snowblindrpg | [log] Event: Howl [open]

[ After running into Stephanie, the sound of rushing footfalls pounding against too-dry ground already has him whirling around to meet whoever's next on the list of people he'll be forced to fight that day? Night? Whatever it is, it changes nothing. Which explains the fist he has pulled back as he takes on a defensive stance, ready to reciprocate their charging blow with one of his own if he gets the chance.

At least that had been the plan, but this light- it's different. Not the red that gave him this impending sense of dread but something cool and soothing. So, while Zack doesn't drop his defensive stance, he doesn't follow through either, brows furrowed and sightless eyes staring through Bucky. ] Who's there?

[He already doesn't want to hurt anyone, but that's been ramped up into a protective overdrive when he sees Zack. He usually doesn't feel this way for anyone except Steve, but he knows intrinsically that he will rip apart anything that threatens this veritable stranger.]

Bucky.

[He takes a step forwards.]

Are you hurt?

[ Bucky.

The combination of the voice and the name makes him twitch. But he'd done nothing to them back during the transfusion. Been uneasy and not very talkative in the end, but Zack couldn't really blame him from what he'd known. And in the end, he'd left them in peace not only when he and Kunsel left together but he hadn't pursued them or anything since.

So, his stance eases slowly at the question. Or maybe there's just something about that blue light that gives him an odd comfort as he drops his guard and shakes his head. ] Nothing I can't handle, but I can't see a damn thing around here.

[There is something about Zack that Bucky finds vaguely familiar, but his memories haven't come back enough to pinpoint it as someone who helped in the transfusion. But he doesn't seem hostile, not to Bucky anyway, and that's oddly enough for now.]

There are other things here than us, I can see around but I can't see them.

Yeah... I thought something creepy was around here. [ He's been feeling eyes on him, but he'd thought it was just a hallucination maybe. Some wayward fear clawing at his back like this town tends to do. But just because he can't see them doesn't mean there aren't monsters lurking around in the depths of wherever they are. Which sounds just great, but... ]

I have a feeling we're supposed to do something about them though. [ But it's hard to do that when he feels like he's been stumbling around in circles for the last couple of hours? Days? He has no idea how much time has passed. But it's too much and he still hasn't found the others and who in the hell knows what's going on with them. At this point, he has to take what slim opportunities he has. ] Think you can be my eyes for a bit?

Edited 2017-02-25 19:19 (UTC)

You can't see the creatures?

[That doesn't seem right to him, somehow. Something inside him told him that these ones, the special ones, the prophets; they would be able to see the things that needed to be stopped.

He's not refusing to help, it's just that even the protective impulses can't completely take away his natural (and MN induced) paranoia.]

I haven't run into any yet. [ But hearing the almost incredulous tone to Bucky's voice tells him that he should. And that makes Zack furrow his eyebrows. But... oddly, it doesn't seem wrong of him to ask thinking he would? Strange. ]

I feel like we gotta find 'em though and do something about them, crazy as it sounds. [ Typically, they'd want to run the hell away from them, but there's almost this... pulling sensation the more he thinks about it. ]

Yeah, I think it might help make this place less dangerous.

[Less monsters and more light, sounds like a recipe for actually making a difference in the right way. He steps forwards and then very hesitantly puts his hand on Zack's shoulder.]

I'll be your eyes.

[ For as hesitant as he is to lay even a finger on Zack's shoulder, Zack jerks all the same. But the touch is tentative and he sees the glow of blue now at his side as he agrees. Zack can't quite get himself to smile, but he does nod. ] Thank you.

[ The tone's maybe surprisingly sincere as he turns his head one way and then the other. ] Guess I should warn you, too. I can at least see you... like a color. And it was the same when I ran into someone earlier, but they were red and as soon as I saw them, I just- [ He bites his lip, glaring down at the nothingness below him. ] It was like before when we had those eyes that looked drawn over ours. We need to avoid them or I might end up going after them.

Okay.

[He doesn't question it, he knows better than to argue against the insane logic of this place now and anything that keeps either of them from hurting someone else is alright in his book.]

Can you see any of the creatures from here?

No... Nothing yet. It looks like there's a few red lights over there though. [ He points off to the right before he changes direction and gestures to the left now instead. ] But there's nothing I can see that way. Is that where you came from?

[ He's not sure if he's been that way, himself. But he figures Bucky's got those dots connected already. ]

No, I came from back over where you said the red lights were.

[He hadn't run into anyone else.]

Let's try the other way, we need to find those creatures.

Yeah... Yeah, that sounds like a plan. [ He starts to turn that way only to stop and stiffen because it feels like there's been a shift in the very air around him. But what's changed, he has no idea. Though to Bucky, they're now both standing sideways with what once was the floor being one of the walls. ...But they're still on it somehow, heading down. ]

[He tenses up completely, he doesn't like this at all, but he forces himself to keep walking forwards.]

Ignore everything else, just look for the lights. I'll protect you from anything else.

[ He's not lost to the tension. Almost says something about it but in the end, he aborts the concern. Bucky says he'll protect him from anything else.

Hearing that still feels ironic. But there's a time and place. He just has to trust him here that he won't be led astray. And that means putting one foot in front of the other. At least he doesn't have to be excessively cautious like before. That's a plus. Because being blind's the worst.

Of course, it doesn't really help when the world tilts again and this time, gravity takes a hold. Zack curses as he suddenly feels the freefall- right before they hit the body of water below with a loud splash. For a split second, it glows green before returning to the churn of clear water it was in the first place. Not that Zack can see and not when he's trying to figure out where the hell to go to surface, hardly any air in his lungs and hand over his mouth. ]

[It's not a natural thing for him to protect still, though it's more natural than it used to be, but he's diligent as they walk along to make sure that Zack isn't going to walk into any obstacles.

That's until the world tilts sideways.

The first thing he does is dive down, trying to fight back memories of the Potomac and pulling out a nearly dead Captain America, fingers trying to close around Zack's shirt to pull him up to the surface roughly.]

[ One moment, he's struggling not to breathe in water. The next, he's gasping through his fingers after breaking the surface. He still apparently got some in his lungs with the way he starts to sputter and cough and it's hard to say at first how aware he is with his eyes constantly unfocused. At least until he starts to point almost feverishly- ]

Out! We need to- get out! Something- Something there!

[ He just manages the words before another fit that has him speechless, but it doesn't stop him from trying to swim away from the creature with far too many eyes darting towards them, something blade-like on both arms. ]

Edited 2017-03-09 00:24 (UTC)

Something where?

[He's treading water, trying to cover Zack from all sides which is pretty impossible when they're in an open expanse of water, but he can't protect from what he can't see.]

Tell me where to hit!

[He can beat most anything, he just needs solid direction.]

[ It's too fast. He's figuring that out quick but first instinct from all their anomaly encounters wants them to run. To get away as fast as possible. But he knows that's impossible and now another part of him's kicking in. An old part of him he hasn't felt in a long time, but something in that moment seems to seize it and he turns back towards the thing because Bucky can't see it. ] It's right-!

[ He doesn't finish. Just moves, shoving past that blue light as that first arm comes down and Zack's hand goes up to try and catch it at the wrist, but it's already shoving him back and under the water. Enough to delay his other hand from catching the next hit and can feel the burn of something catch his arm as he sinks further. As he barely keeps in check his breath, even as he kicks out blindly. ]

[He's getting frustrated with his supposed partner not including him. How is he supposed to help bring it down, protect the prophet, if he won't communicate? With a snarl, he charges forward to the general area where Zack went flying from, punching out to try and connect with something solid.

His fist connects fairly solidly, giving him purchase to swing around and kick out, finally in the fight.]

[ There's nothing that connects to Zack's own kick, but he can feel the shift in the water as Bucky moves and then the shadow of the monster's flinching back and away at the landing of that next hit. Zack can see it moving to try and swing at Bucky again though- but this time he's too far away to actually do anything about it other than point in that direction, unaware of the blood that floats away sluggishly from his arm when he does so. ]

[He'll have to deal with that blood after.

Thankfully, the pointing does help him reach the right direction and, after a few more seconds of frantic fighting, his fingers close around the light in its mouth and yank it out, leaving the monster to topple, dead.]

[ With the monster sinking, the pool of water suddenly starts to sink and drain. The water level falls rapidly, but there's no specific pull any which way to where it's going. But that might be explained in how Bucky can see it seeping into the stretch of the ground, itself. The creature from before's body is gone though.

Zack lands on the ground on hands and knees, but at least this time, he's not coughing out water. Just frowning at the floor before he slowly starts to his feet again, feeling surprisingly light and dry. ] First time I've swam in six months and now I think I could go without it for another year.

[ It's a dry joke. Stupid and empty, but it's better than thinking about how much worse things could have turned up. ]

[He snorts the tiniest little laugh, but it's over and done with in a moment.]

There are bound to be others.

[He's all business, not really up to joking around.]

Are you hurt?

[ Others, right. There's always others. Always that foreboding. Zack shakes his head out of that thought as he raises one arm that's now faintly stinging. ]

Just here, I think.

[ Hard for him to say how deep it is, but it definitely hurts like a bitch. Bucky can see the cut through his sleeve and the way it's already darkened with blood. ]

[log] Event: Howl [open]

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cw? Freaky deaky image?

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Old thread is old at this point, so I'm gonna wrap it up here if that's alright? <3