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Acrucis woke from her light slumber merely two hours after her head hit the blessed pillow. Stars still glittered the open night sky, a sight so rarely seen back in the city near HQ home… she thought gazing upwards, longing to visit her own star.

Sitting up, the Senshi of Prayer combed her fingers through her periwinkle colored hair and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Even with it being summer, night time way out near the camps got a bit chilly as the air cooled down after given a reprieve from the harsh sun. Sapphire blue eyes combed the temporary sleeping area looking for her ‘brother’ among the mass of other sleeping individuals. There were a few senshi and knights weaving their way between sleeping bags and single size tents checking on friends and family members or finding an empty place to rest.

Still a little groggy, Acrucis got up, freeing her current place of repose for another to use. Goose bumps trailed up her bare arms as a slight breeze blew through camp rustling tent covers causing a small shiver to run up her spine.

“Acrucis?”

The sound of her name so near startled the Eternal from her momentary daze. Looking back over her shoulder stood a senshi she had not seen for quite some time with a worried look in those jade-pink colored eyes “Sidouer. Hi”

“Hey! Are you okay? You seem a bit out of it.” The concern in the Eternal Senshi of Static’s voice was heartwarming to say the least especially considering the amount of time that has lapsed since the last time they spoke. The creme haired girl placed a gentle hand on the younger woman’s shoulder “Do you need to sit back down for a bit?”

Acrucis merely shook her head in response “I’m - I’m fine I just woke up. Have you seen Ashur?” he promised he’d stay put.

It was hard to miss that momentary look of panic that flashed across Acrucis’ otherwise pale feature. Still, Sidouer did what she could to put the girls mind at ease. “The knight that was with you? Don’t worry,” she gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “He’s still here, he keeps checking on you every so often.” Rocking back on her heels the Senshi of Static tapped her index finger on her lips as if combing her memories as to where she saw him last. “Last I saw him he was talking to someone a few tents over there.” she said while pointing to the north side of camp.

“Thank you, I appreciate it.” Her voice came as a quiet whisper, if only to avoid waking up those around her. Bowing her head, Acrucis looked up one last time and managed a small smile before taking off in the direction Sidouer had last recalled seeing Ashur.

There was no way to be sure how long he'd slept, but when he finally woke up it was still nighttime so...it couldn't have been too long. Still, Ashur was glad to see Acrucis sound asleep when he sat up. Must have given her a bit of a fright just a few hours prior, not to mention piling the energy she'd spent healing him up onto her already exhausted state. It calmed him, seeing her sleep. He knew she'd be up sooner than he'd like, but at least that meant she'd be getting back to her homeworld to get a proper day's rest that much sooner.

After rubbing whatever sleep was left in his eyes, the Knight had gotten up and started making rounds, greeting those he recognized and chatting it up with old friends and acquaintances, both powered and civilian alike. These camps had plenty of familiar faces, and whether or not they were made familiar because of recent events or he'd known them since before all hell broke loose he'd long since stopped caring. He was hard-pressed to really call them "friends", but good company was hard to find now. Not to mention it was good to have people to go to for updates and whatnot wherever he went.

Ashur checked in on Acrucis every now and again, even running into Sidouer in the process and having a brief chat with her before going back around and running into yet another familiar face. He'd gotten a bit preoccupied there, enjoying a round of catch-up with a high school buddy who'd escaped the chaos at Hillworth, and by the time he was on his way back to check up on Acrucis he saw her making her way over. He wasn't too sure what to make of the look on her face, but he managed a small smile and a wave. "Sorry," he started as soon as they were in conversing distance. "Couldn't sit still. You know me…" Ash trailed from there, letting a brief pause do the explaining for him before he circled back around and rested his hands on her shoulders.

"You slept like a baby, y'know. Didn't wanna wake you, but now that you're up we oughtta get goin', yeah?"

Acrucis wrapped her arms around her ‘brother’ in a small hug if only to banish those ever persistent nightmares that continued to plague her dreams; another of the many reasons she disliked sleeping. Time like this she felt like a child desperately clinging onto that which would keep her safe and make the terrors go away. It was hard to constantly be strong for others, especially when they came to her having sustained horrible injuries and forced to face the loss of a comrade or loved one.

With both of her parents now gone the only family she really had left was Phact and Ashur. Unfortunately her ‘sister’ spent much of her time out with the Watch so she rarely got to see the raven haired girl which left Ash to fill in that void. It was unfair and she knew it which is why she tried so hard to hide the stress and weariness that seeped into her very core but sometimes… sometimes she had to just let it go. “I’m sorry,” she whispered letting go of him and taking a step away. “Had to make sure you were real.” Acrucis offered him a bit of a rueful smile.

“Are we going to take off, just the two of us? Or do you know if anyone else is looking to head out as well?” In truth it would be wise to bring at least one or two other people, then again it seemed late enough that it might not make much of a difference. They may be okay to make it to the Oasis if they were careful enough; so long as there were no youma lurking about for her transcendent signature to lure them near.

The hug was unexpected, but welcome all the same and Ashur returned it without protest. If he knew her at all then he knew that there was a reason she wanted a hug, more than just plain relief and need of comfort. Everyone needed that now, but having just seen her a few hours ago she wouldn't have needed this just because. Still, he knew better than to ask, and waved off the apology she offered and the explanation that followed. Far as he was concerned she never needed to apologize for wanting to hug him; he didn't say as much, though, and at her questions he nodded.

"Yeah," and he paused, glancing over at a cluster of tents where a couple of his friends had been gathered. "I invited a few others but they all say they're good here." With that he started leading her toward the exit of the camp, waving at a few more familiar faces and offers nods of acknowledgements and farewells. There was some kind of an undertone, perhaps, to the look in his eyes; something that said, perhaps, that this may be the last time he'd see them. The smiles of some faltered, others held the look and seemed to understand.

He sighed slowly as they came to the exit. "We should be able to make it without too many issues. Long as no youma are lying in wait, 'course, and whatever agents were around earlier have gone home." He was hoping that there wasn't another ambush lying in wait; for him, there was more at stake now that he was with Acrucis. Not to say that there hadn't been a lot at stake with his last group, but this would be more of a personal loss than simply the loss of an ally…

"If something comes up, I can at least get a good bit of distance between us and them." Ash kissed the signet ring on his finger and offered her a comforting smile, then started to lead her out.

“Kay,” came Acrucis’ quiet reply as she followed Ashur out of the camp. The further they got the colder it seemed as the scene from one of the classic Disney movies she use to watch as a kid, the one where the trees come alive and try to grab the main character. Thing is, with all the youma running about it, that scene unfortunately could become a very likely scenario.

Frequently, as they made their way through the heavily wooded area, Acrucis glanced over at her ‘brother’ if only to make sure he was okay. Typically running to HQ with their eternal and knight movement speed, so blessedly granted to them once powered, would have been the preferred method of fast travel but after the kind of night he had, walking for now seemed to be the best option.

Every single little inch of Waffle-fries body hurt. Each cell and neuron and follicle was on fire. Not literally it just really freaking hurt! It wasn’t just cuts and bruises this time. There were gashes and swelling and he was certain that a rib or four were broken. If it weren’t for whatever princess had come and saved him from that giant monster there was about a 98 percent chance he would have been dead as a doornail.

The whole situation felt so overly dramatic that if he had been in a not almost dying state, he’d be embarrassed by it all. Here he was, limping slowly in the woods, grasping his ear and leaving a small trail of occasionally dripped blood behind him. Ears were stupid things! They just stuck out as little targets to be torn at. And that stupid youma that attacked him most certainly got a tasty little snack out of WaffleFries; a nice little chunk was missing from the tip of the ear to the lobe. Somewhere around here there was supposed to be a hospital for senshi or something like that. If he could just get patched up,then he could go home and hide out for a few days, explain his attack being from a dog or something. The bite marks looked enough alike that they’d believe it. But first he needed to get fixed.

He had no idea where he was going. It was ‘on the edge of the city’. It was near ‘woods’. Well dammit, most things seemed to be like that nowadays. So flippin’ helpful that was! Even in all his pain Waffle managed to be a little bitter teen in his mind. He found little consolation in his knowledge that he was able to save one of the little baby senshi though. Cute kid but an absolute idiot for powering up in the first place! Not that he was that much better. He was 16! In some places that was old enough to make life changing decisions! Heck, maybe on his planet it was the same way, not that he’d ever find out.

Had he even moved that far? Taking a moment to lean against a tree he turned around to see his damage among the bushes. He couldn’t have moved more than 100 feet! And now there were spots in his vision and he was cold. Cold and tired. Rustling could be heard from somewhere nearby. There was no way that he could pinpoint it right now, but it was there. Maybe it was help or maybe it was the youma back for the other ear. Might as well risk it, otherwise he could be dead anyway.

“Hey.. Ugh… Is.. Is anyone there..? I’m pretty.. I’m pretty jacked up, and could use a little help. Heh.. Hehe.. and maybe a new ear..”

Ashur could feel worried vibes coming off of Acrucis without even having to look, but he did every so often anyway just to make sure he didn't lose track of her. Out the corner of his eyes he could see her glance over as well, perhaps for the same reason. Or perhaps because he had something on his head or his face or his hair. He could manage a small smile whenever he caught her eye, though, before moving his gaze forward again. It wasn't long before they entered into a forested area; it always seemed wiser to travel where there was plenty of cover to be had, though it did have the disadvantage of groups getting easily separated. Luckily since there was only two of them that was less likely to happen. All the same, right as they entered he said, "Stay close, yeah?" before keeping a step slightly behind her so she was always in his line of sight.

An Order aura slowly but surely making itself known almost as soon as they started weaving their way through the maze of trees. It was weak, he noted, but certainly of Order. Without even asking for permission he started moving toward it, knowing that Acrucis would have likely no objection. So long as it meant finding others to bring home along with them…. There was the slightest glimpse of hope that it was someone from his earlier group, but the chances of that were fairly slim.

Without hesitation Acrucis fell in step behind Ashur and thanks to her senshi speed she had little trouble keeping up. It took a little bit of concentration to summon her gyroscope but within seconds it fit comfortably in her open hands. Slightly larger than a basketball the senshi of prayer closed her hands around the outer ring as she split her attention between where she was running and the blue-green light that pointed straight ahead. “We need to hurry! Whoever they are, they’re hurt.” Unfortunately she hadn’t a clue who was up ahead or how badly they were injured.

There was a blessing in disguise at least, well hopefully, in the fact that only one beam of light pointed ahead and not multiple. As it had become well known by now if a powered individual lost consciousness they powered down leaving them completely vulnerable and unfortunately without the tool now held in her hand, they would be none the wiser if there were wounded civilians ahead as well.

Ashur glanced back every now and again even as they went, catching glimpses of Acrucis summoning her gyroscope and putting it to use. They'd been running mostly straight for all of a few seconds, following the vague hint of the Order aura, before she confirmed the direction they were headed was the right one. It was a bit of a relief for him, as it meant that they'd spend a lot less time scouring the area for whoever it was that had the misfortune of finding themselves injured. That meant getting to HQ that much faster, assuming the injured party was well enough to travel.

Even if they weren't, though, he wasn't about to let Acrucis use up too much more of her energy that night. He could carry whoever-it-was after a quick patch-up, and that as far as he'd let her go.

He slowed a bit and let the Eternal lead the way, his eyes darting this way and that on occasion, ever mindful of the surroundings. Like hell he'd let them run into another ambush. Thankfully it didn't taken them very long to find the downed senshi, and his thoughts of ambush were pushed to the back of his mind as he did a quick visual inspection of the area around the boy before running to his side and checking for signs of breathing.

"Sleeping, you think?" he asked, noting the blood and noticeably missing portion of the senshi's ear. Ash did his best not to make a face at the sight, though he doubt he succeeded at all, and opted to stand up and take a few steps back to give the Eternal room to do her thing.

"Just enough to make him travel-ready, alright?" the Knight said as he positioned himself as a guard. "I can carry him if he's still knocked out by the time you're done.."

Acrucis nodded her head in understanding, no eternal magic… check. “I think you’re right though,” it was hard to tell in such low light, but if she were to wager a guess, she would attribute the other senshi’s lack of response to blood loss. “Plus, if he was unconscious he would have powered down by now.” Which was a good sign, for now.

Desummoning her gyroscope for now, the Senshi of Prayer went through the motions of her super attack “Prayer of Healing” she spoke softly. Regardless if Ashur needed a spare heal or not the mechanics of her ability would go wasted if she didn’t select two individuals. If only it doubled the potency if used fully on one person.

For a few moments she watched as both men glowed a soft yellow hue all the while hoping it was enough to seal what injuries the soon to be new patient at the Destiny City Oasis had sustained.

He did his best to keep watch over the situation, glad that she understood the risks of over-exposing themselves in the given situation. If they had back-up then use of her eternal magic was all well and good, probably even better considering the state her new "patient" was in, but as things stood something a little less beacon-like would be best.

He relaxed a bit as her magic did it's work, though he wasn't aware that she planned on using it again on him. He glanced over when he felt the effect wear off, frowning slightly when the senshi didn't stir. "Nothing, huh?" he said, giving the area another sweeping look before going back to the two senshi. "He must've been out here a while."

Ash moved to get the unconscious senshi up, first crouching so he could swing the guy's arm over his shoulder while wrapping his own arm around around the guy's body. With a grunt he managed to get the two of them up, though the dead weight wasn't all that welcome. Ash took a few steps to test how fast he could go with the extra load, his body a little hunched over and leaning to the left. "C'mon," he said when he felt ready enough to start the journey back to HQ again. How far off the path had they gotten, anyway? He hoped not too far… he was still recovering from his own injuries, and much as he enjoyed carrying around unconscious bodies for the greater good he wasn't in any condition to do so for a prolonged amount of time.

Whatever strength Wafflefries had left escaped him in the moments it took for the Order folk to find him. He lost consciousness for a few minutes as he retreated into the back of his mind for a mental reset. The whole situation was far more than a little bit over his head. Seriously, how the hell did some weird monster manage to bite off part of his ear in the first place?! It wasn’t as if they were big enough to stick out obnoxiously or anything! They were there in typical ear-fashion but the stupid thing managed to get close enough to n** it rather good.

Once Acrucis had healed him up a bit the little voices in Waffle’s head kicked all the pain sensors into gear and he startled awake wiggling in the guys arms to get free.

“HEY HEY HEY! PUT ME DOWN!” The exact severity of the situation he was in didn’t register with the kid as he began to flail now and swung his arms around the man’s neck to try to dig his fingers into his shoulder. He wasn’t about to be fed to some random assed monster again! It didn’t register with him that these people felt like he did with the aura that surrounded them even ever so slightly. Nor that he was a good deal less damaged than he was before.

Instead of jumping back startled, Acrucis let out an audible gasping sound as eyes went wide in surprise. Lunging forward she took the young boys hand in her own to pry him off of Ashur before the knight up and decided to drop the kid to free himself from his feral actions. The fear in his tone and actions were unfortunately well founded if he had been alone after being ambushed just to wake up to this. “Calm down” she ordered more forcefully than she should have “Please” she quickly added.

Still she tried to stay the boys arms trying to get through to him before he undid the repair her Prayer had blessedly healed. “STOP!” she yelled more worried for her ‘brother’ than anything, “We’re trying to take you back to the Oasis to get you further treatment please stop flailing.”

Outwardly her attention was on the two men, inwardly she was praying to whomever would listen to her pleas that no youma or officer was in the near vicinity to hear their cries of distress.

To say that he was shocked when their down-and-out comrade suddenly woke and started flailing around like he was in danger was probably something of an understatement. Ashur reacted as anyone might have expected -- he dropped the guy like a hot potato. Of course, not without getting a scratch or two thanks to the guy's flailing around, but after he let him off his shoulder he took a couple of steps back and glared at the senshi.

"You'd think a thanks were in order, yeah?" he said sharply, then closed his eyes to concentrate on their surroundings, feel for any sort of auras about. Nothing particularly stood out, which brought him some sort of relief at least.

Ash brushed his hands over his new scratches, feeling a bit of warmth from them but nothing more. A couple of deep breaths helped to keep him from blowing a gasket; his temper wouldn't do anyone any favors right then, and in all fairness the kid did have a bit of his ear chomped off by something. It was...almost excusable. Almost.

"I think he's good to walk," the Knight said as he gave the kid a once-over. "What's your name, anyway? And what the hell were you doin' out here on your own?"

All of Wafflefries’ flailing resulted in him being dropped and he landed on his butt. He groaned in pain and his hands came down to grab at his tender posterior. He had literally gotten his a** kicked in that fight and now that he was conscious again he could feel it so very vividly and the drop made it feel like he had been kicked all over again.

“Don’t get mad at me! What the hell was I supposed to do, be all trusting and kind the first thing when I woke up? ‘Oh, someone I don’t know saved me, I should trust them and throw myself at their feet’. Or some s**t like that, right?” Waffle’s voice had gone up a few octaves as he mocked some damsel in distress and continued to rub his hindquarters up until the pain dulled enough to allow him to stand. And when he did he gave the other two a look over.

The guy looked cool enough. Must have been a knight or something like that. Waffle didn’t know much about those kinda folk just yet as the only people who he seemed to have run into was a hobo princess and a rather hot young eternal senshi. He was an old looking guy, this guy was but still strong enough to carry him. At Least for an amount of time before he was dropped on his a**. The girl seemed like a bit of a p***k. One of those ‘goody goody two shoe’ brats he seen around too many times. Always following rules and being ‘oh no, look at me, i follow the rules and you don’t! you’re a terrible terrible person!’. That probably was just due to the uniform and all it’s awkwardly religious undertones.

“I was out hunting for lollipops and candy corn!” One day his sarcasm was going to get him killed, that’s for sure. “What do you THINK I was doing out here? I was chased, I was caught, I was partially eaten, but managed to escape. I called out for help, and passed out. And yeah, thanks for that. Maybe I would have been a goner, but was droppin’ me REALLY necessary?”

Ash made a face at the younger (he assumed younger, anyway) senshi, catching Acrucis' eye for a moment as he went on to explain his reaction. He hated to admit it, but it was likely he'd have reacted the same way back when he was still a newbish page with no idea how to properly read auras and signatures and whatnot. It was now a second-nature skill that he sometimes forgot that newly awakened senshi and knights, and likely even negaverse agents, didn't know how to use it properly yet.

So he waved it off and let the senshi off the hook; no harm, no foul anyway. Or at least, that's how it started. The sarcasm that dripped from the senshi's words struck a nerve though, and for a moment he let his temper flare as he jabbed an accusing finger toward the other. "Well I'm not sorry. I find douchebags hardly worth my time or energy, so if you'd rather go off and find your way back to a safehaven on your own now that you're standing again, you're welcome to. Otherwise, I'd watch it if I were you."

If she felt bad for him it definitely didn’t show after that sarcastic outburst. Sure she was worried about whether or not his injuries re-opened or worsened from the impact with the solid ground; however, it didn’t negate the fact he deserved to get dropped on his backside after she tried to get him to calm down. Ashurs response however caught her a bit off guard. It’s not that she expected him to remain quiet or not have anything to say but the thread definitely caught her by surprise.

Gently she reached out and placed her hand atop his “Ash” there was a tone in her voice, not scolding, but suggesting he take a deep breath. She flashed him a rueful smile then turned her attention back onto the boy “An injured animal starts trying to maul your face off… would you not try to put some distance between yourself and it?” Talk about a calloused thing to say; yes he said thank you but where the heck was the apology?

Acrucis covered her face with both hands and took a breath of the crisp air. Could she really blame him for his reaction? No, not really anyway. This war has changed people and he was no different, the way in which people react to one another with suspicion and are quick to assume chaos is behind a persons actions was astounding. Things didn’t always use to be that way.

“I’m sorry” She removed her hands and crossed her arms over her chest resting her palms on either elbow. “Since it seems you’re able to stand just fine, I suggest we make haste and get you to the hospital. Lingering out here too long is ill advised and will invite unwelcome company.” Her signature alone put them at risk of youma attacks and now that they added a new aura entirely just took the situation from bad to worse. Acrucis then turned her gaze onto Ashur and flashed him a questioning look that asked are you okay?

Acrucis went ahead and defended him toward the latter part of the statement, so he let that go with a huff and another sweeping look of the area around them. Still nothing foreign, but she did have a point. Whatever differences they had could be settled later; they had to keep moving, so he rested a hand on Acrucis's shoulder and nodded his head in the direction they'd been headed before their patient woke.

"We do have to keep moving, though," he said, giving the other senshi (whose name he still didn't know…) a quick glance as he did. "Just keep your voice down, and try not to get lost. We can't risk any more time out here looking for you." And with that, the Knight turned and started leading the little group back toward HQ.

“Naw, you know what, ******** you both. I’m done, thanks for the help yeah, I mean it but I don’t want to deal with some bull s**t like being guilted into feeling grateful. Ya’ll go on ahead and keep going to your basecamp or whatever the hell it is. I’m fine, you’re right, I can go on and walk.” Wafflefries was done with both of them. The fuzzy headed knight and the quiet obviously religious Senshi with him. He turned on his heel and held a breath as he took his first steps forwards after the attack. Easy enough. One foot then the next, rinse and repeat. He was fine, he didn’t need either of their help. Worse come to worse he’d just.. Hell, he didn’t know, he’d just kaput it, he figured.

Rather dead than in terrible company.

“Ya’ll have a good day, and don’t get attacked by youmas or whatever the hell they are called. They got one hell of an appetite.”

Acrucis stayed rooted where she stood, watching as the young senshi retreated away from them. Such a belligerent self righteous a*****e, yes she thought it… a*****e. Though her features remained for the most part unreadable, inside she was seething at his display of disrespect. Oh how she wanted to throw a rock at him and drag his ungrateful prideful a** with them back to the Oasis if only to keep him from getting some other sorry fool killed trying to help him.

“We did all we could,” she finally said once he was far enough away. Her tone was flat, callous and uncaring. If he wished to get himself killed then so be it she wouldn’t lose a wink of sleep over it.

Liar…

This night would haunt her for days to come, worrying if he was still alive. Fretting over whether or not she did the right thing by allowing him to leave or if they should have forced him to come against his will. They did not even know his name to be able to check around at the surrounding camps to make sure he had arrived. Regardless she had a duty and a responsibility and with those came tough decisions. Sometimes there were those who could not be helped and when those times arose it was best to focus on the masses that could use her aid. “What do you want to do? Go after him or head back to the Oasis?” She asked, though her gaze never left the direction the beam of light from her gyroscope pointed.

Ashur clenched his fists as the younger senshi started speaking again, his tone doing more to irritate him than what he was actually saying. It was harder than it ought to have been, perhaps, for him to control his temper. It was a rare occasion that he met someone of Order that was rather hard to deal with when they were the one that was being helped, but whenever it happened it never failed to upset him. They were supposed to be a team, right? Helping and looking out for each other. It felt almost...immature to take something as minor as the current situation so seriously.

But he was human, and he did take it seriously. He watched until the senshi was out of sight before regarding Acrucis with a slight shake of his head. "If he's confident enough to go on his own, I say let him," was all he said. It would bug him, he knew. It always did when things went sour with a fellow member of Order, but they all had their differences and misunderstandings and such happened. Ash waited a moment, half hoping the senshi would change his mind, then finally gave a sigh and gestured toward HQ's general direction.

They couldn't waste any more time out in the open, after all, and they just...had to keep moving.