towerofanimus

Entry tags:

006

Characters: Riku/"Tamas" and open/closed/open
Setting: Anywhere over the month of June
Format: Action preferred, but I'll match!
Summary: Riku during June, also having your powers forced out of control really, really sucks
Warnings: Darkness, Angst, possibly violence at one point, but nothing all too graphic

[A - 5th to 19th June - Floors 32 & 25 (Daytime), all around the tower at night]

[Even with cafeteria, restaurant and the power down, Riku only alters his routine to fit the circumstances - he isn't all too worried about himself; he's more than capable to manage himself. Every now and then he can be found gathering food or hunting on Floor 32 - he isn't above using the monsters as food source, but if he could manage otherwise, well... - but if he isn't, he's most likely continuing with studying... with less and less result as the month goes by admittedly.

At night he is out on the hunt though, clearing out groups of monsters where he knows he can take them... though he is even more cautious than usual. With all supplies limited, he really can't effort being reckless after all.]

[B - 20th June - Floor 13 - closed to Kairi]

[He has noticed that something has started to go wrong, that Soul Eater summoned itself, that his Dark Firagas flare a little more strongly than he intends them to. It's not the first time that this has happened; he recognizes it from just a few months ago, when the collars had gone haywire...

But it's getting even worse this time, because he's been feeling his grasp on the darkness inside him slip more and more in the passing week, has felt the part of it that's not his own swell and push and despite his best tries to regain control of it and himself while going on - he is slowly starting to lose himself.

Today, it's growing bad enough to make him dizzy, to the point where he just stumbles over his feet and against the wall - cold, strong stone maybe slightly soothing - breath shuddering as he reaches up, his right hand settling over his heart while his left clings to the wall. Maybe if he rests here for just a moment, he can get the Darkness back in check.]

[C - 20th to 24th June - all around the tower]

[Even though Riku would never admit so out loud, his transformed state does have some upsides. First and foremost that he can think more clearly again; though he feels slight bouts of dizziness, they are far, far less distracting now. (There is also the very clear upside of finer control over the Darkness around him and the increase of physical strength, but honestly... he would prefer being himself. But then again... this has never been about his preferences.)

Even with Kairi knowing, he cannot help but distance himself from who he had been, from who he might never be again, if things went wrong... The last time the tower had messed with his powers, he had transformed back when things had returned to what the tower considered normal, but things had been different then. The Darkness inside him hadn't been as steep.

It's alright though, he supposes... it's all about adjusting, it's just about separating his now-self from who 'Riku' had been. And getting used to the new (in his opinion, well enough fitting) name he has chosen for himself. After all, what else was he now but 'Darkness'...

He has altered his movements now, wandering the tower randomly and staying away from the places Riku is known to linger at, the hood up hiding his face. But he still spends his night on fighting. Or well... practicing just what he can do with his Darkness now. Who knew when that would get handy after all.]

ooc: If you haven't, please take a look at Riku's permissions post!

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Ammy pinned her ears back briefly at the sight of the Globs, but as Riku seemed to be taking care of them, relaxed a little. He didn't seem like a bad sort -- maybe a little inscrutable, though.

After a moment, she made her decision, bounding forward up and out of the grass. The beads of her rosary whipped through the air towards several of the Shadow Globs, filling the space around them with an unnatural chill as they went from one opponent to the next.

So whoever had been following decided to come up and help, huh? Not that Riku really minded.

He was maybe a little surprised when he caught sight of her; most of the tower's residents were human or humanoid after all, but he shrugs it off after just a second. There are far stranger things than magic-capable animals.

He turned back to the Shadow Globs, snapping his blade downwards with a flick of his wrist, concentrated on the task at hand.

Ammy leapt high into the air; as if in answer, an oversized cherry bomb appeared in a puff of smoke, easily as big as she was (if not bigger). It rolled for a brief moment toward the Globs before exploding in a bright burst of light and sound -- rather reminiscent of fireworks, actually.

A direct hit! She barked happily as she dashed through the grass.

He turned back towards her when he felt that burst of magic, watching with interest, a smile flickering over his face when he saw the results and heard that bark.

"Good job."

They weren't quite finished yet, but there there were definitely far less enemies left.

Ammy barked again, although it wasn't quite clear whether it was in reply to Riku or not. As she came up on another Blob, she charged it head-on. No mercy!

No mercy is definitely the best attitude when it comes to dealing with any kind of Heartless, even when they are as relatively harmless as the Shadow Globs. Between the two of them there weren't quite that many left anyways - Riku was just cutting down what seemed to be the last one.

Once finished he dismissed Soul Eater, turning around to get a better look at that new companion of his.

Ammy sat down in the grass, tail slowly waving back and forth. She was a fairly large wolf, capable of giving most humans an impromptu ride on her back. But she didn't seem particularly aggressive now that the Globs were gone.

Rather, she seemed to be watching him with about as much curiosity as he was directing toward her.

He studied her wordlessly for the moment, maybe just a little bit wary - most animals don't react to well to the scent of Darkness on him, with exception of Pluto of course, but he is the King's dog and very, very smart.

He's never seen a wolf before admittedly, not as real living animal at least (though he thinks he's heard of some roaming the woods beyond the Beast's Castle), but he is very sure that this one is different from your usual wolf. There are only few animals with this bright a light and the skill to cast such string magic.

After a moment, he took a step towards her and then held out his hand, palm up.

Ammy sniffed his hand gingerly, then shook her head back and forth and snuffled, as if something didn't quite agree with her. Nevertheless, she didn't hop on the offensive. Rather, she sat back, yawned, stretched. Then looked at Riku expectantly.

What were you up to, sword guy?

He didn't seem to be all too offended by her reaction, though there's something of a bitter-sweet smile flickering over his face as he wondered... was it all of the darkness in him or just the part that was Xehanort's that made her wary?

Admittedly, he wasn't entirely sure what to make of her in general - not just yet - so he tilted his head at her, eyebrow arching up slightly.

Then, after a moment, he spoke up.

"You shouldn't get too comfortable. Other monsters might come here soon."

Ammy snorted at that. Monster, shmonsters! Although she wouldn't turn down a snack or two, if she could only find her way around wherever this was. She looked at their surroundings, then Riku, then their surroundings again.

If there were a bunch of monsters around, why was Riku hanging around here?

He looked just a little amused by that reaction.

"Don't understate them; the ones just now were small flies."

He tilted his head a bit, not entirely sure what to make of that particular gesture.

"...You haven't been here for very long yet, right?"

Whateva whateva, Ammy didn't even care. She did whine a little at Riku's question, though, flattening her ears back and standing lower to the ground. No, she hadn't been here long.

Communicating with people sure was hard without a Celestial Envoy.

Whelp... she would surely make her own experiences soon enough. It was kind of unavoidable to run into the monsters sooner or later after all. He crouched down at hearing that whine, almost automatically reaching over - his hand hovering over her head as if to settle down to pet her behind the ears like he would with Pluto, when he was missing the King.

"Yeah... this really isn't much of a fun place to be." Quite the opposite in fact. "I wish I could tell you, it isn't going to last long, but..."

He just shook his head.

Ammy nosed Riku's hand -- no holding out on her, buddy. She hadn't really been here long enough to find out how things worked around here, of course, but she also wasn't the type to just lie down and accept her fate. For better or worse.

She tilted her head at him as she listened to him speak and, deciding that he was being too depressing, butted into him slightly with her head. Cheer up, dude, it couldn't be all that bad.

There was a hint of a grin flickering over his face at that - yep, he's definitely thinking of Pluto, who would do just as she did - make sure that he wouldn't linger on the bad things too long while he was around, and it pretty much worked every time.

Now that he had been given permission, he didn't hesitate to ruffle the fur behind her ears, that grin fading a little into a quiet smile.

"Part of the optimist crew, are you?"

Ammy's fur was warm and soft, as if she'd spent the last hour or so lying under a sunny window instead of wandering around a foreboding tower with monsters in it. As he reached behind her ears to ruffle her coat, she half-closed her eyes in enjoyment. Yep, she did tend to be an optimist. Sometimes for longer than most would deem prudent. But it suited her nature.

Also, her tail was thwapping against his leg. So enjoy that, Riku.

He moved just a little, just to avoid getting hit by her tail too often, though he never stopped petting her, that smile still there. It's so rare that he gets such a peaceful, innocent moment without any dark thought lingering in the back of his mind and when he does? He does his best to enjoy it to its fullest.

So really. He has absolutely nothing against leaving things like this for a bit.

And Ammy didn't either. So she simply leaned up against Riku, enjoying the attention and the rhythmic stroking of her fur.

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