Originally Posted by
Arrow-Jolteon
I pause my cleansing of cursed items for a bit to Rescue Hope the Alolan Vulpix
Seeing as how Hope never returned home from checking out the Tolbin House, you decide to see what exactly happened back there and if you can find him. You have a bad feeling about it and knowing what the Stalkers are capable of, you decide to get out there to try and find him as soon as possible.
The road to the Tolbin House isn't long, but you feel an unsettling feeling coursing through your nerves and into your yellow fur as you arrive at a house that looks like it's been abandoned for almost a century. For a minute, it almost feels like you have the wrong place, but you get an eerie feeling when you verify you're not wrong at all. It almost seems impossible that the house has decayed this rapidly, but somehow it is relentless as the whole building is turning into nothing but debris.
You feel a strong sensation in your gut that Hope had to have encountered something truly dark and hideous in that cellar, but you know better than to go down there unless you absolutely have to. You make your way past Melly's gravesite, but you notice even that has rapidly fallen apart like she died ages ago.
You head into the house, feeling as though it could potentially collapse at any second it's in such bad shape. As you head into the crumbling foyer, you start calling out Hope's name. At first, there's no answer. You rush into the living room, but there's no sign of the white Vulpix anywhere. Then the kitchen and the dining room. All the while, the ceiling is breaking down and your heart starts to race with the fear that the whole thing could collapse on your head at any moment.
You decide to head upstairs, and it's there where you find Hope, quaking and shivering in Melly's freakishly decaying bedroom. Someone or something has recently tied him up here with vines, only these vines look like they were ripped off of a grass-type Pokémon. Meanwhile, Hope is surrounded with a creepy circle of burnt-out blood-red candles in the middle of what looks like some demonic ritual circle.
"Come on, we gotta go!" you tell Hope, putting the disoriented Vulpix on your back.
You can't help but notice there are dark, ash-like occult symbols on Hope's body. You're not sure what exactly was done, but it seems like the Enthrallers might have started something nefarious. You're pretty sure they'll be able to wash off, but whatever they started might have given them headway with something deep and wicked.
You rush out of the room, just as Melly's bed falls through the floor and crashes into the dining room below. With your heart racing, you head down the stairs, which are snapping and breaking apart like peanut brittle deadwood as you try to quickly rush down them without tumbling. Everything is falling apart around you as you quickly bolt out the front door, which has already fallen off its hinges.
You run a fair distance from the house, but then just as you turn around, the whole thing collapses upon itself. Had you been a minute too late, you wouldn't have survived. Nonetheless, everything crashes in on itself as the second floor and first floor crumple in on each other and becoming nothing more than a twisted pile of splintering wood, broken sheetrock walls, and destroyed furniture. The whole time, you're just baffled at how a house that was probably perfectly fine a few weeks ago could succumb to something like this... whatever this in fact is...
Nonetheless, while Hope is still trembling and muttering things likely related to the horrors and shadows of memories raging about in his mind, he's at least safe from this strange and nefarious place.
Arrow the Jolteon has rescued Hope the Alolan Vulpix.
"I..." Hope mutters, still having no idea what just happened.
"Relax, you're safe now," you assure him. "I'm taking you back to base, but you really need to rest up."
"Oh..." Hope sighs, still quivering. "Kanja... the grinding... gna...gnashing..."
As you look upon the collapsed Tolbin House, you feel you may never get to know what exactly was down there that drove Hope to the edge of pure insanity, but you feel it's something you're probably glad you'll never have to deal with again.
You head back to the Emissary base with Hope safe and sound. It's going to be some time before he feels up to getting back out there, but at least he's going to make it through.
The Enthrallers have learned a fraction about your mission...
Mission Disclosure: 40%/100%
Hope the Alolan Vulpix (S: Ice)
Health: 4/4
Sanity: 0/4
Perk: First Aid | Learned Abilities: Rescue/Escape
Failed Assassinations: 0/2
Arrow the Jolteon (M: Electric)
Health: 5/5
Sanity: 4/4
Perk: Security | Learned Abilities: Rescue/Escape
Failed Assassinations: 0/2
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