So what's scarier than a stoic killer?

[reijireishi]

"Hnhnhnnhnhn..."

He should have been more cautious. But he could never bring himself to care about his wellbeing, for whatever reason.

"Hnhnhnahahahahah..."

What lurks in the shadows of this maze grins like a demon, with eyes that shine as brightly as one as well. Like the gleam on his scimitar, and on the gem at his brow, hair askew to the side thanks to what placed him in this state. He has no glasses. The gem repairs his sight just as much as it damages his judgement. And while the plants which struck him in the end and filled his lungs with gas are now shredded on the ground, the damage is done.

He grins.

The walls shift at random. What's more, you find, if you move one way, the body moves the other.

This one doesn't seem to mind. This one adapted--made changes. He found a way.

And if your face looks like Yuuya's, it's not going to end well as a result.

"HHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAAAA-!"

Comments

[sakatree]

"Yea...trust me, she knows what she's doing, alright?" He looks to Yuuya. "...How you feeling? Think we can head back in a bit?"

[assaultblackbird]

"Hnn. We should still be careful once we head back." He has a feeling this maze still has a few things to throw at them, and he's worried if Yuuya can handle it.

He knows Yuuya, and if he's right, he'll try and tough it out when he isn't okay. At least, that's how his Yuuya is.

[tamagushi]

Yuuya turns to look at Hatsu sleepily, nodding his head. He'll be okay for now.

Unfortunately, his eyes have a slight glow to them, now.

[sakatree]

"Yeaaa, not a problem," Hatsu starts, shrugging. "I have a cov..." Annnnnd shit he sees that glow. "...er."

He swallows, shifting his arm so that a few tattoos raise nonetheless. "Veles--care to scout?"

The vines of the tatts swirl--and merge, forming a rather disgruntled serpent. "Hmnn. If it means I do not deal with any more of your bargaining for time..." It ignores the man's frown and drops to the ground, slithering off around the corner.

"Hahhh..." Well. "There! Now we just wait~" He smiles at Yuuya. "How about you sleep for now, neh?"

[assaultblackbird]

Crow wishes he could be surprised at the glowing and whatever just happened to his tattoos. He honestly wishes he could.

But no, he's just annoyed at the fact it no longer phases him.

And here he thought his life before was exciting.

"Yeah, I think it would be good for you to rest up. A lot has happened." He still gives a small smile to Yuuya, despite his grumpy disposition.

[tamagushi]

Yuuya nods again and yawns, closing his eyes. It doesn't take long for him to fall fast asleep.

[sakatree]

Which is good. Because as soon as he's asleep, Yuuya has some vines going over the boy's eyes and ears for his own safety, before fixing an expression of dead severity on Crow.

"We need to get him to Reiji. And fast."

That would be great if someone didn't have questions, Hatsu.

[assaultblackbird]

Well. That was alarming.

"W-Wait why? What's going on now?"

He just can't ever catch a break now can he?

[sakatree]

"This Yuuya has a bit of a time-bomb to him; too much stress, and it builds into a headache with enough force to kill anyone else..." Least it should...

"I don't want to take my chances on waiting for him to get closer to his limit without her around--she and I are both the only ones that can relieve it, but with what we're running into here..."

Sorry Crow, he doesn't really trust your strength if he's attacked while unconscious.

[assaultblackbird]

Fair enough. Crow doesn't really wanna be with Yuuya alone during then either, because he'd probably die. And that would suck.

"... Alright then. We need to get to Reiji." Crow only hoped that, whatever that monster is, is gone by now.

[sakatree]

"Right. Thank you, Crow~" ...There is something about the way he said that, which should be eerily familiar...

[assaultblackbird]

Okay really, he's this close to calling Hatsu Yuuya's green twin.

"Let's go then." And hopefully not die, he adds to himself.

[sakatree]

"Right~ The sooner we're out of here, the sooner you can see if anyone else you know is on this island too~ Maybe Amanda, or Tanner..~"

He's walking ahead, so you can't see his face--

But he just realized how fatal a mistake he made. Shit.

[assaultblackbird]

"Yeah that would be good..." He has missed the kids a lot and he'd rather not leave them alone-- wait a minute, "...How do you know my kids?"

He needed to figure out just who the hell Hatsu was, now. He knew his kids, meaning he needed to know how. Now.

[sakatree]

AHHHH FUCK

"MNNh-- Well, I did mention after all that you have doubles here, right..?" NOPE NOT DODGING THIS BULLET HATSU-

And come to think, Kashiwa means the same thing as Sakaki, doesn't it?

[assaultblackbird]

"Yeah, you did." ... He feels like an idiot for not noticing it sooner. "But a lot of people do, including Yuuya."

... At least he wasn't dangerous. He was just... Well, a bigger, greener Yuuya. And Yuuya wasn't any threat to his kids.

[sakatree]

gUUWWWOOOOAAAHHHHH-

...Well, he can bet there's no fooling from here given that Reiji will likely bust him anyway... "Hahhhhhhhhhhhh..." Great.

He turns, frowning. "...It's Kashiwa Hatsu."

[assaultblackbird]

"... Well whatever you're called, you're still a Yuuya, technically." This is not the time for this Crow.

"But yeah yeah, you're Hatsu. But you're also Yuuya as in you know everything he does."

He still isn't sure if that's a good or a bad thing.

[sakatree]

"And technically, I've got at least a century of time between us too--so don't forget it." No slipping and using the Yuu name, got it.

...He has to narrow his eyes at that next bit.

".........Maybe I do......... ...Whether I tell you about everything is another story..." The future is a scary place Crow.

[assaultblackbird]

Talk about unsettling. The future is a scary place...? He doesn't like the sound of that.

But if it's a century from now, he'll be long dead at least.

"I'll take your word for it, rather than see for myself."

[sakatree]

"Hah!~ Too bad for that, it's still your future you know~ Everything I'm keeping close happened before I turned 15~"

[assaultblackbird]

"... Great." If he wasn't taking Yuuya to Reiji right now, he'd seriously punch the guy in the face. Plant powers be damned he would.

[sakatree]

"Oiii oiii, I didn't say it ended bad, you know. I can tell you that much, at least," he adds with a more sympathetic tone.

[assaultblackbird]

"I'm more of a 'present' kind of guy, rather than a 'future' or 'past'." Well, except when it came to Jack. That traitor--! No, not the place, not the time. Hopefully never will be.

"Future talk doesn't interest me. Besides, if our 'dimensions' or whatever are similar, I won't even remember what you'll tell me when it comes time. No use wasting your breath."

[sakatree]

"Glad to hear that." Hah?

"We've got the same opinion on it then--no sense talking about what might or might not go down, right? ...Not unless it's for some sort of peace of mind," he adds, shrugging. "But that's besides the point really."