Night 59: North of the Institute

[anemptydecapo]

[From here]

"It's this way," the assassin called out to his side, his eyes attempting to focus on the darkness before them. They had made it to the forest fast enough when he had been traveling with Sora, which meant it shouldn't be much an issue with someone as fast as Zanuff was. "Down and to the right."

Somehow, the area felt just as cold and empty as it had three nights ago. It wasn't empty. He wasn't that gullible to believe that--he could feel something here. But the darkness covered just enough of their surroundings to make it appear as nothing more than a desolate, snowy wasteland.

They couldn't stay out in the open for long. Which meant...

Nngh...

It was with great hesitance and great annoyance that Venom found himself moving to grasp onto his company's wrist. "Hurry."

Comments

[triplecrossing.livejournal.com]

[From here (http://damned.livejournal.com/1194150.html?thread=81115046#t81115046).]

Lydia landed with a grunt, finding that the ground was uneven due to being softened by the rain. Still, that also meant that it didn't hurt so much to hit it, and she was back on her feet in a matter of seconds.

She was going to be drenched by the time that they found shelter again, but that was a small price to pay for freedom and she knew it.

Either way, it felt good to be beyond the walls of the institute, even if this area surrounding it was technically still a part of it. There was something symbolic about climbing over that wall the way any patient of Landel's would have.

"All right," she said, giving a glance around as she attempted to get her bearings. "I'm thinking we'll just cut through straight up, past the mine and the quarry." They didn't have any business in either of those places, and there was a small path that wound between them. "We'll probably find the edge of the force field somewhere up there."

[damned-soldiers.livejournal.com]

Serving as the steady rock for Lydia in the final effort in climbing was nothing special. The jump down, on the other hand, was a bit of a mess. Rainfall resulted in slippery and soft ground. Despite his general agility and physical prowess, Claude found the landing to be rougher than expected. He nearly fell over, in fact, as the soles of his shoes slid against the dying grass. Another reason to hate rain, the man supposed.

He managed to steady himself without looking too much like a moron, and Claude straightened his posture to consider their position. Up ahead, he could make out the mountainous regions. Heading straight in sounded reasonable; however, their former superiors would likely track their course to the same place. They had to move and move fast. Aguilar always had contingency plans.

"Works for me," he mused. "If we're lucky, we might break through it." Or be trapped forever. Whichever.

[triplecrossing.livejournal.com]

"It's not a matter of being lucky or not. We have to." Lydia wasn't going to allow herself to get captured again. She didn't know who was going to end up grasping control of the institute after tonight, but she honestly didn't care. It didn't matter if it was Aguilar or Landel; she refused to be a part of it.

The good news was that she had a device on her -- something that appeared innocuous enough, but was actually something that could hopefully hack through whatever energy field was keeping the patients contained here. Opening up even a small window in the force field for them to slip through was bound to attract attention, though, which was why they had to be quick. It was also why she hadn't been willing to bring anyone else with her.

It was dark and raining and there were probably monsters on their tail even now, but Lydia wasn't willing to take it slow. She pulled her jacket tighter around herself to shield against the rain and then nodded to Claude. "Let's go." And with that, she started to run, always keeping her gaze a few feet ahead of her so that she could properly anticipate the changes in terrain.

[damned-soldiers.livejournal.com]

It was dauntless perseverance that brought one to toss aside luck to grasp the absolute. Claude had to confess: not many could proclaim such an intention with a straight face. On the other hand, the man could empathize. One could only reach this point after treading through Hell itself.

And given the account he knew in regards to her, the analogy was deemed fitting.

Claude chanced a glance back to the point beyond the wall, to the building itself. They would not return here unless willing. Unless dead. This indeed left little in terms of choices. "If luck ain't it," he said, turning back to Lydia, "we'll go for certainty." The line was cheesy--very much overplayed--but damn, he'd been meaning to say something like it for a long time.

With a playful smirk, he tightened his cap and readied himself for the long run. On her signal, Claude followed closely behind, eyes fixed for danger and terrain. Their moving forms eventually melded into the dark, the night allowing them a successful cover from another's surveillance.