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 Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 2:24 pm
→→→→→→The hands I'd kept clean→→→→→→Now look dirty→→→→→→Before I can doubt my memories→→→→→→My memories are doubting me...Annis took an uncertain step forward, one hand sweeping in front of her. Nothing there. "Loch?" she tried again, managing to hold her voice steady. She was a raven; she was accustomed to terrific eyesight (if not horrible during the night), and now to suddenly be blinded was not good. There were footsteps to her right; Annis turned. "Loch?"
Instead of being responded to with sound, she felt an arm around her body, holding her close to a tall, flat chest. "Th...Thanks..." Annis murmured. She slowly breathed in, then out, and pulled herself up straight. Annis slowly put her hand on his elbow, traced it up to his shoulder, then to his forehead. She pushed his bangs off of his face, managing a little smile.
"Remind me when we get back to give you a haircut..." she tried, laughing weakly. "But let's... let's focus on this first."
Annis slowly turned until she could feel Loch facing forward. The raven moved slowly, arms wrapped around him. She didn't exactly have a guide dog or a cane to tap in front of her, so he would have to lead her the right way. Annis halted and flinched as one of the stones she stepped upon sank down into the floor; she could hear a mechanism click.
"L-Look out!" Annis shouted, dragging Loch down to the floor. An arrow whizzed overhead, and at the sound of the metal head crashing into the wall and falling to the ground, Annis gulped. This is going to be harder than I thought.
As the birds from the previous room proved, the labyrinth had more obstacles than those of the inanimate variety; from within the shadows farther along upon the corridor, hidden from sight by weakening or extinguished torches, two pairs of blood-red eyes gleamed before very suddenly winking out of sight. We're mirrors, both of us←←←←←←
Reflecting each other's karma←←←←←←
Our dirty hands will touch←←←←←←
And we'll know its shape...←←←←←←
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2009 8:21 pm
Loch still wasn't really in the best of spirits after that little situation only moments ago, but he still held Annis, guiding her along. She was crippled (and so was he, so to speak); it was in his best interests to keep the two together. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulled her closer to him, and stepped forward to meet this trial. He kept her close to him at all times, almost hugging her, as he carefully pushed her along, guiding her every step.
He heard just as well as she did the click of a trigger being set off. Annis called out, and Loch was thrown to the ground in Annis's attempt at evasion. It was sudden, and it was disconcerting, and Loch probably could have manuevered them a lot less painfully away from the arrow that fired off and whooshed past the place they had stood only a moment ago, but what mattered for the time being was that both of them were still intact. And that, really, after all was said and done, was kind of what mattered.
Loch groaned (or, that is, made the vague vocal gestures of groaning without sound) as he pulled himself to his feet, and reached down to take Annis's hand in one hand and the underside of one of her wings in the other, assisting her to her feet. He spun her around to face him, brushed a bit of dust off her face, and tapped her shoulder in a "what in the name of all that is holy were you thinking?" sort of way. He spun her around again, placed one hand underneath her buttocks to support her, and pushed against them to lift her up (whether she liked it or not) as his other arm supported her backside just underneath her wings. And once she was safely nestled within his arms, he pressed onward.
He gazed down the pathway, squinting his eyes for any sign of reprieve. The path seemed to fade into blackness the further it went on, however, leading Loch to believe that the area had been magically altered to prevent them from seeing too far. This did not deter him, and he moved onward.
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Posted: Sat Nov 28, 2009 10:31 am
 →→→→→→The hands I'd kept clean→→→→→→Now look dirty→→→→→→Before I can doubt my memories→→→→→→My memories are doubting me...Annis was shakily beginning to pull herself back upright as she felt Loch's hand on hers. She immediately clasped onto his palm, letting his hand in hers and the hand against her back, just underneath one wing, guide her back to her feet. There was his hand brushing carefully against her face, and Annis almost relaxed, but then he whacked her shoulder. It wasn't hard at all, more like a tap, but the surprise was enough to make her stumble back one step. "We-Well, excuse me for trying toaaack!"
Annis immediately went rigid, face going bright red, as his hand pressed against her thighs, right under her butt. She flapped her wings once just before he got his arm around her back, but her struggles rapidly died away until she was laying still in his arms.
It... felt nice. It really did. Annis closed her eyes and rested her cheek against his shoulder, letting herself be carried. It wasn't like she was very useful at the moment, anyway. "...Th-Thank you."
The passage before Loch and Annis continued to be covered in thick darkness not far beyond their own position. The red eyes were gleaming again, watching Loch and Annis. They had been trapped within this world for so long, and the sight of new prey was getting their blood boiling.
Loch was presumably still walking (there was little to determine just how much time had passed or how far along he was in the corridor, what with the darkness pressing down on him from ahead and, if he took the moment to glance back, from behind as well) when those two shadowy creatures emerged from the darkness. It was difficult to tell just what they were--they were tall and hulking, with large upper bodies and small legs that somehow held up the bulk of their torsos, and their red eyes gleamed as they stared at Loch for a fraction of a second. One bared its sharp, blood red teeth, and a single line of some sort of black liquid dripped from one of its fangs as he launched at Loch from the front.
Apparently this one didn't exactly know what 'subtlety' meant.  We're mirrors, both of us←←←←←←
Reflecting each other's karma←←←←←←
Our dirty hands will touch←←←←←←
And we'll know its shape...←←←←←←
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Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 11:57 pm
Loch moved on in silence. Not like he could have added much to a potential conversation anyway at the moment. He paced forward, paranoid of any potential triggers. It had been several feet and no other arrows had gone off. He wondered if the first one had merely been a warning shot, but every step he took aroused his suspicious just that much more. Annis was safely nestled within his arms, snuggled against his shoulder, and he tried to stifle his temper at what had happened just moments before. No use in worrying about that at the moment, anyway.
So just as his paranoia was starting to fade, he heard a set of steps due ahead, pattering against the stone floor. Then the steps were accompanied by a set of gleaming eyes, and... yeah, that couldn't be good. He panicked for a moment, trying to decide what to do with Annis, but one of the monsters had made up his mind for him, lunging at him. He fell backwards, the beast on him, teeth at his throat. Annis had been disconcertingly cast to the side as he'd warped his body to prevent further injury; last thing he wanted to do was to land upon his wings and injure himself.
Loch, however, was not quite as frail as he looked. A knee shot up in instinct, nailing whatever creature this was in a very fleshy ribcage, and he shoved the monster off of him to the side. As it turned towards him again, snarling, he was ready for the second assault, and when it lunged towards him for the second time he met the creature's blackened face with a sharp left hook. It howled loudly and backed off, deterred for the time being.
While he'd been focused upon one of the beasts, the other one had gone for easier prey. It had lunged upon a helpless Annis, clawing at her furiously. Loch "yelled", dashing over to the monster and, without thinking, he leapt and kicked it squarely under the jaw. Then he quickly produced his staff once again, and instead of using it for its typical purpose, he whirled it around and bashed the head of it into the creature's head, directly above an eye. Loch dropped to his feet, scooping up Annis and sliding over to a wall, his body perched over hers as he readied to protect her from another assault.
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Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:00 pm
→→→→→→The hands I'd kept clean→→→→→→Now look dirty→→→→→→Before I can doubt my memories→→→→→→My memories are doubting me...Annis was unable to see, true, but she could hear shuffling feet and the scraping of something hard against the stone floor, enough to perk her face up in the general direction of the corridor ahead. She could hear that scurrying, it was growing closer, and she opened her mouth to ask what was going on when she heard air rushing. A split second later, Loch had thrown her aside. Annis yelped in the surprise of it all, tucking her limbs in close to her body and letting out a faint breath as her shoulder rammed into the wall. She slid down quietly, landing against her hip, but nothing seemed to be broken. Her shoulder was definitely bruised, yes, but nothing was broken.
Annis blinked her sightless green eyes, drawing her upper body upright, resting its weight on her hands, with her legs folded to the side. "Loch?" she called. Her brow furrowed; she could hear a second set of steps. With the scuffling to the side, though, she couldn't tell where exactly they were coming from. Something was hissing, she could tell that much. "Loch, what's goaaaaaaaaugh!"
Annis thrashed helplessly as she felt a pair of very sharp claws rake across her abdomen. She could hear fabric tearing and feel the blood drawing as they came down again, and a third time. She beat her hands and feet against whatever was attacking her, screaming in fury and pain, but her efforts seemed to accomplish little. As one of the claws crashed right across her chest, hard enough to make her breath come short, Annis curled tightly around herself, wings folded against her back. The claws came down once more, and she shrieked against her knees, bloodied and pained against the stone.
There was a howl somewhere nearby, and a few seconds later, the claws starting to dig into her wounded side, she heard a heavy thud, enough to make the beast above her snarl angrily, and its footsteps thudded awkwardly backwards. Annis coughed, and then there was another heavy crash. The raven felt Loch's robed arms wrapping around her and rushing her a short distance.
The raven quivered in pain, 'hugging' herself as she struggled to press down on her wounds, not to mention hide how her shirt and corset had been hacked up so badly with that onslaught. "I-I'm fine," she managed to cough, though as she hesitantly moved one arm to start propping herself upright again, she let out a faint noise of pain and collapsed down again.
The first beast was snarling and hissing, the same night-black slime dripping off of his fangs as he took a step forward. There was blood now, enough blood to intensify his hunger. The white wings was a good fight as well; it would make his meal all the more sweeter. He glanced at the second beast, then turned back to Loch. One of his glowing red eyes was swollen shut from the punch to the face, but his vision seemed to be just fine as he lunged for the white-clad Heron, fangs bared and claws readied to strike. We're mirrors, both of us←←←←←←
Reflecting each other's karma←←←←←←
Our dirty hands will touch←←←←←←
And we'll know its shape...←←←←←← [[Copying over posts we did in PMs. :V VIKA TURN GO]]
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Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:06 pm
Loch was ready for the second assault. Standing over Annis's fallen body, the staff in his hand whirled around in a full circle, where the end of it stabbed viciously into the creature's chest. He used the momentum from his strike to rush forward and kick the monster once again, and the endurance limit of his staff was finally reached as it snapped in two when he bashed it against the beast's head once again. Now wielding the stave by its crystalled end, he scurried across the floor, grabbed the other displaced shard, and without looking he shoved the jagged end into the beast's ribcage, effectively silencing it where it stood. It paused for just a moment, staring at Loch with eerie red eyes, then gurgled loudly and collapsed upon the ground.
Loch turned back towards Annis. He'd almost forgotten about the other beast when it full-out tackled him to the ground, ripping a large chunk out of his jacket. The heron spread his wings, flattening them so he could catch the monster's momentum, and he rolled backwards with the monster to throw it against the wall, dangerously close to Annis. He swung the staff head he still held at its exposed underside, slicing through the flesh and exposing blackened entrails. The monster howled loudly, but a quick slash once again to its throat quickly silenced it for good.
Panting, he shoved the corpse aside and collapsed beside Annis. She didn't look to be in very good shape. Fortunately, the darkness in front of them had cleared somewhat, and Loch could see the next door a short distance away. However, Annis didn't appear to be in the best of shape. When Loch glanced at her, he visually grimaced; her clothing was tattered and she was bleeding from many fresh wounds. Loch slid closer to her and picked her torso up carefully, laying her gently across his lap as he took the half-staff in his hand and ran it over her wounds. Fortunately, for her sake, staffs didn't require spoken incantations like spells did. The staff migrated over her body as he carefully brushed dirt and blood away from wounds upon her face and (carefully) her chest. The minor wounds quickly sealed up, and the major ones were assisted so that they would soon be well. Then, once his job was done, he tenderly picked her up once again and moved towards the next door. Only his imagination could give him some idea of what would wait for them on the other side.
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Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:08 pm
→→→→→→The hands I'd kept clean→→→→→→Now look dirty→→→→→→Before I can doubt my memories→→→→→→My memories are doubting me...Annis was able to hear the continued struggle against whatever had wielded those claws, not in such bad condition that her senses were disoriented. There were too many thuds and slashing noises for her to determine who was dealing what blow, but when she heard the loud gurgling noise, then a pained howl after a heavy thud very close to her head, she decided that Loch had to be the one winning; if it (they?) had hurt him, then it (they?) wouldn't still be fighting as hard. Or Annis would have already been targeted again.
Annis took in a deep breath, feeling the sting in her lungs from inflating her chest and straining the gashes, when she felt Loch's hands on her shoulders, and her upper body resting across his legs. The raven gasped out a sharp breath initially, but she rapidly relaxed as what felt like a cool breeze swept over her injuries and immediately, the pain began to wane. When the wind disappeared, she didn't feel nearly as bad. A line down her side and a small cut across her stomach still hurt, but everything else seemed fine. Maybe I didn't lose a lot of blood... it didn't take him long to help...
The raven sank into Loch's arms, eyes closed. "Th...Thank you..." she murmured, her hands resting in her lap. She listened closely to each of his footsteps, letting him carry her wherever he was going; the next room, probably.
As soon as Loch stepped through, Annis realized that her vision had returned; the entire rest-stop room went blurry, in very vague focus, then slowly materialized until it was sharp and clear. Annis tilted her head up to look at Loch, frowned slightly, and daubed her thumb against her tongue. She reached up and swiped a small smear of blood away from his cheek. "Mm... there."
The raven quietly climbed down from Loch's arms, smoothing out his jacket. "Thanks... really." She paused, then looked down at her front. A beat later, Annis folded her arms over her front, face turning pink. "We should... um, keep going. Right?"
Over at the door to the next trial, the words inscribed into the stone glowed a deep red.
If you think this is over, then you're sorely mistaken
I hope your faith in your choice hasn't shaken
Try taking a walk in someone else's shoes. We're mirrors, both of us←←←←←←
Reflecting each other's karma←←←←←←
Our dirty hands will touch←←←←←←
And we'll know its shape...←←←←←←
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Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:09 pm
Loch observed in silence as Annis regained her senses, casually averting his gaze from the raven as she rubbed a smear of blood off of his face and crawled out of his arms. Now that she was more than helpless again, his irritability at her teasing, her mood, and the whole gosh-darned situation was quickly returning, and he responded with only a simple nod when she thanked him. He paced the room, turning to the door he'd just passed through to gaze at it for any clues, and then back across the room to gaze at the door they'd soon be passing through. He noted that, beyond the cryptic message upon the door, this room was nearly identical to the last.
"Right," he responded simply to her statement of progress. He didn't really pay much attention to her ripped clothing; she seemed to be far more unnerved about it than he would get. It really wasn't that bad, and he didn't see what the big deal was. But maybe he was just grouchy. "Come on." He opened the door, and the two passed through to the next room. Loch paused a moment, looking around them to get a general idea of the next trial. Unfortunately, this one, like the last, was also shrouded in darkness, and the only way to find out what would meet them was to press on. He turned to Annis to speak and--
Wait.
Was the point of this room duplication? He was staring right at himself! "Er, Annis?" Hey, that wasn't his voice, either! He looked down, and-- oh, my.
So that's what 'take a walk in someone else's shoes' meant.
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Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:09 pm
→→→→→→The hands I'd kept clean→→→→→→Now look dirty→→→→→→Before I can doubt my memories→→→→→→My memories are doubting me...Annis raised an eyebrow as he acted rather sullenly towards him, adjusting her arms across her front. Now, really, was it very becoming to act like such an insolent child? She simply watched him move about in the room, and her eyebrow went farther north as she heard his very few snippets of vocalization. She followed him as he suggested when he opened the door, stepping out next to him.
The room was very dark just ahead of them, but as the door closed behind them, two torches along each wall lit up, giving them at least a small visual radius. "Well, no telling what sort of tri...wait. Why do I sound mannish?" Annis paused, putting a hand at her throat. She coughed once, then froze.
...Where the hell did that Adam's apple come from? I could've sworn it wasn't that big. Annis looked down, and instead of seeing torn black and brown clothing, found white robes and other light-colored, loose fabrics.
"...Holy s**t!" Annis yelped, flinching in Loch's body. She put a hand against Loch's blonde hair, tugging it once before twisting her body towards the left, seeing the white wings flapping once on her shoulderblades. "Holy s**t. Holy s**t holy ******** just happened?!"
Annis turned to look at Loch--well, herself. She felt Loch's cheeks grow pink as she cleared his throat and looked away from herself. "Y-Yeah. Uhm..." Annis rubbed the back of Loch's neck, underneath his long blonde hair. Really soft... "So... uh."
Annis looked down at Loch's body, twisting and turning it again to examine it as best she could from her only angle. "It's... not so bad, I guess. Looks like you've got a nicer body than I might've thought originally--" Annis paused. Wait, what was she saying?
...Might as well go the full mile if she was going to start running it?
"You aren't injured, right? I mean, you checked my injuries, but..." Annis put her hands against Loch's abs over his shirt, looking down at his chest and stomach with a thoughtful expression on her face, blonde hair falling down to hide the very faint pink color on Loch's face. "Hm." We're mirrors, both of us←←←←←←
Reflecting each other's karma←←←←←←
Our dirty hands will touch←←←←←←
And we'll know its shape...←←←←←←
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Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:12 pm
While Loch's responses weren't entirely as vocal (or nearly as crude) as Annis's, he was still thoroughly shocked out of his mind. First thing he noticed was that this corset was very tight, even with all the rips in it. How on earth did she manage like this? And those hips were so wide, it was weird. In comparison to his own form, it was disconcerting. If Annis were to look at him right now, she would find her own cheeks very red as well. He turned around, looking over the body, flexing raven wings -- they actually weren't that different from heron wings -- and brushing her unruly hair out of his face now.
And then she had to go there. Was she actually flaunting his form? Loch had nice abs for a heron (you kind of had to when you'd lost your powers) but what exactly did she have planned? Whatever she had in mind, two could play at that game. Loch was just in that sort of mood right now. He grasped the strings of her corset. "This is so tight... how do you walk around like this?" With a quick yank, he undid the tie. The corset fell away, and Annis's full figure fell out. It would have been somewhat embarrassing to him if it wasn't so funny, and he couldn't hide the smirk on his face as he looked down. Yeah, he was blushing, but Annis's reaction would be priceless if she decided she wanted to play this game.
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Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:15 pm
→→→→→→The hands I'd kept clean→→→→→→Now look dirty→→→→→→Before I can doubt my memories→→→→→→My memories are doubting me...Annis looked up as she heard Loch speaking, and when she saw her corset (more like a bustier, but whatever) hitting the floor, Loch's face turned bright red. "Wh-What do you think you're doing? Put that back on!" she sputtered, eyes wide. Annis reached towards her body, then looked down at Loch's. She hadn't even started to move his clothes and he was doing that?
Well, he wasn't going to get her to freak out that easily. She had already spazzed a little, but Annis had already regained her composure, clearing Loch's throat.
"...Well, then. I think, ah, the room's getting a little hot?" she shot Loch a dark glare as she shed his coat, draping it over one arm. It just seemed like sort of a shame to let it get so dirty from hitting the floor, what with it being so white. She considered taking his shirt off, but not quite yet. She would have to see what Loch did. I mean, he's usually so flinchy about so much as looking at me wrong... he wouldn't dare go any farther. We're mirrors, both of us←←←←←←
Reflecting each other's karma←←←←←←
Our dirty hands will touch←←←←←←
And we'll know its shape...←←←←←←
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Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:20 pm
"It was restricting my ability to breathe properly," he responded simply. "And preventing my movement. If I am to survive in your body, it would be in my best interests to make it easier upon myself, correct?" As offended as she seemed to have gotten at his gesture, it really did have a practical basis. However, he could see that her purpose for wearing it was practical as well; those things on her chest were heavy! It was just unfortunate that her method of dealing with it was so detrimental to her breathing, was all.
However, his already unpleasant temperment took a turn for the worse as she removed his coat. He eyed her cautiously. That coat was off-limits. If she did anything with it... oh, okay, it's just across her shoulder. Good for now. "Your ankle is still a bit sore," he mused. "I think I would be better without these awkward boots." He kicked them off towards a wall, where they collided and fell to the ground with a loud thud. If you want to play this game, Annis, I shall certainly play it with you!
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Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:22 pm
→→→→→→The hands I'd kept clean→→→→→→Now look dirty→→→→→→Before I can doubt my memories→→→→→→My memories are doubting me...Annis folded Loch's arms across his chest, the jacket resting against Loch's sternum. She watched him warily, a sudden worry coming across Loch's face. "...Put those back on," she murmured, watching the boots where they were laying still on the stone floor. "A-And the bustier. Put it back on. Loosen it if you have to, j-just... put them back on."
Annis paused. "I'm not kidding. Put them back on." She looked away from him, looking sullen and clearly uncomfortable now. "I mean, it's not like I hurt my ankle saving you from getting eaten or something," she muttered, clearly indignant at having her body treated like this. Loch's wings ruffled and folded close to his back, a single white feather molting onto the floor. We're mirrors, both of us←←←←←←
Reflecting each other's karma←←←←←←
Our dirty hands will touch←←←←←←
And we'll know its shape...←←←←←←
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Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:24 pm
"Of course," he spoke audibly, shrugging. His wings tensed anxiously, and he avoided looking at her-him. "And it was not like I healed you at any given moment, and carried you when you were helpless. I was happy to do that for you." He sat down upon the floor and folded legs. "However, you played with me like I was a common toy, taunted me -- did I taunt you once? -- and let us not forget, your habits got us into this."
He propped a foot closer to his lap, taking it into his hands, rubbing the pain out of the injured ankle. "But if you are so concerned about decency, perhaps you should have reconsidered your actions prior, ne?" The sock came off with a quick yank, balled up and thrown over to the boots. "Perhaps I should show you a little humility. If decency is so important to you--" the other sock quickly came off and was tossed casually over to the other "--then perhaps I just just strut around this trial nude! It's not my body, after all."
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Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2009 4:25 pm
→→→→→→The hands I'd kept clean→→→→→→Now look dirty→→→→→→Before I can doubt my memories→→→→→→My memories are doubting me...Annis stared at Loch, looking as if he might as well have walked over and slapped her--him?--right across the face. She didn't say anything, only watching in shocked silence as he tended quietly to Annis' ankle, then removed her socks. Finally, shoulders tensed, she started in a low voice, "I wasn't even going to go that far, and you... y-you just... a-and how dare you say this is all my fault! I was only doing what I was hired to do, and this was the only thing I got paid with, and it wasn't like I expected this to happen! I didn't plan on us getting sucked away into some damn alternate dimension or whatever this is so PUT MY DAMN CLOTHES BACK ON!"
She was glaring at him now, eyes watery, hands clenched at Loch's sides. "A-And you think that's going to do anything? Walking around naked? I-It'd only make you a bigger target, what the hell reason is there for that? I am not kidding, Loch. Put. My clothes. Back on." Loch's face was growing pink again, but Annis didn't look away, fists quivering. We're mirrors, both of us←←←←←←
Reflecting each other's karma←←←←←←
Our dirty hands will touch←←←←←←
And we'll know its shape...←←←←←←
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