apocalypsehowcomm | build me up, daffodil

[ One thing Katrina has come to really appreciate about land is flowers. There are so many kinds in so many different shapes and colors, each of them with a unique scent. This is her first spring on land, so she's enjoying the stroll through Dogtown, not smiling at the budding blossoms, but not glaring at them, either. Neutral, calmer than normal. It's a big change from how she was when she first got here.

Bright yellow flowers in full bloom immediately draw her attention. She leaves Malcolm's side to go to a patch of them, bending to get a closer look. ]

It is normal, for these to grow so fast?

[ Some plants mature before others, but these seem oddly isolated. ]

They are normally one of the first flowers of spring, but.... this is still faster than normal, I think.

[He's no botanist, but it strikes him as weird. He moves closer.]

Do they smell okay?

[ That sounds right for Dogtown.

Leaning a little closer, she takes a slow, deep breath through her nose. ]

Yes. Smell is... [ she looks for a more specific word than "good" ] delight.

[ So much so that she gets even closer for a better sniff. The shape the flowers have grown in would seem strange if she weren't so focused on the aroma they give off.

She could get lost in this sweet-smelling air. Even as she loses her balance, Katrina isn't alarmed until, when she tumbles forward, she doesn't land on the grass.

It's dark, and her head feels like it's full of turbid water. ]

Malcolm...?

Katrina!

[When he sees her pitching forward, he lunges forward to help, not realizing that she’s actually falling through the ground until it’s too late and he’s falling with her.]

[ She reacts quickly enough to make sure he doesn't fall too hard, but by and large, she's still stunned into suspicious, analytic silence. ]

More tunnel in Dogtown...?

[ She eyes the shelves, the way this place looks like a crude version of a break room.

She looks up, at where they fell through, but there is no hole in the ceiling. ]

This is real? Or Entity trick?

I think it only makes sense to treat it like it’s real… just in case.

[He steps over to the door, cautiously opening it. The hallway beyond is in the same state of decay. He looks back at Katrina.]

Shall we?

Yes. [ She nods. It amounts to the same for her anyway: stay calm and look for a way out.

So there they go down the hallway, carefully, Katrina on high alert for enemies or an exit. ]

This look like place for humans to hide. Safe, like cave.

[ Or... safe when it was made. ]

Look very old.

[Malcolm nods, taking out his flashlight and shining the beam around.]

Looks like it hasn't been used much in a long time either.

[ There's trust on nearly anything metallic, and some things made of wood look ready to fall apart. ]

We fall through invisible hole?

[ Far stranger things have happened in Dogtown, but she just feels the need to confirm. ]

I smell fresh air, that way. [ She points. ] Seem safe to go, no hunters.

[Malcolm looks up at the ceiling, then around them, then nods, heading in the direction she pointed.]

It did feel like falling. I wonder if this is some sort of bunker under the town.

[ A bunker. She's heard that word maybe once or twice since appearing here, and now she has a mental picture for it. A place of safety, a place to hide for many days. ]

Magic hide it. Why, if it so old?

[ So very old. The door she leads the way to has cobwebs in the corners, and dust lines the nooks and crannies in the wood and surrounding wall.

She tries the doorknob. Despite its aged look, it turns easily. It opens outward, into... Gloucester? ]

City looks different. You see it?

[ It could easily be more Entity trickery, but it looks... like Gloucester, but not. ]

Malcolm frowns, surveying the scene.

"It looks... dead." He takes a step forward, then another. "It looks... deserted. Run down."

More than just run down, because in a flash, it's a cloudy day with drizzling rain and a chilly breeze coming in from the sea. It's Bristol Cove, a quaint little port town in the Pacific Northwest, but it's long past its prime.

Katrina thinks of a world where Tia succeeded in killing the humans, and takes a few steps forward to just... see. To learn what she can. She passes crates with rotting wooden panels, and other side of it are three corpses that are mostly just skeletons at this point. Scavenger birds picking at them take flight when they see her. She watches them go for a few seconds, then looks back at the skeletons and really sees them.

Sirens. Three sirens. One with its skull cracked open, one with the remains of a spear sticking out of its chest, the three of them bound in rusty chains.

Hissing, she takes a step back. This is not Tia's world, unless it is, but her plan failed.

"This--"

Katrina doesn't know what to say, and soon... soon it's Gloucester again.

Edited (i am in fact oriented in place AND CWs i'm done i'm sorry) 2022-04-19 16:51 (UTC)

Malcolm looks over at her when she hisses, drawn away from his study of the nearest building with concern on his face.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

The strange vision lasts long enough for him to see the skeletons, if he follows her gaze. Katrina almost reaches for the spear she isn't carrying today, a reflexive movement. Malcolm's presence stills her, calms her a little.

"I see... I saw. I saw bones of siren. Chain around them. Killed. Bones of tail. Human catch them and bring them here, to kill."

Except for the seemingly uninjured one. Their bones, at least, had been intact.

"Massacre," she breathes, her heart pounding. It's the very fate she wants to avoid.

He thought he saw that just for a second, out the corner of his eye as he turned. But then it was gone.

"Genocide," he says softly. "Is that how it happened in your world?"

"This... worse." So much worse.

But it's gone now. Which means--

Her upset cools into anger, tempered now by the months here, how they've taught her these things they all experience are real, but perhaps not imminent, and certainly not back in their home worlds.

Calmer now, voice and gaze still intense, she meets his gaze. "Entity. Entity making fear."

He nods. “They’re just trying to get in our…” he turns to continue down the corridor, then jolts backwards with a gasp as a teenager in a school uniform writhes on the ground, unable to breathe, reaching up towards them, wheezing.

Malcolm squeezes his eyes shut. “You’re not real. You’re not real.” He opens his eyes and Nicky is gone. He looks at Katrina. “They’re just trying to get in our heads,” he tells her, a little breathless now.

His gasp makes her turn, and she sees the teenager too. He's gone in the blink of an eye.

"Malcolm." She says it in her calm, firm, leaderly voice. She's pulled herself together now. She's ready to be strong for them both. "Let's keep going. Exit must be near. Then we tell ADI."

He looks at her and nods. He reaches over and takes her hand for a second, squeezing it before letting it go. This, here, is all that's real, it says.

"Can you tell which way to go?" he asks as they reach two corridors spanning in opposite directions.

Yes. Her hand grips his just as much, reassuring.

"Yes. Smell like fresher air this way."

And with any luck, the walk will be uneventful.

Nodding, a slow movement that's less agreement and more "let's go", she leads, following the scent as it grows stronger. They are very near an exit.

There's a ladder at the end of the corridor, and it leads up to a hatch. Malcolm looks at Katrina, then starts up the ladder, turning the wheel to unbolt the hatch when he gets there. It takes a couple of hard shoves to move it; it's a little seized up.

It's dim outside, but not dark. He frowns and climbs out, so Katrina can follow him up.

Finally. Light, even if it's not bright daylight. How long were they down there?

"This is Dogtown."

It smells right. She's willing to believe her nose right now, if nothing else.

"We should tell about this to ADI. Warn others about flowers."

Malcolm nods, turning towards the city centre, where ADI is housed and... he stills, then looks at Katrina.

"The city, it's..." Plumes of smoke rise above wreckage. "Did... did that happen while we were down there?"

The sight makes Katrina hiss.

"If bomb, we would feel it. Ground shaking."

Instinctively, she moves closer to Malcolm, scanning their surroundings for danger.

"We should see if anyone needs help," he suggests, starting purposefully towards the charred ruins. His hand is shaking. Neal. Gil. Ainsley. He clenches it into a fist and keeps walking.

She watches him, taking note of his stance, the tension evident in all of him. She walks beside him, allowing him space while assuring him she is there.

"Remember to breathe. Keep mind clear. If not, easy to make mistake."

He nods but pauses and gestures to the city, then looks at her. "How are we supposed to..." His gaze returns to the city... and it's back to normal. He frowns. "...What?"

The only thing she's certain of right now is that she hates this. Baring her teeth, she gives a short, sharp hiss.

"Entity." Her voice is heavy with anger. "We go to ADI now."

Malcolm nods, a little unsettled.

They go to ADI now.

build me up, daffodil

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

cw past murder, implied genocide

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

Good place to end?