For Thine Is; Part One

[animusmods]

Characters: anyone outside of the Tower
Setting: outside
Format: any
Summary: You have been transported out of the Tower, and you must return quickly.
Warnings: psychological horror

It's pitch black here, though the ground is made of dirt and the Tower gleaming in the distance provides at least a sign that light exists somewhere. It's completely silent. It feels as if things might jump out at you--but that's probably your imagination.

Comments

[bowandblade]

[In the darkness, with only the far off tower providing some small amount of light, it should come as no surprise that it would fairly easy to run into someone else.

And that is exactly what Archer proceeds to do, his taller wireframe body colliding with Assassin's as he attempts to regain his bearings. His hands grope around to judge just how tall the person is who he has ran into -- too tall to be Shinji, unfortunately.]

Who is this?

[glassceiling]

[Assassin lets out a gasp as Archer collides with her.]

...I am Assassin.

[She frowns at the somewhat familiar voice.]

...Archer?

[bowandblade]

[He huffs under the cover of the near-complete blackness, his displeasure evident in his voice.]

Ah, you. I nearly tripped over you.

[An exaggeration considering she wasn't that short, but there's no sign of apology in his voice.]

[glassceiling]

...Please be more careful next time. You might injure yourself tripping over things you have not noticed.

[There's is a certain dryness to her tone, but no outright hostility.]

Are you uninjured?

[bowandblade]

[He takes a moment to pat at his arms and sides, as if reconfirming that there was nothing out of place, before answering.]

No wounds that I can detect. But there is something off.

[Or multiple somethings. If the tower felt wrong in its artificiality, the new surroundings felt wrong in their ... nothingness.]

[glassceiling]

Yes, I can feel that too.

[Since she has her real powers, Assassin's body feels bloated, as if she'll explode if she doesn't make it back to the Tower.]

I wonder if anyone else does...

[bowandblade]

[He's already turning slightly to face the tower, taking a few steps towards it.]

Such things can be asked on the way back. The journey back to the tower will be long without powers.

[And especially with the ominous silence generated by the world's stillness.]

[glassceiling]

At least right now, there seem to be no dangers that we must fight. Otherwise, it might take even longer.

[Assassin doesn't hesitate to start walking either.]

[bowandblade]

[Archer briefly shifts his attention away from the light, staring into the dark before continuing to walk towards the tower.]

What possible dangers could there be on a supposedly dead world?

[glassceiling]

[Assassin hesitates before answering.]

...I do not know. But I would still suggest caution.

[bowandblade]

[He scoffs, though his thoughts are already settling into a stormy sense of dread.]

To the tower, then.

[glassceiling]

Make sure not to separate from the main group. It would delay us because then we would have to find you.

[bowandblade]

Have to? You are hardly responsible for what I do, girl.

[glassceiling]

No, but we all must make it back to the Tower. It would be safer in a group.

[bowandblade]

There is not even a guarantee we will be able to reenter the tower once we approach the base. We were removed from the tower for a reason.

[glassceiling]

Zo removed us the only way he knew how. Perhaps if we are at the Tower's base, we could contact him again and persuade him to bring us back in. Or we could...have Riki open the doors for us.

[bowandblade]

[He snorts at the idea of depending on Riki for their survival.]

Breaking back into the tower may prove to be necessary.

[glassceiling]

[Meanwhile. Assassin isn't quite skeptical of Riki. Yet.]

Would we be able to do it with our bare hands?

[bowandblade]

Doubtful. But surely there is something at the base of the tower that can be used as leverage.

[He finds himself muttering the same rhyme that had become stuck in his head in that ruined carnival.]

There was a tower on a hill,
There was a Tower called Animus,
Tower people do what they will,
And they steal children from the rest of us.

[glassceiling]

...That was the rhyme for the carnival, was it not? I cannot see a hill, though.

[bowandblade]

There are likely things that we cannot see in the dark. If nothing else, there must be some place near the tower that the "Tower people" were stealing the children from.

[So it stood to reason that they would run into that place as they walked closer to the tower.]

[glassceiling]

And we might come across that place while making our way back. If it is true that this is a dead world, then...

[She wonders what sort of carnage they'll be able to make out. Perhaps it is better that they have no light.]

[bowandblade]

Indeed. Town ruins, city ruins. Maybe we will even see something that explains the Tower's origins.

[glassceiling]

And perhaps even something to fight against Ruana with.

[She perks up a little at the thought of that.]

[bowandblade]

Precisely! Something to look forward to at the end of this walk.