[log] Event: Howl [open]

[snowblindmods]

Characters: everyone
Location: The sort of location M.C. Escher wishes he'd thought up.
Date: nights 211 & 212
Summary: I hunt for you with bloody feet across the hallow'd ground
Warnings: potential for violence, death, and psychological horror; please note in subject lines if any specific warnings come up!

like some child possessed, the beast howls in my veins
I want to find you tear out all your tenderness

Comments

[devoutish]

[For once, Alfie doesn't start out by immediately looking for his group. He worries about them, and he hopes that they're okay, but he has something more important to focus on now - something that will help them in the long run, if he can just get it done. That has to take priority.

Mostly, he'll ignore his fellow Andromedans. If he spots one that he's particularly close to, he'll head over for a quick conversation, but move on once he's satisfied that they're all right. Prophets, however, are a different story. If he likes or is neutral towards them, he's gentle in a way that most here haven't seen. He approaches them slowly, reassuring them that he isn't going to hurt them; that he wants to help them. If he dislikes them, he's more curt and businesslike, but he'll still cooperate just as much. Personal feuds and disagreements can be settled later. This is bigger than that. This is bigger than everything.]

[jumpthegun]

[John blinks sightless eyes in Alfie's direction. Mary and the dots of light... and the anomalies, are the only clear things to him. Alfie is blue, a comforting and safe shade in the dark. He can see red lights moving in the distance, but none are nearby.]

Alfie, I'm blind, not a child.

[Although, there is an unnatural fear layered over his thoughts, something that makes him want to be near Alfie, to cling to the other man for comfort like a child. It makes John's skin crawl a bit. He's never much liked playing the damsel-in-distress.]

What the hell is going on. Can you see?

[Congratulations, Alfie. You're John's first encounter.

He's talking to you soothingly, that probably means he can see you.

John glances to the left in mild irritation. It's the most focused Alfie will see his eyes since sighting the man.]

[devoutish]

Some of you are afraid. There's panic, attacks--

[He shakes his head, frowning.]

We need to stay together. I need to protect you from them, and you need to protect me from those things with the lights. We need to get those lights, Watson; do you understand? We'll help each other, you and me.

[jumpthegun]

[I like a man on a mission.

John keeps his expression neutral, but there's another glance cast to the side.]

Okay. Yeah. Sorry, you mean the things with the eyes, right? I think we're... [It's like the knowledge is being pushed into his head.] We're meant to take the lights. I find them and you help grab them.

... What?

[devoutish]

I didn't say anything.

[The frown deepens, lines furrowing into his brow.]

What's there? What do you see?

[Maybe it's a monster. Maybe it's something else that's invisible to Alfie.]

[jumpthegun]

[John turns away from Mary, looking around everywhere else in what may be just a bit of an exaggerated manner.]

Nothing's there. I just mean... I dunno how I know that. What we're meant to do.

[devoutish]

[Alfie runs a hand down his face.]

Yeah. Neither do I. But I know it is very important, and we need to move quickly.

[jumpthegun]

Right.

[In the distance, as he's looking around, John sees something dragging itself along the ground, looking for all the world like a disembodied hand. He points in that direction.]

There's one that way.

[The doctor goes to take a step toward it, but there's that unnatural fear layering over his usual determination and excitement to be fighting. He can't help reaching out, brows knitting together.]

This doesn't feel right.

[devoutish]

[Alfie touches Watson's arm again.]

Give me your hand?

night 211

[ecks]

[First there was blackness and void. Then there was a point of red, maybe close, maybe not, and then when she turned away to flee there was a lack of floor and a lot of tumbling and a lot of hitting her shins and hands on unseen surfaces.

She would like to be on her feet, but she doesn't trust the floor to remain where she last found it. Ecks sits at a juncture where one surface meets another, back braced against the one that currently seems vertical, not knowing that she fetched up nearly at the edge of another, much larger drop.

And so she waits. She knows what must be done, but she cannot bring herself to move. When she becomes aware of a point of blue she lifts her head, staring through the person -- ally? -- with her unfocused gaze.]

Help me.

[devoutish]

Yeah. Come here. Come forward, don't move back.

[He puts out a hand and touches her arm, ready to guide her. He also readies himself, in case she jumps back anyway - he needs to be able to grab her before she falls. It's dizzying to look at, like everything here, so he focuses on her.]

We need a truce now, Ecks. For tonight.

[He doesn't actually have anything against her, but he knows she doesn't feel the same way. Right now, it's very important that he talk her out of that, if only temporarily.]

[ecks]

[Ecks stiffens at the sound of his voice, drawing in her limbs to protect her torso and present a smaller target. She does not have her shovel in order to hit him, and she is a little surprised that she is not more upset about that. She flinches at his touch, hesitating.]

You took Doctor House's harmonica.

[A truce. Orders. She does not want to be alone in the void.]

Terms?

[devoutish]

We help each other, and we don't hurt either other. That's all; that's it.

[He keeps his fingers on her arm.]

All right?

[ecks]

[She keeps her chin lowered for a moment, still in that defensive posture. Then her head dips and rises in a nod and she starts to unfold herself, reaching up to find his hand with one of her own.]

All right, mate.

[devoutish]

Good. Very good. Here, let's stand; come on.

[He'll bring her up into a standing position, if she lets him.]

Can you see any of them?

[ecks]

[For all her awkwardness of personality, Ecks is usually fairly graceful when she moves. Not so now; she grips his hand too hard, feels her way to her feet with uncharacteristic caution. She doesn't like this at all.]

I do not see any of the cultists.

[That's what he meant by 'them,' right? They're the greatest danger here, the things that make her skin crawl to think of them.]

[devoutish]

The monsters, Ecks. They're the things I can't see.

[He puts another hand on her arm, moving closer to support her better.]

All right?

[bywolves]

[ Alfie will find Royce in a room that's full of water. The waterfalls are falling up, and the force of the water hitting the ceiling creates a rain-like effect. There's a very thin pathway that leads through the room, right through the center, but Royce can't see, and the room is rocking very gently, like a boat - he's seasick almost immediately, resting against the doorframe of the door that leads into the room with his hood up.

There's a blue dot coming up behind him, and Royce's breathing picks up as he drops into a defensive stance. There's a monster, too, a bright beacon of a light. He sees it, on the opposite side of the room, just past the doorway out.

He knows the blue is supposed to be safe, but he can't trust that. ]

[devoutish]

[As soon as he sees Royce, Alfie is relieved. He doesn't like the idea of leaving his group members, even though he'll do it if they aren't one of the people he needs to go to; one of the people he needs to help. But Royce is, that's just what he'd been hoping for.]

Royce!

[Alfie speeds up along the path, spray from the waterfalls on either side of him soaking through his shirt and hair almost immediately.]

[bywolves]

[ Royce startles terribly at the sound of his name, but he recognizes the voice. Alfie. Still, even as much as he feels safer with Alfie coming towards him, as much as the void seems a little less terrifying, he can't trust this. ]

Stop. [ Royce snaps, eyes closed. ] Stop - stop, don't come closer.

[ What is he even going to do? He's dizzy and nauseated and has no weapons. ]

[devoutish]

Royce, I need to help you, and you need to help me.

[He keeps coming, but he slows down.]

[bywolves]

[ Royce drags in an unsteady breath, but he stops protesting. The feeling of safety is too comforting for him to resist. He stays where he is, eyes open and sightless, tracking Alfie based on the blue light that's coming toward him.

He's sunk down to the floor, still gripping at the doorframe. ]

[devoutish]

[Alfie stops a foot away from him, and doesn't touch him yet.]

You can't stay here.

[bywolves]

I know. [ He wants to help. He knows there's something else here, like always, that there's something that isn't him telling him how to feel, but he doesn't know how much he wants to resist it. Especially when it's just Alfie.

Royce breathes in again, staring up at Alfie. ] I can't see. And the room is - rocking.

[devoutish]

Yeah.

[It bothers Alfie, a little, but clearly less than it bothers Royce. He feels a little dizzy, but he can still walk.]

Get up. Lean on me. I won't let you fall, mate.