Night 59: North of the Institute

[anemptydecapo]

[From here]"It's this way," the assassin called out to his side, his eyes attempting to focus on the darkness before them. They had made it to the forest fast enough when he had been traveling with Sora, which meant it shouldn't be much an issue with someone as fast as Zanuff was. "Down and to the right

Comments

[chippforprez]

Another "associate" of his, huh? It was funny what lengths Venom was going to cover up his friends, but Chipp wasn't fooled. Of course, he only had this impression of Venom after meeting Sora and Harry, and had erroneously assumed that Venom was just trying to hold onto some tough guy image for appearance's sake and thus, he wasn't anywhere near the truth. And Chipp, being an asshole, was none too shy about his assumptions. "So your friend found him, alright." The extra stress on the word "friend" was fun to say. Oh, if only he knew the half of it

[triplecrossing]

[From here.]

Lydia landed with a grunt, finding that the ground was uneven due to being softened by the rain. Still, that also meant that it didn't hurt so much to hit it, and she was back on her feet in a matter of seconds.

She was going to be drenched by the time that they found shelter again, but that was a small price to pay for freedom and she knew it.

Either way, it felt good to be beyond the walls of the institute, even if this area surrounding it was technically still a part of it. There was something symbolic about climbing over that wall the way any patient of Landel's would have.

"All right," she said, giving a glance around as she attempted to get her bearings. "I'm thinking we'll just cut through straight up, past the mine and the quarry." They didn't have any business in either of those places, and there was a small path that wound between them. "We'll probably find the edge of the force field somewhere up there."

[damned_soldiers]

Serving as the steady rock for Lydia in the final effort in climbing was nothing special. The jump down, on the other hand, was a bit of a mess. Rainfall resulted in slippery and soft ground. Despite his general agility and physical prowess, Claude found the landing to be rougher than expected. He nearly fell over, in fact, as the soles of his shoes slid against the dying grass. Another reason to hate rain, the man supposed.

He managed to steady himself without looking too much like a moron, and Claude straightened his posture to consider their position. Up ahead, he could make out the mountainous regions. Heading straight in sounded reasonable; however, their former superiors would likely track their course to the same place. They had to move and move fast. Aguilar always had contingency plans.

"Works for me," he mused. "If we're lucky, we might break through it." Or be trapped forever. Whichever.

[triplecrossing]

"It's not a matter of being lucky or not. We have to." Lydia wasn't going to allow herself to get captured again. She didn't know who was going to end up grasping control of the institute after tonight, but she honestly didn't care. It didn't matter if it was Aguilar or Landel; she refused to be a part of it

[damned_soldiers]

It was dauntless perseverance that brought one to toss aside luck to grasp the absolute. Claude had to confess: not many could proclaim such an intention with a straight face. On the other hand, the man could empathize. One could only reach this point after treading through Hell itself.

And given the account he knew in regards to her, the analogy was deemed fitting.

Claude chanced a glance back to the point beyond the wall, to the building itself. They would not return here unless willing. Unless dead. This indeed left little in terms of choices. "If luck ain't it," he said, turning back to Lydia, "we'll go for certainty." The line was cheesy--very much overplayed--but damn, he'd been meaning to say something like it for a long time.

With a playful smirk, he tightened his cap and readied himself for the long run. On her signal, Claude followed closely behind, eyes fixed for danger and terrain. Their moving forms eventually melded into the dark, the night allowing them a successful cover from another's surveillance.

[quarter_english]

[From here.]L hit the damp earth with a soft grunt, lucky not to have slipped, then retrieved his axe as quickly as he could and moved away from the wall to make way for Lunge's own landing

[herr_inspektor]

With the initial surprise worn off, Lunge couldn't help but feel a certain level of satisfaction at what it was that L's first question had indicated: without any other reference it would have been reasonable to assume that he'd been the one to initiate contact, perhaps with the offer of information. Hardly a suggestion that put him in the best light. That he'd concluded the opposite was gratifying; he wasn't foolhardy enough to lie his way into a meeting and he wasn't entirely prepared to give up anything important

[antiheroed]

[ from here]

The moment he landed, he glanced toward where he figured his friend was. Riku didn't stop walking, because there wasn't any point. There was a feeling of victory that threatened to win out, but he didn't let himself look smug. That same weight still leveled on him as he moved, and he had a feeling no matter what he did tonight, it would be there.

"Which direction do we go in?" he asked Sora. There were a few other people puttering about, but they weren't of any interest to him. He hated that he lacked the knowledge he needed to get there on his own, but at least he was depending on Sora instead of someone else.

[scintillatingly]

As hard as Sora tried, Riku managed to beat him over the wall. It was something he could have been a sore loser about, but these days he didn't allow himself to be that childish about it. Something as small as losing a race hardly mattered when he knew that he and Riku were on the same side anyway. They'd already worked out their strengths and weaknesses with each other, though Sora realized that Riku was never going to lose that cockiness. Sora could hardly judge when he had some of his own. Plus he'd seen his friend's humble side a few times too

[antiheroed]

"Still, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a way out, after all," he said. It wasn't optimism. Things like this always had a flaw in the plan. That was part of what he noticed about Ansem's Twilight Town simulation; that was why Axel was able to get in like that. It was flawed. Even here, without any of the same knowledge, there had to be a flaw. That was why their powers were allowed to be unleashed like this.

Riku stopped in his steps and considered where to go. He glanced around, uncertain of what direction. These things were easier when he had more than a bus ride outside of this place. That bothered him. His lips twisted downward in thought.

And then he just looked at Sora, a smile creeping over his lips. Why was he trying to work this out when he had Sora right there? If anyone should be doing it, it was him. "Go where your heart tells you to go. I'll follow."

[scintillatingly]

If they could actually find a way out, that would be pretty amazing. Sora wasn't going to assume that it would happen -- he had learned that he wasn't always allowed to be the hero in this place -- but he was definitely going to try his hardest to achieve it.

Riku's words only made him more sure of that fact. He grinned back at him, even though the rain was causing his clothes to stick to his skin and his hair was being flattened down by it (as much as it could be, anyway). Right now, the monsters and the rain and all of that didn't matter. He and Riku were on another adventure; that mattered

[cigarettes_plz]

[from here]

He landed in a crouch and stood slowly, finally giving in to the urge to wrap his fingers around his arm. They came away with fresh blood, and Badou cursed quietly under his breath. Seeing Alle clear the wall decided it for him.

"Listen Alle, I'm gonna slow you down. I'm already slowin' you down. You need to go."

[tender_cruelty]

The wall was barely an obstacle and Allelujah cleared it easily, landing in a perfect crouch on the uneven ground next to Badou. He stretched, about ready to keep moving, more than ready to keep moving, but Badou stopped him. He turne back to him, frowning in concern; those wounds looked bad.

He just stared when Badou spoke.

They should leave him, the thought cam fast as blinking, they should carry on alone and survive, because surviving was what they were good at. Staying around with Badou would just make them slow and eat up what remained of the night.

"I'm not leaving you," he said, voice uncharacteristically firm.

[cigarettes_plz]

"Damn right you're not," Badou shot back, already moving. They could walk and talk, there was no point in standing around either way. "You're comin' back for me. I'm not tryin' to be a hero here - I need someone I can trust on the outside, if I can't make it myself."

Both of his eyes were open for the first time in a long while, the left vivid green even in the dark, the right a dead milky white, rimmed with blood. "I'll go as far as I can, but if I stop - you don't."

[tender_cruelty]

He growled softly at the flippant response. "I am not leaving you inside for that to become an issue," he said harshly, anger flaring for a moment between them. This talk was frustrating, more so because he knew that Badou was right. Wasn't it better to have one person on the outside than everyone stuck inside?

He met Badou's eyes with his own, gold and grey. "Get moving then."