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WHO: Ryoji, OTA
WHERE: in woods
WHEN: May 25-ish
WHAT: unstatuing, aka meet Thanatos, aka Jorogumo's not the only monster in the woods
WARNINGS: none
NOTES: forest lake info

i.
[ Oh. This is weird. Ryoji's foot lands heavily on the ground, and stands still by the very edge of the woods, turning his head this way and that. He was just out walking, but he could feel that lapse throw off his sense of time-- stiff limbs, the imperceptible changes that that he can't ignore: the blades of grass are longer, flower buds dotting the path in greys and dark greys. It's hot, and he tugs at the scarf around his neck, because it's suddenly ten degrees hotter and almost suffocating.

Unbeknownst to him, it'd been three weeks since he had been turned into a statue and made to stand guard here, but no more. He turns his head to the woods, staring for a moment... he should go home and figure out what happened? but he believes he'd find his answers in the forest with the demons... and so then finally steps off the path, bounding lightly through the trees— darkness, shadow, and in the next clearing, a monster stands in his place: Thanatos, with its wide mantle of coffins boring into the packed trees around him as it takes off in flight- low enough to the ground that the toothed sword in its hands drags along the ground and marks its path.

Joggers, patrol groups, poor innocent people who just wanted to try foraging berries and didn't want to encounter monsters today, sorry. Thanatos isn't quiet in its approach, with snapping branches and cracking stone, a little path of destruction in its wake to warn people before and after. Run? Engage? It definitely looks evil, exuding an oppressive aura and drawing darkness towards itself until the woods drown in shadow. ]

ii.
[ Any blue characters... small prompt here for a Jorogumo if you want to play it out; Thanatos would be able to take it down like it's child's play, so whether it's your character happening upon Thanatos and Jorogumo already engaged in battle, or Thanatos coming across you and the monster, we can play something out o7 ]

wc.
[ meeting Ryoji himself and not Thanatos, inbox things, etc. I'm easing myself off semi-hiatus, so! waves hands, I can be contacted at

birdseed for anything ]

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[ That doesn't answer his question... But it does, too, sort of, in that maybe Dextera had only wanted to say hi and to check up on him— a kind gesture, one that reinforces the thought that something wrong had happened and Thanatos looks down at its hands.

The only way it can communicate with these hands is to swing its sword, or gather magic in its palms; they aren't used to speak or hug or mime sunsets in the sky.

...

"Hello." In the end, he falls back on the ease of telepathy instead of returning to a human form that could better express everything he needs, because this is one of those rare moments where he doesn't really want to explain. "It's good to see you again, but I really do need to go." ]

[ dextera doesn’t like this one bit, even if he understands—the sun can’t be out all the time, and for ryoji to have such a form in the first place means either he was a human that is human no longer, or he never was one to begin with. either option leaves them where they are now. ]

Together.

[ he says it quickly, urgently, his face expressing more than his hands do. now that ryoji is here... he doesn’t want to just let him fly off into the woods alone. ]

[ The gut reaction is to say no, for Dextera's sake. But the argument is already there in Thanatos' silence and Dextera's face— stubborn, mind seemed already made up no matter what Thanatos says.

"I'd advise against it, but you're free to do what you want," is what Thanatos eventually says, neither permission nor denial, but acknowledgement of Dextera's wishes. And if it's Dextera's decision to make, it's better that it's an informed one, so Thanatos elaborates a little.

"I intend to seek out the demons in the forest. Would you still wish to come?" ]

...

[ dextera faced no demons but his own in the forest last time, but he's aware there's something dark lurking among the trees that has already hurt so many of them. pointed, painful memories... the last thing he wants is for ryoji to see that alone. dextera is used to suffering.

he nods, and then, more firmly than before: ]

Together. [ however, then, a pause. ] Why?

[ Under Thanatos' mask, it's still Ryoji in the end, even if he'd like to think that taking on this form would harden himself against anything that the demons throw at him, and against anything his friends would too. But he feels the relief seem into him when Dextera insists, again, that he wants to stay with him, and himself relenting to the thought of having another person there. It isn't as if what he wanted to do was entirely private, but bringing somebody along wasn't exactly safe; that's why Thanatos.

"They're the only creatures in this town aside from us, who can speak. I want to know about everything I can from them." ]

[ that's true, perhaps—but they're still demons, and guren doesn't trust demons, which is enough to warn dextera against this path even if nobody should really like demons. it's not that he's worried about getting hurt physically, considering all he's been through in his life and the power of thanatos here before him, but...

the town knows so much about them. who's to say the creatures out here won't, as well? ]

Now?

[ there's nothing in him that seems to be stalling—he's genuinely asking, curious about why ryoji would take now of all times to investigate. he just woke up. ]

[ "Yes. Why not now?"

Maybe he'd just woken up, but it doesn't feel that way to him. For Ryoji, it was a large chunk of time taken away from him in the span of a blink, like startling out of a reverie and many weeks had passed. He hadn't been going any place in particular then, just sort of hanging around his house and trying not to wander too far off, but that didn't stop him from getting into trouble and now that he knows there was something wrong, there's no reason for him to put it off. ]

[ why not now... a simple answer, but one that's difficult to argue with. dextera pauses, considering whether or not he wants to accept that response, but ultimately he decides he has little else to say for or against ryoji's logic. ]

...

[ so he nods, and gestures between the two of them. ]

Protect. [ each other, that is, since even the raw power of death can be overcome by a strong enough will. ]

[ I'm waiting to hear back from the mods if there's anything to be found in the forest, but in the meantime, Thanatos lifts up into the air to hover over Dextera. He takes the request as a one way street--

"I'll protect you. Stay behind me, and don't look at anybody but me. The demons... change into those most important to us. I wonder who you would see?"

There's less room where the branches encroach on the space overhead, but this way, he can at least keep an eye on things and keep Dextera somewhat in view, as opposed to the impossibility of walking next to each other. Ten foot long swords makes that sort of dangerous.

[ that... unsettles him, as much as it excites him. he knows who he would see. he would see his brother, that vague entity that haunts his memories and sometimes his waking eyes, too. he already does. his brother is always there, cursing him and missing him in equal measure depending on the mood. ]

...

[ he looks up at ryoji, something sad still in his gaze at this all. he doesn't have to try so hard. ]

Ryoji. [ the sign, apparently, is his fingers crossed for "R," with the point of them held between his brow, while his thumb presses to his chin across his face. the sign for "moon," and he's already learned that such names read to other people. ] Berries—miss you.

[ the berries miss him? or a reminder of the berries, and that dextera missed him? both! but a jumble of words with a meaning that the observer needs to parse out suits dextera, in this sense, even if he hasn't mastered a grammar yet. ]

[ Berries... oh. It takes Thanatos a moment to parse the meaning, splitting its attention down at Dextera and up at the trees before a branch wipes him out before he can speak to the demons. The berries. The garden. Quiet times, peaceful moments, just being able to exist instead of pushing himself to take an active part in things- he misses those too, even though it's barely been a few days from his perspective since he's had just that.

"I'm sorry." A whisper. "It makes me a little happy to hear that though, that I'm missed in some capacity." Which is something Dextera would have to take his word for, seeing as he can't really express much of anything as Thanatos. Like this, it makes it hard to talk or interact, or do anything more than what he'd set out to do— talk, he hopes, but a fight is what he expects.

Not yet, though. Maybe it's okay to throw caution to the winds, just for a little while. Thanatos lowers itself onto the ground, and when it touches, its body falls into shadow and reforms into Ryoji again. Still a little somber, not quite smiling, but it's him, whole and safe and sound. ]

...

[ dextera isn't sure he's ever seen ryoji look so down. even when dextera was positive he was hurting, after everything in the forest, ryoji maintained a smile—but his thought from earlier remains true. the sun can't shine all the time. ryoji would die, if he didn't let himself get a little melancholy every now and then.

so dextera pauses, for a moment, and then silently holds out his hands—palm-up, offering ryoji the chance to take them. ]

[ That "now and then" is too often, sometimes, or for too long. He'd rather people only ever see him smile, but they're very hard to fake when he doesn't feel happy. He tries now and finds that he can do it if he focuses on the fact that Dextera had come to see him, that he can feel the warmth of somebody's hand in his, palm to palm.

...

No, he can't think of anything to say, so it's like this that he tugs Dextera forward, eyes off to the distance and not once looking his way. ]

[ there's no need to speak, anyway. their interactions have been fine, in silence, and dextera is okay with that for now. it's not hard to tell the difference between an intentional quiet and a void, but it's probably best to keep their voices soft in the forest anyway.

they're quite deep, at this point, and dextera keeps his own gaze focused on ryoji's back to keep his thoughts from wandering. ]

...

[ a soft exhale, and he squeezes ryoji's fingers. he won't let his resolve slip, for ryoji's sake. ]

[ They've got less than a mile or so to go before anything interesting happens, but it's much slower going now that both of them have to walk it. He could have carried Dextera in one of Thanatos' coffins...? In my ten months' experience with playing Ryoji, nobody has ever agreed to ride in the coffins.

The squeeze gets Ryoji to look over, though, quizzical look on his face as he first stares down at their hands, and then up at Dextera's face. He squeezes back, and with his other hand, taps a finger lightly on his chest, pulls it away, and makes a fist with it.

Maybe he should learn actual sign language, because his brand of it is still guesswork. ]

[ dextera would have ridden in the coffin. ]

...

[ it's been a few weeks now, since dextera has had to play charades with anyone. he's slowly accumulated various kinds of accommodations, between his notebook and his rudimentary sign language, so it actually throws off—for better or worse, probably better—his solemn demeanor to blink.

...one more time, please! ]

[ A missed opportunity!! There will be plenty others.

Ryoji turns a little as he walks so he can more fully face Dextera, still joined by the hands, but with his free one: taps his chest, makes a fist and squeezes it tight, holds it like that for two, three seconds, and then lets go again. ]

[ ...dextera did miss this, too, even if it's not something he's consciously recognized as having gone without. trying to read ryoji's hands, remembering his own fretting that his gestures might he impossible to read, it's sort of funny. ]

Brave?

[ maybe... ]

[ Ryoji laughs— he can't help himself, pulling both his hands up in front of him before remembering he's still holdings hands, and then debates on what he can sign with only one hand.

Hand out, palm down. Then he flips it over so that it's facing up. ]

[ ah, a laugh. that’s a good sound, especially out in the forest. the animals have long since scattered thanks to thanatos’ incidental destruction, and so they’re left with an unnatural quiet.

even if dextera doesn’t get what ryoji is trying to say, there’s something fun about trying, hearing his voice. seeing his smile. ]

Light? [ he’s trying. ] Awake? Discover?

[ Ryojis shakes his head, and starts over from the beginning:

He pats his hand on his chest several times, makes that fist again, and then raises it into the air above his head. While a variation of the previous signs, they all apparently mean the same thing to him... Maybe it's not a single word he's trying to convey, but more of a concept or idea, which makes it more confusion to sign. ]

...

[ dextera doesn't get it, and maybe that's fine. maybe the act of trying is enough trying to get it, anyway. it's his turn to laugh, however quietly it is, his breath coming in quiet puffs, and he offers his own nonsense in return.

reaching out with his hand, he touches ryoji's chest, too. not a sign, just a gesture: you.

it's as vague as ryoji is being right now, but isn't that all right? this is what they get up to, even out in the forest like this—no matter what form he takes, ryoji is ryoji, and that seems to be a certain thing. ]

[ Him? Ryoji shakes his head, but hearing Dextera's laugh also answers the question he had been trying to convey this entire time.

A pounding heart. The opposite of bravery— fear. Or was he excited? Those were the things Ryoji was trying to draw out of him, but that laugh eases all his worries; fear maybe, excitement maybe, but it doesn't matter at all. They can laugh like this and be both.

It passes the time quickly, and he'd almost forgotten what they were doing in the forest and his reluctance to be in this form that can smile and laugh, but it's soon that the trees crowd in on them from other side, funneling them to the lake that greets them at the other end of the tunnel. ]

[ it is both, in the strangest way—dextera is terrified of the forest, but excited to be here with ryoji. happy to be here with him, even, because being able to walk like this means that the two of them are together. they're going to get out of this just fine, no matter what happens. ]

...?

[ the lake is an odd light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak, since going this deep into the forest has rarely ever shown them something so peaceful-looking. the demons that ryoji is looking for—could they be here? ]

[ The demons Ryoji was expecting were supposed to be shrouded in darkness, a sense of Death that had allowed Ryoji to notice them last time. That isn't the case this time, though, demons the furthest thing on his mind as Ryoji leads them to the lake— the surface is still and unmoving, almost like glass, or a mirror-

The hand holding Dextera's tightens reflexively the moment Ryoji catches glimpse of something in the water. It relaxes again as he edges closer, and then his grip tightens once more, a complicated feeling taking hold of him that makes him want to fall back and pitch forward in equal measure. ]