damned_institute | Nightshift 31: Staff-Only Outdoor Patio

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Nightshift 31: Staff-Only Outdoor Patio

[from here]

The door indeed lead to an outdoor area and the Bride paused in the doorway a moment to let her eyes adjust. She then moved out into the fresh air and looked around for any possible creatures or people. She didn't see any and noted the two doors. One was the one they wanted and the other... hadn't been on her map.

Out of curiosity, Beatrix headed over and tried the door. It was locked tight and a cursory examination of the lock told her it was solidly built and would take more than she was willing to try, at the moment, to break open. Perhaps she'd give it a shot after they'd acquired what it was they were after.

Turning back, the blonde paused as the wind blew her hair into her eyes. Pushing it out of her eyes, she suddenly remembered what had happened the last time she'd been outside. Blue eyes moved to the sky and she searched for any circling giant birds, readying the glass shard that had taken the life of the last one she'd encountered. One that had tried to eat Mion.

"We shouldn't linger," the Bride said in a quiet voice. "Remember what happened when we came back from the town..."

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She had barely heard her name when a white flash obstructed her vision, a shattering crack splitting her ears. Before the girl knew it, the pair hit the floor, and though the blunt of the damage transferred to Arlene, Rena couldn't say she felt nothing from the impact. If not for the overcoat, one side of her arm would surely be scraped.

Just as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Rena was pulled up and back on her feet, only to catch multiple bolts headed their way. Arlene's shove was enough to send the girl back against the door as the ground exploded between them.

Unfortunately, the cement wasn't the only thing that was hit.

Rena watched in horror as, for the second time, electricity struck her protector and sent the woman tumbling right into the door and consequently, her. Pain from the impact shot through the girl's upper torso, her wind completely knocked out of her. Surprisingly, even under Arlene's weight, Rena still fumbled frantically for the doorknob. Injury or not, she had been instructed, and it was best she did as told.

When the bolts of lightning were shot past him, Sora stopped for a moment, gasping and spinning around as he realized that the others were going to be hurt, rather than him. He was the one rushing the monster! Why did it keep trying to injure those who were already hurt?

"No!" he yelled, especially when he realized that some of the lightning was headed straight for Kairi.

Before he could see whether or not she dodged, though, he heard a rush of movement from behind him and realized that it was his turn to be in danger. He gasped again, falling to the ground and into a roll in hopes of avoiding the dive-bombing creature. Things that flew were so much harder to fight!

It had been a split second reaction. Kairi didn’t even know she was moving until she was moving through the air to her left, the heat of the lightning so close to her skin she thought, for a brief moment, that she had been hit. When she hit the ground and somehow rolled once before managing to land on her feet in a crouched position, the once Princess quickly came to the conclusion that she had not been hit, and instead had moved.

Her fingers tips burned slightly, yet there had been no contact between her and the lightning.

Oh.

Kairi didn’t have time to think about things then. There were other things at hand – like, for instance, the fact that the creature was still there, and that the two other people were looking to be extremely hurt. Moving in a crouch across the ground slowly, she tried to get towards Rena who appeared to be trying to open the door, even with a body of another woman sprawled across her. There had to be something … “Rena, stop for a second! I’ll – I’ll help!”

With her senses suddenly on overdrive, Kairi’s head suddenly snapped to look behind her and towards the monster, which was swooping towards Sora. Eyes wide, her fingers suddenly switched as the tingling slowly began to move up her fingers. “No!”

Ignoring the ones at the door now, the tempest chased after Sora. When the boy rolled away, it arced in the air, twisting up and over to come back at him. No matter what, it would kill tonight and feed on their flesh. It needed to replenish its energy, after all, and these little tidbits would be perfect for that task.

Flying higher, the snakelike creature flapped its wings again, thunder cracking as it sent two new bolts of lightning toward Sora, hoping to slow him down. Creatures on the ground had to be slowed or the tempest would never be able to get a solid grip.

She felt very sluggish, disconnected from her limbs. Rena was fighting against Beatrix's weight to get the door open and the girl's frantic movement dislodged the Bride. Sliding off the girl to the ground, the impact sent white-hot searing pain coursing through her body, shocking the ex-assassin's senses but having the advantageous side-effect of keeping her conscious.

Groaning and trying to pull air into her protesting body, Beatrix managed to find her way up onto all fours. "I can... move.... Rena," she said, forcing the words out. "The door..."

It was insulting to her pride, but Beatrix would drag herself, crawl even, into the next room somehow if only the damn door would open.

No talk, no delay. Once the weight passed from her shoulders, the girl took immediate hold of the door's handle with both hands. No words, no sounds registered in Rena's mind. Too focused on the task of escaping.

Open... The joints between her fingers cracked under the mounting pressure. Open!

A single heave granted her wish, the door frame shaking from the force. Not caring what lay beyond, Rena rushed over to Arlene's side, pulling at the woman's arm towards the interior. Her eyes, however, fell on the other two patients.

"Everybody!" she called out. "Inside now!"

Things were looking up! He had managed to dodge, and his Keyblade had seen that close call as its cue to come out. He held tightly to the handle for support, using it to help him get back to his feet.

However, just when he had stood up, another attack came straight for him, this time in the form of lighting strikes, which were much harder to dodge. As an instinctual reaction, the boy drew his weapon in front of him, but the lightning shot through the metal of it directly into his arms, giving him a nasty shock that threw him off of his feet and back onto the ground with a yell.

He was stunned for the moment, but he heard Rena's voice, even though he couldn't quite catch what she was saying. He needed to get up! He knew how to use his Keyblade as a projectile weapon, and he could hit that thing if he got half the chance! But at the moment, his body refused to cooperate...

Numerous things had happened at once, it seemed to Kairi. She could hear Rena shout about running inside, followed by – or was it before Rena? – the woman speaking, followed by the sound of a crack, followed by a thud.

All at once, the girl’s eyes were on her fallen friend, thoughts completely erased. One minute she was moving towards the door, and the next she was moving towards Sora’s fallen form, the monster – what was it?! – looming close overhead. Without thinking, Kairi threw herself in front of the boy, her body crouching over slightly while her arms poised themselves as if she were to attack. Fingers curling as if claws, the once princess felt the invisible fire creep up her arms.

And yet, she knew she couldn’t do that. There was no way she was going to allow herself be controlled by the darkness again; not until she had it under control. Taking a step back, Kairi moved slowly towards Sora, so that when she was close enough, she could grab him by the arms and try to make a run for it. The keybearer had saved her more times than she could count … and it was time to return the favor.

The others were escaping - sad, they wouldn't become a meal - but two remained. Two that were delicious and slow and in pain. Flapping harder, the tempest gathered more energy, silver blood dripping from its injury as it focused the pain into anger and anger into energy that surged forth from its wings, thunder shaking the area as the lightning broke and raced toward Kairi and Sora. The tempest didn't care who was killed anymore so long as it ate.

It would have its revenge for the one who dared to harm it.

Beatrix cried out in pain as Rena's hand encircled her burnt arm, sending pain coursing through her, but she moved. The girl wasn't strong enough to drag her through and the Bride couldn't quite get to her feet, but she managed to move into the next room like a beaten three-legged dog desperate for something.

"Run now, children!" The Bride summoned the strength to call loudly through the open doorway to the two still in the sights of the snake-bird monster. It was the best she could do given she was unarmed and injured as she was. She sat down on the ground just inside the door and grabbed Rena's arm in a vice-like grip. She just had a feeling the girl was going to run out to help the other two, but the ex-assassin knew there was nothing she'd be able to do other than become another target once out there.

"No. Stay here with me," she said, yanking the girl with as much strength as she had left down onto her lap and in her arms. Whimpering with the pain the action caused, the Bride rest her head back against the wall. Holding the red-headed girl tight, the Bride tried to recover as much strength as she could. Who knew how many more creatures would they face? She needed to recover some.

Closing her eyes in an attempt to hide the tears of pain that had collected in them, she held Rena tightly. "Just stay. I need you, okay? You have to stay safe. Can't have anything happen to you. Can't... can't..." She repeated those words over several times, barely audible as she listened to the fight going on outside.

((Skip Beatrix from now on as she's in the next room, but since shift changed I'm not creating the new area.))

Helping Arlene through the door had not exactly been a pleasure: the woman was heavier than expected, and each cry of pain sent ripples of guilt into Rena. Never mind how necessary the action was.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." she managed hoarsely until they were safely in the interiors of the next room.

Of course, Arlene was not the only person in her mind at the moment. The other two patients had yet to run over. Only one possibility existed for the delay, which resulted in a fervent need to rush back outside. Rena thought she recognized Sora and his friend Kairi; if the duo were in trouble, she had to help them!

Except she couldn't. Not with a steely hand around her arm and a jerk that brought the girl closer to Arlene. Her face froze in shock, her eyes glancing up at the woman in confusion and desperation. An order was an order, but these were friends. Friends who'd help her in the past, even. This request... It simply wasn't something Rena could swallow. At least not without snapping.

As sounds of struggle escalated outside, something hot and wet welled up in the corner of her eyes.

When Sora realized that Kairi had come back over here, rather than staying safe, he wanted to say something; he wanted to yell at her to get away, out of the range of those attacks.

But there wasn't time for any of that, and she was already trying to help him up. He heard some yelling from behind them, but he couldn't focus on that right now. The monster was injured, but it looked like it still wanted to roast them, if possible.

Seeing the movements that meant it was charging up and preparing to attack, Sora grabbed tighter onto Kairi's arm with one hand and pulled himself up with her help. At this point, this thing wasn't worth killing. "Run!" he yelled, trying to pull his friend back. But how could they be faster than lightning?

At that moment, Kairi didn’t care about her well being. Every thought, every movement … were all so as so she could keep Sora safe. The boy had kept her safe more times than she could count, and now that she finally had a chance to make sure he was okay, to make sure she could protect him …

She was going to take it.

Making sure her body was in front of Sora’s own, Kairi waited until he was fully standing before giving him a shove in the direction of the door, making sure he wasn’t touching her by the time the lightning hit one of the targets. Feeling her fingers brush against Sora’s for one final moment, the once princess gave the boy a smile before the lightning hit her back.

She could smell the burning of something before she felt the pain, and by the time Kairi realized that it had been her own flesh that had been burnt, she was slowly being sucked into the dark. Knees giving out, she let out no sound as she slowly fell unconscious, landing with a dull thud against the ground.

It was worth it, was the final thing Kairi thought before she felt herself slip away completely.

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Nightshift 31: Staff-Only Outdoor Patio

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