Night 45: Basement, South Hall

[winged_moon]

[from here]

The hallway beyond was dark, and not just ordinary darkness that one might expect when there was simply no light. This was unpleasant, oppressive darkness of the sort that only made Yue even more uneasy than he already had been just for the fact that they were in the basement of this bizarre place. He stepped forward cautiously, wondering at the faint whistling sound, but he couldn't hear anything else to indicate the presence of danger. Nor was there anything visible in the light cast from behind him.

There was only the strong, very strong feeling of wrongness and dangers unseen, and the guardian realized that he didn't want Sakura to be here. For that matter, he didn't want anyone to be here, but now that they were, was there anywhere to go but forward? He glanced back at the others, waiting for those with the lights to catch up, and frowned. "I don't like this," he observed, voice quiet.

Comments

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

It'd been a while since he'd actually reached the basement and had time to look around. Apparently the others had been busy with their work though, since Yue knew exactly where to go and the others followed. The room itself had been brightly lit, but now that they ventured into one of the hallways, it was suddenly just as dark and eerie as before. Light pooled near the way they'd come in, but it didn't seem to reach far into the darkness.

If even Yue felt the need to vocalize his discomfort, he couldn't be the only one feeling it. But they'd come so far already. They couldn't very well go back, not when they knew that the path was dangerous returning as it might be behind whatever lay ahead of them. While something about the hall made him want to stick closer than ever to the others, he kept his distance, instead rubbing at his arms as if he were cold instead of simply ill at ease. There was a door beyond, or what looked like one. The sooner they got through the hall, the sooner they'd find out what their work had earned them.

"It's an awful long way back," he shrugged, managing to smile in spite of his own misgivings. "Seems a waste to come so far and not try. What's a few more steps?"

[guardiancomplex.livejournal.com]

Yue was saying exactly what Touya was thinking: he had a bad feeling about this. The small bad feeling he'd felt while going down the stairs had nearly tripled as they'd stood in front of that door. Whatever was going to happen, he knew he wasn't going to like it. Maybe he should have found someone to watch over Sakura while he, Yue, and Fai had checked this place out--he hated the fact that she was here, now. This must have been what regretting one's decisions felt like.

Touya shined his light up at what he thought was something above the door. It turned out to be writing. ...really, really unsettling writing.

"Only those two who offer their blood will be allowed entrance," Touya read, even though he was pretty sure nobody needed the reading lesson. "I don't like this either," he said, echoing Yue. "Let's go back."

[giftofstars.livejournal.com]

A shiver ran through Sakura's spine as she walked into this hall. It was different from the other halls in appearance, and the darkness blanketing it really made her unsettled. She shined her own flashlight up and down the door so she could observe the words herself.

"But what do they mean by 'offer blood,'" she asked, trying to maintain her composure. If she showed that she was scared, there was no way that Yue and Touya would allow them to continue.

[winged_moon]

It seemed clear enough to Yue: whoever "offered blood" at the door would move on, farther into whatever lay ahead of them. If anyone was going to continue on into danger it wouldn't be Sakura, and he had to move quickly before Touya got the same idea. He was here to keep them safe, and had already been injured in doing so tonight. A bit of blood was nothing to him, and if it meant that the other two stayed behind in relative safety (he hoped) while he investigated the unknown, he was entirely willing.

He gave a sidelong glance toward Fai, wondering if the magician would catch his meaning, and quickly stepped forward. Before anyone could object or attempt to stop him, the guardian reached out and pressed a fingertip against one of the carved fangs on the snake's head. As they lacked any blade or weapon with which to draw blood he'd hoped it would be sharp enough, and found that it was. Rather surprisingly so, in fact; blood welled up almost as soon as he'd touched it.

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

Despite what the others might say, Yue pushed forward, obviously not about to turn around. After giving Fai a look that seemed to suggest he follow along, the guardian reached out and pricked his finger on the snake's fang. If it was Yue and himself that offered their blood, maybe it would only be the two of them that would have to enter. And compared to the other two, Yuuhi could easily see why Yue had asked him to come along. They couldn't put Touya in danger; he didn't have any kind of magic or powers, at least, not that he could tell. And putting Sakura in danger was out of the question altogether. Which meant it would fall on the two of them.

Before the others had a chance to argue, Yuuhi took the last few steps forward and slipped off his glove, then pressed his finger into the snake's sharpened fang, just as Yue had. It made a jagged cut across the tip and he left a smear of blood on the fang before childishly placing the wounded fingertip in his mouth. He expected the doors to open or something to appear, but when nothing did, he started to slip his glove back on, only to feel a dizzying loss in balance as everything around him went black.

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