Entrenched

[Stelle Cadenti]

"It's the sun, Kazu!" Fira couldn't help but sound excited, "can you believe it, we're seeing the Sun!" She desperately wanted to turn her face to it to take in its full glory, but she was nearly blinded as she was. Realizing what else he had said, Fira had to fight down panic. "You broke your leg? Well, get off of it, sit down!" She reached her arms around his shoulders and guided him to the ground gently. "I think, I have to find something to set it with, so you don't move it. This might work." She had picked up a piece of the door that had fallen near to where they were. It was long and straight, and fairly light.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

"The... sun?" Kazu smirked. "So we did make it out... and don't worry about my leg..." As he sa down, he grabbed his leg with one hand, gritting his teeth. "Ok... and it goes like..." With a SNAP, he moved his hand like in a blur, snapping the broken bones back into place. "... Ok, that hurt."  

[Stelle Cadenti]

"Why did you do that?" Fira gestured at his leg. "If you're not going to let me help you, why did you bring me along, hm?" She suddenly got angry at him, kneeling down over his leg and pushing his hands off of it. It was purple and blue already, but she didn't see what she could do about that. "You'll need a crutch, anyway." She looked around, scanning the ground for anything she could use, a long knobbly stick caught her eye so she went over and brought it for him. Her eyes were already getting used to the light, she could bare to look up at the sky.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Kazu shook his head. "I've had worse... a lot worse..." He pushed himself up, rocking slightly as he evened out his weight. "There... now, I don't know about you, but I'm starving... and I can actually see now, so maybe we can find some food."  

[Stelle Cadenti]

Fira looked at him worriedly, hoping he wasn't overdoing it. "Food, sure." Truthfuly she wasn't even thinking about her stomach, it was more that her eyes were hungry for everything. They were the first people from the Trenches to come above ground in who knew how long. Still squinting slightly, Fira raked her eyes across the scene before her. The city was laid out before them, as they were on the outskirts. Ramshackle little buildings ringed the outer of the City, gradually getting higher as tehy moved toward the center. In the middle was a magnificent, what must be a castle, Fira thought. It soared to the sky, meeting the sun hanging there.

There was only one thing wrong with the City. There were no people milling about their houses, no bustle of carts waiting to get to the market. It was as they suspected. Empty.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Kazu rubbed his eyes, he could finally see again. He gazed out towards the city, rubbing his chin. "No people... that's bad." He looked around, then placed his hands to the ground. "Hmm... there's still a lot of people hanging around the door... I can feel some animals moving about... and water. A lot of water... to the east..."  

[Stelle Cadenti]

((well, time to get this started again!))

Fira looked back at the door, she couldn't see the shapes milling about in the darkness but she trusted Kazu' judgement. Her sight was still chancey at best, the muscles around her eyes were stiff from squinting. Everything was bright, it all seemed to reflect the sun. The spire in the middle of the city was particularly dazzling, glittering in the light like it was.

"We'd best leave then, maybe see if we can find anything in the city. Here." She shoved the knobbly piece of wood at him, "Don't complain, just use it."

She started walking towards the city, not waiting for Kazu, heading directly for the shining tower in the middle.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Kazu grunted, following Fira with a scowl. He didn't like taking orders, or even being around people. And the fact he couldn't see properly wasn't helping either. He stayed quiet though, not knowing what to say.  

[Stelle Cadenti]

Fira found a small path leading to the city that eventually widened out into a street. The sun was not so blinding by the time they came upon a house, or rather, shack. It was quite dilapidated, even if one didn't count the growth on it that covered almost everything else. She was surprised the the wind blowing hadn't brought it down already. She turned to Kazu;

"Maybe we can find some food in here, who knows, there might be something."

Fira raised her hand to tuck a strand of inky black hair behind her ear and she realized the the cloth coverings were not there anymore. She hadn't noticed before, but her skin felt uncomfortably dry, more so than if ever had in the Trenches. The sun, that was it. There was no moisture in the air like there was underground.

"Let's look," she said before opening the door to the ramshackle little house.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Kazu stepped forward, placing a hand on Fira's shoulder. "I'll check it first. Don't want you getting hurt." He slid past her and into the shack, eyes scanning every dark corner.
He walked into the middle of the room, closed his eyes, and whistled. "... It's clear."  

[Stelle Cadenti]

"Getting hurt?" She stepped inside after Kazu, "By what? Attacking hordes of dust?"

Fira felt more comfortable talking with Kazu now, her shyness slowly ebbing away. She still didn't know exactly what to think of the stoic man though. Attacking hordes of dust didn't seem too far off when it came to the room, a thick layer covered everything. Fira pulled at her dress where it chafed against her skin, trying not to be noticeable about it. She knelt down by some cupboards and started searching through them.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Kazu stayed quiet again. He didn't like this place, it felt... wrong. Too quiet. Too lifeless. The sooner they were gone, the better. He sighed, shaking his head and started searching. There's nothing wrong, just a dead city... Yeah. I just REALLY reassured myself there.  

[Stelle Cadenti]

"There's nothing, we should probably go farther into the city." Fira said after only encountering more dust in the cupboards. She stood up and dusted herself off. The house held no food, and also no clues about what had happened. She didn't want to admit it, but but she was worried what they would find of the people. There were no bodies in this house, but it was just one, and there were many others.  

[Fujiwara Kazunari]

Kazu nodded. "Well, we should hurry. The sooner we're gone, the better." He turned to the door and waved a hand in the air. "After you"  

[Stelle Cadenti]

Fira left the house, looking back at Kazu quizically.

"Gone? Where do you expect us to go now? We can't go back h-, to the Trenches." She looked out towards the city, a sudden panic gripping her. "Where can we go? There's nobody here, and we don't even know what happened! There could be an invading army just waiting for us, and we've opened the door to the Trenches for them!" She wheeled around to Kazu, hoping that he would have some insight.