the more things change -- "reattaching"

[Warringkingdoms]

  [font=trebuchet ms]The bodies are buried, flowers resting on their graves. The forest has been checked, and the attacker is no longer there- it fled in the opposite direction. She plans to set up a trap later, to catch it if it ever comes back. Reed and Lemy have been located and secured, and will be fine until a deal is reached with the Typhoon.

  Rin walks into her house. The voice in her head has gone silent, but the horror and guilt still rage beneath the surface. While contained now, she won't bet on the emotions remaining contained for very long. The sooner she speaks to Idyllfields, the better. Walking over to the counter where she has set the basket, she retrieves various items- winter fruits, assorted herbs for common ailments, paper and writing utensils- and places them in the basket one by one, methodically.

  There is no threat now.

  It's safe.

  Rin's eyes snapped open, and she staggered back with a yelp. Glancing around wildly, she flexed her claws, gripping the wooden floor. She was in her house, not by the border. She was staring at a basket of plants and plant material, not at a-

  Inhaling sharply, she leaned against the counter, staring at the wooden planks and counting the grains. The danger was gone. She knew it was gone, though her memory of what had happened was hazy. Still, she couldn't fight back the tears that welled up in her widened eyes, not while struggling to keep her breathing even.

  What happened to her? She just... went blank. She wasn't supposed to do that, she was supposed to be fully aware and in control at all times. She wasn't supposed to lose her mind over a couple of dead strangers- and yet she had. "Stop crying," she hissed to herself, her voice cracking, but she couldn't make it stop.

  Had it all just been a nightmare? Was that why she was here, alone- wrapped up in the feverish concoctions of her mind? It felt so utterly, sickeningly real...

  She wanted to retch, but she knew it wouldn't help anything. No, she had to talk to Idyllfields- but they weren't here, and with the time they had left in the day she and Nemhain wouldn't be able to make it before nightfall. And the basket wasn't even ready yet.

  Swallowing back the bile in her throat, Rin messaged Nemhain, Bring me Playerone, please. She just needed to calm down long enough to function. Once she was in front of Idyll, then she could worry about whatever had just happened to her.

  /tl;dr: after "detaching" for long enough to deal with Rosy and Abigail's deaths, Rin goes back to her house, starts getting together a gift basket for the Typhoon, and abruptly "reattaches"- becoming fully aware of the situation and freaking out, she asks Nemhain to bring her Playerone
  /don't feel the need to match muse, I mostly just posted this for reference in future replies/threads

[nemhain.]

Nemhain had not been around when the Mother and child had been gruesomely murdered by a hungry beast. She had been at came, eating her lunch and preening her feathers, when suddenly her body had been seized by pain and panic and agony, very much not her own. It had been startling to those nearby, to see a massive creature like her freezing and staggering, collapsing to the ground. Her mind was filled with visions of a pair of deer, with gleaming hopeful eyes and soft smiles, chatting casually about Elysium all until... snap. It was like a whirlwind of blood and death, and it was gone as quickly as it had come, leaving nothing but horror and guts in its wake. The sight of it, even just as a crude replication in her mind, was enough to make Nemhain nearly retch. She may have been a creature designed for combat and war, but even war had rules. It had lines that were not meant to be crossed, and that included violence against mothers and children. Yet, this cruel and untamed beast had just thrown that aside, and in the process had scarred and traumatized not only all those around it, but the fenghuang as well. It had taken a long moment to recover after that, shakily pushing herself to her talons and breathing in deeply, ignoring the strange numb feeling that settled low in her chest, like a block of static right in the middle of her body. She felt sick, and not only because of what she had just witnessed.

Quickly, the persona had gone searching for her user, launching herself up and into the air to go looking for Rin, her heart beating oddly fast in her chest. At first she thought she would find the other at the scene of the incident, but when she found nothing but blood splattered ground, she just cursed and continued searching. She was beginning to feel as though she were on a fool's errand when suddenly the static in her mind cleared, the numbness that had been gripping her melting away into nothingness. She had looked around in confusion, only for Rin's voice to enter her head. It was soft and desperate, as if she was on the edge of completely falling apart. If Nem had teeth, she probably would've been grinding them together in worry. Instead she just responded montonely, hee gaze focused down on her claws, Of course, Lady Rin. With that, she took off into the air, soaring up and searching for Playerone. She called out firmly as she swooped down low, landing near the female's usual residence and ignoring the way her head was still spinning – the vision of mother and child deceased still replaying over and over again, unsure if it was because of her or Rin, "Player... Lady Playerone. Lady Rin would like to see you, I'd you're able to accompany me."

[member=2426]Playerone Kennedy[/member]

[Hope Arcanium]

It wasn’t hard to find the hybrid out near her house picking weeds for shits and giggles, but she heard the call for her name from Nemhain, and the tone of the large bird’s voice called her immediate attention. Rin was very close to her, and when the Persona approached, Player knew that something was going down.

Dropping everything she was doing entirely, the hybrid gave a respectful nod, and ran off in the direction of Rin, having a very bad feeling about all of this. She couldn’t leave her friend in whatever state she may be in- they had been through so much together as it was.

When she saw the other feline finally, she carefully approached the Magna, reaching a paw out to try and rub her friend’s shoulder reassuringly. Something bad was getting to her. If she did not want her to touch her at all, or if she flinched hard enough, Play would set her paw back down as to not disturb her further.

“Rin... are you okay? I’m here- talk to me, it’s going to be okay.”

[Warringkingdoms]

  [font=trebuchet ms]/tw: blood mention in italicized bits

  Nemhain's voice, soft and even, quelled the nausea roiling in Rin's chest. She'll be here soon, she repeated to herself, counting the grains. One, two, three, four splatters of blood. She shuddered. One, two, three seconds and it was all over...

  Stifling a whimper, she squeezed her eyes shut. Of all the days for counting not to work... of course it wouldn't. Nothing would be able to scrub what she'd seen out of her head. Nothing could get the stains out of the floorboard, or the smell of death out of the forest. But to think she couldn't even hold it back for Nemhain's sake anymore... she was a disgrace of an owner.

  The sound of the door creaking open cut through her thoughts. Someone was intruding again? No, she heard the voice in accompaniment. Playerone, not Alastor. Friend, not stranger. Here to help, not to pry. The feeling of a paw on her shoulder startled her out of her trance, but she made no move to distance herself from Playerone.

  "Talk to me."

  She turned her head to meet Playerone's gaze- and for a moment, violet eyes stare back at her, flames reflected in their depths. She can't stop her eyes from wandering to their throat, their stomach, blood dripping from the gashes onto her paws- she killed them, she killed them all, they screamed again and again in overlapping chorus- with a wheeze, Rin jerked away, staring in horror even as reality glitched into existence before her eyes.

  It's only a matter of time.

  "They're dead," she whispered, her breathing ragged. "They're all dead and it's- I could've saved them. It's my fault." Choking back a sob, she shook her head. "Monolith City is gone. The Ascendants is gone. And soon Elysium will be too."