logsinthenight | EVENT LOG: BURY A FRIEND

characters: everyone.
location: around town.
date/time: october 9-17.
content: the hallucinations begin...
warnings: psychological horror. please cw tags appropriately.

it's probably something that shouldn't be said out loud

October 9 feels like a normal day at first, save for the red lighthouse beam cutting through the darkness overhead. You know by now—or you've heard—that the lighthouse is only active during ferry arrivals and events... And there's definitely no ferry docked at the, er. Beach. The town is quiet, the forest spirits behave business-as-usual, Rastus doesn't know what's up. Whatever's going on, you'll have to figure it out for yourself.

And you will, though the hallucinations are subtle at first: objects moving when they shouldn't, people's proportions looking just a bit off, voices in an empty room, and so on. Is it just your mind playing tricks in the darkness? Might be! Will did warn you all about the effects of living without a sun and a proper day/night cycle.

As the days go on, the hallucinations are harder to ignore, no matter how much you may wish to wave them off as flukes. What's wrong with everyone's faces? When did all the howling start? Who do you hold onto when the world drops out from under you? And those hands...

While you might know it can't be real, it certainly feels real. But at least it can't last forever!

...Right?

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[She summons animals at her side, oddly similar to Nightwolf and he pauses in confusion just long enough for them to nearly be on him before he reacts. What is his mind playing at? He hadn't thought about Nightwolf in years, other than pondering occasionally how to release all of the revenants Quan Chi had enslaved.

Summoning an ice axe in his hand he swings at the wolves, backing up and putting distance between the two of them. ]

Kettara?

[He sounds questioning, like he's honestly not sure if this is her or just another hallucination. He's holding the axe one handed, ready to blast her with ice should she get closer. The only thing keeping him from truly attacking is the thought that this might not be real. There might not be a person there at all in which case he's attacking the empty air. But it would be far worse if there actually was. This could be anyone. He can't trust his own mind right now.]

[ The wolves stalk forward, low to the ground, and bare their teeth. The warrior backs up, establishing distance and maintaining his footing. Fire crackles through the air and up the trees. She breathes deep and tastes smoke. The heat throbs like a heartbeat, oppressive and all consuming.

Then the warriors speaks.

Kettara?

For a moment, it sounds — ]

No!

[ She jerks her arm back and throws an axe, aiming for the warrior's center mass. The weapon is charged with electricity, crackling through the air. ]

Stand and die!

[He can't tell if the 'no' is just a shout at what's happening or if she's denying she's Kettara. In the end it doesn't matter as she's back to attacking him.

He backflips out of range leaving a perfect ice clone of himself where he'd been standing. Attacking it will cause it to shatter, but it only needs to serve as a distraction for him to dodge to the side and hopefully flank her.]

I've done nothing to you. What is the purpose of this fighting?

[He's all for fighting, but if they're going to be battling to the death he wants a reason so he's not murdering an innocent person. He points the ice axe at her before speaking again.]

I won't hold back from killing you if continue this. Don't force my hand.

[ The warrior moves again and while her weapon strikes, it hits something other than flesh and blood. Some trick, a magic that shatters on impact in a spray of —

Ice?

Kettara, primed to charge and rip her enemy apart, stops dead. ]

What — ?

[ There's fire, smoke, and heat until suddenly there is nothing but the darkness.

She drops her remaining axe, staring at the shards of ice as they glitter in the weak light. The trees are as dark and impassive as ever. There are no bodies slumped underneath them, no ash or fire streaking up their trunks. Just shadow and cold night air.

In the distance she hears, or thinks she hears, something laugh.

You stupid runt.

There's a man flanking her, a weapon aimed.

Kettara stares at him. The wolves fade with a sigh, along with her totems. ]

Kuai Liang?

[He straightens up out of his fighting stance, crushing the ice-axe in his hand. The shattered pieces fall to the ground and melt almost instantly. He's fully prepared to summon another one should this be some sort of ruse, but for now his optimistic nature wins out and he has faith she's finally seeing who is truly in front of her.]

Yes. Are you with me now, Kettara?

[He hopes this is Kettara anyway.]

I was hallucinating earlier, surrounded by people who are no longer here. I thought it was only affecting me but... What were you seeing?

I see you.

[ She hadn't before. There had just been fire and bodies and ash in the air. And her enemy, strangely faceless, standing proud before her. She's tense still, her blood up from the fight and expectation that should would be killing someone — a student of Shotota. She had been so sure.

There's nothing but the dark, now.

She shakes herself. ]

My friends. Dead. Burning. I heard my master in the trees...he was dying. He told me to avenge them.

[ Her expression goes dark, full of anger. She clenches her fists. ]

And I saw a warrior, commanding flame. One of his students.

[ Except that had been a lie. She swallows hard. ]

Did I hurt you?

Perhaps we're all seeing things that aren't there.

[He glances to the trees, trying to focus on the shadows that seem to form into a human shape but dissipate before it completes. Glancing back at her he manages a smile.]

No, you did not hurt me. But it was a valiant attempt. You are quite the warrior.

[He hadn't anticipated axes and spectral wolves, she has more powers than he'd expected. ]

There's no fire here.

[He means Beacon in general, but his voice is wistful, the disappearance of Grandmaster Hasashi still a fresh wound.]

A trick....

[ And one that fooled her so completely she could have killed an ally, one of the few humans in this place that she actually respects. Kettara exhales sharply and throws her arm out, closing her eyes.

The axe she threw returns to her hand in a gust of cool wind.

At least the elements have not abandoned her entirely. ]

I was raised as a warrior before the elements called to me.

[ She opens her eyes. ]

There is no fire. But I saw them burning. Are you....did you see something, Grandmaster?

Not now. I only saw you. You and the forest and your axe and wolves.

[He assumes the wolves have something to do with her and not a hallucination his own mind is playing. They're similar to ones he's seen before, but it would be odd to be seeing them when he hasn't thought about Nightwolf in years.]

I have been seeing... well shadows. Strange moving ones that do not cast properly and avoid being looked at directly.

EVENT LOG: BURY A FRIEND

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