day 78 | closed

[nightchan]

Who: Rin Okumura & Night
Open: Closed
When: Day 78
Where: The skyway
What: Night and Rin take a trip up to the Skyway for fun. Shit gets real.
Format: Action
Warnings: Discovery of statues of dead people. Sadness.


[After everything that has happened it's been an eventful past few days. In an attempt to help cheer Rin up, who looked a bit down in the dumps in Night's opinion, a run to the Skyway to explore (and maybe even bust some monster butt) was in order.

She steps up on a large, fragmented piece of cement, riding the edge with her arms out as balance. Not that she was worried about falling. Cats always land on their feet.]

Cheer up, kiddo! If you keep frowning like that your face will stick that way!

Comments

[hellpyre]

[Rin had been pretty moody lately, though talking with Bon after the last Core retrieval had helped a little. Her low feelings had been fairly consistent for the past few weeks, which meant she wasn't going to shake them easily.

Night dragging her out hadn't been met with much residence, even if she wasn't doing a whole lot of smiling even as she watched the other demon balance precariously.]

... sorry. Head's kinda in the clouds right now.

[nightchan]

[The rock tilts slightly forward, but it doesn't seem to phase Night. She just looks over at Rin.]

Do you want to talk about it?

[hellpyre]

Mn... it's not really a big deal. Just kinda upset at how many people we've lost lately. Kinda silly, seein' as I barely knew Nezumi and Shion.

[She shrugged, toeing her boot at some loose stones at her feet.]

They'll probably be okay...

[Only probably not.]

[nightchan]

They'll come back. [Finally she jumps off the edge and starts walking forward.]

If you keep bringing yourself down with what ifs and uncertainty then nothing will get better. Have faith in them. Either they'll come back or we'll find them and bring them back. [She looks back at Rin.] Right?

[hellpyre]

... yeah. You're right.

[She lets out a sigh, but forces a smile after it.]

Sorry. I'm just tired, I think. I feel like I haven't slept right in weeks. It's probably affectin' me.

[nightchan]

[Night doesn't return the smile, continuing to study her with an unreadable expression.]

Do you want to turn back, then?

[hellpyre]

Eh? No... no, it's fine, I know this is important to you. And you really shouldn't be out here alone, even if you can handle yourself. Never know what's gonna happen, right?

[Losing three people in less than a week was proof of that.]

C'mon. Let's keep goin'.

[She was exhausted, yes, but she was hoping maybe after they got back she could sleep for a while. For now she wanted to focus on something else - helping Night.]

[nightchan]

Your health is also important to me, Rin. [She wonders if it really was a good idea to bring her along, but it was too late for that now.] Don't push yourself too much.

[It was just a quick run, that's all. Soon she'd take them back home and let her rest. Maybe later she'd come back out on her own. There was still someone she was searching for out here and she couldn't bother the others to run out here with her on every whim.

She continues walking, hopping over some rubble and hair bouncing over her face. The remnants of a house lay ruined around them. Night pushes over a paper screen door, mostly ripped apart by pieces of a tree branch, and walks into a room. The floors are covered in a fine layer of ash and dirt, her shoes leaving a trail as she walks through.

She sniffs the air before making a slight face.] I hate the smell of ash.

[hellpyre]

I'll be alright! I'm pretty tough, too, y'know?

[Rin insisted on leaving her smile on long enough to say that, but truth be told she had wished she had put up more of an argument, at least until she'd had more sleep.

But she was there now and she wasn't about to back out.

Rin hesitated at the door, touching a hand to the paper screen in one of the few places it wasn't torn. A Japanese style house... obviously they had stumbled on some place similar to home, even if this style wasn't common to True Cross City at all.

Maybe it was Kyoto...

That just made Rin's stomach twist, and she hoped that it wasn't some place actually familiar.

Slipping in after Night, she nods to the comment, lifting her tail so it wasn't so low to the ground.]

I can't smell as well as you, but it still bugs me.

[nightchan]

[The exclamation elicits a soft chuckle from Night, but she says nothing else in response to it.

The remainder of this home struck a familiar chord in her, leaving her slightly curious as to the reason behind it. It reminded her of Monaka's home (and hers, once upon a time), but perhaps it was just the quiet homesickness inside of her reaching out to influence the way she perceived the environment around her.]

A few statues were destroyed here. That's why it smells like death. [The only scent not here was that of sulfur and for that she was grateful. She moves over to a fallen vase, flowers already withered and dry scattered everywhere around it. Reaching down she picks up a piece that shows part of the design. Again, that familiar feeling but she pushes it away.] A shame about these flowers. I'm sure they were beautiful.

[hellpyre]

It's gross...

[Rin shuffled past Night, poking her head in to rooms along the hallway. Vases of similar design were scattered about, several in one room along with a table that looked as if it had been used for some sort of work. Withered flowers, strangely shaped scissors and another vase about half-full of what had probably once been the start of a beautiful arrangement sat on it, along with a thin film of dust.]

Huh. Some one musta really liked flowers.

[Not giving any thought to it (it wasn't like Night talked much about her friend that she was so determined to find) Rin moved on, finding the sliding door that led to a back yard. It stuck at first, but after a harsh yank it rattled open.]

... man. This woulda been a garden even Sheimi might'a been jealous of.

[A huff at the memory of her own missing friends, Rin stepped out, only to nearly jump out of her skin when she thought some one was standing just to the side of her.

She let out a yelp and spun around, only to face...

a statue.

A girl in a kimono, with short bobbed hair and demure posture even in her frozen state.]

Geez... ! Damned statues...

[nightchan]

You find something, Rin? [Night tossed the vase fragment back on the floor and made her way to where Rin was. The smell of ash was stronger, enough to make her face crinkle. The smell of death without sulfur was still strange and new to her.

When she sees the now-dead garden she halts. The pond, now dirty with ash and debris and the rows upon rows of what once were beautiful bushes of flowers bring a twist to her chest that causes her to nearly wince in pain. On her back she can feel the heart sealed in her sword clench as she recognizes this garden.

Her garden. Monaka's garden.]

Monaka... [Out of the corner of her eye she sees her, sees someone, but not even fear can keep her from turning away. Night moves slowly, face pale and eyes wide, as she faces the statue of the one person she ever truly cared about. The shock hits her like a wave of water and she feels herself drown.]

You... [Before she can stop herself, out of impulse, she reaches up to touch her cheek and just like that the statue crumbles. Ash billows from the pile now on the ground and clogs her nose. The smell nearly makes her vomit.

Night gasps, falls to her knees with her eyes still locked on the place where Monaka now sat, and begins to sob. They shake her quietly before evolving into tremors that rattle her entire frame. By this point she screams into her sobs, overridden with grief.]

[hellpyre]

What? That's--... ?

[Stunned, Rin trails off, unable to finish the name that's on her tongue. She had hoped like Night that the girl was out there somewhere, waiting to be found, and that this person was just a stranger. That wasn't the case, though, and just hearing the name from Night made her own chest tighten.

She didn't know what she was expecting to happen after that, and though she knew about the statues crumbling it was still startling to see it happen to some one that Night had once known. She jumped, tail puffing out, and a sick taste rising in the back of her throat at the smell of ash and death.

It was all she could do to keep it down, knowing that the last thing Night needed was to be alone right then.

The other demon's wailing sent chills down her spine, and an nearly impulse reaction of tensing. Normally when demons made that sort of noise around her, it was the sign to start running like hell the other direction, because it was likely to bring others chasing.

But there were no demons here, save for Night herself. There was nothing here, just the sorrow of some one who had lost a dear friend by forces neither of them could control.]

Night...

[Rin's voice was quiet, and after a hesitant step closer, she dropped to her knees next to the other demon and placed a hand on her back.]

I'm so sorry, Night...

[nightchan]

[She couldn't stop herself even if she wanted to. The tears continued to stream down her face, hands frozen in midair almost reaching out to where Monaka stood.

How could she let this happen? If only she had done something... But what? What could she have done to prevent this?

Nevertheless she had failed her. Monaka's death was on her and in her mind she deserved nothing less than what she was suffering now.

The hand on her back brings her back to reality; at least enough to soften her sobs enough until they stop altogether. Another minute passes before she stops crying completely, the only reminder of her breakdown being the puffy redness around her eyes and the tear streaks that lined her cheeks. A blank expression falls over her when she stands up then, turning to walk away from the pile of ash. And Rin.

When she speaks her voice is cold, painfully cut off from emotion she didn't want to feel right now.]

Let's keep going.

[hellpyre]

[The sudden change in demeanor didn't surprise Rin as much as she thought it should. Night was grieving and everyone dealt with that different. Hell, she got angry after her tears were shed when Father Fujimoto died. Unfortunately for Night, though, there was nothing tangible to direct her anger at.

All she could do was get determined.

Nodding, she stood after Night and followed quietly. There were no words she could say, nothing that could comfort. All she could do was be a supporting presence to her.

Their walk was nearly silent, save for feet scraping against the wood floors, then the stone walkways outside again. They were about halfway back to the return to the Bastion when they passed by a split in the path that they had ignored on the way to the house, but Rin stopped suddenly, her gaze having glanced over down the winding stones just enough to catch a glimpse of another statue.]

... hey. Gimmie a sec, I'll be right back.

[nightchan]

[In the moment of her lost control her tail had fallen from its hidden spot under her clothes and dragged behind her, the tufts of fur gathering ash and dirt like a duster. If she caught it on something she'd feel like she'd deserve the pain.

When Rin stops her, for whatever reason, Night looks back at her and watches her go. She's on high alert, even if the other girl wasn't, Night was ready for a fight at any time. Her hands tensed at the urge to draw her sword and destroy some unfortunate beast that happened to cross her path, but so far she was unlucky.

She follows after her when a minute has passed.] Rin.

[hellpyre]

[The path to the statue was rougher than the one to the house, more littered with rubble and potted with holes. But Rin scrambled over all of the obstacles, her pace getting more frantic and less careful as she went.

By the time they reached the statue, Rin was panting, but not just from exertion, but from her own fear as well. Her heart was racing in her chest, pounding hard against her rib cage, and once she stopped moving... it didn't get any better.

Exorcist jacket over a pleated skirt with the style of knee high boots that Rin wore, and heavy-looking half-apron loaded with what had been vials of various things. A noticeably bustier chest, shorter hair, glasses, taller, but a face and build similar to the half-demon.]

... Yuki.

[Unlike Night, Rin didn't cry. Later, when she looked back at this moment, that would actually surprise her. But right then she was just... in shock. Stunned. Numb. Frozen in place and staring at the familiar, grayed out facade of the person she had spent the last fifteen years of her life with.]

[nightchan]

[Night stands behind her, quickly piecing together the relationship Rin had with the statue.

Maybe today was a shitty day to come up here.

She reaches for her, taking her by the shoulders to turn her away from the statue. At least now she could concentrate on Rin rather than fall prey to her own bursting emotions.]

Let's go back.

[hellpyre]

[Bad timing all over. But it's not like either of them could have known that, or even guessed that some one from Night's life would be in such close proximity to some one from Rin's.

She was silent, but trembling visibly as Night touched her, and she moved with all the fluidity of some one who had just been forced out of sleep after only an hour.

They walked away from the statue, which was probably a good thing considering what had happened to Monaka's statue. Rin probably wouldn't have been able to handle that.

Some feet away, her foot caught on a stone, all that agility from earlier gone. She stumbled away from Night and landed on her knees with a quiet grunt. She started to get up right after, only to stop when something shiny caught her attention.

Hand dusted away the layers of ash and dirt until a red, blue and silver insignia pin was revealed.

Somewhere, distant, but close enough that either of them could have picked up the sounds, Squirts were starting to make noise...]

[nightchan]

Rin. [She hears the monsters and reacts accordingly to them, grabbing Rin again by her upper arm and pulling her back to her feet without much softness. She couldn't afford to baby the girl right now.]

Keep walking, Rin. [She doubted even if she did order Rin to keep moving forward while she stayed behind to fight off the squirts that the girl would get far, at least not like this. Perhaps she should have come alone after all.

Night picks up her pace considerably, almost into a run, all the while pulling Rin alongside her. The faster they got back the faster Rin could grieve somewhere safer.]

[hellpyre]

[Rin's fingers wrapped around the pin seconds before Night dragged her off the ground, but there were no protests and no falling behind as she was pulled along.

But she was silent, and her stare was frightening blank. She wasn't acting like herself at all, with no attention paid to the approaching sounds. Her feet felt heavy, yet she moved with all the speed that Night forced on her.

They would make it back, with seconds to spare before the horde of creatures arrived.]