[ CLOSED ]

[blackscales]

WHO: Wrathion, Anduin, Kaneki
WHEN: Early March
WHERE: Ke-Waihu
WHAT: Investigating wells and trying to make friends with a spooky snakey friend
WARNINGS: Potentially some discussion of child kidnapping, harm to children, and if a snakey lady friend might be... eating children.

Dead ends.

Nothing but dead ends.

Wrathion paces by the well, turning over everything he knows as he waits for the others to arrive.

Kaneki had said she was a mother looking for a child.

Children had gone missing, three daughters one son. No common location. All over the last ten days.

His theory about the dark water, too, may be amounting to nothing. It seems their slithering friend predates it by around a year -- divine punishment.

Frustrating.

She hasn't been witnessed eating these children, so there's a chance they are still on the right course, but neither have they any proof of anything else.

Frustrating. Wrathion handles frustration poorly. He likes to make clear progress, to plan, to work towards a goal -- but the goal is still unclear here. The path is forked, and he knows not which one they are taking

Are they helping a creature, or killing a monster? Are they going entirely down the wrong path, and will they imminently find out she knows nothing and has simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Will children keep vanishing, all the while?

Having no solid lead is agonising, especially when time... continues to grow short.

He can only hope they don't run out.

Comments

[chosenbylight]

Anduin gives Wrathion a look in return that states he will be fine, although he knows full well that if Wrathion has got it in his head that he needs to protect him from this, then there will be no reasoning with him.

For the record, he had been trying to step up and do this so you didn't have to, Wrathion. Just so we're clear here.

Taking a step forward, he puts a reassuring hand on Wrathion's arm. The well is too narrow for the pair of them to fit inside together. It will need to be one, or the other.

"I can go..." he offers, knowing Wrathion will likely protest anyway.

[enucleation]

He won't use them if people are nervous - it's not something one should be nervous around. Kaneki has amazing control over his abilities and he is able to shape and reshape his kagune with so much ease. But the other party must be fine with it, because it is still deadly. And if someone is ready to freak out over it, then it's better not to use them at all.

And honestly, he doesn't want to try to justify and explain his abilities. People either accept it or not-

So the red tendrils pull away and they eventually fade away into dust, while Kaneki nods.

"We use something else." or "Or I can go down there on my own and pull myself in and out on my own." he can do that, he can use his own tendrils to do it. He doesn't particularly want to touch the black water, but- well.

[blackscales]

On the one hand, Wrathion has absolutely nothing against someone else putting themselves at risk so neither Anduin nor he have to.

On the other, he suspects Anduin will judge him if he allows it without some effort.

His eyes dart to the hand on his arm, and Wrathion frowns in thought -- spinning them problem around in his mind.

"It's better you don't," he says to Anduin finally. "You can heal either one of us if something happens. If you're injured and unable to heal I'd be unable to help you."

He's not sure about Kaneki, but unless he's some manner of shadow priest it hasn't been... quite the ability skillset he's advertised.

[chosenbylight]

Anduin takes a breath, frowning between the pair of them, before nodding. He doesn't particularly enjoy hanging back -- more often than not that is the case. He is the king after all, they cannot allow to risk him. All the same, he sees Wrathion's reasoning. If he is incapacitated, it will do none of them any good whatsoever.

"Yes, alright," he replies. "Here. Ready yourselves." After a moment's hesitation, he takes a step back, before reaching out and casting levitate on them both. In a burst of energy, they will find themselves suddenly hovering a foot or two above the ground. "The well is wide enough. You both can fit down, provided you do not need to move around too much. Or you can decide amongst yourselves which one it will be and we can disable it on the other."

He glances between the pair of them. "I have another spell that I can use to pull you out as well," he explains. "But it will only work on one of you at a time."

[enucleation]

Kaneki doesn't need to be healed (pro...bably. Well, he doesn't know what the dark liquid does, magic could maybe hurt him. But he immediately assumes it won't because it's easier to do).

But it doesn't matter.

Being levitated is weird enough, but at least Kaneki knew it was going to happen, so he just tries to keep his balance. "You can decide." Honestly? The two of them know each other and trust each other - Kaneki is the outsider here. So it's a lot easier to just let them make the decision if that's something they want to do. Kaneki knows how to get in and out of the well without spells and magic if push comes to shove, so he is particularly worried about going inside.

he is more worried about what they will find there, but that's a whole other thing.

[blackscales]

Wrathion considers it a long moment, eyes squinted in thought.

Very technically, he could get himself out of the well if he wanted to -- but it would be showy in a way he doesn't want to really display just yet.

"If you can drag yourself out with those," we mean the tendrils but we're not sure the polite term for them Kaneki, "then you might have the best chance -- Anduin can pull you if that fails. The levitate will keep you from having to stand in the water, you can hover over it."

An active method, Kaneki can rely on himself, and a backup, Anduin can pull him with magic if for some reason that goes awry. That all seems the most reliable way to go about things.

[chosenbylight]

Anduin nods at this. It sounds as though they have a decent plan, even if they have no idea what awaits them down inside the well itself.

"It should slow your fall as well," Anduin says. "All you need do is -- jump. Though if it makes you feel uncomfortable..."

Kaneki is certainly welcome to lower himself down any other way on his own.

He offers a reassuring smile. "We will be right here, should you need any assistance."