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countryclub2022-08-25 10:45 pm
reddosmod) wrote in countryclub2022-08-25 10:45 pm
Entry tags:
August Test Drive Meme!
AUGUST 2022 TDM
STANDARD ARRIVAL
LOST BETWEEN STEPS
ABSOLUTE IMMERSION
CODING
Another month, another test drive meme! Our test drive memes are open to anyone interested - regardless of whether or not you join our game!
All Test Drive Memes are game canon. Players can choose to keep their TDM threads canon or not. TDM threads can be used for AC and can be used as your writing sample for your application.
Our TDMs serve as a way to build into the actual lore and worldbuilding of Deer Country and we strongly encourage everyone to enjoy and participate! Current players are always welcome to pull prompts from the TDM to reference on the Network or bring into logs as well as tag out to new characters top-leveling on the TDM itself.
Characters will always be able to actively die during TDMs as this is an extremely dangerous world. You can still have this be game canon! Check out how character death in Deer Country works here.
If you have any questions about the TDM, please ask down below!
IMAGE DESCRIPTORS IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Prompt One
[Image One: Hands making a fish net]
[Image Two: A Skyrim Mudcrab staring menacingly]
Prompt Two
[Image One: Dingy, empty and creepy old backroom]
[Image Two: Cryptic, Creepy words scribbled on yellow wallpaper]
Prompt Three
[Image One: Skull on top of book]
[Image Two: Book with pages shaped like a whirlpool]
All Test Drive Memes are game canon. Players can choose to keep their TDM threads canon or not. TDM threads can be used for AC and can be used as your writing sample for your application.
Our TDMs serve as a way to build into the actual lore and worldbuilding of Deer Country and we strongly encourage everyone to enjoy and participate! Current players are always welcome to pull prompts from the TDM to reference on the Network or bring into logs as well as tag out to new characters top-leveling on the TDM itself.
Characters will always be able to actively die during TDMs as this is an extremely dangerous world. You can still have this be game canon! Check out how character death in Deer Country works here.
If you have any questions about the TDM, please ask down below!
Prompt One
[Image One: Hands making a fish net]
[Image Two: A Skyrim Mudcrab staring menacingly]
Prompt Two
[Image One: Dingy, empty and creepy old backroom]
[Image Two: Cryptic, Creepy words scribbled on yellow wallpaper]
Prompt Three
[Image One: Skull on top of book]
[Image Two: Book with pages shaped like a whirlpool]
WHEN: First Week of September
WHERE: The Farther Shores/The Boardwalk
CONTENT WARNINGS: Monstrous Crabs, Environmental Threat
WHERE: The Farther Shores/The Boardwalk
CONTENT WARNINGS: Monstrous Crabs, Environmental Threat
Normally, the people of Trench would say that September is a fortunate time for sleepers to arrive at it's shores. However, the aftermath of the violent and inconsistent storms in the last month continue to batter the city. The waters are choppy, though they are beginning to calm. The swim is difficult and unsafe, waves threatening to crash unwitting squids into the rocks. It is unlikely to be fatal, but many arrive battered and bruised, gasping as they awaken from their squid form.
Hopefully, you've found something to wear, either in your Welcoming Bag or otherwise, and can start familiarizing yourself with your surroundings. Maybe you help some other squids out on the beach. Waking up sucks! You feel for the little guys. And hey, maybe you're hoping one of those squids is a good friend...Stranger things have happened.
SEASONAL DETAILS ON THE BOARDWALK
With theme music!
The weather is awful, and so the mood of the beach is a bit more subdued than on other occasions. Food is hearty and dry, easily packaged in oilcloth, and containing mostly hard tack, mushrooms and dried, cured fish. Bottles of water are included with the food, enough to ensure that the sleepers are well fed, and enough packets are offered for a few days in case they need them, but they are certainly not the most flavorful or exotic, reflecting much more the day to day food of Trench.
The people leading the waking are gathered and huddled around makeshift structures and lean-tos to deal with the awful weather along the coast during this period. Sleepers are brought here, to fires to warm. Among those who are present are the fishermen and women who work at the docks. They, along with several of the Architects from in town, have set up booths. Though they do not demand it of anyone, they politely hint that in the season of change, it is good to learn new trades and to find a place in this strange world the sleepers have been brought to. As part of this, they are willing to offer a chance for the sleepers to help craft fishing nets and other gear for those who will brave the waters to bring back food in the season.
The task is arduous and taxing, but it is not without reward. To those who choose to participate, one of the fishermen will approach them and wordlessly drop a waterlogged box into their lap. It looks dilapidated and in poor condition, but they will say nothing more, staring off into the sea from which it was dredged. When the sleeper opens it, they will find that there is one additional item within the box, which might have been included in their welcome bag normally. If pressed, the fisherman will only say that they found it dredged up along the shores in the midst of their work.
For those who brave the coasts or the waters, there is an increased threat of monstrous presence, though nothing compared to the prior month. Poisonous crabs lurk along the edges of the waterways. Much larger versions of small crabs known to live in caves along the shore, these beastly adult versions stand about three feet tall, and have particularly strong pincers which secrete a hallucinogenic venom. Victims of it are prone to paranoid delusions of danger around every corner, and known for mistaking those around them as threats. The crabs are themselves carnivorous to boot, so they are certainly a threat on their own, though they are very much killable, and supposedly very good eating. Bring in some crab meat, and it should be good to trade for additional food and supplies this month, if you dare! As with their lesser cousins, the venom of these crabs is particularly dangerous to the psychically sensitive, Palebloods and Darkbloods.
Hopefully, you've found something to wear, either in your Welcoming Bag or otherwise, and can start familiarizing yourself with your surroundings. Maybe you help some other squids out on the beach. Waking up sucks! You feel for the little guys. And hey, maybe you're hoping one of those squids is a good friend...Stranger things have happened.
The people leading the waking are gathered and huddled around makeshift structures and lean-tos to deal with the awful weather along the coast during this period. Sleepers are brought here, to fires to warm. Among those who are present are the fishermen and women who work at the docks. They, along with several of the Architects from in town, have set up booths. Though they do not demand it of anyone, they politely hint that in the season of change, it is good to learn new trades and to find a place in this strange world the sleepers have been brought to. As part of this, they are willing to offer a chance for the sleepers to help craft fishing nets and other gear for those who will brave the waters to bring back food in the season.
The task is arduous and taxing, but it is not without reward. To those who choose to participate, one of the fishermen will approach them and wordlessly drop a waterlogged box into their lap. It looks dilapidated and in poor condition, but they will say nothing more, staring off into the sea from which it was dredged. When the sleeper opens it, they will find that there is one additional item within the box, which might have been included in their welcome bag normally. If pressed, the fisherman will only say that they found it dredged up along the shores in the midst of their work.
For those who brave the coasts or the waters, there is an increased threat of monstrous presence, though nothing compared to the prior month. Poisonous crabs lurk along the edges of the waterways. Much larger versions of small crabs known to live in caves along the shore, these beastly adult versions stand about three feet tall, and have particularly strong pincers which secrete a hallucinogenic venom. Victims of it are prone to paranoid delusions of danger around every corner, and known for mistaking those around them as threats. The crabs are themselves carnivorous to boot, so they are certainly a threat on their own, though they are very much killable, and supposedly very good eating. Bring in some crab meat, and it should be good to trade for additional food and supplies this month, if you dare! As with their lesser cousins, the venom of these crabs is particularly dangerous to the psychically sensitive, Palebloods and Darkbloods.
WHEN: August 31st-September 29, January 2, February 4, March 6, April 8, June 10, July 12, October 20, November 1, December 24
WHERE: Somewhere, you're not certain where
CONTENT WARNINGS: Labyrinth, Liminal Horror, Severe Disorientation, Autophobia, Monster Horror, Fear of Falling
WHERE: Somewhere, you're not certain where
CONTENT WARNINGS: Labyrinth, Liminal Horror, Severe Disorientation, Autophobia, Monster Horror, Fear of Falling
You just took one step back. That's all. A step backwards while you weren't paying attention, and the sensation of falling assailed you. With a grunt, you found yourelf landing hard, but not hard enough to actually break or turn anything. Around you is a carpeted space. There are old, stained wallpaper walls on every side, set up in variable sized cubicle spaces that look like they should be occupied by an office of some sort. Everything smells like mold, stale and sharp. The carpet is a little bit moist and the wallpapers all seem to be hiding hints of mildew. It feels familiar, but even if you have been in this "place" before it is not quite the same. The wallpaper shades are not exactly right. It always feels like you should know it, but you cannot quite place it.
You are not alone in this place. Another seems to have fallen in this place, thank god because the muffled sounds of these halls are already getting oppressive. The electric hum of fluorescent are buzzing in your ears like a plague of locusts and you can practically feel the migraine coming from the unremitting light, but you dare not take shelter to let your eyes rest in the gaps in the lighting. It feels like there is something there. You should probably be leaving, though that's where the problem really begins. No method seems to clearly work. There are no identifiable features to pick out. After several turns, you might find yourself facing impossibly thin hallways or a dead end. Attempts to keep track of your passage with writing, torn wallpaper and balls of twine fail, as it becomes increasingly and inconsistently disorientating, inevitably causing the lead to be lost, or worse? It might seem to be going the wrong direction. Did someone move it? Magic compasses, even those given by the Pthumerians do not work in this "place" This should not be possible, but it is true.
An hour in, because it always takes longer than that, or does it? Time can be hard to keep track of and omnis don't tell time properly here. Whatever, an hour in, and the need to get out of this place will be getting to those trapped within. They do not belong here, and must escape. The harder you run, the more that the dank odor gets under the skin, worsening even if you should not be able to smell it. Occasional items can be found, but all are useless. If you are fortunate, perhaps you will eventually find a hole in the floor. But, looking down it, you cannot see the bottom. Do you dare leap down, not knowing the end? If you do, the passage seems to go far too long to be healthy. The rush of air and the feel of fraying wallpaper comes until you find yourself deposited on the ground of Trench, in front of the statue of the Tower, or in front of the gates of Gaze.
The less fortunate may finally find writing on the walls. Someone else has been in this place. But, as the cryptic words proclaim the need to S̵̨̡̟̗̰̝͚̲̦̗͔̥̞̈͂̆̿̐́̅̓͐͝T̸̠̥̰̭͎͙̮̬͋̀͛̓̽̚Ā̷̧̮̣̪̤̠̫̤͔̩̥̾̊̍̊̀̇͋̍̚͜͝͝Y̶͓̟̍̆̍ ̴̭̲̀͘͝S̵̨͖̩̻̰͇͎̠̻͚͓̱͇̭͖͒̋͆̀͐͋̾̆͝͝T̴̮̹̫̞̘̈́̏̐̒̋̎͛̂̽̅Ĩ̵͙̖̟̥̤̲̆̈́́͘ͅͅL̵͖̣̫̙̹̊͜L̷̫̠̒̽͌͘͠. A ghastly sound erupts from behind you, complete with unnatural, horrid breathing. Steps come towards you unnaturally fast. If you move, look to turn, there is a vision of something black moving into your field of vision, just before a bone-crushing force claims life and in the next moment you wake, screaming at the feet of the gates to Gaze, or the Tower's statue. Remain absolutely still, and the puff of a breath, the smell of cow hair and breath grazes over the shoulder before eventually storming away behind, until the sound is gone, and the unlucky are left to continue searching until they find a hole leading out.
NOTES:
1. Any step backwards can cause someone to end up between places, participating in this event. Exiting requires either falling through one of the holes in the floor or being killed by the unnamed creatures residing between spaces.
2. If a character dies in this event, they do not undergo normal death effects. They awaken in one of the locations indicated, gasping for breath. While harrowing, and possibly a source of nightmares for the next few days, not to mention chills for an hour or two, there is no further apparent harm.
3. It is possible to encounter this prompt throughout the year. At one random, unpredictable day each month (listed above), the space between spaces is accessible. A person could theoretically fall in on that day, following the rules as above.
4. Mapping the space between spaces is difficult, but not impossible. Perhaps there are other locations within the labyrinthian mass, but for now at least they are not findable.
5. If the natives are asked about this place, they will make a warding sign and refuse to speak of them. At most, they will say something about the "veins of the tower."
You are not alone in this place. Another seems to have fallen in this place, thank god because the muffled sounds of these halls are already getting oppressive. The electric hum of fluorescent are buzzing in your ears like a plague of locusts and you can practically feel the migraine coming from the unremitting light, but you dare not take shelter to let your eyes rest in the gaps in the lighting. It feels like there is something there. You should probably be leaving, though that's where the problem really begins. No method seems to clearly work. There are no identifiable features to pick out. After several turns, you might find yourself facing impossibly thin hallways or a dead end. Attempts to keep track of your passage with writing, torn wallpaper and balls of twine fail, as it becomes increasingly and inconsistently disorientating, inevitably causing the lead to be lost, or worse? It might seem to be going the wrong direction. Did someone move it? Magic compasses, even those given by the Pthumerians do not work in this "place" This should not be possible, but it is true.
An hour in, because it always takes longer than that, or does it? Time can be hard to keep track of and omnis don't tell time properly here. Whatever, an hour in, and the need to get out of this place will be getting to those trapped within. They do not belong here, and must escape. The harder you run, the more that the dank odor gets under the skin, worsening even if you should not be able to smell it. Occasional items can be found, but all are useless. If you are fortunate, perhaps you will eventually find a hole in the floor. But, looking down it, you cannot see the bottom. Do you dare leap down, not knowing the end? If you do, the passage seems to go far too long to be healthy. The rush of air and the feel of fraying wallpaper comes until you find yourself deposited on the ground of Trench, in front of the statue of the Tower, or in front of the gates of Gaze.
The less fortunate may finally find writing on the walls. Someone else has been in this place. But, as the cryptic words proclaim the need to S̵̨̡̟̗̰̝͚̲̦̗͔̥̞̈͂̆̿̐́̅̓͐͝T̸̠̥̰̭͎͙̮̬͋̀͛̓̽̚Ā̷̧̮̣̪̤̠̫̤͔̩̥̾̊̍̊̀̇͋̍̚͜͝͝Y̶͓̟̍̆̍ ̴̭̲̀͘͝S̵̨͖̩̻̰͇͎̠̻͚͓̱͇̭͖͒̋͆̀͐͋̾̆͝͝T̴̮̹̫̞̘̈́̏̐̒̋̎͛̂̽̅Ĩ̵͙̖̟̥̤̲̆̈́́͘ͅͅL̵͖̣̫̙̹̊͜L̷̫̠̒̽͌͘͠. A ghastly sound erupts from behind you, complete with unnatural, horrid breathing. Steps come towards you unnaturally fast. If you move, look to turn, there is a vision of something black moving into your field of vision, just before a bone-crushing force claims life and in the next moment you wake, screaming at the feet of the gates to Gaze, or the Tower's statue. Remain absolutely still, and the puff of a breath, the smell of cow hair and breath grazes over the shoulder before eventually storming away behind, until the sound is gone, and the unlucky are left to continue searching until they find a hole leading out.
NOTES:
1. Any step backwards can cause someone to end up between places, participating in this event. Exiting requires either falling through one of the holes in the floor or being killed by the unnamed creatures residing between spaces.
2. If a character dies in this event, they do not undergo normal death effects. They awaken in one of the locations indicated, gasping for breath. While harrowing, and possibly a source of nightmares for the next few days, not to mention chills for an hour or two, there is no further apparent harm.
3. It is possible to encounter this prompt throughout the year. At one random, unpredictable day each month (listed above), the space between spaces is accessible. A person could theoretically fall in on that day, following the rules as above.
4. Mapping the space between spaces is difficult, but not impossible. Perhaps there are other locations within the labyrinthian mass, but for now at least they are not findable.
5. If the natives are asked about this place, they will make a warding sign and refuse to speak of them. At most, they will say something about the "veins of the tower."
WHEN: Last Week of August through all of September
WHERE: Gaze, and somewhere else
CONTENT WARNINGS: Possible Life-threatening experiences, Distorted Realities, Fourth Walling, Content Depending upon the Canon Referenced
WHERE: Gaze, and somewhere else
CONTENT WARNINGS: Possible Life-threatening experiences, Distorted Realities, Fourth Walling, Content Depending upon the Canon Referenced
As the month of September approaches, and Mariana shows signs of having cooled in her wrath, the people of Trench begin to relax once again. Hoping to keep level heads and to promote learning, the Arcane Scholars of Gaze have opened the private stores of more rare texts from the Archaic Archives. Trundling carts of books are being brought out by roped and masked individuals who kindly offer one to anyone who wishes to partake. They limit each guest to three, though they seem happy to trade a book for a book, so it's always possible to get more. They ask only that the books be returned by the end of the month for cleaning and maintenance. Whispers among the Disciples still with ruffled feathers at Mariana's wrath are that this is Never Mind's way of reasserting himself after strange magical books have been found around town. No Arcane Scholar will acknowledge such gossip, however.
The books seem harmless enough. What is wrong with a little light reading? The fiction within is quite enthralling, though after a page or two, a creepy familiarity to the book's contents comes to whoever reads. There is a sense of deja vu, and only when it is too late do they realize that it feels like they are reading the memories and recollections of someone else, perhaps someone that they know! In that moment, they will feel an inexorable pull as the book seems to literally suck them into it, along with anyone unlucky enough to be next to them!
Those who read these magical books will find themselves trapped in an event within another canon reality. The intent, of course, is to broaden their horizons and experiences, to teach moral lessons through new memories, but as always Never Mind seems not to understand the possible perils. The scenario that they find themselves in, which may be of any canon, is always one of immediate and very real peril, a time in which the character's life is put into immediate and very real peril. They have to prevail or flee successfully to escape the chapter and end the book, though for their troubles it is quite possible that they might bring something back with them. Hopefully it's nothing dangerous!
NOTES:
1. Any Canon may be used, including canons not present in the game. Players are encouraged to use their imaginations, though it is worth being aware that the entirety of the Cthuluh Mythos may be found among these collections, should one wish to utilize these books.
2. There is an actual physical threat that is present in whatever scene is viewed. If it is necessary, a threat is fabricated from the fringes of the memory, even if this changes the canonical scene. It is a real threat and can cause death or harm. However, these threats are killable through all normal fashions, and can be escaped by clever captives. Once escaped or defeated, the sleeper is deposited out of the book.
3. The books are absolutely indestructible, and even if the sleeper does not return them, ravens will break into their home (ruining a window and making a mess) to retrieve all books by the end of September. Multiple books can be enjoyed throughout the month.
4. Items retrieved may be anything from any canon which does not count as a significant power acquisition. Weapons can be brought, though they will be mundane once they emerge in Trench. Players are limited to retrieving one item from another canon per character during the month.
The books seem harmless enough. What is wrong with a little light reading? The fiction within is quite enthralling, though after a page or two, a creepy familiarity to the book's contents comes to whoever reads. There is a sense of deja vu, and only when it is too late do they realize that it feels like they are reading the memories and recollections of someone else, perhaps someone that they know! In that moment, they will feel an inexorable pull as the book seems to literally suck them into it, along with anyone unlucky enough to be next to them!
Those who read these magical books will find themselves trapped in an event within another canon reality. The intent, of course, is to broaden their horizons and experiences, to teach moral lessons through new memories, but as always Never Mind seems not to understand the possible perils. The scenario that they find themselves in, which may be of any canon, is always one of immediate and very real peril, a time in which the character's life is put into immediate and very real peril. They have to prevail or flee successfully to escape the chapter and end the book, though for their troubles it is quite possible that they might bring something back with them. Hopefully it's nothing dangerous!
NOTES:
1. Any Canon may be used, including canons not present in the game. Players are encouraged to use their imaginations, though it is worth being aware that the entirety of the Cthuluh Mythos may be found among these collections, should one wish to utilize these books.
2. There is an actual physical threat that is present in whatever scene is viewed. If it is necessary, a threat is fabricated from the fringes of the memory, even if this changes the canonical scene. It is a real threat and can cause death or harm. However, these threats are killable through all normal fashions, and can be escaped by clever captives. Once escaped or defeated, the sleeper is deposited out of the book.
3. The books are absolutely indestructible, and even if the sleeper does not return them, ravens will break into their home (ruining a window and making a mess) to retrieve all books by the end of September. Multiple books can be enjoyed throughout the month.
4. Items retrieved may be anything from any canon which does not count as a significant power acquisition. Weapons can be brought, though they will be mundane once they emerge in Trench. Players are limited to retrieving one item from another canon per character during the month.
no subject
In fact, he still doesn't know why it's happening, even as it is happening. As much as Daniel is well aware of the corrupting influences of terrible men like Kreese and Silver, and as much as he knows that they did get to Robby to some extent, it's never involved the other getting physical with him. Sure, Robby will say all sorts of things to try and dig underneath Daniel's skin, that's something they've been over already, but Daniel never thought for a moment that Robby would actually attack him like this. No matter what either of those two could have told him, they could never twist Robby this far. (He hopes, he prays—)
Another fact acting in Robby's benefit here is the fact that Daniel absolutely does not want to fight Robby.
The reason Robby is attacking him doesn't even better. Daniel doesn't know what it is. The idea that Robby might be some illusion conjured up by his place does cross his mind, but even then the idea of actually attacking the other makes his stomach turn. He refuses.
It means that while Daniel does block the boy's attacks, he doesn't seem to do anything to strike back. Even if Robby does try to keep hitting him, Daniel only seems to move his own limbs to fend off the attacks. If he spots any weaknesses or open spots in the other's movements or position, Daniel doesn't take advantage of them.
The only thing he does seem to do is try to grab a hold of that stapler in the other's hands, prying it out of there and throwing it across the hallway until it hits some wall far behind him, just to get it away from them. Daniel doesn't feel like suffering a lethal head wound under these circumstances, and he refuses to even let Robby get hurt by accidentally hitting himself with it in the struggle. It's a factor that had to be taken out of this equation first.
It's only when it's gone that Daniel dares risking speaking up in the middle of all of this.
"Robby, stop!" His voice is firm. Some people who don't know Daniel might see just that in it, but Robby knows him better than that. Regardless of how the other might perceive him in this moment, there definitely seems to be something desperate in his voice. Pleading.
Because it hurts. Even though the other doesn't get a hit in on him, it still hurts just to be doing this in the first place. Something about the other's moves is so familiar, like the many times the two of them sparred together during training, and yet it's so different, the familiar moves being drowned by the moves that are familiar not because they are Daniel's own, but because he's faced enough members of Cobra Kai to recognize those mixed in.
It makes him think of the tournament and Robby's betrayal. It makes him think of the old times, before Daniel went and ruined those. It makes him think about the many, many times he's thought about the kid afterwards, worrying about him, wondering if he's okay, wanting to be there so bad because he has no one else and yet--
"This isn't important right now! We have to get you out of here!"
Or, well, they ought to both get out of there. It's what Daniel means. It's what he intends on trying to get done here.
But so much emotion stirs inside of Daniel's chest, and it makes the sentiment at his rawest core leak out instead. He has to get Robby out of here, first and foremost, because none of this feels safe and if he, despite everything else that has happened and that has yet to be said or spoken about, gets Robby hurt even once more on his watch, it will rip Daniel's heart in two.
no subject
The plan wasn't to stay. The plan was to distract and then ditch, go down the hallway unknown, lose Daniel by some luck if he could. But all he manages to do in their struggle is to round himself with his back to the way he was meaning to go. The way he should go without question, without delay. But his eyes are always locked onto Mister LaRusso, and the pleading in his voice tightens his fists to hear it. What if it's him-- it can't be, there's no fucking way--
"Bullshit!" His hands are up and ready, keeping a space between them; his gaze on Daniel hard and fixed. "I've been forever in this place, and you show up?! I'm supposed to believe this."
There's a hiss to his words. A challenge in them, a disbelief. But for what Robby says - and for how he positions himself, now on the defensive, not hurrying to lunge forward, but with a strong grip to his fists - he isn't moving away. He isn't running, leaving here, before this too convenient Daniel LaRusso can have a chance at him.
Call it being willing to deface the demons playing games with you (and not because you could be so easily tricked by certain faces, again and again and again).
no subject
He knows the only thing he can do right now to make things better is to resolve the other's confusion. Because Daniel is starting to grasp that Robby thinks he isn't real. Maybe a good and cautious thing to think in this situation - though Daniel himself is fully convinced that this is the real Robby, because nothing but the real Robby would immediately fall back on this method of suspecting the intentions of everything around him - but it sure doesn't help them right now. And Daniel doesn't even know how to prove to the boy that he's real.
Not when bringing up anything that only the two of them know would be much too tender and raw after everything that has happened recently back home.
So instead he stares, thinking. Frantically trying to figure out what he can do here, only to come up with nothing - which means that there's only one thing Daniel can truly do here in the hope that it might relieve the other a little.
And that's just.. dropping his stance. The tension in his muscles disappearing. His hands lowering, until his arms are at his sides. There's no tenseness in his expression either, nor the shock from a moment ago.
There's just resignation. A look in his eyes that Robby has seen more often lately, pretty much every single time Daniel tried to approach him since things got so tense between the two of them. An edge of something sad, but a very quiet kind of sad.
"Alright," he just says, the same emotions in his expression echoing through in his voice, and then admits, "I don't know how to make you believe it."
There's nothing he could do that wouldn't mean Robby would find some way to assume an illusion or a monster in disguise could do or know that as well, after all.
".. but I'm not going to fight you, Robby."
Though it's firm, it's a resigned kind of firm. The kind where the way Daniel exhales makes it sound like his very soul is leaving his body.
I'm not going to hurt you again.
"So if you want to hit me, then.. go ahead."
Will that convince Robby that it's really him so they can instead work on trying to get out of here? Daniel has no idea, but he's only flying by the seat of his adrenaline-fuelled pants right here and now. Something about this place is putting him way too much on edge. There's no time to think of anything else.
no subject
But it's so much like him. That's the part that has him wrestling with his doubt. The presence that blocked his blows, the sound of his voice, the twitching of muscle and the drop of a face. That look he gave him at the tournament, always acting like he's right. He's the only one that is, he knows what's best, and maybe he was right all along--
It makes it harder for Robby to keep his gaze the longer he stares at him, his guard slower to lower than what LaRusso's already dropped. Slower, but a tightness in his throat - a memory he can't remember, but a shame, a confusion, a need to talk to his old sensei again; did he? - makes the struggle in him continue, the question of what to do.
Which isn't going to be to attack him. Robby exhales a breath himself, a sideways glance taken in the disbelief; but he takes a slow, small step back as he lowers his arms with the fists stills in their place. Just half of the way, but his eyes are back on Daniel, a tightness in the line of his shoulders. And yet-
"We don't have time for this." Understatement of the day. "But if you want to prove you're you, I'm only going along with you if you walk in front. I don't trust this place, and I'm not--"
--going to trust you. Robby holds his mouth before his tongue can lead that way, knows the damage a remark like that can do because of a hot head, a temper. He sucks in another breath instead.
"--I'm not doing this any other way right now. If you can't trust me, then try a different way."
It's a truce, a compromise. Putting the ball in Daniel's court, a more meaningful gesture right now than what talk can offer. Give Robby the easier shot when his back is turned on him -- and trust that he won't take it, even though he should trust Robby as little as he should be trusting Daniel.
(Or less.)
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Daniel seems to agree easily. Surprisingly easily. He doesn't exactly look relieved, since the breath he releases still seems tense in its own sort of way, but it does seem like he didn't even need to think for a moment before taking that compromise. After all, Robby is right that they don't have time for this, and Daniel would much prefer to move on and find a way to get them out of here before things get worse somehow. He's not sure why, but this place is feeling more and more like it's pressing down on him with every single passing moment, and there's no telling if that's not just some instinct telling him this place is about to turn lethal.
They can't be here when that happens.
"Come along then."
So Daniel turns, and starts walking, showing his back to Robby. There's not even a sign that he's about to turn around, no twitch to his movements, like he really is putting this trust in the other. Either this is the real Robby, and he that means he won't attack him - despite everything that happened, that is at least a trust Daniel still places in the kid -, or the tiny possibility that this is a fake and just eerily accurate Robby comes true, and in that case.. well, then Daniel would be in trouble around him regardless of whether he's showing his back or not. (This is exactly the sort of thing Amanda would get on his case over, he thinks, a pang of longing and nostalgia inside of his chest.)
So he just walks. There's only one glance over his shoulder, but it's just to make sure Robby walks along with him rather than running in the opposite direction. If the other is there, then he'll glance right back ahead, instead keeping his eyes out for anything that could be a sign of a way out of there. Anything that isn't the same walls and carpet, repeated over and over and over.
It feels like there's something though. Daniel can't quite tell if it's real or just the paranoia of having been stuck in this place for too long now, but it's like there's some sort of echo. There's his footsteps, and what he assumes are Robby's own, but there's something else, much more distant. Like something is stalking them. Waiting.
But what? And from where? Is he just imagining it?
His fingers twitch.
".. be careful."
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Still, some part of him worries that there's nothing to miss - that whatever's dragged them here will have to be faced head on.
It's why he's stays conflicted about Mister LaRusso's appearance. Stuck with a view of his back, and even that's difficult to observe. Robby trades to focusing his senses on his hearing, nevermind the slow response speed he'll be giving himself if his old sensei did try anything. A fake of his old teacher. What should he believe? It was as maddening as the sense of some other, the impatience that frayed at his ability to focus well. What is it, what is that this place wants?
He is following, regardless. His head tilted to a side, clear that he's listening out with the way his eyes aren't actually on LaRusso when the man looks back at him, but paying enough attention to catch his gaze. Holding it, looking away, then coming back again after that hesitation. It doesn't help, not knowing if to trust his front with a nagging that's been playing at his back that the lights at the very end of the way they came - they've been going out, and the darkness is creeping in with the sound of -
Footsteps.
There's no need for Mister LaRusso's warning. He swallows against the tightness in his throat, ears alert of the sound, the creaks of disagreeable lights above their heads; the way his heart jumps when one flickers - as they have been doing this entire time - make his fingers flex, his shoulders tense.
"We've gotta hide," he returns one advice for another, sharper and more pressing; urgent. "Hide, or run- we need to move fast."
He doesn't know which is viable, which is best. Are there any rooms up ahead? They've always been nothing but box-sized, but that might be better, give them a barricade of a door or time to pounce whatever's going to rear its ugly face at them.
Whatever they do, it's got to be quick.
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On the other hand, it's not like running is a surefire answer either. Even if they have no idea about what might be coming for them, there's a big chance that it will be entirely faster than either of them.
It's like being caught between a rock and a hard place. And though this sort of situation would be nerve-inducing enough to Daniel if he were by himself, it's so much worse with Robby here. The first time he's seen the kid ever since the tournament - don't think about that too hard now, he tells himself, there's no time to get distracted with so many complicated feelings about that - and it's in this sort of situation, of all things. The necklace burns against his skin like always, but even that can't give him enough confidence or courage when faced with these odds.
He has to protect Robby somehow, he knows. Despite the hurt of seeing what Robby did at the tournament, or the hurt of him choosing Cobra Kai over everything else-- this is the boy he took into his house for so long. The one he trained, the one he called family before. There's no way that it isn't Daniel's responsibility to keep the boy as safe as possible in this situation. To not let him down this time around.
"We run," he decides. At least there's a chance there, even if it's not an amazing one. "But-- hold on." Before the other starts running off.
Daniel turns. He doesn't know if this will work, considering the last time he used his powers was a total accident, and this is the first time he'd really do it on purpose. But he has to try. No, not even try - he has to pull this off, for both their sakes. There's something in his blood right now that almost seems to sing as he steps back until he's next to Robby, raising his hands. Daniel chalks it up to pressure, or maybe his intense desire to protect Robby, not realising it's actually the presence of the other's blood that's making his own coldblood rise, chilling inside of his veins, feeling like it's surging forward--
"Don't freak out," is the only thing he manages to get out before ice seems to blast straight out of Daniel's hands, uncontrollably so. It covers the entire height of the room, from floor to ceiling, wall to wall, forming a wall between them and where they came from - them and the source of the footsteps. It's not neatly formed though, making it very much look like an ice cream truck that only happened to carry ice cubes exploded all over the room.
There's no time to think about it. All Daniel can do is hope that this wall will hold whatever was after them - or at least stall it. Give them time. Usually he would have taken more time to explain this to Robby as well, or to have told him about the ice powers before doing this, but there's just no time here.
There's no time for anything.
Instead Daniel shakes his head before turning. He takes a few steps, so he's ahead of Robby again as per the agreement, but doesn't start to run before he'd be able to hear the other doing so.
"Hurry, we've got to go."
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(But fuck it, who wants to die like this? Without trying, without attempting.)
There's no change of mind, but there's no time for it with the 'Hold on' not long after said, and Mister LaRusso turning with it. Robby steps aside as the man walks near, not as alarmed or as sceptic of his movements as he should be, but the step back one that's quick. He watches what he does, plans to do, the thought of magic only starting to enter his mind when --
-- when the Antarctic decides to make itself cosy in their currently occupied hallway. Robby stares at the sight with a mix of awe and something else, an emotion undescribable. Fascination, confusion? But it can't be the kind of someone unaware of the hows or whys, in a world where it just is, end of.
Or is it that? To watch people with powers like this, people he knows, and to witness what they can just do, feats of magic, with as simple as a wave of hands.
There is no freaking out to witness, but a Robby paused in stunned thought instead. Distracted at a time they shouldn't be, but he hears Mister LaRusso when he speaks, and silently nods his head to a back already turned again.
And he'll run, a feeling of powerless in comparison to anything that his old sensei could conjure up, but knowing that wouldn't stop him from fighting if he has to. Nevermind the fear that builds in his chest with the rising odour of something foul in their noises, and the smashing of ice that didn't stand much of a chance that too soon follows, the flickering lights that now taunt them overhead with warning.
He'll run as fast his body can carry him. And if he has to, he shout if Daniel dares to look back his way: "Keep running!"
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Still, Daniel's chest feels tight all the same. Not due to any kind of exhausted breathlessness, but due to the adrenaline and the worry. Every single sign and change in the rooms around them as they run spells out danger, the shadows behind them growing larger, like hell itself is coming to devour them both.
It's that sensation that gets him to look behind him as he runs. Not because he wants to see the danger to anticipate it, even. No - he's purely looking to make sure Robby is still truly there, that he isn't imagining the fall of the other's hurried running footsteps. His head is too full of imaginations of the worst case scenario, of Robby being snatched away from behind him, dragged off or torn up or worse by whatever kind of monster is after them.
Caught in the act, he does glance back ahead when he hears Robby's protest, not even bothering to respond to it with any protest of his own out of the faint fluster. Instead Daniel just keeps running.
.. as far as he can, anyway. Because even with the darkening of the rooms and the flickering of the lights, he can see something ahead of them. At first he isn't too sure what it is - maybe a stain, or the carpet, or something else - but then he realises, quickly calling out.
"Watch out! There's--" Okay, maybe yelling and running at the same time is still a little bit much on the old man, give him a moment to catch his breath and words. "There's a hole in the ground up ahead!"
It leaves the question though of what they're supposed to do then. The hole is so wide that it almost swallows up the entire room. Going around it would mean giving their pursuer so much time to catch up to them, and the ghastly shriek Daniel can hear means it can't be far behind the two of them. It means he's still charging right at the hole for now, trying to figure out what to do about it once he's closer, maybe go around it at the last possible moment..
"Don't fall!"
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Is this the end of the line? Is that the way out? They fell, he fell, dropped down into this place. Maybe they'll end up somewhere else, another part away from this shit--
He can't think clearly between the adrenaline and the shaking of his body rattling his brain. He doesn't think, as they're forced to come to a standstill, the stink penetrating more like a tangible presence into his body than just a smell. Overwhelming, all of this overwhelming; and Daniel LaRusso might be starting to one side of the wall to get around when Robby takes his eyes off from the darkness to his former teacher.
This could be a joke, he doesn't have time to think, --this feeling that they're being chased. It could be alright if they stay still, or they could be in danger. They could've never had the chance in the first place, or that hold could be a way out.
Or it's a way to death, it's a way to nowhere, except a trap. They could be screwed either way. They could be screwed. But they fell to get here.
He doesn't think any of that, but feels it - in the dread that's suffocating his lungs, drowning up through his throat, up into his mouth. This fear, a fear of the unknown that's both a familiar friend in a foreign coat. Risks, dares. But he's walking without letting anything but a desperate hope and a brisk step to give him force. A hand on Daniel's back, a fistful of his shirt and a need for last blurted words:
"Sorry 'bout Miyagi-do."
It's an apology less planned that's followed by shoving Daniel LaRusso down the hole with himself - either to their death, or to another section of this senseless maze.
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On the cold cobblestone of the streets of Trench, that is.
At first he can only feel how sore his old man body feels from the fall, but then the thought of the boy who was with him only a moment ago shoots through his head, and he immediately moves up. First his head, and then his body, drawing himself up into a seated position despite the way his body protests against moving so quickly.
There's no time to listen to that though. Instead his head wildly turns around, scanning his surroundings for any sign of the danger from a moment ago - but it's all gone, just like the hole he must have fallen through. It's just the streets of Trench as he knows them.
.. without Robby in sight.
What does that mean? Is he still back there? If they fell together, he should have landed here too, but he's not there. Did whatever the hell kind of demon was chasing them get him?
Daniel's heart pounds so rapidly from adrenaline and worry that it feels like it's risen all the way up to his throat. Something about the last thing the other says to him sticks inside of him, like a thorn pressing directly into his heart.
"Robby!" He calls out, despite not seeing the other anywhere. As if the teen might be nearby and hear him, give any sign that he's okay. ".. Robby!" Daniel tries, even more desperately, as he scrambles back up onto his feet.
But there's nothing. A few Trenchies giving him a weird look at most. But no Robby.
He has no idea what to do. He can't exactly look Robby up on the Omni when he's pretty sure the other wouldn't use his name on there. There's another option that might at least do something, but..
Well, he's desperate. Even if it's an option he doesn't like, he has to go for it. He has to try.
So Daniel grabs the device from his pocket, starting to call someone.