10/18/2003
01:59
AM
Logfile
from Toshie.
Royal
Elizabeth - Suite 502
Soft
lighting warms the gold and burgundy tones of this apartment into something
welcoming and faintly sybaritic. The walls of the main living area are painted
in a rich russet shade, a border in golden hues near the top showing faintly
Japanese hints. A multi-segmented couch curves around a soft Oriental carpet, a
cherry-wood coffee table set on each end and a matching longer one in front.
There is a television, a simple TV-VCR combination with a shelf beneath its
stand for two different gaming systems, along one wall, the other covered with
a number of framed photos and paintings of Japanese autumn and the change of
the leaves around various temples and shrines.
The
kitchen, while small, is scrupulously neat, the cupboards and fridge kept
well-stocked with all sorts of food, the drawers quite tidy. There is a small
breakfast nook off of the kitchen, a small table with four chairs set about it.
Obvious
exits:
Exit
Toshie's
phone begins to ring.
Toshie
picks up her phone.
<Phone>
Everyone else might be out and rather busy this evening, but Tosh has been
sitting at home at loose ends, pondering that odd chi thing with a frown, but
otherwise enjoying her quality time playing a console game. At the sound of a
phone, she hits pause, and then eagerly clambers over to pick up the phone.
"Hello?"
<Phone>
"Heya, T..." It can't be a
good sign that Rathan now can't get more than two or three words out before the
coughing spell strikes again. Nice and
phlegmy. Mmm. "Sorry... it's Rathan, Toshie. Can y..." At least
he puts his hand over the phone to muffle it this time. "I need some help." Short and simple is the ticket.
<Phone>
"Rathan?" Tosh questions, rolling over to sit back up. "What is
it? Help?" She frowns with concern, licking her lips before continuing.
"Where are you?"
<Phone>
Rathan actually doesn't know.
"Good question," he gasps.
"Hold on, I think if I drag mysel..." He bites off a pained scream, transforming
it into a muffled curse. After a moment
to catch his breath, he then rattles off a street name. "I'll be... Alley. By liquor store..." Even complete sentences are becoming too
much effort.
<Phone>
"An alley..." As far as Tosh knows, there are a lot of alleys in this
city, by liquor stores. There is a touch of uncertainty in her voice, and she
purses her lips. "What area of town are you in?" As she speaks this,
she casts a glance to Shen, her free hand reaching up to smooth over the feather.
Maybe it is finally time she and the bird tried a little merging.
<Phone>
"Maybe five... blocks. Washington.
Square. Went nor..." The connection doesn't die, but the voice
does suddenly cease, followed by a loud clattering. The sound of a horn honking in the background can be heard, but
that's it.
<Phone>
"Rathan?" Tosh asks again, but isn't getting an answer. At the
silence, she frowns even more, and then moves to hang up the phone as well. She
gives the falcon another glance, licking her lips rather nervously. Granted,
she hasn't done what she is about to do yet, but apparently it is supposed to
work. Apparently. "I hope you're right about this, Shen." Going via
bird will be so much easier than finding a taxi. She gives the feather in her
hair another stroke, almost nervous. In the next moment though, there is a
shimmer of dark chi where Tosh was, only to coalesce about the bird. Shen takes
off through the window, leaving nothing but a puddle of Tosh's clothes on the
ground.
You
hang up your phone.
Dark
Alley [GRP 1]
This
alley is rather dark, with buildings to either side. There's very little light within the room, and the sounds of the
street at the far end of the alley are very dim, the traffic passing seemingly
too far away to be spotted. Sounds seem
diffuse, and dirty trashcans are to the side, near one of the buildings.
Garanto
is here.
Rathan
is currently lying in the alley, partially slumped against the wall, the cell
phone laying on the ground beside his limp hand. To put it bluntly, he looks like crap. A gash on his forehead is still seeping blood, his skin color is
rather sallow, his face is bruised and abraded, and he's obviously been
coughing up a bit of blood as well.
Pleasant, ne?
The
dark form of Shen sweeps over the sky, riding on the winds between the
buildings as if on search, which indeed she is. Sweeping well above the alley
ways, it is a movement and the sight of another slumped form that draws the
falcon into a slight stoop. Hopefully it isn't another drunk. Recognizing the
oni there, the bird backwings, alighting upon the edge of a dumpster. Another
shimmer of dark chi splits away from the bird, coming together in a long form
in the alleyway, and then finally becoming Tosh, a completely naked Tosh at
that. Convenient transportation, lousy service. "Rathan?" She
immediately drops down beside him. "Are you awake?"
Breathing? Yes.
Conscious? No.
Toshie
licks her lips once more, looking over the oni with a critical eye. "I'm
not sure I can do this on my own," she murmurs, hesitant over her healing
abilities, especially without Shen to drain some chi from another to help
bolster them. Looking a touch nervous at first, the girl leans over, first
pressing a hand to the man's head and near to the gash. The other hand moves
down closer to the man's chest. She closes her eyes, trying to see the damage
first, her brow wrinkling in concentration. First his head, to also try to
bring him to consciousness.
Fortunately
the head injury looks worse than it is.
A mild concussion perhaps, and a great deal of bruising, but little in
the way of serious damage. It won't
take much to bring the other oni back to the light of da... err, the dark of
night. His eyelids flicker before
finally opening and it takes him a moment to focus, but once he does, Rathan
comments in a surpisingly flippant voice, despite being breathy and raspy,
"I should get hurt... more often if... this is..." He ruins the effect by gagging momentarily,
but does manage to finish the sentence.
"...how you dress... when you heal people." If it wasn't for the multiple broken ribs
and internal bleeding, he'd actually be enjoying himself now.
Next
time she has to do this, Tosh is making Shen carry some sort of light weight
cloth. Or request that the bird molt on the spot. If she has to be nekkid, so
does the bird. "Careful," she murmurs, keeping her hand on his head
for a further moment as she concentrates to repair the damage. "If you are
this mouthy when you are this hurt, I obviously should be using more of your
energy to heal you." Her hand slips down from Rathan's head, joining with
the other over his chest, "Quiet. You are making it more difficult."
Quiet
is good. Quiet is easy. Quiet doesn't cause him any more pain than
he's already feeling. So Rathan will
just grit his teeth, do his best not to wince or whimper, and focus on the only
positive thing around him at the moment.
And he just can't help it...
"Are ya seeing anyOWW!"
Okay, never mind. No more
talking.
Toshie
concentrates as she tries to knit together the broken tissue, bring bones back
together, clean up the bleeding by sending the blood back into his veins,
repair the damage that was made as best she can. It is a slow process,
considering, and the girl seems to frown every now and again as she works.
"Am I what...?" It is only when she is finally starting to finish
with the worst of his injuries, that her eyes crack back open and she frowns at
him. "Next time, I take a taxi." Smirk.
Rathan's
breath comes a little easier now that he doesn't experience stabbing pains
every time his lungs move against his ribs.
He's by no means fully healed, but he's functional again. And that's all that really matters; he's
been beaten many times, so the less critical injuries are pretty easy for him
to ignore. "I thought maybe this
is that holistic healing. Healing the
body and the mind." No coughing
fit interrupts him this time; a definite improvement. "Really, though, I knew you were pretty, but you're more
than that." It's not flattery, it's
just an admission of fact combined with the residual effects of shock. "When I can move again without wanting
to whimper, I'm definitely taking you clubbing." Thus says the man who still hasn't even tried sitting up, but
it's so much more comfortable to just sorta lie there.
Toshie
frowns at him, still concentrating some, "You are not quite right yet. I
have fixed most of what can kill you though. I... have not the best healing
ability at times. If there were another here, with a lot of... chi, then it
would be easier, and I could get it all done quickly, even repair your old
hurts. But I can't yet." Indeed, there is a weary touch to her voice, even
as her body shivers in the autumn night cool. "You think about clubbing?
Now?" An annoyed sigh later, and she finally continues, "You need to
think about resting and getting better."
"I'm
not dying now," Rathan says in his quiet, calm voice, already slipping
back into his usual demeanor. He does
wince a bit as he tries to lever himself up to a sitting position, though. "The rest'll heal soon enough, and I've
had worse. Plenty of times." Just look at the tracery of scar tissue on
his back. "I wouldn't mind a hand
up, though... and if y'don't mind the blood, you can have my jacket. As much as I appreciate the view, you've
gotta be cold."
Toshie
folds one arm over her stomach though as she straightens, offering him a hand
up with the other. "It is unnecessary pain and suffering. I can help you
with that, if you so wish. Anything that you have now, or have received at
another time. I just... I cannot do it all at once. What I can do is
limited." She shivers again though, watching him. "Is something that
happened to you something the others need know about?"
"Received
at another time?" Using one hand
to steady himself now that he's on his feet, Rathan removes his coat as best he
can and hands it to Toshie. "Even
things that happened..." A pause
for some quick mental math.
"...fourteen years ago?"
The down side of offering the girl his coat means now he doesn't have
one for himself, and the midriff-exposing shirt isn't exactly conducive to
staying warm. "And yeah, I
definitely need to tell the others. At
least Sebastian. I dunno what the hell
the thing was that did this to me, but it wasn't a person, that's for
certain."
"If
it can be healed, I will try to do so," Tosh answers, looking back at him.
"I can at least try." She takes the offered jacket though after a
moment of hesitation, but once it is pulled over her form and the girl fairly
swims in it, she sighs happily. Bare feets avoid a puddle of goodness knows
what, and she looks back to him. "What? What did that? Is it still
here?" Worry enters her voice, concern for Karen.
"C'mere,"
Rathan says, offering to wrap an arm around Toshie. "Now /I'm/ cold, so I'm gonna share the warmth with ya. Plus, if you don't mind, I'm ready to leave
this alley. It's not too pretty, and if
anyone else spots you in here wearing nothing but my coat, it could get...
interesting." He's also looking
for an excuse to sidle up closer to Toshie, but that's just because Rathan has
had a rather bad day, and beautiful, barely clad women -- or men -- always
prove to be a pleasant distraction at such times. "And I didn't stick around to see if the 'thing', whatever
it was, planned on staying for awhile or not.
It just sorta came up out of the floor, and when I tried to vanish, I
couldn't. Not until I got a little ways
away from it. Which wasn't
easy." Hence the injuries.
Toshie
doesn't go anywhere at first, instead looking back over her shoulder to look at
Shen. The falcon launches into the sky after a moment, leaving behind a feather
that slowly floats to the ground. She darts over, stepping around that puddle
only to nearly find some glass, to quickly take up the feather and fist her
hand around it. Only after that, she allows herself to be drawn close to
Rathan. "No, it didn't seem easy at all. What were you doing when this...
thing came?"
She
just had to ask that question, didn't she?
Rathan answers honestly, though, as his tone slips into jaded
apathy. "Committing murder. Vengeance, actually. I was visiting a few fratboys who'd taken up
gang-rape as a hobby and showing them why that wasn't a very good past
time. I'd already finished discussing
the problem with one of them, when suddenly... This thing just rose up from the
ground. All jagged rock, but with arms,
legs... and blue eyes. And it came
right towards me." He smiles
grimly. "If one of the fratboys
hadn't 'volunteered' to step between me and it, I'd be dead. It only hit me once... and that was /with/
the other guy's body between me and the thing's... fist, I guess." Slipping his arm protectively around the
woman, Rathan briefly glances upwards towards Shen, then... shifts himself and
Toshie into the void, leaving the physical world behind in favor of the realm
of misty, insubstantial shadows, a distorted reflection of the realm they left
behind. "As long as you don't
resist being here, we can remain here for quite awhile... Easier to travel this way." Just walk /through/ buildings instead of
around them. "And it's not as cold
here." Perhaps about seventy
degrees. All the time. Temperature has about as much meaning as
matter does in this place.
Toshie
frowns at his words, but keeps silent as she listens. She doesn't judge those
actions though in any way, simply keeping quiet to hear his explanation.
"It came right for you? Not for them? It was seeking you out? Is that
correct?" She tilts her head back to look at him, only to gasp as suddenly
the world around her changes. She stills, but as he continues, and this is
apparently Rathan's doing, the girl goes along with it. "At least this way
you don't have to shed your clothes." Wry.
Rathan
laughs. "Actually, when I do
strip... half the time I don't bother taking my clothes off; I just send them
here. Saves time and effort, but it
also means I gotta fetch them from here later, or I lose 'em. Things that aren't alive tend to just...
stop existing if they stay here for more'n a dy or two." He begins walking, more slowly than usual,
but it really /is/ faster when there are no actual obstacles in the way. "The thing didn't seem to mind killing the
guy standing between me and it, but it sure seemed like I was the one it was
swinging at. I didn't really get a
chance to test the theory, though. The
force of that one hit knocked back into the wall. Thankfully it was next to the door, so when I realized I couldn't
get here, I went for the stairs. Before
I was even halfway up, though, I was able to fade out and get as far away as I
could before I began to worry that I was in worse shape than I'd first
thought."
Toshie
finds the fact that they are walking through shadows rather disturbing, never
mind that whole flying with Shen thing. She swallows, looking moderately
nervous and doing her best to make it go away. "That is lazy. And a gross
abuse of powers." Never mind she tends to heal her own paper cuts though.
That's different. Some way. "I do not like that it went after you. It worries
me." Along with the idea that there is always a chance Karen or one of the
others could be a target as well. "Where are we going?" she finally
asks, realizing that they must be headed somewhere.
"Actually,
once I get here, it takes me no energy at all to stay here, and only a little
to keep you here. If I stopped exerting
myself at all, you'd prolly pop back into the real world in a few minutes once
the hold of the void weakened... but you'd better make sure you weren't
standing in any of this misty stuff when that happened." He waves his arm through the faint outline
of a humanoid shape moving in the opposite direction. "It's kinda nasty when things reappear in the regular world
in the same space that something else is already in." Of course, it also has its uses. "I'm headed back in the general
direction of my place, unless you have a better idea? And with the chance that thing might still be out there somewhere,
I feel much better about making the entire trip in here. For all I know, it coulda been a freak
occurrence... but I don't feel like trusting in that possibility."
"What
about the ground? Can you just... sink through the ground then? Or how do you
go upstairs in a building, if it is all shadows? I don't..." But Tosh
breaks off, stopping in place and hopefully at an open spot. "I need to go
back to Karen. You either come with me there and I will watch you too... or you
can continue on to where you think is safe. But I need to be out there."
And she is already beginning to resist.
"I
don't really have much of a problem with up /or/ down. Makes it real easy to avoid crowded subway
stations." Yes, he /does/ abuse
his power. "I just sorta think of
some of the misty stuff as being a bit more solid, and it holds me, even though
it's still not really anything 'real'."
Of course, now Toshie has to ruin the pleasant walk by worrying about
her miko. Ironically, Rathan isn't too
worried about his. He somehow has this
feeling Nikki'd send that creature running home to it's mommy... if it has
one. "Uh... I've never actually
been to Karen's place." Actually,
he still hasn't even met the woman.
"But we can head there if ya want.
My cell'll work from either place, and the first thing I plan on doing
is giving Sebastian a call. Do you want
me to take us back, or do you want to travel there through this place?"
Toshie
hesitates, watching him for a moment as she considers. "Alright. Then I
will tell you were we need to go. But if you bring that creature into our
apartment, Karen is going to be very cross with you. As will I." Finger
waggles once in Rathan's direction, coming from the cuff of the jacket.
"We will go."
Rathan
chuckles again, apparently in a much better mood now. Of course, since nearly 90% of his reactions are calculated and
faked, it's hard to really be sure.
"I meant it about the clubbing, by the way."