When Jasmine approached the man, she felt a shift in the world and for a moment, she paused. The world grew slower, quieter and she took a moment to peer around herself. It felt like she had just stepped into the eye of a hurricane. It was calm and it made her nervous. Her eyes locked once more on the prophet in front of her, questioning her own intentions now. What had she just gotten herself into? Was it possible for prophets to be this powerful? Who was this man?

When he asked if she had been running on fumes, Jasmine felt her breath hitch for just a moment. She shouldn't be surprised that a prophet would have knowing insight into her, she had just not expected the man to turn his insight onto her and ask about her. Jasmine had always been the runner, the planner, the one in charge. If things were happening, people always turned to her to ask 'what next' but no one ever turned to her and asked her 'are you alright'. She- she wasn't expecting that. Not in the least. It took her aback a moment as she tightened her grip on Bruno's harness and straightened more. When he told her that she didn't need to keep pushing, she gave a small shake of her head. What did this man know? Of course her knights were in motion and things were moving in the proper direction but there were so many things that could easily spiral out of control. What would happen if Michael scared Aliana too much? What if her powers grew too much again and she lost control. She had lost one knight already. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she lost a knight and two angel born. Her whole body was tense just thinking about it. Her anxiety pulsed from her live waves of heat and she almost felt the need to pace in front of the man. She felt a lecture coming on. Who was this man? Who [i]was[/i] he?

"You don't seem to understand. There is still so much that needs to be handled. There is a child in crisis in that building and if she loses control for even a moment, this whole mess will implode on itself. It doesn't matter how many knights are on their way there if they're not fast enough. We need to bring this crisis to an end as quickly as physically possible." She practically twitched with the need to pace, to move, to do something, anything! She knew that if she settled for even a moment- if she settled for a moment, it will all collapse down on top of her like a tidal wave that has been hanging over her head for years. It was as if the sword of Damocles hovered just over her shoulder and if she had a misstep for even an inch it would take her head clean off. 

When the man offered her a moment to speak, she shook her head fiercely and took a turn to leave the area. This wasn't what she needed. What she needed right now was to climb into that escort with her knights and go retrieve the two angel born but Bruno, who usually was very diligent in keeping up with her, didn't move along with her and she fumbled over him and tripped up. She fell down to her knees next to Bruno with a surprised yelp, her now scrapped palms pressed hard into the cement below. Her jaw was clenched so tight, she was afraid her teeth my crack from the pressure of them but eventually, her hands curled into fists and she sat back on her heels as tears welled up in her eyes. 

"How many?" She asked as she allowed her head to fall back and her eyes to close, a tear now slowly sliding down the side of her cheek as her face pointed to the heavens above like she was asking God himself for the answer. "How many people have to die before this mess is over with? How many good, good men like Rufus have to get their brains plastered on the sidewalk before we can finally end this?" She opened her eyes and they were bloodshot, tears now freely falling down her cheeks and dripping off her chin to land on her jacket below. 

She sighed and rubbed at her face fiercely as if she could scrub away the shame of her guilt. “If I keep running,” she started again as Bruno walked up to her, giving a small whine and nuzzling her hand to give her some kind of comfort. “If I keep running, then it never catches up to me. All the funerals, the families, the lost children. If I keep moving then I don't have time to think about it or to question what I could have done better.” She reached out and grabbed a hold of Bruno like he was a life raft in the middle of a raging sea. “I always wonder what I could have done better.” She sighed as she gave him a good scratch behind the ear, falling silent once again and rubbing the tears away from her cheek. It was improper to cry in public, especially her.