asgardmeridiem | OPERATION: DRAGON BREATH

[It doesn't help much, because the grey people are so unlikely to respond. But when Nakama sees a sillhouette ahead of her cradling one arm, she places herself in front of the grey man and quickly explains that they're here to help.

He unfolds his good arm and reveals a small but serious burn. Despite what Nakama just said about people being upwardly mobile, this one looks different from the others, puffed up and sticky in a way that suggests (even to a complete layman like Nakama) that it might be infected.]

I think we'd better help this one. [Nodding to Namine.]

[Naminé's quick to follow Nakama and peer past her to see what's wrong with the man she's speaking to. The blonde breathes in a sharp breath at the sight of it. She's never seen one quite like that before, and it'd probably look bad enough without all the peculiarities.]

[Naminé nods back.] Mm. [She edges around the other girl in order to reach the man and prepares herself to heal him, then glances back at Nakama.] Ready?

Ready. [She focusses her energy and directs it toward Namine, adding a little extra push that she thinks she can afford this early on. Infection could be worse than an immobilizing injury in many ways, so she wants to clear that up, if not the whole burn.]

[An infection definitely isn't something Naminé's ever tried to heal before, and she finds it requires some significant concentration to work out how to do that one, but with Nakama's assistance, Naminé can make a bit of progress. The rest of that burn looks serious enough that the blonde's not sure she can do a whole lot other than shrink it, but surely that's better than nothing. She can only imagine how much harder it would be to help without Nakama's abilities.]

[She notices when the healing starts to slow, and glances curiously at Namine.]

Are you wearing out? I think the worst of it is fixed.

I--.... [She's still trying to focus, but she knows that there's not much more she can do. The burn still looks so uncomfortable, and Naminé's a bit ashamed of herself, but she can't help anymore. After a few more moments, she finally gives up and lets out a slightly disheartened,] I-- think that's all that I can do.

See how the oozing has stopped? That probably means it's not infected anymore. So there'll be no fever, and he can get to safety. [It's said more brusquely than comfortingly, but she knows that Namine needs something to boost her back up.] The hospital can take care of the rest.

... Right. I see it. [The hospital, assuming he can get there. So-- it'll be okay if she can't heal everything. She's probably not the only healer out in the city and the hospital surely has some on staff, so it's okay if she fails.] Thank you, Nakama.

[Just a nod.] We need to keep moving. Debris could come from anywhere.

[Out of the alley and into another open street, and the fires after so much darkness are nearly blinding. She stops for a moment, rubbing at her eyes, which are half-blind with smoke and light for a second.]

Mm. [Naminé finds herself with a similar problem once she enters the street behind Nakama. In the blonde's case, the smoke makes her cough, just a little - she's not used to sensations like that.]

[Then, when her eyes clear, she wishes they hadn't.

There's a dead body in front of her. She knows it's dead because there's barely any of it left - there's a dark, curling scorch mark in the pavement showing the path the dragon's fire must have taken, and this grey (man? woman?) person was directly in its path. All that's left is a skeleton with a few bubbling, colourless scraps of flesh still clinging to the bone.]

Oh my God. [She's going to be sick.] Oh my God.

[Then she throws out both arms to catch Namine on whichever side she appears, and barks out a furious order.]

Namine, close your eyes! Don't look!

[Naminé's still a bit behind Nakama and is mercifully unaware that there's anything wrong until the other girl starts petitioning God. Naturally, Naminé attempts with renewed effort to clear her watering eyes, but she doesn't succeed in time to keep herself from walking right into one of Nakama's arms. She stops immediately with a surprised noise, and around that time she can finally get her eyes open to see--]

[And then suddenly Nakama's telling her not to look, and the blonde startles briefly, then quickly reaches up to place her hands over her eyes. She catches sight of only a blob of peculiar color before her eyes are closed again.]

What is it--?!

O-One of them's dead. [She can't lie, but she can protect Namine from nightmares.] Don't look, whatever you do. I'm going to clear... them out of the way so that...

[What? Family can find them? They'll be unrecognisable. There'll be no funeral for this person. Anyone looking for a missing friend or family member will never know.]

... oh God, I don't know what to do.

What--? [Naminé almost looks purely out of surprise, but manages to remember herself in time to keep her eyes covered.] I-- okay...!

[--Oh. Nakama sounds kind of lost, there. Naminé's tempted to peek just so she can see the other girl, but she doesn't do it. The blonde bites her lip, considering that same conundrum.]

... Do... do you think there's someone we could tell? [~~Help, they need an adult--~~]

I - I'll put in a call to the hospital. They can at least keep the - the body and decide what to do with it.

[There's a pause while she murmurs something in a low voice, obviously into her bracelet's projection screen, and then she turns Namine around and directs her back into the alley.]

We'll go back this way. [She's trying to regain her old strength, but as soon as they're cloaked in darkness again, her back hits a wall and she sinks down to the ground in a huddled heap.]

Okay. [She breathes it out quietly, the word 'body' still lingering in her ears. It's disconcerting to hear it in such a context. The girl nods as she's turned around and moves back toward the alley, and after a moment, she removes her hands from her face and is relieved to discover that she can't see the corpse from there. Nakama's sudden stop makes Naminé freeze as well and the blonde's eyes widen.] Nakama--? [The Nobody turns around swiftly and, upon spotting her friend on the ground, says more urgently,] Nakama!

I can't - [The first is just a whisper, the second an urgent cry.] I can't - !

[Something in her chest clenches at that sound and she presses a hand over her heart. For a brief instant, she feels-- lost, like she's not sure what to do, but that feeling quickly subsides and she finds herself kneeling at Nakama's side, gently saying,] It's okay, it's okay...!

I can't - that's not like the bodies I've seen before. They - they just looked like they'd fallen asleep. They weren't...

[But she can't describe it, can't even let Namine picture it. It's too horrible.]

... I'm not ready for this. I can't handle this. I was so far up, in a huge robot... I can't be on the ground like this. I can't handle it.

[Naminé feels herself grow a little colder at Nakama's mention of having seen bodies before, not because of her own natural inclination to imagine it but because Nakama's seen bodies before. Logically, she'd known that with Nakama's own death there were surely others, given the situation, but it was something that hadn't quite hit home at the time. Naminé is no stranger to death, but she is a stranger to the remains left behind by the deceased; Nobodies and Heartless fade away quickly enough, but normal people, people with hearts....]

... You don't have to. We can stay here. [Where there isn't a charred corpse. Naminé's not about to leave Nakama by herself or force her to go forward.]

[She just pulls her knees up to her chest and starts to shake violently, staring straight ahead like something terrible has been burned (so to speak) into her retinas. Now she can see Waku falling off of Zearth's shoulder, she can see Kodama lying in a heap, she can see Daichi dying and then disappearing into some secret corner of Zearth's body - death, always death, and now there will be more. Her safe haven, her world full of friends and crushes and happiness, has become just another graveyard.]

[Oh, Nakama.]

[Naminé's never thought much about the cruelties of an ill-fated life, has never been able to - it's always been 'this is the way it is' in her own life, and as much as she hasn't enjoyed a lot of things, it's easier for her to be at peace with her own non!existence than it is to try to envision what Nakama's life must be like. She's found a lot of reasons to sympathize with the other girl, and seeing her now, like this, is one more. Remembering that day at the park, Naminé hesitantly reaches out to place her hand on Nakama's shoulder. She's not sure where the other girl's mind has gone, but it's clearly not a good place, and perhaps it's for the best that someone bring her back.] Nakama?

You can't stop death. [Distantly, hollowly.] You can never stop death. But you can force death on people, and that's - no more. Please, no more.

[It's true. It's a painful truth, but a truth nevertheless, and Naminé's no liar.]

[Nakama's been given a second chance, and although Naminé's sad on Nakama's behalf that it's been such a troubled second chance, it's still a chance. The blonde wants to tell her that at least Nakama has life, at least it's not her, because she's been given a second chance-- but perhaps that's not a good thing to bring up, so Naminé keeps that to herself. Gently, she eases an arm around Nakama in a semi-hug instead, since that seemed to help last time.]

Edited 2012-02-02 21:15 (UTC)

[She doesn't fold into those arms, her body remaining mostly stiff, but she does lean toward the girl just a little. Very slowly, like moulding clay being warmed, her body starts to soften and lean in further, the pain in her shoulder completely forgotten for now. She's coming back, out of those nightmarish visions and back to the living nightmare around her. And once she returns completely, there's only one thing on her mind.]

No more. We can't let that happen to any more people.

OPERATION: DRAGON BREATH

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