019 - You Play In The Sun As In A Tidal River - Action

[worldofourown]

[In the forest, chaos erupts. Sparks of light. Billowing smoke. Birds flying from crashing trees.]

[A blinding force swoops through the area. Bluish and blurred, it has no shape. Energy crackles at its edges, the heat enough to blacken trees and scorch skin. In its wake, it leaves a wasteland: vast and boiling in fumes. The stink comes next: smoldering wood, charred earth, the spilling blood of many creatures, like garbage left out to rot.]

[At times, the bright blur seems to be a creature. Draconian yet human—red-eyed, covered in blood, screaming like a banshee.]

[But the glimpse is fleeting. Mostly, it remains indistinguishable. Racing on and on. The air behind it is smoky. Ash and sparks drifting like snow. From the distance it seems surreal— a hallucination.]

[It may be hours still, before this beast tires itself out.]


[OOC: Karl's tldr post is here for details, and if anyone has questions. Characters with superpowers are free to try curbing his tantrum. Also, any forest-dwelling citizens are free to comment on the rukkus. Police involvement to be kept at a minimal pls <33]

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[beyourarmy]

[Not that Setsuna has anything against setting fire to the forest at this point, but it's the fact there are other people involved, and animals, and he has a weighted idea of who it is causing this destruction when he gets a glimpse of the monster. He's seen it already. That and...he doesn't want the police getting involved, for both sides, or anyone else getting hurt trying to deal with said creature.

[That's why the blond idiot is in the sky, quick, all six wings on display, Nanatsusaya at the ready, aiming to get in front of the next move Karl makes, energy ball in his hands to get Karl's attention.]

Hey! Not that I'm the biggest fan of the forest, but you're being an asshole! What the Hell is this about, Karl?

[worldofourown]

[The angel's voice pierces through Karl's fugue.]

[But it isn't enough to shake him out of it. His cyclical, self-destructive rage has snowballed after learning of Saya's departure. Sweeping him in a tide of ferocious violence. He's beyond words or reason now.]

[Bright-red eyes lift to acknowledge Setsuna. But they don't flash with recognition.]

[In this feral state, everything around Karl is a threat. And must be attacked.]

[beyourarmy]

[Fine by Setsuna. When there's no verbal communication, he lets that energy ball fly - he's not going to solely be on defense this time.]

Talk to me, Karl! What the fuck is going on?

[The guy wasn't sane at the best of times, but this was the first time Setsuna had seen him resort to this.]

[worldofourown]

[The flying energy ball - whizzing too close for comfort - confirms beast!Karl's ferine instincts. The intruder is a threat. Setsuna's question falls to his ears like white noise - indecipherable. Unnecessary.]

[Instead, with an ear-splitting roar, the Chiropteran launches an energy blast of his own.]

[He has enough stymied rage to tear the forest apart. No one should dare interrupt.]

[beyourarmy]

[Setsuna dodges the energy ball and flies right at the source. He doesn't want to waste time playing around.]

Karl! I'll knock you out if I have to! [Never mind that's probably not...an easy thing to do. Setsuna doesn't care about trivial matters.]

[worldofourown]

[Through Karl's preternatural vision, the forest is a wash of brilliant colors and intense sounds. Everything tinged in blood-red, like his thoughts themselves. He registers only two things:]

[The intruder is quick. And needs to be devoured.]

[His form is all sinews and fangs, wings erupting from his arms like a dragon's. Roaring again, he launches himself at Setsuna.]

[A mid-air, lightning collision.]

[beyourarmy]

Dammit! [Setsuna really hadn't wanted to hurt him, and doesn't realize his own impulsive nature might have made this worse. Whichever, he goes headlong into their collision. Nanatsusaya is aimed to pierce, in case he needs it.]

I'm sorry.

[worldofourown]

[Even if Setsuna had tried reasoning with Karl, it wouldn't have worked. He's in the throes of a manic fit. Violence is the only answer here.]

[Teeth bared, the talons of his feet curled like a hawk about to nab a mouse, Karl lets momentum carry him toward Setsuna. In his state, he doesn't register the upriased sword. And even then, little weapons aren't a concern for Chevaliers.]

[Let the enemy stab him. He'll heal ultimately.]

[But he'll sink his teeth into the boy's neck first.]

[beyourarmy]

[Once in front of Karl, Setsuna had intended to use the sword to fend him off - anything, but the feel of teeth piercing into his flesh stops him cold.

[Setsuna's eyes widen, and he about panics hands reaching out to push Karl off, mind scrambling. He couldn't have explained the reaction if asked, but his feet about kicked out, the sword forgotten. Then he settles, calming immediately, one thought crossing his mind. Karl didn't actually need subsistence. He implied he took care of that at the bar. And yet.

[Setsuna's expression softens his body going slack and closer, his hands going to Karl's shoulders gently, touching that creature he considered ugly.]

You need this, don't you? It's okay.... Go ahead. Just don't take too much. [A pause as he looks at Karl, expression sad.] And I'll warn you. It regenerates me. Giving my feathers to people gives them life. You want to die, not live. Just keep that in mind, okay? I don't know what it'll do to you.

[worldofourown]

[In some quiet recess of Karl's mind, he registers Setsuna succumbing - and is puzzled. Is the boy stupid, or just suicidal? But the thoughts are blotted out by the rush of rich, hot flood flooding his mouth. Not like human blood. Not even like Jast's blood. The beast in him, already at the surface, slavers and howls.]

[More.]

[Fangs sunk into Setsuna's neck, he flaps his wings, gliding back down to the forest. Talons touch the ground, eyes blazing, no sign of sanity, let alone recognition. Doesn't know what the boy's saying. Doesn't know why he's capitulating.]

[Doesn't care.]

[His fangs sink in deeper. Mouth filling with hot liquid life. No intention of stopping.]

[beyourarmy]

[Stupid and suicidal, some. The one Karl probably didn't recognize was obnoxiously self-sacrificing. His own eyes closed as they lowered. His neck burned, the punctured skin hurt, and the feel of blood leaving him was numbing, a discomfort. Alone it wasn't painful, just awkward, but he allowed it, not even squirming.

[Karl had probably gone a little far by then, but Setsuna didn't budge. He told himself he would let it go just a little longer, just a bit more. His body felt so light....]

[worldofourown]

[Someone needed to warn Setsuna: Once Karl dug in, he didn't let go. He hadn't when he'd bitten Saya in their final showdown. Her blood was toxic to him. But he'd craved it. Welcomed it. He'd hoped to die with her - for them to dance hand-in-hand into Hell.]

[This feels eerily similar to that moment. Setsuna is just as lax. Just as silent. Even his blood has a similar fizzle of energy - of something. A secret part of Karl, always ready to plunge into despair and release, whispers,Maybe his blood will ACTUALLY kill you.]

[So he keeps on. Swallowing gulp after gulp.]

[beyourarmy]

[No, Karl, it won't. It'll do the exact opposite.

[Feeling numbness tingle more, and his head become heavy, Setsuna finally takes any movement to put a stop to things.]

Karl, stop. That's enough. [His hands go from relenting and soft to hard and attempting to push Karl away. Start light.]

[worldofourown]

[He can feel something subsuming him. A weird ethereal tingle. A hot rush of heat. It feels just like drinking Saya's blood. Feeling his body crystallize from the inside.]

[Except - ]

[Except instead of feeling leaden, still - his skin seems to flutter. For a dizzying moment, he swears he has a pulse.]

[And Setsuna. Saying something. Hands pushing at him.]

[But a Chiropteran is a Chiropteran. And blood is blood. Karl can't control himself.]

[His mouth is a bloody seal against the boy's slender neck. Not detaching - but pressing closer.]

[Feeding.]

[beyourarmy]

[His head feels heavier, eyes closing. NO! Setsuna snaps them open. He's going to have to force Karl to let go, obviously. Fine.

[An energy ball forms in his hand, and he gives it as much force as he can, shooting it off at Karl's stomach, point blank and such close range.]

I said stop.

[worldofourown]

[The energy blast stings. Intense and unexpected.]

[Howling, Karl wrenches his serrated fangs messily from Setsuna's neck. Blood dribbles down his beastly maw, dripping to the ground. The char of burnt skin fills his nostrils, and he unleashes another savage roar.]

[But the sound rumbles out, like an idling engine. Mind resurfacing as if from some irretrievable dream, colored with hunger and rage. A shiver takes him, spreading down all extremities, turning his joints to jelly as his heart hammers like a stricken bird.]

[A pulse. He has a pulse.]

[What has Setsuna's blood done?]

[beyourarmy]

You okay?

[Setsuna watches him wide-eyed. As for the pulse.... He warned you, Karl. He puts a hand over his injured neck, the would not healing, too low on blood and a little too weak just yet. But all of his concern is centered on Karl. He'll worry about his neck later.]

[worldofourown]

...

[He can't answer. Isn't sure what's going on. Shudders instead, with a terror of not-knowing, of being high on this mysterious blood. A stranger in his own skin.]

[Bit by bit, the Chiropteran form slips away. His human shape is deathly pale. Cheeks and forehead and chest streaked in dirt. Dribbles of blood run down his lips, hair a dense tangle. He opens his mouth a couple of times. The rest of him paralyzed.]

[But the rage that animated him earlier, that was so overwhelming and black and fierce, has dispelled. Alll that remains is the grief.]

Saya - !

[It's a choked-off cry.]

[beyourarmy]

[A name? One Setsuna doesn't recognize. Worried, he gets closer to Karl, one arm extending to go around him, while keeping his eyes on Karl's face, searching for thoughts and feelings there.]

Let's hope you don't end up like Katou and Kira. I've got enough stalkers who know what I'm going through and thinking. [He's just muttering out loud. He has enough attachments. Karl is someone else's attachment. Setsuna wants to keep it that way.]

Hey.... Who's Saya? [Start small, right?]

[worldofourown]

[He stiffens at the touch. But he's too far-gone to pull away. Later, there'll be anger and awkwardness. A demand to know what Setsuna's blood has done.]

[But not now. He doesn't care.]

[He curls into himself, arms wrapped around his knees, like a cold child. Breathing hard, each inhalation a low seething hiss; each exhalation twining out sadness. Tears backing up behind his eyes like lava. He can feel his whole body battening on the power in Setsuna's blood. Feel it sing through him, warm and alive - yet wholly unwelcome.]

[He ought to be dead. At peace with Saya.]

She's gone...

[The only answer he can give to Satuna's question. The plaintive note in his own voice disgusts him. A Chevalier - reduced to the methods of a bawling child.]

[Pathetic.]

[No wonder Diva never cared for him. No wonder Saya abandoned him.]

[beyourarmy]

[A girl? He should've known.... He tried to destroy the world over one, once, but that was because she died. Not because she left some place.]

Your girlfriend? Didn't even know you were involved.

[Setsuna wraps both arms around Karl now, completely hugging him. Even if he stiffens, Setsuna can't stand to see this, terribly worried. Karl's that unstable? Hurting that much.]

She just left the City, though, right?

[worldofourown]

[When the touch becomes an outright embrace, Karl tenses. He imagines, dimly, that one good roundhouse would get the boy off him. He's a Chevalier. He doesn't need pity.]

[But all that destructive rage is elsewhere.]

[The tears that start in his eyes are hot. They slip down his blood-streaked face, burning white trails like candlewax.]

Gone...

Gone and left me. And I'm dead in my own world. I won't - I won't be able to see her again.

[This has to be what dying really feels like. A slow motion end-of-all eruption. He's felt this kind of pain before during Diva's hibernations. But not so intensely - which is what makes it so unbearable now.]

[The realization that he's truly alone here.]

[beyourarmy]

[To Setsuna it isn't pity, but a painful, overwhelming empathy. Still, he pulls away when he realizes Karl's completely naked. No, this didn't register to the kid immediately. And yes, he's unbuttoning his shirt, then stops.]

Well. Fuck.

[Starts unbuttoning again.] You might see her again here anyway. Not that I'd want my girl here. [Tosses Karl his shirt.] But you never know.

[worldofourown]

[She's not Karl's girl. What she is, is Diva's sister. His Bride by blood and right. Even if she has been stubbornly resistant in the past.]

[When Setsuna tosses the shirt at him, Karl blinks a moment, like he doesn't know what's happening. Then, registering his own state of undress, he pulls the shirt on. The forest air is cold. But he doesn't feel it. Can't feel anything beyond his own misery.]

I don't know anything in this City. That's the thing...

[The curses, the uncertainty, pull his already addled mind in different directions, like a psychedelic taffy.]

[He has no power here. Didn't, in his own world, either.]

[He'll always be a lab-rat in a cage.]

[beyourarmy]

[Leave it to Setsuna to assume the right things about people emotions more often than not, but when it comes to assuming about facts? Usually all wrong. Not that Karl was helping.

[Since Karl pulled the shirt on, Setsuna wonders if he's bothered by his lack of clothes. Well...he's got boxers under, so the blond gets up and unbuttons his jeans.]

You're right. It kind of sucks. One day we're all fine, then the next some of us are doing something weird. People come, then they go. Getting out...I still think there's a way, but as if anyone's got any clues to it.

[Slips his jeans off and tosses them at Karl.] I don't think you're much taller than me it should matter. And you're slender enough you should be able to wear those.

Besides, even if they're a little tight, or a little short, it's better than nothing to get you home, right?

[But after that he collapses to his knees, slightly out of breath. Okay. Not standing up again for a while.]