damned_institute | Nightshift 33: Outside

Nightshift 33: Outside - Ruins

[From here.]

The Star Dragon’s Sword run slowed down to an eventual stop as he approached the boundary of the so-called town. Panting softly, he took a few steps past the beginning of debris as he looked at all of the destroyed buildings. If it had been a village from his realm, he would have thought a warring army had passed through – it looked as though it had been on the receiving end of one of Luca Blight’s rampages.

A saddening thought indeed.

“I’m afraid this isn’t what you were after,” The Night Rune mumbled as he glanced back to Kagura.

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It wasn't. It wasn't what she'd hoped for at all. There was no hope that this place would have a phone or even a living person still here that could help them. The place was dead and even as they approached, she could feel the little hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

Only a few buildings still stood. It was heartbreaking. "What... what happened here?" she asked, knowing that there was no one to answer it for her.

He could easily sense the disappointment in Kagura as they both surveyed the destroyed town. Was this the result of an attack, or a disease that had plagued the city? It didn’t look like it was destroyed through any natural means any way he looked at it.

“It could be a number of things,” The Sword murmured as he began walking up the torn and decrepit road between the destroyed buildings. Something caught his attention from the corner of his eye, and after changing his direction to move over towards the broken wall, the Night Rune was given his answer.

“A human skeleton?” He murmured more to himself rather than Kagura. Crouching down closer to the ground, he leant in to inspect the bones for any signs of battle or animal damage. Perhaps the feeble moon light was hiding any damage to the bone from sight. “A natural death?” He questioned himself with a slightly surprised tone in his voice. How was this possible?

Kagura followed the sword, feeling numb as she walked through the empty street. Was this all that was left around them? She hoped that perhaps this place had just been abandoned. That happened sometimes... right?

It wasn't until she looked down to see what Star Dragon Sword was looking at that she stumbled backward and let out a terrified wail. "Kyaaaaaaa!" she shrieked. It was like a haunted house, but a million times worse because it was actually REAL! "W-w-w-what's that doing here?!"

The Star Dragon Sword’s shoulders tensed as the loud shriek ran throughout the town. He was instantly on the move and pulling out his dagger as the Sword spun around ready to attack anything that might be approaching. What was happening?! A quick scan of the surrounding area only had Kagura’s figure in his vision, and he found himself blinking in surprise at her question.

Was that what this was all about?

Glancing back at the skeletal remains, the Night Rune huffed irritably as he replied. “I would say ‘not much’ considering it’s dead.” Or at least he hoped it was. Relaxing his guard, the Star Dragon Sword left the body behind as he moved to the end of the broken wall. Poking his head around the corner, he wasn’t surprised to find yet another broken skeleton on the other side. “I doubt this town was merely abandoned.”

How many remains would they find here? But more importantly, did this have anything to do with the institution itself.

"That's so groooooss!" Kagura wailed, refusing to look at the skeleton again. The sword's dry humor was wasted on her. It didn't help her whining that when she looked away there were more of them down the street.

"I don't like this place," she complained, drawing her arms up tightly to her chest and looking around nervously. Even if the skeletons were old, that didn't do much for her fear. There was creepy stuff all over the place! "Maybe... maybe there's a phone... in one of the buildings..." It wasn't much to hope for, but at the moment, it was about the only thing that kept her from bolting in the opposite direction.

“Come now, it’s just a skeleton. Not to mention that even if it did come alive, my ability would strip them of any power they had.” The Star Dragon Sword raised a single brow at her wailing. What was so wrong with seeing a skeleton? That was a question the Night Rune couldn’t answer. It was just a natural part of the cycle of mortal life after all. Besides, he’d seen much worse on the battlefield and elsewhere.

There didn’t seem to be much on the outside areas of this ruined town, but there might have been a clue or something useful in one of the remaining buildings. “I wouldn’t get any hopes up considering the condition this place is in.” Whatever this ‘phone’ was, the Star Dragon Sword didn’t know, but what he did know was the doubt he felt that anything would be useful here. “But it doesn’t hurt to try.”

Stopping as he approached Kagura, he pointed towards the closest building. “We’d best start with that one and see what we can find.”

Even if it came alive?! The thought alone gave her the shivers! She hadn't even thought something as awful as that, but now she knew she wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it! She had a hard enough time going through spook alleys and haunted houses at the school fairs, this was really way too much!

Rather than answer, she just let out a low whine and shuffled behind the old sword man. This place was way too scary!

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Nightshift 33: Outside - Ruins

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