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westwhere2022-10-22 07:42 pm
groundrules) wrote in westwhere2022-10-22 07:42 pm
Entry tags:
- 2ha: chu wanning,
- arc iv,
- arc iv: serthica,
- arcane: caitlyn,
- arcane: vi,
- better call saul: jimmy mcgill,
- better call saul: kim wexler,
- doctor who: clara oswald,
- doctor who: river song,
- doctor who: the doctor,
- hellblazer: john constantine,
- kingdom of the wicked: emilia,
- kingdom of the wicked: wrath,
- legend of fei: xie yun,
- legend of fei: zhou fei,
- mcu: yelena,
- mo dao zu shi: xiao xingchen,
- noragami: yato,
- oh! my emperor: beitang moran,
- oh! my emperor: su xunxian,
- original: licyn mansbane,
- original: red,
- owl house: eda clawthorne,
- penny dreadful: vanessa ives,
- shadowhunters: alec lightwood,
- shadowhunters: magnus bane,
- star trek: christopher pike,
- star wars: finn,
- the clock tower,
- the gifted: lorna dane,
- the gifted: marcos diaz,
- tian guan ci fu: xie lian,
- touken ranbu: kanesada,
- umbrella academy: five,
- umbrella academy: lila pitts,
- untamed: lan wangji,
- untamed: wei wuxian,
- warcraft: anduin wrynn,
- warcraft: wrathion,
- warframe: kahl 175
the clock tower
Happy Hallow-elevator! The clock tower event lasts between 22 October and 8 November. ICly, the tower incursion stretches around a week, and you’re welcome to have your character investigate something else, if they finish early!
ALL IS AS ALL WAS
Play it cool, as Serthica’s customs officers pore over your passport papers, before grudgingly allowing you overground. Minaras, you hear, is hunting a delinquent.
Both it and Eidris fare well, with no sign of the damage that preceded the Unwinding. Locals no longer behave eerily, dragons and clockwork droids roam freely, and everyone hates taxes.
Yet perfect strangers insist they know you. Your assigned address leads to a different house. The roads, buildings and architecture look ‘lived in,’ but changed.
No one remembers the Unwinding.
- ■ Burlap mannequins sometimes watch from mirrors, windows and reflecting surfaces.
■ You might hear shifting and scratching in Eidris walls.
■ Minaras has doubled its bounty for a man not unlike Leonard McCoy.
■ Black fungal spores are found on the increasingly voluminous experiment vials, specimens and supplies thrown out by Minaras medical facilities.
■ Frail and confused, Ellethia survivor Zenobius finally awakens. A short thread is up for RNG grabs.
TRIALS & NO ERRORS
The guard troops that Eidris and Minaras assign to the Neutral Zone now protect King Thivar and High Councillor Arabella during the annual Sanctuary Reckoning trials. Both adjudicate cases that violate the ceasefire.
Prolonging the trials buys time for your companions in the clock tower.
- ■ Create a distraction — flood the judgement hall rooms? Fire? Illusions?
■ Pose as trial participants: perhaps you are of Eidris, and you caught this wicked Minaraian raiding your home? Mayhap this wretched man of Eidris stole your girlfriend? Wait, you’re a Minaraian who wants to kill King Thivar?
■ …organise breakouts, if Thivar or Arabella have your jailed. You are first imprisoned in makeshift Sanctuary cells — all but poorly locked, glorified closets. Get a trial sentence!
■ Thivar and Arabella treat the trials as a box-ticking exercise.
THE TOWER
As Eidris and Minaras play court, you can infiltrate the Neutral Zone clock tower of Vassarizhia.
- ■ Only token security remains. The door is unlocked.
■ Karsa supplies paper talismans that must be burned in the watch fire at the tower’s top level.
■ Each burned talisman amplifies the reveal spell that Karsa activates. Link a finished burning thread by 8 November to help the cause.
■ A November mod post will describe how much of Serthica’s ‘undeath’ characters can see.
■ Placing Magnus’ dragon eye before the tower’s telescope will allow characters to always see Serthica’s undeath, moving forward.
✘ ELEVATOR ETIQUETTE
Imperfect stillness dominates Vassarizhia: your footsteps do not click, words die in your mouth. The tower’s rickety gear slither silently. Your heartbeat aligns with the clock’s tick… tock.
You have the growing, gnarly certainty that you have invaded something ancient and alive.
The tower’s entryway level is large, deserted, stacked with gears. At its core is a dilapidated open elevator shaft.
A large sign says to find and pull the floor lever, if elevators stop.
- ■ There are two elevators. Each narrow lift can hold up to four people, crammed. The upper half of the carriage is chain-link fence, while the floors contain hatches that sometimes open mid-travel for 30 seconds. Hold on to ceiling-bound leather straps.
■ The ropes holding the elevators are thick, but tattered.
■ The elevator’s creaking squeals can awaken swarms of 1m-tall bats and bat wyverns. They rattle the lift, but ultimately withdraw.
■ The elevator can stop at as many levels as you want (or none!).
■ Beyond the second level, you feel intensely paranoid and see your companions as the persons you most hate/fear for five to 10 minutes. Reaching the top, you are tempted to cut the lift ropes of those who follow. (The ropes and elevators recover, after crashing to the bottom. )
■ On each floor, as you exit the elevator, a nearby wall shows a different scratched instruction, signed by DAVID.
LEVEL IV: THE ROOM WHERE NOTHING HAPPENS | LEVEL V: IT’S RAINING (AGAIN)
LEVEL I: THE LABYRINTH
CONTENT WARNING: MINOTAUR, BODY HORROR
Step into a jail maze, flooded to knee level. Confusing corridors narrow, widen and contort, while wall torches dim.
Intermittent howling reveals you’re not alone. Hiding, you see child-like chalk drawings of forest animals on walls — and a great minotaur. Keep silent.
- ■ David S P’s wall scrawl says, IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY.
■ Collect some of the many discarded daggers or axes. Rope bundles float in water — use them to paralyse your captive or briefly force them under your control.
■ Don’t linger in one place: rotting, bodiless hands surface to restrain you.
■ Bad news, if you swallow water when the minotaur or dead hands try to drown you: your skin stretches and bursts, while your bones pop and extend. You mutate into a half human, half woodland creature, all bloodlust. ( Inspiration, anyone? ) Your companions should still recognise you; between hazy memories and constant pain, you might struggle to remember them and even attack.
■ Morphed characters can (painfully) return to normal within minutes of re-entering the elevator.
■ A smaller and distressed three-headed minotaur also roams the labyrinth. Two of its heads sob, while the third urges you to hide with it when brother approaches. It tries to throttle you with a noose to make brother happy, if you follow. David did say.
■ The minotaur and its sibling have poor sight. They cannot enter a corridor where you’ve drawn or laid down a line.
■ Pull the lever, and a straight corridor leads you to the elevator.
LEVEL II: THE ANCESTOR
CONTENT WARNING: GIANT SKELETON, BLOOD DRINKING
Here, only barren stone and thin rivulets of fresh water pouring from wall fountains with sharp-tipped ornaments — your spilled blood quickly infects the basins. Knives, pins and bowls have been abandoned nearby.
High pressure and vertigo overwhelm you. Follow a rhythmic heaving to where the upper half of an enormous skeleton — the Ancestor — has broken through a wall. White, silk thread fetters it. Dried blood rims its cracked mouth. Before it, the stone floor has been tarnished, up to a 5m radius.
The Ancestor appears dormant, a crown of iron thorns on its head. It clutches the lever tightly in its right hand. Above it, an engraving urges, SPILL WINE FOR YOUR ANCESTOR.
- ■ David S P’s elevator scrawl says, WATER TO WINE.
■ Dally staring and you feel dizzy, nauseous, depressed and compelled to share your close-death encounters. Before you know it, you are stepping into the Ancestor’s radius…
■ …where it plunges for you, if you don’t bear a filled cup. The silk ropes keep the Ancestor from reaching beyond 5m.
■ Two carvings under his fists read HONOUR THY FATHER and DISHONOUR THY MOTHER.
■ Quickly distract the Ancestor from crumbling his captives, tearing their arms or attempting to eat them.
■ The Ancestor is instinct-driven, consumed by thirst. It cannot see or smell, and only remembers taste. Sounds divert it.
■ Improvise: there is no actual wine here. Infuse water, spill blood, or vocally pretend you are delivering wine, and the Ancestor might spare you.
■ If sated, the Ancestor releases the lever.
LEVEL III: TAG! YOU’RE IT
CONTENT WARNING: SCARECROW, SKINNED CREATURES
Enjoy pitch dark, dread and bile spreading in your gut. Take a candle from near the elevator and roam through small, unlocked rooms that feature tattered beds, strips of tanning leather and blood or wax spilled on the floor.
- ■ David S P’s wall scrawl says, O CATCHES IT.
■ Ahead, you see candle-bearing mannequins that dance a hora to the same song played by Jim Kirk’s music box: “Up the mountain, in the grove, hand in hand to Ke-Waihu, fresh harvest’s a treasure trove, each fall we feast anew.”
■ The creatures are patched abominations of wax, skinned flesh and burlap. In the middle of the hora is a wiry scarecrow, eyes blazing with candle fire as it points a large cleaver. In certain lights, the scarecrow’s face briefly contorts into that of your mother. It wears priestly robes that Arc III survivors may recognise from the House of Ravens.
■ As the dance finishes, you notice the lever in the middle of the circle, where flame spells out TAKE THEM, NOT ME. The game begins.
■ The abominations run, gleefully manic and screaming TAAAA~AAAAAG. YOU’RE IT! The scarecrow unflinchingly cuts them down while pursuing you. Hide in the abandoned rooms, or risk snuffing your candle to avoid detection.
■ Some abominations slap you, hold you, or alert the scarecrow. Others offer shelter. A few peel off wax skins from their limbs — showing black fungi beneath. They murmur, IT NEVER GOES AWAY.
■ Parchment strips fall from the scarecrow’s sleeves, reading, HAPPY NAME DAY, MOTHER KNOWS BEST, THE SIN RAN DEEPER THAN SKIN, IF YOU CAN BEAR IT, IT’S A GAME.
■ Bless David: draw the scarecrow into a drawn or makeshift circle to trap it.
■ Intense, paralysing fear arrests you, if the scarecrow catches you. The wax abominations chant, TAKE THEM, NOT ME. One might even take pity and move your numbed mouth to utter the words. Say them — and the scarecrow lands deep cuts on your arms, then pursues your companion.
■ If you betray someone, the abominations take the appearance of your worst version: whether physically mutated, with a temper that amplifies your worst features, or both.
LEVEL IV: THE ROOM WHERE NOTHING HAPPENS
CONTENT WARNING: MANIPULATION, MENTAL COERCION
You enter a quiet room. The lever sits on a table, beside rope and a dagger. As you approach, your surroundings transform: perhaps your dearest dead appear to warmly welcome you. Crowds of your doubters celebrate your success. Or you are in a calm oasis, where nothing hurts.
- ■ David S P’s wall scrawl says, THIS DREAM IS A NIGHTMARE.
■ Whatever your deepest wishes, the room’s vivid illusions provide. With time, your beautiful dreams deteriorate into horror. Sometimes, you hear whispers of, Make a wish.
■ The room increasingly drains your life force. Within half an hour, you have gaunt flesh, brittle bones and a hunched back. Or you might feel compelled to harm yourself, clawing your arms and face, or pulling your hair out.
■ The damage comes undone minutes after reaching the elevator.
■ The room focuses on one person: if someone joins you, they see fainter echoes of what the room shows you, but they are not enthralled. They must coax or drag you away.
■ If you are under the room’s influence, it forces you to make any later intruders stay.
LEVEL V: IT’S RAINING (AGAIN)
CONTENT WARNING: PLAGUE, THE CHILD
At the tower’s open-sky top, fire crackles from a small stone pit, shielded by a familiar, immovable blood-spattered white umbrella. Nearby, discover an immense rusted telescope and other discarded astronomy tools.
You trip on rain-battered yellowed bones at every step. One skeletal hand holds a watch piece, engraved for Mr. David Sebastian Pumpkins.
- ■ David S P’s has only scrawled his signature.
■ You might reach the flame easily, or be overwhelmed by sickness, black fungal spores blooming on your fingers, while you cough blood and experience intense fever. The symptoms wane once you reach the fire.
■ Burn paper talismans and link finished threads to help Karsa’s spell.
■ The child with a fox mask from the Unwinding could appear. Sign up for one of three short threads, which must finalise by 3 November.
NOTES
- ■ Some of the bigger plot clues have been emphasised, to help navigate through the horror details.
■ You can hit up some NPCs during the trials.
■ Check out plotting posts for last-minute team-ups.
■ Back to the top.
no subject
While she works on the bedsheet, he moves closer to the door, pressing his ear up against it, gauging how far away the monster is now. They've bought themselves a bit of time, at least. Now he goes to Caitlyn's side again, helping with the bedsheet. ]
After we get out of this, we really ought to take it up with management, how poorly designed this whole tower is. Could have been a bit of spooky fun, they go to the extreme instead. When we make it back to the lift, I don't even think we'll win a prize, do you? Could have done with one of those giant stuffed dinosaurs, if I'm being honest. Or a balloon! A big, bright red one.
[ There he goes, trying to lift the mood a little, but probably just sounding...well, weird, per the usual with him. ]
no subject
She swallows the bile rising in the back of her throat. She is not going to throw up.
She recognizes what the Doctor's trying to do: cheer her up, take her mind off their likely impending deaths. Her muscles are so tense she can barely manage a smile, but she does. Just for him, really, to let him know she'll be alright. As long as she has a task to focus on, something to think through, she knows she can work through the fear.]
Somehow, I doubt they've got a comments box.
[The sheets are arranged into a circle, and she leans back, surveying their handiwork before looking back up to him.]
Now we just need to lure it in here.
no subject
I'm a Time Lord. Alien with two hearts, respiratory bypass system. If I'm injured badly, I can heal myself. [ This may or may not be a lie. This world they're in now has had strange and unpredictable impacts on his abilities so he can't be entirely sure he'd even be able to heal himself. ] If I die, I have a little trick up my sleeve called regeneration. [ This is most definitely a lie. While he knows he's granted a new regeneration cycle in his future, that hasn't happened yet. He can and likely would die, and anyone who knows him well would catch him in that, but for now, it's just him and Caitlyn. She doesn't need to know and she doesn't need to go risking herself any further. ]
My point - I'll be the shield and I will get you out of this, Caitlyn, I promise. I don't know what happens from here, but you're going to be safe. [ He didn't miss the way her hands shook, so he spares a moment to reach for hers now, briefly squeezing them. ]
Trust me. Please. This is what I do.
[ And he is not losing anyone else. ]
If you go back through the passageway and shut the door, I'll find it in the hallway, lead it in here.
no subject
But 'perfectly rational' and 'right' aren't always the same thing, and Caitlyn's not going to let the Doctor risk his life while she hides in another room being of no use to anyone.
She squeezes his hands back before dropping them, clenching her fists down by her sides instead as she directs her most determined frown at him.]
I'm going with you.
no subject
This is nothing new, and yet, he's never learned to accept or cope with that reality. If something happens to her, he'll never forgive himself, but he can't stop her coming, he knows.
Excuse him for a moment, though, while he closes his eyes briefly in frustration, steps back, spins around just once and then holds his hands up towards the ceiling in a gesture that says, Why. Why does this always happen. Then he lets out a soft sigh and smiles, briefly. ]
-so human-y. [ He comes closer, resting his hands gently on her shoulders. ] Against all good sense and rational thought, you won't let me go anywhere alone because that's who you are - someone I'm very glad to know, and will be glad to know better when we're out of here.
Okay! Well, then, I've never generally been opposed to wasting time when we don't have any, but this is a unique situation obviously. We'll go out through this door and lead it on a bit of a chase, circle back around here. Disorient it, possibly, both of us going in a different direction?
no subject
She's not entirely sure how to react to that. It's an odd sort of excited feeling, despite the horrific danger they're in, welling up in the pit of her stomach, churning around with the fear to create some new emotion. A friend who is willing to face down that horrific danger, who'll respect that she's not too weak or frail or too much of a child to face it down with him? That's really all she could ask for.
And she'd like to get to know him better, as well. When a scarecrow isn't trying to murder them.
She nods eagerly.]
Yes, I recall the corridor-- [It's not a guarantee that the door to this room leads to the corridor she's thinking of. It's dark out there, easy to get turned around, and she was running. The passageway between rooms may not have led where she thought it did. She speaks with conviction anyway.] It branches just by this door. You go left, I'll go right.
no subject
It unsettles him to know that he'll look upon the face of his mother again, more than likely, and that there will be various other creatures being manipulated and twisted for the sake of someone's mind-game, but he doesn't fear what's beyond this door. Not today. He only fears losing his new friend, and so, the choice is a simple one: lie to her, with such practiced and polished ease, and lead the scarecrow towards him when he has a chance. ]
Got it. Back here in a moment, just in time for tea. [ A last jest to try and cut through the seriousness of the moment, a brief second to pause for a smile. He does position himself in front of her, though - not asking, just doing - to go out the door first. He's not stopping her from following him, though. Over his shoulder, he tells her - ] Clear for now. Tread carefully.
[ Caitlyn had been right about it branching. Even with their movements through the passageway, it opens out to the corridor and splits off as she said. The Doctor goes left just a few paces and then shouts out quite loudly. ]
Oh, well done, dear fellow, good show so far, though it's gone on a bit long for my liking. Boring, if I'm honest. The Doctor will see you now. Come out, come out, you beautiful, dreadful thing, come on out and get me. You love a bit of tag, don't you? That's your game. Let's go!
[ It doesn't take long before the hulking, dreadful creature comes barreling towards him, and then the Doctor begins to give chase, hoping Caitlyn thinks him mad enough to prefer keeping a distance between them. If nothing else, he can at least lead it away from her. ]
no subject
When he heads left, she breaks right, hoping to circle around and find the room where she'd dropped her gun. With it, she'd be far more capable of defending herself. The dark and twisting hallways of this place are hard to keep track of, but she's starting to piece together a decent mental map.
She moves quietly to begin with, hoping to avoid both the wax creatures and the scarecrow until she has a weapon in hand, but then she hears the Doctor shouting and realizes she hasn't got the time to move slowly. It's a quick rush to the correct room, bumping into more than one doorframe as she dodges around wax creatures grasping for her, but she finally finds the rifle where she left it on the floor and runs full tilt towards the sound of the Doctor's voice.
She finds herself behind the scarecrow as it runs towards the Doctor.
They're meant to lead it on a chase, come at it from different directions, aren't they? That was the Doctor's own plan.
The fear has ebbed now that she has her gun back. The calming rhythm of her breathing, the precision required to account for all of the nuances that could affect the bullet's trajectory, the need to keep her hands perfectly steady and her trigger finger loose until the shot comes, waiting for the correct moment, the cluttered racket of her thoughts dampened... The world is so much clearer when viewed down the barrel of a rifle.]
Scarecrow!
[It's the work of an instant to line up a shot that will hit the creature without also hitting the Doctor should the bullet go straight through. Which, indeed, it does. There's a burst of straw and burlap as the bullet pierces the scarecrow's chest before hitting the wall behind it.
The scarecrow turns towards her, completely unfazed by being shot right where its heart should be, but its attention clearly fixed on her now. Caitlyn takes off running.]
no subject
A dark reminder flashes in his mind, though, for a moment. How often has his reluctance for weapons in turn made those around him play at offense in order to guard his safety? It's a thought that fades as quickly as it surfaces because they don't have time for his spiral of guilt. But, this should have been easy, the perfect plan, to lead the scarecrow away. Instead, Caitlyn had to attack regardless. Too many of his plans recently have failed in similarly grand fashion.
Weaponless himself, the Doctor's instinct is to rely on a scientific calculation: as he takes off running after both the scarecrow and Caitlyn, the momentum involved in launching himself at the creature, given the weight and velocity of his own body, should be enough to fell the foul and malicious monster. Unfortunately, as fast as the Doctor can run, the scarecrow is eluding him and gaining on Caitlyn. What happens next, he can't be sure, but just as the scarecrow seems about to rapidly close the distance between itself and Caitlyn, the Doctor jumps and tackles it to the ground, trying to kick out at its cleaver simultaneously so it can't fly off directionless through the air and inflict any harm. (He hopes, he desperately hopes.) It's a tangle of gangly limbs and loose straw dislodged from the impact of hitting the ground. ]
You know, you are really quite a bother! [ Said with a huffed breath, eyes dark with a lack of mercy now as he clumsily pushes himself to his feet, wasting no time before he reaches for a candle, tossing it at the scarecrow's feet with the intent to set it ablaze and at least buy them a little more time. ]
no subject
As she rushes through the dark and twisting corridors, she does her best to make a mental map of the place, to remember where she needs to lead the scarecrow to get it back to the circle they've made, but she can't see well now that's she's lost her candle in favour of the gun and she's soon turned around.
A turn around the wrong corridor, and she finds herself running directly into the arms of a waiting wax creature. She tries to whip the gun up, but it's seized her by the arm with a strength to rival anything she's experienced. Another takes hold of her other arm, holding her in place, and it's all she can do not to drop the gun again. An unnatural terror grips her as she struggles to break free.
She can feel the scarecrow coming up behind her, cleaver brandished, when there's a sudden sound of an impact and it hits the floor, the Doctor on top of it, and the cleaver goes flying right through the belly of one of the creatures. Wax and a foul-smelling mould splatter across Caitlyn's side before the cleaver buries itself in the wall, vibrating with the force of the blow.]
Doctor!
[She tries to get away from the creatures, to dash around the scarecrow back to the Doctor, but one of them still has her in an iron grip, and as soon as she starts to move towards him she's yanked back.
The scarecrow lays still as the flames lick up its straw feet. And then it begins to lurch upright, its gaze still fixed on her. And no matter how hard she tries, she feels as though she can't move, pinned in place by fear. In the flickering light of the fire, the scarecrow's face once again twists and distorts to look like that of her mother.]
no subject
Any brief doubt he had about the scarecrow's possible sentience beyond base instinct and a commitment to mayhem and destruction is quickly banished when the creature begins to sit up again, intent on causing harm for the sake of it. As if the scarecrow itself isn't bad enough, one of the similarly unsettling creatures has a grip on Caitlyn and there's precious little time to make a break for it. ]
Caitlyn!
[ Calling out to her is a measure of assurance for himself and also for her, he hopes. That he's coming for her, that they'll soon be out of here. He carefully dodges the building flames and the scarecrow beginning to sit up, hurrying to Caitlyn's side, reaching for her and trying to pull her towards him, out of the grip of the creature. When it resists, the Doctor grabs another candle and shoves it into the creature's face. He can't afford doubt or mercy regarding the creature's possible sentience. There's no room here for second chances.
As the Doctor pulls Caitlyn closer, another wax creature comes around the corner behind them, chanting, Take them not me. ]
No, no, no. I've had quite enough of this! No one's taking anyone. We have to run, Caitlyn, just run. Just around the corner, I think, is the lever if we can reach it. Keep a hold of my hand. Can't risk being grabbed and separated.
[ Abandon their circle altogether, and hope the lever really is on the other side of this hallway? He doesn't know, and that unsettles him. But he's thinking as he goes, just reacting to the situation as it twists and turns. ]
no subject
The creature holding her begins to chant softly, Take them, not me, take them, not me, but Caitlyn's barely able to hear it as the scarecrow draws nearer and her scowl deepens, trying to hide the fact that she's never been more afraid in her life.
And then there's a hard tug on her arm. The Doctor. A flash of fire in the creature's face and suddenly she can move again, but more are coming. Her legs still feel stiff and frozen but she forces herself to stumble after him.]
You don't think it's worth trying to trap it? What about anyone who winds up in here after us? If we trap it, we might be able to find a way to destroy it, to stop it hurting anybody else.
[She's not letting go of his hand, regardless.]
no subject
[ Said in a rush of breath, a sense of urgency in his voice. He wouldn't forsake anyone who passes through here after them, but given everything he's seen this world do before, he doesn't know that trapping the scarecrow will really even help. As with the Unwinding, things seem to reset after others leave, so the game can begin again. Is it worth their time and effort? That he questions himself also unsettles him; this Tower has affected him more than he'd like to consider at the moment and he feels every bit his true age. Is he misjudging the situation? He runs, always, but not from danger, not unless what he's protecting is precious; in this case, any friend who happened to be with him. But her words give him pause, despite the lack of time they have for contemplation. ]
Okay - a moment. Think, think, think. [ ...As they're well on their way to being attacked again, an onslaught seemingly without end. Perhaps trapping the scarecrow will in turn stop the wax creatures? ] Up ahead, we turn right, it should wind us back around. If we see the lever first and there's an opportunity, we pull it. We can still try to trap it, we don't need to escape immediately. Our luck, hopefully, we find our room instead, with our clever little circle.
[ She's right, they can't forego the attempt. He's nearly lost so many in this Tower already, he's letting his fear of further loss cloud his judgment. ]
no subject
I don't need to be your priority, Doctor. I can take care of myself.
[She still turns right when he does, because it's a good plan, and she's not going to balk at a good plan simply because of her pride.
When they arrive at an intersection and she spots the lever down one path, however, she finally does move to pull her hand away from his.]
You go for the lever. I'll circle around and try to lure it away from you and towards the circle.
[She doubts he'll agree to that. But they haven't got too much time to argue, as the wax creatures are following them, and she can hear the scarecrow following after. Whatever they're going to do, they have to do it fast.]
no subject
[ The Doctor rubs a quick hand over his face, annoyed and yet drained of the will to argue further. He'd already led with the fact that he can heal in ways she can't, and that hadn't done anything to sway her. It's a futile exercise, the two of them trying to save the other. They have to split up now, they really have no choice, though for the Doctor, the obvious choice as to who should lead the scarecrow away is him. Yet, they're wasting time, precious seconds they simply can't spare to lose.
He'd tried it his way already, tried leading the thing away from her and it hadn't worked. ]
Fine! [ A huff of breath, a clipped sigh, his voice raised a bit; not at her, but a frustration and weariness with the situation that's unraveled so terribly. This should have been easier. Has he made it worse? Worries for another day, when they get out of here. ]
Fine. I trust you, but I want it noted for the record I think you're being ridiculous right now. [ In a certain definition of the word, at least. He doesn't trust easily, in many ways, and this is the first time he's ever seen Caitlyn in a dire situation, but despite her fear, she's determined. She isn't letting her fear stop her, and she's so brave, they always are, the people around him. So brave and so fragile and he just hopes that trusting her this time isn't folly.
He trusts her belief in herself, her need, perhaps, to do this. He doesn't know what lies ahead for them in this world, what's beyond this clocktower of horrors, and Serthica and where their journey takes them next, but they all have to trust each other because they're all they have. If she knows that he believes in her, equally, maybe it will make her stronger, too. ]
I'll go for the lever, circle round the other side. I'll hear you, call for me, don't hesitate, don't be foolish. Just run, Caitlyn, run fast and don't look back.
no subject
When he finally relents, she gives him a single, curt nod. She doesn't take his trust lightly, and she's going to show him that it's not misplaced. Though when he calls her ridiculous, she can't help a very deadpan, unamused look.]
I will.
[Heart hammering in her throat but her grip on her rifle still loose and easy - everything is so much easier with the gun in her hand - she looks back to where the scarecrow is coming up behind them. One clean shot through its throat - no real harm done, of course, just a burst of straw that doesn't even slow it down - and its attention is fully fixed on her. She waits a long moment, a terrifyingly long moment, to allow the scarecrow to catch up a bit, to make sure it's following her, before she takes off down the corridor towards the room with the circle.]
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That bang rings out, though, and he watches with no small amount of dread as the scarecrow turns its sights on her again, following her closely. It takes everything in his power not to chase after her - more than she could possibly know - but he does what he said he would this time, and he goes to the lever, pulling it to ensure they at least have a way out of here.
He wastes no time in following the corridor around the other side, running as fast as he can, dodging the wax creatures as he goes, listening for Caitlyn and hoping she's made it back to the room with the circle. ]
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Another corner, and she's not that far away now. She can hear the scarecrow shuffling after her, slower than her but relentless in its pursuit.
One last corner. She can see the door. Only a few more yards and...
She trips. The rifle goes flying out of her hand down the corridor. It takes her a moment to realize that a wax creature has crawled out of a doorway and grasped at her ankles. It's crawling up her legs, trying to hold her in place, but she kicks at it desperately, her foot connecting with its head once, twice, three times, finally succeeding in getting it off of her and scrambling back to her feet with just enough time to duck into the correct room before the scarecrow arrives.]
In here! [Her voice is hoarse, strained with fear. But it still does the trick, as the scarecrow appears in the doorway only a moment later. Caitlyn freezes on the opposite side of the circle, paralyzed by fear, just hoping that the scarecrow will cross the circle to get to her rather than go around.]
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He just has to hope the foul creature isn't cognizant enough to try and outsmart them. The Doctor manages to catch up enough to her to just barely catch sight of the scarecrow entering the room. It takes all of his strength to fight the instinct to lunge for it, but then they'll be back where they started.
He has to trust in Caitlyn, in their plan, and he holds himself in place for a moment, watching the scarecrow enter the room. Making his way closer, slowly, he's relieved to see the creature steps directly into the circle. A trick of the light, perhaps, or it's so intent on reaching Caitlyn that it doesn't realize its own error in time. It can't move, can't lunge for her, and the Doctor quickly moves around it to reach Caitlyn. ]
You okay? We have a straight path to the elevator, just a bit more running.
[ He reaches down to help her up. They aren't in the clear yet, but nearly, and they can make it. ]
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Just a bit more. She can do that. She can make it to the elevator. But first...]
I've got to get my gun.
[Without waiting for approval or even acknowledgement, she breaks away from the Doctor and dashes down the hallway to pick up the fallen weapon. She lost it once before, she's not going to leave it when it's easily accessible, even if she is running the risk of the scarecrow escaping or the wax creatures catching up with them.]
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[ Any further protest dies on his lips, though. She's already out of range, already pulling away from him. If she needed it that badly-which he still doesn't understand-he could have retrieved it for her. It's a battle of wills between them, in some respects. She's more than capable, he doesn't doubt that at all. His frustration and worry may seem to contradict his belief in her, but it's more about his general fear of losing anyone else. Hard to explain, even more-so when they're trying to outrun a series of magical abominations.
He does start to go after her, though, at least to be sure she's not alone and can't be harmed. ]
What is it with you lot and guns? Explain it to me later, will you? Come on, we're nearly there!
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Yes, I'm coming. [One last mad scramble and she practically crashes into the back wall of the elevator, turning to lean against it as she gulps down a few deep breaths. It's going to take a few minutes to calm her racing heart.
Still, she keeps an eye on the corridor, making sure nothing's followed them so closely that they need to be worried, the gun at her side ready to raise and fire should danger present itself before the Doctor can make it into the elevator.]
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Then he looks at her again, just to be sure she's not harmed. ]
Not anything I'd like to repeat, for the record, but you were brilliant. I'm ignoring the gun, but you were brilliant. And so delightfully and perfectly alive.
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And then she turns back to him and wraps her arms around his shoulders, immeasurably grateful that yes, she's alive. And he's alive. They've both survived. There were a few minutes there where she worried they might not.]
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He'll hold her as long as she needs, taking his own comfort in the embrace. ]
We're going to be okay now, not to worry. We'll make it through this Tower. After that, we can make it through anything, eh?