Night 47: East Hall

[cursed-exorcist.livejournal.com]

[from here]

Candles graced the hallway with some moderate illumination, so Kagura's eyes needed a few moments to get used the low lighting. After she did that, Kagura could see where she was going, but she kept her flashlight on, since the added light didn't hurt. Besides, if there was anything hiding in here, the noise from the doorway would've heralded their arrival already.

She frowned at the distasteful art hanging on the walls. The tapestries were all depicting horrific scenes that you would find on a battlefield. Now, Kagura wasn't a stranger to hellish scenes, but that didn't mean she liked looking at them or was going to start decorating her room with them.

Despite her eyes focusing on the hallway in front of her, Kagura also kept careful track of her teammates, specifically Teresa. In the ballroom, Kagura had clearly felt Teresa's killing intent, and while she doubted the blonde would attack her for now, Kagura wasn't about to let her guard down.

Comments

[chainsaw-royal.livejournal.com]

If Hime sensed the tension between the other two females, she gave no indication of such. No point in bringing up something that had been set aside for the moment.

"I try not to be boring," she replied dryly to the warrior's comment.

It seems it was a good thing Teresa had shown up; with her added power, the door slid open easily. A bit too easily, considering the struggle Depth Charge had put up against it. Perhaps it had required something more than just brute strength to power through?

"I suppose whatever trials are here lie beyond those doors," said Hime, using her bat to indicate the each of the doorways down the hall in turn. "I haven't heard much about them, except one includes some kind of target practice. If we assume the opposite door led to a hall like this, there's only a one in four chance though of finding that, so best to be ready for anything."

[Preferences? Weapon Range, yes? Not sure how the other one goes]

[scalyfishman.livejournal.com]

In the moment Teresa's eyes settled on Kagura, second-hand tension crawled down Depth Charge's spine; it was gone almost instantly, but the aftertaste was less than pleasant. Did they know each other? Or was it that something else he'd picked up on with Kagura making the older woman suspicious? Whatever it was, it was setting him on edge, even if Hime didn't seem to notice it.

At least the door was open now. The fact that he hadn't managed to get it open alone stung a little, but he swallowed it in favour of getting an eyeful of the hall beyond it instead- not that the wall-hangings were particularly soothing. He'd never seen a more liberal use of the colour red before- red skies, red blood. You'd have to be one twisted human being to hang those anywhere. But if you're trying to scare me, Landel, I got some advice for you: try harder.

"Target practise, huh? There's gotta be more to it than that," he commented, tearing his eyes away from the pictures before his curiosity outstayed its welcome. He shrugged. "Both doors look the same to me. Just pick one."

[number1smiley.livejournal.com]

Unlike the man, Teresa was not under the illusion that Landel was human. The tapestries were looked over, the hybrid not finding the scenes unsettling at all. They were nothing more or less than the things she'd occasionally encounter during her service to the Organization, mostly when an Awakened had tried to set itself up as a ruler of sorts. She knew some of her fellow hybrids would have enjoyed the tapestries, having developed a hatred for the humans they protected, despising their human half for its weakness. They never lasted long unless they were real smart or feared the Organization more than they hated humans.

Drawing up next to Hime, Teresa appeared to ignore the youma among them. She didn't need to keep an eye on it to know where it was now that she had identified it. "Tell me, Hime, back in your homeland were you in the habit of acquiring dangerous pets to stave off boredom?" she asked conversationally.

She then chuckled and directed her words to the man. "Target practice where I am from involves the shedding of blood. Crimson, violet, it doesn't matter in the end - just enough that the host is satisfied."

[cursed-exorcist.livejournal.com]

Kagura ignored Teresa's barb, since she didn't want to start anything. Besides, it'd take a lot more than that to bother her; she'd been called worse by her classmates who used to bully her. To be honest, she was thinking similar thoughts about the blonde. She did agree with Teresa and Depth Charge's comments though. The Institute's version of target practice would probably be bloody.

"I guess we'll just have to find out," said Kagura as she approached the door to the left. Although she did note that this door seemed a little bigger than the one on the other side, her choice had been random. Surprisingly enough, it swung open easily with little effort on her part.