graveyardsmash | TEST DRIVE MEME

Entry tags:

test drive

TEST DRIVE MEME

TEST DRIVE MEME: MAY

Welcome to the Ryslig Test Drive Meme! Below are a few prompts to get you started, but you may make up any prompt you desire! Please take a look at the navigation page for rules, setting information, and links to reserves and apps. Have fun!

SCENARIO ONE

You wake up on the beach thoroughly drenched with your mouth full of sand. The salt water causes various cuts and scrapes on your skin to sting and the sand isn't helping. The air is slightly humid, ruining any feeling of refreshment you might have gotten from your dip in the ocean. There are lights in the distance but the unfriendly scent of gunpowder fills the air. If you're lucky, you're alone. If not, you might find yourself staring up into a pair of monstrous eyes or down the barrel of a local's shotgun.

SCENARIO TWO

So you've just arrived, and already some of the natives are trying to get on your good side with offers of food, shelter and other luxuries in return for hoping you don't eat them. They even have some helpful pamphlets to share with you. "How To Deal With Changes", "Alternatives to Human Flesh", "What to Expect When You're Expecting (to turn into a monster)" are all great pamphlets. There's even some detailing certain monsters, and the changes they go through. Some of these seem to have been passed down from one monster to the next.

Among these however, are some... not so helpful ones. "Bunnyipyips And You", "Axe Thief Axehounds," and "So you're becoming a Fur Bearing Trout" among others. Sometimes they have marks on them from previous people who had them saying they are lies, or pointing out good "jokes." Then there's the people who aren't happy to see you at all. Glares and silent, judging stares if you're lucky, torches and pitchforks attempting to drive you out of the town if you're not. You may need a friend to help you.

SCENARIO THREE

"Seek us out," the voice whispers in your head, and before you have time to question it you've found yourself in someplace entirely alien. Maybe it's the Fog God's ghostly town of Dyster, where exultant followers dance around bonfires and sing their praises to the skies above. Maybe it's the Fourth God's arcade, with small robots wheeling about amidst the lights and colors of old pinball machines. Only one thing is certain: you are not alone, in this sacred place.

SCENARIO FOUR

The time has come and you've found yourself becoming a monster. Is the change instant, or gradual? Are you familiar enough with monsters to know what's happening, or is it a complete shock? Feel free to pick any monster type for this prompt, but note that you may not get the same one in game.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

i.

[There's nothing that could have prepared him for this sort of revival. When you go off into the light you don't expect to wake up on a beach after dark. For a moment he's afraid that he'd failed to release the technique somehow, or that he'd once again been pulled back via resurrection.

He's wearing the deep red robe placed on him by Kabuto and his left eye is still as blind as it was after he'd cast Izanami, but this body isn't the replicated form he'd been given when revived. It's flesh and blood. A heart beats soundly within his chest and light scratches on his skin make visible the color beneath.

He's alive, and he can't understand why. All he can do is stand and take stock of the area, which is completely unfamiliar.]

Sasuke?

[The name is muttered softly, easily lost in the sea breeze. Even if he doesn't know what's going on, there are very few people he knows of who would want to or even be able to bring him back again.]

ii.

[A pamphlet falls from someone's arms as they scurry past him and Itachi bends down to pick it up. He's about to address the individual, thinking they'll want it back, when the contents catch his attention.

He's heard about the monsters, of course, but this isn't the sort of information he was expecting to find about them. Instead of returning it right away, he finds himself squinting in bafflement at an article on "bunnyipyips".

Sorry if that pamphlet was yours.]

iii.a.

[The idea of following strange voices in this place didn't sit well with him, but if anyone could give him the answers he wanted it would be the one who'd brought them here in the first place.

It had been easier to find himself in Dyster than he'd expected, and it's a lot livelier here than the dead town some of the locals had described it as. This is a place reserved for those who follow this god, which makes the entire situation an uncomfortable one.]

Excuse me. [Itachi addresses the first monster he happens across.] Is there someplace here I can go to speak with the fog god in person?

iii.b.

[Conversely, the ninja may find himself somehow in the arcade of the fourth god. He's been faced with strange new technology here already, but the blinking lights and sounds of the arcade machines are more than a little headache inducing. He's unable to help the constant frown across his face as he walks the length of the area.

Whether he likes the arcade or not, though, he's curious about the being that runs it. He won't kid himself with thinking that a human turned god will be more sympathetic to their plight. If anything, it could be just the opposite. But the fourth god is gathering followers just as the fog god is, and if he can gain an advantage through learning more about him then Itachi's willing to risk stepping into his domain for a while.

He stops at one of the machines eventually. Surely there's a point to them aside from simply wasting ones time. Nudging the joystick with one hand does nothing, so he begins tapping buttons instead, which gets the game started and leaves him staring confusedly at the shapes that go flying across the black background. What's he supposed to be doing, exactly?]

[ Sasuke's left ear twitches, a full up-and-down flap like a deer's. The voice is not within human earshot, but Sasuke hears it loud and clear, a bell toll among murmurs despite the din of Dyster. He'd recognize it anywhere. ]

[ It takes him only a moment or two of scanning through the streets to spot him - one of only a few still-humans in a town of ghosts and monsters. Sasuke had known the new arrivals had landed not long ago, but he had been making a point not to check. Not to get his hopes up. Not to think about it, as much as possible. ]

[ Itachi keeps falling into his lap anyway. ]

[ He approaches quickly, shushing the voice screaming human human why is he human why is he wearing those robes, and, as the other monster starts explaining how to send prayer to the Fog God, speaks from a few feet behind and to the right of Itachi's right shoulder. ]

This one's from my home. I'll talk to him from here.

Edited 2017-05-15 15:06 (UTC)

[Itachi turns his attention immediately from the townsperson he'd been talking to when Sasuke speaks. Having not yet run into any other recognizable ninja, he hadn't been sure he wasn't the only one. Of anyone else he could have found here, his brother is one he'd expected the least. After all, he had better places to be.]

Sasuke.

[It's not a question, just an acknowledgement. Whatever this place has done to change him, he'd recognize the younger Uchiha anywhere. That doesn't mean his gut doesn't twist up at the sight. The deity in charge has no right to bring Sasuke here and change him however she wants.

What anger he feels is displayed only as a slight frown, easily doubling as concern. He keeps his left eye closed, though the vision in his right one is clear.]

[ The other monster says something about being glad the two of them found each other before taking their exit, and Sasuke has to remind himself to tick his gaze to them and incline his head slightly in a nod. Since coming here, he's learned slowly to pick up social norms here and there - more to keep under the radar than anything - but Itachi's presence nearly makes him forget everything. Narrow everything down to just the two of them, even here in the street. It's always been that way. ]

Niisan.

[ His own acknowledgement is simple, but says much. Not Itachi. Niisan. ]

[ The frown tells him more than the robes, the closed eye, even the solidity of flesh. Itachi should be smiling to see him. Not even a terribly demonstrative smile - but this? He knows the stories. He's not sure if this makes it easier or more difficult to believe that Ryslig is just another name for yomi. ]

You haven't been here before.

[ That, too, isn't a question. ]

...No. I have not.

[The way Sasuke phrases that makes it sound as though he should have, which is boggling to him. If events had occurred that he lost all memory of that would be one thing, but that's not what his brother had said. He didn't say 'you don't remember'. He said 'you haven't been here', and that's a very important distinction.

What is he missing?

He can't even say it's good to see Sasuke, because it isn't. Not like this. He should be glad to be able to spend more time with him and part of him is, but he would have preferred different circumstances than this twisted menagerie.

The ninja focuses on his brother's face. He doesn't want to stare at the wings and scales and other various additions. Not only is that likely to make the young man uncomfortable, but learning about those physical changes is actually low on his list of priorities.]

I didn't expect to see you.

[ Nothing breaks in Sasuke's chest, but something forms surface cracks, superficial but difficult to ignore. This isn't the Itachi who pulled him out of his own grave, who packed numbing snow into the gashes on his head when horns split out of his skull, who shared a home with him for the first time in years. He has none of the memories, none of the experience of slowly opening to each other, forming a bond that could be called brotherly again. And without that, he can't know what all of it means to Sasuke. ]

[ But it's cracks, and not breaks, because this is still Itachi. There's no part of him that believes, or even considers, that this Itachi, pulled from a different point in his timeline than the one who was here for longer than Sasuke really knows, could possibly be intrinsically different. ]

[ Itachi can't know what has happened here before, but that doesn't - can't - mean he wouldn't have done the same, or the same enough to count. ]

[ It must show on his face - though he doesn't know whether Itachi can see that, without his Sharingan - but Sasuke can't bring himself to care. ]

[ In answer, he pops open the top few snaps of his shirt, exposing enough chest to show a vertical scar, its length the width of his own chokuto, over his heart and lung. ]

Madara.

Edited 2017-05-15 20:39 (UTC)

[As Sasuke opens his shirt, Itachi's gaze snaps immediately to the displayed scar and all the blood in his veins turns to ice. The single spoken name only compounds the feeling.

If there was anyone who could escape the ending of the Edo Tensei, it would be Madara. If there was anyone who could then defeat his brother handily in combat it would be Madara. That Sasuke had ended up facing him head on isn't surprising, whether their ancestor had gone after him directly or the younger ninja had attacked him first. The details don't matter. What his brother is insinuating is his own death, and while he'd always foreseen that as a possibility he's having a hard time coming to terms with it.

Because if he'd died then Itachi had failed and Naruto had failed and it's as though the universe had just spit in his face and laughed at how he'd bothered to put his trust in anyone or anything.

This is all wrong.]

Madara...

[His one good eye remains focused on that marking a few moments longer before he switches his attention sharply to the other ninja's face.]

How long has it been? Time seems to be off for me.

[His tone is carefully controlled, anger contained through a good amount of force.]

Edited 2017-05-16 04:28 (UTC)

[ This Itachi doesn't react as openly as the last - but the last had been here, had been acclimating to a life after death, long before Sasuke arrived. And when this meeting happened last, they'd been alone. ]

[ What does happen is Itachi's core temperature rises. Not much, but enough for Sasuke, gargoyle, to feel, to smell. That is better, immediately, than the dead-cold impassivity of the previous Itachi's incorporeality. And it tells Sasuke as much as if Itachi had contorted his face or snapped his words or both. ]

By the calendar I first arrived here two years ago. There are multiple gaps in my memory, one six months long. [ A pause. ] When I first remember being here, there was an Itachi, already transformed. [ He doesn't say another, because he can't think that they aren't the same one from different points in their time. ] I wouldn't trust the flow of time here to be fixed to the one from home.

[What comes out of Sasuke's mouth are some of the most confusing lines of dialogue he's ever heard. The words all make sense but the concepts defy logic. He speaks of 'an Itachi', as if another version of himself existing prior to this is commonplace. Is he so certain that wasn't him? If Sasuke has gaps in his memory then it's plausible Itachi has gaps in his. He could have been transformed and then changed back for whatever reason, if this place really is run by fickle gods.

He knows all about altering the flow of time, at least. The rest he'll have to figure out as he goes.

The ninja takes a deep breath, eyes shutting in what might as well be a slow blink but in reality is a way of settling his nerves. All this is a little too much for him to not be visually aggravated.]

Is there somewhere we can go and talk?

[There's a lot he needs to be caught up on, apparently.]

[ On the one hand, Sasuke had gotten well used to Itachi being expressive, here. He had put a conscious effort into it, with Sasuke in particular, that was sometimes strained but mostly honest. On the other, this is Itachi from a different point in time, and seeing this much from him is just short of jarring. But it's also an odd comfort to see, both the upset at this situation - on his behalf - and the expression, any expression. ]

...I can take you straight to where I live, from here. It'll be difficult for you to leave the grounds on your own, but I can explain when we arrive.

[ He doubts this will be a comfortable trip, but it's where Sasuke entered Dyster from today, so it's where he - and Itachi - will return. He pulls a small key from an inner pocket of his shirt and approaches a side door at a less busy-looking building. As he inserts the key into the lock, the keyhole seems to yawn and stretch to accommodate it. When he turns it, the sound of the lock opening is a decisive, heavy thunk. ]

[ When he opens the door, Itachi will see past him into a room that, except for the furniture itself, will look incredibly familiar, from the (now much faded) green of the walls and floor to the placement of the window. Sasuke doesn't apologize, or hesitate, before stepping through. Itachi can choose to follow him at whatever pace. ]

[The key is a curiosity, but if his brother has a way to enter and leave the fog god's domain does that make him a follower of hers? Sasuke is resourceful, but he's not known for making the best choices when it comes to allegiance, no matter his reasons. Itachi doesn't know enough about this world yet to make any judgments, and even if he did he's long since lost the right to tell his brother what to do. Sasuke can make his own decisions.

When the door opens, all that becomes less important anyway. He has to take a moment to question reality, and whether he was actually brought back or if this is actually purgatory. He'd almost started to feel grounded here, but these past few minutes have had a very surreal, dreamlike quality. Is he stuck in his own mind after all?

He hesitates a long moment on the threshold before following Sasuke in. His footsteps are slow at first, but eventually resume a normal pace as he catches up with him.]

This is where you live?

[His tone is somewhat hushed, as though speaking too loudly might rouse the spirits of the dead, but otherwise betrays none of whatever else he might be feeling at seeing their former home.]

[ Sasuke would have to be a completely numb kind of blind not to notice everything, to feel the seconds of hesitation drawing out like hours, to pace Itachi's footfalls as through quicksand against his usual easy gait. Sasuke doesn't turn back, doesn't stare at Itachi as he finally enters, only closes the door quietly once he's completely crossed the threshold. He didn't expect a terribly different reaction than this. ]

It's different from the one we used to live in. Smaller. I'm pretty sure it's a gag gift from the powers here.

[ He'll elaborate on that - on Tikbalang, and now Mana - later. ]

It's secluded enough in the woods. No one comes here. It's better than some apartment in a building full of noise. [ Full of other people. It's also better than sleeping in broken-into basements and the abandoned rooms of the hunted and eaten, but that's a tiring conversation Sasuke doesn't need to have. ]

[A joke, is it? Perhaps he shouldn't be surprised. Still, Sasuke claims to live here. He's still attached to it, even with all it stands for and all that happened here.

Itachi has to restrain himself from reaching out to run a hand along one of the walls. He hasn't been inside this house, copy or not, since that day when he was thirteen. He still remembers every detail: every crack in the floor and scratch on the wall. His whole chest aches at the sight of it. He's not sure he could live here the same way his brother does.]

As long as it's what you want.

[For the long term, for just these next few moments, it doesn't matter. They'll talk wherever Sasuke leads him to. If the young man sits down in the same spot he'd run their parents through he'd sit down along with him.]

Itachi Uchiha | Naruto

iii.a.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

i

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject