The searing light, apparently, cut through the flame, a yelp of pain slipping free as the massive wolf was blasted back, panting for a moment.
"Goro! Goro, please, calm yourself- nobody here wishes you harm, we're all here to help you. You don't have to do this. You're better than this!"
And the beast- flinched.
There were echoes of voices, among the flames. A woman's, familiar enough to be marked as Wakaba Isshiki's, frantic, pleading-
You don't have to do this. You're better than this!
There was a keening sound, close to a whimper, and Rookmon approached, arms spread wide.
"I know... I know that you are frightened, my friend. I know- everything. Our hearts are entwined, irreversibly so, and I know- I know how much you try to hide that you are hurting! How much joy you feel, when Ken or Raven express fondness for you, and the sting of bitter guilt as you try to suppress it, as though it's something you don't deserve- this isn't what she would have wanted! It isn't what anyone would have wanted!"
It shook its head, starting to stand, growling, clawing, for a moment, at its own face.
"Please, Goro... there are so many people who care about you. Don't... don't push them away. Not just because you're frightened of being hurt again. You don't hate this place and its people nearly as much as you pretend. Is that... not the truth?"
The wolf stilled, its breath coming in deep, ragged gasps. Its limbs trembled with some hidden exertion, teeth bared and grit as though in tremendous pain... only for the beast to lunge, not at one of the party arrayed against it, but sideways, into the wall, its skull slamming into the hard stone. And again- once, twice, the wall, the floor, snarling in pain before rearing back and howling once more.
It leapt, upwards, towards the ceiling, a corona of flame gathering around each claw, rebounded off the ceiling...
And impacted the floor in an explosion.
In reality, while Wolf's Shadow resided in the deepest level of the dungeon, the room in which Goro Akechi had been housed had not, in point of fact, been on the lowest level. There had been another underneath- a space for the compound's myriad support structures. Its pipes for water, pumps to be used in case of flood, its backup generators, and the fuel being stored for such. A low-ceilinged sub-level intended to be used for the maintenance of the facility, and little else.
The floor of the containment cell buckled, and split, dropping the occupants into darkness, swiftly clouded by the dust of collapsing concrete and the steam of burst pipes.
It did not remain dark for long. Fuel barrels, ruptured by the impact, now burst into flame. In the distance overhead, some massive portion of the facility groaned and collapsed under the weight of weakening supports.
Shakily, now, glowing particles now drifting upwards from several places along its body that had sustained damage, the Wolf picked itself out of the rubble. It was clearly favoring one front leg, and moving more slowly, now- injured- but not yet finished.
cw: slight self-harm imagery possibly?
And the beast- flinched.
There were echoes of voices, among the flames. A woman's, familiar enough to be marked as Wakaba Isshiki's, frantic, pleading-
You don't have to do this. You're better than this!
There was a keening sound, close to a whimper, and Rookmon approached, arms spread wide.
It shook its head, starting to stand, growling, clawing, for a moment, at its own face.
The wolf stilled, its breath coming in deep, ragged gasps. Its limbs trembled with some hidden exertion, teeth bared and grit as though in tremendous pain... only for the beast to lunge, not at one of the party arrayed against it, but sideways, into the wall, its skull slamming into the hard stone. And again- once, twice, the wall, the floor, snarling in pain before rearing back and howling once more.
It leapt, upwards, towards the ceiling, a corona of flame gathering around each claw, rebounded off the ceiling...
And impacted the floor in an explosion.
In reality, while Wolf's Shadow resided in the deepest level of the dungeon, the room in which Goro Akechi had been housed had not, in point of fact, been on the lowest level. There had been another underneath- a space for the compound's myriad support structures. Its pipes for water, pumps to be used in case of flood, its backup generators, and the fuel being stored for such. A low-ceilinged sub-level intended to be used for the maintenance of the facility, and little else.
The floor of the containment cell buckled, and split, dropping the occupants into darkness, swiftly clouded by the dust of collapsing concrete and the steam of burst pipes.
It did not remain dark for long. Fuel barrels, ruptured by the impact, now burst into flame. In the distance overhead, some massive portion of the facility groaned and collapsed under the weight of weakening supports.
Shakily, now, glowing particles now drifting upwards from several places along its body that had sustained damage, the Wolf picked itself out of the rubble. It was clearly favoring one front leg, and moving more slowly, now- injured- but not yet finished.