rakuen | Event: Wednesday

Being led away from the camp should be about normal by now, and so Clara just told everyone to follow her as she led them to the bottom of a small rock face.

"Who has climbed before?"

Once she had established the general level she showed everyone how to wear the harnesses and tie themselves into the ropes.

She gave a quick lecture and demonstration on belaying and clipping into the rock before sending everyone off in their teams to climb the cliff and abseil back down.

Apparently that was all the preparation Clara thought they needed because she led them further, to a much higher series of rock faces. "I will be around." She passed out whistles to each of the Players. "These are for emergency use only. Please chose someone to lead each section. I will see you all at the top."

Shion somehow managed to do the practice climb without freaking out, but staring up the actual rock face that they were expected to climb was something else entirely. So far he and Asagi had been doing alright, apart from issues in bridge building.

But this... he didn't think he could do this. He was exhausted from all the walking and such and so he just stood trembling.

Asagi didn't wait for Shion, tackling it immediately. He began making his way up until he had to wait for his weapon. "Shion," he frowns at Shion, "What's wrong?

"Nothing..." His voice was quiet and he started at the cliff face in fear. "We... we really need to go up there?"

Edited 2012-09-28 11:03 (UTC)

"Yes," Asagi said firmly, but not cruelly. "We have been doing so well. Let's not stop now."

Shion was shaking like a leaf, "I... I can't..."

He could... He remembered climbing up the mountain of bodies. He could climb... This was easier, this wasn't dying and dead people...

He gripped his arms in fear and tried to remember to breathe.

Suzaku knew by now he was the more physical fit out of the two of them so he set off first. He didn't worry so much about having no rope for the first part; confident in his ability not to fall. He had only ever climbed in training in the army and the equipment was a bit different but he soon clipped in on a ledge and shouted down to Vane. "Ready?"

With the drug pumping through his system thanks to the help of Suzaku, Vane felt more confident about this than he probably should have. As he double-checked to make sure his harness was secure, he then looked up at his player and called back: "Ready!"

In truth, he was feeling a little more comfortable with this activity (despite the lunacy of it all) than he had the others. If only because he had done similar exercises as an engineer in order to check shield generators. And while it had never been what some might call fun, at the very least he was comfortable enough with heights to know that he wouldn't slow Suzaku down this time.

Still, climbing rocks for sport? He had shook his head when their camp guide had announced the activity. If you wanted to put your head at risk then you might as well play Russian Roulette with a laser cutter. Wasn't that about the same level of idiocy involved?

"You people have the strangest idea of fun, by the way." He added, voice wry and with a tone of joking.

Edited 2012-09-18 04:33 (UTC)

"And what do you do for fun on your world?" Suzaku actually enjoyed climbing, it was a sport, he liked most sports. But he had guessed by now Vane wasn't quite the same. "Tell me if you want to rest."

"Right." Vane called back in reply before giving the question some thought. What did people do for fun in his world? Because God knew he couldn't tell Suzaku his own personal experiences. He barely knew what fun even was anymore. As he wound his hand around the rope and started to climb, he took one experimental step onto the rocks and waited for his body to react accordingly.

When no dreaded thump of pain happened, he knew the medication was in effect and started climbing with surprising acuity. His face, surprisingly amused, was calm as he started speaking with Suzaku. "Virtual reality, mostly. Video games are popular but most people spend their time in a system called True Life. It's an alternate world where you can design and custom make yourself into whatever you want."

They had that in comon at least, fun for Suzaku were small periods of time, brightly contrasting with the rest of his life. School festivals, attempts at making giant pizza, the smiles of the student council...

"Virtual reality?" An alternate world... Where you could be anything you wanted to be. Well Suzaku could see why that would be popular, why people would want to escape. The fact it was so popular told him a lot about Vane's world. "We had nothing like that. There were video games of course." But escaping into a world were things were good for you, were the bad hadn't happened only came with illegal and dangerous means.

"So I keep hearing." Vane grunted as he paused halfway up to take a breath. Even if he wasn't feeling the pain, he could tell by how hard it was to breathe that his body was punishing him regardless. As he glanced at the ground and tested his footing on the rocks, he wondered not for the first time just how advanced he was compared to the rest of the city. There was one other person out there on par with him, that much he knew, but everyone else seemed harmless. At least on the digital front.

"I've only done it once or twice though. Wasn't my kind of game." He added after a moment and resumed climbing. "But to be honest with you," He paused for a moment as he dealt with some tricky footing. "When I first saw Exaclan, I thought I was trapped in the VR."

Suzaku nodded, "Understandable. It does sometimes seem like a computer game in many ways." After all weapons being pulled out of peoples chests, their inability to die. "Would you be aware if it was?"

"Hard to say." Vane replied as he breathed deeply and kept putting one foot ahead of the other. "True Life was designed so that the user was always aware it wasn't real, in order to lessen the chance of mental trauma and addiction. However if those details in the VR's environment were removed, it's entirely possible we could be living out an existence within the computer and never realize."

He paused speaking as he approached the top and carefully hauled himself up. Once there, he made sure he had steady footing before bending over slightly to catch his breath. "If we are though, it will be nearly impossible to break out. You can't really use an illusion to break a cage."

Suzaku nodded, "Perhaps it is like that then, though I don't think my world has the technology for any such thing."

That was worrying though; almost impossible to break out. Was that better or worse than being stuck in another world completely?

He let Vane catch his breath and began climbing again starting to the next ledge. He had gotten about half way there when he felt something move on his neck, he glanced downwards to see the link necklace he had warn since the second week he had been here slip down his shoulder and fall down, turning black as it did; bouncing off the ledge to fall to the ground below.

Suzaku cried out, half realising what had happened. The link couldn't come off, that was the whole point... If it had then...

He let go of the rock, falling downwards to the ledge where Vane still waited.

Edited 2012-10-07 16:01 (UTC)

If Vane had had a moment to think, he never would have put his foot forward and stretched out his arms. He would have rationalized that even if Suzaku hadn't reached terminal velocity with so short a fall, his weight and the kinetic force from gravity alone would have been enough to do him some serious damage. Damage he wouldn't feel because of the drugs currently pumping through his system. He would realize that it would be better to just let Suzaku fall and help him afterward rather than risk them both pain.

If only he had a moment to think.

But he didn't and so, like an impulsive idiot he most certainly was not, he did all of those things he shouldn't have and was immediately knocked back by the teenager's weight, falling flat on his ass. As the air was crushed out of his lungs, he distinctly remembered hearing a loud knock as his head cracked against the rock and then... nothing. Just a dizziness and strange detachment from his body.

Brilliant.

He fell with a thud, it took a moment for him to realise the landing had not been so hard as he had expected. "Vane?" Worry flooded Suzaku, he rolled off the other boy, "Vane are you alright?"

For a moment Vane was completely silent as he tried to feel anything concerning. Rushing fluids, muscles not responding as they should, his heart deciding it was finally time to give up and kick the bucket... but no. Just a strange pulse in his head that he was sure would be a massive migraine if he wasn't currently doped up on what was essentially pseudo-CIPA.

"... I think so." He finally replied after a moment, slowly sitting up and hesitating when the world swam before his eyes. He definitely hurt something, he just wasn't sure how serious it was yet. As he sat up and checked his elbows- scraped- the rest of his body seemed to be alright. Tomorrow morning would tell a different story when the drug wore off, but for now he was okay. ... provided he wasn't bleeding inside his skull. Still, as he shifted his fingers and toes, he was assured that his limbs were still working properly, which meant the brain sending the signals to them was functioning as well. A good sign, all things considered.

"And you?" Vane finally asked after a moment.

Guilt had pushed away the shock for the moment but as Vane spoke; nothing seemed broken at least. Suzaku knew next to nothing about injuries despite being a soldier, he tested his own injuries; just scrapes.

"Thank you..." He had saved him... Though he didn't even know him...

Suzaku reached up to his neck... it was really gone...

"What happened?" Vane inquired as he watched Suzaku through dizzy eyes. The touch to his neck wasn't unnoticed but Vane had yet to realize the significance of a link necklace and what it's undoing meant. He had never had an interest in them after all and so had never bothered to do extensive research.

"Lelouch... my... my emperor... he's... something has happened..."

He was gone... he assumed that was the only reason the link necklace would fall off...

Suzaku couldn't help feeling guilty, because he was here not there, where he should have been.

"I see..." Vane began, voice trailing off as he seemed lost for a moment. Finally, after a second of apparent mulling, he allowed false inspiration to light his face as he began digging into his pocket to pull out his PDA. "Could you try contacting him?" He inquired, already knowing what the answer would be.

There wasn't any signal to be found this far out in the wilderness. A fact he knew because that was one of the first things he'd checked after waking up on the train. While the thought had only crossed his mind initially because he'd assumed there would be weather interference, he was glad he'd had enough foresight to plan ahead for a lack of signal and warn H.U.B.R.I.S.

It also meant that whatever electronic waves the PDAs used was restricted to the city alone, which he'd already expected. It was one way to ensure the city's isolation.

Suzaku pulled out his PDA as well, a glimmer of hope. A glimmer of hope that died a moment later when he realised there was no signal. "He's probably gone..."

He stared at the ground, berating himself for letting this happen.

"You sound certain." Vane replied as he endeavored to sit up a little more and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when his head didn't spin further. Now fully upright instead of resting on his elbows, the engineer closed his eyes for a moment as he felt his body struggle to obey him. A sign that he was a in lot more pain than he had originally thought. It also felt as though one of his lungs had fluttered for a moment, making it hard to breathe.

One of the reasons why he never took his painkiller unless necessary was because it made it extremely dangerous to function. A cut on the finger, a bruise on his arm or even a broken toe... he wouldn't feel any of it. He wouldn't even know if he was in water cold enough to stop his heart or if his arm was on fire. All sense of pain and temperature had gone away and while he could still feel pressure and the shape of objects- it still left him seriously vulnerable.

"I don't know anything else that would make the link break..." Suzaku blinked watching as he closed his eyes.

"Vane... are you alright?"

It was a moment before Vane responded. Opening his eyes again, he attempted a wry smile at the knight as he brought a hand up to his chest to check the beating of his heart.

"Yes. Between the climbing and your fall, I think my heart just about had it." The remark is cheerful, meant to be a joke even though Vane knows full well it isn't. His body is aggravatingly frail and this environment isn't helping whatsoever. "What do you want to do, Suzaku?"

"Your heart?" Suzaku looked worried, and guilty for what he had done, even if it had been an accident.

"We can rest here, until you feel better..."

"It's alright." Vane replied, knowing it wouldn't make any difference. "I can't feel a thing." He added, trying to encourage Suzaku while gesturing with the arm he had injected. In his mind, it was probably better to keep moving now while the medicine was in effect because- realistically? He injuries were either going to be of no real consequence or they were bad enough that he was going to die. And if it was the latter, well then there was fuck all they could do about it out here.

Better to just die then and utilize the city's system to come back to life. "Do you want to look for it?"

Not feeling a thing probably wasn't a good thing. But Suzaku nodded not wanting to push Vane to answer.

He thought, he kind of did... If Lelouch was gone... He remembered Lelouch's strange dream, the fact he claimed Zero Requiem had already happened...

Then Lelouch was dead... And he was gone...

Suzaku's fists clenched and unwelcome tears filled his eyes. He nodded, it would be more work but...

He wanted something to remember...

Unlike earlier, the next action Vane took was entirely calculated. Bringing up his hand, he used his numb fingers to carefully wipe at Suzaku's eyes, brushing away tears. A gesture of kindness that was furthered by an understanding look of sympathy.

"Do you need a minute? It's better to let it out than to keep it inside. Trust me- sorrow festers." He added, his voice taking on a sorrowful note.

He hadn't cried since after Euphie died and he wasn't about to start now; it got him nowhere. Not that he could even if he wanted to, tears were in his eyes but they refused to fall, sobs got stuck in his throat and he forced himself to swallow them.

Vane wiping away his tears was strange, trying to withdraw from his kindness because he didn't deserve it. "I'm fine."

For a moment Vane gave Suzaku a searching stare before finally pulling his hand away. "We're strangers, so I don't have any right to tell you what to do." He finally said, voice appropriately serious as he slowly drew his knees back and started to stand. "But I'd feel better if you cried. If not on my shoulder than on someone else's. Not being able to cry when you need to is... hard."

And with that bit said, he managed to get to a standing position with only a little bit of swaying. All in all, looking good.

Suzaku blinked at him, he understood what he was saying but... There was no one who he would cry on, and it was better that way. No one to hurt.

"I'm fine," the lie came easier this time and he stood. "Are you alright to continue?"

The look Vane gave him was disapproving, as though he knew Suzaku had no intention of allowing anyone to see his tears. "I'll manage." He replied in even tones as he headed towards the cliff and began to search for the small chain of silver he'd seen drop away from Suzaku when the entire incident began.

As he bent slightly to get a better look, his hand had to go out against the rock when his vision swam, making him close his eyes and grit his teeth in irritation. There wasn't pain, no, but he could feel a pulse in the back of his mind and the slight pangs of nausea that came with it.

Once it passed, he opened his eyes again and allowed himself a slow, shallow breath. Yes, he'd manage. He always had, after all.

Suzaku went to search as well, glad that Vane had dropped the subject of him crying. He saw Vane stumble and close his eyes and frowned. "Sit down, Wait here. I will search and if I don't find it we can just continue..."

Settling against the wall, Vane took a deeper breath this time and watched Suzaku continue the search. "It's your choice." He answered quietly, even as he reached up and gently touched his head, wincing when his fingers found the spot that was most likely bruised. Not because it hurt but because he could feel the blood behind his eyes begin to pound again.

"But I think it'd be better if we found it. For your comfort, if nothing else."

Suzaku shook his head, now that the immediate shock and sadness was over he had pushed the grief to one side, locked it in the store room in his head with all the other things he wasn't thinking about.

"It doesn't matter, rest for a moment and then we will continue."

Event: Wednesday

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject