MASKTOURN

10:14 AM

Out of nowhere, a shadow stretches over Carrion, accompanied by the sound of cracking leather and grinding bone--and a familiar voice. "Carrion? Hey, buddy. You doing okay?" Kenji crouches down next to them, one wing blocking some of Eternity's light. Smoke pools at his feet, dark and rotting, but it's still unable to tear at the grass the way it wants to. @Saj | Gale🌪+Carrion🍄

Carrion lies shivering, one hand knotted into the grass, the other hiding their face from the light. As the shadow falls over them, he seems to relax, shivering easing slightly. They move their hand off their face, looking up to Kenji with a weak smile. ”k-kenji.. hh- you’re back..” ’You doing okay?’ ”..n-no.. hhhhurts. thh- the light.. burns. Y-Yoli r-really hates it t-too..” @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

"I know," Kenji murmurs sympathetically. His back is starting to prickle, almost like a sunburn, the longer it faces Eternity. "It hurts me too. I'm sorry I can't help more than this." His second wing unfurls with the same bone-like noise, helping to add to the shadow he casts. "Do you think you can sit up? You didn't get hurt anywhere else, did you?" @Saj | Gale🌪+Carrion🍄

It seems to be a conscious effort for them to breathe, long wheezing breaths stutter out of him. ”’ss.. it’ss n-not your.. your ffault.. it’ss okay.” They frowned as Kenji mentioned his own pain. ”..ssorry..” ’Can you sit up?’ Could they? They didn’t want to, but.. Their body tenses as they try to push up, but they give up quickly. ”hh- hh.. n-no.. I- jusst.. lay here…. a-all hurtss. burns.” …There were a few new scrapes on their legs, but nothing really substantial. All of the cuts were filled with the same black liquid. @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

"It's okay, it's okay-- Just focus on breathing right now, and we can figure something out." Internally, Kenji's scrambling for something that he can do. He can't block Eternity forever--which almost seems like a paradox, as unfortunate as that is--but he's already starting to falter the longer his wings remain tangible. "I'm going to try something, but I need you to tell me immediately if anything feels wrong, okay?" It's a ridiculous, dangerous idea, but it's all he can think of. Their powers are similar enough, and despite his fear Kenji's never been in control as much as he is now. Slowly, smoke begins to build at Kenji's feet. His jaw is clenched at the effort it takes and it moves in waves, curling around Carrion on the ground as he reaches out to the god inside them and offers his newfound strength to their own. @Saj | Gale🌪+Carrion🍄

Carrion stares up at him dazedly, barely breathing out to ask what he’s doing before Kenji continues. At first, nothing seems to happen. The smoke curls, sinking into their wounds as if it were breathing it in. And all at once, Kenji feels their connection click. The crawling of hundreds upon thousands upon millions of insectoid legs clatter in Kenji’s mind. The buzzing of fly wings, the rattle of teeth and beaks, the ever stretching mass of mycelium, the cacophony forming not words, but communicating a sense of gratitude. The cacophony grows in volume, consuming all that Kenji offers to it. @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

The smoke clouds around them, seething at Eternity as it pours into Carrion's wounds. His mind floods with buzzing, with creeping rot and crawling decay. It's almost comforting. In return, Carrion receives cold--voices screaming indistinctly in pain, in grief, in terror. The ever-consuming fear of unstoppable, unavoidable Death and Something ancient, formless and nameless, buried within him. But it isn't their fear and in fact, to them, it's welcoming. Death and Decay needing each other to overcome Eternity, even if just for a paradoxical moment. Kenji grits his teeth and the smoke slowly begins to retreat, inch by inch and rot by rot, with a light-hearted warning to not bite off more than they can chew. @Saj | Gale🌪+Carrion🍄

As Kenji pulls away, the cacophony shrinks back. The clattering slowing, the buzzing softening, the rattle easing, the mycelium retreating, all culminating into a voice as ancient as decay itself, all brimming with gratitude- though one sound stands out against the rest. Another boy’s voice, even younger than Carrion’s, warm and jubilant calls out to Kenji. [‘ Tlazocamati! Timo-itazke! ‘] Carrion, in his dazed state, barely comprehends the screams. The familiar, welcoming feeling seems to soothe them as they lie there. His calm isn’t long, the power from the connection finally hits him- the god within no longer hiding. Carrion gasps as their strength is returned. They sit up suddenly, hand over their chest as they breathe without difficulty. “Hh- wh- what hhappened? What did.. how did you-? Are -are you okay??” @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Kenji doesn't understand the words the voice is saying, but he can understand the gratitude within them nonetheless. Slowly the screams fade into a dull background chorus, wordless tones melting into one, and a reply that expresses not only recognition but a welcome embrace. As the smoke clears and fades back into the ground, Kenji staggers backwards a few steps. He balances his hands on his knees, as his wings beat at the air with a sharp crack to keep him upright, but he still manages a smile at Carrion's questions. "Yeah-- Yeah, I'm okay," he says, wheezing faintly as his body tries to remember that he no longer needs air in his lungs. "I think we made it work, heh. Me and Yoli. Feeling better now?" @Saj | Gale🌪+Carrion🍄

Carrion quickly moves to their knees, reaching out to try and steady Kenji as he staggers. “O-okay. Um, y-yeah I’m.. ff- feeling a lot better... I- you didn’t.. I didn’t make y-you ffeel all tired, right?” It was honestly weird how much better they felt, shifting straight from near unconscious to energy thrumming beneath their skin. He titled his head as Kenji continued, a small smile on their face. “Made it..? Oh, y-you talked to Yoli? Are- are you ff- friends now? You’re not- mm, you were.. ssca- ah, um, you.. didn’t like it beffore.” @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫 (edited)

“That’s.. That’s good,” Kenji sighs, relieved, as he balances himself on Carrion’s support for a moment before slowly lowering himself to sit in the grass. “And no, it.. it wasn’t you, don’t worry. “ He chuckles faintly at their following question, though. “Maybe not exactly ‘talked’, but I guess you could call it that. I wasn’t….me, before, not really. Not even before I came here in the first place. Not how I am now.” @Saj | Gale🌪+Carrion🍄

He frowns with worry, not understanding. “Wh-what do you mean? I- I don’t.. how were you.. n-not you beff- before??” @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Kenji lets out a slow breath, mulling over his words. "Well, for starters, you were..you were right about me. At the observatory. Naiyta stole my memories and locked up my powers, when I came to ask Albanes for help. I thought maybe she could fix me." His wings melt into his back, with that same awful, crunching, sound. "I guess coming here in the end did fix everything, though. ...Otherwise I might not have come back from that arena," he admits, running a hand through his hair. One of the former Lifebringers finishes speaking, and it's a moment before Kenji continues. "There's a bit more to the story, but..it looks like we might not have the time," he says, a hope beginning to build in his chest that he hadn't let himself feel. @Saj | Gale🌪+Carrion🍄

Carrion shifts to sit more comfortably, listening closely. “..I knew it. Ss- so you remember now and- and that’s.. you.. weren’t you when- when you fforgot..? And- and what’s- what was ffixed?” He still seems rather confused. Carrion eyes the ex-lifebringer, though the whole ‘lifebringers won’t exist anymore’ seemed to make Yoli happy. Though the words that followed sank that happy feeling, drowned out by a deep sense of dread. ”ss-submerge?” There’s a clear look of terror on their face at the thought of the water. @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

"Yes, pretty much. It's...a little difficult to put into words fully. We used to be seperate--me and Amara. She was like my Yoli, in a way," he adds to clarify. "But when Naiyta killed us, now we've...not exactly merged, but something more than that." He winces, faintly, at Carrion's reaction, a sympathetic look on his face. "Hey, it'll be okay. Think of it like a doorway. A second or two and then you'll be home, right?" @Saj | Gale🌪+Carrion🍄

So he was a vessel like them.. Amara wasn’t a familiar name to him or Yoli, though. Carrion couldn’t really focus on it at the moment. The thought of the water saturating his mind, his hands clenched tight around his arms as a lifeline. One word slips through the torrent. ”h-home?” Home. Where was that? Would it really be home? @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

Kenji reaches out, placing a careful, light hand on Carrion's shoulder. "Home, yes. You can choose where you want to go, and it'll take you there." He's not sure if they're from the same universe, so as much as he wants to offer that they can find each other afterwards, he doesn't. If they're from different worlds, how was it fair to ask that of Carrion? Kenji certainly couldn't leave his own behind. He waits instead, leaving them the time to process. @Saj | Gale🌪+Carrion🍄 (edited)

They shake under his touch. (when had they not?) Carrion stares down at his hand for a moment, processing, before grabbing it tight. His nerves begin to settle slightly, his life not under immediate threat. ’You can choose where you want to go’ Where was there to go? The only places he had stayed were nothing but roofs to protect them from the rain, dilapidated walls and shifting shadows, not home. He remembers, just before the end of Kenji’s fight, his message. ’-when you get home, if you need anything-‘ What he needed was- ”C-could I- you.. go with you? please..?” @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫 (edited)

@em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫

@em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫 autismcreechur

The initial surprise in Kenji's eyes is quickly replaced by warmth, as a comforting smile finds its way across his face. "As long as you're sure," he says, hesitant to accept until he knows Carrion is fully determined. "It's a big decision, and we might not be from the same world. But as long as you're sure," he repeats, squeezing Carrion's hand back, "then absolutely." They've both got a lot to figure out, but knowing another person understands makes it all the lot easier. @Saj | Gale🌪+Carrion🍄

He nods quickly, tightening his hand. “Please- I- I’m sss- I’m ssure. I don’t want t-to be.. I want to go with you, p-please. Please let me go with you.” He’s practically doing puppy dog eyes as he begs not to get left behind. @em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫 (edited)

@em || enya 💥 + kenji 🌫