catchall ✧ this is our story.

[regression]

WHO: Yoo Joonghyuk and you! Friends. Not-friends.
WHAT: Catchall forever
WHERE: Netherworld general
WHEN: The present, the future
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary.

Look at me. I am woven together by story, held firm by myth. Look at me. I will tell you of the men that ate me bloody. I will tell you of how ferociously I bit my way out of their stomachs.

— Venetta Octavia, The Alchemy of Smallness —

Comments

[midway]

[ Maybe it's kind of foolish to linger in this place any longer than they have to because of material items, but honestly, Claude gets it. He can be rather petty sometimes, and he would be annoyed if not only was he wrongly imprisoned, his things were taken too?

Besides, even clad in nothing but a loincloth, Joonghyuk is probably more effective in battle than most people, so they should be fine. ]

I suppose you have a point. [ Claude rests his axe on his shoulder, glancing around. ] We likely won't have another chance to look around.

[ He doesn't want to end up lost either, though. He's been trying to keep sense of the space around them, but the stone and brick are all the same, and there's little to differentiate one hall from another. But he supposes that if things get that dire, they can always threaten a guard. ]

[regression]

[ Loot is always important! And Joonghyuk also has a lot of confidence in his ability to subdue a regular guard... Maybe not ten beefy guards at once, but a handful is fine. ]

You can use your axe to make small etches where the wall meets the ground. It may help us find our way back, but my sense of direction is good, too.

[ Unlike someone he knows. They can be Hansel and Gretel now, two non-white kids who hear the sound of footfalls drawing near. ]

Would you prefer less violence?

[midway]

[ It's a clever suggestion, and so Claude follows through, scratching a mark into the wall as they march onward. He goes still when he hears footsteps though, glancing at Joonghyuk. ]

Wouldn't you? I'm not here to commit a massacre.

[ Violence begets violence. Claude's not above laying waste to whatever guards charge at them, but he'd rather run when he has the chance.

Like now, quickly ducking into the shadows of another pathway, not getting far before he nearly goes tumbling into a well. Why is there a well here? ]

We'll likely lose them if we duck in.

[regression]

Sometimes, it's harder to spare your enemies.

[ Either because it is actually more difficult than killing or because of the consequences that may come from their survival. In the end, he doesn't want to kill if he doesn't have (or want) to.

They press forward and he thinks he sees a door ahead they can slip in, but. Uh. He sees Claude tumble. ]

... In the well?

[ ??? The well gurgles some muffles noises. ]