high_seas | Howling Sabers mingle catchall

[There is, from the part of the giants' town that generally doesn't receive visitors or tourism, a resounding rumble. It's followed shortly by a small, localised explosion, and then by giants hustling towards the area in great annoyance and concern.

Sasuke isn't sure where he is or how he got here, but he's aware that he's been in this place -- the cell he's in -- for at least three days, since the first time he'd awoken on the island with only the barest inkling of who he was. He'd lived off the land for a day before --

Before something. Memories and his sense of self keep fading in and out, firefly-lights' worth of lucidity in one moment, as one self, before he loses track of it and it's either the vague awareness of who he is or nothing at all. He's pretty sure, at this moment, that the reason he was in the cell is the same reason he's able to break out of it now; at least, chances are good that the giants imprisoned him because he tried to attack them. He honestly can't remember why he did.

In between then and now he's forgotten how, too, which in this moment -- this one, right now, when he knows he's a ninja and he knows he's a powerful one -- is a terrifying thought. It's why he's racing through the shadows instead of confronting his captors, because he'd rather get away and get an idea of what is happening to him than defeat the giants right now. He has to prioritize, which means he heads for the scent of salt water and ends up at the dock, scaling up the side of the ship there.

There's something almost familiar ... something like deja vu, but he has no idea how he'd know this ship when all he remembers is fire, and lightning, and the inside of the cell. He's over the side and heading for the closest spot of cover in a few minutes' work, a glance over the railing showing giants unhappily tromping around their village looking for an escaped prisoner that is probably annoyingly small to keep track of to them. Good. Now, if he can stay hidden on board this ship until it sails, he should be able to ...

Something. It's slipping, his grasp on these memories now, this moment. He needs to get to a hiding place before he forgets what he's even doing.]

[Itachi has been spending most of his time up in the crows nest since his sight started to return - perhaps as a way of making of for what little he'd been able to do in the week it had been gone. He's a pair of bright red eyes against the darkening sky.

When the figure becomes visible heading for their ship, he's immediately leaning over the rail to keep track of it. The silhouette is far too familiar. There's no one else he can identify as fast as his brother, and the moment he's clear enough to recognize, the younger ninja is slipping down from the mast to meet him. It's unlikely that his vision's been taken as his had been, judging from the way he's moving.

Itachi rushes to the rails, reaching a hand out to help the teen up even if the other isn't likely to need it.]

Sasuke! [He keeps his voice low in case his brother's been followed.]

Are you alright?

[He starts back when a figure appears as silently as he's been moving himself. For a second there's no recognition; Sasuke almost says who are you. There's just the lingering hazy awareness of what he's capable of.

And then there's a rush of it, sights and sounds and -- smells -- a dark night, a full moon, the half-imagined shadow of a figure looming against the dark sky. Blood everywhere and the smell of fresh death, and Sasuke is a child, Sasuke is running for his life, he's --]

No --

Brother --

[There's only instinctive, bone-deep terror in his voice and face, but it's the child Sasuke's memories with the teenage Sasuke's strength. Electric chakra blazes everywhere, a thousand currents in an uncontrolled burst of chakra, enough to numb anyone in a several-metre radius who doesn't get out of the way.]

[This isn't good.

Caught off guard, it's all Itachi can do to pull back and avoid the brunt of the electrical attack. He stumbles away from the railing, wide-eyed.

Something is wrong, then. His brother has attacked him, an unfocused assault but still an attack. He's afraid of him - not for him, this much is clear. He hadn't been concerned that he'd hit Itachi with abilities he couldn't control. He was scared witless at the sight of him and had reacted accordingly.

Why?]

... Sasuke?

[Will his brother continue to climb aboard the ship? If he doesn't, he'll have to go after him. He can't compete with Sasuke at his current level.

... Unless he's forgotten how strong he is, if memory is what's been affected here.]

[Too quick for an unguided attack like that, his brother's too quick -- too dangerous, all the sudden fear of the memory overlaid with a body-memory of years of night terrors collapsing inward at once. There's nowhere to go behind him but back to the giants, he has to escape, but in front of him is Brother: it's a child's tones that speak through Sasuke's voice.]

You -- you're the one who --

[It's the child's anger that propels him to move through the fear next, pushing himself on board and landing in a stance that is more instinctive than practiced.]

They're all dead! [He shouts it, loud enough to draw attention, fumbles for the first weapon at hand -- familiar steel of a kunai -- and rushes Itachi, intent clumsy with inexperience but body still that of a trained shinobi, fast.] Why?! Why did you do it?!

[A child in a man's body... That seems to be what he's looking at now. Sasuke appears to have the memories of the young boy he left behind before being brought into this world, and the realization churns his gut. He's gotten too used to being on good terms with his brother. To hear this again...

He can lie now, just as he did then. But should he? The crew knows how much they mean to each other, at least to some extent. His brother, should his memories return, is already aware of his lies. Will it be for the best now?

But he can't throw the truth at Sasuke now either. It will fall on deaf and frightened ears.

His eyes spin straight to the Mangekyo. If he can catch his brother in a genjutsu, he might be able to calm him down. With the Tsukuyomi, he'll have the time.]

I can't tell you that right now, little brother.

[And he attempts to draw the teen into his jutsu.]

[It might have worked, but Sasuke's eyes aren't his own. Itachi's eyes react in his head without any bidding from his terrified mind, his own Mangekyou flaring to life even as Sasuke skids to a stop and brings up both hands to shield his gaze, a child's response.]

Don't -- !

[There's nothing but humiliating fear in his voice, Sasuke backed up against the railing and nothing in mind but the memory of a Tsukuyomi he's lived before, mother and father falling before the sword of a brother who turns to face him -- slowly, turning from the light, shadows crawling over his features until nothing is left but the luminous crimson of his eyes.]

Don't do this to me --

[And he drops his arms to shout it, panic and pleading, but his eyes respond of their own accord. Black flames blazes up around them with sudden heat, and this isn't a Sasuke who knows how to put them out.]

[Oh, this... this is bad.

Sasuke clearly doesn't even realize what he's doing. Amaterasu is still a relatively new technique for Itachi. Figuring out how to stifle it hasn't been easy. He knows it can be done - it has to be able to be done. And he's going to have to do it quickly if they don't want to lose the whole ship.

Unfortunately, because of this he can't let the Mangekyo fade from his eyes to put his brother more at ease.]

Sasuke... Sasuke, I need you to calm down.

[He backs away, turning his attention momentarily to the flames. Focus. Have to put these out.

Lessen. Fade out. Stifle. Disappear.]

[Narcissa was relaxing in her room; her previous task of keeping the hyperactive and foolish Luffy in line had been very draining. Today it seemed as if everything was back to normal so she took the time to recover from the stresses that watching over Draco's body brought.

Or that was the plan, before her wards took a strong hit. She instantly tensed at the feeling and restrengthened her wards. Her mind ran with the thought that they were under attack. She didn't spend all that time protecting her future son's body only to have the real him hurt now and honestly, she had absolutely no tolerance for it. Especially now when all her patience and control was thin from the week spent with Luffy.

She's not a brave person, but it was these thoughts and the strange protectiveness she felt for Draco that moved her into action. She placed some of the strongest protection charms she knew around her before she left her room and went searching for either where the attacks were coming from or for Draco to make sure he was safe and stayed safe.

When she made it to the deck, the first thing she noticed was the fire. Only it wasn't just any fire, it was black fire, which meant that it was probably due to magic or a special ability of some sort. She winced a little when it flickered around her charms but the charms held for now. Regardless, they needed to stop quickly. Her eyes looked over the rest of the deck, glancing between Sasuke who was apparently back and his brother. It was the look their captain had that made her decide to point her wand at him and cast the spell.]

Stupify!

[The word came out of her mouth before she could think of any others, though of course there were others she could have used. She didn't know Sasuke's defenses, though, so she stayed by the door just in case and as the red jet shot out of her wand, she started to think of what else she could do if the spell failed.]

Edited 2014-09-10 15:44 (UTC)

[His brother makes space between them and Sasuke isn't sure why, unless he's so unworthy of attention that Itachi won't even kill him from up close -- he's not sure where the fire came from, the Amaterasu pure instinct, and he assumes that it's his brother's doing. Black flames, the heat of them enough to raise gusts of hot wind across the deck until they --

Stir through the blonde hair of someone Sasuke's never seen before.

Someone who helped Itachi do it? Another enemy? He doesn't understand why the woman is holding a stick, and in the next moment he doesn't recognize the jutsu that she uses at all.

His mind is seven, and all that the Mangekyou in his eyes can accomplish was the Amaterasu that is fading now under Itachi's control: the spell hits and Sasuke's breath leaves him a startled whoosh before he hits the deck. He can't move his body. He can't move his limbs -- he doesn't have any control, and this has to be the end, and something about it is -- there's a new fury in the familiar nightmare: Itachi brought in an outsider as help.]

Don't hurt him.

[This is snapped out shakily. Never mind how much damage Sasuke does to the ship, he isn't in his right mind right now. Maybe there's too much irony in Itachi saying that, given the steps he took in the past, but he says it regardless.

The flames are slowly dissipating, but the ninja has already had to cover one eye with a hand, red veins becoming visible in the sclera of both from the strain. He'd say more, but he needs a moment to catch his breath once the black fire is out entirely.]

[She eyed Sasuke for a moment, unsure about the exact effect her spell had. Had he been knocked out like the spell intended or simply weakened? She didn't want to move closer to find out. Even when Itachi spoke, she only spared him a glance before she scowled at Sasuke's form again.]

He has become a danger to this ship and its crew. I did nothing to him that a parent would not do to their child during an uncontrolled magical outburst.

[She lied, but Itachi didn't have to know that. She could have gone the route of a parent to a child's magical outburst, but just seeing the irritating captain putting herself and her future son in danger made her use a more aggressive spell. Still, it was mild and she was unsure how Sasuke's defenses would fight it.]

It won't last. We must make sure he is restrained from causing further threat.

[She turned her gaze again to Itachi, giving him a hard look. Brother or not, surely he could see the necessity for the required action.]

[He highly doubts wizard parents knocked their children out just because they had an outburst, magic or not. Draco didn't seem to be a product of those methods.

But Itachi knows it's the proper thing to do. He'd been a danger to the ship and crew before too, and he had been purposefully trying to kill them. This is just a matter of some tampering with his brother's memory.]

... I had to be restrained once too. Let me handle it. We'll cover his eyes and bind his limbs.

[He straightens up, removing the hand from his eye but still blinking more than is necessary. Halting the flames of Amaterasu is difficult enough without the restrictions this place puts on them.]

We can put him in our room so I can keep a constant watch on him. He won't like it, but even if he hates me I'm at least someone familiar.

Howling Sabers mingle catchall

08/25, evening; Hamara Swarga

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

i'm sorry my tagging pace is so hideous gives you all my firstborns to make up for it

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject