yogen | MISSION 2.C

( he has komaeda's hands on him, and then the ground disappears beneath him, and he falls—he's mad about it, seething, anger that doesn't dissipate in achingly long time they spend falling in the dark.

anger that disappears when he impacts against something, scream choked in his throat at the shattering, the remaking, the... cold, the dark, the split second realization that flips the switch in his head from irritation to panic. it's not really well-known or anything, and that's deliberate—even only a select number of people at yumenosaki know he can't swim.

so he struggles in the water and barely remembers not to open his fucking mouth or he'll definitely drown, and he flails for anything, anything or anyone to grab onto to help him keep from sinking further or getting pulled away by the current. pwease help )

( when isn't natsume mad about something.

immediate pain from every bone that breaks is welcomed, painful as they fuse together, and as his mouth parts momentarily to allow air bubbles to drift up above him. his eyes sees them, vision blurry, but that's just being lodged under water. he knows that he can go up, does so as he weighs over the pros and cons of just drifting down to drown. nothing hopeful comes from an easy death, there's more opportunities waiting that'll need his —

a wet whack! right against his head, what is that... converse, natsume what shoes do you wear, but we'll say with all that flailing this is what things have came to. komaeda does smack whatever hits him, and his organic hand brushes against the rubbery sole of a shoe that's attached to an ankle, he moves his hand lower to find a leg? he's not going to try and learn who it is, maybe it's hinata since he grabbed onto komaeda before this descent. all untalented feel the same, lmfaoo!!!

just going to drag natsume up by his leg — sometimes... he'll let go if there's too much flailing, but for the most part he'll grab him again unless someone else wants this messy job! )

Edited 2021-08-20 10:36 (UTC)

[falling, falling, and the empty space becomes something of a new normal. maybe this is it, to endlessly fall until she dies yet again, with nothing but faith to light the way. and then pain rocketing through every nerve, enough to incapacitate in a flash and even steal the voice from her throat, breaking and reforming. the water is brutally cold, but instinct tells her to swim, to push her way up and up, kicking and moving until she breaks the surface, gasping for air and trying to keep her head up.

whichever way shore is, she doesn't know, but she can keep herself upright, trying to hear or gain hold of something, anything that'll give her any more insight.]

Hajime! Nagito! Natsume!

[if they can hear her, she hopes they'll come. and if someone needs to grab onto her cane to help pull them that last few feet up to the surface, they're welcome to it - Helena's got that in a death grip. everything else, she's willing to lose, except that.]

Edited 2021-08-20 20:48 (UTC)

[If Hinata hadn't been under the water's surface and had heard Helena, he'd be embarrassed about his first name, maybe even a little touched as he desperately rushed to her - but he cannot hear because he's been dragged under with Komaeda, and he cannot come to her aid just yet.

When he finally snaps out of it, Hinata realizes he's under the water. The pain throughout his body is excruciating, worse than when they fell through the first time. When he first dropped under the surface, he was holding onto something, onto- Komaeda?! His head whips around to look-

There, at his side, he sees Komaeda grabbing onto Natsume's... foot? That sure is his foot. But he knows that can't possibly be safe, so he forces his aching limbs to move, swims over to grab Natsume around the middle and get him upright. If nothing else, at least, getting him not upside down as they push up has to be safer than the alternative.

Sakasaki... Hold on a little longer...!

If Komaeda moves with them, Hinata will swim them up the surface as best he can.]

[ The river is as wide as it is deep, devoid of fish or frogs or other slimy things, and if one of them looks downstream, they will see that the flow of water breaks off at the horizon, reminiscent of the stream of lights floating down that path and ending in

anyways there's a waterfall in T-minus 2 minutes, and if they don't get out then they're going down and Natsume won't be alone in sinking to the bottom. ]

( this is what maya would want )

( death :) )

death death death

[it's the sound of the waterfall that helps her orient herself, keeping herself up in the river. her fingers are numb, but if the waterfall is that direction, then shore must be in two different places, and that's what drives her on, choosing a direction and beginning to swim for her life. the jacket that was so warm and helpful now drags at her arms, but she can't stop, not until the water grows more shallow and she can clamber up on solid ground.

soaked to the skin, her teeth want to chatter from the cold, and she can barely catch her breath, but adrenaline drives her even as she's laying at the water's edge trying to recover. enough to open her mouth, and call out again into the river.]

Nagito! Natsume! Hajime!

[answer her, please, because if she doesn't hear anyone swimming - if she doesn't hear any voices, if she's alone or worse was the only survivor...

then that will be a whole new set of problems to solve. bracing herself on her cane to stand up, she strains her ears to listen, listen above the water's roar.]

[It's a mixture of things that rush through him at the sound of her calling for them, embarrassment and feeling touched the most prominent, but Hinata knows there's no time to linger. Even if it hurts, he'll keep moving.

Still gasping for air, he tries to kick through the water while holding onto Natsume as best as he can. Helena feels so far away, having to hold onto somebody while he's swimming through the water feeling like this - but he has to. With their combined weight, if they go under again, Hinata doesn't think they'll come back out.]

Komaeda, come on- we have to... get him to the shore...!

( as soon as hinata appears, everything seems to be set straight — or rather natsume is, as he' splaced right side up — thankfully, they're able to rely on the other's route to find themselves above the surface. natsume is... passed out from shock and fear, given the fact he can't swim, and his head is settled against komaeda's shoulder to keep it from falling back.

aside from that, komaeda's taking a deep breath, and with helena calling their name — he literally spits water at hearing his first. people are getting too comfortable... i swear. he notices her though, settled upon the shore that they need to get to so that's their direction. )

We're with you... ah.... just... ( with a bit of urgency. ) go!

( as soon as they're to the edge of the river, hinata will go up first pulling both natsume and komaeda up by helena, which komaeda reaches out to grab her wrist so she knows that they're right next to her. as for natsume, he's placed on his back, still unconscious until alice brings him back to life, and komaeda's going to lay on the ground exhausted next to him. he coughs periodically, his mechanical hand writing that preemptive dying message in the dirt.

goodbye. )

[ The cascade hisses downstream not unlike the hissing that filled their heads back in the void, frost sticking to wet cloth and skin, ice coating rock and grass so that the blades crunch and snap beneath their weight.

The sound of falling water drowns out all other sound. It's cold and getting colder, the sunlight too bright and making any reflected light nauseating. But despite the apparent winter, the frosted grass around them is filled with flowers, spread across the forest floor and hanging from the trees, all sparkling like crystal. Sitting along the riverbank, a brown fox stands frozen atop of a large rock, watching them, a silver one behind them, both still and unmoving even when approached. Here and there, birds sit carefully balanced on tree branches.

The cold gets colder. ]

Watch over him.

( natsume's unconscious, and hinata's on autopilot as yama eats so he'll man the natsumeship. it's komaeda and helena's city now, or rather, their winter wonderland. komaeda's already cold, but he feels colder, and laying on the ground does nothing but make his chest hurt. especially with how he quick he leans up to take in their surroundings, everything covered by snow and ice — it'd be practically normal if it wasn't for the frozen animals here and there, along with the unique flowers around them. )

Adams-san...

( he can see his breath in front of him again, a reminder of hw it was last time, and he turns to her with his dying message still in the snow. his arm is still around her wrist, so he helps her up so she can get to her feet, and he notices the way the jacket still clings to her skin, and his own hair does the same to his face. )

You can't see which is unfortunate, but... ( inhale ) our surroundings seem to be... almost like a paradise, and yet the flowers here remind me of glass...

( as though to test his theory, bringing her along with him will result in komaeda trying to step on one. with that done, he wants to inspect the brown fox which is closest. )

[ The flower shatters beneath his feet, naught but crushed ice when he lifts his foot.

The fox stares back at him. ]

( 01. can he push over the fox into the river's current, will that do anything?
02. as for the other fox he wants to walk over, and pick it up and give it to helena. this is like natural water source if they get thirsty.

03. hinata's going to carry natsume, so they'll choose a random direction to walk by komaeda's discretion because it's bad to stay in one place while it's cold. they need to move their bodies to produce heat!! )

[ Hinata and Natsume pass by Komaeda and Helena just as Komaeda touches the brown fox, fingertips barely touching the surface of what feels like frozen glass when it suddenly becomes rough fur, legs buckling and the fox collapsing onto the rock. Blood sprays from a deep gash on its neck, hot and thick over those standing next to it, droplets freezing on the ice like garnets, more continuing to pour out in spurts as the fox's mouth works to draw in air but only manages to drown in its own blood, legs kicking the air to fight off something it cannot run away from, flailing turned to twitching turned to stillness as its blood melts the snow where it lays. ]

[it's startling enough to make her gasp, stumbling backward as she feels blood hit her, too hot compared to the ice's chill, a scent she knows in a moment. there is no reason for it, but Helena cannot think as to what may have done it. this place is not safe - not when bodies seek to occur for no reason.]

We...we have to keep moving! We can't stay here!

[reassured as she is that they're alive, this needs to be said. tired as they are, cold as they are, in pain as they might be, scared as they may be. to stay still here would be death. even now, the chill wants to seep in further, and ask that they go numb, exhaust them further. her voice has a higher edge, louder, proof enough of her agitation. without them, she would already have been looking for a path.

before Komaeda can cause more havoc, though, Helena recalls something that just may help them. it hadn't worked before, but in this place that can only be described as supernatural, where lights of the dead and endless falls could occur, perhaps...it may work again. perhaps there will be a hint, or at the least the security that enemies might be far.]

This may be a little loud.

[that's all the warning the boys get before Helena summons her strength and strikes the ground, sending a wave of sound around them that reflects back to her. suddenly, she understands the nature of where they are with a greater acuity, the icy wonderland they've stumbled into, the corpse nearby. the resonance comes to her, and she's never been more grateful for it.

now, to try and gauge if there's anything in her perception that stands out.]

[ Helena strikes the ground, sending a sound wave pulsing out all around her. After the lay of the land, the next thing apparent to her is how still the world is outside of the river, no movement in this snapshot until a moment passes and

there is a considerable amount of splashing that happens downstream past the waterfall, loud enough to be heard over the cascade hitting the rocks at the bottom

the silver fox topples and falls to the ground, stomach torn open and legs getting tangled in its intestines as it struggles to stand, frantic and only managing to further disembowel itself, blood melting the snow and running into the river that tinges pink.

there's a thud on the ground, another and another as birds are shaken off their perches, glass figures shattering upon impact and turning to birds with twisted necks and broken wings.

Their immediate area fills with the smell of hot blood, a respite from the deep chill but even that is momentary as the blood starts to freeze, red stains upon white. ]

( the thick smell of blood that fills their nose, that covers the ground from helena's massive tap, and the way the animals first instinct is survival which inevitably kills them. a hand settles on his hip, his lips pursed into a straight line since he's seen it all before — even the brown fox was but a short reminder of komaeda's own pet being ran over by a car, the amount of blood that poured from a twitching body until she finally stopped moving. memories from his younger years resurface in his older years, but he lacks the ability to care though it bothers him for only a moment, but one he doesn't let show as he sighs. )

Adams-san...

( he looks towards her before looking towards hinata carrying natsume, their winter wonderland painted with red splatters, if komaeda was insane... it'd be beautiful, but he's not like that at the moment. )

You killed so many of them! I didn't know you had it in you.

( to kill, as if that's a good thing. )

[what has happened comes to her all too acutely, as the last edges of the echo fade, and her lips move soundlessly, sightless eyes gone wide. she looks lost, scared for the first time during all of this, as the blood and water frost on her skin and Helena shivers for reasons that have nothing to do with cold.]

No...

[her voice is very, very small. caught in her own throat, and she can barely breathe.]

That's not what this....why...

[all this blood, and no reason for it. and no understanding of this still, still world. no idea what to do. by some form of grace, she swallows the one sob that wants to come out, but all that confidence she had before threatens to spill out of her, more blood to stain and freeze on the snow.]

Edited 2021-08-21 05:57 (UTC)

...

( quickly his eyes look towards helena, a frown apparent from how quick she's starting to crumble from such uncertainties like death. she didn't know, and komaeda wasn't aware of her ability could kill them all in one fell swoop, and yet she doesn't seem proud of herself. )

You put them out of their misery.

( he speaks up, if they think about it, they were all covered in snow — glass, whatever it was, unmoving, unafraid until touched by their actions. komaeda could say this is because of his bad luck, that his existence brought upon this... and yet, he sighs as he places both hands on her shoulder. blood covers his fingers, but they're wiped clean on his coat that she wears as he nudges her in one direction, away from the dead creature. )

Besides, you told me yourself, you'd show me your hope... can it crumble as easily as the animals here, they had no choice, but you do.

( his voice is soft, barely above a whisper as he speaks to her. it's like he's up to something, he's aware that for her, something went wrong. even if it did, that is her own weight to carry until she uses it for something more useful, like taking such an uneventful scenario to turn into her hope that keeps her going forward. they're all sprayed with blood, it sticks to them like the cold, but it should drive most of them unless they want to be next. he speaks, aloud, wanting to look towards hinata, but he's on autopilot with natsume so they're just going to keep going — maybe step on a few animal guts along the way. )

We should keep moving, like you said, Sakasaki-kun and Hinata-kun are counting on you, and you'll be rewarded something good.

[Hinata is frozen, shivering and face pale as a sheet, as he takes in what just happened and clings to Natsume like a lifeline.

He hasn't seen this much blood since he woke up in the main hall on Jabberwock. Never seen the... the insides of anything at all.

Hinata fights back the nausea swirling through his gut, because- because they have to go, they cannot stay here or they'll freeze to death.

It's not a skill that he knows that he has, not with the memories that he has now. But Hinata is someone that can stay calm, even when it feels like there's a storm raging inside him. So even if it's only instinctual, he grasps at that feeling desperately.

Even if it's hard, even if his mind is whirling - he has to try to say it.]

Helena.

[His voice is gentle when he speaks.]

Even if... there might've been a better way to say it, Komaeda's right. [He shakes his head, even if she can't see it.] Whatever that was you did just now... Those animals must've been trapped in there, suffering for however long. Even if what happened was... [Awful. Looks awful, even if Hinata won't say that to her.] ...terrible, it's not your fault they died. You stopped them from hurting anymore.

[He isn't sure if it's the right thing to do. But Hinata shifts all of Natsume's weight to one side, and gently pats her arm with his free hand.]

...Let's get out of here, okay? We shouldn't stay here any longer.

[it's not the death, it's not the blood - it's the fact that something was only ever meant to help ended up causing so much harm. it wasn't her place to decide if something was miserable enough to die, and she might as well have had all that blood on her, cooling in the frost. panic wants to rise, wants to ask why.

but then there are hands on her shoulders, and even through the half frozen clothes she wears, their weight is a comfort. they're a reminder that she can control herself. all the anguish, the distress, can be handled for the moment. Hinata and Komaeda's touch anchors her back down, and Helena remembers to breathe again, around the lump in her throat. her eyes close, and something in her expression loses some of the tension.

we need to keep moving. it's a fact. she's not alone, she can't break from this, not when others need her to stay steady. maybe it isn't her fault, even though it's a tragedy. maybe they were hurting, and they aren't anymore. there's no certainty, no guarantee. but they don't have to stay here. they shouldn't. Helena will take their words as things to hold fast, at least to get through this.

she slowly nods after she takes another deep breath. the air pricks her lungs, and tastes of iron, but it's there. none of them can stay in this cold. Natsume can't be asleep for too long, or they'll have to worry.]

Okay. Let's go.

[whatever way they're going, she's going with them. the only clue they might have is all that splashing downstream that they heard, but she'll let someone else call the shots for a minute.]

( crying not how i had to play with friends because i promised to and in the meanwhile we m*rdered some innocent animaaaals

The sound of Helena's cane wakes him a little; his head is aching, his chest is aching, and it takes him some moments to come back into focus—but it's a sharp, painful experience when he does so. He remembers the river, he remembers struggling, he remembers someone grabbing his foot, arms around his middle... he can't remember much after that, but the panic suddenly rises back in his throat, and he almost starts to struggle in whomever's arms until he recognizes they're out of the water. He's fine.

They're fine. Harder to think with the chill settling in his bones, and surprisingly being with someone equally cold and wet is not helping, who would've thought... It's a little bit of a somber moment to interrupt, so he waits a few moments to collect his thoughts and calm himself down, half-listening to them comfort Helena; it's only after she's said they should go that he blearily opens his eyes, squints at Hinata (ah, okay, it's him, that's acceptable), and exhales softly.

He's lost so much time, even though he's sure it hasn't really been all too long. )

...I'm fine; I can WALK. ( And he's alive, cause for celebration but he's not going to focus on that right now. He has no intention of dying, after all. He'll just wiggle from Hinata's grasp and take a few steps away, making a face to himself. They saw him in a moment of weakness... ugh..... He feels like a child, small and pathetic.

He feels a little more like it too when he sees what, exactly, they were discussing; his eyes widen at the blood and the ... everything, everywhere, and just as quickly he schools his expression back to pointed neutrality as he looks ahead and away from it.

Natsume rubs his arms, glancing at the river. One of their original ideas had been to follow it, he guesses. ) That WAY?

( There are no cairns to make this decision easier, but... )

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cw animal death

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