sa-hareth | arrival (mingle log)

[groundrules]

WHO: Everyone ever + the local Sa-hareth squad.
WHEN: Arc I: Sa-Hareth arrival.
WHERE: Sa-Hareth citadel, salt mine, the old jailhouse,
WHAT: Our intrepid heroes get commandeered into the frosty unknown.
WARNINGS: the glorious undead, background House of Dew mentions, at least one person's terrible sense of humour.

Comments

[yourdistraction]

[ Merrill might not be able to understand his words, but the tone seems pretty clear! It's a tone she's rather accustomed to, and despite being only slightly taller than him, she wilts to hunch lower than him while scurrying to follow. He already seemed to dislike her, but now she can tell it's even worse! Well, it isn't exactly uncommon for humans to look down on elves, so she assumes it must be that. He's young still, maybe she can teach him better!

This obviously isn't the teaching moment. Merrill is trying to be sneaky while also trying to be quick, but she isn't very graceful even at her best. If she isn't tripping, then she's blowing their cover, or both at the same time. ]

Why are you walking like that....? Did he hurt you? Poor thing.

[ Why is she even asking when he can't understand her?! Maybe somebody else will understand her, so she'll try to run in the direction of the other voices before the guard can recover and catch up to them. At least it's the direction that the boy wants to go as well!

Making it alive is a big ask, however. ]

[somebadnews]

[ Likewise, he can infer by her tone what she's asking him, like she had no idea what happened. He shows incredible restraint to keep his jaw tightly closed as they move. Hopefully one of the other prisoners is more useful, but he still doesn't know if there's a plan once they reach them. He would probably have been better off doing this all himself. As soon as this chain is off, that's what he plans on. (If he could teleport right now... his frustration keeps mounting by the minute.)

The other empty cells seem to keep stretching as they move further along them. At least, he thought this was the right way. Then he hears a shout and perks up. They must be close.

That's when that strange air circles up beside him. Probably just the atmosphere of this place. Still, his grip tightens to near bruising as he picks up the pace. He's not very tall, but he's got enough energy left in him to sprint the rest of the way if he has to. Maybe if they go fast enough she won't have an opportunity to try and mess this up again. ]

[yourdistraction]

[ The voices she hears this time are different than the ones they were heading towards. They're accompanied with a chill and a tickle that makes her shiver, but that just makes her giggle. Realizing that's probably inappropriate timing, Merrill immediately looks chagrined before the boy even looks at her again.

It's strange, though, the urge to touch him... to hold him... The maternal instincts overpower Merrill as she lurches even closer and sweeps her arms around the boy so that she can hug him and wail out in the same language the guards were using. ]

It's all my fault! I'll protect you!

[ Except she's not moving, she's just holding him there like dead weight. Merrill isn't feeling quite like...herself. ]

[somebadnews]

[ Five really thought they were finally making progress. The guard they'd left behind hadn't caught up, and it looked like a clear shot to the end of the hall. The giggle definitely gets his attention, but he does all he can to not look at her as he tries to drag her along. Except she's slowing down again.

Then she fully latches on and wraps her arms around him while hollering in that strange language. It sends a shiver through him and it's only out of surprise that it lasts more than a couple of seconds before he's violently trying to pull her off. ]

Are you completely insane? Let go.

[ Beyond her he can see that guard they left catching up, and his moves become that much more frantic. Once he wiggles free, he balls a fist and strikes her hard across the jaw. They need to keep moving. If he knocks her unconscious and drags her the rest of the way, they'll still probably have a better shot. ]

Snap out of it. We don't have time for this.

[yourdistraction]

[ She doesn't feel the strike, but the chill evaporates rather suddenly, and Merrill's left wondering why she's on the ground with a sore jaw. The jangle of the chain reminds her of what's going on, and with a weak groan she scrambles back up. ]

That was some kind of spirit, wasn't it? It didn't feel malicious! But I didn't invite it and didn't much like that, even without my face now hurting.

[ So very curious about possible demon or spirit activity here, but understanding it's too risky to remain without her magic to protect her, Merrill succeeds in following after the boy without tripping them up this time.

...Had he hit her? She couldn't remember. Well, it was just one more bruise added to the rest. It wouldn't matter if they didn't make it out of here alive. ]

[somebadnews]

I don't understand.

[ That's all he says to whatever she's rambling now. He can't be sure what happened just then, and he's not sure he wants to know. This place is a nightmare.

He doesn't feel the least bit bad about hitting her. It worked. They're moving again. While he's not running as quickly as they were before, it's not long before they reach the end of the hall that breaks into another room. Dammit if he didn't get distracted by that mess, but he thinks it's where they went.

Once they get through he takes stock of anything he can use. Even in their rush, he's determined to find something to deal with these chains, and he looks around frantically.

Before he gets far, he whirls around at her, pointing so she understands. ]

Don't touch anything.

[ Then will come the rummaging and yanking her along. Hell, he'll take a large rock at this point. ]

[yourdistraction]

[ She knows she really ought to stop talking since they can't converse anyway, but the sound of her own voice is a strange comfort. Oh, what she would give to hear Varric or Isabela's voices right now. They would surely know what to do in this situation! They would...probably tell her to stay quiet.

And get a weapon, of course! There don't seem to be too many options, though... If she had seen better, maybe they could have taken that guard's weapon! Every tug pulls her out of her thoughts, but she doesn't want him to hit her again so she acquiesces for now. Human children are so temperamental... ]

[somebadnews]

[ He seems satisfied that he got the message across, and then finally, he's given a chance to think. Or at least ignore everything in his brain screaming at the impossibilities of being thrown into this horror show and just focus on getting out. His head still hasn't completely cleared, but that's really not too unexpected considering the effects of time travel. It's just when he looks at the one he's chained to, it feels like more than that. Things he doesn't have time to dwell on now.

Getting the chain off is the primary issue. He's already positive that they won't make it out if he can't fight off the next threat with another body tripping him up. There's noise ahead, from their proposed rescue party, and he calls out to them with choice words.

One measured glance at the... elf... and he frowns. They didn't exactly make friends back there, but these are desperate times. He takes a calming breath and points to his eyes and then to the hall they left. Watch for anyone to come after them. It's as much teamwork as he's willing to trust with her right now.

The room they're in is dingy, hard to make out in the dim light. He spots a sizable stone and scrambles over to it. After testing the weight of it in his hand, he resorts to banging on the metal links, heedless of the noise he's making. ]