come_sailaway | END GAME: THE COUNTDOWN STARTS

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END GAME: THE COUNTDOWN STARTS

[the prisoners wake up on cold, hard floors.

the lights are bright, glaring, a sterile cell with sterile bars facing a sterile hall. the prisoners with you, across from you, and no one else. no rocking of a ship in waves, nothing. just the prisoner and their prison.

time passes, one assumes. the rhythmic click of Friday’s heels down the hall. it’s almost like the ticking of a clock.]

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[And there Jade is, in all his familiar insufferable glory. She manages a huff, any further response waylaid as she watches him attempt to adjust nonexistant glasses--so much for pretending things are normal, huh. Well, it's not like she didn't expect this, really, and she answers with a more serious nod.]

Sore as hell but we're in one piece. [Physically, at least. Let's not talk about the bruised egos--which Clarke must really be feeling, as she turns when she notices Jade's glance lingering behind her only to see the other girl avoiding him. Ugh, now there's an unpleasantly familiar feeling, too...]

No. We looked for those supposed vents, but...

[Nothing. She'd even silently watched Skulduggery search for them--why not let him expend the effort? But--nothing. No signs as to where Natsuno and Fever went, or what might be happening to them...

But worry isn't typically something that freezes her in place; rather, it spurs her to action when possible--and now that they're finally free of those damned cells, she's already turning to face the end of the hallway...]

So the only way out is up top, then. Are we going?

( maybe in the end, getting her shit rocked and nose broken by skulduggery pleasant was a blessing; the bruises at least camouflage the distinctly purplish heat that threatens to overtake her face with both their eyes cast her way. rita's glances, jade's pierces. and clarke just weathers it for the brief duration before the conversation returns to business. that's right, despite the dread of looking him in the eye and seeing the levels of disappointment play out across red hued irises, they haven't the time to really dig into her failure here. there's too much at stake, and of course they're going, right? if they do die, at least they'll die outside of this hallway and fighting.

she points somewhere over jade's shoulder. )

That way's less congested.

( with so many of their remaining fellow passengers grouped towards the lower numbered cabins-turned-cells, it feels right that most would flood to that readily available ladder where the elevator used to be. back down the way jade came is sparse of souls (and would conveniently lead them just past the prone form of voyager on the deck above). )

[The confirmed lack of ""vents"" is unfortunate, but an ultimately unsurprising setback. Skulduggery had mentioned the phantom vents too, when Jade had spoken to him a bit earlier upon them catching each other further up the hall...and it never hurts to cross-check results across multiple parties, but the answer is now confirmed to be the same. --It'd be lying to say that there isn't a vague but chewing sort of worry niggling at the back of Jade's head, at Natsuno's expense...wherever he and the rest of that second party might possibly be now...but, in the end--]

I suppose hoping to follow closely in the steps of the earlier escapees would be a bit too much luck at once. At the least, it seems one of the groups has made progress, considering how we can freely move about now...so we certainly shouldn't squander it. [Yes, sliding into the familiar format of business, by far the least awkward and most efficient route for now. They all might be collectively aware of the mid-sized elephant of Recent Events hanging in the air over them, where Clarke still sits somewhat at the crux...but now isn't the time to bring it up, and it seems that both girls also agree. Jade turns to follow Clarke's pointing direction back down the hall where he'd come, and nods.] I agree we should get going, yes. I recall there was some racket from above earlier...let's see how much of a mess the metaphorical deck is in up there, shall we?

[We. Jade starts briskly down the hall as soon as he's sure the others are following close. He's already either addressed other acquaintances or noted they're joining up with others outside the cells, at this point; so, for now...Clarke and Rita are the highest priorities. He intends to keep them close in his sights, this time. He won't be left unaware of more rash decisions until after the fact, this time.

Yes, if such decisions must be made, he'd at least like to be present for them...

Through the door at the end, up the hatch in the room following--and it's briefly just slightly disorienting, to emerge into seemingly open air but still find a strange darkness enclosing all around. It looks like a cement deck up here, yes, but there's certainly a jarring lack of sky above. Or ocean beyond the rails. Which explains the lack of rocking sensations back in the cells, in the end. Hm...perhaps this is what the Serena Eterna's little pocket dimension has truly been like all along, bereft of the tenuous window dressing provided by the Captain before.

Pulling himself out of the hatch, Jade turns to help up Rita and Clarke, but his glance scans the surroundings all the while. Indeed, the first thing to see nearest is the distinct doorway ahead that's almost certainly...] That must be the bridge over there. At least one of the groups has likely gone inside already, unless there was anywhere else to go up here. Let's see--hm?

[Turning to assess the rest of the deck, and...oh, okay. That sure is a crater over there towards the middle, and a small child off to the side of it. That's Probably Fine.]

[Rita does not envy the likely talking-to Clarke's going to get, should they all make it through this in one piece. Jade really has a way of making someone squirm--it's uncanny, really, how all it takes is a look.

But he's also the best at compartmentalizing and prioritizing of all of them, isn't he? So it's no surprise that he wastes almost no time setting off, and Rita spares another glance to Clarke--carrying what, even she's not sure, but some kind of mix of solidarity, sympathy, determination and worry for Natsuno, if what's she's feeling is any indication--and then she's hurrying to catch up with Jade's longer strides. Following his lead up to the deck-]

Wha--what the hell's with this?

[Staring up at a dark endless void instead of sky... Rita glances around at that black backdrop that surrounds them, trying not to think about what's beneath the ship, before a faint trail of glittering dust catches her eye, and she follows it to...

Oh. That's right, Voyager--that kid-

Rita's already stepping away, only half-listening to Jade. She knows they're in a hurry, but she can't just ignore him, so she throws a quick explanation over her shoulder before running off.]

Hey--just gimme a second, okay? I'll try to be quick.

[Sorry, Clarke! Have fun with Jade with a minute a two.]

( pov: you're name is clarke griffin, problematic oldest daughter archetype in this found family, and you think you're above parental disciplining right until the prospect of it crosses your path. and then you're so diligently shamefaced you still can't look jade curtiss in the eye, and steadfastly refuse his hand up at the top of the ladder because on some level you think you've well earned the pain that comes along with trying to haul yourself up on a mangled wrist.

but then they're up! and even this accomplishment of freedom feels a tad hollow.

the sky is dark, so oppressively dark that for once she misses the mismatched constellations that had been painted above them. the ground beneath their feet is stripped down to bare concrete and the bridge somehow manages to look even more impenetrable than it'd ever done before. but there's still the dutybound optimism of knowing somehow, somewhere, others had managed to open their cages. the next logical steps are confronting the brothers and somehow finding their way to malin, right? their little bedraggled trio could at least help with that.

she's fixated on the bridge, and even goes so far as to take a step in its direction before rita's dragging her attention back to what's transpired behind them. that sure is a crater and a little boy laying next to it, motionless. and in the time it takes for recognition to hit, that sure is also her friend waving them off to run towards the scene. )

Rita — ( clarke starts, wholly intent to follow up with what's near become a catchphrase at this point, "we don't have time". but... but the shape of that small inert body is a damming sort of pitiful. had she any more wiggle room in her shrunken heart, clarke would be following rita right on over, just to see if there was any aid she could render. but as things stand, the clock on natsuno's — and the rest of the vent team's, and all of theirs — life feels like it's ticking down.

someone kinder and better than her will stop to care for voyager. it could have been rita, though clarke feels almost entirely confident the other girl will rejoin them shortly as she promised. in the meantime she's left with jade at her side though, no buffer between them and — hnnngh.

... )

I'm sorry it went like this. ( quiet, almost under her breath. testing the waters to see if she's got the emotional sturdiness to get this over with, and quickly finding her support beams wobbling and unreliable. a sniff, then a very quick about face as she's already moving to the right side of the ship. )

I'm going to scout the perimeter. I'll stay in sight.

( and that's what she does, finding the far railing and first peering over to see if there's anything of note about the water, then setting to pacing as they wait for rita. )

[Rita breaks away; Clarke can't quite get her protest out, and Jade doesn't even attempt to voice any reprimand of his own, for all that he does feel similarly about their current time constraints. The situation is sensitive, impossible as it is to tell just how long that stroke of good fortune freeing them from their cells is actually going to hold...swift and decisive action would be highly ideal here, little margin for distractions.

But then again...there's certainly something uniquely sobering about the sight of the small body laid out across the way over there. Seems child-like, regardless of whether that actually is a child...and somebody that Rita's familiar with, evidently, if her haste to check on them despite the circumstances is anything to go by. Jade can only hazard a guess that perhaps this was the hindrance that first group of escapees ran into on the deck earlier--the one that had made the rather large metallic racket at one point--and, to judge by the lack of any other bodies in the area...they must have been victorious, at an unfortunate sort of cost. ...He doesn't move to follow Rita either, in the end. His bedside manner is atrocious on a good day, and he's aware enough that his bearing around small children leaves a bit to be desired; Fio is more an exception than a rule, he's pretty sure. It would probably be for the better all around, to leave Rita to it herself, so long as it remains brief...

Though she sure does leave a rather awkward pause behind. Jade can practically feel Clarke stiffening, where she's been abandoned to linger beside him; the hesitance before she speaks, the waver in the resolve. The words slip out and then she's hastily moving off--

But all the same, it was an apology. A rather far cry from the stubborn digging of her heels in the last confrontation, before Malin had first boarded the ship. I had to do something, it had been then, and Jade has no doubt that the sentiment still lingers. But the result...certainly does speak for itself, so far, and Clarke has likely had plenty of time to ruminate on it.

Which, perhaps, is why Jade's expression does not harden in the face of that sentiment. Even if she's moving off to check perimeter before he can get a proper word in--]

If you're sorry, then it's time to pour that remorse into repairing this. It will be a start. [(--She wouldn't know it, of course. But he told Luke something like this once, too. Truly strange, how these things circle around...it feels like for some reason, especially now, little reminders are seeping in every which way.) Jade pivots towards the opposite half of the deck from Clarke, declining to find out if those particular words reached her ears. In favor of resuming a more clipped and firm affectation to confirm:] I'll check this side in the interim. Staying within eyesight of each other would indeed be ideal.

[In the end there's nothing much to find anyhow. The deck is vaguely deck-shaped, but there's not much else to it, so far as entrances to other areas or storage places of note might be concerned. Peering over the rail only confirms the utter absence of any ocean around them, just more of the void. ...Fortunately, Rita stays fairly true to her word, and neither of them have to approach the unfortunate-injured-child zone to gently pull her away before she's joining back up with them of her own volition. There's no overt judgment in Jade's bearing when she draws back over, though he casts a carefully assessing glance over both Rita's face and the still little body in the backdrop as she leaves it behind.]

I suppose he must have still been alive. But, as I'm sure you already know...the greatest aid we could render him at this point is eliminating the person at the head of this, and getting us all somewhere that isn't here. ...You're ready now, Rita?

[She stays true to her word, yes: painful as it is to leave someone clearly suffering, there's nothing Rita can do for Voyager besides find Malin and blast her. So it's with both gnawing guilt and a sense of even heavier urgency--now she wasn't already, but still--that she dashes back to reunite with Jade and Clarke, calling out to the other girl in the event that she's still keeping a healthy distance from Jade.]

--Yeah. I am. I just- [There's a troubled look that he'll find on her face before she decides to make up for lost time by barrelling ahead. But as she's passing Jade-]

I sent him straight into her hands--she's going to pay!

[And then, without waiting to check that they're following, she's reaching for the bridge door.]

[the door opens easily, though it's too dark to see inside.]

( rita returns. rita rallies them. rita heckin' runs towards the bridge door and clarke pivots sharply from the railing to follow in her wake. the anxiety that the door still won't budge remains a tight bunch in the back of her throat, up until the point it's fully flung open to reveal the pitch black interior. but even a sudden rush of anticipation isn't enough to get her to step over the threshold without pausing first.

staring into the dark, straining her ears to filter out any sounds behind them and the thrum of her own heartbeat just to try and sense anything in the shadows. there's the distinct urge to pause here longer, to try to come up with some sort of game plan. but what's the point when the two heavy hitters of their trio are without any spell slots and all of them are forsaken of weapons?

if either jade or rita are inclined to push ahead, they can go first. but otherwise or in her own time, clarke's taking a deep inhale through her mouth like she's prepared to plunge into murky waters. and steps inside. slides around the doorframe and tries to keep her back to any immediate wall just in case, but she goes. )

[she walks right into the robot fight.]

[Rita doesn't intend to hesitate; it just--happens. Seeing the bridge door open to pitch-black, smothering darkness, remembering this isn't the first time, and suddenly her feet don't quite move through the opening, freezing abruptly instead. But-]

Hey--wait!

[Clarke plunges in, and that's all the incentive she needs. Nobody's getting left alone. They're in this together, whatever happens. That sentiment is strong enough to overcome the fear or trepidation, and with a small breath, she holds a hand in front of her face and jumps through.]

[It's simultaneously completely unsurprising but still a bit off-putting, yes, to find nothing but absolute darkness on the other side of the bridge door when it's pushed open. As if the yawning void beyond the deck also dwells in here...but then again, it really is just about on par with every other unpleasant aspect of this entire situation, isn't it?

Jade's already bracing for the headache that navigating darkness without so much as a little fonic flame on hand is going to be...but he's not far behind Clark or Rita, in moving through. Maybe just a bit further behind than he'd like, actually--even only dubiously armed with a plastic facsimile of a cell bar, he really would rather have taken point for the group...but, well. There goes Clarke, and Rita close on her heels, and so he ends up being a very close third.]

Carefully, now, watch your step and be prepared for anything--

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END GAME: THE COUNTDOWN STARTS

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