【 S I X T E E N ⦁ C O U R A G E O U S ⦁ W A R R I O R 】 ◢ K a i l e e r C e i n ' l y s ◣ ⦉ I've been looking at the sky to show me where I went wrong.⦊ 【 D - R A N K ⦁O A T H K E E P E R - ? ? ?⦁ H A K E M O T O 】
❝ Been looking at the sky like someone was looking down. But it keeps raining on me. ❞
[x] I couldn't bring myself to respond to Wan as the man tried to comfort me with his final words. I knew this was all part of a dream, a terrible, horrible nightmare, but I couldn't seem to pull myself from the numbed stupor. The whole situation had reopened wounds I thought had healed. It had been some time since I'd bothered letting myself get close to anyone. Himari had been the last, and after she was gone, I'd taken to just focusing on my work because my heart couldn't bear losing anyone else. After all, the world had been dying anyway.
And then somehow I'd managed to survive the end and here we were.
Wan reached toward me with whatever strength he had left and I tore my gaze away from my bloodstained hands. Hesitantly, I took hold of the proffered hand and squeezed tightly, as if doing so would stop the inevitable. Right, he wasn't actually dying; he was alive out there somewhere. I did my best to feel hopeful that I could find him, but I wasn't in the state of mind to do much else. I supposed that's what he meant in telling me to find him.
Not a moment later, he drew his last breath, his grip going limp in mine. I set his hand down across his chest and pushed myself back to my feet, clamping down on the gash on my shoulder. Or... where it had been anyway. I turned my attention from it to the dead forest surrounding me. Fiorzia never came back, and the landscape had grown strangely still. Then, it slowly evaporated and I was plunged into darkness.
----------
I jolted awake with a gasp, throwing myself upright. I regretted it immediately, suddenly aware once more of the copious amount of bruising along the side of my torso. Lightning flashed through me, lighting up my nerves as I tried to catch my breath. I was coated in sweat, and my arms could barely support me. I felt nauseous, and it took all my willpower not to vomit. Not that there would have been anything to throw up anyway--I still hadn't eaten since waking up what I assumed was the day before. Or maybe it was the same day, or the day after for all I knew. Regardless, the nightmare was over and the real world was, apparently, just as painful. I just had a new scar on top of the rest of them.
Steadying myself, I became aware of other presences. I placed a hand against my side and turned to look at the other three in the room. Jean and Shea knelt beside where I had been laying, and Fiorzia--naked again for some reason--stood not too far off, her face glistening with tears in the weak firelight. Jean's expression didn't reveal anything one way or another, but Shea's spoke of a similar concern to the sylph's. Had something happened? That dream had decided to play through to its agonizing end, though I was fairly certain what had occurred had for all intents and purposes been reality in its own way. I had actually fought Wan, and he really was wandering the world somewhere. I think...? Everything felt hazy still, and I honestly felt like I hadn't actually slept at all. I was still exhausted. The pain, both physical and emotional, wasn't helping.
"It can't be that interesting watching me sleep," I said, half joking, a joyless grin touching my lips. Grimacing slightly, I leaned back on my free hand and stared at the ceiling. A small hole in one corner revealed it was evening and starting to get dark. Even just lying there, everything throbbed as if I'd actually been fighting. I glanced back at the others, most specifically Fiorzia. "Did something happen?" I asked, though I had a vague guess that it had something to do with my dream.
❝ But no one told you that this was going to hurt. And now all I really want is to scream. ❞
Counter | 37 / 200
Active Effects: • Agility [5]: [.5] rank increase to physical speed. • Power [5]: [.5] rank increase to physical strength.
Current Stats: • Physical| Strength: 0.5 x Speed: + 0.5 • Spiritual| Strength: 0.0 x Speed: 0.0 • Power [5] || Agility [5] || Intelligence [3] || Chakra [1]
tab Kaileer awoke, and Fiorzia was there to wrap her arms around him and t him. tab Awkward though it might be perhaps it would be overlooked as she openly wept, tears running down her face in relieved heaving sobs that wracked her small frame. She clung to him with a white-knuckled desperation that might well have interrupted him, but which couldn't be understated. Perhaps Kaileer, having been through the depression and despair, would understand better than any what she felt. Yet even through her sobs she tried to speak, her hands still clasped around his middle as she wept into his midriff. "You cannot die, Kaileer," she wailed in Shea's voice, which honestly must have been strange. That didn't stop her from continuing, perhaps saying things...she had no right to know. "We are here! Your new friends, your new family! No, you cannot die, I won't let you! Please never think that!"
"No idea," two brief words and a curt shake of his head. That was the only answer Jean could give to Shea. As in, that was all he knew. He did, however, give a meaningful look at the obsidian dagger he had brought with him. This wasn't supposed to be a message to Shea. This was Jean scrutinizing it for his own, yet unfounded buy likely suspicions. It wouldn't be hard at all for Shea to realize that Jean felt like studying this dagger might give more clues about the strange phenomena that had happened, so while not intentional, it might give Shea more of an answer than just two words and a gesture.
When Kaileer woke up, Jean's eyes moved from the dagger to the sleeping not-beauty. Jean awkwardly watched proceedings... erm... proceed? He agreed with Kaileer. His sleeping form was certainly nothing special. There wasn't any beauty in it, but it wasn't worth mentioning. He disagreed with the sylph. Friends? Family? At most, acquaintances is how Jean would put it, but he didn't have the heart to disagree with one so beautiful. Though, while only acquaintances, Jean did feel pity for Kaileer. It must be embarrassing being hugged by such a work of art.
Jean's cold face remained impassive but a shiver visibly ran through his entire body as he recalled what had happened to him. Of course, the answer he gave contained no explanation of his trauma. "We appear to have been entrapped by a nightmare sometime between recently and even more recently. You had difficulty awakening, so we used our chakra."
It was night, and with the farewell of the sun, these frozen lands only got colder. Seeing his breath form a visible cloud, Jean made a decision. "I'll bring in some wood," it was the wood Shea had collected, "and make a fire in here," and the fire Shea had made, which was still at least smoldering outside. The implication was pretty obvious. Despite the lacking appearances of everyone but the sylph in their group, Jean would sleep with them for tonight. He was too tired to try and do any more work than necessary, anyways.
It was also convenient to make this kind of excuse to leave because it let Jean add in just as he left the room, "My nightmare left me a message. Let me know when you feel ready and we can discuss it."
100/100 chakra 100/100 stamina
. . .
Royal Taorito
Lanfaer
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2018 8:00 am
█ Shea Fal'nevan 【 when every step ⦁ takes you a thousand miles away, ⦁ you'll find the edge beyond the break of day 】
[x] Before I got an answer from the sprite, Kaileer jolted awake, making me jump as well. I quickly moved out of the way as he sat up straight and turned over, going even paler if that was possible. His arms supporting him shook with the effort. But he seemed to recover quickly from the panic. I stared with wide eyes, hands still raised in front of me, unsure if there was something else I should have been doing. "A-are you alright?" I asked softly.
However, I didn't receive a response while he pulled himself back together. The color gradually faded back into his face, and whatever turmoil he was going through he seemed to get under control. Though, that was questionable given his expression.
No sooner had he, though, before the sylph jumped at him, wrapping her arms around his midsection in such great desperation that the world might well have been ending. She cried while willing him not to die, exclaiming about him having new friends and family. While I didn't mind being called a complete stranger's friend, it did leave the situation a little awkward. The others didn't appear to share the sentiment, given the vague look of disgust Jean kept giving the swordsman and the confused look Kaileer was giving that was slowly turning into a pale-faced look of pain. Oh right, he'd been injured, hadn't he? Though I wasn't entirely sure if the girl knew that.
My gaze turned to Jean as he spoke again, poorly explaining what had happened. To be fair, we didn't really know much else. Mine hadn't been so much of a nightmare as a helpful dream. Sure there'd been things creeping around and slowly encroaching around me, but never close enough to harm. Thankfully, because I still had no idea what I was doing. But at least I knew how to use chakra now. "Whatever it was, I think it's over now," I added with a small shrug. "And hopefully it doesn't come back."
Jean offered to rekindle the fire, which I hadn't even noticed had gone completely out--my clothes had kept me warm until that point, but when I thought about it, the cold was definitely starting to seep through. On his way out, Jean mentioned having a message for us from his nightmare, which brought an internal chill. So maybe it wasn't actually over then? This brought a grimace to my face.
It was gone a moment later, and I perked up instead, ears standing straighter. Did Jean mean to go and find more wood? "Oh, there should be enough to last the night, I think, right outside the door. And..." I glanced around for my pack. But it must have still been outside. "I have some food in my bag. It's just out by the bonfire." I clamped my mouth shut to stop myself from talking more, and continued more quietly. "Um... If you'd rather not go out in the cold." I gave Jean a sheepish grin.
I realized, then, my hasty response had been, in part, due to fear. The suggestion that the nightmare might not be over I guess had struck me harder than I thought despite the lack of outwards, or really inwards, reaction. Whatever terror the other two had gone through, I really didn't want to face it.
█.CHAKRA :130 / 155 [+15]█.STAMINA :160 / 160█.STATUS :None ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ █.EXP :3910 [+2000] █.RYO :両000█.HEALTH :Fine█.INJURIES :None█.MOOD :Worried 【 cause you don't know ⦁ what tomorrow holds for you; ⦁ another path, or just a glimpse of truth? 】
【 S I X T E E N ⦁ C O U R A G E O U S ⦁ W A R R I O R 】 ◢ K a i l e e r C e i n ' l y s ◣ ⦉ I've been looking at the sky to show me where I went wrong.⦊ 【 D - R A N K ⦁O A T H K E E P E R - ? ? ?⦁ H A K E M O T O 】
❝ Been looking at the sky like someone was looking down. But it keeps raining on me. ❞
[x] The words had hardly left my mouth before Fiorzia was on me, arms wrapped around my midsection with all the might she could manage. I wouldn't have minded if it weren't for the searing pain that accompanied it. Damn, waiting for the bruising to heal was going to be difficult. Still, I choked back the pain for her sake thanks to her words. You cannot die, Kaileer! Her desperation made my heart ache. I couldn't help being grateful for her emotions, but I wasn't as far gone as she seemed to think. Letting myself fall to my sorrows was the cowards route, and that was the last thing I wanted to be remembered for.
Thinking about it, there had only been one point that I'd fallen far enough to consider it. But it was more of a passing hope that something would happen and just get it over with than an actual threat to myself. That thing had been the chronovore, and, well, I supposed I'd been chosen to keep on living. For whatever reason.
Regardless, if I had anything to live for, it was to help save Fiorzia's kind, and eventually find Wan, wherever he was. The real question was how she knew. I'd hardly even recognized the deep hole I'd found myself in until I was forced to take the life of my best friend. Did she know something I didn't? After all, she knew who I was from appearance alone. Maybe there was something I couldn't recall. Or maybe we had some sort of bond that I didn't understand yet. For the moment, though, it didn't matter. The pressure on my throbbing side was making it hard to think. Maneuvering my arm underneath hers, I pushed outward to get her to let go, giving her a brief glance once she did to let her know I would be fine. I didn't stop her from staying close, though, if she chose.
Jean spoke up, pulling my attention away from my thoughts and self pity. The white-haired male looked pale as he spoke, briefly, of what had happened. Everyone was caught in some sort of nightmare, but mine didn't break when the others' had. Hence the concern expressed from Shea, and Fiorzia freaking out. Whatever they had experienced, neither explained, but it seemed to be affecting Jean far worse than Shea. It was over, though, for the time being.
My gaze shifted again at the mention of building a fire. The one that had been built earlier had burned down to nothing while I'd been trapped, and the chill was beginning to set in. We needed to get warmth set up quickly, or we'd never make it through the night. I nodded vaguely, but Shea beat me to saying anything. There was already firewood outside the door--so he'd done as I'd asked; that was good--and he had food in his pack. I watched the brief exchange in silence. Shea seemed nervous, which wasn't necessarily new from the time I'd known the boy, but Jean was on edge. For a reason he explained a moment later.
His nightmare had left him with a message. That sent a chill through me that ran deeper than the cold, though I couldn't place why. "Alright," I said finally, sitting up straight, my half-joking demeanor becoming serious. "Let's get settled in here, and then we can discuss it."
❝ But no one told you that this was going to hurt. And now all I really want is to scream. ❞
Counter | 38 / 200
Active Effects: • Agility [5]: [.5] rank increase to physical speed. • Power [5]: [.5] rank increase to physical strength.
Current Stats: • Physical| Strength: 0.5 x Speed: + 0.5 • Spiritual| Strength: 0.0 x Speed: 0.0 • Power [5] || Agility [5] || Intelligence [3] || Chakra [1]
Jean didn't bother to give Shea a response. He just went out and did what he said he would do. While the other two went about doing whatever they felt they needed to do to prepare for the night, Jean made three trips out then in. During the first, he brought in the firewood Shea had prepared, loading as many as he could carry in his two arms.
Holding these logs, he managed to just barely free a hand to flick his wrists and manipulate the dirt in the fireplace to clear away the burned out remains of the last fire. Well, not actually clear them away, but push them to the side. Jean was going to make someone else do the actual cleaning.
Once the fireplace was clear, Jean crouched down to set the logs down a safe but near distance away from the fireside. Then he opened the hand that hadn't been used to clear away the ashes, which had been closed the entire time. Opening the fist revealed an assortment of thin, dry flammable materials that he set in the middle of the fireplace. To put it simply, he prepared the tinder.
Then Jean left for the second trip outside. When he returned shortly after, he had Shea's bag strapped over one shoulder and his hands cupped around some glowing embers that he had retrieved from the seemingly dead bonfire. He placed the embers in the middle of the tinder pile before shrugging off Shea's bag and brusquely rolling it in his direction.
The embers seemed to be catching on well in this environment that was literally built for a fire, needing only time. Jean used that time for a third trip out to bring in some more wood since it wasn't like he was free to ignore the fire yet. Only after Jean returned and deemed the growing flames to be big enough to catch on a log did Jean place the first few branches into the fire place and feel ready to talk.
While the fire slowly but steadily built up, Jean stood up and turned to face the others. "According to... the thing I saw in the nightmare," Jean dusted his hands off as he spoke as if he was just saying something not terribly interesting, but his face twisted with greatly uncomfortable disgust as his own words brought forth the unpleasant memory, "The dead are coming because something... shards have been activated. We should do our best to prepare for it." By the time he had finished speaking, Jean had dusted off his hands well enough for him to be willing to reach into his clothes and pull out a note.
It was the note from his clone, and about the only piece of hard evidence Jean had to back up his words. He extended the piece of paper to Kaileer, recognizing him as the leader out of everyone present, in a silent invitation to read for himself.
It wasn't a dream, but you need to know the truth. The Dead are coming, Jean. The Shards have awoken. Make a fortress, find survivors, build. Ugly as you are I'm letting you know, nothing is uglier than the evil that's coming. If you need me, shatter this. The potion inside will bridge our worlds one last time. Don't lose it. If you do, I'll know, and I know your fears as much as my own.
【 S I X T E E N ⦁ C O U R A G E O U S ⦁ W A R R I O R 】 ◢ K a i l e e r C e i n ' l y s ◣ ⦉ I've been looking at the sky to show me where I went wrong.⦊ 【 D - R A N K ⦁O A T H K E E P E R - ? ? ?⦁ H A K E M O T O 】
❝ Been looking at the sky like someone was looking down. But it keeps raining on me. ❞
[Kind of combining posts because nothing is being said while Jean is away.]
[x] Shea and I both watched as Jean left without another word, and then my gaze shifted to the younger boy. His attention was elsewhere, so I let him be for the moment. What was there to say, anyway? I didn't exactly have any supportive words at the time, and I was still trying to wrap my head around the dream world versus the real world, the fact what I had experienced actually happened. And, yet, it hadn't. I looked down at Fiorzia, who has snuggled back into my side, although she hid her face and still sobbed. A bit awkwardly, I gently stroked her hair with one hand in hopes of calming her down. Trying to reassure her that I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. After all, she seemed to need me for something, although there hadn't exactly been an opportunity to ask about it.
Waiting for Jean to return, I wrapped my blanket tighter around myself and the sylph. Part of me felt bad for not helping but it had always seemed like I was the only one with enough initiative to do anything. So in that regard I didn't necessarily mind letting someone else do the work. Besides, I barely had the energy to think let alone do much of anything else.
Remaining where I was, my gaze followed Jean as he made two separate trips: the first to collect firewood and tinder, and the second to retrieve some embers from the fire outside and grab the bag Shea had mentioned. The latter he roughly rolled over to the antlered boy, who pulled it close and started digging through it. I couldn't help notice again the bit of tension that passed between them. Shea seemed nice enough, but something was clearly not right with the two of them. Most of the animosity seemed one sided from Jean, which made sense given his behavior thus far. What little I'd seen of the pale-haired youth, he treated everything like it were a burden. Which was going to be a problem if he or anyone around him were going to survive. But as long as he pulled his own weight it didn't really matter in the end.
My attention was drawn to Shea again when he held something toward me. A small parcel, which I assumed held some of the food he mentioned. "Some vegetables and bread from the Kokoro, and some berries I found," he explained with a small, sheepish grin. "I amn't a big fan of meat, so it's all I got."
Amn't? I knew well enough what he meant, but the strange phrasing was a bit jarring. I'd noticed his accent before, but that was the first time it had really shown through in the brief time since we'd met. Still, I took the packet. "Thanks," I replied gratefully, and started unwrapping it.
By that point we had a small fire going again, and the room was starting to warm up. Jean turned to face us, seemingly satisfied with his work for the moment, and explained the message he had for us. Whatever had happened to him brought a great amount of discomfort and disgust, and he made no effort to hide those emotions. The dead are coming because something... I had moved to take a bite of the bread, but paused at his words. Shards have been activated. We should do our best to prepare for it. He held out a letter to me, which I gingerly took and unfolded to read it, finally taking the bite I'd hesitated on a moment before. A quick glance through it, I opted to read it aloud so Shea could hear as well:
tabtabtab "It wasn't a dream, but you need to know the truth. The Dead are coming, Jean. The Shards have awoken. Make a fortress, find survivors, build. tabtabtab Ugly as you are I'm letting you know, nothing is uglier than the evil that's coming. If you need me, shatter this. The potion inside will bridge our tabtabtab worlds one last time. Don't lose it. If you do, I'll know, and I know your fears as much as my own."
Scowling slightly, I flipped the page over to make sure there wasn't more, and held it back out to Jean. "I can't decide if that's a warning, or a threat." Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair, pushing it out of my face. "Regardless, with people waking for the first time in centuries, they're going to be as confused as we were. I have a friend I'm trying to regroup with, who I'm hoping will find his way here soon. Hopefully, so will other people, once they see the flag--" I paused, and shot a glare at Jean. And yeah, I'm aware it's not great. But it's a start. Maybe if we can build this place up enough, we'll be able to protect it from whatever's coming." My gaze turned to Fiorzia and I patted her softly once more before continuing more quietly. "And beyond that, maybe one day we'll be able to reclaim the city and save the sprites, too."
❝ But no one told you that this was going to hurt. And now all I really want is to scream. ❞
Counter | 39 / 200
Active Effects: • Agility [5]: [.5] rank increase to physical speed. • Power [5]: [.5] rank increase to physical strength.
Current Stats: • Physical| Strength: 0.5 x Speed: + 0.5 • Spiritual| Strength: 0.0 x Speed: 0.0 • Power [5] || Agility [5] || Intelligence [3] || Chakra [1]
It had taken me the better part of a month to finally reach a place with walls and protection. It had been a long time since I felt safe; my entire life I had spent it as the hunter, chasing down people, and ending their life. Now, I was the hunted, and it sucked. Big time. Regardless, I was safe now, once I was allowed in. This was the northern entrance, most likely. After being checked, I walked past the guards and into the settlement. The first order of business was figuring out what was going on, and what I had to do to be able to remain.
Techniques used:
Passives
PA - Firestarter: The strength of Taiki's fire jutsu are treated as being a rank higher in strength, but cost .5 chakra more, rounded up. [ E Rank = 8, D Rank = 15, C Rank = 30, B Rank = 60, A Rank = 120, S Rank = 240, S+ Rank = 540]
PA - Fire Brand: By adding the tiger seal at the beginning of maruton techniques, Taiki is able to alter the very nature of the technique, transforming it into a fire style jutsu.
PA - Pathfinder: Every 25 posts, Taiki is able to roll a 10 sided dice. If it lands on a 1 or a 10, Taiki obtains a randomly generated type of map (4 sided, 1 is a small, 2 is a medium, 3 is a large and 4 is an epic).
Discipline - Scavenger [D]: In a world where survival of the fittest is the rule of law it is the Scavenger who learns that the key to survival is possession of needed materials and items. For every other Experience Rank after D - rank (B and S - ranks), generate a number between one and three [1 - 3], and follow the chart below when looking for materials: → On a roll of one [1], increase materials gathered by fifty percent [50%]. → On a roll of two [2], note a member of the Event Coordination Team. A potential rare material is discovered! → On a roll of three [3], the durability of the material(s) found is increased by one [1] step.
This is supposed to be a safe place. So Honō had been assured. Moisture in the air has soaked the stone walls and caused that universally familiar scent of home to fill the air. It clenches a heart already thudding in fear of being turned away, scorned. The underlaying taste of soaked wood in the air just completes the aroma and Honō wishes he could keept it with him, wear it like a cloak of thick wool. Maybe if he was wearing something that bulked out his frame and made him look less like a frail, sick sapling then maybe he'd also feel less like one as well.
Instead, he was only dressed in thin cotten, snow stained and far more worn than when he... first woke up. It's still too disorientating to think about and, with no immenent assurence of safety, he doesn't. Instead, Honō knuckles down their mind and focus instead of putting one foot in front of the other, a grey and blue dot slowly approaching the gates that prove, with every inch gained on them, their proper grandeur in looming high, high overhead. Even with such a large volume of material on his body, the thin material does not keep out the entirety of seeping chill of the area, especially with Honō's not having much in the way of meat, and even less so of fat, on their body.
[I'm assuming you're entering from the north gate?]
It seemed that as you arrived at the gate, the guard was switching out, the young man taking over looking strikingly familiar. Black hair, green eyes, and a decent build, he looked the spitting image of a friend, but had enough structural difference to not be mistaken. His brow furrowed as he watched your slow approach, expression changing from confusion to a bit of concern after a moment. Finally, he pushed himself off of where he leaned against the wall and stepped forward. "Oi," he called out. "You alright there?" He gestured quickly to the guard opposite him, a short boy perhaps no more than thirteen, who nodded and took off through the gates on what looked like a mission to retrieve something. Turning his gaze back to you, the first guard spoke again. "Are you injured?"
Kira Took a hour to walk up the path from where he started from the south gate but smiled as he reach his destination, though nobody could see it sense it was hidden under the oni mask he had on. Kira would look around and watch the people buzzing about in and out of what appeared to be a large stone gatehouse with some guards inspecting large sacks and carts. Kira wasn't to worried, even with the dead goblin on his sack they only looked at him in disgust and moved on to the next person. Kira merely traveled onward into the city entrance and saw the bustling inbetween streets and roads big and small for children and large carriages. A large carriage nearly ran Kira over and with the way it was decorated it wouldn't surprise him if it wasn't one of those who lived in comfort rather than in survival.
Kira went over to a sign with a slightly familiar scribbling that seemed like the language he was brought up to read, write, and speak but it was warped in some way with new adjectives and nouns he didn't know of or heard of before. being asleep for 50 years must do that to a person. Kira would have to adjust quickly as he soon understood what one sign said was a market place. Finally, something good for a change. Kira went and started his way to the marketplace hoping that the stuff he collected in his short trip to the forest will allow him some decent trade and maybe some ryo to bring home should trade fail.
The first sight of a living human might have been more of a relief if Honō's heart was not already wound tight in several, cutting, threads of anxiety and fear. The guard had yet to draw out a weapon - that Honō's moist, green eyes could see - but still an iron rod of panic had formed in their spine, though the narrown point of their chin remained tucked slightly down, silver hair obscuring their gaze and the chance of making eye-contact, but not letting the guard's feet leave their vision. A shift in stance, a flex in muscle, any signal at all to indicate to Honō that their presence wasn't welcome, had gotten too close, to cease all of their movements and just drop to a knee and beg -
Honō was so tense - this strange land, the circumstances, this world - was so overwhelmed, that their breathing had stopped. The thin, slender-framed, lost, fifteen-year-old swallowed and pulled in air as smoothly and quietly as possible, frail-looking hands clasped in front of their thighs. The guard's expression was left unnoticed, so desperate was Honō in attempting to look as non-threatening, and respectful, as they could manage, not knowing the customs that they may now be walking into.
At the sound of a voice calling out, Honō stopped walking, barely resisting the near chronic urge to fall straight to their knees on cold, wet, hard stone below and prostrate their self for mercy. At the first question of Honō's health, they took a precious second to steady their breathing and slowly lift their eyes - green to green - to show that Honō wasn't trying to hide an unlterier motive.
"I do not believe so." Honō cringed, their voice shaking slightly. "My apologies - I do not believe I have... travelled well." Honō's face fell even further into dismay. Such a vague answer was not becoming, nor was it promising in presenting a positive image of their self. "I..." Wire-like hands tightened their grip on each- other as moss-green eyes flickered down briefly before returning to the guard. "I was lead here, by an individual named Servus. He told me I might be able to find safety here. I'm so sorry -" Honō bows, low and deep, silver hair trailling over one shoulder to hang even lower "- to presume this of you." Desperation tinged their tone of voice. "I have no intention of being a burdon. If there is no place for me here, I would be grateful on directions on where I could go instead."
The guard's concerned expression changed to on of confusion as you bowed to him. He held up his hands in an effort to diffuse the situation. "Wait, no, no, you've got it wrong," he explained quickly, clearly unsure how to handle the emotional wreck in front of him. Though he knew you couldn't be blamed; especially coming from the city's direction a lot had likely happened. "We welcome anyone here, as long as you don't pose a threat to us." He gave no sign of recognition of the name mentioned, but his eyes narrowed a bit as he scrutinized you a bit more closely. And then the puzzle pieces appeared to fall into place. "Are you by chance Hono Hokori?" Without waiting for an answer, he looked back at the second guard, who had just returned from wherever he had gone. "Sorry, but I need you to send a message to Kaileer, too. I think we found one of his companions." The younger boy looked exasperated but agreed nonetheless, seeming to understand the severity of the situation. He ran off once more.
Finally turning back to you, he gestured for you to approach. "Why don't we get you somewhere warm, and get you some proper food," he offered with a small grin, the gentlest he could manage.
the wince on Honō's face was hidden with his bow - had he presumed too much? Assumed something on the man standing before them - perhaps not a guard at all but - oh. Had Honō spoken too much - caused worry? Obviously they had not thought their words through enough. To cause such distress without intention or even without ever needing to was beyond rude of Honō -
"Kaileer?" Moss-green eyes peek up, shy and surprised, from underneath a curtain of silver hair. "I, yes, I'm so sorry." Manners kicked in once more, dipping Honō's head down briefly. Politely long enough for Honō to say; "I am Honō Hokori, of the Hari Clan. Please forgive my rudeness in not introducing myself." Lifting their head back up, Honō gave a small smile, hopefully conveying their true sincerity in the matter. "Thank you for your kindness." Hands still clasped in front of them, Honō did as was beckoned and began to approach without hesitation. Relief calmed the thrumming in Honō's ears, but a new kind of rush began to take over. Kaileer.
Kaileer was here? And had mentioned Honō by name - most likely by description as well for the guard to have recognised the Hari Clan member. Honō was not at all surprised to hear Kaileer had made it to somewhere safe - would be surprised even less to find Kaileer had actually been a leading hand in making it - but had Honō's inability to keep up with them and Soraru caused such distress? To otherwise see Kaileer and Soraru would be an insult to their integrity, but Honō could not shake the desire to place blame on their self for causing stress on the people trying to help them.
"My apologies - I allowed my nerves to get the best of me." Honō gives another apologetic smile and a small bow of the head. "I..." Honō ducks their head, shy once more. "Has Kaileer been well?" They ask, unsure. Was this too much again? Too nosey?
The young man stopped waving his hand at the mention of Kaileer's well being. Not in a way that caused a rise in tension but more as if he were distracted by the question. "Well enough, I guess. He's in one piece if that's what you're worried about." The words did suggest something else the guard wasn't willing to say, but he let the subject drop too quickly to questioned. "Come on, let's get you inside so you can warm up and eat while we wait for him." Again he gestured for you to follow, but this time didn't wait to see if you would before turning away and heading up a set of steps that appeared to lead to a bridge heading south, over the complex of buildings.
