[semi-open] don't eat the pomegranates

[sweetdeath]

Who: Tsuzuki, Hisoka, Elsa, Hakkai, Bishamon, Kazuma, Yuto, Gintoki & open!
What: The planned trip to Yomi-no-kuni in order to find signs of where Vector's gone is finally happening!
When: March 27, 2016
Where: In the Far Shore on the way there, and Ise, near the entrance to Yomi-no-kuni
Warnings: Violence, horror, hair bondage, possible character death: just another happy day in the underworld.

[Please see individual starters to tag in!]

Comments

[reformedsinner]

Good.

[There's a chip in his blade where it caught on demon bone, and Hakkai feels it like a slash across his scalp. Phantom dizziness is dragging at his senses, sharpening his determination to a razor edge. He's not as exhausted as the gods, not as wounded. Metal is very resilient.

He will not allow her to be hurt any further before they escape.

But it's a good thing they're close to the exit.]

[arealhardnose]

[In spite of the aches from her injuries, Elsa keeps running. She can't let anyone get hurt any worse than they already have. She can't let anything else happen to Hakkai.

She leaps up onto a ledge, glancing over her shoulder to make sure the others are following, and once she sees that they are, she heads for where she knows the exit is, a large stone in the cave wall that might otherwise go unnoticed by anyone else.]

There! It's--

[She stops when she gets to it, first patting it with her hand, then pounding on it with her fist. The rock doesn't budge, and there's no sign that there's anything on the other side.]

No, [she breathes, her grip on Gouki's hilt tightening. Her heart begins to race as she looks back at the others again, with eyes wide and brow furrowed.]

This-- this is the exit. I know it.

[No, no, no! This is what she'd been banking on, and now, her unfounded confidence might get them all killed.]

It is, [she says, her voice small, for only Hakkai to hear.]

[reformedsinner]

Elsa. This exit is closed.

[Hakkai can feel her shock and fear in the way her hand tenses. He keeps his voice calm and level, forcing himself not to betray his own unease at the realization that their escape plan might not be foolproof after all. If they can't get through....

He wonders how long he can keep fighting before he breaks.

There's a soft, slithering sound against the stone, in the darkness. Hakkai vibrates with sudden tension.]

Touch me to the ground. I'll keep you safe. Find another exit.

[They can do this. They can do this, as long as they don't stop. If they stop moving they will die down here.]

[arealhardnose]

I know-- [She knows, but she can't believe it.

Hakkai manages to pull her out of her thoughts, and with the newfound (if brief) clarity, she touches the sword to the ground. As vines spread out from the blade, Elsa focuses, listening to the song in her blood, in her cells--

Tajimamoriisnearanotherdoorgonowfollowthepull. It comes to her fast as lightning, and as soon as it registers, she pulls the sword back and runs, calling to the others to follow her.

The next exit isn't very far off, thankfully, but again when Elsa tries to get out, the stone doesn't give.]

This is where Tsuzuki is. [Now, instead of panic, it's anger that floods through her.] Why isn't this working!

[That rage is just a cover for how powerless she feels, for how she's failed everyone, for how all of them will die because she trusted a power she hadn't tested well enough at all.]

[reformedsinner]

[The hair is tangling more fiercely around Hakkai's vines now, and as he tries to pull free to free Elsa to run he feels them slice through, like razor wire against his fingers.

He ignores it, but as she turns to put her back to this second stone, this second closed exit, he can't stop the cold trickle of panic from finding its way down his spine.

If they're going to get out, this will have to be the place for it. This is why Tsuzuki and his shinki are waiting outside. The further they go from this exit, the more likely it is that they'll be unable to escape.]

Elsa, we need to stay here. If they can get an exit open, it'll be this one.

[arealhardnose]

Yeah.

[And that means it falls on her to tell the others.]

This is the way out. We need to keep fighting until Tsuzuki can get us out!

[Her voice is loud and clear, despite the fear and anger coursing through her. She's handled emergencies before. She knows how to speak over chaos in order to be heard and bring order.

They have to survive. They have to.

Elsa follows her own advice and fights, for all of them.]