“Cute, huh?” Maruki’s smile twitched slightly at the corners. He could hardly picture Yaksini blushing at such a description. “I think ‘fierce’ might be a safer bet, honestly.”
They keep walking ahead as Maruki promptly follows her around. He wasn't really the type to lead someone else, usually finding comfort in supporting someone (nor did he really trust himself when it came to such things...he could easily lead them off into a ditch elsewhere if he wasn't looking-)
He hesitates for a moment as he sees the distorted desks, the old sign posts that he's seen standing at other corners of Inaba. Such quiet. The path felt suspended in the fog, the strange, dreamlike scenery stretching endlessly. Whoever’s cognition had conjured this place was clearly powerful—or perhaps their psyche was being influenced by an external phenomenon. He had seen cognitive distortions before, but this was on a different level..
Lack of items or healing...person of interest being the self-sabotaging type? Grave motifs? Suppressed memories or guilt?
He nearly dropped his clipboard and pen when Hamuko’s voice called out, snapping him out of his mental analysis. Realizing he’d fallen a few paces behind, he quickly caught up to her.
She stood at a fork. Directly ahead was the stack of desks, and to the left, a shimenawa rope stretched across the entrance of a twisting stone path that faded into more fog. The air around the rope felt... charged. Maruki’s brow furrowed as Hamuko spoke.
"Even with the glasses, we can’t see much past this," he murmured, eyes narrowing at the shimenawa. “Whoever governs this place clearly doesn’t want us here.”
"Let me see..."
He closes his eyes for a moment, drawing onto Azathoth as the persona stirs within him. When he opens them, his left pupil is outlined by a faint golden hue as he looks directly into the fog.
"There doesn't seem to be any immediate...wha-!" His eyes widen, finding some sort of disparity in the way he could almost feel something constricting into the air. Like an existence which stubbornly kept out of sight. “I can sense something,” he said, his tone more urgent. “I can’t see it, but it’s close. Closer than I’d expect for something keeping this low a profile.”
Maruki blinked, and his eyes returned to normal. He clutched his clipboard and carefully tucked his pen into the ‘v’ of his hoodie. There was no point in taking notes mid-battle—not unless they survived long enough to reflect on the experience.
“The shimenawa may be functioning as a gate,” he said softly, glancing at Hamuko. “Or a barrier. I’m not sure what’s beyond it, but... I don’t think it wants to be disturbed.”
He adjusted his stance, his expression serious. “I’m ready whenever you are.”
no subject
They keep walking ahead as Maruki promptly follows her around. He wasn't really the type to lead someone else, usually finding comfort in supporting someone (nor did he really trust himself when it came to such things...he could easily lead them off into a ditch elsewhere if he wasn't looking-)
He hesitates for a moment as he sees the distorted desks, the old sign posts that he's seen standing at other corners of Inaba. Such quiet.
The path felt suspended in the fog, the strange, dreamlike scenery stretching endlessly. Whoever’s cognition had conjured this place was clearly powerful—or perhaps their psyche was being influenced by an external phenomenon. He had seen cognitive distortions before, but this was on a different level..
He nearly dropped his clipboard and pen when Hamuko’s voice called out, snapping him out of his mental analysis. Realizing he’d fallen a few paces behind, he quickly caught up to her.
She stood at a fork. Directly ahead was the stack of desks, and to the left, a shimenawa rope stretched across the entrance of a twisting stone path that faded into more fog. The air around the rope felt... charged. Maruki’s brow furrowed as Hamuko spoke.
"Even with the glasses, we can’t see much past this," he murmured, eyes narrowing at the shimenawa. “Whoever governs this place clearly doesn’t want us here.”
"Let me see..."
He closes his eyes for a moment, drawing onto Azathoth as the persona stirs within him. When he opens them, his left pupil is outlined by a faint golden hue as he looks directly into the fog.
"There doesn't seem to be any immediate...wha-!" His eyes widen, finding some sort of disparity in the way he could almost feel something constricting into the air. Like an existence which stubbornly kept out of sight. “I can sense something,” he said, his tone more urgent. “I can’t see it, but it’s close. Closer than I’d expect for something keeping this low a profile.”
Maruki blinked, and his eyes returned to normal. He clutched his clipboard and carefully tucked his pen into the ‘v’ of his hoodie. There was no point in taking notes mid-battle—not unless they survived long enough to reflect on the experience.
“The shimenawa may be functioning as a gate,” he said softly, glancing at Hamuko. “Or a barrier. I’m not sure what’s beyond it, but... I don’t think it wants to be disturbed.”
He adjusted his stance, his expression serious. “I’m ready whenever you are.”