Night 47: Main Hallway, 2-Center

[donetakinorders]

[from here]It was times like this he had to wonder if he was the only damn person in this place who still cared about finding the fastest way home possible. Which probably wasn't true, but hell. Seeing as the only people he'd worked with so far had 'stealing books' as a goal or were setting up training nights, it was no damn wonder he was feeling

Comments

[scarefaux]

[From here.]

Speaking of the Horrible Hallway, it seemed strangely devoid of witches and somethings- or it did until the pair reached the center of the hallway. The Scarecrow had thought briefly that maybe he'd just been unlucky until this point, and that the hallway was no more horrible than the rest of the institution. The closer they got to the area above the Sun Room, the more apparent it became that this night would be no less dangerous than the others.

The Scarecrow stopped as he heard the sounds of clanging metal- that was certainly a sound he'd not expected to hear when roaming the halls. Ahead, flashlights were moving wildly, glints flashing in the dark during a scuffle. "Look there!" he whispered loudly to Abe as he pointed a finger in the direction of the action.

He wasn't sure what to make of the situation. Whatever was out there- the Mangled Witch or somethings or perhaps worse, whatever worse could possibly be- would probably see them trying to sneak around, even if it was distracted with other patients. At the same time, that altruistic part of him didn't want to leave those being attacked to fight it alone- unless they were handling it well enough alone, in which case he didn't want to get in the way. Not being the fighting sort was a tricky balance that-

He was over-thinking again. Now wasn't the time for that! He shook his head before asking, "What should we do?"

[bprd_fishman]

Good. Lord.

Abe's hand flew up to cover his mouth even as he squinted to see the tormented mass more clearly. It wasn't another Persona, but it wasn't anything else Abe had ever had the misfortune to lay eyes upon. It looked as if there was an actual person inside the mass of shadow and blades, but they would be past the point of rescue by now. Abe had seen too many corpses to feel any but the smallest of regret at their torment.

The others, though...Abe wavered, quietly thumbing off his flashlight. His training said to stay and protect humans from that which they could not comprehend, to beat back the darkness whenever it sprang up. But his duty was to the Scarecrow and to discovery of a way to kill this place and he couldn't protect all three of them at once.

Abe crept closer, back against the wall and pausing at the corner of the hallway. "How fast you can you run?" he whispered back to Scarecrow, nervous eyes focused on the monstrosity. "We can get by while they distract it." And beyond it would be a matched pair of doors, he was sure of it. There would be symmetry.

[scarefaux]

While he wasn't exactly sure what was happening in the center of the hall, the Scarecrow figured Abe was the professional at this sort of thing- he had said that, right?- and that going with his instinct was probably safer than going with his own. Broken brains were sure not to work well, and he'd promised himself he'd not make any rash decisions for the night.

"Oh trust me, I'm quick on my feet," he answered with a nod, his grip tightening on his flashlight. If they were going to make a break for it, he was going to be sure to not lose his light. He had dropped it plenty of times without running as it was, not to mention trying to use it as a weapon against the Mangled Witch. It wasn't effective on her, and it was likely it would be just as lame against whatever monstrosity was in the darkness ahead. "If you think we should high-tail it out of here, I'll be right behind ya."

[bprd_fishman]

"Not out of here." Abe pointed one thin finger down the wall leading to the other side of the Sun Room balcony. "Down there. There's a door at the other end, it should offer us protection." He didn't mention that its existence was mere speculation and that Abe couldn't actually see that far ahead. No need to worry the poor man.

"Just stay behind me and keep running. I'll protect you," he said firmly, turning back so he could put a comforting hand on the Scarecrow's shoulder. He wasn't given to great range of facial expression, but he tried to look as sincere as possible.

[scarefaux]

[Hope this is okay for getting them down the hallway!]

With one more affirming nod to Abe, the Scarecrow readied himself to run as fast as his feet would carry him. He felt his body tense- well, it was about time his feeling came back- as he took one more look behind them, making sure nothing was ready to spring from behind as they started their sprint.

Another breath, and they were off, tearing down the hall as though a witch was giving chase- for all the Scarecrow knew, that might not have been a far stretch of the imagination. As he scampered past the railing overlooking the Sun Room, a light from the other patients revealed something caught that his attention- it was only for a brief moment before it was obscured again in darkness.

Don't look! his voice rang through his head. He didn't need to know what it was, didn't have time to stop and think about it. All that mattered was the door on the other side of the hall and them getting through it.

[To here.]