Fantasy Look How Far We've Fallen

[Pride.]

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  intro

  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  Middle

  
  
  
  

  DJ SNAKE

  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  opening.

  
  
  
  

  I

  t was a busy night in Gangnam station, with a lot of people going about their business. Suddenly, the usual busy crowd of shoppers and commuters came to a halt when a woman began to panic almost as if she was having a heart attack. The woman was clutching her chest and gasping for air, looking more sickly by the second. A subway worker rushed to her aid, but before he could do anything, the woman's body began to convulse and contort in a strange way. A few people around her tried to assist, but they quickly backed off in confusion as they realized that something was deeply wrong.
  
  Her skin began to turn a dark red color, rippling into scales while her arms started to recede into her body with her legs following suit, yet her upper body remained stationary, floating in the air without limbs. Her nose and mouth fused together while elongating into a single snout, snarling and screaming, gnashing her new sharp teeth like uncontrollable bear traps. Her eyes bulged out of her head, becoming unblinking beady eyes, no longer capable of emoting the pure abject terror she felt, simply staring forward as nothing more than a dumb beast. Her spine began to stretch like rubber, pulling out longer and longer, twisting out behind her flexibly, forming into a long snake-like tail. Her feminine screams turned into deep ghastly roars as she completely transformed into the visage of a Chinese dragon, hovering above the station floor without moving except for the slow subtle waving of its tail.
  
  The silence was broken when the creature began to try to speak. "Help. Me." it growled painfully. "Kill. M-" It stopped. The beast snapped its jaws shut, leaving the station in silence. Then turning its head slowly to stare down one of the many corridors into the underground mall. "Kill. THE. GODS!!!!!" It roared before dashing down forward, crashing violently into the walls of the complex, crushing anyone unlucky enough to be in its way.
  
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  It was time for the bi-yearly meeting of the four representative families of The Four Guardians, also known as the Four Auspicious Beasts, an event which was normally held in the countryside where the elders of the families would meet for games of Mahjong and Go. However the last two years have been different, instead, it was some of the younger members of the families who had been specifically summoned by the Jeoson family; the remnants of Korea's last Dynasty before 1910, now the sole proprietors of the Golden Archives Korean National Bank. The Former royalty represented the Golden Dragon but rarely intervened with the other families, at least until now.
  
  Still, it had been difficult to actually get the requested members to actually show up. Some came, some didn't the previous year. Though it wasn't much of a concern at least then. Now there was a bit more urgency, murmurings and whispers of something, yet no one really knew what that thing could be. Recently was a surprising amount of rather unusual activity among what remained of the four families.
  
  The chosen representatives were to meet in the back of a shop in Gangnam Station, Seoul; where a special venue had been prepared for them.
  Now time could only tell if they were to arrive...
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  "F-fire!" Someone shouted as two random Men burst into flames as they passed each other, both of them dropping to the floor seemingly killed instantly either by the flames or whatever had caused them. Even more bizarre and terrifying, the bodies crumbled into pieces when they hit the ground as if made of ice, still burning. Everyone who had witnessed whatever had just happened screamed, while everyone else was more or less distracted by the deep rumbling of what seemed like an earthquake with loud banging echoing through the underground tunnels. The lights flickered, and eventually went out completely, plunging the station into darkness. Though only for a few seconds before the red glow of emergency lights automatically turned on, alongside the fire suppression system, which attempted to put out the inflamed remains of the two men to no avail. It wasn't long before even the sprinklers sputtered out and malfunctioned as pipes began to burst, spraying water out of cracks that were forming along the walls.
  
  The rocky chunks of flesh were properly charred but maintained their shape, still on fire even in one of the many growing puddles of water. They then began to move, tumbling like blown sand as they clustered together into the form of two large, flaming dogs. Molten rock dripped from the monster's mouths as they salivated over their already chosen meal. The Bulgae barked harshly as they bolted in the direction of the still ever present crashing sounds of destruction in the distance, setting everything they touched aflame, terrified evacuating people included.
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
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  cast

  
  

  
  
  

  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  cast.

  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  Black Snake

  
  
  
  

  
  

  played by

  
  

  @ Pride.

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  Vermilion Bird

  
  
  
  

  
  

  played by

  
  

  mochi bun

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  Azure Dragon

  
  
  
  

  
  

  played by

  
  

  armeen

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  White Tiger

  
  
  
  

  
  

  played by

  
  

  TerrorKitty

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  North Vessel

  
  
  
  

  
  

  played by

  
  

  SavannahSmiles

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  South Vessel

  
  
  
  

  
  

  played by

  
  

  TerrorKitty

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  East Vessel

  
  
  
  

  
  

  played by

  
  

  @ Pride.

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  West Vessel

  
  
  
  

  
  

  played by

  
  

  mochi bun

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  Awakened

  
  
  
  

  
  

  played by

  
  

  Iseul Won (Moon Rabbit), Hyori Choi (Gumhio), Seong Han-Wool (Jeoseong saja), and Pal Hokpyeong (The Huodou)

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

intro

cast

Look How Far

We've

Fallen

time

7:30 P.M. , Night

date

January 1st, 20XX

location

Gangnam station

status

closed

cs

lore

ooc

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[TerrorKitty]

Jimin | 지민

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  mood

  
  
  
  

  Confused as FUCK and a bit scared
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
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  outfit

  
  
  
  

  Basic Firefighter Uniform
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
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  location

  
  
  
  

  Gangnam Station Main Hallway
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
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  interactions

  
  
  
  

  Yoora - mochi bun
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

Jimin groaned as she stumbled into her brothers apartment. It had been a long day and an even longer night. She couldn't wait to take a nap, but first she had to at least make dinner and go through the usual routine of making sure all the stray cats in were accounted for, as they'd been pretty antsy lately without much explanation. A pain in her ass, but she loved them all regardless.

Throwing a small bag onto the granite countertop a few stacks of Won fell out. Payment for the night's job, in full upfront, cash only. Clean too, laundering was too much of a fucking hassle to bother with. This time she was called in by Inferno, which was a bit unusual but she didn't affiliate herself with any crime syndicate in particular, but Inferno had been requesting her services a lot more recently. Normally they couldn't afford her but they've been cannibalizing the other smaller gangs and cartels, now it seems they could comfortably meet her going rates. Which is honestly all that mattered to her, Jimin had no loyalty. Putting your faith in anyone got you killed; faith killed her Mother so why wouldn't it kill her too?

"Ahh fuck, Kyu-Ri I don't fucking care go AWAY!" The girl yelled at her brother's answering machine as it buzzed three more messages from her older sister who'd been begging for Jimin to go to some stupid ass meeting she'd been summoned to. Her Mother's familial duty to the Vermillion Bird was creeping in again and she wanted nothing to do with it. Even though... Jimin knew she wasn't normal. She'd been marked as the South Vessel long ago when she was a kid, but only her Mom knew and for some reason never told anyone. Her ability or rather inability to be harmed by heat or fire was part of how she did her job. Having spent the last two hours smoking out some rats for Inferno's concierge. This was a pretty high stakes errand so she took it literally, and trapped them all in a burning room with her till they confessed. The two of them were shot dead by some grunts afterwords and left to burn. Seong was called in to clean up, the look on his face as he ran up to her while Jimin was cleaning the charr off her jacket made the girl want to punch him in the face.

Now though, she could forget about that and... One of the cats she was feeding brought her the letter that she'd sworn was thrown away a few days ago... The invitation to the bi-yearly meeting for the representative families of the Four Auspicious Beasts. The text on the letter even looked like it was written in gold...

But as she was about to put the letter away after only but skimming it, there was a sudden shuddering vibration that rattled through the building, quickly followed by a loud boom and shockwave causing her to lose balance and fall to the floor. "What the fucking hell?!" She screamed, mostly from pent up frustration as Jimin was rather unscathed aside from a slight headache and a sore spot on her butt. All the cats had screamed too, and we're now all huddling around the dazed woman as she tried to get enough off her to get back up. Before she could do anything else the apartment phone rang again "Kim you better get down to station now, all hands on deck. Gods be damned we already have how many confirmed deaths?! Get those ambulances out of here now! Minji I need every hospital in seoul on the line! Listen Kim, we have a big emergency situation at Gangnam station, and we need all available firefighters to respond. Something is seriously wrong, you'll be with eighth squad this time. What!? What do you mean the President is on the other line?! We don't have time for-" the phone cut off. Jimin was stunned but she knew the Fire Chief well, she'd never witnessed him seeming so panicked before. Whatever was going on it was big.

"Jimin, this is Captain Lee from the Fire Department. " The voice mail clicked off, leaving Jimin confused as hell, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she needed to go. "The Station... Gangnam... The meeting.. FUCK."

Jimin's heart started pounding, her mind raced this shouldn't have been so important to her. She had to get ready quickly, but she also had to make sure the cats were taken care of. She quickly prepared their food and water and went through a speedy roll call count to make sure all the indoor cats were still there. The girl then grabbed her home gear and rushed out the door, making her way to the station as quickly as possible, taking her motorcycle this time.

Jimin ran into the Gangnam Station which was busier than she'd ever seen. There was usually a lot of activity but not like this. Everyone seemed preoccupied so she quickly signed herself with Minji, one of the six front desk secretaries who was barely able to acknowledge her with all the calls they were was managing at once. Jimin quickly hurried to get her uniform on, though she paused for a moment when she found a vibrant read feather in her locker that wasn't there before... Taiji was there glaring at her the whole time "Thought you'd be faster than that little Sae-Hwa, but I guess it takes a while to put on makeup before trying to save lives." Taiji chuckled with a few of his lackies, three stooges more like. "Fuck off." She responded while flipping him off and stuffing the red feather into her pocket. "Firey today! Making a offering to the Vermillion Bird huh? Gonna run into the fire and make yourself a sacrifice this time? Crazy bitch. I heard your cuckoo sister was going to go to Gangnam Station for your family's wacko cult shit, don't tell me she asked you to go instead? Very noble sacrifice indeed." He kept blabbing away but Jimin was already more than over it. Family friend her ass, Taiji was scum. "Do your fucking job and I'll do mine." She hissed as she walked past, shoving his helmet into his stomach rather hard, the other guys backing off "You were at the Firecore exhibition festival last year? She's insane, better hold your tongue or she'll cut it off with an axe." One of them said "Taiji, bro you're a Deadman." Said another "Can you guys get ready? Someone dies every minute and twenty three seconds." One of the few other girls chastised gesturing to a large looming informational poster on death toll time frames on the wall before following after Jimin.

There were many rumors about the Jimin specifically, partly from her vague past and for the fact that she often took serious risks during operations despite always coming back unscathed. Many assumed she was unhinged, which she didn't mind. Especially if it kept them off her back.

The ride over to the disaster area was a short one, but trying to navigate the traffic and panicking civilians was no easy task. Many of the teams had to get off a block or more away and race to the emergency entrances on foot. Paramedics were already on scene trying to get people away from danger while also trying to treat the critical injuries as soon as possible. 8th squadron went in through an auxiliary maintenance corridor, shouting for people to come to their direction while simultaneously heading deeper into the tunnels. The smoke was thick but ventilation was luckily still working well enough to force the fumes outside, a massive plume of smoke billowing up into the sky, blocking out the stars. The team had to use their on hand extinguishers as they moved along, but the fire was abnormally stubborn and they had to change strategies and focus on rescue.

The threat of collapse was seemingly growing as updates blared from their walkies. Jimin had just returned to her team after carrying a young girl out and sending them to their waiting family when she overheard something over the radio chatter; the evacuation was going well, but there were some sections too difficult to reach because the heat was too intense or there was debris blocking the way. "Fuck." She recognized one of the areas mentioned, the area her sister had mentioned and was marked on a map in the letter. Pursing her lips. The girl didn't know exactly why she cared about these strangers so much or even anything having to do with her older sister or the Vermillion Bird but she went anyway. Racing back out to the surface with the rest of her squad to help elsewhere as they were called out. Her legs were on fire from exhaustion, but she immediately broke off and rushed passed teams trying to control the blaze from outside the station. Ignoring whatever people were yelling at her Jimin just kept going anyway. Reaching a marked emergency manhole that lead into one of the already abandoned corridors she grabbed crowbar and pried the lid off.

Air flushed past her, being sucked into the hole by negative pressure, threatening to suck her in but she held steady. The rapid onset of extra oxygen caused the heat and flames below her to flare up, yet heat failed to bother her in the slightest, in fact it felt pretty soothing. Massaging her aching muscles as she climbed down into the massive oven. Her mask made it easier to breathe at least as the smoke was the only thing that really affected her.

Eventually she made it to the bottom and dropped down into the tunnel.

__ __

Jimin's fire axe came down heavy into the Bulgea's skull, caving it in but before she could pull it out the metal axe head had melted. "What the fuck?!" she yelled through the filtration mask staring at the seemingly dead creature she'd just smashed or maybe splattered? Into molten mush. Some kind of dog maybe? No there was no way.... There was loud crashing and thunderous tremors threatening to knock her down, but she held steady. She needed to get to that meeting room.

But before she could take off into the main hall where she spotted a second hellish hound, a bright light flashed infront of Jimin and when she finally caught her bearings... There was a beautiful woman... Wearing some really fancy old clothing...

Arson

J-Hope

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[TerrorKitty]

Gun-Bi sat down. Closed her eyes, and began to breathe slowly.

That was over... Two to four thousand years ago.
For her at least. The world outside had shifted in both time and space somehow. Yet being trapped within her own soul, she was cut off from the universe as she was in her own. Unaffected by anything, Unchanging, a static existence. She could still reach out at the edges of her domain, where the boundaries were enclosed by the soul of another. Through them she could, even now, extend minor influence.

Gun-Bi's domain was powerful as her abilities aligned with it's very essence, though she kept it a pure white void. Her line of hunan vessels had begun to summon the Goddess less and less and eventually stopped entirely. The power she could release seemed fleeting, as if the earth was a vacuum, dispersing whatever energy she sent out into obscurity. Gun-Bi was a wise Woman; it had become clear that the earthly realm had changed in many ways, and there was only whispers of qi left in the world.

The last vessel to successfully summon the Goddess had been a rare accident. The vessel was a young girl who was visiting a Buddhist Temple with her Father. Bae-Rin, the girl was s smart and kind. Though she had been going through some rough times as their village was repeatedly attacked by an organization of bandits and thieves. The two of them had traveled far in order to reach the Temple, one of the last few remaining with a shrine dedicated to The White Tiger of the West. The lineage of vessels never forgot her name, even if their faith had wavered. In desperation they came to pray for her protection and by some miracle Gun-Bi appeared before them.

The Goddess was just as shocked as they were, but it was certainly no coincidence. The temple and shrine channeled the young girl's unusually strong connection to mystic forces. It was by all accounts nothing more than a fluke, but Gun-Bi was happy to be free even if only for a little... However, the look her vessel had on their face... The world no longer recognized her, nor needed her, or any other God. She was but a foreign stranger from a time that no longer existed. Gun-Bi wouldn't let that shake her, and with the limited power granted by her untrained vessel she returned to her beastly form to carry the two back home. Faster than the wind, more graceful than water; bounding across the land with unrivaled power, and yet her paws were soft upon the ground as if she weighed no more than a feather. The girl held on tight, comforted by the steady beat of the White Tiger's heart as she sped through the night.

Gun-Bi avoided returning to her eternal prison, knowing that if she went back, the Goddess was likely to never return to the Earth. So she instead focused herself on assisting her vessel and the remaining villagers. Felling trees like they were but piles of sand, purifying the river and giving it her divine blessing, teaching the warriors of the village how to properly fight. Gun-Bi had become their savior, and her gifts would never be forgotten... As least, that's what she told herself. Eventually the time had come, and there was no more delaying her sentence. Gun-Bi passed on as much wisdom to her young vessel as she could before her soul folded in on itself once more.

The Goddess spent the next seventy years watching every moment of her vessels life. Proud to they them grow into a truly incredible figure. Faith had been restored if but only for so long. After the Human's eventual passing. Gun-Bi sat down and returned to meditation.

__ __ __

"Eunsoo." Gun-Bi said as she stood side by side with her much taller vessel though facing in the opposite direction. Staring down into the hazy smoke filled tunnel, sensing a dark presence... Multiple. One was... Terrifyingly familiar. "Stay close to me, now is the time to act." Her words were as serious as they were cryptic. Gun-Bi took her vessel's hand and dragged him down into the chaos waiting for them below the earth. She didn't really understand where she was or even what was really happening, but it didn't really matter. There was more important things to consider.

"Woah! Hey, you can't go in there! It's dangerous, please head to the evacuation zone with the other civilians. This is-" A large Firefighter yelled through the muffling of his respirator while stepping infront of the pair.

"Apologies." Gun-Bi grunted quietly; the Man had suddenly slid sideways out of their way without explanation. Simultaneously the heavy duty pry bar he was carrying pulled itself from his grip and floated after them as the descended deeper into the tunnel, leaving the shocked firefighter to watch them vanish beneath the smoke. "I really do dislike this heat.." She muttered, "Make sure to hold your breathe through the thickest of it." She called back to Eunsoo.

People were still running about, some of them emergency responders, and others were just 'civilians' she deduced, humans trying to flee the disaster. Though it appeared that this area was least affected, and was mostly just smoke and rubble... However.

A deep rumble followed by a grotesque guttural snarling roar erupted through the hollow space, echoing around them with no clear source.
At least until the lesser shot out of a passage to their right, smashing head first into the wall on the left. The impact shook the very earth itself. The ceiling behind them towards the stairwell out of this hell began to fall in large clumps before spreading into a massive rain of rock and tile until the path was fully sealed.

A few fleeing victims of this tragedy had been caught in the cave in, but were all found miraculously unscathed. Mysteriously hanging from pipes and rebar from the rubble by their clothes.

"That poor woman... Eunsoo, take this." She said letting go, replacing her hand with a hefty sledge hammer. Don't move unless you need to, I'm not even at a tenth of my full strength, but I should be able to handle this. Still, stay safe for me." The small Goddess smiled up at her vessel, reaching up and patting the boy on the cheek. She looked deep into his eyes; one final check. She sighed after a moment, relieved that there was nothing to worry about as far as she could tell.

Gun-Bi turned around to face the dragon that was recovering from the recoil that had only just paused it's rampage. The pry bar she had taken earlier floated beside her until she reached out to grab it. It wasn't a spear by any means but would do. "I'm sorry, but I must obliterate you. I wish there was another way. However.." Gun-Bi didn't finish as the beast ignored her attempt to attribute it any dignity before she began her slaughter and charged forward.

"Tch." Gun-Bi ran forward to meet it, if only to keep the creature's distance from Eunsoo. To further redirect it, the girl simply sidestepped the dragon and used the pry bar to quickly smack it in the side of it's large head. The dragon's upper body was smacked into the right tunnel wall, the force of her hit clearly evident. It's lower back trailed after, slithering through the air while it tried to recover by turning around but it was too big and ended up raking along the side of the tunnel. It kept going regardless, swerving back around in a second attempt. "A simple thing aren't you." Gun-Bi shrugged, then rearing back and launching the pry bar at the dragon, impaling it in the right eye, the impact throwing it off and causing it to crash into the ground, slowing to a complete stop. The pry bar then wriggled about inside it's skull before flying back into Gun-Bi's hand.

She turned around, proud of herself and turned back to face Eunsoo. The hammer shooting out from his hands towards the Goddess, who caught it by the head with her comparatively smaller softer fingers. "I think shouldn't finish it with this, I want to end this quickly." She said, giving him another smile. The dragon had already begun to float back up off the ground, though it was looking a bit rough now. "I shouldn't have held back because you used to be human, my apologies for prolonging your release from this realm." She declared to the beast as the pry bar latched itself onto the handle of the sledge hammer, coiling around it, giving Gun-Bi a good grip on the tool turned weapon.

She sped forward with such force that the tiles where she had stood cracked, leaving a small indent. Quickly, Gun-Bi brought the hammer low to the ground as she flew towards the beast, swinging it up into the bottom of it's jaw, smacking it upwards, but moving even faster she managed to pivot and rotate the hammer around the dragons head to smash down with a thundering blow that eviscerated it's skull. The dragon's head exploded into mush, while blood erupted from the remaining body which slumped and fell, having lost it's aversion to gravity.

"We should keep moving, the others are likely waiting for us."

___ ___ ___ ___

Hyori was belting out the last notes of her concerts' encour she something... Washed over her. Leaving her stunned, standing on stage looking like a ghost. Though somehow despite all the spotlights on her, no one really noticed, as the crowd was buzzing with emergency alerts on their phones as official warnings for the Gangnam province sent out simultaneously.

Hyori/Gumi-Ho

Gun-Bi

• aaaaaaaaa
• aaaaaaaaa

• filler tab!
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  Mood

  
  
  
  

  
  Gun-Bi
  Focused/Calm
  
  Hyori
  Confused/Worried

  
  

  
  
  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  Interaction

  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  Eunsoo mochi bun

  
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[Pride.]

Cheon Su-Jin

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  mood

  
  
  
  

  Why am I here, Is this real, Why won't this motherfucker speak?!?
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
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  outfit

  
  
  
  

  Cozy, because of winter, but cute with heeled black boots. Her Guitar Case
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
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  location

  
  
  
  

  Gangnam Station, the secret room
  

  
  
  

  
  
  
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  interactions

  
  
  
  

  Junho, her Azure Dragon armeen
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

By the time Su-Jin was done with work for that day the sun had already lowered itself below the horizon. The sky was dark, the stars overshadowed by the many city lights. At a time like this, Su-Jin wished that she could look at them, letting their distant light wash over her mind and take away these festering thoughts. Su-Jin fiddled with the straps of her guitar case so it would sit comfortably on her shoulders as she rushed towards the many entrances that connected to the underground railway. It was half past six by the time she had wrapped up her final lesson for the day, these later lesson plans were most among University Students who needed help with their music studies, and while she was never one to turn them down she was running the risk of not getting home rather late now. Even if Su-Jin would be getting home later into the night than she would have liked, she welcomed the distraction that evening. Because you see, for many people across the world today marked the start of a new year. Another year to reshape themselves into something different. However, this day was not as pleasant for Su-Jin.

For Cheon Su-Jin marked the day she would be faced with a choice that always came around this time of year. A choice that made her heart heavy and her stomach turn with nerves. Su-Jin was on auto-pilot as she shuffled with the group of people onto the train. Pulling her phone out to check the time out of pure habit. 'It’s almost time for the meeting.' She subconsciously noted to herself. For a brief moment, her mind toyed with the idea of her going to the meeting. It had been many years since moved away from her home in Jeju. Away from the Azure Dragon’s Shrine. Away from the demands of her worship-obsessed family. ‘But what if their there.’ As much as she would have liked to go to the bi-annual meeting of the Guardians to check up on the other vessels, she stayed away, fearing that her family would find her and drag her back to Jeju. Su-Jin practically sold a piece of her soul to ensure that they wouldn’t find her address, and at this point answering their calls would not keep them at bay for long. Su-Jin was brought back down from thoughts when the stopping of the train shifted her body's weight.

Su-Jin shoved her phone back into the pocket of her skirt as she hastily stepped off the train to make the journey back to her apartment. At this point, she really just wanted to eat food and pretend she made an effort to go to the meeting. However, whatever was watching over her had other plans for that evening. Su-Jin had gotten off at Gangnam Station instead of her usual stop. And for a moment she just stood there and sighed. She could feel a breeze wrap around her in an attempt to pull her forward. Towards the golden room hiding away from sight.

“Alright, I can take a hint.”

She mumbled as she walked away from the platform towards the ever-bustling shop area. Su-Jin had a feeling that even though she hadn’t packed her invitation to this special meeting of theirs, she just had a feeling in her gut that everything would work out. Su-Jin knew how to navigate the many people as she headed into the shop that the Jeoson family owned. ”Good Evening miss, how may I help you.” Su-Jin smiled at the attendant, removing a strap from her shoulder to access the front pocket of her case.

And just as she thought, Su-Jin was able to produce the letter from her pocket.

“Hi, I am here pick up an order, here is the confirmation of purchase.”

Su-Jin smiled and handed the woman working the counter the letter. The woman only needed to examine the seal on the letter for a second before knowing what Su-Jin was really there for. “Of course, if you follow me, I will grab your order.” Su-Jin nodded her head, placing the strap back over her shoulder. The woman called someone over to man the counter, while the two of them made their way around into a separate part of the store. A part meant only for the Guardian families and the people who worked for them. ‘Not much has changed about this room,’ The large room decorated with golds and whites still had the same sleek design it did when she first entered this exact room years ago. Su-Jin could still remember the faces of the people who came to represent the other guardian families. But, unlike before when the room was full of people, it was just her and the ever-silent staff tucked into the corner of the elegant parlor.

‘What was I thinking?’ She nervously grasped onto the straps of her guitar case.

“I must be early.”

She reasoned with no one but herself. ”Actually you are right on time, and the first vessel to come in a long while.” The woman who had guided her back spoke up suddenly, making Su-Jin jump.

“Oh is that so?”

She asked, not actually wanting an answer. Su-Jin didn’t need her to tell why the other vessels hadn’t attended in a while, because she already had her own ideas as to why it was only her that evening. The vessel of the south had never shown her face here before, it was only Kyu-Ri who ever attended to represent the Vermillion Bird, but even she was not here this evening. Then there was the Choi family who represented the White Tiger, their son Eunsoo was the eldest of the vessel children, and their family was also absent. The remaining family was the family of the Black Tortoise, Su-Jin was quite fond of the vessel from their family. Jeong Nari was a girl who was in a very similar situation to herself and her own family. If Su-Jin had the power, she would have taken Nari away to her apartment. But Nari ended up finding her own way out.

Su-Jin let her mind wonder about the other vessels as she removed her guitar case from her back to sit on one of the couches in the room. Su-Jin carefully leaned the case against the side of the couch. Su-Jin was not sure how long she sat there stiffly, just waiting for something to happen, but nothing ever did. ‘Maybe I should go now.’ She awkwardly looked around. Hoping that maybe an answer would come to her. Su-Jin was only met with silence. Not knowing what else to do in this situation, Su-Jin slowly stood, reaching to grab her guitar. That’s when the whole ground shook, and in the distance, there was a ferocious roar.

“What the fuck!”

Su-Jin widened her stance to stabilize herself, and the hair on the back of her neck stood up. Something was wrong, very wrong. Su-Jin looked to the attending staff in the room, and they just stood there, emotionless faces like there was nothing wrong with what just echoed in the halls. Their reaction was not helping her by any means. Before Su-Jin could voice any of her questions the lights flickered out, replaced by anxiety-inducing red.

“Is anybody gonna tell me what the fuck is happening, or am I gonna have to find out by myself?”

Her dark eyes found the unmoving butler in the harsh red light. And this fucker was still not saying anything.

“Fine then, just sit there in menacing silence.”

She mumbled, reaching over to snatch her guitar case from where it rested against the couch, still standing in her awkward position even if the shaking had already passed. Just as she finished situating her bag onto her back when she felt something approaching. It was a familiar presence, one that she knew well, but couldn’t name. More like I didn't want to name it for fear of what that might mean. First, there was a gentle breeze at her back, then there was a blinding white light that overtook the red emergency lights. Su-Jin fought the urge to close her eyes, wanting to confirm whether or not what she was feeling was correct. It was only when the light faded did she really see what had appeared before her. Her hands tightly gripped the straps of her case. Her gaze stared directly into someone’s chest. ‘Is this my life right now?’ She didn’t dare say it allowed, and just stared forward (still into this person’s chest mind you).

Slowly Su-Jin lifted her gaze up, and up until she peered into two dark pools similar to her own. She knew for the moment she saw him that he was not human, the otherworldly glow he possessed helped to back up that theory. Su-Jin spared a glance to mister mime in the corner, who still hadn’t moved, before looking back up at the stranger. Her lips didn’t move, she didn’t want to ask who he was, because deep down she already knew. Su-Jin finally willed herself to say something.

“Are you who I think you are?”

Smooth. Su-Jin hoped her voice didn’t waver too much when she spoke to this being in front of her. Now she could only pray to her guardian that he wouldn’t spell the end of her.

Speech:

"this is a dialogue."

Thought: 'Text'

only exception

Rosé

♡coded by uxie♡

 

[SavannahSmiles]

click!

nari

the north vessel

location

Gangnam Station: Shopping Hallway

mood

Should have just stayed in bed.

outfit

Interactions

Yunseo ( Pride. )

Flowers in my hair, I belong by the sea...

Nari's day wasn't going so well.

That morning she had jolted awake from another nightmare, dark waves and screams of terror following her into the waking world. A hot shower worked well in washing off the sweat that had formed on her skin but it did little to ease the tight, anxious feeling in her chest.

She had hoped to push past it, move on with her day but then her coffee machine started making grinding and whining noises she was positive it shouldn't be making when she switched it on. She couldn't figure out what in the world was wrong with it and as such her day started off coffee-less.

And if that wasn't bad enough, when she flipped on the light to her work room to continue working on a commission, she realized she was out of a shade of blue she needed for the water. Sighing in exasperation, she grabbed her phone, purse and headed for the door. As she slipped her boots and peacoat on, a crisp white envelope sitting neatly underneath the letter slot in her door caught her attention.

Bending down, her slender fingers scooped it up and raised it upwards as she squinted at it. A small frown over-took her expression when she realized what the letter contained. Her parents had been forcing her to attend the bi-annual meeting for as long as she could remember, but when she essentially ran away after she graduated, she had stopped attending.

She briefly considered going, if just to check up on how the other vessels were doing but she couldn't risk running into her parents, not when she's been hidden for this long. With a small sigh, the letter was slipped into the pocket of her jacket as she stepped through the door and locked it behind her.

She couldn't believe this.

All of the nearby shops had been sold out of the paint she needed. All of them! What she had hoped to be a quick errand had very quickly turned into a scavenger hunt. Now here she stood at seven-thirty at night in the shopping section of Gangnam Station, exhausted and fully ready to go home.

As she began to head down the hallway in the direction of the train, a startled yelp tumbled from her lips as she stumbled and fell to her knees, the ground shaking underneath her feet as a loud roar echoed in the distance. Her heart-rate picked up as she climbed shakily to her feet; had that been an earthquake? Had something exploded?

The worried murmurs around her quickly turned into screams as something big and on fire hurtled around the corner from up ahead.

'Is that a dog?'

The shocked thought jolted through her as the bag she was holding slipped from her fingers, paint rolling away across the tiled floor.

The Bulgea made a bee-line straight for her, those in the crowed scrambling to get out of its way and those that didn't very quickly met a fiery end. Nari whirled, her boots thumping against the tile as she bolted in the other direction.

Her heart beat a fearful staccato in her chest, a startled cry escaping her as a bright light suddenly bloomed right in front of her. Her eyes squeezed closed reflectively and she tried to skid to a stop but her momentum was too much and she ended up slamming into a firm chest.

Orange Trees - MARINA

♡coded by uxie♡