008. (v2) [audio + commentlog/open]

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[This feels kind of familiar, but Xanth can't pinpoint why. Maybe he was just used to tons of people bustling about on the Elegante.]

O-Okay, uh, well, h-- hi. I-If you're new, y-you-- you probably-- r-read the thing i-in your journal. A-And if-- if you didn't, well, g-go... do... that?

...

O-Okay. Um. H--Hi. This is H-Holloway's Keep, and... y-you're kind of-- t-trapped. But-- i-it's not that b-bad here? There's-- f-food in the kitchen a-and beds if-- if you need rest a-and... i-it's not as-- bleak a-as it looks. T...Trust me. S-So, for now, s-- stay safe?

A-And please, don't... d-don't-- kill a-anybody.

[Xanth closes his journal and tucks it away for the moment. He's out by the stables, feeding the animals inside and keeping an eye open for anyone he recognizes.

For anyone who saw him when he still had long hair, well, that long hair is gone. He's got a hat on to keep his ears warm, but he is so close to bald now that it's not even funny.]

Comments

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[Xanth draws back a little, then looks away.]

H-He's... he's-- n-not here.

[indestinysembrace]

But... He was just with us.

[If he's gone...]

He won't survive. We have to find him.

[She pulls away and begins looking around as though she'll spot Riku on the ground.]

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[Before she can go far, Xanth reaches out to take her shoulder again and get her attention.]

N-No, he-- I-I mean he's-- n-not in the c-castle, he-- I haven't s-seen him for m--months--

[It's then that her words sink in. He won't survive. The last time he saw Riku on the Shore, he was fine. Everyone was fine, considering.

When the hell was she from?]

K-Kairi, w-what-- what happened?

[indestinysembrace]

[She freezes. This isn't right.]

You don't remember...

Everyone's dead. We tried to leave on a raft, all three of us, but they attacked us and Riku...

[They'd only been at sea just over a week, but he wasn't getting better, and then the storm...

She shook her head.]

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Wh-- what?

[The question comes out as little more than a whisper. He swallows on a dry throat, eyes wide, and tries to process this.

But he can't.]

Wh... wh-who's dead?

[indestinysembrace]

[She shakes her head.]

Ironhide, Mikaela, Katara... everyone.

There wasn't enough food or water and everyone fought over everything...

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N--No, no, n-no...

[Xanth, too, shakes his head. Mikaela - she couldn't be dead. And Ironhide--]

I-Ironhide-- he-- h-he's not, he's-- h-he's here, he's o-okay, he's-- h-he's not dead!

[indestinysembrace]

I'm sorry, Xanth.

[What else could she say? She had seen Ironhide die. Him being here didn't make any sense. None of this did.]

[snowtop]

N--No, don't-- d-don't be, b-because, he's-- not!

[Xanth talked to Ironhide a week ago. He wasn't dead.

Wait.

Ironhide wasn't dead here. Just because he wasn't dead here did not mean he wasn't dead somewhere else.

Xanth squeezes his eyes closed and puts a hand over his face. It's enough to make his head spin.]

Just-- b-back up, back, b-back up.

When... w-when was-- what--

H-How long... h-have you been a-- a-at th--the Shore?

[Commentlog]

[indestinysembrace]

Months.

There wasn't any energon.

He tried.

There wasn't enough food either, so we left, or tried to...

[Her mouth firms into a hard line. Xanth hadn't fallen apart like this. He had been strong. They had been strong. She needed him to be strong now, because Riku...

If she was here, Riku was to. There was no way that it could be otherwise.]

I need to find Riku.

[Commentlog]

[snowtop]

[Of course. The lack of energon made sense - it wasn't a normal food, after all. The thought makes Xanth's chest tighten and a lump appear in his throat.

Deep breaths. In, out. Be strong. Life on the Elegante was hard, and life on the Shore sounded so much harder.

He lets out a huff of a sigh. He undoes the buttons on his coat and shrugs it off to drape it around Kairi's shoulders.]

K-Kairi, just, p-- please, l-let me-- e-explain. O-Okay? It's, i-it's not, it's c-complicated.