Nightshift 27: Stairwell by Waiting Room 1

[full_score]

((From here. ))Claude had only been on the second floor one other time, but he hadn't run into anything nasty that time. Maybe they'd be lucky tonight, too. Then again, if they were keeping prisoners up there, it'd make sense for it to be heavily guarded

Comments

[full_score]

((To here. ))

[bond_off_lame]

[From here.]

"Did you get ambushed by Xemnas?" Axel's pace had slowed a little more since they were now moving up a flight of stairs. His grip on the chakram that Ed made was so tight that his knuckles were a ghostly white, but it wasn't anything to worry about.

The redhead almost felt bad about dragging Naminé into all of this, but then he remembered that the girl had been wandering about on her own and immediately discarded those sympathetic thoughts.

[angels_inflight]

"Oh no..."

No wonder Axel had gone out in a hurry. Naminé bowed her head, doing her best to keep up with Axel so that she wouldn't slow him down. They had no time to spare. For a brief moment, she felt guilty for leaving Soma and Roland behind... but she couldn't go back. They had no time!

One of the flashlight beams caught Axel's chakram, and Naminé's eyes widened. A chakram?! That must have meant Axel knew where one of those... alchemists, she believed they were called, were. But she could ask him about that later, once Ashton was safe.

"Xemnas? No, I didn't see him, I was trying to hurry to Ashton's room, actually. I have his flashlight," She explained, taking advantage of their slower pace to free her hand from Axel so she could hold the flashlights properly.

[bond_off_lame]

Since they were now moving in a more manageable pace Axel also took the opportunity to catch his breath, letting his hand run along the wall of the stairwell as he did so. He quietly listened to Naminé's various comments and nodded with a small grin when she informed him that she'd yet to cross paths with their Superior.

"Good. The last thing we need is someone like him or Larxene getting in the way." Lunch would have been far from entertaining if Naminé hadn't been there, and he'd have to make sure to pay a little visit to the lightning witch whenever he had the chance. But for the moment the thought couldn't have been farther from his mind.

"I bet Ashton would be happy to know that you've been taking care of it." Axel sighed out with a small smile, moving his free hand over to ruffle the girl's hair slightly.

[angels_inflight]

No matter how many times she climbed it, these stairs never failed to be eerie to Naminé. Then again, perhaps it was simply the circumstances of tonight that made the ascent much more creepy than it should have been.

At the top, Ashton was waiting...

"Don't worry about me, at least for tonight," Naminé smiled sadly. She was touched (well, as touched as a Nobody could be) by Axel's concern, but she couldn't help but feel that it was misplaced at the moment.

"I hope he doesn't mind that I've had it for so long," She laughed weakly, fixing her hair by reflex.

[stray_shinigami]

[from here]

Renji moved up the stairs quickly, though still with caution. He wasn't about to run them in blindly into danger just so they could get to the hallway they wanted a few seconds earlier. He knew better than to assume that any part of the institute was safe.

[haiiro_no_chou]

[Following Renji.]

Drawing her katana as well, Rukia went up the stairs after Renji. She kept an eye on Sora, though, as well as the slightly larger group behind them. Renji could take care of the front, and she would pay attention to other things.

[scintillatingly]

It hadn't taken too long for them to get moving, at least, but there were some things that Sora was still confused about. He knew that they were moving into more dangerous territory now, but he was never one to allow complete silence, even in a situation like this

[stray_shinigami]

Renji hesitated only a moment before answering Sora's question. Sora'd lead before. He would understand, though Renji wasn't going to go into details. "Last night he got attacked by some sort of ghost thing. It put those tattoos on him," he said. "I needed to know what was going on with it, just to be sure."

And up the stairs they went.

[to here]

[blood_and_pocky]

[from here]

No doubt Aidou saw them before they saw him, and he nearly winced at the large, clumsy group about to lumber up the stairs after the three in front. Naturally Renji and his tattoos were leading the way, of course.

The one boy, though, the one with the pale hair and the scar...

He just really wasn't in the mood to relive that encounter; if he was at all interested in questioning Allen about his own meeting with Reika, it would wait. Although Aidou had fed, he just wasn't feeling as collected as he should be, nor patient. This time, he took the stairs like an Olympic sprinter going for the gold, and easily shoved past the entire group. The vampire wasn't interested in getting caught in the middle of slow moving traffic.

[so totally insulting Renji's tattoos in his head all the way to here]

[gun_fire]

[ from here . ]

The smell that struck her in the hall outside the room block door frightened and sickened her, but that was nothing compared to actually seeing the thing, a large and nightmarish beast, somewhere down the hall, the distance hard to judge in the darkness. At that moment, she could only fear that it would see them, and she hurried across the hall to the stairwell, hoping they would follow her there. But would it be safe here?

If she only had a gun, she could have helped.

[not_rly_fai]

There was definitely a distinct smell, and the halls were lit only by the dimmest of light and there was a red cast to it all. He followed Riza's gaze and with his smile fading only for a moment, he followed, taking up the rear behind the others. It was probably best for now not to make any sound to attract something.

[undesirableone]

Harry followed them. He winced at the smell. He had to stop the urge to go and investigate more, he knew it would be a stupid thing to march off into danger. For now, he was silent; the lack of his wand still weighing heavily on him.

[truthisntsimple]

Severus shuddered at the smell, and pulled his wand from his sleeve. He would not be caught unaware by whatever was in the dark. Thankfully, Harry's general Gryffindor impulsiveness seemed to be taking a vacation.

Silence and caution. Those would be their protection now. Thinking back on the map they had, he continued on to here.