towerofanimus | 01 - There Are No Words

Characters: Kain Highwind and you
Setting: The dorms (Room 4-18), the workshop (Floor 15), and higher still (Floor 36)
Format: Prose to start, will follow whichever you prefer.
Summary: Kain awakens, and takes it upon himself to explore the tower.
Warnings: None

The moment that Kain was free from the sleep paralysis, he threw his covers aside and sprang from the bed. This wasn't where he had fallen asleep. This wasn't Mount Ordeals. He began to pat himself down, bewildered that his clothes were gone and replaced, and only halted when his hand found the collar around his neck. "What the..." He gave it a light tug. Then another. Then a much harder one, to absolutely no result other than some discomfort. Alright. Alright, never mind that, then. There was no use picking at something that produced no results when there other things to explore and examine. Like the locker at the foot of the bed he had just bounded from.

He knelt before it, found the latch, flipped it open, and immediately cried out in shock and disappointment. There was his Holy Lance... and it was shattered. Broken into pieces, and wedged awkwardly in the locker on the diagonal. At a loss for words and heedless, for the moment, of anyone in the room or out in the hall, he pulled the upper piece free and stared, jaw-slack. Anger and resolve would come shortly. But for now, dismay and disappointment gripped him.

-

There had been a handful of explanations and a bowlful of oatmeal, and then Kain was left to his own devices. And that was fine by him. If nothing was harassing him and there were no demands on his time, he'd explore. He'd test the limits of this place, and he'd find a way out, certainly.

Although having it out with a warren of excessively vicious rabbits on the forest floor made him rue not having a weapon. He had immediately determined that he would find something to fight with... and how fortunate that, not long later, he had come across a workshop. He didn't know enough about blacksmithing to possibly make repairs to his own spear. It was a relic. It was special. Someone with actual skill and talent ought to attempt such a thing. But surely he could fashion himself something acceptably functional. There were lengths of wood, there was metal that he could bring to a sharp edge and mount on the end... yes, that'd do for now. If you're passing through or if you're here to do a bit of work of your own, you'll find the dragoon busy at work sawing and sanding wood, or shaping and sharpening metal.

-

Kain's exploration of the tower had, thus far, been nothing that he couldn't handle. What few monsters he had encountered proved to be little issue, now that he had something to fight them with. Perhaps his improvised spear wasn't the best, but skill could compensate for equipment quality. And so he had slain the occasional strange creature, vaulted over the walls of a garden maze, wandered past rooms of unfamiliar objects and equipment, and resisted ill compulsions and urges all the way to the... what floor was this? He had lost count. It was over thirty floors that he had crossed, at least. Perhaps forty? No, surely not that many.

Whatever the case and whatever the height, the staircase up this far was crumbled and even missing in places. Not that it would be a problem for him. A few deft jumps and he'd be well on to the next floor. With a faint huff of amusement he crouched, recoiled, and sprang into a leap that he was sure would clear at least two sections of gapped stairway.

"Aaa-aaaah!" He had misjudged greatly, for suddenly his ability to leap and jump and soar had failed him. He had barely gotten enough distance to clear that first missing set of steps, and even then he only landed on the crumbling edge of the next solid bit of ground. His left foot lost it's grip, then his right failed to find any solid purchase, and then he was falling.

Kain's quick reflexes served him well. Out spun the wooden spear he had carved for himself, and it caught on both sides of the gap that he had slipped between. It also bent alarmingly far, but for the moment, it was holding. And Kain was holding, too, one-handed, legs kicking, head swimming with shock. This couldn't happen. This shouldn't happen. He knew the skies, he could leap like no other, but then...

"...damn!" The wooden spear gave a sharp crack, and it brought his thoughts back into focus. He could lament his apparent loss later. For now, he'd have to get back on solid ground, or there would be no time left to lament anything.

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There are a few moments between April noticing him and clearing the distance between them, and in that time Kain has managed to get a grip on himself. The why of this could come later. First, he had to not fall. He had tensed, and begun a swing that he hoped would take him to the other side of a gap, when he heard a woman calling out to him.

His head turns, he shoots her a sharp and assessing glance, and then he completes that swing and grabs for her hand. He's tall and lean, and he's got some momentum behind him. With her assistance, he can get one foot solidly planted on the stone stairs. "Almost....!" Although he's not quite steady, not quite safe from a painful bit of plummeting...

Which is why she keeps a tight grip on his hand and pulls, so he can get a more steady footing on the stairs. Luckily she's managed to get a solid standing on it herself, even as she takes a step back so that she can get more leverage to pull him up.

Of course, she inwardly panics when she can hear something crumbling faintly, but right now she had to focus on pulling him up and away from plummeting.

That pull was enough to put him on solid ground, though his weight does go forward a bit more than he'd have liked. When he speaks, he's somewhat breathless. "You have my thanks. I..."

...did he hear crumbling? No, he felt it. He could feel the subtle shift of stone beneath his feet, and it didn't bode well. He shot the woman a sharp glance. "We move!" And with that declaration he bolted up what remained of the stairs. If she had been clever enough to spot him and strong enough to pull him up, then surely she wouldn't be far behind.

When he bolted up the stairs, April followed right behind him, not wanting to hang around on the stairs as they crumble. She only stops when they get to the solid floor inside the tower, and she takes a moment to catch her breath before looking over at the man. "Y-you okay?"

With solid ground beneath his feet, Kain feels far more at ease. Since neither of them seem likely to plummet to their doom anytime soon, actual talk is in order. He nods to April, takes a breath, and casts a quick glance backwards. "Fine. I can't say the same for my spear, but that's far more easily replaced than my life. It was fortunate that you came along."

Then he hesitated. Safe and sound on solid ground, he had time to wonder about what had happened to put him in such a precarious position. He looked back at April, began to speak, then glanced back again at the way they had come.

"...I should have vaulted that gap with ease. That and the next one."

He sounded unsettled.

April gives him a nod back, sighing in relief. She's more jittery than what she would like to admit, but she's glad that they're away from any sort of danger for now. His hesitation does get a curious look, which turns a bit more somber at what he says, and she nods again in understanding.

"... There are floors in this tower where powers and stuff like that won't work. This is one of them." She sounds a bit annoyed as she says that; she never liked losing her powers, even if only if it's on certain floors.

Kain makes a sound of surprise upon hearing her explanation. "Sealing magic, then. And only on certain floors? I had no troubles further down."

He stepped further into the empty floor, spinning the cracked spear end over end in his one hand, tense and uneasy. At least it was still in one piece, though he didn't care to try attacking anything with it. "This place is strange. And disorienting. Do you know how much higher it goes?"

"I'm not sure what it is, exactly. Though how much further down? Cause from this floor to about five floors below, powers won't work. And there's another floor further down where powers won't work either."

She shifts on her feet and buries her hands into her way-too-large trenchcoat pockets. Despite the strength she showed earlier, she is rather, well, small, and her large trenchcoat doesn't help with that.

"Hmm... I think the highest floor is floor 48, where the graveyard is. Right now we're on... floor 36, I think."

"I'm certain I was more than five floors down. And the last few floors were relatively uneventful. That would explain it, then."

Another spin of his spear, then another, then he seems to catch himself in his anxious motion and plants the butt upon the ground. Enough of that. He focuses on April instead. So far, she's been trustworthy enough. Will that hold?

"Another twelve to the top, then. And after that? What then?"

There had to be something. There had to be a way out. An answer. Anything.

"It's..."

April pauses in her answer, trying to think if she had any information about that, before she shakes her head and sheepishly looks down at the floor.

"... No clue. There may be even more floors, or the roof, or something... And even if it was the roof after that floor, we can't exactly leave through that way. The fog outside is a barrier that will shred anything that goes through it."

Edited 2013-01-28 08:09 (UTC)

No clue? But the news of the fog was an answer of a sort. An answer that he hadn't wanted to hear. For he had already been considering the possibility of flight as a means of escape... His own gaze lowered, and he hissed through clenched teeth.

"So we are well and truly trapped? I can't accept that. Any of this." His head then lifted suddenly and fixed his gaze upon April. "Should I? And do you? And who... who are you?" The moment is getting to him. The shock is finally wearing off and the gravity of the situation is finally starting to settle upon him. He's scared, and it's beginning to manifest as a defensively raised voice and tension in his stance.

"No, you shouldn't, and I don't. A way out of this tower will be found." Her voice is firm as she says this; she fully believes that they will be able to escape, even if it takes some time. "And I'm April. I'm also someone who got brought here."

Now there's an answer that he actually likes. It holds the promise of hope. Of resistance. In spite of himself, he smiles. "Then I won't, either."

And perhaps he ought to introduce himself, as well? "I am Kain Highwind. And I awoke here this morning. You seem to know much... I take it you've been here considerably longer, April?"

And his smile is enough to prompt a small smile from her, before she gives him a nod. "Nice to meet you, Kain, despite the circumstances. And yeah, I've been here for about..."

April trails off for a moment as she thinks, trying to remember the months that have passed. She had never kept track of dates before the tower, so she was bad at remembering this. "... I think it's been around five or six months, now."

"...I see." The answer seems to surprise him. He had hoped the length of time would not be so long... but he had also feared that it would be much longer.

"Perhaps this isn't the best place to chat. I've already fought things on my way up, and my spear won't last another battle. Where would be the best place to go from here?"

April thinks for a few moments. "Hmm... Floor forty five is the best bet. It's a floor with large windows and while there are sometimes creatures crawling along the windows, they are unable to get in. So it's safe, but creepy."

01 - There Are No Words

Floor 36

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