Phantasmal Rift Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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phantasmalrift2018-12-19 11:39 pm
phantasmods) wrote in phantasmalrift2018-12-19 11:39 pm
DUNGEON - BELLMARE ENCLAVE (BELLMARE MOUNTAINS, PT 2)
The shadows are starting to grow very long as you crest his particular ridge - it's not night yet, but it will be soon. In the shadows of the afternoon, with a tall mountain already blocking the sun, lies a snow-covered valley that is different from the ones you've come across thus far in your investigation.
This valley is home to a town, and unlike all the settlements you've seen so far - Incendia, the Telovia mining town, and the manor - it's very much active. There are actual people in the streets, visible from above, going through their days on snow-free streets, bundled up against the cold.
Those of you who asked were told of the handful of people who didn't go into the slumber of stasis as the Fissure conditions of the world grew worse and worse, instead isolating themselves and trying to continue living their lives as they could. Now, it seems, you've found exactly such a group.
Welcome to the Bellmare Enclave, and enjoy your stay.
[[OOC: Welcome to part 2 of the dungeon! For the most part, interaction with the town's NPCs can be handwaved as described on the main information post. Worth noting are the following major things: The Bellmare Enclave isn't expecting visitors, though the people are generally friendly to the new arrivals. They don't know about the time dilation effect of their Fissure - to them, it's only been about eighteen years since the Slumber Plan was put in place and they withdrew from the world. And finally, by a similar token, they have no idea how far the Fissures outside of their own have grown - while it's not uncommon for them to find odd objects from time to time, they'll assume that the characters are just arrivals from other places within their own world, rather than outsiders, until told otherwise.]]
This valley is home to a town, and unlike all the settlements you've seen so far - Incendia, the Telovia mining town, and the manor - it's very much active. There are actual people in the streets, visible from above, going through their days on snow-free streets, bundled up against the cold.
Those of you who asked were told of the handful of people who didn't go into the slumber of stasis as the Fissure conditions of the world grew worse and worse, instead isolating themselves and trying to continue living their lives as they could. Now, it seems, you've found exactly such a group.
Welcome to the Bellmare Enclave, and enjoy your stay.
[[OOC: Welcome to part 2 of the dungeon! For the most part, interaction with the town's NPCs can be handwaved as described on the main information post. Worth noting are the following major things: The Bellmare Enclave isn't expecting visitors, though the people are generally friendly to the new arrivals. They don't know about the time dilation effect of their Fissure - to them, it's only been about eighteen years since the Slumber Plan was put in place and they withdrew from the world. And finally, by a similar token, they have no idea how far the Fissures outside of their own have grown - while it's not uncommon for them to find odd objects from time to time, they'll assume that the characters are just arrivals from other places within their own world, rather than outsiders, until told otherwise.]]
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He doesn't manage any more. He tries, but he can't do it. The little jerky motions of the effort are there, like someone trying to breathe through a panic attack or a crying jag. But the air doesn't come, and without it he can't speak.
Can't apologize.
Kurama's hand lifts hesitantly towards Minato's face where he rubbed at it, only to flinch back and fall away without touching. His eyes are wet as he struggles to force back the tears.
He fails. They fall, sliding slowly down his cheeks, leaving trails that start to freeze in the chilly air around them only to be melted again by fresh tears.]
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...No, that's not right, is it? The way he reaches out, but backs away. That he hasn't said a word. There's another possibility, one that would never have crossed his mind without Kurama, Goro, and Akira. Maybe...it's not the vision. Maybe he's crying because...of Minato.
His voice is low. Soft. He steps forward again, easily within arm's reach - he doesn't reach to touch again himself, not until Kurama is ready, but he's right here. Nothing has broken. Not trust, not their bond, only a little skin where his teeth caught his cheek.]
It's alright - I'm alright. Nothing a dia can't fix. [He smiles, in an attempt to prove it. He really is okay.]
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He tries again to breathe. Fails. Damn it. He should be saying something, but he can't. And Minato is so close now...
Kurama's hand lifts again, but this time it doesn't retreat. His fingers brush Minato's cheek, so delicate, painfully careful not to hurt him any more. They slip back further, stroke through Minato's hair before Kurama pulls the smaller teen into his arms. He's shaking as he holds Minato, body trembling with silent sobs as his crying goes from slow to wracking.]
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He's quick to return Kurama's embrace. He's here. ...Kurama isn't saying anything, which is worrying. Minato will have to speak, then.]
Didn't know it was me. After something like....that, no one could blame you. [...] Know you wouldn't hurt me, if you knew. Told me that before.
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Kurama nuzzles into Minato's hair, breathing in his scent now that he can breathe at all. He still smells that hint of blood but it's only a hint.]
I...wouldn't. Not willingly, not ever. And yet, I keep hurting the people I love anyway... I'm so sorry, Minato. I know you don't blame me, but it's hard for me not to blame myself. All I want is to protect you.
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[That's all it was. An accident. No one can expect to go through life without ever hurting someone they care about.]
You do protect me. ...From...more, than just poisonous trees and ghost dancers. [Kurama fought so hard against what Minato learned from his past, before any confessions were made. He's not sure he could've accepted Akira's confession as reality without that conversation with Kurama.]
And.....not completely naive. Wasn't sure how I should approach. Knew there was a chance I'd mess up, thought there might be a chance you'd react on instinct. [He did it anyway. Because like hell would he leave Kurama alone with that.] Was ready, just in case. So...let me protect you sometimes, too.
no subject
It's sort of funny. Kurama had more than half thought it was his amnesiac self's near helplessness that had made Minato's quietly determined protectiveness quite so attractive. It's understated, almost subtle next to Akira and Goro's fiercer, more openly passionate behavior, but it isn't actually any less deeply rooted, is it?
The way Kurama looks at Minato is intense but hard to pin down for a moment. His voice when he speaks, though, is soft and sweet.]
Minato... [A quiet puff of breath.] ...that's fair.
[He dips his head to kiss Minato, slow and gentle. But it's the kind of slow and gentle that comes of iron self-restraint, the kind that's a careful holding back of fierce and intense want.]
no subject
He welcomes the kiss. This probably isn't the time or place for much more, but he doesn't quite manage to hold back his own eagerness, heels lifting from the ground slightly so he can press a little closer.]
no subject
Until the sound of an explosion has him jerking back, eyes wide and startled and almost fearful. His head turns towards the sound almost against his will; on the wall, his home is shown, a shattered, smoking ruin.
His cry overlaps with his other self's.]
No!
[Karasu is dragging the other Kurama along into the destroyed house. The redhead has a collar locked around his throat, with scratch marks livid at the sides.
There are bodies in the house. An older woman and man, and a younger teen boy, bloody and burned. The collared Kurama's scream is rage and agony and the sound of someone breaking beyond repair.
"Mother!"]
no subject
He hates the sight of the position the other Kurama is in.
But then there are bodies on the floor, and it's too familiar. Too similar. Bodies and blood and fire, the unmistakable stench of burning skin and hair, the shriek of tearing metal, the jagged edge of broken glass, the pale hand hanging limp - and he in the middle of it all, only a child, utterly helpless.
Someone shouts mother and it isn't him. It doesn't break his flashback, but it's enough to remind him there's someone else here, there was someone with him. It's dangerous here. Blindly, Minato searches for the other person's hand, his grip firm and gentle and insistent all at once. Have to leave here. Have to go. Can't lose anyone else.
He tugs Kurama away from where the vision played out, navigating obstacles that aren't really there because this isn't the bridge. There's one problem, though, one he doesn't even notice until his knees are hitting the floor.
One of us needs to breathe.]
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The scent of panic on Minato doesn't really help.
He's desperately, painfully reminding himself that it's just one of the subfissure's visions. This isn't something that happened to him. Isn't something that can happen to him, because Karasu is dead. He's dead and he's never coming back and even if he did, if he tried, Kurama would rend him apart.
It's Minato going down that drags him out of his own inner struggle. He's quick to catch the smaller boy and draw him close. Soft white wings block out the view of the cavern around them for now.]
Minato, you need to breathe. You're with me, you're safe. It's alright. Please, beloved...
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But he breathes. It's a sharp gasp, a struggle to continue, shaking and uneven. He doesn't want to be "safe". His fingers dig into Kurama's shirt as he presses closer, almost painfully close, searching for a heartbeat that, logically, he knows he won't find. Won't hear, can't hear, will never hear. It only makes it harder to calm down.
Minato tries not to think about it. About the fact two of the people he loves are already dead and were well before he met them. About how he never even had a chance to help them.
The way they always protect him. Even now, when Kurama is the one who's seen something so horrible. He shouldn't be focusing on Minato right now - this is nothing he hasn't dealt with before. He doesn't want to be "safe", not when everyone else is hurting.]
Didn't happen. Wasn't real. [Kurama needs this more than he does. Minato never wanted anyone he cares about to see something like that. His voice is tight with stress and determination.] Won't let anything like it happen to you.
[He refuses to believe such an awful thing happened to any version of Kurama. Rejects that with all his heart.]
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[It's a good method of helping someone through panic attacks and flashbacks, and something that, unlike his absent heartbeat, won't remind Minato that Kurama is dead. So Kurama paces his breathing for a bit, slow and even.
Though the rhythm stutters when Minato speaks.
He's not wrong? It's something Kurama has been telling himself. Trying to tell himself. He shudders as he holds Minato a little tighter. The words come out without thinking.]
It didn't. It can't, it won't ever, I killed him at that damn tournament!
no subject
But those words make him go totally still. The trembling stops, but he holds his breath again, too. Killed him. Kurama killed. Logically, he should realize Kurama has blood on his hands, but he didn't need to think about it. Killed him. The words circle in his mind.
With what Minato has seen here in this cave, and what happened in Aiden's Palace, he can't....blame him, can he? He can't. There's no room for anger or upset - and he couldn't, anyway, not at Kurama.
So what's left is sadness.
He breathes, slow and calm, head resting against the taller boy. Tired. Tears run down his face slowly.]
I'm sorry.