it's been so long between the words we spoke {OPEN}

[shiro2hero]

Who: Shiro or Shadowmaru & YOU
Where: Various
When: During the Basculegion Swarm
Summary: Open log for Shiro and Shadowmaru's encounters with the Ghost Generating Fish
Rating: PG13 - will update if necessary


Log:

> SHIRO'S THREAD

> SHADOWMARU'S THREAD

If you'd like a custom starter, let me know! PM or redfirelight

Comments

I need the clouds to cover me {SHIRO}

[shiro2hero]

AT THE HOUSE
[Local dorito man goes for a jog. He does this just about every day around this same time. He leaves at the same time, comes back at the same time - like clockwork. So maybe it was natural that something was going to find him. Something with a devious plan was on its way.]

[It came in the form of a fish.]

[Naturally, Shiro sees a flopping Basculegion on the sand and makes an effort to try and return it to the ocean. Why wouldn't he? But no sooner does he toss the creature back into the waves, than his whole body goes cold. Like he hadn't just been running, like he isn't standing in front of his house in the tropics.]

[And when he turns, slowly, around to see what might be causing the chill, he comes face to face with ghostly figures. More than he can count on one hand. They're see-through, colorless, their bodies wrapped in rags. None of them have faces.]

[Shiro falls over backward in utter shock, landing in the surf, unable to tear his eyes away from the scene - and hoping no one comes by to see this.]


TRAVELING | aka anywhere option
[A bunch of weird figures in the yard is... a lot to take in. But maybe it's a localized phenomenon. Maybe it's nothing. And Shiro has things to take care of - he has the never-ending prep and planning of making his own gym, after all! It's a lot of work. And not all the supplies can be found in the Sevii Islands.]

[Which is why he's here - whichever town you happen to be in, there's Shiro. Walking out of a shop, holding books under his arm. Or out of a cafe, with takeout.]

[Only to stop dead. Because there's one of those fish. Staring at him from the smallest body of water - be it a puddle, a spilled drink. Maybe it's a fountain. But it's staring at him. And before he can react, it leaps, and smacks him in the face, full on.]

[In moments, the area around him goes cold. Figures materialize out of the sudden chill, rising from the ground, staring at him with yellow eyes.]

[They don't move.]

[Shiro suddenly can't move.]

[This is fine.]

> FOR BYLETH

[shiro2hero]

[He said he would meet Byleth after his latest Gym Challenge. And, crazy ghost fish or no, Shiro is going to keep that promise. They can't fly, right? Basculegion don't fly. So if Shiro flies out to meet Byleth, the fish can't track him down. It's solid logic!]

[Maybe.]

[When he does land Skarmory, it's as near the Gym as possible, his eyes on the ground and alert for even the smallest puddle. Maybe if they don't make eye contact, he won't have a repeat of the Fish Launch Fiasco. He can just meet up with Byleth and they can have a perfectly normal time. He's been looking forward to this!]

[Fish aren't going to ruin that. Even if it means standing near the gym, waiting with a hat pulled down over his eyes, and Skarmory on watch for any suspicious splashing.]

[perfectteatime]

[ Given that he heard what they do, Byleth had done his very best to avoid the strange fish, which is difficult given who he is. That won't stop him from seeing Shiro though, and he lifts a hand and shouts to the man when he spots the metallic glint in the sky. ]

Shiro! Down here!

[ He jumps and waves, because that helps right? ]

[shiro2hero]

[Oh thank llama pokemon jesus. There's Byleth. He doesn't have to circle, trying to avoid the fish for too long. They touch down, and he doesn't waste time, hopping off Skarmory to head over to him.]

Hey! How'd it go?

[If he's a little bit harried, that's - probably fine, right.]

[perfectteatime]

[ He bounds over to Shiro, immediately throwing his arms around him and leaning into his chest in a tight hug. ]

Good! Just one more badge to go.

[ But that is not important. What does matter is covering Shiro's face in kisses. He smooths a hand down his back, pulling away after a moment. ]

Are you all right?

[shiro2hero]

[Oh this is - this is very good. The hug is good, the enthusiasm - very good to take his mind off the faceless ghosts.]

One more? For all of Kanto? You're doing amazing-!

[Yes, it's very important, because he's very proud and ... Byleth is very good at kissing. Which will be returned with the slightest of laughs.]

I'm - I'm good. I'm good now. Some pokemon trouble a bit ago, but it looks okay for now.

TRAVELING

[tempredmental]

[Apparently, puddles really suck. Keith had spotted Shiro staring into one at an apparently stranded fish-like Pokémon -...

Wait.

That was one of those legion fish things. Keith had seen them around and had been in contact with some, and - SLAP! Why would it jump like that?! Keith moved to make sure Shiro was okay after having been headbutted by a fish only to freeze in place when he was suddenly surrounded by a bunch of ghosts.

What- what even was all this?]

Uhh...

[shiro2hero]

[It's fine, he's fine, this is fine.]

[But he can't move. He can't even register Keith is there. All he can do is stare at the yellow eyes of the nearest figure. Well, one yellow eye. One red. And the giant robot arm.]

[Yeah, it's your old friend, Sendak.]

[The guy who got ejected into space as far as Shiro knows. Who's dead, as far as he knows. It's suddenly hard to breathe. Hard to think. Even though his pokemon - his Umbreon, this time - stands in front of him, her fur fluffed up, spots glowing. And she is snarling at the ghost.]

[tempredmental]

[Keith had to scramble in his brain for a moment, because last he'd seen Sendak was... not when he looked like that. It was the difference in his appearance that first froze Keith in place, but then also snapped him back out of it. He remembered the fish...]

Shiro! [Come on, snap out of it. Keith didn't want to just grab him when he was in that state...]

[shiro2hero]

[The ghost tilts its head. Slowly. All the way to one side. Frost starts to accumulate on its fur - eye glazing over into ice. The whole body freezing. As it would have, if it had been ejected into space.]

[Shiro is not moving an inch. Or able to look away. He can't breathe. He can't even think. All he sees is the walking corpse of the prisoner he killed.]

[tempredmental]

Shiro... Hey. [Okay... time to do something. Trying to ignore the massive figure slowly freezing itself in front of him, his own knowledge of Sendak's true fate kind of helping with that, he moved in closer now and gingerly touched Shiro's shoulder.] Shiro, it's Keith. Can you hear me?

AT THE HOUSE

[ironchef]

[Ever tried to chase a Dorito man with a bento box? That's Hunk right now, trying to catch up to Shiro with a quick packed lunch so that he can power up after his run. But he has to stop and pant every once in a while. This means he rounds a corner with his bento box in tow well after Shiro's had his trauma thrown at him.]

Whoa! Okay, so. What's happening now?

[Hunk blurts, tensing up and looking around them frantically.] So, Shiro, I brought you food. Is this normal? Should I just give you your food and go? Or- What's happening here?

[shiro2hero]

[We're sorry Hunk. We swear the pokemon world is better than this... most of the time. But today? Today is apparently the day to sit on your butt and gawk at a bunch of faceless ghosts.]

[For a heartbeat, he's sure Hunk is one of the ghosts, and almost recoils from the poor guy for a minute.]

I... I don't - they just... appeared. I don't know them.

[He doesn't think so, anyway. He can't see any faces. They're just shapes. Ghostly, looming shapes. No words, no voices.]

[ironchef]

Yeeeeaaaah, it's pretty creepy. [He'd heard creepy stuff happened but he thought he'd have to wait for pumpkin season for this kind of nonsense.]

Hey man, let's not be here, okay? Let's go home.

[Well, calling it 'home' is still kind of strange for him. But he doesn't want Shiro out here alone with whatever is happening. He awkwardly holds out his free hand to get him to come over, hoping these things won't follow him.]

[shiro2hero]

[At least, he thinks, somewhere in the jumbled up fear response in his brain - at least Hunk sees them too. He's not hallucinating. In some weird way, that's comforting.]

Home. Yeah - Yeah... let's. Get off the beach.

[He takes the offered hand, hauling himself to his feet on legs that feel weirdly like jello.] Thank you. [Honestly, he'd probably have kept his butt in the sand if it weren't for the help.]

Fell down an art hole!

[ironchef]

Shiro... did you recognize any of those people? [Because they seemed pretty unrecognizable to Hunk. Those did certainly look like generic Galra prisoner wear though.]

[Benefits of being a big guy? He can easily keep Shiro upright, arm around his back and heave him off in the direction of the house. Even if he's still kind of awkwardly holding the bento lunch.]

We don't gotta talk about it. I'm just worried about what's going on. [As he is very new, and doesn't realize the frequency of unstable things.]

Traveling

[heartofalioness]

[Quiznak... of all the people to run into those fish, and what they bring back.]

Shiro...? Shiro, look at me...

[shiro2hero]

[He should listen - that would be the smart thing to do. But you know, rationality doesn't always function when your brain snaps into panic mode. He's just sitting there, staring.]

[But he does sort of scramble toward her voice, at least.]

[heartofalioness]

[Good, good, that's better than nothing. Slowly she brings a hand up to his shoulder, in a wide arc so he can hopefully see it out of the corner of his eye.]

It's all right. I'm here... Whatever those are... [She wants to say they can't hurt him, but... she doesn't know that for sure. This much, at least, she can promise.] I will not let them hurt you.

[shiro2hero]

[One of his pokeballs vibrates. Like it's trying to get Allura's attention.]

[The closest figure is staring at them. Straight on. Its whole face twisted into a mocking leer. Granted, the ghost of Sendak probably looks different than he did the last time a few people have seen him, but that's how Shiro remembers. The fact the ghost is slowly frosting over - even the one yellow eye gradually turning to a chunk of ice in its head, as if launched into the absolute vacuum of space - probably isn't a great sign, either.]

I - what's happening -

pull in the dark, surround me {SHADOWMARU}

[sassymaru]

BEACHSIDE | OLIVINE
[No good deed goes unpunished, it seemed. You try and shoo a fish back into the ocean and... it goes poorly. Maybe he shouldn't have shooed it with his foot. But what was he supposed to do? Get fish slime all over him?]

[Apparently, yes, he should have.]

[He's left standing, staring up. And up. And up.]

[Standing in the waves is another robot. One who looks bizarrely similar to Shadowmaru's normal form, if only in different colors. And sporting a rad eyepatch. It just stands there, staring at him in silence.]

[While Shadowmaru looks as if he's been punched in the chest.]

[He has no idea how long he sits there. How long he stares. If his face is damp, he swears it's the spray of the ocean. Nothing else.]


NETWORK OPTION;; text
Has... anyone yet managed to rid themselves of these fish-spawned apparitions?

I had made an attempt to assist one of them, and was rewarded with... spirits. Nothing I have done is banishing it.

[And... he's not even sure he wants to, deep down.]

voice;

[singlespacedad]

You're seeing them too?

[By now, Mando has gathered that a lot of people are getting haunted, and most of them are far more upset about it than he is.]

I tried talking to mine. Some of them went away when I told them to go.

text;

[sassymaru]

[Shadowmaru sticks with text. He's not sure if he can trust himself to speak. He honestly can't tear his eyes off the ghost standing in the shallows.]

Yes.

There is only one, for myself. I am uncertain if




Uncertain what I truly wish to do.

[singlespacedad]

[Ah. Mando catches the subtext here. It's someone Shadowmaru might not want to see go.]

Do you want some company? I could bring you a drink. We could toast your friend's memory.

[sassymaru]

[Now who's asking the hard questions, Mando?]

I

Feel I should not ask you to make such a trip simply for my lack of actions.