logsinthenight | EVENT LOG: TURN THE LIGHTS OFF

EVENT LOG: TURN THE LIGHTS OFF

characters: everyone.
location: around town.
date/time: january 20-29.
content: the lanterns begin to malfunction.
warnings: body horror and psychological horror. please cw tags appropriately.

you'll become one

January 20th arrives the same as all the days before it. There's no great pulse of warning that throbs through the air, no ominous wind that causes the bonfire to shudder. The spirits are neither agitated nor do they hide. You could almost miss the change, if the lanterns weren't always by your side. There's no explanation that comes with the way that it's changed, but it's impossible not to worry when it's happened so suddenly.

Maybe it takes a few days, or maybe it only takes a few hours, but suddenly it isn't just the lanterns that have changed. You, yourself, have become somehow different. It's possible that you won't even have the right state of mind to wonder how long it will last. At the very least, it appears you aren't alone. All across Beacon, lanterns are changing, and changing the people with them.

Out in the distance, the lighthouse's beam has turned green.

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There's something weird floating around in town, but for what it's worth, only the strange fight he'd gotten into with Rosinante sticks out to him. (What had gotten into him? And for that matter, what'd gotten into himself? It's not as though it wasn't something he'd done before, but that was another life. Literally.)

The moment of thought ends as he heads from the library and toward the bonfire, intending to head up to the Invincible to check on more friends, only to be stopped by the halting shadow of someone staggering around... clutching at their head? It seems familiar, although the person is too far off to see, their arms covering their face. Sora takes his hands out of his pockets and picks up his pace, trying to lean around to check if he knows this person. "Is everything all right," he asks, making sure this person knows he's about to pull up.

You want to save the world? We can help.

Link sneers into the darkness.

"No. I don't want your help!"

Just give yourself to us, Unbreakable One. You will find that the Darkness might be a crueler mistress than the Light equally powerful and far more honest. No more being lead around by half-truths. You could know exactly what you are. You would have the strength you hunger for.

Link stares around wildly into the shadows and swears he can feel a thousand eyes stare back. A thousand enemies.

"Never. Just leave me alone!"

Out of the darkness a figure starts to emerge, extending a hand towards him.

You could become a god. You could save Hyrule from its damnation.

Just let go.

Let the darkening of madness take you.

Link bellows and charges the figure with his sword held aloft. Sora will see the deranged warrior barreling straight towards him.

Sora flinches, takes a couple of steps back, and summons his keyblade almost before thinking, bringing it up to meet whatever weapon this person is packing with a metallic clang that sends vibrations through his hands. A sword, that's live steel. Okay. He's almost dizzy from the adrenaline, but at least he's still alive. That's step one.

He's trying not to hyperventilate from the surprise. He pushes back, trying to break the lock. He looks this person dead in the face, not registering that he recognizes it until his brain catches up to reality.

Link?

"Hey, it's me. Link, it's me, Sora." He's sure he told Link his name a week or so ago - he remembers them sitting on Aziraphale's bathroom floor, finally really getting to know each other. He'd be able to pick him out from a crowd by now. "Link, wake up!"

The figure that emerges from the darkness is...him. A black shadow of himself with silver hair and scarlet eyes.

It raises a dark blade and meets Link's blow.

Look at you, alpha predator. Are you so blood thirsty you'd even kill yourself!?

Link feels the creature push back, attempting to break the lock and he lifts the Master Sword away, only thrust out again, aiming at the thing's belly.. or, rather, Sora's belly.

"BEGONE!"

Not awake, then. The opposite! Either that, or Link has something else going on that Sora would have to ask about later. If he survives this. If they both survive this.

He gets half a second to look down at Link's lantern, just to make sure that he won't hit it - it's deep red, fragile looking, he's seen that before - before Link pulls back, surprising him again. He stumbles forward, right onto the point of Link's sword.

Sora jerks to the side, but can't really dodge it effectively. It pokes clean through his sweatshirt. He feels a cold pain as it runs a line through his side, the edge slicing at his abdomen. He can't see the tip, but feels blood start running down his side and through his clothes. It probably came out the other side bloody.

So, uh, Link is trying to kill him.

With Link so close, he can only do so much without actually causing him a huge amount of harm, but he does need to get some breathing room. (He's panicking. Not even the magical girls were out to kill him, they were highschoolers themselves.) The least harm, the most space.

Wind gathers at their feet, then shoots up in a whirlwind around Sora, blowing up and away from him. It's not enough to disarm a well-trained opponent, but pushing through it is extremely hard. Sora hopes it's enough to get Link to retreat a couple of yards, if not knock him back entirely.

The shadow lifts a hand a whirlwind of darkness shoots out from it. Link blocks with his arm and takes a step forward, then the force of the wind knocks him back.

He lands on the ground hard, hitting his head against the road. The blow strikes the spot on his skull that he'd knocked against the edge of the bathtub a week ago. Something about that causes cracks to appear in the swirling madness that surrounds him. The light of clarity becomes visible in his eyes and the churning green inside his lantern fades back to a warm gold.

"Where did it go?

He sits up and sees Sora a couple yards away.

"Sora? SORA!"

Link pulls himself upright.

"No, what happened? I thought-- Did I hurt you!?"

Sora staggers back as Link falls, hand clapping at his side as he holds his keyblade out at Link, pointed at him. It's not the most fatal blow he's ever taken in either life, but it's one of the most surprising, and it's still pretty painful. It begins to bleed through his sweatshirt, his ears ringing.

He starts when Link gets up, can barely hear him through the ringing in his ears, but it doesn't seem as though he's going to pick up his sword again. The look on Link's face isn't terribly reassuring, but at least it's better than murder?

He attempts to grin. "Uh, hey. You're pretty good with that sword!" He then sinks to a knee, letting green light wash over him. It's only enough to close up the wound about halfway - he's still bleeding. "I'll live," he pants out, trying to will the sick away.

Edited (prepositions exist for a reason) 2020-01-22 19:45 (UTC)

Link retrieves the Master Sword from the ground and stares at it in his grip. The blade is dripping red with human blood.

He sways, for a moment his sword arm feels like it isn't there, like someone else had just been swinging the Blade of Evil's Bane... The steel feels suddenly heavy.

He looks from the sword to Sora then finally sheathes the weapon on his back and runs forward, this time with worried urgency.

"I did, I hurt you! By the Gods, I'm so sorry! Put pressure on it!"

He's got his hand fisted against the his side, holding the already rather soaked jersey knit to the wound, biting his lip to keep himself in the present. It's beginning to soak through his fingers, but at least it's not gushing. He's trying not to look at it.

He can't help but jerk back a little, but he doesn't really have anywhere to go, and he notes that Link's already put away his sword. That's good. He'll try to relax as best as he can, laughing. This was a whole lot happening in less than a few minutes. Not hysterical! This is just absurd.

"I just need... ten minutes." He shakes his head. "Just need to not pass out. I can't cast that more than once every minute or so. Just... need to stay awake." He looks at Link, trying to make eye contact, keyhole pupils widening in the dark. "You okay? I didn't hurt you, right?"

Link reaches out and grabs Sora by the shoulders, feeling slightly dizzy with confusion.

"Did you h-- No! I'm fine. You knocked the wind outta me that's all."

He tries to steady the other man.

"I think you knocked the demon outta me too."

For now, at least...

There's a cold tingle up his spine telling him that the madness is still there, ready to pounce again at any moment and make the world tilt and curve around him. But for now it's leaving him alone...

"....Thank you."

"Good. Hey, any time." Sora grins, although it's more of a grit of the teeth as he hangs on to consciousness, counting down the minute in his head. "I mean, I guess I could go without the stabbing part, but what are friends for?"

Well, probably not for stabbing, but he's had friends who have done worse.

"Do you know what that was?" The question is strained, but it's mostly thrown out there to make sure he's still staying awake. No guarantees he'll catch the answers, if the lightheadedness is any indication. "It looked like you were seeing something else."

"You're right."

He admits.

"I was seeing things. I thought you were a monster.... It's hard to tell what's real or not..."

When he notices how much Sora is struggling to stay conscious he gasps.

"We need to find you a healer!"

Sora wants to argue, and may look a little stubborn - he's a perfectly fine healer, thanks - but it's not like he's losing less blood at the moment, and it's probably not worth risking him passing out before he can close the wound enough that it's not serious anymore. "Maybe... back to Aziraphale's? He can heal. He's done stuff for... for the soldier before."

He reaches up for Link - he's a bit wobbly kneed and doesn't trust himself to stand. "Does that happen a lot? Seeing things."

"No."

He pauses and moves his lips as he thinks to himself.

"I mean...Not like this. This is different."

If Sora allows it, he'll put an arm around him and try to half-carry him away from the road.

"Tell me where to go and I'll bring you there, even if it's just to get you cleaned up. I'm not gonna leave you here."

Yep, Sora will grab back and do his best to contribute! He just stumbles into Link's side every so often as the blood loss gets to him, but he's working through it, trying to think of a place where he'd have left clothes. He'd just moved a few days ago, there would be nothing left in the library.

"Aziraphale's." He feels comfortable asking them for clothes and using their place to wash, at least. "Back toward the village."

He'll hold his breath and cast the spell again, but he hits both of them. Link probably doesn't need it, unless that head injury needs a patch, but Sora's not really thinking about aim at the moment. It's still not stopping the bleeding, but the pain's better.

"Different how?"

The warm tingling is pleasant, though Link doesn't have many wounds in need of healing.

"Different like...eh."

He's had strange visions, usually dreams, his whole life. From what he's been told it's something his people are prone to. Their long ears receive messages from the gods themselves.

The visions weren't like this. He'd always felt like they'd brought him information. They'd steeled him, they didn't attempt to break him.

He's going to die.

Link looks up and sees his shadowy doppelganger floating over his shoulder.

"Nevermind," he says to Sora. "It's not important."

With a grunt he starts walking in the direction of the village.

"Okay." He's about tapped out on that front too. He wants to ask more, but he also should probably focus on the road.

"You should tell me about that sometime. When I can listen." He slips on a smooth patch of ice. "I dunno if I've been listening enough. You're a good friend."

"Right."

He snorts and shakes his head as he braces himself against Sora, trying to prevent the other man from falling.

"Such a good friend I stabbed you..."

Beside him, the shadow reaches out to nearly touch his cheek.

He said you're a friend. Why won't you say he's yours? Do you have any friends, Hero? Truly? Is the imp your only companion?

...Why are so few people close to you?

...Is it because you don't want the lambs to know about the wolf in their midst?

Link tenses at hearing the darkness around him give voice to his anxieties.

"Shut up."

The shadow vanishes and Link looks over at Sora, realizing he'd just spoken aloud to something that only exists in his mind.

"Not you. Sorry... about everything."

Sora laughs weakly as he pulls himself back onto Link's shoulder, focuses on the road again. "If I had a penny for every time one of my friends stabbed me..."

The shut up grabs his attention, squeezes his eyes shut for a second. That. Hurt? Why would that hurt? People have told him to stop talking before. He just lets it go because he either knows there will be another time OR he doesn't care. He wonders why this moment is so different? Is it because he's holding his stomach together? That seems irrelevant.

However, the next thing Link says is very odd in context with all that. Sora looks up at Link, still trying to breathe at a normal, human speed. "... It's okay. Is someone else here? You said something about... voices."

"No, nobody's here." Link admits.

"My mind's playing mean tricks on me tonight, that's all..."

He looks sidelong at Sora, brow creasing in concern.

"Hey! Tell you what. I'll explain it to you if you don't die on me, okay? Deal?"

Tricks. Maybe that's what happened just a few seconds ago, except not with voices in his own head. Maybe just weird psychological stuff. Just stuff that he can ignore. He nods. If Link can push through his mind stuff to get them both to Aziraphale's house, he can deal, too.

And Sora will definitely grin at that. "You know, if not wanting to die was enough to keep me alive, I think I'd live forever, starting now. Deal."

That's a familiar looking cabin, but there's enough bloodloss to make the shape of it look kinda fuzzy. "Is that it?"

"I think...maybe?"

Link squints at the cabin, then looks over his shoulder. All he sees behind him is the darkness beyond the glow of his lantern and his breath materializing into mist.

"Is it? Gods, it's so dark and I don't live in town..."

He staggers closer to the structure.

Sora shakes his head. "Just knock. Maybe we can make friends with whoever's inside." This seems like a perfectly logical course of action to him.

Link gently pulls Sora up to the door and raps against it with his leather-wrapped knuckles.

"Hello?"

He steps back slightly, peering around at the windows.

"Someone help us! Please! Someone help Sora!"

Sora stands there shivering. The wound itself isn't lethal, but the bloodloss is getting to him.

"If it's Aziraphale's, he's usually home." He knows he could just use the tablet to call Aziraphale, but it's not exactly in the cards and Link seemed like he was even worse with technology than him. One problem at a time.

I

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in about five minutes i'm about to hit up the discord to see if some rando with a cabin is free LOL