02 [voice/video]
[When the audio clicks on, the only thing that can be heard for a few minutes is the sound of heavy panting. When he has finally caught his breath enough to speak, the man speaking onto the Forge sounds hoarse and exhausted, and the words come between harsh gasps.]I...I don't know...if anyone else...has already...noticed this, but...the mist...can
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Usually.
[He's looking at the dead wolf-creature, thinking about the pelt, the marketplace and-] If no one else wants it, I'll take the... thing you killed.
[And it'll give him a legitimate excuse to check if this guy is okay.] Where are you? Near the ruins?
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I think I would have preferred it, had it been an unpleasant memory.
[Several long moments filled with silence. His panting has faded into the background, for the most part.]
It would be easier to remind myself it was still only a fake caused by the mist.
I'm...at the outskirts of the city. The ruins aren't far, but I'm at...the edge of the mist. [And then, quieter, as if he's not entirely even aware he's saying it aloud] They [He means the Living Memories, here] try to keep you there, in the mist, because they're only real...physical inside. Once you leave, they dissipate into nothing...
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They... do that, yeah. But their memory, that sticks with you.
[It sticks. That and the urge to turn around, or to stay with them. Silence for a bit. Then.]
They're not real.
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[He knows. He knows all too well that they aren't real. But he also knew how much it hurt to walk away, to hear that voice he hadn't heard for so long calling after him to stay. And he can tell that Naruto understands how he feels as well, despite the fact that he hasn't said anything about what--who--it was the mist made him see, and for a moment, he wants to ask. It doesn't seem right that someone as young as Naruto sounds should have traumatic memories to re-experience...but he won't. The mist has already invaded his psyche once, he's not about to do it again to appease his own curiosity.]
[And then, softly, barely audible.]I know.
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[Simple, perfunctory. I know, he hears but it's never that simple. Knowing doesn't erase hoping and everyone hopes. Maybe that person is in this place too, the possibility is there, maybe they're alive, maybe that ghost trailing after you asking you to turn around is the real thing.
Maybe- And maybe if you stayed-]
That your first time heading into the mist?
[Because it can be a little different, every time.]
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Yes, it is. [And, he thinks, the last. He doesn't think he can go in there again, doesn't think he could handle it if he had to see that face again, hear the voice of a man long dead...] I take it you've been there more than once, yourself.
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And who may not have returned.]
Yeah. [Straight to the point.] I thought getting past it could be a way out of here. ... still think that. Just, dunno how the hell to get past it. Yet.
[ Some silence.]
S'been different every time so far, what happens in there.
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What made you turn back? [A pause.] Just...in general. You don't have to give any details...[He thinks that's too much to ask, of this kid he's talking to for the first time over a communication device he's only been using for less than a week.]
[Some silence of his own.] I don't know if I'll go back. I...[He trails off there, though his tone suggests he's afraid to encounter that memory, again.]
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Second time I turned back 'cause... there was someone there. I knew he was dead. Y'know? [Quietly. He has paused in his steps, but on that he gives a head shake, dispelling the memory with a frown, moving forward again.] The third- Well, how about I tell you when I see you?
[He says nothing then for a while. The memories, those living memories are worse than the weakness or the bleeding or anything else. Again he is nodding unseen. All he says is: ] It could all come down to luck, what happens in the mist. I don't know.
(OOC: Sorry for the delay, was writing up the log which iiiis here! And ashfha I hope present tense, paragraph style is okay, if not actions works, or past tense, just let me know and I can change it! ♥ )
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