foolishwren | 70. [DREAM/DREAM/DREAM/DREAM]

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70. [DREAM/DREAM/DREAM/DREAM]

_{[So while the rest of Johto alternately panics, cries, or rushes around trying to capture as many of the soulstealing insects as possible, there are dozens of souls floating around in that dream limbo, drifting in and out of each other's slumbering thoughts and visions. Whether it's nightmarish flashbacks or just those dreams where you're at school taking a really hard test, and then Dracula shows up, and then everybody's naked ... anything is possible when it comes to what people see in their sleep.]

[But what appears in the darkness in this particular spot in the spaceless, shifting mass of dreaming souls... is a door.]

[It's old, and covered with boards and bolts, rusted near-through in some places. The lock is broken-- mangled and half-melted and wrenched out of the keyhole. The only thing on it that doesn't look ancient is a scrap of torn notebook-paper that's taped up on it at roughly eye-level. It reads only a single phrase:]}

Fear of blood tends to create fear for the flesh.

_{[More importantly, though... the door is ajar. Through the gap come the scents of rust and metal-- and something organic, fleshy-- and a low, deep hum of industrial machinery. It's not a door that anyone in their right mind would want to go through. ... But for anyone who may have stumbled this far into the dreams of their fellow lost souls, either in flight from some other nightmare or just pure, wandering curiosity... there's just no other place to go but through the door.]}

_{[Go on. Open it. After all.... it's only a dream.]}

[ooc: SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG, GUYS. Thanks for being patient! If you commented on that planning post, there's something spooky planned for your character to do here so please feel free to tag or not tag as it pleases you!]

~*~

[ooc: This is the IC post for what was announced over here! Even if you didn't comment there, feel free to participate! I'm still happy to whip up Silent Hill scenarios for folks!]

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Long enough that I've lost track of the days.

_{[There's a pause, silent broken only by the sound of labored breathing. Sounds like he's sort of having a hard time down there...]}

Will you... help me?

[Kaito picks up on that... he glances over his shoulder, at the light of the grate he had just broken through, and nods. He knows the strange man can't see it, but... it's more for himself.

He's not the type of guy to leave someone behind. However gross and disturbing this sewer is... he can do it]

I'll be right down!

[With that, he starts his slow and careful descent down the tunnel]

Good... good...

_{[The voice sounds relieved, but it falls silent once more as Kaito makes his way down. It's slippery as hell, but he should be able to keep steady without losing his balance and sliding all the way to the bottom like the world's grossest waterslide.]

[When he eventually reaches the mouth of the tunnel at the very bottom, it may take him a moment to adjust to the much-dimmer light once more... but what little is filtering down from above is enough to grant him a rough vision of the place. It's wide, and somewhat open-- there's a much-higher ceiling than the tunnel he had entered this strange, dank place in. In fact, it's not a tunnel down here at all. The water comes to about halfway up his thighs, and somewhere beyond, there's a great rushing sound of falling water and whirring machinery.]

[But there doesn't appear to be anybody in sight... it is incredibly dark, though, so maybe it's just hard to see...?]}

[Kaito takes the descent carefully, bracing himself on the sides of the tunnel as he inches his way downward. It feels strange, moving away from the light of freedom, but hey, at least when he finally reaches the end things aren't so cramped anymore. A little bit of space goes a long way.

As soon as he slides feet-first out of the tunnel, he lifts his arms above his head and stretches. No one in sight, huh... well, he just made it down here. The person he was speaking to is probably ducked behind a piece of that machinery he can hear]

Oooooi! Where are you?

_{[The answer comes after a brief pause.]}

There you are...

They've kept me ... stuck in this disgusting place for longer than I care to know...

I'm back here-- back where the water gets deeper.

There's something chaining me down...

A chain?

[Kaito immediately takes a step forward, testing the depth of the water to make sure he's heading toward the deeper end. His eyes have adjusted to the dark by now, but even so it's difficult to make out anything other than the outlines of the mechanical equipment that flanks the side of this room]

Who the hell-- do you remember who chained you down?

_{[Sure enough, there's a bit of the slope-- the water DOES get deeper. It starts creeping up past Kaito's knee and up to his thighs-- then, before long, his waist. It's cold... colder than the water he'd jumped into to escape the Numb Bodies...]

[But not as cold as the speaker's voice grows when he answers the question-- he sounds pissed. But really, who can blame him?]}

Who? Who?

That little brat did it... She may not have put me down here to begin with, but she sealed my fate when she tricked me into believing she was my ally... only to steal what was mine and leave me for dead. Disgusting whelp...

_{[The voice trails into a wet cough in its anger, then trails off, appearing to calm slightly.]}

But that was a long time ago...

Finally, someone must have remembered I was here... and sent-- ... ah, well... it doesn't matter.

What's your name, boy?

[Kaito stops short once the water reaches his waist, and he stares in the direction that the voice seems to be coming from with a contemplative expression. Something seemed... off about this entire situation, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it]

Me? Er... [His hesitation was brief] Kaito. 'M Kaito Kuroba.

Who, exactly, trapped you here?

... Kuroba?

_{[The voice sounds surprised.]}

... A foreigner, eh? ... But why would they send...

_{[A pause, as though the speaker is shaking his head.]}

I suppose it doesn't matter. Perhaps things have changed since I was...

_{[A heavy sigh follows.]}

My ... delusional daughter. Somehow, somewhere, I made a grave mistake while raising her... her ego grew too great, and she thought she could speak for God and claim to know Her will. I found out about and opposed the foolish plan she was hatching, and in retaliation, she had me sent here... out of her way.

_{[The voice had dipped once again into a growl.]}

And then, when I thought I had found an ally... my trust only resulted in being chained down here even more thoroughly than before... left to rot. Well, I hope the traitor is happy... probably joined my daughter in her foolish mission...

[... that honestly just makes Kaito more wary, but after another hesitation, he wades forward again, following the sound of this man's voice]

So you were betrayed by the person who was gonna help you-- uh. Keep your daughter from doing something... bad?

[His wariness is evident in his voice. This man is speaking vaguely, and he's not sure what to make of it]

_{[Trust your instincts c'mon man, the guy's been chained in a sewer for god only knows how long... of course he sounds a little nuts! It's incredible he's sane enough to even string two words together, at this point...]

[He does sound like he's getting more frustrated, though.]}

Enough... enough!

I don't want to answer any more questions... I need to see light again. I need to get OUT of this place!

The chain is over there-- attached to the side of the wall! Do you see it?

_{[If Kaito does look (instead of possibly wading back in the direction that he came), sure enough... a length of chain, covered in weeds and sewer sludge, rises from the water over in the very corner of the chamber-- dangerously close to where the threshing machines whir. It's attached to the sewer wall.]}

[... well on the bright side, his hostile reaction to his questions makes him less inclined to remove that chain 8T He searches the dark room for said restraint, noticing it connected to the wall close to those whirring machines. That chain is... suspiciously large. Almost too large for a normal human male.

He doesn't move toward it, though. But he doesn't move away either]

I see it.

[A beat, and despite the man specifically saying he didn't want to answer any more questions, Kaito shoots him another one. There is something not right about this situation, and he isn't going to do anything until he has all of the information he needs.]

What's the first thing you're gonna do when you get out of here?

_{[There's a sort of silence from the unseen man, and when he speaks again, there's a definite coldness. He seems to at least realize that he's at the mercy of the 'foreigner', though.]}

I am losing patience...

But...

Water. Fresh water.

I've been trapped in this filth for so long I can hardly remember the taste.

[... all right, that's an answer. Slowly, he starts wading his way to the chain, careful not to get too close to those whirring machines]

_{[The chain is thick, old, and worn... but the stone around the place where it attaches to the wall with a ring is slightly crumbled. If he digs and scrapes around its edges a bit, it probably wouldn't be too difficult to remove the chunk entirely.]

[Perhaps it's looped through something under the water down there on the other side, which could explain why the mystery speaker hadn't been able to reach this side and break it off the wall himself...]}

[Kaito reaches out to take the chain in his hands, frowning at how weak the chain link seems to be. It almost looks as though the captive should have been able to break through this himself...

With the chain in his hands, he glances up, searching through the darkness in an attempt to find the man connected to this restraint]

_{[The chain has some give, but then it snags with a hard CHNK somewhere under the water (which, if Kaito should choose to follow it ... will eventually come up to his chin the closer he gets...)-- followed by a grunt of pain.]}

What are you doing over there--?!

_{[... seriously though where IS this guy.]}

Hang on--

[... all right, he is going to follow the chain instead of just releasing it. He wants to at least know who this guy is]

Where are you?

_{[The further he follows that chain... the deeper and deeper he goes into the water. It comes up to his chin... then his ears.]

[The voice sounds bewildered, and a little outraged. But there's also something frantic in it.]}

Does it MATTER?! I cannot MOVE until the chain is broken! Just BREAK it, and then we can both leave this place!

[... looks like he's not getting to the end of this. Soaked to the bone and shivering, he pulls back, reaching out to place his palm against the point where the chain meets the wall again]

Are you under water?

It is attached at multiple points-- please. Stop wasting TIME!

_{[... Well, he DOES sound desperate, even if it's a pissed-off kind of desperate. There's even a gurgle-- maybe he is underwater? Or maybe the chain ends in one of those shadowy corners and is tight enough that he's only just above water-level enough to breathe....]}

. . .

[Letting out a breath and responding in a snappish tone himself]

I'm not wasting time, idiot! You're the one whose purposely being vague! I don't even have your name!

_{[Oho. Now you've done it, Kaito.]

[The voice falls silent for a moment or so in pure outrage. When it speaks up again, there's a sort of glubbering noise preceding the first words, like he's bobbing angrily at the surface of deep water.]}

DON'T you dare take that tone with me, you impudent pup!

My name is Leonard Wolf and no matter what my traitorous daughter has done, it is still a name to be RESPECTED!

If I were still in power, the Order would NEVER let in some upstart foreigner who didn't know how to respect his ELDERS!

_{[... wait what. Order what.]}

Are you kidding? Who's the one with the ability to get rid of these stupid restraints? And you're yelling at me?

[He removes his hand from the chain on the wall and frowns... deeply]

What the heck do you mean by Order?

_{[... There's another silence.]

[But this time, it's not an angry one. Instead, it's.... purely baffled. When the voice speaks again, it's with an utterly bewildered tone that might even be funny were they not both miserable and stuck in a smelly sewer.]}

... You... are not from the Order?

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