Search, Rescue, Destroy (MATURE)

[Mizuki]

Mizuki smirked sinisterly. "Crystal, My Lady." She mocked bowed. She was so tired of this. Kendra's Arai'sith came to them with a more guarded stance. They were then escorted out of the throne room swiftly and down dark caverns. Mizuki had the distinctive feeling of going up. It wasn't until a shred of light was beginning to filter through the darkness that the Arai'sith hung back and let them continue on their own. Mizuki was thankful for it, because she then grabbed Soran's hand and bolted for the cave's exit before the Arai'sith could even blink. She was so happy to be out of there. She had run run a few meters away from it before stopping and collapsing to her knees, breathing hard.

Out, safe. They were out. They were safe. And she was so exhausted.

[Soran Nightblade]

Soran ran around to kneel in front of her, brushing her hair back gently with both hands. "Mizuki?" he murmured, leaning in close to her. He looked over her protectively and then cast a feral glare at Kendra's Arai'sith, who was staring at them like he'd never seen such behavior in his life. Whatever the dark elf was thinking, Soran's gaze inspired him to turn back into the cave and disappear back into the depths of the earth.

The rogue turned his attention back to Mizuki. He knew she was hurt and drawing from her last strength, but he was unsure of how severely she was hurt and of whether the Drow had caused any new damage he didn't know about.

[Mizuki]

"Forgive me..." she exclaimed between breaths. She clasped her hands around his, clutching them as though they were her anchor in this world. Her eyes were closed, almost like she couldn't face him.

[Soran Nightblade]

For a moment, Soran couldn't for his life think of what she was asking forgiveness for. "You were thinking on your feet. It probably saved both our lives," he said reassuringly. He kissed her forehead, and then her nose, leaning in closer to her so she'd have something to lean on. "Besides, I suppose it's true I don't have any manners," he smirked darkly.

[Mizuki]

She opened her eyes to look at him, and found she never wanted to take her eyes off him ever again. She decided to use what felt like the last of her strength to leap at him, crushing him in an embrace on the forest floor of Darkwood like she was a child. "No, you have no manners." she said blatantly. "But I don't care. I wouldn't have you any other way." She lifted herself on her elbow, wrist throbbing painfully but she ignored it as best as she could while she kissed his face. The beautiful face she had to slap. She kissed his ears too, she had grabbed those poor sensitive ears. How could she hurt something so precious to her? Even think of it?

Oh yeah, their life was in jeopardy by Dark Elves. But never again! Her hands had done enough violence. Crushing skulls, slapping the man she loved...

She didn't have it in her to cry. She finished suffocating his face in kisses, and nuzzled hers into the crook of his neck. SAfe, content. Never wanting to be anywhere else.

[Soran Nightblade]

Soran cringed, but smiled as they both thumped to the ground. He was relieved to see her spirits lifting, and even her attack on his face was a welcome playfulness at the moment. "Don't hurt yourself more," he chuckled, pulling his arms tightly around her and weaving his fingers into her hair. He had no interest in letting go of her, but his eyes did drift to the darkening sky. The air around them was cold, and the ground was hard with frost under his shirtless back. "Night is falling," he mused out loud.

[Mizuki]

She shivered as if to confirm the fact. "We have to find shelter...?" she asked, even though the question was obvious. She was very tired, and didn't want to move.

[Soran Nightblade]

"So it would seem," Soran murmured. Her body felt warm against his, which really took a bite out of his motivation to move. Nonetheless, he forced himself to sit up, shifting his arms around her so that she sat in his lap. "There should be some kind of shelter nearby," he muttered. He gathered his legs under him and lifted her up with him. "A cave would be nice, as much as I'm inclined to be cave-averse at the moment," he muttered as he began carrying her through the snow and away from the tunnel the dark elves had ejected them from. He didn't want to be anywhere near it if they decided to change their mind.

[Mizuki]

She gasped when he stood up with her in his arms. "Are you sure you can carry me?" she asked him. Another shiver ran down her body softly. It was snowing. Lightly, but it was still enough to give her a chill and worry a little more about their situation. But she noticed something, her mind didn't feel as blind to magic anymore. It suddenly felt like the blindfold on her powers was removed and now, she was recovering them. She had over used them, locked them away, then magic blocked them from her... Mizuki figured that the magic was trying to return to her, but it had been like trying to light a fire on wet kindling. But this was the first time in a long while that she felt it coming back to her.

She smiled. "My power is coming back." she exclaimed quietly to Soran.

[Soran Nightblade]

"You're at your limit as it is. Don't rush yourself," he warned, glancing down at her with concern in his green eyes. The rogue wasn't a fan of magic, and he didn't like the idea of Mizuki's powers sucking her dry. "Let it wait." He thought of Rai and the others and grimaced. Knowing how they were wouldn't let them reach the others any faster. He needed to be sure that at least Mizuki was safe. "Just let it wait." He shifted her up slightly higher in his arms and walked faster through the forest. His bare feet quickly lost most of their feeling as they trekked in a straight line toward nowhere in particular. When the sun rose the next morning, he'd have his heading, but for now, he was willing to just take his best guess.

Something finally caught the corner of his eye in the woods off to their right. A makeshift lean-to was set up against the trunk of two large trees that had grown up side by side. The structure consisted mostly of logs that had been leaned against the tree to form a narrow triangular shelter. Someone must have created the makeshift shelter while passing through and left it standing.

"There," the rogue said breathlessly, climbing over some raised stones to reach the lean-to. He knelt and let Mizuki down, inspecting the inside of the structure. There was enough room for them to lie together underneath the shelter. "Good," the rogue murmured, his breath floating in front of his face.

[Mizuki]

Mizuki stood hugging herself, vainly trying to keep warm. The large, gaping front of her generously donated dress wasn't very helpfull to her campaign. Her broken wrist was always conveniently throbbing, reminding her about it.. But Soran must be worse off. Mizuki grimaced, he had practically nothing, she needed to do something for him. She remembered how to build a fire, her father had taught her and she had gotten even more practice in through her travels pre- and post-Soran. Setting herself to looking for useable wood, Mizuki began to walk around carefully, picking up usefull looking sticks. Problem was, as gently as she was trying to balance them in her arm with the broken wrist, as her bundle grew... so did increase her inability to balance them with ease.

"Ow..." she paused in her effort. Before she could ultimately fail, she took what she had back to Soran and put them down, ungracefully. She rubbed her wrist lightly.

[Soran Nightblade]

Soran was brushing aside some dead branches that had blown into the shelter when he heard Mizuki's "ow". He glanced over his shoulder and quickly realized what she was up to. He knew her well enough not to stop her when she was determined to do something, even though he would prefer to see her resting. "I'll hold onto it, you just collect it," he said, taking the timber she'd found so far and stealing it from her wounded arm. He had to admit that the thought of a fire was alluring, despite the risk it might expose them to if someone found them.

[Mizuki]

Mizuki smiled. All through the stick collecting Mizuki thought about what she'd do as soon as she got enough of her power back. Most likely contact the children and Sid. She didn't have enough for anything like that yet, though. But she knew, she just felt it, a good sleep and she'll have enough to do just that.

Her personal horrors felt far away at the moment. It's funny how being reunited with the one you love and regaining what you desparately needed, well, just how it made you feel. Soon, they had enough and they walked back to the little lean-to. They hadn't gone far.

[Soran Nightblade]

When they got back, Soran knelt in front of the lean-to and began arranging the wood. He took a deep breath of cold air and began rubbing a blunt stick between his palms, spinning it firmly against a small nest of dry fibers they'd collected. It took a minute, but a thin trickle of smoke finally began to weave up from the pile. "Almost there," he murmured to Mizuki. He could feel her warmth radiating onto his skin, even though they were only crouched next to each other. A little heat went a long way at the moment. He thought about how much he'd like to be lying with Mizuki in a bed right now. Forget the bed, even the lean-to seemed luxurious at the moment.

A tiny flame began to rise out of the kindling. Soran sheltered it with his hand like it was a baby bird, watching it intently as it slowly fought the cold air around it for survival. It grew little by litle, eating its way to the slightly larger sticks beside it. "It should take off now," Soran finally said, leaning back from the small flame. He put his arm around Mizuki. She felt warm, which made him wonder if he was sucking heat away by touching her with his cold arm. He didn't move his arm. He liked knowing she was there. We'll be warm soon," he said, shivering involuntarily.

[Mizuki]

"We are hardly dress for a snowy camp out." Mizuki joked, curling into her grumpy elf man for more comfort than warmth. Though the warmth was a plus. In all reality, they needed more than just a fire and each other. They could freeze to death even with a roaring fire in front of them.

But she didn't want to get up.

"We should make it out of this, right?" she asked with a slight frown on her face.