Night 52: North of the Institute (woods)

[tsunagari]

[from here]Sai hit the ground and rolled as the blasts from their opponent ripped through the air to either side of them. He crawled up onto his knees, pawing around for the flashlight that had been knocked from his hands in the attack. "Naruto?" He hadn't seen if the blond had been hit or not. If he had, this whole venture would have been a

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[unheroed]

Harvey had only really had the chance to grab his belongings from where they'd fallen in the grass (and honestly, he wouldn't have been able to find them so quickly if it hadn't been for the fact that a few nearby trees had been on fire) before he had to race after Jones, who was pulling Recluse along with him as if he was an animal -- though really, Harvey knew it was to make sure that the man kept up despite his injuries.

It couldn't be good, and the fact that the other man had been burned hit a chord, bringing back memories that he never wanted to relive. He still felt pain from his wounds each and every day, and while he'd obviously gotten used to that, it impeded his eating, his showering, and to some extent his movement.

Chances were Recluse would heal, but at this point Harvey was just left to wonder why the hell that idiot kid had figured it was worth the energy needed to throw a huge chuck of concrete at them.

It didn't matter, though. They'd gotten away, even if they weren't all necessarily in one piece. Harvey didn't want this to turn into an argument for once, mainly because it would waste time, but they couldn't really keep moving if Recluse wasn't able to walk on his own.

There wasn't much he could say (thanking the man for something he'd chosen to do seemed pointless), and so for the moment Harvey remained silent as he waited for Recluse's status report, keeping his good eye on the lookout for anything out of sorts.

[tartaros_avatar]

Recluse had stumbled as Indy led the way, pulsating after-images of the light all that he could see apart from a few suggestions of vague outlines. Once they stopped, he turned his attention to one of the burns on his arms, touching the edge of it with a gloved fingertip, clenching his jaw as the already intense pain flared.

"Painful, but we can't do anything about it here." There was nothing to cool them with effectively, and the only water source that he knew of outside the Institute was infested by creatures he wouldn't count on holding off long enough to ease the pain in the wounds. And besides, it would all be a distraction. Just another thing in his way.

So, unfortunately... "We should just keep moving. My eyes will eventually adjust." His eyes still glowed red, but the pupils were contracted down to the barest slits, only a little of the whiter light from inside them leaking out. He would have been able to see regardless, if it weren't for the aftereffects of the light.

To top it all off, he now had a pounding headache because of all of that. He'd have revenge on Sechs for this, if only for the excuse to make someone bleed.

[its_the_mileage]

[It's fine if the others see his shadow!]

Indy nodded. Richter'd been moving remarkably well on the uneven ground for someone who couldn't see, and he was also right in noting that they had no real way of treating the burns out here. Even if they'd been bad enough to warrant turning around and trying to get help in the Institute (was that clinic even still running?), Indy didn't imagine the others were any more eager than he was at the prospect of dodging the guy with the blade and whatever other screwballs Landel had brainwashed tonight. He continued forward, slower than before but at a decent clip nonetheless.

Overhead, the clouds that'd been hanging over them parted, revealing a brilliant full moon. The sudden brightness probably wasn't going to help Richter any, but it gave Indy a chance to switch off his flashlight. He couldn't remember how long it'd been since he'd last replaced the batteries. That would be all he needed, left wandering around in an unfamiliar mine with a burned-out flashlight.

"It's not too far," he said--purely for Richter's benefit, since Dent already knew. As he said it, something caught his eye once again, and this time Indy also caught it. It was his own shadow. He scoffed quietly at his foolishness--jumping at shadows; he was turning into Marcus--and was just turning again when the shadow moved. Not with him. Independently. And as he blinked in disbelief, it kept moving.

"Anyone else see that?" he was finally forced to ask in a low voice.

[unheroed]

[Same here!]

In regards to the burn wounds, Harvey was caught between sympathizing because he knew exactly how it felt (Recluse's burns weren't as severe as his own, but a burn was a burn) and being totally unfeeling (if he'd been through it and survived, even if he was less of a man now, then Recluse could too). But it seemed that Harvey was often of two minds these days, and there wasn't much point in commenting on it.

He didn't have any of those bandages with him, since he always stripped them off at dinner and discarded them in his room to be dealt with by the staff at some point. Though even if he had brought them along, using them on Recluse's wounds would have been downright unsanitary. And it wasn't as if the nurses gave him extra.

So they all seemed to have agreed to just keep moving, and so Harvey kept after the other two, staying close in case Recluse started to collapse. What he hadn't really expected was for the moon to suddenly show itself out of nowhere. He'd heard of fast-moving clouds, but this was ridiculous. It was casting a bright light, bright enough that Harvey followed Jones' lead and turned off his flashlight.

But things just got weirder. What had just been a general odd feeling became reality when their shadows started to move of their own accord, branching off in different directions. Harvey even tried to move with his, but it was impossible to predict, and he glanced over to Jones with a raised eyebrow. "You bet I do."

[tartaros_avatar]

[fff, like anyone wouldn't be able to guess Recluse is a bad man. Take a good look, the thing's probably doing backflips by now!]

Recluse followed Jones, eyes slowly ceasing their visual screaming at him, the afterimages of the light fading. Well. Now at least, he could see.

Hold that thought. Of course the moon came out without any warning whatsoever. Recluse made an irritated hiss, holding up a hand to block the moon's light out of his vision as best as he could.

"Good." If they could just get to somewhere dark, Recluse would be thrilled. With the whole problem of light once again, it took him a moment to realize what Jones was referring to when he spoke next. He eventually looked down, raising an eyebrow as the man's shadow warped and shifted. "As I suspected." He turned to look at his own and Dent's, watching them move with detached interest.

"I'm sure Landel has just informed everyone of something in the most melodramatic way possible. It's such a shame we're missing it." Really. Shadows moving on their own? Was this really all Landel could come up with?

"I'm assuming no one here minds that all of us seem to have done things Landel, in all his sterling moral authority, deems to be unsavory?" Gods, even if the shadows started attacking, it would still seem amazingly derivative to him. Illusionists played with shadows all the time, and those who used darkness as a weapon weaponized and altered shadows by default. There was never any census of them, but he could be quite sure that there were thousands of such individuals within the Rogue Isles.

"He couldn't even pick an original way to do this. Really, I have no idea how he managed to get the power he has over us, with this sort of lack of originality." As unnecessary as Recluse's commentary might be, he hated when villains acted like this. He had no morals, but he had standards, at the very least.

[its_the_mileage]

When he followed the other men's gazes, Indy realized his shadow wasn't the only one moving on its own. Both Dent's and Richter's shadows were distorting themselves as well. He shot a glance at the nearby trees, but he wasn't surprised when he saw that those shadows were obediently still and the right place. Only the three human shadows were affected. Was this supposed to be Landel's demonstration of hypocrisy?

Apparently Richter was thinking along the same lines. Indy didn't share his views on the lack of originality inherent in manipulating people's shadows (evidently Richter knew people who could play shadow puppets unseen in the middle of nowhere like this--but what did you expect from a guy who thought giant blades and fireballs were old hat, for God's sake), but he was similarly disinterested in whatever Landel had to say about their moral standings.

"That's why I leave the compound so often. You miss the evening lectures," he cracked, matching Richter's dry sarcasm. He also picked up the pace again--standing around contemplating their shadows wasn't his idea of a productive night. After a few paces, he said to Richter, "Should I bother to ask how the...er, shadow manipulation works?"

[unheroed]

While both Recluse and Jones seemed relieved that they hadn't had to listen to Landel's speech that had probably gone along with this sudden change, Harvey wasn't so sure he felt the same. While it was true that the Head Doctor was downright annoying to listen to, at least they would have had some sort of insight on what the hell was happening. And unlike Recluse, who seemed to think he was above all of this, Harvey wasn't exactly used to shadows suddenly moving of their own accord.

Still, all three of them were having the same problem and nothing terrible was happening yet -- which didn't mean it wouldn't eventually, but for now they were just going to have to keep moving. If they let this change of events stop them from achieving their ultimate goal, then they were letting Landel win.

Jones seemed to be giving Recluse the benefit of the doubt, more so than Harvey would have had he been the one asking the question. Instead, he just eyed the so-called villain from where he was walking alongside the pair, waiting to see what his response would be. Part of him didn't want to know, but he had to begrudgingly admit that the information the man had might be helpful in this situation.

He did his best to ignore the show his shadow was putting on, but that was easier said than done. Sighing, the man looked forward. "I think we're almost there."

Augh sorry LJ ate my post and forgot to tell me D8

[tartaros_avatar]

"I might have to go on walks like these more often. It's pleasant, once you get past the raving idiots on the field," Recluse replied, following after Jones. "There are multiple ways that it could be done. Most have to do with magic," he pronounced the word as if it were a curse, "which is not my field of expertise. But some work has been done by noted scientists on illusion that can also appear to manipulate shadows."

It was a relief that they were drawing close, although he'd never admit it. The fresh burns were exceedingly painful, and he was simply gritting his teeth and refusing to acknowledge it. Getting to somewhere darker would at least improve his mood.

Then, of course, things just had to get more complicated. As he turned his head to watch behind them, the movement of his shadow caught his eye again. He was just about to turn away, when he noticed with a slight shock that it was actually reaching a hand out of the ground. He stopped, turning fully to face the shadow, drawing a long knife he'd slipped into his boot, watching the shadow warily as it pulled itself up into three dimensions.

"Well. This is narrowing down the known possibilities for what Landel's tinkering around with this evening," he said as dryly as he could, debating how effective attacking the shadow might be. Some illusions could be destroyed, that much he knew, but it was impossible to tell whether this was one of them.

[its_the_mileage]

Indy appreciated the derisive emphasis on the word magic. It was a step toward putting them all back on solid, sane intellectual ground, despite the inexplicable, impossible-to-ignore movement of their shadows. He wasn't sure what research scientists (what scientists? Indy couldn't imagine what college would give anyone funding to study illusions, but maybe things were different after the depression ended--or in Richter's world, if he indulged that theory) would be doing on shadow manipulation, but for now he was ready enough to labor under the assumption that there was some.

He sensed Richter turning behind him, and then the leash pulled taut as the other end stopped moving. "See anything?" Indy asked, looking warily around them. Richter's eyesight seemed good enough for him to move on his own, so Indy took a few slow steps forward to let the other man either drop the whip or keep going. The moonlight didn't turn up any obvious threats. They and the shadows seemed to be the only things moving out here.

Dent was right, though. The mine entrance was just up ahead.

[its_the_mileage]

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