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

shin: *is scared of a door with an ominous red light above it* also shin:

[notsosou]

[Oh no, the trust...]

R-right.

[Shin goes to check the windows, peering outside over the sill, his face buried in his scarf against the smoke. Nothing but ripped up grass. It's tricky... they could just be projecting an image... but then again nothing in this school is later than 90s tech... but maybe it's magic. If there's a lock on the door he's checking the keyhole.

It doesn't occur to him to be part of the introductions because he's going to test this without outside input in the background, trying to chip at the corner of one of the windows with the knife. The coast seems clear for the moment, so if the windows are real they could use some fresh air.]

[adsum]

[ The windows rattle when Shin tries to open it, but he would have no better luck than all of Haruka's efforts in trying to pry open the door, fingernail and knife both proving futile. He runs into the same lack of progress at the door, no lock or keyhole because the library has never been closed for as long as they remember, and should really have no logical non-magic-bullshit reason to be closed now.

They can't get out through the door, nor the windows, nor the walls if they're desperate enough to battering ram them down. ]

[wolfetracks]

I'm Sidney. And this is Hajun and Sou.

( hm... if the doors and windows won't open... )

Weren't there crawlspaces?

[adsum]

[ Thank you to the one person in this group with manners and who would humor a child ]

Crawlspaces...?

[notsosou]

[That basically confirms it. He spends a little more time peering out the windows like someone pressing an elevator button a second time, then turns his head and walks back over when someone mentions crawlspaces because hello, that's new, he didn't know about those.]

Nothing out there right now as far as I can see... Just a lot of ripped-up grass. [Not that that's much use with them sealed in.] Can we get to those from here?

[And... is Sidney even going to be able to use them, in his condition. It's a concern Shin's keeping private, but it's on his mind.]

[wolfetracks]

I'm not entirely sure where they are- but only the Student Council room seemed to be without them, if I recall correctly.

( where were they? ... if they were higher up, would he be able to get through them like this? it's entirely possible that he might need to take haruka's place in the library, until they can possibly get the door open from the other side.

shin's not the only one who's wondering if sidney will actually come out of this alive. )

[notsosou]

[That... explains why burning down the door was what Komaeda went with. And why the trap was set up there in the first place... how many people here know about these crawlspaces?

There's a pause where Shin looks down and away in the manner of someone thinking heavily and not liking the conclusions they're coming to.]

Haruka... you were trying to get out, right? Did you find anything like that?

[He's trying to pitch his tone gentle, but it's preoccupied. Either she didn't find it after days of desperation, or it was inaccessible to her for some reason. Difficult to say how that compares to someone missing an arm, but it's not the best sign.]

[adsum]

[ Haruka looks back and forth between the two, a little frown working its way onto her lips because it makes it sound like she should have found something like that. She tried so hard, even stacked up books so she can properly reach the windows, going through what felt like the entire library, top to bottom with the help of the moving ladder along the walls, but secret passages behind bookshelves seem to be only in fiction. ]

No... Nothing I could see or reach. I'm sorry.

[ Anything... maybe 4 feet and below they can discount. ]

[rhymed]

[ walks back into the thread with starbucks ]

If crawlspaces and hidden passages are out of the question, I can only assume that there is something inside the room that could aide us. But considering how long you've been here it's difficult where we should even begin searching that you haven't already cleared -- [ And it makes him visibly irritated, knitting his brows. ] We used the pond to get here, so perhaps there's another reflection that we could use?

[adsum]

The pond...?

[ what...

Haruka looks around the room in search for anything inside that's either reflective or may help in some other way. There's wooden tables and chairs, wooden bookshelves stuffed full of books, and a sliding ladder that goes along the walls so people can reach books on the higher shelves. A young as Haruka is, standing on the top of the ladder wouldn't allow her to reach the ceiling, but this would be possible for the others. ]

[wolfetracks]

You don't have to apologize, Haruka. You did as best you could. Let's see...

( sidney's going to force himself to stand, oh god this was a bad idea BUT IT'S TOO LATE NOW. fucking hell he hates everything today sucks everything sucks if he ever sees another wolf again he's going to be so pissed underneath the perpetual stoicism. carefully, he's going to start searching the higher walls as best as a newly-one armed man who's experienced a lot of blood loss and is just trying to stay standing can. he'd always assumed the crawlspaces would be too small for him, and now he regrets not looking into them more. )

[notsosou]

[Sidney attempting to stand actually gets Shin's eyes to widen and his palms to go up.]

Hey, w-wait-

[But there he is going up the ladder anyway, and Shin buries his hands back in scarf and pocket, returning to baseline pensive. He's pacing a little without really thinking about it, back and forth, looking up at the smoke-obscured ceiling and tugging at his beanie. Hajun has a point, magic got them in here somehow, but nothing so far has been rippling like the pond was... he picks the book back up from the floor, letting it fall open in his hand.]

If we could get back through here somehow... problem is we might just end up stuck somewhere else. [And while the library has no food or water, it also doesn't currently have a ravenous wolf inside. It'd be throwing the dice again.]

[adsum]

[ Haruka follows Shin's pacing with her eyes, huddling a little where she stands because, well. She doesn't really know what to do, has tried everything she could and is trusting Sidney and everybody here to take up the mantle. ]

I'd... rather be stuck somewhere else with everybody, than stay here alone. So... let's try. Please?

[wolfetracks]

( sidney leans against a wall, simply listening for a moment- to stay in an empty unfamiliarity where they wither away, or to go into the unknown with smoke and rot. but staying is certain death- one by one, little by little. if he's going to die, he'll have gone down swinging. )

... If it's above the shelves. We'll need a way to ensure we can all get up there. But we can't stay here. We won't last.

( he's searching, i swear, but it is a lot more labored than he may make it seem.

he's tired. )

[adsum]

[ Where is Clamor's broom when you need it ]

There's the ladder...

[ That's too big and heavy for her to move on her own, but with... Shin and Hajun, the ones not bleeding out all over the place, maybe they can do it.

Haruka sidles over to Sidney, close enough to talk but far enough to not be in the way. ]

Will you be okay? If we can get just one of us out, can't they unlock the door?

[ Presumably. If it were locked on the outside in the first place. But Sidney looks worse off than she does, she thinks to herself, because at least she has all her blood. ]

semi-gagtag tbh

[wolfetracks]

( he has a tourniquet!!! he's only just RECENTLY bled out all over the place! they! ...TRIED to stop the bleeding!! it's probably slowed down at the very least!!! )

*penguin voice* youuuu didn't see anything

[notsosou]

[Shin is kind of wishing he'd asked Nene more about magic as he quickly leafs through, trying to find a non-potentially-horrific fairytale (not easy). It's one thing to think of the possibility, it's another to know anything about what to do about it. It's going on the 'if I get out of here' pile. I was joking about the too-many-clubs thing and now look where we are. He glances at the ladder, closing and trapping the book under an arm and making his way over.]

Right! [Addressed to Haruka, with a smile that's a bit 'indulging a little kid' but he's trying. She's trusting them even if the reflexive thought is 'terrible idea'. She is right about only one of them needing to leave. Something in the back of his mind is grinning and he's pointedly ignoring it. He holds the book out to her one-handed.] Aha... here. You should hold onto this just in case.

[Even with some of his breath back he doesn't have much faith in his ability to move the empty, not-Sidney-occupied ladder, Hajun aside, and even in a sort-of life or death situation doesn't really want to be seen failing to. But, on the flip side, at a somewhat medically concerning 49kg Shin might be fairly moveable himself. He's a nimble if rusty climber, visibly puffing by the time he's perched at the top and with one hand keeping his scarf over his mouth and nose as he peers into the smoke.]

[rhymed]

[ It takes one look at Sidney for Hajun realizes he has some responsibility here. More so, he should be more demanding when it comes down to ensuring the older man doesn't kill himself from bleeding out so heavily: ] Sit, will you? The two of us can work on our own, but I doubt we'd be able to carry your body out here alive.

[ So... yeah, while Shin is climbing up the ladder Hajun is standing at the floor, holding onto the rotting wood. His fingers curl in, nails digging in slightly, before he cants his head to ask a damning question. ]

What do you see~?

[ He almost says it teasingly... like it's game... go ahead and beat his ass later idk. ]

[adsum]

[ Haruka takes the book in her arms, staring down at the cover. It's a familiar one, one that's kept her company for much of her time here that would have otherwise been spent waiting. ... She looks up at Shin expectantly. What does he see?

He sees ceiling tiles covered in soot, and if he pushes up against the ceiling he can find that some of them shift upwards into the crawlspace above. Shin and Haruka would be able to fit inside easily, Hajun possibly, Sidney...

... ]

[wolfetracks]

( hajun is... right, honestly, but he's at least pulling a chair over instead of sitting on the floor, because that was. bad. and uncomfortable. after a moment, though, he gestures to the axe laying beside the lump of wet black cloth that is definitely not hiding a wolf head. )

I can stay here for a bit. Take the axe for right now, and come around from the other side.

[notsosou]

[He glances down at Hajun with slight annoyance under a layer of put-on indifference (he'd lose that fight for sure) and then experimentally pushes up on the tile immediately above and it yields to reveal darkness, to his immense relief.]

There's a way out!

[He manages to hoist himself up into it with some scrabbling and leg kicking and then peers out down through the hole at the others, one hand holding his beanie from falling down as he calls down.]

I-I'm just going to go on ahead. See you soon. [The axe... much as it's tempting, in a small space there isn't much room to swing, and he has his knife. He hasn't been in the crawlspaces before, but if he can just find an exit to elsewhere in the school... he can duck back in if things seem dangerous, right? His head disappears from view as he turns back into the crawlspace and cups his hand around the lighter, flicking it for light.]

[adsum]

[ The blue flame casts the crawlspace in an icy glow, illuminating smears of blood here and there, all dry and brown with age, but it's more or less a straight shot towards where the hallway would be.

Down below, they can hear Shin shuffling around above the ceiling, inching closer and closer to leading them all to freedom. Haruka takes a seat next to Sidney, leaning heavily against the chair to prop herself up with that fairytale book on her lap. Idly, she opens the book, some pages sticking together while others easily fall open where she'd read and reread her favorite stories, losing herself in a world of princes and fairy godmothers where little girls are saved and supported and loved. Happy endings where the pain in her stomach would go away. Her mouth and throat wouldn't be so dry it hurts to speak. Her vision wouldn't be so blurry, her body wouldn't feel so heavy.

"Stay in here where you'll be safe."

"Don't make a noise, or it'll hear you."

"We'll be right back."

...

So she stayed and kept quiet and waited. And waited, and waited, and waited.

...

Haruka flips the page, looking down at the illustration of the hunter holding an axe saving Little Red Riding Hood from the Big Bad Wolf. Spots of her blood cover the wolf's mouth, smeared over the hunter and the girl, page slightly wrinkled with bitter thoughts of a different ending where there are no heroes that swoop in to save the day at the very last moment. But she looks up and sees the hunter in Sidney, next to him the head of the wolf she'd been so terrified of that she daren't call for help in those first few days— if only she did. She can hear Shin up above, like a fairy godmother up in the sky who would bring about a miracle and set them all free. She looks over at Hajun, who is... just standing there, but he looks like a prince.

And she looks down at her lap and smiles to herself, letting her eyes slide closed. In this memory, time stretches on and on and never ending, but she always knew she would die here in the library, forgotten and wasted away to nothing. Just this once, though... wouldn't it be nice, if she gets a fairytale ending? ]