Hellhounds and the beginnings of malnourishment, oh my.

[warriorscribe]

Characters: Enoch and anyone
Setting: Morning, dormitory floors (with a start in 3-18, roomies can talk to him there if they want!)
Format: I'm starting with prose but I'll match you
Summary: After a week of, frankly, sub-par survivalism, Enoch has a dream that gets him to get his ass in gear - and then he gets attacked by hellhounds.
Warnings: Um. None yet, but there are hellhounds here so possibly violence.


Room 3-18

"Enoch. Enoch, what are you doing?"

Somehow, Lucifel was sitting on the edge of the bed. Enoch tried to reach out to his guardian, relieved, but he seemed to have fallen victim to a bout of sleep paralysis.

"Whatever happened to 'The Earth can sustain me'? It worked for a couple years, didn't it? You're not looking hard enough, your mind's back in Meridian while your body starves. C'mon, Enoch. You're God's chosen one, aren't you? Don't let Him down."

Enoch opened his eyes as he reached out, his hand closing on empty space. He blinked at the ceiling of the darkened room, eyes wide. It had been a dream.

He raised a hand to his head as he stood and summoned his armor. Though he hoped it was a vision and not merely a dream, either way he knew it was true. He'd been lost in despair, he hadn't had the motivation to explore, to properly learn about his surroundings. He'd been putting in the bare minimum for this first week.

Well. He had to live. Besides, if they were rescuing people, surely someone else from Meridian was bound to show up anyway. Time could be weird, he'd learned that much in that city. And maybe, just maybe, it meant that people rescued at the same time in Meridian could show up at different times in the tower - if Meridian was truly gone. If he was captured, he knew it meant Armaros was doing everything in his power to save him.

So he had to keep living, no matter what.

Dorm Hallways

He intended to go as far down as he could starting from the top, but the smell and wafting curls of smoke coming from around the corner brought him up short.

When a dog made of fire charged up the stairwell, Enoch thought to jump over it and attack - but his Arch went right through the flames as if they were...well, flames rather than something that could be cut.

He cried out in pain as the hellhound retaliated, leaping at him with its fiery claws. A sound like shattering porcelain echoed in the hallways as the left side of his neck guard and a portion of the armor covering his chest on that side broke free. His armor may have protected his skin, but he felt the burn of the flames all the same. He heard another one approach him from behind, and he leapt over it, hitting the ground running in the other direction. Two more followed, and in a split second he realized he couldn't jump over them both.

His eyes flicked to the wall at his side and he leapt up, jumping off the air sideways to hit the wall, hoping with every fiber of his being that it counted as solid ground...

He leapt off the air again - it did! - and hit the opposite wall. This is how someone may find him - leaping from wall to wall as a pack of four hellhounds jumps along, trying to catch him. Or maybe you're running from hellhounds too - despite his predicament he'll help anyone else in danger.

Comments

[swordofzero]

These creatures... Suzaku saw the man and recognised him from their conversation a few days prior. He was coming this way and he was being chased. Suzaku paused, not willing to leave him alone with monsters. The creatures that were chasing him were made completely of flames and were fast. Suzaku didn't think he had any chance of fighting them.

He began to run as well.

[warriorscribe]

Enoch recognized the man he'd met before, and glanced down at the creatures following him. He didn't want to lead them into someone else - but turning around wouldn't do him any favors - he wouldn't be able to manage this wall-bouncing in stairwells, it wouldn't put him above the hellhounds the same way it would in a flat hallway.

He landed and started down the stairwells behind Suzaku, as quickly as his legs could carry him. He'd caught glimpses of monsters here and there as the sun began to set this past week, but none were so fierce.

The crack of thunder outside gave Enoch an idea. "It's raining now! If we can outrun them and make it outside..."

It meant running down to at least floor thirty-six, but if they could manage at least that...

[swordofzero]

Suzaku nodded, it was a good idea. Rain was sure to do something against dogs made of fire. "Can you make it?"

He didn't worry too much about himself, his Geass would keep him alive- he assumed it was still active though he knew it could be switched off here.

[warriorscribe]

"I can!" Enoch leapt off the stairs rather than run off them into the lounge, with an extra leap in midair to give himself some more distance. He rolled as he hit the ground to take the momentum and keep running, but his equilibrium wasn't quite working with him today; he stumbled as he came out of the roll, pushing himself off a chair to keep himself upright as he glanced back over his shoulder to ensure his acquaintance was following and keeping ahead of the hellhounds.

[swordofzero]

Suzaku was running, he couldn't jump like Enoch but he was fast and nimble and could avoid the hounds quite well. "Keep looking forward!" He continued running as he shouted. "Keep going."

[warriorscribe]

The next floor was one where he didn't dare leave the stairs - he didn't trust those noises in the dark, and he didn't trust the darkness itself, not illuminated even by the flames of their pursuers.

His armor vanished as he hit the floor below it, the tower nullifying the power binding it to him, and he ran towards the winding staircase around the tower's edge, coming to a halt and bracing himself against the side of the tower as he waited for Suzaku, backing away slowly and carefully on the rain-slick steps.

The hellhounds wouldn't venture too far into the rain. It wouldn't be long before they turned back.

[swordofzero]

Suzaku followed closely behind, he was used to strange rooms and dangerous noises but was cautious always. Except when he wasn't, but he had no reason to be reckless at the moment, if they ran fast enough they would both survive this unscathed.

He ran out into the rain, watching as the hounds slowly turned back. He hoped that no one else encountered them. "Are you injured?"

[warriorscribe]

Enoch gave a sigh, allowing himself to relax and slump against the tower's side.

"I'm fine. But I didn't intend to lead them to you..."

[swordofzero]

"Don't worry about it, no harm was done." He nodded, "Those dogs seem to have converged on the bedroom floors for some reason." It wasn't the first pack he had seen, though he had managed to avoid the others.

[warriorscribe]

After a moment, he straightened up again. "They must realize we will be weak from hunger...it's common for beasts to avoid hunting prey unless they're weakened."

[swordofzero]

"You're right," he nodded, "I wonder if there is some way to draw them out, to a floor that isn't so crowded."

He assumed the monsters had to eat too, if they relied on the forest on the sky island for hunting and yet couldn't be outside in the rain...

[cant_be_tamed]

[You know what's great? Bombs.

You know what's also great? Arrows! What's better than both of them?

Bomb arrows. Link only used them when he had to (he didn't know if he'd find another supply of explosives here, plus it destroyed the arrows he tended to re-use) so he's mainly been trying to avoid the damn beasts after discovering that his sword didn't work on them. So far, it worked, and he's only been attacking them in case of an emergency.

Like someone else being chased after them, for instance.

There are a couple of explosions below Enoch that stun the hell hounds and if he looks, he'll see a familiar face wearing green, calmly setting up another explosive projectile like it's just another day in the life.]

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch lands ahead of them as their bodies are disrupted by the explosions and dashes past Link.*

Thank you! Hurry, I think it's raining outside; that might slow them!

[cant_be_tamed]

[Well...that made enough sense to get him to follow Enoch, at the very least. He fires one last bomb arrow at the monsters before dashing after Enoch.]

You alright?

[warriorscribe]

*Well, other than the fact that he's missing a chunk of his armor, he seems to be in good physical shape.*

I'm fine, *is all he gets out, jumping off the staircase into the lounge. He hits the ground in a roll to take the momentum but his equilibrium isn't what it should be - he staggers a bit as he gets to his feet, wobbling his way into his regular run.*

[moontothetide]

Eventually, Enoch's flight will probably take him past one of the women's restrooms. Just as he makes it past the door, the door will "slam" open and a spray of water will shoot out to strike one of the pursuing hellhounds, delaying it for a few crucial seconds.

Tara will take this opportunity to race out the door and down the hall in the same direction as Enoch. The jet of water from a broken sink inside that's currently shooting across the hall will buy them a minute or so.

[warriorscribe]

Enoch looks back over his shoulder at the young woman that rushes out of the bathroom. The hellhounds stop at the barrier for the moment, stalling.

"Well thought!" he calls out, landing for the stairs and leaping from them to cut straight to the next staircase. The creatures' growling picks up behind them - they've jumped over the water jet. Thunder rumbles outside. Maybe the rain will deter them. They just have to get to floor thirty-six first...there's only one floor between them and the outside, and because of the monsters in the dark, Enoch can't take the jumping shortcut like before.

[moontothetide]

Tara is soon hot on Enoch's heels. A small jump, and she's taken to the air, hovering a few feet off the ground as she moves to give herself a slight buffer between her skin and the hellhounds blazing teeth. Her heart is racing. She hadn't entirely expected that to work. But the water will keep gushing for a while yet. At least it will keep the beasts contained, although it will keep them contained on the dormitory floors...

"W-We have to get them out of here."

[warriorscribe]

"It will be easier to think in safety!"

Jumping off the staircase on the next floor isn't a good idea - it's that one with the impenetrable darkness and the sounds within it: sounds that Enoch doesn't trust. But beyond it is the floor that opens up to the outside, and even though his armor will vanish, it's a short run to the stairs leading down around the outside, and to the rain.

He hasn't even realized his new companion is floating yet.

[moontothetide]

Tara stumbles and almost stops as they pass into the darkness. Oh god she knows this floor. She's never, never liked this floor, especially after her encounter on the twenty first floor, where that thing made all of shadows...

She reaches desperately for Enoch's hand, whimpering. Her feet touch down on the stairs, but she forces herself to move onwards. The howl of the hellhounds over their heads is the only thing that stops her from moving slower than a walk.

[warriorscribe]

When Enoch feels her hand brush against his and hears her whimper, he takes her hand, pulling her along down the spiral stairs and towards the rush of rain-cooled air from outside. The smell of rain grows stronger, and as the light from a lightning flash illuminates the end of the floor (though none of the floor itself), he looks back at Tara.

"How well can you land?"

He plans, of course, to jump the rest of the way down once it's safe, to get just that small bit of time ahead of their attackers.

[moontothetide]

"F-Fine!"

Especially if it's a long enough drop that she can orient herself to not land on her head. Tara is something like a cat, in that regard. And, even if she weren't, jumping seems like a safer fate still than letting the hellhounds overtake them.

[warriorscribe]

Then the sooner they're off this floor, the better. Still leading Tara by the hand, Enoch jumps from the staircase and runs for the rain outside.

[moontothetide]

Tara lets out a short scream that she muffles by virtue of pressing her free hand tightly over her mouth. But then they're on the ground, she's on her feet, she's following him out into the outside, and the rain, the glorious, wonderful rain, and they're safe, and Tara sinks to her knees and buries her face in her hands and tries to remember how to breathe normally.

The first words she forces out when she finally trusts her voice again are:

"...th-thank you."

Sorry for that horrendous reply. I was seriously blanking but didn't want to leave you hanging.

[warriorscribe]

The hellhounds try to follow them into the rain at first, but they don't get very far before they shrink back under cover of the tower's walls and slink to the staircase.

Carefully, his stability starting to fail him as the adrenaline dies, he lowers himself to his knees to get a better look at Tara, to make sure she isn't injured.

"Are you all right?"