Search, Rescue, Destroy (MATURE)

[Mizuki]

Breathing deeply to calm herself and her flipping stomach, she said, "I want... I want..." Blood. Everywhere. On the ground, on her hands, on her. She felt it. The dried blood matting her hair and staining the clothing she wore. It made her condition worse. Why couldn't she just put it out of her mind? Like Soran could?

"I want out of the blood." She clawed at her already torn clothing with her one good hand. The blood was reminding her of more than she wanted to remember. Gabriel, Luc, all the battles she was in. This blood was doing more than just reminding how she had killed those guards, it was awakening what she was trying to deal with from the past. She still hadn't accepted and justified the arrow she shot into Luc's head. She just tried to forget it.

Taking the clothing off; she thought it would take it all away, it just caused her body's aches and bruises, and her broken wrist to flare up in pain, Protesting her violent movements. She stopped, her head held low. She had only managed to get one arm out of it's sleeve. It dangled like an useless arm, torn in half, at her side.

[Soran Nightblade]

Soran's mouth turned ever so slightly downward. He recognized what she was doing, because he'd done it himself, a long time ago. He caught her elbow gently, to keep her from moving it anymore, although she seemed to have stopped. He met her eyes for a moment, what he took for a moment of understanding passing between them. He took her other arm and slowly lifted both of them straight over her head, posing them there. Then, he took the hem of her shirt and gingerly peeled it up and over her head. He was careful not to catch it on her wounded hand as he lifted it over her fingers and set it down on the rock behind him. Her body looked familiar and warm, but he noticed new bruises and scrapes that had not been there before.

[Mizuki]

It was cold in the cave, but it felt oddly good on her overly warm flesh. Being half naked in front of Soran did not affect her. She wouldn't have reacted if he had decided to remove his own clothing. She just want her stomach to stop twisting and turning. Her hands lay gently in her lap, and she found that removing the blood stained shirt had actually helped, just a little. She didn't want to look at it, so she purposefully kept her back to the rock it lay on.

[Soran Nightblade]

Soran watched Mizuki thoughtfully for a moment. She wasn't protesting, so he decided to go on. Doing everything in slow, controlled movements to avoid startling her, he unfastened her boots one at a time and slid them off her feet, followed by her socks. He reached for the clasp of her skirt and undid it. Crouching beside her, he looped her good arm over his neck and lifted her upright just enough to slide the skirt off and let it slip down onto the rock. He let her back down to sit on the stone fully naked, and climbed down into the water next to her. The he used a princess lift to bring her slowly down into the water with him. He made sure her cast stayed dry as he waded deeper until they were in up to his chest.

He looked down at her with a faint half-grin, his green eyes reassuring her. "It's not going to stick to you any longer than you let it. Are you ready to wash it off?" He felt more relaxed than he had a moment ago. It was something about having her in his arms, secure where nothing else could hurt her. If they weren't trapped in a cave, he would have been almost giddy.

[Mizuki]

Mizuki merely looked up at him, her eyes clouded. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face at the base of his neck. She definitely felt safe, and it made her heart ache. The dried blood caked on her body started to loosen from her skin. She didn't know how she was going to get the blood from her hair though. It would be difficult.

Using her good hand, she reached up and touched his face. Tracing his nose, lips, and jaw line. Even the lids of his eyes. It was like she had to reassure herself it was Soran holding her.

A soft smile broke across her face, lightly lifting her mood. "My... grumpy elf."

[Soran Nightblade]

He forced his face into a deep, "grumpy" frown. "Keep that up and I won't wash your hair," he informed her, but his low voice had a faint rumble of pleasure in it that betrayed his expression.

[Mizuki]

Her face almost went into a real pout. "But..." Then she laughed. Just a soft "ha". "My grumpy elf, can't frown anymore." She sounded wistful and she rested her head on his shoulder.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Believe it or not, this is the most relaxed I've been in three and a half days," he informed her honestly. "I know you're hurt, but I feared much worse."

[Mizuki]

"Relaxed in a cave underground. Our family run off to safety..." she frowned, losing the smile she had. Her mind needed to get back into focus so she could find them, but it was hard from the trauma. She turned her head to look into the water, and then sighed in relief. It wasn't there.

"I feared worse too."

[Soran Nightblade]

Soran nodded, her reference to Sid and Rai bringing some of his normal sobriety back into his face. "Rai should be safe with Sid," he said, although it was clear from his voice that he didn't trust anyone to keep the girl safe as much as himself. "And Blade can take care of himself." He tipped her backward so that the water touched the back of her head and came up into her ears. Supporting her with one hand, he massaged the grime lightly out of her hair. The strands gradually began to float and swirl freely in the water, although it was too dark to make it out very well. "I never knew a place like this existed," he said, his eyes roaming the cave while he ran his fingers through her hair. "From the size of it, it must pass under the entire Border. Someone must have known it was here."

[Mizuki]

Mizuki frowned up at the high ceiling and found that it dipped lower. She found the hole they had fallen through. It wasn't that high up, they could probably climb it if the wall would hold them, and her wrist wasn't broken. She sighed, noticing more mushrooms giving off their eerie blue light. Not that it was a bad thing, they just weren't bright enough here and the light casted some pretty weird shadows. The border area was full of surprises considering how it was made by magic long ago.

Soran's fingers massaging through her hair felt good, relaxing her stiff and sore body. She felt so much better than before, even feeling an edge of her power coming back to her. She tried to test it, see how far it would take her. What ended up happening was images of dark skinned people flashing across her eyes, and then it was over. She looked back at Soran suddenly, the quick movement caused her to see an illusion of him having dark skin, but it faded just as quickly as it had come.

"People do know. They... live here." she frowned, puzzled she knew it when only images had flashed through her head. Her skin prickled; they were somewhere underground, where a dark skinned people lived.

[Soran Nightblade]

Soran narrowed his eyes slightly at her. "Why would you know that?" he asked her warily, afraid he knew all too well how she knew. "Who knows this is here?"

ooc: It is on, yo!

[Mizuki]

She averted her eyes from him and closed them. Nothing. Nothing but the barest glimmer of just knowing her son was safe... for now. But nothing more. "I don't know." Mizuki said softly. "I can't keep a strong focus. There's been too much." She shivered just then, nothing significant, just a shiver from the cool waters of the underground lapping at her skin. Washing away the blood and dirt as if it was never there. Easing bloody tangles of hair back in order with Soran's gentle fingers. The water was so calm it was hard not to relax into it, as if to become the water.

For the first time since her and Rai's capture, Mizuki relaxed.

[Soran Nightblade]

Soran decided not to push her to say anymore about whatever she'd seen. At another time, he might have, but not now, when she seemed so calm and fragile in his arms. Without saying much, he stayed there with her several more minutes until she was truly clean of her former captor's blood. Then he held her a bit higher out of the water and carried her back to the stone island where their clothing was, lifting her up onto its ledge before climbing up himself. He shook the water from his hair and for the first time, he was calm enough to notice the chill of the cold unlit cave against his wet skin. He took a moment to take in what Mizuki had been trying to tell him before - the blue phosphorescent glow of the walls that gave the cavern a dull luminosity that seemed to stretch on for miles ahead of and above them. Somewhere in this cavern, there had to be a way out. A wall level enough to climb, a low ceiling, a tunnel. But it was becoming increasingly clear that they would need to swim to find it. Soran's questionable talent in that area was problem enough, but with a broken wrist, Mizuki was unlikely to fare much better.

Like it or not, it was still their only choice. But just looking at Mizuki told him that she was exhausted. He wanted her to rest, even if there was very little time for that luxury. Without any food supply, they were on a tight schedule in that respect. He looked down at her and touched his hand to her damp forehead, trying to settle on an idea. "I want you to stay here for a few minutes and rest," he said finally, having a feeling she wasn't going to like his idea. "I can't see past this cove. If I swim further along the edge of the cavern, I might find something. As soon as I do, I'll come back and get you."

[Mizuki]

Mizuki narrowed her tired eyes at him. "You don't swim well." she said pointedly. Although she knew it was a risk needed, otherwise they'd probably die here. Unless she could get her powers back and call for help, but that was slow coming.