2spoopy4me [A Duck/Benesnatch]

[Stalwart]

Capsule

-----

From the outside, it didn't look like much. Sure, the sign was pretty well-made, as were the costumes of the people standing outside and daring people to come in. But well-made and scary were two entirely different beasts, despite them being frequent bedfellows. Alan had stopped being afraid of skeletons and Frankenstein's monster when he was... Well, he couldn't actually recall a point in his life at which he was actually afraid of any of them. Mildly perturbed by their concept, maybe, but not by the monsters themselves. Alan went in, not wanting to waste the ticket he'd been given with a coffee he'd bought earlier, but it wasn't as if he was expecting much.

"Ticket, please." The man at the entrance to the attraction said, his tone tinged with a boredom that had only just begun to settle in. Alan handed it over, just wanting to be rid of the thing s soon as possible.
A few seconds passed, and he was spoken to by the man again. "Alright, you and your partner can go on in."
"My... partner?"
"Yeah, your partner. Don't you have one?"
"Well, I didn't come in with anyone, last I checked. Why do you ask?"
"it's just that... Well, this is a Duo Ticket. it admits two people. I mean, you can go in on your own, but..."

Alan pondered his predicament for a moment. Did he really want to go in when he could drag somebody else with him? He was only going in because he didn't want to waste his ticket, after all, and the old saying was no less true for him than for anyone else - "Misery loves company."
"Could I get back to you on that?"
"Sure, go ahead."
"Thanks."
Alan ducked out of line, staring blankly at the ticket.

-----

WORDS IN POST: 301
WORDS IN THREAD: 301

[Capsule]

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'A haunted house?!' Capsule had never had the pleasure of visiting a haunted house on Halloween, mostly because it was not a very popular holiday in her home town (or Germany in general, if you wanted to be specific). Trick or treaters were obnoxious on their own, and a house haunted by people only pretending to be monsters was not very scary at all. If given the opportunity, she would probe around a place like Bathory's final resting place, in which the alleged murderer was bricked up in her room until she starved to death. According to the paranormal groups that had explored said castle, they could find nothing out of the ordinary. That was strange for someone who supposedly killed hundreds of virgin girls to bathe in their blood, no?

But then again, it was always the victors who decided how history was written…

Capsule loitered outside of the exit, clad in the skill skin that transformed her Form Shift skill into a zombie specialty for Halloween. She was never any good at this scary costume stuff, and it had not occurred to her to keep her goat mask equipped. Without a ticket to gain entrance, she could only stand and watch as other, better costumed, Adventurers filtered in and out… except for one lad, who seemed to be having some trouble with the ticket master. Perhaps this was her time to shine.

She activated Hearing Aptitude to pick up what the man was saying. If he was only scolding the Guardian for having a forfeited ticket, then that was an obvious dead end. '…Duo ticket?' Like… a date? Behind the zombie features, the redhead turned a shade of pink. Well, it made sense; the Suspension Bridge Effect, and all that. Or maybe a partner was needed to provide a feeble form of moral support? She had no idea what to expect from the haunted house, but it was bound to be thrilling, and the poor guy needed a partner, after all.

The Enchanter elbowed a few people out of the way, cutting a path to the Guardian. If she wanted a free ride, she had to act quicker than the other vultures. "Hey hey~." She held her hand up by way of greeting. "If you need a partner, I can accompany you. These things aren't very fun on your own, right?" She was really curious to see what all of the fuss was about, too. What was the appeal in a bunch of poorly constructed smoke and mirrors?

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∝: 420
♫: In The Hall of the Mountain King
✏: Blaze it.
@: Stalwart

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[Stalwart]

Capsule

-----

Given that he was at the entrance to a haunted house, and that it was Halloween, Alan shouldn't have been surprised by someone in a zombie costume. And yet, when Capsule called out to grab his attention, he couldn't help but flinch. It was a rather undignified reaction, with his eyes widening and his arms mimicking a tyrannosaurus', though it was for but a moment. Alan gathered himself as quickly as he could manage, and in a rather poor attempt to save face, tried to pretend as if his little scare had never happened at all.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Sure, I guess."
What did he have to lose? It was hardly as if pickpocketing was a thing in Elder Tale. Sure, scam artists were out and about, but with everything in his inventory and his pockets carrying nothing except virtual lint, there was very little Capsule would be able to do to him in the dark. Besides, she was right - haunted houses were no fun when you went in solo. Hell, to him, half the fun of them was watching other people's reactions to everything the place had to throw at them, and laughing at both of their reactions afterwards.

"Oi, mate!"
"Yeah?"
"I found a partner!"
"Alright, go on in, then."
Alan handed the ticket over to the guy at the desk, and waited at the entrance. Whoever haad worked on it had certainly done a fantastic job of setting the atmosphere with visuals alone, he noted. From just beyond the decaying oaken door, pained groans sounded, a faint breeze carrying them beyond the threshold. The slightest hint of the smell of death joined them in their journey, almost as if they were desperate to reach out and latch onto the souls of those foolish enough to venture into their domain.

Once they were both ready, Alan would push open the door, forcing it to make the ever-so-familiar creaking that every old, ominous door was bound to make in every film with such a door in it. Ahead was nothing more than a straight walk - a cobble path, with sparsely-placed torches providing a modicum of light with which to navigate it. The only real, practical light source was at the end of it. A brass lantern, swinging idly above another decaying oaken door, almost as if it was mocking someone ad saying that they weren't brave enough to reach it.

Not one to show fear (of his own volition), Alan clenched his fists, and stepped forward past the boundary. As soon as Capsule joined him - assuming she did join him, of course - the door would slam shut behind them. Not an unexpected event, given the nature of the place, but it was certainly helping to build up the atmosphere of the place.
"Right then," he muttered, "Let's get going, shall we?"
It was hard to tell who he was actually saying it to. Even he wasn't sure if he was trying to instil some confidence in Capsule, or himself.

-----

WORDS IN POST: 504
WORDS IN THREAD: 805

[Capsule]

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Ha ha, did she startle him? It was very brief, but Stalwart had had an adverse reaction to her simple costume. Blah blah blah, brains. Zombies were gross, and not very flattering to wear as a costume. More than half of the women and girls out here were dressed like uh… suffice it to say that Capsule had never seen so much skin outside of an adult video. At least the guys tried to look scary.

Capsule could not help but stare at a heavy chested fox tail, who was bouncing up and down on her toes. The girl was taller than Capsule, but either had trouble peeking over Stal's shoulder, or was overly excited to get into the house. jiggle jiggle jiggle "Yo," the petite redhead said to the Ticket Master. The sooner they could get in, the safer Capsule would feel from the threat of deadly flotation devices.

She wrinkled her brow as she joined Stalwart at a rotting oaken door. She did not need Hearing Aptitude to hear the groans coming from within. And god, what was that smell? Were they using rotten meat? Capsule made a soft pssh noise, and waved a dismissive hand. "These effects almost sound real." That was all they were, right? It would be silly to assume that they had injured someone to simulate real sounds of anguish.

Was the door even a prop? It was possible this was one of many buildings in London that had been overlooked during the cleaning event. Even the creaking sounded legit. Old houses often creaked and made other noises at random intervals, especially at night. It was too dark to see much aside from a cobbled path, and the pitiful lantern. Capsule could have summoned her Magic Light, but that would ruin the spookiness of the house. She followed after Stalwart, zombified face passive to mask the unease she felt inside --

WHAM

Her mouth twitched to one corner as the door suddenly slammed shut behind them. That was all a part of the haunted house. There was no need to get scared so soon. "Yeah…" She took a tentative step forward, onto the cobbled path. Was it her imagination, or did the groans get louder? Her eyes darted around the seemingly empty hall. The groans sounded near, and the further she stepped onto the path, the more she was certain that the person(?) was in the room with them.

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∝: 405
♫: Missed Me
✏: ---
@: Stalwart

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[Stalwart]

Capsule

---

"Y-yeah. Almost real."
of course they weren't real. Alan kept repeating that to himself, focussing solely on the path ahead. He couldn't afford to let his mind wander, not when somebody else was with him. He was a Guardian, and he was supposed to be as strong as steel. He couldn't let something like a few realistic sounds get in his way. The smell of decaying flesh and wood wouldn't get to him either. He resolved to not let even the sound of another set of footsteps beyond the walls enclosing the pair of them get to him.
"Wait a minute..."

Slowly, as if to not startle whatever lurked beyond the claustrophobic walls, Alan turned his head to follow the sound. Though quiet, they were heavy and deliberate. Whatever it was was quite some distance way from them.
"It's probably just one of the actors," he told himself, "No need to get frightened. Just keep walking, you'll be out before you know it."
Alan stepped forward just as Capsule did - and the other's footstep's stopped. They started up again once he moved forward, but the farther he walked, the farther away the footsteps sounded. And yet, no matter how far away they were, he couldn't get them out of his head. The footsteps, like a slowly dying clock's ticks in the back of his mind...

It wasn't until he was about halfway through that he noticed the groaning growing louder - he'd been too focussed on the feet tapping against the stone beyond the darkness. It was all he could do to keep himself from inching closer to Capsule. As much as he told himself that he wasn't scared, as much as he told himself that the pained groans and laborious footsteps didn't unnerve him, as much as he told himself that he didn't feel like the darkness was suffocating him, the truth was plain to see on his face whenever the faint light of the torches lit up his face.

Once again, he turned his head slowly about him, but he didn't dare look behind him. He didn't have the nerve to. It was taking him a great amount of effort to just keep moving without making a mad dash for the door. Not surprisingly, all he saw was black, and stone tinted orange by the torches.
"Um... Don't look now, but..."
His eyes flicked from one wall to the next, suddenly intense with some higher level of fear. "Is it just me, or are there less torches now than when we came in?"

---

WORDS IN POST: 426
WORDS IN THREAD: 1211

[Capsule]

[attr="class","solcap"]

Stalwart sure was noisy, what with all the tap tap tapping he was making with his footsteps. She refused to believe that there was someone else in here, following after them. It was just some elaborate ruse, like the groaning… right? How could she hear or sense someone else, without seeing them? By now, the groaning was practically in her left ear. Capsule could feel her skin prickling, but did not give the haunted house operators the satisfaction of whirling around. All she would find would be air, right? They could have magitech speakers hidden in the walls to trick people into believing otherwise.

Her lips pressed into a thin line. For some reason she had this urge to turn and give Stal a comforting glance, though was it really for him? Did she merely seek reassurance herself? Plus, it would be nice to know that she was not alone. Her reluctance to show any fear held her back, as well as that ominous set of footsteps in the darkness.

Capsule bit back a gasp when the Guardian broke the silence. Torches? She allowed herself a few quick glances. And now she regretted paying little attention to them before, because she could not tell if any were missing or out of place. "Uh, I don’t know-- AH!" With a squeal, she hopped forward, pirouetting around to swat at something behind her. In that brief moment, some thing traced a finger across the small hairs on the nape of her neck. And, it may have been the adrenaline, but she swore that the groaning had turned into a rapid panting.

"Something touched me." She folded her arms across her chest, nervous and embarrassed laughter escaping from her parted lips. It was silly to overreact like that, in hindsight. For all she knew, the so called finger was just a lone spider rappelling from the ceiling. And then the laughter started.

It was deep and painfully slow, and coming from somewhere behind them. From the front, the groans turned into timid whimpers, punctuated with restrained screams. One of the torches flickered, threatening to blow out and plunge them further into darkness. Perhaps the worst thing of all were the footsteps, which were not as loud as when they started. Capsule had to strain to hear them over the laughter. Turning back was no longer an option. She did not care if it were simulated or not; to see the owner of that voice and steps would turn her heart to ice.

She seized Stalwart by the wrist. It took all of her self-control to not break out into a run. Much like that horrible encounter in the catacombs beneath Lonsdale, she powerwalked. The entities chasing her were long dead spirits and a few of the ratmen that dwelled underground. What they would have done to her had she turned around or fallen, she could not say. There was no way she would fall for a trap like this, either. 'Just stay calm, and keep going forward.'

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∝: 501
♫: Faded (ODESZA)
✏: Nuuup.
@: Stalwart

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[Stalwart]

Capsule

---

Capsule's squeal had caused something of a chain reaction, in that Alan leapt the opposite way with a sharp yelp. He settled down as soon as he could after the ordeal, but as he expected, this didn't last for long. When she told him that something had touched her... Alan didn't seem to react, but inside, every instinct he had was screaming at him to run. That the adrenaline coursing through his veins would be enough to help him outrun whatever horrors were there, and that it would be enough for him to knock down anything that stood in his path.
But he knew that was far from the truth.

The laughter did nothing to ease his nerves. Neither her's, nor the stranger's, brought him any relief. It wasn't as though they could make him more paranoid, though, given that he was as much on edge as he possibly could without being ready to knock whatever came at him next - consequences be damned.
Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the mind-killer." He chanted to himself, in some vain attempt to remedy his quaking and his silent panicking. The truth, though? He felt as if this was going to haunt him for quite a while.

Alan was forced to slap his hand over his mouth when Capsule grabbed him. Grabbing somebody's hand so suddenly in a haunted house - he wondered if she was even thinking straight. He certainly wasn't, and one of them needed to be. Nevertheless, he followed her, keeping his eyes focussed firmly on the door. Amidst the storm of fear and paranoia in his mind, one question stood out. What had happened to her? She'd seemed calm before they got in, and she hadn't shown much fear this far in. Only surprise - so he thought. And there she was, dragging him to the door.

Alan couldn't grab for the door fast enough. His hand latched onto the doorknob, it turned, he pulled, and...
Nothing.
The door and its parts rattled in place, but nothing came of him trying to open it. He twisted the doorknob the other way - still nothing. He pulled harder. It didn't budge an inch. Even stranger, the footsteps were coming back. From the other side of the door. Slowly - horrendously slowly - but they were coming.
"The door..." he hissed, while turning around. "The door won't-"
Alan never finished his sentence. When he looked down the path, he saw something.

The torches had vanished. All but the one above the door had vanished.

---

WORDS IN POST: 430
WORDS IN THREAD: 1641

[Capsule]

[attr="class","solcap"]

Even as they reached the door, Capsule had her doubts. It would be far too easy to allow them to escape so soon after entering. There was no way it would open, right? That was how it was in horror movies, anyway. Still, she could not help but hope. There was no harm in hoping… right?

She waited with baited breath as Stalwart reached out to seize the doorknob. Her lips slowly parted, and her mouth puckered into a small ring. He turned and he pulled, but to no avail. The door stayed put, not moving one millimeter. She was led to believe that it was weak and would keel over with one good shove, but now it appeared to be solid and sturdier than the resolve of couple abstaining until marriage.

The steps resumed soon after, though now they were coming from directly in front of them? What the hell were these effects, and why couldn’t she hear the people gathered just a few feet from outside of the door? This was a load of bull. Capsule huffed in frustration. "Figures it wouldn't." They were being made fun of, and she did not like it one bit. Yes, they had to build up the suspense. It did not mean she had to like it.

"Hm?" She turned her head to follow the gaze of the Guardian, and blinked in confusion once she saw what was missing. All but one of the torches was missing, and that one was by the door. Her chest contracted as she stared back at the swirling darkness. That laughter was back, albeit fainter. The footsteps were practically right on their heels. And the groaning… what had happened to the sounds of pain?

And then everything suddenly went quiet.

Capsule took that as a sign to exhale, and nearly choked on oxygen when a rush of air slammed into her. She could not see what was rushing at them, but she could sense it. If she were to reach out and grope blindly around for it, she would no doubt find it. She thought she could even hear it breathing. Was that the same being that touched her earlier? The Enchanter swallowed the lump in her throat, backing up until her back was pressed against the door.

A pair of oval shaped lights sprung into existence within the darkness, followed by a much larger hole. Capsule snapped her head back as the lights lunged forward, a horrible screeching erupting from the large hole. Mouth? She had no time to question it, for behind her the door fired up with life. Something (or someone) was pounding on it with such force that it shook her body and rattled her teeth. Her first instinct was to bolt, though where was she to go? That mysterious face had gone just as quickly as it appeared, but it had to be lurking up ahead. And they could not go back…

This was a horrible idea.

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∝: 496
♫: Ultraviolence
✏: Innawoods we go
@: Stalwart

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[Stalwart]

Capsule

---

"FEAR IS THE MIND-KILLER FEAR IS THE MIND-KILLER FEAR IS THE MIND-KILLER."
Alan was now plastered against the wall the door was in, panic and fear etched clearly into his face. A this point, everything he had was going into keeping silent and not allowing... well, whatever was out there... the privilege of detecting and possibly murdering him. A futile attempt - he knew that much. Even when scared senseless, Alan knew that what he was doing was utterly pointless. But he had to do something - anything - to keep himself sane. he couldn't just it back and do nothing.

The eyes in the blackness forced Alan to throw up his arms instinctively, as if his flesh would be enough to protect him against whatever otherworldly force had decided that he was to be its next victim. But, at this point, even his instincts were struggling to come up with a way to help him cope. His mind couldn't focus, his body was quivering, and the world around him seemed to want to kill him no matter where he turned. The screeching did nothing to affect him, if only because there was nothing more that it could do.

The door swung open seconds later, opening away from the pair. But Alan didn't have time to debate whether or not he wanted to go through the door. Something - a hand, a vine, a tentacle, something - lashed out, tightening itself around his ankle. It dragged him kicking and screaming into the void, clawing at the archaic stone as the complete and utter blackness beyond the door swallowed Alan. It did not have any way to express itself, but somehow, the darkness seemed to enjoy a human being forced into its gaping maw.

"Help! Oh God, somebody HEL-"
Once again, Alan could not finish his sentence, though this time the cause was far more sinister. Not a trace of the guardian was left in sight, and anything that would have been left was engulfed by the shadows. The oaken door began to slowly creak shut, no matter which side of it Capsule was on, and the sole remaining light dimmed as the door closed. No matter how hard she could shove or shunt, nothing could slow its progress. nothing would stop it from cutting her off, and robbing her of her sight.

---

WORDS IN POST: 392
WORDS IN THREAD: 2033

[Capsule]

[attr="class","solcap"]

Capsule could do with the lessening light, the mysterious face, and even the rattling of the door. She was afraid, but not quite broken yet. The redhead considered herself desensitized to the typical elements of the horror genre, and this was supposed to be a mere attraction. Dying was scary, but it was not permanent. It was definitely not something she wanted to experience again, but she could endure it if she had to.

She just could not bear the thought of being alone in this house of horrors.

The unexpected opening of the door sent her stumbling forward, into the vast nothingness that awaited them. Capsule pushed herself off of the floor, teeth pulled back into a grimace. If she were to fall and remain in that helpless position, it would make it all the easier for -- "Hngh." She hazard a glance behind her, where Stal laid on the ground, clawing and pleading for assistance. Wrapped around his ankle was a thick, ropelike object, not unlike one of the many vines of her Thorn Bind Hostage.

'NO!' Capsule dove after the hastily dragged Guardian, only to find her way barred by the closing door. She kicked and pulled at it, but there was no stopping it. Grabbing for Stalwart would be useless, as she ran the risk of the door closing on and severely injuring him. Or worse. What if the monster that lurked around the corner… It was like a scene from a Stephen King novel. Be it a bloodthirsty menace from an impenetrable fog, or a possessed and sexually harassing tree from another source, that limb had to lead to somewhere. To some thing.

And that thing had a mouth.

There were two choices left for the Enchanter. She could either stay back and watch Stalwart be swallowed up by the darkness, or she could be brave and go after him. From her side of the door, that eerier laugh started up once more. A wave of nausea befell her. The opening left for her was decreasing second by agonizing second, and sooner than she could imagine, it would be shut tight. Her throat, dry and somehow smaller than ever, was convulsing.

She threw herself forward, right between the door and the jamb, and squeezed her way through. Behind her came the sound of rapidly shuffling feet, accompanied by a laugh that grew in pitch and tempo. Warm, viscous liquid dripped onto the back of her neck, where it pooled before trickling down into the collar of her shirt. An appendage that resembled the consistency of pudding slipped onto the hand that was braced against the door. Her body shook with revulsion. She blindly kicked back with her foot, but connected with nothing but solid mahogany.

A thick coil of the pudding like appendage seized her around the hips, and pulled. It was strong, though Capsule had a minor advantage on her side. The door was nearly closed by now, and unless this entity could cheat and force open the door, it would not get her. That did not mean it could not try to crush her, however. Capsule strained against the bonds that held her. By now, only a thin line of very faint light remained. An inhuman stream of utterances came from the partially closed door, doing its part to hinder the foul creature. The tentacles holding onto her retracted, leaving smears of a foreign substance on her clothes and skin. An unpleasant sound that mimicked the slurping of spaghetti noodles sent shivers down her spine.

And with that, the door was closed, successfully bathing her in darkness.

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∝: 604
♫: Feral Love
✏: ---
@: Stalwart

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[Stalwart]

Capsule

---

The darkness was silent. The darkness was empty. Capsule was in a void - a hellish, ceaseless void. No walls, no doors, not even a barely-visible monster to provide the comfort of knowing that she wasn't alone in the endless oblivion that was the room after the oaken door. She didn't even have that to fall back on, either - Capsule would not be able to see or feel it. It was as if the room had defied the laws of the game and physics, and vanished into thin air. Or perhaps she had fallen victim to that which had claimed the lives of many a scuba diver - complete and utter disorientation in complete when no vision or sense of direction was available. Either way, there would be no way out for her.

"Over here..."
The voice was weak - incredibly so. As if the owner was dying. But the voice repeated, over and over, only a few seconds' reprieve being given to it. The voice's owner's death was evidently slow and painful - if they were being allowed to die at all. Whether Capsule chose to follow it was entirely her decision, but there was nothing she would be able to do to get the voice to stop. Nothing she could do to even get it to slow down. For all intents and purposes, she was completely and utterly powerless.

At some point, if she had chosen to move forward, Capsule would encounter a wall. In fact, she would have encountered it in a set time anyway, even if she hadn't moved an inch - all she would have to have done then was reach out. Whatever she did, a voice would echo through the darkness, into her ears. A faint, yet unmissable voice. One she wouldn't be able to ignore, no matter how she tried.
"Please... It's cold..."
The voice had grown louder. Loud enough to be identified.
Loud enough to be identified as Stalwart's.

And, no matter what she would do - bang at the wall, scream at it, scratch at it - it would not budge. Nothing she could do would even make a scratch in it. The wall was as a Guardian - immovable, invincible, impenetrable. All she could do was listen to the silence and whatever sounds she could make by herself, while Stalwart's fate was left to her imagination. Whatever strange, terrible thing had happened to him was what she would have to leave him to, and all she could do was stand back and let it happen.

The lights came on soon after. Well, A light, to be more precise. A torch of modest strength, enough to cast a decent light around it. It was next to Stalwart, however, on the other side. Not that he seemed to notice it - he seemed to be too busy being backed up against the wall, searching frantically around him for... something. Strangely enough, he didn't seem to notice Capsule behind him. Only the wall.
Certainly not the horrifically mutated... things... dragging themselves towards him.

---

WORDS IN POST: 511
WORDS IN THREAD: 2544

[Capsule]

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Too late, Capsule realized the mistake she made in pursuing Stalwart into unknown territory. Despite escaping the mysterious tentacle monster, she could not resist pushing at the door -- no. That was wrong. There was no door. In the dark, her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. No door… How? How were they managing this? The door was just there a few seconds ago! And what of the wall? If there was no door or wall, then the monster could enter and pick them off one by one.

Trembling hands and fingers lifted to cautiously swipe at the empty air. One Mississippi… Two Mississippi… Three Mississippi… The seconds ticked back as she stepped further and further, her arms passing well beyond what should have been a door. Changing course to examine her left and right offered little reassurance, as well. Nothing. She was afraid to explore anymore, afraid that she would finally hit something.

"Over here..."

Capsule hurriedly sucked in a gasp. The voice sounded weak, so pitifully weak. Could that be the groaner, or was it Stal? She paused, her head turned back towards the source of the sound. Her lower lip quivered, giving way to a gaping mouth. Beyond her lips, the tip of her tongue twitched. And yet she did not cry out for confirmation. That was how monsters like Will O The Wisps got you. They mimicked the voices of a companion to lure you out of safety, to lead you astray and into the jaws of terror. She snapped her jaw shut, hard enough for an audible click to be heard.

With not much else to do, Capsule began to creep forward, arms poised at her sides, ready to shove, slap, punch, scratch anything that lunged out to greet her. The voice continued to call out, each cry causing the knot in her stomach to descend deeper into her belly. Her lips puckered once more, the name of the Guardian dying to escape. Once again, she swallowed it back.

Her finger tips caressed a smooth, hard substance -- a wall?! Before she could inspect it properly, a voice rang out. She withdrew from the barrier, hands coming up to nestle against her bosom. Silently, she mouthed the word Stalwart? That was him, there was no doubt about it. But where was he? The redhead twirled around to poke and prod the air with her short legs, though it netted her zero results in the end.

And then it dawned on her: Stalwart was on the other side.

"Schiiiiiiese!" She slapped at the wall with the palm of one hand, resulting in a dull whack. "Stal! Can you hear me? I am on the other side…" Probably so. But would he be able to do something about the wall between them? Of that, she was doubtful.

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∝: 472
♫: Ultraviolence
✏: ---
@: Stalwart

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[Stalwart]

Capsule

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Stalwart paused. The creatures paused. Even time itself seemed to be suspended for that single, agonising moment, suspended indefinitely. Then the creatures turned. Slowly,, but surely, seemingly in no hurry to locate the source of the sound. Or perhaps it was just that that was as fast as they could move - which wouldn't have been surprising, given the grotesque proportions of their bodies and the unsettling ways in which they had been contorted and disfigured. Not that it mattered much. They had their sights set on Capsule, and were beginning to drag themselves towards her instead.

They were ignoring Stalwart. Their purpose didn't become clear until Stalwart himself turned around. His face was, in no uncertain terms, horrific. In every sense of the word, the way in which his face had been altered was grotesque. Whichever features of his weren't pulled, distorted, or blown out of proportion were missing parts of themselves - if they existed on his face at all. His skin, where it wasn't sagging and dishevelled, was damaged to the point where it looked as though it could fall off with even the slightest touch. And yet, it still turned to face Capsule with a frightening degree of accuracy.

Stalwart opened his mouth - or whatever the facial monstrosity he used to communicate with was called - but no words came out. Instead, a sickening blend of a pained wheeze and the groan of a dying man spilt out from it, oozing from his gaping, lopsided maw like verbal sludge. Again and again, the sound slid out of him, its volume growing with every one of his attempts to speak. And each one sounded distinctly more distressed. But what could Capsule do? The wall that separated them was an obstacle insurmountable, something that would force her to stay back from him. So close, yet so far.

Stalwart slapped the wall, probably trying to get through it. His strike yielded no results. Another one came, then several more. Still nothing. He kept trying, with nothing doing. Until eventually, a chip appeared. it was the tiniest thing. Small, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, but it was there nonetheless. All that had to be done was hitting the wall until it fell over - the most classic of strategies. But still, the question remained - would Capsule want what was on the side? What lurked there, vying to force its way past, may not have been Stalwart at all.

The chip wouldn't grow bigger, no matter how much 'Stalwart' struck it. The other... things... didn't help much, as they only clawed at the invisible barrier with mangled digits. They were all dead set on reaching Capsule, and seemed to not care about what would happen if she were to ever actually be able to reach them. She was utterly alone with them - there was not even the voice there to taunt her, to remind her that something coherent and even vaguely human lurked somewhere in the terror beyond the blackness.

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