thirty minutes before javert's practice starts?
i have to show you something before we leave tomorrow

[Soldat has been worried. They have experienced memory regains of many kinds, now, and anything that requires this much time and work must be insanely difficult, dangerous, and more like the full-on malfunctions they experienced at the beginning, and still on occasion these days. So: worried. They might have lingered around in Downtown a little longer than normal on their patrol, looking up at the windows they know belong to Sora's room, trying to see what's going on up there.

So the text is a relief, and also not great for their nerves. Sora. Woozy? Something to show them? You are gonna give them a goddamn heart attack.]

okay. better be an hour early though. Javert gets there early himself.

okay an hour early!!! see you there!!

And lo and behold, that spiky haired teen is there an hour early! Sure he might be charging up the way, snow flying, but he's on time! Looking SUPER excited to see them, by the way; big toothy grin, pep to his step. He spent as much time as he could with them after their spirit friend left, but he had to pull himself away at some point, as unhappy as that made him. He knows that the best thing he can do for them now is look as excited as he is to see them! Sure, he may still be a little unfocused and discombobulated, but Naminé had assured him that it was just a side effect of being unconscious for as long as he was. The entire transfer had been a success, it was just a matter of letting things settle into place.

"Hey! Long time no see!" Yep, that's a run with a happy wave. Sora loves Naminé to bits, but he needs people, man. He is so relieved to see their face.

Soldat is pretty relieved, too. They lift the metal hand to wave, back, already looking Sora over to make sure he looks all right. "Yes. How did it go?" The memory thing. It seems like an important thing to ask, since it's the whole reason Sora's been out of contact for days.

So strange that just a handful of days of not seeing somebody makes them this twitchy.

The soldier looks good themselves, and Sora's doing his best to smile as big as he's able! Sure, he's a little out of it, but he's feeling incredibly empowered by all of the new memories he's gotten in the past few days. It just feels good to remember things. Less anxiety hovering over his head.

"Great! It was kind of weird being asleep for most of it, and I kept worrying about Naminé being lonely, but she said she was okay. I think Hana might have come in a few times to keep her company." Sora swings around, stretching. See? Fine! "Ready to go? We need to be sort of close to the woods for this." There are a few clearings near the gym where he and Link do their outdoor dueling! Sora will turn and start heading toward one farther away from the gym, but still close enough to keep it within sight. He has an idea, but there needs to be as little light as possible for this.

Better than "Close to the woods." The look skeptical, and maybe a little concerned. "What exactly are you trying to show me." But they follow anyway, albeit a little warily. "Be careful. Some forest spirits live in the woods there." Including their Owl Friend. They don't expect the local spirits to hurt Sora, but if they're moving away from the gym, it's possible whatever Sora is going to do might disturb them.

Well... it might come to that. Sora doesn't think he'll do any harm, though. It just has to be dark. Very dark.

He shakes his head. "We won't go far. I don't think it's even going to take that long." Now that the initial excitement of being reunited with Soldat has passed, a little bit of worry has wriggled his way in. He's... pretty sure that this will be okay. The few times he's gone under have been enough for him to realize he understands what not and not to touch, to avoid things instinctively that he'll regret later. It's just that he's never tried this before. Making it happen.

"It's something that I think you should see before we leave. One more power that I have. It's something for emergency situations, so you know what'll happen and what to do." Almost to the clearing. The light from the entrance of the gymnasium doesn't reach this far. The only light comes from their two lanterns.

That's tactically sound. Soldat clearly remembers during the siege, constantly being surprised by Crowley's unpredictable magics. It took ages to get used to moving furniture and randomly appearing muzzles on spirits and things.

But knowing that Sora had to bring them out here to show them makes them nervous, too. They swing their lantern down, opening one shutter to shed a little more light. "Okay."

Sora's going to come to a stop in the clearing and slip his backpack off his shoulders, setting it on the ground. He is going to go through this very slowly and very carefully, because he's pretty sure that if he doesn't explain this exactly right, the soldier will refuse to let him do this.

"Okay. So. You know how bad stuff happens if we leave our lanterns somewhere and go too far away from them?" He looks at his own star lantern's sun yellow, thinking intently. "I think... something extra might happen to me if I do that. So, I'm going to test that out and you're going to help me, because if the thing I think will happen does happen, I might need some help getting back to it."

Deep breath. He puts down his lantern between them, about as halfway as he can make it. "Whenever this happened to me in Locke City," he begins, trying to couch this info in the more recent past than the more uncertain past life, "I transform, and when I do, I don't really think in the same way? I kind of act like a dog. Holly - friend of mine, my little sister's best friend - called the other form 'Darky'. We'd play fetch until I turned back." Sora grins. "You don't have to do that. You just have to keep an eye on me."

A dog. A dog? Seriously? Soldat blinks a couple times, expression going blank with surprise. "Like Link. Only he seemed to be himself. And he was carrying his lantern." Of course, his lantern was red so maybe it was just connected to the changes going on at the time?

It still seems potentially dangerous. Going too far from his lantern could kill him, if they're not careful. "Will you listen to me if I ask you to stay close? Like that?"

"Oh, yeah! Like Link! He's the guy I got the idea from." The day Masaomi died this month wasn't really great, but he did get a lot of useful info out of it. Like this! At least the soldier has a little bit of context for what's about to happen.

Sora thinks for a moment, and then bobs his head. "I think so? It might take a few tries for me to understand it, but I'm pretty sure that I'll stick around long enough for it to go through. I don't know if going back to my lantern will be enough for me to change back right away, but it should wear off quick as long as, um. Nothing weird happens."

So. How much more should Sora say? Maybe... get some initial concerns out of the way and hope for the best? "When it starts, uh. I'll probably start moving funny? Like I'm sick or in pain. That's, uh, normal. Once it's done, I won't say anything, and I'll probably do dog things like sniff around and stuff. That's normal too."

Okay, here's the part that might be a harder sell. "There's also gonna be, uh. A lot of darkness? Just all over? Not like that," Sora adds, waving at Beacon's ever present darkness, but then pauses. "Okay, maybe a little like that. But that's normal too. That's fine." The only thing that won't be fine is if he up and attacks the soldier, which he's about 99% sure won't happen, or if Beacon decides it's going to mess with him while he's like that, and uh. Well, that's sort of a given with this place.

This is sounding weirder and weirder. Is it not a shapechange? Will Sora actually turn into a dog, or just act like one? Soldat nods hesitantly. "Is there anything I can do to help? If it hurts."

Hm! They'll find out real soon! Sora just smiles. "Maybe just. Try not to worry? Not that that'll put you in any danger. It's just so I feel better."

Sora looks back. There's about a twenty foot radius where the light is pretty bright, then it peters off sharply into the gloom. He'll start heading toward that radius and turn his back toward the darkness, facing the soldier. Okay.

"So, I'll keep you updated as long as I can. Just, you know, I'll say if things are still okay until I go under. I'll stop if something really not right happens, promise. The longest I've ever been transformed was like, less than a half hour? So." He nods. Last chance. "Any questions?"

"No. Just get it over with," Soldat says, pretty clearly more nervy than annoyed. "So I can stop worrying and just see what happens." All this lead-up is just making the potential event itself seem worse. God, they really hope this isn't going to be actual!Sora acting like a dog, rather than an actual shapechange. That just sounds fucked up.

Oh, good, he's sold it. Sora flicks up a thumb and, without much further ado, begins to walk backward out of the little circle of light. The flame in his lantern gutters a little, and he feels a little ill, but that's a normal lantern separation thing. He nods, takes a few more steps.

On step three, his foot lifts away from the snow, and there's black smoke rising from the footprint. Sora looks up at Soldat and nods. Fine. That's normal.

Another step. He begins to shiver. The light in his lantern dims even further, and black mist starts seeping from the ground right behind him. "I'm okay," Sora manages. His hands are shaking, his eyes are fluttering shut. His head tilts to the side as though he's suddenly lost equilibrium.

Another step. The shivering has rapidly progressed to a shake, his hands contorted and moving involuntarily. "Th-This is what happens, it's fine," he says, but it's slower, as though he's trying to pull his mouth into the right shapes. On the last word, a tendril of black smoke escapes his mouth.

The snow has disappeared under a slick pool of swirling darkness. "It's fine, it's fine," he repeats, teeth clacking, mouthfuls of darkness escaping and curling around his face. "It's fine, it-"

He stumbles as though he's missed a step off a sheer cliff, falls backward and disappears into the ground.

Then something very fast pulls itself from the pool and launches up to land in a nearby tree.

It's just a cluster of darkness on this branch from this far away from the lanterns, but Soldat will at the very least see two lantern yellow dots somewhere in the tendrils of smoke. Red rimmed, perfectly round, side by side. They sway a little, like the movements of a bird of prey. They do not blink.

That is horrible to watch. Soldat bites back demands that Sora come back right now, fist up both hands to remind themselves to stand the fuck still and let Sora do this. It is not fine. It is awful. Sora is in pain and they can't do anything to help.

Seeing him literally disappear does make them twitch that direction, take a couple steps, but before they can even get out of the circle of lantern light, there's... something? There? "Kid?" they call over, clearly anxious.

The two little lights pop up at the sound of the name, and that should almost be familiar, except perhaps with a slightly more animal edge. Yes, that's the little pop Sora does whenever he's caught in a moment of doglike interest.

The two little globes pause, then swing out of the tree onto the floor, or at least they make it halfway. Now that the initial darkness of the transformation has dissipated into the air, it should be more obvious that some black silhouette is hanging from the tree, upside down, wisps of darkness floating away from it, back arched like a monkey as it continues to stare in Soldat's direction. Its foot is hooked around the branch in a way that should be impossible, as though the darkness has decided to merge his heel with the wood so he can hang, arms curled and hands loose, staring at the soldier. It tilts its head at them. It knows that name.

The spiky haired silhouette should be obvious by now. It's even wearing his clothes. It's as though he's been dumped in ink, but it's clearly him. It may be a bit too dark to pick out his face, but it's there like a mask, eyes replaced with yellow spotlights, unblinking.

It seems to hang there for a moment, perfectly still, and it seems like it could hang there forever. But its head turns sharply in another direction. If it's quiet enough out and the Soldier's hearing is good, they can probably hear it sniff the air. It cranes in that one particular direction, arms reaching out and grasping, almost as though it can take hold of whatever scent it's caught and pull it in its direction.

In the next moment, it disappears out of the tree in a puff of darkness. It reappears in the direction it was looking on the snow, on the ground and on all fours, but it almost immediately rears back, and if things were eerie but relatively calm before, the way it digs a hand into its black hair and smashes its head into a nearby tree trunk is a different matter.

It repeats this once, then twice, leaving cracking indentations in the wood, then starts ramming its head into the ground, launching itself drunkenly away from that direction. It smashes into more trees, eyes still perfectly round and staring. The smoky tendrils billow out and start multiplying. Sora is silent through all of this, even as he throws himself against another tree, leaves and branches shuddering and falling to the ground. His hands and feet claw into the ground as he moves between the trees, leaving deep trenches in the snow, deep enough to dig up the soil underneath. This may probably look like some sort of tantrum. This was almost certainly not what Sora had warned the soldier about at all.

It looks bad, is what it looks. Soldat plucks up Sora's lantern, not wanting to leave it behind, and moves to follow, maybe even catch up. They don't look or sound any less anxious than they were a second ago-- probably, actually, it's more. "No, no. Kid. Hey. Hey. Don't hurt yourself, it's okay."

At the sound of the name, to the rhythm of the admonishments, Sora's body seems to fling itself heedlessly at them, hands in claws rending into tree trunks, scrambling like an animal with a leg in a bear trap in the initial throes of panic. However, if the soldier gets within distance of the darkness engulfing Sora's body, the mass will will bend around them, creating a more or less clear path. Will they get hit with the occasional tendril? Sure, but it won't hurt. (Or if it does, it only feels a bit like razor wire stroked gently across the skin.) If anything, it just feels cold, silky. Tenuous. Not exactly afraid, but definitely lost. Uncertainty in physical form. Like there's nothing else but this. Like there was an exit, but it's gone now. Like that moment right before waking where you don't remember who or where you are or what will happen next.

Anyway, Sora will continue to lunge in their direction if they keep talking. However! If they happen to get within clawing distance, it'll throw itself at them, but disappear in another puff of smoke before it makes contact, reappearing at a safer distance nearby. It doesn't seem to be breathing in any sort of physical exertion, and those eyes still do not blink, but it's shaking with the strain of... something. Of moving, maybe.

Getting closer with the lantern doesn't appear to be working to change him back. The light within the lantern will get a bit stronger as they get closer, but that's the only change. At least it doesn't seem to be particularly afraid of nor attracted to either lantern. It seems more interested in Soldat's voice and whatever it can find to smash itself against next.

It's easy to tell that when they stop talking, the banging of heads on trees picks up, so Soldat attempts to keep it up. Even if it's mindless repetitions of, "It's okay. It's okay, kid. We'll figure it out. It's okay." The slivers of darkness don't really bother them-- they don't hurt, and they've got a metal arm anyway, just in case.

And then there's lunging. Soldat flinches back automatically, arm coming up with a mechanical whir in preparation of launching Sora back off him if need be, except then they've suddenly lost track of him. They whirl, looking for the glow of eyes, a stare at Sora's whatever-this-is. "Kid. The fuck are you doing," they say more than ask, baffled and worried and frustratingly full of useless adrenaline now.

Sora’s head will swing around at their bewilderment, tilting gently. Despite the wild abandon with which it’s tried to splatter itself on everything, there is no strain on its face or in its breathing or, at the moment, even in its body language. Despite the very unnatural movements, the predator-like gait and the way its head swings around and shudders like a bird of prey, it’s all very smooth. Almost serene. Like things are supposed to be this way.

Well, its head whips in the direction where the Problem exists and it throws its hands into the ground and lashes dirt and snow everywhere, but that little moment was nice.

Still, there is eventually a breaking point. If the soldier consistently addresses Sora, it will eventually dig a hand deep into a fallen tree - just slam it in there - and it will not move from there, even if, bewilderingly, it will continue to struggle to move as though it doesn’t remember that it's now trapped and has completely forgotten it can teleport out. Again, there’s snow and darkness flying everywhere, but the darkness will always bend right around or roll harmlessly off the soldier. (They may not be so lucky with regards to the snow.)

It doesn’t seem to be tired, but it’s very much still trying to escape its self-imposed hand trap. Ridiculous. Any thoughts, Soldat? Sora seems to have trapped himself here for a reason.

Snow doesn't hurt, it's just mildly annoying, so. Soldat ignores the snow. They creep closer, approaching with the lantern in hand, trying to make soothing noises. "S'okay. It's okay, you're fine. Just calm down. We'll get you back. Somehow."

What can they do to get him back? What can they do that they can do? Ruffle his hair? Use his actual name? Throw snow at him, back?

"Talk to me, kid. Or. Communicate somehow. Can you do that?"

Sora will turn to the soldier's voice, unblinking. It'll turn away a couple of times, as though to check in That Direction, but having them close seems to be distracting it sufficiently, even if it doesn't appear to be doing much of anything else.

It shivers, but its breathing doesn't appear to go with it. Apparently, it just moves like that. And then it'll... sniff in their direction. At them, and then at their lantern, and then back at them. It doesn't seem to be doing this in reaction to what they're asking Sora to do - it actually just seems like it's being distracted between something very interesting and something almost as interesting. Hmmm.

It's been a few minutes now. Perhaps five. It sits back on its haunches, rattling its hand uselessly within the hollow treetrunk. And that's a pretty hefty rattle, actually... almost as though there's something else inside. Well. You have its attention now, at least. Any minute now, right? Any minute... now....

The adrenaline spike calming enough that it doesn't seem like a touch would result in violence, Soldat holds out the flesh hand, aiming to smooth down the shadowy spikes of Sora's hair. Or what they presume is his hair. "That's it. You're fine. Nice an' calm. I've gotcha."

@langit; text; backdated to 02/26

@ Soldier, text

text >>> action

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wow lookit that dangling unfinished thought

and all of the ridiculous grammar errors in my last tag! hm! professional rping

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