I've been believing in something so distant, as if I was human...

[keepsthefire]

Who: Rin, Shing, Kohaku, Vanitas [Open thread here!]
Where: Starting at Shing and Kohaku's apartment
When: Early evening
Style: Prose
Status: CLOSED
WARNING: Character death, blood, violence, all the things that go with having Vanitas involved

Grocery bags on his arms, sword on his back, Rin walked through the city to a familiar apartment complex not that far from his own. After what had happened at the ice cream shop and his visit to them, Kohaku had given Rin a key to their apartment, saying that if he ever needed to go some place that wasn't his own home or Maka's, or if he just wanted to come over and cook without having to be invited, he could go there even when they weren't home. And it really had become like a second home to him. It was familiar, comfortable, and reminded him of when he still lived at the abbey, cooking meals for the priests.

For all the things that had been tripping him up lately, Rin was feeling surprisingly optimistic with his current situation. He had good friends, a great girlfriend, and had managed to hold down a job for longer than a month for the first time in years. Vatheon had it's fair share of annoyances, sure, but it had been a surprisingly good place for Rin. Even if he did miss his brother and other classmates back home.

These were the thoughts that kept him moving, and the thoughts he was going over when he approached the apartment and headed to the floor where Shing, Kohaku and Beryl lived. Something made him stop, though, his hand hovering above the door handle. A strange feeling came over him, like the crawling sensation of being watched.

He wheeled around, but nothing except the empty hallway and the dulled yellowed lights greeted him. One flickered down the way, some three or four doors down, but nothing else moved. There was no noise, no movement, absolutely nothing that should have given him that feeling.

Yet it was still there.

His blue eyes narrowed at the flickering light, but after a few minutes he sighed and shook his head.

"Damnit... get it together..." he mumbled to the air, finally turning the key in the door and heading inside.

It was nothing... right?

((ooc: Alright, this is the log for the plot that was recently discussed on the OOC comm! Obviously it's closed, but there should be room for reactions and other things at a later point! ))

Comments

[oursomalink]

Admittedly, Shing himself was more than a little worried for Rin once he, Kohaku and Beryl had learned of the troubles that he'd been going through... while he was very sure that they could all take care of themselves, he would have been lying if he said that he wasn't concerned at all. He was, very much so. He himself had those few, if fleeting, moments where he was being watched; though for the most part he'd shaken them off, Shing had made it a point to be careful, as well.

In any case, once he'd heard Rin show up at the apartment, he wandered out into the main area, waving at him as he'd grabbed one of the bags before he could protest. "Hey... welcome back! You didn't have much trouble at the store, I hope?"

Moving to close the door behind Rin, Shing paused again, peering outside... there was that feeling of being watched again. Hopefully it was just him... right?

[keepsthefire]

"Nah... never do..." Rin answered, his tone clearly distracted even as he brought the rest of the bags inside to the kitchen. He just barely caught Shing glancing out the door, scowling as a few thoughts ran through his mind.

Was Shing--...

... no. No it just had to be him feeling strangely paranoid. There was just no way...

Rin let out an annoyed sounding huff and dismissed the thoughts quickly, starting in on taking the items from the bags. After a few moments, though, he stopped, and started digging around in them as though searching for an item.

"... shit... I forgot something..."

[spiria]

The feeling of being watched was actually very much mutual between the three of them ... not that Rin had known how Kohaku was feeling. She had even tried to keep it from Shing, not wanting to worry him more than he already was worried, though she suspected that her boyfriend had noticed something off in her behavior anyway.

As she heard voices coming from the front door, Kohaku poked her head out to look at them from the kitchen, having been in there cleaning up a little when Rin had come back to the apartment.

"Maybe we have it already? If we don't, I'll go with you to get it from the store. Y'know, so you don't bore yourself to pieces because you have to go get just one more ingredient ~" Kohaku was teasing, of course, as she usually did with Rin ... though it was kind of also a front to keep them from knowing how uneasy she was feeling. It was a feeling that had been on and off since she had seen Rin in such bad shape after his fight with Vanitas.

[oursomalink]

"Yeah, I think I'll come with too. Just to make sure that you don't get lost, okay?" Shing couldn't help but join in teasing as he grinned at the both of them, heading into the kitchen to look. "Just tell me what it is--"

He frowned as he noticed the open window -- before anyone else could say anything, he'd already found himself closing up the blinds. Maybe it was just him being paranoid, but... he wasn't so sure anymore. As much as he hated to freak them out, he decided to say something, anything, because if nothing else, they could hopefully reassure him that it was nothing. Hopefully.

"... feel free to laugh if you want to, but... am I the only one who thinks we're being watched?"

[keepsthefire]

"Geez, I ain't gonna get lost or be bored or whatever!" Rin argued, going to the cupboard to look and see if they had the missing ingredient. It wasn't there, and he closed the last door with a frustrated sigh right as Shing went to the window. He watched him with a curious look that turned in to a scowl the second he asked his question.

His stomach twisted and he swore he felt his heart jump, but pride refused to let him acknowledge it. They were all just jumpy from what happened to him recently. That had to be it.

"Tch, whatever Shing. You're just bein' paranoid," he stated, grabbing his sweatshirt. "If we're gonna go let's go now, cause the longer we wait the later dinner will be."

[halfhearted]

It was almost tempting to take the sword as a little souvenir from this skirmish. It would require removing it from the pair of lovers though. “I should look in to getting one of these.” He tapped the handle of the sword a moment before stepping away. “One without the dead weight.” Vanitas gave a laugh as he nudged the female’s lifeless foot.

Opening a portal as he cocked his head towards his friend still restrained by his Unversed. “I would have loved to have prolonged this little get together but the entertainment ended too quickly. It’s up to you if there will be a next time.” He’ll saunter with all the cockiness of a jaguar right through that portal. It’ll close right after him, his critters finally letting go of the demon. They will slither after Vanitas the long route.

Do you...
>Kill the critters?
>Follow them to their Master?
>Jar of almonds?
>Other

No matter what Rin does or if he flips all the options out the window, Vanitas will be nursing his wounds in his favorite tree in the park. The dream couple definitely hit him fast and hard.

1/3

[keepsthefire]

They were dead. His friends were dead. Right in front of him. The blood from the wounds that had splattered on his face and clothes - their blood - was still warm, sticky, dripping down like the tears he couldn't even bring himself to cry.

He felt the pressure release off his back and arms, but his chest was heaving as if it was still there and he couldn't breathe because of it.

At first, it was as though he completely ignored Vanitas, the other's departure occurring without an uttered word from the blood-soaked half demon. Aside from the shaking and animal-like whimpering that was coming from him, Rin was still and quiet.

Eventually he did start moving though, crawling forward on his hands and knees to where his friends lay. A shaking hand reached out, intending to touch Kohaku on her blood-splattered cheek, but he stopped. He couldn't do it. Feeling them would make it real. Would make him have to accept that he failed them both, that they had fallen, not only by Vanitas, but by his own blade...

[keepsthefire]

Vanitas...

That bastard was the one responsible for this. All because Rin had the audacity to stop him from killing Roxas. All because he had stepped in. His friends had been murdered because of him and his interference, and Vanitas didn't even have the balls to face him directly.

Rin squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the tears he'd been holding back finally release, and with it any sadness he felt. It was quickly replaced with anger, anger that went from a tiny burning inside him to a full on rage.

"Vantias... come back here... you son of a bitch... COME BACK AND FACE ME!" he screamed, and with that scream blue flames burst from him in a rush, bursting forth like a geyser had erupted.

[keepsthefire]

He was on his feet then, a guttural growl sounding from him as he spotted the last straggling Unversed that were following Vanitas away from the bloody scene. The growl quickly became a vicious, almost feral roar and with it, a rush of blue flames chased after them. There was no way they could get away fast enough, and they went up like so much kindling, utterly destroyed.

"VANITAAAAAAAAAS!" the demon bellowed, his voice carrying loud and far. Giving no thoughts to his deceased friends, his mind too taken over by rage, he yanked the bloodied sword from their bodies and went charging through the streets, very nearly running on all fours.

Anyone who got in his way was promptly tossed aside, no care given to them or their safety. Some locals went running from the sight, while others simply stared in horror or disturbed fascination. Some things he passed by - or through, such as tables or carts the like - caught with his flames, leaving an utter path of destruction in his wake.

And he didn't care. All he could see was his own anger, and all he could think of in his rage-clouded mind was how much he wanted to rend Vanitas limb from limb.

Some how he was able to follow the masked boy. The portal only slowed him a little, and soon enough he arrived at the park, roaring like a lion that had been thrown in to a fit.

"VANITAAAAAS! AAAAAARRGHH!!!"

[halfhearted]

Rin wanted more after that little display? Vanitas really wasn’t running from any one, but he had thought people tend to get too broken to put up much of a fight after seeing something like that. Seems if he wanted a show of Rin’s abilities he should have just done something like this at the start instead of playing spy.

He was still nursing his wounds, but to go against something else close to darkness was appealing. Vanitas could properly gage how strong he was this was. Also saving the park was a perk. Sure, watching the entire park burn down would be interesting, but he was rather fond of his tree. Only Vanitas can destroy what was his own and all the things around it.

Vanitas hopped down from his tree. He followed the blazing power of darkness easily.

“And here I thought you would have been too busy with your friends to play.”

[keepsthefire]

"You son of a bitch!" Rin snarled as soon as he heard Vanitas' voice, wheeling around to face him, flaming sword at the ready. His voice was already starting to distort, a strange sort of echo and a deeper, throaty sound coming from him.

"You killed them... you killed my friends! You shoulda come after ME!" he bellowed, not even waiting to slash his sword upward and send a massive wave of blue flames directly at Vanitas.

OPEN

[keepsthefire]

The problem with letting a half-demon become consumed by his rage was that it was very, very difficult to stop. The longer he let the flames burn, the further he descended away from humanity. Certainly the sword, the Kurikara blade held some control over him and kept him from falling completely, but it only did so much once Rin's human mind blacked out.

Vanitas was dead, run through repeatedly by the blade that the angered, fiery demon still held clutched in his blood covered hand. That hand was still slashing. At the air, at the trees, at anyone unlucky enough to get close to him. He tore through the park, setting a trail ablaze in his wake, leaping, clawing, throwing himself at things all the while roaring like a monster. His distorted, disturbingly demonic sounding voice echoed and carried even in to the city proper, and many locals just stood outside of the park's boundaries and watched, uncertain on how to even attempt to stop such a creature.

Dare you even try... ?

{action} Jade needs more things to do

[bootsweremadeforcasting]

Just because Jade had left Auldrant didn't mean he had no instinct to continue his duties, specifically given the current circumstances. As the rampage went on and moved around, Jade left the apartment and went outside to see the issue. With that bundle of rage and currently unknown power, Jade wasn't too keen on letting it get to close to the apartments. Peony and Anise were still in sleep comas, and civilians were going to get injured if they hadn't already. If anything he'd try to deflect the screaming... whatever.

When Jade could see him, he fired off a spell, ice cold water tempestuously shooting at the boy. He was still a ways away, Jade leaving himself enough time to move around.

{action} What better way to get CR then by trying to tame a demon? >D

[keepsthefire]

Rin took the hit and went tumbling away, rolling for several feet before coming to a stop. He lay still, but the flames continued to burn around him, Steam rose from the water that had hit him, but as it wasn't holy water (at least in the sense of blessed water from his own world) it did little more than knock him down.

He was up again in moments, hunched down low as his demonic blue and red eyes shifted around the area until they landed on Jade.

Another roar sounded from him, and he charged forward with every intent of taking the man down.

{action} This is obviously the best way

[bootsweremadeforcasting]

One would think water would be a tad more effective against the flames, but Jade was fortuitous that wasn't the only thing in his arsenal. However, the guy was charging him, and shielding might put him in a position to be hammered away at until it broke. So, Jade launched himself out of the way when he thought best, getting to a solid stance when he landed and summoning his spear to throw it at the boy's leg. He didn't want to kill him, just incapacitate. He had unconscious people to protect.

{action} Best and worst, all at once. What a first impression.

[keepsthefire]

Naturally, being in the state he was in, Rin was of no mind to think tactics. The spear came right at him, striking and imbedding in his stomach. Between the force of the strike and the force of is own movement forward, he was taken off his feet and sent crashing face first in to the ground so hard he left a shallow ditch.

But as before, he wasn't down for long. While that would have put any normal human down for good, Rin was far from normal, and he was on his feet again with the spear actually protruding from his stomach, blood rushing down and staining what of his shirt wasn't already filthy.

A sustained feline-like growl escaped from him as he ripped it out, caring not for the blood the spurted from it.

And just to add insult to injury to Jade, he hurled it back at him.

[heartandsoul]

The sense that something wrong had happened hits Maka like a ton of bricks; almost literally speaking as she jolts forward and falls to her knees when the sudden burst of power overloads her mind.

I'll kill him I'll kill him I'LL KILL HIM I'LL KILL HIM-- screaming inside of her head, animalistic roars, pure hatred. Yet there was a small flicker of familiarity. Who is this? Why does it make her heart ache so? That isn't a usual feeling with her Soul Perception...

You'd have no way of knowing if I won't just... snap one day and do the same damn thing.

...Rin. Rin.

There is no God in Heaven in Maka's world, not as far as she knows, but if there was she'd be swearing to him right as the realization strikes. Why is he so far away—I have to get there—I HAVE TO GET THERE-- Before she can think about what the risks are of confronting something with that much killing intent in its being, Maka is running to the epicenter of Rin's fit. Some part of her remembers that she wants to avoid being killed again...but then another, stronger part screams out that someone she cares for needs help. If she does nothing, she'll lose him.

She doesn't care about dying, she doesn't care about getting into a confrontation with a demon, this is Rin.

The flames are what she sees first, then the sword swinging through the air...then finally Maka sees him. It occurs to her she should be afraid or preparing to fight, getting ready to kill this monster to preserve the safety of Vatheon. But that's probably what the scientists would want to see, a little observational experiment of a girl being forced to kill her boyfriend.

...No way in hell. She's off again, tearing through the fire to Rin, flickers of her soul appearing in the form of wings

"RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!!"

[keepsthefire]

Something in the back of Rin's mind was pinged. Something rather suddenly brought a tiny, itty bitty bit of his humanity back in to his subconscious. Something, somewhere, had that tiny part of him screaming out to get get control of himself, to stop before he went too far.

But it wasn't enough. It was still buried. Buried under layers and layers of rage and hatred and nothing else. It didn't matter that Vanitas was dead, slain by his hand - all his anger wanted to do was tear everything down, tear everyone down around him. Even Maka.

He turned on her, but oddly enough the flickering of her bright soul actually made him recoil a bit. He threw a hand over his face and roared loudly, his other hand slashing the air wildly in an attempt to hurl his flames at the light that was threatening to get close to him.

[heartandsoul]

She ducks and keeps going forward, it's only the vague tingling of something warm that makes her realize some of the fire did actually meet its target. However, it doesn't catch, instead fizzling but still leaving some bit of warmth.

Rin's warmth.

The fire doesn't hurt? passes through her mind fleetingly. It's inconsequential, reaching Rin is what matters. "Rin! Can't you hear me?!" she calls again.

The light isn't leaving.

[set before he ran into Maka]

[howamanlives]

Masaru had caught wind of the chaos that was going down, and he knew instantly that it was Rin. So he'd run to his friend's location, shoved his way through the crowd, and surged towards the flaming half demon. Someone had to stop him.

"RIN!" the teenager roared, swinging his fist as he got near Rin. "SNAP THE HELL OUT OF IT!"

He'd punch Rin back to his senses if he had to.

[keepsthefire]

The one advantage - at least on Masaru's side - to Rin's current state was that he was literally a ball of rage and nothing else. There was no coherent thought, nothing that would tell him "you need to duck this", and so Masaru's hit connected right on and sent him tumbling to the ground.

But of course that alone was not about to stop him, and he was back on his feet within seconds, roaring insanely and swinging his sword at Masaru with no care to the fact that they were friends.

[howamanlives]

Masaru ducked down, low to the ground, narrowly dodging the flaming sword and rushing forward to try and tackle Rin to the ground.

"Listen to me! This ISN'T YOU!"

Robo-bro to the sorta rescue!

[ihadahole]

Legion didn't even stop to think before heading into the park to stop the rampaging demon. They don't even recognize Rin as the boy they had spoken to two months ago, so Legion doesn't hesitate to take up a spot in a tree with their sniper rifle.

They don't really want to outright kill Rin in case someone wanted him alive, so they took a moment to line up a non-lethal shot to the shoulder before pulling the trigger.

Sure a sniper rifle can be a rescue, why not

[keepsthefire]

It does little to slow the raging demon down. He take the hits, no thought in his mind to dodge or avoid them, but he does little more than stumble back a little before continuing forward.

There's another roar as flames leap out from around him. He can't see the source of the shots, but his flames are sure as hell going to try and take whatever it is out.

Well it'll rescue the non-combatants...maybe

[ihadahole]

Well that is...not what Legion had expected. Especially the sudden flux in the flames around Rin. They hesitate for a second, quickly coming to the consensus that they need to try and take him down before he moved beyond the park and hurt someone.

With their decision made, Legion aimed their sniper rifle, trying to pinpoint Rin's head through the roaring fire before taking another shot.