Within The Dark

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Pain wasn't a concept that many people really ever came to terms with. They hated it, despised it, spent their entire lives avoiding it. Val could well understand that of course, Pain was neither pleasant, nor something anyone really wanted to experience, but there was a lesson in it, something that couldn't quite be explained. Pain was a way of showing someone a certain path, of opening up a window for them that otherwise might have been ignored.

There were entire cults built around the concept.

Val of course didn't believe in any of these cults, he was neither insane nor a masochist, but he did believe in the fact that pain could open doors. Emotional pain was often eye opening, and physical pain? Well it taught lessons. Like a child touching a hot stove, or an idiot viking jumping on top of grenade. That was the lesson he had learned from this after all, not to let himself get caught by another fucking grenade in the near future.

He let out a groan.

The pain was getting to him.

The wounds had healed slightly, the blood had stopped, but as the scabs slowly formed they gripped and pushed the chunks of metal, pressing them deeper into his skin and causing an odd sort of agony that Val couldn't have described with an entire thesaurus at his hand.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Her heart was at her throat. Things rarely ever escalated to such heights. The last time anything this violent had ever passed had been back on --

Lips drew thing. No. Don't go there. Don't go back. Think on the now. Swallowing hard, Ryssa attempted to calm herself. As if finding the intestinal fortitude for what she had to do, her cerulean fingers gripped tightly around her blaster. They were about fifty meters now. If she shot them would others hear? Would more come? It was likely. It wasn't as if they would simply walk the other --

Wait.

A sudden shot of awareness hit her. She understood the old tongue. She could technically speak it. A new idea blossomed in her mind. There was no time do dawdle.

Ryssa quickly and quietly began taking off her clothes.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

He could feel it now.

Fresh air.

The wind wasn't too strong, just a light breeze that carried the fresh scent of a forest down into the darkness of the mines. Goosebumps raised on his skin as he felt the cold air, his fingers curling against the stone wall as he drew himself forward and simply stood there for a moment. A part of him wondered if he had gone the right way, wondered if he could follow up on Ryssa or if he had somehow come to a different entrance all together.

He had no idea.

In all honesty however he no longer had the mental capacity to truly care or not. He wanted to breath the fresh air, he wanted to stand within the sun, feel a river rushing around him. The thoughts were almost romantic to his mind, a sign of how much blood he had lost over the last few minutes. Val smiled slightly, opening his eyes and slowly stumbling along within the darkness, there was no stopping now, no concern for what might lay on the surface.

Not anymore.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

They call her kind 'Changelings'. More often than not with contempt in their voice. It was who she was, no denying that. Her genetics allowed her to be able to shapeshift using her current mass, the special properties of her skin even allowing her to mimic clothing. It was what Ryssa was going for. It wouldn't be perfect, but it could potentially draw away the two cultists from her and Val and send them off in the wrong direction.

The only issue was that the shifting was painful. Terribly so. For every pro there was a con and being able to shift and manipulate bone, sinew, and flesh had its price. Which was why Ryssa bit her tongue as the last remnants of her shirt fell down to the floor. Focus. Try to focus. All I need to do is shift the illusion of a cloak.

As soon as mental thought went through her mind, a searing burning pain seemed to torch her skin on fire.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

There it was. The wind.

At first he questioned himself, he questioned whether he was actually feeling it or if in an odd sense of desperation he couldn't help but imagine it. A frown pulled at his lips for a moment, fingers curling against the rough rock wall of the cave. A moment more passed, the wind swept over him again, a smile of satisfaction dipped onto his lips. The exit to the cavern was likely just around the bend, fresh air, and probably cultists, waiting for him out there.

He watched through the dark Abyss, and then slowly sat himself down on a large boulder.

Walking out there now would have been suicide, stepping into the open meant he would either be spotted by the Cultists or maybe even some wild beast would get him. He decided that for now he would wait for Ryssa. The chance that she had abandoned him was still there of course, but time would tell. He determined that he would give her fifteen minutes, and if fifteen minutes passed without word from her then he would leave on his own.

Or attempt to anyway.

He leaned forward slightly, resting the strain of his back as he began to count the seconds.


The wind.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Clawdites had the affinity of being able to shift their skin into various textures. It allowed them to be able to blend a bit more seamlessly with their surroundings. The trouble came that to utilize this feature they had to maintain consciousness. Too much pain or if knocked out could end this facade fairly quickly. Ryssa was betting on being able to at least survive a few seconds with the deception.

Gritting her teeth, the Clawdite used the shifting of her skin to create the illusion of a similar cloak that the Cultists wore. It shrouded her visage and made her appear to be what they would expect to see.

Swallowing hard, Ryssa stepped forward, moving towards them. She kept her hand at her back, where the WESTAR-34 lay hidden. A back up plan, but one none the less.

"Chrake dha mie chor chech nah." Ryssa managed to say in that guttural tongue. She said a blood trail seemed to lead towards the eastern exit.

The two cultists swung their gaze over to her, the lamp held high to bring the petite figure into the light.

"Ske mah nah veis cheis?" it was a wary query, investigating her sudden arrival.

"Moa vah decchrka van meh." I barely managed to get through the detonation, Ryssa replied, gesturing to her sullied and dusty cloak.

A pause.

Would they take it? Would they believe her?

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

Val didn't move from his place.

At this point there wasn't much else he could do save for count the moments that passed on by. A part of him wondered if she would come back, another part was already sure that she wouldn't. He tried not to quesiton it too much, if only because he thought that doubt would make him lose a little bit of hope.

He didn't want to die here.

Perhaps a few decades ago he would have been more open to the idea. He could have joined Aerith in death, seen her once again and been with her, but Val had never been suicidal. He had always known that wasn't his path, had always known that he was supposed to go on living. Aerith herself had always insisted upon it, and who was he to argue with her in that respect? There was no doubt in his mind that perhaps it would have been better, that the rest death would have offered him would have been kind.

Yet it wasn't for him. There was still much to do, much to see, and in truth he thought Aerith would have been disappointed in him if he joined her now in the afterlife.

She had wanted him to live after all.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

@Valkyrien Aurelios

The sound of crunching pebbles and sand would foretell the coming of another figure along the path Val had taken. If the man were to hear them in his blood loss daze, he would notice that they carried a slight stagger to the stride.

It was Ryssa, grimacing as she wandered over to the man. Whatever events had led her to finally catch up with him would be left unspoken. Instead, the woman did her best to focus on getting away from the mine.

"Val!" her voice was hoarse, and she was breathing heavily as if pained. Her fingers trembled and the woman seemed to have a difficult time staying upright.

Ryssa could have left, but she didn't. It went alot to say considering her earlier concerns; concerns she still had nagging her mind. However, realizing that Val had been wounded in the blast sealed the deal in returning for the man.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

He sat upon the small stone, his eyes drifting over the tone of voice that called his name. "Hello there."

Val sounded calm.

Not like a man at deaths door. Not like a man who had his entire back ruined by metric ton of shrapnel, but more like a monk who had found some sort of inner peace. He looked up at Ryssa, a slight smile touching his lips. A small pool of blood had formed on the ground behind him, though it appeared quite a bit less than he had been trailing just a few minutes ago. As a matter of fact, Val looked far better than he had when Ryssa left him, save for the color of his skin was much more pale.

"I'm quite hungry." He said quietly. "We should get something to eat."

Perhaps he was delirious. "You know, after we get this shit out of my back."

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

The sky was a dark indigo hue. Night had come and twilight was at its cusp. Yet there was enough light to see the dark stain that saturated the area around where Val sat. It was an image that made Ryssa thin her lips in alarm and concern. When she managed to come close enough to see the damage to his back, she gave a small gasp.

It was littered with shrapnel and mangled flesh. Some bits and pieces had thick globs of clotted blood, while others still were weeping tiny trickles of the sanguine stain.

"We need to get you to a medic now." she told him, eyes widening as she pushed back her own frayed nerves. He was far too calm about this. Just how much blood had he lost?

"We'll get you something to eat later." turning around she thinned her lips. The cultists would be searching everywhere within the mines for any trace of the pair. With Val bleeding, he was a walking trail straight towards them.

A thought came about the water. If memory served right -- There would be hot springs that were nearby. Odds were that they might focus on the mines than that.

"Come on." she bent down to grab him by the arm. A rather comical thing to be sure. "We need to find a place to lay low and get your back checked."

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

He barely budged as she tugged at him, eyebrows raising slightly. She really was quite tiny compared to him. So small in fact that Val questioned whether or not she could ever actually manage to pull him free of the rock. He smiled slightly, and then remembered that conducting such an experiment at the moment likely wouldn't be the best thing to do. He vaguely remembered that there were still cultists about, and thus as she pulled on his arm Val slowly began to stand.

"Food first." Val said as he rose.

He really was hungry. His metabolism worked faster than most peoples, and it only got worse when he was injured. His body kicked into overdrive to try and heal him, as seen by the shrapnel that was now practically encased within scabs and already half grown skin. He frowned slightly as he stood, pain shooting up his back. For a moment he found himself somewhat dizzy, though a hand came out to stabilize himself on the cave wall besides him.

"I'm really hungry." He explained. "Plus, I doubt there's a doctor who can treat this." He gestured to his back. "On this planet."

He had a point.

They weren't exactly on the most advanced world.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"This place is known for their healers." they had just discovered that. Some of which were just old herblist women out in the mountains. There were also medical droids.

"Let me worry about it." she told him, half annoyed now that he was just being as stubborn as he was. Who cared about food right now? He needed medical attention.

"And you don't know what can or can't be done." she told him sharply, only to gasp as he swayed on his feet. Damnit, they needed to find a place for him fast.

"We'll head west." here's to the makeshift plan. "You can't travel like this and dawn is upon us." Meaning it would be easier to track them.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

"The village isn't all that far." He reminded her.

They had gone some ways underground, but they were still within a few miles of where they had begun their night. He doubted that the village would be completely safe, but it would at the very least offer them a place to rest. Cultists didn't control that town, the Corporation did.

There was an important distinction there. If the Corporation had been in an way affiliated with the cultists then they wouldn't have had to sneak around. The Cultists simply could have commanded the Corporation to shut down the mine while they explored the tomb. It wasn't a very far logical leap, in fact it made perfect sense. The Corporation wanted to make money, the Cultists wanted their ancient temple restored and their artifact returned, those two points sort of conflicted with one another.

"We can hide there." He pointed out. "I doubt the Cultists will run around freely there."

No matter how many men they had. "Hide in plain sight and all that."

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

"Yeah, wise guy and you think you can make it back to the village by dawn?" she was making a point. A glare shot up at the man, barely visible under the faint cerulean light cast by the disappearing stars and the approaching morn.

"You're already swaying back and forth." came the half grumble, shaking her head at the silliness of his pigheadedness. Like people were going to not see a bleeding, two meter tall man stumble into the village. Most were already up and getting ready to go to work at this time too. It would be too risky.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

"I told you. I need food." Once he had that, he would be better. "I can make it to the village just fine after that."

That was a bit of a stretch, the wounds wouldn't magically heal after all.

Yet after a good meal he would be able to at least walk a little bit better, not to mention the wounds would stabilize even more by then. "Plus, where else are we going to go? Live in the woods for a couple of days while my wounds fester and get infected?"

That was also a good point.

"I can't sit in a cave for the same reason I can't make it to the village." It was logical. "Let's be honest, at least in the village we can try and find a healer."

He still wasn't really too keen on trusting a healer on this world...but well it was better than sitting around.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

A roll of ellipses, and Ryssa finally came to a halt to give him a flat stare. In her mind, precious seconds were being wasted arguing over this.

"Food? Really. Food?" emphasis was rather biting with her last, and she was becoming more and more frustrated. "Do you think we just will find a food cart or some other passerby that might lend us food for you to eat before dawn?" her hand came up to gesture around them sharply.

"Or even better, let's see if we can find something out in the wild for you to eat after we hunt it down, dress it, and then make a fire for you to cook it?"

It was idiotic. At the very best he could stay put in one of the smaller caves while she went to go look for help or gather supplies.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

"Don't actually need to cook it." Val said simply, no hint of sarcasm in his tone.

He could never really explain it, but...well raw meat tasted just fine to him, in fact...it was often better than when it was cooked. The little secret hadn't often come out, and in fact the only other person who he'd ever actually shared that fact with had been Aerith, but at the moment it seemed prudent to point it out. His physiology, or perhaps preference, made it so that raw meat was not only nutritious to him, but...well tasty as all hell. Not something he could really explain.

"Really just need to catch it." Val said as he waved his arm, mocking a hunt as his other hand came down and slammed on it. "Then, nom nom nom."

Okay, he was clearly delirious from blood loss.

He smiled at her. "It'll help, trust me."

As crazy as it sounded, there was something in his tone, something that sounded entirely too serious.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

He. Was. Nuts.

The stark expression of disbelief coupled with the ridiculousness of his statement was absurd. It made sense why he would sound completely off his rocker. He was already suffering from blood loss and he wasn't making any sense. Who would trust a guy who was already several pints of blood gone and talking in riddles and nonsense. Not even the serious tone in his voice would sway her.

He was clearly off his rocker.

"No." she told him firmly. Her plan made the most sense. They had no time to spare trying to hunt something in this environment for him to rip off the head and feast on it like some creature.

 

[Valkyrien Aurelios]

[member="Ryssa Rourke"]

"Look." Val said taking in a deep breath and standing to his full height. Pain arched through his back as he did so, but he needed to get his point across that he was at the very least...still lucid. "I have a very active metabolism."

This was hardly the time to get into his dietary needs. "I don't know why, but eating raw meat is good for me."

He really was sounding ridiculous.

"It'll help me regain strength, help me heal a bit better." He pointed towards the sullenness of his eyes, the pale color of his skin. "This isn't just because of the injury...well it is kind of, but I'm serious. If we go with your plan, I need food. I can't survive the day without eating. Not because of blood loss, but because my body will simply turn in on itself and starve me to death before we ever even have a chance to make it to a healer."

That was the way he worked. His body was, even now, desperately trying to fix itself. While it did that it consumed a massive amount of energy, energy that came from the food he ate. Unfortunately however Val hadn't had anything to eat since the day before, and even then it had been a cooked and sparse meal of rabbit stew, not exactly the most sustaining for even a normal being of his size. That meant that he was in a way, running on little more than fumes.

 

[Ryssa Rourke]

[member="Valkyrien Aurelios"]

Yup. Ridiculous.

He couldn't be stable at all. There was no way. In fact, that exact thought shone on Ryssa's expression with her deadpan stare.

"I'm not asking you to stick around in a cave all day. I'm telling you that you need to rest and lay low while I go gather whatever supplies you might need to make you stable," she emphasized in turn. This guy was seriously was starting to get on her nerves.

"It will take us longer to get to the village, and even more time we don't have to try to find a place for you to be without sticking out like a sore thumb." not like he wasn't already big enough to warrant others attention immediately.