Night 52: Rec Field

[tsunagari]

[from here]This was already further than Sai had gotten the past couple nights, which was saying something. It was getting over the wall that would be the real test, though. The actual act of scaling the brick would be simple, but the night had an odd way of ending before he'd gotten beyond that point. Hopefully the same wouldn't hold true this

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[pullstrung]

((From here.))

The first thing Woody noticed when he stepped outside was how cold it was. A weird sensation ran through his body, and he belatedly realized goosebumps were spreading down his arms. Maybe he should have grabbed a coat from the closet, but it was too late to go back.

For now he needed to figure out where to go from here. Pressing his back against the wall, Woody scanned the area. From the looks of it, he'd found some kind of sport field that was probably similar to what Andy had used when he went to soccer practice. To be honest, he'd half expected more guards, or at least some kind of watch tower.

Some activity further into the field caught his attention, though, and Woody's eyes snapped over to where he saw...a wall of dirt springing from the ground?! Taking several steps away from whatever that was about, Woody focused his attention on the wall furthest away from the action. If he could just get there without anyone noticing him, then maybeHe was just going to have to try. Steeling his resolving, he tightly

[damned_monsters]

With such a disturbance going on elsewhere on the field, one might think himself safe from the other creatures who guarded the Institute after night fell. And indeed, such was the noise and confusion that many of said creatures were nowhere to be seen, having prudently vacated the immediate vicinity. The ones who inhabited the roof, however... well, they were a little more accustomed to such things going on in the open fields at night. And when likely prey emerged into the open and was distracted by the very visible guardian, it only presented an opportunity.

Only the most observant of patients would have noticed the dark shadow overhead, the outline occasionally blotting out the stars as the aquila circled over the field, waiting for the right moment to strike. Once its target was far enough into the open, the massive avian curved about and went into a sharp dive, talons extended as it plummeted toward the man.

[pullstrung]

Just a little closer, just a little closer now-- he inwardly repeated to himself as if it were a mantra. One nice thing about having longer legs was that he moved much faster than he would have in his original body, but that was little consolation. He wouldn't have even been in this mess at all if he hadn't been dragged here in the first place.

Unfortunately, even his human legs weren't fast enough to save him from getting noticed by something unsavory. But it wasn't until Woody saw a dark shape swooping in from the sky that he realized that he'd just made a mistake -- a huge, feathered mistake that was about to tear him to pieces.

Eyes wide as saucers, he couldn't make out much beyond its large shape, and the outstretched talons that were aimed straight for him. But that was all he needed to see to make him go cold. "Ahhhh!" Woody threw his weight to the side in a desperate attempt to land in the grass and roll out of the creature's grasp for at least a couple of seconds longer.

[damned_monsters]

Even as the aquila approached the prey spotted it and flung himself out of the way. It had been so close and yet its talons closed only on empty air. It gave a shriek of anger as it pulled up out of the dive, wings beating frantically against the air to regain altitude -- but only long enough to wheel around and attempt another attack from the other direction. Such a small thing wasn't about to dissuade the aquila, not when there was easy prey for the taking.

[beyondinfinity]

[Buzz Lightyear, to the rescue from here!]

A small smile hit Buzz's face as he stepped through the door. Outside! Even better, he realized as his eyes darted cautiously up to the wall above him, he couldn't see any kind of security measures that'd hinder his progress out. So, the Head Doctor spent so much time on torturing poor girls that he didn't have time to beef up his video surveillance? Surely, it'd teach him a lesson about playing nice.

Buzz began trotting - quickly, but carefully - toward the outer wall on the far end of... wait. Was this a soccer field? Buzz stopped in his tracks for a second to fully register the fact, arching a brow as he realized how much smaller it looked than the vast expanses of grass that he remembered from Andy's soccer games. And speaking of grass... Buzz picked up one of his strange sandal-feet and staring at the dewey bits of dirt and grass blades that were clinging to his heel. It all felt so... cold. And clammy. And, Buzz thought as he put his foot back down and looked back toward the field,

[pullstrung]

Woody breathed hard as he narrowly missed the bird's sharp talons, and in the same moment he tried to regain his bearings. He'd managed to avoid one hit, but that didn't mean he was out of the woods yet. As he reached for the clothes rod he'd brought, his stomach clenched with the awful realization that he'd dropped it just now. Woody desperately felt around himself, but to no avail -- even if the thing was only two feet away, it didn't matter if he couldn't even see where it was!

Glancing up, he saw with horror that the bird was making another round. His feet kicked against the grass in a last ditch effort to push himself out of its grasp. No, no no no no no--!

And then, out of nowhere, a short, stocky figure leaped from the darkness and charged at the grotesque animal from behind. In the flurry of chaos, Woody couldn't tell whether he'd made a hit or not. But then the guy spoke, and the familiarity of his voice alone seemed to make everything around him to stand still for a second.

Woody's jaw dropped.

"Buzz!"

[damned_monsters]

The aquila's cry was more from surprise than pain; such a small missile could hardly do much to injure it, but it had been so focused on the prey that another's arrival hadn't even registered until the object struck and dislodged a handful of decaying feathers. Still, though, it was enough to make the avian once more miss its target, and this time surprise made its efforts to regain altitude somewhat more clumsy for a moment before the aquila found its balance in the air.

It was frustrated by now, and quite angry, so rather than take the time to gain enough height for a proper dive, it simply wheeled about and drove at the pair with a piercing shriek, talons and beak alike ready to strike and slash. One of them had to fall, if only it moved quickly enough. Which one hardly mattered.

[beyondinfinity]

Buzz's face exploded into a giant grin, his terrible situation all but forgotten.

"WOODY!"

He rushed forward, momentarily oblivious to the imminent danger as he bent down to grab his friend's arm and pulled him - wow. Sure was weightier than he remembered... ...but it didn't matter! Woody was alive, and even better, it probably meant everyone else was okay too!

"Come on," he said urgently, his exertion coloring the tone of his voice, "we have to-"

A deafening screech tore through the air. Buzz whipped around, eyes wide, to see the monstrous bird heading at them with all the fury and appetite of a playground pigeon.

"-DUCK!" He finished, using his grip on Woody's too-solid arm to yank him to the ground.

[pullstrung]

Before he realized it, Buzz was pulling him up from the ground, and Woody scrambled to help push the weight of his human body up to a full stand. For a split second, he tried to search his search his face for any similarities from his toy self. But between the darkness and the fact his heart was beating way too fast, it was hard to really make out any details.

Now wasn't the time to let himself get caught up with the whole human thing, though. Woody was more than ready to make a break for it, but the bird had other ideas.

Thankfully, Buzz's reflexes were fast enough for the both of them. Woody felt himself getting pulled down again with a yelp, his heart leaping into his throat at both the sudden movement and the terrifying thought of the monster tearing them to shreds.

[damned_monsters]

And again its talons closed on nothing, leaving the aquila even more frustrated than it had been before. Something clearly wasn't working about this plan of attack -- it had them all but pinned down, but couldn't get low enough to grasp them. Not with the bulk of the building too close.

This time when it pulled out of its dive it didn't immediately attack again, instead going up even higher, high enough that it was barely visible against the stars overhead, to wheel over the field and consider its next move.

[beyondinfinity]

Buzz could feel the gust of air as the beastly bird swooped down toward them, but then, just as quickly as it'd attacked, it disappeared. Buzz paused, listening for it, before he jumped to his feet, scanning the area for any sign of where it might've gone.

"It must be lying in wait," he muttered to Woody as he took a tentative step forward. He paused as he felt the sensitive sole of his slipper hit something, then pulled his foot back and saw the outline of a wooden rod lying on the ground.

He turned to Woody - or at least the figure that must've been Woody - and nodded for him to pick it up. Then, after another visual search of his surroundings, he waved his arm toward the building in a signal for Woody to follow him toward it. As much as he wanted to escape, they needed to make sure they were out of that thing's clutches - fast.

[pullstrung]

This was it, this was seriously it, he frantically thought to himself as the monster closed in on them. And then, just like that, a gust of air hit his face, and then...nothing. Confused, Woody glanced around, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Still, at this point, he didn't really care where that bird went as long as they just got the heck away from it.

He glanced down when Buzz's slipper (wow, that was still really weird to think about) hit his clothes rod. Reaching down, he snatched it up from the ground, his knuckles turning white from how tightly he was holding onto it.

Though he was hesitant about running back toward the building he'd just left, Woody nodded when his friend signaled to follow him back inside. Taking in a deep breath, he brought his body in a half crouch and darted across the grass.