#schwarzwald.

[mystalwartheart]

@schwarzwaldcr cont'd from here.

Regina's honed eyes pierce the darkness, scanning the shadows and unlit corners using a combination of her tritium torch and her dark-adjusted eyes. She visually tracks the faintest glimmer of motion nearby and hears the almost inaudible sound of light footsteps darting in betwixt her and her team.

The moment she feels a soft hand upon hers, she gently places her other on top of it and turns to face her guest, staring her right in her wild eyes.

Regina speaks her first words softly and soothingly, her voice barely above a whisper: "It's alright," she tells her, almost as if she were a mother hushing her crying baby. Or perhaps a kindhearted soul calming a wild animal in distress. "I know. The Sixth Rule. This isn't a flashlight; it's a shielded ring filled with tritium, a hydrogen isotope that gives off its own light through the natural process of radioactive decay. There's no electrical power involved." To further prove her point she gently moves the other woman's thumb and forefinger over the 'switch', showing her through touch how it's in reality just the ring's hinged front cover. "Not all of us can see in the dark quite as well as you," she adds with a quiet and subdued sense of play, hoping to keep the woman calm. "Please forgive the nature of our entry," Regina continues. "We had to be on our guard against anything attempting to harm or ensnare us. We've done our research, and our intel tells us all we need to know about just how dangerous this place is for people like us. We don't mean you, the Castle or the Zone any harm: We're actually here to help you, if you'll allow it," she offers a small, yet sincere smile.

"Are you our local guide?" she asks. "You can call me Regina, and these people here with me are my comrades. My team and I were sent here by our superiors to conduct a clandestine investigation into an underground network of traffickers smuggling human remains out of Schwarzwald. A man calling himself 'The Bear' instructed us to come here and wait for 'The Wolf'. I'm guessing that's you?" Regina asks warmly.

[mystalwartheart]

@schwarzwaldcr cont'd from here.

Regina eyes up her companion. Wulf's plainly inhuman and animalistic appearance - clearly brought on by the effects of the Zone - would perhaps be frightening to some, but not to one as trained and experienced as her.

"Things always change," Regina says quietly. "That's the way of Nature. If we have to adapt again, we will. I wouldn't be here if I didn't know that."

"I don't make a habit of blundering into traps, you know," she begins. "I would've been dead years ago on our first mission if I was that foolish. I could tell right away by the design and layout of this Castle that it was meant for our team. I'd tell you how I knew that, but personal stories come later in a relationship. We played along just enough so we could investigate: We wanted to find out if this Castle was linked to the case at all."

"Evidently, it's not."

Regina continues, though somewhat hesitantly.

"The presence of a music room, with a piano specifically...Was meant for me. It wanted me to play. I came in here alone for the safety of my team, but I deliberately did not play."

"I'd elaborate, but...Again. Personal stories come later. I also don't particularly fancy my chances disclosing all my intimate details to Mother Schwarzwald: 'Loose lips sink ships', as they used to say in wartime."

Presently, she feels the Castle's response to Wulf's query. It's a tremendous racket, but this is what she expected to happen. She dutifully takes Wulf's offered hand, and does the same for her team.

The hallway before them appears to be endless, lined with doors all along either side. A faint light hovers above the floor, at once seeming to observe, beckon and taunt. Regina feels the briefest flash of a memory from a painful moment in her past, winces internally, but lets it pass.

It's another trap. The Castle is mocking her; petulantly trying to frighten her with her own trauma. Offhandedly, Regina wonders if the rest of the team sees the same thing, and even feels a fleeting spike of anger: 'How dare it?', she thinks. 'I won't fall for that: It picked the wrong woman to mess with.'

It is fleeting though, and Regina quickly snaps into action: Glancing back at her team, she orders them to stay close, keep together and move forward into the corridor. She then turns to face Wulf, giving her a small nod.

"Lead on," she says quietly. "We're with you."

[mystalwartheart]

🏤 Stepping into a house that gives off all the wrong vibes [sorry, old os so the emote didn't show up for this one haaa] 🎹 Nighttime in an ancient house/manor, with the tinkling of piano keys from the next room

----

these sounded so good together, i feel they'd make something interesting perhaps~?

The night is eerily calm and still, hanging over the forest as if it were a physical weight. The only sounds to be heard are the light rustling of the trees in the wind. If indeed that's what they truly are.

Regina warily eyes the unnervingly sumptuous manor house before her, deducing the quickest and safest entry route. She and her team have been deployed here by...special request, following reports from the area of body snatching and human remains being illegally sold to bioweapons manufacturers. She's been instructed by her local guide to bring her team to this historic estate and wait there to meet her.

Now that she's here though, Regina's instincts and training immediately tell her something is off. The stately mansion feels like an emanation of the strange energies radiating from this place, and she's starting to get flashbacks she'd rather not deal with right now.

Not again.

Silently, Regina directs her team to follow her lead inside the structure with hand signals. She's heard the stories, and she has the intel: There are eyes and ears everywhere in this land. Cut off from the outside world with no access to radio communications, Regina fears this will be the most grueling and high stakes black ops mission she's ever been on, and she'll have no choice but to put her complete trust and faith in her guide.

She can only hope and pray that's wise.

The old door opens and Regina cautiously takes her team inside in formation. She intently scans the foyer, connected rooms and branching hallways with her Betalight torch for any signs of life. As she advances, she does her best to block out the memories that claw at the back of her mind.

Then she hears it, and can barely believe her ears: Someone - or something - is playing the piano softly in an adjacent room. And she knows the tune: Beethoven's Piano Sonata Number 14, Quasi una fantasia.

"Mondscheinsonate". "Moonlight Sonata". Regina knows a trap when she sees one. The house is toying with her, but she's ready too: Instructing her team to hold back and guard her rear flank, she enters the next room on her own, sidearm aimed and ready. She finds no evidence of anyone else in the room with her though, and slowly moves to investigate the grand piano in the center. She inspects the beautiful instrument, quickly scanning her eyes across the keys.

She won't play this time, though.