"Renji!" he snapped, standing up and ignoring the wave of dizziness, putting his hands on the man's shoulders and none-too-gently pushing him back down.
"Stay here. I'm not going to let you go out there and get killed. That wouldn't accomplish a damn thing, would it? Besides, you're so stuck on protecting everyone, so you need to stay alive for that, right?"
He relaxed minimally, though he kept his hands on Renji's shoulders, knees on the floor on either side of the redhead's legs.
"I don't know what it is with you and trying to die all the time, but have some faith in Sora and Kurosaki. They'll come back alive. He promised me. You wouldn't help them anyway. In fact, you'd probably make it worse, because then they'd end up trying to protect you too." He knew he was being blunt. He had to be, or else Renji would keep fighting him the whole way. Nowe sighed wearily, slouching, just barely keeping himself from sitting on his friend's feet.
"Killing him wouldn't be very productive toward keeping him alive, in any case."
Renji struggled gamely, but gravity and the betrayal of his own body was against him. When he was firmly back on the floor, the fight left him. For a moment, he just struggled to drag a few breaths in, his eyes rolling back in his head.
The momentary grasp he'd had on the here and now scattered, and he struggled to put together anything that would make his current position make some sort of sense.
"I don't... remember," he said. "Killing... they killed... killed them all. Traitors. Have to... stop... save her." Suddenly he jerked against Nowe's hands. "Save her!" He stopped, breathing hard, his shoulders twitching. Then a look of confusion crossed his face. He reached up, his hands shaking, and touched Nowe's face with ice cold but otherwise gentle fingers. "Not..."
He swallowed hard, then frowned, his brows drawn together with concentration. "Where's Sora?"
Nowe was relieved when Renji seemed to finally calm and lie back down, though every muscle in his body tensed up again as soon as the redhead started babbling nonsense.
"Renji! Renji, calm down..." he said, but the other kept talking and Nowe was starting to lose his balance. He tightened the grip on the man's shoulders, putting a bit more of his weight into it, but not too much. He didn't want to hurt him. He blinked as he felt Renji's freezing cold fingers touch his face. What was he...?
"Sora left, I told you. He'll come back soon, I swear." He bit his lip, chewing on it and looking again to the door. It was too soon for Sora to come back, but he kept hoping that door would open and the younger boy would come bursting through with that familiar grin on his face.
"Left!" Renji tried to sit up again, unsuccessfully since he was already weighed down. "Shoulda gone... with him." He frowned. "What are you... doing?" He rolled his head from one side to the other, looking at Nowe's hands planted on his shoulders.
He gave Nowe a weak grin. "You look... like you're doing... better." A shiver shuddered through him.
"Keeping you from leaving. Which is mostly why I stayed behind. Don't worry. Sora went to get help first, and he promised me he'd come back alive. Just lie down." He stayed where he was, determined to keep Renji here. He wasn't going to let the man get himself killed, if it was the last thing he did.
"I'm fine for now, thanks to you, you idiot," he muttered, sighing again. "Now make things easy on me and settle down. I'm not leaving you here and I'm not letting you leave. Accept it."
Renji chuckled; given the current state of his voice, it wasn't the most pleasant of sounds. "It's what... I do," he said. "What we are." He shivered again. His head felt strange and light, and he laughed. "I don't...I can... go anywhere."
At least he'd done something. Nowe was up. It was more than he'd expected.
"I'm not sure what you mean, but you can explain it later when you're not injured," Nowe said, frowning down at his friend again. Renji was hurt bad. He wanted to do something, but there wasn't a whole lot that could be done.
He was still so tired. It was tempting to just lie down and go to sleep, but he didn't trust Renji to not try and sneak off while he dozed. He had to stay awake, then. Sleep could come later.
Renji's eyes rolled back in his head for a moment as he struggled through a particularly painful breath, his back arching slightly and legs shaking. "Can't really... talk about it." He snorted, catching in another breath. "Kurosaki thinks... it doesn't matter... here. But he... can't really... know. Death is... everywhere."
He had the vague idea that he was babbling. He couldn't lie worth a damn to begin with, and this would probably make things worse. He needed something to focus, on, though.
Nowe hesitated. What could he talk about, really? He wasn't sure if he'd be able to talk, knowing Renji was like this.
"Then promise you won't die on me while I'm talking, alright?" he said. Without waiting for an answer, he went on, assuming Renji would have answered in the affirmative. He didn't want his friend to waste too much of his breath on talking.
"I guess I can tell you the story of what happened during the war 18 years ago, just before I was born..."
That was a kind of funny idea, there, that he might die. Maybe that's why he felt the way he did; and what the hell happened if he was in a gigai and 'died' anyway? Those were all such bizarre ideas.
But he didn't say anything. He wasn't about to make any promises he wasn't absolutely certain he could keep.
Nowe nodded. He had to keep going. If he didn't, he'd just keep thinking about Renji was so badly hurt and Sora might come back too late and Renji might die and then...
He mentally slapped himself. He had to calm down. Renji was still alive, still breathing. Even so, Nowe felt like he needed some reassurance, something to hold on to so he didn't feel like Renji was slipping away from him. He reached out and loosely grasped Renji's wrist. As long as he could feel that faint pulse, things would be okay. They had to be. They had to be.
"The goddess of our world contains within her body something called the Seal. She must bear it for her whole life, and it's only broken if she's killed or she dies. She must live a lonely life, locked up in the Castle of the Goddess, protected by the soldiers of the Union. The Empire was the Union's enemy, and fought constantly to try and kidnap the Goddess of the time for themselves."
Renji's entire arm was trembling, between the moments when the cold hit him and he shivered. It was something he couldn't even feel, himself. He was too numb. But he did feel the touch on his wrist.
That was right... he did have a heartbeat, just like he still needed to eat. "That's why... we're always... hungry,"
No, what, that wasn't the conversation he was having. He forced himself to listen to concentrate. "Goddess... of the time..." he repeated.
Nowe stopped. He'd noticed the shivering. Again his eyes flickered to the doorway. Sora wasn't here yet. Of course Sora wasn't here yet. He was supposed to go help Kurosaki first. What could Sora do for Renji, anyway? Hopelessness was starting to fill his heart. Renji was still babbling nonsense. There was no way that was a good sign.
He had to keep Renji warm. Looking down at himself, he realized he didn't really have any more supplies on him besides the shoelaces tied around his wrist and the clothes on his back.
Wait a second...
Nowe peeled his shirt off. It was sticky with blood, but maybe it would help. He couldn't afford to be a pessimist about it. He laid it over Renji, then continued his story, though with considerably more difficulty this time.
"Right... right. Well, there was a man who lived at that time named Caim. He made a pact with a red dragon that had been captured in order to save his own life and that of the dragon's. Pacts in my world are very powerful. They make a normal human far stronger, though the human has to give up something very precious to them. Caim gave up his voice, but they say that the red dragon spoke for him."
The addition of the shirt probably helped a little; Renji didn't notice, himself. He did the best he could, just holding on to the sound of Nowe's voice and trying to understand what he was saying.
"Red dragon," he echoed, to show that he was listening. He'd never seen a dragon...
Nowe couldn't tell what good the shirt had done. He reached out and grasped Renji's wrist again, relaxing minimally when the familiar but faint heartbeat thumped against his fingertips.
"Yeah, a red dragon. She let Caim ride on her back, and together they fought battle after battle against the Empire. There was a man, supposedly one of Caim's friends, who kidnapped the Goddess, wanting her for himself, but was possessed and ended up becoming Caim's enemy."
It seemed wrong telling a story that was completely meaningless to Renji while the man was lying here and dying. But he couldn't leave him here. If Renji died alone, Nowe would never forgive himself.
Renji's eyes were half closed; it was just too much effort to keep them open. It was comforting to hear Nowe speak, though. It gave him something to concentrate on. He'd promised himself that, as tired as he was starting to feel, he wouldn't sleep until Sora got back. Since Nowe seemed so certain that would happen...
"Enemies," he said, to show that he was listening. But that word only brought to mind the last things he'd seen before Landel's. Involuntarily, his hand jerked against Nowe's grasp.
"Renji!" he snapped, standing up and ignoring the wave of dizziness, putting his hands on the man's shoulders and none-too-gently pushing him back down.
"Stay here. I'm not going to let you go out there and get killed. That wouldn't accomplish a damn thing, would it? Besides, you're so stuck on protecting everyone, so you need to stay alive for that, right?"
He relaxed minimally, though he kept his hands on Renji's shoulders, knees on the floor on either side of the redhead's legs.
"I don't know what it is with you and trying to die all the time, but have some faith in Sora and Kurosaki. They'll come back alive. He promised me. You wouldn't help them anyway. In fact, you'd probably make it worse, because then they'd end up trying to protect you too." He knew he was being blunt. He had to be, or else Renji would keep fighting him the whole way. Nowe sighed wearily, slouching, just barely keeping himself from sitting on his friend's feet.
"Killing him wouldn't be very productive toward keeping him alive, in any case."
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The momentary grasp he'd had on the here and now scattered, and he struggled to put together anything that would make his current position make some sort of sense.
"I don't... remember," he said. "Killing... they killed... killed them all. Traitors. Have to... stop... save her." Suddenly he jerked against Nowe's hands. "Save her!" He stopped, breathing hard, his shoulders twitching. Then a look of confusion crossed his face. He reached up, his hands shaking, and touched Nowe's face with ice cold but otherwise gentle fingers. "Not..."
He swallowed hard, then frowned, his brows drawn together with concentration. "Where's Sora?"
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"Renji! Renji, calm down..." he said, but the other kept talking and Nowe was starting to lose his balance. He tightened the grip on the man's shoulders, putting a bit more of his weight into it, but not too much. He didn't want to hurt him. He blinked as he felt Renji's freezing cold fingers touch his face. What was he...?
"Sora left, I told you. He'll come back soon, I swear." He bit his lip, chewing on it and looking again to the door. It was too soon for Sora to come back, but he kept hoping that door would open and the younger boy would come bursting through with that familiar grin on his face.
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He gave Nowe a weak grin. "You look... like you're doing... better." A shiver shuddered through him.
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"I'm fine for now, thanks to you, you idiot," he muttered, sighing again. "Now make things easy on me and settle down. I'm not leaving you here and I'm not letting you leave. Accept it."
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At least he'd done something. Nowe was up. It was more than he'd expected.
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He was still so tired. It was tempting to just lie down and go to sleep, but he didn't trust Renji to not try and sneak off while he dozed. He had to stay awake, then. Sleep could come later.
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He had the vague idea that he was babbling. He couldn't lie worth a damn to begin with, and this would probably make things worse. He needed something to focus, on, though.
"Talk," he said. "You talk. Pass the... time."
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"Then promise you won't die on me while I'm talking, alright?" he said. Without waiting for an answer, he went on, assuming Renji would have answered in the affirmative. He didn't want his friend to waste too much of his breath on talking.
"I guess I can tell you the story of what happened during the war 18 years ago, just before I was born..."
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But he didn't say anything. He wasn't about to make any promises he wasn't absolutely certain he could keep.
"Go on..."
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He mentally slapped himself. He had to calm down. Renji was still alive, still breathing. Even so, Nowe felt like he needed some reassurance, something to hold on to so he didn't feel like Renji was slipping away from him. He reached out and loosely grasped Renji's wrist. As long as he could feel that faint pulse, things would be okay. They had to be. They had to be.
"The goddess of our world contains within her body something called the Seal. She must bear it for her whole life, and it's only broken if she's killed or she dies. She must live a lonely life, locked up in the Castle of the Goddess, protected by the soldiers of the Union. The Empire was the Union's enemy, and fought constantly to try and kidnap the Goddess of the time for themselves."
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That was right... he did have a heartbeat, just like he still needed to eat. "That's why... we're always... hungry,"
No, what, that wasn't the conversation he was having. He forced himself to listen to concentrate. "Goddess... of the time..." he repeated.
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He had to keep Renji warm. Looking down at himself, he realized he didn't really have any more supplies on him besides the shoelaces tied around his wrist and the clothes on his back.
Wait a second...
Nowe peeled his shirt off. It was sticky with blood, but maybe it would help. He couldn't afford to be a pessimist about it. He laid it over Renji, then continued his story, though with considerably more difficulty this time.
"Right... right. Well, there was a man who lived at that time named Caim. He made a pact with a red dragon that had been captured in order to save his own life and that of the dragon's. Pacts in my world are very powerful. They make a normal human far stronger, though the human has to give up something very precious to them. Caim gave up his voice, but they say that the red dragon spoke for him."
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"Red dragon," he echoed, to show that he was listening. He'd never seen a dragon...
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"Yeah, a red dragon. She let Caim ride on her back, and together they fought battle after battle against the Empire. There was a man, supposedly one of Caim's friends, who kidnapped the Goddess, wanting her for himself, but was possessed and ended up becoming Caim's enemy."
It seemed wrong telling a story that was completely meaningless to Renji while the man was lying here and dying. But he couldn't leave him here. If Renji died alone, Nowe would never forgive himself.
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"Enemies," he said, to show that he was listening. But that word only brought to mind the last things he'd seen before Landel's. Involuntarily, his hand jerked against Nowe's grasp.
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