[LN] Send in the clowns

[juniordreddy]

This was a nightmare. Except it wasn't a nightmare. Tino had pinched himself no less than eight times and still hadn't woken up. Eight times!

The last thing he remembered, he was hanging out with his friends, sitting on the small wall at the beach. Then he'd lost consciousness and woken up in a strange, dark scary warehouse. One that seemed to be full of carnival equipment. Here and there an ominous sight peeped out from the shadows, illuminated by beams of light through the holes in the warehouse roof. A carousel horse with faded paint here, a rusted sign with a teddy bear face on it there.

"Okay, I'm ready to wake up now!" he called out. "Totally ready to wake up. Ready to commit to that waking up thing like a champ and give it one hundred and ten percent."

He wasn't waking up.

"Waking up in three, two, one...go!" Nope. "Annnd...go!"

That wasn't working. Why wasn't it working?!

Tino turned around to find a clown statue staring at him and let out a high-pitched screech of terror and ran away from it, nearly tripping over his own feet as he did it, until he was a good distance away.

"Where's the way out? Come on come on come on..."

Comments

[oldandweary]

Something was breathing in the dark.

Not that the noisy, stumbling boy was likely to hear, through all his own screeching.

The something that breathed in the dark flitted from shadow to shadow behind the boy, small and quick, tracking Tino, gauging his skill. So far, it did not seem great.

So far, this seemed like an easy, easy kill.

"And then we has it, Precious, yes, then we sees it - we sees it again!"

The soft, hissing whisper turned up gleefully at the prospect, just a little too gleeful not to be audible.

[juniordreddy]

Tino froze where he stood, only just barely catching the sounds of the breathing. Because he went quiet he was able to hear the hissing in the dark. "Meep!" Why had his life randomly turned into a horror movie?! He wanted his mom. He wanted his friends. He wanted to go home. His whole body was shaking now, but he tried to put on a brave face. "Whoever you are, y-you better leave me alone!" He picked up a discarded metal pipe on the ground. "I'm, uh, I'm a master of the ancient art of karate! Hiiyah!" Boy, this pipe was heavy. "Curse you, noodle arms," he muttered to himself.

[oldandweary]

Careful, precious, see. It has a weapon.

Not much of one, but Gollum still froze stock-still, silent as the shadow that hid him.

Across the room, a haphazard pile of junk stood ready to fall at the slightest touch. Before, back before the fire, he would have had to skitter through the scant light to reach that side of the room, but now, it was so much easier just to slip into one shadow . . .

. . . and emerge from another.

The flap of wide, bare feet on concrete preceded a tremendous string of crashes and then, suddenly, lights and noise from the half-powered mechanical organ that had been underneath the junk. Gollum hadn't expected that, and he skittered away through the shadows from his own noise as fast as he'd expected the boy to. Safe in another shadow to the left of the playing organ, he huddled and waited, huge pale eyes adjusting to the light as he hunkered down and watched for the boy to be unguarded.

[juniordreddy]

The boy let out another high-pitched squeal, running away from the sound of the crashing, through a half-dissembled bumper car track, and - finding himself pinned in a corner - through a door he found there. After wandering around a turn or two via touch, he slammed face first into something in the dark, almost falling onto his butt. Ahead of him, he saw a hideous shape in the half-light. "Aaah!" he squealed. Oh wait. Now that his eyes were adjusting to the dim light filtering in through the half-assembled roof, he realized he was looking in a mirror. "Just your reflection, Tino. Keep it together. Keep it togetheeer." He'd wandered into a half-built house of mirrors, his reflection staring back at him from multiple places. He turned around to try to get out again, realizing that this wasn't the easy escape through a ride that he'd hoped it'd be, and ran face first into another mirror. "Annnd I'm lost." His voice cracked, "Today just keeps getting better and better." His breathing started to get faster with panic as he tried to make his way through, the pipe held up and ready in his hands. "Just a house of mirrors. Nothing at all creepy about a house of mirrors. Other than the shadows. And the fact that you don't know the way out. And the fact that you don't know where you are or how you got here. And the fact that there's something else here in this warehouse with you." His voice rose in pitch and constricted, doing that thing it always did that made him sound like a chicken. "Nothing creepy at all about all of that, nope."

[oldandweary]

Gollum hissed with frustration as the boy found a door out. The mirrors made slipping in and out of the shadows more complex, but at least he could distinguish his hunched, speedy reflection easily from the clumsy boy.

His rattled breathing echoed oddly off the mirror panels, as he stalked the boy, waiting for the right moment to strike and avoid that pipe.

[juniordreddy]

He heard the breathing and started to hyperventilate in panic. It was in here with him! In the mirrors he sometimes caught darting movement, a shape out of the corner of his eyes, but he couldn't never quite see it. And he couldn't find his way out! He kept ending up in dead ends or getting turned around. Terrified tears started to pour down his face. "Think think think think -" His mom would be telling him to stop and think in a situation like this. It was one of those things she'd taught him alongside stuff like stranger danger. He had to stop panicking and think, figure out the smartest way to get to safety. Okay, he had a pipe and - and he could break the mirrors! Then everything would look less confusing and he'd know where he'd already been. He smashed the one nearest him, then another, and then another, finally finding a path now that it wasn't hidden by all the reflections. He had to stop to briefly shake the broken glass out of his flip flops as he went but he was making good progress, finding new turns he hadn't been down before and smashing mirrors as he went.

[oldandweary]

The broken glass everywhere cut his feet as he skittered across it, though not too deeply. He was too tough and calloused, but not enough for the cuts to still not be painful.

But nothing was worse than what would happen if he returned without completing his mission.

Nothing was worse than having to go without seeing it when he might have.

When Tino was focused on the mirror in front of him, Gollum leaped on his back from behind, one long-fingered, spindly, but horribly strong hand latching onto his neck and squeezing while the other reached for the pipe.

[juniordreddy]

Tino let out a screech of mortal terror that was cut off by the hand grasping at his throat. Fortunately, even though he was a very timid boy, his first instinct was still to fight. Of course, that 'fighting' was really terrified flailing, but it was still better than nothing. He wound up dropping to his hands and knees from the weight of the - the whatever-it-was clinging to him, more tears brimming in his eyes from the pain of the glass cutting into his skin. He elbowed his attacker viciously, twisting and trying to throw him off, until he finally managed to kick him hard on the stomach, losing a flip flop in the process. This meant as he got up and ran off, he had to run over the broken glass with one of his feet bare. If he hadn't been gasping for air, he would've been screaming. As it was, tears of pain and terror were pouring down his face as he ran. He had never been hurt like this before. The worst he'd ever gotten was a sprained wrist one time when he'd forgotten to wear his wrist guards while roller blading. But now his hands and knees were bloody and stuck full of glass and his foot was stuck full of glass and leaving a trail of blood as he limped away as fast as he could, trying to find a door out of the warehouse. He didn't kow what to do. He couldn't even scream because he was still gasping for breath and he didn't know what that thing was and he could barely see because he was crying and he could barely walk and - Something was trying to kill him! Something that looked like an alien or a goblin or a zombie! All he could do was run and try to ignore his throbbing foot each time he stepped down on it. "You just - have to be - like Captain Dreadnaught," he choked out to himself. "In issue - twenty-two." The one where he broke out barefoot from the slimelord prison and ran over broken glass and still fought every single one of the aliens with just a gun he'd made out of a bar of soap. If he could just get out of here into the light, where maybe he could find some people that could help him - Not 'if.' He had to find people that could help him. If he died then his friends would be sad and his mom had Dixon but he knew it would devastate her if he was killed by a zombie in a random warehouse. And what if it didn't work out with her and Dixon? Then she'd be all alone.

[oldandweary]

If Tino was determined to survive - and clearly he was - Gollum was equally determined to kill him.

He had to. He had to stop the little boy who had just enough of the touch of the White Face about him that he almost didn't even want to look at the boy. It was an ugly sheen, threatening to become too bright for his eyes to handle.

Leave it alone, let too much of that sheen grow, and he wouldn't even be able to wring the nasty little thing's neck without burning his poor hands. Leave it alone too long and it might become a horrible beacon, burning away all the safe, cool darkness, impossible to look at and making the air burn around him.

There were a number of them, he already knew, even if he didn't know the exactly number. The terrible bright ones who burned too brightly for him to do anything but hide from. They'd strip every friendly shadow from the world, and he'd wither and burn and freeze all at once in that terrible light.

He didn't want to know how many there already were. He didn't want there to be more.

But more than that -

He screeched with frustration as the boy elbowed him off, into a pile of broken glass. Now his skin, less calloused than the soles of his feet, bled freely, and that pain spiked his frustration and fear into a furious rage.

"We must sees it again, Precious! WE MUST HAVE IT!"

And the nasty little bright boy wouldn't stop him. He threw himself across the broken glass, ignoring the scrapes and cuts and the bleeding and the pain, and threw himself at the fleeing child.

He gripped the neck with both hands this time, pressing expertly down where the blood needed most to flow.

[juniordreddy]

He went down under Gollum's weight, but still twisted around so he was on his back to try to get his legs under him to kick his attacker. But the creature was too strong. Every time he managed to twist and get a little gap in his hands so that he wasn't being choked, he readjusted his grip. Tino gasped, hungry for air, punching and scratching at the creature's face furiously, smearing his own blood on the creature as he did it, but he wasn't a very strong boy, even with all those games of horseshoes, and through the blur of tears in his eyes, the world started to go black. The worst part was that he didn't understand why. He didn't understand why he was in this place or why he was dying. He didn't understand. And he wasn't strong enough to fight anymore so that meant he never would. His eyes started to roll back in his head. I'm sorry mom...

[didnotdoitforthevines]

The ruckus will be broken by a nearby door opening, and Korra peers into it. She squints into the darkness, before calling up a flame in her palm. "Hey, looking for a ki--" She stops, staring in horror for several seconds before her face contorts into anger and fear.

She stomps in, extinguishing the flame to do a sweeping motion with both hands, and shoving out a concentrated blast of air. It's not elegant, but the first thought in her mind is to get that thing off of Tino. That thing that very much has her unsettled. The blood and choking doesn't help.

"Get off of him!"

[oldandweary]

It's one of them! The ones that shine too bright, that have more than the moon about them. This one is like a furnace, the thing inside her too powerful and bright for him to even stand the sight of her, and the wind obeys her.

The wind hits him like a fist and sends him flying, and he lands on broken glass and disappears into the nearest shadow. No, no, no no no. Now he won't see his Precious, but he'll never see it again at all if he dies.

He flits from shadow to shadow, looking for the door - if she uses her fire again, if she takes the shadows away, he'll never make it out. Must hurry. Must be quick.

[juniordreddy]

Tino regained consciousness once bloodflow returned but nearly being strangled to death wasn't exactly easy on a person. His head was pounding and he was still dizzy and he was hyperventilating, coughing and choking as he tried to suck in air. His vision was red. He saw a girl standing there that hadn't been there before but she was blurred and he didn't know where the creature was so he tried to move towards the light coming through the door she'd left open. But when he tried to drag himself to his feet and run something strange happened. His breathing seemed to speed up and the world around him slowed down. The girl slowed down to a crawl like she was moving in slow motion. Motes of dust that had been whirling in the light coming down in rays from the holes in the ceiling suddenly froze in place. Tino hobbled a few steps forward, then stumbled, hobbled a few more steps and fell again, too weak to stay on his feet. To him, he moved normally. To anyone watching he had staggered forward in a burst of superspeed, fallen, then jolted forward again at superspeed before collapsing to the ground again.

[juniordreddy]

With Gollum gone, it meant Korra could attend to Tino. He was out cold and his breathing was slightly labored, although it didn't sound like he was mortally wounded. The bruises and swelling that were blossoming around his neck definitely signaled a problem but it mostly seemed like he was just a little wheezy, like maybe he had some bruising to his larynx. The source of the blood was his hands, knees, and the single bare foot, which were much worse off. All of them had broken glass sticking out of them. Fortunately, his myth healing seemed to be kicking in and pushing out the shards but they could certainly use some help to move it along.

[didnotdoitforthevines]

Korra's knelt down by this point, trying to get her wits about her again. Her breathing is heavy and uneven, and she's muttering to herself, at least that's what it'll seem like to someone else. The glow in her eyes has subsided, and her voice is back to not being weird. It's certainly a bit timid-sounding, however.

"Well, that was new - I've never heard of another Avatar being able to...well, bend light." "That's because they haven't. This is new to myself as well - I believe it's tied to this world granting you new abilities. As for what I did, well... It simply felt. Right. You're not the first impulsive Avatar, after all - there's been lifetimes for such behavior to rub off upon me a bit." "Well, I'm glad for it. Whatever that thing was, it was creepy. Enough about that, though..."

She frowns, leaning over Tino's foot and opening up the skin on her hip, easing the water out of it and carefully enveloping his foot. It's taking some calculated movements to try and ease the glass out as (hopefully) painlessly as possible, enough that Korra looks even more stressed out than she did.

Healing is not her strong suit.

[juniordreddy]

His foot twitched as she did it. His hands and knees were bloody but weren't that bad. Some of the shards in his foot, though, were in pretty deep. But he stayed unconscious just long enough for her to heal his foot properly, the pain not so much jogging him awake as nudging him gently. It was right after she was finished, after the pain was gone, that his eyes fluttered open, his brain kicking into full panic mode almost immediately. Upon seeing her hands, wreathed in glowing blue, he yelped, kicking to get his foot free, skittering away in a terrified crab walk. Tears started to run down his already sticky face again. "Nonononononono!" he squeaked out, his voice shrill and terrified (and hoarse).

[didnotdoitforthevines]

There was a faint flinch at every twitch, but after a while, she finally managed it, and let out a heavy sigh, inwardly thanking Katara over and over for the training she gave. Once Tino has his wake-up call, however, she takes on a look of panic herself. The glow fades and the water drops on the floor. Her expression is similar to his, and she reaches out, albeit hesitantly with one hand. "Hey, hey! Calm down - I'm not going to hurt you. Or let anything else hurt you. I'm here to help," she explains, then closes her hand and lowers it. "I just wish I could've gotten here a lot sooner."

[juniordreddy]

He was actually whimpering, which was a sound most people generally never wanted to hear coming out of the mouth of a twelve-year-old, but right now that seemed to be all he could manage: whimpers and incoherent confused noises. He held up his bloody hands as if trying to ward her off by sheer force of will alone. Then he finally seemed to find words. Very gravelly, squeaky words. "You - with the hands and the light and the thing! The thing - what was the thing?! A zomblin?" A zombie-goblin. It looked like a zombie goblin. Hence: zomblin. "Andandand you were glowing! Your hands were glowing! And the thing was - where's the thing?!" He suddenly looked around frantically, afraid it was still nearby. "Is it gone?!"

[didnotdoitforthevines]

There's a visible wince when Tino starts whimpering - like, this kid couldn't be much older than Jinora, even if that old. She's just really overwhelmed with sympathy for Tino at this point, between over how young he is and being able to identify with him a bit on the whole strangulation bit.

She lowers her hands to her legs, trying to keep herself calm and stable. "I... honestly don't know what it was, other than some kind of monster. It's gone now, though. It apparently really doesn't like light," she explains.

"Just try and breathe, alright?" Her tone is full of concern and worry - she kinda knows the feeling, between Amon and Zaheer's plots.

[juniordreddy]

In between the squeaky whimper noises, he tried to calm his breathing down but it wasn't happening anytime soon. He shook his head. "It's going - to take a while. The hyperventilation - train - has left the station," he choked out. "And it's not - coming back - anytime soon." He knew how his bouts of panic worked. He was in paper bag territory now with no paper bag to breathe into in sight. Because he didn't have one, instead he rocked in place slightly, bloody hands held up like he would've clutched at his head if they weren't hurting. "You're not going to hurt me?" he asked, daring to hope, his voice sounding pretty pitiful.

[didnotdoitforthevines]

The comment stirred up enough of a grin in her that she couldn't help the sides of her mouth curling up and a stifled chuckle. He was at least in good enough of a state of mind to make jokes! That was a good sign.

"I'm not going to hurt you, no. I was trying to heal you when you woke up," she says, then gestures toward his bare foot. "I hope I did alright - I'm no healer, but what I know, I learned from one of the best." She pauses, then leans over on one arm like she's going to start crawling. "Is it okay if I come over there?"

[juniordreddy]

"Meep." The noise came out of him unconsciously. At the moment, he didn't want anyone to be near him right now and the thought made him even more anxious, but she was the only friendly face nearby at the moment and he just really, really, really wanted to think nothing else was going to hurt him anymore. That was far more likely if he had someone big and strong and capable of shooting off magical lights from her fingers willing to protect him. He also had about a million and one questions that, as far as he knew, only she could answer. "I guess it's okay," he gasped out in between his panicky breaths. "But if you try - to strangle me - I will bite you. And not to wound, oh no - no no no - to maim." His jaw'd had a lot of exercise due to his mother's terrible cooking. In terms of pounds per inch, he figured had to be somewhat close to being able to bite at least like a bear. Maybe even a crocodile!

[didnotdoitforthevines]

There's a nod, and then Korra starts to slowly move over. Part of her wanted to laugh again, but his tone made her give that comment the seriousness it seemed to be asking for.

She moved carefully enough that it takes several seconds for each step. "You don't have to worry about that. The only reason I'd be touching your neck is to heal it, but..." At this point, she moves into a sitting position, though leaves some space between them. "I think I'll hold off on that. I know it can be really scary to have someone try to help right after something like that happening," she explains, hugging her knees close, and keeping her tone low and calm. "Like, everyone says it's for the best to let them help. And you know that, but... You just don't feel comfortable with it, you know? So sometimes it's best to just wait until you're ready to get that help."

[juniordreddy]

"I'm just - I'm really, really, really - confused right now?" he said, more tears plopping down his face as he sat there. "Because I was at home - and now I'm here - and then there was that thing - and you did the thing - with your hands -" To his foot. Which he prodded at thoughtfully. It was perfectly healed when he was pretty sure that'd been the thing that had been cut up the most. His voice was still hitched because the panic wasn't going away anytime soon, and it was going to take a very long time for his breath to go back to normal but in between the little gasps, his tone was more dry than terrified now when he spoke. "That you managed to do - because clearly - you are a witch." He added quickly, "Not that I'm judging. My mom is - into new age stuff. Like crystals - and whale songs - and getting me - to talk about - my feelings."

[didnotdoitforthevines]

"That's pretty understandable, being confused about it. It's pretty weird, to say the least." She tilts her head a bit at the witch thing, and hesitantly reaches out to pat him on the shoulder. "Well. I don't know what a witch is, but if you want to think of it like that, that's fine," she says, giving him a small smile.

"I can explain what's going on, but I think it'd be best to wait a little while, until you're calmer."