Sanji || 002 -- Noctaerium

[serving_love]

Who: Any and all Straw Hats!
Where: Noctaerium.
When: Various points in time throughout the event.
Style: Whatever you're comfortable with!
Status: Closed

Comments

/breaks the ice

[namigational]

[There's something about huge, creepy castles that Nami really doesn't like. And by something she might mean everything, from the inexplicable scraping sound she can hear in the distance to the stonework that seems to shift subtly out of the corner of her eye, and let's not forget the fact that they've managed to get separated again-- seems to be the done deal with castles in the middle of nowhere, really. The sooner they can find the rest of the crew, the better.

So here she is, moving fast down yet another passageway, trying to keep some semblance of direction in her head (and failing) and above all, hoping that some of the other, more disturbing sounds in the distance never get any closer than that.

Oh, well. At least there are no zombies. (...yet.)

And at least she's not alone. Right, Usopp?]

Nami & Usopp

[warriorothesea]

Usopp knew getting on that train had been a bad idea. In fact, he may have been more certain of that than anything else in his life. Not that it had done much good, considering his protests were brushed off in the usual fashion. Perhaps he could take some cold comfort in the knowledge that he had been 100% right, and even Luffy must realize that by now...wherever he was.

Indeed, Usopp was glad he wasn't alone either, but all things considered--and no offense to Nami, of course--he would have preferred ending up with Luffy, Sanji, or Zoro instead. As it was, the pair seemed to be taking turns cowering behind each other in between bouts of darting down hallway after hallway, searching for the others.

So far they'd been lucky, and met no outright threats, though Usopp kept hearing all these horrible sounds nearby--once a wet, messy kind of flopping sound just on the other side of a door; once a horrible scrabbling and tearing, like nails clawing frantically against something unyielding, keeping at it until the fingers themselves began

[namigational]

How should I know? [She doesn't entirely mean to be snappish, but it's Nami, and this place is seriously wearing away at her nerves. So her answer sounds annoyed, but that doesn't stop her from inching just a little closer to Usopp all the same. The feeling's mutual - being with one of the monster trio would have done wonders for her state of mind - but better the two of them be together instead of both alone, right? And there's something else that's been bugging her, which she thinks is a good idea to bring up, especially if it distracts them from that horrible cackling laughter.]

Have you noticed we haven't run into anyone else at all? There were a lot of people that got off that train. [Because sure, amping up the paranoia is a great idea, Nami. She winces, and then just shakes her head.] We've gone through so many places and there's nobody else here. It's like--

[And she breaks off as the bird-laugh sounds again, a lot closer than before. Uh. Heh. Don't mind those fingers clamping onto your arm, Usopp.]...maybe we

Re: Nami & Usopp

[warriorothesea]

"W-we can't be the only ones in here," Usopp whispered back. "I bet everyone else is together somewhere, so that's why we haven't seen any stragglers..." He didn't sound very convinced, however, and when the awful laughing sound rang out yet again, he stopped talking completely.

Usopp readied Kabuto in his hand, mentally preparing himself before they began to move again. In a way, Nami's deathgrip on his arm was a bit comforting, in that it reminded him unmistakably that he wasn't alone. He wouldn't mind if she didn't cling quite so hard, though. He let out a deep he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and stuck his head out of the alcove to peer ahead of them. The hallway branched in two directions there, and neither seemed particularly appealing. He glanced back at Nami for input--she was the navigator, after all, and that had to be worth something, even in a creepy, probably-haunted castle.

/breaks the ice in a different spot >.> - MAIN THREAD, and wow, tl;dr

[threeswordsoul]

[Zoro bursts into a new room, heart pounding and panting breaths harsh from exertion.

Goddamn fucking place, what the hell was this shit? Shadow creatures slashing out from everywhere that bled dust when he cut them, hands popping from nowhere like Robin's, but rotted and grasping and much too strong, rooms where the floor turned into sucking quicksand, hallways that never seemed to end and no one in sight in either direction but always the damn footsteps following and the prickle of someone just behind on the back of his neck, all the whispering, shrieking, sobbing, cackling calls-some of it in too-familiar voices that had him running in circles after them, but never a glimpse of his nakama since they'd gotten separated after the train. (Twisted, misshappen distortions of their forms in smoke don't count. They don't, dammit.)

So he slides to a halt in this new room warily, swords out and ready for whatever the hell is gonna be thrown at him next-bring it on, fuckers-only to find...mirrors

/falls through ice and drooowns? >.> - MAIN THREAD

[strayswordsman]

Luffy?

[Zoro's head jerks around at his captain's voice-finally-but all he can see are more mirrors. -Wait, a flash of red, and then suddenly ten Luffys are crashing to a halt in ten images all around him.]

...Shit. [He jogs over quickly and runs his hands over the various mirrors that Luffy is reflected, except every time he moves there are more Luffys in more distant reflections-he looks around in frustration, trying to pinpoint where they're reflected from, if there's another corridor around he can go down, but all he finds are more mirrors. So he just looks at one of the images of his captain and hopes Luffy can see him.]

Oi, I'm here, where are you? Have you seen the others?