day 239 | open

[darkasnight]

Who: Night & You
Open: Open
When: Day 239
Where: Close to the memorial.
What: Night arrives and goes exploring for answers.
Format: Action
Warnings: Language, talking about death.

[Standing in front of the memorial is a tall man dressed in a long, black coat with a red sword bag hanging from his shoulder. He has a hand reach up to run his thumb over the engraved names written in the wall, his face schooled in a blank expression. So far he hasn't found many answers since stumbling into this place, but he also hasn't asked anyone for help yet.

Which would probably be a great idea if he wasn't so horribly suspicious already. Oops.]

Comments

[hellpyre]

[Seeing an exorcist coat was reason enough for Rin to approach the monument and the person. Some one from the Order, some one from home...

And that would have been enough for her, really, even if it wasn't some one she didn't know.

But then she saw that face and her heart dropped in to her stomach, stopping her short a few feet away from Night and the monument.]

Yoru... ?

[darkasnight]

[His ears perk at hearing another person approach him just as he catches whiff of something equally interesting. His hand drops away from the wall as he turns to peer at the girl curiously, head tilting slightly to the side.]

Can I help you? [Because he thinks she can.]

[hellpyre]

[Oh.

Oh.

That.

That was a man.

Rin's tail puffed up behind her back as she tensed visibly with a choked noise, head shaking frantically. What had been a messy bun near the top of her head turned in to an even bigger mess of black hair that fell over her face, managing to hide at least a little of her flushed cheeks.]

N-n-no! Sorry!

[darkasnight]

[Night rubs his chin thoughtfully, inwardly amused at her reaction, before a grin spreads across his face as he snaps his fingers in an 'a-ha' moment.] Actually I think you can help me.

[Not that he gives her much choice, stepping closer to her all of a sudden and still with that sharp toothed smile.] See, I'm a little new here. Can you help a poor guy out?

[hellpyre]

[Hello personal space.]

... depends on what you wanna know.

[darkasnight]

[He pockets both his hands, posture casual, even if he is burning inside with barely repressed annoyance at this extremely unwelcome change in scenery.]

I'd like to know where I am to start with and why I am here. Not too hard, is it?

[hellpyre]

No.

[And Rin could tell just beneath that grin as a whole lot of irritation that she would rather avoid. She had only nearly battled with Night (the previous one) once before and that short exchange had told Rin all she needed to know about how badly she would get her ass kicked if this went south.]

This place is called the Bastion, it was a part of a place called Caelondia, it's not a part of any world you've ever been to before and you're here because things kinda went... boom.

[Then again there really is no way to let some one know gently that worlds had exploded.]

[darkasnight]

[Very, very badly.]

[Her choice in words has his smile faltering, tightening at the corners as his hands ball into fists in his pockets.] Boom? What does that mean? [Still he glances to the wall of names again, eyes narrowing a fraction.] There are only two worlds and I've been to both. Caelondia isn't one of them.

[hellpyre]

It exploded. Along with... a lotta other worlds.

[Rin glanced at the wall herself, shifting on her feet and tugging her hoodie around her tighter.]

That's... what I thought, too. I mean, I'd never been to Gehenna but--

[She knew of it. Very well, in fact.]

But then we wound up here. Along with a lotta other people from places I'd never heard of before.

[darkasnight]

[He frowns, abandoning any pretense of a smile now. A fear tickles at the back of his mind, barely repressed.]

And what happened to all the people in those worlds? In our world?

[hellpyre]

[And that's where Rin went silent, giving him a saddened look that spoke volumes, especially from some one who easily wore her heart on her sleeve.

Not everyone was gone. Some people arrived "late", for whatever reason, but most... those six billion some-odd souls... they were likely gone for good.]

[doctor_dragoon]

[This was supposed to just be a small break from his research, but what Yukio had intended as a quick stretch of the legs quickly was turned into a lap around the Bastion by an energetic Pokemon who's obviously had quite enough of sitting around inside all day. The young doctor's understandably distracted while trying to keep up with his small charge, enough so that he doesn't even notice the man standing at the memorial until Oshawott skids to a sudden stop just a few feet from the newcomer.]

Oshawott. [Huffhuff.] What are you-... Oh.

[The man is familiar. Not familiar in a 'hey, have we met?' sort of way, but rather in a 'hey, you look a lot like someone I know' sort of way. That, coupled with the especially recognizable coat, is more than enough to hold the young exorcist's attention.

Not that Yuki's looking much like an exorcist at the moment. He doesn't need his coat or pin on an average day in the Bastion, the lack of both leaving him looking him looking very much like a perfectly normal teenage boy. Or that would be be the case were it not for the pistols very obviously holstered at his back, anyway.]

... Hello. Did you just arrive?

[darkasnight]

[Looking back at Yukio and his pokemon, his hand resting against the engravings, he offers Yukio a curious frown and the creature an even curiouser glance.]

I might have. Who are you? [He doesn't know how many people are here, but he can hope Monaka is somewhere among these strangers. If not he'll have to go back out into that monster infested land to find her.]

[doctor_dragoon]

[The little creature looses a curious "Wott!", staring openly at the newcomer for a moment before wrinkling his nose. You smell funny, sir.

The boy, however, doesn't seem to have any scent-related issues, unconsciously shifting to stand a little taller before responding.]

Yukio Okumura. [He looks the man up and down again, taking in his clothing, the sword bag, and the way he holds himself. Yeah, he'll take the chance on this one.]

Middle First Class exorcist.

[darkasnight]

[The response is surprising but it gets an amused smile from Night.]

Okumura, huh? Well you can call me Night, Investigator First Class exorcist. [He didn't expect to see another exorcist here so casually, all things considered but he's banking on the hope that in time his confusion will disappear.]

Tell me, do you live here?

[doctor_dragoon]

[Yukio blinked owlishly for a moment as the name registered. Not a terribly strange name compared to many he'd heard since his own arrival, but it was oddly familiar. Where had he heard it before? He'd heard it from someone else, maybe? Probably Rin. In fact... an exorcist named Night-

... oh. Oh.]

Yes. [He answered quickly, shaking off confusion and the following realization.]

I do now, anyway. I've been here for about... two months? This is the Bastion.

[superdrowningskills]

[Alucard mostly ignores newcomers anymore. It's not his job to explain things to them, and thus generally leaves the job to other, more friendly residents.

Of course, most newcomers don't smell like one of their lost number.

The dhampire approaches cautiously and stops a relatively safe distance away. He stares warily, unsure if this was truly the same person, or if...]

...Night?

[darkasnight]

[Hearing his name called out makes him turn, suspicion and surprise evident on his features. His hand falls away from the wall as he frowns at the person who addressed him, red eyes narrowed.]

Can I help you?

[superdrowningskills]

[...That is certainly a male voice. In spite of himself, Alucard can't help the twinge of disappointment.]

...My apologies. I mistook you for a woman who once lived here.

[For all that this man was almost certainly the Night of another world, he is not her.]

[daughterofursa]

[Zuko never met Night when she was alive, but she remembers the face well. Zuko had been the one to take her body from Rin after she'd been killed, and carry it to the hospital. That was when the dangers of this place had become real to her.

So seeing the man standing at the memorial is like seeing a ghost. Don't mind her standing there staring while her mind works through the process of noticing that he's a he and remembering what Rin said about there being a male version of her. Is this just another version of Night? It occurred to her before that the version of Rin that Yukio knew might well be dead and vice versa, but the thought didn't leave an impression. Not like actually seeing both incarnations of the same person.]

[darkasnight]

Staring's a bit rude, especially if you don't plan on introducing yourself. [He doesn't glance back at her right away, thumb tracing over the engraved names on the wall as his lips pull up into a funny quirk. Walking a few steps along the wall he lets his hand drop finally before finally looking over to her, one eyebrow raised.]

Do you live around here?

[daughterofursa]

--Sorry.

[Zuko breaks the stare, glancing off anywhere else for a minute. She's realizing as he addresses her that she has very little idea what Night was actually like as a person.]

Yeah, I- live here now. My name is Zuko.

[windgod]

[At first he thought he was seeing things. Maybe he'd done a little too much work today and hadn't eaten enough; maybe his water intake was lacking, or maybe he was just getting sick. A firm pinch to his cheek was enough to let him know that he wasn't seeing things, and the sight he saw was like a firm punch to the stomach that left him shaken down to his core. He could only see the person from behind, but the resemblance was almost too perfect...]

N-night...?

[The name left his mouth in a hushed whisper, as if he weren't sure he was saying the right word. Could this really be happening right now? He felt sick and dizzy where he stood...maybe standing up right now wasn't the best idea, but he was going to keep at it until he fell over or figured this situation out.]

[chosenbylife]

[ Strange man in a long dark coat and carrying a mysterious bag? If there was a picture in the dictionary next to 'Suspicious person' this guy was pretty much it. Though his coat was especially nice looking. Clearly a uniform of some sort and made to be sturdy but the cut was nice. Clearly whoever designed it had some good taste. Maybe this suspicious person wasn't so bad after all. Generally speaking in his world at least uniforms from those who worked for villainous organizations looked unimaginably tacky. ]

I beg you pardon but you're lurking very suspiciously about here. You would not happen to be planning anything troublesome, would you?

[ Couldn't hurt to be direct! ]