HAUNTED GARDEN: West Gate {5/5}

The little girl reaches the Bowler Hat first as Owen has decided to relinquish his chase for it, and she grips at it, crying and clutching it close to her chest. “It’s okay…it’s okay…I’ve got you now…I’ve got you…Bastian…” She pulled it away from her chest for just a moment, to thumb the embroidery on the inner layer of the hat. The embroidery in pink and white that reads, “Sebastian Underwood”.

---

OWEN :

As the little girl is thoroughly distracted by her successful retrieval of her beloved Bowler Hat, Owen successfully tackles her to the ground, and pins her under his weight before she is even able to evade him. She still clutches the Bowler Hat tightly as if her (after)life depends on it, but it takes her several moments to register that he is on top of her and trying to restrain her.

Finally, she lets out a single, angry yell amidst her sobbing, and begins to struggle from under him.

“LEAVE US ALONE. …no…you’ll never leave us alone…never…”

STR Roll for the little girl’s struggle:
Pn36OpX6+ 1 STR = 11

Owen to do a STR roll of [ roll ] + STR Stat to see if he continues to successfully pin the girl down.
If his roll is higher than hers, the pinning down is successful.
Otherwise, she manages to struggle free from his grasp.

In the meanwhile, Lenne has taken this opportunity to get closer to the struggling duo, aiming her pistol's nozzle at the little girl's head. However, due to Owen still struggling with her, she does not fire a shot as of yet, in case she hits Owen in the process. 

She quietly attempts to get nearer to the both of you, undetected.

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SIENNA & WALTER :

Sienna’s prompt reaction to fix up Maxwell’s wound takes place in the nick of time, prevent further blood loss from the already-unconscious Rainbow Biscuit. Maxwell no longer loses any HP due to her quick action.

It is up to Sienna and Walter whether they will both help to carry Maxwell through the portal, or whether Walter can handle him alone. There is help waiting on the other end, as the Pale Apprentice from before has already let several medics and experienced Apprentices know about the situation in West Gate. It was a good move of Maxwell to give him his flower first.

Should either of them wish to stay, that is totes ok too. It’s your choice.

---

MAXWELL :

Maxwell has passed out and is out of action for the RP.

(feel free to narrate inner thoughts/dreams/narrations that do not have to do with actions on his part)

“Haha…I know I know…” she cooed reassuringly, reaching a hand back to pat his head as if he were a wounded kitten clinging to her shoulders. “Thank you…for protecting me…” she added, in a voice no louder than a whisper.

The two had finally managed to make it out of the rose hedges, Zel suffering several shallow cuts whilst trying not to let the wounded man on her back get wounded any further. Thanks to her dextrous manoeuvring, the two make it to the left fork of the initial pathway to the maze without any serious injuries. The Visitor’s Centre is in sight, as the blue-haired musician lets out a loud, boisterous victory cry, before continuing her heroic plodding forwards. “Almost there, doc!” she grinned reassuringly to the man on her back, humming as she made her way forward.

The murmuring near her ear, and the mask brushing her skin had her squirming and laughing out a soft ‘That tickles, Doc!’ before she felt somewhat silent again, her humming pausing for a moment as she silently moved forward.

“…what exactly did ya hear about this place that made ya wanna come here, Doc?” she said finally, pushing open the glass doors of the Visitor’s Centre with some difficulty. Although the doors were unlocked, the interior of the building was dark due to the lights being turned off for the night. A light at the end of a corridor leading away from the entrance indicated a nearby washroom. Zel could very well have cried aloud for joy if her pride hadn’t gotten in the way.

“Did ya by any chance hear about…those rumours where ya get ta see dead relatives?” She smiled at him, slowly making their way forward once more. Her brows furrowed as she let out a sigh, her shoulders drooping wearily, “…I’m not sure who was the one who started such rumours, or whether they’re to be believed, but…”

“At the centre of the maze…I saw my mum. Or at least… I think I did…”

His mind was pretty much scrambled eggs at this point, evident by blurting out the key words of “Let's get out, go home and get a doctor” and the name of the first medical worker that came into his head.

Owen? Oh yes, he was here too....That was his actual team mate...Walter felt a twinge of guilt as Sisi called out to him but spared no time in ripping the yellow petals off the poor thing and slam dunking the sad remains of it into the ground, producing a portal right next to them, grabbing on to Maxwell's legs ready to jump through the open gateway.

A glance back towards the struggle a bit away however had those nasty voices back nagging at his back of his brain. Blast it all. He didn't want to come back without someone and get blamed for them being forever gone...again.

“OWEN! LEAVE! NOW!” It came out more desperate sounding than intended with his voice cracking.

Shifting his attention back to Sisi he arched his eyebrows in a "ready to go?" expression, ever so slightly leaning forward towards the open portal.

And Owen had completely ignored their attempts to get him to come along. Ugh. Why did it always have to be hard? Why couldn't something just go perfectly fine one day? Why did it always have to be like this? Her grip on her unconscious friend was still stable but Owen's continued erratic behavior had her worried. He'd reacted badly to the gunshot the first time and he repeated the manic reactions. And it seemed Walter was equally bothered. Neither of them seemed to want to leave their fellow apprentice to his own insane devices. From their position it was hard to tell exactly what was transpiring but his raised voice was alarming. All of this was horrible!

Shaking off her reservations she nodded at Walter. "Let's go." And she began finally walking into the portal. The best thing they could do for Owen was to get help. As the familiar lights shone around them that were common place during the traveling back and forth they soon hopefully arrived inside the HQ and preferably near the clinic which they were going to need. "Help, we need help!" Which was obvious. Half carrying her bloody teammate and not looking too hot herself really what else could they possibly need.



((Good luck Owen you crazy little tart~ ))

While Sienna was relived to see the stupid Rainbow being properly attended to she was not exactly okay with receiving the same attention. She didn't need any help, she was fine and tried to send them to Walter instead. Owen still needed help and she turned to try and escape, hoping to escape all that unwanted attention but she was drained and didn't get more than a few steps before she had to stop and rest and of course they were on her. In that moment of weakness she was guided to a seat and set down. Trying to steel her nerves she reached down to clutch her dresses fabric in her hands, a nervous habit she'd never stopped doing, only to find skin.

She froze right there in the seat they'd coerced her into. Her dress. She'd ripped it into so many shreds that there was far more skin above her knees exposed then she'd ever felt compelled to show. So much skin. It was horrifying. All these people, all those eyes. She was just so used to skirting past most people's vision. her presence was so subtle. And suddenly she had been thrust into a huge spotlight on an empty stage. The audience was fixed on their position and had begun to ask questions and demand answers. Others fought for their privacy. And all while she was practically naked. All her earlier bravado and courage had drained form her it seemed.

Had she not been so utterly mortified into a stupor she might have made a second attempt to escape. But she was very, very mortified. Her hands tried to cover her exposed legs as she slowly shifted out of her state of shock. A number of apprentices had come into the area despite having been told to go away and they were bombarding her and poor Walter with questions. She didn't answer any of them though and just tried to make it through this ordeal. But their bothersome comments did remind her she needed to go back to help Owen.

Glancing up a number of eyes stared right back and she squeaked before staring intently at her lap as she tried to bundle up the fabric as best she could, getting in the medics way most likely. There were a few halfhearted attempts to shoo them away but her mental state was transitioning still. She did finally get her mouth to work though and began to stammer out her concerns. "O-O-Ow-e-e-n." She muttered softly, her voice shaking as violently as a baby hamster. But she said nothing else about is as she'd just overheard something. Death's White Raven? Fran? Fran had gone to help? The heavy weight that had still been resting on her shoulders was released and she sighed softly. If Fran was there then she didn't need to go running back to help the silly boy they'd left behind. That news didn't help her relax much though as she was still indecent for public interaction and only broke from that unpleasant thought process to cast a worried glance to Walter and then to where they were working on Maxwell. In the end she honestly believed she deserved the pain and humiliation for failing everyone so badly. Her eyes glistened with a wealth of unshed tears as she fought to save them for later where no one had to see her shame and bitter resentment flowing down her cheeks.

Owen kept fighting the girl's struggle, making angry noises in response to her chants, as if maybe it might shut her up. His arms around her tiny body remained tight and determined, though it loosened ever so slightly when he heard that voice. It filled him with relief, but also a tinge of fear as well. His anger subsided.

He looked up.

"F-Fran..." Owen's face looked slightly surprised. His grip on the hunter tightened. Something in his voice seemed happy, proud of himself. "Fran... I... I caught her...! I-I... What do we do with her..?" His happiness seemed to die down after that. He'd never been given instructions on how to proceed in such a situation. Probably because no one expected him to ever be in such a situation. But Fran was here now, he'd know what to do.