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Post by Zero on Jul 7, 2009 19:34:20 GMT -5
The feeling of solid ground was a welcome relief to just spending what felt like hours of floating in nothingness. Swift shook off the fog that had settled on his mind in his little trip and took a long look around. He had ended up in the same alleyway as last time, the dark town looming around him from where he stood. Only a few inches from where he was, dark stains were now on the floor of the alleyway. One of the stains a pitch black; Nightmare blood. The other a darkened crimson; his blood.
He gulped and took a deep breath. Alright Swift, first things first. Gotta find Marley around here. But he couldn't exactly step out of the alleyway to look for him. Not many, if any, of the Nightmares on the street were so willing to help out a Censor, nevertheless a Censor who had injured a Nightmare. He now almost wished he hadn't hurt Sergei, but that wish soon passed.
"Hm...maybe if I just stay out of their way, none of them will notice me..." So, taking a few more gulps of air, Swift walked out of the alleyway and kept away from most of the Nightmares, careful to look out for one more Nightmarish-looking boy in particular.
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Post by Nakki on Jul 10, 2009 15:35:50 GMT -5
Marley instantly felt Swift's presence in his mind, since Censors rarely entered his mind and the difference between their presences and the Nightmares' presences was almost overwhelming. Thus, it was easy for him to find Swift, almost moments after he had appeared and Marley had ran down from the small balcony he'd been on.
"Swift!" Marley shouted to catch his attention, running across the nearly empty square towards him. He was soon right next to him, his breath a little hard from running so fast. "There you are! Good you got through alright." He looked around the square then, noting how it was empty except for a few straggling Nightmares, and even they were hurrying so fast that they didn't notice Swift or Marley.
"Look how empty this place is. Where do you think they're all going?"
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Post by Zero on Jul 10, 2009 15:44:57 GMT -5
Swift had been too busy focusing on not getting attacked to notice the oddly small amount of Nightmares there were in Marley's mind, way less then the last time he had been in there. "That is sorta odd..." He noted, more to himself then to Marley. Watching the few straggling Nightmares, he came up with somewhat of an idea.
"Maybe it has something to do with that Nightmare, the one that got captured saving us, Beau-something." The name had slipped away from Swift's memory, making the Censor wonder if the machine had messed with his head more then he thought. "I say the best thing to do is to head in the direction the other Nightmares are going."
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Post by Nakki on Jul 13, 2009 16:51:47 GMT -5
"His name's Beauregard. And, you're probably right. But..." Marley hesitated, unsure if he wanted to say this, but finally let it out. "Well, see... Swift, recently I've been getting this dream-ish thing... and in it there's this big stadium, kinda like a Colosseum, in the middle of my mind. I'm afraid that they're going there... and you know what they did in the Colosseum, right?"
Marley looked at Swift fearfully. "I- I dunno if I really wanna go there... I mean, Beau might be in there and I don't know what'll happen to him... but I don't wanna see anyone get hurt or anything..."
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Post by Zero on Jul 13, 2009 17:13:16 GMT -5
"A Colosseum?" Swift let the word roll over his tongue for a moment, as well as through his thoughts. Indeed, he did know what happened in those, having seen a few in other minds; normally fighting, fallowed by fighting, with a side order of fighting, killing, and maiming. Swift swallowed harshly. Did that mean they were forcing Beauregard to fight to his death?
He looked to Marley for a moment. The boy was looking up at the Censor, obviously fearing for both the Nightmare they had come to save, and maybe even for Swift himself, who could get hurt trying to save him.
Swift closed his eyes for a moment before looking at Marley and giving him a melancholy smile as he forced some hopefulness into his voice. "Well, I guess we'll have to make sure he does not get hurt then." And then, slowly, he began to walk in the direction the other Nightmares were going.
However, he looked back at Marley for a moment. "If you do not want to come though, then I guess I'll just be saving Beau...alone." I don't want you to get hurt either. He thought after saying that, before turning to walk again.
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Post by Nakki on Jul 13, 2009 18:04:01 GMT -5
Marley started when he heard the last thing Swift said. "Hey! I never said I wasn't gonna come!" He stamped towards Swift to catch up, and walked alongside Swift. "I only said I didn't wanna see people get hurt." He looked up at Swift, and then smiled, the hope he'd put into his voice helping Marley's optimism as well. "I'm glad you're here to help, Swift. Beau's my only friend aside from you and my parents... I don't know what I'd do if he got..."
Marley stopped talking, not wanting to speak those words for fear of making them come true. However, he managed to quell his fear and panic and looked away from Swift, smiling gently. "Well, I don't wanna think about that. Come on, let's get going!" With that, Marley set off at a fast trot, pulling a few feet in front of his friend for a moment.
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Post by Zero on Jul 13, 2009 18:27:57 GMT -5
Swift gave a genuine smile at the fact that he'd managed to pep Marley's confidence up a bit before running along to catch up with the boy, the sound his boots made echoing through the almost nearly empty street. He soon settled into a walking pace again and his thoughts turned to someone else who could possibly be in this Colosseum Marley spoke of: Sergei.
He had been thinking much about the Nightmare since entering this mind for the second time. What would the Nightmare do to him? Did he grow his arm back or just leave it a stump? And most importantly, if Swift met him again, would he fight the Nightmare, or flee from it?
As he walked with Marley and thought, in the distance, the large Colosseum that loomed was now getting closer and closer to the Censor and the boy. No turning back now, Swift had thought for the hundredth time.
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Post by Nakki on Jul 30, 2009 10:19:19 GMT -5
Marley trotted onward, trying to stifle the fear that kept rising in his chest. Sure, he was doing this for a good cause- but those Nightmares just scared him so much.... At least he had Swift there to help.
They approached the Colosseum, so close that it loomed over the pair of them like some sort of terrible monster. Marley gulped as he looked up at it, but shook his head to clear it and kept going, through the arches and up the stairways into the stadium. He looked around the stands anxiously, sticking close to Swift and the shadows, and finally found a pair of secluded seats, out of sight of the other Nightmares.
"Here, we can sit here... I think something's about to start," Marley said to Swift, his voice trembling a little as he looked out into the arena and saw Nightmares milling about on the sand.
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Post by Zero on Jul 30, 2009 10:40:20 GMT -5
Swift nodded and sat down, looking out into the arena anxiously. He scanned the sandy area of the arena below him, looking out for any Nightmares that looked familiar. Preferably a Nightmare with only three arms and a broken antenna. All the Nightmares looked the same at first from where they were, but he soon had his eyes locked on one Nightmare in particular that was being escorted into the area, chains put on his three remaining arms.
It was Beauregard, being dragged into what would be a most likely bloody fight. Swift bit his lip, wondering whether he should tell Marley or not that their Nightmare friend was in there, but he decided against it, thinking on both the fact that Marley would spot the Nightmare soon and that he didn't want to become a part of whatever the Nightmares were about to commence in. He clenched his fist till it turned white and sincerely hoped no Nightmare would spot him in the seats Marley had picked out.
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