Play well, but don't lose your-

[keep_hallways]

Who: Open, please tag yourselves
What: Hallows Eve Celebration, part 2
When: Forward-dated to the 31st of October, 10:30pm
Where: The Keep's Great Hall, the grounds, anywhere

Comments

[stillseecracks]

It's alright. Xanth hates Halloween, too.

Frantic, Xanth hears Ironhide's call over the shouts and the uproar. He's lost track of anyone else, but Ironhide, he can find. There's seemingly no danger, though the severed bodies are no less frightening.

Xanth weaves through the crowd of those on their feet, and then is unlucky enough to trip over a body. He nearly spills to the floor himself, but instead stumbles Ironhide's way.

Glancing wildly around the room for anyone else, Xanth catches his breath and grabs at his throat. Then, he looks up to Ironhide. "I'm-- here. F-Fine."

[heavyweaponsbot]

Oh, there's danger. There is always danger on Halloween. Maybe they can't see it, but something had to harm the others.

When the boy appears, Ironhide doesn't waste time. He curls a hand around him, shepherding Xanth between the wall he stands beside, and himself. He wants to grab him and haul him out of here, but he can't. Not until he locates the others.

"Stay there! Stay down."

It's... eerily similar to his tactics when the cardinals appeared, and the similarity is not lost on the big Autobot. His cannons emerge, ready, waiting, for battle.

[stillseecracks]

Xanth gets his back to the wall, but keeps looking around Ironhide for any sign of anything. He feels uneasy without a weapon in his hands. Were there anything, and he and Ironhide were separated, there would be little he could do.

But there is nothing. There are no birds, no attackers, no wires strung round the room at neck level - nothing at all. As far as Xanth can see, no new bodies have dropped, either.

This is somehow more frightening than a clear threat.

[heavyweaponsbot]

He starts moving, then, keeping one hand behind his back to guide the boy. If they can get to the door, he can get Xanth somewhere safe. That's his goal. They can do it. They'll have to.

He will not let the boy die.

Scanners on on high alert, while his good optic darts around the room. "Keep moving. Go."

[stillseecracks]

And move Xanth does, but he's hesitant. He's not yet seen anyone else he's looking for. No Chloe, no Kairi, no Aara. No Bobby, no Mimmi, not even Riku.

Where are they all?

His breathing is quick and his heart pounds from the adrenaline. "W-We-- we can't-- we can't leave people, I-I, I need to-- I have to f-find them!"

[heavyweaponsbot]

The big Autobot goes very still. The boy he'd first met had been willing enough to run and hide. But the voice behind him is insistent, if not stammering, in its resolve. His chest feels tight.

Good boy. Good, foolish, boy.

He glances back behind him. "Stay with me, then. We will find them. Who is it?"

[stillseecracks]

Xanth lets out a breath - he's not relaxed, but he's relieved.

"Um-- K-Kairi. We, w-we have to find her f--first. I-I know she's here, I, I-I-- I saw her." He thinks for another moment; who else did he see? "And-- a-and this girl A-Aara is, sh-she's here too, she's a-- a little shorter th-than I am a-and she's, sh-she's really pale w-with-- w-with blond hair..."

But who else is here? If Kairi is here, then Riku probably is, too, and if Riku is here then Xanth has to find him. This, however, Xanth doesn't voice. He just keeps his eyes peeled for any silver hair, or lack thereof.

[heavyweaponsbot]

Kairi. He knows Kairi. The other name, too -- she was the irritating one who tried to threaten him. But that's not important now. If there is a threat, these people need to be evacuated. And that's what he'll do.

"Move."

He starts off without another word, following the walls, and using his height to peer over the crowd. Not once will he leave the boy's side, keeping himself between the others and Xanth.

[stillseecracks]

And move he does.

What Xanth hasn't noticed is that while he's worried as hell, he's not panicking. Disaster has smacked them in the face and has them running around like chickens with their heads cut off (ha) but he's not panicking. He can feel a quickness to his breath and pounding in his ears; they're like winds before the storm.

But he's not panicking. Not yet.

"Do-- d-do you-- s-see anyone?"

[heavyweaponsbot]

"No. Not yet."

Xanth was the only one of his charges he managed to find. That... doesn't sit well with him. Granted, he didn't even see Lea when he got here, but that didn't mean the boy didn't slip in while Ironhide wasn't looking.

It's the "yet" that's important. They'll find them.

"Keep searching."