『 ℬυℜηt 』

[Escaflowdra]

THIS ROLEPLAY IS A 1X1 FOR SALEM WOLF AND ESCAFLOWDRA

Background - ʙυʀит
Fear. Many ignore it, but it lingers. Some accept it, and are consumed. For a world filled with supernatural dangers, the world had decided to be consumed by it. With those who decided not to be consumed, they set to destroy. And now the only thing that seems to be holding the world together as fear seeps into the cracks of every human heart, it is the military dependency they hold and those few who navigate through the world... driven by the manipulation of fear to gain a stand on the world wealth.

[Salem Wolf]

"Flight 192 to Juno, Alaska is now boarding." He gave a soft grunt as he picked up the duffel bag filled with clothes and other carry-on items and slung them over his shoulder. Closing the book he was reading to pass the time, Daxter McLain gave a quick glance to his traveling partner, someone completely unexpected: Ember Dusk. There had been a long and complicated background to the reason she was coming with as opposed to someone better suited to handle him, but surprisingly it was him who had asked her. Even more surprising, Ember had agreed based on what he had asked her to do. Too odd for even Daxter, he'd not only been polite when asking her, neither rude nor insulting, but he'd been quiet on the way to the airport. He had no weapons, he hadn't even spit a single flame out since they left. Ember had no doubt been concerned by this whole scenario, knowing well the history Daxter had when he had another personality running about in his head, knowing that the personality had been scary and serious. But those were days behind him, he no longer had that and was a much better person, relatively speaking. If it hadn't been clear before, Daxter's polite request that Ember accompany him was proof enough that he had changed.

Daxter approached the front desk and handed his ticket to the attendant, being given entry into the plane and heading to where his seat would be located. Putting his duffel bag in the overhead compartment, he sat near the window and looked over when Ember when she approached and took a seat. They were quiet to one another, for Ember that wasn't strange, but Daxter was never quiet especially for this long. And yet, Ember didn't know why she was going with him, only that it seemed to be pretty important to him, and despite any attempts at conversation he wasn't talking. He put on a set of headphones and drifted away into a music dreamland.

Daxter woke up with a start, the rumbling of the plane bringing him out of his slumber, Ember looking fairly calm despite it all. No one was panicking, and Daxter had to assume the pilot had mentioned heavy turbulence that would be occurring soon. He grumbled as he turned to the side to stare out the window, seeing thick cloud coverage below. He muttered to Ember, "where are we?" Somewhere over a Canadian mountain range, tons of snow and fog made it hard to determine exactly where they were, but the pilot said they were approaching their destination and would be taxiing in an hour. Close, but not close enough. Daxter felt the plane shudder violently, staring to the wing outside as it seemed to be warping strangely. "oh sh -- " no sooner than he started speaking did the wing suddenly shake and break apart, the debris slamming into the side of the cabin and ripping chunks of it out, depressurizing the cabin. Those with their seat belt still on were safe, they were rattling and moving violently, but okay. Those without were thrown from the plane as it started to descend and spin out of control.

"Ember!" He said, looking over to her as the plane started to fall, seeing her unconscious from the violent shuddering and falling. The other wing gave out and debris crashed through the cabin, Ember's seat belt ripping and throwing her from the plane. Daxter sliced through his own seat belt with fire emanating from his hand, then jumped as he free fell after Ember. Luck had to have been on their side, the plane slammed into the mountainside a few minutes later and exploded in an inferno, no doubt one that the two wouldn't have survived. Unlucky though, they were, because they were free falling onto a mountain. Daxter dove and caught Ember, the two of them spinning towards the mountain at maximum velocity. "Wake up, wake your a** up! Damn it wake up! Son of a b***h!!" Suddenly jettisoning fire from his feet, he attempted to slow their speed down and fall parallel to the mountain slope. The snowy mountain came closer and closer until with a final push, Daxter and Ember slammed into the ground and rolled uncontrollably down it. Spotting an edge approaching, one that would take them even further down, Daxter leaped at Ember to catch her and slammed his hand down into the snow, trying to claw into the mountain to slow them down.

They skidded to a stop near the edge, Daxter falling onto his back and panting heavily. He couldn't believe they had survived a horrific plane crash, but were now stuck on a mountain. Some trip this had turned out to be.

[Escaflowdra]

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"Flight 192 to Juno, Alaska is now boarding." Ember looked down at her backpack, taking it up in her right hand and sliding the strap over her shoulder. She could sense getting an odd look from him time to time, but Ember let it slip. There was no reason to pick at her brain anymore than he already had upon asking her to go with him. As if, she thought as she glanced back at him once he had looked away. She was thinking about him, and having to survive such a travel on his own. However, as talented as Daxter was, Ember wouldn't feel right letting himself go roam in the world that wanted him dead at more deadly costs than ever before. Military grips were getting tighter on the nation, and the flat hand putting the pressure of fear and submission was working at maximum capacity now. With such a submission and investment in this fear campaign for the military to utilize their weapons to full capacity, Ember wouldn't be surprised if something went wrong with the flight.

In the times that they went to the desk and their seats, Ember wanted to say something, but she was a quiet mind more than most. She wasn't fond of allowing others to know exactly what was on her mind, but she was never able to read Daxter. Somehow, it frustrated her to not knowing what was going on in his head. That was a smaller factor in taking him up on his offer. Would following him and going with him help her be able to read him better? While the desire to understand Daxter was at a minimum, Ember felt nearly compelled beyond the desire to understand to at least help. Afterall, in trivial moments and pursuits made by the government to capture and experiment on Ember, Daxter had surely done his part as a friend to navigate her through the dangers and even save her on few occasions. Debt. Care. It didn't matter. Ember was going to go along for the ride.

Once they took their seats, Ember truly went along for the ride by diving into a deep slumber. For Ember, she never really slept carefree, but with Daxter here, she highly doubted anybody would try to kill the person he'd asked to go with him... if there was something he could do to prevent any harm her way. It was relieving in a sense to have somebody dependable on protection for... like him. I shouldn't think about it too much. He might get cocky if he finds out I think he's strong. A small smile graced her lips as she fell into a deep sleep.

While in her sleep, she could envision a golden blaze in her dreams. It was enchanting to watch, until the shadows of bodies rose up. It wasn't zombies... but people she knew. They were all still in the process of dying by her gentle flame. How come they are crying? asked a younger voice. Her eyes peered down to a younger version of herself looking back at her with the spring green irises. Why do they cry? This is my love. Ember herself looked up and could see that this was her heart. Few people she treasured, knew, or even remotely cared about were melting in standing position. Some melted as far up as their waists, and would start crawling. They didn't move. Ember gazed at the fire and furrowed her brows. What kind of nightmare is this? The younger girl started crying and wiping away her tears as she hiccuped, I burnt them. I burnt them all with my love. Her eyes widened.

And soon Ember's own eyes opened from her sleep as she could feel an arm wrapped around her tightly. In the gasp of her awakening, the ice cold air filled her throat. She looked around wildly as Daxter was laying on his back and jumped up from his grasp back to standing. She felt the edge by her foot where she skidded to a stop. "Where-" she began until she heard a crack of the very edge they had landed on. Ember could feel the edge which she stood start to crumble, and grabbed Daxter, pushing him against the wall of the mountain as the two feet of cliff behind her crumbled. She forged a steel blade from under her right foot and stabbed it into the mountainside with a good kick to get proper footing. While being pressed up to the side of it, she closed her eyes. Ugh... What a nightmare reality has become in just...twenty god damn minutes. However before moving onto her next idea to get them off of this mess, she looked over to Daxter and asked, "Are you... okay?"

[Salem Wolf]

It was a hard landing for Daxter, he had grabbed Ember out of midair and shielded her from the fall, the thick snow creating a dampened fall for him, which hurt but nothing that wouldn't heal. After they skidded to a halt Ember had awoken, but more problems arose as the cliff they landed on crumbled and fell, forcing Ember into action to keep them from tumbling to the unknown depths below. She looked over to him to ask if he was alright, a question that he didn't know he could answer; with all the thoughts and emotions going through his mind, a mind no longer burdened by others, Daxter could only reply back simply: "yes." Below them the foggy unknown depths that could lead to certain death, and in front of them miles of unknown territory. A lot of unknown to be had, Daxter just wanted to get off the mountain and to civilization. He examined the area around them to see what could be done about the mess they were in, knowing full well if they didn't do something soon then it would only get worse. The height they were at produced intense chilled winds, snow flapping about freely reducing visibility. They had to get above the fog to get any kind of baring, otherwise they could get lost in the mountain range they were in. Looking over to Ember, he made it clear he had an idea, "I'm going to get us higher, just hold tight and I'll do the work."

He put an arm around her waist, holding her to his body as tightly as he could without risk of her slipping from his grip and without hurting her. He kicked off whatever solidified grounding they were on and consciously produced as power of flames he could muster from the soles of his feet and one free hand. Using his streaming flames like propulsion rockets, he managed to gain altitude enough to get them above the fog and hovering over a flat piece of the mountain, a slope reaching the mountain's peak only a quarter-mile from their position. He let Ember drop to the safe ground below while he fell, surprisingly, onto it with a hard thud. He stood up and dusted himself off, testing what went wrong with a weak flame coming from his hand. He then inhaled deeply, exhaling slowly, "the air is too thin up here to produce a powerful flame. Until we get a direction and lose some altitude we're not so hot here." Serious Daxter must have been so strange, he didn't make a quip and the closest thing he said to a joke or pun was his "not so hot" bit, and that was the only noticeable moment for at least a day. Daxter could see in the distance a bellowing tower of black smoking rising, "there's the plane, or what's going to be left of it. We should head that way, the debris will give us an indication of what direction we need to go. Nothing up here says where to go." Daxter gave a quick look to Ember before he started walking towards where the plane had crashed. They'd have to get down the mountain quite a ways, but they had some kind of inkling of where to go. Daxter remained quiet while they walked.

[Escaflowdra]

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"yes," he said in a simple uttered response. He was quick about it all, seeing how they did after all avoid some pretty extreme conditions in this survival climb. Just like Daxter, Ember could feel this journey had gotten fifty times longer by the looks of where they were. The world that she had walked for twenty five years was completely unknown to her now... In Canada. She turned her head away as she was pretty close to him. She was contemplating taking off her coat to spread her wings. I just really hate the cold.. she said as she growled in the back of her throat. When settled that she had no choice to do so, she turned to Daxter as she was about ready to take flight, but before the first button could be undone he stated, "I'm going to get us higher, just hold tight and I'll do the work." A spark of flame ignited somewhere in the back of Ember's mind when she saw his serious expression mixed with a calm determination. That's strange, she thought as she noticed how clear he was. He wasn't being cocky or immature, showing off or even bantering about their position.

Ember felt herself pressed against him, which caused her to look away. She gripped his shoulder and the front of his jacket as he kicked off the small grounding that remained and caused it to crumble and fall into the abyss of the fog below. She looked at it disappear and then gazed around as they were lifted above the fog due to his flame power. A quarter mile went quicker in her mind than what she'd originally thought. She slipped from his grip and landing in standing on the flat ground while Daxter dropped. She turned around, a little surprised by his rough landing and rushed over to his side as he picked himself up. "Take care of yourself," she said as she looked at some snow on his head, "No need to crash land a second time." She narrowed her eyes at the snow on his head, but she felt weird having to reach and brush it off his head. Instead, she sent a gust of wind to the top of his head to brush it off and slightly mess up his hair. He inhaled deeply, exhaling slowly, and fixed himself up. No laughter or anger...

His lack of reaction was getting more strange by the second. "The air is too thin up here to produce a powerful flame. Until we get a direction and lose some altitude we're not so hot here." Ember nodded her head as she crossed her arms and looked over to where he did. She could see small sparks of fire flickering towards the bottom of the towering black smoke. "there's the plane, or what's going to be left of it. We should head that way, the debris will give us an indication of what direction we need to go. Nothing up here says where to go." "You're right," Ember agreed as she met eyes with him for a short moment. After he'd turned away and started walking down Ember was still for a few short seconds. She sighed quietly and shoved her hands in her pockets as she trailed behind him. A couple of thoughts started to float through Ember's mind.

I hadn't seen him for at least three months. Then he finds me somehow and asks me to go with him to Alaska? ...What's there that's worthwhile anyway? Ember tilted her head and looked at the texture of the snow lumped in giant piles all over the landscape. Ember could feel her feet sinking into the snow as she walked behind him, and stepped in his footprints. I thought I could find out a little about him, she thought as she looked at the few prints she had yet to step in to catch up to him, but I don't feel like even following his footsteps helps me understand his perspective at all. She scratched her hair and ruffled her bangs as she exhaled calmly and closed her eyes. I'm overthinking this, aren't I? A breeze of snow chilled Ember from the thoughts in her head and brought her attention to keeping herself warm. For now, she would just have to tag along.

"Daxter," she spoke aloud after a five minute silence, "I never felt like it was much of my business to ask... but I have to wonder, what are you looking for?"

[Salem Wolf]

He didn't say much, there wasn't much to say, he went off in the direction of the plane crash with or without her, though she wasn't going to stay behind that would be stupid. He trekked on towards the crash through the heavy snow, the two of them going on to get their bearings. Daxter figured the two would go off in silence, neither of them having anything to say, but after five solid minutes of walking without a word, Ember had to ask the obvious: "I never felt like it was much of my business to ask... but I have to wonder, what are you looking for?" He stopped walking, but only in a brief pause, then continued on as though she hadn't said anything at all.

Their journey to the plane crash only took them a few hours, Daxter made a few comments about their situation, how he couldn't wait to get to civilization for a hot bath and warm meal, but nothing about why he was doing this, or what he was after. Ember must have accepted that, the issue wasn't pressed any further and it wouldn't have been a good idea to piss off Daxter by doing so anyway, so she likely let it go. The crash was a mess, but Daxter had been right and there was a clear line of debris from where it fell, giving them a solid direction of where they could go from the point of impact. Some scattered debris from the explosion couldn't mess with their directions at this point, it was clear from the tangled bodies, the twisted and charred metal of the plane and scorch marks that they were now going in the right direction. The plane hadn't changed course just altitude when the whole thing occurred, at least not significantly for it to make a big difference. After a quick examination of what remained of the plane, yielding no results for clothes or survival gear, Daxter led the way in the direction of what had to be civilization.

Night fell quickly on the mountain range they were traversing, luckily Daxter had built them what could only be obviously described as an igloo from the snow, which would do well to keep them warm without the use of their powers and without exposing them to the elements. It wasn't a lot, but the tightly packed snow would be enough to stave off cold and keep the interior insulated. Though he didn't build a fire, body heat would suffice.

The plan was to rest until morning and continue onward, hopefully with sleep they could produce enough energy to use their powers to close the distance on their journey. So far there had been nothing in the way of animals, so hunting seemed out of the question and it worried Daxter, knowing that for all his power that starvation was possible. He sat against the wall of the igloo, looking down at the snow he had packed to make the flooring to help the insulation, then when it seemed like they were going to have a quiet, awkward night ahead of them, he finally spoke up.

"My mother," an answer to a question more than 9 hours ago would likely confuse her, but he didn't keep silent as he had been, elaborating further. "I was adopted by a same-sex couple when I was a kid, about the same time I became the screwed up depraved a*****e I still am. My mom, and my mother, were about the only thing I had to a family but I never loved them. A few years of lovelessly staying with my adult female caretakers, I befriended a guy named Dexter. Me and Dex weren't friends, he was my lackey for a better term and such a shy introverted individual I did what I wanted and he never told a soul. Well, my parents found out what I'd done and put me in therapy. I hated them even more. A few years of therapy and things didn't change, I didn't change, I put Dex in harm's way and broke his arm a few times just making him do things for me. Dangerous things. By the time I turned 15 I learned how to manipulate people, I hid what was wrong with me and my parents were pleased I was normal. But my psychopathic insanity just continued to grow, meanwhile something, I don't know what, was trying to escape. Empathy or a long-since buried conscience, whichever it was it tried to make me feel things. And I didn't, or couldn't."

Since traversing down the mountain in their journey to a nearby town, they'd had an increase in oxygen that gave Daxter better control of his powers, allowing him to produce a small golf ball-sized flame he rolled in his palms and back of his hands, playing with it as he spoke.

"After 12 years of being a royal a*****e to Dexter, I guess he finally found some balls and he told my parents. All the years I made them think I had become normal because of the pills undone by Dexter. I was furious, strangely, with Dexter for what I felt was betrayal. I didn't hit him, I planned to later in what would probably be the last thing I ever did to him, but my mother had just had it with me. My mom had been soft-spoken, shy, but my mother was boisterous, loud, obnoxious. She wore the pants in the family, and she wasn't afraid to let people know. She didn't have a temper, but she was stern, and hearing Dexter tell her every dirty detail must've sent her to the edge. Well, when my mom tried to say something to me I told her to, quote, "back off c**t" and just casually tried to stroll on by. Well I pushed her over the edge and my mother struck me. She yelled at me, she told me while I stood there surprised at her swinging at me how horrible I was. How terrible I was, what a lowlife piece of s**t I had become, how she didn't love me. You know something? That hurt."

Daxter crushed the flame in his hand and looked up to stare at Ember with emotionless eyes.

"Whatever had been trying to grow, be it a conscience or what would eventually become the me I am today, Daxter or Taco or whoever it ended up being, let go a flood of emotions that either triggered or was the result of my powers. But I know I hit my mother back and when my mom tried to stop me I hit her too. Next thing I know the coffee table is knocked over, there's blood coming from her head, and my mother is screaming. The fuel of emotions, the release of my powers, the entire thing had broken me. I saw nothing but flames engulf everything around me, my head was splitting and before I could do anything else I ran. When I woke up I felt everything. Dax, who I was before my powers, wasn't who I was anymore. I had become Daxter, taking a self-loathing hatred and balling it up and twisting it into an endless barrage of jokes from a guy who tried too hard to become friends with people. Who had completely lost his mind. That night I had killed my family and best friend, and whether it was my powers that caused my mind to fracture or just everything else had set the course of events that would shape me to the person I am right now. Mental fractures healed, personality restored, psychopathic tendencies in check but still active, and me more aware of my thoughts and feelings than ever before."

Daxter had practically given Ember the story of his life she'd never heard before, but that didn't explain much on why they were out here.

"So you know the story with Sapphire, sure she told you how I broke up with her cause of reasons she didn't know. Well I've been trying to keep in check all the same tendencies I had when I was a kid, but every fight I get into I lust and thirst to cause more suffering. Whether or not she knew it, I was purposely causing her suffering. I wasn't pushing her out of her comfort zone I was reveling in making her squirm. I was repeating the same things I had done with Dexter, only this time I have a conscience to keep me from going too far. I left her because I have slowly been regressing back to the same guy I used to be and it all started with the day I nearly tore down a city with a tornado of fire when I thought Sapphire was dead. I thought I could fix my personality disorder, become one being and still maintain what made me such a good person, or tried to be. But what I didn't realize is that I can't remove Dax because I am Dax. I am Dax, Daxter, Taco, I am all my personalities that represent who I am and who I was and I can't erase that. And since that day I've been bleeding my psychopathic personality into everyday life. I might try to do the right thing, but I will do it in the worst way. Guy mugs someone? He's going to need a wheelchair. I will do the right thing but in such extremes that it negates my entire action. So you might be thinking: 'oh he's self-aware of what he's doing surely he can fix it', well it's not that I can't, but I don't want to. I hurt the people around me on purpose, I do what I do because I can. And I like it. I like the power, playing God. Guy molests a child I get to decide whether or not he lives or dies. That's my right, I believe that."

For the first time all day, Daxter finally broke a smile, looking at Ember while he did.

"The problem is that I care about people who care about me. I'm like some next-generation psychopath. I will hurt others freely, without remorse, until it's someone that displays an iota of concern or care over me. Then when I hurt them, still knowing it's well within my right to do so, I'll feel bad over it. Well, enough on the psychoanalysis stuff. Anyway, so I broke up with Sapphire because I was hurting her, because I could, but also because I didn't like that I did it. Even if I liked it. Make sense? Probably not. You're doing a good job of shutting up and listening, so keep it up. Anyway, as much as I feel I am allowed this right, if someone cares about me I don't want to hurt them, but do anyway. It's like an inner turmoil, a struggle I can't seem to win. Well a few weeks ago I had just finished playing one of my favorite games online with a bunch of others, felt pretty good, figured I'd end the night with a couple episodes of that one anime I was into, doubt you've heard of it. Well, I get a knock on my door, guy tells me he's a detective, I figure what's one more body but before I do it he tells me he's a former detective turned private investigator. And he's been looking for me. Before I grab for a gun he tells me Melony McLain has been searching for me. In case it's not obvious my name is Dax McLain. Which makes her my adoptive mother. He hands me a plane ticket and tells me she wants to see me, he won't tell me why, but I know two things: it's my mother and I want to see her. Surprisingly though, I'm scared. Terrified even, so what do I do? This is where I get him to set up another ticket and invite you along. My mother found me, after what I've done she wants to see me. I don't know if it's to reunite with me or to try and kill me. So that's the story. I'm going to see my mother, unfortunately the plane crashed and we're stuck in a ******** igloo for the night."

Daxter immediately fell over and curled up into a ball, facing the wall of the igloo.

"You were the only person who I thought I could trust to come with me. Everyone else can suck my d**k, but you...well I've always kind of liked you. And I could use what passes for a friend in my book. 'But wait a minute, Daxter', you're thinking, 'what does your mother have to do with you becoming a crazed psycho again?' Good question, the realistic answer is nothing, I will continue to be who I am for the rest of my life. The optimistic answer is that my mother...assuming it goes well...might be able to help me...get control of myself. I can stop hurting people I care about, maybe actually have a decent life because I can finally get some closure to what caused this whole mess in the first place. Or I'll kill her, become who I used to be, no longer feel empathy or emotions like that ever again. Either way, I hope something comes out of this, I don't care about strangers, hurting people I don't know, I feel nothing towards them. I'll make fun of them as they die just because I can. But people like...like you? I don't want to hurt you. But I know I'm going to anyway, and despite feeling bad about it I'm always within my right to do what I please."

Daxter sighed, keeping to himself after his tirade, facing the white snow wall of the igloo.

[Escaflowdra]

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Ember stopped shortly after he did just mere inches from bumping into his back, but with no response aside from his momentary halt, he continued to walk forward. Ember raised a brow curiously, but did nothing to argue wanting an answer. There was no point. His comments here and there were listened to, but never provoked Ember to speak outwardly back to him. Instead, because her question was shoved aside, she felt it was a little necessary to keep quiet on her part. Being put off the topic and shot down without a response was somewhat expected of Daxter, but she had lost her motivations behind communicating with him. I shouldn't have asked probably. they continued onto the path with the debris of the plane which Ember had barely examined with him and then followed as Daxter led the way in the direction which he believed had civilization.

As the night quickly engulfed the white oblivion sky, Daxter had built an igloo as Ember watched. She felt guilty that she could have at least built a steel dome for them, but he seemed pretty determined to keep himself busy and preoccupied with survival. She couldn't blame him. The priorities were in the right place. As he built the shelter for the night, Ember was a little put off by the idea of being in a confined space with Daxter. After all... since the scorn of her last closeness with Zack, she wasn't sure if she would be able to stand being close to another like that. With her arms crossed over her knees, she watched Daxter continue to work hard. She almost felt compelled to help him... but she watched. If he wanted it, he would have asked... which led her back to the initial thought of why he asked her to accompany him in the first place.

It's all so confusing, she thought as she buried her head in her crossed arms. She almost looked depressed when really her cheeks were red from the gusting wind of winter. Soon, Daxter finished the igloo and after settling inside she sat across from him with her side against the wall. She was looked down at the snow as she felt her eyes trailing to look out at the exit of the igloo. Once Daxter was asleep, surely she could - "My mother," he said. Ember shifted her eyes to look at him for a second before returning them to their original spot. Mother...? She listed as Daxter began to elaborate. He began to talk about his adoption by a same sex couple, and the relationship that he had shared with his best friend Dexter... who he abused and put in harm's way. "By the time I turned 15 I learned how to manipulate people, I hid what was wrong with me and my parents were pleased I was normal. But my psychopathic insanity just continued to grow, meanwhile something, I don't know what, was trying to escape. Empathy or a long-since buried conscience, whichever it was it tried to make me feel things. And I didn't, or couldn't."

At that point Ember had turned her back to the wall to face him. Now with him starting to elaborate more, Ember knew that this was her chance more than ever to get to know what was going on in his head. She was uplifted by the fact he went back to answer her question (even if it took him nine hours). His description of his psychopathic tendencies and having to hide them was a feeling that Ember had never experienced, but he was abnormal. A truly unique individual from the rest of the crowd that Ember could somehow relate to, even if their backgrounds and current positions were entirely too different. Having hidden his psychopathic tendencies... well Ember could see that. He continued as he produced a small flame in his hand and played with his power. What was that display of his power doing to Ember that opened her eyes to the reality of his situation even further. He went on his story in a rather traumatizing incline of hurt, words, and betrayal. He expressed it in his emotionless eyes. He looks numb, she thought.

"Well I pushed her over the edge and my mother struck me. She yelled at me, she told me while I stood there surprised at her swinging at me how horrible I was. How terrible I was, what a lowlife piece of s**t I had become, how she didn't love me. You know something? That hurt." He crushed the flame, and the flickers of ember ash left in his hand were carried by a slight breeze that scattered on the floor of packed snow... still hot and seeping into the cold. Ember could feel that pain. Pain, she thought as she stayed in the stare of Daxter's eyes. I can relate to that pain. The words betrayal, anger, flood, flames, engulfing, consuming... Everything. She understood them all. Yet somehow, when hearing all of these about a person other than herself, and seeing the results of such a tragic past sitting on the other side of an igloo she shared.. almost felt like Ember had found some connection in Daxter. A tether that she thought may not have existed... but it was there.

"When I woke up I felt everything. Dax, who I was before my powers, wasn't who I was anymore. I had become Daxter, taking a self-loathing hatred and balling it up and twisting it into an endless barrage of jokes from a guy who tried too hard to become friends with people. Who had completely lost his mind. That night I had killed my family and best friend, and whether it was my powers that caused my mind to fracture or just everything else had set the course of events that would shape me to the person I am right now. Mental fractures healed, personality restored, psychopathic tendencies in check but still active, and me more aware of my thoughts and feelings than ever before." She lowered her head slightly before moving some of the hair out of her face. She felt like Daxter opening up about all of this to her could go on forever, and given such a great deal of information about him at once was overwhelming... but this is what she wanted. In some way, while Ember didn't want to hurt anybody again, to feel like everything she drew close to died in some form or another, she still wanted to know. Him being able to handle the flames didn't mean anything to do with their powers. Maybe it was lack of luck or understanding, maybe it was fate against her, but she figured both sides would get hurt when they were somehow one in the same... with pain.

He then started the more interesting topic about Sapphire. She closed her eyes and took a quick breath, remembering the sorrow Sapphire had addressed Ember with in telling her how Daxter broke up with her. Not having talked to Sapphire for three months now, Ember didn't feel like telling Sapphire the reasons why would do her any good, especially coming from Ember.So Daxter opened up to her about him wanting to make her squirm uncomfortably in place... and how he was hurting her. He acknowledged his rampage when he believed her to be dead. Many would have only seen that as an act of love, and Ember still believed there was a great deal of love involved (as far as she knew what love was), but he acknowledged that his actions were beyond a compassion. They were related to his past self. He began talking about conveying justice and that doing the right thing for him would always be done in the worst way possible. Being bound in a hellish world that neglected you and consistently chased you... Crime and Justice were touchy subjects. She didn't blame him for doing things that way, but more because she could understand why.

"So you might be thinking: 'oh he's self-aware of what he's doing surely he can fix it', well it's not that I can't, but I don't want to. I hurt the people around me on purpose, I do what I do because I can. And I like it. I like the power, playing God. Guy molests a child I get to decide whether or not he lives or dies. That's my right, I believe that." While she actually thought that since he was aware of these problems he could fix them, she could have said that it was pretty obvious that he had at least tried. Surprisingly however, he stated he didn't want to change. He liked to play God. She saw that his acknowledgement of his power and his ability to perform tasks beyond others control was something that influenced him in directions of right or wrong. He was absolutely correct. He did have a higher power, and that alone is why humans were afraid of people like Daxter. He could play God... But what was more curious was what kind of God. Ember's stare was broken in a smile he gave her. It was so unexpected, Ember gave a surprised expression on her face. Her mask was slowly dissolving. For obvious reasons, Ember saw that smile as something that pierced through all the thoughts he had given her to convey a message. A message... which he spoke, "The problem is that I care about people who care about me. I'm like some next-generation psychopath. I will hurt others freely, without remorse, until it's someone that displays an iota of concern or care over me. Then when I hurt them, still knowing it's well within my right to do so, I'll feel bad over it."

She kept those words recorded. That was how he saw himself, and so her relationship with him could be based off of that too. If she cared. The chances were, Daxter would probably never see if Ember truly cared or not, but there was always that wonder that could leave Daxter to not feel bad if he did hurt her, not knowing if she cared. He broke off the topic and complimented her on her listening skills while continuing about Sapphire because he didn't enjoy hurting her. "Anyway, as much as I feel I am allowed this right, if someone cares about me I don't want to hurt them, but do anyway. It's like an inner turmoil, a struggle I can't seem to win." That was something she could share. But decided not to... He then told the details about playing a game, feeling good, and then a detective finding him and saying he had been looking for him... for Melony McLain. His adoptive mother was looking for him and so Daxter was given a plane ticket. Knowing the backstory for why they were taking this journey was interesting on its own, and not knowing what was ahead of them on the future encounter with his mother.

He fell over and faced the wall of the igloo, curling up into a ball. She narrowed her eyes, wondering why he no longer faced her. Was he going to sleep after all of that? That would have been a abrupt stop of a conversation, but she heard him, "You were the only person who I thought I could trust to come with me." The dark dimmed lights of the igloo didn't stop Ember from studying his back that faced her with a more aware expression. Trust? Ember was almost ready to stand up and go out.. find something somewhere which she could think, but he added more, "Everyone else can suck my d**k, but you...well I've always kind of liked you." A fire within ignited to where Ember partially created a small steam, but she was able to stop it. Daxter always kind of liked her? All she could remember was him dismissing interest in her nonstop, especially around Sapphire and the others in their old gang. Now he was saying this. Ember couldn't help but feel like his next guess on her thoughts were wrong, but she felt bad for being almost fixated on something trivial.

"'But wait a minute, Daxter', you're thinking, 'what does your mother have to do with you becoming a crazed psycho again?' Good question, the realistic answer is nothing, I will continue to be who I am for the rest of my life. The optimistic answer is that my mother...assuming it goes well...might be able to help me...get control of myself. I can stop hurting people I care about, maybe actually have a decent life because I can finally get some closure to what caused this whole mess in the first place. Or I'll kill her, become who I used to be, no longer feel empathy or emotions like that ever again. Either way, I hope something comes out of this, I don't care about strangers, hurting people I don't know, I feel nothing towards them. I'll make fun of them as they die just because I can. But people like...like you? I don't want to hurt you. But I know I'm going to anyway, and despite feeling bad about it I'm always within my right to do what I please."

A silence fell between the two for at least a few minutes as a million things or more rushed to the front of Ember's mind. She could see that in their exchange of stares, that his eyes were dark... but there was still a light there. In everyone's eyes, when a light was present, there was a light behind their eyes. His flames that flickered in his hands earlier, and the moonlight that bounced off the white snow and reflected into the igloo, she knew there was a light behind his eyes. She didn't want to see it go away. He liked her and wanted her to come with him, and he even opened up about his twisted past to convey his overwhelmed emotions and hints of fear that seeing his mother may cause something to happen that is out of her control.

Ember laid back to back with Daxter.

She had taken off her coat and laid it underneath her to act as some sort of comforter. She was using her powers in the cold, which she hardly liked to do, to keep herself warm. That heat transferred to Daxter, not knowing if he was using his own or not. After such expressed turmoil, it was understandable if maybe he didn't want to use his powers for a moment. He didn't say anything, and she didn't want to say the wrong thing. She closed her eyes and reopened them as they turned silver. The use of her powers to keep her body warm required her more dragon-like traits to reveal themselves. A small, toned down silver glow emitted from her eyes which could show Daxter if he was looking at the wall that he change was evident. She closed her eyes, hiding the light behind her eyes and finally.. speaking.

"You can't break what is already broken, Daxter."

She kept a calm tone as she laid her hands lifelessly against the fabric of her jacket, keeping her hands off the cold snow that was inches away from the edge. "Pain is universal. There is no such thing as a life without it. However, I am a manifestation of pain. So, any damage dealt onto me no longer causes me actual pain... It becomes a part of me." She reopened her eyes and looked at the wall of igloo that was farther from her now. She had come out of that comfort zone and decided to be beside Daxter, not really caring if he wanted her there or not. "You are not the only one that holds a right," she said as she looked down and ignited a flame in her open left palm, holding it in front of her to examine. It's golden blaze reflected in her eyes as she continued, "Don't worry about hurting me." She took a quiet but deep breathe before continuing, "I forgot what this feeling is called. I don't care to remember it so much... but I'm here." She closed her eyes, laying her open palm to hold that flame as she began to fall asleep. The flame in her hand died slowly and disappeared just shortly after whispering something inaudible before sleeping. Her heat gone, and she rested for the night beside him.

[Salem Wolf]

He had told her everything he could ever imagine telling a person, he had nothing left to say after everything and was glad she could just listen to it all, instead of interrupting and asking questions. A good listener was too hard to find, and after he was done letting her listen he turned his back to her and faced the igloo. He shouldn't have been surprised when she spoke to him, he was surprised when he felt her back against his. He wanted to say something, but human contact was nice, it had been a long time since he slept with Sapphire, he hadn't done anything since they broke up. Human contact was...nice...and for once he smiled. Not the smile of a killer, deranged and happy by way of murder, but one of pleasantness. Feeling her, getting that kind of touch of warmth and friendship it was so rare that to feel it was both unbelievable and a blessing he would take. "You can't break what is already broken, Daxter." She said. "It's hard to feel anything proper when you're broken," he replied to her, adding and agreeing with her statement. She talked about pain, about how she held a right, and then finished with "Don't worry about hurting me. I forgot what this feeling is called. I don't care to remember it so much... but I'm here." Her words strangely comforted him, she fell asleep before him, before he could, and as he smiled and drifted away into slumber he whispered, softly, "thank you."

Daxter awoke the next morning before Ember, finding himself playing big spoon to her. Sometime during the night he had moved behind her and cuddled her, which brought him awake with a start and to his feet, slamming his head against the igloo roof which destabilized the entire thing and brought it down on top of them. Coughing and sputtered the snow that coated him, Daxter immediately let his flames consume him and melt the snow off his body. He shook his head and saw the sun shining brightly across the mountains they were trapped on, the fog had lifted and it was clear for miles. "Well with this weather we should be set to find civilization. Let's go pumpkin." He teased, starting their journey towards a town.

Hours later, longer than he'd hoped, they made it quite a distance, the afternoon slowly creeping away and being replaced with the evening. Another mile later they saw it, clear as day: lights below the mountain. They had come across the Alaskan border and were near a town, they would be off the mountain and in warm beds within the next two hours. "Oh thank god! I thought we were going to die out here. I seriously considered cannibalizing you." He looked over to Ember with a wink and a smile, a big change from his attitude yesterday and the past few weeks, feeling more like himself again. They rushed down the mountain towards the plains and were growing closer to the city of Petersburg, Alaska.

As they approached the town, a mere 20 minutes away, Daxter spotted a brown bear, which he considered to be amazing timing. "Dibs!" Darting off towards the bear, Daxter could be clearly seen tackling it, and wrestling with the bear, attempting to kill it so they could eat. "I'm hungry! I haven't eaten in over a day! Don't judge me." He and the bear wrestled for quite a bit longer, with Ember making her comments as he did so. "I'm an animal?! You're the half-goddamn-dragon! You're not on top of the situation, I am! I am so disappointed with you, and I bet your father is too."

The bear grabbed Daxter and twisted him in his paws, pile driving him into the ground. Daxter screamed in surprise and pain, picked up by the bear and held over its head, then dropped face-first into the ground. The bear then elbow dropped Daxter in the sternum. "You son of a b***h!" Daxter wheezed out, standing himself up and tackling the bear, sitting on it while Ember made another comment. "I don't see you doing anything! We're going to die out here and all you're giving me is snark!" Daxter grumbled, punching the bear in the face, "where's YOUR bright ideas? It's survival of the fittest out here and you're not very fit!" He looked down at the bear, who looked up to him, almost as if in disbelief of what was going on. The bear then grabbed Daxter, threw him off, and took off. Daxter thought about chasing him, but just begrudgingly approached Ember so they could approach the town together.

It had taken some time, but they made it to town where they could find a place to stay, a small bed-and-breakfast that, despite having no money, had heard about the crash and was shocked to see survivors who had traversed the mountain. Taking them up on their generosity, Daxter and Ember were able to get a hot meal prepared for them and a room. A single room. Unfortunately it was tourist season for the capital, Juneau, and people were staying in Petersburg for the night. They had one free room the two had to share, but at this point Daxter didn't complain or care.

After a hot shower, a hot meal, and clothes donated to the pair, Daxter crawled into the King size bed the pair had to share, and since a warm soft bed seemed appealing, they accepted their situation.

"So tomorrow is Juneau..." Daxter said softly, his head resting on the pillow as he stared to the ceiling, "wonder what's going to happen. Ah well, turn on the TV see if we can find some news."

[Escaflowdra]

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While Ember drifted into her sleep, unknowing of what his last few words were to her in terms of thanking her, she could feel the warmth on her back throughout the night. Unconsciously, she felt it moving, even engulfing her to where she believed to have been mistaking the warmth for her powers, but was submerged into it nonetheless. This made her night pass slowly as she drifted into a heavy and full sleep. As morning came, and the igloo shielded the bright lights of the outside that allowed Ember to continue sleeping, she was soon woken up by the snow of the igloo destabilizing and crushing her. Finding herself in such a mass amount of cold snow, Ember immediately lit up like a match to melt every patch and flake of snow off of her skin. She definitely woke up on the wrong side of the world with her method of being woken up.

She looked over to find the culprit, Daxter, who seemed to be coughing and already standing due to its collapse. Had he broken it? Or did it break because of it's structure? Whatever the case was and before she could call him out on it, Daxter turned to her and teased, "Well with this weather we should be set to find civilization. Let's go pumpkin." Ember lowered her eyes to a glazed look in her eyes, a stare that was literally putting up with Daxter letting the matter of the igloo go. But... no reason to argue it. She stood up as he started walking in the directions to finding civilization. Hours passed by when following him, and they both began to see some lights below the mountain. Within a good few hours, Daxter and Ember could actually go get refreshed and rest in beds without having to suffer the collapse of another igloo. Thank god... she thought while looking down.

"Oh thank god! I thought we were going to die out here. I seriously considered cannibalizing you." Ember rolled her head on her shoulders before looking at him, "I don't taste very good, according to Darth," she replied in a smirk. Darth, who had a rather eccentric taste for blood in their Wolfpack-related past, loved blood. All... except for Ember. He had become a little brighter in talking, which was good to seem but with a new light shining on his real self, Ember felt like there was still surprisingly more she didn't know about him. Whatever it was, it could pop up eventually. The main priority was getting shelter. "Dibs!" Ember widened her eyes and watched Daxter run after a grizzly and could be seen tackling the damn thing. In astonishment and some aggression, Ember chased after him while yelling, "What in the hell are you doing you idiot?!"

"I'm hungry! I haven't eaten in over a day! Don't judge me." He and the bear wrestled for quite a bit longer. She crossed her arms standing a little ways away as she growled, "We are twenty damn minutes away from town! You could wait a little longer!" she saw them flipping around while wrestling and shouted, "You're an animal!" "I'm an animal?! You're the half-goddamn-dragon! You're not on top of the situation, I am! I am so disappointed with you, and I bet your father is too." Ember stared at him, a light red on her cheeks either from a mysterious wave of heat or the bitter winter wind hitting her cheeks. She put her hands at her sides as the bear grabbed Daxter in its hands, and watched as it dropped him face first on the ground. Almost playing with him.

At that moment, Ember chuckled a little. It elbow dropped Daxter, which Ember closed her eyes with a small tear from the chuckle forming in the corner of her right eye. "You son of a b***h!" Daxter wheezed as Ember commented, "Come on and stop fooling around! Do something productive other than pick a fight with a bear for Christs' sake." Daxter sat on the bear and punched the bear in the face while talking to Ember, "I don't see you doing anything! We're going to die out here and all you're giving me is snark! Where's YOUR bright ideas? It's survival of the fittest out here and you're not very fit!" Ember rose a brow as Daxter saw the bear give him a blank stare, as if in a bored and unbelieving stare that was finished with the bear throwing Daxter off of him and taking off. So much for survival of the fittest, she grinned slightly, only chuckling until Daxter rejoined her on their journey back to the town.

They made it to the city, settling into a one roomed area which Ember crossed her arms to and kept silent at the desk about. She wouldn't complain. After all, she would rather be inside a building than in another igloo. She took her shower, ate, and took on the clothes given. She was dressed in jeans and a long sleeved shirt with dark checkered sleeves and a hood. It was loose and comfortable, allowing her to breathe for a while as she got to relax. However, at the approach of the bed which Daxter crawled into, she stood at the end of it with some question in mind for how to approach it. He was just casually tossed on his back resting on a pillow and looking up to the ceiling, while Ember was staring at her side and looking at the lamp. She went over and pressed it for a brighter setting and then sat up against the edge of the bed.

"So tomorrow is Juneau... wonder what's going to happen." Ember stayed silent as she moved her dampened bangs out of her face slightly. She'd forgotten to blow dry her hair. But whatever, it's not like she would sleep on the pillow and soak it. As for Daxter and curiosity on what would happen in Juneau... she could only imagine that whatever did happen may change him for better or for worse. If a beast was unleashed, Ember wasn't sure what actions she would have to pull. And if he was all good and no strings detached... all better. Well.. that would be another call of actions Ember wasn't sure about what she could do with. "Ah well, turn on the TV see if we can find some news." She glanced over at him, and looked around for the remote. Seeing it between them she picked it up with her bandaged left hand and started flicking through the channels until she got to the fifth channel.

She watched as the flickering images on the television changed until a woman began broadcasting about an incident on the other side of the world.

The woman was dismissed and another reporter appeared on the screen with a paused footage behind her. "In news related to the capital, it seems that city officials are concerned over the return of a ferocious Gifted. Long after the destruction and downfall of Solica, a number of Gifted including a few names such as "Kanra", "Killzone", and "Enigma" were included in the report regarding who survived. With much detail left out until later details found in --" Ember turned the channel. She didn't flinch or change much in her expression regarding the sudden change of interest, but she decided to turn back for a quick moment.

"has returned." Ember looked back at Daxter, and looked to the TV with a blank stare in her eyes as she started to undo the bandages on her left hand. "I probably should have stayed on the channel to see who it was about, and who is getting to be more famous," with a small smile. Once the bandages were undone, they were all covered in dry blood. The wound was created from their crash landing on the mountain when skidding on the gravel had ripped some of her skin clean off the back of her hand, but with hiding her hand most of the time and the blood soaking into her jacket, she did a decent job at taking care of it while Daxter built the igloo and ignored her behind him as they walked. She wasn't about to tell him that, but she knew the wound still looked fresh. For all he knew, she could have had it for a couple days.

Grabbing medicine and the cloth, Ember was ready to treat her wound and probably rip the fabric to shreds, but she first tossed the remote to Daxter and said he could surf the channels. However, with the items in her hand, she wasn't sure about treating herself to fixing it in front of him. So, after a few minutes and the embarrassment that led to her thinking of revealing a pained expression she stood up and walked over to a desk with her back facing him. She took her seat, and stared at the label while the TV roared. "There's never good news," she commented in regards to the television.

[Salem Wolf]

The closer they got to civilization the hungrier he felt, he wasn't about to bring up anything with the igloo and the snuggling, so he resigned himself to falling back into his natural state. He didn't need to think as much about what was going to happen, and he wasn't keeping anything in, so being talkative just seemed natural. He had been silent because keeping those secrets bothered him, but now that Ember knew so much, he wasn't in such a sour mood. His joke about cannibalizing her brought a smile to his face when she mentioned Darth didn't think she tasted very good, to which Daxter had only one thing to say: "bow-chicka-bow-wow." He laughed, much to her dislike of the sexual joke.

Despite Daxter's efforts, the bear had escaped and Daxter shoved his hands in his pockets as they closed the gap to town. Ember and his little argument had been quite entertaining, and Daxter was quite pleased on their way into town. Given a room, clothes, and a hot meal, he settled in for the evening and telling her to turn on the television. "In news related to the capital, it seems that city officials are concerned over the return of a ferocious Gifted. Long after the destruction and downfall of Solica, a number of Gifted including a few names such as "Kanra", "Killzone", and "Enigma" were included in the report regarding who survived. With much detail left out until later details found in -- has returned."

Daxter didn't flinch at the news report, unsurprised by a few of them returning, though Ember had mentioned wanting to figure out who was getting famous, "I probably should have stayed on the channel to see who it was about, and who is getting to be more famous," she had said. "My bet is on that Defiance guy, he always seemed to be doing something." Daxter and Defiance had never gotten along, but they worked well together and Daxter had no doubt respected him for his talents, even if he wasn't aggressively gifted like him, his powers mostly to aid his senses, whereas Daxter had fire and smoke. He shrugged, catching the remote when Ember tossed it to him, him having glanced at the wound on her hand. He watched her walk away and sit at the desk after having grabbed herself some medicine and cloth. "There's never good news," she said with her back to him.

Daxter watched her for a bit, she didn't seem to be moving much or going for cleaning her wound, which after the couple of days they spent in the wilderness, couldn't have been too painless for her. He deliberated on the matter, on dealing with her issues and being a good guy, eventually switching the TV over to some cartoon show about something called a PuppyCat, then rolled off the bed onto his feet and approached her. Grabbing a chair from nearby, he sat next to her and twisted her chair so she had to face him. "Let me see, don't argue." He told her seriously, rolling up her long sleeve and carefully having her hand rest on top of his. "Doesn't look infected, but it's not pretty. You still have some rock in your skin, we need to remove those before we can bandage it back up." He looked up at her for a second, then rested her hand on her knee and went into the bathroom. He returned a moment later with tweezers and sat back down, resting her hand on top of his once again. "I know I don't have to do this," he told her, "but I wouldn't want you to screw it up and lose your hand. You need it." There was no way Daxter was being nice to her, offering up his services, just for the sake of being nice. Never.

The fun part was pulling out the embedded rocks in her hand and dropping it onto the desk, a few pieces seemed to be rather deep, which required him to dig a little for them. When digging the tweezers into her flesh, he held her hand, looking up at her from time-to-time to make sure she was doing alright. "Almost done," he said, continuing on the last few pieces of the rocks. When done, he sat the tweezers on the desk, grabbed the bottle of medicine, and applied it to the wound. "You should have said something, you idiot, an open wound like that in the cold Canadian mountains you're lucky you didn't suffer frostbite." He grabbed the cloth and wrapped her hand in it, cupping her hand between both of his. He produced excessive heat to warm up her hand and help speed up her speeding process. He looked at her for longer than a second this time, staring at her as he held her hand between his. "Let that be a lesson to you," he spoke softly, "don't make me be nice to you again." He stood up and speed-walked to the bed, crawling under the covers and taking off his clothes to sleep underneath the soft blankets wearing nothing but underwear. "You and I can share the bed, no point in not enjoying the warm softness."

Daxter awoke the next morning early, he showered and dressed and waited for Ember to wake up, then got annoyed with her and poked her repeatedly, "wake up princess, we're moving out." When she was ready to go he went off to breakfast and filled his plate with plenty of meats and pancakes, eating hungrily. "Pass me the syrup." Their meal lasted a while, despite Daxter being relatively skinny he packed away the food like a hungry dog, eating until he felt content. After breakfast, Daxter got the travel schedule that would be going to Juneau, and he and Ember went by bus, then by ferry, then by bus into the downtown part of the city.

Their trip took them most of the day, by time they actually arrived in Juneau it was fairly late, and the directions to meet with his mother led them to an enormous office building that was closed for the night. "Figures, come all this way and I don't get a phone number or a home address. The instructions do list a hotel though, let's go see if we're walking into a trap." Shrugging, annoyed by being kept waiting for another day, Daxter noticed the hotel nearby that was written on his directions for meeting his mother. Entering the lobby of the hotel that had to have been more expensive than they could afford if they even had any money, he decided to try his luck anyway and approach the front counter. "Reservation for McLain and guest." The attendant nodded and looked through the computer system, "Dax McLain, presidential suite for two. Here are your keys and the envelope that was kept for you." Daxter grabbed the envelope and looked over to Ember, opening it up finding what amounted to $1,200 in there, and a note.

Dear Dax,

There is a lot to say but not at the moment, I've left you enough money to buy yourself a nice suit and keep yourself occupied for a few days. I will be out of town until the 20th, and the investigator has said your flight left with you in tow on the 15th. When I am ready you will be contacted by someone on my behalf, until then the Presidential Suite is yours to stay.

- Melony McLain

He handed the note over to Ember so she could read it as well, "I can feel the love in the note. C'mon, let's get acquainted with our new room." Daxter pocketed the money and callously took the note back from Ember and crumpled it up, tossing it into a wastebasket. Was he upset because he was being forced to wait a few more days, or because the note seemed so informal from someone who had raised him? Either way, Daxter entered the elevator with Ember and raised his hand up, "don't say anything. Not about this. So we've got tonight, tomorrow, and the next day and hopefully the day after we'll get this stuff taken care of. Twelve-hundred bucks to play with for about 3-4 days, though I don't know what the s**t to do in Juneau." He sighed.

The elevator let them out on the top floor and he approached their room, sliding in the key and opening the door. The room was at least three times the size of the one back in Petersburg, the bed was bigger, the TV larger, complementary snack bar included, a full-size bathroom and a balcony that led outside. It wouldn't be cramped for the next few days, that would be for sure. "Check this out! Heated blankets. Oh I'm going to be so toasty tonight!" Daxter's mood changed a bit, he seemed happier, less upset over what was going on. Perhaps the wait wouldn't be so bad after all.

[Escaflowdra]

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Daxter had mentioned that his money would be on Defiance. As some of the familiar names of the past circled in the back of Ember's mind, she was also aware that other names had not been mentioned. Some names unspoken due to hiding or death. She lowered her eyes back to the wound and looked closer, examining the rocks that were left inside. She would have to dig them out. This wasn't as bad a scratch as many, but because of her lack of practice with the lighter side of her powers, Ember couldn't heal it fully and properly. She recalled telling Daxter that she was a manifestation of pain. Indeed, that is what she had become. This injury did not bother her so much as more personal ones in the past... but she would take care of it in the most suitable way: by not making a big deal of it.

She could hear a cartoon playing in the background, one which almost made her head turn because it wasn't so cliche. However, she did find Daxter's feet shuffling to the ground and walking by, grabbing a chair and twisting hers to face him. Ember sat straight up against her chair, a little puzzled by his actions. Was he going to watch her clean it, or make a few quips as she healed? Nothing was certain until he spoke, "Let me see, don't argue." She held her breath as his fingers went under her long sleeve covering up the wound and began to rolling it up to her shoulder. When done, she hovered her hand for him to examine, but he placed it on his. She gritted her teeth behind her lips and felt-- "Doesn't look infected, but it's not pretty." That's not an adjective for me. Haha, "You still have some rock in your skin, we need to remove those before we can bandage it back up."

Ember did furrow her eyebrows slightly while examining the wound with him, but failed to make eye contact before he left. She dropped her hand to her knee when he rested it there, and left Ember to grip her jeans in said hand. He came back with the utensil in hand and rested her hand onto his palm once again. She opened her mouth while they both stared at the wound, where she felt so exposed, "You--" "I know I" "don't have to do this." She shut up. "But I wouldn't want you to screw it up and lose your hand. You need it." In terms of fighting and survival, her right hand was her primary and most important hand of the two. Sure, he had a point that she did need it, but she couldn't help but bite her lower lip as a small thought emerged in mind. I wasn't going to screw it up. He of all people should know I've dealt with this before.

He started digging the rocks out of the wound embedded into her flesh. Small holes indented and scattered that made it look like an endless task of time. He was careful to take out all the pieces, and with Ember breaking a sweat for more than one reason, she hushed herself as much as possible to not expose such a vulnerable expression. In fact, she had even activated her powers, looking back at him with silver hues when he held her hand tighter for more uncomfortable extractions of the rocks. His checking up on her, his careful actions, and his hand were all swirling up Ember's thoughts. She was experiencing a more different side of Daxter in a new light exposed along with his past from yesterday. It was almost inevitable to say that he was looking out for her, but it was undeniable that in her eyes, she could convey surprise and hints of gratitude.

He was getting under her skin. "Almost done," he said, continuing on the last few pieces of the rocks. When done, he sat the tweezers on the desk and grabbed the bottle of medicine. Ember thought that was all on his part. That too? she thought when she measured the effort he was putting into helping her. He applied it to the wound and spoke, "You should have said something, you idiot, an open wound like that in the cold Canadian mountains you're lucky you didn't suffer frostbite." Ember felt like she could actually mutter something back, but the medicine was a scorching pain of chemicals that made Ember wince and let out a gasp of pain. She hated the feeling of medicine on an open wound, but her healing powers could not disinfect the wound. Only this clear chemical filled liquid could, sadly. It was also cold, which irritated her highly.

Before too long of feeling a red cover her cheeks, (due to her flush of frustration in dealing with the annoying pain), Daxter was quick to grab the cloth and wrap her hand in it. She glanced up at him again, seeing him hold her hands in both of his as he produced an excessive heat to warm her and speed up the process. She was breathing a little heavier, but calming down as he stared at her with her hand between his. She was staring at his eyes closer than when they exchanged words in the igloo, and she could see her reflection a little blurry in his dark hues. She gave a stare back, mixed with her coming down from pain of the wound and a glance of curiosity. She wondered what was on his mind to be doing all of this... and the feeling of being close was making Ember think just how long this seemed in her head than in reality. He broke the silence, "Let that be a lesson to you," softly, "don't make me be nice to you again." A response where she was genuinely caught off guard.

He stood up, leaving Ember to stare in the same direction with a still expression on her face while he dived into the covers. Did he just tell me not to make him? But how- and in the moment of her thoughts he spoke up, "You and I can share the bed, no point in not enjoying the warm softness." Ember was still, crossing her arms and lifting her knees as she stayed on the chair until he fell asleep. For some reason, her heart was beating quicker. She was sure the medicine was worn, and there was a numbness in her hand that felt nice. The pain was gone relatively fast, and when Ember did finally make it to the bed, she slept sitting up above the blankets with the television on at a low volume. Her eyes were heavy, and eventually Ember did slip into a heavy sleep.

Overnight, Ember managed to lay on her side above all the sheets and comforters, then being woken up by Daxter with repeated pokes. She released the click of her teeth and a growl, as if she wanted to bite his finger, "wake up princess, we're moving out." She rolled out of the bed quietly, not eating much for breakfast, and then following Daxter as they went by different methods of transportation to get to Juneau. The trip had taken most of the day again. These days seemed to be passing by slower and slower in terms of getting to their location... but Ember was fairly impatient with what could happen at this reunion. After following directions and approaching a rather large office that was closed, her heart slowed, "Figures, come all this way and I don't get a phone number or a home address. The instructions do list a hotel though, let's go see if we're walking into a trap."

Daxter seemed irritated.. which he had every right to be since all this timing seemed to be against him. The following directions led them to a hotel where he asked the lady at the counter for a reservation. She listened in on the words presidential suite and widened her eyes, giving a shocked glare to the computer. You're kidding.. but there was no joke. There was an envelope handed to Daxter which he opened. A flood of hundreds dropped out, which Ember could care less about than the actual hand written letter. She was handed the note, reading in the detail and finding that the only emotion was in the word dear towards the beginning. She gave a glazed look when Daxter commented, "I can feel the love in the note. C'mon, let's get acquainted with our new room." He took the note and crumpled it into a wastebasket, which Ember watched its travel and followed him as she had been doing for days.

She walked into the elevator with Daxter, crossing her arms as she leaned against the wall on the opposite end and listened, "don't say anything. Not about this. So we've got tonight, tomorrow, and the next day and hopefully the day after we'll get this stuff taken care of. Twelve-hundred bucks to play with for about 3-4 days, though I don't know what the s**t to do in Juneau." He sighed. Ember knew that he was frustrated for a while, but she felt as though waiting would be better on her end. Three-four days was enough time for her wounds to heal. Maybe she could go explore the city.. for intel of course.

The room was definitely nicer than what she expected to be a presidential suite. Such a mass amount of money given to Daxter was far more effort from Melony than she expected from the broken past he described... but it seemed promising so far. No cameras, a very nice place. Ember could live here, in her dreams. She listened to Daxter being cheery over the blankets as she herself went to the balcony and stepped outside. She liked heights. Maybe she would even fly tonight, given that the breeze would be an easy carry and she could keep herself warm. "It's nice," she commented as she looked at the setting sun and the night sky clash together, It was interesting... and Alaska was certainly playing tricks on her eyes. Such a warm glow of the sun and all this winter snow... it was hard to imagine that it was always cold. I've just never been this north before...

The night passed for a while longer. Daxter was probably getting comfortable at the hotel while Ember had decided to take a walk. With an item in her pocket, she kept her hands on it and sighed. This wasn't what I intended on buying at all. She rolled her eyes as she came across another bar. A few men stepped outside and were chatting it up on the late night sidewalks, talking about whatever they could. Most people in Alaska suffered in this time of year when the night hours were extended over daytime. In other words, suicide rates and depression were higher in Alaska because it was both cold and there was a lack of natural sunlight. When the sun did come, it could literally brighten up somebody's day... But it didn't take a genius to see that people were getting drunk because of depression like that. Among other things.

For it being past midnight, and with random groups of people on the street being social and or wasted, Ember found herself tempted to get some drinks... But she quit a long time ago. She'd never gotten drunk due to her genes of having the alcohol tolerance of a dragon which seemed too damn high. After what happened, she had attempted to make herself forget for a night by drinking so much. But it was impossible. Eight empty bottles and a few hundred wasted on her old apartment floor, and Ember was in a pit of despair that wreaked like alcohol and ash. The thought of alcohol reminded her of the club in east Gradia... where she had met Sparrow and Seth. They died eventually. Everyone did. It was all a mistake, but she trudged on. There were still some of her former friends alive.. but to call them friends was a lie on her part.

It's been several months since you died, she thought. Closing her eyes, she stopped and squeezed the item in her pocket. Ember's emotions were getting more depressing. Maybe it was the cold. She looked around and thought, maybe I should head back. Being by myself in the cold for too long may drive me insane. However, upon turning back she looked down an alleyway. A mysterious shadow was jumping from wall to wall and it had white glowing eyes. Confused, Ember stood there and observed it for a minute. She was brushed by drunk strangers as the figure made it to the end of the alleyway and looked back at Ember with two bright white lights turning red. A screech that only Ember could hear had her bending over and covering her eyes, squinting her eyes and growling. What the ******** is that sound?!

Whatever it was, the figure went back to it's glowing white eyes when the noise stopped and took off, but in a rage Ember turned direction and walked down the alleyway, speeding up once out of sight of nearby civilians. "No you don't!" she spoke in a rough exhale as she paced herself. She went after the creature, which she could not tell what it was until she came to a dead end. She looked up and around, the walls being pitch black. She was confused, as she looked at the three walls and saw the glowing white eyes on each one. Am I hallucinating? she thought as she punched one wall. The bricks went in from her impact, and her eyes glowed silver. The bricks were dented in, and when she blinked, suddenly the walls looked normal. She saw the damage she made in her attack on the wall... but there were no towering black walls suffocating her with white eyes. She curled up into the corner of the alleyway and relaxed, breathing heavily as she had run in anger to catch it. Am I going mad?

However, what Ember could not see was a small black demon looking down on her from the edge of the building in the distance. She had been tricked to follow something, but nothing more occurred with the demon. Instead, she took out her cell phone, dead, and sighed. I guess I should fly to find my way back... Maybe in a little while.

[Salem Wolf]

The next morning he woke up with Ember having joined him in bed, for a split second he smiled at the thought, then went to poke her awake. Her reaction was priceless and adorable, and he reveled in the opportunity to annoy her. They had breakfast, they traveled, landed in Juneau and subsequently found a hotel to stay at, courtesy of his mother. He couldn't help but feel so broken up by her letter, how formal and cold it sounded. If she survived, surely his mom could have too, lived through such an event? But then why so cold? Because of who he was/is? Or because his mom died, and his mother blames him for that? Daxter had a million thoughts racing through his head but he knew that if he dwelled or tried to sort them out he would get lost for days. He focused on the heated blankets, "Check this out! Heated blankets. Oh I'm going to be so toasty tonight!" Yeah, just pretend these problems didn't exist, no need to bother anyone with them. Daxter worked alone, he slept alone, he would die alone. But having Ember around, so he wasn't so alone, it was comforting. Needed. He couldn't think of another person he'd rather have, because he could maintain his feeling of being alone with someone who rarely spoke. She was a good partner to have, he made a wise decision.

Ember left to take a walk, leaving Daxter to his own devices, which consisted of splitting the money with her and going out shopping. Sure, it was late, but the city was in a state of perpetual darkness, and there were always going to be the stores that were open late and sold suits. Not $1300 suits, but cheap suits. Besides, splitting the money left them both with $650 for the next few days, which should be enough for anyone. Daxter had already figured out expenses and knew he could make it last until his mother was ready to speak to them. Ember was gone, and Daxter left the hotel not long after her, reminding her to get a spare key in case he wasn't around when she got back.

Alaska was cold and dark, it was almost depressing but Daxter didn't let things like this depress him, in fact he enjoyed the darkness. It accentuated his flame ability, lighting the darkness around him and engulfing people in light. It was a symbol, his flame was power and destruction manifested physically, and the light it formed was that of deception. It did not show a path or light the way, it was intended to terrorize and intimidate. That was Daxter's way of life, to terrorize and intimidate. He smiled, the power he held in the palm of his hands gave him goosebumps to think about, and he was glad for it.

As expected there weren't many places open at this hour, Daxter had to search for a while to find a place that looked as though it sold suits and was open. But he ended up finding one and heading inside. He had a limit, and he wasn't dressing to kill just dressing to his mother's standards, apparently. The woman had to have become loaded since he was last with her, if his mom died it made sense, without the love of her life she left their state and started over. Maybe she dove headfirst into the type of business she wanted to but wouldn't risk family for. He shook his head, power and money were more important than family. Weren't they?

The store associate had to have been in his 50s, a man who knew his stuff, and though the store itself was a supermarket place, filled with food and clothing in one location, the man dressed nicely despite his position. Daxter thought about approaching him, but instead walked past him and started browsing the clothes. Nothing fancy, suits ranging from $75-$200, so they weren't all the best available, but again he was looking for something that looked good, he didn't plan to wear it past his initial meeting with his mother. The attendant came up to him, smiling, "looking for something to wow?" He asked, Daxter glancing back at him, "something just above my usual standards." The associate laughed politely, showing Daxter a wide range of suits until, barely 15 minutes later, Daxter picked up something in black that fit and paid for it. "Your lady friend will be quite impressed with you, certainly a far cry from the types of hooded jackets you wear. Like ones with ears." Daxter laid out enough cash on the counter to pay for the purchase, suddenly his eyes darting up to the employee who had been grinning like the Cheshire cat the entire time. Without seeing him do anything, Daxter could feel the force of a bus going 50+ MPH hitting him in the chest and sending him sprawling backwards. "Whoops."

Daxter had slammed through a wall, pieces of the drywall on top of him. It was no effort to push it off and stand himself up, shaking the drywall powder off of him, glaring to the employee, the gifted. "What do you know about my lady friend, a**-wipe?" He asked with a scowl, flames traveling from his palms up to his shoulders in his intimidation attempt. The gifted smirked, "you don't think we wouldn't know, would you? Come now Dax." No one called him Dax, no one who wanted to live. He would beat the information out of him.

Daxter rushed forward tossing out flaming spheres towards his opponent, telekinetic power extinguishing them before they could hit. A powerful push picked up debris and hurled it towards Daxter who spun through the debris and avoided it, straightening out his fingers and letting a thin strip of fire solidify into a flame sword from the tips of his fingers. He sliced at the air, heating it rapidly as he attempted to hit the telekinetic, but each swipe was dodged until Daxter was struck and sent tumbling. "You can't win against a man with the power of the mind." "No," Daxter replied, vanishing from the telekinetic's view in a burst of smoke. "I won't win," he vanished from the side of the telekinetic, then appeared with a roundhouse kick to the face, sending the telekinetic spinning into the ceiling. Daxter leaped and teleported, a powerful spinning kick sending his enemy to the ground. "I'll destroy!"

The telekinetic pushed with hands and feet off the ground in a flash as Daxter landed with a flame sword intending to impale. His enemy skidded to a halt and began pushing TK energy at Daxter to knock him back, but the physical manifestation of his flame sword allowed him to counter each hit to prevent him from being sent flying. Daxter pushed back on the attacks and closed the distance, striking the telekinetic with a powerful flame burst that sent him flying. Teleporting, Daxter struck the telekinetic in the air and sent him to the ground, shattering the tiles underneath of him. Stabbing the flame sword into his shoulder, Daxter put his foot on the man's stomach. "Who sent you to kill me? Was it, Melony?" The telekinetic laughed, "who? You have no idea that you make waves wherever you go. Don't be so naive." That was all Daxter needed to hear, he put the sword through the man's throat, took the money and the suit (effectively stealing it), and walking out of the store.

---

"Duck!" Came a voice from the darkness as two thin discs hit the air on either side of Ember in the alleyway and exploded, two large dog-like creatures falling backwards and vanishing. From seemingly nowhere emerged an old friend, Defiance, his eyeless face mask staring at Ember. "You've got a Gifted after you, and an exceptionally powerful one at that." Grabbing something from his utility belt he tossed it high into the air where it exploded in a brilliant display. It would blind the demon that was hunting Ember and would give them a bit of time to get out of its sights. Defiance grabbed Ember's arm and led her to the harbor, then to a small shack that rented jet skis. Defiance, Noatak, took off his mask and stared at Ember with his brilliant green eyes, "I'm surprised to see you here, the loud one...not so much. Him I'm surprised is still alive, actually."

[Escaflowdra]

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"Duck!" a voice called out. Ember immediately bent forward as two disks were sent flying and attacked two large dog-like creatures behind her. The explosion sent her forward, tumbling on the ground until she was able to get back up to standing. With a little surprise, she looked to the masked man that emerged from the shadows. "You..." she said as he then spoke, "You've got a Gifted after you, and an exceptionally powerful one at that." She went quiet, almost wondering why a Gifted of all things would be after her. He would know if it was a former Wolfpack kind of Gifted... but if this was the real deal... There was curiosity as to why. It wasn't long after for Defiance to act rather quickly in taking a device and throwing it into the air. She gritted her teeth, angry that something was after her, but before her stubborn ways could keep her in place, he grabbed her arm and led her to the harbor.

Ember followed Defiance until they made it to a small shack with jet skis. Noatak took off his mask, and with piercing green eyes, he looked at her. "I'm surprised to see you here, the loud one... not so much." Ember put her hands in her pockets and looked away from his eyes, "Him I'm surprised is still alive, actually." "That's because he's too stubborn to die." She knew Defiance was always looking to see what the latest activity with the Dogs once, but since what happened in Gradia, Ember was sure she had taken herself off of the map from him. Afterall, he was his best friend. With the events that had transpired, Ember was sure that Noah wasn't too happy to see her... Maybe. Or, maybe ignorance was bliss and the world was still pretending. Either way, she looked to him and spoke, "You seem to be doing well."

She looked over her shoulder and out the window of the shack, taking a peek for any intruders or unexpected guests. "What are you doing here, Noah?" she asked out of curiosity. He was surprised to see her, so she doubted that she was one of the people involved in his search.

[Salem Wolf]

--- Defiance ---

He led her to the shack where they could talk in peace, away from the threat of any Gifted that might be after her, or not even her specifically. Defiance expressed surprise that Daxter was still alive, prompting Ember's reply: "That's because he's too stubborn to die." Noah chuckled, taking off the face mask, then nodded, "typical. Too stubborn to die and too dumb to live." He rolled his eyes, looking at Ember. "You seem to be doing well." No time for small talk, but he nodded to her...again. "I usually do." Small talk out of the way, she had to ask the obvious: "What are you doing here, Noah?"

"I was on my way back to the town that I grew up in, visiting my family and had to make a stop in Juneau to get there. Of course that was planned before I knew Killzone would be flying here. You're traveling with him because he's going to visit his mother, right?" He smirked, "of course I knew, it's my business to know these things, especially on the unstable ones. That and a private investigator often leaves a solid paper trail. The real question is what's following you and what they plan to do with you. Get back with Daxter, strength in numbers." He slipped the mask back on, exiting the front door of the shack, "word of caution though, if I know what hotel you're staying at, I wouldn't be surprised if your attacker does too." He jumped onto the shack's roof and disappeared into the night.

[Escaflowdra]

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"I was on my way back to the town that I grew up in, visiting my family and had to make a stop in Juneau to get there. Of course that was planned before I knew Killzone would be flying here. You're traveling with him because he's going to visit his mother, right?" Noah smirked in the direction of Ember as she tore her eyes away. "Of course I knew, it's my business to know these things, especially on the unstable ones. That and a private investigator often leaves a solid paper trail. The real question is what's following you and what they plan to do with you." Ember lowered her eyes to the door handle as Noah grabbed hold of it and reminded her, "Get back with Daxter, strength in numbers." He slipped the mask back on, exiting the front door of the shack, "word of caution though, if I know what hotel you're staying at, I wouldn't be surprised if your attacker does too." He jumped onto the shack's roof and disappeared into the night.

With Noah's disappearance, she knew she had to get back to Daxter. The only problem that lied in her mind was thoughts of despair. For the several minutes that she was in that shack with Noah, she could feel the shadows in its corners consuming her mind. She was already guilty of many things... But for things to get so far out of hand... and without trying to seek anything like forgiveness, she felt like he shouldn't have saved her. He should have left her in that alleyway by herself... But that didn't mean she wasn't grateful. In fact, she still had to go with Daxter to see his mother. That was her current mission. That's all she really cared to think about at the moment. So, getting back to Daxter was more than just strength in numbers. It gave her a piece of mind and transformed her ignorance into bliss. His problems, position, situations and words were all an escape for her.

It was after some time of Noah leaving that she walked out of the shack herself and made her long journey to the hotel. Wherever that was.

Oh great. I have the key but I don't have the place memorized. She could feel her mind forming a face palm and slapping her from the inside when she realized how dumb her mistake was. No matter what the size of Juneau was... there were still plenty of buildings. First she would have to find her way there, and then find that familiar building. A few hours passed, and for some reason Ember could feel the cold sinking in. She had used her powers in the alleyway, but she was more exhausted than usual. She could feel her feet dragging against the untouched layers of snow in different alleys as she attempted to avoid any public eye... But she couldn't keep walking. She eventually grazed her fingers against a brick wall and fell to her side in the snow. Why is my body shutting down? she thought as she growled.. trying to continue.

In the flash of punching that wall, she recalled a red-orange glow emitting from the spot before everything turned back to normal. She lifted that same hand, finding a red seal on her skin. This damn thing. Why didn't I notice it sooner? Luckily, because of her practice in spellcasting with her mother, she was able to remove the seal from her skin and dissolve it. That really was a demon... I can only imagine that the seal was slowly going to suck my life force away. She felt like an idiot for not noticing sooner that her powers were gradually getting weaker on the walk here. However, she did sit up against the wall and closed her eyes. She could feel her power regenerating, and soon she would have the energy to walk again. For now, she rested. But then she put her hands in her pocket, feeling the item and holding it again.

I wonder if I'm a fool sometimes. I told myself over and over again, nobody was worth my time. And here I am again... Maybe I'm just tired of being alone. Or maybe I don't want to hurt anybody anymore.

She clutched the item a little tighter and felt a few tears building up. She looked at the moon and moved her scarf up higher to cover the lower half of her face. "I'm really sorry," she said without giving away who the apology was directed to. Instead she just kept her eyes closed. So many confessions and resentments were running through her head, but without fear. she never acted on instinct about it. She never felt compelled to open up. She was just stacking it inside.