damned_institute | NIGHTSHIFT 38: GREENHOUSE YARD

It wasn't as though the absence of the flashlight wasn't obvious, so Frey hardly felt that he was giving up much of anything by asking Uesugi to take the lead. In any case, he felt a little better not having the man at his back--he didn't particularly trust Uesugi, though he was bound to protect the man simply because he shared a body with Takaya.

The faint light of the moon and stars reflecting off the glass of the greenhouse gave this area a little more brightness than other places, and Frey was able to get a general impression of the surroundings. "We should try to take a look at the lay of the land when we're atop the wall. But very quickly--there's flying monsters to be concerned with."

Kagetora didn't respond, but headed around the greenhouse itself to the walls. Scanning the grounds around him, he kept watch for danger. While he didn't have any grounds to protect Frey, he knew that an attack on the young man would send Takaya into action and having a conflict with the irritation would hinder them further.

"We can do this two ways. I help you up then you help me over, or you help me up and I help you over." He was aware that Frey didn't trust him. There was no reason for him to do so.

"I'm lighter and shorter, it's probably easiest to boost me up, and then I can brace myself and give you a hand." Frey wasn't lacking in strength and could boost Uesugi up if he needed to, but it did seem easier to do it the other way.

Kagetora stepped up to the wall and looked up at the sky,scanning it for danger. Seeing it clear for the moment, he turned back and laced his hands. "Put your foot here and I'll lift you up."

Having long since replaced his sansetsukon and freed up his hands again, Frey was ready to scale the wall. He, too, kept an eye out for flying enemies, even as he lifted one foot into the cradle made by Uesugi's hands. He couldn't imagine what Uesugi would gain by deliberately messing up this simple manoeuvre, so Frey wasn't too concerned about any sort of betrayal at this stage of the journey. "Ready."

Kagetora took the weight, ignoring the faint twinge from his wrist and lifted. He wouldn't do anything to mess up this alliance for now. There wasn't anything in it for him to do so, true.

But that didn't mean he wanted to become a 'buddy'. He didn't like Frey. The boy was idealistic, annoying, and, worst of all, Takaya liked him.

The dislike was quite mutual, which was no doubt for the best--Frey wasn't in for any disappointment that way.

Frey reached up and grabbed the top of the wall as the boost from Uesugi got him high enough, and easily pulled himself up the rest of the way. His movements were smooth and practiced, though he hadn't actually climed many walls in his life, but he'd had enough general physical training that this sort of thing was not difficult.

Turning, Frey braced himself and leaned over to extend a hand to Uesugi, to help him up in turn. Hopefully the contact wouldn't bother Takaya too much, if he was aware of what was going on.

Kagetora was about to take Frey's hand when he caught movement behind him. It was far off, but - He winced as the flashlight caught his eyes, then reached up to clasp the offered hand.

Using the pain as a distraction meant no hesitation from Takaya (who was still livid about the fight they'd fled from) and he was able to get on top of the wall.

Scanning the sky, then the ground, he turned to the other. "Stay up here," he said, voice soft. "I'll slide down and check for danger."

(Going here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/561778.html).)

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/560055.html).]

The air outside was chilling, in both meanings of the word. It was definitely unnerving walking out into open space like this, unsure of where things were and unable to see what could be lurking where her flashlight's beam could not reach. Naoto took a few steps forward before pausing in place, taking in the surroundings in every direction possible. Aside from the very conspicuous greenhouse taking up most of the space in the area confined by walls, there wasn't much outside of the smaller glass building except for a shack in one of the corners. And... Oh, it looked like there were two more people that had already got here before they did. Watching them revealed they were attempting to get themselves over the walls around them.

"... Interesting," Naoto began in slight surprise. "It's possible to climb over? That would technically be escaping, would it not?"

Leon turned his attention to the patients Naoto had her eyes on, then gave a small shrug. "There was a barrier of... some sort before. You could go over the walls inside the grounds to get to other areas, but not outside. Now you can go over those, but... I think you still wake up inside the Institute come morning. I haven't heard of anyone escaping that way."

He shook his head, looking saddened. "Time works funny here. You never know when night is going to just end and you'll suddenly wake up back in your room. I've heard some people's nights end sooner than others."

It was doubtful those people climbing over the wall would get anywhere. He wished them the best of luck, though.

Naoto gave one last thoughtful frown in the others' direction, observing their actions as if there was something particularly important about what they were doing. The act itself was simple enough to grasp, but when you couldn't even escape doing that... There was so much to wonder about, but were the answers to all her questions even around to find?

When she could, Naoto knew she would have to sit down and organize all this information out, deciding what needed to be looked into first and who to ask what. Right now, results were beginning to sound impossible... but nothing wasn't solvable, she knew. Landel was only human, and no matter how perfect his plan seemed, there was a flaw somewhere, and she was going to find it.

"... I suppose it makes sense it wouldn't work," Naoto admitted, finally turning her eyes away and back towards the greenhouse. "It's too simple a tactic; not only is it far too easy to do, but it's an obvious factor nobody would overlook." Although, something she wanted to look into, nonetheless. Naoto gestured towards the next door they were headed to. "But that's all for another time. You should get what you were looking for."

"Ah. Right." Leon glanced towards the greenhouse cautiously, worried he might see pairs of red eyes leering back at him through the glass. They could just run in, grab some equipment and run out. No sticking around any longer than they had to. Hopefully nothing would be blocking their way.

...But of course the door would be locked. The young mage sighed, giving the handle a rattle. He could use a bit of magic on it, but could he really spare it? No, he'd just have to do things the old fashioned way. It was partially glass, at least.

The boy held his flashlight in one hand, covered completely by the overlong sleeve of his coat, and brought it down hard on one of the glass frames. He kept the other arm over his face to keep away potential flying glass, so he might have looked a bit silly. It took a couple blows, but finally he broke away enough that he was able to reach in and unlock it from the inside.

"There we go!" he said proudly, leading the way in.

The young mage adjusted the weight on his shoulders, the pillowcase having been hefted over one. All they had to do was make it back to his room now. Every step would only take them closer, and the closer they got, the less likely something would jump out at them. That's what he wanted to believe, at least. In truth, he'd seen creatures attacking other patients right outside their rooms.

Now that he thought about it, he figured he should probably share his plans with his traveling companion. "I'm going to head back now - to my room. I'd suggest coming along, but I suppose you can do whatever you want."

Item creation, he said? Sounded handy, especially in a place where your equipment felt limited. Initially, at least-- if a mere greenhouse alone had all this for grabs, then there had to be plenty more around the building, and there was a lot to go through. Naoto wondered what sort of items he had in mind to create with these materials, but in the end, that was hardly a concern in comparison to everything else she had in mind. She'll have to inquire later, if the thought came back to her.

"Going back with you won't be necessary," Naoto replied. "I have what I wanted-- information about our whereabouts, and a little more. I'll be able to do what I need from there."

After crossing the yard, Naoto stepped ahead of Leon as they approached the door. Since her hands were more free than his, she pulled the door open for the both of them.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/560055.html?thread=45733815#t45733815).]

[From here.]

Yet another empty area. Usually the outside areas had some patients milling around, but apparently the greenhouse wasn't as popular for whatever reason. It was farther from the patient blocks, so that probably had something to do with it. Sora didn't think he had ever been here at night himself until now.

He noticed the shed in the corner of the area, which was very similar to the way it was set up on the recreational field, and wondered if they should use it to get over the wall, like he'd done with Kairi before.

Thinking about her just made his heart pound a little faster in worry, but the idea itself was probably a valid one. He looked back to Allen and smiled slightly. "We're almost there!" Over the wall, anyway. It was still a pretty long walk after that to get to the quarry.

It sounded like the doctors here weren't much better than the ones he'd seen back home then. He was pretty glad he hadn't seen one. Who knew what they might do here?

The air outside was chill and Allen wished he still had his uniform. It could take some punishment and it was great for cold nights. Here, the cold cut right through the shirt and loose pants. He followed Sora now that they were out of the building, and returned the smile.

"How much further once we're over the wall?" Allen asked. He'd yet to be outside the institute, at least, not in the evening. The day trips to the nearby town were exciting in their own way, but he'd never been able to get out that way at night.

"Maybe we should test these cords on the wall as we go," Allen suggested. He'd much rather break one going over a small drop like this rather than a big hole in the ground.

"Well, it's kind of a long walk," Sora admitted as he started crossing the area toward the far wall, still keeping an eye on that shed. "And the ground is pretty uneven out there, so if you aren't careful you might trip." He wasn't going to get into the details of how he'd almost fallen straight into the quarry. He had his pride, after all!

The idea of testing the cords was a good one, though. Sora dropped one off of his shoulder, holding it in both hands as he looked it over. Part of him was worried that they might ruin one of the cords while trying it out, but in a way, that was the point. If they broke, then there was no way they could safely use them to get down into the quarry.

"All right," he agreed, lifting his head as he scanned the wall, trying to decide how they should go about this. "Any ideas? I guess it'd be nice if we had something to hook them on and then we could pull ourselves up..."

It probably wasn't going to be that easy, though.

Allen hoped they'd be able to make the long walk to the quarry, but maybe the further they got, the longer it would take for them to get collected and placed back in their beds? Maybe. He gave a nod at Sora's warning; this wouldn't be the first time he'd been on unfamiliar ground in the middle of the night. That seemed to be a favorite playtime for Akuma and before he'd come here, it was fairly typical for missions to take place in the evening.

As for ideas on the fence, "we could try boosting one up to the top and have the other hold the rope as they climb down. Then... the one that's already up and over could hold the rope on their end so the one left behind can climb up? If that... makes sense?"

It took a second or two for Sora to work through what Allen was saying, but once he pieced it together, he gave a firm nod. "Yeah, it makes sense! Uhh, I've been over before, so I guess I'll go first?" While he, Momo, and Hokuto hadn't been ambushed by anything out there, he and Kairi had seen a bear in the woods. He didn't want to send Allen out into that when he'd never done this before.

Now that they had a plan, Sora knew they couldn't waste any time. He started unraveling one of the cords, figuring that just one would be enough for this test. Once it was all undone, he grabbed one end of it and then handed the opposite end to Allen.

"All right, you ready?" he asked, heading closer to the wall.

Allen was relieved that his plan sounded half-decent. Usually it was Komui or the other exorcists that did that part. He was much better at following orders than he was at thinking them up.

Since Sora volunteered to go first, Allen took hold of the cord, wrapping the end around his left hand a few times. Once they'd reached the wall, he got ready to help Sora over it, locking his fingers together offering to help boost him up and over if he needed it.

"Ready when you are."

While Sora was sure he could have gotten over the wall on his own, he knew that it would go a lot faster if he accepted Allen's help. So, once he was sure he had a tight hold on his end of the cord, he moved over to the other boy and placed a hand on his shoulder. Though before he got started, he tossed his flashlight over the wall to retrieve it later. Trying to keep a hold on it while trying to do this wouldn't work very well.

Then, Sora lifted up one leg and pushed his foot down against Allen's hands, using his own free hand to reach toward the top of the wall as he was boosted upward.

The second he grabbed at the edge, he used all of his strength to pull himself up and scrambled to the top. That had been a piece of cake!

Sora grinned down at Allen. "So now I jump down to the other side and use the rope to help pull you up?"

Getting Sora up there hadn't been too much work, so now it was time to test just how strong the cords were. Allen was kind of hesitant, but he still managed a smile and a nod for Sora.

"Yes, that's it. You don't even need to pull if you don't want to. If we're going down we just need to make sure it can handle all of our weight on it." He and Sora were pretty close to the same size anyway, so what worked for him ought to work for the other boy.

"All right!" Sora agreed, and he slowly turned himself around and then launched himself off of the wall, landing in a crouch on the other side. It didn't look like there was anything nearby as far as he could tell, but he still wanted to get Allen over quickly so that his back wasn't turned to the woods for too long.

He tightened his hold around the extension cord, seeing how he was going to be the weight that Allen pulled against as he climbed. He really hoped this worked, since if the cord snapped, there was a chance Allen wouldn't be able to make it up the wall on his own. Though if that happened, maybe he could climb on the shed or something. Allen seemed pretty capable, so Sora wasn't too worried.

Climbing on the rope, Allen decided, was a harder than just being lowered down on it. It held his weight though, as he started up the wall. Keeping a grip on it was the real problem. The stuff might be strong, but it was a bugger to climb without slipping. It took a few minutes and some awkward flailing, but he managed to reach the top and pull himself over. He let out a ragged breath after all the effort and waved down at Sora from the top, then dropped down the other side, cord still in hand.

[[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/555983.html?thread=45817039#t45817039)]]

[To here, rather. 8D]

[[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/560055.html?thread=45858231#t45858231).]]

Hokuto was relieved to see that there weren't any battles being fought right then; it didn't mean much, but it was still a good sign, right?

Now, onto... trying to find useful plants. Sometimes I miss my textbooks.

The greenhouse? Hanatarou was both somewhat puzzled at the reason for such an errand, and relieved that it was likely something that he knew. Plants he was familiar with, that he could likely handle. Well. As long as the plants here didn't turn into monsters at night, like the animals reportedly did.

He paused, though, upon noticing that the doors had already been broken open, and glanced nervously toward his companions, then around the rest of the area. "Um. We're not the first ones here." It could be good or bad, really, depending on who else had been there - and if they were still there.

Still, though, he didn't dare enter unless one of the others gave the okay. He was probably the most useless of the three of them, after all.

Kira gave the yard a quick once-over. They weren't the only ones there, but the greenhouse itself appeared deserted. He narrowed his eyes at the broken lock on the door - at least that would save them a little time.

There were no monsters here. Not yet, anyway. Putting the map back in his pocket and holding the sword carefully at his side, Kira lead Hokuto and Hanatarou into the greenhouse.

[[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/560055.html?thread=46031799#t46031799%22)]]

It was chillier than she remembered when they reached the small yard outside the greenhouse. Kagura flinched, but tried not to shiver. She pointed toward both of the walls that wound around the corner of the institute, "we can go over either of these to get outside."

He was comfortable in the rear, where he could keep an eye out as he always did, and let his thoughts show on his face where no one could see them. Suzaku and Sohma carried themselves stiffly, which was no surprise, but the people they passed as boy in front led them on… Well, it never got any easier to just carry on with his own business like he wasn’t a part of problem.

Ren was good at dealing with what came, however.

He entered the yard, angling his head to take in the top most peaks of the greenhouse. So now that he was here, he had to wonder what the point of coming in this particular direction was; it was a bit out of the way. “Do you think your friends came this way? This corner of the building isn’t near the normal exits,” he said, moving out from behind the girl with his hands resting on his hips.

Unless the point was to get outside and see what was out there?

Since he didn’t think they’d be turning back at this juncture no matter the case, that meant a climb, and between the three of them, the doll was probably better off starting first and pulling them up after. Just in case something was waiting for a chance to catch a snack. He glanced back at them. “Hold on, I’ll help you up.” The walls weren’t that much of an obstacle; this body of his was fit as well as handsome. Once he was up, and no monstrous birds had swooped down on him, he leaned back over with a hand outstretched. "Sohma-san, you could go second."

Suzaku stared in mild shock at the sight of the greenhouse yard and the low wall. What kind of prison was this? Anyone could just walk out, and he didn't see any watch towers, guards, Knightmares, anything. Not even watch dogs. And yet, whoever had brought him here shouldn't be taken lightly, that much was obvious. And the other people seemed to think this place was really dangerous, especially outside. Just what had he gotten himself into? And just how hard would it be to get out of it again? He couldn't afford to deal with this now; there were so many bigger things to worry about.

"If it's not near the main exits, then it's a more inconspicuous way to get out," Suzaku responded, but he was also worried. This was obviously out of the way, and while a good way to make a break for it, what were the chances he was going to find Lelouch out here? Well, at the very least he could get some idea of where they were. He wasn't leaving for good until he knew Lelouch was safe, though.

He watched Ichimoto ascend the wall. They would be so exposed up there; better to get to the other side as quickly as possible. "It's okay, I can get up myself. Just get to the other side," he replied, watching to make sure Kagura was up safely before suddenly darting up to the wall, pushing off it with one foot to get some more upward momentum and grabbing the edge to vault onto the top. It was a move that would normally be as natural to him as breathing, as he could easily jump far higher than his own body length, but for some reason. . . was he imagining things? Or was it actually harder than usual to jump so high? Maybe it was psychological, a product of his own apprehension and what Kagura had said about not being good at things here. Because just as no one could make Lelouch stupider, he didn't see how anyone could make him slower or weaker. Shrugging off the uncomfortable perception, Suzaku jumped lightly down to the other side.

NIGHTSHIFT 38: GREENHOUSE YARD

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