➪ Multiple times at this point, they’ve been told to ascend. He questioned if this was just another case of the world trying to deceive the two?

➪ Except to the captain it only seemed like the tunnel suddenly cut. The hand being useful at every divide.

“𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊 𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.."

➪ His head would twist, a black gaze cast back at her.

➪ One that he chose not to question. This world wasn’t his to do so with.

“𝙿𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙𝚜.. 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎."

➪ They pressed forward. Mindful of his steps as they begin their upward ascent.

“𝙸𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚐 𝙼𝚒𝚊... 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜."

➪ They pressed until the divide. His head shifting.

"𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚜 𝚍𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚎. 𝙽𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚗𝚍. 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝? 𝙾𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐."

➪ The small flame in his hand the only item holding them at bay.

➪ Instict kicked in, a cloaked arm reaching around and hugging the two of them close to him. They could not see the horrors this place held just yet. And perhaps this is for the better.
+

"𝙸𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢."

➪ And with that, the moment they exited. The wind swept through them as if they were nothing more than paper. The candle barely holding it's flicker. As if the shadows themselves came alive to try and jump at him with each flicker.
+

➪ To a Childs wonderous innocence. It meant more than a lot of things. Protecting that. Among getting them all out of there. He strained for a moment while standing.

“𝙼𝚢 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚜 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 '𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜'."
+

➪ So many unanswered questions. And even more left to the wind.

“𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚖𝚊𝚢 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚊 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚒𝚝."

➪ Honorable. Exactly what this world loved to walk over.

➪ His gaze fell further to the small child. Barely at the height of her mother’s hips and at thigh level to him…

➪ The poor child. Even if a figment. A madness. How long did they truly survive? Or perhaps this was the last time she’d seen her child alive.
+

"𝚈𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢. 𝙵𝚒𝚐𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚊 𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍."

"𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗. 𝚆𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠."

➪ Such act is beyond even attempting to comprehend. This world doing wonders already to draw a divide between them.
+

➪ His boots thud against the ground. A moment later, he’s gripped onto Hanagata’s shoulder. A squeeze given. A voided stare down.

“𝙸𝚝𝚜 𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍. 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚞𝚋𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢. 𝙳𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚍𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐-"
+

"𝙸𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚎."

➪ Very like him to think two steps ahead. Approaching and softly removing one of the candles from her hand. He holds onto it.

“𝙻𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚋𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢."

“𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚜. 𝙸𝚕𝚕 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎."

➪ Perhaps for a moment he was already under the influence of the bedlam or whatever this entity was. Why had he seen Natlan? Why was it now a cave..?

“𝙸𝚝𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚛𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊."
+

“𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚛, 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚊𝚏𝚏𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝙸 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗."

➪ Though it seemed like it hadn't slowed her by much. She was still highly capable.

➪ He looked back in the distance. They'd come far for a few hours pace. Though it didn't seem like enough. A deep sigh left exchanged with the wind.

“..𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚒𝚗 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎."

➪ A offer to alleviate the stressors of the battle and day.
+

“𝙶𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎𝚜. 𝚆𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎."

"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚞𝚙𝚘𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚗. 𝙸𝚏 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎. 𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚛𝚢."

➪ Part of it was true. The other half a lie he would tell himself to hopefully press forward. One way or another. This room will get them nowhere.
+

➪ The soft sounds of his coat and arm settling back to his side left the two in silence. Though she could not see it. His gaze had turned into a glare. He's at a stand still.

➪ Remaining stagnant is not an option for the captain.

“𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙."
+