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[lamb_of_gold]

I told you to stay in the temple, Shion!

[Despite Mu's harsh and angry tone, there is no answer. Shion is sitting against what looks to be a low wall made of white marble. In his lap are two semicircular halves of a golden shield. He's staring at them without really seeing them.

[Mu, in the meantime, is crouched nearby, tending wounds that look as though they were much uglier not long ago. The robes he's wearing are caked with old blood, and he himself looks to be a bit worse for wear.

[But even as he finishes and then settles down next to the blond, Shion's complete unresponsiveness continues, so much so that Mu's gaze turns from something bordering angry to worried, and finally, with a sigh, to sympathetic. He puts a hand on Shion's shoulder. At the touch, Shion's gaze shifts to the other man, but his eyes, as before, reflect nothing.]


It's...not something easy to swallow, I know...

Comments

[contract_star]

[So there.] What--what the hell happened?

[lamb_of_gold]

We failed.

[contract_star]

[He's silent for awhile.]

...The war?

[lamb_of_gold]

Rages ever onward.

[ram-of-gold.livejournal.com]

[It takes Shion a moment to find his voice, but when he does it's pain filled]

They are...gone. [It's said as if this is the first time he's realizing this, or at least the first time he's acknowledged the void where he knows something should be.]

[ram-of-gold.livejournal.com]

[A voice, one that Shion is only passingly familiar with. Even through the pain and shock he's in, Shoin has pride enough that he doesn't want anyone besides Mu to see him this close to breaking. He looks away from the other Aries Saint, and back down at the split shield again. His eyes aren't as blank as they were a moment ago, although he still looks as if he doesn't know what to do now.]

[lamb_of_gold]

Yes they are. [His tone is sympathetic. He's been here before, and he's finding it hard to ignore the sad!vibes coming from Shion, so he squirms a bit closer and lets his cosmo burn quiet, warm and comforting, like a blanket.]

[contract_star]

So they haven't won, yet.

[He nods at the injuries.] Do you want me to look at some of those?

[contract_star]

...Shion?

[lamb_of_gold]

Not yet.

They're fine. Shion's are mostly healed, and this isn't my blood.

[ram-of-gold.livejournal.com]

..Hmm? [He glances up at Hei, making an effort to focus on the here and now in order to drag himself back to reality]

[ram-of-gold.livejournal.com]

[He leans toward Mu, wanting the comfort more than he wants to admit. Anyone else he normally would have trusted in this, Sage, Manigoldo, is already gone. That only intensifies the loneliness and the ache when he realizes that.] I should have listened to the both of you.

[lamb_of_gold]

I somehow doubt it would have changed things. [he tugs lightly at the shoulder of the cloth, coaxing it off]

[blessedtwice.livejournal.com]

[Notices when Mu shouts and walks over]

... Hey, are you okay?

[contract_star]

...Who died?

[lamb_of_gold]

Physically.

[blessedtwice.livejournal.com]

What happened to you two?

[lamb_of_gold]

Lord Hakurei, many bronze saints and trainees and Libra Dhoko...

[His voice may or may not have gotten slightly tighter at that last one...kinda like he didn't want to choke on it.]

[contract_star]

[Hei opens his mouth to try and say something, but gives up. Eventually he crouches down in front of Shion.]

I'm sorry.

[lamb_of_gold]

The personal side of war, unfortunately.

[blessedtwice.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see... [Wyatt nods slowly and looks to the side.] War's a harsh thing.

[lamb_of_gold]

Yes it is. [He looks down at the bloodied robes he's wearing] Unfortunately so, sometimes.

[contract_star]

...I'm sorry.

[ram-of-gold.livejournal.com]

[The voice of a stranger startles Shion. Pride cuts through even the pain and shock. He does not want to see anyone other than Mu to see him this lost. He pulls away to gaze at the shield again, his eyes regain a bit of light, although there is a great deal of pain there.]

[blessedtwice.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to see you two made it out safely though. [Also eyes the bloodied robes.] From the looks of it, it's pretty bad though.