Though difficult, almost painful, Wilhelm is able to reassemble his thoughts as the vision fades...
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Though difficult, almost painful, Wilhelm is able to reassemble his thoughts as the vision fades...
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Thomas continues to crawl along as best as he can, using his elbows to pull himself forward and keep up with the Priscus. His Auspex enhanced vision allow him to see the figure of the Shadow up head a little ways in the small tunnel, something seemed to have knocked the man off the pace they'd set.
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Wilhelm's eyes squeeze shut at the sudden assault on his mind, fists clenching, if not for the narrow confines he might have instinctively curled up into the fetal position as his instincts sought to minimize the sudden sensory assault. Not that the base physical reactions did him any good. He could feel the swarming multitude tearing through his mind, ripping it into bits and pieces, shattering the core of his identity.
No.
Over the course of his Requiem he had seen many Vampires lose the last vestiges of their humanity, lose themselves to insanity.
No.
He had sen the beast take control, subjugating humanity and seizing the remaining husk.
No.
He had felt his own beast flail at the boundaries he set every night since he had become a Vampire. And he had never allowed it to subsume his consciousness, or shatter his mind. He would not allow this to either.
No.
The mind was just another battlefield, one he was forced to fight on every night of his existence.
No!
And as he had so many times before he reasserted control of his own psyche. Using sheer, brute force of will to eradicate the intrusion. Once more his mind was his own.
From Thomas's point of view, Wilhelm remained deathly still for several long seconds after the obfuscation was dispelled. Then he spoke; his voice tense, and tight with discomfort. "There is a fork in the tunnel. I cannot use Auspex to determine which one to take. If you have any suggestions now is the time for them, otherwise we will have to make a guess."
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In his mind Thomas sighs, two of them and two directions. Splitting up is always a bad idea, it's one thing Hollywood always got right. Add to that the fact that one of the two vampires in his tunnel was missing their normal knife stabbing hand and splitting up was somewhere on the list of very bad ideas. He considers the question of which direction to head in and wonders if maybe the left hand side is the better choice, given his recent misadventures.
"Well splitting up is never a good plan with this small of a group. Unless we know what direction each leads or you have a compass, we're just going to have to make a judgment call."
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"I concur." He had hardly called for back up just to split up at first opportunity. Which meant it was time to make a guess. Did the troubling response to The Spirit's Touch imply that the side tunnel should be avoided, or did it indicate that there was something worth finding down there?
He did not know, nor did he have any way to find out at the moment. Which left him only with a hunch. The more twists and turns in a tunnel the harder it must have been to excavate. If one was a false trail...would it not make sense to go back and add them after the original was completed?
With one last glance at at the branching tunnel whose past had nearly cost him so dearly, he left it behind. Instead continuing along the original path. "This way."
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Thomas watched the man crawl forward and after a few seconds had passed began to make his way in the wake of the Priscus. Moving on his belly, sliding and crawling forward, and part of his mind wondered how every time he seemed to want to be social with this fellow Kindred he ended up in a position like this. The Night at the Bypass had begun with 5 kindred in an office throwing ideas around and the Blood Hunt, well he'd pretty much just stepped into Avalon when that whole thing began. He smiles to himself and focuses himself on the mission as he crawls on.
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The tunnel goes on... and on... and on...
Time seems meaningless in the unrelieved scenery of dirt and rock leading into darkness, but surely they must have arrived by now?
If they head back now, they can beat sunrise.
Except for the small fact that crawling backwards by pushing themselves with their hands is going to take much, much longer.
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Fortunately, Wilhelm's spectacular sense of time and distance allows the pair to return to their Havens without incident.
End Scene
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