Nightshift 34: Main Hallway, 1-West

[hajike_tobiume]

[from here]The shinigami padded silently down the hallway, keeping to the left-side wall and her hand upon her sword's hilt. Her eyes scanned the area surorunding her as she continued on to the next hallway, especially the nurses' stations as she neared them. This would be a horrible time for her to get attacked by a nurse or two. Thankfully,

Comments

[queencrimea]

[From here]

Yes, this was a hallway she remembered more clearly. It was around this one that she had started paying more attention to her surroundings than to what the nurse had been saying. It had looked like one of the larger halls and, if she recalled correctly, she could reach both the cafeteria and the Sun Room from here.

Now all that remained was to decide which way to go. She mentally dismissed the cafeteria and Sun Room, thinking instead on what would be in another direction. Looking for an exit was her first priority, but it was unlikely that she would find it in the building's entrance. All of the other doors she had come across had been unlocked, but would she really be lucky enough to find the entrance unlocked? Someone would have surely escaped through it already if it were. ...Right?

Or... Maybe there was an exit somewhere else. Yes, that seemed like a possibility. She would just have to decide which way to go first.

[longlivetehking]

[From here]Scar managed to reach the main hallway without any difficulties, and scanned the area for threats and patients alike. It wasn't overly crowded in here just yet, and two of them were interacting with one another. There was one person - a female - standing by herself. The woman had a rather odd mane-color (or hair, as humans called it). Green certainly wasn't a very common color for hair to have. But he was referring to a human, not a zebra

[queencrimea]

Elincia had just been in the middle of debating with herself whether going straight down the hallway or turning into the nearby one was a better idea, when she remembered the object she'd taken from the room with her. It took her a few moments to find how to make it produce light again but soon found it was actually simpler than she had first thought. She turned around to shine it behind her only to find... a man nearly in front of her.

"Oh!" she gasped as she took a step back. What? How had someone sneaked up on her like that? He had really startled her. Her heart was pounding. …It was the dark. That had to be what had her so on edge. "I... I apologize. I hadn't expected anyone to come near me. My apologies..."

Straightening into a more relaxed position, she tried to take a better look at him. He was a rather thin man, didn't really look dangerous either. In fact, he reminded her of some of the laguz in Gallia in the way he carried himself. "Ah... Good evening, sir."

[longlivetehking]

The ability to sneak around quietly and catch prey off guard was something that any predator had to know well. It was basically the point to get near someone without that person expecting it.

And if Scar had managed to do so without even trying...this woman was either new, or incredibly dumb. Any other sensible person would at least keep his or her guard up in a place like this...

Oh, it was his lucky day, wasn't it?

"Are you one of the new arrivals, then?" he asked nonchalantly, still remaining proper. And even if she wasn't, stupidity didn't equal uselessness.

[queencrimea]

The man seemed unconcerned enough. It was almost like he hadn't even noticed how he had startled her. All the better then. Elincia preferred to not dwell on things like that.

She nodded. "Yes. I just arrived today." Was it really that obvious, she wondered. Perhaps that had been one of the reasons she had been advised to not go out alone. Maybe everyone else always went out accompanied. ...No, that can't have been right. She was sure she had seen some people by themselves in some of the halls.

It was quite possible that it was simply obvious to anyone who looked. It would have been a lie to say she wasn't worried at all at the moment and it probably showed.

"I was just deciding which way to go..."

[longlivetehking]

"I see." So Scar's assumptions had been correct. Not that the King ever expected to be incorrect, but that wasn't quite the point. "And you are doing so in the middle of a hallway, where anything can jump you?" Including a person who was practically cripple (even though his walking had improved over time, it wasn't quite up to 'normal' standards just yet).

The tone of his voice was only slightly condescending, and he couldn't quite resist making that comment.

[queencrimea]

Elincia winced. He was right. She was in an unfamiliar place, weaponless and in the dark. There was no reason why she should have done that. In other circumstances, it could have meant death. She could only blame her own disorientation for it and even that, if she were to be completely honest with herself, seemed like a flimsy excuse.

"I admit that was rather foolish of me," she finally said, her voice firm. "I'm not at all familiar with what places are dangerous here yet. Still, that's no excuse." She crossed her arms. "It was a mistake."

[longlivetehking]

At least this woman didn't try to make up a long, long list of excuses as some sort of half-baked defense. But Scar realized it wasn't quite the time or place to have an extended discussion about one's faults. If he didn't want to waste yet another night in a hallway, he supposed it was time to get moving and accomplish something.

"Well, this isn't quite the location for these matters, is it?" Scar eventually said. "I am intending to explore the second floor." There were probably some uses to her, regardless if she could fight or not. And he was no position to be picky, unfortunately.

[queencrimea]

"Probably not." If it really was possible for them to be attacked, then she had no wish to remain there for long. She wanted to explore the place, not get attacked.

The second floor, he said? It was unlikely for there to be some sort of exit there. However... Just how likely was it for there to be an open exit in the first floor? Perhaps she'd be better off taking the night to really explore. "Would you... May I go with you to the second floor? I haven't been there yet."

[longlivetehking]

Well, that had been surprisingly easy.

"Very well." Scar answered with a nod. And without any further delay, he began leading the way towards the nearest staircase.

[longlivetehking]

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