Distract
Rin let her werewolf form (ugh, never thought she'll see her ears and tail again) take over and grabbed the gem and pulled. To her relief and surprise, the gem just came off with a slight pop. She threw it and the gem landed with a clunk in the opposite direction.
Huntress approached the gem (which was a relief because Rin thought she'll ignore the sound), her footsteps fading away, leaving Rin free to run for the sword.
Rin searched through the chests, wincing at how loud it was, and grabbed a towel to cover up her wounds (she didn't want to lead Huntress to her again and she didn't use her jacket sleeves because she didn't want to expose the black roses to anyone if she bumped into them). Rin quickly wrapped her gashes up and slipped out of her hiding spot, but not before grabbing another gem and throwing it across the room.
She tiptoed to the sword silently and ducked behind piles of stuff to make sure she wasn't seen. It was easy because her black jacket and black hair that covered her pale skin ("I am not a vampire and for the last time, this is my natural skin color!" she had said once to Adrian) blended easily in the darkness of the room.
Come on, She thought,almost there. Just a little more, Rin. Closer...
Rin was four feet away (it was five feet before) now. She wanted to rush towards it but she didn't. It will make too much noise. Rin will attract Huntress to her again.
Three feet away now. Rin threw another gem. It was best to keep Huntress away as long as possible. She hoped Huntress didn't find the others; it'll be another thing to worry about.
Two feet away. She was almost there... Just a few inches away from her fingertips (Rin didn't dare lean closer; she's going to trip and crash)...
Gotcha!
Relief filled Rin as she, with her werewolf strength, tugged the sword from the stone it was stuck on easily, but the relief quickly turned to horror when the handle of the sword bumped into a chest, knocked it loose and sent it falling with a loud crash.
Shit!
Rin let out a low string of swears and raced away, biting back a shout of pain when an ax nearly hit the nape of her neck and hitting her elbow instead because how on earth did Huntress aimed and threw so fast?
She had an idea. Rin has a sword in her left hand. Maybe she can use it to slow down Huntress somehow. It seems impossible and risky, but she had to try.
Rin heard the ax fling at her again but instead of dodging it, she twisted around and use the sword to send it rocketing back and hitting Huntress instead (Rin didn't see where the ax hit her and she wasn't going to find out now).
"Ha!" Rin whispered in triumph. She continued running, vaulting over a few pallets as she did so, her eyes scanning for Ann, Angel, or Masonー
"Over here!"
Rin glanced to the right and to her amazement and bewilderment, her whole team were hiding under a trapdoor, waving wildly, but subtle enough so that Huntress wouldn't notice them, at her.
A small smile tugged at her lips as she jumped down after them.
"You got the sword!" Ann said, her brown eyes, quite literally, glowing brightly in the darkness. Rin suspected it was a side effect of her aura magic ー Ann said she didn't know why her eyes glowed in the dark. "Oh! She got you too! Is your elbow alright?"
"It'll live," Rin said, glancing at the ax stuck on her elbow and looking up to see what injuries everyone got. Ann had a gash on her cheek, Angel was nursing her stomach gingerly, and Mason had a bloody nose.
"We'll get that out of your elbow as soon as this is over," Ann said, staring at the ax. "You still got your ears and tail out by the way ー just letting you know."
Rin reached up and felt her ears. "I'll keep them around just in case we need it," she said finally, her tail waving slightly (she still wasn't used to having her ears and tail around, but at least it's more comfortable).
"You were brilliant, by the way," Angel said, directing Rin's attention to her. Rin could see her smile in the darkness. "I didn't know you can see her axes back at her ー you can't do that in the game."
Rin smiled slightly, "Well this isn't the game. Reality and games don't work the same way for your information. I thought everyone knew that."
Mason snorted as Angel rolled her eyes, "Way to call the girl stupid, Musa."
"Oh, I wasn't calling her stupid," Rin said mildly, choosing to ignore her codename. "I was merely telling her to stop being so absorbed in the game or else you'll start thinking you're actually in the game."
"Oi!"
Rin ignored Angel's indignant squawk and turned to Ann, frowning slightly. "So where does this passageway lead to?" She asked curiously.
"It's a passageway to one of the hallways if I remember correctly," Ann said, her glowing eyes averting away. "Exit is disguised as a pot, which I don't know if it's a good thing or not because ー ugh, what is that?"
Rin glanced to where she was looking (which wasn't hard) and nearly vomited on the spot. There was a wet lump on the ground, it smells like rotten food, and it looked absolutely disgusting.
"Oh my Irene," Rin said in disgust. "That is absolutely revolting. I don't remember seeing that when we last explored this passageway!"
"I think it's a dead body," Mason said, sounding disgusted. Rin was mildly surprised by him because he enjoyed writing and reading murder stories greatly,
"Close enough," Angel said, inspecting the wet lump. Rin couldn't understand how she could stay close to the lump, then remembered she probably seen a dead body many times before (not to mention, the Order were said to not be afraid of toil). "It's a dead animal. Half-eaten too."
"Are there any Killers that eat... animals?" Mason asked, staring at the wet lump that was the half-eaten animal. "I can't think of anything that could break in and sneak in a dead animal to eat in a passageway."
"The only one I could think of is Hag," Angel said thoughtfully. "There's this perk called Memento Mori that allows the Killers to kill the Survivors themselves instead of sacrificing them on meathooks and giving them to the entity. Hag's Mori is to rip open the Survivor's torso, eat their insides, and walk away."
Rin definitely lost her appetite there (she thought mournfully of her boba tea she dropped when they were being dragged away by webs).
"And Rin was near her?" Ann hissed, her nails digging into Rin's shoulder. "That would have happened to her if you hadn't chased Hag off?"
Rin frowned and pointed out a very important detail that she thought everyone knew, "Ann, the Killers' weapons are enchanted to not kill. Do you really think they can use their Mori to kill us when their weapons can't?"
"No," Ann said, looking embarrassed. "Sorry, I forgot about that."
"I can see that," Rin said dryly, rolling her eyes. "Now, please let go of my bloody shoulder ー your nails are long and sharp and it's starting to hurt my shoulder."
Ann quickly let go of Rin's shoulder and was about to apologize when ー
CRASH!
"It's Huntress!" Angel hissed, looking alarmed. "She's going to break down the trapdoor! Come on! Let's go before she breaks the trapdoor completely!"
Rin spotted a large plank of wood laying on the ground. It was the size of a small TV and she was still a werewolf, so she can easily lift it up...
She could use it to block the trapdoor... or she can use it to smack Huntress in the face and blind her...
"Rin, come on!"
Rin ran towards the wood plank and ー
Block the Trapdoor
Blind Huntress
Choose Wisely~ : )
