{ LAIR } The Dungeons (p. 20!)

[Zoobey]

Three winding passageways down, the Famine colony soldiers finally stopped at a series of dank, dark cells all contained within a tiny crammed, cavern. It was almost impossible to see down there, save for the series of glowing markings, etchings on the roof. The second the Hunters entered however, something felt off. Their weapons, already tired, squirmed in their minds, a mental pain that even they could not explain. The Hunters themselves felt tired. Weak. Useless. It was hard even to stand up, to wrap their hands around the metal bars that closed each of them off into individual cells. To see what was going on.

They were helpless.

OOC

- ALL HUNTERS ARE NOW HERE. You can barely see anything, though you can hear everything very clearly. For a second you hear something else as well, another presence in here? Had there been another prisoner in here - or maybe it was just one of them. Everything is cold, wet.

- Hunters CANNOT summon their weapons.

 

[Bittiface]

Otto didn't feel right. Nothing felt right. Even as he was led about with other hunters, nothing registered. Medea was there, and she was talking to people. Who, he wasn't sure. He was barely able to keep his eyes open, only managing to sway in place when he wasn't being led somewhere.

It wasn't until he was led into his own individual cell did he have time to wrap his head around this. What happened. He'd been taken. He didn't know why, but he knew he was scared. The place they were in was very dark. Too dark for his comfort. What little light the glowing signs gave off was only a small comfort in a very uncomfortable situation. He'd just have to pretend they were night lights.

Otto didn't stand up. He was too tired, too worn out.

It's too dark. Too dark. No matter how tired he was, that feeling of insecurity kept him from passing out. That fear of the dark that he never grew out of. He curled his knees up to his chest, wrapping hands behind his neck. Small noises here and there, the scent of something damp lingering in the dank air. He tried to keep his quickened breathing quiet, as if trying not to let anything know of his presence. Every corner of the room was stared at for random intervals of time. As if anything, at any moment, might come to get him.  

[chiickadee]

Ami didn't say anything as she was led down the corridor. Possibly that was due to her being unconscious, but let's not dawdle on that. Even if she, hypothetically, was awake, she wouldn't do anything. Maybe shove off an arm or two, angrily glare at one, but not much. She might even convince them that she could walk on her own without needing to be led. Especially considering that Junpei wasn't answering her, and wasn't summoning to her hand. She would've maybe put up a fight, and then relented when she realized it was hopeless.

But then, she was unconscious, so it couldn't possibly matter less.

She hit the cell floor and remained there for a while, just laying in the darkness. When she finally came to, she did nothing but curl up in a ball, and wait.

Not for salvation.

For death.  

[Ravvlet]

He'd thought he had died.

After blacking out, entombed in living rock, he'd had a vision, almost. Of darkness. Of being alone. Everyone died alone, or that was how it was supposed to go. He'd felt something then, an intense burst of emotion. Regret. It was too soon, this wasn't how it was supposed to go - a myriad of excuses bubbled forth from his mind in what he thought might be his final moments. He hadn't done enough, hadn't been enough. Some small part of him broke, a piece he didn't even know still existed, a tiny voice that told him in his darkest hours that it would be alright, one day he'd be able to go back, to hug his boy, to tell Denise 'hello' instead of an endless series of goodbyes...

When Wash had woken, blinking, into that strange golden glow... He thought he'd passed over. A peace found him then, the knowledge that he'd done all he could - it had been enough. Sally was there, weary but present. They'd made it together. After all, a core was not unlike a soul, right? If all dogs went to Heaven, then it was only fair that she make it through. He wondered what Saint Peter would look like.

That was about the same time a fist connected firmly with his eye. Before he could react, before he could even curl into a ball to defend himself, more blows rained down on him, and he was rudely dragged to his feet by the elbow. Dazed, he glanced around. They were still on the island. He'd lived, somehow, but for what? His fellow hunters lay sprawled about, slowly coming to- but it was too little, too late. Somehow, the creatures who had him in their grasp had been quicker to recover, and even now he and a few of his comrades were being rudely shoved into the very portal they'd been trying to protect.

Sally was oddly silent once again, and he was left alone to stumble in the dark.

The landscape on the other side of the portal was wild and alien- a subterranean edifice, impressive in it's complexity. Was this the home of the school the children went to? He somehow doubted it. From the way Amphi had described it, it'd been far more...homey. There were no games, no sports to be played here. Besides, it was very nearly empty, and Amityville sported a bustling populace. No, this place was different somehow. Different, and if appearances could be believed, more sinister.

He didn't recognize their captors or escort- as they were lead away, the word 'clan' echoed in the amphitheater behind them. But... they'd been destroyed, right? The Phoenix had taken them all with them, left their civilization in tatters. Wash obediently followed their guard, a cold knot of fear forming in his gut. He'd been afraid of being captured by Halloween, because of what they'd done to Amphi and her friends. But this... They hadn't just beaten up a few kids.

They'd brought their entire civilization to their knees.

Wash leaned his head against the bars, touching his swollen eye, and distantly wondered how much he could endure before he would break.  

[bipolar bee]

When next she woke, Sasha was curled on the floor of a small cell. She wasn't entirely sure where she was, and she had no idea how she'd gotten there. There was a sharp, piercing throb that ached at her eye, and as Sasha forced herself into a seated position she lifted a hand to the painful knot that caused her eye to swell shut. There was another knot at the crown of her skull. She groaned and slid back until she was leaning against the wall of bars that created one side of her cell.

There was a white-hot arch of pain, something that felt like it could have been Nona - but it wasn't. There was nothing there, nothing at all, and Sasha bit back a sob as she glanced around with her one good eye.

She thought she saw others, but it was so dark that it could have just been her fuzzy vision. Sasha spoke, a weak croaking whispe that rasped past dry lips.

"Is.." she wet her lips, tried again, "is anyone here?"

Please, she inwardly begged, please, someone answer. Her voice echoed off of the slick walls while she waited for someone - anyone - to respond.  

[Bittiface]

Otto's head snapped up as he heard a weak, but definitely real voice. He only vaguely recognized it, but it didn't matter who it was. They sounded scared, and that meant they must be a hunter, right? Someone kidnaped like he was.

"..'llo?" Otto managed to call out, hesitantly. His heart beat pounded noisily in his ears, as he waited for a call back from her. If he wasn't alone, it would make the dark blackness bearable.  

[bipolar bee]

Drifter Jet Enduro

Sasha fought the urge to cry when she heard that hesitant call. She wasn't alone. Thank God.

"Who -- who's that? Are.. are you okay?"

Her head was ringing, the pain tapering off into something she could control - barely. It was dark, but she wasn't alone. Sasha forced herself to remember that. There was a surreal feeling, talking to the darkness, knowing there was someone out there too. How many, though? How many had been taken?

"Jerry? Is Jerry here?"  

[Bittiface]

pinchmonster

So it wasn't his imagination.

"I--...it's Otto. Who'sat?" He asked with a shaky voice, daring to uncurl from the ball he had formed into. He shook his head in the darkness, looking around to try and see something. Anything. But it was pitch black to him, even as he took off his shades which somehow survived his ordeal.

He hated the dark. It terrified him. He didn't have the comfort of three blankets and six pillows in this place.

"No..? I don't.. I don't know.." He didn't see who else had come with them. He'd been awake, but so much went on it was hard to tell.  

[Ravvlet]

Wash's blood ran cold.

"Sasha?"

The other voice, he didn't recognize - had he met Otto before? It didn't matter, because as sexist as it might be, the man was far more afraid for Jerry's young lady friend, trapped in this dark hovel. He prayed silently, prayed that he would be wrong. But when she started calling his friend's name, he punched the bars of his prison in frustration. The sound reverberated slightly, sending flecks of dew flying into the dark.

No. God, how many of them did they have down here?  

[chiickadee]

Ami stayed silent, curled up in her cell. It hurt to do anything else.

As far as Ami's optimism was concerned, there was no point in rallying a cry. These were horsemen. Ami had knowingly helped destroy their islands. The interrogations they'd performed on the few halloween students ... it was nothing compared to what a people could do when they were hurting. Ami knew.

Still, it wouldn't hurt just to let them know she was here. She wouldn't raise her hopes for a breakout.

"I'm here Sasha," she said softly, just above a whisper. It was possible the others wouldn't even hear her.  

[bipolar bee]

"Otto. Wash? Ami?"

God.

She was growing more and more agitated; the knowledge that there were so many of them there in the dark didn't make her feel better - but it made the dark more tolerable.

"Is everyone okay? Is anyone badly hurt?"

Not that there would be anything that she do about it. Groaning softly, Sasha pulled herself closer to the nearest wall of bars.

"Where are we?" A pointless, rhetorical question.

Drifter Jet Enduro

Ravvlet

chimarii

 

[Saliru]

Rin slowly shifted awake from the restless sleep that haunted her and refused to release her. She immediately recoiled in pain. Something was wrong, seriously wrong. Byr was writhing in her thoughts and clearly suffering in ways she couldn't fully grasp. She herself was more tired and exhausted and... just five more minutes, okay?

A familiar voice? She shuddered awake again and started to speak, voice dry and weak, "Sasha? Is that you?" Rin rolled over onto her stomach and began to crawl closer towards where she thought she heard the voice.

pinchmonster

 

[Bittiface]

Five..? Five of them altogether?

Hurt? More or less, but he wasn't in danger of dying as far as he knew. "My head hurts.. that's about it.." He muttered quietly. The only injury he coud think of was the hit from West, and the massive punch to the head from some Horsemen. After that he'd been carried off like a big ol' sack of potatoes.

"I think it's the horsemen lair. Or... a horsemen lair.. That witch lady led us through some sandy thing.. and there was a lot of caverns.." He'd only seen so much in his bleary, fuzzy vision. Otto spoke slowly and tried to control the shaking in his voice, trying not to let on how scared he was. Trying not to focus on how dark it was in their cells. He squeezed his eyes shut, pretending it was all okay.

He just wanted to go home, wake up from whatever cruel joke this was.

pinchmonster

all of the peeps in prison

 

[chiickadee]

Ami thought about telling Sasha that her head was pounding, and her entire body felt a little too weak for comfort, but then realized there would be no point. What would Sasha do, pull out her handy-dandy tylenol? Oh no, maybe she would ask the horsemen and they'd bring it to her on a silver platter.

Yeah, that'd be the day.

So she figured it would be easier to just not bother anyone, not let anyone in. "I'm fine," she said quietly, not adding anything more to the conversation than that.

She closed her eyes against the cold stone. Her head hurt too much to do anything else. Another thing was nagging her though. Was her previous state of unconsciousness the reason Junpei wasn't responding to her?

Junpei ... please, it's not funny.

... Or was it something else entirely.  

[bipolar bee]

"Rin? It's me, I -- I think I'm okay. There are five of us?"

Her mouth felt dry, like her tongue was six sizes too big for her mouth. She took the time to rearrange herself into a more comfortable position, leaning her head against one of the bars while she took quick inventory of her body. Everything moved - painfully, but everything was functional. That was a blessing.

Her head, on the other hand, was a mess. Sasha'd worry about that later, carefully adjusting her head so that she could rest comfortably against the bars.

"I'm.. I'm sure they know we're missing."

She wanted to say that she was certain they'd be rescued, but Sasha couldn't bring herself to make promises she couldn't keep. False hope would do them no good. At least everyone seemed to be okay.

Why had they been taken? There was a thick knot in her throat, one that made it hard to breathe. She forced the panic down as best she could and fell silent. Keep it together. Box the panic up, compartmentalize the fear and the upset, tuck it away for later. Not the healthiest coping mechanism, but it had served her well for most of her life.