Location: Fork in the Road @ The Ruined City // Date: February 23, 2057 // Time: 14:22 // Interactions: Cerise @Medili, Ajax @DClassified
The last three hours had gotten progressively tougher and, without Iron Horse, Lys had fallen behind repeatedly and outright needed help over a handful of obstacles. Her arms and shoulders ached with exertion and there were a couple of blisters forming on her hands despite the gloves. Coming on this mission had been a mistake but she was here now and would have to do her best not to be a further detriment to the group. They had split up a few minutes ago into two teams, and it was as if Lysandra had been strategically separated from Akaia.
Who mentioned a potentially deadly threat, she thought bitterly,
that I'm not allowed to ask questions about. Much as she tried to let it go, it stuck in her craw. It had been over two years and she'd thought that she knew these people, that there was trust between them, and that they valued her as someone who could problem-solve, but that episode had put the lie to it. She wasn't sure why it had stung so much, but it had. And, most importantly, who knew how the information could be relevant? What if there was some angle they weren't seeing? What if they thought they had it all figured out but didn't? She could help. She
could!The afternoon sun passed in and out of view behind the great dead hulks of collapsed buildings, rays the colour of beaten straw shimmering diffusely through a hazy curtain of clouds and miasma. Lys blinked and, presently, paused to reach into her backpack and slip a pair of sunglasses over her eyes. Poppy was doing better and she had Iron Horse back, at least, though it was low on batteries. That meant fewer spares for Sage and Princess, which meant less searching for the mistle with them. The group of four that she was part of had formed something like a kite shape that swirled and twisted as the terrain forced it. When her eyes weren't drawn by necessity to the ground immediately in front of her, Lys watched Cerise in the lead, darting and scrambling for vantage points. She took in the revenant's footholds and route choices. Most were the ones
she would've made but, every once in a while, Cerise defied expectation, making some athletic leap or spiderlike climb that Lysandra never could've managed as a human.
The revenant was bothered, Lys could tell. That's how she was: when people got hurt or - god forbid - killed, she drew into herself, worried and self-flagellating. Had Lysandra been able to catch up to her, she'd have tried to have words, but that wasn't going to happen, and it occurred to her that Cerise probably also knew about whatever it was that Erik wanted to hide. Momentarily, her stomach tightened, but she continued wheeling along, eyes searching the murky darkness behind every empty storefront, reeling in the nebulous shadows of every blind corner, and sparing the odd glimpse at the rest of the team. The sun disappeared once more behind a broken concrete leviathan and Lysandra had to pop a wheelie and engage Iron Horse to make it over a fallen telephone pole. Her eyes went back to Cerise, just as she was cresting the top of a stack of debris. The revenant froze in place for a second and a cold, electric pulse shot through Lysandra’s arteries.
“More Lost!?” she called, heart beating a little faster, hands ready to reach for the controller on her lap.
Cerise wished that this had been yet another of the solo scavenging or scouting missions that she often went on. That made it really easy for her to deliberately ignore certain things that she’d rather not find at all, and then she wouldn’t have needed to lie about it; she hated having to lie. This time, with three other members of the Commune with her, it made things far less easy. She stared at the thing that had made her freeze, for a moment not even responding to Lysandra’s words. It lay on the ground not too far in front of her, a red crystal that most Revenants including Cerise knew all too well. And this time, it was glowing.
“Cherry Darling: you alright!?” Lys called out, starting to feel a different kind of unease.
“It’s not Lost, is it?” There was a bit of a straightaway ahead and she pushed a bit faster to catch up.
Lysandra calling out to her again made Cerise flinch, pulling her out of her shock at finding the Vestige. She quickly turned around, an awkward looking smile on her face.
“Oh no, it’s nothing. Sorry, I just spaced out for a moment there, ahaha… A-anyways yes, everything’s fine!” Then she deliberately circled around to the left as she proceeded further forward, hoping that the others would follow her route and thus keeping the vestige hidden.
Geez, hun, Lys thought.
No wonder you don’t lie much. You suck at it. She forced the suspicion from her voice.
“You sure?”“Absolutely!” Cerise called out while turning around again, her right hand making the thumbs up gesture at Lysandra.
“Now let’s keep going, yes? We don’t have much time and all that. I’ll stay in the front!” Thus she turned around again and continued onward in a hurry; something that the usually very careful scout would normally never do. Even more so because Akaia had told her to be extra careful beforehand because she didn't want anything to happen to Cerise too after what had happened to Poppy.
Please follow me and don’t look at that. Please follow me and don’t look at that. Please follow me and don’t look at that.Of course, Lysandra Tran, being who she was, found herself damned-near pathologically incapable of leaving well enough alone. Maybe it was the scout or the scientist within her, but she let herself deviate from Cerise’s chosen path. In any event, the bizarre new route was… less than wheelchair accessible. As she went, she kept her eyes peeled. Surreptitiously, she peered in the direction of where Cerise had glanced when she’d frozen, but was unable to see anything. Mind you, Lys was also unable to climb up that debris stack like her friend had been. In one smooth motion, she unclipped Sage from where he hung on the back of her knapsack and tossed him into the air. Almost ghostly quiet, his rotors hummed to life.
“Horsie, push, terrain following.” Lys commanded softly, trading her sunglasses for the headset.
Let’s see just what scared the bejeezus out of you, she thought.
Marsh Sage rose into the air, his cameras scanning the surrounding area. Within seconds, behind a few collapsed pillars in a ruined office's atrium, it spotted a reddish glow. Its cameras zoomed in.
A vestige, Lys knew immediately.
Why would you avoid a vestige? We’re supposed to scoop those up. Unless… She made a mental note of its location. It was sheltered from view unless one had a high vantage point, and there was a semi-accessible route there. Lys called Sage back, plucked him out of the air, and flipped her headset up.
“Hey people,” she chirped.
“Super sorry, but I uh… have to take a pee.” She checked her watch. It
was actually time for that. When you couldn’t feel your bladder, you had to do it on a schedule. Lysandra gestured towards the half-collapsed atrium where the vestige was and started wheeling.
“I’ll be right over there. I’ll be quick,” she promised.
“Sorry again!”With that declaration, Ajax paused in his path. His eyes flashed between each of the women in the group briefly, as he’d simply kept quiet up until this point. Something here was clearly off.
“Hang back for a second, Cerise.” The Sword called up ahead to the girl, clearly rushing away from something. He had a hunch as to what it could be, as not many things rattled the bright and cheery revenant. Not even missions themselves. His attention shifted more directly to Lysandra.
“Make it quicker than you think. We’re already late.”Oh no… Cerise gulped and stopped as Ajax called out to her. She should have known better than to try to hide her unease from him, but then again she didn’t exactly have the time to think it through. She turned around again, looking at Ajax. That made her also note where Lysandra intended to go to for her bladder need, in turn making Cerise realize that even Lysandra was on to her.
Uh-oh… She couldn’t even maintain her smile anymore, expression very clearly looking worried.
“U-umm… We really should…” She stopped herself, sighing, realizing that there was no use trying to keep things hidden anymore. They were simply already on to her.
Lysandra decoupled from Iron Horse and rolled over to the atrium with an eager, morbid sort of anticipation. She damned near wrenched her shoulder going over a broken step, but then she was inside. Bluish-green marble dominated and the shards of a broken skylight sparkled in the dim golden rays that streamed through it. A scraggly green bush grew up in the middle, surrounded by debris and a pile of dirty, half-melted snow. The shining reddish crystal glowed in an unnatural juxtaposition against its surroundings. Lys chose a path carefully and made haste for it, eyes casting about warily for any Lost.
This is yours, Cherry Darling, she thought. She wasn’t sure why the revenant wouldn’t want it, but there was probably a good reason. Lys could understand having pain in one’s past.
Still, she thought,
I think we should keep it in case things ever do change. Sometimes we need to feel that pain to move past it. In any event, Lys shoved it into one of her backpack’s pockets for safekeeping, found a good spot, and reached into another pocket for some tissue and her catheter.
Cripple perks: pee like a guy. A minute and a half later, fresh and smiling, even humming a bit, she emerged from the ruined atrium.
“Sorry, all! We’re good!” Her cheeks flushed a little.
“I won’t hold everyone up again.”Cerise watched as Lysandra disappeared from view for about two short minutes before reappearing again, fresh and smiling. She weirdly didn’t bring up the vestige, even though she definitely must have seen it.
“Umm…. Lysandra, did you-...” Cerise wanted to ask, to make sure. But then she stopped again, hesitating. She ended up just standing in place, looking at Lysandra, and then at Ajax, and then at Lysandra again, unsure of what to do.
Lys looked at Cerise and glanced at Ajax too. She shrugged matter-of-factly.
“Yes, I saw a vestige in there,” she admitted,
“and I’m guessing it was yours.” She scratched awkwardly at the back of her head, where the strap from her headset often made it itchy.
“I’d never try to tell you what to do with your life, Cherry Pie. I know the past can hurt.” She let her hand fall away.
“So your secret back there? Don’t worry. It’s safe with me.” She put hands to wheels, ready to move again.
Ajax studied Wheels, and if only briefly did a glare of suspicion flare in his brows. It was instinctive, protective of Red, even though nothing seemed to directly threaten her. Lysandra’s words, specific as they were chosen, eased whatever tension that he felt rising within. Thus, playing along, he started forward again but stopped at Cerise. A gloved hand fell on the thin girl’s shoulder, gripping gently. Despite his own view of vestiges, there was a form of understanding in his eyes. Regardless, the moment didn’t last long, and Ajax started again; this time taking the lead.
“Let’s move. I get the feeling we’re close.”Cerise remained quiet as Lysandra spoke. With each of Lysandra’s sentences, Cerise’s mood seemed to take a dip. Even after Lysandra’s assurance that she wouldn’t pry, Cerise’s shoulders were visibly slumped with her head looking down at the ground. She tried to sort out her own feelings and the jumbled up thoughts in her mind, not exactly succeeding at it.
Well… I wish you hadn’t gone there and taken a look at it in the first place… She only glanced up again when she felt Ajax’s gloved hand gripping her shoulder gently, not even noticing that he had moved and stopped near her. Regardless, that simple gesture did the work of making Cerise feel just a little bit better. That he didn’t say anything was also something that Cerise appreciated.
Cerise stayed silent and stood in place for a few brief seconds more before sighing softly. Then she looked at Lysandra again, speaking up.
“... Alright. Umm… Thanks…” Just like that, she turned around and proceeded onward again, now moving behind Ajax.
Of course, that put Lysandra out on one of the ‘wings’ of their formation, which wasn’t exactly a place she could always be. In practice, as the sun dipped lower in the sky and shadows started to lengthen, she drifted in toward Cerise, guts twisting with anxiety.
Way to go, Lys. You just ripped the wings off a butterfly. On a particularly flat stretch, she let Iron Horse take over and whipped out her notepad. On it, she drew a big heart and started writing:
Dear Cerise. I’m sorry. I’m too curious and I know it. I can’t help myself. I just need to solve every mystery I see and, sometimes, I feel like people don’t tell me things. I know that you would if you were ready, though. I should trust you more. For what it’s worth, I don’t care if you were the biggest baddest bitch in this shit-sack world before (pretty sure I was, though). The only Cerise that I know is you. She’s great, and I’m so happy that I know her. Please don’t be mad at me. :(
- Lys
She attached this to the clip on the bottom of Sage and had him buzz up in front of Cerise until she couldn’t ignore him.
Hmm? Noticing Sage buzzing in front of her with a note clipped on his bottom, Cerise looked in Lysandra’s direction briefly, a puzzled expression on her face. She quickly turned around again though, and took the note from Sage to read as she walked.
Oh… I see. She kept looking at the note for a few seconds more even after she was done reading it. It didn’t take her much to understand that Lysandra must have felt guilty about prying. She muffled a giggle as her mood started to swing back up again. She wasn’t exactly mad at Lysandra, but even if she had been, she wouldn’t have been able to continue being mad after reading that.
Thus she turned around again, and once she was sure that she had the other woman's attention, she smiled warmly and mouthed a ‘thank-you’ at Lysandra. Then she turned around once more, now with her steps having that particular spring and cheerfulness typical of her.
Lys made a little heart with her hands and felt a bit of spring returning to her figurative step as well. Perhaps there was a lesson to be learned here: if you lived with people, you lived with their secrets too, and you had to accept that. Just because they didn’t let you all of the way in all of the time didn’t mean that they didn’t like you or trust you. She let out a deep breath and kept moving. Surely, it couldn’t be much further now.
