Night 55: East of the Institute

Apr 17, 2011 02:36

[from here]The institute was behind them now, though it was going to be a long while before its looming silhouette would disappear from view ( Read more... )

claude, guy, anise

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razing_phoenix April 17 2011, 18:10:41 UTC
Guy made sure to walk right after Anise, a safe distance behind her and slightly to her right. So it seemed that he'd made the wrong decision by saying they should head north last night. He could have beaten himself up about it, but he really hadn't had any way of knowing, so he wasn't going to dwell on it ( ... )

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full_score April 17 2011, 23:40:51 UTC
Claude hadn't wanted to head north last night, so he was glad to see they were taking a different direction tonight. Not that he blamed anyone for the way things panned out, exactly. There was usually something to be learned from every experience, and so in that sense their trip to the forest hadn't been for nothing. Claude hadn't realized a river ran through the area, for example, and he'd gotten a good reminder to take better care of himself when going through wooded areas.

Still, Anise had a point about it being cold. He'd never seen snow fall around the Institute like this before. Upon being reminded of the temperature, Claude sucked in a breath through his chattering teeth.

"It was only a matter of time, I suppose," he said after a moment. "The leaves started turning several weeks ago." It was hard to believe they'd been here as long as they had with few leads to show for it. Claude hoped that would change in the future.

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gald_digger April 18 2011, 04:16:14 UTC
Guy's thoughts were promptly confirmed with a nod. "Yep! We can just follow the edge of the woods south until we reach the town," she explained as she walked. It seemed like the quickest and safest path.

It looked like Anise was actually kind of lucky to have the weird military uniform instead of her own uniform. A short dress wasn't exactly ideal for this kind of weather. Maybe it wasn't so weird that the weather was getting colder, but it still seemed kind of fast to Anise. Maybe it was just because Daath never got quite so cold or snowy. A whole different place could have a whole different climate, after all...

After some time, the trees scattered across the field grew more numerous, and Anise could see a large white-green mass of them up ahead. "I think I see the forest!" she announced then, though the others probably noticed already. This was good, though! They'd gotten this far without being attacked, so maybe they really were in for a productive night.

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razing_phoenix April 18 2011, 21:39:23 UTC
The fact that it was actually that easy to get to the ruins sort of bothered Guy, if only because they had struggled so much the night before, but he knew there was little point in dwelling on it. Maybe in the future he would be given some reason to explore the forest, and he'd be prepared. He just had to think about it that way. Speaking of which, Anise was right about the forest coming into view. It stood out even more than it had last night due to the trees being covered in snow ( ... )

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full_score April 19 2011, 04:38:51 UTC
Claude turned to look at the snow-covered trees when Anise drew his attention to them. That sort of imagery always reminded him of the winter holiday season, but he couldn't afford to think too hard about that right then. Those sorts of memories always gave way to aching nostalgia, and this wasn't the time or place for it.

As soon as Guy spoke up, though, his eyes darted toward the ground. "Got it." He hadn't thought about looking for tracks before now, but the other man raised a good point. It would tell them whether to expect anyone (or anything) else in the area. As far as he could tell, nothing looked amiss. But with how dark things were, it was difficult to know for sure. He was just going to have to trust his eyes, flashlight and friends.

"Hopefully things will be quieter tonight than yesterday," Claude murmured. The snow could make them stick out more to potential enemies, but it was possible the area wouldn't have much activity due to the cold weather.

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gald_digger April 20 2011, 22:55:59 UTC
When Guy brought up the tracks, Anise turned her head around to look at the ones they had been leaving. They kind of did stand out among the smooth, undisturbed blanket of snow... She just hoped the monsters weren't smart enough to track them based on that. Guy's advice was pretty solid, though, so Anise nodded before going back to facing forward. After coming so far, the last thing they wanted was to stumble across a wandering monster ( ... )

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razing_phoenix April 20 2011, 23:14:41 UTC
With both of them confirming that they understood his advice, there wasn't much more to say on the matter. Guy knew that the other two were sharp enough to notice that sort of thing now that they were aware of it, so he focused on keeping his own two eyes peeled just in case. Thus far it had been surprisingly quiet and almost calm out amongst the snow. Maybe those monsters really didn't like the cold and had all gone in search of shelter. If that was the case, then he had no problem bearing the low temperatures ( ... )

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full_score April 21 2011, 12:25:10 UTC
Though he wasn't sure what to expect, Claude was glad to hear they were almost there. From what he could see, at least, it was definitely starting to look like they were approaching something. The lack of trees stood out more than anything, of course, but that meant they'd likely find their ruins somewhere around here. The sooner, the better, honestly. While their trip had been pretty uneventful so far, Claude wasn't so sure how long they could push their luck.

There was no reason to waste time. Claude glanced at his companions before focusing on the path ahead of them.

"Come on," he encouraged them. "Let's check this place out." As he trudged through the snow, he tried his best not to think of the sturdy leather jacket he'd left behind in his room.

((To here.))

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