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Luke watched, frowning, as Asch moved himself into a more upright position. It obviously wasn't the most comfortable of feats, but Luke couldn't blame him for it; he wouldn't want to lay flat on the hard earth with his brother looming over him either. He eyed the black whatever-it-was as it was inspected - probably some means of communication, if it weren't as completely smashed as it was. Another dead end. He breathed another sigh, his eyes wandering into the darkness as he braced his arm with the other uninjured. Asch's words, however, immediately snapped himself out of whatever thought into which he had been drifting. He was nothing short of completely taken aback.

"Excuse me? Sorry, when exactly did I gain the ability to collapse things into the ground?" How the hell was he going to try and pin this on him, after he'd willingly jumped after his stupid brother and dug him out of the rubble and gotten him out from under that dumb rock and consciously made the choice not to leave him there alone? Obviously he'd hit that huge head of his.

Code for 'no reason, I'm just an angry b*****d and I'm going to blame everything on you because it makes me feel better.' Luke huffed, "Yeah, sure. Tell you what's my fault: that I followed you down here in the first place. That was definitely my mistake."

He maintained his gaze elsewhere as Asch offered his suggestion, then rose to his feet with a groan. Wincing at the motion regardless of how careful he was, he removed the light winter jacket he had worn to the mountain that day and tossed it indignantly into Asch's lap. "Wear it, use it for a blanket, tear it up and take care of your wounds with it, throw it away because you're an unappreciative b*****d, I don't care. Come on, Tenebrae." The Umbreon's ears flicked at his trainer's words and his rough tone, and he picked himself up and followed the boy to the edges of the large pit to search for a passageway.

Blah blah blah. Just because he hadn't asked for help didn't mean he didn't need it. Would he have preferred to have been left for dead? Luke scowled, even if the target of his expression would not see it. What the hell had he been so worried over?

He felt carefully along the earth and rock, searching for openings or loose stones that would give way to one. Tenebrae's light was dim and scarcely illuminated feet ahead, so finding anything worthwhile was slow, tedious work. The wall receded, and a shadowed facade gave way to the black maw of a tunnel. Luke heaved a sigh in relief but quickly shook away the feeling. There was no telling where this route led, after all.

"I found something," he announced grudgingly. He didn't really feel like explaining anything if Asch was going to be a jerk about it. "I'm gonna check it out. I'll be back." Tenebrae's light sank into the black earth, Luke following the Umbreon's guidance like a beacon. Hopefully there would be something gained...

The ground was loose from the debris that had gathered on the floor of the tunnel from the force of the collapse, and it took some effort to keep his footing. Luke's eyes stung from the dust and dimness, and he was guided forward by little more than intuition and guesswork. It was difficult to tell even which paths ascended in the persistent darkness. Some tunnels narrowed into nothingness where others suddenly dropped into steep holes. Luke utilized loose stones to mark his movement through the vast network for an easier return, but each placed pebble was more disheartening rather than encouraging - pebbles described dead ends and fruitless endeavors.

The whole situation was depressing, really. It seemed altogether hopeless. Maybe he should have just stayed in the pit and waved his arms around until someone noticed from above... His depressive trance was broken by a sharp call from the accompanying Umbreon, and Luke realized that he had continued walking when Tenebrae had stopped to indicate something. Not that it took any indication from the dark-type to see what they were stopping for: an underground river wound through the stone and around a bend, fresh sunlight flooding the area from ahead.

He couldn't help but laugh. There it was - an exit, right in front of him. The water would present a challenge, depending on how deeply it ran-- but no, they could deal with that later. For now it was enough to know that they weren't trapped down there.

It had been quite some time since Luke had ventured out of the cavern, but when he did return, it was with a much brighter tone than he had left, "Hey, can you get around? I found a way out!"

Luke was surprised to see that the jacket hadn't been sacrificed. Well... okay then. Asch's reply drew a frown, and he closed the distance between them in even strides, extending a hand in an offer of assistance. "It's not too far off, if you wanna give it a shot. It's not like we can't stop along the way, and I can help." The dazed tone with which Asch spoke was worrying; if he passed out again, there was no way he'd be able to get to the exit.

There was something really weird about taking the hand of someone who looked just just like him, someone that he knew to be his brother despite having only met him months prior. He could go through the motions of deep reflection later.

He pulled Asch to his feet carefully, supporting him with his uninjured arm. Really now, this was just weird. Or, it would be normal if he properly considered his relationship to the other boy. As it was, this consideration ran into the fact that he knew this individual had hurt his friends. How could he know a criminal as his brother? How could he accept that? And yet there he was. This wasn't important at the moment, though. Right now they just needed to keep moving forward, even if it was slow progress for a pair short an arm and a leg.

He couldn't really pity the other boy, but he could sympathize. His own debilitation ached with a dull, constant heat, and that was from a wound that was only a fraction of what Asch had suffered in his own fall. Luke couldn't fault him the pained groan or the staggering movements.

They proceeded in slow silence for a time, Tenebrae lighting the path marked for freedom, and Luke began to feel somehow suffocated by the quietness of it all. He wasn't in much of a talking mood - and he doubted Asch was either - but a little conversation would keep them alert and moving at a reasonable pace. And it wasn't as though he didn't have anything to say. Truthfully, he had far too much to simply pick a single point. He could try, though.

And so he did try, "Hey, Asch... Why didn't you ever visit Mother and Father? They had to miss you, right?" They had to, from the distant behavior they usually showed Luke. He might have replaced the fon Fabre heir, but he didn't replace his parents' son - not that that thought did anything for his recently flagging self-esteem.

"No, I don't get it," he said, frustrated. "Moving on isn't giving up. If someone you cared about died, wouldn't you be happy to see them again if you could?" Green eyes followed the Umbreon's gentle light, their gaze distracted and hazy. He breathed a short breath. "And it's not just anyone. You're their son. You were their son for ten years. They wouldn't just forget about that." His volume fell to a murmur, steeped in a sour knowing, "They definitely haven't."