moontothetide: (Default)
Tara Maclay ([personal profile] moontothetide) wrote in [community profile] towerofanimus2012-05-15 04:15 pm

1st Spell

Who: Tara and whoever she happens to stumble across
What: A newcomer tries to find her way out, and instead finds a hell of a lot of trouble along the way.
When: All day
Where: The floors listed below
Format: Commentspam or prose, I'll copy whatever you give me
Warning: T for danger and possible violence

Awareness returns all in a rush. The haze and disorientation that always follow teleporting are a little slower to fade. But the first thing Tara knows is that she's on her back, resting on what feels like a mattress.

Opening her eyes reveals a ceiling. It's not a terribly distinctive ceiling. Tara attempts to turn her head, to see and take in more of the room and maybe get a sense of where she is. And the failure of her body to respond to even that simple command is enough to confirm for her that she can't move.

A few more seconds of increasingly desperate and entirely fruitless attempts to move result, before Tara gives up and relaxes her whipcord tense muscles with a whimper. Actually speaking up takes psyching herself up a bit, but finally she manages it.

"Um...h-hello? Can...c-can someone please help me? Or at least, m-maybe tell me how I got here? I...I don't remember. A-And, I...kind of can't seem to move. At all."

Later on, after the sleep paralysis has worn off, Tara can be found wandering the halls of the second dormitory level. She's fished a change of clothes out of her trunk, as well as - after some hesitation - her knife, and feels a bit more herself in a shirt and pants with the knife hanging off her belt. Both hands are clamped tight around her collar, her pale fingers obviously trying to tug it looser, to find any give in it and failing. Indigo liquid runs through it, marking her as an official resident of the tower, now. Her shoulders are hunched and the girl darts a nervous glance at every door she passes and every person she sees. But anyone who looks back will find Tara hastily looking away, staring fixedly at her feet and trying not to be noticed.

***

Tara is sitting at the top of the staircase, eyeing the perilous way down with wariness and exhaustion. She's bleeding and bruised - blood streams down her arm from what appear to be claw marks in her shoulder, and the back of her shirt is torn, as though something made a grab at her as she fled and just barely missed.

In her efforts to magically urge the skin of her arm to knit a little more quickly, she's not liable to notice anyone else on the staircase right away, or her immediate surroundings at all. Given the poor state of repair it seems to be in, this might not be a very good thing for either of you. 

***

After learning even what little she has and seeing even what little she's seen of the tower thus far, Tara is reluctant to relax, even here. The garden that spreads out before her looks lush, beautiful, and peaceful. But there's danger here, and strangeness. She only needs to run her hand along her collar to know that.

But, even so, Tara finds herself wandering out into the garden, drinking in the quiet and letting the scent of flowers soothe her shattered nerves just a bit. She'll stay here, for just a while, wandering the meadow. Every so often, she'll stoop, pick a flower, and weave it into a growing daisy chain she seems to be crafting. But at the slightest sound, the slightest hint of another presence, she goes tense, gaze darting about for signs of danger. If you've just entered the garden, you'll likely feel Tara staring fixedly at you, a half finished daisy chain hanging in her hands, wondering if you're a threat and what she should do if you are.

***

Anyone coming up on the steps leading up on floor twenty two or the steps leading down on floor twenty four are liable to suddenly run into Tara coming the other way. She hurries either up or down the steps with a rather lost expression on her face, to immediately be replaced by one of surprise as she nearly runs into anyone. "O-Oh, my god, I'm so sorry..."

But then, with a frown, she stares up back the way she'd come with an expression of determination. "Not again..."

She turns, as though to start off on the stairs again.

***

Tara is dismayed to find that the staircase seems to simply end, here in the cafeteria. And, after all the walking she's done and the fright she's endured to get down this far, she absolutely refuses to accept it.

So she begins to search. Tara is growing increasingly aware that she's trapped, but refuses to accept it with her last threads of stubbornness. Attempting not to catch the eye of the other people here, Tara begins to pace the perimeter of the room, running her hands along the walls, searching for hidden catches or secret doors. Finding nothing, she examines the floor, seeking signs of trap doors. Finally, in a state of agitation and the in the center of the floor, Tara gives a frustrated growl and stamps her foot. She says a word in Latin that would, under ordinary circumstances, unlock any locked door within her range. But nothing happens, and she knows it, and finally Tara slumps to her knees in defeat. Her stomach feels impossibly empty. Maybe the people who run this madhouse will at least have the decency to feed her.

beknightedheroine: (whuh???)

backtag to the top of the staircase ~because~

[personal profile] beknightedheroine 2012-05-20 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
It's the magic use that pings Sayaka - she's grown well accustomed to the amount of magic users pervading the tower, but it's hard not to look when she can clearly pick up that someone's using it. When she finds Tara obviously injured as she is, Sayaka pales and approaches at a quick pace.

"Hey, lady..!"
beknightedheroine: (what really)

[personal profile] beknightedheroine 2012-05-20 10:28 pm (UTC)(link)
Sayaka comes to a imbalanced stop at edge of a step, catching herself on a wall. "Uh," she pauses, as this is the first time she's ever seen anyone else's healing magic at work, and it's fascinating but seems surprisingly subpar to her own heal factor, wow. She can.. sort of see it slowly working..?

"Something got you, right? ..Did you get it back?"
beknightedheroine: (battle ready)

[personal profile] beknightedheroine 2012-05-20 10:40 pm (UTC)(link)
"A troll..?" ..had one of the alien dudes went crazy again? Sayaka thought it might have just been a monster encounter, but if it was a troll, that could be another tower resident that's gone bloodthirsty.. and would go looking for other people to hurt.

Forcing a look of confidence, Sayaka summons a sword from nowhere, and shoulders it. "..leave it to me! I'll make sure they can't claw up anybody else."

..keep in mind this is what looks to be a 13-year-old saying this.
beknightedheroine: (what really)

[personal profile] beknightedheroine 2012-05-20 10:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"..we-ell... it kinda, is? But I'm a Puella Magi, too, so it's my job to protect people when stuff like this happens!" Witches, familiars, horrible tower monsters, rampaging trolls... she might as well make a business card.
beknightedheroine: (ellipsis)

[personal profile] beknightedheroine 2012-05-20 10:56 pm (UTC)(link)
"A-ahah.."

Oh god that stings a lot, though Tara has no way of knowing why. Sayaka's excitement dims considerably, and her nervous, faltering laugh is a poor stall while she recovers. Technically, she has the potential to be a.. lot like a Witch.

"We're talking a spellcasting, wears a pointy hat witch here, right..? I guess I'm a lot like one. I mean, I have magic! If you don't know about Puella Magi, though, it's probably a lot different than yours."
beknightedheroine: (swoosh woosh shazam~!)

[personal profile] beknightedheroine 2012-05-20 11:24 pm (UTC)(link)
"..eheh, yeah, I figured real witches wouldn't," and that's the tamest wording she can use for that.

Sayaka gathers up a handful of her lost fervor, though, pushing away the distinction of Witches and witches and brooms or what have you. "Well - you keep up the healy thing, but could you point me in the direction of that rampaging troll? I've got the business ends of a few dozen swords to introduce them to."
beknightedheroine: (henshin alt)

[personal profile] beknightedheroine 2012-05-20 11:43 pm (UTC)(link)
"Alright. Couple floors.. I'll have to do a fast sweep before anyone else gets involved."

Sayaka turns meaningfully to glare down the stairs, and takes a step or so back - a blue glow gradually gathering at the soles of her boots as she does.

Then - dash! - in a bright blur too fast for someone to ever naturally go, she takes off.