Day 2: Trapped with the enemy (Moira & James)

[jamesthorn]

Eventually, Moira and he had grown too tired to continue their trek through what appeared to be a neverending series of passageways and rooms and stairs. Luckily, nothing else had tried to attack them so the night ended eerily quiet. They had camped in a well lit room and attempted to rest. James barely slept, feeling wind and bugs crawling over his skin, only to jolt him wake. He finally managed a couple hours of sleep after essentially just passing out from exhaust.

He wakes up grouchy and disoriented.  It is finally sinking in how fucked they are. They have no means of communication or guide. They are essentially just guessing their way through here. Even if someone came here wherever it was, they would never find them. Not to mention they have no food or water. This is probably why they have been snapping at each other ever since they woke up. 

"We have already been this way," James says, gritting his teeth in frustration. The rooms were just going in circles. "Twice."

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[jamesthorn]

When Moira leaps out of his arms, James literally has a heart attack. All he can picture is the snake-haired woman capturing Moira and feeding her to the giant pets they saw back inside, and okay, he isn't Moira's biggest fan but he doesn't want to see that happen. He knows for certain he needs Moira with him if he expects to make it out of here alive, so this is purely a survival instinct. Nothing more than that.

"Moira..." he hisses in the direction she ran. Knowing she isn't coming back, he slowly creeps out of the bushes. Just in time to see Moira darting in and out of the women's legs, spinning her around and around. He realizes what is happening, as Moira darts by the garden hoe, the blade sharp, glinting off the water from the pond. He slowly reaches down for it, hoping he isn't obvious enough that he will redirect attention to himself. But she only has eyes for Moira, as she screams giant screeches attempting to grab Moira by the tail. Eventually she does, holding her up, the snake hairs snapping at Moira in anticipation of a treat.

He clutches the hoe in his hands, running close enough, and then he just swings for the fences.

[chasingtwisters]

Moira hisses when she's grabbed, thoroughly displeased. If she's going to bite it being fed to snakes, she sure is hell is coming back from beyond the grave and punching the responsible party right in the face. She growls and claws at the snakes snapping up at her; if they're going to attempt to eat her, they're still going to have to try and swallow her razor-sharp claws.

Thankfully, moments later, there's a wooshing sound of a blade cutting through air before finding it's target: Meduda's head flies across the garden yard like a golf ball, snakes and all. Moira lands gracefully on her feet on the ground, looking up at James and actually smiling at him as much as she can as a cat. She's actually impressed, for once, so much so that she goes and nuzzles his ankle, an action she will thoroughly deny ever happened once they get out of this place.

[jamesthorn]

Relief floods through James when it's all over, and he stumbles just a little, breathing hard and heavy as he drops the hoe to the ground. He actually didn't think they were going to make it out of there for a minute. Apparently neither did Moira because she threads happily through his feet, rubbing against his leg, tail squishing. He smiles to himself after a second because that was absolutely insane now that he thinks about it. Crazy evil lady with snakes for hair just tried to kill them. He shakes his head, ready to move on, but then he pauses, frowning, but slowly smirking to himself.

He scoops Moira up from the ground before she has a chance to get away again and then he charges back up the steps, back to the hallway that lead them into the woman's lair in the first place. He has a suspicion they might have just caught their first break. When he rounds the corner, he is proven correct. "Cut off the head of a snake..." he says, looking around at the piles of dust, where the woman's pets once stood. "Guess we have somewhere to sleep tonight."

[chasingtwisters]

Moira purrs, nodding happily as James brings them into the house. Here, they have food, shelter, and warmth, almost as though this whole experience was a vacation and not a batshit detour into utter chaos and killer insects. She lets James carry her over to the counter, where he sets her down before fetching her a bowl of water and a bowl of cream. It's an extremely thoughtful gesture, and she mews her pleasure before indulging in both of them, licking them until they're spotlessly clean.

When she finishes, she follows James to where he passes out on one of the couches in the living room area, half-curled under a raggedy blanket. She plops on top of him, nudging the blanket forward until it covers him more fully. She doesn't know why she does it, but he deserves to be comfortable after the last two days.

That task complete, Moira settles down by James' head, turning around until, satisfied, she settles down and shuts her own eyes to the world.