[LOCKED: April, Kat, Bakura/Malik] Dominion Trip, Mid-January 3000 CE

[twinpharaohs]

((Continued from here. Kat does not have an RP journal of her own, so she'll be played through either Yugi's or Bakura's, depending on whoever's logged in at the time. Most likely Yugi. Kat now has an RP journal at toreador_saviour.))

When Yugi, Yami, Bakura, and April PINPoint into Dominion, they're closer to their destination than they were the last time April was here. The January air is positively chilly, and the sky is currently clouded over. A couple of inches of snow cover everything except the streets and sidewalks.

Yugi takes a moment to orient himself, then says, "Oh good, we're actually near Bakura's place. Kat's apartment is just down the road." He points towards a tall, fourteen-storey building a couple of blocks to the east by way of demonstration.

Comments

[slayers_desire]

"For 18 years I lived in Qua-Toth, a place of eternal darkness, ruled by demons. It defined who I was... and still who I am."

April listens carefully to Kat's description. "The vampires in my world were created when the Old Ones, powerful demons, were banished from Earth. The last one fed on a human and mixed their blood, creating the first vampire. Every vampire since has been a demon inhabiting human corpses."

"Like I said, most of the vampires in my world have the same powers. Abilities. The older you are the stronger you are. Angel is the oldest vampire I know."

"I see that sunlight is still a common weakness..."

"And that the hunger is still a common desire..."

[toreador_saviour]

"Yeah, I remember Quor'toth was described as a really nasty place," Kat says with a grimace.

Ket smiles tightly. "Yep. Knew that already. We've got your variety of vampire around, and I remember the history from watching Buffy and Angel. Yugi might've already mentioned that we've got more than one flavor of vampire lurking about."

"Yep," Yugi confirms. "That I know of... Whedon-Greenwalt, Kindred, Kuei-Jin, Red Court, White Court, Black Court, Jade Court."

"Assuming the Kuei-Jin and Jade Court aren't one and the same," Kat notes.

Kat makes a strange face and rocks her head from side to side for a second. "Eh, sort of, for me. The PTBs granted me an immunity to the whole 'direct sunlight burns you to ashes' thing, but not to the 'daytime makes you want to sleep' thing that Kindred have. Mostly I think as an apology for getting me wrapped up in all of this by accident."

She nods seriously. "Oh yeah. I subsist on donated blood from the blood bank. If it matches my own blood type, even better." She shakes her head. "I'm not going to take the risk that I'll accidentally kill someone by feeding directly. I get ridicule from the rest of the Dominion Kindred community; they call Kindred like me, who get their blood from blood banks, 'Bankers' or 'Vegetarians'."

[slayers_desire]

"Any one I might know?" April asks when they mention having other Buffyverse vampires around.

"Because of the human soul, sunlight doesn't bother me. I tend to sleep later in the day because of the nocturnal tendencies of the vampire."

"The Powers That Be? The ones from the Buffyverse?"

April shrugs lightly at the confession of where Kat gets her blood. "I drink animal blood myself. Or frequent the odd blood bank when the desire for human gets too much."

"The thing we worry about is how pregnancy cravings might affect me..." April places a hand at her stomach. "But Clark has reassured me not to worry too much about that aspect."

[toreador_saviour]

Kat shrugs. "Like I said, I haven't met any yet. If Angel and Spike are still 'alive', so to speak, then probably them."

Kat smiles. "Something we have in common, then, if for different reasons."

She nods. "Yep."

"They're our Bosses," Yugi sighs.

"Animal blood isn't as potent for Kindred," Kat replies. "We don't get as much... 'nutrition', if you could call it that, from animals. And in order to keep school up, I have to have every bit of blood I can get into my system in order to even stay awake."

Kat grimaces. "As I recall, in Angel, when Darla was pregnant with Connor, she craved the blood of children." She pauses. "I'm sorry, that's probably not reassuring at all." She smiles tightly at April. "But you seem like the kind of woman who has very, very good self-control."

[slayers_desire]

"You guys have direct contact with the Powers That Be..." April is amazed. And a little sad. The PTBs watch over heroes. And she... she doesn't know what she is anymore. Her hero persona had to be put away. And it was so long ago since she felt like the world depended on her to save it.

(It is a whole different story being married to Superman, who the world does need to save it. Often)

"I have craved human blood." April states simply. "As luck has it... Kryptonian blood is much more potent than human blood. And thus... Clark and I have an agreement."

[twinpharaohs]

Yugi makes an ambivalent gesture. "Well, not all of us. Some of the Guardians, certainly. Most of the rest of us got our marching orders from them. Ryou—not Bakura, but one of our Guardians—is most often the one that has contact with Them."

Yugi's always been good at picking up on people's emotions, and he can tell that April's a little bit sad. "If you want," he says, smiling, "you can always help us out from time to time. Whenever you're able."

Kat glances over at the pair, then nods. "The world needs more people looking out for it," she adds with a smile and a wink. "And I think that lot"—she means the Saviours—"could use all the help they can get."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yugi asks, mock-offense in his voice. He is smiling, though, to let her know he's not angry or anything.

"Nothing! You guys are very capable, but everyone can always use good help," Kat explains, raising her hands in a conciliatory gesture. "The more, the better. Strength in numbers, and all that."

Kat arches an eyebrow, though she's still smiling. "Yeah, somehow, that doesn't really surprise me. I'm not sure why it doesn't, but it doesn't."

[slayers_desire]

"I have to be careful with physical activities..." April smiled softly. "Because of the baby. And just recently I hung up my Dark Oak cloak. So I am still a little sad about it."

"And I do like helping my friends, and helping my husband when he needs it." The difficult thing to explain is that being the 'help' doesn't feel the same as being the one that destiny called to save innocents. She knows that role of helping is still important...

"Well you know me... if the voices speak about anything while I am here, I am going to share." She is trying to find strength with just using her voices. Her warnings. Her premonitions.

[twinpharaohs]

"I know," Yugi says. "That's why I said 'when you're able'."

Kat, Yugi, Yami, and Bakura exchange a brief glance, then Yami smiles and nods. "Sometimes, that's all you need to get an edge," he replies. "Any advice you can offer would always be welcome."

They haven't yet created an official "Ally" position—and won't for another eight years or so—but so far as Yugi and Yami are concerned, April is already among the Saviours' Allies. Even though, at this point, she only knows four of the members. (That Yugi and Yami know of. She actually knows five.)

[slayers_desire]

"My voices talk to me all the time. They are the thing that kept me alive all those years in a demon dimension, and continue to help those in need."

"So how many Saviors are there supposed to be?"

[twinpharaohs]

Yugi nods happily, grinning. "Helped us when we needed it. Can't ever thank you enough for that, April."

"Originally, seven," Bakura replies. He's been quiet for awhile, content to let Kat and Yugi carry on the majority of the conversation. "But when I chose Yugi to take over the job of trying to save the world after I and the rest of the Oracles failed, technically it became eight."

[slayers_desire]

"Seven seems a common number with most destiny-themed things. A way back... the Buffy Scoobies had to fight seven sins. Each sin had a champion selected by the Powers That Be."

[twinviziers]

"Seven is the most powerfully magical number," Bakura replies with a small smile. "At least, according to JK Rowling." Then he pauses. "Oh. Dear. I hope I didn't... ah, do anything to compromise our ability to do our jobs. Since I... inadvertently bumped the number of Saviours and Oracles up to eight."

"I'm sure it's fine," Yugi says, reassuringly. "The Seven Deadly Sins, huh?" he says to April. "I'm betting the champion chosen to fight each Sin was an exemplar of the opposite Heavenly Virtue. You know, the symbolism, and all."

[slayers_desire]

"Eight has its own magical traits. If you turn it sideways, the number eight represents the symbol for infinity or eternity. It is lucky."

April laughes softly. "My sin was Lust. At the time, it tried to create impure thoughts other than those I had for Clark. And tried to influence him to think other than me."

"But we stayed faithful to each other. Still do."

[twinviziers]

Bakura considers that for a moment, then smiles and nods. "True. Maybe nothing to worry about, then."

Kat listens, one eyebrow arched a bit. She smiles when April finishes. "Well, you resisted the temptation. That's what matters."

[slayers_desire]

"I have lived my life learning how to resist temptation." April smiles softly. "And someday, I hope I can use that knowledge to help others. To led others to achieving their own destinies."

[toreador_saviour]

Kat smiles back a bit. "I might could use some help on that. Been undead for all of two weeks; it's... hard to resist temptation sometimes." Like at school; so many tasty-smelling mortals...

[slayers_desire]

"I could teach you some meditation techniques." They would be quite useful too. April had used these techniques to fast before, in dire circumstances.

[toreador_saviour]

Kat considers, then smiles and nods. "Sure, why not? Granted, I already know a few, but you probably know some that I don't."

((OOC: By the by, if you want to have April pick up on Kat's memories of her Embrace, this is what happened.))

[slayers_desire]

"Which ones do you use?"

[toreador_saviour]

"Breathing exercises, mostly," Kat responds with a sheepish grin. "Which aren't of much help when you don't breathe."

[slayers_desire]

"A lot of meditation does focus around the breathing techniques." April chuckles lightly. "But there are other ways..."

[toreador_saviour]

Kat smiles and pulls her legs into a cross-legged position—she's not flexile enough to be able to pull off a full lotus. "Then I welcome your lessons, Sifu," she says, bowing her head slightly.

[slayers_desire]

"Sifu?" April cocks her head at the word.

"I have found that a matra is very useful. It can be your focus, instead of the breathing. Just one word works most of the time. Pick a word that is symbolic. That has meaning. It is better if that word is connected to peaceful or happy thoughts."

"Say that word in your head again and again. Concentrate on just the word. And nothing else. Slowly the world will disappear from you."

Kat's choice of mantra is inspired by the song "Escapist" by Nightwish. >.>

[toreador_saviour]

"I believe it means 'master' or 'teacher' in Chinese," Kat answers, smiling sheepishly. "Granted, I only know the word from watching Avatar: the Last Airbender."

Kat thinks on her choice of word for a moment, the nods decisively. "'Nightingale'," she replies. "That's my word." She sings quietly, under her breath, "A nightingale in a golden cage, that's me, locked inside reality's maze," before quieting and closing her eyes.

It's hard to get her mind clear of any extraneous thoughts; too many ideas flitting around, too many random musings, too many worries and tiny, niggling little fears. Eventually she turns to mentally reciting the entire song which inspired her word choice. That manages to get her brain focused enough that she can begin turning her attention to the mantra. Nightingale. Nightingale. Nightingale. Nightingale...

Yugi, meanwhile, has assumed a cross-legged position and is sitting back-to-back with Yami on the love seat. He's breathing in and out at very focused, specifcally-timed intervals; he, too, learned breathing exercises, though he usually finds himself using them before choir practice. Now, however, he's trying to follow April's lesson for himself. Yami's attempting to do the same as well. They're not so much focusing on a word as they are simply focusing on the comfort of the other's presence; no word or phrase could possibly come close to describing how safe they know they are when they're near each other.

Bakura simply sits on his barstool, hands resting calmly on his lap, eyes closed. While he's not regulating his breathing like Yugi, he appears to be deep in thought, or intensely focused. Either one. He's not mentally repeating a mantra either; he's building up various mental images, similarly to how he would prepare to cast a spell. And they are detailed mental images, including a work-in-progress design for wards to protect Kat's flat, among other things.

[slayers_desire]

April can sense each one of them, and she uses their calm thoughts and special ways of finding peace to bring peace upon herself.

When she is around others, it can be harder to use her mantra to meditate. But that is one of the struggles a psychic has. And needs to overcome.

"Push everything else away. Embrace only your matra and allow it to bring you a place of peace and concentration."