Night 47: North of the Institute

[hat_einen_vogel]

[From here]It hadn't been the most graceful landing, but at least Prussia had landed on his feet without injury; a twisted ankle right now would not have been the best thing for his escape

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[quarter_english]

[From here.]

L clambered over the top of the wall, lowered himself carefully, and landed with bent knees.

All in all, it was a softer landing than Daniel Laurier's had been; the ground crunched under his feet as he hit it, but there was a blessed lack of pain, and no other noise. He retrieved his flashlight from his pocket and switched it on.

The night was cold and dark around them. The open terrain to their north seemed expansive, lonely, almost foreboding. He shivered, put his free hand into his coat pocket, and jerked his head to the east.

"Let's keep moving." Even a voice as soft as his disrupted the silence of their surroundings.

[its_the_mileage]

Aside from the mild irritation of the radio thumping at his side, Indy's ascent went smoothly. At the top of the wall he glanced around to see how the other two were doing: well enough, it looked like. The ground on the other side was level and obstacle-free--how convenient, Indy thought, a regular welcome mat--and he dropped neatly down onto it, then got out of the way to make room for the others

[herr_inspektor]

Lunge reached the top of the wall and swung himself over- first one leg, then the other- with a soft grunt of effort, dropping down onto the damp, cold grass on both feet. Jones wasn't far away, fixing the radio he'd clipped to the dog leash he inexplicably was carrying with him but definitely in one piece (even if Lunge did find himself wondering just how the hat had managed to stay so neatly on the man's head), and he could already see L's feet dangling over the top of the wall

[quarter_english]

As they walked along the wall behind the greenhouse, L found himself feeling envious of Jones's gardening gloves. It was unfortunate that he hadn't been able to steal any gloves for himself earlier in the day; the chill was pervasive; it seeped through his clothing, particularly his Institute-issue sweatpants. While there was a balance between wearing enough clothing to stay warm and wearing so much clothing that it encumbered his movements and endangered him, he determined that he would don an extra pair of sweatpants for any future nighttime jaunts

[hat_einen_vogel]

He had only gone several meters along the wall when Prussia heard sounds coming from behind him, from the same wall he'd climbed over. He switched off his light immediately at the sounds, glancing back. Guards, maybe? Had his captors already discovered him missing

[hat_einen_vogel]

[Hopping down to this thread]

[7_to_midnight]

[ From here. ]

Sylar let out a breath of relief and looked back to the wall as he dusted off his knees.

"Can you get over on your own?" he called back, making sure his voice carried his utmost concern. Inwardly, he wondered if he shouldn't just make a run for it and ditch the moron.

[scarletspeedstr]

"So now that part's done, where do you think we should go?" Wally asked, still panting a little from the run, but recovering, like always, much faster than anyone else would. "I mean, I've never been out here before, so there could be anything this way."

[7_to_midnight]

Sylar's idea to test Wally's current power had apparently been a wise one: just after Wally's halfhearted confirmation, Sylar heard something like a crack of electricity, and within seconds, saw Wally clinging to the top of the wall.

Huh. It was a shame that Sylar had missed seeing what the hell the guy's power was about, but that didn't stop him from smiling up at Wally as he came over the wall and dropped down to his feet. Sylar moved to clap a supportive hand on his "friends'" shoulder and smile down at him, though his eyes were truly focused on his surroundings rather than his company. He'd been on the bus to Doyleton a couple of times now, but he'd never gotten a view of the Institute's surroundings on foot; although dark, the light of the moon gave enough illumination that he could tell the terrain was uneven, varied, and full of foliage and trees just a ways from the Institute.

Lots of things to explore. Maybe nothing useful would come of it, but at least it was something new"Not sure," Sylar replied to Wally, patting his

[scarletspeedstr]

[aslgjahoaslgh FAIL WILL STOP NOW, I PROMISE.]Wally grinned back, a flicker of a smile before he was also scanning the Institute's surrounds. The uneven footing could end up being a problem if he had to make a run for it for any reason. Turning an ankle at high speed not only hurt a lot, but could result in him losing his footing and crashing into something else. Or worse outcomes if he had to carry Zack for any reason while he was running. Plus he wasn't sure how well the Institute's footwear would hold up to superspeed. Probably not very; at least the boots in his costume had been specially made for that kind of thing

[hajike_tobiume]

[from here]

Landing lightly on her feet, Momo turned toward the woods before her, hand raised to the hilt of her sword. She didn't see any creatures lurking in the darkness, but she knew there could be at any second.

"Come on down; I've got you covered," she called back up to her companions.

[gald_digger]

Once Momo announced that it was safe, Anise pushed herself off of the wall, landing somewhat less gracefully than Momo had, though still neatly enough to avoid hurting herself. She had bent her knees to absorb some of the impact, so once she was firmly on the ground, the girl stood up straight, flicked her flashlight on, then began looking around for the mallet she had tossed over. It didn't take long to find it, and within seconds she was armed once again.

Tsukasa seemed to have a tougher time climbing than the rest of them, so she guessed he might want to ease himself down a bit before jumping to the ground. Even though Anise had given him a hard time about how he might 'get in the way' before they crossed the field, this time she didn't say anything to rush him. Even if he took longer to climb down, it was better than if he hurt himself and delayed them that way.

So, even though waiting quietly wasn't Anise's strong suit, she stood with her mallet resting over her shoulder, watching the others without a word.

[cannotlogout]

If he'd thought it was bad looking up at the wall, looking down the other side was infinitely worse and the ground was uneven there, the trees growing up almost to the wall, the roots sticking out of the ground in evil looking snarls. But the other two were waiting and he suddenly wished he'd never come along because this was just so far outside his realm of experience. He'd grown up in the city after all, and he'd never spent much time in the countryside, certainly not since his mother had died. He felt sort of like a fraud.

But still, he took a breath, steeling himself as he turned, clinging to the wall as he lowered himself carefully over the side. There was a horrible moment when he thought that he was going to fall and break his ankle or something, but he caught himself and managed to reach the ground. He stood there for a moment, staring abashedly at the ground, cheeks flushed with embarrassment, feeling like the clumsiest person in existence.

[hajike_tobiume]

Though Momo had her back to the wall, keeping a vigil on their surroundings, hearing Tsukasa climb down made her mentally wince. Maybe the boy wasn't suited to this kind of thing. But, he was a healer. He should probably get used to being more in the field. Not many got a chance to sit nice and cozy and wait for the wounded to come to them.

Momo flashed Tsukasa another friendly smile once he was down. "Ready to go? It's this way," she said, making no indication that she noticed the boy's clumsiness. After all, Momo happened to know who the clumsiest person in existence is, and Tsukasa wasn't him.

[hat_einen_vogel]

[Hopping down from here]

Since the first group of men had passed, even more people had visited this side of the wall. Prussia had done his best to stay out of sight of all of them, but he'd started to relax after hearing snatches of German coming from them. If they had been English guards-or Frenchmen or Russians-they surely would have been speaking in their own languages.

But even though he wasn't as on edge, the disconnect he'd been feeling since waking kept him in the shadows: they were speaking German, but he could tell if they were German. If they weren't and they returned him to the Control Council so they could finish the job

[slipperymagic]

A moment or so later, another man joined the picture. The delay was both because Howl needed to heft himself up onto the wall after Keman was up, as well as because he felt the need to spend a few seconds arranging his leap so that he would not ruin his suit. (Or worse, embarrass himself. A suit could be easily mended, but a reputation was trickier.) He already had dirt and moss and who knows what else all over the fine cloth thanks to the wall, but there was no need to make the situation worse