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 Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 10:05 pm
Mark unfortunately, did not notice the shift in Gale's mood at all, too busy keeping an eye on the other problem. "Well all right then, gear up, and pack with all your essentials: that's flashlight, rope, a signal flare is here, grab a copy of the map from me, put your headsets on, properly okay, just one in one ear, make sure its really on okay, and please please please please please don't mess up." The Hunter looked sadly pathetic as if his life was depending on it. It probably was.
There was a small buzz from Mark's cell phone as he checked his texts. "Well, portal's set up so um, go get it. Remember if you have any trouble to always keep in mind: what would Clarice do?"
Wait what?
Thankfully the laptop seemed to be keeping Caelius relatively preoccupied as he navigated his way through drop down menus, toolbars, and all of the mouse clicking, giving the trainees just enough breathing space to pack their equipment and-
-"Ferdinand." The Death Hunter lead didn't bother looking up as he fiddled around with the keyboard. "I will see you post mission assuming your mission is successful."
That was it, no if, buts, ands, though remarkably of course, disappointing. Mark seemed just as surprised as he looked at Caelius sharply before giving the trainees a hesitant thumbs up. "Remember, if you get in trouble, call for help and remember: what would Clarice do."
*
The portal itself was uneventful, as usual, even with the entire fog-plus-Insanity business. Upon walking through, expecting from the last Sahara mission a blast of warm sand, perhaps the sting of memories still too fresh, of insects and hollow eyes, blood and-
- There was nothing. It was cold, it was quiet. It was dark. OOC - Trainees are now free to react to this situation/ this rp post: once they have arrived, the 'party leader' should probably communicate with Mark over the headset just to make sure everything looks okay.
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2012 10:28 pm
"Infinity and Vashi. I'll be sure to remember that, and it's nice to meet you!" She shot the other girl a grin, and she might have said more if it were not for Bix's arrival. Oh ho, another familiar face! Though it was not one that she had spoken to in quite a while. Unfortunately, idle chatter would have to wait. She tried to crunch quietly on her apple when Mark began to talk, taking a step closer as he turned the computer screen to them.
The Sahara. Eva abruptly stopped chewing, her lips twisting into a grimace as she thought back to the last mission, a rush of memories flooding through her mind. All those bugs--
And it got better. The mention of this being a surveillance mission brought more unpleasant images to mind, and it took even more effort to shake those out of her head. No, this mission would be different from her past missions. Sure, they were going to be in the Sahara again, and sure, it was another surveillance mission, but...
...But...they would be fine. Yes.
She gave a simple shake of her head to indicate that she didn't have any questions (aside from what Caelius could be doing on the computer that required so much clicking), immediately moving to pack when the order was given. The advice about asking what Clarice would do earned a blank stare, and then a questioning look towards the other trainees, but she didn't dwell on it for too long.
Once she was packed up and ready, Eva clapped Gale on the shoulder and grinned. "Lead the way!" Although she was not looking forward to returning to the Sahara, she would follow right behind the others.
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 7:23 am
Bix ran the scenario through his head, on the verge of death... monsters surrounding him on all sides.. what would Clarice do? He imagined a large sword to be involved, and condoms. It did not reassure Bix in any way.
He stiffened when he heard his name. His actual name. He'd heard it a lot lately, seen it printed on forms. He reacted like a child, being called by his full name by an angry parent. His red face remained and he just pursed his lips and nodded at Caelius, though the man didn't acknowledge it. "Yessir.."
He got his supplies, set his headset, and followed their squad leader to the mission.
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 8:55 am
More things for her already well stocked bag, yay!
Molly busied herself with organizing her bag to accommodate the new items to get over her embarrassment moments prior, glancing up at Mark as he spoke. “We’ll try our best, sir!” She tried reassuring the man, fiddling with her headset, and blinking at his bit of advice. What would Clarice do? That was…pretty sound advice, actually!
Molly took it to heart.
She glanced at Caelius as he called out Bix by his name, and then at said albino who acted like he got scolded, and bit her lip a bit. Whatever that could mean she didn’t dwell on too long for right now, and instead moved to follow everyone else out and through the portal. The dark, cold atmosphere they stepped into was not what she had been expecting, but it wasn’t entirely bad, either. She’d take the cold over the heat any day…
Reaching into her bag, Molly pulled out a flashlight and clicked it on, first locating her fellow team members.
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 11:22 am
Reaching out, Gale pulled one of the maps towards him and held it up, his eyes scanning over the surface as the rest of the team gathered together their supplies. Folding it up, he stuck it into his pocket and followed suit, sliding a flashlight into the waistband of his pants, and then sticking the signal flare and rope into his knapsack before sliding it onto his back. Last but not least he pulled his headset out and snapped it into place, adjusting it to fit securely.
"...what would Clarice do?"
...not touching that one, thought Gale, rolling his eyes, and inside of his head Jinhai made a small noise that sounded as if it might have been laughter. Tugging on the strap of his pack, he heard the name Ferdinand escape Caelius' lips and Gale did not have to look up to know who it was that he was talking to. Slowly Gale lifted his gaze, his eyes cutting across towards where Bix was standing, redfaced and stiff.
What would Clarice do?
A strange thought. Gale shook his head, but as he passed Bix he raised his hand, clapping his friend on the arm briefly. He did not say anything, did not even look at him, but he did not need to.
"Everyone, move out."
Several moments later he was stepping through the portal, his body tense and his heart clattering in his chest. He waited for the inevitable rush of hot, burning sand, the taste of salt and the scent of blood, but instead - there was only darkness.
A cold, chilling darkness that somehow made him even more uneasy. Gale lifted a hand to his headset, tapping the side of it as he pulled his flashlight out, clicking it on.
"Is everyone here? Bix? Eva? Molly? Fini? Everyone all right?"
He touched the headset again. "Mark? We're here."
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 4:09 pm
Fini decided fairly quickly that Eva would be someone she enjoyed going on missions on. The other trainee just seemed to have some spunk to her that Fini found herself responding to in a much more relaxed manner then was typical. Usually, she didn't warm up to people quite as quickly.
But like the other female, Fini sighed under her breath and gave her attention to their 'briefing'. Which, unsurprisingly, confused her at first. Especially the bit about 'what would Clarice do?' Fini just stared - again - at Mark, a small flicker directed towards Gale, and an even briefer one over at Caelius. Him she was just pretending was not in the room. It was just easier. Since Fini had yet to figure out what to think of him. Except that his presence usually spelled trouble for the rest of them.
What would Clarice do?
That thought kept nagging at her. And producing images of the Battle of Pizza that had occurred.
She was pretty sure they weren't going to be fighting for pizza in the Sahara. Which suddenly sounded very delicious at this time.
A snort in her mind kept her mind mostly on track. Fini moved and collected up a flashlight hooking it into her belt, some rope, her headset and a signal flare. Which earned an odd look from her as she adjusted her headset so it sat comfortably and wasn't to go anywhere. Lastly, she retrieved a copy of the map, eyes focused on that.
Until she heard the infamous Caelius speak. Blinking in surprise, Fini glanced around them all, wondering who he'd been talking to. Only to hear Bix's voice respond.
She didn't say anything, following their team leader quietly so that several minutes later they were all stepping through the portal....
...into darkness.
And her first instinct? "What the hell?" She shivered, hands splaying outwards as she attempted to find any of her teammates. "Apologizing now if I accidentally grope someone." Fini muttered, hand finally landing on someone. As to who it was, she had no idea.
"...who are you?" She asked, swearing her voice did not shake just a little at the end. Then she was blinking rapidly as flashlights were clicked on. Which allowed her to see who she grabbed on to. Of course, instead of apologizing again (since she HAD warned them all), Fini found herself blabbering something else.
"Your name is Ferdinand?" She asked, lips twitching.
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 4:30 pm
Bix had Fini squeeze hie man-boobs. Not that he had man-boobs but if he did, she was grabbing at them. When she hit the flesh she seemed grab too, trying to figure out who and what she was touching.
"I'm saving up for implants." He teased as the lights flicked on and Fini realized what she was grabbing. He smiked but her next comment made him twitch a little.
"Ferdinand junior." He specified. Bix was just being sassy, to be honest. He'd never put too much personal value into his name but the fact his mother had cared enough to name him for his biological father made a bit defensive on her absent behalf. "Why do you think I go by Bix now?"
Bix flipped on his own flashlight and adjusted his headset. "Headset check.." He heard Gale. "All set. I got the map." While the others danced their lights into the darkness, the sun hunter pulled out the map and looked at it.
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 6:02 pm
:: I'm jealous precious. :: A certain varcolac grumbled in her mind.
Meanwhile, Fini's face was flushed a bright red as she realized where - or rather what - she'd been, for lack of better words, 'groping'. She should have known trying to find someone in the dark was going to result in something dangerous like this. Not to mention her mind had failed to remind her of the flashlight she had shoved through her belt.
"....well, so long as they don't make mine look pitiful." Fini managed to throw back at Bix, dropping her hands to her sides instantly and trying to ignore how warm her face felt.
A small laugh escaped. "I like Bix just fine. And will continue to call you that." She winked at him before remembering that Gale's voice had drifted through the headset.
"Right. Headset check. You come through clear."
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 6:46 pm
The Sahara she saw now didn't even come close to the Sahara that she had remembered in her mind. In some ways, it felt more peaceful--there were no bugs, no monsters, no immediate obvious threats to their life--but at the same time...it made her feel unnerved. The silence, the darkness--just what was lurking out there that they couldn't see? Eva wasn't sure if it was the thought or the cold that sent a chill up her spine.
She snapped to attention when she heard her name, instinctively lifting a hand to her headset. "Ah, yup! I'm..." She trailed off to grab her flashlight, flicking it on and giving it a wave, "...Right here! Made it in one piece."
Eva swept her flashlight over her surroundings, careful to keep the beam of light low so that she wouldn't accidentally blind the others. If she noticed the color on Fini's face, she didn't comment, simply moving closer to where the others girl stood and humming.
"Haha, I can't help but wonder what this mission has in store for us. Hopefully nothing too bad since we're all but blind without our flashlights out here, yeah?" Grinning, she gave her flashlight another wave, the beam of light breaking through the darkness and revealing...nothing, really. Were they just out in the middle of nowhere?
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 8:45 pm
A light crackle, a strange buzz, and Mark's voice was clear through the headset. "Wow, this is awesome, you have got to check out the high hazard exposure level of this Insanity where you guys are standing." Because that sounded really, really safe. "Okay, well flashlights out kids, I've got good readings, but I highly doubt you guys do, and well, I'd really like to get a better look at the inside okay. Just keep on moving forward towards the center, um, it should be pretty easy, you know, the part where it is super white and you can't see. Insanity's dormant form is a simple white fog, should be pretty obvious."
Indeed, as the trainees' flashlights flickered left and right, they could see gaps in the black sky: strips of greying-white fog converging into a single point a little way ahead. It was cold, still oddly quiet, the lack of insects, of any signs of disaster from the last mission seemed almost desirable instead of the bleak nothingness.
"Keep on moving, move faster, you're gonna get swallowed before we get to the center at this rate." How Mark could say this matter-of-factly was another matter all together. As the trainees continued to step a little further, to the point where there was no longer sand or sky but simply fog, thick and white, grey walls now, desolate and silent. Even their flashlights could not penetrate the thick abyss. It felt as if someone was watching them, not just watching but observing, not just observing but reading their every thoughts, actions, taking their innermost insecurities and fears and-
- A flicker of white, a half-formed shape that seemed to stoop forward for a second, one hand reaching out towards the trainees before dissipating entirely back into fog.
"Just a remnant of the Insanity, nothing new, no worries." The voice from the headset seemed oddly distant, detached. "Look at your cell phone screens for a second, you guys are still at the outermost circumference, we gotta get in closer." Small red dots depicted their current area on the screen, shifting left or right as they moved. A large yellow dot lay a little further away. "Yeah I- graph...... charted........ afternoon-"
Mark's voice cut off entirely, replaced by an odd, vacant static.
The trainees were alone.
Slowly, the whites, the murky greys of dormant Insanity began to shift, solidify and grow around them, some of the food bleeding into colours, simple sandy browns and reds, others into figures, strange exotic figures wearing thick fabrics marching back and forth. High tunneled walls of sandstone replaced the grey around the trainees, the fog in the center thinned and split into more figures moving almost aimlessly as they spoke with each other in foreign voices. Occasionally they would stop moving, intermittently, before speaking again, repeating their actions and words from mere seconds ago, moving in a perpetual loop.
The sand-blasted floor, simply carved seemed more than real as they walked across it, the blast of warm desert air strong, the illusion of day and sunlight unnerving. The figures, the horsemen that continued to speak and interact in the same continuous five-second loop, played like a motion picture in front of the trainees. Not a single figure paused for a second to stare at them, even as the scene continued to unfold, a cobbled path snaking through the white fog in the distance, shifting and growing into buildings and more frozen-frame horsemen, stretching further and further, inviting the trainees to walk forward.
At the far end of the path was the white half-formed figure again, a young boy perhaps. They paused, turned around, gesturing with one arm as if to say 'hurry' before their form collapsed again as the path continued to stretch and stretch.
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 12:19 am
"Flashlights, guys," said Gale in a dry sort of voice, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "It might help keep away any unapproved touching."
But the bantering, despite Bix and Fini being...well, Bix and Fini, was actually helping Gale a little, keeping his mind occupied and focused rather than resorting back to the black memories that hovered just there, out of sight, at the forefront of his thoughts. The darkness was thick and seemed to go on for ages, heavy and impenetrable. His eyes flickered towards Eva, then Fini, Molly, and finally Bix, all of whom were his team.
They were his team. And he felt good about who he had picked.
There wasn't much time to contemplate this, however. The headset crackled, Gale wincing before Mark's voice blared in his ear, loud and clear. Pulling out his own flashlight, Gale flicked it on and lifted it, flashing the beam of white light this way and that for any sign of...well, anything.
"Towards the center," he repeated flatly, squinting in the darkness. "Where..."
But he could see it, if he looked hard enough. There were cracks in the blackness, streaks of white behind the blacks and greys, and Gale lifted his hand, motioning for everyone to move forward with him.
"Let's go."
Inside his head, Jinhai made a soft noise. Gale made his way forward, but the tension in his shoulders was making him feel stiff, and a feeling of uneasiness had settled in his veins. It was so...bleak here, so thick - almost suffocating in its darkness.
Something white just ahead - long, wispy fingers, beckoning -
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Instinctively Gale reached out, his fingers finding Eva's wrist, and he squeezed gently, pressing his lips together before letting go. He did not say anything, but the gesture was meant to remind her that he had her back - hers, and everyone else's, should anything happen.
He sincerely hoped nothing would.
Mark's voice crackled over the headsets again, but it was wavering, wobbly, sounding as though he were speaking through water. Gale pulled out his phone, peering down at the small screen, tracing the paths they made. They were not there yet, they were...
The headset gave a jolt.
Crackle.
Bzzzzzzzzztttttttttttttttttttttt.
Silence.
For a few seconds Gale just stood there, feeling his heart pounding in his chest. Then natural instinct took over, and he turned sharply sideways, looking at his team.
"Stay close," he said severely. "Bix, you're on lookout duty. Watch for anything out of the ord - "
Another flash of white. The Insanity was moving, twisting, shifting. Gale took an instinctive step back, his arms outstretched in front of his friends, his body tense. White slid into browns, then reds, then -
...humans..?
...no.
He wasn't sure. Walls pushed up, appeared out of nowhere, a dull sandy color, and suddenly they were surrounded by figures, all slightly blurred around the edges, their voices mingling, indecipherable, speaking in a language that Gale did not recognize.
And it was bright. It was day.
What's going on?
If he looked closely, he could see the repeating pattern, could see the way everything seemed to be stuck in a continual loop, and none seemed to notice them -
- none except the figure, at the end of a cobbled path. Half formed, a smeary white, he held a young stance, one arm outstretched as though beckoning them towards him, across the path.
Gale clenched his teeth together. He looked over at his team.
"...looks like we don't have a choice," he muttered, and motioned for them to follow him, taking a step onto the cobbled path and beginning to make his way down it.
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 11:03 am
"Does this all count as out of the ordinary?" Bix gulped into the headset as the images formed around them, daily motions on loop. The ground became real ground, the air seemed to be real air.
"Gale.." Bix walked slowly, taking up the rear behind all the girls. "What's the instructions about weapons?" He'd feel better with Mina in his hand and a cautious hiss in his mind confirmed that she felt the same.
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 11:11 am
"Weapons out," said Gale firmly, as there was a small flash of light, the long, sleek form of his sniper rifle appearing in his hands.
"Everyone stay on guard."
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 11:29 am
Molly focused more on their surroundings, or lack there of, instead of the playful banter amongst the group at the moment. She was keeping an ear out for Gale’s voice, and of course, Mark’s, since it was directly in her ear. Some of the stuff he was saying was…rather worrisome…but all they could do was their best to keep going forward…until he cut out.
The young woman made soft, startled gasp as their head sets went silent, and the darkness around them shifted. Molly tensed, wide eyed as she stared things around her. A scene playing on loop…what looked like to be a normal, unassuming day in the life of some things…Gale’s voice cut through the building worry she was starting to develop though, and she looked down the path to see the figure seemingly beckoning them. Oh dear. Had it been too much to hope that this would have been a simple observation mission like her mission to Alaska?
“Understood…” Molly murmured, summoning her lance and keeping it a bit in front of her defensively.
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 2:39 pm
Eva wore a very wry smile on her face as she listened to Mark from over the headset. "High hazard exposure level", huh? She was pretty confident from hearing this alone that Mark wasn't the type who was good at reassuring others. He probably wasn't someone one would want to go to if they wanted to hear the usual reassurances of "everything is going to be okay" and, of course, "no one is going to die this time".
She moved forward at Gale's order, taking care to stick close to the others. Getting lost out here would be...well, it would be a situation she would prefer not getting herself into, to say the least. Still, even with the comfort of knowing that she was traveling with a group of friends, she found it hard to shake the feelings of uncertainty that filled her the farther in they ventured. Dark thoughts and memories that she had pushed aside surfaced again, and--
She broke out of them when she felt someone's fingers close gently around her wrist. Eva stared at Gale in surprise, but slowly, she let her lips quirk upwards in a small smile, her tensed muscles relaxing slightly. "Thanks." She didn't know whether he heard it or not, but she wanted to say it anyways.
Things quickly took a turn for the worst, though. Eva stiffened when Mark's voice suddenly cut out, and then she watched in some kind of horror and fascination as the scene around them shifted. The figures, the sunlight, even the sudden switch in temperature--everything felt so real. And then, at the end of the path, there stood another figure.
Mouth setting into a determined line, Eva summoned Chara just as the others summoned their own weapons. "Got it," Eva murmured after Molly, the familiar feel of her weapon in her hands sending her heart racing.
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