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
[He does prefer mundane methods, even if mundane methods can't do anything about his own particular health problem.]
I did. I enjoyed it. Science fiction is--it's stories about the future, or about technology. Like aliens or mecha or space travel.
[He doesn't like to write about magic. Magic hits too close to home. It's not fun or fantastic in light of the reality he's experienced. To other people, even other people who know magic, he's sure it's different.
He's not sure what Lorelei's doing. It's strange, but it seems to be helping, so he's not going to protest. Whatever it is is too alien for the worms to realize what's happening, especially in their state of torpor, so they're not reacting and causing him any pain. He's almost afraid to ask about it, afraid that if he speaks of it, if he disturbs the process and breaks the spell, it will stop happening. Not a rational fear, but the worms make him irrational.
When Lorelei pulls him along, he goes. The motion and conversation give him something else to focus on.]
Not exactly my family. But I liked taking pictures of my best friend and her children. Otherwise, I took pictures of everything. People, animals, the city. Trees, flowers, the sky.
no subject
[Lorelei's first bold-faced lie in the Tower; he knows everything about it. But that's not necessary to mention, and this way it might be a little less questionable. He doesn't seem old enough to know a lot about anything, really..]
I see! That sounds really interesting. This Tower must be a bit of a gift then, for all its terribility. Other worlds, other races and other technology really do exist out there. ...Terribility. Is that a word?
[If not, it is now!
Getting rid of the worms is the easy part. Fixing their damage will be much harder. As the sluggish things act and react to Kariya's slow thaw, Lorelei eliminates them with ruthless purpose. There's no little leftover corpses to cause infection or even send warning chemicals through his bloodstream to alert the other parasites. They're simply missing.
And rapidly decreasing in number. Countless bugs. Then gradually, only a handful. Then even fewer.]
I would have liked to see your pictures. My world doesn't really have that sort of technology common yet.. so few photographs. They rely on painting! Did you ever incorporate your pictures into your writing? I don't suppose any of your books came with you..?
[It's a little surprising for Lorelei to find himself a bit tired, but he ignores it. He's been looking for Luke for a while, surely it's related.]
no subject
It's true. I've met so many different kinds of people. It's almost like our minds have been placed in robot bodies. I don't mind that as much as others do. It didn't really bother me. I always liked stories about robots. [And he'd liked being without the worms, when the glamour was turned off.] And we've been taken by aliens, in a way. It would be interesting, if not for how much people are being hurt. So... I can't enjoy it at all.
[Kariya feels better and stronger as the worms grow less in number. He stands straighter, his gaze brighter. Its had to believe that this is really happening. He's met some healers here, but they haven't done anything like this. It's as if the worms are just--gone.]
Oh, I do have a picture.
[With his one arm, he reaches into his pocket. He produces a very well-worn photograph of himself--with dark hair, unscarred--with a smiling woman and two small girls.]
I have some other photographs, too. They gave me my camera, and I've been taking pictures. I have some of the stories I wrote, too. I'm not sure why they give us these things. I have written about pictures I took, but I don't have any of those pictures.
no subject
He can get rid of the remaining bugs without it, and sets about doing just that.]
That's an interesting take on it! There does seem to be benefits to it, these ... almost robot bodies keep coming back when we make mistakes, that's kind of nice. Alien abduction stories must be a lot of fun to write. Maybe one day we can find a way to keep people from getting hurt here. Then it can just be enjoyed.
[It's a small hope. As Kariya goes for his photo, the last of the worms are carefully, precisely snuffed out. If allowed, Lorelei will take the picture in question. Kariya looks quite different now. Could he fix that, too? Two arms. Two working eyes. The hair might be harder..]
You look happy. ... Ah, maybe to remind us of where we're from! It's good to have a touchstone, don't you think? A reminder of what's important. It might be easy to lose track, when you're trapped in a place like this.
[Lorelei already felt tired. Moreso than usual; that was peculiar. But he can rest later. First things first. A damaged eye is at least not hard to fix. This time the pale array that etches itself into the air as he puts his own power to use is a visible thing - and moreso as the wrong done to the whited-eye suddenly rights itself.
It may be dizzy-causing.]
Are there no cameras here?
[He sounds tired too. Looks it, a bit. All magic has a price to pay, but Lorelei's ignoring it.]
no subject
I liked writing about friendly aliens. Nothing like--this. But it is like one of those stories. It is nice--not to die. I would have been dead by now, if I'd stayed home.
[He would have died as much as a year ago. What a long time. Sometimes he thinks that he's actually better off here--but no, he can never be better off if Sakura and Rin aren't well, too.]
I like to remember. To see the people I care about again. I miss them a lot. Sometimes it's sad to see them, but I'd rather have a picture of them than not. They are what's important to me.
[Kariya shakes his head, then gives a start as his eye suddenly heals. He stumbles. He can see. Really see, in the normal way. He's gotten so used to the other way that it's overwhelming at first. He forgets all about not mentioning it.]
You--how can you do that? It's--incredible.
no subject
[Maybe. Lorelei didn't much like the idea of death, it was so incredibly final. Humanity didn't seem to like it much either.]
Having a reminder of the important things is good. I hear there's places in this tower that eat away at those memories. Having a picture might help. Keep them safe.
[A stumble won't get too far at least; the redheaded man is right there to steady Kariya carefully. Not with the same strength of before, this whole business was strangely tiring, but it should be enough to keep him from falling. The repaired eye is scrutinized for a moment before he nods, satisfied.]
...Ah. It's just something I can do. A little knack.
[Any seventh fonist could!]
I'm uncertain if I missed any of the parasites. If they're silent I can't quite tell where they are and I don't want to accidentally erase something important. I'd also like to get at your arm, but it's.. wrapped up? Are you warm enough to bear the room's temperature for a few minutes?
[Or the stump anyway, and that might interfere. Having a new limb rip through cloth might be painful.]