[ Subaru's patience for just about anything incorporeal and strange is high; too high. Even seeing his own shadow stolen from him and refashioned into some manner of creature is tolerable. And still he winces when the cat gets launched back out, splattering into a melted mess on the pavement. Concern creases his expression first as he crosses the short distance it flew, then knowing while he kneels. He cups his hands around it, reforming some of the wisps.
He's seen these kinds of shadows at work before. ]
Alright, I think I understand. Come with me.
[ It's not an easy task, getting a goopy cat to hold onto its cohesion long enough for Subaru to scoop it up in steady hands.
But he manages what he can, briefly wondering if its halved remains will fit (or stay) in his coat pocket. He turns then, makes his way on brisk footfalls to the park. Already, he can see it's been subsumed under some chilling influence, an interstice lacking warmth, and completely devoid of light. But this is where its red eyes signaled, and so...
His fingertips brush together as if to remind himself of what it feels like before he presses palm first into the wall. It's biting cold, but it gives, and soon he emerges into the pitch black of the other side. Everything that once stood here — light posts, structures, even the ground itself, have become malleable and wet with growth. Even the air hangs heavy in his lungs. And when he fans his senses, trying to feel for what the cat brought him here for, it's as if he's underwater, in blood-warm liquid.
He'll need something stronger than the Murmur to find what he's been asked to look for. ]
[ the cohesion of a cat bleeds through fingers, tail, ear, eye, nose, what may appear to be a whisker all melts and and splits. it's like oil in water with how the body separates in his hands and it attempts to draw itself back together. only half of it remains, it drips between fingers only to be caught in subaru's attire, and rolls off the fabric of his clothes onto the ground right before he enters.
inside of the questionable space, it's like time stops, but the growth continues to take and take and take and overwhelm the area. trees have made claim to the land, their limbs reach out covered in fungus and mold, various colors of sleep's love drawn to swallowing this place whole and banishing any light from above. it's silent, the wind never blows through, and on the ground right outside where he entered to come inside... a black substance smears out of his shadow. it bubbles and pops, it's in shapes that hardly reflects the likes of an animal, but the unusual body properties that it holds resembles the animal in his arms.
if he keeps moving, he'll see that the shadow parts remain on the ground turning into ooze, as if its having trouble existing outside of the void.
they may not have moved that far from the entry point, but the cat reaches out in direction of the sludge like... it wants him to bring those pieces along too.
subaru may choose to pick them up, or he may continue to go forward, but the longer they stay outside the infected area.... the worse off they become. the ups and downs of being outside this domain compared to inside. ]
[ Inside the void, the stillness makes the way the shadows move more striking. More pieces gather around him in an incoherence of form, feeding meagerly on his shadow. Alarm slinks up into his throat as surely as these bits keep sifting through his fingers, plip, plip, patter.
His lips press together, mind churning with thought. When he kneels, following the vague premonition of the cat's paw pointing, he can sweep some of the sludge up into his hands. Only... it melts quickly, sliding through his fingers.
And he doubts he'll find a serviceable bucket anywhere nearby.
What to do... and Where are you, really?
Knee to the ground and shadow dark from the proximity, Subaru feels cold sweat on his temples. With his free hand, he reaches into his coat pocket for an array of paper talismans. On the backs of the rectangular slips are pentagrams, his mark, and simple runes for invocation. Only the fronts are blank, where anything could be written. Or contained, if he concentrates hard enough on it.
Carefully, he places the edges of the paper to the ground in front of the dark substance. ]
[ bright eyes, wispy features, dripping shadows that have all fallen apart are now suggested a remedy. no matter how helpful the idea is, the cat shows some fear, eyes widened in response as it looks acknowledges that it has broken apart from coming out of the void, and now within... it's only a shallow entity of what it was.
eyes dart left now, then right, then left again. it's robotic. the cat weighs the pros and cons, it's like a human before returning to a state where it no longer wants to think. instead, the parts laid about melt and drag themselves along the ground, like snails in the pace met.
the substance comes to the talisman.
wary.
afraid.
it circles around like sludge allergic to the idea of being cleansed. yet, there is no choice because the talisman isn't what's completely terrifying. the shadows seep into the paper, they're like watercolor themselves that it condenses itself into the proximity of it
if the cat is afraid, it shows it, unsure of what is to happen by allowing pieces of itself to be contained. isn't that terrifying. being trapped in something like that. the cat can't ignore it because it doesn't want to be contained, but if that keeps it together then what choice does it have? pushing itself out of the man's arms, the upper half of the body dives right into the talisman with a splash (even one drop flying up and then drips into the ripple of the paper). ]
[ Inside the paper, the magics whirl and blend, his own politely giving to that of the cat's presence. It's as if ink and shadow circle one another, not for dominance but seeking some kind of coexistence. Eventually, the talisman runs completely black. Darker than ink, matte, like a small, rectangular void.
Subaru stands, careful with the paper in his grasp as if lifting a cup filled to the brim with liquid. It's his first time attempting to contain someone else's magic without polluting it with his own. He spreads the rest of the talismans out so the shadow can travel between them as it pleases, if it needs to stretch, or swirl, or point. Though the paper has his mark on it, it's free of other spells — there's no invocations present to seal or purify it. Instead, he swivels them, as if to dowse: ]
You can write here, if you think you're able to.
[ His runes are simply the shape in which these shadow fragments can find form, however briefly. ]
[ here, it doesn't break down inside of the talisman, this ... confinement not as suffocating for the feline. the body is broken down in various ways that fundamentally doesn't make sense, but the longer it dwells, the better it can adjust itself. the constant movement within the talisman, the matte pulses briefly, returns to being stagnant and stretches along the available space.
the cat, once mindful of the marks, interacts with what's there as though trying to understand (or maybe correct itself).
layering some parts of itself over the runes, they're simple despite the feline struggling to find a proper "form". no thanks to the void that they're inside in, it makes correcting itself a little more easier with the need this place has with taking energy, but finding safety within the talismans assist even if the cat needs more time to correct itself.
it hurts.
it hurts.
it hurts to move in this space, but it's easier to find form properly. ]
โ
[ one part of feline resides in one talisman, and what looks like the curl of a tail in another. an artistic eye can see that the cat is trying to find the "shape" of what it was while trying to "speak".
stronger this time with the seals holding the feline together, it tries again. ]
[ Movement glints out from the matte pool of tiny shadows as it pours over between talismans, seeking shape, coherence. The relief he feels when it works is palpable. His craft might be absolute back home, but here, he's still not so used to how magic and form can blend. Subaru knows it can't be easy, trying to define a container that struggles to attach itself to. It's a shadow, after all. Attached to the entity or object that creates it rather than written and set loose.
Once the arrow appears, he swivels the handful of paper in that direction. Using the cat like a compass, he starts off, the tap of his footsteps sinking into the slightly spongy ground rife with fungal matter.
Maybe, he thinks with a cold clarity, it's better if he jogs. ]
there's this absent of light, everything feels cold, it's an experience where even breathing or moving is the last thing on his mind. for a brief moment, even the cat-compass stops, shudders, and begins to fade in color. a lapse in judgement is all, a mistake in decision, the assistance of the talisman assists in keeping the feline in place, helping ground it in place. ]
โฎเฉญ
[ ignore the tail.
in the center of the park, a man sits politely staring at one empty side of the bench and is conversing with nothing. the sound of footsteps, his mouth closes shut, and turning his head where subaru can see in full view. half of soleum's face has turned into an obsidian sludge, shadows curling off like steam that's being drained by the inside of this space. round glasses have already slid down onto the ground covered in the same make-up of the cat that the other had scooped into talismans.
half a hand lifts up, the edges of soleum's skin darkened from where it slowly unfurls and drips away comes to hide his face. all it does is touch the substance, the edges sticking together like bubblegum until he pulls them away with a snap. it lacks sound, most things here do. whatever drips from the bench adds to the dark puddle on the ground, only growing bigger as time continues on.
one eye remains in soleum's head with the crimson center gone, and his pupil, a deep black, looks to the talisman in subaru's hand. ]
But at least he doesn't comment on it, attention caught by its end destination on the bench. ]
...no, [ is the first thing he thinks to say when faced with such a predicament, declining the presence of an apology. Not to him, not for this. ] it's better that they did.
[ Because how long would he have in this place that weaves joy out of dissolution? The air hums with it, whispers sieving whole chunks of his person away. It wasn't something he'd thought the these void planes were capable of; wouldn't have thought unless confronted with it, still. What is she saying to him? He can't hear what, or whose voice she has. Approaching, Subaru kneels to get a better look at what parts are already missing and which still loosening into half-incorporeal tendrils.
His instinct is to touch, but how much damage could he do when he's already like this? Carefully, he extends the talismans so the shaded cat has the opportunity to slide off of it if chooses. In that movement, his thoughts race, tallying the limits of his magic only barely recovered, the paper he wields it with. ]
I have to get you out of here.
[ By some other means than his spells, at that. Just a small cat's worth of shadow fit onto the talismans, but a whole person? ]
[ half a face, when he speaks, his tongue has started to darken too, like it's also breaking down. perhaps it's started from the inside, and now it begins to branch out. his eye glances to the empty seat where "something" sits, and then he looks to subaru who has kneeled down to look over the situation. as he assesses, his half of a hand comes down to his lap before falling off from the wrist.
it splatters onto the ground, what was the color of his hand pops, breaks down and liquefies into the already growing puddle. in his mind, soleum's screaming, he's screaming, it's a horrible sight to him being unable to live from this horrible dream, and yet... outward, he can only stare. around the waist, some parts of the leg are where black tendrils begging to become undone seep through the fabric, slowly and barely visible.
soleum must remain calm even if he can feel himself breaking down, it's not like before, yesitis. he realized the truth and accepted already, thetruthhasalwaysbeenthat. so why is it happening again. block it out, ignore it.
ask for help. ask for help. ]
Pardon?
[ the cat within the talisman pours out like a waterfall, and it's body has finally returned to what's normal in this void. there's uses in the way it breaks them down to where parts no longer hold together, and within a talisman that contains all parts... this place crushes them into a form. with a swish of the feline's tail, it stretches showing off the entirety of its body before walking over to agent grapes. ]
I have something I don't want to leave unfinished. [ a conversation, the one that was interrupted when subaru appeared. agent grapes turns to look at the cat nearby. ]
They can lead you out... It's not safe to be alone.
What do you mean? [ Subaru's tone gentles, even if urgency surges in its undertow. ] You're not safe here either.
[ Carefully, his gaze dips to the space beside him. Empty but charged. He's feeling the weight of a presence even if it's only defined by Soleum's focus on it. Though he doesn't have his onmyoudo, his keen senses are buzzing, static bright like a livewire. His expression creases as he tries to focus on it. The cat is more corporeal even if made of the same shadow-stuff, apparitions given shape by — guiding others out? It must be. That's where these faces that he wears intersect, every time.
Knelt at his side, the puddle continues to grow. It's not so dissimilar from Megumi's shadows... but even a sorcerer of his caliber struggled to keep them in a cohesive form. Can he do it? Or will he have to follow the order of this place? ]
Your magic is going to come apart like this. Someone is... speaking to you, right? What is it saying?
[ He'd felt it prickle on the back of his neck like he was being hunted too. Delving into the void only made it worsen. ]
[ this place will eat him alive too, agent grapes knows this, and it's why he expects the cat by him to lead subaru out. he leans forward, one hand— stump of the wrist?— no that's just the edge of the jacket he wears dripping something black onto the ground.
it trickles onto the black cat like rain, rejected too as it slides along the surface and onto the ground around the feline. aware of this, that one red eye watching his body break down like so before him, he understands how grave the situation is at hand.
subaru.
he can not be here. ]
I don't have magic. [ he doesn't want it. if this place could tear it out from him, remove the pieces of himself that doesn't make up kim soleum. then he'd welcome it. the thought is so tempting when said by someone else when they view him like this. ]
But... you do.
[ that hand comes back to his lap, agent grapes tilts his head down, and he listens.
— What a nosey fellow! This is an a and b conversation, wouldn't you say, friend? — What to do, what to do. You really shouldn't tell him, it's been some time since we could speak, friend. — I can help you, friend! Stay a little longer, this Host has so much advice to help you out of this predicament. Now— ]
To break it down from the inside, you have to understand what you're against.
[ — That's fine and dandy, friend! this gracious host thinks you should tell him โโโโโโโโโ โโโโโโโโ โโโ โโโโ. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
He's seen these kinds of shadows at work before. ]
Alright, I think I understand. Come with me.
[ It's not an easy task, getting a goopy cat to hold onto its cohesion long enough for Subaru to scoop it up in steady hands.
But he manages what he can, briefly wondering if its halved remains will fit (or stay) in his coat pocket. He turns then, makes his way on brisk footfalls to the park. Already, he can see it's been subsumed under some chilling influence, an interstice lacking warmth, and completely devoid of light. But this is where its red eyes signaled, and so...
His fingertips brush together as if to remind himself of what it feels like before he presses palm first into the wall. It's biting cold, but it gives, and soon he emerges into the pitch black of the other side. Everything that once stood here — light posts, structures, even the ground itself, have become malleable and wet with growth. Even the air hangs heavy in his lungs. And when he fans his senses, trying to feel for what the cat brought him here for, it's as if he's underwater, in blood-warm liquid.
He'll need something stronger than the Murmur to find what he's been asked to look for. ]
no subject
inside of the questionable space, it's like time stops, but the growth continues to take and take and take and overwhelm the area. trees have made claim to the land, their limbs reach out covered in fungus and mold, various colors of sleep's love drawn to swallowing this place whole and banishing any light from above. it's silent, the wind never blows through, and on the ground right outside where he entered to come inside... a black substance smears out of his shadow. it bubbles and pops, it's in shapes that hardly reflects the likes of an animal, but the unusual body properties that it holds resembles the animal in his arms.
if he keeps moving, he'll see that the shadow parts remain on the ground turning into ooze, as if its having trouble existing outside of the void.
they may not have moved that far from the entry point, but the cat reaches out in direction of the sludge like... it wants him to bring those pieces along too.
subaru may choose to pick them up, or he may continue to go forward, but the longer they stay outside the infected area.... the worse off they become. the ups and downs of being outside this domain compared to inside. ]
no subject
His lips press together, mind churning with thought. When he kneels, following the vague premonition of the cat's paw pointing, he can sweep some of the sludge up into his hands. Only... it melts quickly, sliding through his fingers.
And he doubts he'll find a serviceable bucket anywhere nearby.
What to do... and Where are you, really?
Knee to the ground and shadow dark from the proximity, Subaru feels cold sweat on his temples. With his free hand, he reaches into his coat pocket for an array of paper talismans. On the backs of the rectangular slips are pentagrams, his mark, and simple runes for invocation. Only the fronts are blank, where anything could be written. Or contained, if he concentrates hard enough on it.
Carefully, he places the edges of the paper to the ground in front of the dark substance. ]
Can you move onto here?
no subject
eyes dart left now, then right, then left again. it's robotic. the cat weighs the pros and cons, it's like a human before returning to a state where it no longer wants to think. instead, the parts laid about melt and drag themselves along the ground, like snails in the pace met.
the substance comes to the talisman.
wary.
afraid.
it circles around like sludge allergic to the idea of being cleansed. yet, there is no choice because the talisman isn't what's completely terrifying. the shadows seep into the paper, they're like watercolor themselves that it condenses itself into the proximity of it
if the cat is afraid, it shows it, unsure of what is to happen by allowing pieces of itself to be contained. isn't that terrifying. being trapped in something like that. the cat can't ignore it because it doesn't want to be contained, but if that keeps it together then what choice does it have? pushing itself out of the man's arms, the upper half of the body dives right into the talisman with a splash (even one drop flying up and then drips into the ripple of the paper). ]
no subject
Subaru stands, careful with the paper in his grasp as if lifting a cup filled to the brim with liquid. It's his first time attempting to contain someone else's magic without polluting it with his own. He spreads the rest of the talismans out so the shadow can travel between them as it pleases, if it needs to stretch, or swirl, or point. Though the paper has his mark on it, it's free of other spells — there's no invocations present to seal or purify it. Instead, he swivels them, as if to dowse: ]
You can write here, if you think you're able to.
[ His runes are simply the shape in which these shadow fragments can find form, however briefly. ]
no subject
the cat, once mindful of the marks, interacts with what's there as though trying to understand (or maybe correct itself).
layering some parts of itself over the runes, they're simple despite the feline struggling to find a proper "form". no thanks to the void that they're inside in, it makes correcting itself a little more easier with the need this place has with taking energy, but finding safety within the talismans assist even if the cat needs more time to correct itself.
it hurts.
it hurts.
it hurts to move in this space, but it's easier to find form properly. ]
โ
[ one part of feline resides in one talisman, and what looks like the curl of a tail in another. an artistic eye can see that the cat is trying to find the "shape" of what it was while trying to "speak".
stronger this time with the seals holding the feline together, it tries again. ]
โ
no subject
Once the arrow appears, he swivels the handful of paper in that direction. Using the cat like a compass, he starts off, the tap of his footsteps sinking into the slightly spongy ground rife with fungal matter.
Maybe, he thinks with a cold clarity, it's better if he jogs. ]
no subject
there's this absent of light, everything feels cold, it's an experience where even breathing or moving is the last thing on his mind. for a brief moment, even the cat-compass stops, shudders, and begins to fade in color. a lapse in judgement is all, a mistake in decision, the assistance of the talisman assists in keeping the feline in place, helping ground it in place. ]
โฎเฉญ
[ ignore the tail.
in the center of the park, a man sits politely staring at one empty side of the bench and is conversing with nothing. the sound of footsteps, his mouth closes shut, and turning his head where subaru can see in full view. half of soleum's face has turned into an obsidian sludge, shadows curling off like steam that's being drained by the inside of this space. round glasses have already slid down onto the ground covered in the same make-up of the cat that the other had scooped into talismans.
half a hand lifts up, the edges of soleum's skin darkened from where it slowly unfurls and drips away comes to hide his face. all it does is touch the substance, the edges sticking together like bubblegum until he pulls them away with a snap. it lacks sound, most things here do. whatever drips from the bench adds to the dark puddle on the ground, only growing bigger as time continues on.
one eye remains in soleum's head with the crimson center gone, and his pupil, a deep black, looks to the talisman in subaru's hand. ]
...Sorry. I told them... not to bother anyone.
no subject
But at least he doesn't comment on it, attention caught by its end destination on the bench. ]
...no, [ is the first thing he thinks to say when faced with such a predicament, declining the presence of an apology. Not to him, not for this. ] it's better that they did.
[ Because how long would he have in this place that weaves joy out of dissolution? The air hums with it, whispers sieving whole chunks of his person away. It wasn't something he'd thought the these void planes were capable of; wouldn't have thought unless confronted with it, still. What is she saying to him? He can't hear what, or whose voice she has. Approaching, Subaru kneels to get a better look at what parts are already missing and which still loosening into half-incorporeal tendrils.
His instinct is to touch, but how much damage could he do when he's already like this? Carefully, he extends the talismans so the shaded cat has the opportunity to slide off of it if chooses. In that movement, his thoughts race, tallying the limits of his magic only barely recovered, the paper he wields it with. ]
I have to get you out of here.
[ By some other means than his spells, at that. Just a small cat's worth of shadow fit onto the talismans, but a whole person? ]
no subject
it splatters onto the ground, what was the color of his hand pops, breaks down and liquefies into the already growing puddle. in his mind, soleum's screaming, he's screaming, it's a horrible sight to him being unable to live from this horrible dream, and yet... outward, he can only stare. around the waist, some parts of the leg are where black tendrils begging to become undone seep through the fabric, slowly and barely visible.
soleum must remain calm even if he can feel himself breaking down, it's not like before, yesitis. he realized the truth and accepted already, thetruthhasalwaysbeenthat. so why is it happening again. block it out, ignore it.
ask for help.
ask for help. ]
Pardon?
[ the cat within the talisman pours out like a waterfall, and it's body has finally returned to what's normal in this void. there's uses in the way it breaks them down to where parts no longer hold together, and within a talisman that contains all parts... this place crushes them into a form. with a swish of the feline's tail, it stretches showing off the entirety of its body before walking over to agent grapes. ]
I have something I don't want to leave unfinished. [ a conversation, the one that was interrupted when subaru appeared. agent grapes turns to look at the cat nearby. ]
They can lead you out... It's not safe to be alone.
no subject
[ Carefully, his gaze dips to the space beside him. Empty but charged. He's feeling the weight of a presence even if it's only defined by Soleum's focus on it. Though he doesn't have his onmyoudo, his keen senses are buzzing, static bright like a livewire. His expression creases as he tries to focus on it. The cat is more corporeal even if made of the same shadow-stuff, apparitions given shape by — guiding others out? It must be. That's where these faces that he wears intersect, every time.
Knelt at his side, the puddle continues to grow. It's not so dissimilar from Megumi's shadows... but even a sorcerer of his caliber struggled to keep them in a cohesive form. Can he do it? Or will he have to follow the order of this place? ]
Your magic is going to come apart like this. Someone is... speaking to you, right? What is it saying?
[ He'd felt it prickle on the back of his neck like he was being hunted too. Delving into the void only made it worsen. ]
no subject
it trickles onto the black cat like rain, rejected too as it slides along the surface and onto the ground around the feline. aware of this, that one red eye watching his body break down like so before him, he understands how grave the situation is at hand.
subaru.
he can not be here. ]
I don't have magic. [ he doesn't want it. if this place could tear it out from him, remove the pieces of himself that doesn't make up kim soleum. then he'd welcome it. the thought is so tempting when said by someone else when they view him like this. ]
But... you do.
[ that hand comes back to his lap, agent grapes tilts his head down, and he listens.
— What a nosey fellow! This is an a and b conversation, wouldn't you say, friend?
— What to do, what to do. You really shouldn't tell him, it's been some time since we could speak, friend.
— I can help you, friend! Stay a little longer, this Host has so much advice to help you out of this predicament. Now— ]
To break it down from the inside, you have to understand what you're against.
[ — That's fine and dandy, friend! this gracious host thinks you should tell him โโโโโโโโโ โโโโโโโโ โโโ โโโโ. ]
Something followed you here.