HH [1v1] Long Way to Fall (Barth + Zar)

[Toshihiko Two]

Attending the last days of his classes, Barth felt a certain malaise. He could return to the campus any time, of course, and there were also substitute positions available, were he so inclined to teach mad science.

He tried to avoid enrolling in any classes whatsoever that involved stairs, but this was not always doable.

Down was marginally better than up, anyhow.

Cautiously, he edged his shoe over the first stair. A minute later, the second. Two minutes later, the third.

After an hour had passed, he thought the bottom of the stairs seemed still sort of far away. He looked back, to judge his progress (at least half a flight, he hoped) but he must have traveled further than he thought. The stairs continued on and on, up and up, and the same in the other direction. They were also made of a very, very grey wood.

"By the throne," he swore viciously.

He would have given up right then, but he thought he saw some white in the distance- a floor, maybe? As long as it wasn't the flash of a hunter's coat.

Already rather tired, he tackled another stair.

Quote:

Rolling a 6: ALL STUDENT/ HUNTER HP IS HALVED. You feel tired.... cold...numb. It becomes increasingly hard to focus as the battle draws on.

 

[Baneful]

Zar was on his way back to his dorm to get himself a snack in the form of whatever demon goat wasn't smart enough to get out of his way on time when he realized everything had gone a bit dry and grey for the monster dorms. He bristled, irritated, still in his natural form which he'd donned expecting to be in a much larger hallway and a much larger dorm. Someone had to be to blame for his inconvenience and he was perfectly willing to take his frustration out on whatever small creature happened to cross his path.

He moved with surprising quietness for his size, hunched close to the floorboards, tail cutting slithering arcs through the decades of dust. There was heat up ahead. It wasn't human, he remembered the way humans made his senses light up, but was more familiar, a creature from Halloween most likely, though the dust devoured the meat of the smell.

He turned, standing at the top of the stairs, white eyes looking blankly into the unreadable gloom, his back arched and bristling, claws hooked over the edge of the top step, and his tail coiling to a halt at his hooves.

"Who'sssss down there?" he cooed coaxingly, and it was evident from the pounce written in his posture, that he hoped whoever it was, was alone.

 

[Toshihiko Two]

The sound echoed, distorting down the hallway into a long hiss.

Not a hunter, Barth thought.

"Hello?" he hazarded, wary. The hello also distorted as it traveled.

He blended mostly into the gray of the house, a barely-noticeable shift in pattern, the slow movement and heat the only blip on the otherwise cold and still house.
 

[Baneful]

The house twisted sound strangely and the acoustics meant he did not recognize the voice. That was all he needed, he poised himself, unhinged his jaw just slightly and leapt, throwing his full weight into a pounce straight at his "prey" on the stairs, all teeth and fangs.

It was not as well judged as he had hoped, Barth ended up going down a lot easier than he expected and both of them went careening down the steps in a tangle of chaos.

HP: 9
 

[Toshihiko Two]

The teeth were very sharp. They closed, hard around Barth, the pressure almost snapping his bones.

The thorns retaliated on instinct. They did not lift, or whip, or bind, the normally light pain was instead penetrative. Like the dream, they punched through Zar's shoulder, his neck, his waist, but here there was no cushion of sleep.

They were immediately and apparently Barth's thorns. It was like being pierced with a handful of syringes, full of sedatives. They hooked into Zar's body, and pulled him after Barth like a grappling hook, rigid and dragging blood down the vines.

The two of them rolled, and rolled, and rolled, and rolled.

These stairs had no resolution.

It was only when the fear had been wrung out of both of them that they came to a last and painful thud, what was left of them skidding across the well-lit school linoleum.

Barth felt fuzzy around the edges, as if he could dissipate any moment.

HP: 3  

[Baneful]

The sound Zar made as the thorns stabbed him was an awful sound, a strangled hissing screech as he fell, realising far too late what had happened and who he'd attacked. Black blood splattered the walls, the floor, as he fell on and on, now and then striking a step hard against some tender part, jarring him with fresh agony.

He hit the ground at the bottom with a thunk of heavy horns and claws on wood and fought ferociously in a pool of slowly spreading ink-black blood for a few moments to keep himself intact and aware, his breathing slow and measured, still snared up in the thorns. The strange drowsy effects of the sharp edges in his body were making it even harder to concentrate.

"I.." he said. "I didn't know... it wsss you.."

 

[Toshihiko Two]

The thorns withered, shrinking to smokey nothing.

"Zzsss, it is."

Barth looked blurrily over to the now completely-normal staircase.

"At least we're at the bottom," he said, putting his arm over his eye. Zar was in no condition to carry either of them back.

"Don't suppose you can reach my skellyphone with your tongue? Jacket pocket."
 

[Baneful]

Zar made a hopeless sort of sound as the thorns vanishing only let more blood drip onto the floor, the drowsiness fading rapidly in the wake of pain. He dragged himself over to Barth just a fraction before doing exactly as he was asked, dropping his bruised jaw and using his very long tongue to fish out the phone in question, taking a bit of woozy effort to find it.

He didn't bother asking out loud who to phone, instead simply rested his tongue and the phone on Barth himself and sent out a very unmistakable wave of curious emotions centered squarely around the phone, though it remained tangled at least somewhat with pain, fear and regret.

When directed who in Halloween to actually call, he did so an held up the phone obligingly, ignoring the shivers the effort sent through his body.