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 Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2021 7:30 am
Kamacite was visibly nervous, but then again he usually was. He kept his robes tight around him as if that would deter any attack, and he kept as close to Faustite as possible. He glanced around the cavern once Faustite motioned him to follow, and he kept as close as possible without letting his robes catch on fire. He jumped when the fluttery creatures swooped in the air around them, and Kamacite ducked down as if that would help to keep them from diving for him.
He didn’t mind the silence. He worked better with silence. Usually. With Faustite it was more difficult to determine what he was thinking. He was expressive, but not in the way that Kamacite was able to really read all the time. Or maybe Faustite was always just as miserable as he looked.
“I don’t know if smaller would have helped. We needed this many people to try and find the trail. To find clues. To keep the youma back. I don’t know why anyone would think to pull a starseed in the Rift. Poor training, possibly. Here,” he said softly as he stepped forward to offer his robes for Faustite’s hand, and reached to take hold of his wrist in case there was any hesitation.
Kamacite kept his hands wrapped under the fabric so when he took hold of his hand it wouldn’t burn. At least not as badly. It wasn’t as though Kamacite minded a little pain if it meant helping Faustite. He kept moving as well, not wanting a chance to delay them, but also wanting to make sure Faustite didn’t have to deal with the black gunk from the walls. Kamacite certainly wouldn’t be touching them.
“We’ll just have to do what we can. And hope everyone stays focused on the mission. You’re still our lead for this, Faustite. I don’t care to listen to anyone else.”
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Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2021 5:27 pm
As ever, it startled Faustite to be touched. A visible jerk, and he felt embarrassed for it; far be it for a General to be caught unawares by something so simple, but there was no one around to make fun of him. No one to castigate him for his failure at being the perfect prince of pernicious chaos. He nodded his thanks to Kamacite, and his fingers blindly tested the fabrics to find any sense of structure underneath.
A deep, disembodied groan echoed up from the black depths. Faustite stayed silent for it, paused in their slow descent, listened. Was it the cavern that groaned while the Rift rearranged itself again? Was it a youma that helped shape the cave? Faustite couldn't imagine what else it could be. He remained there a minute longer, close to Kamacite, as his thoughts dodged between what if the cavern opens up again and when am I going to smell burning clothes. He spared another glance back, whet his lips. Sighed out a curse into the air.
At least they had an infinite light source as long as he lived. Small recourse for the entrance closing on them.
He hoped it meant another path opened further in; he'd seen youma disappear into thin air down here, but doubted he and Kamacite could manage that. Certainly half his team couldn't. Faustite scoffed, pressed on.
"Better if we could see farther than a few feet." Easier to switch the subject than think about leadership, or his lack thereof. He couldn't say how long they'd traveled, but he could imagine Jet calling off the mission already and sending the lot back into the Citadel. Then, if Faustite and Kamacite ever made it out, they'd be greeted by abandoned camping equipment. "Can't hear anything else." No activity to speak of, no voices.
"Thanks." A beat, then he added, "for standing by me." Kamacite could've easily sided with Jet or Aqua.
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Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2021 5:50 pm
It didn’t bother when Faustite startled at his touch, although he winced because he hadn’t meant to startle him at all. He was just trying to help. There was only so much he could do. Both as Kamacite and as a Senshi. He couldn’t command youma. He was certainly not welcome there. He’d spent long hours there, jumping at every sound, every hiss, ever groan. Always under the watchful, yellow eyes of Wolfite.
Even as a civilian, Wolfite was always there watching. Stalking. Obsessed. Preying on his emotions and making him feel trapped. Making him feel like an object, something to possess rather than someone who could grow stronger, who could possibly even lead a team into the Rift itself.
The groan made him jump, and he stepped closer to Faustite out of trust that he would somehow be able to keep any hungry youma away. Even though he wondered if it was difficult for Faustite to be around him. Did he secretly resent Kamacite for what he was? For being a Senshi?
Kamacite had never felt a connection to being a Senshi, at least in the same sense as the White Moon must feel. He was a Negaverse Officer first and foremost. He just happened to be a Senshi.
Huh… those thoughts certainly didn’t come from being tormented by his General. Since when had he felt proud to be an Officer…? He couldn’t recall.
He lifted his eyes at Faustite when he thanked him. He could feel the smallest tug at his lips, but he didn’t dwell on the sensation. “I always will.”
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Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2021 4:32 am
Always is a long time, Faustite wanted to say, but kept his mouth shut. That he had a friend like Kamacite was already more than he deserved; better not to ruin it with his doomsaying. Faustite nodded to his friend —
Was Kamacite smiling? It almost looked like a smile. Faustite assumed it was a trick of the light. Shifted his attention back to the path. He'd never seen Kamacite smile before, couldn't remember one. Couldn't remember Yuuri smiling, either, even when he was around Lauri. It must've been the shadows cast by his grate. It was easier to consider the shadows than to think what he saw was true.
And he didn't want to think about why that was, felt uneasy for chewing the periphery of it, so he kept ahead.
Told himself to pay attention to the cave, told himself that any six inches of a wall could be a deadly youma after his friend's starseed, but his stupid feelings warmed his face because a boy smiled at him and it was a terrible condition that youmafication never fixed and that was going to get them killed, get that boy killed, because all a youma ever wanted was to chomp the starseeds of their ages-past predatory aggressors. Faustite rolled his eyes at himself.
Then he halted suddenly and put his hand out for Kamacite to stop. He'd been following the dim striations of rocky ground, but it fell to black for as far as he could see. "There's a hole here. Need an anchor point to rappel down." He looked at Kamacite (nope, said his feelings, too soon), then past him for a thick rock or a stalagmite or some kind of outcropping.
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Posted: Thu Sep 23, 2021 5:28 pm
He stopped when Faustite held out his arm, a frown settling onto his expression once more, and a shaky breath escaped as he stared down at the hole. Ah, and this would be where Faustite would regret bringing him. Would he decide not to trust him to help again? Even if he promised he would always stand by him.
Kamacite looked around for something that would serve as a good anchor point, his hand briefly reaching up to touch his shoulder and arm where bandages kept his newest wound from collecting dust from the Rift. Did he have enough strength to rappel down a hole? Probably not. And that was pathetic in and of itself.
But he would do what he could. If he couldn’t manage it, then he would just… fall.
“I don’t know if I can,” he said, barely louder than a whisper, looking morose and miserable as he kept his hand over his injured arm. “I-- I can try,” he quickly added, because he didn’t want Faustite to think he was just giving up. Of course he would end up useless as soon as Faustite started looking at him like he had been worth bringing alone. Kamacite held his head in shame.
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Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2021 6:35 pm
Faustite glanced at Kamacite's shoulder. Difficult to see in the low light, but the shoddy wrappings were there, stained with slowing blood. Climbing could reopen the injury, and Faustite had heard that shoulders were such delicate things. Better he didn't push his friend's mobility.
He considered going back for their dragonesque youma friend, but with the entrance closed off, he doubted the thing could reach them. Most youma were no smarter than Albite; they were as likely to beat their bodies against the rock wall until they dusted themselves as they were to figure out a means to reach them. And moving onward from the hole — that was a leap of faith. Couldn't see the other edge — if there was one.
And couldn't see the bottom of the hole, either. Could be five feet down, could be five hundred. The Rift seldom catered to standard laws about caves and how they formed, especially when it could open and close entire cave systems in moments.
So he nodded, then crouched down at the edge. Stared down at it for a few moments, racking his brain. "Don't know how deep it is. Still have your lantern? Didn't save one for myself," he clarified, feeling embarrassed for it. "Can drop it down, see how far it goes."
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Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2021 5:44 pm
It was difficult for Kamacite to not feel inadequate. Faustite had asked him along because he thought he would be able to help him find the missing half of his team, but because of his injury he was running them into a dead end.
“I have my lantern,” he said, opening up his subspace pocket in order to pull it out. “I can also use my magic,” he offered, as if to prove that he wasn’t just a waste of space. But he didn’t know what good that would do since he couldn’t climb down. Or… he could try, and if he fell or was injured more then that was his own fault.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly anyway, because he knew he was stalling their attempt. They might not even be able to make it much further with his injury. It sucked because he didn’t want to let Faustite down, but here he was, doing exactly that.
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Posted: Fri Oct 08, 2021 5:28 pm
"Save that." Faustite doubted either of their eyes would recover for minutes afterward, for the sake of a flash on steroids. He didn't want the migraine that invariably came afterward, either; the magic was powerful, and in a situation like this, it was better to use a flashlight than stadium lights.
Accepting the lantern, Faustite knelt in front of the hole. Tried to shine it down, but the thing was made to be upright — setback that they would have to account for, should they ever return. Knowing there was nothing else for it, Faustite dropped the lantern and straightened. Thought they would have to wait.
But they heard a thunk immediately. The distance downward to the first precipice was negligible to their powered bodies; Faustite estimated eight feet at most.
"And stop apologizing." Shot his friend a concerned look before he leapt down first. The impact was solid; Faustite hoped the ledge wouldn't give under their combined weight.
"Can catch you," he offered, looking up.
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Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2021 8:00 pm
Kamacite didn’t have a chance to try and stop Faustite from jumping down into the hole, even though it was just a short drop, comparatively. They didn’t know what was down there! The auras in this place were too muddled for him to be certain there wasn’t another youma lurking around the corner, waiting to attack.
For all his time in the Rift, he knew he needed to trust Faustite’s guidance on this. After all, Kamacite hated the Rift. The less he had to deal with it, the better. The sooner they found their missing team, the better. The sooner they got home… Kamacite wasn’t sure if he ever wanted to venture into the Rift again.
“Okay,” he said quietly, and then he swallowed back his worries, and pressed his lips together when told to stop apologizing, and carefully lowered himself to the edge of the opening. And then waited to make sure Faustite was ready, before letting himself drop down to be caught.
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Posted: Sun Dec 19, 2021 10:16 am
It wasn't far to catch him, and Kamacite hadn't weighed much to be considered a burden to a General. He caught his friend with little fuss (as ever, it surprised him that Kamacite had so little substance to him under all those robes, and he hesitated on putting him down, though Faustite knew his robes would catch fire, so he abandoned the idea of keeping hold of his friend). After ensuring Kama wasn't about to slip on anything, Faustite started on ahead.
Firelight wasn't much for casting ahead of them, but it was better than wasting lantern light for as long as he could supply some brilliance. However, as they rounded another bend, he saw a faint light further ahead. There was another bend in the cavern that prevented them from seeing more of it, but Faustite was already interested — the cave they'd been in had plenty of light from outside; could this cavern be the one that connected with it, and if so, would they find some of the members he lost?
"Think we've found daylight," he tossed over his shoulder to Kama. It was a misnomer, calling it daylight, but in his years down here, he never figured a better name.
It wasn't much ground to tread — in five minutes, they turned the bend and faced an eye-searingly brilliant hole in the wall adjacent to them. This, he realized, wasn't the correct trajectory for the hole into which his team escaped. Faustite loosed a long, smoky sigh for that; all this climbing, all this maneuvering on no sleep and next to no energy, with his inured friend, in this dank, dusty empire of ex-people trying to be people again, and all they managed to do was collapse a tunnel and wander back to a pockmark six feet under their starting point.
What a phenomenal ******** failure. What a way for him to show his tracking capabilities as a General.
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