NIGHT 65: WEST WING, SOUTH HALL 1-A

[his_legacy]

[From here]

No time was wasted in this short stretch of hallway. Link had run across all of Hyrule Field. This hospital was quite small in comparison.

Praying that he wouldn't come across anything to slow him down, Link turned into the main hallways.

[To here]

Comments

[lovesthepain]

Harpuia threw his arm up instinctively when the thing came at him, its claws slicing into unprotected skin. Before he could even think of trying a counterattack, though, someone's shout reached them. He didn't dare take his eyes away from this monster to identify where the warning had come from, but what was being said was more than enough to stop him in his tracks.

These were patients. Harpuia hadn't been able to identify anything human about this thing -- hadn't had much time to identify it period, considering how sudden its assault had been -- but if this was a patient-turned-monster... there was no way fighting back was an option. He refused to bring harm to a human, even if they were a threat to him.

Thank God that Zero didn't have that kind of hesitation. Harpuia hadn't known Zero was packing heat, and those sort of firearms were unheard of in his era -- he hadn't had any idea what that earsplitting bang was until that monster went stumbling back. He shot a wide-eyed look over his shoulder at Zero, but it didn't last long; surprise or no, Harpuia was a soldier at his core; he couldn't afford to stay startled in a situation like this.

There were other things demanding his attention, anyway: Zero and X weren't the only ones with ringing ears after that gunshot, but X was loud enough to make himself heard anyway. X wanted to play distraction? With that injured leg and nothing but a pointy bit of glass to protect himself with? He'd never be able to get away on his own, even if either Harpuia or Zero were the kind of people who'd leave someone to die. Harpuia chose to pretend that had been a suggestion, not an order, and flatly ignored it. "I'm not leaving you!" They had a good chance of making it out alive together. Nobody was going to be playing the bait if he had any say in it.

"Cover us," he snapped at Zero -- being the only one appropriately armed, he was the only one who'd be able to do much of anything if that thing recovered enough to come after them. "Warning shots only!" Harpuia couldn't say for sure if this patient-monster had been wounded or not, but he didn't want to take that chance. He braced X against his uninjured arm, and regardless of whether or not X chose to lean on him, started half-dragging, half-carrying him away. Their foe likely wouldn't stay stunned for long; debates about when it was okay to recklessly endanger yourself in acts of blind heroism could come after it was safe.

[dividedby]

Good news: the bullet hit its mark, knocking the monster back a few steps before it could tear Harpuia a new one. Bad news: it didn't do much more than that, from the look of things. Even more bad news: shouts from nearby (that came a moment before the gunshot but didn't catch up to him until a few seconds afterwards) informed Zero of something startling, but entirely possible, about this monster that was currently fighting them.

The clothes should have been a tip-off, admittedly, but it was dark and he had been more focused on protecting his allies rather than caring about details like that. Now there was a small amount of hesitation. This might be one of their own. An unwilling slave of Landel's cruel game, as Zero himself had become just the night before. It wasn't right to slaughter them in cold blood, not when there was a chance that, come morning, they would be themselves again. Not when it wasn't their fault that they were like this.

However...if it came to it, and someone had to die here...Zero decided it wouldn't be himself or his allies.

Fortunately, he may not have to make that choice. He wasn't that reckless; he knew when it was smarter to run, and now was one of those times - especially if his friends were bailing out of the situation already, and even more especially if that creature was indeed a fellow prisoner. Injuries were pretty costly in this situation, so the less of them everyone got, the better.

Also fortunately, Harpuia wasn't so brainlessly loyal that he would listen to something as stupid as X's suggestion to leave him as live bait. He grabbed the fool and started practically dragging him down the hall so Zero didn't have to. Now he could save the scolding for later and do what Harpuia was so kindly demanding right now. Warning shots only. Doable...until it came after them again. Then forget about it. Zero already made his decision.

He positioned himself between the monster and his comrades, keeping his eyes locked on their threat as he followed X and Harpuia out, and then braced himself for another ear-splitting gunshot. Bang. This time he'd aimed close to the monster, but not close enough to hit it. Injuring it a second time wasn't his goal, if possible. Escape was.

[To here.]

[lighthearted]

Before the creature could recover, could draw the darkness around it again to strike once more, the three ran off. The Anti-Form stood straighter (though its back still hunched slightly) and stared in the direction they had escaped. Was it worth it to give chase?

However it had been injured had hurt, even if it hadn't left any lasting damage. Still, it didn't seem worth that risk, not when there were other targets who wouldn't be as capable of harming him. And besides, the dark halls were calling out to him, beckoning him to lose himself within them. Darkness begets darkness, and so he found himself drawn in the other direction.

A Heartless couldn't have any real plan. It existed and flowed through the world, but it was only hearts that really drove it in any direction.

[To here.]