InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "There is no try"

??? (Nishi Jouichirou) (eaves_dropper) wrote in sabra_la_tau,
@ 2011-06-15 19:51:00

Entry tags:

!days 240-249, nishi jouichirou, ~shadow

Who: Nishi, Shadow
Where: The Meeting Hall
When: Day 245, after curfew
What: A meeting

[There's a real reason most Ophiuchus prefer to patrol during 'daylight' hours... While there's no requirements for interaction with people after curfew, there's a certain tangible FEEL of the dark just outside of the ring of the flickering lamplight. There's the distant, echoing scuffling and faint grinding sound of stone as the only sound breaking the silence... There's the way that the ground seems to waver at the very horizon of light, as if the small circle of light around you really is the only thing that's protecting you from something bigger...

And honestly, Nishi right now is torn between deeply regretting his choice to be out, and a terrible sort of horrified fascination with this world.

But tonight, he isn't out looking for stray Blanks trapped outside.]

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	sabra_la_iudex 2011-06-24 05:21 pm UTC (link)
	Good evening, most loyal. Were you awake? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sabra_la_ophis 2011-06-25 10:01 am UTC (link)
	It issss sssstill quite early. How may I be of asssssistance? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sabra_la_iudex 2011-06-25 10:15 am UTC (link)
	[There's movement in the pools of darkness around the room; small touches cleaning scales that have only each other to rub against.] This one is playing a game. But you are very big, and the way to the goal is blocked. Would you move for me? Just enough for one with sight to see. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sabra_la_ophis 2011-06-25 10:45 am UTC (link)
	[There's a very, very long moment, the snake's eyes drifting to a half lidded state (causing the Ophiuchus looking on to make a half step back to the stairs...) Then it moves. No small thing, the simple act of twisting up, shifting coils sends great tremors all the way up through the Arena itself.] (Reply to this) (Parent)

	eaves_dropper 2011-06-25 10:46 am UTC (link)
	[YEAH I'LL BE WORKING ON BALANCE HERE.] (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sabra_la_iudex 2011-06-25 10:51 am UTC (link)
	Thank you, most loyal. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	eaves_dropper 2011-06-25 10:57 am UTC (link)
	Where ... exactly? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sabra_la_iudex
2011-06-25 11:09 am UTC (link)

[In the dark of the far south of the room, two torches flutter to life for the first in a very, very long time, illuminating a section of the chamber's great murals previously concealed by the Guardian's bulk.

Getting there, though . . . that's going to involve a more treacherous path than usual.]

You should take off your shoes. It isn't good to climb over him with them on.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

eaves_dropper
2011-06-25 11:17 am UTC (link)

[Definitely more treacherous... while the terror he once had of the Guardian has abated over time.... ... He's still far too cautious to invite pissing off a giant snake.

This time he DOES step back just enough to leave his shoes on the steps of the stairs... the black material covering most of him extends over his feet as well.

He steps back onto the scales, gingerly, casting a quick glance at the Guardian before picking a careful path to the torches.]

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sabra_la_ophis 2011-06-25 11:18 am UTC (link)
	[Merely watches, its large head sinking onto its coils, red eyes lidded.] (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sabra_la_iudex
2011-06-25 11:37 am UTC (link)

[Much of this section of the mural is destroyed; some parts have been shattered completely, while others are scorched beyond recognition. The colour has faded from what is left, with only shades of grey painting the child's figure, bare feet almost lost in mist, hands outstretched to something unknown. A smear of dark covers most of its face, leaving only a once-happy smile.]

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

eaves_dropper
2011-06-25 12:00 pm UTC (link)

[It really is amazing, how different he can be from the cowardly, defensive face early on when a puzzle is set in front of him. Focused, alert, determined...

There's a million thoughts a second, looking over this. Hints and implications, little details and motifs, and an almost blatant statement that things are not what they used to be. How many others of them are around, covered by the Guardian..?

Who was on the others si... light, obviously. Shadow and light. ..

And reaches out, trying to put together some of the details covered by ash via touch.]

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sabra_la_iudex
2011-06-26 03:19 am UTC (link)

[His fingers brush the ash obscuring the figure's face, and—

In darkness, his fingers touch the soft folds of an unravelling blindfold. Layers fall between them, and memories follow.

Always close, never touching, always toge[ ]ound of laughter, feel of [ ] over
deserts and plains and marshes and mountaintops, forests and cities and ships on the ope[ ]aces, so many face and yet so few, open and curious and wondering, belov[ ]ool air and the taste of mist.

They fill the spaces Nishi's memories are not, fill to overflowing and pass just as gently by.]

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

eaves_dropper
2011-06-26 03:47 am UTC (link)

[With most of his memories so far being fleeting minutes and impressions... and this being enormous, a sweeping impression of a world in all of it's scope all at once... Even a gentle, slight brush, there's simply too much to absorb, filter or even understand at once. All sense of this chamber or even himself shut down as he struggles with even this disjointed fragment.

His legs simply give out from under him, falling heavily against the coils.]

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sabra_la_iudex 2011-06-26 03:56 am UTC (link)
	[A child's shadow crouches where Nishi's would be.] Do the older ones usually fall so, most loyal? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sabra_la_ophis 2011-06-26 04:05 am UTC (link)
	[After tasting the air to be sure that the Uroboros isn't dead, the Guardian watches with some patient bemusement.] There issss no 'ussssually' in that anymore. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sabra_la_iudex 2011-06-26 04:16 am UTC (link)
	I do not understand why others would choose those who cannot hear their Call. I like this one. If he wakes, I will keep him. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sabra_la_ophis 2011-06-26 04:30 am UTC (link)
	If it issss your wisssh, it will be ssso. [A pause, and a considering taste of the air.] If he doessss not, do you wisssh your touch to remain? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sabra_la_iudex 2011-06-26 04:54 am UTC (link)
	If he does not wake, he will still be mine, and I will give him to you. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sabra_la_ophis 2011-06-26 10:43 pm UTC (link)
	[The Guardian does not answer, merely moves. The ground gives voice to its protest, trembling as the giant snake rearranges itself, covering the mural protectively and moving the young Ophiuchus away to rest. The hours pass quietly.] (Reply to this) (Parent)

eaves_dropper
2011-06-26 10:55 pm UTC (link)

[For a moment, it was a bit like how he'd first awoken in Sabra la Tau... a growing awareness of the fact that he WAS somewhere without a concept of where or who he was. Except instead of a vacuum of information, it was overwhelmingly the opposite. Memories, concepts, presence... they were sorting themselves and fading, becoming something there but not quite his... still the extent of it... made all of this seem incredibly small. Even resting in the coils of a giant predator seemed secondary for a moment.

It was IN that mess he found the first shred that he knew was HIM... and followed it, gathering it, pulling it to the forefront and clinging to it. The more of it he had, the more the rest settled, falling under the wonderful defense of repression and rationalization...

When the Blank pushed himself up this time, clutching his head, he was sure of who he was, where he was, and what he was doing there.]

T.. the fuck just happened?

[Was the real question.]

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sabra_la_iudex 2011-06-26 11:02 pm UTC (link)
	[The dark is thick around him, the altar flame still far-off and dim.] You heard my Call. But you were very close. Was it loud? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	eaves_dropper 2011-06-26 11:11 pm UTC (link)
	[What. What do you even say to that?] You're kidding, right? Yes. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sabra_la_iudex 2011-06-26 11:12 pm UTC (link)
	Will you give me your name? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	eaves_dropper 2011-06-26 11:16 pm UTC (link)
	Ta... [Cuts himself off. For the first time, he stops and actually considers this.] Nishi. Nishi Jouichirou. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)