The Curse of a Concept | Open

[calmed_demon]

CHARACTERS: Kouma Kishima & Open
DATE: May 15th, 2011
WHERE: The Forests of Ithir, bordering Muir
SUMMARY: Kouma feels a little of his Inversion becoming a problem and decides to snuff it out.
WARNING(S): V for violence in the intro. It could go either way.

Comments

[unifying]

Unlike animals, man had a self-destructive tendency to ignore that little voice in their mind that was meant to warn. All those little moments that, upon reflection, could be summed up in a simple I should have known better could easily be attributed to the call of something greater in man, something far more tempting. Desperation. Desire

[calmed_demon]

Orihime would have been overcome with the shaking trees and the whirlwind that kicked up the moment that Kouma decided to move. He had long since crushed the neck of the deer--the creature's head becoming 'nothing' as a result of the power of his hand and the flames that exploded forth from it. Moreover, the problem that he was faced with was something beyond the deer. Kouma exerted a great deal of force in his approach, leaving some of the forest still burning

[unifying]

Orihime cried out at the sudden explosion of fire, nearly dropping her possessions in her shock. Panic seized her suddenly, the fear that someone might have been in there, in danger, overpowering her senses. The lamp and picture frame fell to the earth with dull, muted sounds, and soon she was rushing through those very trees that made her wary. She couldn't heal, but she could still protect, and if there was someone in there that needed her...

"H-Hello?!" she called out once more, eyes on the flickering flames between trees. "Is anybody there?!"

[calmed_demon]

The air rushed in all directions. Kouma's 'flames' were more destructive for very subtle reasons. Suddenly burning 'air' at a rapid pace left pockets of open space, which sucked air in every direction possible and all at once. The air thinned gradually and made breathing difficult--simply from one of his mantra of 'Dokkaku'. Though he had calmed down completely given his intentional release of anger, he found that there was a new thing to worry about--the voice that suddenly broke through the silence that followed his flames.

"Who's asking?" Finding it more trouble than he wanted--Kouma approached the voice--the last of his flames snuffed out by the fall of his feet. "You shouldn't be out here."

[eastendalleycat]

Catwoman watched from a perch in the tree. She would have traded in the branches and twigs for a row of skyscrapers any day, but there was an importance to knowing just what one dealt with. Confining herself to the city for the sake of comfort would have been stupid, and Selina Kyle was not stupid.

It hadn't taken her long to see that she was dealing with matters greater than she. Magic. Powers. What have you. Some people here were dealing with better hands than she, but that didn't mean she couldn't bluff. No, that was all part of the game was the bluff and bluster.

The scene in front of her wasn't a bluff however, hence her staying safely in the trees for the time being. Scouting. Reconnaissance. And so far it was proving highly valuable.

[calmed_demon]

Hunting took two different steps: preparation and action. A hunter tracking down a deer would prepare himself by waiting in a secluded, disguised area. He would take action by attacking at the right moment. Kouma followed the same principle. His patience would allow him the right moment to strike, but in terms of methods, he was much more of a predator than a hunter. The deer he followed was quick--breaking through the line of trees and darting towards the edge of the forest. Kouma took two steps, waiting for the deer to reach a gap between trees

[eastendalleycat]

Even in a place such as Gotham City where seeing super-powered people wasn't exactly out of the norm (even moreso in Metropolis, but that was another story), the sight of the trees bending as Kouma propelled himself forward was enough for her to acknowledge that there was more to the island's new inhabitants than the eye could easily see. Sure the guy had seemed a bit uptight after they had talked about 'literature' and such, but she hadn't expected that.

Selina had never head a deer cry out before, as she hadn't exactly been one to take pleasure hikes. But that sound would be something that she was sure would stay with her for a while. Those few seconds before he had crushed its neck had been haunting.

There wasn't much to say to him, nor did she exactly feel she could talk to him just yet. It was apparent that he had been hunting, and she had no plan to add herself to that list--currently or ever.

Mentally adding him to her list of 'dangerous people,' Selina slipped away from the carnage in front of her.

[calmed_demon]

As imperceptive as he must have seemed, looming with the corpse of the unfortunate animal he crushed held tightly in his palm, Kouma looked absolutely serene when he heard the fall of trained feet against the branches of trees a few dozen meters south of him. Kouma's one eye followed Selina's shape as she left the scene, his silence marking his feeling of curiosity. She was leaving, so she must not have wanted to talk.

It was preferable, in his eyes, to avoid contact with others in moments such as that. The one leaving him--she must have noticed that he was not one for conversation or must have been outright terrified. Kouma sat in the ashen valley he created with the deer's corpse, reflecting on it. Though it was an old situation, Kouma wasn't used to assuming that others had to fear him overtly.

[evil_groupie]

Instinct was the reason she had been in the area. The original purpose had indeed been quiet verification of the map that was given to every captive. That task was a simple one, given the small scale of ground there was to cover. And yet, her walks had taken her into...not a familiar tingling of her senses, but definitely something noticeable. Force and intent in the quiet white dusk.

Mankind was not alone in its damning curiosity. But mankind did not have the impulse to see if there would be a territorial dispute in such a manner.

Thus, the thin purple-haired demon girl in a school uniform, winter coat, and leggings walked quietly through the snow and closer to the origin of the feeling that reverberated throughout her body.

[calmed_demon]

The gap of the forest of Ithir had been melted away by the simple art of 'Dokkaku'--a gesture so casual that it may as well have been described as batting a fly out of the air. The thinning air was a precursor to the sudden heat of the flames that would erupt from Ithir's depths--spreading out to complement the wall of flames that rose as a result of Kouma's 'sprint'. He killed, crushed and destroyed the deer's head the moment he touched it, muttering an apology so superficial that even the courtesy of it became offensive.

He had long since snuffed out the flames as he began walking towards the gap that separated Muir from Ithir. Dragging the carcass of his 'victim' in his hand, Kouma kept his gaze on the snow. He regretted his desire for venison. It would have been better to kill something in a place that would leave less trace of his activity--and of his anger.

[evil_groupie]

Delight.

She had been so caught up in the coincidental moment of spying that she had completely failed to tell or describe the emotion it invoked within her very core. Her brain, after all, had taken her to this path, into witnessing the spectacle of flame and brutal murder, out of instinct. So it was likely natural that she couldn't quite place the finger on the amount of joy she was beholding.

Instead, her thoughts were patting themselves on the back, assured that this gentleman--tall, quiet, and obviously deadly, had unintentionally let her in on his secret. He was a demon, and there was no way for him to hide it from Potamos.

A light skip, contrasting every single movement she had seen Kouma make, and the girl was on her way through the scar in the winter scape. Her every ounce of body language sang joy of finding an old friend.

"That was amazing y'know!"

Or a new victim.

[calmed_demon]

Kouma couldn't tell right away how much Potamos had seen. Though, it must have been enough. The last of his hairs had turned charcoal black once more and there was no more trace of his inversion save for the carcass he held in his hand. There was no blood on him at all--since it all burned up the moment he put flames in his palms. His gaze settle on Potamos, his expression hiding his perturbed disposition. This woman--she saw what he was and approached him courageously.

No--to be courageous implied that one was afraid. The woman he watched approach looked at him with a measure of affection and thanks. She was everything but terrified of whatever she saw.

"Why do you think it is?"