Those that chose to follow Yui’s directives soon began travelling through the dust-laden terrain, picking up the pace in lieu of any Tyrants lurking around. This particular set of ruins definitely looked to be untouched, unnoticed, and the possibility of the rescue mission being successful grew with every minute that passed. Not a shred of miasma could be seen, and all the rumbling sounded far off, indications that, for the time being, they were free to travel as quickly as they could without worry of an unnecessary encounter.
That is, of course, if their intention was to simply rescue the scavengers to begin with.
Upon reaching the ruined building, human-sized tracks could be made out with ease in surrounding wasteland. Though large chunks of rubble mounded to create a concrete hill, it wouldn’t be too difficult at all for a Daybreaker to smash their way through the rubble, reopening that entrance into the Catacombs. If a quick retreat was necessary, they had access to another escape route if nothing else. More importantly, however, were the tracks that were present, faint traces of heavy boots that came, stopped, and then turned. A narrative was forming now, that of scavengers who came back, only to see their one way out sealed. With no other option, they were forced to forge on underneath the crimson illumination, leading them towards the taller buildings within this abandoned city.
The tracks lead westwards, as the obsidian spikes that dotted the landscape began to increase in frequency, running through buildings. Some survived being punctured by these spikes, while others fell over, structural integrity giving way to destructive force and gravity. And soon, the Daybreakers came upon a sight that broke the monotony of travelling through the ruins.
Off in the distance, below a particularly large spike, laid the body of a heavily cloaked individual, a dark crimson staining his too-short legs. Curled into a fetal position, a heavy gas mask with opaque lenses covered his face, while the large pack strapped to his pack made it obvious what his profession was.
He was still, no longer moving, but perhaps he could be saved.
@Eleos Few crumbled buildings in general. Looks like the area is more or less untouched by Tyrants, though perhaps a stray shot from a far distance demolished a bunch.
10 meters per second, yah. Combat speed is just how fast you move in battle? Don't need to think about it too fast. Just imagine it as being how fast your characters can easily move.
Regardless of their varying states of preparation, the group of Daybreakers eventually travelled towards the surface, their eyes set on the goal. As they neared one of the entrances, a cold wind blowing in, transceivers were uniformly removed, placed in a well-hidden spot within the tunnel to retrieve later. Those who had yet to don their Cowl and Crown did so as well, not a single one of them foolish enough to enter a world illuminated by the Scarlet Moon without all their blessings in place.
One by one, they ascended a rusted ladder within a now-empty sewer. Pushing open the manhole cover, the six Daybreakers were now properly within the Ashen Lands, the crimson radiance dying everything a uniform color. Within this world of shadow and redness, it was difficult to remember that other colors did exist. The clouds were burning and the earth constantly trembled, but for the time being, there appeared to be no Tyrants nearby. Tall buildings and cracked pavement greeted them instead, the rusted chassis of automobiles rattling like tin cans with each echoing boom in the distance.
For all the destructive tendencies that they supposedly held, the immortal beasts that ravage the world were more interested in the living instead of the inanimate, and it wasn’t all that difficult to find above-ground metropolises untouched by the Tyrants. Whether or not those ruins remained untouched by Scavengers, however, was another thing altogether.
In the distance, the more keen-sighted amongst the Daybreakers would spot one building collapsed, the rubble obscuring another entrance way into the Catacombs of humanity. That would, at least, explain why the distress signal was fired off to begin with.
A howling wind passed through, dust and ashes stirring like ghosts rising from their slumber.
They were in the area of the distress signal, but with no obvious convergence of Tyrants to point them in the right direction, what were the Daybreakers to do?
He had to compose himself. He didn't expect to have lost so much control while watching Angelic speak. He needed to calm down. Siena didn't need to see this. Even Angelic didn't really need to see this shit. Gah, it was like Emma all over again. Fucking shit.
The arbiter narrowed his eyes, a snarl forming, before he let out a third, deeper breath.
"Yo 'ena," he called out, pushing the door to the room open, "Hungry yet?"
There were things that Siena did and didn't like about hospitals, but the latter vastly outweighed the former. People only showed up to hospitals when someone was sick dying, or dead, they were sterile to the point where they smelled sterile, and while she'd never liked them to begin with, being a subnatural in a hospital was...worse. Other than the occasional sound of footsteps out in the hallway and the initial visit where she'd been jabbed with a syringe full of Christmas's blood, Siena had been alone in the room. Was still alone in the room.
She hated it.
It was worse, even, considering that she no longer had a phone or a reader to utilize, and most of her sources had been wiped out in the battle. By her own teammate nonetheless. It was lonely wthout the company of characters, especially when her peers weren't around and...and especially without Maya or Gerwulf to help fill the void. More than that, it was...it was frustrating to be stuck with nothing to do but review what she'd done wrong and consider her next weapons. An arsenal at her disposal, all with different names and stories. When did she start thinking of the words like that?
Hearing a voice that had kept her grounded during the fight, Siena turned to face the Arbiter in question, gving a faint, welcoming smile and a small wave. "Oh, Brent. I'm glad to see you." Truer words than she really wanted to admit. The grey-eyed mage paused and thought about it. Hungry...huh. She should have been, but...somehow the appetite simply hadn't been there. Between the battle, her injuries, and the influx of emotional backlash she had to deal with, Siena had felt hollow in a way that tore her hunger away from her.
Lie.
"A little bit. Guess I was thinking too much to think much about eating." Offering a laugh while sweeping a few stray locks out of her eyes, Siena smiled. "You just keep figuring out all my diet secrets, don't you?"
About the battle, huh? Brent tried to envision the sights that Siena was privy to. The jaws that could have torn out her throat, the mess of spikes that she was impaled up, Savannah's neck, twisted like a broken doll. With trauma like that, it must be easy to forget that her body still had its own needs. Setting down his bags of food, he managed a smile as well, putting away the fact that there was something about her's that bothered him.
"Well, that's what I'm here for! I swear, Angelic was probably just gonna march out and chow on some subpar celery sticks in the cafeteria if I hadn't brought some real food." He said, faking irritation. "Gotta make sure everyone's fuelled up after an incident like that, or they'll just be blown by the wind."
As he spoke, the arbiter began to pull out his collection of not-that-fresh salads, sandwiches, and all the fried, greasy comfort food that he managed to wrestle from Martha's hands.
"Take your pick! You worked super hard, after all, so eat even if you don't feel hungry, or you'll wake up in the middle of the night with your stomach trying to eat itself."
Ah...was Angel already walking around? The older girl's injuries had seemed severe on cursory examination on the ride to town, but...Siena did have to acknowledge that their blood healer's power was potent. It had managed to fix her blood loss, it was no wonder that it would manage to repair all of Angel's maladies. A weight lifted itself from her chest, allowing her to breathe a little easier...but it wasn't quite enough. But if Angel was already up and about with the extent of her injuries, then...there was really no reason for Siena, whose injuries had been taken prior to their arrival, to be trapped in the hospital room. She could leave, and it would have been fine...but something kept her from it. A feeling of uneasy discomfort that threatened to dig into her.
Instead, there were other things to focus on like the feast that Brent had produced. She tried to elicit a reaction of hunger, but...it failed. The salads looked like they might be wilting, the sandwiches lackluster, and the remainder greasy...all food that wasn't entirely familiar with her. All food that Maya wouldn't have let her eat--the sensation was different from McDonald's. Still, Siena peered over the choices with an expression of interest. Better not to let such things encumber her...right?
"Hmmm, this one looks pretty good!" Feeling a sense of triumph over finding a salad that looked relatively well balanced, Siena gave a grin to Brent. "Thanks for bringing food to us." Always above and beyond.
'Remind you of someone?'
Stop it. Please.
The thought struck her so powerfully that it even cracked the mask for a moment, Siena's usual smile slipping from its place as she blinked away the memories.
"What about you? Don't tell me you brought food for everyone before you ate."
Of course it was a salad. It was no wonder that she was 80% air when her choices were 0% calories. Putting away the rest of the salads, sandwiches, and boxes of chicken, Brent waved off her own concern about the state of his own stomach. A small fib was fine, after all. No need to concern her about the fact that he too had forgotten to eat before getting everyone else their food.
And really, unlike how active everyone else had been, all the arbiter did was sit on his ass and talk about random observations for the better half of an hour. No matter how much he spoke, and how valuable the information may have been, the frontliners deserved it more than the backliners. His own hunger could wait.
"Of course," he beamed, "Would be pretty silly if I railed on you for not eating, when I did the same, eh?"
A pause. Yeah, it did bother him a bit that Siena didn't even consider the amount of energy she had burned during the entire ordeal. Though Lily's healing capabilities had removed the injuries, and though she probably had received blood transfusions to make up for the loss there, the brunette still recalled how she had slumped against his shoulder during the ride to the drop-off point. Energy burnt was energy lost, and a salad with a few pieces of cold chicken wasn't going to cut it.
Pulling out one of the corndogs, he pointed it towards his fellow mage. "Try this as well, 'ena. Figured that convenience store food is out of your depth, but they have some pretty fun culinary inventions too."
Meanwhile Chris walked down the hall to visit Siena. In his hand was a dandelion, the only flower he could even find to pick, but it was thought that counts he figured. He didn't plan to stay long, just to check up on her was all. However when he got closer to her room, he heard both her and brent's voice from the wall that seperated them from him. A sudden weight dropped in his chest as he felt conflicted, and somewhat envious. He shook his head and decided to listen, just to get an idea of what they were talking about and hoped to god it wasn't anything he'd fall apart about.
Well, at least Brent wasn't ignoring his own health in favor of the others. Something felt wrong, but...
...it wasn't important, she supposed. The gnawing unease didn't mean anything in the moment, and she didn't want to let her thoughts linger on a single focus for too long. Not when she wasn't done compartmentalizing the parts that she didn't think belonged to her, and the parts that she didn't want to belong to her. Besides, even if that suspicion was correct, it wasn't as if it coudn't be easily men--
"...h-huh?" Her eyes were brought to full attention on the...
...
...bread on a stick? Was that the biggest thing since sliced bread? The shape was familiar, and it smelled faintly of cornbread, but the concept wasn't exactly settling. That aside, it looked oddly--"O-Oh, er...alright..."
"Yeah," Brent waved it a bit, wondering what exactly she saw that made her eyebrows move like so. "Go ahead!"
Brent seemed to think it was a good idea, and...er...she supposed it was a good idea to broaden her horizons a bit. With that in mind, she decided it would probably be more acceptable to follow the boy's suggestion. Well, it would have been, if Siena wasn't so accustomed to the familiarity of Gerwulf and Maya. If she hadn't made too many familiar comparisons in too short a time for her mind to bring up that her next course of action was not, in fact, customary for people that weren't quite so close as she was with her caretakers.
She opened her mouth and took a cautious nip at the end of the food item, receiving little more than a small portion of cornbread from the effort. Was...was it really just cornbread on a stick?
"..."
Wow, no sense of adventure, huh? If it's like this, Siena really would get a bad impression of convenience store food, wouldn't she?
"Too reserved," he chirped, "Gotta jam it in in order to enjoy it, 'ena. Trust me, it'll be a blast."
For not only were these corndogs hiding meat within the bread, there was also a gooey cheesy core within that meat, and that explosion of tastiness would definitely send Siena into Flavor Town! Or send Brent into a food-related existential crisis.
J-Jam it in? That sounded like an abnormally violent way to eat anything...certainly not the way that she'd ever expected anyone to tell her how to eat...anything. Considering the idea for an instant, Siena braced herself for anything ranging from something pleasant to something atrociously bitter. It wouldn't be the first time she'd been tricked into eating something vile under the pretense that it was "good for her".
Well, there was only one way to find out, right?
"E-Er, if you say so." Trying once again in vain to sweep her bangs out of her vision, Siena went for it, lips parting just so, brushing lightly against the soft flesh of the breadstick--only tepid--a sweet taste spreading over her tongue. Another flash of hesitation, only a fraction of a second where she stopped, mouth around the rod-shaped bread skewer...then she bit down.
There were a number of things that happened in that instant.
First, was the taste of meat, a startling contrast to the flavor of cornbread, but more than that, something that was a little warmer than tepid broke free from its confines, spilling some thick, savory fluid...which would have been fine if she'd been expecting it. Recoiling with surprise, Siena managed to keep the bits of what she assumed was sausage, cornbread, and mystery sauce number 453 in her mouth with a combination of effort and a distinct desire to not have an embarrassing moment where she made a mess of herself. Except she was also trying not to choke on what pieces had tried to make their way down her throat when the mage had gasped, leading to a few restrained coughs, one hand clamped carefully over her mouth. No need to repay Brent by spitting up what he'd brought.
Despite that entire fiasco, she had to admit that it didn't taste bad. Still, a little warning would have been appreciated.
...
She'd figure out how to express that after she swallowed.
'Well, how was it' was going to be Brent's response if it wasn't for the fact that Siena's eyes bulged out in a way that definitely wasn't from the amazing tastiness of such a cheap treat. It took the arbiter only a couple seconds to realize what he needed to do, and Brent leapt into action, pulling the waste basket over as he tried to figure out whether she was going to throw up or whether it got stuck in her throat. She was...trying to keep it in? While still coughing with her mouth closed?
"Shit, did it go down wrong in your throat? Spit it out, Siena, it's fine if you don't swallow!"
Cough.
Brent was quick to spring into action, another familiar image--stop it. Giving another half cough, Siena took the moment to chew what hadn't gone down the wrong pipe. Another cough, then another...it took a few attempts to swallow everything without immediately coughing a few pieces back up. That was her bad, totally. Grimacing faintly, the mage choked down a few breaths of air before flashing a half-formed smile.
"'m f-fine, just k-kind of surprised." Another weak cough to clear out the feeling of something clogging her throat as she attached a faint laugh to the next words. "M-maybe a little warning next time though."
"Really sorry about that," he said, cursing the fact that he neglected to get drinks alongside the food that he grabbed, "Thought it'd make for a surprise, but, well..."
He scratched the back of his head. A part of him wanted to say something pitiful like 'oh, thought you'd be used to culinary surprises due to eating super special gourmet food made out of god knows what', but that part of him was weak and irresponsible.
"...yeah." A pause. "Still, how was it?"
Just by listening to the whole ordeal only increased Chris's envy. What were they doing in there?! That kind of internal pain was something new to him, something to add to the other turmoils that plague his emotions. Envy boiled his lungs like a roaring fire. Such pain warranted that he shouldn't stick around. He didn't want to make a scene, though perhaps he could confront Brent about it later. He merely tossed away the flower he was going to present to Siena and turned the other way, his hands now dipped into his pockets and his head lowered in shame, teeth gritted in fury.
"What'cha doing there, stranger?" Marcus said, standing behind the figure he'd found in the hall. While normally not an uncommon thing to see, it was the fact that the figure was apparently eavsdropping on one of the rooms that had caused him to stop. The fact that it was Siena's voice that he could faintly hear in the room only served to make things a little more heated in his mind.
"Little rude to listen to sick people, don't you think?" The tone of his voice made it clear that this was not a friendly discussion.
Chris immediately sprung his head up, and by instinct of the surprise, forced his hand over the boy's mouth. By extensive force, he also pushed him against the wall. It was that same kid that mocked him post football match with Siena. "Its also rude to sneak up on people...Jesus." Though he stilled glared at the kid, he released his grip and sighed a bit. "I was going to visit a friend but she already has company it seems. By their conversation, I don't want to stay around any further." He explained, his anger was still directed at the student that gave him such a surprise.
He certainly wasn't expecting the kid to whirl around and pin him to the wall, and he most definitely wasn't expecting the hand over his mouth. His own hand came up to grab the wrist of the offending arm, while he gave the kid a look that he hoped got across the message. The message being "you had better rethink that."
It only took him a few moments for Marcus to realize who the kid actually was. The white hair was a little hard not to connect once he'd realized the kid wasn't a regular. The moment of realization could been seen as it crossed his eyes, followed quickly by a stifled snort. This was the kid that Siena had been feeding in the post match!
"You ever thought about the foreign concept of knocking?" Marcus said, his tone a little sassy. He certainly didn't appreciate being pinned to a wall by some kid he'd only ever seen once, and had been literally eating out of his roomate's hand when he had. "Real new technology, useful for announcing your presence, instead of waiting for them to develop x-ray vision."
Now Chris was pissed. The arbiter's envy was enough to make him a loose cannon, but that little cheeky subnatural made his blood boil. Without thinking of a consquence, unlike his usual demeanor, he summoned his dragon scales along his arm and immediately use his armored arm to strike Marcus across the face.
Marcus registered a moment of surprise as scales shot across the kid's hand, and registered a second moment of surprise as the scales rushed to meet his face. The taste of copper filled his mouth as it felt like he'd been hit in the head with a bat or something, before the sound of static filled the air and Marcus suddenly shifted back to standing, looking relatively unpunched. He was a slow one to anger, and the sudden rewind probably spoke enough for him.
"Looks like I struck a nerve?" Marcus said, crossing his arms. "What did you come here for, anyway? Were you going to have Siena feed you that flower there?"
There was a fraction of a second where Chris realized that this kind of violence was stupid, where he felt remorse for his actions. But before he could even try to apologize the arbiter had immediately sprung in his face, uninjured, and proceeded to give him sass which only threw more fuel on the fire burning inside him.
"Just leave me alone you fucking clown." He shot a glare at him before the angry arbiter started to turn the other way and try to get away from it all. All of this bullshit today, he didn't want to deal with anymore.
"Honk honk, Scales." Marcus said. He certainly wasn't going to take 'getting punched in the face' without a fight, even if he had managed to rewind to damage. "Do you want me to feed you the weed, since Siena's apparently busy, or are you just gonna sulk off and pout?"
There was a twitch in Chris's eye. His teeth pressed down against each other as a side effect of his boiling anger. It was the kind of anger that was silent. He didn't rush to punch him in the face or scream an angry battle cry. No. He just slowly turned around to look him straight in the eye, then he looked to dandelion he threw away, picked it up, and turned back to the arbiter that mocked him.
Then it all bursted out.
"Eat this you bitch!"
He then sprinted back toward Marcus, he went to grab him by the shirt so he could force the flower down his throat.
With the sudden yell, it wasn't too hard for Marcus to figure out the kid's next move. And he really didn't feel like eating weeds today. The sluggish sound of static down the hall behind Chris would indicate Marcus's jump, and there he stood, arms still in his pockets. He shrugged once, looking to the kid where he stood a small distance down the hallway, shooting him a cocky grin.
"Sorry Komodo, not hungry!"
With Marcus practically warping out of the way, the angry arbiter stood upright and glared at him after his little comment. He crumpled the flower in his hand and debated his options. Fighting was stupid, subnaturals already had a bad rep and causing anything like this would just further disrupt any peace we can obtain here, which in turn could lead to some punishment from the soldiers. He couldn't let his emotions do anything he'd regret later. Besides, such commotion can draw Siena and that Traitor out here, which would be problematic. Instead, Chris tucked his hands into his pocket and deactivated his armor. "You're not worth my time." He said with an apathetic tone. For now, he would let that squirt go, but he won't forget his mockery.
"Alright, just let me know if you want to dance again, Snakeskin! I've got all the time in the world! Marcus said, cupping his hand to his mouth and waving down the hallway.
Sounds from the hallway, muffled by distance, but amplified by material, dug hooks deep into Siena's attention. What was happening out there? And...the voices, though distorted, were familiar. "Wh-what's happening out there...?" Without waiting for an answer, Siena moved to stand from the bed, darkness pulsing at the corners of her vision, colors rippling in spots when blood rushed to her head. The mage staggered from the instability. Too quickly, but her curiosity ate at her, threatening to burn everything from the inside out.
She took a shaky step toward the door before her mind could catch up to the instinctive need to know. She had to know before the one irrational impulse caught up with the other, while the drive was still overwhelming.
It wasn't that loud, but it wasn't that quiet either, and the parting shouts were the clearest. Marcus's voice was distinct, while the other, angrier one sounded familiar, yet Brent couldn't place it. A fight? In a hospital? Confusion override his instinct to grab something that could be weaponized, and instead, the Arbiter rose alongside Siena, keeping one eye on her as she wobbled over.
Nice. He liked that small display of willpower.
"Don't know. But it's Marcus and someone else," he replied, speedwalking past her. Opening the door, the arbiter peered out and, as expected, saw the scar-faced time mage...or his back at least.
"Sup dude? What was that just now?"
Marcus watched down the hallway to make sure that the kid was gone, before he recognized Brent's voice behind him. "Oh, nothing!" he said, prodding at his jaw to make sure the damage hadn't stuck around for some reason. "Friendly debate between classmates, is all."
He gave Brent a wicked grin before continuing. "He thought I deserved punched, I thought the opposite!" he chuckled a little bit at himself as he said it, glancing once more towards the end of the hall.
She didn't cross the threshold of the door, instead using the frame to regain herself, blinking away the swirls of color and darkness that tried to rob her vision. Instead, Siena shot a look down the hallway, her eyes trailing to Marcus and Brent. A fight...? Marcus didn't seem like the type to start up a fight, but...
But you know who would, right?
'Stop it.'
"I could have sworn I heard Chris..." The words were faint, and if she'd had a little more courage, she could have stepped out the door. Could have moved to look further down the hall to see if she was right. Hell, her feet even tried to take that step, but almost as soon as she did, a surge of panic rose like bile. No. No, no, no, she didn't want to go out with nothing on her. The brunette took a breath to hide it, pretended that she was still trying to recover for a moment. Tried again and failed.
She couldn't do it.
"A-are you alright?"
"Friendly debate" Brent asked, cocking an eye at Marcus's toothy grin. "What, did our mysterious classmate think you were creeping on Siena's door or something?"
Amethyst eyes slid over to Siena's own expression, and Brent made a conscious decision. He won't ask Marcus to describe that 'classmate', not now, at least. Did the bookworm somehow get herself a stalker? Or did she just not like the concept of fights popping up amongst classmates, especially if it's in a hospital of all things? Or was it...
"Welp, at least no one got tazed, eh?"
"Oh yeah, I'm fine! Not a scratch on me!" Marcus said, turning in a slow circle to show off his lack of damage. "Only had to rewind once, too! Could have taken a second punch and still not had a scratch on me!" he stopped turning, eyes looking over to Brent.
"Something like that, yeah! And no, there wasn't any 'light persuasion' from our friends back home. At least not on my end, and none that I noticed!" He considered saying more. Perhaps he'd tell them who it actually was, what he was doing, the cute little flower he'd brought along with him? But he didn't. He'd done enough damage to the kid, or at least to his pride, he imagined. After a while, it was just highschool level bullying.
Even if he was dealing with a bully, he hated bullying.
The high of adrenalin was starting to wear down a little bit, the excitement in his voice starting to drop down to normal levels.
"That's good to hear..." At least nobody was hurt if she didn't account for pride. Siena tried to will herself to step past the doorframe again--it didn't work. She remained at the border, as though kept in by an invisible wall, and all she felt was shame. Should have been strong enough to walk out the door without having a thousand sources at her finger tips. Should have had the courage to open the little booklet that remained. Too many thoughts that began with the words "should have".
But she couldn't let that show, so she kept wearing concern like a veil.
"That might have been a l-little more excitement than I expected here."
Had he been like this during the Factory fight too? Or was Marcus so excited this time because he 'won'? Brent nodded at that, slowly. "Mm, nice to see that you're sturdier than you look, Marcus. Must be causing all these soldiers a hell of a headache though."
At least they kept it street-level. Considering what his classmates could do in a vacuum, the fact that no property was destroyed at all was a blessing. He grinned at the bookworm, trying to assuage the concern she had, whether it be for Marcus or herself. "Never seen one of those medical dramas, 'ena? A little scuffle is pretty tame considering how melodramatic those get."
"Ah...I guess that's true..." Not that she really watched any medical dramas. Or much television in general. Finding it in her to try and lighten her own mood, the brunette gave a small grin. "Though I guess I haven't seen enough television to know." Pausing for a moment to feign a moment of unstable footing, the girl readjusted her weight to lean more comfortably on the doorframe. "I...should probably lie down a bit. I guess I used more energy than I thought."
Not her cleanest extraction, but...it would have to do.
"Yeah, not the fragile porcelin doll that I look like?" Marcus said, giving a pathetic flex at Brent, before looking back to Siena. "Sure, go ahead. Fair warning though; I'll probably be back after I find the required snackage, so don't lock your door or anything!" he finished, giving her a slight nod and warm smile.
"Bring some drinks as well," Brent suggested, "I dun goofed with my own food run, forgetting to grab water and juice and all. And yeah, probs should catch up on sleep and all. Guess I'll take my leave and all..."
His gaze became comically serious.
"...but you better finish that salad. I'll leave another corndog here as well, cause you gotta stock up on those calories."
The sky was burning, a dark red light spilling over all that could be seen. Gigantic obsidian spikes pulsated with the glow, as if they had become living things, hearts made of black stone. The earth rumbled constantly, footing become unstable even though the pavement was relatively smooth. Tyrants were nearby. Out of sight, but still, nearby.
They had to get higher. For all the supernatural effects that the black miasma imparted, it was still heavier than air, a substance that would naturally descend. With front entrance of a multi-story building blocked off, all the men could do was balance precariously on one of the slabs of obsidian that diagonally penetrated their destination. The oldest amongst them, sure footed despite the looming threat and the possibility of detection, marched on. Behind, one man slipped, his worn-down sole sliding on the smooth material. His partner reached out, one hand hooking onto the fabric of his thick coat, but it was too late, and that man was too heavy.
A scream broke out instinctively, the fear of death overcoming rationality. With a crumpling snap, he struck the ground, his femurs breaking into each other.
And he still lived, agonized groans escaping from clenched teeth.
The rumbling increased in volume, hyenas descending upon injured prey.
Steely eyes glanced over his remaining men, gauging their resolve, their will to live, before the older scavenger pressed on. They were already too far up to make it down in time once more. Regardless of how close they would be to the Tyrants attracted by the pain of their fallen comrades, they had no option but to continue their ascent.
I'll be posting soon for the misadventures of the scavenger crew. Probably be doing this every time a round of posts is done. Feel free to post out of order, by the way. I'm not going to be doing anything specific for the PC group until they're at the surface or if they decide to bully a townie.
Yankee
Altered Tundra
Alisdragon911
stone
VitaVitaAR
Animal
LanaStorm
Ohm
Haha
Shovel
