empatheias | ( open ) there are countless stars in my heart, there's one star that shines painfully

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( open ) there are countless stars in my heart, there's one star that shines painfully

Who: Warrior of Light and you?
Where: Around Verens
When: Throughout the first week of the month
Format: [ brackets ]
Open/Closed: Open
Summary: The longer he's here, the more something about the Warrior seems to become... off.

A) the wall of names part 2;

[ Another month, another trip to the wall, another moment in allowing his gaze to roam over each and every name there. It's getting closer to a year since his arrival within this world and while he's been departed for a short period of time due to a calling back within the conflict, still he finds himself here... and he finds that as time goes on, more and more names appear on this wall... and he's come to notice that he recognizes quite a few now.

There's a particular man who comes to mind as he glances down to a cracked stone on the ground. Blond hair and in so much pain, having injured himself due to his grief at the realization that someone he cared for very much had disappeared from this world with only their name left behind on this wall. He remembers the way in which he had gently healed his hand and listened to his pain... and now he finds that this very same man has his name on the wall as well. The Warrior comes to frown a little. Perhaps he went back to the one he had missed so much. He can hope for that, can't he?

But that's the problem with this wall. The names seem to multiply more and more as time goes on and he finds that this wall becomes more familiar with those who appear on it, going from one to three to five to nine. Nine names. Nine that he can put a face to, recall memories with. Nine that are no longer within this world and he comes to find that it means something... somehow.

There are no cats with him this time nor company as he tends to travel alone. There is, however, a dull sort of ache that bleeds from him and strips the very grass around his shoes of its colour, leaving it cold and gray. He'll be standing there for quite some time... more like hours to be exact. ]

B) the tree of memories;

[ This is a place in which the Warrior doesn't often find himself, the wall of names being more the place to frequent rather than this tree. But today... today he is looking for something... a memory, wanting to see it with his own eyes. The petals that come to touch his palm show brief glimpses of a conflict which he seems to hail from. But these fleeting memories are not the one he's looking for and it's with a sigh that he allows these petals to gently fall from his palm. Peculiar that the grass around him seems to be devoid of colour... ]

C) to market we go?;

[ To be here at the market is not at all unusual for the Warrior given the fact that he comes here once a week to pick up food and any supplies needed what with his cottage being a little ways out of the town. However, on this particular day, he is without his basket that he typically carries under his arm and instead, walks through merchant's square without even coming to stop at any of the usual stalls. He seems dazed, out of it, not entirely lost within his thoughts and yet... not exactly here in the now either. With every step that he takes throughout the square, a washed out colour of the very ground itself is left behind as sort of footprints in a way. He doesn't seem to be listening to anyone or anything else but rather to whatever (or whoever) it is that seems to be playing over and over again in his head. A knight clad in dark armor and a spire-like sword which he drags alongside him... memories that seem to be pushing themselves to the forefront of his mind more and more as of late.

Paying attention to where he's going? No... not today it seems. ]

D) winter in summer;

[ It's a lovely day for a stroll in the park and if one happens to be doing that, they might come across some beautiful flowers, trees lush with green leaves... and a Warrior sitting on a bench... more or less frozen. His head hangs as he stares to the ground, a gentle frost having coated him entirely but it's his fingers curled under the bench that seem to be wearing a thick layer of ice over them, freezing them to the bench more or less. But it's not just the frost in the warm weather that is strange. It's an almost distortion around the Warrior that seems to somehow blur everything around him, almost seeming dreamlike and unreal. But it's very real, as is the ice and frost that have covered him here on the bench.

Best to watch your step lest you slip on a little runaway frost. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Squall was taking a stroll, much like he likes to do when he’s out and about and not doing hard labor or training around town. He felt a small chill in the air and glanced around. He could have sworn that the weather was nicer recently.

That’s when he spotted Warrior sitting on a bench alone. Had his feelings gotten out of control? There he was sitting looking like he froze himself to the darn thing. He frowned a little and made his way over quietly, sitting down on the freezing cold bench beside him.]

Hey.

[ When Squall approaches, the blur around the Warrior seems to shift a little, as if to make room for Squall coming into it, though the Warrior himself doesn't seem to even acknowledge that the other has joined him on the bench.

At least, not for a moment or two.

Slowly, eyes blink, snowflakes on his eyelashes and he comes to just barely glance over to him before he glances back down to the ground. ]

Are you cold?

[ Squall sits there in silence for a bit, slowly removing his one jacket to slip around Warrior's shoulders. Whether he was cold or not didn't matter to him. What mattered was if Warrior was okay, and right now he definitely didn't seem like he was okay. ]

I'm fine... don't worry about me.

[ The Warrior allows the jacket to be draped over his shoulders as he sits there, still staring down to the ground. ]

Why... are you here?

I am drawn to negative emotions. I feed off it like some kind of negative beacon. It led toward you right away.

[ Squall snorted softly, leaning back into the bench. It was freezing, but he wasn't about to let Warrior see that. ]

[ At first, the Warrior isn't so sure whether or not Squall is being truthful with such an admission. However, after a moment and of eyes blinking snowflakes off lashes again, he comes to hum softly, fingers still frozen to the bench. ]

But I do not feel negative emotions. [ A beat. ] I am not so sure I feel anything.

...What do you mean you don't feel anything?

[ Squall frowns thoughtfully, trying to read Warrior. He moves closer, reaching out to touch his face. </small.]

[ When Squall presses a hand to his face, the Warrior doesn't flinch, let alone even seem to acknowledge such a thing done. Instead, he continues to stare down at the ground. ]

Don't let me keep you from where you were headed...

[ Squall's frown deepens as he moves both hands to his cheeks and turns Warrior's face toward him. ]

What's wrong?

[ There's a lack of presence within the Warrior's eyes as he looks to Squall, almost as if he's distant and far away in the moment despite his physically being here. ]

You will disappear from here one day, too.

....Where's your amulet?

My amulet...

[ The Warrior allows his gaze to drop for a moment, seeing that it isn't around his neck before he looks back up to Squall. ]

Where. Is. Your amulet?

I don't... remember.

[ He says that softly, looking down. ]

Perhaps at...

[ He wants to say home but... this place isn't his home... is it? ]

[ no wonder his emotions were going...well absolutely nowhere. If he was so upset about something why couldn't he come to him and tell him? Is he that pathetic of a friend that Warrior couldn't trust him? Just thinking about it made Squall even more frustrated.

He stood up off the bench and held out his hand for Warrior. ]

[ Coming to gently look up to him, the Warrior slowly blinks before he looks back down. ]

I can't...

[ His hands are, well, frozen to the bench. ]

You have got to....

[ Squall let out a frustrated sound as he stares at Warrior. it's not fully his fault, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating. He had to think what he could do that might not hurt him. ]

[ The Warrior remains looking down as if the ground is truly so fascinating that he simply can't stop looking at it and that dreamlike sort of blue slowly seems to return to the Warrior's side. ]

But why? It will only be me left. It... always is.

I can't be the Squall you knew. Just as much as I can't be Leon. It sucks. It sucks that I can't give you what you want, but that doesn't mean I've abandoned you.

[ He curses under his breath. His hands turning into fists tightly. ]

I'm just as important as them, and you're just as important to me, dammit!

[ Squall punches the bench as hard as he could, It hurt. It felt like punching a wall of ice, piercing through his skin. He knew that feeling well enough that it was becoming like second nature. ]

[ The sudden CRACK that tears through the bench causes the Warrior to almost jolt alive for a second, but the ice that had encased one of his hands breaks and allows the Warrior's fingers to be able to move and wiggle again.

The Warrior is silent as he stares to his freed hand, slowly blinking as he takes in Squall's words... he knows that he heard them... didn't he? ]

But I... I can't be... I don't know what it is to be important to another...

[ Squall ignores the pain shooting through his hand. he probably hurt something, but he wasn't going to do anything about it, not right now. What was important was getting Warrior home, getting him somewhere warmer, and getting back his amulet. I'd give Warrior his own if he could, but he had a feeling it wouldn't have the same affect on him. ]

Well you better start getting used to it. Because you're damn well important to me.

[ Squall pulls his hand back and wrings it out a few times. His mind was racing a mile a minute trying to think of the best solution. ]

( I could always use some of my fire magic I have stored up, but... there's no sure way that he won't get hurt from that. And if i summoned Ifrit... well I think more damage would be done than a singed shirt or a few missing strands of hair. Not to mention his connection with me feels a bit off... perhaps because I've been using Shiva a lot...? Ugh... do I dare risk... them?)

But why...

[ The Warrior comes to bow his head again, staring to the ground once more. ]

This world... the longer you stay within it, the more people disappear. People I never get the chance to meet... because I don't know how... I don't know what it is to feel for another or have another feel for me.

[ Except for Garland. Supposedly, he's the only one who understands the Warrior, who knows the Warrior and his past... and even then, he's never been granted that knowledge from the fallen knight. Could he truly be bound by fate to someone of the dark? ]

I will be the last one standing. I always am. It's... my duty.

Why do you think you have to suffer this alone?

[ Squall moved in front of Warrior, crouching down on one knee to try and get a look at his face. ]

You aren't the only one who knows of this pain. Hell, I shut people out of my life for twelve years of my life.... because some stupid part of me thought shutting others out would prevent me from ever getting hurt again. And it didn't. Instead it just made me feel incredibly lonely...

[ Squall frowned softly. ]

You aren't here alone, so can't you depend on me a little more?

[ With Squall crouching in front of him, the Warrior doesn't look to him but instead, looks behind him on the ground, gently allowing the fingers of his freed hand to wiggle a little more as chips of ice fall from the tips. ]

Have you ever agreed to the deaths of your comrades?

[ He asks that softly, allowing his gaze to finally look to Squall. ]

Because I allowed that of you.

You aren't the type to make those decisions on a whim. You must have had a reason for it.

D.)

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