Somebody wake me from this nightmare (locked to [personal profile] failednamesake)

Sep. 16th, 2014 05:57 pm
papatiger: (Angry)
[personal profile] papatiger posting in [community profile] calvino
[For a brief time there was a break in the wave of demon attacks. Scout reported the strange movement in Orochi's army as they pulled back from front lines and retreated back to Koshi castle. Neither Daji nor Kiyomori could be seen, and while the Hydra didn't disappear it seemed less aggressive, striking only when it was being attacked.

Nobody was fooled; the army was kept vigilant and most of the remaining heroes, those who had yet to fallen prey to the giant snake or enchanted by Kiyomori's spells, were wise enough to take the time to recoup.

Save for a few minor skirmishes, they allied force didn't really lose any more good men and women.]

Date: 2014-09-16 12:32 pm (UTC)
failednamesake: (sad- gdit master lu bu)
From: [personal profile] failednamesake
[And technically, it remains to be seen about whether Chen Gong counts under one of those 'good men and women'.

It was an unceremonious capture; he heard about his former lord Lu Bu still pursuing Nezha, even after the arrival of the Orochi. As someone Lu Bu (mildly) trusted in, his job was to go recruit the warrior to their cause.

Basically, an impossible task, seeing that avenging Diao Chan was his motivation.

He didn't think it would go this horribly, though. He didn't think Nezha would end up in a fix with the demons, which caused Lu Bu to get into a fix, which caused him to get abducted. Not killed, just... knocked out and abducted. He had no time to think about what happened to everyone else who volunteered to come with him (honestly, saving them is only a thought in his mind because it would enable him a better chance of surviving). But now...

When he comes to, it's dark. That's the first thing he notices. A few words surface in his head--

Oh, what a mess.]

Date: 2014-09-16 11:50 pm (UTC)
failednamesake: (shock- say that again?)
From: [personal profile] failednamesake
[It's definitely overwhelming, but more so is the notion that he's been caught. Well, there goes his life. And hope. Bye-bye. He's been resigned to this fate since Lu Bu proved to be a moron back in his own time, anyway, might as well--

Oh, there's someone else here. Chen Gong noticeably jerks up when Sun Jian's voice reaches him, mostly out of sheer surprise. Not mounting dread or fear, not at all.]
...Sun Jian?

You're here as well? ['Here' is still up for debate, though.]

Date: 2014-09-17 11:20 am (UTC)
failednamesake: (thinking- about that...)
From: [personal profile] failednamesake
[Chen Gong knows enough about 'who is dead already' to realize he's supposed to be surprised at Sun Jian still living. Instead, though, it's a bit... uplifting? That they might still have the chance to break out and live.

Maybe.]


That's right-- I heard you were dead. [What a nice way to break into a conversation.] You've been here for quite some time, I presume?

[And there's a hint of resignment in his tone. Because he knows he'll just be held for an equally long time... or shorter. Sun Jian still had a living daughter. A living daughter who may actually listen to negotiations if it entailed the life of her father. Chen Gong has absolutely no one.

Welp.]

Date: 2014-09-17 02:10 pm (UTC)
failednamesake: (glare- ...)
From: [personal profile] failednamesake
[There's a slight pause on Chen Gong's end, because... he can remember how long Sun Jian's been missing. The voices of reason in the army, the strategists, were mostly focused on that little boy Hanbei and the useless 'prodigy' Jiang Wei. At least, until they somehow lost contact with Jiang Wei's forces. As gifted as he was, it's such a tragedy that he has to be driven so wildly by mere emotions.

Not that Chen Gong is in any position to say anything, if you consider his goal for approaching Lu Bu in the first place. And as horrible as Jiang Wei might be in looking at the big picture, he's more... sensitive to people's emotions and a better judge of character than even Chen Gong.

Which is saying something.]


About... [The point is, Chen Gong doesn't know how to say this. He normally doesn't really care, but there's still the part of him that wasn't focused on his ambition. The small, small part that knows what being a father and what having hopes were. Not ambitions.] Six months, give or take.

[As bad as Chen Gong is at reading people, Sun Jian's question is obvious enough. How does he say it, then? That Sun Ce and Sun Quan are both dead, most likely along with their wives? He's heard about someone finding Xiao Qiao, but he doubts Sun Jian cares too much about her.

...How about he doesn't say it?]


I know Sun Shang Xiang is defending Odawara Castle with another girl called 'Kaihime'. It's one of the most well-fortified bases we have left, and there's also a master swordsman with them as well.

Date: 2014-09-17 11:41 pm (UTC)
failednamesake: (sad- ...oh well)
From: [personal profile] failednamesake
[Of course, he'd understand. It doesn't take a genius to interpret what Chen Gong means. At least (if it's any mercy), Odawara Castle will only fall long after the both of them do.

But the fact that he isn't tumbling in grief means he can hear the fire. A bit, just a bit, but it's made itself known in the darkness.]
Did you hear that? [Sorry to break your emotional monologue, Sun Jian. Actually, no, he isn't, because he's straining his eyes to look at where the fire might be coming from.

The grief of a parent isn't something Chen Gong knows (but he could know. and he doesn't want to). So he'd much sooner confirm his own safety rather than comfort a man he barely knows with absolutely nothing at all.]

Date: 2014-09-18 12:07 am (UTC)
failednamesake: (sad- gdit master lu bu)
From: [personal profile] failednamesake
[Oh.

For better or for worse, Chen Gong obeys Sun Jian's words immediately. A strategist is known for quick thinking along with quick reactions-- he falls back on the ground as quietly as possible, closing his eyes and trying to not make his face look panicked.

Of course, there's the urge to ask what do you mean 'spare me', but that would be for later. ...After whatever lay in wait for Sun Jian.]

Date: 2014-09-18 11:01 am (UTC)
failednamesake: (annoyed- cao cao pls go)
From: [personal profile] failednamesake
[It's actually a lot harder than it looks, to feign unconsciousness and play dead. That means you need to shut off all your instinctual reactions-- when your captives are animatedly discussing how they're going to brutally murder you, maintaining self-control is rather difficult.

His own robes are tugging on his skin too tightly. His nose is wrinkling with the smell, and he can barely breathe without giving into the urge to cough. It's horrible, it's horrible, if he's supposed to die displaced from even his own time, can it at least happen with some shred of dignity? He doesn't want to die this way, with how he's close to trembling in fear, unable to find a way out of this situation, no matter how much he tries to pretend he has everything under control--

Chen Gong hears Sun Jian too well.

When he's tossed aside, his eyes creak open; just the tiniest bit. To search the room, to look for something that can help them escape. His hands aren't tied, but he doesn't have his weapon with him. Maybe if he managed to grab something from the demons...

Can't let this opportunity go to waste. Is the door still open? Because if it is, Chen Gong's getting up and running for it.

If he's going to die, at least he'll die trying.]

Date: 2014-09-19 12:26 am (UTC)
failednamesake: (sad- ...oh well)
From: [personal profile] failednamesake
[Dammit.

Chen Gong expected Sun Jian's injuries; you don't exactly stay locked up here for six months without a scratch, do you? What he doesn't expect just as much is his fighting spirit- impressive. Would've been nice to have on the battlefield, not trapped in a demon's lair.

Don't mind if he just... worms a bit closer. Slowly. Because while Sun Jian's face is defiant, his eyes look a bit odd. As if they've been drawn the wrong color in a painting. This might be his only chance to get a good look, a glimpse into what's waiting for him--

...

...Sun Jian might notice Chen Gong staring in uncertainty at him before shutting his eyes the moment he thinks the demons might shift attention.]

Date: 2014-09-19 03:57 am (UTC)
failednamesake: (thinking- about that...)
From: [personal profile] failednamesake
[Patient.

Chen Gong only opens his eyes again when he senses the darkness. How long will this 'peace' last, then? Till the demons come back? Obviously, they'll return-- and they seem to have returned endlessly, tossing Sun Jian in and dragging him out whenever they please. For now, Chen Gong has the time to ponder what they mean by 'treatment'.

Obviously, nothing good. His genius mind can make deeper inferences than just that, though.

Sun Jian's eyes. Eyes like that... he's only seen them on other diamonds. The kinds which can see in the dark, with tusks for mouths and-- basically, things that distinguish them from a human. Why would Sun Jian have eyes like that? Is it part of the treatment? Or a product of some other horror that goes on in the lairs of demons?

Can he trust Sun Jian? Well, he doesn't really have a choice even if he can't. Is he still human? Well... he seems to be. Chen Gong really hopes he is.

What gives, then?

He keeps his head up, always hearing for sounds. For footsteps and breathing, to tell him to lie his head across the ground and feign unconsciousness once more. For how long will that save him? Not very long at all.

It's horrible, to want to faint but not be able to. To be close to fainting, with how everything smells and is dark and he's still tired and aching from everything.]

Date: 2014-09-19 10:19 am (UTC)
failednamesake: (shock- say that again?)
From: [personal profile] failednamesake
[He's used to it. The feeling of seclusion, at least. It's... familiar, to the time he was waiting for his death sentence. It was a horrible wait, a heavy and reluctant one. But he still waited, because at least he knew one definite was waiting for him. The fact that Chen Gong could see, at least, one little thing waiting for him gave him some twisted sense of direction.

After death, he could just reincarnate as an insect for a few lifetimes, and then try again.

But now, he's not even sure if he'll get that mercy.

Chen Gong only shifts to get up when Sun Jian speaks; it's dark, once again, and the first thing the strategist does is strain his eyes to look into Sun Jian's. He might think it's a subtle action in the darkness, but the other man would be able to decipher his action very clearly.]


What did they do to you?

[That's the first question.]

Date: 2014-09-19 11:40 am (UTC)
failednamesake: (sad- gdit master lu bu)
From: [personal profile] failednamesake
[Oh.

Chen Gong visibly tenses up on that realization-- he hasn't yet put together that Sun Jian's cat-like eyes have enhanced night vision. He would make his emotions far less obvious if he was aware. Instead, Chen Gong just... shifts his weight from one end to another nervously.]


Since you can't be controlled through using your mind, they've been changing your body, instead. Is that right?

[That's what he understand. And... it's frightening. He'd much rather get brainwashed, because at least then, he'd think everything is alright. Most strategists like him would find living without a mind-- continuing on like a slumbering zombie-- as the worst fate possible.

But let a man wish for some bliss, once in his rotten life.]

Date: 2014-09-19 01:32 pm (UTC)
failednamesake: (thinking- about that...)
From: [personal profile] failednamesake
[A bigger picture indeed.

Chen Gong can actually guess what is it. He's spoken to Shang Xiang a grand total of one (1) times before deciding no, never again, but he had to admit that Odawara Castle was remarkably fortified. It'd have to take a real breach in security and loss in manpower for the demons to take over. And what better way to get into one of the last remaining strongholds than to use matters of the heart to persuade one of the officers guarding it?

(Sun Jian doesn't need to worry about being rejected. As long as he can prove he's the Tiger of Jiang Dong, Shang Xiang will never turn her back to him. Now, what he does need to worry about is how she'll always scramble to save him, even if his skin was turned into a putrid grey and his eyes became reminiscent to those of beasts.)]


...I am a strategist. [He starts off with that first.] If I were in the place of the demons, I wouldn't want you dead, either.

[Should he tell Sun Jian? ...Well, they're going to be locked together for a plenty bit of time, unless the demons decide to make Chen Gong a snack.] If successful, you could become one of their strongest officers.

Or, at worst, a bargaining chip.

Date: 2014-09-19 11:54 pm (UTC)
failednamesake: (glare- ...)
From: [personal profile] failednamesake
[Well, honestly speaking-- and he's saying this from a completely frank viewpoint-- if they change his body enough, it'll eventually snake its way to his brain. And if they can't make Sun Jian work for Orochi as Sun Jian, they'll probably just fuck with that. But he has a point-- there has to be a bigger picture. Unless Kiyomori gets some twisted pleasure from doing it, there's probably something else motivating him.

(Well, Kiyomori most definitely gets some twisted pleasure from it, but that can't be all.)]


It would be terribly detrimental to our morale it word got out that humans were being turned into demons. If they revealed that even you were turned into a demon, perhaps the soldiers would become reluctant to fight. God forbid they unintentionally kill their fallen friend once again.

But if you've been so resilient, it really does seem unnecessarily troublesome.

Date: 2014-09-20 10:03 am (UTC)
failednamesake: (sad- gdit master lu bu)
From: [personal profile] failednamesake
[Maybe it's a good thing Chen Gong doesn't have too many people he cares about. Taking after yourself and your own grand ambitions is troublesome enough. Before he can say anything else, though, there's a very familiar thud down the hallway.

And with that thud, Chen Gong's heart and body simultaneously drop lifelessly to the floor.

And he's praying that it somehow works a third time. Despite the fact that he's never been the idealistic type.]

Date: 2014-09-20 11:36 pm (UTC)
failednamesake: (annoyed- cao cao pls go)
From: [personal profile] failednamesake
[Uh oh.

Chen Gong's eyes open wide right as the demons pick him up-- maybe he should try biting his tongue off to bleed to death. Or if he makes the demon holding him mad enough, maybe it'll just break his neck. Honestly, after what Sun Jian told him, maybe being blended into mush by the previous duo would be a mercy.

...But instead, he just shifts in the demon's arms, as soon as he's out of Sun Jian's sight.]


Now, let's not be hasty-- you already have someone else to toy with, right?

[Is he going to try bargaining away Sun Jian's life? Or something else?]

Date: 2014-09-22 12:19 am (UTC)
failednamesake: (sad- ...oh well)
From: [personal profile] failednamesake
[Oh, god.

There's still the urge to just get the demon to slaughter him himself, but that would... probably end just as badly as what Kiyomori has in store for him. For a rare moment, the strategist finds himself clamming up more than speaking, and gets shut into somewhere else once again without anything he can do about it.

Is there a way for him to take his life in here? It's going to be a million times for merciful than whatever the demons have for him. Instead, he's... left in the dark, absolutely helpless to another master.

Again.

Way to rub it in, assholes.]

Date: 2014-09-23 12:37 am (UTC)
failednamesake: (thinking- about that...)
From: [personal profile] failednamesake
[While Sun Jian's on the way of becoming Da Ji's newest little toy, Chen Gong's predicament is... much more direct. In the sense that he's not being screwed with mentally. Of course, they're both equally unpleasant in vastly different ways. While Da Ji specializes in hitting someone's sore points and preying on a human's remaining emotional weaknesses, Kiyomori's methods are much more to the point.

When the door is slammed in his face, it takes a while to realize that he... can't move. Chen Gong's eyes flit to the floor, before finding a glowing circles of arcane words even a scholar like him can't understand. A circle he swears wasn't there mere seconds ago, but there's no use saying that, no use howling and screaming when you're so locked in place (by fear and magic) you can't even turn your head around.]


"You're still alive? Ha ha ha!"

[He doesn't say a thing till Kiyomori levitates him right into the air, circle following him as he does. Chen Gong breaks his silence with something of a screech as he's hoisted off his feet, and that only prompts the half-demon to roar in even louder laughter.]

"To think a strategist of the warrior Lu Bu himself would be such a pathetic mortal." [And out of nowhere, his amusement turns to boredom. Chen Gong can see Kiyomori now, while he's up in the air-- he can see Kiyomori flick a wrist and toss him against the wall at the same time, into the chains and cuffs that lies in wait.

Pathetic. Why is he remembered as pathetic? It's a disgrace, to continue being insulted when his time's almost up. A disgrace, everything was such a disgrace--]


And yet, you went through the effort of trying to capture us all. [Their pursuit of Lu Bu (hah) ended in relative failure, but it wasn't too bad, itself-- they identified some people under Kiyomori's sorcery. They saved a few of them, even though that eventually ended in Lu Bu (and Nezha's?) demise at the hands of the demons. They knew they could save people from the mind-control. It's the literal transformation into demons that's going to trip them up in the end.] Why? Why would you end up losing so many soldiers if the opposing strategist was 'pathetic'?

[...Should he have said that?

Well, Kiyomori doesn't seem to care. Instead, the cuff around one of his wrists just become tighter. And tighter. And--]


"Know your place. If it were not for Da Ji, you would be dead long before this. Now, you'll have the honor of joining our army. Treat your gifts with respect, as they all come from me!"

[The cuff on his left isn't just uncomfortable, it's beginning to press again his bones. There's runes running all over the metal now, and the tiny, intricate parts of his wrist that can't ever be fixed begin to fall into themselves and when one of them cracks he finally loses his composure.

Only in expression, though. He bites back against screaming, though it hurts and once one has cracked the rest of them just continue, stabbing into the veings and falling out his skin, but for some reason even though he feel it he can't see any blood, only see his wrist disappearing against the wall as the cuff shrinks--

The runes dance off the cuff and into his left hand, before the cuff suddenly retreats into the wall completely, letting his hand drop.

And making another sprout instantly in its place, its re-arranged bones feeling as though his normal ones have been... wrapped tightly together. Which they just have been, with more breakage and pain. The grey skin of his new, more pointed fingers make Chen Gong almost believe they aren't his, but it doesn't take much effort to move them.

It isn't like shooting commands into the nerves of a new limb, like a newborn child trying to walk. It's already there. Always... has been?

Oh.

That's when he really starts screaming.]

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