citylogs | The Hardest Battles aren't Fought With a Sword [OPEN]

WHO: Senua (

hardestbattle) & YOU
WHAT: Hunting a twisted figure, attempting to survive a phobia
WHERE: THE MALL
WHEN: August Event
WARNINGS: nyctophobia, language, violence, potential self-harm and graphic imagery, depression, horror, spoilers

I – Sins of The Father (Spoilers)

[Senua’s fears, her anxieties. Her anger.

It was there. It was all there in front of her. In the shape of that hooded figure of a man. It isn’t a man, not really. Not in her eyes, and it showed. It showed with the way he moved. How mishappen his body appeared underneath the cloak. Or, rather, the near lack of form. He seemed more wraith-like. More like a ghost wrapped in a black burial shroud. Tendrils of black surrounded him like smoke.

Flies seemed to buzz about him. This is less man, more monster.

His shape seemed to shift, always distorted, but always recognizable. And Senua hated it, she knew who he is. She was afraid, she was trembling, she was angry.]

"Run"
"Hide"
"He's here!"
"It's him, why is he here?"
"How?"
"The Darkness! The Light! Get into the Light!"
"Senua!"
"Don't look!"
"Don't!"

[The voices all chimed in at once. Each one a chorus in it’s own right. Each one bubbling forth, vomiting out whatever words it wanted to frantically. Senua knew the cause for their distress, knew it was that thing in front of her. The Darkness. The one she’d fought against, denied, had let go of. But he was here.]

Look at you... Running forward but moving backwards to wallow in your miserable past.

[The thing spoke. It’s voice echoed all around. Through. Slithering into her ears. Slithering into the ears of those that could see it, hear it. Poisonous words meant for the Pict, but also seemed to be directed at others. At you. Mocking, painful. Itching and picking at past wounds and scars and fears. Past failures and horrors.

The figure is far away, yet that horrific, pale, twisted mouth seemed to project itself. The image of the hooded face, close, next Senua, next to those close to her. It floated and hovered. It was there, but not there. Like a hologram. Like an illusion. But it was real. It felt real. The breath is real. That stench is real.

This is a regular person, however. Distorted and twisted by how Senua had come to view him. But still a person. Despite the way their form seemed distorted. Despite how much of a corpse they seemed.]

You… YOU! Get back here!

You betrayed your own father, you betrayed the gods… Don’t let your darkness hurt anyone else. Just like your mother.

Fuck you! Fuck the gods! You don’t speak for the gods! And it wasn’t the gods who killed her! It was you! Get! Back! Here!

[Senua’s voice called out after him as the figure retreated into the darkness. Prompting her to step into its direction. Illusion or not. Trap or not, she couldn’t let him go. She had to… she had too…!

Senua follows further into the dark. Blinded by her anger. Deaf to all as the voices continued to follow her. She’s going to need help.]

II – Escape the Mall!

[Senua did not like the dark, never did. It was worse now as she was older and could place all of her demons and fears into it. The lack of light was suffocating to her. The coldness, the inability to see clearly. The way it all closed in around her, crushing her. Senua did not like it. It left her feeling frantic and desperate as she moved around the mall.

She had gotten better at it, she told herself. Better at navigating in the dark, banishing those fears.

But what was there to banish when the walls themselves closed in all around her? When an open space feels like an abyss? Senua breathed slowly, in and out, in and out. She did her best, she really did. But her heart pounded in her ears. The whispers around her, the Furies, they begged her. They implored her, to stay in the light. To stay where the danger could not reach her.

To stay out of that pit. Out of that room.

She did her best to press on. She really did. And yet-

She was now huddled against a wall. Her face buried in her knees. Unresponsive. Breathing heavily. Breathing deeply.]

[WILDCARD]

[ooc; don’t see anything you like? Wanna plot something specific? No worries! Feel free to contact me via pm, discord, or at

mr_cynicalperson. Or just drop me something random and I’ll follow along!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Anyway, so, there Sylvain was, scuttling along the dimly illuminated corridors of the mall and feeling like a hunted woodland creature as something comes for him. Not a great day. Got "murdered" once and he's a bit wild-eyed and jumpy because he knows how this goes, he knows how this always goes, he knows the cold, he knows the dark-

Anyway, Sylvain turns a corner and tenses up, because his first instinct is oh, that's another thing trying to kill me and then his second is-]

Oh, it's you.

[Took him a second, what with the ball of misery position, but he remembers her, and actually now's not the time for thoughtfully remembering Senua, she's clearly miserable, and there's things (brothers) trying to kill them, and-

So, he approaches, very carefully, in the same way he approached a skittish horse that he knew might be two seconds from kicking him and trying to bite off an ear, adopting the skittish horse voice as he does so.]

Hey, been a while. You remember me, yeah? The guy who missed trees. Not exactly the place I'd like a friendly reunion in, but I guess we can't be picky.

[Just a short burst of words in the most calming fucking tone he can manage, which...isn't the best, what with the things running around trying to kill them, but pretty decent. All things considered.]

[Luckily, even if she could totally rip off a person's arm and beat them to death with it, Senua is very unlikely to harm him. She is, however, very likely to have mental breaks. Like right now. As Sylvain is probably going to find out.

She doesn't move, and doesn't really acknowledge him from the onset. Everything looked pitch-black to her with flashes of light and hints of movement. If she keeps still, if she keeps herself warm and huddled in the little light she could find, she'll be fine. It takes the Pict a moment to respond. The voices, so many voices, were screaming in her ears. All around her. All frantic, telling her different things.

When she does take notice of him, her eyes remained panicked. She shook and shuddered, her body rigid and teeth chattering.]

What? Wh-What? I... [Her mind scrambles how close is he to the light? How safe is he in the dark? There's a threat, it was all a threat.]

G-Get into the light... into... into the light....

[She even scrambles back further against the wall.]

[Unbeknownst to him, this is the second person that he knows who hears voices in their head on a regular basis, and if he ever makes the connection he'll wonder how it is he ended up in this situation.

But, you know what?

Sylvain hasn't made that connection! He doesn't know what he's getting himself into.]

Yeah, this place is pretty dark. I hate it too. [Sylvain just continues to use his best 'human trying to keep a skittish mare from kicking his dick off' voice, except unfortunately, he knows he probably can't just shove some food at Senua and fix problems that way.]

If I knew this place was gonna be like a cave I never would've entered. You're probably feeling the same, huh?

[...okay, if she's against the wall, he can...also be against the wall, maintaining a polite distance as one does when they don't know if the person they're with is violent or merely incredibly traumatized.]

[If she had a choice, Senua probably would have never visited this city to begin with! For all of the wonders she's seen so far, what was lurking in the background made her wish to leave.]

No... no a cave would be better.

[She can hide in a cave, she can make a fire in a cave. In a room, in a place where she is trapped and locked in, she couldn't hide, she couldn't run or leave. Then there was...]

Something, it's out there.

[ And out of the darkness looms--

A completely normal looking woman, short, dark-haired, and looking somewhat frazzled by the circumstances herself. She starts at the sight of Senua, trying to pull back against a wall to avoid getting in her way. ]

Shit -- are you real?

[Certainly as real as real could be! Naturally she doesn't stop in her pursuit. Even as her target disappears into the shadows, she could still smell that sickly sweet rot that followed him. Stopping only to avoid tripping over the other woman.]

You, which way did he go?

[ All right, well, it's not Jo's hallucination, anyway. ]

Did who go? I haven't seen anyone.

[ She does glance over her shoulder as she says this, clearly unnerved. Her own pursuers aren't fast, but they don't need to be. ]

[Not a hallucination at all. Well, the man in black isn't. He is easy to miss, at least by sight. By smell, however.

It's rotten, like a corpse.]

Th-The man... in the black cloak. He ran this way I saw him run this way.

With the -- fuck if I know which way he went -- sorry, why are you chasing him? Nothing in here's worth getting close to!

This one is. I need to find him before he vanishes again.

[ Perhaps he should have known better by this point? Although initially, he hadn't minded too much being trapped within this building — after all, it is far more expansive than a bank vault. However, once the lights started dimming he could only hope that he would find an exit soon. But by the time the place is practically pitch-dark, he is still trapped inside. He isn't alone here, yet the thought isn't entirely comforting. He knows there are some other people like him around, that's not what's bothering him. There is something else...

And by now he believes that at least someone must have made their escape but perhaps they're unable to come back into the building to help others?

That's the thought he has as he walks through the mall's corridors. Deep in thought he also appears alert,, even if his attention isn't always focused on the path ahead (especially since ever so often he finds himself looking around and behind him). Fortunately, the emergency lights are enough for him to spot the figure huddled against the wall. Carefully Xingqiu approaches. ]

Greetings, I don't mean to disturb you but are you hurt? Are you in need of assistance? I think things have settled down somewhat now. Perhaps you've seen some strange things too...

[That's her little secret. She's always seeing strange things, Cap. But it all becomes more heightened in the dark. It's a reminded of that room, the tiny space where she wasted away as a child. It really is near impossible to be rid of some things.
Senua breathed in and out uneasy as she kept herself huddled into her little corner.]

The light... get into the light.

[She quietly hissed, eyes frantic, tearing up. She is not okay, she is the complete opposite of okay. But she also doesn't seem to be hurt. Not physically anyway.]

[ While he understands the discomfort felt with the lack of visibility due to poor lighting there really isn't much he can do. Perhaps it's the eerie atmosphere that is causing her distress? Even if he gets closer, the emergency lights do little to help but he does make the attempt. Reaching out he gently pats her shoulder attempting to gain her full attention as well as providing some comfort. He knows that there are things lurking around so perhaps it would help if she felt human touch?

That's what he hopes.

Now that he is standing at her side, he can finally get a glimpse of her tears. What has she gone through here? His own experience while bizarre hadn't entirely sent him into a panic. ] Does this help?

The Hardest Battles aren't Fought With a Sword [OPEN]

2, I went back and forth on which to pick

ohoho... welcome to misery station~

no subject

no subject

1

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

two.

Re: two.

no subject