Fanfic: The Heart of the Sea (Sleeps in Man) - Chapter 4
Series: Mushishi
Characters/pairings: Ginko, Adashino, some OCs (for the sake of having a few necessary background characters). AdaGin if you read between the lines.
Rating: Ehm. PG, PG13? There's 'scary' stuff, and occasional cussing. I dunno.
Summary: Sometimes a heavy storm at sea will dredge up strange, ancient creatures. This time, a mushi surfaces, and it might be more than Ginko and Adashino can handle.
-In progress-
----+----
It was a disturbing and powerful curiosity that finally had Adashino stepping away from his place in the hallway. Even now, the strange allure of the creature called 'mushi' had not lessened in this circumstance. His appetite for the abnormal was what pulled him forward, and he was sickened that that would be a stronger driving force than the wish to save his friend.
Every muscle in him seemed to go taught as he passed through the doorway. Half out of fear, and half out of anticipation, it seemed that every inch of him was alert. One step; his heartbeat quickened. Another; his breath caught in his chest.
That unnerving gaze was still on him, unblinking, demanding, but eternally patient.
A floorboard creaked beneath Adashino's weight, the wooden keen accompanied by the crackle of frost. Tensed as he was, Adashino jumped at the sound. He jerked backwards a step, adrenaline instantly searing through his nerves like an electric shock. He realized only afterwards what it was that had startled him.
Heart pounding now, the young doctor tried shakily to catch his breath, to calm down.
Come on... Ginko handles this sort of thing all the time. Imagine if he knew you were reacting this way...
But before, even Ginko had paled at the sight of the mushi they saw during the storm... There was a reason people needed to have reverence for these creatures. Adashino had learned that before.
A strange noise broke the heavy quiet. It sounded as though someone were clapping the flat of their palm against a wet surface.
Across the room, the shoulders of Ginko's body were jerking slightly, and there was an unnerving smile at the corners of his lips.
Adashino peered warily at the figure, unsure of what the strange actions meant, and too afraid now to move any closer.
Then, with a sickening thought, he realized what that sound was supposed to be... And knowing made it all the worse, made the figure that used to be Ginko seem all the more horrific.
Stricken, he lowered himself to his knees before his legs could give out.
It was...
It was laughing at him.
He should never have let his fascination get the better of him... This felt dangerous. There was something horribly old and predatory here, and he had placed himself right in front of it. He had brought it into his house.
~
As a medic, I feel an obligation to make a short record of the situation that this...awakening of sorts had put my surroundings into. To begin with, there was the cold. I suppose that was my first tip-off to what exactly was happening, but at the time I hadn't bothered to think about it... Actually, it's interesting to note that while there was enough of a chill to put frost on a person's skin, it didn't end up producing any damage that generally comes with freezing.
Along with that was the strange moistness in the air. When it comes to a simple matter of humidity, that sort of thing affects the air everywhere, unless means are taken to avoid that kind of weather. But in this situation the 'humidity' as it were, was confined solely to the room where Ginko's body was kept.
Lastly, was the taste of salt. Every breath I took, it was as though I had just drunk a mouthful of saltwater. The very ocean, it seemed, had clamored to Ginko and followed him to my home, where it infested the very air.
Being near him was like diving underwater in mid-winter.
~
How had he finally approached it? He couldn't remember.
First he had been cowering on his knees, and now... What transition had brought him right to its side? What madness?
I'm a fool.
Adashino thought it over and over to himself, but it didn't change that even now, in the face of something more than he could understand, he couldn't stop himself.
The mushi watched him, predatory and silent. It waited for something...
"Gin...Ginko?" Adashino had to fight to find his voice; it felt locked in his throat.
The mushi made no response. It only watched. Only waited. And it seemed so amused.
But surely... despite all the hopelessness he felt...surely Ginko was still within that body. Wasn't he?
In his fear, Adashino found himself hoping desperately that this were somehow true.
Trembling, the young doctor reached out, fingertips seeking assurance through some form of contact. Now there were only inches between them; that distance growing smaller with every passing heartbeat. The air around Ginko's body was frigid. The chill of it seemed to bite all the way through Adashino's palm.
Still, he reached further.
Inches shrank away, becoming centimeters, becoming millimeters, until he finally...finally his hand touched...
"Gin-"
A sharp movement, so fast that Adashino wasn't sure it had happened. And then shock. His entire body felt it suddenly, so acute and forceful that his vision reeled.
The mushi, within an instant, had clamped a hand around Adashino's wrist. Its grip was more solid than Ginko would have been capable of. More than any man, really, was capable of.
But more crippling than the severe pressure of that hand, was the cold. It was like direct contact with dry ice. Or more like swallowing it. This cold was penetrating, and Adashino could feel it taking over his wrist, his hand...and then up his arm, so cold it burned.
Soon it was in his chest and throat.
~
The mushi drew the man close to it, pulling him by the arm. With a phosphorescent stare, it examined him, half hungrily, half curious. It looked at his arm, and his clothing, and his hair. Using the verbal inventory within the body it had stolen, it found words for all these things. Face. Eyes. Skin. Pulse.
Warmth.
It was drawn most to warmth. Moving closer still, it sought more...
~
There was no thought involved anymore. Adashino wasn't capable of it. The cold and the fear and the pain all had stricken him silent and immobile. Now he could only stare, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, and shivering violently. Instinct had long since given up on screaming the command 'run!' to his brain.
The mushi was practically on top of him now. Its breath poured a chill into the air that put frost on every inch of Adashino's skin.
It continued to look him over, to seek out...something. Something...
...Could it be that his blood was freezing? His thundering heartbeat suddenly felt so painful...
~
Characters/pairings: Ginko, Adashino, some OCs (for the sake of having a few necessary background characters). AdaGin if you read between the lines.
Rating: Ehm. PG, PG13? There's 'scary' stuff, and occasional cussing. I dunno.
Summary: Sometimes a heavy storm at sea will dredge up strange, ancient creatures. This time, a mushi surfaces, and it might be more than Ginko and Adashino can handle.
-In progress-
----+----
It was a disturbing and powerful curiosity that finally had Adashino stepping away from his place in the hallway. Even now, the strange allure of the creature called 'mushi' had not lessened in this circumstance. His appetite for the abnormal was what pulled him forward, and he was sickened that that would be a stronger driving force than the wish to save his friend.
Every muscle in him seemed to go taught as he passed through the doorway. Half out of fear, and half out of anticipation, it seemed that every inch of him was alert. One step; his heartbeat quickened. Another; his breath caught in his chest.
That unnerving gaze was still on him, unblinking, demanding, but eternally patient.
A floorboard creaked beneath Adashino's weight, the wooden keen accompanied by the crackle of frost. Tensed as he was, Adashino jumped at the sound. He jerked backwards a step, adrenaline instantly searing through his nerves like an electric shock. He realized only afterwards what it was that had startled him.
Heart pounding now, the young doctor tried shakily to catch his breath, to calm down.
Come on... Ginko handles this sort of thing all the time. Imagine if he knew you were reacting this way...
But before, even Ginko had paled at the sight of the mushi they saw during the storm... There was a reason people needed to have reverence for these creatures. Adashino had learned that before.
A strange noise broke the heavy quiet. It sounded as though someone were clapping the flat of their palm against a wet surface.
Across the room, the shoulders of Ginko's body were jerking slightly, and there was an unnerving smile at the corners of his lips.
Adashino peered warily at the figure, unsure of what the strange actions meant, and too afraid now to move any closer.
Then, with a sickening thought, he realized what that sound was supposed to be... And knowing made it all the worse, made the figure that used to be Ginko seem all the more horrific.
Stricken, he lowered himself to his knees before his legs could give out.
It was...
It was laughing at him.
He should never have let his fascination get the better of him... This felt dangerous. There was something horribly old and predatory here, and he had placed himself right in front of it. He had brought it into his house.
~
As a medic, I feel an obligation to make a short record of the situation that this...awakening of sorts had put my surroundings into. To begin with, there was the cold. I suppose that was my first tip-off to what exactly was happening, but at the time I hadn't bothered to think about it... Actually, it's interesting to note that while there was enough of a chill to put frost on a person's skin, it didn't end up producing any damage that generally comes with freezing.
Along with that was the strange moistness in the air. When it comes to a simple matter of humidity, that sort of thing affects the air everywhere, unless means are taken to avoid that kind of weather. But in this situation the 'humidity' as it were, was confined solely to the room where Ginko's body was kept.
Lastly, was the taste of salt. Every breath I took, it was as though I had just drunk a mouthful of saltwater. The very ocean, it seemed, had clamored to Ginko and followed him to my home, where it infested the very air.
Being near him was like diving underwater in mid-winter.
~
How had he finally approached it? He couldn't remember.
First he had been cowering on his knees, and now... What transition had brought him right to its side? What madness?
I'm a fool.
Adashino thought it over and over to himself, but it didn't change that even now, in the face of something more than he could understand, he couldn't stop himself.
The mushi watched him, predatory and silent. It waited for something...
"Gin...Ginko?" Adashino had to fight to find his voice; it felt locked in his throat.
The mushi made no response. It only watched. Only waited. And it seemed so amused.
But surely... despite all the hopelessness he felt...surely Ginko was still within that body. Wasn't he?
In his fear, Adashino found himself hoping desperately that this were somehow true.
Trembling, the young doctor reached out, fingertips seeking assurance through some form of contact. Now there were only inches between them; that distance growing smaller with every passing heartbeat. The air around Ginko's body was frigid. The chill of it seemed to bite all the way through Adashino's palm.
Still, he reached further.
Inches shrank away, becoming centimeters, becoming millimeters, until he finally...finally his hand touched...
"Gin-"
A sharp movement, so fast that Adashino wasn't sure it had happened. And then shock. His entire body felt it suddenly, so acute and forceful that his vision reeled.
The mushi, within an instant, had clamped a hand around Adashino's wrist. Its grip was more solid than Ginko would have been capable of. More than any man, really, was capable of.
But more crippling than the severe pressure of that hand, was the cold. It was like direct contact with dry ice. Or more like swallowing it. This cold was penetrating, and Adashino could feel it taking over his wrist, his hand...and then up his arm, so cold it burned.
Soon it was in his chest and throat.
~
The mushi drew the man close to it, pulling him by the arm. With a phosphorescent stare, it examined him, half hungrily, half curious. It looked at his arm, and his clothing, and his hair. Using the verbal inventory within the body it had stolen, it found words for all these things. Face. Eyes. Skin. Pulse.
Warmth.
It was drawn most to warmth. Moving closer still, it sought more...
~
There was no thought involved anymore. Adashino wasn't capable of it. The cold and the fear and the pain all had stricken him silent and immobile. Now he could only stare, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, and shivering violently. Instinct had long since given up on screaming the command 'run!' to his brain.
The mushi was practically on top of him now. Its breath poured a chill into the air that put frost on every inch of Adashino's skin.
It continued to look him over, to seek out...something. Something...
...Could it be that his blood was freezing? His thundering heartbeat suddenly felt so painful...
~