IV: Abschussen im Dunkeln

[Nayt]

"I--"

Am unsure.

It felt sincerely embarrassing to admit this. Exitus did not lose his way. It was that simple. His spacial recognition and hearing quality were both far too great for him to get lost. He was no directional master, but he didn't find himself experiencing the failings of a blind man often.

. . . except for now.

This was an odd experience. A confusing experience. Exitus furrowed his brow. He could still feel space. He could still hear. He could hear and feel Shin's exact location-- but he couldn't feel the buildings around them. That didn't happen. That wasn't supposed to happen. Unless there was nothing around him, but . . .

"What do you see?" It was the most he could ask without indicating what was wrong.

[Shin]

Shin stood at the crossroads, peering out into the darkness and whatever else he could see. They were in a large and open space, tactically it was not a sound move.

"I...." Exitus's question got Shin unaware, never before had his friend ever asked him what he saw. Even with his blindness Exitus has been more perceptive then Shin and so when his friend asked he figured something must be wrong.

"Nothing. A cross road...open space." He turned to face Exitus. "We are out in the open, I dont see anyone out here..." Shin wasn't sure what Exitus was looking for or where he was going, he had simply put his trust in his friend and for a brief moment he wondered if that was such a good idea.

What if what ever is effecting me is now effecting him? The thought scared Shin to the core and he took a step back reflexivley.

[Nayt]

“I . . . see,” Exitus replied, ignorant to the irony of his statement.

That was a problem. Exitus should have been able to feel this. It was like suffering the symptoms of blindness all over again. As if he were losing all that made him capable of functioning even without his eyes. This couldn’t be. This couldn’t happen. There was no reason for it. He had no special powers that offered him the ability to function without his eyes. He’d simply trained all of his senses to the point that he’d no such need for his eyes. So why? Why would his senses, his natural senses, suddenly dull? Exitus almost felt the need to reach for a cane.

But he couldn’t admit this. This was information Shin needed to know, but—perhaps out of pride—Exitus couldn’t bring himself to say it.

“We cannot leave the city yet,” he said instead, “We need to meet someone before we can. But if he’s not out here . . .”

Exitus trailed off and went silent for a moment.

“We should hide out for the night.”

Shin had been here longer than Exitus, and he would know full well the fallacy in Exitus’s suggestion: it was always night in this city.

[Shin]

Something was certainly wrong with Exitus and Shin worried that perhaps his own sickness was somehow affecting his friend. Shin didn’t a thing about medicine or even much about what was wrong with him, he merely had to hope he was wrong.

Still, he felt the need to tell Exitus something. “I am sick. I don’t know with what...” Shin quickly said before continuing. “But I’ve been having….seizures…” The words weren’t easy for the Tenken to say. Shin almost never admitted a weakness and in telling Exitus it certainly showed a deep layer of trust. “..but that’s not all. I..I can’t use my Chi anymore. It’s like it’s not even there..” Shins voice trailed off as he looked around.

“Its always dark down here from what I can tell. The light never changes.” Shin shrugged a useless gesture in Exitus’s presence. “But if you want to go to a building we could just pick one out and rest for a bit. If you want that is.”

[Nayt]

Shin was without his powers? That would make things difficult. The seizures would make them even more difficult. Exitus didn't know what to say. He wet his lips as if preparing to speak, but said absolutely nothing in the end. He hadn't the slightest clue why this might be happening to Shin, nor how this problem could be taken care of.

Rather than address it, Exitus did nothing at all. Perhaps it might have seemed callous to anyone else, but Exitus-- truth be told --wasn't actually the type to simply not care about a companion's medical concerns. This was just one of those things that he had back on the "issues to deal with later" list. There were a fair dozen of them, and the only way any of these problems could be attended to was to get out of this city. And for now, that wasn't an option. For now, they needed a place to lay low for a little while.

". . . we should."

It was entirely up to Shin where they went, though. After all, Exitus was having some trouble here . . .