Backdated to the night of the 12th/ morning of the13th

[notagiraffe]

Characters: Taiki and open
Setting: Floor thirty five, lakeside
Format: Starting in prose, will switch if you want
Summary: After a particularly bad nightmare Taiki breaks out the water colours from his trunk and begins to paint.
Warnings: Nightmares, description of killing/death, sad Kirin

Taiki plunged a knife into a young boy's throat, there couldn't be that many people left in Tai. Tears streamed down his face as he moved to the next person. He didn't want to, he screamed and cried but his feet moved by themselves, his hand moved the knife without his permission, with him screaming at himself to stop.

The next citizen went down, and the next. Wide eyed children, angry women shielding babies all fell by his hand. Blood, blood was everywhere, the smell of it choaked him and yet unconciousness wouldn't come.

People fell around him until finally he stood in front of Gyousou. "Nononononononononono." Whatever force that making him move, making him kill had him walk up to Gyousou. It didn't care that he was the King.

His knife plunged into his King's heart blood mingling with tears. Taiki woke with a scream.

He called Sanshi but she didn't come, he couldn't feel her at all. Jumping out of bed he tried to change into beast form but he remained human. As if he were not a Kirin at all.

He told himself it was those that had brought them here, that they had stolen his powers and given him the dream. But it had felt so real, like he had been there. He still thought he could smell the blood.

But it was the tower, there was always blood. He went to his trunk and pulled out Gyousou's cloak, wrapping himself tightly in it. Reaching further into his trunk he pulled out the paints. He had never used them, he had always liked painting at school but never had done it before.

He wanted to now though, he ran from the room and made his way down the tower. He stopped at the lakeside. It was outside the tower even if he wasn't truly free of it. Sitting at the edge of the lake tears still streaming down his face Taiki began to paint. His first efforts were clumsy and childish but he kept at it for hours. The same image, he wanted it to be perfect. He wanted to remember. A silver haired man. So many nightmares about killing him, about failing him. About failing Tai, about Gyousou being dead.

It couldn't be true, none of it could be true. He painted like it could make things right.

Comments

[wrigurun]

As the sunlight flickered behind her eyelids, Wriggle let out a large yawn. Sitting up, slightly groggy and bleary-eyed she stretched out her arms and legs and shakily made her way up to her feet. Her hair was slightly tussled from sleeping in the grass all night, seemingly forgetting that she hadn't gone back to her dormitory.

Stumbling back to the staircase she suddenly realized that she wasn't alone. Forgetting all about breakfast she wandered over to the other man, peering over his shoulder at what he was painting.

"That looks really creepy..." she murmured, studying the colours and shapes on the canvas before them.

[notagiraffe]

Taiki jumped a little at the voice, he hadn't even noticed anyone approaching. He smiled nervously and apologetically at the girl, who seemed to be a few years older then him. His eyes still glistened with tears and his cheeks were damp.

"I... Sorry..." He glanced at the picture, he guessed it did look a bit creepy.

[wrigurun]

She hadn't noticed him crying before but catching his tear stained face only made her feel bad.

"Huh? Oh geez, no don't be sorry..." Wriggle glanced away, as if the appropriate thing to say would be scattered along the ground or in the water but nothing. "I mean, it looks creepy but it's not badly painted."

Looking at the painting again she sits down besides him.
"So who's that?" she asked, pointing at one of the figures.

[notagiraffe]

Taiki blinked, "Sorry," he murmured again but gave a tiny smile when she said it wasn't badly painted. He had been trying hard and though he didn't think it was perfect yet he was glad it wasn't bad.

He wriggled a bit, making room for her to sit next to him. "My king," he told her lifting his paint brush again, attempting to create the right shade of silver white for his hair.

[wrigurun]

"Cool, you have a king?" she exclaimed, leaning over more to get a better view. "Is he rich? I bet he has a huge kingdom. Does he like insects?"

To Wriggle, things like kings and queens only existed in stories. Having never encountered one in real life she became all the more curious. A little over eager, she has questions upon questions but it seemed like the best idea to get the big ones answered first.

[notagiraffe]

"I do," Taiki gave another tiny smile, "I am a kirin, we serve kings, and queens as well but my ruler is a king." There were a lot of questions and he tried to answer them all, "Tai isn't a rich kingdom, the last king used up all the money... but Gyousou is fixing things..." Is, because he was still alive and the world was still there, Tai was still there.

"Insects? I think so... Sorry... I'm not sure, I don't know why he wouldn't like them..."

[wrigurun]

She gave a coy smirk and lent back on her hands.
"Of course would like insects! Why wouldn't he?" Wriggle replied with a small laugh. This sounded like her kind of king.

"So what's a kirin? Are they like knights? Oh! Oh! Do you have knights too? With armor and everything?"

Already in her head she was painting a fantasy picture of the kind of kingdom it was. Somewhere in the middle of it all she'd already cast herself as the chief leader over insects, but that was normally true for wherever she went.

[notagiraffe]

Taiki smiled, he guessed she liked insects a lot. He shook his head, "No... Kirin aren't knights... sorry they are... they are created by the gods to find and serve the king, and keep him on the path to kindness. I... I'd show you but they," he waved his hand to indicate the tower, "Have taken away my powers..." He could paint though, he took a new piece of paper and began.

"We have soldiers..." He wished they didn't, but Gyousou assured him that all the kingdoms needed an army, even if they strove for peace. "They wear armor yes..."

He continued painting a creature, it was clumsy and childish but it got the idea across. "This is a kirin."

[wrigurun]

"Woah, you're one of those?" Wriggle exclaimed, suddenly snatching the paper from him as soon as he was finished. Even if it was only a crudely painted example she still regarded it in the same way she would a professional's.

"So, you're like a deer yokai?" she asked, still clutching onto the piece of paper.

[wwaterboy]

The scream made Eridan sit up, too, his purple eyes wide with shock and dismay. He'd been sleeping better since Feferi arrived, but he'd noticed Taiki's nightmares had gotten worse.

"Tai? You okay?"

[notagiraffe]

"Eridan..." Taiki turned to him with a tear stained face. "Tai... I killed them all... it felt so real..." He stood trembling, not even having the courage to go over to his roommate. He felt like he really had committed these atrocities, he was half scared that if he went close he would kill Eridan as well, though he knew it had been just a dream.

[wwaterboy]

Eridan moved towards him, not afraid of something like that. "It wwas just a dream," he said firmly. "Nothin' more than a dream."

[notagiraffe]

"It felt so real..." Taiki stumbled towards Eridan and wrapped his arms around him, the need for comfort greater than the fear he would hurt him.

He was a Kirin, he couldn't hurt anyone... Not ever. Even if his dreams told him differently.

[wwaterboy]

He enveloped Taiki in his arms and shooshed him softly, holding him close. "It wwasn't real. Just a fuckin' dream, Tai. Don't wworry, you'd nevver do that kind a thing, and wwe both knoww that to be true."

[notagiraffe]

"Sorry... I know... I just..." He clung onto Eridan, face damp with tears again. "Sorry..."

[wwaterboy]

Eridan pulls Taiki over to his bed and sits down, cuddling the boy close with a sigh. "Nothin' to wworry about..."

[notagiraffe]

Taiki let himself be pulled over to Eridan's bed, clinging to him still. Letting the last of the nightmare fade away. "Sanshi and Gohran are gone again... I can't sense them..."

INVADES YOUR INBOX

[lookmanostrings]

"It's very good," Fado chimed, walking up behind Taiki, holding his violin behind his back. However, it was easy to tell that the kid was upset; if not from his general stature, than from the brush strokes. And that brought a small frown to his usually happy face.

"You've been crying again?"

Invading my inbox is encouraged and loved!

[notagiraffe]

Taiki blinked up at him, "Sorry..." He wiped his eyes, "I... I have been trying..."

But trying to not be sad when he was bombarded with images of his king, his country, his people all dead, dead by his hands or others. His kingdom drowning in blood, was difficult.

excellent BD

[lookmanostrings]

"There is no shame in allowing yourself to grieve."

Fado took a few steps closer, sitting down next to him (with a healthy distance, however), and setting his violin on his lap. "What is it that troubles you, my friend?"

[notagiraffe]

Taiki blinked and nodded, still trying to wipe away the tears. "I had a nightmare..." He looked down at the picture he had been painting. "It seemed so real though..."

[lookmanostrings]

Oh dear. Another nightmare? The sparse description sounded similar to what Zelda had been through, and that along was enough to cause concern.

"It seems those that rule this place are distressingly adept at giving life to our nightmares." He frowned, looking out at the lake, before looking back at Taiki.

"I will not pry into the contents of them if you do not desire, but I assure you what occurred could not have been real."

[notagiraffe]

"I... I know... sorry..." He didn't want to be an annoyance so he fell silent again, looking out onto the lake. "How... how are you sir?"

[lookmanostrings]

He gave Taiki a reassuring, though somber smile and shook his head slightly. "You have no reason to apologize. This is a natural reaction."

And Fado followed Taiki's gaze across the lake. "Well, for as well as one can be in this place. Aside from the standard, I've nothing to complain about." He did his best to keep optimistic.

[notagiraffe]

Taiki nodded, "I am glad.... that you are okay." He glanced back at him, "Do... do you like painting?"