week eight: mingle

[cyclists]

Week Eight
9 in Competition

As the sun rises on Monday morning, all participants will find themselves awakening with a sense of purpose. Regardless of where they slept the night before, they’ll find themselves compelled to return to the main meeting hall first thing in the morning.

Approaching the hall, however, they will find three large, swirling masses grey in color looming near the sakura tree. These swirls cannot be approached just yet, but seem to be locked and waiting for something more. Later in the day, if those in the village approach the third mass they will find themselves in a version of their home world. This world is completely void of people, but seems to be just as they last remember it. No darkness will be found in this world as well.

As the last member of the village enters the hall, they will find Lune and Sol at the head of the room. They don't speak immediately, but wait for all to settle.



Welcome to your week eight mingle! We have now hit endgame week.

In addition, ensure that all of your week seven private conversations were reported on the page. If you'll be taking anything from locations, please report that as well.

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Comments

[unfriendliest]

[ it's frustrating, that as strong as ookurikara may be, he is still nothing to mikazuki munechika. it's as if he can't control his own blade, and everything he tries is pointless when it's always redirected away from the vitals he intends to strike. would masamune be disappointed in his second sword, to see him struggling so much to land even a single attack? is he really so weak? is this the reason he wasn't the one carried onto the battlefield of legend, at his master's side? surely he has to be stronger than this, to be one of date masamune's favorite blades, treasured by his family for hundreds of years later.

regardless of the answer, ookurikara still wants to serve them well even now, years after being taken from them. doing so means going through mikazuki, one way or another. he's already twisting his sword in his grip to change directions, aiming to cut deep into the throat, when mikazuki's blade strikes true, freezing him in place.

he knows it's a fatal blow even before his blade begins to crack, hairline fractures spreading across his steel as his vision begins to blur. his hearing, however, is fine, and he can only listen as mikazuki steps away to taunt him, once again using his love for masamune and the date against him - the pride, the legacy, even the eye.

this is more than just frustrating, - it's infuriating, and ookurikara has neither the time or the strength to make mikazuki and the corruption pay for speaking of his master with such disrespect.

in his rage, he pays no attention to the last taunt thrown his way. as he falls to one knee, his remaining eye fixes mikazuki with the fiercest, most defiant glare he can muster, one promising that he won't be the only one to break here.

and so, the meteors begin to fall. ]

[nonbelligerent]

[as soon as mikazuki pushes his blade into ookurikara's chest, shess knows—]

... It's over.

[in the end, isn't this the outcome ookurikara predicted?

shoving down the stab shess himself feels, more emotional in nature than physical, he glances up to the sky. (ookurikara was going to have to die, one way or another. he knows this.) as he shifts his blood-stained hand from his wound to his pocket, he then turns his attention, briefly, to north. it's probably the end for her as well.

...

he did tell ookurikara he'd do his best, but getting injured to this degree wasn't exactly part of the equation, unfortunately. it's still frustratingly difficult to move.

not much room to dodge, really.]

[unsaid]

[light begins to streak against the sky - and mikazuki looks amused.]

Ha ha ha.

[he sidesteps north when she comes - though the lava streaks across, falling onto his robes, searing into them, melting against his skin and burning his flesh. he doesn't pay that any mind, instead catching onto her arm before she gets out of reach, his other arm wrapping around her middle as he no longer has to worry about holding onto his own sword. he glances over to ookurikara, to shess, and then to the sky -

his lips curve into a grin as he watches the meteors come, and he restrains north as he reflects]

... there are none remaining in the village aside from us.

[they're the only ones left standing. everyone else has met their end, as they've been forced to. the signs parted ways to attend to their targets, and roxas complete his end. he was intercepted, stopped by his friends who he could not harm, and met his end, leaving mikazuki no one to protect. his friends killed one another in ways that they preferred, the ways they'd discussed and wanted - and now.

and now he picks up north himself, dashing through the flames and heading directly for the path of a meteor, as if he intends to deliver her there.

it's only as he passes that he bows his head to ookurikara - for choosing this way to end it. perhaps, the only way to end it in the way that would be in their favor, that would leave it impossible for him to survive no matter how he tried. after all, when they were very beginning, hadn't he said that he needed ookurikara's assistance still? to do what mikazuki munechika couldn't.... and yet he cannot help but think this is a more fitting way for ookurikara himself to end. he catches the fractures on his sword and is content with their meaning - the two of them will break here.

on a battlefield, completing their missions, not out of some forlorn sense of duty that would cause a sword to break itself. a more fitting end for a warrior, than a surrender to a friend.

mikazuki spares a passing glance to shess and the look on his face cannot be described as sadness - but perhaps a sense of understanding. that his hope in the past that it would not come to this was foolish, and that perhaps even now, his efforts are for naught. and yet... he hopes that shess meets an end that is fitting - with the happiness that he carries in one omamori, and the well wish held by the other. in the sentiment, the uncertainty that catches in mikazuki's heart, he wonders if he could have done better by his friend, and given him a version of events that did not involve an injury....

though it's rather too late now.

he deposits north as the meteor heads for them both, burning brightly and intensely, and sets her on the ground - though his hand guides her remaining one to rest on his arm, squeezing her fingers to close around him. she'll feel the tenseness in mikazuki's hand that does not show on his face, the way that he seems to be wrestling with every movement, even as his feet seem to want him to move. the corruption sinks its teeth into his selfish wish - a pure desire to live - and tries to urge him to leave. maybe if he were free, he would still jump out of the way, but he meets her eyes and leans his head in closer to hers, letting his voice drop in volume:]

Do make sure you won't let me get away.

I am sorry to rely on you - even now.

[and yet.

and yet....

a visit to his master's room to say goodbye to his most beloved person. a non-fatal stab wound for shess to make sure that the most popular candidate for last man standing didn't get too close to the fight so he might have the barest chance of outilving the rest. a fire to draw out north and bring the battle to her, so she might see the end as she wished. a warrior's death for ookurikara. a way to end everything, perhaps more spectacularly than necessary, but in a way that allowed everyone to hold onto their integrity.]

Splendid, splendid...

[what a funny and lonely feeling... for everything to go according to plan.

mikazuki closes his eyes and cannot help but recall - to go so long without a surprise, perhaps his heart truly died before his body.

the meteor impacts, instantly and destructively, and mikazuki angles his body so that he might take the hit first. the sword stabbed into ookurikara's heart fractures and breaks.

mikazuki munechika is dead.]

[televised]

[She struggles against his grip, of course. Kicking, flailing, trying to burn through his arm — anything to get his hands off her. But then he speaks, and—

She gets it.

This is his way of fulfilling her wish, one way or another.

She holds onto his arm as tightly as she can, nails digging into his flesh as the meteor steadily approaches them, nary a care for the injuries he has accumulated. All their friends are dead. Ookurikara is soon to follow. And Shess... Well. She can only hope that the fates suddenly decide to be a little bit kinder than they have so far. It would be nice if she could witness a happy ending for once in her life, wouldn't it? She would quite like that.

North closes her eyes as well, warnings displayed on her HUD as the temperature rapidly rises with the advent of the meteor. Mikazuki is close enough at this point that, even through chaos around them, he'll be able to hear her huff out a laugh. Quietly. Softly. Almost wry.]

... I still don't understand you.

[There's nothing else she wishes to say.

The meteor crashes down upon them, quickly followed by another and another and another. The village they once inhabited will most likely be reduced to rubble once this is all done, the sheer intensity of Ookurikara's last ditch attempt at taking Mikazuki down too much for the structures to resist. If North lingered long enough to witness this, she might think to apologize to Cinnabar for the shark, and to everyone else, for... well. It's a pity, really. She did say they shouldn't keep anything in a situation like this.

But she won't have a chance to see the aftermath.

North is dead.]

[unfriendliest]

[ his eyesight is already fading as the meteors start to crash into the ground, enough that he barely sees mikazuki pass. even now, moments from bleeding out, he refuses to fall, swaying with one hand on the blade in his chest, touch the only one of his senses left for ookurikara to rely on.

and then mikazuki munechika starts to crack, and finally he breaks, the pieces not embedded in his heart falling away. with a quiet, ragged sigh, ookurikara finally allows himself to follow, collapsing on the ground while the village falls down around them.

shess... where is shess? he'd been warned ahead of time, but there is no way to control this power once it's called upon. it would be all too easy to lose them all.

ookurikara closes his eye, exhaustion crashing down upon him. mikazuki is gone. his mission is complete. all he can do now is hope that the rest goes according to plan, and shess will take care of them all, in their absence.

it's almost funny - he's never been the one to leave someone behind. he's always been the last one, his only comrades taken away, killed in battle, or lost. since then, ookurikara has always been expected to be left alone. he'd learned to find solace in solitude, in the assurance that he wouldn't get attached only to lose someone again. somehow he'd failed to protect himself from that, here in this village. he'd always been more emotional than he wanted to admit - even mikazuki had known as much.

after so long of being left alone, being the one to leave is strange. does it always feel this bad, for the ones who go? do they always blame themselves for leaving? do they always leave promises unfulfilled, broken like a fallen sword on the battlefield? he wonders if he should apologize to tsuru, to lili, to mikazuki and to everyone who would have chosen him, for letting it end like this. they'd all known the time would come, ookurikara had come to this battle knowing he wouldn't walk away, but he'd promised -

ah, but even now, even with a human body to move his blade instead of relying on his master's hand, the choice still isn't his to make. it makes no difference - in the end, he is still a sword, still just a tool dedicated to his mission above all else.

the mission has ended. it's with this thought, the last reassurance he has, that the sword in his hand finally shatters.

ookurikara is dead. ]

[nonbelligerent]

[in the millions of years he's been alive, how often has he witnessed destruction like this? too often, frankly. usually worse, too.

still, his heart is heavy as the meteors fall, bringing with them the strength of ookurikara's determination. is he satisfied at all with this outcome, shess wonders. how would someone as prideful as his friend prefer to die—or to slay a comrade? and what of north, and of mikazuki?

but death is death, and it's naive to think that one can choose how it happens. if shess could, he would rather his come in battle, or when the universe itself finally ends, forsaken by the primeval gods. even so, he knows that there is no promise of dignity or fanfare. for all of his power, it is just as likely that he might die in disgrace and humiliation. few enemies will care for respect, after all.

this is hardly an ideal end. nevertheless, if nothing else, it'd be nice if the others could hold their heads high, even just a little.

despite mikazuki's attempts to keep him safe, shess remains within the range of ookurikara's meteors. he doesn't avert his eyes, even when the light becomes blinding. he does not feel fear, or flinch as the heat jumps to levels that would kill a human.

there's no running from this. pulling his hand away, shess stands his ground when the meteor makes its impact, as swiftly as with all the others.

a flash of pain, and then a moment of oblivion—

shess is dead.]

[nonbelligerent]

[—or is he?

though the impact undoubtedly decimated him...

mikazuki once talked about the lotus, as a flower that blooms in adversity. an apt metaphor for members of other species, but really, most would think of the sura as weeds. hated by all, in a universe that only seems to have less and less of a place for them as time goes on. yet despite being an ugly, unwanted existence, they continue to survive, heedless; weaker and stronger than anyone else.

and, perhaps, among them, there are few examples better than shess.



moments after, within the crater left behind, he rises to his feet on steady legs. bit by bit, skin and bone repair itself. now active, his regenerative abilities work their way through his body, as he begins walking towards ookurikara's corpse. when all is said and done, and the last of him reforms down to his gloves, he looks just as he did the day he arrived here. undamaged.

quietly, an unsealed omamori falls to the ground.]

... That's that, then...

[he's just surprised that it took this long to finally have a reason to use it.

a torrent of wind dissipates the flames before him. reaching down, he gathers the pieces of ookurikara's broken blade. gently, as if they might shatter further at his touch. he'll have to collect what he can of mikazuki's as well, he thinks, before retrieving tsurumaru's. he made his promises. (he would've, at least, liked to be able to say his goodbyes, but it's always too late.)

dimly, it occurs to shess what he would normally do on this day, after waking up. perhaps cinnabar would shyly approach him as they did, or he, milla, and valvatorez would go over recent events and future plans. he, emma, and axel would likely discuss their findings (teasing would be involved, somehow), or he and ookurikara would talk business in a conversation bound to be riddled with awkwardness at one point. he might see mikazuki, and if he didn't, the latter would send him flowers and tea as a reminder that he's there for him.

(shess told him, didn't he? that it was better for him not to be spoiled by the other's kindness.)

this time, he wonders how much longer he has before this farce ends. he has the inane thought that he should check for any creatures that might've survived ookurikara's final attack—oh, but the farm animals should be safe. he might have to feed them, if the day passes without incident. ah, the work to do never ends...

after all, there's no one else left but him.

and as always, he will play his part.

shess is alive.]