A Great Escape

Kailyn Jayn Shalle

What the hell is going on!? Was the basis of her thoughts during the entire excursion. Nonetheless, she didn't want to get eaten by a monster, so when Nathaniel had come around and saved her, she didn't find it very difficult to obey him and do as he told her. She'd come here the night before, but had gotten relatively lucky and hadn't been attacked by anything at first. After figuring out the only memories she had were her name and age, she started to desperately look for other signs of human life. She'd been much deeper in the forest at the time, and it'd taken her the entire day to just get to the clearing where the dinosaur/chicken thing had attacked. Well, it hadn't exactly attacked. One minute the way was clear, the next a man eating monster was blocking the path. Of course, once it spotted her it'd attacked. And then Nathaniel came, her life-saver, her hero of the night.

Running after the boy had been a perilous and exhausting journey, for her. She was accident prone, and tripping was easiest in places where random twigs just found their way in front of your feet. She'd avoided falling over however, and when her and Nathaniel had met up with the other two she'd been relieved. When Nathaniel pushed her up ahead and the second boy asked her if she knew what was going on, all she could do at the moment was shake her head in misery. Can I just go back to yesterday when I wasn't running for my life?

When Nathaniel returned and took them to the mansion-like school building, and then proceeded to tell them to stay put and then left, her feelings bubbled over and she started shivering in fear. Her fear was justified, yes, but it was embarrassing all the same. She looked at the other boy, eyes wide as Nathaniel took off, and said to him, "I'm scared." She felt like she was going to cry, but she'd somehow held herself back when she noticed how strong the other boy was being.

Nathaniel Erit Jackson

He'd got to the gates, as promised, but saw no sign Lucina appearing anywhere. He probably stood around pacing behind the gates for up to half an hour before deciding that she was late, even though she technically still had 30 minutes left to get back. He decided he should actually bring some sort of weapon with him this time, seeing as there was a possibility Lucina was hurt and couldn't protect herself. Stubbornly, he grabbed a whip from one of the gate's guards and then took off with the man yelling after him. Obviously, Nathaniel had put little thought into his weapon of choice. He didn't usually carry one, because he didn't usually need one. No, he's not some badass mofo that never needs a weapon on him, he just has an insane amount of luck and skill with using things around him to his advantages. That was how he got by in Purgatory.

Sprinting back to where Lucina had handed off the male noob to him, he found her freakishly trying to block attacks from two demons at once, while at the same time she was rooted to the spot. He shook his head at the sight. Damn, this girl is crazy, was his thought before running towards the one-sided fight.

"Luce!" He exclaimed as he dashed in front of her and wrapped his whip around the tongue that was holding onto her arm. He pulled as hard as he could, causing the creature to yelp in pain and unleash it's hold on the girl. "I've got your back," Nathaniel told Lucina with a swift nod before turning towards the two demons.

"Are you hurt?!" He asked next, having spotted the gashes that the demon's tongue had imprinted. It was then that the bells alarming of the closing of the school base's gates were about to close. S**t, he thought, gritting his teeth. Now they were stuck out here with the demons.

Lucina "Luce" Walsh

Being attacked by two different demons wasn't very fun, especially when one had her wrist trapped in its tongue's grasp and was pulling her towards it slowly. These two demons were obnoxious, not to mention disturbingly gross, since their tongue were their weapons. It was a good thing her left arm, her dominant one, was free, or both her arms would have been contained by the monsters. Luce fought off the other one, and in doing so, didn't have enough time to cut the tongue that was constricting her wrist. Gritting her teeth, she she dug her heels in to stop herself from being dragged forward, though the plan didn't work well. The needle like barbs that were embedded into her wrist pulled and she bit back a yelp of pain and allowed herself to move forwards. This was a bad situation.

"Luce!" An all too familiar voice called, and she let out a relieved smile. Nathaniel. She got lucky this time. A whip came out, wrapping around the tongue of the creature who had it in its grasp. The thing pulled its tongue away and yelped.

"Thanks!" Lucina called to him, shaking out her wrist, that was prickling with pain. A band of red was around the skin along with dozens of small needle like wounds. Each had blood trickling from it. The injury would be healed in a matter of hours, Luce knew, but it still hurt like hell. The girl gave Nathan a warm smile as he said he had her back. Truthfully, the simple statement was a relief to her. Taking care of two demons by herself could be fun, but she definitely felt more comfortable with a partner. Not only that, but she trusted Nathan more than just about anyone else here in Purgatory.

Using the advantage she now had just facing one demon, Lucina dodge as the other monster's tongue lashed out then sliced it, cleaving about half the demon's tongue off. It shrieked and the gross tongue writhed, scattering the green blood of the demons everywhere. Making a disgusted face, Luce stepped back beside Nathan and held up her wrist with a wince. "Yeah, but nothing fatal." She responded to him.  

Warning bells rang out and her eyes widened. "S**t!  We have to go! Come on, we can still make it!" She burst out, sheathing the sword and grabbed his hand with her left one. The black haired girl sprinted towards the school gate. The doors were slowly coming to a close. Snarls erupted behind them, and the two demons gave chase.  *Don't look behind you, Luce.  Keep moving forward.* She thought to herself as a reminder, remembering being told that looking behind only slowed someone down.  

The gate was quickly coming up, as well as the demons. Luce let go of Nathan's hand, using both arms as she pumped her legs faster. The doors were almost completely closed. "Dive!" She shouted to him so he could hear her over the wind roaring in their ears and the panting of the demons behind them. Bunching up her muscles, Lucine dove forward, narrowly slipping through the doorway. She crashed to the ground, skinning her knees and hands as she rolled. The girl came to a stop, gazing up at the star filled sky, breathing heavily and looking over. The two tongues creeped through the crack of the door...then they slammed closed, cutting off those pieces from their owners. Two screams echoed from the demons from the other side, and the tongue pieces on this side dropped lifelessly to the ground.  

Lucina's heart was pounding as her adrenaline continued to rush through her body. A giddy feeling soon entered her, and she began to laugh. The thrill of it all had been exhilarating. While a part of her had been terrified of the near death experience, the other part of her had craved it and found it fun. "Well...that was...fun." She said between breathes.

Axel Edgewood

As Nathaniel walked off to go help his friend, at least he assumed Lucina was his friend since he was going to help her, Axel turned his gaze back to the girl. Her eyes were wide and her body was trembling faintly in fear. Despite the fact that the boy was terrified himself, and considered it was very possible he was losing his mind, he felt an odd surge of protectiveness for this girl. It was like a deep need had entered him. *I need to be strong for this girl.  No matter what.* He thought to himself.

"I'm scared." The girl said to him. Her voice was soft, but had an edge if that fear to it. Straightening up and pulling his little remaining composure together, he gave her a warm smile. "It will be ok. That guy said this place was safe, and he seemed pretty nice. You're going to be fine." He said to her in a soothing tone, gently pulling her into a hug.  Sure, he didn't know the girl, but it really had seemed like she needed a hug.  

Suddenly, alarms rang out, and Axel slowly pulled from her, his gaze cutting to the gate they had just come through. The doors were starting to close, but Nathan and Luce had not yet returned. His eyes took a small worried light for the two who had saved his and the girl's life. He regretted his rude attitude towards Lucina. Axel had just been so confused and scared, that he hadn't been sure how to react.  

Yelps from demons beyond the wall sounded out and he frowned.  About a minute later, as the door was about to close, the two dove in. It was an amazing scene really. Two wriggling, black forms seeped between the closing doors then dropped to the ground as the door completely shut. Almost immediately, the sounds of demons screaming in agony erupted, then died out. It was silent for a moment...then Lucina began laughing. Axel just shook his head, his eyes wide. *Why is she laughing after that?* He thought to himself, knowing he probably would have been freaked.

Nathaniel Erit Jackson

The act of Lucina grabbing his hand and roughly pulling him away had cause him to lose his trusty whip, even if it hadn't been his in the first place. Oh well, he thought as the demons both roared and came chasing after them. He hadn't gotten so fond of the whip that he couldn't live without it. The guard he had taken it from might be angry, but he could always just get a new one.

As Lucina let go of his hand, he suddenly had the ability to run faster with both his arms free, and he easily caught up so that was was running right next to each other. If this had been a race, it would've ended in a tie, because they were running as fast as they could and they were still going at the same pace.

"Dive!" Lucina called out and, with a yell of frustration and pain in his sudden jerk, he shot forward with Lucina, narrowly avoiding being squashed in between the gates. Dirt attacked his face, knees, and palms as he hit the ground roughly. He flinched as the demons screamed out in agony. but Lucina's laugh brought him back down to the reality that he had survived that night's demons. He also let out his stress with a low laugh, while the people that had been guarding the gates stared at them incredulously. He didn't think anyone else had attempted what they had just done. Yes, they were crazy, but Nathaniel already knew that.

A guard came up to him with his arm stretched out expectantly, and Nathaniel presently shook his hand with a laugh. "Thanks for that whip! It saved Luce's life here!" He said to the fuming man. But the adrenaline in his body kept up his boost of energy for the moment. "Whips are awesome man!"He said enthusiastically as the man grumbled at him and walked away grudgingly. Nathaniel turned to his laughing companion and held out his hand to help her up. "You were brilliant, Luce! I wouldn't even have tried that stunt!" His praise was light-hearted, but full of sincere gratitude. He'd seriously thought the two of them were done for sure. Behind the gates, the demons still screamed, but Nathaniel was pretty used to the constant screeches and shrieks. Thinking back on their recent, close escape, he asked aloud, "Do you think I should get myself a whip? It was pretty handy." He'd never been one for weapons, even if he had had a few close calls to his death in Purgatory, but maybe it was time for him to adjust to one. As he thought that, a dreadful pain started in his head and his hands went to his temples in discomfort. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth, trying to shake off the pain, but it continued, unceasing. This had happened before, actually, whenever he regained some shreads of memory, but these episodes of his were often few and far between. Grumbling, his good feeling evaporated, and he just stood there with his hands rubbing his head as he waited for the pain to go away.

Kailyn Jayn Shalle

"It will be ok. That guy said this place was safe, and he seemed pretty nice. You're going to be fine."When the boy pulled her into a hug she finally felt the tears roll out of her eyes, but relief filled her all the same. "Thank you," she muttered quietly as the alarm bells started ringing. She jumped in surprise, but intently watched the gates as they started to close, the opening between them getting ever smaller. They're not going to make it! she thought, her eyes widening again when she heard a familiar sound of those strange demons roaring. Her green, scared eyes glanced back at the boy beside her again before quickly turning back over to the gates just as Nathaniel and Lucina came crashing through.

"They made it!" she yelled out in surprise. She'd believed they were going to get stuck outside the gates and meet their fate inside of a demon's jaws. "They really made it!" She jumped in her excitement, hastily clapping her hands together as the girl with the boy who'd saved her earlier laughed away. She was convinced then, that whatever kind of hell she'd found herself in, at least there was hope to live. She looked back at Axel with a grin on her face, all of her tears dried away. "Wasn't that amazing?" she offered, laughing lightly at how wide his eyes were as he watched the scene.