second day sea
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- Posted: Fri, 09 May 2014 16:22:17 +0000
"Valdis Uvet farnirer," he echoed her stupidly. He'd heard his share of unusual names, this one took the cake. Vaguely European, though just alien enough to be unrecognizable. It was no language he could recognize and while the chance of it being some incredibly rare dialect from some incredibly endangered tribe in the incredibly desolate African desert arriving in the form of a very modernized young woman was exactly as impossible as it seemed...what other explanation was there? She seemed unwilling or unable to give more information and Kyo regarded her a little more carefully. What other explanation...Another world? She had an unusual way of speaking, not considering the way her tongue seemed to be a little too large for her mouth. Like each word was carefully chosen and clipped before being delivered. 'Royalty,', came to mind and Kyo again had to rein himself back. The thought made his pulse quicken and he struggled to keep the curiosity from appearing. Another world! Wouldn't that be something? Perhaps she was some princess, or a hero. An envoy, sent from a dying land to find one last hope for her people. He smiled vaguely at the thought.
Even as she spoke, she seemed to grow more confident, drawing some strength from within. She was handling herself very well considering the circumstances. If she really were who she said she was, then it was all the more amazing. Her posture was ramrod straight now, and though she kept wringing his handkerchief in her hands, the trembling had mostly stopped. He was impressed. Diplomatic and in control of their emotions. This just screamed princess.
'Stop that,' he chided himself. He was often times prone to his dreams. Romanticizing every little thing was exactly what she had hated him for. Not a day went by when she had not scolded him, telling him off for being too dramatic or too useless or just too...not there. She wanted him to come back down to earth once in a while and give her the attention she needed. He couldn't blame her for that. He didn't. But she had asked him to be there and before he could even try, she was the one nowhere to be found.
He caught himself thinking of her, abruptly changing his thoughts to something else, anything else. He had not yet been so grateful for a companion.
He followed her gesture and then nodded, "I believe so, yes. He could vividly recall the sight of the plane against the bright sky, so close he could have counted the number of windows and how the wings trembled against the force of its fall. For some reason, that was the last thing he could remember before waking up. Again he was struck by a chord of unbalance. It was disconcerting to have a gap in his memory no matter how short said gap was. Clearing his throat to dislodge the uncomfortable lump there, he was filled with a rush of gratitude at her next words. He couldn't help but smile sincerely, relief etched on his face. Unintentionally, he spoke in a formal tone. "You're in Japan. Tokyo to be more specific." He paused for a moment, and then, added almost as an afterthought, "Earth, to be less specific." Surreptitiously, he cast a glance at her, but her expression hardly gave away much. Confusion, fear...in short, nothing new.
He was not deterred. She was out of her element and he was a patient man. She seemed to have her body working properly under her command and so Kyo decided not to offer her a hand. Still however, he decided to pace their walk slowly. There were only a few hundred yards before they reached the giant forest in the middle of the city, if she seemed as if she would be unable to make it he would help. For now though, he remained at her side, taking one measured step for each of her wary ones. There was a lull in the conversation and Kyo found himself enjoying it. Walking made his head feel clear and the tiny bubble of terribly piercing heartache that had sunk in his chest like a arrow was disappearing.
His fingers tingled from the cold and habitually, he checked his phone again to see if there was a signal by now. And then he noticed it. He wrinkled his nose. Cool spring air had been replaced by a whiff of smoke and burning rubber. That passed so quickly he thought perhaps he had imagined it. But then, they took another few steps and the full force hit him so suddenly it made his eyes water. "It's worse than I thought..." he murmured, pressing one hand to his face while the other unconsciously found her elbow. He gripped her, pulling her closer to him as if there was some threat looming beyond.
The stone gate to the shrine rose high overhead, still elegantly unperturbed by the strange situation they were in. For some reason, that only served to unsettle him further. He could hear sirens somewhere amongst the trees and winding gravel paths. For a second, he dithered. Should they go in? Going any closer to a scene of a crash probably wasn't a good idea, was it? With one glance, he confirmed there were still no police which was still beyond any understanding. "Alright then," he said to no one in particular. He glanced sidelong at Valdis, "We're nearly there. A doctor can check you over if you need it there."