Susato Mikotoba 🌸 御琴羽 寿沙都 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
judicialassistant) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
dreamcrystals2023-01-09 08:01 pm
judicialassistant) wrote in dreamcrystals2023-01-09 08:01 pm
[02] three lies, one truth
Sender: Susato Mikotoba
To: Everyone
Subject: Passive dream recording
Warning: Descriptions of death (specifically: falling/burning, stabbing, freezing, drowning) and the crippling fear that comes with that.
When Susato is first seen, she is nigh unrecognizable. There's only a glimpse of her. Her hair is frazzled, long well past her shoulders, and the white dress she wears, accented by pinks, does not match the grim darkness of the cage she is in. Seconds later, there's a loud metallic clang as the cage is shut.
There's movement like a shaky camera, and you... no, Susato is looking into the eyes of one man who looks almost surprised to see her. As if he hadn't been the one to put her there.
"Mr Vigil?"
The voice is small and cracks like glass over the flames below.
Before he can respond, there's the sound of a lever and a deafening scream as a feeling of terrifying weightlessness takes over your body.
You're falling, and you don't know when you'll stop.
* * * * *
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
When the dream spits you out, you can taste a mixture of blood and dirt as you blink your eyes open. They sting like you've been crying, and when you bring your filthy hands up to look at them, you can see the pink of your kimono sleeves. The loops in your air feel looser and messier than usual as you can feel the terrifying glare of a man before you, bleeding and in chains, and yet no less threatening.
All around you are corpses. You just barely manage to struggle to your feet when he moves to strike you down with alarming quickness, his blade and scythe at his call. Something hard and sharp pierces your stomach as his voice booms:
"You will not tarnish... my brother's memory...!"
You were so close. You can see some of the broken chains you worked so hard at; he was almost free.
But it's too late.
A laughter seems to be coming from the noble in the portrait behind the Reaper, and an eerie red glow bleeds out from the canvas as your consciousness fades.
* * * * *
The laughter transforms into something else, another voice. It is almost pleasant; and the scene is entirely different now. A gorgeous ballroom surrounds you with an air of celebration, you are humbled, taking the man before you in a dance. Here is the face that everyone says you can trust, and yet you can hear suspicious whispers coming from the walls.
Something is wrong.
You feel cold in a way that is inexplicable. Your very core is frozen, and it feels like you will never get warm. suddenly it's a struggle just to move with the music; but eventually you stop listening to that, too.
"Don't struggle." The king pulls you close in what is most certainly a threatening manner. Beneath your gloves, your fingers have already become ice. "Your death is inevitable now. Accept it with grace, and don't scream."
But even if you wanted to, you can't.
Pathetic gurgles escape your throat as ice travels up your chest and your neck. A piece of your white hair falls across your face, but when you go to brush it away, your hands won't move. Nothing will.
There is stillness. For a moment, you have hope, because you can still move your terrified, wide eyes, but soon that too is gone.
* * * * *
In that moment, you're not able to look at anything else.
Your neck is craned upwards and suddenly, the dream has shifted one final time. You're staring at the surface of the freezing cold water from below, unable to breathe, but the Gods above have mercy on you, and it doesn't last long. A glaring white starts to creep into the corners of your vision, filling everything in haze, and the dream ends as suddenly as it began.
* * * * *
[ Back in the comparative comforts of her home, Susato awakes with a start. She gasps for breath like she's just been held underwater, sitting up and gripping at her blankets. For all she knows, they are her lifeline. She is shaking, the faded memories of dreamscapes past rushing back to her, and she feels her arm knock something off the bed she's on.
......All she can do is breathe. ]
(( ooc: tl;dr, just a fun throwback to the fun deaths i've been able to put her through this past year. <3 please assume delayed responses where appropriate/etc. ))
To: Everyone
Subject: Passive dream recording
Warning: Descriptions of death (specifically: falling/burning, stabbing, freezing, drowning) and the crippling fear that comes with that.
When Susato is first seen, she is nigh unrecognizable. There's only a glimpse of her. Her hair is frazzled, long well past her shoulders, and the white dress she wears, accented by pinks, does not match the grim darkness of the cage she is in. Seconds later, there's a loud metallic clang as the cage is shut.
"Mr Vigil?"
The voice is small and cracks like glass over the flames below.
Before he can respond, there's the sound of a lever and a deafening scream as a feeling of terrifying weightlessness takes over your body.
You're falling, and you don't know when you'll stop.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
All around you are corpses. You just barely manage to struggle to your feet when he moves to strike you down with alarming quickness, his blade and scythe at his call. Something hard and sharp pierces your stomach as his voice booms:
"You will not tarnish... my brother's memory...!"
You were so close. You can see some of the broken chains you worked so hard at; he was almost free.
But it's too late.
A laughter seems to be coming from the noble in the portrait behind the Reaper, and an eerie red glow bleeds out from the canvas as your consciousness fades.
Something is wrong.
You feel cold in a way that is inexplicable. Your very core is frozen, and it feels like you will never get warm. suddenly it's a struggle just to move with the music; but eventually you stop listening to that, too.
"Don't struggle." The king pulls you close in what is most certainly a threatening manner. Beneath your gloves, your fingers have already become ice. "Your death is inevitable now. Accept it with grace, and don't scream."
But even if you wanted to, you can't.
Pathetic gurgles escape your throat as ice travels up your chest and your neck. A piece of your white hair falls across your face, but when you go to brush it away, your hands won't move. Nothing will.
There is stillness. For a moment, you have hope, because you can still move your terrified, wide eyes, but soon that too is gone.
In that moment, you're not able to look at anything else.
Your neck is craned upwards and suddenly, the dream has shifted one final time. You're staring at the surface of the freezing cold water from below, unable to breathe, but the Gods above have mercy on you, and it doesn't last long. A glaring white starts to creep into the corners of your vision, filling everything in haze, and the dream ends as suddenly as it began.
[ Back in the comparative comforts of her home, Susato awakes with a start. She gasps for breath like she's just been held underwater, sitting up and gripping at her blankets. For all she knows, they are her lifeline. She is shaking, the faded memories of dreamscapes past rushing back to her, and she feels her arm knock something off the bed she's on.
......All she can do is breathe. ]
(( ooc: tl;dr, just a fun throwback to the fun deaths i've been able to put her through this past year. <3 please assume delayed responses where appropriate/etc. ))
no subject
Thank you.
I am glad I was your first friend.
[ There's a pause before the sentence is ended with a simple dot, as if she might add more. Then she does: ]
But you don't need to stay up on my account.
no subject
nah imma stay up as long as i need to
gotta make be sure you aight first
[She wasn't going to convince him to do otherwise.]
no subject
[ Wow, that was almost painful to write. She's just about to scratch it out, but then she decides she's just going to leave it. Maybe if she just leaves it at that, they can both get some rest, but after a while: ]
What do you like to do when you can't sleep?
no subject
back home i used to watch vids on my phone until it knocked me out
but cause there aint none of that here i sometimes take a walk around the village
try to blow off some steam
you know, i got a smart friend who said that drinking tea helps calm her down
1/2
Or even Toby...
Hold on. ]
I said that, didn't I?
no subject
Come to think of it, the situation was reversed then. [ It was Beat who had the dream. ]
no subject
yeah that was you back then
swhy i gotta make good on helping ya out too
guessing you dont need me to clean up the harvest for ya
no subject
> action
[It doesn't take him too long to get to the Harvest. Considering the weather they were having, he still bundled up for the cooler night, wearing a heavier jacket and a scarf around his neck. He shot Susato a quick message in the journal when he had arrived, not wanting to bother the rest of her housemates from their slumber.
The music from his headphones is low, the chill tunes of a city pop song playing in his ear as he waited.]
1/2
Ah, he's here. [ 'Coming,' she writes. She's about to leave at that, and then adds: 'Hope you don't mind if I bring another friend.'
... ] What do you think, Fang? Do you want to come?
no subject
A moment later, Susato and Fang come walking side by side, though as Beat comes into view, Fang starts to trail behind her. ]
Hello, Beat.
...Fang, don't be shy. This is my friend.
no subject
Yo, Loops.
[Seeing the dragon comes as a bit of a surprise though, and Beat couldn't help but stare.]
Ain't what I was expecting when you said you was bringin' a friend.
[Moving closer, he sticks out his hand towards Fang like one might with a dog. Is this how you introduce yourself to a dragon? He had no idea.]
no subject
Susato grins. Atta girl. ]
She sleeps on our porch up there. I suppose you could say she is like our guardian. [ Or, at least... Kazuma's. ] I decided to give her a brushing, and when you said you were coming over, I thought she might like some exercise too.
no subject
Looks like she makes one helluva guardian, yo.
[Once she seems to have calmed down to his presence, he retracts his hand from her, tucking it back into his jacket pocket.]
Le's get goin'. Anywhere you was thinkin' 'bout goin'?
no subject
Where do you often find yourself when you wander around at night?
no subject
I don't really know, yo. Just wherever I guess. Made it all the way to the beach a coupla times. Don't see much a' that back home an' I kinda like the sounds of it.
[The music continued to play in his headphones, the volume low enough for him to still hear Susato as they spoke. If he were on his own, he would have them louder, letting them fill his senses as he took his night stroll.]
Lotta the time, I'm jus' listening to whatever I got playin' an' jus' walk, you know?
no subject
Fang seems happy enough to follow, though at some point she'll trot ahead of them, sniffing this and that. ]
The waves are quite soothing. I once collected seashells there, you know.
[ That's a pretty far walk, though, and the note she left Kazuma probably didn't tell him she'd be gone that long. The lake would suffice for tonight. ]
What sort of music do you enjoy?
no subject
[It's amusing watching Fang trot about. He'd never seen a creature like her before so it was a curious sight to take in. Despite it, he keeps the conversation between him and Susato going.]
I like a whole lotta stuff. But I ain't got a lot saved up in my phone.
[He pulls the device out of his pocket for Susato to see. It's a red smartphone, just a bit smaller than the size of his hand. The lock screen facing her depicts some graffiti art as well as the music player app.]
It's mostly hiphop and j-rock, coupla rap songs but been givin' city pop a listen recently. [A recent addition to his library, thanks to Futaba.] You wanna give it a shot?
no subject
They were for a friend. [ She can sense herself spacing out as they go, her voice airy, so she turns to Beat as a way to keep herself grounded and focused. ] ...But yes, I... I'd love to hear modern music. Do you mind?
[ Sharing music in this way seems kinda personal. She doesn't want to overstep. ]
no subject
[Pulling off his headphones, he hits pause on the current song before he hands them over to Susato. Well aware that this technology is much ahead of her time, Beat takes his time showing her the basic controls on one earpiece of his headphones.]
You can adjust how loud you want it here, and you hit this when you want 'em it to start. Once you get 'em on, you go to go.
no subject
She finishes placing the headphones over her ears, speaking a little bit louder after she does so. ]
I remember Mei showing me once. [ And then she'll hit the button that looks kind of like the head of an arrow, pointing sideways. It's a good thing he lowered the volume. ]
no subject
Yeah, I heard a bit of what Red likes too. It ain't too bad either.
[He walks alongside her as she gives it a listen, catching up to Fang as the dragons continues to wander, head tilting curiously as she watched Susato.]
How you findin' it?
no subject
Meanwhile, once Susato has an idea of how loud the song is going to be, she feels comfortable enough that she presses the up button on where Beat had indicated the volume. Her head starts to nod along to the beat, and for a moment she wonders how loud the volume can go.
She keeps pressing the button, but once it gets too loud, she'll start pressing the opposite one.
......Fascinating. ]
Hehe. I like it?
[ She doesn't seem sure, but she starts gently patting her hand against her leg next, so it can't be all that bad. If there are lyrics, she probably doesn't understand them too well. ]
I recognize that it is Japanese, but it still... feels like a different language. I think I would have to write down the words to have a chance at deciphering them.
no subject
So when she begins to tap her hand to the beat, he can't help but smile, feeling a little proud in the moment.]
It don't sound like the Japanese that you used to? Can't even imagine what that's like, yo.
[Susato always had an air of formality about her, but the way she spoke never really bothered him. He knew someone like Nagi after all, and there were similarities in their manner of speech. But hearing her say that reminded him that it might not be the same for her.]
You can keep listenin' while we walkin'.
no subject
The song in the background, and at the forefront, Beat. ]
Which song is your favorite?
[ Music is important to him, so in a way, she's getting to know him better... She hopes. ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)