[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

[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.

[bywolves]

[ Okay. That's all he really can do. Royce uses the frame to pull himself, unsteady - he cannot believe this place has managed to make him seasick. Like it wasn't enough that he's blind. Royce reaches out hesitantly, not thrilled about having to lean on anybody. ]

Seasick. [ Royce mutters. ] Elves aren't good with water.

[ A beat. ] There's a monster. Close. I can see it.

[devoutish]

[Alfie hauls him up, wrapping an arm around him.]

Where?

[bywolves]

[ Royce just goes ahead and leans on Alfie entirely for a second, steadying himself. He gestures across the pathway, to the closed door on the opposite side of the room. ]

There. I can't see what it looks like yet, it's not close enough. Where are we? I know there's water and that's about it.

[devoutish]

I don't know.

[Which is, as always, a little freaky.]

There's water flowing up, as if we were walking upside-down on the ceiling.

[bywolves]

How big is the room? [ Royce asks, holding a little more tightly. ] There must be a wall if you can't see the thing from this distance. I can see the light about - thirty feet away.

[devoutish]

[Alfie pauses to look around.]

No - I think you're misjudging, mate. You can't see nearly that far in any direction.

[bywolves]

I can't see at all. [ Royce reminds him, annoyed. ] I see the light of a monster. It's all I can see, other than you and the rest of the people like you. Blue is safe. Red isn't. Everything else is black.

[devoutish]

You can't see the water. Can you see the walls? Any walls?

[bywolves]

Solomons, what part of I can't see anything do you not understand?

[devoutish]

But you can see them.

We need to use that, Royce.

[bywolves]

I can see them. [ Royce confirms, with a sigh. ] And that's all. I assume you're supposed to help me with - taking the lights from the monsters. That's what we're supposed to be doing.

[devoutish]

Yeah. We need to get close to one. Fuck, I hope Emily is--

[He shakes his head.]

We need to do as many as we can, to protect her.

[bywolves]

She's fine. Resourceful. [ He hopes. ]

We can get this one, then. It's not far. I can show you where it is but I don't know what to do to kill it without weapons.

[devoutish]

We need to get those lights. That'll do 'em in.

Point me in the right direction.

[bywolves]

Right. Get the lights. That'll be easy.

[ His sarcasm suggests that it will not be easy. ] Forward. That's all I can tell you. I assume it's through this room.

[devoutish]

I won't be letting you run into any walls.

[And he'll steer them carefully along the path, avoiding walking under the waterfalls. They'll still get a bit wet, though.]

[bywolves]

[ He appreciates that. Royce clings a bit, really not a fan of the waterfalls - he doesn't hate water, it's just that there's a lot of it and it's cold and the room is rocking. They manage to get across, however. ]

There a door here? [ Royce asks, glancing up. ] I assume yes, because otherwise you'd be panicking. The monster is on the other side.