[closed] it took all the man in me

[anbu]

Who: Itachi Uchiha and various.
When: Aereuer 13th.
Where: Looking-Glass House.
What: Memory sharing event.
Warnings: Mass death/genocide, war themes, gore, violence, trauma, child soldiers, very sad but cute brothers. I'll update if/as other things come up.





[To the vast majority of the Mirrorbound who cross its path, Itachi's mirror is plain and unassuming, its silver surface set into a black wooden frame. They will notice complicated carvings, some strange cross between Japanese calligraphy and other, indecipherable symbols unlike language. There are only two distinct images: the first is located on the upper left corner of the mirror and features an avian animal with beady, jewel-like red eyes; the second is located on the bottom right corner and features a pinwheel design. If further investigated, it'll become obvious the mirror also carries a burnt scent, as if the wood has recently been charred by fire.

Sasuke will see a much more detailed and familiar frame. The faces of their parents; the face of Uchiha Shisui; the Mangekyou Sharingan set within the shape of an actual eyeball; Akatsuki clouds; and the Uchiha fan directly beside the leaf's symbol of Konoha. It takes no guesswork to understand who this mirror is meant to represent.]

—

[OOC: Due to this event being exposition-heavy, scene specific, and intense (as well as a desire not to get too overloaded), I will not be writing any general open prompts! This also helps me keep each thread interesting and unique. That said, I'm open to plotting something. Feel free to reference my plotting comment here so we can hash something out. I have a list of memories here, but it isn't exhaustive. I can find something else if none of these are appealing.

Starters will be posted below as I write them!]

Comments

[rowdyraven]

[The surface of the mirror gives out beneath his touch, ripples like water rather than glass, and Julian stumbles forward, lets out a short, sharp sound of surprise--

--and finds himself somewhere else. Thick foliage crowds him from all sides, the insectoid drone like a vibration in the air, working its way down into his bones. Somewhere like this - wild and tangled nature on all sides, oppressive as the forest that clamours around the outskirts of Vesuvia - should feel natural to him. The kind of space he's known and traversed on more occasions than he can count.

Yet it doesn't.

The trees are nothing that he knows, the dark loamy scent quite foreign to him, and beneath the buzz and thrum of legs and wings, there's the distinct rumble of something else. Julian looks about him, sharply. Hand reaching reflexively for the knife tucked into his belt, and it seems the portal that brought him to this place has gone, leaving him alone in the heavy atmosphere of the forest.

He takes a tentative step forward, then two...when something rustles to the left of him, his body pulling taut as the string of a bow, anticipation - fear, and something else, something darker, a profane kind of want - pulls him up hard, has him tensed and ready--

--but it's just a child. A child, here, in a place like this, and Julian takes a rushed stride forward.]

Hey! My dear, you should be alone out here, it's...it seems...

[But his concern, his protests, go ignored. All attempts to interact fall on ears that are entirely deaf to him, and in the end he can do nothing but follow along. Silent and unseen as a ghost.

This is someone he thinks he knows, sort of. There's a familiarity in the stoic face, the way the child carries himself, and it's just as realisation is coming up on him like the crash of waves over the prow of a ship that the other children appear. A chill goes through him as he listens to them speak, as he realises what's about to happen, and then it all comes down. Flying blades, weapons brandished, and Julian flings himself off to one side, knows he can't help, can only watch but--]

What exactly am I even seeing--

[Children battling it out with an apparent intent to kill; it feels wrong, on every level.]

[anbu]

[Another person is trespassing in this memory. Itachi notes this, wondering what it is about this particular place that has drawn someone else in, a dangerous territory not meant for casual intrusion. Fortunate that he's able to follow—when the combat breaks out, he doesn't need to turn his head to know what is going to happen. The actual events are uninteresting to him; he's lived it once.

More than that, at the time it had only ever been a stepping stone to progress forward. He'd felt little for this experience in the moment. So why is it a flag in his mind, or at least in the mirror's reflection of his subconscious?

Itachi is close on Julian's heels, moving swiftly in the shadow of foliage, prowling, until he can get a grasp on the other man's arm and yank him further out of the way. He pulls Julian behind the cover of a tall tree, presses him back with one hand like steel against the front of his chest. Black eyes turn sidelong as he watches the conflict unfold.

Ahead, the younger version of himself is struck down by the blades of the other children, blood painting the glass... until his body bursts into countless feathers similar to the trick Itachi had attempted on the roof with Julian. He reappears in a tree unharmed, dropping down to demand the scroll from the three children—and this time he's successful.

As this memory of himself continues on through the woods, the Mirrorbound Itachi faces the other man.]

You shouldn't be here. It isn't safe.

[rowdyraven]

[When he feels the clutch of a hand at his arm, the yank and drag of someone iron-strong, Julian lets out an unmanly yelp. Again there's the fumble of fingers at his waist as his back slams hard against the trunk of a tree, bright shudders of pain ringing through his bones and leaving his lashes falling low. He drags in a breath that isn't entirely an expression of hurt, fingers finally closing around the knife, pulling it up sharp. The blade coruscates dully in the forest's green-stained light.

Hand at his chest, pinned hard and fast, he raises the knife and--

--and. Recognition floods through him as his gaze meets Itachi's, and something in him softens then. He sags back against the tree, succumbs to the push of a palm at his solar plexus, and he allows the hand that clutches the knife to fall back limp at his side.

He catches the burst of feathers from the corner of his eye, but his focus - now - rests solely on Itachi.]

I'm sorry. I er, I didn't mean to. But um, no need to worry about me, you know. I can look after myself.

[He flashes a half-apologetic smile, glances after the child-Itachi, now disappearing into the foliage.]

This is um...that's you, then?

[anbu]

[This man again. Itachi is at once reminded of their shared walk to the harbor, the briny scent of sea and Julian's meandering words, the strange peaceful slice of time outside his own head. Though it hadn't lasted, the conversation left its own impression. With his hand in place over Julian's breastbone he can feel the fluttering of a pulse deep below, not dissimilar to fear, but—there's a certain laxness to the body he pins against the tree that's unfamiliar. Not the panic and terror and dread of a victim under his blade or his eyes.

Itachi's distracted by the glint of the blade, already lifting another hand to catch Julian by that wrist, fingers a tight bracelet. He pushes Julian's arm reflexively to the hard bark, all instinct, and though he doesn't squeeze to make Julian drop the knife, the threat is still there.

Eventually his mind catches up to those words. The moment hangs tensely.]

... Julian.

[Acknowledgment more to himself, Itachi releases the man altogether and takes a step back.]

It is. I apologize, these surroundings... [They set him on edge, though he doesn't admit this, and instead turns impassive black eyes in the direction his younger self had vanished.] Yes, that was me. A long time ago. Where we are now is dangerous territory meant to test shinobi at a higher level. Many die in this forest.

We should move.

[rowdyraven]

[The grasp of the other man's hand at his wrist is almost hard enough to bruise through the leather of his glove, and there's little resistance as his hand - like his back - is pinned tight against the tree. Briefly, his teeth catch at his lower lip, eye still heavy-lidded, and his breath comes just a little quick. Moves in time to the rapid-fire racing of his heart.

Then he smiles - quick, daring - words beginning to form at the tip of his tongue. Something suggestive, something close - perhaps - to lewd--

--but the words die before they leave his lips. Something in the other man's expression, the serious tone of his voice, prevents him from voicing the flirtation that had flashed up bright in his mind.

He clears his throat, instead, as colour washes over the high angles of his cheeks.]

My dear, there's no need for apologies. A little roughing up never did me any harm.

[The smile ghosts across his face again, then vanishes.]

I don't suppose you know the way out, do you? It um, well it wasn't my intention to intrude.

[anbu]

[The reaction is so foreign to him, for a moment Itachi is certain he's imagined it. Perhaps it truly is fear manifesting in the man, except that estimation is wrong when matched with the smile, unnaturally out of place in this context. For however short it lasts, Itachi finds himself staring in mute incomprehension. Even stranger is the flush of color over Julian's face. The forest is cool and shaded; no heat or exertion has put it there.

A little roughing up... another fleeting smile, then the return to seriousness.

He's not sure what to do with those strange, indecipherable signals, and he stares a note too long for politeness as Julian speaks.]

... You seem casual with your own safety. [Something he'd noticed last time but has become even more pronounced now.] Most would not react that way, while their life is in danger, without experience.

[Itachi blinks, turning his attention away at last, the intensity of his focus on the route ahead.]

There's no clear path back through the mirror. My suggestion is to continue through this memory, and wait either for it to end or for the exit to reappear. [He begins to walk and gestures for Julian.] Follow me.

[rowdyraven]

[The weight of the other man's stare is an almost-oppressive thing, and when it stretches out for moments that feel longer than they are, Julian shifts from foot to foot, the flush to his cheeks deepening. But then finally that comment comes, and the glitter of Julian's laugh cuts through the tension he'd begun to feel.]

Oh, danger and I go way back. One could even go so far as to say that we're intimately acquainted.

[There's the quick daring quirk of his brow, and with Itachi's grip on him released, he finally peels away from the tree. His wrist throbs lightly where the other man had clutched it, and that small soft ache puts a spring in his step that hadn't been there, just moments prior.

He moves to follow at the other man's heels without so much as a question or a protest, and once again they begin to move through the loamy darkness of the alien forest.]

And I see. Let me er, let me apologise once again for stumbling in here. I didn't realise it would um, you know. Lead to this.