Post-apocalyptic setting

[miltia]

Your character's world has ended and purgatory awaits them, a wasteland full of ruined buildings. The surrounding desert constantly wears down the buildings with a neverending wind. There aren't any monsters to worry about, no zombies or demons, but your characters are haunted by the ghosts of people they once knew and there's only one escape from

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[poolcuemurder]

Why was he still alive?

Another war was inevitable. As long as humans existed as they did, they would find a reason to kill one another--a perfect reason why Master Zato's (Venom knew it was his now, he really did, but it would always be Master Zato's in his heart and therefore that was what he would always refer to it by) Guild thrived as it did, why it survived as long as it had. They would always fight over something; if not energy, land. If not land, power. The world was always at war, no matter the situation, and if someone assumed another would never happen after those one hundred years of feuding with the Gears, they obviously deserved a hit on their head since they weren't using it anyway, at least not for anything substantial.

War was inevitable, no matter how many wished for peace. It raged on before tearing the world apart one last time, finally consuming it and destroying every single person within it.

...so why was he still alive?

Why was he always the only one to remain?

"It's windy again, Master Zato." Of course he saw the ghosts. Unlike the others, however, he found it comforting. They never spoke to him, only watched with accusation in their eyes, but not Master Zato. His eyes were obscured as always. "We will have to stay in here until it dies down." Which was a shame. Any longer in this broken building and he was bound to lose his mind.

[Also free]

[alcohol_abuse]

What had been functioning as a door in the broken building shifted as a large being shoved her way through it. Seven feet tall and very muscular, the figure's silhouette indicated long hair and, more importantly, a singular horn protruding from the forehead of whatever had just entered the building. it could have been wearing a long skirt, it could have been holding something large and round in its left hand - it was hard to tell. Uncaring about the presence of another, the figure moved further into the building, hunching over some to keep the tip of its horn from catching on the ceiling.

Yuugi was unconcerned with the state of the building or the potential danger of it collapsing on her. Sure, it would be inconvenient but, as she easily shifted some large pieces of rubble, she figured this was one of the more intact buildings. There had to be something here. She was running low as it was.

Stepping into the main room where the supports were the strongest, the clinking of the broken chains attached to the heavy manacles proceeded her. The oni set her eyes upon the man in the room and grinned at him, a very large red sake cup (chipped but still holding a bit of liquid) in her left hand.

"Got any sake stashed in here?" There had to be some somewhere.

[poolcuemurder]

He heard it before he saw it, not that doing so was much of an accomplishment with all the noise--an intruder. How had they managed to get in here? How had they found him? They were attempting to destroy the Guild once again, weren't they? Someone was always trying to destroy it, but they wouldn't be able to. As long as he lived, as along as he drew breath, no one would pry the Guild away from him. Whoever this bother was, they would not get away with their intrusion!

He saw Master Zato's lips move in the corner of his eye. No sound came out, nothing that Venom could decipher, but he could read them well enough.

"Enemy."

He turned to face her, quickly summoning a billiard ball in front of him while he twirled his cue in his other hand. Whoever the stranger was, whatever she was (a Gear?), orders were orders, and any enemy of Master Zato's was his enemy as well. Her words fell on death ears (a part of him recognized how silly this all was, that this was baseless and paranoid in nature, but the rest of him drowned it out).

"Leave."

[alcohol_abuse]

What strange weapons this one had. Yuugi gave a hearty laugh at the brandishing.

"Hahahaha! You look like you'd be fun in a fight, but I've got more important matters," the oni proclaimed. She didn't stop at all, but moved further into the room, easily hefting up another chunk of debris and tossing it aside, looking for hidden caches underneath it.

"Tell you what - if you find any sake or even some of that Outside World alcohol, I'll let you have a drink of it." The man had no idea how generous Yuugi was being with that offer. It was rare for the oni to let anyone other than Parsee share her sake.

[poolcuemurder]

Hnn. This one was strong, and stubborn on top of that. He'd have to be a little more persuasive, wouldn't he?

He hit the ball in front of him before summoning and striking another to join the first, watching as they bounced off one another in the air and eventually struck the ground on either side of his target with a resounding bang. It was a warning shot; he didn't want to hurt her, though that opinion would change if she refused to cooperate.

"I don't drink." Very often. Woe tended to befall those around him when he did. "I did, however, tell you to leave. There is nothing you want here."

[alcohol_abuse]

The oni moved her sake cup out of the way of the ricocheting balls, not even sparing them more than a glance, as if having fast moving bullets passing a hair's breadth from her body was part in par for her. Yuugi was no stranger to danmaku, what with that shrine maiden coming down to the Ancient City to deliver a message from that gap youkai, so it caused her to only raise an eyebrow and give another boisterous laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you," Yuugi replied with a grin, continuing on to another pile of rubble. "I'd say it's a shame you don't drink, but it just means there's more for me!" Which was important given she hadn't seen Suika in a long time. Curse that other oni for having the most wonderful treasure in all of Gensokyo and not being there.

"And I'll move on once I decide there aren't any hidden troves of glorious distilled and flavored alcohol around here. You're starting to make an oni feel unwelcome." Not a bright idea on his part.

[poolcuemurder]

Oni? A demon? So she wasn't a Gear, then. Whatever she was, she hadn't even flinched at those warning shots, which would have been disheartening had he less resolve than he did. Unfortunate then, that they were both as thick-headed as they were. This situation could end badly.

Master Zato had moved closer to him during all of this, mouthing that same word over and over. Enemy. Enemy. Enemy. Was... he still referring to the demon...?

He shook his head, back to focusing on the task at hand. He wouldn't allow it to get out of hand. "And you are beginning to make me annoyed. An assassin will take out any enemy in its path, no matter what it may be." He glared up at her from behind that curtain of hair, letting it be known that she was not, in fact, exempt. "Again, I tell you to leave."

[alcohol_abuse]

Yuugi just waved her hand at the man before she picked another large chunk of debris up. Damn. No sake there either. "I'm not in your way. You're over there and I'm over here. What makes you think we're enemies,m anyways? I've been nothing but friendly."

She tossed the concrete into the pile she was starting to make in the midst of her searching. The oni paused and looked up at the man. "Though," she continued with a fanged grin, "if you're keeping what I'm looking for from me, then that might change."

[poolcuemurder]

Venom paused, obviously struck by the demon's response. Why did he think she was- no. No, he knew why.

Enemy. Enemy. Enemy.

Was she really that desperate to find something to drink? His patience was growing thin, and the implication that he was hiding alcohol from her in a time like this was the icing on the cake. As far as he was concerned, he had given her ample warning.

He said nothing more, only firing two more billiard balls, one aimed directly at her and the other traveling above, then teleported to the latter to strike down at her. He told her to leave! Was that request really too hard to listen to?!

[alcohol_abuse]

Now, he'd done it. Yuugi had been friendly; she'd even offered to share her precious and quickly dwindling sake with him. Normally she'd be all for giving this guy a go, seeing if he remotely compared to that red-white, but she was still prioritizing alcohol acquisition over getting into a fight.

Her free hand came up to catch the ball shot straight at her, the crack of whatever it was made out of meeting thick skin resounding through the building, as she stepped back just enough for the ball now heading straight down at her from above to pass before her. It was close enough that she could feel it brush the front of her shirt, grazing her chest barely. He was good, but lacked shrine maiden's homing danmaku.

"Hey, you're pretty good," the oni called to him, that ball having stung her palm a bit. She squeezed her hand once and then opened it, white dust from the ball she'd caught drifting to the floor. "A good fight's almost as good as sake, you know. Did you want to fight or help my find some sake? We can always do both and drink after we fight."

[poolcuemurder]

He landed on the ground behind her and took a swing at her back with his cue, but soon found himself ceasing the attack to stare blankly at the woman. Was she still asking for...? What?

What?

At this point, he didn't care if he had gotten in a single hit on her or not. He brought a hand to his face, pushing a bit of hair behind his ear to properly rub at his temples. Hello there, migraine. Long time, no see. He really hadn't missed you and wished that you continued not to write.

Never in his life had he met someone so determined to find alcohol, and he had met some strangely demanding and single-minded individuals (Chipp Zanuff came to mind. Was he still alive?). "There is no sake here. Please, just leave."

[alcohol_abuse]

Yuugi had turned toward the attack, her shoulders dropping a little as if she might have been contemplating a return strike. She was somewhat worried she'd put him through the wall and then bring the whole building down on them and the potential sake. She stopped and he stopped, though for different reasons.

"Are you sure? Did you check everywhere? I know this kasha that likes to hide hers in the most unlikely places," the oni replied, relaxing her stance (though still having to duck a little) and holding up the red sake cup she still had in her hand. "I'm almost out." That last sentence was said with an forlornness that contradicted her earlier attitude.

[poolcuemurder]

"I think I would know if there was any." Unlike his lacking knowledge of just what a "kasha" was supposed to be, unless she was referring to someone she knew as a type of porridge. Considering her actions, he wouldn't put it past her. "I'm sorry for your troubles, but I'm afraid I cannot help you."

...this was ridiculous. She was an enemy and he should be dragging her out by her hair if he had to. Master Zato would not be pleased by this (or wasn't, from the look on his face. Venom could not see his eyes, but his mouth was in a firm, straight line, as though he were upset. He didn't mean to disappoint him or make him upset, he really didn't, he didn't, but...).

He cleared his throat and adjusted his stance, resting the cue to his side in some sort of apology for attacking her like that. "Have I made myself clear this time? There is nothing for you here."

[alcohol_abuse]

The look on Yuugi's face conveyed that she didn't think the man had been as thorough in his search of the building as he implied, but she decided not to say anything. At least he realized that, as enjoyable as a fight would have been, he would have lost and the oni found that most people were sore losers.

"Yeah, yeah," she replied. "Let me check that pile over there and I'll concede that there is no sake here."

Without waiting for the man to agree or not, the oni crossed the room to where she'd pointed and started picking through it. "Hey... you ain't listening to the ghosts are you? Nasty little buggers, you know. Ain't got much to do but bother us living folk until we get tired and go join them."

[poolcuemurder]

Oh, finally. Did it really have to take that long for her to-

Nnn...

"...No." It wasn't a lie. They never actually spoke to him, just watched, stared with their empty, judgmental eyes, no matter how much he spoke to them. The people he had assassinated, Volf, Tsuyoshi, Master Zato... None of them ever said a single word, so he technically was not listening to them.

Technically, he was telling the truth. His voice still hesitated, though, as if it was still a lie. Millia always had called him out for being a horrible liar.

"Do you see them too?" he asked, changing the subject.

[alcohol_abuse]

Yuugi snorted at the denial, then chuckled to herself as she moved more rubble. She was getting the feeling that this man was human. She idly wondered what he'd taste like.

"Yeah, but I think they bother anyone up here," she replied. "The ones I see are different than the ones you do, but I'm an oni so they're a little more careful with me." She knew where ghosts came from. Plus, they knew if they bothered her enough, she'd just head back to the Underworld.