{ LAIR } The Dungeons (p. 20!)

[chiickadee]

The light was nearly blinding at first. As her eyes adjusted to the new light, Ami tiredly tried to back away from the horsewoman, only to find her back meeting the wall. The woman practically radiated control, and Ami knew firsthand just how powerful she was. The events in the cave below Amityville had taught her a thing or two. It seemed so long ago that they were storming in their golems, intent on victory. Now look where they were.

Perhaps unlike the others, Ami didn't try to resist the trance. She watched the others fall in their cage. Sure she had sympathy for those fallen, but when it came around to her, she didn't try to resist. As proven by the four or five before her, resisting wouldn't bare fruit. It was easier just to let it happen.

Odd, wasn't it, how she was the last one to go, but the most willing to submit.

A quick creek of the bars and then Ami hit the floor, losing herself to a strange, dreamlike state.

---

"If you try it, you might like it."

"But I don't wanna."

"I promise you might if you try. You always like it when I read Le Petite Prince," he combated, jovially faking a french accent.

"Reading's dumb," she replied, promptly turning back to her drawing of a majestic horse on the plains. "All of my friends say reading's dumb. I want to draw!"

"Oh, but you can draw in this book!"

"But mommy said you're not s'posed to." The child looked up at the man, clearly conflicted. She was too young to know there were ways around rules, tiny bends and cracks in the infrastructure of a mother's rules. "Look, look!" she said, holding up the half-finished drawing for the man to see.

"What a pretty horse!" he encouraged, putting a hand on her back and patting lightly. Ami smiled, revealing the little gap in her teeth where she'd lost her first tooth. Pride shone on her face as he patted her. "How about I just leave the book here?" the man said slyly, setting the book down on a small shelf where she could reach it. He looked at her expectantly, but the child just stuck out her tongue playfully and giggled. A smile cracked across his face at her gesture. She was always so silly and playful like that.

With his mission accomplished, he stepped out of the room and shut the door, off to do whatever it was adults did. Ami smiled proudly at her horse, picking up a pink crayon to "detal" the pony's mane. Her tongue stuck out between the embarrassing gap in her teeth- only a little- in concentration.

Her eyes flicked over to the book.

"Reading's dumb," she reminded herself, scribbling a tail for the horse.

She looked over at the book again.

---

"And there was a catepillar! And a cheshurr cat." A small set of strawberry blonde pigtails bobbed up and down excitedly as the girl regaled the table with her retelling of the classic tale. She messed up some of the words, but it didn't matter. The amusement playing on her parents' face was clearly that of approval.

"Really, and what happened with the cheshire cat?" her father asked her. His clever plan to place a book in her room had worked out, it seemed.

"Well I dunno. He's not nice ... Well sometimes ... but I like him!" she said decidedly. A light shined in her eyes with admiration.

Her father leaned over to whisper to the woman beside him. "You see, I told you she'd soak it up. Right like a sponge she is!" Ami happily played in her peas, asking them whether they'd make her shrink, or grow.

"I still you should've selected something more ... sensible."

"In time, in time." The man then turned back to Ami, bringing her back into the conversation. "What else did you learn?"

"Oh! Oh Alice, she saw a jabber ... jabber-"

"Jabberywocky," he finished for her, a hint of worry in his voice.

"Yeah!" she said excitedly, "Alice saw the shadows like me!"

A silence seemed to snap across the air, a look passed from her mother to her father. Neither particularly knew what to say. "Ami ... we talked about this- do you remember what Doctor Hamel said?"

Ami looked down at her plate, a thick red painting across her face. She'd forgotten the single, most important rule her mother had. No talking about shadows, or creatures, or "friends." They weren't real. Doctor Hamel had said so, and that made it truth. He was an expert. That word always tasted funny in her mouth. "Sorry ... I forgot," Ami said sullenly, picking at a pea. "They're not real." She quickly changed demeanor though, looking shyly at her father. "Um ... I know I said reading was dumb, but are there more books like Alice?"

Her father coughed awkwardly, and moved to cut a potato, trying to reestablish an air of casualness. "Yes, yes. There are countless books! Would you like to go to the library?"

"Library?"

"It's where you get books."

Ami looked up at him with a child-like wonder. "I want to go! I can go?" She looked at her mother expectantly, who nodded in return.

In a great whirl of clothing, Ami excitedly darted off her chair and ran up the stairs to put her rainboots on, clearly not aware that it was dark out and that the library wasn't open.

Her father looked over at her mother. "I didn't think she would have that strong of a reaction ... I just wanted her to like reading."

"It's not your fault. See to it that you pick out something less ... fantastic. Don't most children her age read things like The Very Hungry Catepillar?"

"Oh, please! She's far smarter than picture books. She's reading Alice in Wonderland for chrissake."

"I just think-"

"You always think or prefer-"

Ami could hear the voices, the yelling, as she crouched on the steps. She didn't mean to set them off again. No matter what any adult said, she knew this was her fault. She didn't mean to start the yelling, start the fighting.

She just wanted to go to the library.

---

A lazy sunday afternoon, somewhere in her high school memories. Her temperament had solidified with time, the divorce of her parents, the suppressed secret. Her father was loving, but distant. She was grateful though, not a shred of dislike in her body for the man. He was a designer for disney, a man of creativity. The job payed extremely well, but had him traveling. This week in New York to help put together the next Disney Broadway musical, the next week he was in Florida renovating a Maleficent statue as he saw fit. For the most part, she was home alone.

She'd learned simple skills from the time she spent alone. How to forge signatures for school field trips. How to pay for lunch when her account ran out. Nothing shady- she wasn't that kind of girl. It simply meant hurdles to jump over, obstacles to surpass. She could do it, she'd learned to be independent.

Being divorced didn't mean she was alone though. She wasn't surrounded by swarms of friends, but she had a closely knit group. One named Madeline, another Maria. Nikki, Anna, Maggie. They had fun, went to parties. It was a typical teenage life, growing up in New York. She kept her secrets suppressed. No one had to know about the shadows. She knew they were real, and that the doctor's and psychiatrists were wrong. It was just easier to hide the feelings than to deal with all the work and money that went into erasing the feelings.

Mostly she depended on Adam. He kept her busy, took her places. They were dating, much to Ami's delight, but the relationship was new. Fragile. She knew most high school relationships didn't last more than a month. It was a pipe dream of hers.

At the moment she was reading, the same book from so many years ago. Her cell phone- a real nokia brick- buzzed. Something about meeting down by the waterfront. A smile crossed her face as she grabbed her coat, and walked out the door. A simple text snapped across the screen. Meet you at the library.

---

"And the drums- the DRUMS," Adam droned on and on, "You should've seen them Ams- they were brilliant." He was older than before, a chiseled look to him. Still undeniably hipster.

Ami rolled her eyes, a smile playing on her lips as they walked. "So are brilliant and amazing the only adjectives in your vocabulary? I swore I taught you better," she said playfully. Her phone was ringing, so she pulled it out and put it to her ear.

"Shut up! We can't all be english majors, miss perfect." He laughed and then realized Ami had stopped in her tracks. She was responding slowly, simple words. Adam wove his fingers into hers, sensing something was wrong.

Finally, Ami said, "Yeah," and then hung up the phone. Wordlessly, in the middle of the busy New York street, she wrapped herself around Adam, putting her head into his heavy winter coat. He didn't say anything, just looked at her worriedly.

"Mom's in the hospital ..." she said, feeling like the air was knocked out of her lungs. "They said the chances were low ..." Adam squeezed a little tighter, giving angry looks to the people around them giving annoyed expressions. "I never really liked her, but she's still my mom..." After that, Ami was silent.

---

"You imbecile, you ******** IMBECILE," Ami snapped, looking at the seeping brown mark across her books and papers. "Look at what you've-"

It was too late, Dakota had already escaped Ami's wrath and was turning down the hallway. She cursed under her breath as the tea continued to soak into her papers, ruining weeks worth of work. Even more so, ruining her book. The Alice in Wonderland one. Tea mixed with tears as she knelt on the ground, trying to pick everything up.

"Goddammit."

---

< Mads was only trying to help. >

Yeah, and she ******** it up anyways. Results are what matter, not intent.

< You're being mean! She's new at this! >

Ami was walking to the library. She needed a book. She needed to curl up in the corner with some tea and a new book. It always work. It was her coping mechanism, her thing. She just needed it.

As she rounded a corner, she spotted Wilson walking hand in hand with his pretty purple-eyed girlfriend. She immediately stopped, went back around the corner and hid, for fear that he might- even for a second- turn around and notice her. She looked down sullenly, frustrated as her chest continued to squeeze.

< Ami ... you okay? >

I'll be fine. I'll get over it. I always do.

< ... The library? Still going? >

I want to go. Yeah, no. I can go. Just ... give me a second. A pause, and then, Junpei?

< Yeah? >

It hurts.

---

Ami blinked as she returned to the cell, the dark, the candle, the horsemen. Her throat was dry, it hurt. How long had she been out?

< ... Ami? >

Her eyes went wide, a hand instinctively going to clutch Junpei. You're back! I thought ...

< No I was just kinda ... knocked out. s**t was weird. > Her stomach gurgled, ruining any sort of sentiment the moment had < Oh geez, you should eat! Damn, I leave you alone for two seconds and you're starving yourself again. The Jack ... >

It wasn't me ... we're in the horsemen's lair. They knocked me out and dragged us here ...

< Eat. >

Ami sighed and moved for the food. Slowly, she put a piece of bread in her mouth, but it didn't taste like anything, just a clammy substance in her mouth. She wasn't worried about the horsemen poisoning the food, or somehow tampering with it. If they were going to kill her off this way, it'd be faster, honestly. She was going to die either way. Might as well eat first.

< Hey! Don't worry, they'll come get you guys. Totally! >

I wish they would've given me a book at least ...

< Oh uh. I'm sorry. >

Ami leaned back against the bar, shutting her eyes as she chewed painstakingly slowly. Yeah. Me too.  

[Ravvlet]

Wash lay there for some time on his side, watching the candle's light dance across the walls. He may have slept- he wasn't sure. Home. He missed home.

Wash. Wash, get up.

Soft, desperate noises. Tiny sobs. He touched his face, but was surprised to find his cheeks dry. Who was-

The girl. In the cell next over.

He sat up slowly, painfully easing himself over to the entrance of his cramped quarters. There- if he pressed his face to the bars just so, he could almost see a delicate form huddled, broken; alone in the dark. Sasha. He reached out, slowly so as not to startle her. She had never seemed so small, so fragile before. It hurt his heart to see her like this. If he could just get his shoulder through...

"Sasha, sweetheart," he murmured soothingly. He offered her his hand. It wasn't much, and it was all he could manage in their seperate prisons, but it was the best he could do. He had to try.  

[Bittiface]

Otto slowly came back to reality, eyes slowly opening. Something was making a lot of noise, but not in the room. He inhaled sharply when he realized what it was, sitting up suddenly.

Tenya?

<>

Otto breathed a slow sigh. He finally had his noisy partner back. He'd felt her there, but she had been so unresponsive. Having the idle chatter in his head made life bearable. It was then he began picking out the noise of others as the woke. He couldn't see too well, but there was enough light from the candle to see the forms of the others. Sasha seemed upset, luckily Wash was there to keep an eye on her. Rin and Ami's forms could be somewhat seen as well.

Otto zero'd in on the food. It looked.. really good. He was starving. Despite reliving some unpleasant memories, he'd gotten to relive a really nice one too.

He lazily dragged his sitting form toward the basket, taking the apple first.  

[bipolar bee]

Sasha's eyes felt sandy and swollen, achy from all the tears she'd cried. Even after the tears had stopped the sobs continued, dry and wracking and heaving. The gentlest song had picked up in the recesses of her mind. Nona. Her presence was welcome, comforting - but not enough to stop the knot of pain and regret that formed in her chest.

A deep voice spoke to her, soothing and soft. She forced herself to open her eyes as best she could.

"Wa-ah-ash?" A hiccuping sob left his name broken and splintered on her tongue. Wash was reaching out for her.

Sasha was exhausted, but she wanted - needed - that human contact more than anything. Too sore, too drained to lift herself up, Sasha reached out for him and fell short. Letting out a small cry, she forced herself to push forward just enough so that she could take his hand. She tilted her head as she heard movement, her eyes landing on Otto in his cell.

"I'm so s-sc-scared, Wash." Her voice was quiet, an almost voiceless whisper. There was no sense in frightening the others; she felt like she could trust Wash - that he wouldn't think less of her for expressing her terror. Sasha slid her eyes back to Wash tiredly, searching for guidance, for comfort.  

[Ravvlet]

Wash almost didn't know what to say in the face of that stark, naked terror. He met her eyes. He wouldn't look away from all that raw pain. If she could be brave enough to show him, to let him inside - he could be strong enough to see it. To be there.

"I know, it's alright to be scared, honey. We're all scared, ok? Scared is just fine, means you still wanna be alive." He kept his tone low, respecting her wish for privacy, and squeezed her hand gently. He paused for a moment, searching for something to say. He remembered many a dark night, when he'd hid from the monsters, curled up in his father's lap. Wash repeated what he'd always been told then.

"Nothin' has happened, yet. We're all alright, ok? Bein' brave don't mean not bein' scared. It means holdin' on, in spite of it. Can you be brave for me, Sasha?"

He continued, slowly, softly. His thumb rubbed small, useless circles over the top of her knuckles. "We can do this - all of us- together." He willed her, with his warm hand over hers, to believe his next words. "Jerry wouldn't leave you here, baby-doll. He's gonna come here, guns a' blazin, and he won't come alone. But that takes time- and all we gotta do is give him the time we can. It'll be hard, but I believe we can do it. You're a good, strong young woman. Nothin' can break you 'nless you let it."  

[bipolar bee]

Thinking about Jerry made Sasha want to burst into tears once more. She'd been so distant from him lately, so withdrawn from everything. It was the only way she could think to cope with the way she'd been feeling ever since the ordeal with Rep had gone down on the training grounds. A cold, heavy ball of shame had lodged itself in her chest in the time since that altercation - and right next to it was a burning, red-rage lump of fury.

Conflicting emotions, both buried so close to her heart that sometimes her chest felt like it might implode.

Sasha was quiet for a long time as she forced herself to take control of the wild, writhing panic that had settled in. Own it.

Could she be brave? For Wash, for herself, for the rest of them? She didn't know, she really didn't - but she would try. She had to try.

"He'll come," she tightened her fingers against Wash's, finding solace in the contact. Her voice grew louder, a conviction there that hadn't been just moments ago. "We're all scared. It's alright to be scared."

Clerise's words echoed in her mind. A different emotion, but the same rules could be applied. Don't let it control you.

"Don't let it control you."  

[Saliru]

Rin settled into a slump of idle contentment at Wash's little song and the glowing light as it flickered about in the darkness - it was somehow symbolic. Such a small light could still defeat the suffocating darkness that surrounded them. It was fitting. In many ways even comforting.

Rin was starting to smile even despite their horrible predicament. She was about to offer the man a weak little chuckle of approval for his efforts when... they weren't alone. She attempted to crawl back, deep within her cage to escape it. But there was no escape. Wash was silenced, then Otto, and how quickly it was she joined them.

______________________________________________________

She would never sleep. No matter what he did he just couldn't seem to get her to. It effected both of their health now as the wailing infant insisted with each fiber of her being. Doctors were stumped, she was a perfectly healthy baby girl. It was well into the dark early mornings and still she insisted.

He approached her crib and the infant didn't seem to even register his presence. There was one last thing he hadn't tried; without an attempt for soothing words he lifted a large black shirt into her crib and placed it upon her little squirming body. She continued to cry and he was certain all efforts had failed him and that he had failed her.

Defeated now, he slunk towards the door and reached for it. Silence. He froze. Had he lost his hearing finally? He spoke softly with a dry rasp as he slowly turned back around, "R-Rin?" was she okay?

Rin curled up in the shirt... something about it was so... familiar, comforting, soothing. Nothing else seemed to matter. She didn't feel so helpless anymore and the darkness... it seemed to recede and then for once in her life she could finally focus on the weary smiling face that was peering down at her. She smiled back, pale blue eyes alight with this new comforting sensation. Was this what it was like to feel safe? It lingered only moments further before she was out and into a deep restful slumber.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rin awoke with a start as her father shook her gently by the shoulder, "Wake up! You slept through the alarm." The young girl offered the grizzled older man a dazed look as if he'd gone mad. He shook his head and took her little hand in his and gave a mighty tug, "You're going to be late for your first day of school. Now come on." He'd spent the greater part of his morning helping her get dressed and ready even though they had rehearsed for days. Apparently all those efforts meant nothing in the face of a sleepy kid.

Hand in hand, they rushed to the bus stop and he urged her to go on in. Anxiety flowed through her as she ascended the large steps. Reaching the top she reached behind herself for the large assuring hand of her father. She found none. She spun around in frantic search of him. There he was. Waving her off from the curb. Fear clenched in her stomach as the door clicked shut between them. This was it.

She was alone now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why were they here? Neither one of them understood. Her grades weren't slipping, in fact they confessed her grades were the best in the class. But there was something very clear that Rin had done wrong. They sent her to go wait in the hallway while they spoke with her father. She could still hear frantic muffles in his voice. Just not exactly...

Like that it was over and done, he emerged looking pale and what was that in his hand?... It was that painting she did in art class! She smiled big and swung around to grab that hand, "How is my arts from class daddy? I did good, huh?!"

He recoiled from her hand, dropping the painting on the floor.
She picked it up and frowned. Oh. It was that other painting. The one of the scary shadows she tried to throw away. Why would the art teacher save that?

She didn't understand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She felt sick, absolutely nauseated. She stared at the remains of one of her favourite books, mutilated all over the classroom floor. She buckled to her knees and then desperately grabbed what she could of the tattered pages that remained. Hot tears rolling down her cheeks as she tried desperately to piece torn pages back together.

A finger pointed, she didn't care who, the mass it belonged to laughed brutally at her tears, "Cry baby! Cry baby! It's just a stupid book!" the voices mocked in near-unison. They refused to understand. How could they, she supposed? They were the reason for why her books were so cherished. The people within the world were chaotic, unpredictable, it was hard to tell where reason and just because met.

But her books?... They contained facts, references, solid bases for why things were and how the world worked. You didn't just push a magic lever to make your toilet flush; that lever was attached to a long strip of metal with a chain hooked on the end that ran down to a rubber plug. You push the lever down, it lifts the metal strip, it tugs the metal chain, it pulls up the rubber plug and finally water comes flowing down the exposed opening. It was all intertwined, all with meaning and function. With reason. But people... they didn't always have these and especially not reason.

There was no reason for this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She stacked her books carefully on the dilapidated brick wall; every last one about gardening. Once she was sure they were perfectly square she slipped on the leather gardening gloves and then wiggled her fingers with anticipation, "Okay so what did you get?"

The aging man smirked, "I swear you act like you're five sometimes," and then offered her a couple of seed packets. She eagerly read them front and back as if their simplified instructions were a best selling novel, "Right! Let's get going making the holes."

The world was starting to make sense these days. There was something she could control, something that asked very little of her but gave so much of itself to please her.

She'll never forget the day the doctor suggested gardening; immediately after that session father took her and helped her pick out the most amazing trachelospermum jasminoides and a small trellis on which to grow them. They were growing strictly to her whims now, covering the trellis entirely with not a single stray bud venturing away. Even now it made her smile to see them, to smell their sweet aromas mixing with the scent of fresh thoroughly worked dirt as they planted something more.

They made sense.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The alarm rattled her awake and soon she was flying through the house getting dressed. Father wasn't home. It was okay though, she understood. Hopefully this job pays enough he'll get to quit one of his extra jobs to stay home more often. Maybe they could start gardening together again. It was hope, sometimes hope mattered more then reality.

She rushed to catch the bus which took her straight to the deli right beside the morgue. After grabbing a sandwich for lunch later she headed straight to work.

She arrived, half an hour early on the nose. She checked in at the front and headed straight to the back where she was given the grand tour. The place certainly needed her personal... touch. It was dusty and musky with the scent of sick and chemicals staunch in the air. It was possibly even more horrifying then the bodies that were contained within it.

This was a far cry from the dreams of grandeur she once held high and dear. At least she could write on future resumes that she was an assistant secretary. Technically she was; but really she was a janitor. Hired purely to get the place back in order and keep it that way.

It was still a paying job.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Drifting in and out of sleep constantly. It was like a waking nightmare. They wanted her asleep and she guessed she wanted that too... it was safer asleep. She didn't have to see the shadows or hear the whispers. But, that wasn't enough. Some part of her deep inside refused to go down. But there was no longer a choice. You took your medication or you were held down and forced to take it like you were some feral dog.

Memories were starting to bleed together and fade. She could barely remember what life was anymore. It's been weeks. No wait... she had more than one birthday. That was the only time father had enough courage to come see her. Right? Yes. That's right. It's been years then. She peered over dazedly, not entirely sure why she thought she'd see his smiling face in the window of her room. Smiling down at her again. Again? No. She's confusing herself. He's never done that.

She melted back into her bed, things were drifting off and that spark was finally ready to give in again.

This was her life now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Son of a b***h!" she cried out in dismay as she banged her fists against her shared wall. Her new neighbor the king of nuisance. Unrelentingly crude and filthy and obnoxious. Pretty much anything bad in the world and that is what he is.

"That's IT!" she roared as she headed through her door and down the hall to his, "I'm giving that a*****e a ******** piece of my mind!"

That she did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What was it about this girl anyway? Rin could feel her cheeks burning in her presence. It felt like she was young again, only this time she was allowed to be young. To play. She had friends now, people who actually cared. She wanted so badly to touch them. To show them she cared. They were single so why not?

Might scare them. A voice of reason. It was true, she'd only just met the girl. Best to just take it slow.

A smile, a feeling of warmth and belonging, a feeling of love. It was different, it was also very nice. She supposed she'd let the feeling grow. To see what happened. Listen to the voice of reason even with another voice telling her to go for it.

Seriously Byr, shut up in there.

______________________________________________________

Finally, reality set in. Was she sure this time? She could hear voices. Soft voices and crying... no, this wasn't from her past. This was from her present. She looked around blearily before crawling back to the bars of her cage, a gesture that took her a while.

She eyed the food laid by her door with contempt before looking around - this time the candle illuminating the area, "I-is everyone okay?"

A vague effort to try and call out to Sasha. She's pretty certain the crying was in her voice and... she didn't really want to upset her further by drawing attention to it now that it seemed to end while she was still trying to wake up.
 

[Ravvlet]

Wash smiled warmly at Sasha's rallying statement, nodding. They couldn't control the situation, but they could handle themselves. He believed - truly believed, now - that they would all pull through. He glanced away from her when another of the female hunters spoke up.

"I think we're alright- who else is up?" Wash happened to glance at his own basket as his eyes surveyed the room, and his stomach grumbled. Giving it one last squeeze, he released the other hunter's hand to pat at his belly, a little embarrassed.

"Has anyone tried the food? Gotta say, it looks awful good to me right now."

Might as well eat it, can't see us getting out any time soon anyway, Sally added grumpily. I swear, can't leave you alone for five minutes without you stepping in a big pile of minipet s**t.

I missed you, too.  

[Saliru]

"Not yet... but I'm eager to hear what anyone else thinks. I'm not keen to starving to death... but I'm not keen to a swift death of horrible food either," she didn't trust their captors anyyyy further than she could toss them, especially in this weakened state.

She looked over to where Wash's voice came from and smiled, "Still hopeful I see. Good, I think we need more of that. Last thing we need is turning into fearful cowering weaklings. We're hunters. We make fear our b***h. It's what we do, regardless of ranks."

She offered the man a wry little smirk before wiggling her hand through the bars attempting to drag all the contents into her cage to use if it was deemed safe. She considered to herself the best way to portion everything out just in case they weren't to be... regularly treated in such a manner.
 

[Bittiface]

And Rin was up. That was all five now.

Otto remained quiet for the most part, slowly nibbling away at the apple he was eating. "If it's poison, I'll let ya know soon enough." He said with a mouthful of the fruit.  

[bipolar bee]

Sasha did not eat.

She remained on the floor, curled on her side. She was not worried about the food being poisoned - but she was not going to use the food to sustain herself in order to survive. It was obvious to Sasha, at least, that they'd been provided food to keep them alive. Perhaps that was not really their ulterior motive, but Sasha couldn't afford to think otherwise.

These were the horsemen, after all - the very same horsemen whose homes had been destroyed by Deus.

"Why would they want us alive?"  

[Saliru]

Rin was a bit startled by Otto harping up suddenly. Haha, well, apparently it wasn't just the three of them. It seemed clear he was eating as well so she hauled out Byr and was carefully using one of his blade attachments to cut her apple into quarters.

She frowned a bit at Sasha's words but did not stop her efforts, "Does... does it really matter why they want us alive? You want to live, right?"
 

[bipolar bee]

Sasha exhaled slowly.

"It matters."

She clenched her jaw. What was the point of living in here? Wash had said that they needed to give the others back home time to come up with a plan. How long had they even been in here? Hours? Days? How long had they all been sleeping, dreaming dreams of regret, rage, sadness?

She could feel the fear creeping up on her again, and Sasha forced herself to tamp it down, beat it into submission.

"I don't even know if I'm awake right now. What if this is all just another bad dream?"  

[Saliru]

"Why do you think they want us alive?" Rin questioned as she eyed the quarter slice of apple in her hand. She frowned at it, "Are you not eating then?"

Rin raised her gaze and turned it on Sasha, it was highly possible they weren't awake yet. Does it mean they are dreaming together then? Or what if she is simply dreaming that the others are there acting of their own accord, "I don't know for certain if the pinch trick works with this sort of dreaming... and I'm pretty sure this exhaustion is real... maybe... Common Goldie, you're killing my spirit here."
 

[bipolar bee]

"They're feeding us, aren't they? I guess to me that means they'd like for us to nourish ourselves."

She curled up into a tighter ball.

"I'm not eating."