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singillatim2024-03-02 12:17 am
singmod) wrote in singillatim2024-03-02 12:17 am
you can run but you can't escape
THE DARKWALKER COMES
The Darkwalker strikes again. This time, it does not come for one Interloper — but four.
WHEN: March 2nd.
WHERE: Milton.
CONTENT WARNINGS: death of playable character; supernatural death; mention of dead body; themes of death; supernatural beings; themes of terror; themes of peril.
YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T ESCAPE
The sun sets on another day in the Northern Territories. The night is calm but cold, scant clouds drifting low in the skies promising snowfall soon. A waning moon sits in the skies amongst its sea of stars, and those looking up may notice it — slowly, one by one, the stars begin to go out.
Then the moon's light is swallowed whole, and a blanket of green gloom descends upon the town of Milton. One more, the sky is dark and green and terrible. Many of those will recognise it, what this means and what will come. Others will not understand it, not know what it is that awaits them all.
They will soon find out: the Darkwalker comes.
Fear washes over you like a cold wave, a vice-tight grip that squeezes the breath from you. Interlopers will find themselves over-come, and everything in their bodies and minds tells them to run. To flee. And so you run, heading for cover indoors. Curtains will be drawn, some may hide under beds, within closets or wardrobes. Some desperate attempt to conceal themselves, make themselves small, unseen. Some Interlopers, in that fear, may rush to friends or loved ones to hide with them, others may simply cowered alone — crawling and whimpering away from the night. The fear is irrational, unable to be overcome — even by the bravest or most stoic of Interlopers.
The Darkwalker howls: indescribable, unnatural, demonic. Low moans and groans. It comes from the east, the faint booms of footsteps in the distance growing ever nearer. It is coming, once more. It's coming for one of you. And still, you are powerless, unable to do anything. And it is an agony, awaiting its arrival. You cry, you whimper, you cower. Curling up for some shred of comfort, and finding none.
The footsteps draw closer and closer, and you feel like the ground itself may be threatening splitting open beneath you. It isn't you that it hunts, but you notice its path — a straight line from the east towards Milton Church. It seems to go on forever, building into a crescendo. Your heart beats so hard you fear it may burst from your chest, as if you might die of fright.
There is an almighty sound; the Darkwalker devours and suddenly the sky is alight: streaks of pale colour shoot across the gloomy green — almost blinding for one long moment. A woman's scream fills the air and then snaps into silence.
The skies return to normal, the green is gone, the fear melts away from you. It is done.
There is no body in the street. Interlopers venturing out will need to go looking for whoever it is that's fallen victim to the Devourer. The answer will be found within Milton Church.
Towards the altar, peppered amongst faint glimmers of intangible green that will fade by morning, lie the twisted and mangled bodies of Nicholas Wolfwood, Millions Knives and both iterations of Vash the Stampede. There's no blood, no physical wounds — simply the contorted bodies that lie dropped like ragdolls. Each of their faces stare with wide eyes, frozen in horror — just as La'an Noonien-Singh was.
The Darkwalker has devoured more. There is a story, told by Methuselah: It is said that the Darkwalker will awake from its slumber and swallow the world whole. One head will swallow the stars and moon and sun. Another will swallow the seas and lakes and rivers. The third will swallow the land, and every living thing upon it — and only then will the Darkwalker be satisfied and return to sleep once more.
It feels as if the Darkwalker is making good on its story: one by one, it will devour you all whole. And now the Interlopers of Milton must grapple with more death.
FAQs
1. Essentially, a 'party post' for reactions to the Darkwalker's attack, the immediate aftermath, and any funerary preparations. Have... fun???
2. Information on the Darkwalker's attack can be found here.
3. An OOC Rundown for the original Darkwalker's attack, which includes some FAQs can be found here.
4. Notes about the characters:
Wolfwood: He doesn't leave any messages behind. Folks are welcome to go through his house, which is the cabin by the pond -- there's nothing in there of his, and the only changes he made to the house was pulling a twin bed over in front of the fireplace. The wall of the cabin is also scorched from inside, from where his Lightbringer power erupted at one point.
Vash The Stampede (Trigun Stampede): He really didn't have much belongings or anything in particular of note, so it is a free for all situation in terms of possessions.
Vash The Stampede (Trigun Maximum): He'll be leaving behind his meager belongings. all of it can be found on either his person or in the church's living quarters which is also decently stocked with foraged foods. alas he's prepared no messages because he is absolutely atrocious at saying goodbyes.
Millions Knives: He'll leave behind sharpened hunting and skinning knives (hah), some fishing equipment, and scattered feathers around the church.
no subject
The facility I was being held in before this... they were watching me. Studying me. Scientists, doctors, the military...
Many of us here seem to come from situations that are... abnormal. It makes sense that they would contain us all in one place.
no subject
Wouldn't we be able to tell, though? That they were watching us.
[Tiny cameras and wireless transmission were WELL after his time.]
Just putting us in here and ignoring us doesn't make any sense.
no subject
[ It would be very surprising to him if that weren't the case. ]
I only barely managed to escape, last time. ....And in the end, I think they were going to catch me again, anyway. [ Konstantin frowns softly; it's not something he's revealed to many people. ]
no subject
[Please not underground.]
...but you ended up here instead?
cw: introspection of suicide (via gun)
[ The fact no one can even leave this town without great risk means they couldn't find such a base of operations. They're like rats, trapped in the middle of nowhere. But he sobers at the question, giving a soft sigh. ]
Yes, I had just escaped. A doctor helped me. But they were coming for me again, and I was.... hurt, couldn't run away anymore. I knew no matter what it took, I couldn't go back there.
[ He's sorry to have done that to Tatiana so suddenly, to press the gun to his abdomen without even a chance to say goodbye. He wonders what happened to her. ]
...Then I woke up here. And it's...different from the facility before, but feels the same, underneath. Someone or something trapped us here. If we can figure out why, then maybe.... we can use that to our advantage and escape.
no subject
I guess. Its all kind of...too big for me. Why we're here, how it all works. I want to figure it out...but its all over way my head. I'm not smart enough for this sort of thing, but there are plenty of people here who are.
[Or were smarter than him, at least.]
no subject
You shouldn't have to figure any of it out. You're so young.
[ Despite what horrors Levi has been through.... and the fact they've no doubt matured him too quickly. He's still just a boy. ]
But it sounds like you've faced... more than most of us have. You're tough. I'd want you on my team when the next bad thing happens. [ He smiles again, playful but not disingenuous, meaning it. ]
no subject
[He hesitates. Does he want to say this? The other man seemed to worry about him already. But enough people knew some of what he'd seen that it would reach Konstantin eventually.]
..I've been to war.
no subject
Of course, Konstantin also has military experience, and he was around Levi's age when he enlisted. But it's... surprising all the same, to learn that the boy had been through such a thing, on top of everything else he's revealed over time. He watches him: quiet, thoughtful, and brow pinched. 'Been to war'.... ]
That must have happened not long before you came here?
no subject
I was conscripted when I was 13. I've seen more than most people should.
no subject
...You really were just a kid then.
[ In that case... yes, he can see how much Levi might have matured by age eighteen. Been forced to mature. All of it is a highly upsetting thought. He can't imagine his own son being forced into service at such an age, just freshly a teenager.
He runs a hand over his mouth, looking back over to the bodies nearby. When he speaks, it's softly. ]
Do things like this... make you upset? Make you remember things you don't want to?
no subject
[He shrugs.]
Death stopped bothering me a long time ago. It's just another part of life.
[Usually it came too soon or in horrible ways, but it was still a part of the cycle.]
cw: mention of person in vegetative state
I was in the military, too. Older than you, of course. But I think the worst thing I've ever seen done to a man came after.
[ He sucks on the inside of a cheek, something in his eyes wavering. He doesn't like talking about it, but there's something in him that feels like he should open up to this boy. He doesn't know why, if it would.. help in any way possible, but.... ]
It was after I became a cosmonaut. After the crash. My co-pilot, he.... survived it. They told the public he died, but really they kept him alive, hooked to machines. A vegetable.
There's so much that can happen to someone... so many ways to die. [ His eyes slowly look to the dead bodies, those four men, frozen in fear. They must have died horrible deaths, but at least they died. They aren't suffering anymore. ]
...But the thought of being forced to stay alive, is what frightens me the most.
no subject
It seems like a waste of resources, though. If his army didn't bother to give them the food or gear they needed, they'd never spend the resources to keep someone alive. Stitches and Needles, though...those things might have been technically alive but they were far from people then.]
But why would they do that?
[Was Konstantin's military doing experiments with people as well?]
no subject
On our mission, we.... encountered something. Something never before discovered — alien. They're probably running tests to see if he was affected at all by it.
....And also to hide the truth of the crash from the public. It wouldn't look good if an esteemed space mission ended in such tragedy. I know they lied about me, too. Told the public I was recovering in a medical facility, when really they were keeping me hostage. They even doctored film and photographs.
[ A wry hint of a smile. Such things aren't so unexpected in the USSR, but... he'd never imagined it could happen to him. ]
no subject
[He's not sure why the guy needed to be alive for that. Unless they were harvesting something from him...? That's kind of a terrible thought so he pushes it away.]
I don't really know how you'd change film. It'd just be easier to hide it all I think.