november catch-all

[grice]

who: falco and some others!
what: event tls, wandering & ghost talks.
when: november!
where: various!

content warnings: talk of possession of a minor, violence, corruption of minors, cannibalism, mentions of torture & mutilation of a minor, mentions of child soldiers and gore. will add more as they come!


if you want to plot or play something out, hmu either on falco’s plotting comment or liberos!

Comments

[grice]

Luca, [ he nods, and carefully extends his hand to shake the other’s. they’re friends now. the rules have been decided. ] let’s look around. Anything sharp, or heavy we can use?

[ he pauses and takes a closer look at their chains. the ones that attach them to each other might not be a priority, but the one that hinders their movement the most would. that being: luca’s feet, and he hopes that’s not attached to a wall of the floor or something as he follows where it goes. ]

If we can get those off you, we can look for a way out together. Okay?

[ then it’ll be easy to find someone to break the chains linking their wrists. that might mean he’ll have to sacrifice his abilities (or just. remove his hand), but he’d rather wait than do something drastic. ]

[schoolingfish]

[Luca looks around and spots a hammer in the distance, and nods.]

Yeah, I see one of those tool things over there. We'll have to scoot to it...

[Wait, can they? Luca looks at their chains, but they mostly seem to be chained together. He doesn't see anything connecting to anything else. Good.]

But if we get over there, maybe we can break the chains.

[grice]

[ tool things, tool things— ah! ]

A hammer— [ that’s great luck, even if they might have to clank around for it. falco nods and begins to stand, offering them for luca to take so he could get up with more ease. ] It might not work for our arms, [ they’re kids; at the very least, they need both their hands to swing, ] but I can hit the ones on your legs.

[schoolingfish]

That sounds like a good plan.

[Luca manages to get to his feet.]

Now, I guess we just shuffle over there at about the same speed so we don't trip each other? Or...wait, what's your Omen? Is it big enough to carry a hammer? Are you able to summon yours?

[In an effort to determine whether they could even summon omens in this place, Luca summoned his own. A tiny little hermit crab.]

Mine's still around.

[grice]

[ from one good plan to the next— falco’s eyes go wide as he remembers that having an omen is even a thing. ]

You’re right— [ all he must do is ask in his thoughts, and the drizzle of mist should pour from his shoulders. from his attempt also comes quite the small thing: a pygmy falcon, but she’s got the guts to flutter right for the hammer hooked onto the wall. ] Perle might be small too, but I think she can do it.

[ with effort, of course. starting from clipping it off the wall after some five pecking attempts to nab the handle with her beak, the hammer falls quickly to the ground with a thud. perle dives after it and pulls with its little feet, which are going to need more than one shot at dragging it over successfully. while that happens and falco too watches, intently with encouraging fingers— ]

Where’s yours?

[ it was so small that . . . ]

[schoolingfish]

Oh! She's doing a great job!

[Then, after commenting on the bird's hammer fetching prowess, Luca points to his own omen. She's fine, she's just sitting on the ground, waiting for them to free themselves.]

I should probably call her back so I don't lose track of her.

[And so she turns back to smoke, returning to Luca and entering through his chest.]

[grice]

[ perle tries her best! though she has to stop in between to give a huff and indignant ruffle of her feathers; a hammer wasn't a sparrow, lizard or insect— it's much bigger than what her frame is used to, but it didn't mean that with the right amount of effort, she couldn't.

and she try and peck and drag this thing with her little feet as hard as she could! there are ups and downs, but falco is always silently rooting for her.

luca's omen, on the other hand— is the cutest thing. it's a hermit crab— those things that kids definitely get the urge to collect on the beach, no matter the age. falco never had that childhood but seeing it did make him want to pick it up and cup it in his hands. ]

Yours looks nice. [ genuinely said; like the "cute and friendly" type of nice. ] Have you been here long with her, Luca?

[ something to talk about— perle's halfway to her destination! ]

[schoolingfish]

Thanks. She just appeared when I got here back in September. I didn't have her before I got here, if that's what you're wondering. Although my family did raise crabs.

[Chatting helps keep his mind off the sheer terror of being trapped in a strange place. It also helps pass the time while waiting for the bird to get the hammer to them. Of course, it's still faster than they'd likely have been, trying to walk over to the hammer with their legs chained like this.]

[grice]

[ september— one or so months, maybe two? was that the same for everyone? it's all falco really needed to know to gather some sort of pattern he'll probably spend ages figuring out.

perle's almost there. falco opens the door to their stable and reaches his arm out to its limit— can't go too far without yanking the other end, with the connection between his other arm and luca, so he's quite gentle about going to his limit at most. stretch. ]

So you lived— By the ocean? Did you raise crabs, too?

[schoolingfish]

Yeah, we lived really close to the ocean. And my dad took care of the crabs. I didn't do much with that. I helped take care of our fish, though!

[grice]

It sounds nice.

[ falco hadn’t much to add about what his parents did, or what he did in general— it wasn’t so pleasant, overall, but it feels like a little crack of light in all of this bloody pollution.

perle hops the tip of the hammer over close enough for falco to finally reach to it with the very tips of his fingers. grappling and dragging it over earns a successful and relieved exhale, now with the tool in his hands. ]

Thanks, Perle.

[ you kids better be!!!! she just pulled off the workout of her life! with an indignant but proud ruffle of her feathers, falco calls her back to him— and all that’s left are a few feathers and misty magic. ]

Right . . . [ falco inhales, but looks resolute. ] Try and spread your legs as far apart as you can.

[schoolingfish]

[Finally the hammer makes it to them, and Luca is incredibly relieved. It was nice distracting himself from the situation by talking about his home life, but it's so much nicer to actually be a step closer to...well, being able to make an unencumbered step.]

Thank you so much!

[Perle was a huge help already. Luca spreads his legs as far as he can with the chains before watching and waiting, hoping the other kid will be able to break the chain.]

[grice]

[ they’re in the hands of the rng gods now

so— here goes. falco gives the other boy a readying look of assurance and brings the hammer close to the level of his head, looking for any visible weak looking spots, brings it up high, then whacks the chain once. it jumps against dirt and floorboard and, to their utmost luck, doesn’t look as durable as before. the shape has dented slightly, but strangely. ]

Ah—!

[ that’s a sign to go all out, then. measuring his hits, falco is sure to hit a second, third, fourth time, each with a sharp clank! by the fifth, luca’s legs should be free of the pressure connecting them, right as the chains snap. ]

[schoolingfish]

It worked! Now let me get yours.

[Luca holds his hand out to take the hammer from Falco.]

[grice]

[ here you go, little buddy: the blessed hammer. ]

Here goes . . .

[ sitting back and legs apart, he puts as much tension on the chain as possible to help luca out with his turn. ]

[schoolingfish]

[Luca takes the hammer and, kneeling down, hammer gripped in both hands, swings it as hard as he can. And, somehow, misses the chain entirely, hitting the ground. He tries again, focusing on actually hitting the chain. Which he does, even though it doesn't have much impact. He tries again, and again. In the end, it seems like Luca's done about thirty swings with varying levels of success before he finally manages to break through the chain.]

I did it! Sorry I took so long.

[grice]

That's fine! It's perfect— [ never mind the time and misses— falco had to do way too much weapons training for his own mobility to come in handy when it had been his turn. he shakes his head and brings his legs freely apart, before he puts a hand on luca's shoulder. ] Our legs are free— thanks for your help.

[ they had perle to get it for them, but it would've been harder if he were alone— something tells him he wouldn't be so easy an escapee if it were only him. now it was time to move, though. ]

Let's get out of here.

[ or try. when they fully open the stable door, they're met with as much moving machinery as they've heard from within their enclosure. augh, it stinks— but of blood. falco knew that smell. ]

[schoolingfish]

"I'm just glad I could help."

Luca's not exactly the strongest sleeper around and after taking that many tries to break the chain, part of him had been worried he wouldn't be able to at all. He's just a kid, after all, but then Falco is even younger than he is. Still, while Luca has no idea what kind of world Falco is from, he has gathered that a lot of the worlds people are pulled from require a lot more physical combat ability from a much younger age than his own.

"Right, we can figure out our arms once we look around. Maybe we'll find someone else to help us."

Luca looks around. He hears the clang of machines, sees various equipment, and something drips from the ceiling, but he's not sure what it is. After a few seconds, he spots some stairs.

"Well, do you want to head upstairs and see what's there?"

[grice]

Yeah, [ he nods, but sticks quite close to luca; he needs to make sure he can grab him or shove him out of the way, if need be. ] height might be a good idea.

[ they won’t be able to fly unless they’re free of the chains, but maybe perle can help there, too. falco keeps his steps cautious and his ears pricked— it’s hard to hear anything other than clanging, but looking above them . . . the liquid is too viscous to be water. oil? by the smell, falco’s stomach sinks to what felt like his feet. ]

There might be more people there, too.

[schoolingfish]

Right. And if there's more people, I'm sure they could help us get out of these.

[He holds onto that hope as they go up the stairs, but as soon as they get to the next floor, that hope begins to waver as he soon finds himself staring right at a strung up, drained and mutilated human corpse. Luca stares in shock and horror for a moment.]

I...um...on the other hand, I'm not sure if the people up here can help us.

[And if there's anyone alive up here, he's not sure if he wants to approach them in case they're the ones who did this.]

[grice]

[ falco had continued to hope it was oil and iron, but the more they went up the flight of spindly stairs to the second floor of the sleeper farm, the more he couldn’t ignore his nose and memory— this was blood. the fact is made more than apparent when the cross-like figure hanging by chain, wire and wounds was pale and dead rather than the desired metallic decoration. falco gasps as well, his heart pounding loudly in his ears as he bounds up to the corpse with luca in tow. they’re this close to a corpse that suffered, and for an inkling of a moment does falco rush to help, to look at the chains and put his fingertips to the hanging legs he could reach.

it’s stone cold. there’s nothing he could do. the boy’s eyes begin to shine with an empathetic glaze, blinking the tears away and gripping his panic with the constrains that trained him to stay calm. he’s as calm as he can be, but he’s not okay. ]

M— [ his breathing shivers, escalates, ] maybe someone’s alive, maybe they need help, like us— worse than us . . .

[ and who did this? there were plenty of twisted minds across the universe that could; falco was once on the receiving end of a mutilation, but he came out alive, baring no physical scar of the happening. ]

Let’s— stay sharp. And close, Luca.

[ he pulls the boy closer. they weren’t alone, and the corpse wasn’t the only thing waiting for them. the smell of blood only piled into something vile, of buckets and mounds of waste, of guts, of organs scattered in pulsing places or suspicious, sacrificial squares. ]

[schoolingfish]

[Luca doesn't really want to get closer to the body. He doesn't really want to get a better look at the horror in front of them, but Falco goes right up to it, so Luca does as well. He stares at the blank, dead eyes of the corpse in horror.]

Y-yeah. Maybe someone's alive. We should go look. Find them.

[Because if someone is alive, they probably need help as soon as possible. Getting a chance to move away from this corpse, which Luca suspects is a clear indicator of what their captors have in mind for them, is an added bonus. Stay sharp and stay close?]

I will.

[Even if Falco hadn't pulled him closer, Luca would have stayed as close to the other boy as possible. He's terrified, and he's going to stay as close to the other person who seems to be a lot more confident than he himself is...despite them seeming to be about the same age.]

[grice]

[ it’s an ugly thought, that falco can withstand the sight of a mangled body— he’s even been prone to pick them up and run if the dragging weight allowed it. he long lost his urge to lose his meals to a churning stomach by a single digit age, the same time he was drilling to hold a rifle twice his size— and that in itself is highly wrong, but not easily questionable considering the dire need to get out of here.

it all manages to become much, much worse when they turn an echoing corner that smells of slaughter. falco stops in his tracks and grabs for the other boy’s wrist when he sees piles that shine too much to be dirt. they pulse sometimes, they’re pooling with blood both fresh and coagulated. there are entrails and hearts, there’re livers and spleens.

they are all over the place, and under his own gasp does falco cover his nose. ]

Luca . . .

[ he doesn’t want him to see to begin with, but it might be too late to usher his vision the other way. ]

[schoolingfish]

[Luca lets out a whimper in response to his name. This is...it's too much. It's all too much. He'd hoped if they hurried past the first body they'd escape the gore, but it turns out it's even worse. He covers his face and stares in shock. And, he idly notices, there's still dripping from this ceiling as well.

Deciding it's too much and desperate to find some way out of this place, Luca decides to bolt, attempting to take off and tug Falco along with him.]

[grice]

Luca—!

[ god, he can’t blame him for even a second. if falco already felt like bolting, he can imagine luca, who’s acting on it. everything about this place was wrong, and with the chain’s thorough tugging falco is right behind him, keeping up.

though he can’t just let him run, and raising his voice just loud enough to be heard, he extends his hand to the boy’s shoulder to get a grip of him. ]

Luca, wait—!

[ they don’t know where they’re going. it could be a lucky trail toward the way out, it could lead them deeper in, or it could lead them to something worse. ]