Night 53: Recreational Field

[its_the_mileage]

[from here]Indy banked to the right as soon as they got outside, ready to scale the wall into the courtyard. He didn't see anything suspicious on the field--but then, the threats in here never did make themselves apparent until it was too late to avoid them. You'd've thought a guy with a giant blade would be more obvious

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[unheroed]

Heading into this space immediately put Harvey on the defensive, seeing how they had been attacked last night. He hadn't gotten any injuries from the encounter, but he'd seen what that idiot had been capable of and it was enough to put him on edge. Still, seeing how they weren't trying to cross the entire field, maybe they'd be luckier than they had been.

Honestly, he was shocked that he was even capable of positive thought at this point.

Still, it was clear that Jones was getting more serious about this, as he headed straight for where they needed to go without another word. Double-checking that the safety on his handgun was in place, Harvey followed and then tossed both his flashlight and pipe over the wall. It was a good thing that flashlight was so sturdy.

Leaving Jones to go first, Harvey started his climb slightly to the other man's right, though he couldn't help a glance over his shoulder first. "Let's make this quick," he said, even though he knew that he was the one who'd probably be holding them up.

[its_the_mileage]

The vines were sturdy on this side of the wall too, and Indy only had to test a couple before he found one he was pretty sure would hold his weight. He liked Dent's idea of getting over before anything caught up to them. The thought made him shoot a quick, suspicious glance down at his shadow, but it was staying in line for the moment. Good.

He gave one last tug on the vine he'd chosen and started up. The ascent--which to begin with had been, if not a walk in the park, at least not much of a strain--was a familiar one now, and with careful planting of his feet and a good grip on the vine he made it to the top in short order. He turned back and reached out a hand in case Dent needed any help.

It was all becoming routine, which under other circumstances might've begun to grate on Indy a bit. Right now he was just glad nothing was trying to kill them.

[unheroed]

Not being killed was definitely a good thing in Harvey's book, too. He did glance over his shoulder at the field a few more times, but thus far there was nothing. No punk with a sword that was way too long, no ghost kid who screamed like a banshee, nothing. It was refreshing, to be honest.

He watched the way that Jones climbed, seeing where his feet and hands went and then imitating it as best he could on his stretch of wall. He almost stumbled a few times, but the fact that he'd learned not to go out with those damn slippers was a huge help.

Taking the offered hand once more (because really, they'd done this enough times that he could swallow his pride when it came to this one thing), Harvey made it up onto the wall alongside Jones. He exhaled, pausing for just a moment before he pushed himself over to land on the other side.

[To here.]

[herr_inspektor]

[from here]

It felt good to have long sleeves and layers for once as Lunge stepped out into the night air- colder than it had been on their last outing, easily. It would probably have made more sense to wear sneakers rather than his loafers, but he'd never let inappropriate footwear stop him before.

His gaze slid across the field, then up to the roof and over the walls. The arc of stars overhead had been covered with a blanket of cloud, moonlight glimmering through in faint silver slivers. The mist would likely be worse once they were past the Institute's boundaries. It was probably a good thing they'd been that way twice before. Or perhaps once, if L's first encounter with the place as Daniel Laurier didn't quite count.

"I didn't think you'd wear a suit," he commented, closing the door after L with a soft click. There was still no sign of activity now they were outside, but he kept his voice low just in case.

[quarter_english]

Once they were through the door, L paused, letting out a soft puff of air as he scanned the field's expanse. Nothing, or nothing so far. He set out across the grass, keeping relatively close to the wall, the soles of his boots crunching on the frosted grass. For the rest of the night, it was imperative to remain as alert as he could

[herr_inspektor]

He didn't think it would be for L. When you worked independently, what was the point of adhering to the usual dress codes? Particularly when, as their trip into L's own personal ivory tower had proved to him, you had all the authority you needed, ready to express at will without the need for a badge or visual aid. Everything on your own terms, as always. At least L didn't seem to be overtly troubled by the restrictions here; Lunge didn't think he could work with someone who didn't like getting their hands dirty

[quarter_english]

It was a good solution to the problem of encumbrance.

L frowned, glancing back across the field and scanning the lines of the building. Everything seemed to be clear, for the time being, but his sense of foreboding made it hard to trust. That was a paradoxical problem, which their current situation threw into high relief: sometimes quiet meant that there was nothing worth noticing, but at other times, it only meant a lull. They couldn't afford to drop their guard. Howell had given them a warning, the night before, but few of the Institute's other guardians would take the trouble.

When L was satisfied that anything unpleasant in the immediate vicinity would have to move with lightning speed to reach them, and satisfied that no noise was coming from the other side of the wall, he handed the brush axe up to Lunge by the guard on its blade, and began to climb the vines himself.

[To here.]

[composers_proxy]

[from here]

Things were good and empty by the time they reached the field. Not even any other patients were running around. Either they'd gotten here early enough that no one else was really out yet, or they'd all come and gone. He wasn't sure which he'd prefer.

There wasn't a huge mess or blown up walls or blood everywhere, so he could at least assume that if people had tried to get through, it hadn't been all that difficult. Unless of course they were the first ones... in which case they might just be screwed.

"Just up and over the far wall, right?"

[scintillatingly]

Sora also couldn't help but notice how quiet everything was by the time that they made it out onto the field. Tilting his head, he used his flashlight to observe as much of the area as he could, but hardly a blade of grass seemed out of place. That wasn't normal for this part of the institute, but he wondered if it was smart to question it.

Maybe they had just gotten lucky. It was rare, but it did happen from time to time. The brainwashed patients weren't out tonight, so that likely meant that less areas were guarded.

When Neku spoke up and cut into his train of thought, Sora straightened and glanced over at the other boy. Neku had said he was fine, but Sora hoped that wasn't just talk. He didn't want to be responsible for his friend getting into some kind of worse trouble...

This was the problem with being a leader type.

"Yeah, that's right," he replied with a small smile. "Let's try and make it quick." With a nod back to Kairi, he started to lead them across the soccer field.

[kingdomless]

Kairi nodded to Neku as well, smiling. "We could also climb the Shed, too ... Sora and I did that once. Remember?" she turned to her friend with the same bright smile she had shown Neku. "It worked pretty well."

But over the wall was easiest, she supposed. After all, it was just a hop, skip, jump.

Kairi followed Sora after one last glance around the empty field, her heart thudding in her chest. Shhh, none of that! she told herself, lifting a hand to press against her chest as if she was trying to silence her heart with her palm. It's just a fluke. Nothing to be alarmed with.

However, she still remembered that strange wind ...

Trying to lighten the mood, Kairi spoke up, her voice a soft whisper. "Where do you think everyone else is tonight?"

[composers_proxy]

Still nothing. Neku wasn't about to start complaining about it either. He followed Sora, nodding quietly as he kept pace, his flashlight bouncing along, creating shadows, but luckily, none that crept about or moved like they weren't supposed to.

It was easy to hear Kairi when she spoke, after all, they were the only ones out and the silence was getting a little overbearing. Even her whisper carried without trouble. Her question though, that was a bit more difficult. Hard to say why things would be so empty. But Kairi's question was probably meant to make them lighten up, not think about all the dismal things that could be happening.

"Out exploring maybe, or ahead of us," he shrugged, "hope we're not too far behind."

[tender_cruelty]

[From here]

For once, the Rec field seemed mostly devoid of people, and definitely devoid of monsters. It seemed positively deserted, like people had decided it wasn't worth it trying to leave the compound. It didn't set Allelujah at ease any. Not at all. It left him more wary in fact, because things could always get worse, rarely did they get better.

He pressed back against the wall next to the door, and turned to look at Fai as he emerged. "We could make a dash for it," he said with grim humour.

[cryingweapon]

[from here]

A few moments later after the two were outside, the door spat out another patient. When Chise entered the main hallway, she immediately spotted Fai leaving the building and ran to catch up. Earlier on that day she mentioned on the bulletin board that she wanted to speak with him as soon as possible, and now she had her chance. Although, she didn't expect to see an unknown person traveling with Fai.

"H-hello Fai, I hope I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

[madeinthehrl]

[from here]

Soma paused for a moment as she stepped outside. It was unusually quiet; there were almost no patients crossing it at the moment, and there was certainly no sign of a guard.

She didn't like it.

"What do you think?" she murmured, scanning the field. "Should we make a run for it?"

[spandexorgtfo]

"Ah. That is strange." Through her explanation, he could see what she meant by things not adding up in the details, although there were still many things that, if they were instead seated in the Sun Room during the day, he would ask about.

When they finally arrived outside, Kratos did his own quick sweep, and was equally unsettled by the eerie quietness. "I don't care for this silence." He looked at Soma and nodded. "Let's."

[madeinthehrl]

"Right." Soma shifted into a smooth jog as she set out across the field, keeping her eyes and ears open for the slightest unusual noise. Not that "unusual" meant much in a place like this, but the area was as open as it would get within the confines of the Institute, and any Special Counseling patient assigned to the field would likely have the liberty of requesting weapons that would do more damage over a wider range. You couldn't fit a mobile suit in the Sun Room, but this area--this was another matter entirely.

She increased speed as she passed the halfway mark, trusting Kratos would be able to keep up; he didn't seem like a lightweight to her, and it wasn't as if her pace was anything close to what it would have been at home. The last thing she wanted to do was to be caught unawares in such an open space.

[spandexorgtfo]

Kratos sped up appropriately in suit, although he remained a step or so behind, continually seeking any sign of danger. Oddly, nothing was emerging, and as they drew closer and closer to the wall on the opposite side of the field, he could see another group (and a familiar spiky head of hair) already making its way over.

For a second, his chest tightened as he realized that both Arts and Crafts groups were heading in the same direction - but then, he rationalized, the area north of the Institute had to be large; having two groups cover it would not possibly be that bad.