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[ X_Bleeding Roses_X ] rolled 1 100-sided dice:
25
Total: 25 (1-100)
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 Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 11:48 pm
Michael was being very careful in crossing that bridge.
Very.
HP: 40/40
Location: Room of Serpents
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[ X_Bleeding Roses_X ] rolled 1 100-sided dice:
92
Total: 92 (1-100)
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Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 11:51 pm
<<ComeonComeonComeonComeo->>
Michael took his last step off the bridge and then took off in a sprint again, ready for a long journey because he hadn't felt himself go up at all. Only... this was one very familiar hallway.
<<Hey weren't there arrows here bef- LOOK OUT>>
Michael swore and kept running, now spotting other Hunters up ahead.
HP: 40/40
Location: Room of Arrows
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[ X_Bleeding Roses_X ] rolled 1 4-sided dice:
2
Total: 2 (1-4)
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Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 11:56 pm
Ow Ow Ow Ow
"I HATE ARROWS!" Michael couldn’t help yelling that out as he ran through the barrage obtaining a myriad of small but painful nicks to his limb. They wouldn’t kill him or anything but god dammit arrows hurt.
He could not express his relief as he finally made it to the lift and saw so many other trainees and best of all the Hunters in charge of them.
He slumped against a piece of wall to catch his breath finally now having time to wonder worriedly how many others were left behind him.
HP: 38/40
Location: Room of Glyphs
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Posted: Sun Mar 11, 2012 11:57 pm
Either Barney was the ******** Hulk or Sandy's initial theory about Fear was right. She pursed her lips before "Here, let me try something." The Death Hunter moved towards Wilson, one slow step at a time, just to make sure there wasn't any other imminent danger. As she reached the trainee, she nodded and took the lever handle from him, pushing as hard as she could. The entire platform shook a little more, groaned, but did not exactly quite push up, instead lowering a little downwards.
Straining, Sandy, gritted her teeth as she pushed as far as she could- 'A little more help here, Talos?'
'Right behind you.' Her weapon grunted, equally interested and invested in getting the ******** out of here. With one last push, the entire handle bent the other direction, thankfully the correct direction, though it took all her effort, straining the entire way, to keep it there. The platform rose with a series of even clacks, and Sandy quickly let go for a second as it aligned even with the hallway of arrows again, peering a little longer down the hall. "We wait just a little longer for the others."
Just a little longer.
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:00 am
Tedan was about to offer to hit the damn thing himself when Sandy came over and somehow managed to move the lever. He didn't really understand how, but if it worked, it worked. The Sun trainee stepped back just a little and winced slightly, feeling blood trickling from arrow wounds as well as a few other places. He hoped everyone else got here soon ... "Did you end up in the stupid room with all the blades too?" he muttered pretty much at random to Wilson. Nothing else to do but make conversation right now, was there?
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:40 am
Sandy was practically jumping at every single shadow before what seemed like the last of the trainees filed in. She honestly was proud of them, they had managed to navigate through the very catacombs that had killed-
- No, no, now was not the time to think of this. The Death Hunter tightened her grip against the lever handle to calm her nerves, taking deep breaths. There was still uncertainty. What if there was one more trainee left? What if there were several, who, like James, were in the last moment just fighting till his last breath, and-
- One second longer. Just one second longer. She would wait because... because...
The door between the room of glyphs and hallway suddenly slid closed with no warning. They were fully trapped in the long cylindrical room, the exit impossibly far away. Sandy did not hesitate a second longer, and slammed her hand against the lever, listening to the steady crack of the elevator mechanism as it slowly, painfully, hoisted itself up.
But it was too slow. There was something else pouring into the room too, leaking between the cracks of the platform base. Water. The room below was also rising upwards, filling the elevator faster than it could move, its weight causing the apparatus to slow down drastically.
It would only be a matter of time before what had been in the water below filled through the cracks. She could hear them already, though it may have simply been her imagination, the darkness, or a combination of everything, that slow hissing noise. Was this really how she was going to end then, not even by the hands of the same chimaera that-
- No. Not yet. She couldn't give up quite yet. One more time, as the trainees flickered their flashlights around in panic, she put up a brave front and nodded to Barney. They were going to see this through.
The water continued to rise, it was knee level now, and she expected any moment, somewhere, lurking in those depths the first of the serpents: it would only take a second for one of them to find its target and sink its venomous teeth into their skin. The walls seemed to shake and strain, reconfirming her greatest fears.
But not yet. Not ******** yet. She kept her arm locked solid on the lever, biting down on her lip until she drew blood. They were almost there, they were almost there.
The water was almost at waist level when she heard the first audible hiss, echoing from within the room. Oh god, don't panic, don't <******** panic or the trainees will- "Noone make any sudden motions." She said, as quietly as she could. "Draw your weapons, and slowly move towards the exit." A moment of relief as they all quietly did so, still willing to listen, still valuing their lives. The exit, that was right there, just a few more seconds, just a few more-
- A second hiss and then a third. She felt something brush against her leg, cold and sinuous. Her heart skipped a beat: they were out of time. "Move trainees, move now, jump for the exit. JUMP NOW."
She knew that in that second she shouted, she had sealed her fate. The second the fangs pierced into her calf, the second she nearly dropped the lever, everything, despite the screaming, splashing, despite the hissing and the sharp pain of being bitten again and again, everything seemed peaceful.
God, she regretted so many things. She regretted as her body finally gave away, as her heart finally pulsed one more time, struggling, as the venom swept her mind away, all the people she didn't save. In that very last moment, she strained, using all her effort just to lift her head, her body, just slightly out of the water. Her heart sank at the sight of Barney floating, just floating there, unmoving, his face pale, illuminated by his flashlight that had sunk into the water below him.
But there were no trainees. Thank god, there were no trainees. Thank god they were no...
*
Back when James passed away, that look that everything was going to be okay in his eyes even as he was torn in half by the chimaera, Sandy had cried and cried for hours. Not even Mark would understand, noone did, not even she understood why.
So it seemed such a simple option then, the only option remaining for her. She had prepared a simple poison: a handheld gun, quick and painless. The Death Hunter sat outside, on the abandoned parapets, taking one last look at Deus Ex Machina, what had been her home and life. This wouldn't be the first time a suicide was committed here, and she felt oddly reassured that there were others before here, others who felt her loss and needed to move on.
Her eyes were open the entire time as she raised the gun to her head, still dripping tears, numb. It was okay. It was going to be okay soon.
"So this is your final choice as a Hunter."
Shocked, she accidentally pressed the trigger - OH s**t NOT YET - but oddly enough, there was just an empty click. Suddenly, she felt embarrassed: she hadn't even thought of loading the gun yet. Torn between crying with guilt and shame, she turned around-
- To see the last person she really wanted to see.
"You owe me thirteen mission reports, five transcriptions, and a log of your last week's status." Caelius continued, absolutely unimpressed by the fact that Sandy had just tried to kill herself and failed. "Feel free to continue, hopefully properly this time, after you finish your goddamn work."
Oh god, why him, why the ******** him, out of all people. If she really had thought about loading her bullets, and she had missed the first time, Sandy really just considered ending herself then and there, though giving that b*****d the satisfaction seemed to just kill the thought entirely. That anger and frustration clenched her heart. "P-permission to speak sir." She continued onwards, though the though did occur to her rather quickly what the hell he was doing in such a high place. "I- I... I still plan to retire tonight. I will not be submitting my reports. You can do whatever you want, but I am not scared anymore of death."
She wasn't even surprised when Circe appeared the next second, the bladed weapon pressed against her neck. She simply closed her eyes, waiting.
"Hm. A proposal then. As our last mission to the Beast of the Earth Lair proved a failure, I will be planning a second one, though I am sure you are well aware of the stakes, with your experience." Sandy's eyes shot wide as Caelius continued to talk. She was listening now.
"Consider this your payment for those ******** overdue reports that you owe me." And of course, her Division Leader never even gave her the second to make a choice herself. He was gone the next second too, though it was hard not to see the telltale glow of his weapon as it slowly trailed behind him.
She looked down at her hands, at the gun that was still clenched in one fist. Was it her lingering shame of getting caught, or were her actions just that small and selfish, the gun all but insignificant? There were many ways to die a second time.
And, like, James, she was going to go down fighting.
OOC - ALL TRAINEES at this point are assumed to have EXITED ONTO THE PLATFORM/ FOUND THE ROOM OF GLYPHS then managed to make it off the elevator out back towards the entrance. - They should run though, as the water is catching up to them, and so are the snakes. Everything is only safe when they have finally reached the exit and portal entrance, though it is up to them if they still wish to remain optimistic and wait.... though it is assumed several trainees (maybe not all), in the chaos, saw the two Hunters in their last moments just before the trainees escaped from the elevator - Feel free to post reactions as necessary during the event and after, gm points will be handed out a little after the ??? conclusion
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:49 am
Barney held the ******** on until he no long had anything to hold on with. By that point he was gone anyway, so his last thoughts weren't regrets. Just of a kitten and a rainbow and all the things in this world that made it worth saving.
They'd never recover the body, and within a month his belongings would be sorted through and incinerated. Except for one, small, important item that someone forgot to give back to the Moon hunter.
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:13 am
The tension inside of the room seemed to build as Cass pressed herself up against one of the walls. The nerves came back into her chest. Everything would be alright. Everything would be alright. They'd survived that 'Red' creature. They'd survived Conquest of the Four Horsemen. They'd survive this. They'd all go home, laugh at how close of a call that had been and then go on with life. They'd forget this had ever been scary to them. Everything would be alright.
Water began to rise around her shoes.
NO. They'd get out of this. It would be fine, it would be fine. She'd spend the night stressed, but fall asleep in Marcus's bed. She'd wake up in the morning, go on a run with Leon, joke around with Bix, and then run the training courses. She'd work in the kitchen and spend the rest of the day smelling like food that had been burnt because she couldn't cook worth a damn. It'd be fine. It would be like any other day. Life would go on.
The water was at her knees.
Cass looked to Sandy, noting the stress in her face. Desperation. It pushed this need to not die inside of the Mist Trainee. If Sandy thought they were going to make it, she thought they were going to make it. It would be alright, it would be alright. Even Nicodemus was telling her everything would be alright.
The water was at her waist.
She heard the hiss in the water, and her eyes went wide, looking down into the murky wetness and looking confused until the Death Hunter spoke up - don't panic. That was what Cass had been trying to do the entire time. Don't make any sudden moves. She'd be careful. She grabbed Nicodemus from her waist, summoning the weapon and moving cautiously towards the exit.
Cautious until Sandy yelled. Cass jumped, shooting only one backward glance as it looked like she sank into the water, eyes glossing over - half desperation, half sinking realization. She couldn't look back anymore to wait for them to come after - they wouldn't be coming. She'd run from the fear before.
She'd run and never looked back after being trapped in terror before.
Mother wouldn't be outside this time to soothe her tears. She needed to not cry.
But Cass couldn't remember having ever run so fast in her life.
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:23 am
Saya had followed Sandy's orders without a second thought, the danger creeping up on them like a tiger with six legs. At an unimaginable speed. Saya couldn't wait to get out of it. But her train of thought, hadn't gone any further, to realize how others were going to get out. If they got out. How they would never get out. The tension of the moment would be a regret later for Saya. Saya ran, in the cluster of the trainees and hunters, a huge white mountain moving. She clutched Prompto, ignoring his words to look back Sandy and Barney. Were they going to get out okay? But Prompto, having years of experience, knew better. He shouted at her not to look, threatening to disown her if she looked back. He knew Saya didn't know any better, thinking that the threat would have some small effect---
SAYA. DONT--
Sandy's screaming ran after them, in a insistent haunting way, as if playing a last requiem for the female hunter. Saya remembered clips-- being protected by Barney through the arrows, his manly shouts.. Sandy's soft nervous voice, the way she glanced nervously around. Saya didn't know why she remembered the little things. Saya lagged behind the others, wanting with a desire that had never reached such an extent before, to turn back. There was only the image of water, she couldn't even see them. She could only hear them. The echoes of a death that happened less than a minute ago. Even if that minute felt like an eternity. Perhaps, the murky sight of only water was mercy. Her ankle turned, in the opposite direction, as if she wanted to run back. A hitch in her breathing, that was all it took for Prompto to grab Saya's numb consciousness back briefly to him. Through all the one-second memories of Sandy and Barney.
...! You're useless.Turn back now, you've got no chance ... -- hear me, useless!"
Saya.. was useless? T-that was why they left them? To stay behind? If Saya was so worthless and useless in battle, why hadn't they left Saya behind instead? Why did they try to get all the trainees out? Little by little, her slow halting run took her forward, the concept of death not having fully entered her understanding yet. How could everything change in a mere second? Why? When did they go wrong? Saya froze, at the portal door, her feet refusing to take her further. Maybe if she waited, she'd see their forms walk out. Side by side, with their weapons swinging in a heroic way. But that in itself, her imagination, that scene, was unbearably cruel to her.
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 2:34 am
Bone tired he simply observed most of the goings on for the time being at east until the moment came where water had rushed up to meet them along with some other more ... unfriendly company. On one hand he was thankful it wasn't the monster that kept chasing him through the place, on the other hand he had no idea what to expect.
Sandy told them to move. To jump. His heart was pulsing with fright and uncertainty. Should he listen or should he stay and help. He should help he shou...
{Noble but you should go.} Yom advised rather suddenly in a rushed tone, {You are of no ussse to me dead.}
...Use? He had a use? All he did was get people important to him killed or at least lead them to their doom and...
{Jude. If you do not move I will do nothing but ssscream.} Yom seemed to make an implication that she'd scream endlessly to where that would be all he'd hear even in the afterlife.
Jude lurched into action running, sloshing, trying not to think of what lurked as he ran as fast as he could to get to safety. Jump for the exit? Jump he did! He had no plans, however, to go through the portal until he was sure everyone was safe...
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 4:07 am
Rep felt the relief of their situation ebb away as the door slid shut, noting the looks of surprise on the faces of people as it happened. Trapped.
Everything seemed to go so slowly as true adrenaline, true fear for your ******** life adrenaline, flooded his veins. He knew that water, he'd had to try not to look at the snakes as he crossed it. And yes, there was hissing, he was ******** sure of it.
He didn't even look with his flashlight, he didn't want to see. He didn't want to know.
He did as he was told by Sandy, completely obedient for a change, feeling as if he was outside his own mind, watching everything unfold, ice cold terror taking him out of himself.
He jumped without even thinking about it as Sandy's voice broke the silence. He looked back as he ran to the exit. He wasn't even sure why, catching a glimpse of Barney in the water, a splash of cold realisation seeping through him.
Guess he wouldn't be buying him that round of drinks.
The heat of the jungle was a dim comfort to the lingering tendrils of fear that still gripped him. He found one of the tables outside to lean on, and just looked away into nothingness for a while as he tried so hard not to think about all the could haves. Tried not to put himself in their situation.
It probably would have helped to talk it out to someone, anyone. But he didn't trust anyone enough, so he simply trod it all down.
Denial.
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 4:32 am
Too much was happening too quickly and too suddenly for Before to be able to properly process. In times like these, which apparently was going to be every. ********. Mission. There was only one way for him to deal with the situation, and that was to shut down. He wasn't Before, he wasn't Milton, he wasn't anyone but another body that listened and obeyed and did as it was told.
Everything will be handled and dealt with, through the proper emotional channels and with appropriate coping mechanisms, if he survived. If. If. If.
No, no, silly Before, you're slipping from me! Vanna's panicked voice went unheeded as Before dismissed her back into her pin-form. He needed two hands to grab and hoist and heft and cling and do whatever the ******** it took to get through, to not let the two Hunters' deaths be in vain. Idly, a voice that sounded suspiciously like his parents wondered aloud when his death will be and whether or not they should be relieved again.
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:35 am
Michael's first thought as the water started to seep into the sealed chamber was oh crap are we going to be drowned or something? Their steady inching towards the surface again gave him hope that they'd get out fine but... that hissing didn’t sound good and they were slowing down.
...Wait, hissing?
He gulped, it turned out to be the or something and much, much worse.
Those snakes, the very deadly snakes from the room he'd passed before where getting in and they didn’t look quite so happy to leave them alone as before.
The lift was not moving damn fast enough.
When Sandy told them to move slowly towards the exit, which was still way too far away in his opinion, Michael thought her crazy.
Then something brushed against his leg.
It was like a panic button was pressed as all of a sudden all the trainees where leaping to freedom but as he did so Michael happened to glance back one more time, abandoned torched lighting the chamber.
He felt like puking.
Barney, his crazy fellow Mooner was dead and Sasha- she wasn’t following why wasn’t she following?
<<JUST RUN MAN!>>
Michael was getting much better at following Nuucha's instructions because of this mission.
He ran and ran from the caves, not pausing even when uneven surface tried to trip, not even when he burst into daylight and the humidity of the jungle again. It was only as he saw the table, the table where - what hours? - earlier Sandy and Barney had been walking them through equipment use that he stopped in his track, swaying and feeling the urge to vomit come back strong.
Pale, Michael sat down beside the portal, still hugging that one tablet he’d managed to retrieve per orders to his chest through some miracle.
He glanced towards the tables. They'd never even gotten to use those flare guns.
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:13 am
The elevator was moving! Otto was almost relieved. Almost. But his relief, however small, was also much too brief. As water filled the lift, and the hissing began to ring through his ears, Otto's panic returned full ******** grip on Eva's arm tightened, shivering as the sounds of serpents got close. As soon as the order was given, Otto wasted no time in getting the Hell out of there. He kept his grip on Eva, pulling her along with him. He was scared and wanted noting more than to save himself; but as selfish as he was, leaving his friend to the snakes was not something he could live with. He made the jump, pulling the black haired girl along with him, despite any attempts she might have made to wait. He wanted out, now. The run to the portal was a blur. He made it eventually.
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:30 am
It was kind of ridiculous, really, how it had taken this for Sasha to realize that her existence was so very not permanent. Sandy's screams, the sight of Barney's face just filled with a sort of serene acceptance. And for what?
After making her way from the cave, Sasha halted. In a sort of dazed way she fell to her knees, arms clutched around her torso. Nona was doing her best to soothe the trainee, but it was doing little good. Pale, wide-eyed, Sasha was slack-jawed with shock. Was she hard enough for the path she'd chosen? Did she really have what it took? It'd been blind luck that she'd made it through this whole mess alive.
What had she been thinking?
Squeezing her eyes shut, Sasha forced herself to find her happy place. A large, lush field. An easel, an empty canvas. Her flute. Sandy's screams invaded, and Sasha gasped quietly, lifting one of her hands to muffle the sound.
Death was so unforgiving. So final. So terrifying.
Sasha remained on the ground, gaze fixed on a point on the ground a few feet in front of her. What next?
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