Kariya Matou (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
vermicompost) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
towerofanimus2013-10-29 12:09 am
vermicompost) wrote in towerofanimus2013-10-29 12:09 am
The Perils of Kariya Matou
Characters: Kariya & OPEN
Setting: Various floors, throughout the end of the month and maybe into the next.
Format: Action, but will match prose
Summary: Kariya wanders away from Lancelot at various times and has misadventures.
Warnings: Death is quite possible! Also body horror, blood, insects.
Notes: Kariya finds himself in a series of dangerous situations. Will he die? Will he be saved? (Or will someone hasten his death?) Feel free to rescue him from (almost) certain death or disaster! Or give him further problems to deal with. I also don't mind different people replying to the same prompts; Kariya can just have extra misfortune.
Floor 15:
[Some might argue that Kariya shouldn't wander away from Lancelot. He's sick and weak and his thinking is impaired, and he only has one arm. Yet Kariya is nothing if not stubborn, and sometimes he likes to be by himself, to do things for himself. Yet this doesn't always work out as well as he might hope…
The workshop floor seems relatively safe. He wasn't expecting to find monsters here during the daytime. The miniblin aren't much of a threat to someone stronger in combat, but this is Kariya. The creatures swarm toward him, and he knows that if he doesn't do something, he'll be injured and will likely die. He's weak and sick and lacking an arm, but he doesn't want to die. He doesn't have a weapon. He has no choice. He sends out his crest worms. The creatures burst out through his skin and then from his mouth as he vomits them up. The worms quickly grow and twist, turning into large, wasplike creatures that divebomb the attacking miniblin. As they fight, Kariya slumps to the ground, bleeding, breathing hard. If the monsters don't kill him, the blood loss might.]
Floor 87:
[As Kariya wanders into the field of poppies, something seems wrong, but he can't quite say what. He frequently visits the meadow on floor twenty-five to relax. Isn't that where he is? He looks around and blinks. It's different, but that doesn't mean too much when everything is an illusion. Maybe they changed the flowers here for some reason.
With a sigh, Kariya sinks to his knees, then sits, then lies down. He feels so tired, but that's nothing new. He should sleep. For a little while.]
Floor 36:
[Trapped on the crumbling staircase, without the use of any magecraft to help himself, Kariya stumbles and flails, trying to keep his balance. For a moment, he succeeds, only to find himself on a single stair between two gaps, each much too large for him to leap over. He stares. What is he supposed to do now? At any moment, this remaining stair might crumble beneath him too, but if he tries to jump, he'll likely plummet to his death.]
Floor 60:
[He'd been thinking of Sakura, remembering how she'd loved to cook, even as a little girl, so the kitchen seemed like a natural place to look for her. He's sure Sakura's here somewhere. She can't be gone, can she?]
Sakura?
[He walks into the freezer without thinking of it, and the door swings shut behind him. Blinking, he turns to open it again and leave, as Sakura isn't there, but it doesn't move. It's--locked? He pulls at it again and shivers inside his hoodie. It's so cold in here. He knocks on the door.]
Sakura...? Hello?
Floor 85:
[How did this even happen? He didn't mean to enter this floor, but now he's midway down a slide and hanging on to the edge, pushing with his feet against the sides, trying to prevent himself from sliding down any further. He hates slides. He remembers being forcibly pushed down them as a child. Unashamedly, Kariya starts to cry.]
Floor 96:
[The white is very calming, and there don't seem to be any monsters present. It's a very nice floor. Peaceful. Kariya wonders why he doesn't spend more time here. He sinks into the chair and shortly closes his eyes, letting out a long breath. Maybe this is a better floor to rest on.]
Setting: Various floors, throughout the end of the month and maybe into the next.
Format: Action, but will match prose
Summary: Kariya wanders away from Lancelot at various times and has misadventures.
Warnings: Death is quite possible! Also body horror, blood, insects.
Notes: Kariya finds himself in a series of dangerous situations. Will he die? Will he be saved? (Or will someone hasten his death?) Feel free to rescue him from (almost) certain death or disaster! Or give him further problems to deal with. I also don't mind different people replying to the same prompts; Kariya can just have extra misfortune.
Floor 15:
[Some might argue that Kariya shouldn't wander away from Lancelot. He's sick and weak and his thinking is impaired, and he only has one arm. Yet Kariya is nothing if not stubborn, and sometimes he likes to be by himself, to do things for himself. Yet this doesn't always work out as well as he might hope…
The workshop floor seems relatively safe. He wasn't expecting to find monsters here during the daytime. The miniblin aren't much of a threat to someone stronger in combat, but this is Kariya. The creatures swarm toward him, and he knows that if he doesn't do something, he'll be injured and will likely die. He's weak and sick and lacking an arm, but he doesn't want to die. He doesn't have a weapon. He has no choice. He sends out his crest worms. The creatures burst out through his skin and then from his mouth as he vomits them up. The worms quickly grow and twist, turning into large, wasplike creatures that divebomb the attacking miniblin. As they fight, Kariya slumps to the ground, bleeding, breathing hard. If the monsters don't kill him, the blood loss might.]
Floor 87:
[As Kariya wanders into the field of poppies, something seems wrong, but he can't quite say what. He frequently visits the meadow on floor twenty-five to relax. Isn't that where he is? He looks around and blinks. It's different, but that doesn't mean too much when everything is an illusion. Maybe they changed the flowers here for some reason.
With a sigh, Kariya sinks to his knees, then sits, then lies down. He feels so tired, but that's nothing new. He should sleep. For a little while.]
Floor 36:
[Trapped on the crumbling staircase, without the use of any magecraft to help himself, Kariya stumbles and flails, trying to keep his balance. For a moment, he succeeds, only to find himself on a single stair between two gaps, each much too large for him to leap over. He stares. What is he supposed to do now? At any moment, this remaining stair might crumble beneath him too, but if he tries to jump, he'll likely plummet to his death.]
Floor 60:
[He'd been thinking of Sakura, remembering how she'd loved to cook, even as a little girl, so the kitchen seemed like a natural place to look for her. He's sure Sakura's here somewhere. She can't be gone, can she?]
Sakura?
[He walks into the freezer without thinking of it, and the door swings shut behind him. Blinking, he turns to open it again and leave, as Sakura isn't there, but it doesn't move. It's--locked? He pulls at it again and shivers inside his hoodie. It's so cold in here. He knocks on the door.]
Sakura...? Hello?
Floor 85:
[How did this even happen? He didn't mean to enter this floor, but now he's midway down a slide and hanging on to the edge, pushing with his feet against the sides, trying to prevent himself from sliding down any further. He hates slides. He remembers being forcibly pushed down them as a child. Unashamedly, Kariya starts to cry.]
Floor 96:
[The white is very calming, and there don't seem to be any monsters present. It's a very nice floor. Peaceful. Kariya wonders why he doesn't spend more time here. He sinks into the chair and shortly closes his eyes, letting out a long breath. Maybe this is a better floor to rest on.]
no subject
[Kariya is relieved to see him. In his relief, he almost starts toward him, but remembers his predicament in time. Sometimes he may not be as careful as he should be, but he most assuredly does not want to die.]
I won't move. I don't know. I was walking--
[He doesn't have a good reason. He hardly has a reason at all. He'd been frustrated at having to remain in his room, at being powerless. He'd started climbing up the stairs, but he probably shouldn't have come so far. He concludes, unsatisfactorily:]
I don't know.
no subject
I had thought as much.
In future, you must be more Mindful. I would not lose you to this Place. Now ready yourself, Master, for I will fetch you from off the step and see us both safely to the other side. Do not move.
[Lancelot crouches in preparation. It is not so very great a distance, but the angles are odd ones.]
no subject
[This probably isn't the best time for this discussion, but the words come from Kariya's mouth regardless.]
I try to be careful, but I don't always want to be. Sometimes--
[He breaks off. He's always wanted to be truly independent, but it never works out, somehow. Eventually, he always falls back into dependency, on something. But it's hard to express it without being ungrateful to Lancelot. He nods, stilling obediently.]
All right.
no subject
He answers with a smile that really only a quirk of his lips.]
I know these things, Master. As I know you are Willful. I only ask that you do try-- for both our sakes. But we may speak of this later. Now, I come--
So he does come, and he does take his Master against him and swiftly down to the secure steps below. The stair here is firm underfoot and he steadies Kariya, one arm still about his Master's waist though his own back is to the abyss.]
no subject
[Kariya starts to protest, then stops. Now really isn't the time. And Lancelot is smiling at him, which makes him feel better, so he gives a faint smile of his own in return.
Kariya is used to being carried. When Lancelot takes him in hand, he stills and allows himself to be taking, unresisting without being limp. As he's set on new ground, his feet find purchase, and his footing feels steadier as he stands.]
no subject
Having set the man to rights , his hands linger on Kariya's shoulders for a long moment before he draws them away.]
Now, Master, I will see you--
[Lancelot knows these moments well, how time slows to a standstill as a horse wheels and tramples its fallen rider, how the sword's point gleams, every detail vivid, before it pierces flesh, how the ground drifts away before a fall.
As it does now. As his Master's eyes are at a level with his own and he knows very well this is not a thing that is so, and oh, yes-- he is falling, the first step crumbling below his feet, his Abilities and Power useless things, a look of shocked surprise unfelt on his face.
But his Master must not fall. He pushes out with his hand against his Master's leg, sending the Man back against the wall, away from harm.
If he cries out, he is not conscious of it, only of swift, cold air, and a long instant of crushing pain-- then darkness.
Exeunt Sir Lancelot. He will awaken in his bed.
no subject
That's not what he wants to do, but by the time he regains the presence of mind and start forward, reaching for Lancelot, it's much too late, and and he's already falling. Kariya's eyes widen.
Lancelot--!
[Tears well up in his good eye. This is all his fault, he does everything wrong.]
No.
[But the knight is already gone. Kariya wraps his good arm around himself and shakes, weeping.]
no subject
How pleasant, if this were all a strange dream, if he awoke in the solar, his head pillowed in Her lap, Her delicate fingers threading through his hair-- if he were to open his eyes to see that familiar, small and secret smile upon Her face.
His Master's Prana ebbs and flows around him, and a familiar thread of thought and emotion comes to him. Though it is no sweet dream, his Master's presence is a welcome thing. He attempts to set aside the chagrin he feels at the occasion, however-- the fact of his literal fall is shameful as well as unpleasant. He recalls his Master's cry, heard from afar.
When at last Lancelot opens his eyes, he looks to Kariya.]
Master.
no subject
But no, there he is, just like before: his tall body laid out upon the bed, his long, dark hair spread on the pillow. The legendary knight that--somehow--is his friend.]
Lancelot.
[Kariya smiles when he wakes up, glad to see him. He doesn't say anything about his own state yet. He moves toward him, standing at the edge of his bed, leaning down.]
I'm sorry about what happened. I didn't mean for it to. It's my fault. Are you all right now?
no subject
At last, his Master has been Healed.
The Man stands over him, smiling down on him with dark eyes, dark hair falling over his forehead, his face unscarred. Best of all, to Lancelot's mind, is the presence of both his Master's Hands.
The one lately restored he reaches up to take in one of his own.]
The Fault was mine, Master. Had I taken more care, you would have had no need to Sorrow over such a thing.
I am renewed, yes-- as I see you are also. It is a glad thing, to feel the absence of your Pain-- and to see you so, as well.
How came this boon, then?
no subject
[He nods, smiling.]
That's right. I met someone--I think he's an Elemental--and he healed me. I don't know how. His magic is different than anything else I've seen. He had no real reason to help me, but he did.
[He gazes down at his hand, in Lancelot's. The command seals are still there, even if the worms are gone.] It's hard to believe it's real. It's been so long.
no subject
[Though he does not loose his Master's hand, a Shadow crosses Lancelot's face.]
and now that your Familiars have gone from you, you Suffer no longer, but are defenseless without them.
[He looks to Kariya with an edged fondness.]
It is no use to have your Word that you will not Wander alone, Master-- for you will, whether I approve or no. I will need to instruct you how best to Guard yourself.
While I have Strength, I will not lose you in this Place.
no subject
Yes, that's true. They weren't too much help in any case. Sometimes they did more harm than good.
[Kariya sighs. He's sure what Lancelot is saying makes sense, but...]
People get hurt here, no matter what. I can't stay with you every minute. There are other defenseless people here, and they do other things. I don't want to be completely dependent.
[Not now that he can move without pain. Of course, if he dies again, all the pain will come back... That is a concern.]
no subject
Sliding his hand up to rest on his Master's shoulder, Lancelot regards Kariya with a grave sort of intimacy.]
I do not ask you to be completely dependent upon my Strength, though I would consider that no burden at all-- I only ask that you be Aware in your Wanderings, and that you not go so much Alone as you are wont to do.
[As if of it's own accord, his hand moves to cup the tender curve of his Master's throat, his unscarred jaw, fingers slipping into Kariya's soft, dark hair.]
I will teach you with my own hands to hold a weapon and to use it with confidence.
That is what I mean, when I say that while I have Strength I will not lose you.
[Lancelot was led by emotions and his passions in Life, and in the sanity he enjoys within the Tower, this is true once more. He is free here to Treasure his Master.
There is not much distance to close as he leans in to press his lips unhurriedly to his Master's cheeks. First one, then the other.]
no subject
[He doesn't object to the touch, although it's a slight surprise. It's just so nice to be touched and not hurt that he enjoys it, leaning a little into the hand on his head.]
Me, learn a weapon? I'm not sure if I'd be any good at it. I've never done anything like that before.
[Lancelot will definitely have to work on the "confidence" part.]
Thank you, Lancelot. You're good to me. I really appreciate it.
[He doesn't object as his cheeks are kissed either. After so long being taken care of by Lancelot, he's used to his touch. He flushes faintly, with a soft laugh, as he ducks his head a little.]
no subject
[Lancelot does not draw away, draw back, and so his lips when he speaks move close to his Master's ear.
It's only the smallest series of motions, tender movements, to draw him closer still, to press a kiss to Kariya's lips--
and, as they are slightly parted in a smile, to slip his tongue between them, deepening the kiss.]
Kariya.
[At his weakest, this Man asked for Lancelot to call him not Master, but "friend". It is a tender kiss, delicately edged with possession and demand, but sweetly seeking as well. It will go on as long as Kariya allows it.