MISSION 2.A

[adsum]

Participants: Shin, Sidney, Hajun, Atsushi
Location: Fourth Floor
Date: 08/08 - 08/14

(ooc notes: I will state any possible content warnings in the subject line of the mod response when it comes up. If anything makes you uncomfortable, please tell me so I can back off and refocus the thread.

There will be no tag order, and a mod response will come after at least 4 player responses 3 player responses OR the next day, whichever is earlier. Please note this means that if you're absent for a day or more, the thread will move on, but I will pace things so that people aren't missing large plot beats.)

Comments

ya amitys tired af

[wolfetracks]

If he's hurt...

( if something can do this to a little girl and go unnoticed in 30 minutes, what could happen to another person while everyone else is distracted? after the things he's seen at the manor and in yogen, he could believe it. he just hopes he's wrong--

--and then atsushi bolts, past his grip before he can stop him. )

Hey!

cw: death, gore

[adsum]

[ No, Hajun has the right idea of hanging back and arming himself, because he's the one who gets to see clearly the moment Atsushi passes by the kitchen: something large and black meets Atsushi head-on, a jaw clamping down over half of Atsushi's head and crushing the skull like a walnut, one eye left staring while a jaw snaps his arm into three pieces, a jaw and another taking opposite sides of his torso and tearing his ribs apart, jaws that pull organs out of the body, ripping them open, blood and bile thick in the air, jaws that devour, jaws that howl, jaws with gleaming teeth bared at the arrival of new prey.

Hello. Meet the Big Bad Wolf. ]

[notsosou]

[THAT'S SURE NOT ONE PERSON. THAT'S NOT EVEN ONE WOLF.]

[Shin is silent. He was silent when someone was decapitated in front of him, when two people bled to death in front of him, and he's silent now, a glaze to his teal eyes. The buzz of his thoughts has flattened to dead air.

He takes one slow step back.]

[wolfetracks]

( unfortunately, sidney is rather used to monsters- though this is a bit above his paygrade, he'll admit. but there's an axe still, unfortunately stuck in a child and he hates that it feels necessary to disturb her further, but sidney is going to grab that axe regardless of what the hunter may want or do, because it's the best bet he's got and he's not sticking an axe in shin's programmer arms.

but that- why was there a weapon left behind, then? if the beast is like this, why- no. later, if at all. right now, survival.

seeing the look on shin's face, sidney steps in front of him slightly. )

[rhymed]

[ Hajun peers up when he overhears the sound of footsteps rushing past the kitchen. His heart stops, eyes growing wide as he watches the giant black blur chase after Atsushi and tear into him; full of spit and teeth, clenching muscle in it's maw and pulling on it relentlessly. Tearing into his stomach, white -- what he assumes to be bones -- poking out from mounds of flesh that has his stomach twisting with disgust.

That pot that man had his food in? His vomiting into it, unable to bear witnessing a death so gruesome. Knees shaking, he ducks behind the kitchen counter -- fuck, he's gotta do something... but he also can't think?

The fridge... maybe he can distract the dog with something in the fridge. Where's the beef -- ]

[adsum]

[ There are packages wrapped in wax paper bearing the words "rabbit" or "deer" inside the fridge, as cows are not native to forests, but there's meat if Hajun wants to tempt the wolf closer to him. Each of its many heads takes turns biting at what's left of Atsushi, sometimes pulling towards Hajun, sometimes towards Sidney and Shin, towards the hunter behind them who raises his rifle and fires a bullet through one of the wolf's many eyes. The other eye, the heart, he fires as fast as he can reload, shouting over the blasts: ]

Fight with me if you can! Run away if you cannot!

[ Otherwise, they would accomplish nothing more than getting in the way, with the wolf snarling and shaking off the gunshots, snapping Atsushi's jaw and scattering bone and teeth as it steps forward and makes a lunge for Sidney who is the closest. ]

[notsosou]

[Shin blinks and glances up as Sidney steps in front of him, expression unreadable. There's gunshots, a shout...

What's that saying? You don't need to run fast, just faster than the slowest person? He feels familiar bile even thinking it, but there's nothing keeping him here... everyone else is far more capable of fighting anyway... Except, where did that axe come from?

He's darting backwards, behind the gunman and out of the line of fire. This already worked once before, although there's so many eyes. He takes out a laser pointer, not caring about the colour, and attempts to shine it in the wolf's eyes through all of the motion going on. He's frantically trying to think. ]

Bullets aren't working on this thing... we need something else!

[Is there a fire going anywhere in the house?]

[wolfetracks]

( as it lunges, sidney brings the axe down as hard as he can before jumping out of the way. it's been too long since he's moved like this- he's tried to keep in shape since quitting his old job, but it's not the same thing. especially after months in this hell, where the best they have is standard classroom equipment.

but if this thing is shaking off bullets- where did the beast even come from? )

[adsum]

[ There is a fire burning down in the hearth, no longer blazing but the embers are more than enough to light anew with anything that can catch: a thin red jacket hangs by the door where Shin stands, a fire poker and a box of firestarter beside the fireplace, his own scarf... whatever it takes to bring down a wolf who spits bullets out like broken teeth, taking an axe to the neck but not deep enough to sever as Sidney is forced to pull away before the adjacent head swallows his hands.

The hunter stays back, putting distance between himself and the monster, positioning himself the opposite of wherever Sidney moves to maintain a clear line of fire, a step back, another—- there's a crunch underneath his feet and he looks down, paling at the sight of that little hand under his heel.

The brief moment of weakness is all the wolfs needs to lunge, a blur of black moving past Sidney like shadow as it collides into the hunter's side, crushing his neck and pulling away his head— some of the spine— away from the rest of the body that falls limp, rifle clattering to his feet and showered with blood. ]

[rhymed]

[ Fuck.

Hajun finally moves out of the kitchen, rushing over to the remainder while carrying a knife and package of deer. Stepping in just in time to watch as the monster comes to tear into the throat of the hunter; eyes wide and distraught as he watches it pull out a spine.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. ]

How the hell... are we supposed to kill that? [ He looks to Sidney, as if silently requesting guidance as the three-headed beast devours their best bet of actually killing it. ]

[notsosou]

[It just Keeps Happening. Shin at least has the advantage of having come up with a sort-of plan beforehand, because autopilot execution is a lot easier than trying to think of one through the soup of fear and horror. He drops the pointer as he backs further away; it bounces and rolls.

The last opportunity to run right here just shut it's door. Maybe he made the wrong decision; it's a bit late to do anything about it now. It's a weird thing to have thought twice.

He grabs a long piece of firewood and sticks it into the hearth, mentally begging it to catch in time to bring it up between him and the creature.]

Useless...

this is sidneys axe now

[wolfetracks]

In my experience, sometimes escaping is the more reasonable goal. But it needs to not be able to give chase-

( would the mirror work? do they risk cornering themselves between a possible one-way portal and whatever they want to call the beast? if they can get it back further, they get a gun, which sounds nice- but that just means having to engage it more.

sidney's going to try to keep his distance, but the axe did more than the bullets seemed to... while the wolf's distracted, he's going to swing it at a hindleg in hopes of crippling it. )

[adsum]

[ It takes a moment for the wood to catch, but the axe to the hindleg sends the wolf howling, one of its mouths snapping at Sidney while another turns towards Hajun when he comes close enough for it to smell the meat and pulls the opposite direction, leaving the wolf stuck in place. A third head hears Shin and seems to snarl and bare its teeth at him without coming any closer. ]

[rhymed]

[ When one of the heads turns it's ferocious attention towards Hajun he immediately feels the wall against his back; finding no comfort in knowing that any attempts of running would mean going back the way he came. And apparently there's a body somewhere down that hallway -- and, from what they know, could be a murderer.

Unless this is their only threat.

Though he does notice something odd about the creature. Or, perhaps not. Perhaps it's predictable for it to act like this: ] Can it only focus on one target? [ He asks, the knife in his hand shaking as he holds the wrapped deer meat. Maybe, maybe.

Hajun looks to the wall, inches closer to a window. ] Strike it again, or keep it distracted -- if each head focuses on each of us then it might just confuse itself.

[ God he's really just hoping for it to be that simple. ]

[adsum]

[ It... is and it isn't, as Hajun will see with a little more time, the wolf's too many heads trying to focus on multiple targets spread out. But even if its focus is split, that doesn't mean it's split equally: like it did with the child, like it did with the distracted hunter, the wolf is compelled strongest to go after the weakest thing it sees. And this is Shin, holding fire that may burn and singe its fur, but cannot cut through its throats or stab through its heart like the weapons Hajun and Sidney hold. ]

[notsosou]

...Confusing it's only gonna buy time!

[Shin knows he's the weakest link. He's going to do what he does, if not best, then habitually: try to seem otherwise. He takes out the kitchen knife from his other pocket, brandishing it in full view and desperately hoping the additional deterrent works. He is not taking his eyes off this thing.]

I-if we can just get it out... we can lock the door! Throw it!

[Their control over it's movement is... dangerously tenuous, but attacking it directly is also dangerous. It's an option, and the door is, presumably, still open from when the gunman barged in. He doesn't know what exactly is in the wax wrappings Hajun has but at least some of the wolf seems to want it.]

[wolfetracks]

( a wrapped package from the kitchen- fresh meat. they're both right. )

Right- get it out. I'm watching it.

( all three of them are armed, and hajun has a potential distraction- a way to get the beast out in a brief interlude, buy them time to get back to the mirror or find another in a different room, their best way out. so sidney is still there, primed to bring the axe down with all his weight- but only if it moves for any of them. if it moves for anything but the door, he's swinging. )

[adsum]

[ Three of the heads are trained on each of them, but the others... dip down and start eating the hunter's remains. It's not just a mindless killer; it's a hunter, and you are food. ]

[rhymed]

[ The panic in Shin's voice, the calm of Sidney's; it's a tug-of-war at Hajun's heart as he bites his lip in an attempt not to snap back. He's just as anxious and even more so when the beast begins to eat away at the hunter's corpse. Fresh blood, he wonders if the deer meat will even be enough to coax it.

But Hajun takes this opportunity to unwrap the meat, exposing it in full and staring at the monster -- waiting for it's attention before he draws his arm back and throws it out the door. Y'all are actually lucky that he canonly works out apparently and doesn't smack a wall or something... praise him later and a whole lot, too. ]

[adsum]

[ Praise Hajun a whole lot because a wolf is no more than a dog regardless of the number of heads, and while stalking and hunting is in its blood, so is the compulsion to chase after moving prey, four legs pounding on the ground as the wolf rushes through the hallway after the hunk of meat, a blur too quick— almost like shadow— for Sidney to bring his axe down. One of its mouth is still tightly clamped over the hunter's thigh and drags him along too, dislocating a shoulder that smashes into the doorframe they pass, splattering in blood anew as the wolf steps on the remains of the girl and smears her across the threshold and out the door.

It's going to swallow this chunk of meat in 0.2 seconds so now is a good time for a follow-up plan. ]

[notsosou]

[Who's going to bell the (very very fast) cat shut the door.

There's only one option, really, Shin's the closest to it, and it was his idea. He hates this. He hates everything about this. There's not going to be a better opportunity.

He hurries over as fast as every single yelling muscle in his body will allow and tosses the makeshift torch out the door after the wolf (it doesn't go far, but he just needs a hand free) before quickly trying to close and lock it. He's not strong and already exhausted and there's bits of person in the way that is making it harder and slower, though the time dilation of fear is distorting everything, and he pockets the knife to use both shaking arms and his shoulder against it.

The wide eye visible from his turned head with iris fixed on the others has the desperate unfocused look of an animal caught in a trap.]

I c-can't-

[wolfetracks]

( sidney runs over to help close the door, because let's be honest he was already doing that and shin just beat him to it. once it's closed, he wants to breathe out but- well. they're not out of the woods yet- )

We need to check the other rooms for mirrors. That's our best way out at the moment.

( and then, somewhat softer- )

You're both doing great. We're going to get out of here.

( after all, they all have people waiting for them, back at the school and back home. and both are equally important, aren't they?

but for now, he's listening for any sign of the wolf approaching the door again- maybe the discarded torch will deter it. maybe the grass in front of the door will catch alight and deter it further. maybe he gets to break in the axe a little bit more. )

[notsosou]

R-right. Yeah.

[There's nothing they can do here except get out. His legs feel like jelly and there's dark spots already ominously appearing in the corners of his vision and it shows in the slightly-absent way he's pawing at the door lock. What's keeping him upright is, like Sidney, being very aware of the not-out-of-the-woodsness. Also, being able to lean against the door, which is part of why he's not immediately moving from it. Give him a hot second.

You're both doing great. The part of him leaning into the praise like cool water gets it's hand slapped down by the part of him that resents and is suspicious of it and both are very very tired. He's heard confident assurances like that before... for the first time it occurs to him people who say that sort of thing might actually believe it. He presses his ear against the door, not looking at Sidney.]

What's it doing now...

[adsum]

[ There's no thump against the door, no sign of it trying to barge back in. They can hear crunching, chewing, light growls and yelps that may be the heads fighting for what scraps are left. It doesn't take long for it to finish.

The sound of dragging footsteps through parting grass, along the side of the cabin rather than away from it.

The sound of shattering glass. A heavy thump from inside the halls. ]

[rhymed]

[ He feels like he can breathe again once the beast disappears outside the door. It's all that's blocking them from an obvious enemy, and while he should feel some relief there's nothing but panic still coursing through his veins. One hand gripping the knife he found earlier in the kitchen, so tight that his knuckles go white. ]

Barricade it.

[ It's... definitely more of a demand than it is a request. There has to be something they can at least push in front of the door that would give them a second's worth of recovery if the monster decides to attack again.

He doesn't wish for praise, all he wants is to leave, and in silence he's already finding his footing again and trying to search for a mirror within the house. He thinks of the shard inside his pocket, wonders if it will be of any use to them, and just as he's making for the parent's room does he hear the sound of shattering glass.

Uh oh, sisters? ]