A Shorter Trail (for apassingafternoon)

[askthelookout]

Bert walked fast, keeping pace with the dull throbbing of his head. Anger lengthened his stride - anger at Alain for running away, at Roland for not being there, at Kaine for being stupid enough to get them all in this mess, even at Jamie for dying. Because that was the core of it, really. Anger was easy to feel, a great deal easier than grief or fear or worry, and anger would keep him going where the others were likely to make him stop and collapse.

Everything was gone. Even his world was gone. And Alain hadn't let him go with it. That hurt, a deep, gnawing loss that had nothing to do with Alain at all, really. He'd set himself up as a dinh in Roland's absence, and even though he'd known that they would lose the battle, he still felt the dull blade of failure, that hideous knowledge that he could have done more or acted differently. If Roland felt this way all the time, he thought blackly, it was a wonder he hadn't gone completely mad.

He was so lost in those thoughts, and the black void of anger they pulled him into, that he almost didn't see Kaine. He'd been expecting her to be a half-hour or more outside the town by now, not huddled so close to its gates. A few feet more, and he would have fallen over her.

Taking a deep breath, he did his best to push down his feelings, hunkering next to her and reaching out to touch her shoulder. "Kaine?" Then, as if only now registering her nakedness: "Hold steady, I'll lend you my shirt. Hardly a Fair-Day gown, but it'll cover you."

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[askthelookout]

He looked at her askance, getting to his feet. "Who said I hate you? Trust me, Kaine, if I hated you, you'd kennit. I sure as hell wouldn't have come out here looking for you, not unless it was to put a shell in your head the way our erstwhile hostess seems to wish I would." His voice was light, but he meant every word. He'd sought her out because he was worried for her, and it came as something of a shock to the system to hear that she didn't realise that.

"Keep the shirt," he repeated, brushing himself off. "Me and Alain will see about finding you something a little more decent between the two of us. Hells, if necessary I'm not above walking around in my drawers for a half-day. Provide a free show for passers-by!"

[apassingafternoon]

"You accused me of basically helping to kill someone who is extremely important to you. 'Hate' didn't seem like a very big leap." He had said other things and that was nice but she couldn't begin to suffocate her sudden exasperation, much less hide it any. Kaine pushed her hair back and leaned over so that she could take up his shirt again. He was hardheaded and there was no use in letting it go to waist. She turned her back to him and made a few adjustments. The towel could be lowered and somewhat awkwardly tied around her hips as a makeshift skirt. Between that and Bert's top it was ... The strangest outfit in all the known worlds, but it was better than revealing every inch of her for such a long walk.

"What hostess are you talking about? Everything happened pretty quickly when they smacked me awake." Kaine had only remembered the enveloping darkness, and then waking up to the smell of that fucking forest, being dragged away from Bert and Alain against her will. She hadn't been there to see who had taken them in.

[askthelookout]

"We woke up in the house of a woman, called herself Trish." Bert shrugged. "She seemed to know you, but going off how she spoke of you, I take it you didn't part as friends. Alain's back there now, getting what information he can. He might need a few hours before he's ready to go. Tempting though it is to pull the son of a bitch out into the sunlight with a raging headache, he'd only slow us down."

There was concern there - Alain was, after all, an-tet - but no less real was the irritation layered over it. He hadn't been lying when he'd said he was angrier with Alain than with her. Frankly, his friend was just lucky not to have a black eye to go with his headache.

[apassingafternoon]

"… No, Trish is pretty much a diseased, pathetic excuse of a cunt and the fact that Alain is anywhere near her makes me want to go in there and rip her head off of her shoulders with my bare hands so that I can go bowling with it. Or toss it down the gorge so the piranhas can gnaw on her skull." Bert could be irritated all he wanted, that was just fine, but Kaine's protective streak was nothing to sniff at. There was nothing genial or obedient about her tone now, she meant every word and the only thing that kept her still and careful was the simple fact that Alain could defend himself. Trish was a shitty excuse of a human being but she didn't have it in her to be truly violent.

"Unless he plans on fucking her you should probably go and get him in the near future. They won't let me in."

[askthelookout]

"He can squirm a while," Bert retorted with some venom, and raked his hands back through his hair. "He's a big boy. He can take care of himself. And me, apparently," he added bitterly, scowling. It seemed like he might take a while longer to forgive Alain, at this rate.

Sighing, he looked out at the sky again. "A third of a day, you said? Seems to me like the afternoon's coming on. I guess, revenge aside, I ought to go and get him."

[apassingafternoon]

She wanted to intervene, insist that Bert should be more forgiving but she was hardly in any position to say a word. It was probably a miracle that Bert was talking to her at all.

"Unless you want to run around in the freezing cold, yes, that would be a good idea." And Kaine would have to leave it at that. She looked in the general direction they needed to go and suddenly, in the most terrifying way, it hit her that they might be seeing them again. Roland and Nariko had barely been gone an entire day, and she had no idea how much time had passed for them, or what had happened at all. Was Nariko really alive? Had they managed to get along? Were they catching them right before they left?

The unanswered questions bothered her, even terrified her. It felt like they had all been parted for a lifetime.

[askthelookout]

"The cold doesn't bother me," Bert responded with a little shrug. "Desert nights and a thick skin. I'm insensitive as hell. You might've noticed." He didn't move towards her, but for a moment he looked as though he might reach out for her. Then he turned away, on his heel, and looked out towards Mystic.

"We ought to be back in an hour or so," he said, shortly. "Make sure you're ready to go. And, just so we're clear, I'm not piggybacking you all the way down the trail." That last bit was said with a ghost of his usual good humour, and a smile that actually reached his eyes for a moment. "Eat something, try to rest. I'll wake you when I'm back."

[apassingafternoon]

She knew better than to fall asleep around here in the daytime but she knew he meant well so Kaine nodded near obediently. "Don't let them rope you into staying any longer than you have to, Bert. Shoot them all if it comes down to it."

And the rest? Well. Sometimes it was better to not know while going in. Mystic as a whole was benign for the most part but every so often they weren't, particularly when the shine both men held wore off. The sooner all three of them were gone and out of their, the better.

[askthelookout]

"Don't tempt me," Bert replied, with a rather sharp little smile, and saluted her. "I'll be back soon, never fear. Hopefully without a bloodbath." He'd fallen back into that bitter humour again; if you looked closely, you could almost see the mask falling back into place. When he walked away, hands in his pockets, he was whistling just as merrily as if nothing was wrong.

[apassingafternoon]

That, of all things, finally pushed a grin out of her. He went back and she stayed where she was, occasionally stretched a limb here or there as her body slowly worked itself out and responded to the constant, healing pulse. When it's effect gathered enough that she could walk without pain lacing its way up her body she made it ten steps out of the cave, towards whatever remained of Aerie.

She could go. They had their directions, they had their dinh to find. If she left it wouldn't be complicated, it wouldn't be nearly as painful.

An eleventh step and she hated the feeling that came with it.

Nope. In this for the long haul, at least until they were ready to go back to their world.