and if the paths that I have followed...[incomplete;semi-open]

[no_more_denying]

WHO: Hidaka Ken (no_more_denying,) Fujimiya Aya (swordandshield)
WHAT: Aya's return to Rivelata, Ken goes to find him and bring him home
WHERE: Docks
WHEN: Day 142, Evening/Night

Comments

[swordandshield]

Aya watched Ken approach warily. He was not adjusting to his new surroundings very well and his paranoia did not allow him to readily accept that he was truly talking to one of his teammates via the book. It was too easy, too likely, that it was a trap. Some attempt to make him lower his guard for an attack.

But it was Ken who made his way toward him, and despite looking him over very carefully, Aya could not detect a disguise. Which meant that this insanity was becoming more of a reality. If Ken really was here, then the possibility that this was a dream or drug-induced hallucination was getting more remote by the minute.

Ken’s greeting, however, took him by surprise.

“I just saw you this morning,” Aya said slowly, looking Ken over once again, this time for injuries. Seeing no visible sign of trauma, the red-haired man sighed in frustration. It was this place again. Just like the comments about his having been here before. “This is going to get confusing very fast.”

[no_more_denying]

"Yeah, add another point to the 'this place is completely fucked' tally. I've been here for...hell. It's been at least a few months, now. So've Omi and Youji. And it gets better. You're probably from a different time than the rest of us." Ken shrugged. It was easier to act like nothing was wrong than he thought it'd be. "I haven't seen you since..."

Ken's hesitation was brief, as the memory--the dread of what had happened hit him again. "...well, it's been a while, anyway."

"It's fucked up, but...that's just the way it is. No one's found a way to leave, 'cept the sky pirates I guess, but even if we can leave here there's no guarantee we can get back home. Going through the jungle is impossible, and we can't leave on the ships either. We've just been trying to make the best of it."

[swordandshield]

A different time? How was that even possible? Then again, how was it possible that the other members of Weiss had been here for months when Aya had just been in their company? Since the murder of his parents and his sister’s subsequent injury, Aya’s stability had been somewhat tenuous. Becoming an assassin had not improved it. This was certainly not helping

[no_more_denying]

It was a lot to take. Ken knew that himself. (At least so far Aya was getting a better welcome than he had.) It would take time to understand what was going on, hell sometimes Ken didn't even understand it, and at least he had the benefit of experience.

"Yeah. For better or worse, we're stuck." There'd been attempts to find a way out, sure, but none of them had worked. Unless they could find out where the people who'd just disappeared went...but the pessimistic side of Ken that had grown immensely since he'd first woken up on that godforsaken deathtrap of a boat chimed in that they were probably just dead--and no one'd found the bodies or taken claim for the killings. People disappeared here all the time. That didn't mean they made it home. That would be too easy.

And then he asked. Ken was silent for a long moment, as he thought about just...pretending he hadn't heard. Like that would go over well. The real answer wouldn't either.

"...you died."

[swordandshield]

Fingers that had been absently brushing hair back from his face stilled in mid-motion.

For what seemed like an eternity, Aya stared at Ken with unblinking eyes. You died. You died. The words repeated themselves over and over, taking on one echo after another until the only thing Aya could hear was one word. DiedAs an assassin, he had lived with the possibility of dying. He had accepted that one day his reflexes would not be fast enough, his guard not good enough, his focus not strong enough. One day, Aya knew that his chosen profession would kill him, and that then his sister would be alone in the world, at the mercy of the people that had taken her family and her life from her. One day, he would not be there to protect her. He never expected that that day would come in a place like this. He never expected to be alive to hear about it secondhand from someone who was likely close-by, if not there, when it had happened

[no_more_denying]

Ken couldn't meet Aya's gaze after that. He just couldn't. Instead, he looked out over the reflection of the moon in the water, the waves sweeping the sand. For such a beautiful place...it really was terrible. "...sorry. I shouldn't've..." It was too much at once, expecting Aya to understand first coming here and then...what had happened before.

When he started to ask how it'd happened, Ken froze, half panicked and half resigned...it was a strange feeling, really. But when Aya'd changed his mind, he let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He really hadn't wanted to answer that question.

Ken was still looking anywhere but at Aya when the redhead's attention was drawn back to him. That would probably continue for a while. "Yeah. We'll find it."

[swordandshield]

It was difficult for Aya to identify with the emotional states of others during the best of times when he was at his most stable. There were few moments in his life worse than this, and stability was quickly eroding all around him. Yet despite that, here was Ken, trying to help him, going out of his way to find him in this alien place. Youji had given him just enough information to hang himself with, a metaphor that Aya’s mind stumbled over before he could redirect it. Ken had done more than that. He had told him the truth.

“I asked,” Aya said, laying a hand on Ken’s shoulder in an attempt to offer some consolation. He was not sure how effective the gesture was, as he was holding himself so stiffly with the refusal to give in to the breakdown he knew was developing that he felt as if he might shatter. “I’m glad you told me the truth. Don’t apologize for it.”