Fantasy Kaizoic: Earth Reborn

[Da Doofus]

“Here.” Rufus tossed the medic bag at him. “There’s some bandages and antiseptic left.”
As he did, Darrek stepped into view behind the smuggler with a medical pad wrapped around his eye and his chest treated with medigel.

Stryx eyed Kairo with worry. “Hunjan . . . I wouldn’t.”

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo took the bag from Rufus, offering him a quick thank you. The man did a pretty good job with Darrek as far as he can tell. He looked much less like death now that he was all patched up.
"Darrek. You're looking mighty fine." Kairo added jokingly, before looking back at Stryx. He gave his commander a smile, hoping that the small act would help to reassure him. He wasn't sure if the commander would notice that the smile was obviously forced. "I need to do this sir. I'll be careful." He added, before heading up the stairs.

 

[Da Doofus]

Along the railing of the second floor, the familiar faces of Ezekiel, Frederick, and Lawrence perched themselves near the room Dracon was in.
Frederick twitched his ears and made a quiet cooing sound when Kairo came close. The room the Feral was inside looked to have once been an office converted into an improvised living quarters. A pile of blankets was in the corner, an assortment of collected fruits was kept in a hanging basket, and Dracon’s sword was hung on a wall-mounted display behind a desk made into a dinner table.
There was a square space on the wall where there was less dust. Something was hung there, and then taken down a while back.
Maybe a portrait.

Dracon himself was sitting by a cracked mirror, prying out bloody shards of glass from his shoulder with his claws. A rag held the ones already removed and it was already soaked in red.
He saw Kairo enter, and visibly tense.

“Out.” He growled.

 

[Chai_T3a]

The room Kairo entered was homey and quaint. The blankets looked comfy, and the hanging fruit basket made a very nice decorative touch that could have also doubled as a food source. Everything here seemed like it was well cared for, and Kairo felt slightly bad once he realized that he wasn't expecting Dracon to be living this comfortably at all. His body tensed slightly as well once he noticed Dracon sitting by the broken mirror. He didn't heed the irokai's warning. Instead taking a few more steps in and dropping the medical supplies in his room.

"There's some bandages and anti-septics left." Kairo said plainly. "Darrek's all treated so you can take the rest."

 

[Da Doofus]

Dracon did not reply. The Tattered Feral of Dakovis glanced back at the medical bag, and then returned to extracting the shards of glass as he previously did.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo paused for a moment, watching Dracon continue extracting the shards of glass out of his back with nothing but his claws. Dracon clearly didn't want to see the man any longer, and he understood that. He'd leave. But there was just one last thing he wanted to do before heading back downstairs.

He emitted a few grunts of pain, seething as he finally managed to get the ring he wore off his crushed hand. It wasn't his anyway. "And.....I think you might want this back." Kairo mentioned, placing the ring on top of the medical kit, before turning around to head back out. A tiny part of him wanted Dracon to stop him from leaving. "It's all yours." He mumbled, head turned away from Dracon.

 

[Da Doofus]

As he turned back to face the stairs, he’d see Rufus standing near the front door and eyeing the destruction caused by the landslide outside.
Stryx passed him and rejoined his men in the living room. Shortly after, Darrek began limping up the stairs and past the second floor up to the third.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo noticed all three of the men, each doing their own respective thing. He gave Darrek a quick pat on the back as the Irokai made his way to the third floor, before proceeding to head downstairs. Right now, he was really just seeking a familiar face. Rufus would be able to provide him with that.

Kairo walked down the stairs, stopping next the man in question who stood near the front door. He noticed him looking out the window, probably to assess the damage that had been caused. Curiously, Kairo did the same thing. His heart quickly dropped at the scene that stood before them.

"Not a very nice view." He commented, not sure if he could say much more than that without blaming it on the two of them.

 

[Da Doofus]

“It’s getting worse.” Rufus commented with a directory finger pointing over the rubble.
“Look.”

Past the landslide, likely back over the wall and in the canyon, thin plumes of smoke rose high over the cliffsides.

“Campfires.” The smuggler commented. “I know what that big bastard is doing. He’s gonna sit and goddamn wait for us to die.”

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo clenched his working fist, clearly not liking the sound of that at all. They were trapped in the city, no food, no water, no medicine. There only way out being blocked by the enemy. From the looks of things, the 9 of them here didn’t have much of a shot if it came to a fight with Bazin’s cronies either. It seemed like a lost cause.

“Damnit.” Kairo spat. “What does he even gain from seeing us suffer anyway?”

 

[Da Doofus]

“Either expecting us to give ourselves up or make a profit from our corpses.” Rufus shrugged. “I’ve seen merc groups do something similar over valuable cargo.”

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo sighed, pinching his forehead in frustration. "We never should have come here."

 

[Da Doofus]

“We couldn’t have known.” Rufus sighed. “But it was my idea.
You got nothing to be sorry about.”

As the two spoke, Darrek’s footsteps creaked on the 3rd floor before coming to a sudden stop.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo didn’t think much of what was happening upstairs, as he was still trying to cope with the new development in the situation. His mind was clearly preoccupied on the problem at hand as he looked out the window.

“There has to be something we can do to get outta here.” Kairo said.

 

[Da Doofus]

“I’ll think of something.” Rufus turned away and patted Kairo’s shoulder. “Or Stryx will.
Or that sergeant will.” His gaze turned to the floor.
“I don’t know, but I’m thinking of something trust me.”
The man began walking into the living room to join the squad of Republic ‘stooges’.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo could only smile warily at Rufus's words of comfort. It was quite clear that Rufus was beating himself up over this as well, the small gestures the man made clearly indicated that. He watched as Rufus left to the join Stryx and his men in the living room, probably trying to keep his mind occupied on figuring out ways to get out of here. That was with good reason too. Kairo wasn't sure how much longer that medigel numbing his leg would last. They needed out of here as soon as possible.

Kairo would have followed Rufus inside, but he'd never been any good with planning. At that moment he wished he could be. Sulking was a dangerous thing, and without anything to keep his mind occupied, that looked like the only thing he could do right now. He sighed to himself, he'd thought he'd gotten over it, but right now, he felt more like a burden than he ever did in his life.

No....not now, he didn't need to do that now. He needed to find something to occupy himself with. At least to keep himself mentally in check for now. Maybe he could talk to Darrek. The irokai seemed pretty lonely by himself upstairs, and he was pretty sure he wouldn't reject his company like Dracon did. Kairo made his way back to the stairs, climbing up to the third floor with tired, sloppy steps.

 

[Da Doofus]

The young Irokai was standing in the jagged remains of the stained glass window, and was staring intensely at a recently unveiled portrait leaning in the corner among dust covered boxes.
His blue eyes met with the eyes of the feathered Irokai infant held by his mother warmly. Then they glanced upward to the father who he bore a resemblance to.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo stopped at the last stair, realizing what the young Irokai had finally noticed. He thought back to footsteps on the top floor, and their abrupt stop. He didn’t think much of it then, but piecing the two together, Kairo was beginning to understand how important that small change in behaviour really was.

Kairo wasn’t entirely sure what to do at the moment, so he walked up to be side by side with Darrek. Hopefully being there would help out at least a bit.

 

[Da Doofus]

Darrek looked down at Kairo, and then back to the portrait.

“I . . .” He struggled to voice his swirling thoughts. “I think that’s Dracon in that picture.” He pointed to the charcoal colored boy, then to the baby.
“And is that . . .?”

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo gave the irokai a small nod. Agreeing with him. “You? I think it is.” Kairo stared at the infant, before turning to look at Darrek. “Not what you expected. Right?”

 

[Da Doofus]

“This is my family.” He stated aloud, looking at the crumbling architecture around him.
“This was my home.”

 

[Chai_T3a]

“Yeah.” Kairo answered, clearly not sure what words would work in this situation. The look on Darrek’s face was indiscernible, but that was to be expected. Kairo wasn’t entirely sure how he’d feel if he’d suddenly met his dead parents again. Probably a lot of joy, but his situation was different. Darrek had never met his family, even once in his life.

“Sorry that this was how you had to figure it out though.” Kairo added.

 

[Da Doofus]

Darrek moved toward the portrait and inspected the image closely.
“He looks just like me.” He chuckled weakly and glanced at the nearby boxes, curious about their preserved contents.
“Hey can you help me with this? I don’t want to break anything.” He said as he started to lift one of the boxes gently.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo didn't waste any time as he went opposite of the Irokai to help him with the box. He himself was equally curious about the contents within, but wasn't entirely sure if he would be welcomed to share the moment with him. This was a pretty big deal after all.

"Do...you want me to leave you alone for now?" Kairo asked once they moved the box to a more spacious side of the room.

 

[Da Doofus]

Darrek shook his head.
“No you’re ok.” He said as he removed the metal braced lid.
Inside, spared from the dust and decay, were photographs of black and white.
“Huh.” Darrek cocked his head and picked up the first one.

It was of a younger Dracon and the Kendalt family daughter playing together in the front yard. A third playmate was with them; a young human girl with long black hair.

“Cräga?” The Irokai squinted.