snowblindrpg | [closed] I need to get my bearings

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[closed] I need to get my bearings

Characters: Lea and Zelda
Location U11, House 121
Date: Day 002; evening
Summary: A princess and an ex-assassin find themselves as unlikely roommates for the night.
Warnings: Proooobably nothing.

The daylight was rapidly fading, and his little tablet device kept prompting him to find shelter. Lea decided it really wasn't a bad idea, given the fact that his fingers were growing numb and he was pretty sure he'd lost all feeling in his ears, even with his hood up. There was a second house nearby, and he wanted to at least have a look; if there was nothing interesting inside, he'd go back to the house with the office and poke around in there some more. His pilfered pillow tucked under his arm and the 2x4 in his hand, Lea jogged up to the front door and tried the knob.

Pushing the door open, he rubbed his hands together as he stepped inside, grateful to be out of the wind. Closing the door behind him, he tapped the snow from his boots and peered about the front room with a frown. It was very similar to the other house in construction, and just as eerily empty. There were no books on the bookshelves, no pillows on the sofa, no rugs on the floor. A peek in the kitchen revealed nothing in the cupboards, and naught but a single butter knife in the drawers. Well, a knife was a knife, even if he was pretty sure this one would be pretty useless as a weapon. Maybe he could use it to hammer those nails into the 2x4.

Meandering back out to the living room, he noticed that the wallpaper appeared to be peeling up in one of the corners. Curious, he dropped to a crouch near it and reached out to run gloved fingers over the fraying paper. It almost looked like something had been clawing at it, but it certainly hadn't been a housecat. A little unsettled, he rose back to his feet, and then froze as a chill ran down his spine and the hairs on the back of his neck stood at attention.

He could hear footsteps above him--soft, light. He wasn't alone in this house.

Gripping the 2x4, Lea considered just going back to the other house. If there was someone or something in this one, he really wasn't prepared for any sort of altercation, not with nothing but a 2x4 and a butter knife. As he slowly backpedaled toward the door, however, there was a loud clunking sound, like a bolt being thrown.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me..."

Just like last night. He'd found the door to the house he'd previously been in had locked itself, and no amount of pulling, pushing, or attempting to turn the knob would make it budge. He had thought maybe it was just a fluke, but two nights in a row, in completely different houses? That was no coincidence. Something wanted to make sure he wasn't outside during the night.

Trying the knob, just to be sure, he swore under his breath and gripped the 2x4 tighter. Well, if there was going to be an altercation with whatever entity was in this house, Lea decided he wanted to be the one calling the shots. Maybe he still had the element of surprise.

He crept up the stairs as silently as possible, the 2x4 poised over his shoulder like a baseball bat. This wasn't at all the sort of weapon he was used to--it felt even more awkward than the damn Keyblade--but he would make it work. Whoever or whatever was in this house wasn't going to get the drop on him, he was going to make sure of it.

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"No," she answers simply, her thoughts a bit preoccupied with his own response. Anyone possessing the ability to pluck her from her world and take away the Triforce of Wisdom while they were at it would at the very least have an idea of who Ganondorf was and what he meant in her life. The counter-question suggests a similar line of thinking, if perhaps not exactly the same.

Another tense moment passes, and then... Zelda's grip on the 2x4 loosens. One end falls to the floor with a dull thunk and she shifts her weight a bit in order to use it as a support. An attempt to look casual about it is made, but the ill feeling only intensifies with the energy she expends.

"... You are either a truly remarkable liar, or I have at this time no logical reason to believe you are not as you say you are." Yet hangs heavy in the air, a promise going unvoiced only because she lacks the energy to keep going at it like this for the whole night. She draws in a breath, lets it out. "Shall we remain civil until sunrise?"

The house is big enough. She can run and hide if he tries anything.

Lea gives a quiet exhale when Zelda's grip on her weapon loosens and the end falls to the floor. This entire place is kind of exhausting, and the added threat of being clubbed upside the head wasn't helping. She still looks guarded, which is certainly understandable, but he's glad there's no real aggression going on here.

He is a good liar, but he's not about to own up to that. He's being sincere in this case, either way, and ventures a watery hint of a smile.

"It really wouldn't serve much purpose to make up stories, in this situation, I think," he says. "It looks like we're both in the same boat here." He gives a nod. "Civilities would be nice," he says. "Two heads are gonna be better than one, any way you slice it." He offers one gloved hand. "Truce?"

She looks a little unsteady on her feet, and he finds himself wondering if it's just the cold, or if there's something else wrong. He's still feeling kind of woozy himself, for that matter, so on some level, he's glad he's not the only one a little worse for wear at the moment.

"I was poking around downstairs some," he says, "but the house looks pretty empty. And I don't just mean unoccupied. There's no books on the bookshelves, no dishes or anything in the kitchen. Besides the furniture, it's like the people who lived here just packed up all their stuff and left." He gestures past her, down the hallway toward the bedroom. "Did you have much time to search in there before I interrupted? There's a couple of rooms downstairs I didn't have a chance to look through yet, but it's not like we haven't got time."

They're locked in for the evening, it seems; might as well do a good thorough search of every nook and cranny of the house.

There are always reasons to make up stories, she thinks but doesn't say. She glances down to the offered hand, then back up to Lea. All this time, she has been so preoccupied with the idea that this stranger could somehow be behind her kidnapping, it never occurred to her until this moment that he might not, in fact, be real at all. It's not as though she's seen anyone else since she awoke in this iced over town.

She's not certain if she should be elated or more frightened when she lightly grips his hand in turn and finds that it is solid.

"Truce."

The handshake doesn't last long; she quickly pulls her hand back and tucks it against herself. Now that the adrenaline is fading away, the ever-present chill in the air is reasserting itself, and she's still nowhere near adequately dressed for this weather.

"It is more full than the house I awoke in - to the point I would even hesitate to call wherever I woke a house. There was nothing there aside from a metal door I could not open no matter how I tried." This place is almost luxurious in comparison, really. Her gaze follows his hand when he gestures, but she still hesitates to turn her back to him. "I found a pair of boots in the closet, but did not come across much else that would be considered noteworthy. I had not finished looking through the second floor when the doors locked, either."

Truly, there is not much else to do.

She shakes his hand only for an instant, then pulls away as though his touch might have burned her, and he is understanding rather than offended. He's a little relieved her grip is solid, too, for that matter; he hasn't seen a soul in two days, and he really was starting to wonder if he was hallucinating.

He takes a moment to look her over, noting she seems to be wearing a gown of some sort. Fancy, he muses, and wonders absently what sort of life she lived back home. Giving a nod, he runs a hand back through his hair.

"Yeah, the house I woke up in just had one room intact," he says. "There was a mattress on the floor, and a creepy mirror on the wall, and that was it." He jerks a thumb over his shoulder, toward the stairs. "I'm gonna go check out those other two rooms downstairs, if you wanna finish poking around up here," he says. "I'll let you know what I find."

He's even willing to share, for that matter. She looks like a capable young woman, but she's only barely not a child, and Lea has a natural tendency to herd kids that he can't quite turn off. Even as he finds himself running through a dozen scenarios where she knocks him out and runs off with his pack, or breaks his legs and leaves him to freeze, he still can't quite hush the little voice that urges him to give her a hand.

Lea reaches for the 2x4 he had set against the wall, but keeps it low as he turns to descend the stairs.

"I'm gonna see if I can use that butter knife to put some of those nails into the 2x4," he says, and then waves one hand. "Just in case we run into anybody who isn't willing to be civil, that is. There's enough that I could probably give yours the same treatment, if you want."

Zelda remains still as Lea gestures and moves, opting to watch him as he goes instead of immediately returning to her search. A habit from her days wearing another face, when watching and waiting was often all she felt she could do. And only strengthened by this constant desire to not turn her back on anything or anyone.

"Perhaps, after we have each finished our searching for the evening," she answers. If she can hardly resist the temptation to keep him in sight at all times, she's certainly not going to hand over her best weapon and let him do whatever he wants to it. Especially if he's looking to make his own more dangerous while she's disarmed. Only once he has taken a few steps down the stairs does she turn back the way she came herself, glancing over her shoulder to make one final request as she leaves:

"Make certain to knock before entering any rooms, would you?"

Don't need to have a repeat of this nervous affair.

Edited 2015-06-10 18:44 (UTC)

Lea gestures a lot when he speaks, so he kind of hopes it isn't too off-putting. Turning his back to her to go down the stairs is difficult, but he manages it, returning to the first floor and heading down the hall to the two bedrooms he hasn't searched yet.

They're bare as the rest of the house, with no linens on the beds, no running water in the bathrooms. He pulled open the dresser drawers one by one, making a soft noise of triumph when he saw something in one of them. Reaching in, he retrieved... a pair of pink earmuffs. Well, that was still something.

The other bedroom door was closed, so he obligingly knocked on it, as Zelda had requested. When he got no response, he pushed the door open and peered inside.

"Hello?"

He wasn't actually sure what he would have done if someone had answered him. Unfortunately, the second bedroom was just as empty as the first, netting him naught but an spiral notebook left in the nighttable drawer.

Tucking the notebook under his arm, he returned to the main room and set it on top of the pillow he'd found in the other house, which he had left sitting on the couch. Then he moved to the stairs and climbed about halfway up.

"Ah... Zelda?" he called hesitantly. "I didn't find much down here. You have any better luck?"

She had half hoped he would go downstairs and stay there for the duration of the night; for years she had nursed a quiet bitterness over the lonesome life she had to live for her own safety during Ganondorf's reign, but now she finds herself much more at ease with only herself for company. Well, as much at ease as anyone who has been kidnapped and thrown into an unfamiliar world against their will can be.

Regardless, she obligingly comes back out into the hall when her name is called, working the fruit of her labors - a hairbrush - through her blonde hair.

"Not much of practical use, I fear," she answers, wincing slightly as the brush gets caught on a tangle. She's not typically one for vanity, but this is the closest thing she's found resembling hygiene in the 48 hours she's been in this icy ghost town. She'll take what she can get. "It seems the most valuable thing about these places is the fact they hold up against the nightly storms."

He smiles a bit when he spies her with the hairbrush. She does seem to have quite a lot of hair.

"Hey, if that's all they have to offer, I'm still gonna be grateful for it," he says with a shake of his head. "It's cold enough out there with the sun up; I don't think I wanna spend the night out in the wind."

Lea looks down at the earmuffs in his hands, then looks back up at Zelda.

"Ah... I found these," he says, climbing another two stairs but not going all the way to the top. She's clearly still wary, and with good reason, really; he doesn't want to strain this tentative alliance by invading her personal space too quickly. Holding the earmuffs out toward her, he gives a little nod. "My coat's got a hood," he says, "so you can have these, if you want."

He's not sure they'll cover... all of her ears, cuz they're a bit long, but surely they'll be better than nothing.

"Nor do I, after seeing how bad it gets."

The alarm on the tablet seems to serve a benevolent purpose after all. Their kidnappers want them to have some sort of chance at surviving this place, it seems.

Lea's offer gets a puzzled look as she glances between the earmuffs and him. In this nervous state, she's hard pressed to think of an altruistic reason for Lea to give up something potentially useful, and she's half tempted to refuse the gift outright.

On the other hand, her ears are really cold. The tips have already gained a red tint from wandering through the snow.

"Are you certain?"

He doesn't quite understand it himself, the way the tablets warn them to find shelter when the night encroaches. Their nameless, faceless captors seem to have so little regard for their comfort, but for some reason want them to stay alive--is this some kind of test? He shudders a bit at the thought.

Lea attempts an encouraging smile at her hesitation. It's true, he still doesn't trust her himself--doesn't trust anything here in this place right now--but he's always been a generous sort. He doesn't like to see people suffer, especially kids, and though Zelda carries herself like an adult, she's probably not that much older than Roxas. It seems that not even this heavy paranoia can turn off that protective streak.

"Yeah, I'm sure," he says gently, still holding them out toward her. "No tricks. Cross my heart." He drags his thumb across his chest and gives a weak laugh. "If we've gotta be stuck in this place, I'd rather be stuck with somebody, you know? It's too lonesome otherwise."

He waits until she takes the earmuffs, then takes another step up, but still doesn't close the distance between them entirely.

"Heat rises," he says, "so... if we're gonna hole up for the night, it'll probably be at least marginally warmer up here on the second floor. I guess we're not lucky enough that there were any linens on anything up here?"

Lea would have loved to find a blanket, or even a sheet. It's warmer inside than it was out in the wind, but it's still quite cold in the house, and even through the coat and boots and gloves, his extremities buzz with cold and he's fighting not to shiver.

There would be very cross words if she knew Lea was looking at her like a child. But she doesn't, so she steps forward, deciding to take the generosity for what it is for now, stepping forward and taking the earmuffs from Lea's grip. If it gets her into trouble later, well. That's just one more poor decision to add to her collection.

Lea better not laugh when she puts them on and it turns out they do not, in fact, cover her ears completely.

"Unfortunately, no," she answers, deciding against responding to his comment about being lonely. Not everyone's used to being on their own. "The mattresses are bare, and the closets are empty. The warmest place we are likely to find here are the rooms that do not have an exterior wall."

What is insulation.

Lea's having some doubts of his own, honestly. He spent so long only looking out for himself that helping a total stranger like this, when he's in dire straits himself, is a little strange. Someone has to extend the first olive branch, though, and he figures it might as well be him. It's likely he's the more dangerous of the two of them and he knows that, so if they're going to be civil and work together, he needs to be the one making that first effort, he thinks.

Earning trust is a process, this he knows.

He doesn't laugh when her ears stick out of the earmuffs, but he does smile a bit that she accepts them. Rubbing his hands together, he glances around them, then down the stairs.

"Well..." He rubs his chin. "I think all the bedrooms have windows. The center of the living room downstairs might be the furthest area from any of the outer walls, but it's the biggest room, so I dunno that that makes any difference." He glances at Zelda with a frown. "I think it's better to be on the couch or on a mattress than the floor, at least," he says. "Fabric retains heat, where the floor'll just suck it right outta ya. Whaddaya think?"

"I think nothing will be ideal, unless we wish to spend our energy dragging mattresses and cushions around."

Maybe if the rations they had been given were a little more filling, she would be more amenable to that idea. As things are, however, she knows how important using what energy they have wisely is.

"Would you like to take the couch, then?"

She's very clearly not thinking about sharing a room for the night.

"Yeah, ideally the houses would have central heating and, you know, linens," Lea says dryly, shaking his head. "Or, better yet, ideally, we wouldn't be here in the first place."

He gives a bit of a laugh then, looking at Zelda slightly reproachfully.

"Wow, banishing me to the couch already?" he quips. "I haven't even done anything, sheesh." He waves a hand. "Kidding, I'm kidding," he assures her. "I err on the side of levity when things get stressful." He wouldn't have expected her to want to share space, honestly; he's not even sure he does. Though he's grateful for the company, sleeping in the same room with someone else isn't something he's felt comfortable doing in a long time. "I'll take the couch," he says. "Are you gonna stay up here? I wish there was a fireplace... I could probably get a fire going even without matches, but there's nowhere to burn it safely."

And the last thing they need is to burn the house down around them.

The raised eyebrow he gets indicates that either the woman doesn't understand his joke or she doesn't find it amusing. In this situation, both could apply.

"You said so yourself, the second floor may be the next warmest place in the building." So yes, she will be staying upstairs. Admittedly, sleeping in an actual bed has been such a luxury for so long, she would have likely chosen one of the other bedrooms regardless of whether or not Lea took the couch. "Until we find the one responsible for this, it seems we are forced to make do with what we have."

She turns again, back towards the bedrooms.

"I plan to set out as early as possible, so do not be alarmed if you hear me moving around come morning."

Please do not hit the Hylian with a nailboard.

"I'll keep that in mind," Lea said when she explained she planned to leave early. Part of him wanted to ask if she minded company--logically, they should stick together, right? Two people together had a better chance for survival than one alone--but the rest of him insisted on keeping his mouth shut. He didn't know anything about this woman; she clearly didn't trust him, and he had no reason to trust her. He had given her the earmuffs, and that was already more generosity than she was due, so he just headed down the stairs to scope out the couch.

Maybe he would wake up and it would all have been a bad dream.

Lea's sleep was thin and restless. It was too cold, and he felt too exposed on the couch in this strange house with the strange woman upstairs. He was trapped somewhere between slumber and wakefulness when a sharp pain in his left arm yanked him out of limbo, though. He went to yelp in shock and pain, but he couldn't seem to move. Why couldn't he move?

A lance of terror spiked through him. Had he been injected with a paralytic? Had Zelda done this? He never should have trusted her! He never should have let himself nod off! Now she was going to kill him since he couldn't move! He tried to brace for an attack, but his body wouldn't obey, and after a moment when no attack came, he just found himself confused. What in the world was going on?

Five minutes later, he was able to barely move his toes. Ten minutes later, he would wiggle his fingers. Fifteen minutes after the injection, Lea found himself in control of his body again, but when he managed to sit up on the sofa, no one was there. If that hadn't been a paralytic agent to immobilize him for a killshot, then what in the world had it been? Had it really been Zelda? She had seemed so polite, if distant and a little cold; he couldn't quite imagine she'd have done something like this.

His limbs were still shaky; he didn't trust himself to get to his feet yet, but he swung his legs over the edge of the couch. He didn't want to think Zelda had done this, but there was only one way to find out. Spotting his backpack near the couch where he'd left it, he reached carefully for it and unzipped it. Nothing was missing. If Zelda had paralyzed him, even temporarily, wouldn't she have taken his things and run off? This didn't make any sense.

"Zelda?" he called, trying to get his feet under him and mostly just wobbling in a hunched over position in front of the couch. "Zelda, are you still here?"

Maybe it wasn't the smartest move, to call out to the person who might have done this, but if it had happened to her, too, she might need help. Maybe he didn't owe her anything, but if she was hurt, he didn't want to just leave her to her own devices.

His answer comes with a hard thump from upstairs, as Zelda gracelessly falls from her bed in her rush to move again after being paralyzed. Her voice is sharp and demanding as it had been when he had first creeped up those stairs, but an undercurrent of uncertainty betrays her panic.

"Did you do this? What was that?! My arm--"

Nngh, she hates this feeling, being sluggish. Her instincts are telling her to run but she can barely get her body to move the way she wants to, let alone rush down the stairs and escape. The sound of shuffling indicates she's righted herself, but anything more is beyond her for the moment.

It does give her a moment to think, however. The way Lea called out... didn't sound like the voice of someone who had just done something like this. Perhaps he really is an exceptionally good liar, but somehow that thought doesn't seem as likely as it did last night. Sluggish limbs aside, she doesn't feel as ill as she did overnight either.

Her voice is a bit more tentative when she speaks again, "Were you stabbed with a needle?"

The thump startles him a little, and he's not sure if he's glad she's still here or not. If she didn't leave, she probably didn't do this, which comes as a relief to him. He doesn't want to not trust her, but his danger sense has just been on hyperdrive since arriving in this place.

"Of course not!" he replies, a little snappishly, when she asks if he's responsible for their current state. He instantly feels a bit bad for being indignant, then; he thought the same thing of her, after all. He unzips his coat and slides it off his arm, shuddering in the cold air as he twists his arm a bit to try and see the site of the injection. There's a red pinprick, but nothing else. It definitely happened, that's for sure, but who the hell had done it, and why? Where had they gone? He slides the coat back on and zips it back up with a shiver.

Leaning heavily on the couch, he sort of shuffles around it and takes a few halting steps toward the stairs.

"Yeah," he says when she inquires then, and he grips his arm where it still stings from the injection. "It left a mark, but I didn't get a look at whoever did it. I couldn't move!" He manages to make it to the base of the stairs, and grips the banister, trying to get his legs to cooperate. "Are you hurt?" he calls up the stairs after a moment's hesitation.

With some effort, Zelda pushes herself back up onto the bed. Breathes. Don't panic, Zelda. Panicking doesn't solve anything. Panicking can make things worse.

Upon collecting herself, she replies, "I am fine." Which, of course, is the multiuniversal signal for being anything but, but there is some truth to it. Aside from the pain of the injection site and now a few bruises along her side, she's uninjured. As the lingering effects of the paralysis subside, she feels better than she did last night, if anything.

"Whatever they did has yet to wear off completely; my coordination is impaired, but improving." Unseen, she flexes her fingers a few times, getting slightly faster with each movement. "What was that?"

"Same here," Lea says, still gripping the banister in case his wobbly legs give out. "I don't know what happened; I was half asleep, and then suddenly I just felt the needle in my arm, but when I tried to open my eyes to see what was going on, I couldn't move."

He takes a careful step up, moving slowly. He's glad Zelda wasn't behind this, he really is. He knows the value of a good ally, and in a place like this, he has a feeling he's going to need all the allies he can get.

"Do you need any help?" he asks. "Still kinda feels like my limbs are asleep, but I think I can make it up the stairs."

"I am all right. Do not push yourself."

Without the influence of the town bearing down upon her, she's a bit more amenable, it seems. She's also grateful that it doesn't seem like Lea's betrayed her trust, though that only brings up the question of who did this then, and how?

"We should warn the others, if they have not been hit the same way already. Our captors have plans for us beyond merely bringing us to this town, apparently."

Plans they'll enact whether those they've captured like it or not.

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[closed] I need to get my bearings

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omg i thought i hit enter like. yesterday. wtf.

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