-______ : ???-
The sable realm he was constituted in was not a kind one; ______ found himself traversing the shapeless landscape as it transfigured into masses of hills, shades of mountains, etc. As the world shifted constantly, it abruptly began to end as the crackle of shadows behind ______ began shattering like mirrors. Where they went was unknown, but there was a nasty squelch and splash afterwords. ______ struggled to run away, but alas, when he reached the edge of the volatile, dying landscapes, he only discovered a pool of liquid. It was arduous to discern the myriads of colors before realizing that they were organs of some sort... and most importantly, the fluids below appeared to be blood from his perspective. ______ wretched at the sight before backing up... and plunging into the ichor below. The air was stolen from his lungs as he pounded into the mixture. Struggle as he might, it was futile to attempt escape; it was as if his whole body was paralyzed by a mysterious poison. Slowly as he sunk, blood gushed between his eyes, slowly filling up his lungs and gastric acids within.
Then ______ field of vision went red.
Sweat poured down ______ face as he banged and crashed around the area, each droplet softly whispering into the black room as the tormented man rolled around. In a few seconds, he stopped, as if he was cleansed and absolved of any remaining sins. The stillness was terminated as the resounding wail of a mysterious creature seeped into ______ who was wrought with nightmares. As the grit a dust washed away from ______ eyes, the man found himself staring head first at a void. Panting, the man found himself chewing on a rag which tasted of rot and cobwebs. Grunting in surprise, his voice was muffled as he set himself on the task of discarding such a fetid taste from his tongue by consistently moistening the item which made the endeavor simpler when he began gnawing at the wrap. Before ______ realized it, his mouth was free and the rancid cloth made its descent to the floor.
Gasping, the man wretched and coughed as he spat out the torn remains of the nauseating cloth, each bit falling to the floor as he gagged. Panting for a fleeting moment, the man ceased his cacophonous hacking so he might listening to the void, and its subdued scraping. Frantically whipping his head around, ______ began his attempt identify where the location of the grisly grating. In such endeavors, ______ could barely make out the silhouettes of others squirming within the confines of this enigmatic room. With all this darkness, it didn't do him any justice at all; even squinting was futile. ______ could only ponder on their location, if these specified people were ensnared in some cellar or safe with a maniac... so it was obvious this wasn't some special holding room for an insane asylum.
______ made forlorn tries of shifting his hands in the opposite direction, however the tight binds he felt kept him from progressing. The man grunted as he tried to spread his legs wide as he arduously undertook the task of forcefully pulling his hands outwards. The method worked to a minuscule length as he squirmed in an attempt to escape... and possibly assist in freeing the others imprisoned... maybe. As he continued in such attempts, ______ attempted to recall what brought such random ruin, before stopping completely, a scowl finding its way onto his being. The man blinked, before temporarily staying still, as if the life he had depended on such notions.
Why was ______ here? Why couldn't he remember how he ended up here, his past, and most importantly his name?
...
"... the hell? Do I have a severe case of amnesia? Seriously?! Who am I?" As he pondered on such a peculiar question, he noticed a figure arise from the shadows, wobbling a smidgen as if they were a newborn foal. Other shapes took his vision; one in the shape of a lumpy sphere, another was a humanoid figure, standing tall, limbs and all. ______ fearfully reflected on if the sounds came from the body... before it began moving to what ______ presumed was a wall. Seeing as others were freeing themselves, along with another figure offering to assist the large nugget, which he believed was a person, the man picked the pace up to rip his hands through the fabric at a swifter pace. ______ managed to succeed, albeit, his hands were scraped; there was the possibility that there was light bleeding on his left hand, but he could cover up the mundane wound once he left.
"That's going to leave a minor mark," ______ mumbled to himself as he tossed the rope to the side, hearing it softly tap off the wall before falling to the ground with a pap. Flapping his hands away from each other one or two times, ______ began touching the areas around his legs, before gripping familiar material. As he began at his endeavors to become completely unbound, he swore that there was a dog in the cell. Did that man who wailed in agony take a bite out of such a creature and let it ble- no... probably not since the whimpering was near to ______, while the scratching was a bit farther.
Huh.
Whatever it was, they were probably incapacitated and captured like most others in this repugnant area. Of course, before he
might assist those ensnared, he would need to rescue himself. You can't (maybe) save those trapped if you yourself were caught, of course. As he undid the final knots, there was a moderate screech which caused the man to flinch as he undid the bonds. Stopping momentarily, the mans head jutted to where the cry emanated from before continuing with his endeavors. Once finished, he threw the remains away as blood flowed once more below his torso; his legs did ache a bit from the course tying. Pushing himself off the floor, ______ legs clamored for a bit before returning to what he discerned as normal.
"Alright, n-"______ train of thought was interrupted by a mysterious female who beckoned some light into the musty cellar within. ______ shielded his eyes with the newcomers metaphorical shot from the dark... before taking an actual on at the...
What.
The.
Fuck.
His eyes widened in ascending trepidation as the...
thing the woman shot at was a... human? Or what was left of it with crusty blood holding onto the areas where their eyes formerly were. Next was the jet black teeth - he wanted to make a joke about dental hygiene, but this was all too surreal! How in the blazes did the man end up in such a despondent state. Even though he wished not to move, despite her command or threat, he slightly shook as his left foot slid back. He remained calm as he glared at the women, before noting the most of the people encompassing the general vicinity; they were all in unique clothing... was he wearing this vest and these twenty bangles before? ______ couldn't perceive if he did previously due to a complete blank over his identity.
Either way, the room was illuminated, thankfully, and positioned his view away from the fallen man. The evisceration of the poor soul was something he did not want to keep analyzing as others shot questions at the supposed captor, or hero of this band of random people. ______, of course, opted to stay quiet, deciding to let others get shot if the pale, red eyed woman did not take the reception of such query kindly. Another sarcastic remark was brought by the white haired fellow who was not helping the situation, at all... moreover, he was possibly screwing them over in the long run...
As another cursed a question about the woman and how she acquired a gun. That was something... to actually save for another time as there were other matters to acknowledge currently. ______ felt his wrists, a warm crimson flowing over his finger. Sighing, the man recalled his arms to both sides as he looked at the another man who seemed to be freeing others from their bindings. ______ could only ponder on how they all congregated in this area...
Before she invited them all to leave the grimy room infested with a less than desirable being. Of course, she mention something peculiar, something about everyone in this area becoming a... hunter. His right eyebrow shot up in bewilderment as he mouthed out hunter before taking a few steps forward. He was curious on a couple of matters, more importantly the fact that he had amnesia. Maybe he could quiz some of the other people in a hopeful attempt at grasping at how they were retrieved and brought here?
As he opened his mouth, the boy in glasses went out, lashing at the old man for question, as if he was some sort of detective interrogating a hapless suspect. Of course, it was difficult to ponder on if the boy was completely heartless as the next words he boomed were weaker, and of course to the group. While he did make a logical point, there was the facet that she didn't just murder the freed hostages in cold blood... plus, the aura she heralded meant she possibly knew what she was doing, despite appearing less than... desirable in a friendly spectrum.
Of course, one of the captives took it upon themselves to fleetingly leave the room, surged by lightning of sorts. ______ shrugged, as he looked at the kid and his facade, feeling that it could shatter into myriads of pieces any second. One of the men addressed his fiery attitude with logic which was hardly inane in his eyes. Another seemed to take their words into consideration, and quickly escaped this wretched basement. Of course, the man with snow white hair followed after the woman who appeared to be in her late twenties, along with another who pursued the way out. In a few moments afterwords, a shrill shriek was heard from the area above which echoed between his ears. This situation was terrifyingly asphyxiating, and yet he was coerced into understanding that there was no other way, but to tread after the woman in black and the five who traversed to... wherever.
"... Well then, that's... something," ______ spoke up in a completely stale way, even with the insanity above. The man glimpsed at the way out, and then back to the young man, his broad face appearing rather disgruntled with an impeccable sense of bravery.
"As much as I distaste believing the woman, we don't have any choice but to trudge out of this area... with the others who I presume are... squabbling... And besides, interrogating a half-dead man with gouged out eyes definitely makes for a better informer than someone in one piece..." Shaking his head, groaning irritatingly at the uneventful... eve or day, the man stared at one of the prisoners who had her legs still bound. Blinking for a bit, he closed his eyes before kneeling down and untying the rope around the teenagers legs.
"Why he would leave you in this state after going through the process of freeing you is beyond me," the man murmured as he slowly untied the knot from the girls legs, completely freeing her and allowing the young woman to get up on her own. Afterwords, he slowly began moving up to his towering level once again, looking on at the kid in glasses. There was a visible frown on his face as he judged him and every fiber of his bone on one, metaphysical distinction known as sanity.
"At any rate," ______ turned his attention to the girl he freed, no longer limited by the snags of ropes wrapped around her legs. He could only pray that she was... somewhat sane, as everyone else in the vicinity was interesting in their own exceptional way. Bending over, ______ extended his hand towards the younger, shorter blonde girl, delaying the inevitability of scaling the stairwell. He beamed at the girl as he began his part of the offer.
"Hey kid," ______ said, cool and politely,
"need some help getting up? Those bindings were unpleasant and restricted some blood flow, so I'm not sure how you might fair when standing."Right now, maybe it was for the best to make a couple of allies, instead of antagonizing a person he just met... even though he was kind of demanding the person for answers. Strife and friction would probably harm them, even with the woman's earlier comment of them all being hunter material.
It was ominous, but they all have two choices - rotting here with a maniac, or leaving the feces infested basement... Hopefully it was apparent to the remaining humans what the unerring decision was with such foul factors in play.
