70. [DREAM/DREAM/DREAM/DREAM]

[foolishwren]

[So while the rest of Johto alternately panics, cries, or rushes around trying to capture as many of the soulstealing insects as possible, there are dozens of souls floating around in that dream limbo, drifting in and out of each other's slumbering thoughts and visions. Whether it's nightmarish flashbacks or just those dreams where you're at school

Comments

I should not be this excited. Probably. Maybe. But I am anyway.

[usedtherapy]

[[Her eyes only take a moment to skim over her surroundings - barely enough to really take them in - before snapping in the direction of the sound as she gives a slight start. She stills as it dies off and merely bubbles quietly afterward, wondering just what would or could make such a noise. She has her theories - being interested in the zoologically dubious gives one a wide range of possibilities to choose from when questioning sounds that are organic enough to be considered lively - but merely lets them linger on the edge of her mind as she takes a few cautious steps forward.

Now she takes time to properly investigate her environment, wondering at the state of sanitation and cleanliness the hall is in, and at the source of those rather dark splotches. She chances closer looks, and possibly to touch a few - just to test the waters - before finally drawing her gaze back to the end of the hallway.

With the wariness of a curious child out past her curfew that knows better than to be caught, she makes her way towards it, peering to try and catch a glimpse of what awaits her.]]

HAHA I hope I don't disappoint, then!

[foolishwren]

[The blotches on the floor are unpleasant to behold-- and even more unpleasant to touch. Upon closer observation, they appear-- ... well, to take a brief dip into the vat of particularly disgusting metaphors, they look sort of like what happens when one blows their nose a few hours after a nosebleed. Furthermore, some of the larger clots physically shrink away when touched... as though the very fabric of the building is somehow alive.]

[But the sight she'll glimpse around the corner is a tad more attention-grabbing...]

I'm sure you won't. <3

[usedtherapy]

[[She had been a bit concerned by the nature of the splotches, deciding one touch and recoil of them was enough for her, however yes.

That sight was far more attention grabbing.

At first, she wasn't quite sure what to do. The moment she laid eyes upon it, even if she hadn't drawn too near, she stopped and held her breath.

What...what was it? Was that the thing that was eliciting those noises? It seemed like the case, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to draw close enough to test that yet. Part of her - her more rational side - was telling her to turn around. She came, she saw enough, it was time to go.

However, her more curious side - her stronger side - kept her rooted to her spot.

And perhaps nudged her a few cautious steps forward to investigate.]]

<333

[foolishwren]

[The gargling cries do seem to be coming from... whatever the hell that thing is. If it had a visible mouth, it would have been frothing at it. It's twitching and thrashing in the confines of the bizarre, cagelike structure that encloses it, occasionally pausing with a spastic shudder and a brief quiet, before immediately beginning the struggle again, making the bars rattle and the weird banners of ridged cloth that hang from the top of the cage like giant snakeskins flutter with dry rattles.]

[The good news is that whatever it's in, it doesn't seem to be able to get out-- no matter how hard it struggles, it cannot move to venture towards Rose or away from her.]

[... It's trapped.]

[usedtherapy]

[[She watches as it struggles a tad longer, carefully inching her way towards it all the while, before finally she's close enough to touch it. She doesn't - not quite yet - but the fact that she's there is a fact that remains. Part of her is...repulsed. Much similar to how she felt about the blotches around her, she wanted to curl away from it and let it alone.

But...it wasn't doing her any harm. Again, just like those dark patches, which still held her curiosity.

Slowly and tentatively, she reached out. Not to touch the creature just yet, but to touch the cloth that hung from the top, and to touch the cage itself. To test the environment.

...and then finally to try and touch the writhing monster.]]

[foolishwren]

[The bars are cold, the cloth papery... but both almost have a ... charge to them. It's not static, or even electricity... but something tingles. Like the cage and its contents somehow exist in a way that's ever-so-slightly different from the rest of the surroundings.]

[... But any contemplation on that will have to wait... because as Rose reaches in to touch the beast's flesh, which is spongy, porous, and just a tad sticky-- as though it's slightly rotten-- the thing goes berserk.]

[With a guttural howl, it thrashes more violently than ever, ramming its body back and forth in its iron prison and slamming itself against the bars with every ounce of force it can apparently muster-- if Rose doesn't have the reflexes of a light particle, she may find her arm caught between the bars and the beast's full weight...]

[usedtherapy]

[[The textures of everything interested her, even that of the creature - especially the tingling, but she really didn't have time to ponder on it. Unfortunately, her reflexes are not quite that fast. By the time her body finally catches up with her brain, she's already caught, wincing with a yelp.

Her first instinct is the wrench her arm away, which doesn't work very well and she regrets immediately after trying, and so she waits instead. Hopefully it'll thrash away from her long enough that she can pull away.

It'll be unpleasant to have her arm slammed into again.]]

I totally needed to link this track at the beginning of the thread and didn't OOPS

[foolishwren]

[It's spasming so violently that it's not long before the pressure on her arm is released-- but there's only barely enough time for her to yank it to safety before the creature's body comes thudding back against the bars once more. Another impact and her arm might have been broken...]

[It continues to thrash and snarl within the confines of its prison, although the longer the fit goes on, the more its struggles start to peter out... eventually it starts to still once more (although it still twitches and jerks), the gargling screams reducing themselves to deep hisses and snarls... like a wild animal locked in a box.]

XD!

[usedtherapy]

[[She takes that opportunity to pull her arm back, cradling it gently with the other as she watches and backs away a few steps. As the noises become nothing more than hisses and snarls, Rose considers exactly what she can do.

She glances behind herself, looking perhaps to see if there's any other route to take, but draws her gaze back to the creature again. As much as she's tempted to, she has no intentions on touching it again...

...but perhaps freeing it from it's prison might serve a decent purpose. Perhaps that would soothe the beast.

Is there anyway she's capable of doing that though? The cage is now being given her attention.]]

[foolishwren]

[Indeed, as she looks at the cage... there is something truly pitiful about the monster inside. It's not tame, certainly, but it is imprisoned... and somehow in pain, as well.]

[But there doesn't seem to be an opening to the cage anywhere-- even though the bars are widely spaced, it's restrained harshly. The only way to release it would be to step over the cruel spikes circling the base of the prison and actually cut it loose, but the incident Rose just experienced is probably enough to tell her that that course of action would not end well.]

[Furthermore, it's blocking the hallway... there doesn't seem to be a way past it without, again, actually getting INSIDE with the thing and probably being battered to death...]

Gah, so late. Sorry. >:

[usedtherapy]

[[As she comes to both of these realizations, the girl takes a few steps back to really consider her situation.

There was no other way to go. No way out, as far as she could tell. No point in trying at least, was there was only darkness back beyond the door.

However, going forward would likely end in a very...unpleasant death, to say the least...

But...she couldn't just sit still and do nothing, could she? Well, she could, but what would that accomplish? Nothing, exactly.

Steeling her nerves, she approaches the cage again. Looking it over, she reaches up to pull on one of the cloths to test it's strength. She would need something to hold onto, she was sure, and those looked like the best idea for now. But she wanted to make sure they wouldn't rip under her weight and leave her tumbling into the cage without preparation...]]

It's okay, dude! XD I'll backtag as long as you want.

[foolishwren]

[The first few hanging cloths she tries rip almost immediately-- age and filth making them brittle. But the fourth one holds-- precariously, but it does.]