Stalingrad post #2 [Accidental video] (Warning: Potentially disturbing/violent content.)

[insovietme]

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[voice]

[dormition]

[silence for a while, and then, softly]

Ivan?

[voice]

[insovietme]

[There's silence on his end, except for the birds. They say poh-tee-weet. But eventually, Ivan speaks. Softly, of course.]

Ah...Hello, Minato.

[voice]

[dormition]

...Is there any way I can help?

[voice]

[insovietme]

Nyet, not so. I'm not the one who's really bleeding.

[voice]

[dormition]

Can I... be there, anyway?

[voice]

[insovietme]

If you want to be here, I won't stop you. Don't get shot, da?

[voice] 1/2

[dormition]

Alright.

[action] 2/2

[dormition]

[Minato fizzles into existence on the battlefield, pocketing his mirror slowly and looking around. He's expressionless, the only way he can cope with horror of this magnitude, and tries to focus on keeping his recent promise to Ivan. He does want to support him, however he can - but there's a voice in his head that sounds distinctly like Itsuki saying that this is a bad idea. He knows very well that Japan was an Axis power in World War 2.

As a concession, he has his sword as well as his Evoker with him.]

[action] red = russian

[insovietme]

[The birds are still going poh-tee-weet. But people, the ones still capable of moving and breathing and living, are beginning to move about. There's nothing to distinguish one rubble pile from another, or where one pulverized corpse used to be a person. And one one of these rubble piles, there sits Ivan, his pipe gleaming in the darkness. His soldiers are milling about, and when they notice Minato, they start shouting angrily in Russian. They gesture with their guns, the ones that have guns, and the ones that lack them continue to clean among the rubble, before the planes return.]

No, no, no, not a spy, not a spy. Listen, listen I know him, he's not on their side, I swear. Yes, from Japan, but he's not--

[He argues from where he sits, gesturing with his pipe, and slowly increasing in volume as the arguing gets louder.]

[action]

[dormition]

[Shit.

Minato wasn't one to swear, but he'd really miscalculated this time. Ordinarily quite capable of handling himself in whatever situation arose, he nonetheless stood frozen for a bare moment, eyes wide as he saw the commotion he'd caused. Fighting monsters was nothing like fighting people. He couldn't know what they were saying, but the message clear enough - threat.

Slowly, uncertainly, he held his hands up in what he hoped would be taken as a display of surrender.]

[action] red = russian, get used to it!

[insovietme]

[The arguments only get louder, but Ivan knows something they do not know. It may not help here and now, but he knows that he can't let Minato surrender. No surrender. Because---because of his boss, and what would be done. It'd be better if Minato were--if he were dead. He shouldn't have to see Ivan's monsters in the dark. So he starts to speak again, as the soldiers debate.]

No, don't--don't take him prisoner. It's a trick, a trap--no, he's not a spy, but he's...he's not meaning what he says. Listen, he's not like any other person, you don't want to fight--

[Before Ivan can protest further, one of the soldiers fires off a round in Minato's direction. Ivan keeps his eyes open, and wishes he weren't oddly relieved, that he didn't feel weightless.]

[action]

[dormition]

[Pain.

He couldn't recall a Shadow that felt this sharp, this sudden. There was something of human-made weaponry that had horror in it, and he was on one knee before he knew it, wobbling and spilling blood onto the gravel. It felt oddly fitting to be injured again as the landscape sunk into darkness, reminiscent of the Dark Hour, almost comforting - but that was shock, he knew. Minato was familiar enough with that.

And then he was inhaling again, wincing through the pain but of conscious enough mind to start scrabbling for the Evoker that hung from his belt.]

[action]

[insovietme]

[Ivan stands there, not sure what should be done. Whether or not to move. But he knows they can't take him away from here, or...things may not end so well. No, that wouldn't work at all. He tilts his head and breathes, glancing at the dimming sky and the ashes caught on the wind.]

No, no, no, don't--don't fire anymore, soldier. That is well enough for now--Stop it. That's an order, you understand, yes? Let him alone. It's unsporting. If he's a spy, we wait, is that clear?

[He starts blocking off the soldiers path to Minato, never tripping on the rubble. There's a small voice like a bell in the back of his head, saying that he's ruined everything. What this everything is, he does not know. But he feels weightless, as he panics and tries to convince them not to take another shot. Tries to convince them not to take him prisoner.]

[action]

[dormition]

[And then Minato shot himself in the head.

No matter how injured he was, he pulled the motion off smoothly, from holster to hammer clicking. There was a sound like breaking glass, an odd shimmer of blue shards echoing from his head as if a bullet had gone straight through a window pane, and he jerked with recoil.]

Horus, [he called as loudly as he could, voice roughened and rasping.

Moments later, an overly large eagle, shining gold and screeching, literally flew into existence. Mediarahan, an innate skill, and -

Soothing warmth.]

[action]

[insovietme]

Nyet--

[Ivan feels recoil, feels the Earth beneath them tremble and shake, feels as if something has twisted and turned beneath him. He orders one of the men to find a medic, and he dashes off backwards, stumbling over rubble in his wake. Ivan stares for some time, freezing up when Minato doesn't fall over in a puddle of his own blood. While he stares, and the shout echoes, three of the other soldiers try to flee as well. They stumble, and trip, and inch backwards on their backs, their guns abandoned.]

What-

[He feels warmth. Like a blanket. He can see through the corner of his eyes the only soldier still standing. He turns over the palms of his hands, examining, questioning. There were shrapnel shreds in his uniform before. No blood leaked through the bandages anymore. Ivan would stare. He would if he could, but he keeps his eyes on Minato, not moving, not really seeing. Feeling. Something wondrous. Golden and warm.]

A Firebird...

[action]

[dormition]

[A soft exhale of breath, his hand falling with the Evoker still clasped in it, and the Firebird - Horus - was gone.

Minato got to his feet with only a bit of difficulty, warily holstering his weapon but keeping it in hand. When he saw that Ivan was healed as well, he couldn't help but for some part of him to be relieved, and he walked toward him with more confidence than was perhaps his due.]

Ivan...?

[Because to begin with, he was here out of worry, and Minato never thought much of his own injuries. It belatedly occurred to him that summoning a Persona in the middle of a battlefield was probably the very worst idea he'd had yet today in a day of spectacularly bad ideas, but it did seem to have diffused the situation quite a bit, and he'd been helpless to halt the reflex to begin with.

And, regardless, he couldn't regret it if it meant that he could finally see his friend without bloodstains.]