Nightshift 41: Cafeteria

[giftofstars]

[from here]

Upon entering the cafeteria, Sakura fell prey to a cool chill. Unlike the Sun Room, the cafeteria seemed eerily dark, almost as if something would lurch out and attack from an unlit corner. The group made their way to the other end of the cafeteria to a locked door, and Sakura gave a tug on the door with one hand. "It won't open..."

Comments

[tsunagari]

[from here]

Pressing himself against the wall, Sai did his best to pick out what was taking place in the darkened room. The cafeteria was larger than the kitchen, thankfully. It would be worse for them if they were caught there. With this much space they might be able to navigate around the current scuffle.

Sai had shut was little emotions were starting to bud up completely down for the night - the good and the bad. Leaving the other group to their own devices would simply help them advance further in their own mission. He had a couple pieces of notebook paper and his ink and brush if they needed a distraction. Nodding back to the others, he motioned toward the clearer side of the cafeteria and kept moving.

[toobothersome]

Shikamaru froze as soon as the group had passed through the doors, then he hissed a quick and quiet "stop" to halt the other three as well. What he saw at the other end of the room wasn't the usual monster confrontation, not from what he could tell, and though his first instinct told him it was a brainwashed patient, a second of silent and intense focus pulled up the details on this creature from the bulletin he'd memorized earlier. The ticking. Several warnings, all severe, but as much as he wanted to keep the group safe, he couldn't advise retreat--Kakashi would see through that and overrule, leaving them divided even more vulnerable. And since the creature and its victims were blocking the opposite door, there was no way they'd get by without a confrontation

[alwayscomesback]

These guys moved fast! Too fast for Sokka to really respond to everything with more than a, "S-sure...?" as though he both understood and yet didn't.

But who would have understood everything being thrown in his face so fast?! He'd never gone beyond that hallway back there, and now he'd just been drug through a room with a giant scorpion, some giant laying on the floor and things falling from the air! And now there was this ticking and... "Did you just say bleeds sand?!" he squeaked, somehow observing the hushed tones of the group despite his surprise

[lostonlifesroad]

Unlike Sai, Kakashi couldn't simply walk away from the scene in the cafeteria this time. The people involved in this new fight were obviously trying, and obviously failing to protect themselves from the attacker. Even though Kakashi didn't know them, he wasn't the sort of person who could simply abandon even strangers in situations like this. Besides, this way their group had the advantage of making the first move; Shikamaru had already come up with a plan that best utilized that. And against someone who was apparently so difficult to defeat, Kakashi would much rather have as many circumstances falling in their favor as he could get

[toobothersome]

Kakashi had been smart to try to draw the creature away from the other party, though Shikamaru's interest in its position was far less altruistic than the jounin's. Hopefully, with its attention on the three of them, the other group would break down the door and leave his own team a simple escape route if things didn't go the way he hoped. The fact that the being didn't move forward was troublesome, though, and the laughter bothered him on a far deeper level than it should have. With some effort he kept his thoughts in the present

[alwayscomesback]

All right, so Sokka had decidedly not been trained like the Fire Nation Ninja had, but he still had training. Not much since his dad and the others warriors in the village had left, but enough. And his last year had been more than enough experience on the field for one lifetime. Plus he had the training from Master Piandao so he should be ready for anything this weird place would throw his way

[toobothersome]

"Wait," Shikamaru whispered to Sokka, before he could move too far away. The creature's position had changed, and until it was out in the open, there wouldn't be room to move around it without getting in Sai or Kakashi's way

[alwayscomesback]

Sokka was glad he had waited since Shika didn't want him heading in yet. He would have, but hey, Sokka wouldn't complain over a bit more time to get ready for this.

"Right," he nodded, the asked the question that was bothering him the most, "Soooo, how the heck are you going to do that, exactly? Getting him to drop the swords, I mean?" He had heard Sokka say something about binding the thing, but he'd already admitted to not being a bender, so didn't he have to get closer to do something like bind it? Or at least have some kind of rope to do the binding with.

[toobothersome]

Hadn't he explained this? Well, that made Sokka's concern a lot more legitimate. Shikamaru remembered that he hadn't given many details about his own ability, aside from pointing out multiple times that it didn't use fire.

"I can control shadows," he said. "Once I connect ours, he can't move on his own. He'll have to do everything I do. I'll just open my hands." He couldn't remember the last time he'd had to explain his family's jutsu. "There's other stuff, but that's the only thing I can do here." He hadn't tested the more complicated aspects of shadow control, but based on how much chakra he'd lost in the second he'd held Sakura, lifting shadows into tendrils was an impossibility. He conveniently neglected to mention that he had no idea how long he'd be able to bind this creature. There was no reason for Sokka to know that.

The monster by the doorway still hadn't moved forward, but he forced himself to remain cool and centered while he waited for an action.

[alwayscomesback]

"Oh, right! That jutsu thing..." Sokka has heard him talking about that before, though he had really only been focusing on the fact that Shika wouldn't be barbecuing him because he couldn't. "So you're like... a shadow bender then!" No one could really bend shadows where he came from, but it was pretty neat to think about. Neater still since he knew now that he wouldn't get impaled by a sword.

[toobothersome]

That was one way to describe it, Shikamaru supposed, and he expressed agreement with a slight nod. Describing the others' abilities would have been too much of a hassle. From what he could tell about Sokka's personality, it would only lead to more questions, and they didn't have time for that. Besides, Sai was using ninjutsu already. He'd learn soon enough on his own