Night 69: Night, Farwell

[corvus_veritas]

Who: Sora, Locke Cole, and Byrne Faraday (NPCs later)
Where: Section 3, The Diamond
Summary: As night falls, the trio of former patients search for help that supposedly can be found in a certain hotel...


Wow... Was the day already over?

Byrne supposed that was what the three of them got when they spent a whole day exploring, only waiting until they were exhausted and starving before collapsing in an abandoned pub and sleeping for nearly another whole day. At least they finally got food when they woke up, thanks to some friendly locals who were giving out free rations at a 'supply station'. (...Even though it had been the same pink goop that'd been served when Aguilar had control of the Institute, unfortunately. At the time, Byrne had quite frankly been too hungry to care, eating it without any outward complaints other than a disappointed expression; now that he could think it over with a full stomach, though, he kind of hoped that wouldn't be the extent of their meals from now on.)

In any case, their exploration of Farwell could continue now - and this time with better purpose. The locals had pointed them to a hotel called "The Diamond", located in the middle of a nearby casino strip along a river. Once there, they should ask for a guy who called himself 'Rockhand', the locals said. Apparently he was supposed to be able to help them. Whoever he was.

That was great and all. The only problem with that was the fact that the sun was now setting, quickly reducing their visibility. In less than half an hour, probably, the three of them were going to have a real tough time finding this hotel if they hadn't already found it.

"Do you see anything yet?" the prosecutor asked his two companions, as he glanced from side to side, trying to get a better look at the buildings surrounding them. This was the right direction, right? The way the locals had pointed them in the first place? There was a giant sign on one of the buildings far down the street, but from this distance Byrne couldn't read what it said...hopefully it was a casino sign. That would at least put them in the right place.

Comments

[lighthearted]

Just like Locke and Byrne, Sora was torn. Of course he wanted to help. That was the whole point, wasn't it? To work together and make sure that they were able to take down Landel once and for all, and then to get everyone home once that was taken care of. But he had people who would be worried about him, who thought he was dead. Kratos, Tsurugi, Link, Tsubaki... and that was just the start of the list.

Sora managed to catch the gist of what Locke had written before he handed it over, and it looked like he was planning to head back. Byrne seemed to be more on the fence with it, maybe because he didn't have as many close contacts back in the institute.

Sora had to admit that he didn't particularly like the idea of running back to Landel and being under his influence again, but hopefully he could find his way back out here, and with his friends in tow this time around. That was the plan, anyway.

"Maybe Locke and I could head back to the institute and we can let your friends know that you're okay?" he suggested to Byrne. It wasn't ideal, leaving him behind like this, but there were clearly enough rebels around to accommodate Byrne and make sure that he stayed safe. "I plan to come back too," he informed Rockhand, "but there are friends of mine back there who I need to talk to first."

He was curious about where those subway tracks were and what Rockhand had meant by souvenirs, but he figured they'd get there soon enough.

[damned_rebels]

"Completely understandable," Rockhand said, and he raised his palm as if to gesture that he didn't expect the three patients to explain themselves. "Your friends are probably gonna worry if they can't see you for themselves, so don't feel like you gotta put 'em through hell on our account."

After rubbing his hands together to warm them up, he added, "The station itself is southwest of here. It'll take a long time to get there by foot, so I recommend seeing if you can't get somebody to ferry you there. If y'all need a little more time to think on what each of you want to do, though, that's fine too. Just lemme know who's doing what, and I'll help make the arrangements."

[kings_thief]

Locke spared a Sora a small smile to hear he was thinking of going back as well. He didn't begrudge Byrne his hesitation, to be honest that was probably the saner thing to do (especially if there was no one waiting for the older man back in the institute) but it was also nice to know he wasn't going alone. Even if they went their separate ways once they got there, just knowing someone would have his back till then was comforting.

Locke used the bottom of the page to write: 'If you'd rather not go with us, we could always deliver a message to someone for you, if you'd like us to.' and tore that off to give it to Byrne. For Rock hand he wrote: 'Honestly, the sooner we could leave, the better. What are these souvenirs that you mentioned?' and handed the pad back to the other man.

He'd never realized before how much slower and cumbersome writing your thoughts out was compared to speaking them, particularly when you had no other option.

[corvus_veritas]

So the other two had their minds set on going back? Byrne couldn't blame them, especially since it seemed they had friends they were eager to get back to. Byrne himself had a few friends there, too, like Renamon and Rei...but he also had Badd and Kay somewhere out here that he was just as concerned about. In the Institute, there were at least other patients to support you, even if Landel was always watching. Who did Badd and Kay have, though?

Locke passed him a note on the subject as he was thinking about it, and he stopped pondering to read it. 'Deliver a message to someone for him' - that actually didn't sound like a bad idea, though Byrne immediately thought of how inconveniencing that might be. It wasn't like he wanted to throw any of his personal affairs on either Locke or Sora. At the same time, though, if they were offering, then it wouldn't be fair to turn down the opportunity.

"I want to stay and help, at least for a little while," he said, both to his companions and to Rockhand. More specifically to Sora and Locke, he continued: "But I can follow you two to the station to make sure you get there alright?" That, and Byrne wanted to know where it was himself. Couldn't hurt to have that knowledge.

As for taking Locke up on his offer...they could discuss that on the way to the station, Byrne figured.

[lighthearted]

It didn't take Sora long to decide that he liked this Rockhand guy. He wasn't pressuring them to make one choice or the other, and he seemed to understand why he and Locke were eager to get back. He was even going to help them make it to those subway tracks a little faster, so it sounded like they were in business.

Byrne seemed to have made up his mind, though. While Sora couldn't help but worry about him, since they were essentially leaving him here, it did seem like the rebels had things under control. Besides, Sora hadn't seen any monsters around Farwell, so it could be argued that this place was safer than the institute.

"You can come with us that far if you want to, but you don't have to," Sora told Byrne with a shrug. "Locke and I can probably manage, but..." It would be nice to say goodbye, at the same time. Sora realized he hadn't known Byrne for all that long, but they'd spent the past few days together and that counted for something.

"So what's this about a ferry?" he asked Rockhand. "Are there really boats around here?" Sora had caught sight of a river during their travels, but he hadn't seen any boats. Either way, it would be nice if they had a faster way to get from here to those subway tracks than just walking.