Night 50: Main Hallway, 2-West

[gald_digger]

[from here]When they stepped into the next hallway, Anise was wearing her usual smile once again. "So, Tem... you said you're a sergeant, right?" she asked, looking to make some (hopefully) less awkward conversation with the man. Work was usually a safe subject, right? Besides, with how soldier-like the man was in his appearance and attitude, she

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[scalyfishman]

[From here]

All clear except for the two people standing just ahead of them, and even then he was pretty sure they were patients rather than any sort of serious threat- the brainwashed guards tended to be a little more intimidating than a big guy in slippers and a little girl.

Depth Charge glanced back at Hime, waiting for her to meet him in the hallway. "Did you find that ring the Head Doctor was talking about?"

[chainsaw_royal]

Coming to the top of the stairs, Hime stopped when she saw Depth Charge waiting for her. It didn't look like there were enemies, but his question made it clear why he'd halted.

"I did," she answered with a smile, holding up her right hand - the silver band and red stone gleaming in the beam of their flashlights momentarily. "Considering his description though, I don't think we want to be breaking it any time tonight. Unless you'd prefer a square full of zombies?"

[scalyfishman]

"Cute and impractical. Suits you," he answered flatly, raising an eyebrow at the flash of colour in the darkness. "I don't know. Could be useful to have a link to the town, you know?" Provided you didn't mind digging your way through a minor zombie apocalypse, of course. "Gotta wonder why the Head Doctor'd be giving us something useful for once. I don't like it."

Checking the coast was clear, he nodded for Hime to carry on. "Go ahead. I'll cover you."

[chainsaw_royal]

"You forgot 'dangerous'," Hime retorted, not missing a beat. She took a moment to consider the ring seriously though. "He did mention there are other uses for it, the other reason why I'd prefer not to use it yet. I'm as suspicious as you are of it, so I'm sure there's a price for its use."

Those considerations would be put aside for now - they'd be crossing over the Sun Room now, and while she wasn't sure whether the monsters the supposedly roamed it would attack them up here, it never hurt to be wary. Knife in one hand and flashlight in the other, the princess led the way.

[To here]

[loyal_soldier]

"Yes?" He wasn't quite sure where this line of questioning was going, but wherever it was, he undoubtedly wouldn't expect it.

He was proved absolutely right in short order, almost stopping dead in his tracks in surprise, only just managing to keep the reaction from being quite so comically obvious. Yes, he'd met Captain Chise before, who was even less of a likely candidate for her rank than Anise was by his estimation, but somehow with a Sergeant, it was different. Probably because he was one of them. "...Oh. I'm sorry, I really wouldn't have guessed," he admitted, a little sheepishly. Now he felt like even more of an idiot than he usually was.

[gald_digger]

"Ehehe. I get that a lot." Probably because she was so cute. "I guess it doesn't help that I don't have my uniform here." Most people could probably take a look at the tabbard and guess that she belonged to the Knights. But... then again, maybe military uniforms looked really different on other planets. Maybe it wouldn't clue anyone in.

... Anise still missed her uniform, though. Really, she would take anything over the drab institute clothes.

"Should we go to the janitor's closet first, then?" she asked him, just to confirm. She was already walking in that direction, but she wanted to make sure he was on board before leading them too far down the hall.

[loyal_soldier]

"That would make a difference, although I suspect no one here would be able to tell my rank even if I had my armor." It was more immediately obvious than the tiny little rank bars and code cylinders of the officers, but it went on a completely different system. The white rank pauldron marked him out far more clearly than them, although it wasn't always a good thing.

"Sure. We just have to be careful in this hallway, there are sometimes hostiles stationed here."

[gald_digger]

"Well, they might not know your rank, but they'd know right away that you're a soldier," Anise said, though she began to wonder how well that would work with her uniform, which was a little bit different from most soldiers', even on her planet. Some people might just think it was a cute dress with a weird tabbard. It was kind of a funny thought.

There was a brief pause, and then she added, "...even though I guessed it right away without it." She grinned, pleased that her initial guess had been right on the mark. Not that it was a challenging thing to guess, though. Everything about this guy seemed to scream 'soldier'. Anise hoped that years of military service wouldn't end up making her serious and boring like that. It seemed like lots of soldiers were like that, but it was an attitude that just didn't suit the girl.

[to here]

[toxicspiderman]

[from here]

"I wonder what'd happen if you lost it? Everyone has flashlights, and they give us new shirts if we tear them all up." He hadn't turned all of his spare clothing into makeshift all-cotton rope, but he'd done a lot of it over time. "Then again, you could end up with neither." He shrugged, and looked out at the hallway.

"Looks clear." The last time he'd turned right here, he'd been dying of liver cancer. Cheery thought. No amount of armlinking and skipping down the corridors would make that a less gut-twisting thought. He gritted his teeth a little and went back to his mental set of bullet points to nail to Martin Landel's door.

[scarefaux]

The Scarecrow hadn't considered what would happen if he lost his light entirely, and he wasn't sure he wanted to pursue such thoughts as they entered the Horrible Hallway. There were far, far worse things to worry about than being left without a flashlight: the somethings that skittered around the floor in the dark, the Mangled Witch, the strange creature lingering above the Sun Room, or maybe something worse he'd not yet met. He could feel his legs shaking beneath him at the mere thought of what could be out there- creatures far worse than lions and tigers and bears, that was for sure.

He peered into the hallway cautiously from the stairwell and saw that Sangamon was right: the hallway did look unoccupied- well, aside from a few passing patients. He took a few small steps, attempting to hold his jittering hands still enough to get a decent look at his map under Sangamon's light.

"W- which way do you think we oughta go now?" he asked in a timid whisper, unsure of both where they'd find a player and if he really wanted traverse

[toxicspiderman]

The Scarecrow was getting twitchy. Afraid of something? Low blood sugar? S.T. wasn't sure, though the question raised a likely theory. He didn't want to go over by the M-U rooms. Understanding and white-hot rage were not, as some people might think, mutually exclusive. Giving a kid's-show inspirational character PTSD was like the press catching Mr. Rogers in a strip club. It went beyond the pale.

At least it was a distraction from thinking about anything else. "Down this way. We'll hit the training room first."

[to here]

[rocksthecourt]

[from here]Sounds. People. There were some people up here. Too bad that couldn't serve as too much of a comfort in this kind of place. Admittedly, it did calm him down just a little to know there were others around up here. It was only human nature to feel more at ease in a group

[purpletaint]

[from here]

And to follow quietly, to pause when another hesitated, to speak to the silence and shadow and listen as it giggled--a cold laughter in tune. He knew this place, knew this path, but not when the man veered off. And would Albedo follow, into darkness and despair?

Too easily given, was the answer. Here again was one to take his mind from what truly mattered. He understood the shifts to make, and the mentality to take. He had done so before, after all. When stalking another altogether different prey.

[to here]