Entrenched

[Stelle Cadenti]

"Oh, thank you. I have some food left, if you would like to eat something. I don't have enough for everybody, so if you'd come into the kitchen with me?" She started walking to the kitchen, not waiting for a reply. Inside she turned the tap on and after a moment the water came flowing freely into the basin below. She quickly unwrapped and wet her hands before Kazu came in.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Kazu followed Fira, his mask still up. As he came into the kitchen, he rested against a wall, as Fira washed her hands.
He didn't say anything, he didn't know what to say. He wasn't the best at interacting with people.  

[Stelle Cadenti]

"I'm sorry this is all I can give you, it's not much. The supplies didn't come, and there are too many of us down here to survive on what's left of last weeks." She was holding up the eggs she had found, a meager amount of food for the people of the Trenches.

Fira turned away from Kazu, she normally didn't talk so much to people she had only just met, even if she had only said a handful of words. She took a single egg and rolled it in the palm of her hand, obviously worried.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

"No... supplies?" Kazu rubbed his chin. Now he was worrying. "That... can't be right. How long can we last with what's left?" Kazu was quickly formulating a plan. HE needed this to be just right... if it was, then maybe... just maybe.  

[Stelle Cadenti]

"Not long," Fira said quietly. "I was talking to Moret, the man who picks up the supplies from the door, and he said there was nothing there. It was supposed to be here yesterday, and they don't usually forget about us." We probably weigh on their conscience like lead.

She took a large pot, the one she had dropped earlier, over to the sink to fill it up. She laid it on the bottom of the sink and turned the tap on, the water flowed freely, unlike earlier. Suddenly though, it gave a great sputter, splashing her again. She inadvertently took a step back and heaved a sigh. Another block. The water gave up altogether, barely a trickle. Fira put the pot up on the table, and looked at Kazu. Maybe he could find the block again.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Kazu watched the water stop, saw Fira looking at him and walked towards the tap. He placed his hand on it and hit it a few times, and stayed quiet for a few minutes.
Then hit again.
And again.
After a fourth time, he let go and sighed. "Looks like food is the least of our worries right now... I can see all along the pipe, and all the ones connected to it... nothing. No water at all..."
This might just work... Kazu thought to himself. With both these problems... they'll have no choice to let me go.
He shrugged. "Not much we can do about that... yet, anyway."  

[Stelle Cadenti]

"What, there's no water? How can that be? Supposedly there's the Great City above our heads, and you say there's no water coming from it?"
She started wringing her hands, her skin was already feeling dry. Fira turned and tried the tap again, twisting it as far as it would go, but yielding nothing.

"There must be something to it, we can't have run out of water. I'm sure if we just wait, everything will be fine." Her voice was convinced, her darting eyes weren't.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

"I can't feel anything... no water... and if there are people up there, they're being very, very quiet. I'm not getting a single echo..." Kazu rubbed his chin. "We could always go up and check if everything is alright..."  

[Stelle Cadenti]

Fira laughed at his last comment. "Go up? You can't be serious. Didn't your parents ever tell you stories of people who tried to go up? You don't. It's as simple as that." Fira had often been told by her parents the tales of foolish people who tried to get out. They had all met untimely ends, though, those were just stories meant to scare children into bed.

"Even if you wanted to, you can't. Few people even know where the door is, let alone how to open it once you find it." She didn't bother mentioning the time she had seen the door.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Kazu rested against the wall again, his eyes shut. "Parents? What parents? You mean the two people that died on me? The people that left me to grow up in the tunnels on my own?" He rubbed his eyes with one hand. "I don't give a damn if everyone that goes out that door dies... I'm not everyone. No-one's trained as hard as me, no-one is as fast, as strong, as smart as me." He smirked. "Bet you grew up here, didn't you? Had a loving family, friends, a warm bed to sleep in? Try... just try to imagine waking up, nothing but a small rag to keep you warm, where it's so dark you can't see your own hand in front of you... I grew up like that. I don't know if they're natural, or have been constructed... but these tunnels go on... and on... and I can find my way around them in the pitch black..." Kazu started to laugh. "I don't have anything to live for Fira... no friends... no family... no loved ones. Nothing. And if I can get out of here... bring back food, and water... then maybe... just maybe, they'll let me leave here. Let me go. Forever."  

[Stelle Cadenti]

((Touched a nerve there did I? xp ))

Fira quickly looked down, his words burning in her mind. She did grow up with a loving family, and she missed them so badly.

"I'm sorry."

She clasped her hands in front of her, twiddling her fingers. She didn't think about not having anything covering her hands, her mind was on other things. The skin on her fingers was dry, uncomfortably so. They chafed together but she didn't mind.

"How, do you suppose to get out Kazu? The door is locked from the outside, and it's such a big door. I don't know if anyone could open it with sheer force." She looked up at Kazu, maybe, if he got out, she could too.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

(( Yup.... you did say you wanted a characters history to come into it after all mrgreen ))

Kazu grinned, a rather evil look in his eyes. "Force... force is for idiots. What good is power..." In a flash, he was away from the wall, now standing behind Fira, his mouth a few inches from her ear. "If you can't even hit your target. Speed, accuracy, dexterity., intelligence. With these skills, you can get past anything. Everything has a weak spot Fira... people, buildings, doors... it's just a matter of finding it..." Kazu was speaking slowly, quietly, his voice sounding more like a threat than anything. "And as you saw... I can find anything."  

[Stelle Cadenti]

((Can I say creeper? xp ))

Fira's back straightened as Kazu came to stand behind her. She didn't turn to face him, merely listened to what he had to say. He sounded so sure, sure of himself, of the fact that he could get out. Fira wanted to be sure. She looked at her kitchen, she had spent her whole life there, and in the darkness of the tunnels. She remembered the light she had seen, all those years ago. The blinding, beautiful light.

"You'll need me to come along." She said so quietly, for fear of his reaction. "You don't seem to be very good with people, so if there is anybody up there, they won't think we're all mannerless down here." She held her breath, not daring to look around at Kazu.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

(( Don't worry, he'll soften up... probably. Depends on how YOU act really twisted ))

Kazu smirked, standing up straight. "Feel free, just don't expect me to be friendly. I'll make sure you don't die, that'll be it." He turned away, closing his eyes slowly.
"Come on then..." He glanced at Fira, all emotion gone, the pain, the loneliness in his eyes hidden once again. He chose to inspire fear in those around him that try and befriend them. He found it worked better for someone like him.
An outcast, among outcasts.  

[Stelle Cadenti]

((Well, then...))

She looked after him as he started away, "Well, shouldn't we tell someone first? Someone with higher authority than us, at least." She bit her bottom lip, nervous about what they what they were going to do. There was a nagging worry in her mind that their endeavor wouldn't even work. She'd tried to quell those thoughts as best as she could, but they kept coming up.

She was wringing her hands again, the rags lay forgotten on the table. The skin between her fingers was uncomfortable to move, how dry it was getting. The moisture in the air was less even, it was as if the water was disappearing as they spoke.