[The random teleportations to the Christmas village were already old the first time they happened, but as annoying as they are, Shinjiro's all but gotten used to them by now. He's more cautious about doors, being sure to be fully dressed even when walking around in his own home, but there's no real way to be prepared for what awaits him on this particular trip over; he lands in a snowbank, and nearly trips over a butchered reindeer corpse. It's not difficult to assume a wild animal of some sort got to it, though, so despite the somewhat gruesome sight, he's not particularly concerned at first.
Except there's more. Too many of them to be a simple unfortunate result of a predator wandering into the village or a reindeer or two getting loose. Foolishly, he ends up following the trail, figuring he needs to head back that way to Shadyside anyway. It's a mistake.
The massive thing spots him, and he runs, with no weapon available to protect himself--he keeps running until he loses his footing in the snow and falls down, crawling backward only to find his back hitting a wall. So that's it, then, huh? Not exactly how he was expecting this strange suburbanite fever dream to end, but it's already gone on longer than he'd thought. There's a part of him that's never been entirely convinced this wasn't some sort of elaborate dying hallucination, and a morbid part of him thinks maybe this means he's lost enough blood that his heart is finally shutting down. It'd make sense. The thought calms him, somehow, and his shoulders ease, letting out a breath as he waits--but then he spots someone.
An older man appears in his line of vision, and to his horror he realizes he recognizes the man. The monster halts at the sound, turning its head in Ray's direction, and Shinjiro's eyes widen sharply. He yells out--]
Ray! Get out of here, run!
[But even as he says it, he remembers the man's limp from the last time they'd met, realizes there's no way Ray could outrun this thing. He has nothing to use as a weapon and he can no longer reach his Persona, which he might register as bitterly ironic if he was really particularly aware of his own thoughts in the following moments. Before he knows it, he's moved, tackling the creature to buy the other man time.]
wildcard, reindeer. cw animal corpses, references to death and suicidal ideation
Except there's more. Too many of them to be a simple unfortunate result of a predator wandering into the village or a reindeer or two getting loose. Foolishly, he ends up following the trail, figuring he needs to head back that way to Shadyside anyway. It's a mistake.
The massive thing spots him, and he runs, with no weapon available to protect himself--he keeps running until he loses his footing in the snow and falls down, crawling backward only to find his back hitting a wall. So that's it, then, huh? Not exactly how he was expecting this strange suburbanite fever dream to end, but it's already gone on longer than he'd thought. There's a part of him that's never been entirely convinced this wasn't some sort of elaborate dying hallucination, and a morbid part of him thinks maybe this means he's lost enough blood that his heart is finally shutting down. It'd make sense. The thought calms him, somehow, and his shoulders ease, letting out a breath as he waits--but then he spots someone.
An older man appears in his line of vision, and to his horror he realizes he recognizes the man. The monster halts at the sound, turning its head in Ray's direction, and Shinjiro's eyes widen sharply. He yells out--]
Ray! Get out of here, run!
[But even as he says it, he remembers the man's limp from the last time they'd met, realizes there's no way Ray could outrun this thing. He has nothing to use as a weapon and he can no longer reach his Persona, which he might register as bitterly ironic if he was really particularly aware of his own thoughts in the following moments. Before he knows it, he's moved, tackling the creature to buy the other man time.]