Hunting Slenderman

[dont_turn_around]

In the mist and fog and silence, there is a cave. There is darkness within darkness there and nothing more and the faint whiff of something ... not right.

But there's a drawing stuck to the rocks that frame the opening, a childish grouping of trees and a tall, thin man, with the words TAMAN SHUD.

Here is the end.

"I think we should go here," says Jack.

Comments

[nerves_of_ice]

Steve's able to restrain him with no difficulty at all, in fact.

("James Barnes. Bucky. I give you--")

Bucky blinks, then blinks again, clearing the last of the cocoa dust from his eyes, and looks around at the three of them.

"... this is getting to be a habit."

His voice is hoarse yet, but his words are clear.

[mix_it_up]

"Really?"

She glances at Steve. Asami has to say, this has all been pretty much brand new to her.

Flashing her light around to give Bucky a better view of his surroundings, "This happens to you a lot?"

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"I've had to rescue him before," Steve says quietly as he helps Bucky sit upright.

[ambriel]

"I am very sorry, Bucky. I should have known something like this would happen."

Maybe not just like this.

"I promised to give you protection, and I failed." Ambriel carefully frees his other leg.

[nerves_of_ice]

He lets himself lean on Steve for support, even as he flashes the pretty girl the best smile he can manage under the circumstances.

"I hope not a lot," he says, wryly. "Twice is plenty, thanks."

Ambriel's observation gets his attention fast, though.

"Hey. Not from where I'm sitting, you didn't."

He sounds sincere about it, too.

"I'm still alive, aren't I?"

[mix_it_up]

Asami feels a little embarrassed, for a moment, but it only lasts until Bucky smiles at her.

(He seems less strange than the guy from earlier, anyway.)

"Looks like it," she answers, flashing the light back to him.

"That - tree god? - is gone."

Beat. "The one who was doing all this."

Not the good one!

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

"Something--wild--came out of nowhere," Steve says. "They took him away.

"Can you walk?"

He can carry Bucky, and will if needed.

[ambriel]

Ambriel gives Bucky a quelling stare. "You have very low expectations of 'protection'." And we do not approve, apparently.

"The Slenderman is gone. His influence over this place has ended."

Pause.

"We should leave. Just in case."

[nerves_of_ice]

"He didn't eat me. And I've had worse nightmares," Bucky argues back, quelling stare or not. "So I'm calling it good."

"But leaving -- yeah, let's do that. Get me on my feet, and sure, I can walk."

Or at least, he's stubborn enough to try.

"Smart of you to bring a light," he tells Asami.

[mix_it_up]

She steps back slightly, out of their way.

"I don't think bringing a weapon would've helped me much," she answers, with a small shrug.

[thekidfrombrooklyn]

Steve flashes a smile at her and puts his shield on his back. He stands and holds out a hand to Bucky to help him up.

[ambriel]

"You helped by being here, and not being afraid," Ambriel says.

"Come. Let's go."

[nerves_of_ice]

He accepts Steve's aid in standing, and after the first couple of uncertain steps finds that he's better able to move than he'd thought he might be.

Together, lit by the glow of Asami's flashlight, they retrace the passage out of the cavern and back to the warmth and friendship of the bar, leaving behind an hollow, once-haunted hall now empty of everything save a few crumbled pieces of chocolate.