Blood and Brimstone, con't (Saito)

Subject: Blood and Brimstone, con't (Saito) Thu Mar 26, 2009 7:00 pm

33rd and Kokuro. Scribbling that down on a scratch piece of paper, I grab my keys and slip my feet into a pair of shoes. It was the middle of the night, with some sort of animal on the loose in the neighborhood, and here I was getting ready to take a nice solitary stroll through one of the worst parts of town on my way to an address I had never visited before all on the whims of a demonic possessing spirit who may or may not be able to help me learn how to beat my own demonic haunting. Well, no one had ever accused me of being a smart girl, or even having a normal level of common sense. After locking up my apartment and slipping the keys into the pocket of my jogging pants, I begin the timid journey down the stairs, fighting the urge to whimper with each descending step. I probably should have lathered on more of the pain numbing ointment before I had left, but I didn't want to keep Yoji waiting any longer than I already would. It would have been nice if he could have just let me do that shadow travel thing with him, but maybe that was only useable for personal travel. Once I reached the lobby, the walking got a bit easier. There was still pain with every step but as long as I was on level ground the pain was kept to a dull ache instead of the stabbing sensation that came with the stairs. The chill of the night was made worse by the swift breeze blowing over my exposed shoulders and arms. I should have grabbed a jacket, but maybe the cold would push me to move faster to reach my destination. Crossing my arms over my cami tank covered chest, I set off on the journey to find Yoji at the address supplied.
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Subject: Re: Blood and Brimstone, con't (Saito) Fri Mar 27, 2009 6:40 pm

As he slid from the shadows of the alley, rising up easily from the ground, Yoji let out a breath of air into the crisp night, enjoying the world around him as he cracked his neck and leaned back, looking about him. Running a hand over his face, rings appeared in his eyebrows, nose, lip, shards of silver in the moonlight as he stretched his arms out wide and breathed out, chest expanding and filling with the cold sensation before he grinned. "Nice to be back..." he said as he made his way down to the basement, reaching out idly and kicking the handle of the door almost casually, though it punched a nice hole in it where the knob should be. He reached through and undid the deadbolt before stepping inside, looking at the quasi-familiar space beneath it. Dark and damp, the cement floor wet with the runoff of the pipes that hung from the ceiling and twined towards the main watervane in the corner. Big, enough to have wet footsteps echo in the floor...
He began to take off his shirt, Saito's bare chest hitting the cold air. A human might have shuddered; Yoji didn't.
Feeling a bit better? Yoji asked in his mind easily as he stripped down, leaving on the pants that he wore but removing his shoes as well, bare feet slapping amidst the dirty water, grit against the soles. In his mind, Saito was waking up, groggy and throbbing with a headache, but becoming aware of himself and the situation.
Not quite. I think you blacked me out. What happened-
I did; shaky mental guards, man, gotta work on that. He sounded almost happy.
What are you doing?
Helping your nice little chickadee deal with some issues she's been having with a demon. She needs to get over this pussy routine; she doesn't quite have the gumption to really run with her rage and hate, but eh, she doesn't like the fucker, which'll at least motivate her, if not empower her.
Are you insane?!
Probably.
This has gone on far enough. Give me back my body.
Or you'll what?
I'll fucking kill you, that's what.
Love to see you try, buddy boy. Maybe someday we'll have a little shindig and see what's what, eh?
Yoji-
Be a good little boy and I might give it back when I'm done.
Silence greeted his response, and Yoji grinned as he stretched idly in the dark, his eyes gleaming like mirrors, visible no matter how black it got. This would be fun...
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Subject: Re: Blood and Brimstone, con't (Saito) Fri Mar 27, 2009 9:37 pm

Keeping up some sort of internal dialogue, even if it was limited to berating myself for running out in the dead of night after some whacked out demon possession without being fully dressed or even grabbing a sweater, was one way to keep my mind focused so the pain couldn't make itself known. I was moving at a steady pace, a jog more than a run, but still fast enough to have the blocks going by quickly. The closer I came to the address Yoji had supplied, the slower I moved. Not because of the muscles twitching from exertion or the recently rent flesh weeping from too much movement too soon, but because I didn't fully trust Yoji, not as far as could throw him, which would obviously be a very short distance. I half expected him to materialize out of one of the many shadows I passed. When he didn't, I continued on until I reached the building the directions had led me to. My next destination was the basement, I was really beginning to hate basements. Dark and dank and smelly and creepy, I would like nothing more than to have one solid week where I do not step foot in any windowless basement. I found the kicked in door easily enough, the big hole where a knob should have been was a fairly obvious sign to look for, so I pushed my way through it and called out hesitantly. "Yoji?... Are you here?" Moving farther into the room, I try to see through the darkness, to catch sight of the man... demon... whatever he was, that had led me here.
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Subject: Re: Blood and Brimstone, con't (Saito) Sun Mar 29, 2009 5:51 pm

There was a snap and a flare of light, sparks bursting out of the darkness and catching the stream of light from a lighter in Yoji's hand, illuminating the man's face in flickering red and orange light, playing havoc with the shadows as the embers on his cigarette glowed bright, drawing in towards his lips for a brief moment before he spoke, the smoke trailing up over his face as though no breath had left his lungs, slipping out through the rents in the side of his cheek.
"Glad you found the place, darlin'..." he said, voice easy and calm as he watched her, the light of the cigarette dying and leaving only the mirrored reflection of his eyes, like a jungle cat's in the dark, catching even the slightest bit of light and turning his eyes into empty circles. As he spoke, however, there was the sudden sound of flitting behind her, of hurried incandescent wings in the dark and of the slight clacking noise of chitinous legs on the stone. The eyes watched her the whole time, cocking slightly for a moment before another burst of smoke came from the dark, sillouetting features that were barely there, it seemed.
"I was beginning to think you wouldn't...You wanted fireproof? You got fireproof. Now let's see how hot you can burn, shall we?" he said, voice slow and easy on the last part of it before the flickering, almost instant sound occured again, this time to her left, like a madrush from cement column to cement column on legs and wings at the same time. "Got lots of nice kindling for you..." He chuckled before he closed his eyes and seemed to vanish, smoke curling up to the black ceiling easily.
"Better light that fire of yours... but I'd be careful using the demon's power to do it...they don't much like their own." His voice echoed from the shadows. "Crash course, baby... let's see if you got what it takes, huh?"

You just like being a creepy fucker sometimes, don't you?
Way to ruin the ambience, dick...
Anytime.
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Subject: Re: Blood and Brimstone, con't (Saito) Sun Mar 29, 2009 6:40 pm

It doesn't take long for Yoji to make himself known. The strike of the lighter and the following flame cause my body to flinch, but I managed to contain the gasp or yelp that rose to the surface. Once his location was revealed my eyes stayed locked on him, on the glowing end of his cigarette when he drew the smoke into his lungs and then on the gleam of his eyes during his subsequent exhales. The small wave of relief that I enjoyed when he didn't launch immediately into attack mode was quickly smothered as he began talking. Not so much because of what he was saying but because of the creepy sounds that were moving around me. My first thought were that he had summoned to a bat infested basement, which was bad enough, but when I focused more on the sounds I knew they couldn't be caused by normal bats. The sound of wings beating air wasn't half as bad as the scuttling sounds that followed. I couldn't tell if it was closer to rodent sounds or insect but neither option appealed to me very much.

When he mentioned my fire, and wanting to see it in action, my first instinct was to manifest it as I always had before, but he had made sure to warn me against that. Damn my big mouth and its asking for this. How the hell was I going to use the fire without using the power the demon had given me? Wasn't that the only reason why I had it? I guess I was about to find out.

The fire usually just came when my emotions were running rampant, but I was relatively calm in here... which made no sense since I was in a cold dark basement with a demonic spirit currently in control of my friend's body... one would think that this situation would have me a nervous wreck but like a lamb being led to the slaughter I trusted this particular demon holding my reins. Bypassing the emotions I was used to tapping to control the fire, I figured what the hell and went with a more logical route. I knew I could manifest fire, now I just needed to find a new way to do it. Without closing my eyes, not willing to lose what little bearings I had in this ever deepening darkness, I took a deep breath to settle myself before lifting my hands into the space before my body. By sheer force of will I summon the flames, or what I thought were the same flames. Instead of my hand erupting in tendrils of flame, this time the fire was condensed into a palm sized ball. Since the last scurrying sounds I had heard came from my left and seemed to advance past me, I threw the fireball in the direction of where I anticipated the creature or creatures to be. I was fighting blind essentially, but at least there was hope that the light from the fire would illuminate my target and show me what I was dealing with.
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Subject: Re: Blood and Brimstone, con't (Saito) Mon Mar 30, 2009 2:10 am

The burst of light from the ball in her hand seemed to cast it's illumination out through the darkness a bit less than it really should, it's warm glow seeming to barely penetrate the gloom but for where it's light burst strongest. At the corner of the light, the flickering image of motion could be caught; just a blur of wing and a long, insectile leg, segmented and chitinous and ending with what looked to be three claws each the length of a finger before it snapped out of the light with a furious clicking sound, an octouplet of eyes gleaming reflectively in the dark before the sound came from behind her as well, with another set of furious clicking as Yoji chuckled from the darkness, bright mirrored eyes appearing once more as the snap and flare of his lighter illuminated his face and features, smoke drifting over them and molding around what was disturbingly similar to a mandibled set of pincers himself, his face seeming halfway between bug and man through the smoke, but only vaguely, half-visible.
"Yanma." He said with a slight grin as he watched her, speaking easily as more clicking sounds could be heard through the room, often closer to her and several at once before a sudden furious buzzing snapped by her ear, catching her hair in the furious beating of a thin, membranous wing. "Insect demons... useful for hunting. You wanted to learn how to deal with demons, right...?" he chuckled before he was gone again, the light in the room fading as the distinct sensation that they were growing closer to her in the darkness filled her thoughts.
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Subject: Re: Blood and Brimstone, con't (Saito) Mon Mar 30, 2009 2:33 am

Deep down I had been hoping for flying rats. At least if they were some form of vermin I would be able to hold back the twitchy creeped out reactions until after I had dealt with them. You can't live in the Lower Commons and not come across a rat or two somewhere. I was ready for the fireball to reveal a furred body and naked fleshy tail... not what the alarmingly weak light actually showed me. I suppose a full body convulsion would be the easiest way to describe my initial reaction to the brief glimpse I caught of the creature. To make matters worse, Yoji decided that would be the perfect time to play with me a bit... and his visage was almost enough to have me run screaming from the room. Almost, but not quite. It was funny to think that I would prefer going up against the goat legged demon and his elephant penis over these disgusting little demon parasites.

As the demon man spoke, explaining what exactly the things he'd summoned were, I had to fight the shivers from wracking my whole body. The feeling of unease was overwhelming. Bile rose in my throat, my flesh was covered with goosebumps, and there was a sensation of having a million bugs crawling over my skin that caused my fingers to flex and unconsciously scratch and claw at the exposed areas in the hopes of stopping the sensation. The sounds were making it all worse. Of course, that was their purpose. Like a psychological form of torture before the creepy crawlies started feasting on their target, me in this case. When one came dangerously close to my head, close enough to snag my hair in it's beating wing, I let out a shrill screech before waving my hands about my head to knock it away and keep the others from doing the same. If I was going to get rid of these things all by myself, which I knew was the objective, I would have to find some way to light the place up enough for me to get a visual on the targets. Saving the fireball technique for later, when I could actually see the bastards, I decided to try something a little different. Something closer to a wall of fire. Contained and controlled by me, but that should be large enough and bright enough to cut through the darkness in my general vicinity to show the creepy fuckers.

I didn't answer Yoji, didn't feel like losing my cool and letting him shift my focus away from these insect demons. I had to figure out how to make enough fire to light this place up, again without using the demon's power. Following the same steps as last time, only this time with my arms straight out in front of me, palms poised and ready, fingers extended toward the ceiling; I summon the fire the same way as before. Unlike last time, I don't immediately release it into my hands, but hold it in until I could feel the power build and well within me. Once it felt like enough power, I set it free. The wall wasn't very large, only a few feet wide and about as tall as me, but it was hot and would hopefully be bright enough to do what I needed it to do.
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Subject: Re: Blood and Brimstone, con't (Saito) Tue Apr 07, 2009 6:48 pm

The flare of light set of a chorus of clacking and clicking from the assembled bugs, which in the light of the wall seemed to be surrounding her in a fast moving circle. As soon as the light appeared they dashed backwards to remain out of it, but their multifaceted eyes, eight of the in a circle around their gaping mandibular maws, seemed to throw it about. There must have been ten or twelve of the things, each about as high as her knee, flitting about in a quick circle around her as they jumped and skittered across the floor, looking for an opening in the light. Where the shadows were longest, right behind her, they came the closest, occasionally exposing their twitching faces and spike-lined mouths before dashing back, the clicking sound getting more furious as they went.
"Weird little things, ain't they?" Yoji said as he breathed out another gout of smoke, letting it drift over his face, which had largely returned to normal as he watched her with a raised eyebrow. "Useful, and all that, but fuckin' wierd. Your first lesson? Will is everything. The world isn't quite as solid and rigid as you'd like to think... thoughts make waves, emotions make water, and the world around you and in you is a nice, big metaphysical sea of energy, and all it takes to access that energy is will and belief. Some people do it one way, others do it in others... It's easier for Saito to believe that the only reason he could knock down punch through steel like it was paper is because he's using some kinda martial arts ki, for example. He's a careful motherfucker, that little guy... keeps himself nice and boxed up..." As he spoke the clicking seemed to blend with his voice now and then, but always the flutter of wings continued on around her.
"But now that you know you can do it? Now it's not so hard to convince you you can do something else. It's all about direction of thought and all that shit. My personal recommendation? Burn it. Burn it all. Emotions? They burn the same as anything else, and if it burns, it's fuel. So light one up, baby; you're afraid of the bugs? Burn it. You're afraid of the dark, burn that too. Just remember, everything inside you is kindling; all you gotta do is spark and let fly. So let's see it." he said dryly, and with a sudden snapping sound the bugs darted foreword, long fingers snapping at her, for her hair and clothes and anything they could snag on and drag her to the floor.
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Subject: Re: Blood and Brimstone, con't (Saito) Tue Apr 07, 2009 7:24 pm

The fact that every single thing the demon said made perfect sense only proved to irritate me. He made it sound so simple as if any idiot should have figured it out by now, I guess that made me slower than an idiot. My eyes dart all around me, to the edges of the light provided by my fire wall, watching the creepy things he had felt the need to summon here while the sounds of scurrying and flapping surround me. Giving up on the irritation, swallowing my pride, I take the demon's words to heart. He suggested burning it all so why shouldn't I take the advice and give it a shot? I already had a nice wall of fire to draw on, and lord knows I had plenty of emotions to feed the blaze, the only thing I couldn't ignore long enough to get started was the sensations of the icky things tangling in my hair and tugging at my clothes like they were trying to drag me to the floor. I had a solution for that, one I had used to rid myself of the sheet back in my apartment.

While my intentions back there had been to burn away the cloth covering my body, that was not the case this time. I knew I couldn't prevent the clothes I was wearing from being singed but I could keep their contact with the flames as brief as possible. Drawing some of the fire from the wall onto my body, adding to it's power from within, I don't hesitate for more than a heartbeat before expelling the flames from my body and sending them to fill the room. Images of the creepy bug demons thingys frying in the flames fill my mind as I concentrate with eyes closed against the heat of the raging fire and when the emotional power from those images wanes they are replaced by the face of the scarlet skinned goat legged demon writhing in the midst of my powers. That last image floods my body with such hate that I wasn't quite sure how to deal with it. I knew I hated the demon, but I had no idea that it could be so strong. Since Yoji had suggested using emotions like that to fuel the flames, I decided to give that a shot. Taking every ounce of rancor I could drum up for the demon, I transfer those emotions into the fire filling the basement room and open my eyes to watch the outcome.
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Subject: Re: Blood and Brimstone, con't (Saito) Tue Apr 07, 2009 8:47 pm

Yoji watched as the girl burst into flames, the little insects largely fighting it off, their fingers punching into her cloth and running over her skin-and then he grinned as she caught the lesson he was trying to teach her from the beginning and everything went to hell in a hand basket for the little demons. The fire around her surged sudden before it practically glowed, radiating an intense heat and flickering white in the darkness. The creatures caught and burned, the scent of burning chitin filling the air for a moment as the fingertips that were grasping at her burnt up like paper, the charred substance burning away wholesale as her hate flooded her form and filled the fire with an unholy heat.
Yoji's hands met in a clap as the yanma dispersed and the lights flickered on, the dingy wet basement lit badly but for her fire.
"See what I mean? You have to hate something, and then hate it enough that you can use all that rage you've got towards it even against something else. You've got to let it fill you and force itself free into whatever you're doing, and all of a sudden those nice little boundaries between what you can and can't do don't rear their ugly heads anymore." he pointed out before he grinned, spreading his arms out to either side and grinning easily. "That's freedom, baby. All it takes is a little motivation. And you thought I was just talking at you because I liked to listen to myself." he said dryly, amused.
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Subject: Re: Blood and Brimstone, con't (Saito) Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:19 pm

When it was all said and done, when the insect demons were gone and I was left alone in the basement room with the Yoji driven form of Saito, I had to admit to myself... and only myself... that the release of power had felt amazing. No wonder there were dangers of becoming addicted to the rush of adrenaline that came with such an expulsion of energy. Seriously, a girl could get used to this. The only part I didn't like was having to let the destructive emotions flood my body before being able to release them. Standing there, in the dimly lit room, with the lingering flames dying slowly around me, I was left feeling a gnawing emptiness that I didn't like at all. I would almost prefer to have the frightening hatred back inside me as opposed to the sudden lack of feeling I suffered now.

Turning to face Yoji, my head tilted to one side, I lift a hand to rub absently at my chest. "Is it supposed to feel this bad afterwards? How do you keep the emptiness filled?" I guess I didn't think about demons not minding whether or not they feel void of emotion, but I did mind it. I was still human and still wanted to feel the good stuff. If embracing the bad to fuel my power would take away the good then I would have to find another way to do it. "By the way... you are a dick and you do talk more than a demonic possessing spirit should, but I thank you for tonight."
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Subject: Re: Blood and Brimstone, con't (Saito) Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:58 pm

"Just 'cause you're a slow learner doesn't mean I talk to much." he said dryly, chuckling as he cracked his back easily and leaned back against the wall, grinning past the cross in his cheek as be took another long drag of his cigarette, ashing it and flicking the butt to the floor before grinding it out with the ball of his foot easily enough. "As for what you do about the emptiness? That's an individual choice, chickadee. Some people surf it out-find some kind of peace in absence and appreciate life all the more for the good things in it now that they know what it feels like to be so empty, so without. I personally find that to be hippy-lovy-dovy bullshit, but hey. Other people just get used to the void; it's not so bad there, if you stay long enough. It eats you up until you've got nothin' left, of course, 'cause nothin' doesn't sustain itself all that well, but hey." he chuckled as he looked about the area and sighed, running a hand over his face as he lost the grin that had adorned his face for most of the encounter. As he made his way over to Saito's shirt and slung it over his shoulder, ignoring his shoes as he made his way towards the door, he shrugged and looked over his shoulder.
"Me? I just keep hating. If you've got 'nuff hate, you just keep going and going. You go batshit crazy, but hey, who the fuck cares, right? It's all going down anyway, so why the fuck should it matter." He pointed out as he started making his way up through the doors, hands in his pockets.
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Subject: Re: Blood and Brimstone, con't (Saito) Tue Apr 07, 2009 10:12 pm

"Just because you talk too much doesn't mean I'm a slow learner." I shot back at the spirit resisting the urge to stick my tongue out at him as I snuffed out the remaining flames. I listened to what all he said about dealing with the emptiness, and decided against pretty much every option he mentioned. The hippy lovey dovey route didn't appeal to me any more than the bat shit crazy path did so I guess I would just have to blaze my own trail right down the middle. If push comes to shove I supposed I could always find random men after an emotional release like that. Intimate situations could be a temporary fix in filling the emptiness... at least the void in one certain place. Seriously though, sharing moments like that with another human being could remind me of what is important so that could be my back up plan at the very least. For tonight, thanks to the demon and his elephant penis, I would have to settle for going home to a nice long soaking bath and a box of bon bons while enjoying some old black and white romantic movie.

Shaking my head, I move to follow Yoji up through the door. "I sure as hell don't want to turn out like you, no offense of course, so I'll find my own way to deal with it. Thanks again for this, and thank Saito for all he did earlier tonight, when you let him come back out to play that is."
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Subject: Re: Blood and Brimstone, con't (Saito) Thu Jun 04, 2009 8:34 pm

Updated Surreal.

Subject: Re: Blood and Brimstone, con't (Saito) Thu Oct 01, 2009 11:41 pm

Updated Saito

» Blood and Brimstone
» A Cordial Meeting (cont.)
» .Running into bigger kitties [Penny, Quest Cont.]
» Save me again? (Saito)
» Takamori Saito