Chapter 4: Exodus Part 5

=I leave and go looking for Jay=

=She drifts off to sleep, still blinded and deaf. She has a series of bad nightmares, some about her past. She lies there shivering in a deep sleep=

= I head out into the forest, searching for Jay. I find footprints and follow them=
Jay? Jay! Jay, please, I want to talk to you.

=I find jay in a small hole, bleeding. I tear off some large leaves and start wrapping them around her leg=

You are not going to die. You are not evil, Jay. You don't need death.

I kick out at him

Piss off.

Only way I am doing that is through death. And I will not let you die.

You won't let me die? YOU WON'T FUCKING LET ME DIE?.

I climb out of the hole and stand facing him

YOU'VE ALREADY KILLED ME ANYWAY!

Yes I have, and i will not let it happen again.

=I grab her hand and pull her knife up to my throat, and I hold it there. Sadness fills my eyes, but so does determination=

I tremble and almost cut his throat open. But then i wrench my hand free and let it fall to my side.

No, killing you would be the easy way out. I want you to suffer for this. I want it to be so that every time you see my face , you break down. Every time we pass in the corridor, i want your heart to feel like it's been stabbed a million times. And i command you. Don't you dare take your own life. Because that would just be selfish.

I take my knife and raise it up, putting half of it in my mouth.

This is what your going to see every single time. And your going to remember that it's your fault.

I cut across with the knife, slicing my cheek right in half up to my ear lobe. I drop the knife and scream in pain, blood pouring everywhere. I keep screaming

=I nod and tears fill my eyes. I try to stop the bleeding as best I can=

Your punishment is fair. I will never stop loving you, Jay, but I see why you can't. I was forcibly taken, but what happened was still my fault, for I wasn't strong enough. You have deserved much better than I, and all I have done is keep you here. Your wish is my command, Meo Amo.

=I stop the bleeding somehow and carry Jay back to the base=

=I start working on Jay, to the best of my ability. I sterilize the scar, clean it, and sew it closed. Afterwards I draw my knife and stab myself in the stomach=

As I cause pain on others, so too shall I cause pain on myself. As I cause others to lose their souls, so too shall I lose mine. I refuse to be a product of my own thoughts and actions, I am now a product of my actions and thoughts upon others.

=i get up and leave= She does not deserve my presence. This room is tainted by my being here. My evil spreads to all things, and she does not deserve it.

=I leave and head to the workshop, that event replaying in my mind over and over again. I make a few signs, most with arrows, but one with words=

Quote :

Though you and I believe that I am an evil that cannot go away, there is something you should see. Follow these signs to where it is. I do not ask for forgiveness, only understanding. When all of this is over I will return myself to the UNSC, for I was made for war and war is where I shall die.

=I place this sign in the courtyard, with an arrow pointing in the direction of the bunker. I place more signs along the way, and even more inside, to lead them to the mural on the wall. However, once I reach the wall and look at it, I feel the need to add to the room, that this is just not enough=

(He opens his eyes)
(The viser comes online)
(He looks around)

I really need to stop sleeping like this

=waking up not remembering falling asleep=

ahh jeez... where, where am i?

=She lies in bed, still in partial shock. A small mouse scurries up onto the bed and lays on her helmet. She enjoys the company of the little rodent. She takes a few peices of string and braids a small loop and places it snugly around the mouse's neck. It fiddles with it for a minute before falling asleep next to her head on the pillow. She smiles at it slightly. Her vision has almost completely returned, but she is still partially deaf and finds it difficult to move for any length of time=

=The Umbrae Umbrorum becomes cloaked, Several Phantoms are loaded and filled with crew members, the sangheili are dressed in their respective civilian clothes, or armour. the hangers open, and the phantoms start descending to the docks of the major city, Tarqun-ee, of [the shadow of the moon]. The doctor looks at his monitor, notices that Draco has boarded. and that one of the Intelligence is missing. He smiles. He looks around, puts on his civillian clothes, a T-shirt, special-cargopants, black combat boots, a unique pair of sunglasses and a jacket.=

one enters one leaves.

=I leave the Phantom i was riding on, and look at the city, Humans and Elites living together. it was interesting. times were tough, the dock they landed at was filled with people, leaving, arriving, I recognized all the members of the UU. the english speakers and the romanian ones. I already let them know that the mission would take a few days, so they all know that this shoreleave will be short. I walk slowly, find a place to sit and people watch. I sit for a few hours, until the place grow empty, with only a few small shuttles dropping of people, or light-weight cargo. the UNSC had no presence here. and neither did ONI. but I wasn't here on ONI business or doing some favor for the UNSC. I was here on the Blak Hands' Business, every hand has a finger, every finger, a nail. I was one of those nails. Someone here had to die. but first, i was going to scout out the area, the people, the hidden caches. no one here will every know the dark events that would happen, that were conspired.

I got up, and walked to the exit, looking for trouble, not causing it, but looking to stop it. the man here, that i was looking for, had information. I needed to know that information. then he had to die. people here, didn't know much about the fall of reach. other than that, it fell. no one here knew my face, no one here was old enough to.

I walked to the exit, looking to see if there were any guards or police force to talk to. there was one guy. heavily armoured but stood like he had a bad leg. like had never fully recovered from being shot in the leg. I walked over to him , he eyed me, he couldn't tell if i was trouble or not.=

Hey, I said, are you a guard or what is it tha you do here?

me? he replied, yeah, i'm a guard here, i get paid to watch for trouble.

do you see much, I said, trouble, that is?

nah, not really, he replied, why do you ask?

=he still didn't know what to think of me=

just curious, I'm a vigilante, for the most part, and i just wanted to know if you saw much trouble, and if ya did, well, then i'd offer my help.

vigilante, huh? he said interested, well this part o'town isn't that bad, but if yer lookin' to help, stick to the alleyways and such yo'll see some action, and maybe we won't find any bodies of good folks layin' round still-like, you know what i mean?

yeah, I do, I responded, so know anything about certian unmentionable doings around these parts?

I sure do, he said, but better wait till i'm off duty, meet me at the Hanged-mans pub, down the street from here, well talk over a beer,

sure sure, when do you get off? i asked

about three hours from now. he ansered.

alright, i'll meet you there.

=three hours, that gives me enough time to do nothing special. I went to the Hanged mans pub down the street, I looked across the the street at a couple of bodies hanging, I guess thats why it's called the hanged mans pub, it's got a view of hanged men. I guess that means they have public hangings here, interesting, I don't think i want to see any.

I walked into the pub, and took in the sights: the pub was a little run down, there were nut-shells of varying size and species on the ground, the bar was clean, and a dark aurburn colour, there were ninety plus tabs along it, the bar went farther in than i'd originally thought, there was a strip club-type area in the back, I didn't go back, there were booths along the side, along with tables between the bar and the booths, the tables were all wooden, but the chairs were metal, and some were made for elites, but the majority of them were for humans. the bar tender was human, short, about four foot eleven, I towered over him, like an elite would. the bartender was bald, and cleanshaven, he stood as if he was in the military, which he probably was. I looked at the pictures on the wall, some were the old knights of earth and scenes from what could have been Camelot. there was also a psuedo-wood covering on the metal walls, it looked reall enough. I looked at the patrons, lots of sailors from the oceans of the planet, along with crewmen from space-ships. seemed calm enough. no fights, the atmosphere was calm as well, nothing uncertain.the humans and the elites got along just fine. so I sat, and waited.

after making myself known to be good company by the bartender and the patrons for three hours, the guardsmen came in and gestured to me to sit in a corner booth and we begin talking=

( i need to go do yard work but i'll be back later, hopefully, so don't do anything drastic ;p

=i slowly disappear into my mind, only coming out to carve new works onto the wall. All of them are the same, a faceless man with a hole in his heart cutting his throat and splitting his heart and several other forms of torture. I also carve the word "SALUS" in all the places it will fit. all of these cover the walls, everywhere except on the originals i created earlier=

=falling in and out of sleep=

what's going on...

why am i outside still?

eww... more drool in my helmet...

=drifts back into sleep=

This is going well...

=more pictures flood my mind, all of which need to escape. Blood, death, violence, gore, war, hatred, all of this trying to get out of my head. i start carving them on myself with my knife, using the blood to add to the carvings on the wall, all except the original. that is the only thing in the room that is not altered by my madness=

Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop. MAKE IT STOP!

=finally wakes up completely=

This is gonna be gross...

=takes of helmet and water pores out of it=

I'm gonna need a shower... Hey where did everyone go?

=wanders toward Aura's room=

*knock, Knock*

Aura?

=He musters all his strength to get up and stumble into the courtyard. He is dazed and doesent really know what is going on. He walks into a prison-like building and falls onto the gound face-first=

Wonder what happened down there.
Dormii sounded Angry, but sadness also showed through.

(He sighs)

I dont know.

(He takes off his helmet)
(He feels pain shoot through his body)
(He goes down)
(Paralyzed)

Crap, cant move.
Cant get.....to.......my pills!

(His eyes go blank)
(Darkness swirls around him)
(He yells)

ASH! WAKE UP! GET MY PILLS!

=She hears banging outside her door again. She opens it, making sure that her armor is fully active. The gas pours out. She see Tiertun and ignors him, but she sees a new creature on the ground, covered in blood. She picks up the body and brings it back into her room before shutting and locking the door=

Voutan!?

=knocks on the door again=

Aura, Please let me in... What's wrong!?

what just happened!?

(Memories fill him)
(Everything)
(Terrible)

Ashlie, wake up. please!

(Death swirls)
(He smells fire, the burning of the village)
(The screaming of the innocents)
(The laughing)
(He sees the eyes)
(The eyes that caused so much suffering)
(Tears fill his own eyes)

=She puts the body on the bed and examines it. She takes a few things out of her backpack. She removes her armor and puts on her gas mask so she can operate better. She removes the creature's armor and finds the wounds, using what herbal medicine she knows to help it=

=He feels a stinging in his wounds, followed by a numbing effect. He wakes up and sees a figure standing over him, but he does not reconize it=

Voutan- Zeru...? Ash...?



(I probably should have mentioned this earlier. I cant join the chat because im using a PSP =sadface=)

Aura!.....................


goddamn, it's hard to communicate with her...

Aura I know who that is! Let me in!.....

=hits the door one more time before sliding to the ground=

*Sigh*

..............................

(He goes into a whisper)

please

(His eyes completely glaze over)

im sorry, Ash.

(He goes silent)
(Being consumed)
(Losing himself)
(Falling)

=She continues trying to help the new creature any way she can. She makes some sort of paste and rubs it on some bandages before wrapping it around his wounds=

...............Aura..........please let me in...............

=leaning against door=

...................I wish to see Voutan...................

=She gathers all her things, plus the creature's armor, and moves into the next room over, which is signifigantly more comfortable. It has a carpeted floor, a fireplace, and 2 real beds, as opposed to the steel ones in the last room. She lays him down on one of them before shutting the door and starting a fire in the fireplace=

= sees her move into the next room, quickly getting up to go in , only to get his face slammed into the door=

Ouch... Aura, why are you ignoring me?

duh... she doesn't under stand you Tar

=She goes into the lower cabinet and pulls out somethink like a couldren. She fills it with water from the sink and puts it over the faire and begins to put things into it. The room is dim, as the fire is the only light at the moment, and it becomes warm from the fire and the scent of herbs and spices fills the air around it=

hmm...

=knocks but in an almost polite way =

Hello!? May i come in?

=He feels the pain gradually subside. He looks around the room, still partially dazed, and sees the same figure tending to something on the other side of the room. He tries to sit up=

=smells fire and various herbs=

She's gonna cook him!?

=knocks on the door a little more rapidly=

Aura what are you doing!?

=She hears the continued knocking at the door. She opens it and stands in the doorway looking at Teirtun blankly=

=ready to knock, when instead the door opens=

uh...

=sees Voutan=

may i enter?

=points at voutan=

Vou-tan.

=She puts her hand up as if to stop him from entering. She makes a gesture of chest pain and points to Voutain=

=looks at her in a serious way=

Friend... =pointing at voutan=

=looks at Aura=

are you in pain too?

she's not gonna understand what i just said

=She sighs and has him sit on the bed oposite of Voutan. She pulls up a chair and sits in front of the fire, tending to what she is making=

Map of her room

=starts drooling from the smell=

*grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr................ wow I'm hungry...

jeez what happened to you Voutan?

(He begins to regain feeling)
(He moves his hand to his supply pouch)
(Taking out the bottle)
(He forces a pill)
(His eyes go un-glazed)
(He continues to lay there)

.................Aura?

=he sits there blankly=

=She opens her eyes and sits up watching Draco lie there=
Draco..? Are you okay..? Did something happen..?

=She leans closer to him=

=She takes a wooden spoon and 3 bowls and fills them with the thick hot stew of meat, potatos, and a few veggies plus some herbs and spices. She offers a bowl each to Teirtun and Voutain=

(He starts to shake)
(Not violently)
(From fear)
(He soon stops and looks up at Ash)
@Ash
Im.........okay