xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxᴛʜᴇ sᴏғᴛ ᴇᴄʜᴏ
sᴛᴀʀᴛ ғɪɴɪsʜ
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ᴄʜᴏɪᴄᴇ ᴄʜᴏɪᴄᴇ ᴄʜᴏɪᴄᴇ
xx ᴛᴇʟʟ ʜɪᴍ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ᴀ sᴘɪʀɪᴛ, ᴛᴏᴏ.
✓ ᴛᴇʟʟ ʜɪᴍ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴ.
"A Human." Deika tries to hold back any judgement, still hopeful that you will stick with him for now.
"That's great, too. I'm glad I was able to help you." He tries to avoid the subject of his awkwardness towards humans.
"Listen" he looks away a little, "we need to be quiet here. There are monsters. Most of them don't seem to know anyone
is here, but sound travels far in these hallways."
Just as Deika finishes his sentence, the ambient light hitting his face is disturbed by a shadow from further down the hallway, and
his body language suddenly turns rigid.
"Shh!!" he quickly forces himself against you, pushing you to the wall behind you and pinning you there with his hand covering your
mouth. He is particular about keeping perfectly still once he has you pinned, though he turns his head slightly towards the hallway to
check both of your bodies are sufficiently obscured by a nearby pillar.
"HrrRRRR..." A low, powerful growl erupts from the end of the hallway. Deika shuts his eyes and faces the floor, daring not to look
towards its source. The growl is territorial in nature, but not yet showing alert.
"HrssSS..." the figure moves through the hallway, closer to you both, by just a little bit. Its footsteps are heavy, and they slap
against the floor well enough to advertise the weight of the creature. You can tell without looking that the creature is peering down
the hallway and waiting for any movement or sound. You close your eyes, intent to focus on staying still.
...
Moments pass where neither you nor Deika show any signs of life; no breathing, no movement, your eyes don't even flinch. As if
worried they could give you away, you both don't even process any thoughts.
...
"Hr... rrruuoo..." the creature turns, passing by the hallway and disappearing past the next intersection. Its shadow is no longer
cast down the hallway and the ambient light returns.
Opening your eyes, you find that there's now enough light in the room to clearly see that Deika's hand is still just as filthy as before,
though you resist the urge to rip it off your face, and let Deika move back and release you.
Deika exhales and leans down, placing both hands on his knees, relieved.
You offer no real conversation, still processing the near miss you just encountered.
"We can't protect ourselves if they spot us," He looks down towards the floor, thinking for a moment. "We need to find
weapons. I've seen a small storeroom further ahead. I didn't get a good look inside it because I was being chased by
one of them, but, there's a good chance some weapons could be stored there."
Deika looks as though he wants to ask you if you will follow him there, but there's clear hesitation in his voice. He doesn't need to
tell you that going further towards the part of the structure one of the creatures just appeared in could mean real danger.
Still, you show an expression of determination, and he instantly understands.
"Right..." he manages the smallest of smiles, "we can't stay here forever. We have to arm ourselves as soon as possible..."
Deika knows exactly where to go, and though he readies himself to move, he can't help but look towards you, waiting for your word
to advance before he'll commit fully to moving any further into the structure.
► ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴡᴀʏ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛʜᴇ sᴛʀᴜᴄᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴅᴇɪᴋᴀ.
