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 Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2014 12:51 pm
The battle had nearly killed him. Chaonis was lucky to have escaped from Painite, though he had not done so in one piece. If it were not for his powerful magic, she might have been able to catch and kill him. It turned out, though, that even a raging lunatic bent on eviscerating her enemy could be stopped by bringing down a building on top of her.
But he had not escaped without cost.
Sitting on top of the same building where he had met Navi that fateful night, the night when he realized he needed to escape the Negaverse and the hold Chaos had on him, Chaonis struggled to stay awake. He had been hiding for the last few days, tending to his own wounds, staying off the radar, but tonight he was desperately hoping Navi would come to find him. He did not know where Camelot had taken her, after she was injured. Hell, he did not even know if she had survived.
He had his leg wrapped tightly, and the bleeding only returned if he was particularly violent with it. There was a long gash all the way down his leg, where her spear had cut him to the bone, scraping down along its length. He had done his best to sew it closed for himself, too afraid to go anywhere within the city for help because Painite would have made him an enemy, a target, while he did not know where else to go outside the city.
Things were a bit more difficult, though, because of the injury he had taken to his hand. Painite had him pinned and was toying with him, railing about how she was not one who could be betrayed, and she stabbed her spear down on his hand. It sliced straight through, severing three fingers and half his palm. He had it pathetically wrapped up in a blood soaked stump of fabric, but it would never be useful again. Chances were good that he would have to have the whole thing amputated. What good were two fingers?
He sat in the middle of the roof, his exhaustion from having to run and hide himself catching up to him. He was hungry, he was tired, and he was weak. But he was still hopeful that tonight, Navi would show up, and he would be able to escape with her for a little while.
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Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2014 6:09 pm
Navi had spent the last couple of nights in the hospital, however unwillingly. After she'd tried to walk out, twice, they'd up her pain medication to a level that kept her compliant and immobile, though played absolute havoc with her dreams. The b***h was there, everytime she drifted off, finding new and creative ways to ruin her life. The last she remembered involved the general barging into their home. She'd woken up, screaming, to a hand around her throat, and the sight of Nathan falling to his knees with a spear sticking out of his chest. Two days had been her limit. She refused to stay any long, unwilling to go even one more night without trying to find the senshi of danger. Unwilling to let herself fall back into nightmares that always seemed to end the same. When they'd finally lifted the watch on her room she'd left, despite her doctor's wishes. Despite Kyndall's suggestion she let herself heal. She had to get out of there. She had to find him. There were paper sutures on her cheek, but even know that damage was fading. It was her back that had taken the most abuse, and she'd suffered for it. Beneath the heavy bandages that wrapped around her upper body was innumerable medical staples. The slash had opened her back had run from shoulder to hip, deep enough to flash bone. It was a wonder she was even up and about at all. She stumbled as she stepped out of the mirror in the rec center basement. Everything was still fuzzy around the edges, but as her surroundings and senses began to clear the pain in her back came back to her. No longer a dull ache, but sharp, shooting pains that had her biting her lip to keep from whimpering as she climbed the stairs. The second she'd arrived she'd felt him. He was there, she just had to reach him. The climb was slow going, but after a long handful of minutes and countless seeming stairs she pushed open the door to the roof. For just a moment she stood there, hand on the doorjamb as she waited for the world to stop tilting. He was there, she could see him. She could feel him. As her balance came back to her she was moving forward, slow at first, but quicker as she neared. Hands cupped his cheeks when she reached him, lips meeting in a kiss she never thought she'd get to share with him again as she dropped to her knees in front of him. Pain shot up her back at the impact, but she ignored it.
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Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 8:25 pm
Chaonis looked up when he felt Navi approaching, taking a slow breath of relief when he saw her. Somehow he had known that it was her, though it could have theoretically been any Dark Mirror Senshi wandering through this particular area. That would have been a bit too convenient, though. A Dark Mirror coming to their area, when he was waiting for her?
No, it had to be Navi. More than that, he could feel her, in a strange way. Beyond her aura, he knew, just knew, it was her. He was absolutely dependent on her now: she was all he had. The only thing that felt right. That felt like anything at all. She was, in a short matter of time, his whole world.
When she reached him he managed a small sound, maybe the start of her name, before she kissed him and he closed his eyes, losing himself for a moment in the feel of her lips against his. He returned the kiss now, leaning toward her, though he could not put his hand on her face like he wanted to.
"I didn't think you were going to be here," he said very quietly, when they finally broke for air, "I thought you were in the hospital or... or worse. I'm so glad you're here... and that you're safe."
He knew she was not healed, though, from the way she was moving. Her back was clearly still paining her, and after the kind of attack she'd taken from Painite, that was no surprise. He felt bad, as if he had made her come out here for him, though they had not been able to communicate.
"You should be resting..."
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Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 9:01 pm
Kissing him was like breathing. To be without was to wither and die, slow and agonizing suffocation. She drink him in, the taste of his lips, the feel of his face beneath her hands. Stubble against her palms and the perfect angle of his cheek bones. For just that moment everything else disappeared, and the world was hole again. A flawless, beautiful place where suffering could not find them. Peaceful and safe. When the kiss broke she lingered close, eyes closed as she nuzzled her uninjured cheek against his and buried small fingers in the dark chestnut of his hair. "I was in the hospital," she assured him, voice soft beside his ear. "Your father got me there safe, and they kept me there until now." Never mind she'd left against doctor's orders. How could anyone have expected her to stay one more night in that bed when he was out there, hurt and alone, with no one. It was unaccepted. The softest of smiles graced rose petal lips, and she'd turn her head, remembering the feel of his stubble against her cheek, the smell of his skin. "I'm here. I'm safe." She should be resting, but so should he. Pale eyes hadn't missed the bloody mess of his hand or the bandage around his thigh. Reluctantly she drew back from him, sinking back onto her knees slowly. "You're hurt." Gentle fingers touched the edge of the bandage on his leg. "How bad are you hurt?" If the leg wound wasn't bleeding anymore then it was serious, but no longer immediately life threatening. It would need to be treated, but he'd be fine. It was his hand that made her heart sink. Thick wraps, soaked in blood. She didn't want to see what lay beneath, afraid of what she'd find.
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Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 9:34 pm
Chaonis was glad to hear that she had been in the hospital. It meant that she got proper help for her wound and was not being an idiot like he was, running around with untreated wounds and risking, basically asking for, infection. But he did not feel like he could safely go anywhere for help, and finding her here had been his last hope.
If she had not shown up, he was not sure what he would have done. What he could have done.
He supposed he owed his father thanks for helping her. Before this, the last time he saw his Dad it was in the middle of a battle. Why Camelot was still bent on helping him, after all that had happened, after how painite used him against them, Chaonis was not sure. But he was thankful for it, because it meant he still had Navi. And that seemed like the most important thing to him, when all was said and done. Maybe if he saw Camelot again, he would thank him.
"She got me pretty good," he said, but he tried to smirk and brush it off. He wasn't sure why, but it felt like the right thing to do. "I got her a few times, too. But she cut my leg open with that spear... and my hand..." he lifted his arm but he did not dare move his hand too much.
"She cut most of it off. I think I stopped the bleeding but..."
All he knew was he was not dead yet, and that was the best he could ask for. He would keep chugging along as long as he could, though he felt much safer now that she was with him. She could help him, and he could finally get some proper rest.
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 1:22 pm
He lifted his hand and heat crawled up her body in a suffocating wash as dizziness threatened to spill her against him. "She cut most of it off."His hand. His hand. Blood was rushing through her ears, drowning everything out, and the young woman had to clamp down on the rising urge to vomit at the mere thought. Navi wasn't great around gore. Blood and pain she could handle, but this? ******** Paintire. <******** that evil b***h to hell! She closed her eyes, drawing in slow, deep breaths until the dizziness ebbed and she wasn't clinging to his arm just to keep from falling. One small hand had moved, reaching towards that bloody mess of bandages, but she stopped short, afraid to touch, afraid to make it worse. Afraid to see.What were they going to do? Leaving was a bust, Painite had found them out, stopped their plan. So now what? Where could they possible go and be safe? And then it hit her. An idea so simple, she was shocked it hadn't occurred to her sooner. "We're going home." It came out hushed, but resolute, and she lifted her gaze from his hand to meet familiar dark eyes. "I'll take you through the mirror, you can power down right before we step through. She can't track you if you're not henshined." Once there she could call Lesath, Raven. Best friend, and medic for Orah's hospital.
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 7:18 pm
"Home?"
Chaonis did not have a home. After separating from Painite, he had been left to find places to sleep where he could. He tried not to stay powered up when he needed to sleep, but he needed to be able to feel for Navi so he risked it while he was conscious. He pushed himself to the edges of his limits, but he had not been living well. Not much food, very little water, hiding in dark corners and feeling constant fear.
The idea that there was somewhere he could call home was almost laughable, like a dream too surreal to even be considered.
"If you think it's safe... I'll go with you. I don't want to get you in trouble too. If Painite finds us..." She would make sure the two of them suffered terribly. He was in no condition to fight her off again, and Navi was not much better. Painite likely healed with starseeds and energy, so she would be at fighting strength again the next time she came out to hunt.
"Okay, let's go home, Navi. I just want to rest and I just want us to be safe, for a little bit, so we can figure this all out..." Maybe his father would help them again, if they could find him.
He drew his hand back and tried to hide it away from her, so she did not have to look at it or think about it too much. He saw the look on her face, and did not want her to be sick because of it.
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 7:56 pm
She nodded, the ghost of a smile on her lips. "Yes, home. Our home." Honestly, she wasn't entirely sure it was safe, but neither was what they were doing now. No matter where they went, or what they did, so long as Painite lived they would be in danger. This last attack had driven that point home. But she didn't want to keep running. She was exhuasted, body and mind, and if the b***h of the west was coming for them, than she wanted to spend as much time with him as she possibly could. Not on the run, not hurt and struggling to survive. Safe, and warm, and comfortable. Besides, her plan was sound. If they didn't power up, if he didn't leave the apartment through the main entrance, Painite couldn't find them. Using his uninjured leg for support, the dark mirror got back to her feet. A moment was taken to be sure of her balance, then she was offering her hand down to him. "There's a mirror down stairs." A few flights of stairs, then they could rest. Then She could call Raven and get those wounds tended to.
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:16 pm
Chaonis nodded his head and took her hand when she offered it to him, though he was very careful not to pull on her or make her bear much of his weight. He could barely stand on his own, but once he got himself moving he would be alright. He just could not stop, or he would not get going again.
"I trust you."
He did not even consider that she might take him somewhere else. There was no room in his mind for doubt like that, when she was the only thing he could cling to. She could have told him that he was supposed to be walking on his hands, not his feet, and he would believe her.
He went with her down to the mirror, limping slowly but managing without falling down. He looked at her, then at the mirror, and remembered that she wanted him to power down before he went through. He had nothing to lose as far as that went, since he had never really gotten a civilian identity. he was just empty, and it was not a feeling he particularly liked.
He powered down, though, looking and feeling even more pathetic now that he did not have his power boost.
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 8:42 pm
When Chaonis had found is footing Navi moved to his side, hands on his arm. Ready to catch him if strength betrayed him, but he managed to keep moving, limping slowly, all the way to the basement. Once upon a time it had been a storage room for the holiday decorations, but as time went on the dark mirror senshi had claimed more and more of the space. Once the city had fallen, and the community center abandoned, all the old junk had been cleared away. Now it was clean, holding a shelf with a few odds and ends. A violin case, a book of sheet music, spare clothing, a first aid kit. She ignored it all as she lead him through the room towards the floor length mirror affixed to the back wall. There she paused, waiting for him to retract his power, and when he did she tightened her grip on his arm, taking a little of his weight now that that extra bit of strength was gone. The trip through the mirror was remarkably fast. In one, through a short monochromatic, reflective stretch, and through yet another mirror. When they stepped out it was in a large bedroom. Neat and tidy, Lydia's influence, but there were bits and pieces of the man that had lived there scattered throughout. The most telling, of course, were the pictures. On the walls, on the dresser, on the night stand. A tall young man, grinning at the camera, and a petite girl with ginger hair. Navi's magic folded away as she helped him to reach the foot of the bed and lowered him down gently to sit. Her breath was coming in quick, strained pants, and there were lines of pain at the corners of her eyes, but as she looked down at him she smiled. Her hand came up--the left, a a lovely little champagne diamond resting on her ring finger--to cup his cheek again, and she stepped in close, hugging him to her, fingers combing through his hair. "Welcome home, Nathan."
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Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 8:02 pm
Nathan looked at her in wonder. He did not recognize her at all, or this place, but she told him it was home. She was still Navi, the same senshi that he knew, so he had to trust that this was the life he had lost, even if he could not remember it. She believed in it so strongly, and was so willing to share it with him, that he had no choice but to believe her.
He wanted to know this life. He wanted to have a home, and a name, and a life.
"So my name is Nathan," he had heard it before, but he had not been paying attention to it. He hugged her as best he could, though his hand was not useful in that. He used his other arm to hold her as closely as he could. Sitting on the bed like that, holding her to him, he actually felt safe.
"You should rest. This can't be good for your back... thank you for bringing me here. I wish I could help you in return..."
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Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 8:28 pm
"Mmhmm. Nathan Darrow." She stroked through his hair, nails trailing in gentle lines along the nap of his neck and shoulders. "You're stubborn, loyal, and a little on the reckless side." She kept her voice soft, reluctant to speak much louder than a whisper in the dimness of the bedroom. It just seemed wrong. That one handed hug reminded her of just how badly he was injured, and she shook her head at his suggestion she rest. How could she, when he still had wounds that needed to be treated. When he sat there blood stained and half starved. "I'll rest soon, I promise, but we need to get you cleaned up and taken care of." Her back hurt, but she was pumped full of antibiotics. Painful, but not life threatening. Where as him.. The injuries were days old, untreated. They had to be cleaned, closed up, treated as best as they could, and he needed medicine to fight of any infection he might be at risk of. Smoothing her palm along his cheek she pressed the bud of her thumb over his lips in loo of a kiss, quieting any protest. Hopefully. "Wait here." She was only gone a few minutes, leaving him alone on the edge of their bed, but she came back with her arms full. Linens, clean towels, and a fresh change of clothes for him. She had also grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, which she twisted open and handed to him, letting him drink his fill before setting it on the bed side table so she could help him out of his shirt. One of the towels she'd brought back from the kitchen was damp, and she used that to gently scrub the blood and dirt from his skin. A message had been sent to Raven's cell phone while she was in the other room. An abbreviated explanation of events and a call for immediate medical assistance. It wouldn't take long, she hoped, but while they waited she continued to fuss over him, cleaning him up, getting him into a comfortable pair of sweat pants. There was only so much she could do for him by herself. She wasn't trained in first aid, and the more serious injuries were well beyond anything she could have handled. "I called a friend from my court, she's been working at the hospital. She's going to look at your wounds." orangeish sherbert Text to Raven: 911. Nathan is here in the apartment and he's hurt. I need you. Please hurry!
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