You Won't Begin Again
I
[ as often is the case with dreams, your character happens into being alongside kamui who appears to be tugging at his clothes as though he does not recognize them -- mostly because he doesn't. at least this cavalier is more lightly garbed than others might, and the sword at his side rests as if it is the most natural thing in the world, compared to other times, purrhaps, this kamui looks objectively quite and completely human. however, what remains even more prevalent in the dream: a scent he carries of blood and flowers, hydrangeas specifically for the particularly keen of noses. ]
II
[ second verse, 21% similar to the first?! what did your character just say? you may want to know most of all. based on kamui's kneeling before them, his head lowered against his sword now pressed into the ground, one might conclude a couple things. ]
If I can be of use, please.
[ one might feel something like a sense of a ripple. the scene doesn't reset but it shifts, like a resonance that says more than kamui's voice lets on: a near desperation where words are inadequate so the near palpable gravity weighs like a stone pressed into one's chest. burden? responsibility? desire? all three. none. but one thing may be for certain: if a dream fashioned tether is born the sense is not unlike fingers interlacing.
here. i am here.
or: the fear of not being allowed to stay, of not being enough. ]
Capitulate And Let Me In
III
[ he knows it is a dream because although this one lacks the sea, the feeling is the same. he knows it is a dream because some of his powers are restored, though they seem not to serve him a great deal with the changing of the maze, its light glowing and a strange warmth radiating. sometimes, when the walls shift, he thinks he gets a glimpse of someone he knows. just as fast, though, a wall obscures them. since running from the monster he cannot quite fathom a name for, more than a few names came to mind to find: are they okay? but what supersedes them are the names of any other tether formed by his oath of loyalty made not so long ago. though it feels like it might have been a lifelong fealty; the way dreams are.
all the while: the feeling of being hunted. part of kamui recoils from that, a primitive response: this is wrong. it should be the other way around. also instinctive: the hierarchy of survival over all else.
he is not sure how long he runs, though it may be a while, broken up with coughing fits and a tiny trail of flowers whose scent seems particularly bad compared to that of the flowers hinting through the maze. but kamui does not bother with either of them; just keeps going. he hurries towards one opening in the maze, only for a wall to rearrange and force his path to shift as well, which means even his cat-like reflexes are not enough to have him react in time...
...and he runs right into your character. he stumbles back, less because of impact but more because the jostling irritates his cough, ducking his head and covering his mouth as he gathers himself. once he has enough breath to speak, there is a bit hoarse but soft, mild, ]
Sorry...I thought...
[ but whatever kamui thought stays silent, his eyes flickering gold when he blinks, then violet again. perspiration dots his face, sluices down his throat. the armor does not help with the heat. ]
IV
[ running proves increasingly difficult with his cough, but having a reason to pause does not give him much hope. he eyes the chest, arguably innocuous looking but that only makes him more suspicious, head canting to the side as his eyes narrow to slits at the 'X' on it. good? bad? a trap? most likely. as if that was not bad enough, the abrupt sense that that which was chasing them is now far too near and also? in front of them. this shift thanks to the labyrinth elicits a displeased noise from the back of kamui's throat. his gaze dilates. ]
We should g--
[ as with many times now, when turning to leave the way they came, there is no longer a corridor. instead it splits two ways. lightly, kamui raises a pale hand to splay against the wall and closes his eyes. unbeknownst to kamui, the countdown that keeps flickering in and out of existence like a trick flame, reappears above his head, greatly reduced as he whispers almost more to himself, ]
One further in, one further out...
[ he huffs, quite overheated at this point, only noticing as he turns towards your character that there is another chest present, despite the maze's change. this one too bears an 'X'. ]
'Cause I Am A Danger
V
[ the key around his neck reminds him too much of the sword he found hanging at his side upon first 'waking' into this dream. he wonders if it's a clue or something meaningless. given the nature of dreams, the latter would be harder to achieve. he sighs, wiping some blood off of his mouth. caught against his throat: a few hydrangea petals stained red and rusting. every moment he feels a twinge that is not unlike a string being pulled tight enough to tear, and intermingled: someone else's feelings. he shivers, and as the countdown appears he tries to ignore it, hurrying from door to door, pausing in front of many and trying none.
why does it all feel so wrong?
like...something is missing.
in the endless corridor, he has to pause again anyway, catching his breath as best he can. but stopping is a bit of a mistake. the number of doors looks even more infinite this way and lands like an arrow shot into that fissure of hopelessness: what am i supposed to do?
that strange voice said there must be a 'pair'. so should he be looking for a person instead of a door? but they could be behind this door?
if tethered, the emotion(s) sometimes your character might blink and feel may be like this: a deep sadness it may bring the tethered one to their knees. or perhaps: fury. or perhaps: fear. all of this is tied up in other people whether here or not here and a failure to do one thing: save them.
all of this may trigger or deeply inflate the other's senses of things like fear, anxiety, burden, lack and especially a being trapped, with the sense of 'hunger' for that over-abundance to cease. they may wish to get rid of the source, in fact. or: kamui's guilt, fear, dissatisfaction, may be prone to eliciting that in others tethered to him.
blinking at the brief flash of a countdown again, kamui's hand fists over his chest. it hurts. it hurts. and?
a feeling once again of being hunted, and kamui does not think as much of it as he should: what it means that even if he would like to avoid hurting anyone, he also wants to be found. the key hanging around his neck feels heavier each door he passes by, hesitant to try...any of them.
again that voice echoes in his head: you need a pair.
how a character might come across kamui: eyes closed as he tries to feel through that tether any sense of 'where', and, of course, fails. ]
The Debt That I Owe
VI
[ if you would like to pick either of the two prompt-oriented options, i will then write a starter for you -- feel free to comment on his plotting thread with your selection -- or pm or disco me if that's preferable, though wildcard is your kingdom so go crazy. c: ]
Repay a Past Debt: /
(warnings for graphic violence? but it's kind of intimate? it's clamp?)
"dragon". this would be one or multiple of the dreams kamui is shown before he makes his choice to 'save' the earth and be the kamui of the dragons of heaven and then the tragedy that happens after he makes his choice (one childhood friend -- kotori -- impaled on a cross, the other the one the murderer -- fuuma -- his twin star, and kamui unable to stop any of it and arguably 'it's all his fault' because he chose one thing and not the other, arguably.
core seeds would be: ambivalence, regret, denial, guilt, betrayal, and love. the choice to change is of course the "side" kamui went with, but whether or not he can be confronted/confront himself in tandem with the paired tether, is questionable.
Embrace the Fury:
since the characters are being pushed into a battle for dominance, kamui will fight back if attacked, using his telekinetic abilities, strength, enhanced speed, etc all nerfed to keep him from absurdity as usual but i do think he might not use the sword as much since his werecat tendencies will want to use his hands/claws and uh teeth. warning i guess?! but his degree of fight and feral-ness really will depend on your character and what feelings the dream catalyzes out of the situation. because of his background he actually would rather not fight and having had a taste of being not only hunted as a hider but the forcible nature of that seeker/hider tether, he would want to try some other way. however, since that would be also fighting his other instincts, it would be messy and there's definitely going to be blood irregardless!
Wildcard:
up for anything especially since it is so rife with wonderful dream mechanics in how much can be experienced and shown, plus the compounded nature of these tethers.