[[from here]]No one had been within immediate range of the door, but Sasuke took care to keep in the shadow cast by the walls as he slipped outside
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((If I'm interrupting something you had planned, let me know and I can delete this, but I was planning on her waiting out here for the first unsuspecting person. XD))
Over the top of the wall surrounding Landels, snaky tendrils of fog began to flow into the soccer field. It sank to the ground, thickening the air and making seeing very difficult unbelievably fast, far quicker than any fog should be able to move. Soon, it was thick enough that a normal human would only be able to see a few feet in front of their face, practically blinding.
Somewhere off in the direction that Sasuke had been heading, there was a faint, soft sound--crying. It sounded like a little girl, totally despondent and left without any sort of hope in the world. She wailed and whimpered alternately, pitiful and afraid, but the fog shielded her from view. It was impossible to even make her outline out, and she really could have been anywhere from a dozen feet away to a hundred.
Sasuke was surprised to discover that he was wading through a sea of fog that hadn't been there scant moments ago. Genjutsu? He wondered, and frowned. Everyone in this place who knew what a genjutsu was had claimed a total lack of chakra, so it couldn't be.
He reached out with one hand until he found the wall, and then he heard the crying.
Oh, hell. It wasn't one of those --
No, it was a girl. Yohji had said something about this place not discriminating by age, and judging by the sound of the cry, he was right. But, fuck, they had little kids here?
Sasuke wasn't a meddler by nature, and his upbringing had taught him that kids were best off if they learned to fend for themselves. But the sound of the crying was coming from the same direction he'd been aiming for, and at this rate, he'd have to go towards her just to find his way back to the main building.
Still not ruling out genjutsu, he kept a hand on the wall and crept forward quietly.
The crying got a little louder as he moved closer, and then her form could just be made out through the fog. She was huddled on the ground close to the wall, with her face turned toward it. Her hair was matted and unkempt, and she wore a blue dress that was stained, singed and dirty. She didn't look up when Sasuke approached, in fact inching a little closer to the wall as though frightened he might hurt her.
It was a girl. A young girl, from the looks of it, and not in pristine condition, either. She was huddled into the wall and looked terrified. This place had no scruples about what they did and to whom, did it?
Sasuke sighed. Under any other circumstances, he would have just ignored her -- he'd had practice ignoring Orochimaru and Kabuto's test subjects, it involved looking in the other direction and sometimes holding his nose -- but he needed to pass her. His arm would actually go right over her head if he were to continue following the wall.
"Who are you?" He called, voice harsh because he still suspected something fishy, and because he didn't like having to deal with children.
Well, that was unexpected. Greed flashed Vincent a toothy grin as he too walked out the door and took a few steps in front of the long-haired man. He took in a deep breath of the outside air, stretching his arms over his head.
"Hahaha, now we're making progress!" The homunculus proclaimed, and though he realized that the fences here might not be so easy to scale as he would hope, this was still better than being stuck in the fucking hallway.
He threw his arms back down again, shaking them out and clenching his shielded fists in some kind of small triumph as he made his way to the opposite side of the lawn. There seemed to be some kind of tall wall, the kind meant to keep in prisoners. Kinda looked like the one around the Fifth Laboratory...
He had a feeling that if they were able to get over that, their troubles might be lessened significantly.
Schuldig raised an eyebrow, but was only too happy to let the other two men precede him outside. He was just as skeptical as Vincent was that the coast was truly clear, and he was perfectly fine with the idea of letting the other two run the risks first.
Once he sauntered out after them, and got the first breath of fresh air he'd had in awhile, he turned to survey the building they'd come out of - the other two were studying the landscape already, but Schuldig was interested in the building they'd come out of.
And the roof; he'd always had an affinity for rooftops. He couldn't see any way up to it from where he was standing, which was a shame; it was high enough that if he could get up there he'd have a hell of a view of the surrounding area.
The fog seemed to be emanating somewhere nearby, probably water, but the concrete, ivy-covered walls blocked his view of whatever was on the other side. Given the area they were in, though, his best guess was that it was still part of the compound.
They seemed to be in some kind of... field. A little uneven and rocky, but the grass was neatly trimmed and he could make out some kind of net thing in the foggy distance.
Vincent narrowed his eyes, listening for any sort of interrupt in the near-silence of the night.
It was the smell, though, rather than any sort of sound that reached the group first. A rotted, disgusting smell that was soon followed by very violent-sounding growling. It took a few moments, but soon the noises could be traced to several uncomfortably large shapes in the fog.
They were dogs -- or they had been, once. Now, though, they were somewhat doglike creatures, fur patchy and matted with something that was probably blood. Open lesions were easy to see on the creatures' bodies, open and rank. If one looked close enough, some appeared to be moving, more than likely with maggots or some other type of parasite.
None of the men got a chance to look closely for long, though, because as soon as they were visible the four creatures bolted for the group, the foremost lunging at the homunculus. Its wicked teeth were aimed for his throat.
[ from here ]As Naruto opened the door, Gaara followed him outside. It hit him with the air. The smell of soil. His irritation became too high. Abruptly, he stepped in front of him, turning to face the ninja from the leaf. There was a commotion not far off, but he ignored it. The sounds were filtered into the back of his focus; he bored his eyes into Naruto, bright hair and brighter personality
( ... )
Outside. Like an animal kept caged for too long, instinctively he wanted to bolt. Thoughts of Konoha, and would he ever see it again.
Naruto was about to take a step, but was surprised by Gaara's blocking their going forward. He raised his eyebrows at the sand ninja, who stood very plainly in front of him and-- yes, stared him down. There was a flicker of something complicated in his black-ringed eyes, but it was neither inviting nor soft.
Gaara told him to turn around, not once, but twice. He couldn't read pride as well as he could feel it, and felt instantly like a child being told to retreat-- for the repetition, for the assurance that he would receive his bat, and for being told to go back to Sasuke, who had a less than one percent chance of waiting around for them anyway. For being told every step of the way
( ... )
Gaara was not sure what he had expected. No, a lie: He had expected the blond to agree, to turn around, to go back. To listen. All previous experience had hinted, not at all subtly, that Uzumaki Naruto would do the exact opposite of any demand given. That seemed to be the case, and it proved true now
( ... )
Naruto held the stare and the glare, attempted to look twice as fierce as all that. It was only when Gaara lowered his head, just for a moment, that he felt his anger refined into something more difficult to grasp.
It couldn't be helped. Before Landel's, any interaction with the suna-nin wasn't exactly positive, nor were they on, technically, good terms. He learned only of Suna's cooperation after Sasuke's defection to Sound, but hadn't witnessed any of it. Only appreciated it after the fact.
Watching Gaara speak took the edge of his anger for some reason-- nothing he entirely understood, mind you. It was as if he was asking, but telling, but asking. Naruto's arms unfolded, if a bit reluctantly. "Hey," he started, hands fumbling onto his hips, posture indignant, but not as formally so. "Did you ever think that maybe I need your help?"
He pouted. "Sasuke's gone by now. If I go back I'll be alone."
It wasn't a way for him to be secretly brave; honestly, whatever his intital intentions had been, Naruto didn't want to turn back
( ... )
Comments 42
Over the top of the wall surrounding Landels, snaky tendrils of fog began to flow into the soccer field. It sank to the ground, thickening the air and making seeing very difficult unbelievably fast, far quicker than any fog should be able to move. Soon, it was thick enough that a normal human would only be able to see a few feet in front of their face, practically blinding.
Somewhere off in the direction that Sasuke had been heading, there was a faint, soft sound--crying. It sounded like a little girl, totally despondent and left without any sort of hope in the world. She wailed and whimpered alternately, pitiful and afraid, but the fog shielded her from view. It was impossible to even make her outline out, and she really could have been anywhere from a dozen feet away to a hundred.
Reply
He reached out with one hand until he found the wall, and then he heard the crying.
Oh, hell. It wasn't one of those --
No, it was a girl. Yohji had said something about this place not discriminating by age, and judging by the sound of the cry, he was right. But, fuck, they had little kids here?
Sasuke wasn't a meddler by nature, and his upbringing had taught him that kids were best off if they learned to fend for themselves. But the sound of the crying was coming from the same direction he'd been aiming for, and at this rate, he'd have to go towards her just to find his way back to the main building.
Still not ruling out genjutsu, he kept a hand on the wall and crept forward quietly.
Reply
Reply
Sasuke sighed. Under any other circumstances, he would have just ignored her -- he'd had practice ignoring Orochimaru and Kabuto's test subjects, it involved looking in the other direction and sometimes holding his nose -- but he needed to pass her. His arm would actually go right over her head if he were to continue following the wall.
"Who are you?" He called, voice harsh because he still suspected something fishy, and because he didn't like having to deal with children.
Reply
Well, that was unexpected. Greed flashed Vincent a toothy grin as he too walked out the door and took a few steps in front of the long-haired man. He took in a deep breath of the outside air, stretching his arms over his head.
"Hahaha, now we're making progress!" The homunculus proclaimed, and though he realized that the fences here might not be so easy to scale as he would hope, this was still better than being stuck in the fucking hallway.
He threw his arms back down again, shaking them out and clenching his shielded fists in some kind of small triumph as he made his way to the opposite side of the lawn. There seemed to be some kind of tall wall, the kind meant to keep in prisoners. Kinda looked like the one around the Fifth Laboratory...
He had a feeling that if they were able to get over that, their troubles might be lessened significantly.
Reply
Once he sauntered out after them, and got the first breath of fresh air he'd had in awhile, he turned to survey the building they'd come out of - the other two were studying the landscape already, but Schuldig was interested in the building they'd come out of.
And the roof; he'd always had an affinity for rooftops. He couldn't see any way up to it from where he was standing, which was a shame; it was high enough that if he could get up there he'd have a hell of a view of the surrounding area.
Reply
They seemed to be in some kind of... field. A little uneven and rocky, but the grass was neatly trimmed and he could make out some kind of net thing in the foggy distance.
Vincent narrowed his eyes, listening for any sort of interrupt in the near-silence of the night.
Reply
They were dogs -- or they had been, once. Now, though, they were somewhat doglike creatures, fur patchy and matted with something that was probably blood. Open lesions were easy to see on the creatures' bodies, open and rank. If one looked close enough, some appeared to be moving, more than likely with maggots or some other type of parasite.
None of the men got a chance to look closely for long, though, because as soon as they were visible the four creatures bolted for the group, the foremost lunging at the homunculus. Its wicked teeth were aimed for his throat.
Reply
Reply
Naruto was about to take a step, but was surprised by Gaara's blocking their going forward. He raised his eyebrows at the sand ninja, who stood very plainly in front of him and-- yes, stared him down. There was a flicker of something complicated in his black-ringed eyes, but it was neither inviting nor soft.
Gaara told him to turn around, not once, but twice. He couldn't read pride as well as he could feel it, and felt instantly like a child being told to retreat-- for the repetition, for the assurance that he would receive his bat, and for being told to go back to Sasuke, who had a less than one percent chance of waiting around for them anyway. For being told every step of the way ( ... )
Reply
Reply
It couldn't be helped. Before Landel's, any interaction with the suna-nin wasn't exactly positive, nor were they on, technically, good terms. He learned only of Suna's cooperation after Sasuke's defection to Sound, but hadn't witnessed any of it. Only appreciated it after the fact.
Watching Gaara speak took the edge of his anger for some reason-- nothing he entirely understood, mind you. It was as if he was asking, but telling, but asking. Naruto's arms unfolded, if a bit reluctantly. "Hey," he started, hands fumbling onto his hips, posture indignant, but not as formally so. "Did you ever think that maybe I need your help?"
He pouted. "Sasuke's gone by now. If I go back I'll be alone."
It wasn't a way for him to be secretly brave; honestly, whatever his intital intentions had been, Naruto didn't want to turn back ( ... )
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