Re: The Gradual Massacre (GBS2G4) [Round 4: Misty Swamp]
02-26-2012, 12:36 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by MalkyTop.
She would be safe as long as she stayed in here and it stayed out there.
But there were other ways of destroying her, subtly, from the inside.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
It felt like her mind was eroding.
It was coming closer wasn’t it? It was going to come inside. And then she would die, like she knew she always would, because she was a stupid, worthless, horrible excuse of a living being…but she didn’t want to die. No.
She faced the tick tock tick tock, faced it as emotions sparked around her and disappeared and set fire to things and didn’t, again and again, and she could definitely see somebody out there and it wasn’t just her imagination because that somebody was moving toward her, but it wasn’t the somebody she was expecting. But it was still somebody she recognized.
Poof, there goes another fire, but no, he just shook it off. Poof, fear. Poof, paranoia. Poof, poof, poof.
Thane, or the very image of Thane, approached. He approached deliberately. He approached and Holly could not retreat or attack or anything, and she had to just face facts that she was going to die. Her mind was starting to fill with hallucinations. She was already dead. She was not yet dead. She was in a state of undeath. There was nobody there and she had imagined it all along. She was experiencing pain. She was experiencing calm. She was experiencing insanity, an insanity where she was outside looking in, unable to move or to act, a spectator of her own life…
Everything stopped.
When Holly looked up, she saw the Thane-thing, standing very still, as the gaseous being enveloped him. It didn’t appear to be doing anything, but the Thane-thing was also not doing anything as a result of whatever it was the ball of gas was not doing. It felt as though a battle was happening in front of her eyes. It felt as though the ball of gas was losing.
The Thane-thing twitched.
She took this chance to run out. The shelter wasn’t safe anymore. She needed another place to hide. Where the hell did snively Algernon go? He probably already found a shelter. He probably told them about her. He probably told them to kill her. That was what Algernon would do. She had to find him. She didn’t have quite a clear idea about what she was going to do when she did, but she had to find him…and then she would do…something.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acacia got up and went outside, but only for show. Closing the door behind her, she simply leaned against the wall and stared up at the ceiling, counting the seconds up to a minute.
Before she could head back inside, though, a woman bounded up to her, disheveled and familiar. Acacia opened her mouth to…to…say something? To shriek in surprise? To attack reflexively? But the woman cut her off. “I heard that they were taking care of – of someone here,” she said hastily. “May I look at him? It won’t take long.” And she darted into the room before even waiting for an answer.
Acacia closed her mouth. And then she entered as well and managed to get out a “Wait a minute,” but she paused when she heard Algernon say, “Cherry?”
The woman she knew wasn’t named Cherry. Perhaps she was mistaken.
Acacia went back to waiting outside. Whatever their conversation was going to be about, they probably didn’t want some deaf woman lurking around them.
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“…Hey, Algernon.”
“I’m really sorry, I’m really, really sorry, I shouldn’t have just left you behind, I was just, it’s, I just couldn’t – “
“It’s okay,” she said, and he calmed down.
It was strange. He had seen Cherry cheerful. He had seen Cherry angry. He had never seen Cherry solemn before. There was a heavy feeling to the atmosphere. Something serious. But he couldn’t focus on it. All he could focus on was that he was an absolute, miserable dingus. As usual.
“I mean…I don’t know. I’m sorry. I—I guess I wanted to…escape. Or something. From…from things that…I don’t even remember them. It’s stupid! I’m stupid.” He couldn’t stop babbling. It had already been hard enough for him to stay awake the past few minutes, but now he couldn’t stop babbling and he wasn’t sure what he was saying or if any of it made sense.
“It’s okay, really,” she said. “I forgive you. I’ve forgiven you already. For a long time now.” She smiled. It was different, he thought, but it didn’t matter because he was forgiven.
“…So…you’re okay?”
“Yes. I’m glad to see that you’re okay too…” She stood straight, but her hands were fidgeting badly. “…You can lie down again, if you want.”
That wouldn’t be conductive to continuing the conversation because he was already on the verge of passing out. Lying down would just compound the problem. But he did so anyways and tried to keep his eyes open. He was failing very splendidly.
“…I’m so happy to be talking to you again,” she said. “I…we haven’t really been, well, really talking much. Not after what happened that time. You don’t remember, do you?”
“…Mmmngh. I…don’t really…remember things…”
“I realize that,” she chuckled. “It’s one of the more memorable things about you.”
“…Nnn,” he said, trying to sound affronted. She bit her lip.
“I…I always meant to talk to you earlier,” she said. “I really did. But…things always got in the way. Or maybe that’s an excuse. I always saw you with…with that woman. You were living with her, even, and I didn’t want to bother you. And you were having a lot of problems of your own. I kept hearing everybody talk about you. It…wasn’t good. At all. And, well, I didn’t know what to talk about. Maybe…it would get back to that incident. And I didn’t want to talk about that at all…and now, you’ve forgotten. I don’t know if that’s a bad thing or not.”
Algernon didn’t respond at all that time. She sighed.
“I…just think that all of this, somehow, could have turned out differently. We could’ve gotten closer, perhaps. Friends. Or…something. Maybe you could’ve finally settled down. Maybe the incident would have never occurred and everybody would be happy…instead of all this insanity happening.
“I…I feel like something’s going to happen. You’re going to leave. Or maybe I am. I’ve grown fond of you, Algernon. I’m sorry I can’t even tell you that when you’re awake. I’m…pretty cowardly. I’m pretty selfish too. I don’t want you to forget me. But you will, won’t you? You’ll forget me one day. I don’t understand why, but…it’s just something you do.”
Her hands slipped into a pocket and drew out a ring. It was unhesitantly slipped on his finger.
She finally stood up and walked towards the door. “…Goodbye, Algernon. Try not to forget me.”
Acacia watched as the woman walked away, quickly accompanied by a gun-totting snake.
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“Christ, there’s another one.”
Several of Hearth’s guards surrounded what appeared to be a babbling elf. Her eyes were unfocused, her mouth constantly whispering. It was unclear whether she could see them or not. It was something that seemed to be happening non-stop now, really. Fugitives all coming from some unknown place, wandering around for some foolhardy reason…
“Careful, I think we should knock this one out,” said one.
“I think…she’s…sparking?”
There was a sound. She shrieked and launched herself forward, pushing past the line of guards. A few chased after her. The rest stared back into the depths of the swamp.
“What was that soun – “
She would be safe as long as she stayed in here and it stayed out there.
But there were other ways of destroying her, subtly, from the inside.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
It felt like her mind was eroding.
It was coming closer wasn’t it? It was going to come inside. And then she would die, like she knew she always would, because she was a stupid, worthless, horrible excuse of a living being…but she didn’t want to die. No.
She faced the tick tock tick tock, faced it as emotions sparked around her and disappeared and set fire to things and didn’t, again and again, and she could definitely see somebody out there and it wasn’t just her imagination because that somebody was moving toward her, but it wasn’t the somebody she was expecting. But it was still somebody she recognized.
Poof, there goes another fire, but no, he just shook it off. Poof, fear. Poof, paranoia. Poof, poof, poof.
Thane, or the very image of Thane, approached. He approached deliberately. He approached and Holly could not retreat or attack or anything, and she had to just face facts that she was going to die. Her mind was starting to fill with hallucinations. She was already dead. She was not yet dead. She was in a state of undeath. There was nobody there and she had imagined it all along. She was experiencing pain. She was experiencing calm. She was experiencing insanity, an insanity where she was outside looking in, unable to move or to act, a spectator of her own life…
Everything stopped.
When Holly looked up, she saw the Thane-thing, standing very still, as the gaseous being enveloped him. It didn’t appear to be doing anything, but the Thane-thing was also not doing anything as a result of whatever it was the ball of gas was not doing. It felt as though a battle was happening in front of her eyes. It felt as though the ball of gas was losing.
The Thane-thing twitched.
She took this chance to run out. The shelter wasn’t safe anymore. She needed another place to hide. Where the hell did snively Algernon go? He probably already found a shelter. He probably told them about her. He probably told them to kill her. That was what Algernon would do. She had to find him. She didn’t have quite a clear idea about what she was going to do when she did, but she had to find him…and then she would do…something.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acacia got up and went outside, but only for show. Closing the door behind her, she simply leaned against the wall and stared up at the ceiling, counting the seconds up to a minute.
Before she could head back inside, though, a woman bounded up to her, disheveled and familiar. Acacia opened her mouth to…to…say something? To shriek in surprise? To attack reflexively? But the woman cut her off. “I heard that they were taking care of – of someone here,” she said hastily. “May I look at him? It won’t take long.” And she darted into the room before even waiting for an answer.
Acacia closed her mouth. And then she entered as well and managed to get out a “Wait a minute,” but she paused when she heard Algernon say, “Cherry?”
The woman she knew wasn’t named Cherry. Perhaps she was mistaken.
Acacia went back to waiting outside. Whatever their conversation was going to be about, they probably didn’t want some deaf woman lurking around them.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“…Hey, Algernon.”
“I’m really sorry, I’m really, really sorry, I shouldn’t have just left you behind, I was just, it’s, I just couldn’t – “
“It’s okay,” she said, and he calmed down.
It was strange. He had seen Cherry cheerful. He had seen Cherry angry. He had never seen Cherry solemn before. There was a heavy feeling to the atmosphere. Something serious. But he couldn’t focus on it. All he could focus on was that he was an absolute, miserable dingus. As usual.
“I mean…I don’t know. I’m sorry. I—I guess I wanted to…escape. Or something. From…from things that…I don’t even remember them. It’s stupid! I’m stupid.” He couldn’t stop babbling. It had already been hard enough for him to stay awake the past few minutes, but now he couldn’t stop babbling and he wasn’t sure what he was saying or if any of it made sense.
“It’s okay, really,” she said. “I forgive you. I’ve forgiven you already. For a long time now.” She smiled. It was different, he thought, but it didn’t matter because he was forgiven.
“…So…you’re okay?”
“Yes. I’m glad to see that you’re okay too…” She stood straight, but her hands were fidgeting badly. “…You can lie down again, if you want.”
That wouldn’t be conductive to continuing the conversation because he was already on the verge of passing out. Lying down would just compound the problem. But he did so anyways and tried to keep his eyes open. He was failing very splendidly.
“…I’m so happy to be talking to you again,” she said. “I…we haven’t really been, well, really talking much. Not after what happened that time. You don’t remember, do you?”
“…Mmmngh. I…don’t really…remember things…”
“I realize that,” she chuckled. “It’s one of the more memorable things about you.”
“…Nnn,” he said, trying to sound affronted. She bit her lip.
“I…I always meant to talk to you earlier,” she said. “I really did. But…things always got in the way. Or maybe that’s an excuse. I always saw you with…with that woman. You were living with her, even, and I didn’t want to bother you. And you were having a lot of problems of your own. I kept hearing everybody talk about you. It…wasn’t good. At all. And, well, I didn’t know what to talk about. Maybe…it would get back to that incident. And I didn’t want to talk about that at all…and now, you’ve forgotten. I don’t know if that’s a bad thing or not.”
Algernon didn’t respond at all that time. She sighed.
“I…just think that all of this, somehow, could have turned out differently. We could’ve gotten closer, perhaps. Friends. Or…something. Maybe you could’ve finally settled down. Maybe the incident would have never occurred and everybody would be happy…instead of all this insanity happening.
“I…I feel like something’s going to happen. You’re going to leave. Or maybe I am. I’ve grown fond of you, Algernon. I’m sorry I can’t even tell you that when you’re awake. I’m…pretty cowardly. I’m pretty selfish too. I don’t want you to forget me. But you will, won’t you? You’ll forget me one day. I don’t understand why, but…it’s just something you do.”
Her hands slipped into a pocket and drew out a ring. It was unhesitantly slipped on his finger.
She finally stood up and walked towards the door. “…Goodbye, Algernon. Try not to forget me.”
Acacia watched as the woman walked away, quickly accompanied by a gun-totting snake.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Christ, there’s another one.”
Several of Hearth’s guards surrounded what appeared to be a babbling elf. Her eyes were unfocused, her mouth constantly whispering. It was unclear whether she could see them or not. It was something that seemed to be happening non-stop now, really. Fugitives all coming from some unknown place, wandering around for some foolhardy reason…
“Careful, I think we should knock this one out,” said one.
“I think…she’s…sparking?”
There was a sound. She shrieked and launched herself forward, pushing past the line of guards. A few chased after her. The rest stared back into the depths of the swamp.
“What was that soun – “