Deep Dark (open)
Seiji Okura
Musician

Age: 32 | Height: 5'7" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
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#1
Trigger Warning 
Night has fallen.

and fallen.

and fallen.

Darkness wails beyond the walls like a living thing. Time dissolves into a series of images: light glancing off the edge of a glass; blood staining the wood of the doorway; a hand tightening on the hilt of a knife. Nervous chatter, drunken laughter, the half-choked sobs of someone hidden in the crowd. For some reason, Seiji thinks this must be what war is like. Waiting in a bunker while the world ends outside. The concept is here in his head, but he does not think he has ever known war. Only this fairytale version of it, a version involving other people. Something he looks in on from the outside.

Even now, he feels a little as if he is watching himself from somewhere else. Despite the shaking in his hands, despite the frantic beat beat beat of his caged heart, he is strangely calm. He has moved toward the side of the room, his back against a wall, his pack beside him. He sits on the floor now, his legs folded up against his chest. He feels… better like this. There are not quite enough chairs to hold all the people in this building, anyway. Several feet to his left is a window, the curtains drawn, though he thinks he can feel cold air seeping in around the edges, anyway, the way cold air does when the night outside is cold beyond cold.

He is trying not to think about it. He is trying not to think about what happened the first time someone opened the door. Or who he recognizes in the crowd (who he would recognize, but cannot find). Instead, he holds a small knife in one hand and half a chestnut branch in the other. He hollows out the inside with short strokes, pausing every now and then to measure — two fingers pressed here, one there — before he returns to his work. It goes slowly because of the way his hands shake. But he is trying not to think about that. About how, despite their kindness, none of the people in Caido are yet friends. He trusts none of them to protect him from whatever is happening outside. They do not seem able even to protect themselves.
Vervain Calob
Huntress / Witch

Age: 44 | Height: 5'9 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 5 - Strg: 11 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 16 - Int:
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#2

vervain

The door, the death, the baby. It felt as though LongNight had barely begun and already things had descended into chaos. Vervain didn't blame any one of them for wanting to stay within the main room of the Rathskeller, though there was an air of exhaustion and rippling tension about the place that spoke of tightly coiled springs, of snapping tempers, of mutiny. She had never considered that they might succumb to cabin fever, but already the telltale frays on nerves were there.

It was as she moved to clean the bar down and make a sweep of the tavern (ensuring there was enough food, water and comfort for those hunkered on the floor or around the tables) when she came upon the young man whittling. He was alone, something that spoke volumes in such a caged room as this, and she stepped over to him after refilling the jug at another table.

"Hey." Her voice was quiet and soft, Vai crouching down before him. "Are you alright? Do you want me to get you anything?"

Seiji Okura
Musician

Age: 32 | Height: 5'7" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 10 - Int:
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#3
Part of shutting out fear is replacing it with something else. Seiji concentrates so hard on his current task he doesn’t notice the dark-haired woman standing over him until she speaks. Her voice is gentle, but still startles him — the sudden nearness of a stranger, the movement in the corner of his eye.

Seiji’s hands draw in reflexively, the knife blade skidding over wood. By some miracle, he fails to harm himself, but his heart beats double-time in his ears. A terrible crescendo of sound blocking out the noise in the rest of the room.

She crouches before him, bringing herself down to his level. Nothing about her is threatening, once he has the opportunity to take her in. But his nerves are still on edge, still waiting for something terrible to happen. He tries to smile though, consciously bleeding the fear from his face.

“No. Thank you.” Surely there are others who need more attention than he. He is fine, and safe enough for the moment. Just… “I am not used to this,” he explains. “I feel like… I should do something.”
Vervain Calob
Huntress / Witch

Age: 44 | Height: 5'9 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 5 - Strg: 11 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 16 - Int:
COCO - Regular - Cloud Wyrm
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#4

vervain

Vai smiled apologetically, holding up her hands and shifting back ever so slightly. It was impossible not to tell that she had startled him, though she certainly hadn't meant to. "Alright," she murmured, her smile softening. Maybe it was true and he didn't need anything, but either way she couldn't force anyone to accept help. Letting out a sigh that was almost a laugh as he spoke again, she nodded to him in agreement.

"Me neither... I mean. Where I was from, I was hardly sheltered. But this... it's madness isn't it?" Tucking a lock of hair back from her face, she tilted her head and seemed thoughtful at the prospect of him feeling like he ought to do something. "Well... I run this place, or close to it as possible. Do you want me to show you around, and you can see if there's anything you can help with? It's not... I know it's not the same as doing something about whatever's out there, but keeping busy might help." She straightened up, holding out a hand in case he wanted help getting up.

"I'm Vai, by the way."

Seiji Okura
Musician

Age: 32 | Height: 5'7" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 10 - Int:
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#5
“Rathskeller is yours?” Maybe he ought not be so surprised, but he is. Seiji pauses only to stow his things before accepting her hand and rising nimbly to his feet. Somehow, he had never really thought about who owned the bar. Of course someone had to. Though if Seiji were to picture such a person, it would likely not be the calm, dark-haired woman before him.

“I would like to help,” he manages, nodding. “If I can. It is much harder to be helpless inside, I think.” Powerless, he means. Listening to the screams of the dying, or the already dead — whatever they are. “Very kind of you to let everyone in here,” Seiji adds. His eyes skate over her face, considering. Though he does not know her, he knows much about her already, doesn’t he? That she must be a generous person. And a capable one. "My name is Seiji," he returns with a smile. "I'm happy I can thank you in person."

“It’s a good thing we have strong walls,” he adds, talkative now he has someone to talk to, the words running just a little fast over his tongue.
Vervain Calob
Huntress / Witch

Age: 44 | Height: 5'9 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 5 - Strg: 11 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 16 - Int:
COCO - Regular - Cloud Wyrm
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#6

vervain

"Well, I fixed it up when I first arrived. Cleaned up the bar and the back rooms and the barrels. And no one has come along to say that it belongs to them instead, so I guess so." Vai smiled to Seiji as she helped him get on his feet, nodding and leading him behind the bar as he said he'd like to help. "That's what I thought, too. I don't think anyone could change what's happening out there, not by themselves. So if we keep busy... well. At least we can do something."

Behind the bar, there were glasses in need of a wash and bottles to be arranged, but Vai was on that already. "I'm glad you're here, Seiji. I didn't realise so many would come, but I guess a lot of people must have wanted a place to wait out LongNight." She nodded in agreement about the walls, though secretly Vai wished she had made them stronger still.

"There's a box under the bar," she said. "It's full of first aid supplies, but I think they're in need of a reorganise, if you could do that?"

Regardless of Seiji's decision, he wouldn't be alone - the true owner of the Rathskeller was already ambling his way along the counter to investigate the newcomer. Chunk paused to butt his feline head against Vai's hand, before prowling up to Seiji and watching him expectantly.

Seiji Okura
Musician

Age: 32 | Height: 5'7" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 10 - Int:
Played by: kae Offline
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Posts: 149 | Total: 255
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#7
“More difficult to be afraid when your hands are busy,” Seiji agrees. He follows quietly in her wake, considering the room with new eyes, imagining cobwebs across the roof, dust on the floor. It must have been so dreary when she took it over, but now it bustles with life, a beating heart below the temple’s quiet floor.

“There are many like myself,” he says, thoughtful. “Outlanders. I understand there were not always so many?” After her comment about finding the Rathskeller, he suspects she must be an Outlander, as well, but does not wish to assume. It does seem strange to him, the more he considers it — the more of them he meets. As if this place is a spider’s web, drawing them in.

That line of thinking spooks him, so he sets it aside to search behind the bar instead, his nimble fingers reaching delicately for the edges of a box. Locating it, he pulls it out and sets it on the counter. The contents are indeed rather jumbled inside: bandages, several small containers, a bundle of something that looked like tree bark. Even if he had been a nurse in his past life, Seiji suspects he would not recognise many of the items used in Caido to treat common ailments. He nonetheless begins grouping things together by size, better to fit them back inside and keep them from shifting around too much.

He fails to notice the cat until it butts its fluffy head into his workspace, warm fur brushing across the knuckles of one hand. With a start, not quite fearful but surprised, Seiji glances up at it. Immediately, his face breaks into a wide, delighted smile. “You have a cat!”

He stills his nearest hand for the cat to inspect before he lets his knuckles knead into the fur of its cheek. “I think I used to have a cat,” he says cheerfully, his worry momentarily forgotten. Satisfied it will not be angry with him, he runs a hand down its back, smiling as a rumbling purr emanates up from its chest.
Vervain Calob
Huntress / Witch

Age: 44 | Height: 5'9 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 5 - Strg: 11 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 16 - Int:
COCO - Regular - Cloud Wyrm
Played by: Honey Offline
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#8

vervain

"That's what I've been told, too," Vai agreed from across the bar, nodding to Seiji. "Though I'm an Outlander myself, I came through with a large group of people. To speak to the natives, a group of that size is almost unheard of. Most are like yourself, as far as I understand. I hope it hasn't been too difficult for you, though." Smiling, she turned back to her work, falling into a comfortable silence up until his introduction to the Rathskeller's resident feline.

Glancing over her shoulder, Vai grinned and watched as the cat dutifully received his fuss from Seiji. In truth she still wondered if he really was a cat some days, all bandy legged with one eye, but the purr betrayed him. "I think he would say it was the other way around," she remarked with a smirk; she didn't have him at all. "His name is Chunk. He's lazy as all heck, and he came with the place. He seems to like you. But... you said you think you did? Do you not know?"

Seiji Okura
Musician

Age: 32 | Height: 5'7" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 10 - Int:
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#9
"A group?" Seiji looks up, his brows lifting in surprise. He is about to ask, but before he can Vervain explains the rarity of such a thing, and Seiji nods, mystified. "That must make things easier for you," he says with a nod. "But things are not too hard for me. Everyone in Caido seems very kind." From Jigano, who had led him to the Sanctuary on that first fateful night, to Kiada welcoming Seiji into her home, to Ronin presenting him with extra clothes... Yes, such kindness seems in direct contrast to the harshness of the land.

His attention returns briefly to the box in front of him. Working around the cat, Seiji finishes replacing the contents, leaving out a couple of near-empty containers. Speaking about his past is easier with something else to occupy his hands. The more people he speaks with, the clearer it seems he is an outlier. "I don't remember," he explains, a short shake of his head. "I remember some things, but... Very little. I lived by the ocean, I think. I played music." He glances up from his work (and from the cat) to mimic the posture one might take with a violin on one's shoulder, his right arm working an invisible bow. "I remember a cat, too. A white one." He smiles down at Chunk. "I don't know her name. But it makes me happy to see a familiar pet like this." He reaches out again to stroke the cat's fur, privately far more pleased than even his expression shows.

Finished with his task, Seiji replaces the box and pushes the empty containers toward Vervain. "These I think should be restocked," he says. His hand moves absently back to rub one of the cat's cheeks. "Most people I met seem to remember where they came from. Do you know of... anyone else like me?"
Vervain Calob
Huntress / Witch

Age: 44 | Height: 5'9 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 5 - Strg: 11 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 16 - Int:
COCO - Regular - Cloud Wyrm
Played by: Honey Offline
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Posts: 1,328 | Total: 16,313
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#10

vervain

"It would be wrong of me not to say it was easier - I don't know any different. But I can imagine not knowing anyone would be... well. Stressful." Vai agreed with a rueful smile, nodding in agreement about the attitudes of the people.

"Hopefully I can continue that trend by saying that you only have to ask if there's anything you need. Even if it's just to pet the cat." She couldn't help but laugh as she watched him with the box - Chunk made it quite clear that he was neither going anywhere nor doing anything to help, purring away like a tractor as Seiji worked.

Nodding her thanks at the items in need of replenishment, Vai gathered them together and put them to one side to deal with once they were finished speaking. "By the ocean? I miss the ocean... there's only the Glade here, that comes close," she murmured. At least he could visit there, if he wanted to.

"Oh, I see... that's... I'm sorry," she murmured, a note of sadness in her voice. "I can't say I've heard anything yet, about others with lost memories. But I can keep my ear to the ground for you."

Seiji Okura
Musician

Age: 32 | Height: 5'7" | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: 2 - Strg: 10 - Dext: 25 - Endr: 12 - Luck: 10 - Int:
Played by: kae Offline
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Posts: 149 | Total: 255
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#11
Seiji smiles up at her. “Thank you,” he said. “I think you have done a lot already to allow everyone to stay here.” In truth, it seemed an unimaginable kindness. The amount of preparation required to house so many people for so long, to keep them all safe… To say Vervain had Seiji’s respect would be an understatement.

Seiji also misses the sea, in the same way he misses everything he can recall about his old home. Caido is a far cry from the shores of home, a different kind of desolation than the rocky shoreline Seiji pictures in his fractured memories. Maybe one day they would both see the ocean again. he hopes so. Surely Caido borders a sea somewhere.

“Thank you.” Seiji smiles faintly in response to her offer. “It would be nice, if I knew of anyone else like me.” He is fine, of course, but a little perturbed to be such an outlier. “And, if you need help while I am here…” he gestures around at the room. “Please ask. I am happy to offer.” Finished with his task for the moment, though, Seiji leaned against the bar, content to linger and pet the cat until it tired of his attention.
Vervain Calob
Huntress / Witch

Age: 44 | Height: 5'9 | Race: Abandoned | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 5 - Strg: 11 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 19 - Luck: 16 - Int:
COCO - Regular - Cloud Wyrm
Played by: Honey Offline
Change author:
Posts: 1,328 | Total: 16,313
MP: 0
#12

vervain

"Well, it seemed like a large enough space to accommodate everyone. But I'd be lying if I said it had been easy," Vai said with a wry sort of grin, nodding to Seiji and glancing out at the people milling around. She also didn't think she had it in her to do this a second time, but with any luck all of those who had found themselves with nowhere to go would be much better prepared next LongNight.

She hummed agreement at the thought of finding others like him, watching her guests still and trying to rack her brain for any conversations of that ilk. So far as she could tell, though, everyone who had come through had done so with their memories intact. "Thank you, Seiji. I might very well do that," Vai said, nodding and collecting up the containers to go and replenish their contents (if she could - it might have to wait until the return of the sun).

Seiji would be free to pet Chunk for as long as he was happy to do so. The feline, lazy as it was, appreciated the fuss and purred a reward at the Outlander happily.

{END}



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