NIGHT 54: Forest

[sanguinario]

[From here.]Edward knew exactly where they were going, exactly how they were going there, and how it would end when they finally did. It helped that he wasn't slamming his foot down on the gas pedal of an Aston Martin before collapsing into the forest, but even standing still wasn't enough to prepare him for a new wave of the nausea he had

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[full_score]

He'd initially wondered if anyone would object to his climbing, but the fact remained that guessing which way to go was basically a coin flip at this point. It didn't hurt to take a moment to get their bearings, right? They might wind up saving themselves some trouble, and so far no crazy mountain lions or anything had attacked them, so maybe they'd be okay. Claude would just do his best to keep an eye out and trust his friends to watch out for him. Hopefully there wouldn't be any need for them to step in, though.

"Don't worry," he assured them all with a small smile and a nod. "I'll be careful. Thanks for keeping a look-out."

After turning toward a tree that looked like it was decently tall, Claude took a moment to set his sword down against its trunk. Carrying something like that up there with him would prove too difficult, if not outright dangerous. Instead, he kept his flashlight on him, as well as the phase gun tucked inside his jacket. Once that was done, he positioned himself beneath one of the branches hanging closest to the ground, and, after grabbing onto it with a gloved hand, he began to slowly haul himself further up its side.

((To here.))

[razing_phoenix]

It looked like they would be set, with Claude climbing up, Tear and Anise keeping a lookout on the ground, and Guy making sure that Claude didn't lose his balance. He had to admit they were a good team, and that was even with Anise's memory gone. He knew that she was perfectly competent even without any Landel's knowledge, but it was still impressive that she had been taking it all in stride and adapting so well despite being thrown in head first.

Either way, Guy was intent on fulfilling his part of this process, and so he continued to point his flashlight up at Claude's ascending form to make sure that it looked like he was scaling the tree without any trouble. Luckily, he seemed to know what he was doing.

As tempting as it was to call up to Claude and ask what it was that he could see so far, Guy knew that would be a poor decision. He'd have to yell pretty loudly to actually make sure that his friend could hear, which would attract unwanted attention. He was sure that Claude would give them a full report when he came back down, after all.

[melodists]

With Claude's assurance, Tear left him to climb the tree and went off several feet in the opposite direction of Anise. She stayed within eyesight of the group; in the event of an emergency, there shouldn't be a delay in providing assistance. For a split second, she considered singing the second Fonic Hymn--it was potent enough to maintain temporary protection until Claude was finished with his task. Added insurance, more or less. The thought, however, led to a dead end. She couldn't risk another first-time attempt out in the open like this.

Therefore, she abandoned the idea and focused on possible intruders or cries for help. Once in a while, the soldier glanced back to the group. Anise was doing her best despite the initial setback while Guy was watching Claude ascend. As long as this continued, they may be on their way within minutes and without any distruptions.

[gald_digger]

With her back to the group, Anise kept an eye on the area in front of her, watching the foliage for any signs of suspicious movement.

There was nothing noteworthy that she could see, and the only noise she could hear other than the wind was the sound of branches shaking as Claude climbed the tree behind her. That was a relief. Even though Anise readily volunteered to keep watch, she wasn't entirely sure what she'd do if a monster really did come after her. Tear said their artes were weakened, so Anise didn't know how well she could actually defend herself.

If they were lucky, though, maybe things would just stay this quiet until they reached the town.

[full_score]

((From here.))

The flash from his phase gun combined with the fact a strangely-shaped monster just fell from the tree were probably clear indicators that something had happened up in those branches, but Claude didn't feel the need to launch into an explanation. Instead, he dropped into the grass from several branches up, eyes scanning the ground for where the creature had fallen. He was only vaguely aware of the warm blood pouring from the wound in his arm. Compared to everything else, it was only an afterthought.

That should have been his first clue that something strange had happened to him, but right then Claude just wanted to make certain no one else's arm was going to get chewed up. He wasn't hurting, and no vital arteries had been cut, so he could afford to focus on other things.

"Is everyone okay?" he quickly asked as his light swept around the tree trunk. "Did you see where that thing went?" Claude held his gun tightly in his other hand, ready to fire it again if necessary.

[razing_phoenix]

Even with all of them splitting their attention, Guy still wasn't able to do much when he realized that something was wrong up in the tree Claude had climbed. His first clue was a sudden shriek that clearly wasn't human, but even as he tried to use his own flashlight to figure out what was going on, a much brighter flash came from further up, and then he suddenly heard something crash into some nearby bushes.

It was hard to process what had happened when he only had some of the details, and yet Guy got the feeling that whatever had just fallen wasn't something he wanted to get close to, necessarily. He was quickly distracted by the sound of Claude descending the tree, and then stared at him with widened eyes once he reached the ground.

He was first drawn to the nasty wound on his friend's arm. "What happened? Something attacked? I think it fell into the bushes over there," he said, pointing with his sword arm instead of using his flashlight. "Let's make sure it's dead and then deal with that wound," he announced, doing everything he could to keep calm.

Sword held in front of him, Guy started to move toward the spot where he'd heard the monster fall, figuring that it was either wounded or dead -- and yet ready for an attack nonetheless.

[melodists]

Tear did not miss the sound, especially the unearthly shriek from above. Especially something falling and landing into the greenery. Wasting no time, she flew toward the tree Claude had climbed, to find the young man holding a gun and smelling of blood. Her eyes instantly narrowed in focus. A skirmish had obviously occurred.

As Guy moved toward the crash, Tear indicated for Anise to help the man (if she hadn't already). Claude didn't seem to be in pain, but as she was the medic of the group, she had to ensure the injury was not severe and if possible, treat it. It didn't matter if she was lacking in resources or abilities; it was her duty.

"Let me see your arm," she said to Claude.

[gald_digger]

So much for being lucky. A sudden screech drew Anise's attention back to where Claude was, and the sight of a flash of light and something falling from the tree sent her running over. For a moment, she'd feared that it was Claude who fell from the tree like that, but moments later she saw the man drop safely to the ground.

... Or as safe as a guy who was bleeding profusely could be, anyway. Anise's eyes widened at the wound on the man's arm, but she quickly caught Tear's gesture and gave her a sharp nod, fully agreeing with the unspoken plan. "Me and Guy'll take care of it!" And Tear could take care of Claude.

Anise's body moved almost automatically as she turned and ran after Guy, waving her light with one hand and readying her weapon with the other. She stopped about an arm's length away from her friend, and immediately set about helping to illuminate the area that he was watching, hoping to reveal the monster. Whatever kind of monster it was, two of them were enough to take care of it, weren't they? The thing had just taken a nasty fall, too. They probably just had to deal the finishing blow.

[full_score]

As much as Claude probably should have put his phase gun away, he didn't want to not have it handy in case something else suddenly attacked. Guy and Anise were apparently quick to see whether that monster still posed a danger, and he instinctively moved after them. Tear's voice stopped him in his tracks, though, and he looked over at the young woman with a surprised expression.

"My arm? But it's--" Claude glanced down at it, though his voice died in his throat the moment he saw the warm, sticky blood covering his arm. That creature had really done a number on him, if the hole it'd chewed was anything to go by. But despite how nasty it appeared, Claude's expression only grew a little unsettled, as if he were looking in on this from the outside -- a mere spectator to his own injury. The feeling was surreal, to say the least.

"It's not as bad as it looks," he assured her. "I mean, it doesn't hurt at all. Really!" Claude moved his arm up and down as if to demonstrate his point, but he mostly succeeded in dripping blood onto the ground. Upon seeing that, he had to concede that he couldn't just run around as he was. "I, uh...I guess it wouldn't hurt to stop the bleeding, though."

[razing_phoenix]

Even as Guy heard the worrying conversation going on behind him (if Claude couldn't even feel an injury of that severity, then what exactly was going on with him?), he stayed mainly focused on the task at hand. Having Anise at his side was both comforting and worrying. He realized that she had that tenderizer and he didn't really need to start fussing over her, but her lack of memories made him even more protective than usual.

However, when Anise's flashlight beam scanned over something that was definitely not part of the brush, Guy reacted immediately. He barely even thought about what the thing looked like, instead just lurching forward and aiming the tip of his blade at where he expected its throat had to be.

A gargled noise came from the creature and he watched it struggle briefly before going still. Letting out a sigh of relief, Guy took a step or two back and jerked his sword out of the corpse's neck. Finally, he'd been able to put his new weapon to use.

He glanced from Anise back to Tear, a relieved smile on his face. "Looks like it's taken care of. Claude? Are you all right?" Though Tear was the one that he was mainly expecting an answer from in this case, seeing how she was the medic.

[melodists]

Claude might have had the best intentions in mind. Brushing aside an injury was usually an attempt to lessen worries; Tear had done so many times to know. The teenager, however, would not accept the behavior when the person in question was bleeding all over the place, especially if they claimed no pain. That was ultimately worse!

Her lips thinned into a line. "That's hardly a good sign," she told Claude in a stern voice. Acquaintance and friend he may be, but he wasn't about to get away from the truth. "Hold still." Tear glanced over the wound quickly, assessing the minute actions needed to stop the bleeding. Her eyes then darted about her person in hopes of finding something to press against the wound. Nothing. At least nothing easily accessible.

In desperation, she picked at the seams of one of her shirt sleeves with her nails. Guy's voice barely registered in her mind, but fortunately, Tear was quick to answer. It was rather rude, but Claude could always give his own input to his condition afterward. Besides, he would likely downplay the nature of the injury. "He's bleeding," she said. "It isn't bad, but it needs to be stopped before we can move on." With an unnatural force, she pulled at the sleeve, ripping it cleanly from its place.

Satisfied, Tear approached Claude with an intent to elevate the injured limb and apply the necessary pressure.

[gald_digger]

Anise averted her eyes when Guy dealt the killing blow to the creature, though only for a moment. It was gross to watch, but she had been in enough battles to be used to those kinds of sights. She looked up to Guy and matched his smile when it seemed to be over, but her gaze soon wandered back to the monster's body.

Cautiously, she inched forward and nudged the corpse with the tip of the meat tenderizer, looking over the monster's features. This was the first non-human living thing she'd encountered since being told she was on another planet, so... was this what aliens looked like? It looked really weird, like its body parts didn't fit together right. Anise wondered if there were more things like it wandering around in the forest.

She had a feeling her friends would worry if she spent too much time crouched over by the monster, so as soon as she felt that she'd taken a good enough look, Anise turned and bounded back over to where Tear and Claude were.

Claude had said that his arm didn't hurt, but looking at the damage, there was no way that was true. "Boooo. Don't try to act tough if you really need help," she chided him with a pout. It was pretty impressive that he could pretend to shrug off such a painful-looking injury, but if he ended up passing out from blood loss, they were all going to be in trouble. Luckily, Tear was already on top of it, and it looked like Claude was going to let her do her thing, so Anise was content to stand by and wait for him to get patched up.

[full_score]

Though he honestly thought it could wait until they found what they were looking for, Tear's tone was firm. Claude didn't think he had it in him to argue -- they'd just waste more time that way, right? Besides, with how she'd gotten down to business with that sleeve, it was obvious that she'd just steamroll right over any of his protests. Anise's accusation didn't go unnoticed, though, and he sharply turned to look in her direction. "I-I'm not trying to act tough!" he spoke up, confused at how convinced she sounded. "I'm being serious. It doesn't hurt at all. Are we sure it's even really bleeding, and we're not just seeing things because of the institute?"

It wouldn't have been the first time this place had started playing tricks on their eyes, after all. Making patients believe their allies were injured sounded like something their captors could do just to throw them off. Then again, now that the military was in charge, would they waste time on something like that? Unless they were still trying to study their behavior, but who knew when they'd just gained control of the place?

Before he could add anymore, though, a wave of dizziness washed over him. Claude rapidly blinked at some of the stars that spotted his vision for a moment, and he leaned back against the side of the tree without entirely realizing it. Now that the adrenaline from his earlier encounter was wearing off, the exertion of climbing up the tree and getting worked up over the monster was starting to catch up to him. He still hadn't fully recovered his stamina since that damn experiment, though this was the first time it'd gotten to him like this.

Maybe it would be better to just stay quiet and let Tear get a better look at his arm after all. That was why he didn't pull away or do anything to make her job harder. If it wasn't anything serious, then they could be along their way in no time. With the monster out of the way, he just had to hope they wouldn't run into more trouble again anytime soon.

"Sorry about all this," he added to Tear with a sigh.

[razing_phoenix]

As far as Anise knew, this monster here was the first one at Landel's that she'd encountered, so her curiosity was understandable. Guy, on the other hand, wasn't so much interested in what it looked like as what it had done to his friend, and so he quickly moved away from the dead creature over to Claude and Tear.

Even though his friend kept insisting that there was no pain, another scan with his flashlight made it very clear that Claude had a nasty wound on his arm. Tear was already on it, causing Guy to raise an eyebrow when she ripped the sleeve clean from her shirt like it was nothing. Granted, he'd done the same in the past, and it was more or less what he expected from the fonist.

When Claude brought up the possibility of it being a hallucination, Guy took it into consideration and then quickly shook his head. "Even if it is just some sort of illusion, we can't take that risk." He was sure that Anise and Tear would agree with him on that. While he knew that Claude didn't like being fussed over, he wasn't protesting too much, so that was good.

Guy let out a sigh and placed a hand on his hip, turning his attention to Tear. "Do you think you can use one of your Artes?" He knew that that was easier said than done here, and Natalia had worn herself out completely when she'd healed Claude's vision before. Still, there was no harm in asking, was there?

[melodists]

Wait. He honestly couldn't feel any pain?

Tear furrowed her eyebrows in concern. The words she had spoken were the absolute truth: a lack in pain was far from a good sign, especially if pain was something he was used to and had expected. As she hastily folded her torn sleeve in halves and then in quarters, her mind ran through the possibilities on what might have occurred. It was probable the monster ate away the nerve endings, like a burn that took more than the surface skin. That, however, didn't make much sense. For one, the wound would have appeared much worse. For another, Claude would have felt the initial prickling when the monster actually dug in. It actually sounded like the injury was painless from the beginning, which in turn spoke of nothing positive.

She quickly shook her head from her thoughts and again, narrowed her eyes at his arm. "I'm certain this isn't an illusion," said Tear as she propped Claude's arm by the elbow and pressed the cloth to the wound. "If anything, your--"

Tear never finished. Her response cut short as a yell filled the chambers in her head. And suddenly, she was elsewhere: an arena with sand beneath her feet and stands overhead. Lights bright enough to practically blind. The voice that had shouted out was undoubtedly Claude's--the word he used, something unmistakable.

"Sync!"

There was a sharp rise in panic, and she (he) sprinted toward the figures in the distance. Even in this state (even in another's mind), she could recognize her destination, the person she hoped to protect. And in between shock and determination, the Melodist found herself uttering a single question.

Guy? "What are you--?"

Without prelude, her senses returned. Once again, Tear was in the forest, one hand holding up Claude's elbow and the other pressing a piece of torn cloth to his wound. The pressure she was placing on it was so great that she could see her knuckles turn white in the process. A part of her almost wanted to back away but remembered the necessity of her position. The bleeding had to stop; she couldn't move away now. Instead, she stared wide-eyed at the young man's arm, as though the soldier was seeing it in an entirely new light.

In the midst of this, she missed Claude's apology and Guy's question.

[gald_digger]

So it really was true? He wasn't just acting tough?

Anise studied Claude with a perplexed look, her brow furrowed in confusion and the struggle to believe what he was saying. There was no way that didn't hurt. If he was telling the truth, then something was really wrong.

When he suddenly looked disoriented and backed into the tree, Anise's eyes widened, and she took a step closer out of concern. After all the time she spent looking after Ion, she was pretty quick to catch the signs of a person in danger of fainting. She shot Tear an alarmed look, but her friend was already on it, moving to stop the bleeding.

But then something weird happened.

Tear stopped speaking mid-sentence, and she didn't respond to anything the others were saying. She just sort of froze where she stood, moving only to voice a question that didn't make much sense. To Anise, it was really worrying.

"Tear?" Anise moved over to Claude's side, where she could get a better look at the older girl's face. "What's wrong?"