damned_institute | Nightshift 40: Dense Forest (East)

Her gaze went to Ophelia as she hopped a small outcropping of rock, ponytail swinging behind her. "Do you spend a lot of time out of doors?" Tsubaki asked evenly in response. Whatever the case, two people familiar with mountainous, heavily forested regions like this were better than one. Or none.

On a general basis, she thought most people were less experienced with crazy hospitals than they would be with the countryside, but having grown up in the Nakatsukasa compound, she had grown up on the same sort of ground they were walking now. Training in the mountains, training in the forests... Ophelia had struck her as someone who had her fair share of experience to draw on, herself. They definitely had one thing in common, though, and that was having little idea of what to expect. It was obvious that there was something strange about the outer grounds; they were too quiet. Anything could happen.

She doubted they'd come across anymore close quarters fights here, anyway. It'd be all too easy to lose oneself in the trees.

They made good time getting to the border of the forest, Tsubaki thought, bending under a low hanging branch. She touched it gently on her way by. For all she knew about other worlds, they could have plants and animals she'd never even imagined before, but in her time at Landel's, it'd become clear that there were a lot of things she would've thought of as 'normal'. American food, for example, and monster cats that looked like they took after similar species. On her first time through the forest, she'd seen the same vegetation that she'd seen at home. But she wasn't sure where the familiarity ended... Finding honoki wood didn't seem likely. If this place more closely resembled North America...

"Yellow poplar would work. Alder or maple, as well." It didn't need to be said that being picky wasn't an option. They were certainly the best trees she could hope to find. "But I'm not sure if it's possible to find any; it's hard to judge the climate. Do you want to head in as far as we can to see what we find? I've read that there's a town nearby, so there might be signs of life around the river."

And even if she did find a good tree while they were here, there was the matter of cutting it down and taking the right kind of sample. That would create a fair amount of noise.

Ophelia nodded an affirmative, keeping her eyes focused on the way ahead rather than on the girl. "I make my living outdoors, hunting down beasts. The only times I ever go indoors are while ensuring that payment is collected from those humans who commission our services," she answered shortly, avoiding the use of the word "yoma" for the moment to avoid having to go into an explanation of them. That and to avoid bringing forth unpleasant feelings about the night previous.

The trees specified by Tsubaki were familiar to Ophelia, thankfully, and from the types of trees they were seeing thus far, she was fairly confident that they would find what they were looking for. She studied the trees they past as best she could in the dark, keeping an eye out for the distinguishing characteristics of the named species.

"That's as good an idea as any, I suppose," Ophelia answered, not really caring where they went so long as it was far from the institute and eventually lead them to what they were after.

As they tread through the underbrush, she noted that it was almost disturbingly calm around them. She had heard that the creatures found outside the institute were very different from the ones inside, but so far, she saw nor heard signs of any nearby. "Either the monsters in this area are as stealthy as we are or we've entered a very quiet patch of wilderness tonight, it seems," she remarked.

"The atmosphere was the same when I was here before. Like... it's undergone the same transformation at the Institute. Like something isn't at all right," acknowledged Tsubaki. Whether or not there was something dangerous that could overhear her, the outside had seemed as though it were demanding silence, as it did now. The sound of their voices seemed unnatural in turn.

Fear wasn't what Tsubaki felt; unease, yes, but because she was aware of the dangers. The forest gave the impression of being part of Landel's playing field as much as the building did, and his mark was sure to be on it. Still, there was something about Ophelia's presence that provided more bolstering than if Tsubaki had been daring the area alone, like she'd been planning. The woman gave off neither fear nor unease.

No partnership could be the same as one between her and Black☆Star, but it was strangely comforting in a way.

"Close to a bounty hunter?" she asked. "After that kind of lifestyle, it must be hard to get used to a place like this. Have you been here a long time?"

Ophelia acknowledged Tsubaki's answer silently, keeping an eye and an ear out for anything that might be listening in on them. It was frustrating not knowing just how far her enhanced senses had been scaled back in a dark, dense environment such as this; she didn't see or hear anything yet, but that didn't mean there wasn't anything lurking just outside of her sensory range. The best she could do was just stay on her guard and prepare to react if anything so much as twitched the wrong way in their direction.

She glanced back at Tsubaki as they walked, not sure what to think of her. On the one hand, the girl felt the same as all other partners forced upon her by the Organization had felt: unnecessary. On the other, however, she was not being actively annoying, which was more than she could say for the companions she had taken on previous night shifts. She had to admit, if only to herself, that it was a bit of a relief to be paired with someone who wasn't actively out to prove themselves her superior at every turn.

"More than a mere bounty hunter," Ophelia scoffed at the suggestion, though didn't offer an elaboration on her statement for the time being. If Tsubaki wanted her to explain, she was going to have to question further. "In any case, no. By my count, this is my fourth night here." She paused, then grudgingly added, "Though it sure feels a hell of a lot longer with all the things that have happened."

Hmm, Tsubaki hadn't thought it would be that simple. Things rarely were even in the most normal situation.

"Yeah," she breathed softly at Ophelia's observation. It did feel like it'd been longer, much longer, when during the day she was supposed to be Miyu, and every night was a battleground. But that wasn't her experience alone. She continued by saying, "I've been here two nights longer, myself, but I think I've been lucky so far--I've only met two different kinds of monsters." Not including those she'd gotten glimpses of, like the flying thing in the hallway... "If you haven't been working with the Arts and Crafts group the entire time, have you been doing something else?"

It was good for their stamina that there were paths they could follow that crisscrossed the forest; for now, Tsubaki stayed out of the grass, so that she could still move quietly without giving up speed.

Ophelia stayed silent again for several long moments, nothing between them but their feet against the hard forest ground. It seemed briefly that she wasn't going to answer Tsubaki's question at all, but eventually, she spoke again. "I somehow found myself working with a small group attempting to tackle the basement. Not a tolerable crew at all, really. I only stayed with them because it was convenient."

And because she saved your skin, a voice jeered in Ophelia's head. The Claymore snarled slightly to herself, but the expression faded quickly.

"After the events of last night, I found I couldn't stand the sight of them any longer, and decided to look into other groups with goals I could agree with. And that could help to arm me properly in good time," she explained. For the most part, she hoped that this alone would satisfy the girl's curiosity. A smaller part, however, was not averse to talking more. Aside from the disaster that had been her "therapy" session, she had been holding in most of the details of her night all day, and being so uncharacteristically insular was making her mind feel like it could burst. Besides, the girl seemed harmless enough. Perhaps she could be another Kio, a toy she would save smashing for another day when the timing was better.

Silence was its own answer, and she wasn’t upset at the idea that Ophelia wouldn’t answer. Casual conversation wasn’t mandatory for everyone, beyond how Landel’s Institute was more than enough to suck the cheerfulness out of a person. There had to be a lot on everyone’s mind, thoughts they didn’t feel like sharing with others. Tsubaki kept going, searching the trees.

When Ophelia did speak again, Tsubaki turned to look at her. So she’d been looking into the basement… But whatever group dynamic they’d had, it didn’t seem to have sat well with the woman.

Tsubaki hesitated to reply for a moment, and she tipped her head to glance at the thick canopy over their heads. Digging for information that someone didn’t volunteer themselves was a form of prying, but Ophelia couldn’t be unaware of her choice in words. “Did something go wrong last night?” she asked. Plenty did.

Ophelia considered her answer for several moments, choosing what to reveal and what to omit carefully. Even if the girl likely was "nice" (or rather stupid) enough not to reveal what she said to anyone else, an experience like the one she had been through was not something to be shared with just anybody.

"In a manner of speaking," she replied, keeping her eyes on the foliage ahead. "I had a bit of a run-in with that group, if you want to call it that. Not unlike the fights we saw on the way out here." She huffed softly to herself. "Arrogant bitch. She only won because of the damn mind control," she grumbled to herself after.

Huh? Like the fights last night?

She would have understood had Ophelia said no or said nothing, but what she did reveal made it sound like a conflict had occurred to Tsubaki. The only reaction she gave to Ophelia’s harsh language was a brief wrinkle in her forehead that eased away in the next heartbeat. Mind control… Had someone in the group been under Landel’s control? Like how it was described on the bulletin?

“Special… Counselling?”

"Oh we have a smart one here," Ophelia said, rolling her eyes a bit. She then shook her head and added, "Yes, that. Specifically, I was the one who had it."

And it would have been bloody glorious, thought Ophelia, biting down hard on her lip as she remembered Arlene flipping her down onto the table and injecting her with the human muscle relaxants.

The dig, Tsubaki could ignore, and ignore it she did. There was no point in lingering on it, especially after Ophelia said she was the one who had been put under Special Counselling. That wasn’t what the girl had been expecting to hear. Ophelia had given off varying levels of anger or annoyance each she time she’d spoken of last night--what Ophelia had now claimed had been the night where she’d attacked the group she’d been working with--but not out of response of being attacked, as Tsubaki had thought.

And she didn’t seem upset about the mind control itself… but more, the outcome of the fight.

Tsubaki was silent after the confession, caught between her focus on what her body was doing, and her stirred up thoughts. The idea that someone had been put under Special Counselling at all was a horrible one. That was Landel’s doing, a violation, a manipulation that he’d have to take responsibility for eventually, as he would the rest of his actions. Someone being forced to turn on the patients should have been… a terrible burden to bear… She only won because of the damn mind control. What Tsubaki sensed from Ophelia didn’t appear to be the typical emotions of someone who’d been forced to hurt others, and that was, she thought, as revealing as it was a little troubling.

Without any outward change aside from the further lowering of her voice, Tsubaki finally said, “I’m sorry, I had no idea. That must have been awful… being taken against your will.” And the words were sincere, because she couldn’t pretend to know Ophelia and make assumptions against her. Special Counselling wasn’t something Tsubaki could wish on any of the prisoners. “I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like.”

Ophelia raised an eyebrow slightly at the girl's reaction. She hadn't been expecting some kind of strong backlash from a girl like her, but she was being oddly supportive where most "decent" humans would have tried to reprimand her in some way. She wasn't about to complain about such a reaction, but it was a little bit strange to say the least.

"Having my enhancements as a warrior back was far from awful. That part I'll take back from the Institute any day," she said with a little grin, her pace quickening as memories of the rush she had experienced that night before the arrival of Arlene and SubZero surged through her mind. The grin quickly faded, however. "But you're right. Landel had to put in an evil little catch. Otherwise it wouldn't be Landel, would it?" she grumbled, pressing her teeth together in frustration. The memories of the first rush were soon replaced by memories of the second, more horrifying one - the one that had been brought on by her loss. The one that never, ever should have occurred in her life.

"Otherwise, he could never make his patients experience the kind of hell he's out to create for them." She forced herself not to shudder at the thought of how much she had wanted human guts in those last moments.

After a long period of silence, Ophelia pointed ahead. "There's a cluster of trees there that looks like it could be what we're after," she said, hurrying forward. "Come on, let's check them out."

‘Complicated’ was too soft a word for the kind of topic they were discussing. Tsubaki couldn’t rush to judge anything when she was blind about situation--she hadn’t experienced what Ophelia had during her stay, she hadn’t seen what’d been done to her to enforce whatever brainwashing Special Counselling involved, she hadn’t seen Ophelia’s fight and defeat. Remorse was one thing, but there was anger and suffering, caused by Landel.

That was more than enough to keep her quiet.

“He’ll be stopped eventually,” she murmured eventually, a promise they had probably both made to themselves in some form.

Ophelia noticed the trees before Tsubaki did, and her gaze shot around in the direction the woman pointed. Would they be so lucky to find the right kind before even reaching the river? She nodded in the darkness, stepping off the path and speeding up to match Ophelia. “It looks like poplar,” she noted, looking up, up, up into the canopy of trees where the tops disappeared high above her head. Laying a hand on the rough bark, she examined it carefully. It certainly looked like it… Now that finding the tree was over, the hardest part would be cutting it down, and that was if she could do so without something nasty interrupting them. Cutting down trees wasn’t really Tsubaki had a lot of practice with.

“Bringing it down will be sure to make a lot of noise; I’ll try to cut as quickly as possible so that we can get out of the area.”

Nightshift 40: Dense Forest (East)

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