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 Posted: Sat Aug 21, 2021 5:18 pm
Once they were beyond range of the camp, down one of the narrow corridors with their craggy sides, Faustite paused to heave. No more than black spit came out of him, however, and a long strand of it had dangled and dropped down onto the ashen rocks before he straightened up. Wiped his mouth with the back of a sleeve, then wrenched a bag of jerky from subspace to tear open as they walked.
He had little to say, and he knew Kamacite would ask little. It was easier that way, scaling the Scar in silence. Wouldn't have to answer questions about what had happened, how they were going to handle it. They already knew what to do, already knew where to begin their search, even if they couldn't enter the cave directly. He'd already considered their approach. Already considered how they would deal with incoming threats, or bodies (though he didn't like the latter at all, it made for more convenient transport).
The bag of jerky was ripped open. He forewent any shows of human custom — dumped the bag wholesale into the grate once he'd gotten it unscrewed. Smelled burnt, awful for the spices that shouldn't have been cooked twice, but the wind was to their faces and he didn't much care if the camp got curious now.
They were behind him, all those waiting traitors.
"Need to find a youma," he remarked once the bag was crumpled up. A climber, would have to be, though with how silent the Scar had gotten, Faustite doubted they would find one easily. As he peered up toward the latticed paths, silhouetted black against the unhealthy violet glow of the sky, he saw only the vague shape of that bat youma Jet and Aquamarine had found. Didn't look like there were any signs of others.
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Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 7:40 am
Kamacite followed Faustite in silence, as was probably expected of him. Instead of speaking, he watched the way Faustite’s back was tense, the way he chose his steps, the way he paused to heave out whatever anxieties filled him. It wouldn’t help.
The comment about finding a youma received no response either. As a Senshi he couldn’t exactly summon a youma, but it was definitely going to be necessary given his current state.
He thought he did a good job of keeping his complaints to himself. Enough of the same injury made the pain more bearable, more numb. As long as he wasn’t thinking about it.
But there was a reason Faustite brought him instead of someone else. Faustite knew him, knew his loyalties. Knew that Kamacite would follow Faustite into the depths of the Rift if asked. And in the depths of the Rift, it might be useful to have a little light magic to go with the fire that was Faustite.
“You’ll need to rest at some point,” Kamacite said softly, picking at some of the bloodstained and torn silk of his robes. They were supposed to be back in three hours. Did Faustite have time to set up a tent? Would Kamacite have time…? Maybe he could use his robes to sleep on.
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Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 1:16 pm
Faustite didn't want to accept that Kamacite was right. With any other mission, he knew that not sleeping reduced any General's capacity to lead and make sound decisions for the officers following them. Given the large groups that they gathered under their respective banners, Faustite had every reason to take care of himself for the welfare of others.
But how would he explain to his friend that he couldn't? Faustite watched a Negaverse General disobey direct orders — disobey common sense — and pull out a starseed in the middle of the Rift. Watched youma come out of the walls, form out of the very foundations of that cave to chase that starseed, devour that officer, destroy anyone in their path. He watched people die to that. He watched half the team vanish beneath the cover of limitless youma.
And if a General was willing to sabotage them so violently, how could Faustite trust to sleep around the group? What if one of them decided to kill everyone while he slept? Who could he trust, besides Kamacite? Could he trust Lopezite, or Titanite, or Sylvite? Aquamarine? Jet?
Could he say anything without being taken for a traitor? Should he stay in the Rift? Was this where he belonged?
Faustite leaned down, let his fire peer into one of the long holes in the steep cliffside. Nothing. He straightened, kept walking. Kept not thinking about the gravel underfoot and how it sounded like crunching bones, not thinking about how many officers might've died under the crushing jaws of driven youma. Kept walking, hoping that he could leave thoughts behind, crunch those underfoot on the way back.
"Jet disagreed with us leaving," he added at last. Kept walking, kept not looking at his friend, kept searching for youma. Somehow, it was easier to face youma.
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Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2021 7:37 pm
“This isn’t General Jet’s mission,” Kamacite said softly, his arms crossed over his chest as he followed behind Faustite. He curiously glanced at the holes Faustite was looking into, and when Faustite didn’t seem to find what he was looking for, Kamacite leaned over to see inside as well.
“He hasn’t lived in the Rift for two years,” he pointed out, no accusation in his voice, just fact. “He might know the dangers from what he’s been told, but you know better than anyone what we can expect. He’s also never fought this youma before.”
No, it was just him and Faustite left who’d seen this youma before. And it wasn’t even the same shape as it had been years ago.
“If you want to search for those who went missing, I’ll do everything I can to help, Faustite. It’s your lead that I’m following. No one else's.”
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Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2021 10:40 pm
The hole Yuuri looked into was empty — just a long tunnel that stretched into blackness, absent movement. Absent anything.
"Might as well be. Already giving me limits like I should be beholden to him," he seethed. Felt a little hotter for it, but the brisk walk would cool him off. Or he could explode on some unruly youma, since Agni had been begging for that for hours. But Faustite knew that Jet was good, and felt a little jealous for it — or felt his own shortfalls more keenly. Couldn't tell which. Couldn't give it the time.
Even if Jet lacked all the aspects Kamacite mentioned, Faustite had doubted they were necessary. Didn't seem necessary for how the fools that accompanied them threw themselves into danger. No, what was more useful was authoritative respect, just like the medal that meant nothing to the rest of the Negaverse. If the ones who brutally endangered other officers and got them killed were beholden to that, then maybe he wouldn't have needed to search for his team. Maybe there would've only been two deaths on record.
Faustite checked another hole, found nothing. Steeled his ******** three hours…" Like it mattered what happened to him, or Kamacite. The Negaverse had bodies to burn. Their starseeds wouldn't go to waste here; Metallia wouldn't have anything to worry about. Jet could step the ******** off.
"Need to find them," he mentioned over shoulder to Kamacite as he kept searching. "Or their bodies. Whatever state, we'll find youma to carry them back. We find too many," youma, he meant, "use your magic and run. I'll catch up." After dousing the youma in fire.
Ducking down to check another hole, Faustite spotted the shine of eyes. "You. Out. Take us up."
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Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2021 5:57 pm
Kamacite didn’t want to think about finding bodies. He shifted uncomfortably as he continued to follow Faustite, watching his step as he did so. He wasn’t sure why Faustite limited himself to three hours, but it would at least give them time to sleep once they got back. Hopefully. Not that Kamacite ever managed to sleep in the Rift.
But he nodded when Faustite gave him the instructions on what he wanted to do, which was simple enough. He could use his magic, no problem. It was everything else that might prove difficult.
“I’ll have to wait for you if we get separated,” he reminded Faustite gently. He could attempt to climb down the cliff on his own, but with his arm aching like it was, he didn’t think he would get very far before falling to his death. And he would very much like to live through this if possible.
He waited for the youma to come crawling out of its hole, and wished there was some way he could be more useful than just flashing lights when things got rough.
“Don’t think about him. Let him babysit the rest of the group with that horrible partner of his. We’ll find what we can and be back in three hours, okay?” he tried to reassure him, but Faustite was in a difficult mood to decipher.
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Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2021 5:32 pm
Another vote of no confidence. Faustite's mouth pressed into a line. Forced himself to blow a thin furl of smoke into the air, with a couple cinders and sparks to fall to the ground uselessly. Clicked his tongue.
Told himself he shouldn't be surprised. That he'd been acting rash, so of course everyone would assume he didn't take into account the absolute basics. But the thought of it still burned him, and he ground his teeth. Wondered how hard he could punch a wall before breaking his knuckles. Wondered if he could punch the youma instead and still expect it to take the pair up to the upper echelons of the Scar.
Slowly the languid thing crawled from its cave. Deep sea blue, with ultramarine decorum tipped in turquoise. Looked like one of those eastern dragons that he read about when he was still human. Long, graceful, full of arms to climb and claws for purchase on thick stones. Its eyes matched its trimmings, and its mouth was ever agape, and a low rumble came from the back of its throat that must have been supplication for how it stayed low to the ground and amenable to Faustite's word. He'd seen it before, once, but he never interacted with this one. Seemed it appreciated officers enough to heed them.
Faustite motioned for Kamacite to mount the creature's fin-lined back. Faustite would follow, take his seat behind his friend.
He considered talking about his motivation for this search, considered talking about his suspicions for the rest of the group, considered sharing his burgeoning plans for once this mission was complete. But each of those topics of conversation was set aside, dismissed. None were terribly important.
"How's your shoulder?" He asked, as the dragon youma started up the cliffside.
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Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2021 7:31 pm
He tilted his head one way, and then the other, watching Faustite with concern and curiosity. He was obviously agitated, but Kamacite wasn’t sure what to do to help ease his frustrations, or to offer him any kind of encouragement. So instead he tried making things as easy as possible for his friend, and he hesitated only a moment before climbing onto the back of the dragon-like youma that clashed horribly with both his and Faustite’s colors.
Not that anyone cared what color youma they rode.
“Hmm? Oh,” Kamacite looked down at his arm, which was haphazardly bandaged in his rush to assist Faustite. “This is nothing. But thank you,” he said quietly, and then shifted so Faustite had enough room behind him. “It’s probably good that you’re behind me,” he admitted as he held on as tightly as he could to the fins, without hurting the youma.
“In case I lose my grip I mean,” he added, because that was probably a weird thing to say, and he chose to ignore the heat he could feel radiating from Faustite. “I’m not going to lose my grip.”
And then after a few moments of holding on as the youma climbed he said, “You know I’m here because I want to help you, don’t you? Whatever you need, just tell me.” Kamacite hoped that was obvious and that was why he was with him on this search for the ones who went missing, but he was sometimes thrown off by Faustite’s comments or mannerisms.
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Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2021 3:16 pm
Faustite frowned down at himself. Open fire for grilling Kamacite? And Kamacite thought that a good thing? He should've donned the cincher before they started up the cliff, but he couldn't manage that single-handed. Doubted he could hold onto the youma with his knees without falling off and breaking his spine. "Better that you don't." He didn't want to unintentionally eat his friend.
Like that, at least.
He was silent for a time, until Kamacite spoke again. The ride had been slow going, and the youma grunted often beneath them, but its plodding pace held. It seemed undeterred by their equally plodding, spotty conversation. "That's why I asked you to come with me." He blinked at the strange statement, figured there was something else Kamacite was trying to say that Faustite missed. Something that, possibly, would be clearer to someone fully human. But the more he thought about it, the more he wondered if he was reading too far into a straightforward, earnest statement.
"My team — don't know how many are left. Might be none. Dead for ignorance, or treason." His sibilants crackled as his heat grew. "Don't know who to trust. Might come back to a camp full of bodies." People massacred open because some ******** wanted to pull out a starseed. And for what? Did the White Moon lace them with moles? Did Benitoite have something to do with it?
"But, looking for them…" He let the sentence die. Looked ahead, watched more rocks slowly crawl into view. Some of those rocks moved, stood on spider legs and scuttled off to different areas or tucked back into holes, left their youma to progress.
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Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2021 5:03 pm
“Even if we don’t find them, I’m sure they’re more resilient than we’d expect,” he said, just loud enough to be heard over the sound of claws and crumbling rocks as the youma took them upward. Kamacite held on as tightly as he could with his one good arm, but his hand was starting to hurt from not getting a good grip on the youma’s ridges. He didn’t want to dig his feet into it too hard, afraid of hurting it. And he really didn’t want to slide backwards and potentially knock Faustite off.
He really had no idea if the agents that got separated were resilient, but he knew that he looked like he could fall apart at any moment, but he’d managed to last this long. And he happened to think that he could outlast many of those in the Negaverse at this rate.
“I don’t know who to trust either. Just you,” he admitted, his voice still quiet, although a bit more strained as he tried to adjust himself with his injured arm, but that was even more painful. It would be fine. They only needed to go a little further.
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Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2021 4:34 pm
Faustite kept quiet as the youma finished the ascent. He wasn't sure he could trust himself, as Kamacite did. But Kamacite — as a senshi, Faustite wondered if he felt the impulse to dust the burning parts of Faustite. If he ever wanted to turn on Squiddy while it was around. Or was only the reverse true? That, being part youma, Faustite ever felt that urge to retaliate for crimes beyond these lifetimes?
Soon they reached a narrow ripple in the cliff face, ribbon thin, where their youma hitched atop it to rest. The thing looked exhausted, and Faustite wondered if a couple hours was enough to replenish its reserves for the ride back down. He nevertheless dismounted it, careful to keep his footing on their precipice. "Stay here and rest."
Faustite felt a burgeoning quake in his legs as he refused to look down. Eyes ahead, attention paid to the handholds where he couldn't lean against the craggy cliffside. And while he saw that the path ahead widened as it sloped upward, canopied by the greater portion of the cliff and resting under stalactites, he hesitated to cross too quickly. The cave mouth, he hoped, was tucked just beyond line of sight.
Easy to get lost here themselves, he knew. Tried to distract himself — anything to keep from looking down.
"Think he planned it? Wanted us dead?" However farfetched, he had to entertain the possibility for the sake of crossing this choked path. Even if Kamacite thought he was a ******** idiot for thinking a General had the capacity to betray the Negaverse.
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Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2021 7:52 pm
He was relieved when the youma finally came to a rest and he could carefully and a bit shakily slide off its back. He took a couple quick steps away from it, although it was difficult to steady himself when his legs were shaking from holding on so tightly.
While Kamacite didn’t particularly have a fear of heights, it was different when he couldn’t teleport. He kept his distance from the edge and willed his heart to stop beating so quickly in his chest. Kamacite tugged the robes to cover the hole in his chest before pressing his palm over his heart, as though that would help.
The journey that Faustite seemed to want to take them on was… perilous to say the least. The unevenness in the cliffside was enough to make his heart stop, and the thought of getting stuck up there with no way down was, well… Kamacite couldn’t say he joined the mission with the intention of dying, and he certainly hoped that Faustite didn’t really want him to die, but he was very… wary of their path.
“Hmm?” he said, the words not processing for a moment as blood pounded in his ears as he tried not to look down. “Oh… I don’t know. I can’t imagine the odds of survival would have been greater for them.” He wasn’t sure which General pulled the starseed, but he -- was really wishing he was not on the edge of a cliff right now.
“They definitely are this way?” he choked a little, both hands clutching tightly to his robes now. Obviously he would follow, but... he wasn’t looking forward to it.
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Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2021 1:36 pm
Kamacite was right -- outlook was grim. Likely Rakovanite wouldn't make it. Faustite heard he was a recent promotion, which his antics confirmed. Wasn't heeled well by whoever mentored him. Maybe it wasn't intentional sabotage; maybe it was just rote stupidity.
Relief swelled when he crossed the short bend. In turn, he wanted to offer his hand to his friend, but that would be a greater detriment — burn him and he recoiled. Recoil and he'd fall. So he waited, alone, jaw set, as he watched his friend make the crossing.
To his question, Faustite rolled his shoulders, Pointed and gesticulated as he spoke. "Close to it. Right now we're further in, moving out. They were further out. Won't risk going to the same cave — too much activity. Youma, they… Worry the area where they last felt a starseed. Like they're scrounging for scrap. Energy, starseeds, anything. It's a dead space. They starve for anything." For that, he empathized with them, for what little one could empathize with the broken husk of a human. But Faustite knew he was closer to them than Kamacite, or even Nembus, in both body and spirit.
"Whole cave became youma," he muttered, softer. He would linger only as long as it took for Kamacite to cross, in the advent that he may stumble or fall. He already tasked his friend with this search knowing that Kamacite was injured.
Hadn't heard what happened, but he hadn't asked. Kamacite would tell him if that telling was warranted.
"Better that we check the peripheral cave systems." If they made it there, they'd likely be alive. Faustite blew a smoky sigh into the dead air. Don't like this at all.
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Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 5:54 pm
Telling wasn’t warranted, because Kamacite’s injuries were due to his own weakness and failings. Or at least that was how he felt about himself. He didn’t need to share one more thing that would make Faustite look down on him, or think of him as inadequate, or pathetic, or just wanting attention for something that wasn’t that big of a deal.
Kamacite pulled the robe more securely over the hole in his chest as Faustite muttered about the cave becoming a youma, and he glanced nervously from side to side, as though expecting everything around them to turn into a youma as well.
He didn’t slip, at least. He might have been injured, but he was sure about his footing and stepped with a gentle roll of his foot to avoid any uneven ground. Still, he was grateful to be close to Faustite again once he’d crossed, even if he dreaded where they were going.
“I don’t suppose trying to call out to them would be a good idea,” he said quietly. It wasn’t really a joke, but it was something lighter than expecting the worst. Such as jumping at a noise behind them, but it was just their youma transport making themselves comfortable some ways away.
“I really hate the Rift,” he let out a shaky breath, still staying close to Faustite for better or worse.
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Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2021 12:54 pm
"Pull a ******** starseed while we're at it," he muttered irritably. He understood where Kamacite was coming from, but the excitement of the day's trip left him sensitive and on edge. Primed and expectant for disaster, whether their own or someone else's. Any separations in the Rift were expected to be recovery missions, not rescue missions.
Easy enough to slip into the cavern, and he ushered Kamacite in when the place didn't explode with youma. A couple bat-like creatures stirred and flushed from their nests, and Faustite promptly waved them off toward the entrance, though they were hardly cognizant of the pair. They sped out of the cave, and the echoes of their flaps reached back inside. For this, Faustite remained silent; he let the light from his fire guide them alongside the strange, penetrating echoes.
The walls were wet with a black film, striated with violet crystal, and rocky as if hewn by hand. Faustite kept a hand pressed to the nearest wall as he treaded further into the cave. Thoughts swirled while they walked, seldom settling on anything for long; his mind kept drifting back to Rakovanite's voiced doubts as he pulled a starseed from subspace.
"Rift sucks with other people." Not that it was a place to be when he was alone, either, but it was made more dangerous with witless disasters like Rakovanite. Whatever had gotten Kamacite injured, too.
"Even if we find them — don't know how we can take our target. Can't trust anyone to listen to each other. The Rift… This is the worst place to learn that." Sighing through gritted teeth, Faustite shook his head. "Should've gone smaller. Maybe eight, t—" A sharp intake of breath as Faustite pulled his hand away, wiped it off against his pant leg with a disgruntled groan. "******** — hate hibernators." He kept moving with a semipermanent cringe.
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