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Caedus had not heard the Senshi arrive, and it was pure fluke that he even found her when he did. A layer of snow had fallen; it was light, perhaps only an inch or so high. There were parts of the hill where it lay smooth, but the rest of it looked as thought the snow had been disturbed. The source of the disturbance was clear a few seconds after Corvus arrived at the hill; the heavily cloaked figure was shuffling slowly. His eyes were focused on the task and he seemed entranced with the action—watching the snow crumble beneath his touch.

For nearly half a moment he did so—until suddenly, he looked up. Right at her. His golden eyes flickered, wide, and then seemed to settle as he relaxed. He stared blankly for a moment, and then said slowly, "I did not hear you arrive. How long have you been there?"

"Not long." Her voice was soft, carrying little of the anger and irritability that she had thought to bring with her to the encounter. "I didn't mean to di--," she cut herself off mid-sentence, shaking her head. No, that wasn't true. She had meant to disturb him. She wouldn't start their conversation out with a lie; not when she expected truth in return.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? The snow?" She held her position save for bringing up a hand to wave Denebola over to where she stood. "I am Corvus and this is my friend, Denebola."

Denebola didn't miss the way their mysterious stranger had gotten more aphrenrsive upon her arrival and in response she stayed back a respectable distance. "It snows a lot this time of year, I'm sure there will be more opportunities." Her words came off too harshly and she winced.

"I mean-- I...have questions that I'd like to ask now that we aren't crowded by others." There, that sounded better. "But if you want to build a snowman instead, I guess we could do that." Okay, so the sarcasm was still coming on a little too strong.

She looked at Corvus, grimacing at herself. Sorry, her expression read. She didn't mean to come off so standoffish but it was hard not to. Especially since she had no idea what he looked like, everything about him was so wrapped up in mystery.

"Why do you cover yourself up like that?" Boom, first question right out of the gates. "It's hard to want to trust someone when you don't have an inkling of what they look like besides the color of their eyes."

Caedus was quiet for a moment as he watched the exchange between the two senshi. "I do not want to build a man, regardless of his composition. I find that morally questionable given the circumstances. I am sorry," he said slowly. "…Snow does not seem like a worthwhile material given the effort such a task would entail. But I do enjoy it. This snow is softer than the last I recall. Also it does not burn upon contact, so I find that pleasing as well."

He seemed to be trying to avoid Denebola's last question, but he had run out of things to talk about. He seemed wary to answer this one, and uncertain—and unhappy. Almost, even, self-conscious.

"…I apologize if my appearance is unpleasant. I fear it would be more so if I did not take such care. I was injured once, long ago. Badly injured. The Rift was unkind to me, and it was a constant battle. I stood out too much among the other tenants. I did what I could to disappear. I want to stay this way. I want to be forgotten. I want to slip away without conflict. You would not like what you saw. I do not look like you. Not really. And."

He was quiet.

"I am ashamed to have met you in this state. This is not who I am. This is not who I want to be. I would not want you to know me, to remember me, with this face."

"You might be surprised by the things that some of us have seen. The Negaverse has done some unspeakable things since they have resurfaced. Some of their rank were monsters before they were given youma prosthetics." There were times when she still woke with a start from nightmares of the demon hand devouring its prey. It made her queasy thinking about it even now.

Lips pursed together Corvus shifted the blanket again, this time more of an anxious gesture than because her arms were tired or the fleece was slipping.

"We were awakened on a planet that seems to greatly fear that which it does not know. It makes us curious but it also makes us worried; anxious. As a species we, humans, seem to prefer things that they can see as -- as a sort of reassurance. We have seen enough to make us wary and we aren't likely to forget you, even shrouded as you are."

"Well, plastic surgery in any form doesn't sound like a great experience," Denebola stated plainly, watching Caedus draw his robe around him tighter like a security blanket. "I don't mean to offend," she said slowly, softer. She wasn't judging him because of his appearance but had been curious about closely he guarded his true appearance.

It unsettled her, made her nervous.

"You shouldn't be ashamed of your scars," she told him, glancing over to her companion. Her scars were more emotional than physical but she still bore some, she just had the convenience of hiding them beneath her uniform. "As for the wounds, we could help tend to them, if you let us."

She understood the weariness that came with defeat and his words made her stomach twist uncomfortably. "The place you came from," she paused, question dancing on the tip of her tongue. "Why didn't anyone come back for you?"

The senshi crossed the grounds, gave the man wide berth to show that she wasn't going to touch, attack, or do anything to him, before coming to stand beside her companion,

She had a feeling she was rubbing salt into wounds, she probably needed to stop talking and she looked at Corvus as if she could non-verbally say, please take over.

Initially, Caedus did not seem responsive. He stood still, gaze averted. He seemed solemn, despondent.

And then he sighed and glanced back to the two.

"The crystals are meant to gather technology from any life forms. It is not specific to humans, and it is not meant to feed into any Chaos. We come from a synthetic planet, so we needed to collect energy to start it up. We have plants on my homeworld that produce their own energy. The crystals I have handed out, while refined, might be considered a barbaric tool. We studied them, but they have nothing to do with Chaos. The ones I handed out were synthesized on my planet to store energy in case of an emergency. I did not ask you to do anything you were not comfortable with, and I hope no harm has befallen anyone who is attempting to aid me. I do not wish for trouble, only resolution."

He did not ask for anything, either because he had not heard or he was too prideful to make a request.

He did not answer Denebola's question for a long moment, and even when he did it seemed as though he were still lost in thought. He looked to her, golden eyes cold and empty.

"Would you have gone to a planet on the cusp of war to save a small party—or even a single man? …Would you risk the lives of more to search for a corpse? They think me dead. That is the only explanation. I do not blame them for putting their safety first. I would not ask them to risk their lives for me. I do not blame them."