citylogs | [OPEN]

[Onni keeps his spear at the ready even as they move, flipping it expertly in his hand, and skips the side rooms this time, not wanting to explore them and risk finding something else that will make him cry.

No, this time he's going straight for the stairs, to get out of here hopefully without seeing any ghosts.

Of course, that's not to be, and one of them drifts out of a side room directly into his face. Onni lets out a short, sharp noise of surprise and almost immediately his spear is up and he's whipping it toward the ghost.]

[This keeps them in silent agreement, because Alhaitham also just wants to get through this floor as fast as possible. He fixes his attention to their sides and back in case any ghosts or brainwashed costume-wearers.

It ends up coming from the front, first. Alhaitham pulls a fist back, and... stays where he is because he isn't about to get stabbed by Onni swinging his spear into it.]

[Making a small grunt of effort, Onni stabs his spear forward with the entire force of his considerable strength and the weight of his body, which is also considerable. The spear stabs home, piercing the center mass of the ghost, and he pulls it out almost immediately, moving to the side so his companion can get in the punch he's obviously winding up for.

Meanwhile, he whips the other end of his two-sided spear up to whip across the ghost's face.]

[At least the ghosts are tangible. Much in the way of the mannequins, Alhaitham assumes that what they're seeing isn't a reflection of its true nature--he can't really say "real" when this whole place probably isn't real.

So a punch to the chest once Onni's spear is drawn away it is. And then for good measure he ducks to swipe a leg from being the ghost and try to trip it to the ground.]

[Onni is almost surprised when his spear hits home, and the ghost proves to be tangible. He'd expected it to dissipate around his spear, or to be completely intangible. Expected to go flying through it with the force he'd used his spear on it.

But he hits home, his spear digging into something softer than wood or stone but harder than the intangibility he'd expected. The whip across its face leaves a jagged mark against the darkness of it, and then the other man is punching it in the gut, toppling it halfway over. But not before those claws on the ghost come up and whip across Onni's face, leaving deep scratches in the skin.

He grunts in pain, and takes a step back, shocked and a little stunned.]

[Onni takes priority number 2, honestly, so while he's staggering back Alhaitham twists to aim a hard kick right in the midsection of the ghost to knock it skidding backwards across the floor. It disappears into the shadows, blending away into them.

Well, guess that means killing it isn't an option.]

We need to keep moving. [He looks over his shoulder.] Is your wound deep?

[He watches through his fingers as the other man kicks the midsection of the ghost and knocks it away, watches it bleed back into the darkness. Ah. So they can't be easily killed, even if they are tangible. Disappointing.

But he can taste blood, and pulls his hand away from his face to carefully trace the lines of scratches on his face - four of them, diagonal, starting from his forehead, barely missing his eye and skidding over his brow, then catching again at his cheek and nicking his lip on one side. That's why he can taste blood, it seems, as his lip bleeds into his mouth.

He spits out a mouthful of blood and frowns.]

They're not too bad. They probably look worse than they are.

[Wounds of the head usually look worse than they really are. He doesn't know Onni, really. He doesn't know if he's a man with a strong sense of his self, or someone who is inclined to ignore the signs of his own body for the sake of pursuing his external goals. But he can look at the wound and see that it missed anything vital, which means it must not have dug too deeply into his face.

He can accept it isn't bad.] All right. I don't want to give another one the chance to catch us standing here.

[Onni gets a second of waiting before Alhaitham turns to continue forward with the assumption that he'll follow.]

[Onni can tell by the feeling of it that it isn't too bad. If he had a shred of vanity, he might be worried about scarring on his face, but he doesn't have even a shred of vanity. He can feel where the wounds are, his forehead, his cheek, missing his eye, just catching his lip.

It's a lot of blood, but it's not serious, beyond the blood obscuring the vision in his right eye. He lifts his hand and wipes at it, frustrated more than anything, the sharp pain not enough to distract him from being in danger.]

Neither do I. Let's keep moving.

[And he does, heading for the staircase with dogged determination.]

[Alhaitham lets the silence sit between them again as they move forward. Instead his attention is fully on the shadows around them, keeping an eye for anything that seems to be moving out of character. It's easier said than done with the cheap flashing lights moving them around, and occasionally stopping just long enough to stare into one and make sure nothing is coming out of it.]

[Onni is more on his guard now that he's been injured, and especially because he keeps bleeding into his right eye, obscuring his vision. He peers at the shadows just as much as his new companion does, eyes narrowed, wiping blood out of his face with a frustrated little noise in his throat.]

[Alhaitham doesn't miss the sound, and he doesn't have to look back to guess the issue--though he does. He scans around the hall until he spots the faint outline of a plastic and felt witch decoration leaning out by one of the doors. The first step closer is cautious, but with nothing jumping out he closes in to grab the figure's sleeve between his hands and rip.

The tear staggers up to the shoulder, and then he pulls downward to break the stitching and free the fabric entirely. Now a mess but flat sheet, he folds it once before turning and holding it outstretched to Onni.] It would be better to cover the injury above your eye so your bleeding doesn't effect your vision.

[Onni jumps a little when his companion steps up to a decoration and starts destroying it, but a moment later his expression is one of confusion at what in tarnation the other man is doing. The expression remains even as he hands the chunk of felt to Onni, until he says that it would be best to cover the injury over his eye so the blood won't get in it.

The expression on his face clears up then, and he takes the bit of felt, holding it above his eye and pulling a bit of string from a pouch at his waist. He ties it around his head to hold the felt in place, and looks ridiculous, but he doesn't really care. Felt isn't the most absorbent, but it will do.]

Thank you. We should keep moving.

[A hum of affirmation rolls in his throat, and then Alhaitham turns to continue on.] Have you only run into ghosts up here?

So far, yes.

[He nods his affirmation, continuing to move doggedly toward the stairs. He can see them. Why does it have to be so difficult to just make it there?]

Are there other dangers that you know of?

Some of our fellow captives have been attacking people on this floor, though not of their own will. [He glances to Onni. Alhaitham is prepared to beat the shit out of anyone trying to kill them, but he wonders if Onni is prepared to fight what should be a friendly face.]

What?

[His head jerks up at that and his eyes narrow.]

I haven't run into that sort of thing yet.

[Fellow captives, attacking people against their own will? That's...horrifying.]

Then you must have good luck. [Like, relative to the overall bad luck that is being stuck in this place to begin with.] We'll see if it hold for the rest of this floor.

Hn. First time someone's said that to me, but I'll take it, for once.

[He moves forward, pale eyes flicking through the darkness to try to see if more of those ghosts are coming. This place gives him the creeps, makes the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and he can hear them, moving around in other rooms, saying angry, violent things to each other, promising to get the living people here.]

Knowing me, it won't.

In that case, I hope you're prepared to stab somebody.

[Onni makes a little hum in his throat at that, takes a deep breath and lets it out.]

I don't like the idea of killing someone, but I'll do what I have to to survive.

And if they're lucky, it won't last. [It all comes down to luck, doesn't it?]

We might as well hurry.

I've heard that death isn't permanent here.

[He frowns a little, taking a few determined steps forward, toward the stairs.]

It's not something I'd like to test out, though.

It isn't a good idea to. While it's true now, the rules of this place can and do change without warning.

[Wouldn't want to be the warning to everyone else when it stops happening, after all.]

Have they changed something like that before?

[His eyes widen a little bit when he says it, brows raising. That's something new, something he's never heard before.]

[OPEN]

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