yogen | MISSION 2.C

[ 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... )

( so the whole kitchen faucet just fucking popped off and i'm drenched in water, but at least i have the experience of our character's current problem. i'm cold.

helena doesn't need komada for this anymore, he's taking a step back once she appears capable of moving on her own. that's what they needed, for her not to give up all because of a simple mishap — this is komaeda's life, after all. this is a chance for her to learn that things don't go as planned, but she can move on, use it to strengthen herself. it's a shame that she can't see what she did, to take in the reality of it, but the smell must be more than enough.

he hears natsume's voice, and he looks towards hinata (who is on autopilot since yama has to work) to see that the other has came to. he didn't miss much, but komaeda smiles regardless. )

Sakasaki-kun!! Good afternoon!

( he's happy to see him, or just to see him awake. he sighs afterwards though as they look towards the rover they need to follow. since natsume speaks, and helena can't see, komaeda reaches out one last time to direct her where to go just in case. he removes his hands again, and he grabs his hacking gun.....look... komaru been in enough water and this bitch works.... don't ask me what future foundation shit is made with, crack probably.

anyway, he's going to turn it on to see if those fireflies or whatever they were around, or going towards the direction natsume pointed out.

... )

[ There are no fireflies or whatever around them, neither upstream nor down. The ground is slick with ice near the riverbank as they follow it to the edge of the waterfall that drops a good fifty feet against a jagged cliff wall before crashing onto the rocks below, the water spluttering erratically over large boulders that don't seem like they belong.

And, looking further downstream where the water calms somewhat, they can see what those boulders used to be, far enough that they haven't toppled from the shockwave sent by Helena's cane.

Even further downstream is a bridge spanning riverbank to riverbank, and what looks like a body lying face down at the very center. ]

( Komaeda is such a mood-ruiner, why does he look so happy... Gross. Natsume's staying far from the riverbank's edge, single-mindedly moving parallel to it once everyone's all well and good. The waterfall is a grim thought when he reaches it, the fact they could've gone over... he has to be somewhat grateful to whoever helped him out, may a tree fall on him if one of those people was Komaeda, but that can be settled later.

Because more importantly, the erratic splashing is because of those boulders; and further down is what... they look similar, so it's possible they were in a similar state, right? He spends a good moment trying to figure out if there's something special behind them, like the cairns, but nothing his ~~chuunibyou~~ mind summons up sounds reasonable.

...The bridge is also interesting, similar gravity-defying make, and...

Okay.

Y'all do whatever you want, Natsume's gonna busy himself with finding a safe way down so we don't have to do something stupid, like push each other off of cliffs again. )

Mind your STEP. ( off-handedly said, he cares about like 10% of you )

( given the circumstances, where is the tree to fall on komaeda instead. anyway, everyone seems to be fine in their own way, so he'll take his own route to look over the scenery... the rocks, various of them propped up, and it reminds him of the one they have with them. he wonders if they could put them back as soon as they find themselves with the rest, or at least... fix it back proper. )

It's like ice skating! Have you done that before?

( he asks, looking towards natsume because komaeda sure hasn't, and he'll slide his shoes against the ice without a care in the world. he's minding his step if he never takes one, sliding is ever more efficient, but he does it for a few moments until he almost trips — catching the tail of natsume's shirt to keep himself from falling.

fingers dig into the fabric as he glances how far down they have to go, and then he looks towards helena. he reaches out to her instead, grabbing her arm as he pulls it to take the place of where komaeda gripped on natsume's attire. there, now the ice won't have her skating.

as for him, he'll take a few steps away from the group because he doesn't want his luck to do anything at the moment. it's all too messy here with the river, the rocks, the drop...

whisper... whisper... )

I wonder if I can just jump...

( can he jump? will his luck save him? the whole blue skadoo we can too dance then jump. )

[ Good news: he makes it down to the bottom in record time, miraculously missing smashing his head against any of the jagged rocks on the cliff wall or boulders at the bottom of the waterfall where the water is deep enough for him to sink and slow his fall before lifting him back up

Bad news: the splash topples some more of those balanced rocks, which causes a domino effect of waves that reach the bridge— it doesn't fully collapse, but a rock here and there does get dislodged, and anything more will absolutely sweep the entire thing away. also he lives ]

[another cliff, at the end of this ice. while holding onto Natsume is good to keep her footing, it's not going to help her get down, and this time it doesn't feel like just jumping is a good solution. she'd heard the splash, the change in the air, and out of the three of them, only one person is likely to throw himself over a strange ledge just to get to the bottom. and while she would try to get down on her own if there was no other option, there thankfully is - becoming a backpack on Hinata again.

really, she'll have to figure out some way to properly say thank you after all of this. he's going through so much. they all are, but since he's the only one with upper body strength it's a lot.

anyway, with the cliff dealt with, it means they can try to get Komaeda out of the river again - or at the least, to go investigate that bridge, if someone points it out. also that backpack full of rocks is probably caught on a boulder, if it becomes relevant again....washed down the waterfall.]

Don't run off like that, Nagito! Please!

[they've evaded death so much already, at least let them do it together as a group? she'll at least wait to make sure Natsume gets down fine before moving on.]

( crying ori are there just no safe ways down... whatever he'll find the safest among the jagged rocks and start down it, raising his voice so that he can talk to helena and hinata a little. )

I wouldn't worry about HIM, Little Bat. ( hi helena you have a nickname now. enjoy it. ) He's the type of person who wouldn't die even if he was KILLED--

( saying that, he (rolls dice) missings a rock and loses his footing. he's still wet and this place is cold and icy and he rolled poorly. he catches himself a few times, scraping his palms on the cliffside, but he can't manage to get a good enough grip.

and off he goes one time, not able to catch himself this time... but nms said koma will catch him )

( imagine if koma didn't catch him.

alright, but that's not what's happening here, he's managed to drop down and is... alive! he wonders why he's not dead, but that's every time he goes and tries to get himself killed. with hinata and helena making their way down, there's a visible grimace as he hears his name called — she really did say it that time, he forgot all about it, but he should at least speak up about it. )

...Ah? Adams-san, why do you continue to call me that?

( he doesn't understand that it's because he's won helena points, but he doesn't want them if they mean he's going through this. it's slightly uncomfortable, and only a few people call him that here — they shouldn't even call him that in general — so he wonders how he's supposed to explain while answering the riddle of why he doesn't like it. )

Komaeda works perfectly.

( he holds out his hands, almost in why me gesture — this man has had me cracking up — and he glances up for a moment to see — natsume dropping right down here he is, snuggly into his arms. between the weight and velocity of the drop causes komaeda to bend his knees, almost buckling under him, and his back forced forward. it's horrible for a sick man like him to be in this position, but hopefully natsume falling into komaeda's arms — i'm sorry for the mechanical one — doesn't hurt him much. at least he's bridal style. )

...

( with natsume like this, he stands up properly, trying to get himself comfortable as he takes a step forward. for once, he doesn't say anything since he thinks natsume wouldn't like it, but he spins first, allowing the other to get a good look to get a good look of their surroundings before continuing. ) Everything here looks unstable, I heard a few rocks splash into the water when I dropped. ( luckily the idol was caught before it happened a second time, or maybe that was just him hearing things. maybe he was the rock, but just by looking at them looks like they a breath away from falling over. )

[ PLEASE you guys could have gone around but it's fine it's fine, sometimes you see a sheer drop and you gotta jump

Anyways... here they are all alive at the bottom of the waterfall, tinged that familiar light light pink from the dead foxes upstream. The gorinto is carried away by the current, and gets caught at the bottom of the bridge, dislodging a rock, then another, and the bridge collapses and lodges like a dam, river spilling out on either side of it.

Bye-bye body. ]

( please if komaeda reaction drops natsume at the sight of seeing a dead body going down the water and books it can he get it WILL HE MAKE ITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT )

[ There is ice everywhere and he has to slip and fall twice but with the bridge collapsed, the flow of the water downstream is considerably slower so yeah... he can catch up. ]

( in the words of lonnie: fighting for my fucking life rn.

dead bodies are on the rage nowadays, so every time he thinks he has a good footing, he'll slip on the ice and down on his knees. up again, the same rotation, but he attempts to use his mechanical arm to keep him from falling face first — with everything it's been through, the impact causes something to snap, the fingers no longer working correctly — wires broken, too much water having gone through the case, and it's... unusable. just heavy weight attached to what's left of his organic limb, but he carries it along with him as he jumps forward loud splash into the water and ice. he's going to grab onto the body with his other arm, wrapping it around the waist of the dead body... oh god, i am so sorry, and pull it close to him. does he have to drink blood water, i'll make him drink blood water to ensure that body doesn't go anywhere!!! )

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