Night 51: Recreational Field

[notstealing]

[From here.]

When Locke opened the door, he was greeted by a rush of fresh air-something entirely unexpected, on his part. It was too easy, wasn't it? When he looked around, all he saw was a field, a shed, and walls that blocked him from being home free. Lucky me, he thought to himself, as he looked around the surroundings. So far, he'd managed to

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[hajike_tobiume]

[from here]

Being as intimately familiar with the institute's layout as she was, Momo could practically navigate it with her eyes closed. She didn't though, leading her band of four into the rec field. She was ever alert, ever ready even with her slight vision handicap, for whatever monster Landel would place before them.

So far, it seemed like there wasn't anything in the field. Was this luck, coincidence, or just right timing? Or perhaps something was laying in wait. The shinigami decided the last option was probably the most likely.

"To the wall, quick," she said, pointing to the wall between the field and the courtyard, covering her group. "Xemnas, help Erika up please." One would think the vice captain, as short as she was, would also need help.

[per_ardua]

Raine noticed and was not happy with the brush-off, but Momo had neatly made sure she had no chance to do anything about it. Biting her tongue to keep from saying something one of them would regret, she simply obeyed orders and ran for the wall, hoping they wouldn't run into anything between here and there.

For now, she would keep quiet, do as she was told, and help the others as much as she could. But as soon as she got the chance, she was demanding answers; she did not like being kept in the dark when something obviously important was happening.

[deathrattling]

Momo was right. There was something waiting in the field -- but nothing visible presented itself to the intruding patients just yet. Except, perhaps, a flicker in the shadows: was it movement? The grass tickled by the breeze, or a stray leaf spiraling to the ground?

As Raine headed for the wall, light footsteps followed behind her, thudding quietly into the grass. If she were to turn, however, she would see nothing -- nor would any of the other patients working their way into the field. Even the grass failed to indent.

But every time she turned her back to the door, they would start again, always at the same distance behind her.

[witchdetective]

Momo didn't waste time, though Erika couldn't say she exactly disliked that. Time was precious, after all. And she seemed to already be acquainted with Xemnas, which meant less time spent on introductions. So when Momo explained the objectives, Erika made no protest and followed the woman out to the recreational field.

The recreational field brought back a sour memory though, and Erika was already cursing herself for wearing her dress yet again; although, she did notice that the rip that it suffered was somehow mended. Perhaps it wouldn't be too bad this time, but...

Having Momo instruct Xemnas to "help" her, however, dealt a blow to the detective that irritated her beyond belief. That irritation showed faintly with the flicker in her eyes and the way she looked at Xemnas, an ever so polite look that yet dared him to lay a hand on her. Not that she didn't trust the other man to do anything indecent, but she didn't need "help" either

[itneverwas]

The basement, hmm? Xemnas did not possess much information regarding this 'underground-themed puzzle', but soon he would doubtlessly be able to grasp it. Yes, tonight would be interesting. Well worth the slight delay in acquiring metal.

But the flow of time was unpredictable in this world of Landels' Institute. The Shinigami wasted little of it, which the Nobody could appreciate (in manner of speaking). He, too, voiced no protest and followed the group to the recreational field. Had it been any other man - any other existing man - in a similar position such as the Superior himself, he may have grown annoyed at another taking the lead and handing out orders. But it was understandable to feel that way; those who held their essence could not help but to cling to their foolish pride, to the arrogance that would define them. Those who still existed, retained their heart, could not escape its grasp, instead following its influence blindly until they were consumed by the heart they had so loyally followed. But a hollow shell that no

[hajike_tobiume]

"Very well then," Momo replied to Erika's retort. The girl was shorter than she was, nonathletic and was wearing an ungainly dress; how was the shinigami to know she'd be perfectly fine scaling the wall? As it was, she hoped the detective wouldn't have any trouble as she would not be pleased if Erika's pride slowed them down.

Especially now that something had taken heed of them. The sense tickling in the back of her mind - a spirit presence. This was not good. Momo didn't want to have to waste any of her reiatsu here.

"I am aware," Momo replied. "Let us make haste then." As she continued to cover their group, backing toward the wall as the rest headed toward it, the shinigami narrowed her eyes and pulled the area's spirit threads into focus. If a spirit was hiding, unless it had a special cloaking ability, she would see it. They needed to hurry.

[per_ardua]

"Got it," Raine murmured, keeping an eye out for their likely pursuer. She might not be much of a combatant, but her senses were keener than a human's and so she just might spot any enemies before the rest of the group did.

Regardless, she really hoped they would all make it over the fence before it mattered if they knew where any monsters were; climbing was hard enough without fighting something off at the same time... and she didn't relish the prospect of having to be helped, either. More than that, they only had so much time, and it would be far too easy for something to delay them so long that even if they outright won the battle, not getting anywhere near their goal would make it a hollow victory.

[deathrattling]

The footsteps followed Raine halfway across the field, long enough for each of the patients to notice their presence -- and then, as abruptly as they'd started, they stopped. The wind ruffling the turf died with it, replaced by a poignant, dull silence in which their own footfall tolled like bells with muffled clappers.

Slowly, the vines writhing over the wall furthest from them twisted: subtly enough that it might have been blamed upon the shift of a cloud over the moon, but with a threat that blazed across the field. Momo, with her delicacy of vision, would observe the tendrils of energy that had been floating across the field knotting themselves into a coherent, furious mass along the wall.

At the same time, that invisible presence made itself known again -- but this time with a death-grip on Erika's skirt, as if fingers had suddenly clawed into the fabric and she was now dragging a body with every step.

The atmosphere in the field was clear: if they didn't move quickly, there would be no escape.

... LMAO please forgive her non-reaction /sob

[witchdetective]

A sweep of the field with her flashlight revealed nothing, and since Erika had her back momentarily to the wall, she didn't see the twist of the vines. It was a shame that Momo didn't want to do something about their uninvited guest, but while Erika was aware that she was named one of the group's leaders, it was probably unwise to waste their time on this. If it were any other night, Erika would have excused herself, but tonight was special, after all

I swear Xemnas is not a pedo. Ahaha.

[itneverwas]

When time was of the essence, perhaps it was to be expected that there were those that sought to hinder them in making progress and reaching their goal. Indeed, they would need to make haste; lingering needlessly would perhaps mean none of them would be able to reach the basement at all. That would truly be a shame

[hajike_tobiume]

Whatever Erika believed to be a third-rate Japanese horror trick was far more real than the detective believed. Momo, eyes subtly flickering as she continued to quickly back toward the wall, finally spotted a concentration of spiritual energy that was out of place. The threads were dark, reminiscent of a hollows but far more malevolent and they curled up and ran along the wall they were scaling, twisting and writhing with intent to harm. Tendrils reached out toward them, thin and near undetectable, but they didn't seem to the shinigami to be attached to one specific place. It was like

[per_ardua]

Raine was climbing slowly enough that the shinigami had no trouble passing her; she was hesitant to accept a hand up from someone who likely weighed less than she did, but by the time she got into reach, she'd realized that Momo had to have a strong enough grip on the fence so that helping even Xemnas up might not overbalance her.

With that assistance, Raine was able to get the rest of the way up reasonably quickly; not wanting to take any more risks than she had to, she didn't stay put any longer than it took to turn around and start climbing down the other side--given her lack of athletic skill, there was no way she was risking a jump down that far. "How are things on this side?" she asked, just to get a head's-up. So far she'd never seen an enemy cross a territory line, but there was always a first time.

[witchdetective]

When Erika asked Xemnas for help, she was hoping the other would be able to find the source of whatever had snagged her. It seemed like he had been as unsuccessful as she was, but Erika had not been anticipating his "solution" to her problem. Her eyes widened when the man produced the knife, but not out of fear. It was purely surprise - surprise that her skirt ended up being cut againAlthough she was clearly annoyed... whatever was going on, it bothered Momo and they were wasting time. The detective grimaced and continued to make her way up, much less carefully than she was before. Her poor skirt, it was ruined yet again! If it weren't for the fact that she knew the nurses (for who else could it be?) mended her skirt last night, she would have given Xemnas some choice words

[itneverwas]

Had Erika indeed given him some choice words, Xemnas would have hardly cared. After all, a hollow man could not be expected to find the state of someone's skirt to be of any importance. If anything, it was her own lapse in judgment to wear something that would potentially hinder their progress during this mission; the solution had freed the young detective, so the Superior would hardly even have allowed her the luxury of complaining.

The Superior was the last to begin scaling the wall, but within moments he pulled himself on the top. The abomination that had sought to hinder them certainly had given up quickly. Had it found another prey, or did it lay in wait? It would be desirable not to allow it another chance.

He briefly allowed his orange eyes to wander over the silent courtyard. "Its silence is hardly a reason for reassurance," he merely commented to Raine's question. Who knew what lurked in its darkness? Doubtlessly, they would learn once they would set foot upon the grass.

Without any further delay, he jumped down.

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