bursts into tears

[oversea]

Comments

[transmit]

… Mm. [ his voice is quieter than it was before, so there's that. every so often he also turns his head away from thorns to make a sound, suspiciously close to a muffled cough. ] Keep going. Momentum's important.

[ mostly because he feels that the moment they stop, he's likely going to keel over. ]

[oversea]

[ ... his concern is growing, but he'll keep moving forward anyway. after a while. ]

Found him.

[ and thorns will direct them to cut to their left. their baby is right ahead, looking distraught at the separation... ]

[transmit]

[ he doesn't realise just how badly his thoughts have spiraled until docybara is right there in front of him. preparing for the worst, over and over, leaves its marks and scars. he stumbles forward until he's pressed against him, face buried in fur.

why is their happiness always so tenuous? ]

[oversea]

[ besides being their child, docybara has sort of become a symbol of a timeline that is going right. look, they're able to properly care and cherish something other than them. look at how good they are at keeping him safe. the moment they lose him, it will feel like the perfect lens of this cycle will crumble.

thorns quickly checks for any injuries... some mangled fur and a few scratches, but they look like they're from running around a forest alone and scared instead of being injured in an attacked. that's fine, they can take care of that once they're away from here. ]

... Mm. Let's keep going.

[transmit]

[ not the docybara death flags…

ignoring the feeling that something is threatening to tear straight through his chest, he nods from where he is, hoping it isn't obvious he's using docybara as a brace. animals are sensitive like that; docybara turns at once, worried, pressing its snout into him. elysium hushes it softly, and for all its stubbornness, it understands the directive to behave and does.

they move forward. elysium does his best not to explode, figuratively or otherwise. he can't be a burden. ]

[oversea]

[ they are really overdue for a break; they haven't even had a proper rest since this all happened in the middle of it, and they're injured. ]

... Have you sensed anyone?

[ he's almost hesitant to ask, since he doesn't want elysium to tire himself out with his arts. ]

[transmit]

[ yeah, even with a catalyst, people aren't meant to be channeling their arts for hours at a time. his sp economy is in shambles, not to mention his vision. ]

… No. You should check the Doctor for any trackers. Our clothing, too.

[oversea]

Mm, right.

[ he starts with elysium, looking him over before going over himself. when they're both cleared, he checks their child.. who is also clear.

...

and then he turns to the cart. and there, right above one of the wheels, is a tracker. ]

... There we are.

[transmit]

… If you can find wildlife to attach it to, all the better. We don’t know how closely they'll be monitoring us, but with any luck, most of their resources will be tied up in Lungmen.

[ there's a moment where he stifles a cough into his sleeve. ]

Let's keep moving until an opportunity presents itself.

[oversea]

[ ...

he forces himself not to start fretting over elysium, since that will only slow them down right now. but he gives him a look that says that they'll talk about elysium's condition later.

he wonders if it would be better or worse to get out of the woods. on one hand, it'll be easier for someone to spot them. on the other, the reverse is true–it'll be harder for them to be ambushed out in the open compared to here. ]

Tell me when you need a break.

[transmit]

[ he needed a break forever ago, but he isn't saying that. thorns is stressed, their child is stressed; the last thing they need is to stop somewhere steeped in the same pressure. ]

I will. This is nothing compared to the worst of what we've been through.

[ is that really the bar they should be using, though? it is now. ]

[oversea]

... Mm. I guess you're right.

[ this is not a healthy bar to set.

after a while, there's movement to their left. thorns freezes... until a small creature pokes its head out from the bushes. ]

Finally.

[ ... he'll have to use a unit to attach the tracker to it, since he's too worried about scaring it off. ]

Let's keep going, but after a while it should be safer to stop somewhere.

[transmit]

[ when was the last healthy bar they set. they weren't even healthy before they started looping; this was inherently doomed from the beginning.

but at this point, it's almost impossible to stay upright, let alone talk, barely even registering movement from the bushes until thorns designates it as clear. relying on sheer willpower, he ekes out a nod. depending on how long thorns wants to keep going, he has maybe another half hour before he trips over his own feet just trying to stay vertical. at least if he does, docybara is there to break his fall… his literal crutch from their last run-in until now. amazing. ]

[oversea]

[ well

that decides when they're taking a break. thorns runs to the cart to dig through it until he finds their first aid items, and then he rushes to elysium's side. docybara whines, concerned, and he gives him a pat to reassure him. ]

I'm checking your wounds.

[ he knows what's likely doing the most damage to him is the oripathy, but the bomb damage probably is not helping. they can take care of the either one of the two. ]

[transmit]

[ nothing about the situation is helping, really. he's hard of breath, starting to feel warm, and is finding it harder to remain upright. but he has to. there is nothing he wants more desperately in the world than to be by thorns' side and to live the life they both envisioned.

his fingers curl into thorns' clothing. it feels like saying anything would just make this worse, too. ]

[oversea]

[ he kisses his forehead, and then once he's done doing what he can to elysium's wounds, he will help him to settle down on the floor with the cart as support for his back.

he moves on to quickly tend to docybara's injuries. ]

We'll stay here for a while. Try to sleep.

[transmit]

… You haven't slept at all since you were on watch. You have to look after yourself, too.

[ which

he knows is a luxury, but still. even if he wanted to protest it, he isn't in the best condition to. where did he mess up? how did he mess up? it's like the spiral never ends. ]

[oversea]

I'll sleep once we make it to the next town. Don't worry.

[ unfortunately, he can't trust elysium to be in guard duty at the moment in his condition, and he likely won't be able to rest up and heal properly until they're actually somewhere safe. as long as they're on high aler outside, elysium probably won't himself relax. ]

[transmit]

Mm. Let me send that message to Lungmen I've been meaning to.

[ as altruistic as this might sound, there's no denying the self-serving edge to it: the more lungmen involves itself in the issue, the less likely their pursuers are to have the resources, or the inclination, to bother them.

he has to collect himself, close his eyes. he tries not to let it show how difficult it is, even though it's all he can think about. breathe in, breathe out. channel his arts like he always had and has been for the past few hours and it'll be fine. ]

[oversea]

[ he settles down next to him to keep an eye as he does this. is this perhaps a bit overbearing? maybe. but elysium hasn't looked this bad in a while, considering people shouldn't be using their arts for such a prolonged period of time. ]

... Mm. Let me know.

[transmit]

[ it's not.

while the transmission itself goes without incident, barring the requests for assistance he blows past, it's as though his strings are cut the moment he finishes the message, his balance tipping until he ends up collapsing against thorns.

goodnight. ]

[oversea]

[ goodnight.

thorns will readjust them so that elysium can lay a little more comfortably, even though he probably won't notice a difference with the level of exhaustion he's at. he'll keep checking their perimeter with alchemy, but he gives up on doing it at a constant rate or else he's going to tire himself out faster...

docybara (which my autocorrect now remembers) waddles over and settles down at elysium's other side. ]

[transmit]

[ docybara is so important to me

depending on when thorns expects elysium to wake up, there may be cause for concern when he just sleeps past everything. calling his name and gentle shakes will not be enough, and as docybara starts to break down the drug in his system, he gets antsier and antsier.

he starts whining at thorns to do something. but what… ]

[oversea]

Settle down, Doctor.

[ ... okay. he says this, but he's starting to get nervous.

of course, the first thing he's going to do once it becomes clear he isn't waking up easily is to check his breathing and pulse.

[transmit]

[ good news!




both are abnormal. his breathing and pulse are way too fast, and his brows are knit together as if in pain. if he really wants elysium to wake up, maybe he can resort to something more forceful? surely it will be fine. ]