rp: side story [Open] Alone Together

[Elena Ichinomiya]

Helian listen to their banter, claiming that the sounds they heard could possibly harm them. One said its firecracker and other one is gunshot. She wasn't sure herself if that sounds is really coming from here. From what she remember, she was forced to run because her mind told her to, not because there's an apparent danger before her eyes. Those sounds drive her instinct to run and that's it. No special occasion. As if its just part of her habit. There's no clear indication that she had to run because she scared of the noise, or fear of getting harmed. The unpleasant feeling just...exist inside her.

But that can wait. Realizing there's another people in this seemingly endless oblivion, Helian choose to reveal herself...only to find there's no one. She thought to herself that they probably wasn't far judged from how well she can hear them talking. But the thing is, where did they go? Left? Right? Straight ahead? Or maybe heading back? Whatever it is, Helian mind told herself that she need to find them for her own good. And so she follow where her feet take her to. She gamble her luck right now as she keep blind guessing where that voice heading off to. "I hope i didn't take any single wrong turn" she thought to herself.

From step turn to small jog, Helian found herself getting restless. She can't relax until she find those people. Why the sounds that so close turn out to be so far? What's with this room? The more she think about it, the more question popping up. So she set aside the headache and focus her mind on finding possibly her only companion. The thought of not being alone seems giving her some sort of energy. She wasn't sure what she gonna do if she met them. But that can wait. And so she break into full sprint, eager to see other life form in this hall of infinite oblivion. And by luck, she would get an answer about this place.

"Wait for me..." she whisper, silently hoping someone would hear her plea.

[Musei]

Musei opened her eyes suddenly , her heart beating wildly in her chest. She was lying on the floor , in a strangely bare room. Apart from the sound of her breathing , the only thing she could hear was a faint electronic hum , probably coming from the florescent lights above her. 

 ' Where am I ? '

Her limbs felt numb , so she slowly stretched them out , watching her own fingers with black nails flex as if they were foreign bodies.

' These are mine ' she thought as she slowly clenched and unclenched her hand . ' I'm Musei ' .

Her name came to her like an ancient truth , the only thing she felt she could trust in this unfamiliar room. She got up slowly and started to walk  , only to almost trip over on the tunic she was wearing. It was long and black , with white trimmings and long slits starting from above her hips and black leggings underneath. 

Where am I supposed to go ? What's happening here ?!!

She walked out of the room , into a similar room , which was a bit smaller , but also bare . There was nothing in it. She kept walking , into more rooms , some bigger , some smaller , some rectangular ,  others square . But they just kept going on and on , no matter what direction she tried to walk in. The thought that she was utterly alone in this maddening place made her walk faster , hoping to find something or someone to break the repetition.  

" Hello ? "

There was no response . She was about to call out again when she heard a distant howl . The sound put her instantly on edge , sending shivers of displeasure down her spine . That revolting sound irked her very core , and she instantly began to try and get away from it , though she couldn't tell if she was moving away from wherever it came from because the rooms just went on and on. 

'Why do I hate it so much ?'  she asked herself getting more frantic , in case that sound started again. It felt... instinctual , ingrained in her that that howl belonged to one who was not her friend. 

Musei felt herself losing her mind walking through the rooms ; they lead no where and she felt like she had been walking for ages . She kept going though hoping to find something , an object , a person ; anything to break the monotony . She dug her hands into her dark dreadlocks and was about to pull hard on them when she saw something glint in the next room. With a delirious laugh of relief she ran to it.

A box , dull , metallic surface , lay on the ground in the next room. She got down on her knees and looked at it  intently. In the dim refection she saw what must have been her face . Her skin was the colour of toffee , with white markings drawn elaborately on her cheekbones , forehead and around her eyes. Her lips were black , like her nails. She  touched the markings , wondering what they meant.

' Never mind that now , the box must be opened ! '

She opened it and saw 

a gun . It's a gun. But how... Why ?

She touched it's cold surface . Why was this , of all things , here ? Suddenly it dawned on her.

It's a sign . 

A slow smile crept onto her lips , revealing razor sharp canines.

Divine Providence. An ending to my misery

She grasped the gun , and raised it to her head.

I'm so so glad I don't have to walk these endless walls anymore ; I gladly welcome my release , my escape ,   even if it's at the end of a barrel !

With that she pulled the trigger.

The sound echoed loudly around her and she flinched. Then opened her eyes , unhurt.

Why am I not dead ?! 

She pulled it again and again , and it kept making that same gunshot sound , but no bullet came out of it's barrel. Some sort of fake  , placed there to torture and decieve those who thought they could escape through death. But there was no escape.

[Neptune]

Raelynn felt the light weight of Trish’s arm over her shoulders, causing her to reach up with her hand to grip onto his own. She gave his hand a light squeeze, silently telling him that she wasn’t intending on letting go of him. Her other arm snaked around his slip waist, helping to keep him steady. Once she was sure that she had a good grip she looked up to see the wolf-girl scampering ahead of them. She was relieved that Trish was able to easily convince the young wolf girl to come with them away from the distressing sounds that she really didn’t want to think about. She couldn’t let fear overtake her, not when Trish needed her help. If she panicked and broke into a dead run, he wouldn’t be able to keep up with her even if his heel was fine.

“C’mon,” She said softly as she began to follow the wolf girl down the corridor, supporting Trish every step of the way. She kept her eyes fixed on the wolf girl who ran from one entrance to the other, peeking inside as if to scout. The sight caused some sense of comfort, knowing that the girl seemed as intent on helping them as they were her. 

Just as she was starting to feel more comfortable with the growing distance between them and the sound earlier, more cracks echoed from the distance. She flinched and gripped a little tighter onto Trish, “What the hell is going on?” She moaned, her heart hammering in her chest. She could feel a cold sweat on her forehead but she dared not slow down or stop.

[Aura]

So much was going on, it was hard to process it all. But one thing was clear, everyone was on high alert and desperate to find a place to hide. As Raelynn pulled Trent closer to her, he couldn't help but smile. He was a bit embarrassed, of course, being dressed like this but being so close to a girl, but it's not like he was thinking any perverted thoughts. If anything, he was probably more nervous about doing anything that might come off that way. The warmth of the woman's skin was pleasant, and it was so soft, especially the as her hand touched his. It was rapidly getting harder and harder to hide his nerves. He couldn't believe he was so fixated on such stupid things while in the middle of a life-or-death situation, though...

"R-right..." Trent said aloud after nodding to Raelynn. Not really affirming anything at all, just a way to break the silence, he supposed. "Thank you," he added as the two began to march together after the wolf girl. She seemed to be moving with a plan and, other than following her, the only other idea he had was to just wander aimlessly, so he agreed that the best course of action would just be to follow her.

"I don't know if we have time to try and figure out what's going on until we can find safety, or at the very least put as much distance between us and whoever's following us as we can. Are you holding up?" He looked over to her and noticed she was starting to sweat. He felt really bad knowing that a significant amount of her stamina must be spent carrying him. He shouldn't be burdening a woman like this... "Look, if things get to be too much, I want you to leave me behind and not worry about it, okay? I hate the idea of a woman getting killed trying to save me. I'm nobody important, alright?" He tried to assure her even though something told him that wasn't an option this girl would be willing to take anytime soon. Maybe it would come off as a bit misogynistic, but he'd had it instilled in him since he was a kid that it was his job to take care of a woman. That he should be taking charge and leading her, making sure she was safe before even thinking about himself... "You said you woke up in a room with a door, right? Then maybe there are others like it. If we can find one like that, we can maybe block the door and hide in the room for a while. Then we can exchange information and theories to try and figure out where we are and what we need to do."

Sure enough, after a few more minutes of searching around corners, Rinako would arrive at a small hallway nestled between the walls of two rooms. While the hallway itself was fairly dark due to a lack of fluorescent light inside, the vague shape of a door could be seen at the other end of it.

[Musei]

Musei stared at the useless , mocking gun in her hand , a vague look of disgust on her face. She tossed it aside and looking back , noticed that the room actually had two doors.

Strange ... It wasn't like that before...

Her now burning curiosity made her rush to one door and open it. Nothing but another plain room lay beyond it. She decided to check the other door , then she would decide which to go through. Approaching the door she heard footsteps , still a way off but drawing closer . One of the sets of sets sounded like the scampering of an animal... Maybe a dog ?  And one of the approaching creatures had a most unpleasant smell to it.

She hesitated , unsure of whether it would be safe to meet whatever was on the other side.