Work Text
With every new killer welcomed into the realm there was – in most cases – also a new place to possibly appear for trials. Sometimes it was an entirely new kind of areal, sometimes just an addition to an already existing one. In his case it was the latter option, another kind of forest located roughly around the Red Forest, though the lighting reminded him of the abandoned asylum they all lived in with it's deep orange shades. It was essentially a beautiful pine forest, just like the one he knew from home. The trees were endless, reaching up into the sky with sunlight shining in between them that turned the whole area into something beyond beautiful. Since this area, unlike all the others, had no stonewalls surrounding it, the Entity would block off one's path if they came too close to the borders of this realm. There wasn't alot of tall grass in this area but the place was littered with leaves of various colours and there were more crows than anywhere else in the realm aside from muddy depths of Backwater Swamp. In a corner of this area, there lay a simple log cabin with a tiny shack next to it. In this tiny shack was a workbench with various tools on it as well as a sacrificial hook for newly found purpose of killing. A bit further down lay a little river, not deep enough to drown in it but the water was always icy. A mossy bridge, constructed from stone, rope and wood in a rather primitive manner guaranteed safety for what would be a rather short passage across the not-so-dangerous river to lead towards a patch of thick berry bushes. A perfect spot for survivors to hide in. A tall killer wouldn't be able to see anything or anyone hiding in there. Lucky for the specific killer this area was 'home' to, he was no tall man. As a matter of fact this one was the shortest with the four members of the Legion being roughly two inches taller than him. Scattered around the area also was a worrying amount of pallets, though most of them were in rather bad spots from a survivors perspective. Clutching tightly to his weapon Jake 'The Nightingale' Park opened his eyes to reveal the playground, HIS hunting grounds, he'd have his first trial on. He was shaking a bit.With good reason, he felt nervous. His heart was hammering in his ribcage, pumping blood through his body at an almost alarming rate. Though it wasn't sure he'd guess there was adrenaline rushing inside his bloodstream, keeping him on edge.By now his friends surely had started to wonder where their Saboteur was. If they even cared.Would they recognize him in his new role?Three crows circled above him, constantly flying around his head.With Rickie comfortably sitting on his shoulder Jake made his way into the woods to find his former friends, tearing a pallet apart with his modified sacrificial hook while he wandered towards the first generator a bit further away from him.Being able to see the outlines of them was extremely odd to him.The Entity had...allowed him (not that he wanted to) to kill one of them by his own hand during this trial. It was a blessing to most among their ranks but to him it was more annoying than anything else, though he planned on using this gift to him if it came down to it. More out of fear of angering his mistress than bloodlust. Technically, he was no killer yet as he'd never before taken a life. In the distance the Nightingale spotted David, working fully concentrated on the generator infront of his face. The Englishman only glanced over his shoulder, when Jake came close enough for him to hear the terror radius. It was a bit smaller than most killers' so it took the survivor a tad bit too long to realize the Killer was approaching him. He stopped for a brief moment and just looked at his friend turning around and flinch. David frowned upon seeing the new hunter stare at him but nothing indicated that he'd recognized the Saboteur standing infront of him. He knew he had to snap out of it and start hunting, and if it only was to avoid the survivors to become suspicious of this killer. Taking in a deep breath, he lunged foward and whistled the melody, commanding one his crows to attack. It rushed foward and before David even had the chance to react, the feathery missile had reached its goal and rammed its beak into his neck, clawing and scratching at exposed skin before returning to its master to await another command. By now the survior was running away from him, having overcome his initial confusion. From somewhere roughly around the killer shack he heard a crow go off, a sign to him another one had been injured by a bird. Though he didn't pay any attention to whatever was going on over there right now as The Nightingale took after the british survivor, determinated to bring him to the ground. The direction the two of them ran was a good spot for Jake to catch up to the man running from him. Soon enough, David had managed to corner himself with no chance of getting away from the former Saboteur. A hook embedding itself in between his ribs was what brought the shirtless man down to the ground, joining dirt and leaves.It was a bit of a struggle for the Killer, as he wasn't as strong as most of the others, but eventually he was able to lift the taller man up onto his shoulder. "Gosh you're fat, mate..." he mumbled to himself as he carried the survivor to the nearest meathook. He felt David stop wiggling for a split second. "Just cuz' yer a weak ass bitch."The Saboteur snorted but continued his way and eventually, with alot of stretching on his end, managed to put the Englishman onto the hook. Gods these hooks were just way to high up. How did the Hag manage to put them up there? She was literally all skin and bones, constantly in a crooked stand and fairly didn't seem like the strong type... With this first one hooked Jake walked away, across the small bridge he had crafted together so many years ago and right into the berry bushes. He'd last seen those over three years ago, at least he thought it'd been roughly something around this amount of time. Though no one really could be sure how long exactly the seven originals had been in this realm. By now, he probably way in his mid-twenties already, though no one in here seemed to physically age.Completely submerged under the leaves he scanned the bushes for any signs of more survivors when he suddenly heard Rickie caw softly on his side. She'd sensed someone rather close to him. It couldn't be David, he was hanging way too far away for that. Another survivor had to be either inside these bushes with him or close around them, probably hiding behind a tree.The Saboteur closed his eye, paying high attention to what he could hear.There was someone breathing somewhere to his right. The intervals between in- and exhale were fast so whoever sat there was afraid. Mixed with the breathing, there also were soft groans of pain. It was definetly a man, judging from how deep it sounded. The killer slowly opened his eyes again, smirking a little bit at how easy it turned out to be. Since there were no red scratchmarks around it was safe to assume the unknown man was still very close to him.A whistle did the rest. For the second time tonight a crow hit right home and this time, it brought someone down to the ground for its master. The Saboteur raised his eyebrow at the sight of Dwight - oh poor, cowardly Dwight - laying on the ground. "Really?"He decided to let the poor guy on the ground, David hadn't been unhooked yet and he knew how much it sucked for the survivors when two people where hooked at the same time. He decided to show them some mercy. For now. A generator returning to life indicated there was someone on the other side of the area, a wide walk for the Nightingale to make. Though he didn't feel like going all the way to this spot, Jake also did not want to linger around Dwight on the ground for too long so he decided to go check on his hex totem. It was well placed, hidden between two crates of firewood behind a barrel with crackling fire inside of it. But it did not appear as burning to the prey anyway, just a regular dull totem to their eyes. When he'd made sure no one was cleansing the bloody thing, Jake glanced back towards where he'd hooked David. At the very same moment the notification of a survivor being unhooked (again, strange feeling) popped up in his vision, making him almost jump right out of his skin. "Jesus christ..." he mumbled. Rickie nuzzled her face against his cheek in an effort to calm down her master's nerves a bit. She succeeded, the Nightingale released a shallow breath he didn't know he'd been holding in. "Thanks, Rickie." Gently he scratched her chin with his finger, resulting in a happy caw from his trusty companion.The albino crow rustled her feathers and pressed her claws a bit deeper into the fabric of Jake's jacket to sit a bit more stable on his shoulder. Enough time had passed for those who'd been at the hook before to walk off of it. The killer made his way back towards where Dwight hat went down to the ground, only to find the other, albeit healed back to full health, still hiding in between the leaves.Rolling his eyes Jake slammed the weapon deep in the kid's side, cutting into flesh. This would've been a killing blow if they were playing by normal earthen rules in this purgatory, as his blade had most certainly cut a lot of bloodvessels. Dwight now had finally started running, strongly reminding the former survivor of a panicking chicken as he took off, right on the other's heels. The cowardly Leader was running straight towards his old cabin, aiming directly for an obstacle to throw and put some distance between the two.The pallett connected with Jake's head, making him dizzy for a few seconds. The killer placed a hand on his temple and saw red liquid when he removed his fingers from it again. He was bleeding quite a bit. Something inside his gut stirred at the sight of his own blood, injury inflicted on him by his former friend...well friend was a bit of a strong word here. Aside from Nea and David he hadn't really had any close friends among the survivors. He was pretty sure in this short amount of time he'd spent as a hunter, there'd been more conversation between him and Frank than he'd ever had with, for example, Kate. With an annoyed grunt Jake rubbed the blood off of his fingertips and slammed his foot on the bloody obstacle, breaking it apart with some help from his modified hook before running after the bright red scratchmarks on the floor. Dwight couldn't be far away, it only had been a few seconds. A tiny droplet of blood had gotten on Rickie, her normally stark white feathers now stained with a bit of red. She didn't seem pleased by this, in fact she made a sound almost equal to annoyance. Though it didn't seem to be directed towards him. Soft moaning noises eventually got his attention. Pain was in their voice, groaning and whining like they all tended to do when hurt. He listened carefully, trying to determinate where the cries came from. It wasn't Dwight, that much he was certain of, his grunting was too loud and forceful. Either a female or a very quiet soft male. He still hadn't seen the other two survivors so far, everything was possible. Behind him, leaves rustled underneath quiet feet. It wasn't loud, easily could be missed by other killers but Jake was too aware of his surroundings, too focused, to miss a tiny detail like this.A grave mistake to underestimate just how much noises mattered during trials. Glowing eyes peaked over slim shoulders to reveal Claudette sitting in the tiny patch of tall grass. Her dark eyes widened as realization dawned on her. Her expression went from fear to shock to disbelief and ultimately sadness. Jake knew she had recognized him. Surprisingly. He'd expected David to identify his voice and be the first one to know it. Claudette seemed hesitant for a moment, torn between approaching her friend and running from the killer. The Killer too hesitated, he'd always liked the woman kneeling there. Her kind nature towards everyone...No. No he just couldn't allow himself to get weak now, he had a task to complete and this sadly involved killing those he once had considered allies. Now they were prey to him.After taking a deep breath he whistled. The black bird circling over him immediatly went after Claudette who started sprinting, outrunning the feathery attacker. It crash landed on the leaves. Luckily the soft ground under it prevented serious injury. After shaking off the shock from connecting with the floor so unexpectedly, the crow went back to circling over it's masters head and remained there until commanded otherwise. Jake went after the survivor, chasing her through the woods with yet another obstacle connecting to his face in the process. She was better at running in circles with a killer on her heels than some of the others. Her slender body paired with some training from Meg had formed her into a rather challenging prey to hunt. Though she certainly was at a disadvantage here as she was already injured. All it would take to bring her down was a well placed hit. Achieving such a hit on the other hand turned out to be harder than he'd have imagined it to be. Sure, the spots to get more distance between the two were positioned rather bad for her but he was no expierienced hunter. He knew how to track down but chasing was an entirely different kind of thing. She definetly had more stamina than Jake. By the time he'd finally managed to strike her down, another engine already had come back to life. The former Saboteur gritted his teeth.With much less effort he lifted the black girl onto his shoulder, Rickie getting comfortable on his head while her spot on her master's shoulder was occupied. The Nightingale didn't even care at this point, he just put her on the meat hook and whacked her with his weapon once her shoulder was pierced by metal. Now he finally understood just how frustrating it could be for the other killers to be forced to run around the same obstacle over and over and over again, only to get it smacked in your face in the end before maybe getting the chance to give the little shit in question a whack. Still fuming with rage her left her alone to give the others a chance to rescue her. By now the survivors surely should have noticed the penalty on their actions. The trial had been going on for what felt like it was quite a while now so there just had to be at least one person to notice it. As if the Entity mocked him, which she probably didn't as she seemed to have taken a liking to Jake, the unmistakable sound of a hex totem being destroyed echoed through the playground. For a brief moment he had to stop to not roar in anger at this point.Though he clenched his weapon, his knuckles turning white from the intensity of his grip.The totem hadn't been too far away, whoever had broken it would die tonight. Filled with determination the Nightingale rushed towards his totem, passing the still hanging Claudette in he process. He saw Dwight hiding behind a rock and gave him a little whack. Since he was still injured, the Leader introduced himself to the floor for the second time in this trial.Yet again Jake didn't pick him up. He was too focused on going for the totem destroyer and Dwight couldn't have been the one, it had been to far away for him to make it to her hook in this short amount of time between the hex falling and him being found by the killer. The third generator powering up in the opposite direction too didn't bother him in the slightest. There, in the distance sitting between a tree and a rock, working on another totem, the Nightingale spotted David King. While Jake Park felt a deep liking for the british survivor, he had sworn to himself to kill whoever was responsible for the destroyed hex and he was damn well going to do so. Remembering something the Wraith had explained to him between rasping breaths, he acted as if he hadn't seen David to deceive him into believing he was safe.A glance to his side confirmed it had worked out in his favour. He was close enough. The crow flew right between rock and tree, hitting it's mark almost way too easy. Much to his surprise the Englishman went down. Had this immense idiot really STILL been injured? Or had he simply startled a hostile crow while striding through the area? Both was within the realm of possibilities as his friend really wasn't the sharpest tool. The smirk hidden by a bloodstained scarf was one of pure cruelty. He felt...bloodlust bubble inside him. There was the WANT to KILL. So he did. Granted this suddenly so much more precious gift, Jake did what he himself had been done to so many times before within the past years. Once upon realising what was about to happen to him, David tried backing off but it was hopeless for the survivor. There was no more escape. The Nightingale launched himself on top of the british man, his rear end more or less graciously landing on David's hip. As the Killer raised his hand holding the modified hook his victim suddenly punched him in the face, the other fist grabbing Jake's wrist. The Saboteur realized what his problem was a tad bit too late. Similiar to the Legion, he was not physically enhanced regarding strength while King was a muscular, strong man. So naturally against a Killer of his stature, almost four inches shorter than the survivor in question, this brute tried to fight his way out of getting killed.Though luckily for him, Rickie didn't take kindly to seeing her master being punched in the face like this. She lunged foward followed by her three siblings. Two of them, Rickie and another one aimed right for David's eye and rammed their beaks into the squishy eyeballs. They were ripped clean out, leaving just holes behind. There was so much blood. Inhuman screeching of pure agony coming from the other man's throat. It felt like a kill of mercy. The Nightingale was deeply disturbed by staring into those empty, red sockets where eyes used to be, the wet sounds of the crows feasting on eyeballs barely audible over the cries. All while Jake still sat on David's hip. His hand had been released from the survivors grasp as soon as Rickie had lunged foward. The sharpened blade of his weapon eventually ended the misery, engulfing the woodland in eerie silence. It suddenly felt darker, colder.David's now dead body under him slowly released it's blood into a puddle of red, staining The Nightingale's pants. Rickie returned to her rightful place, still munching on a tiny piece of eyeball as Jake stood up again to try and find someone else. The bloodlust had vanished, he felt empty after performing this kill. It was a lie and he knew it, empty was by far not the right word to describe how he felt. Despair, frightened or maybe even shaken fit way better. Though he forced himself to appear put together. The two last generators were repaired almost at the same time. Immediatly running to the closer one gave him the opportunity to cut off Claudette on her way to an exit gate. He sent in a crow, this time it hit her, effectively hurting her as he kept chasing after the team's healer. With almost as much grace as a survivor the Killer jumped right through a nearby vault when she entered the log cabin in an attempt to cut the chase short. Unfortunately for him, Claudette had predicted this exact thing and was nowhere in sight when his feet connected with the floor again. "Shit." the Nightingale whispered to no one. He wasted no time and jumped through the exact same window again.Without a sacrifice his mistress would be displeased, he didn't want to risk being a failure in her eyes. She'd seperate him from Michael in a heartbeat if he didn't perform to her liking, he was sure of this. Two whispers. That meant two of them were gone, out of the trial and back to the campfire. Safe until next time they were called. Jake briefly wondered if his clothes and equipment were still there or if the Entity had taken it from them as soon as he'd switched sides. No, there was no time to wonder about such small things now. He had a more important task at hand. One person was still in here with him, he still had a chance. From his shoulder he heard the familiar caw.It made him freeze up for a split second. Whoever was still in the trial, was nearby. He frantically looked around and saw it. The Hatch unlocking merely a few steps away. Claudette ran towards it and was about to jump in but the Nightingale was a bit quicker than she had expected. The dark-skinned girl was grabbed right as she made the jump and pulled upwards onto a slim shoulder. Her struggling was pointless, the hook was too close to them. She didn't even try freeing herself from his grasp. The hook pierced her through the shoulder, spidery legs coming down to consume her. For a moment she managed to fight it.A question of only two words leaving her blood stained lips before the Entity finally consumed her body, ultimately ending the trial."Jake, why?" There was no answer.