Better Left Forgotten

*Eve and Cameron shine their flashlights into different rooms as they pass*
===
<Have you tried waking them up?>

Hector and Eduj kept on walking, taking carefully measured steps. Hector paused and shone his flashlight around the ceiling and wherever it connected to the walls, looking for signs that it might fall down or anything like that. Astarte stepped close to Noct and grabbed her hand, "I'm just getting scared again..."

Sab squeaked when Aroma did, but calmed down at Lilith's explanation.

Noct squeezed Astarte's hand, "Don't worry. We're going to be fine."

Mortal let out a long whistle, impressed with Noct's ability to jinx the group like that.

<Yes, but it's quite normal they'd have difficulty staying conscious in a situation like this.>
=======================
*Most of the rooms are empty, though they're starting to run into a few that have various sizes & colors of dicks graffiti'd on the walls. The ceiling looks normal, save for animal prints in the dust on the ceiling. As they come to an interception, something swipes out at Euryale, who yells & grabs her arm. The masked man turns & starts running down the hall. She pulls her hand away from her arm, & snarls from the blood on it to the figure.*

E"Hey! Get your ass back here!"

*She starts running after him.*

E"Stop running & try that again, you trash!"

L"Hey, wait up!"

N"Where's Roatha?!"

T"Stop running off!"

*Thiera's pleas fall on death ears as Lilith & Nero follow after Euryale.*

Mortal dashes off as well.

Sab tries to hold Aroma as tight as possible, too scared to move.

Gabe similarly, was too spooked to react fast enough, and was left behind by the group that ran off, so she stayed with Noctis and the rest.

Noctis had been about to ask why there were prints on the ceiling, but was cut off by the attack, "Wait, dammit... now we're split up."

"Well..." Hector, who had remained firmly rooted to the spot, sighed. "I get the feeling they're being lead into a trap or something. Shall we go after them?"
Astarte stood by Noct, squeezing the life out of her hand.

Taiyo: "Wait, come back!"

And that's how everyone runs off like knobs who want to get seperated in an ideal place to be axe murdered.

T"I guess we'll have to, if we want to avoid splitting up."

*Aroma runs after as well.*
========================
*Meanwhile, as Euryale is just about to grab his shoulder & punch him in the face, he dives sideways into an empty room. When those chasing him pass through, they're unexpectedly plunged into pitch darkness. There's a rustling as Euryale tries to dig out her flashlight. Nero shines his around, passing over a boiler against the wall, a big pile of boxes & stuffed garbage bags, & more plaster & broken glass strewn about the floor. When he turns around, his light shines not on the exit, but on a featureless concrete wall.*

N"Looks like the basement, but how did we get down here?"

Mimiru and Taiyo shine their flashlights about.

Azuma: "Fell through the floor?"

*Eve heads over to Thiera*

<Well, let's go then.>

*She starts heading off in that direction*

Hector and Eduj started after the runners. Astarte took a deep breath.

"I think we would have felt falling down," Mortal said, pulling out her phone, and turning on the flashlight app so she could see as well.

--

Gabe patted Aroma and Sab's shoulders, "Come on, lets go."

Sab just nodded her head, and began jogging after the rest of the group.

Noct let out a sigh, and began following as well.

N"Yeah, besides, there's no hole in the ceiling."

*He points up, to the circle of light that his flashlight is making on the roof. The ceiling is sagging slightly, but definitely still in tact. Mimiru's light falls on a dividing wall, indicating that the basement is large & consists of multiple rooms, & in a far-off corner of the room, Taiyo spots someone lying on his face in the plaster & broken glass, partially covered in the remains of a broken desk.*
===========================
*As they're running along, Thiera keeps shining her light down various rooms & hallways, before coming to a stop next to a room with exposed pipes on the floors & walls. The hallway continues on indefinitely. This area is also nearly pitch black, being far away from any of the windows.*

T"Something's wrong...we should have ran across them by now."

"I can't hear any running or yelling either," Hector said, stopping and looking into the room with the exposed pipes with his flashlight.
"We should go back," Eduj said, having stopped and pointed his flashlight down the long hallway.

Azuma: "Then what? Fell through a wormhole into the basement?"

That wouldn't be too far fetched.

Taiyo: "There's someone over there."

Eve:<I think we should get ready for an attack. This stinks of Shadow involvement.>
===
<Oh.>

*Tirea wipes some tears from her face*

T"Even if we did turn back, where would we go next?"

*Her voice echoes off of the empty halls, sounding much louder than normal. It's a small room with a spot that indicates that something once hung on the wall over one of the areas of pipes. Closer inspection of the wall near the other set of pipes reveals faded writing under the dust.*

L"Probably a bathroom. I'm noticing there's not a lot of furniture in this building. I think they took whatever they could, & moved it to other locations."

*Her voice echoes as well.*
========================
*Aroma clings to Sab & tries to hide them behind Mortal. Nero starts to cautiously approach, but then Euryale strides up, not so cautious. She stops dead in her tracks & turns around.*

E"It's Roatha!"

*Turning back, she bends down, grabs him by the shoulders, & shakes him a little.*

E"Hey! Are you alright? We've been worried about you, so wake up!"

*Her voice echoes around the basement, sounding like a bunch of people yelling at them.*
=========================
<Speaking of, I should probably go check on them now.>

"Somebody check their cell for reception," Hector said. "Maybe we'll have a stroke of luck."
"We should go back," Eduj repeated. "No good will come of us going this way."
Astarte squeezed Noct's hand tight.

*Eve checks her phone, trying to text Euryale*
---
<Can you tell me if anything's changed?>

Taiyo joins Euryale, shining her light in Roatha's face.

Azuma: "Why is it suddenly so echoy in here?"

OOC: Sab never ran after the noobs, but I suppose I'll just have her be there...

"No good is going to come from leaving our friends here either," Gabe said, "So shut your mouth if all you're going to do is go on about leaving. Do you think any of us WANT to be here?"

"Gabe has a point," Noct said, checking her phone. She also began to rub Astarte's hand with her thumb in an attempt to soothe her while she checked for reception.

--

Mortal walks over and checks for a pulse, being one of the two trained nurses in the room.

Sab is quivering with Aroma, and tries to stay close to Mortal as she walks over to Roatha.

R"Ow! Why is someone jabbing me in the neck?!"

*Roatha opens his eyes & gets up, brushing away Mortal's hand, & looks down, rubbing the back of his head.*

R"And what happened to my sweatshirt? How long have I been out for? Holy shit, I have a headache."
===========================
*There's a few bars, but the text to Euryale does not go through.*

Azuma: "What happened to you? Went missing and now you're here."

Eve:<I have a few bars, but nothing will go through.>

"I mean we should at least go back to where it is brighter," Eduj said. "I doubt they all ran so far ahead that we couldn't hear them, and we can't see if anything is lurking just ahead."
"Walking right on ahead might be suicidal," Hector said. "Any ideas?"