[Semi-Open] An Esteemed Guest of Lohkimareen

[warmare]

WHO: Hayame (warmare) & Makoto('s Head) (affal) & You
WHAT: Visits, interrogations, supply drops, medical aid, nightmares, maybe an eventual rescue?
WHERE: Lohkimareen, near the Valley of the Innocent
WHEN: Throughout Sekiseri (Sept.)
WARNINGS: there is a living severed head in this log and almost no one is going to be nice to him + a variety of referenced CW's (torture, amputation, SA, etc.)

[There is a new resident of the forest of Lohkimareen, to the west along the border with the Valley of the Innocent. It had taken portals and days of travel to make her way there, but Hayame (and her unwilling "guest") now call those woods... "home", following the advice of the aion Tehri, who assured that the Regent's eyes should not be able to penetrate the trees. So for now, Hayame and the severed head of the Kenoma Makoto tied to her withers spend their nights in hollow trees and caves, moving location each day, just in case, even though the forest is supposed to protect them.

Perhaps she would have spent those days quietly, putting her efforts into recovering from her injuries... if Makoto would stop waking in the night and mouthing off at her, and if he was not a valuable potential resource to the Pleroma, some of their number which desire to speak to him. But she will not trust his "care" to another, not when he was... something. Her trophy, her hostage. Even when others come to call, she refuses to leave the "room", even if she will largely leave them to their devices as long as the visitors do not touch or attempt to mess with the shard in the man's skull. ... There's a bit for when he gets too mouthy, blinders and earplugs for when sensitive information needs be discussed between only the Pleroma. Other than that, he looks... almost well taken care of.

Supplies need to be brought, Hayame needs medical care for the raw eye socket where her left eye had been, there are interrogations and talks with Makoto to be done... But what business has brought you here today?]

starters and wildcards go below! please use the OOC plotting post to check-in first, plz and thanks!

Comments

cw gore mention (oops)

[affal]

( when makoto had first come to in the wake of the Pleroma's attack on achamoth and fully realized the situation his confrontation with hayame had landed him in, he'd been impossibly animated, a tiny avatar of almost comical bitter fury. he had shouted, hissed, snarled, spit, snapped; he had poured every ounce of anger, shame, humiliation, and degradation that he felt into the impossibly small amount of personal agency that he had. with his head severed as it is, there is precious little he can do. he can move the muscles of his face, he can close his eyes and turn his gaze, he can open his mouth to speak or to bite, but that's it. that is the full extent of his control over his own body. being trapped in this state against his will brings back memories he prefers not to entertain for too long — of his mortal death, of being taken into hell unsuspecting and unawares, of making his first defiant stand against J and his wishes, only to have his head wrenched off, fingers forced up through his throat, and then his refusal flagrantly refused in turn while he was made to watch, powerless to do anything about it. he understands now that back then, it had been a lesson that J had decided to teach him. "an act of defiance is meaningless unless you have the strength to back up your assertions." that's what he had forced him to learn, in a way that he would never forget. a way that had shifted and altered his mind in a way that was indelible.

"reaching a goal takes power. taste various things, mako-chan — swallow them, and learn."

here, he has been swallowing nothing but his own pride. the alternating intrigued, disgusted, fearful, and furious gazes of those that came by to either offer hayame supplies or aid or to take a look at the bizarre captive that the Pleroma had managed to take.

imprisonment does odd things to one's mind, and there's no one that would understand that more than the two that came to visit him this day. he no longer knows how to direct his thoughts. they form a shapeless and indistinct morass; sometimes they form points and valleys from spikes or depressions of emotion, but he is without drive. he is without direction, purpose, or hope. anticipation of rescue had died within his first few days in hayame's captivity, consumed by the gnawing dread that the Abyss had leeched into his mind. it has since faded, and with it, his conception of where any of this might lead. what is the end result of this? as far as he is aware, there are only two options: he somehow finds his way back to the Kenoma, or he finds his end out here, one way or another.

for whatever reason, hayame has a very specific ritual she performs when preparing him for visitors, and so he is always aware it's going to happen. who it is that is coming to see him and why, however, is a mystery until the last. the amount of time he has spent in her captivity has hollowed his wretched defiance, so rather than (ineffectually) attempting to thrash or make noise, he is oddly still and quiet where his placed upon the low, flat stone. a horse's bit has been forced into his mouth, and the sharp, inhuman teeth of the demon curve over it; his tongue is pinned uncomfortable and useless by the unfeeling metal, and he has absolutely no control over the faint line of drool that curls down from a corner of his mouth.

he is aware that he looks dreadfully pathetic. and when the figure that moves to stand before him resolves from an indistinct silhouette to an all-too-familiar young woman, he feels his blood run cold. especially when his pale eyes flick over her shoulder to take note of the tall figure that waits near hayame in the cavern entrance.

his eyes slowly move back to himeka. silently, he acknowledges her speaking his initial; it would only embarrass him to try to make any aural reply, given the bit in his mouth. he glares at her for a long moment, unblinking, and then he makes the only action he is able to do in this moment: after considering, he slowly closes his eyes, the metal in his mouth clinking ever-so-slightly as the pressure between his jaws increases, anticipatory.

one might think he's doing so to try to imply that he's ignoring her... but that's not his intention. it's odd. he would be hard-pressed to say he felt guilt for what he did to her, and what he did to abel by extension. he has spent the last few years being encouraged not to feel such a way, and it was so freeing when you released it. but, that having been said... he told abel once that he believed in actions and consequences. he had not done what he'd done to them thinking it would never come back to haunt him. if this is the price that he pays for what he had done then in the dungeon in the very bowels of the citadel, then... he closes his eyes to accept it. whatever she or her companion want to say to him, to do to him — well, what else can he do but accept it?

there might even be some unacknowledged, vestigial part of him that welcomes it. )

y'all can skip me for a while! i'll hop back in at the end or do seperate after/other day threads?

[warmare]

[The whoremonger and the healer woman do not look to the same to her as they did when she last laid eyes upon them. Eyes, back in what already seems like a different world and time when she had both. But even just her singular remaining eye can see... They are different. Changed. Perhaps not injured in body so much, any longer, yet... Despite that, despite the danger they had gone through and survived... Those callous, distancing monikers is largely how she has been referring to them in her head, because though she had been given their names... She had not asked them for such a thing.

Other people used their names. Said them with desperation and fondness and respect and worry and something that might be called love. It reminded her of how the other jinba had sounded when they called for Matsukaze, in a village in a world that might not even exist anymore. Hayame had only used their names with one person, because that person also put esteem upon them, and she had sworn her bow to him in exchange for the service he had offered her. Out of respect for one of the dreadfully few people she had allowed to know her... She had said them. Himeka and Abel.

But that man is gone now.

Hayame remains, with the trophy she had hoped would fill the hollow ache in her hearts, like exacting her revenge on him had momentarily filled her shard, dimming as the light of hope died inside of it, with enough rage to fight back despair. She watches over what she'd once promised to put in that man's hands, the head of the demon that had killed him. He wanted to capture Kenoma and not kill them, to find ways to free them of the Regent's influence, and she had delivered on her promise to help too late. Perhaps it's obvious that this victory is ringing far hollower than she had once imagined. That the price had been too high.

But she nods in acknowledgement at Himeka's offering, and picks it up. She nods to Abel, and allows him to stand beside her without showing displeasure or frustration. Perhaps a part of her is even... relieved, when for days and days her company has largely consisted of the decapitated head of an enemy whose nightmares and paranoia and humiliation had been echoed back by their shared legacy. A head that Himeka now addresses...

And who she watches, unable to let go of her duty as jailor and twisted caretaker both, eyes trained to make sure the demon does not call upon the Regent's power he had threatened her with the first day to prevent her from tampering with his shard, the same threat of self-immolation and unknown levels of damage to everything around him that kept her in this isolated cave instead of amongst her "fellows".

Though her stomachs turn at the idea of food, though her mind rebels against the idea of doing such a thing while in her role as overseer... Hayame is too hungry not to take small bites from Himeka's offering as the "visit" begins.]