middaeg | (no subject)

Who: Sougo Tokiwa & Fie Claussell
When: The evening of the 23rd
Where: On the city outskirts of the Underground
What: Sougo goes boom, Fie tries to keep others from being hurt
Warnings: Death

[ Everything leading up to today should have tipped Sougo off that something was deeply wrong with him. He definitely hasn't felt right for some time now, though he's having trouble thinking about when it was he recognized things were wrong. Certainly sometime before this trip, though he can't remember exactly when. Trying to recall as he paces anxiously up and down the streets feels impossible right now.

Thinking at all feels impossible. His head hurts so much. Has it ever hurt this bad? Again, thinking and remembering is more of a chore than he's used to it being. Though the pain in his head pales compared to the pain in his chest right now.

Sougo grips the front of his shirt, bunching up the cotton material over his heart as he starts to hyperventilate.

Something is definitely wrong. As he frantically scans the streets he realizes that absolutely nothing is coming into focus. It's a blur of colors and motion that makes him feel sick. He can hear the murmuring that's happening around him, but he can't make out the faces of the people who are taking notice of him.

It's not just his erratic behavior that seems to be alarming people, however. Sougo can't see it right now, but there's a faint purple glow that's growing steadily deeper in color and intensity the more panicked his motions become. Nothing about this situation can possibly look good to onlookers, and many of them start to hurry away.

It's then that it hits Sougo what is happening, but it's a little late now, isn't it? He has no idea where in the City he is, and no idea how to get himself away from people before something really goes wrong here. Not that this stops him from trying. Sougo stumbles forward, heading blindly in a direction he hopes will lead him to a tunnel, or at the very least somewhere that isn't so full of people. ]

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[Said direction happens to be towards some of the festivities, which Fie is stepping away from to have a short break. Thus far it's been a decent trip, better and less chaotic than she was anticipating, so her guard isn't as up as it normally might be.

Which is why Sougo, emerging from a different street, is able to run headlong into her, sending them both toppling to the ground. Fie pops up first, pretty quickly, before going over to where he took a dive. She spares a glance towards the direction he came from to see if anyone or anything might've been chasing him. Not sensing any pursuers, she turns her attention to him, slightly aware of the sense of wrongness in the back of her mind.]

Hey, are you all right? You look awful.

[By now, she's crouching next to him, her long tail flicking a little in unease. Running like that without immediate danger at one's back isn't really a good sign.]

[ The fact that crashing heavily to the ground doesn't even come close to the most painful thing Sougo is experiencing right now is, in and of itself, pretty damn alarming. He barely even registers the cuts on his hands from where he throws them down to keep himself from fully faceplanting.

As he pushes himself back to his knees he blinks rapidly, trying and failing to clear his vision.

At the question he shakes his head, wincing just slightly at how that seems to make the pain in it even worse.

Despite sounding a bit breathless, his voice is at least steady enough. ]

No. There's something wrong with my magic.

Wrong how?

[His statement alone has her more on edge than before. It's not enough for her to back away yet, but it's not far off. The hair on the back of her neck prickles. Rising slowly to her feet, she takes hold of his arm and tugs, a sign for him to stand up as well.

Fie doesn't know him well-- or at all beyond his name, really. But he seemed nice enough the few times their paths have crossed. So she knows enough to tell this is definitely something to be concerned about, magical alarm bells aside.]

Sum it up quickly.

[ He can barely string together a coherent thought right now, much less come up with a concise way to tell her why his magic seems off. It's why after a few seconds of tense silence Sougo shakes his head and tries to climb back to his feet. His voice is low and quiet, but incredibly strained when he speaks. ]

I don't know, but I have to get out of here.

[ Get out of where? The entire underground?

Honestly, that would be preferable, but seems a little bit unlikely before something goes really wrong. The fact that he's still clutching to the front of his shirt, and his face is twisted in a lot of pain doesn't indicate anything good is going on right now.

In his struggle he manages to come to only one repeat conclusion he had before, that he needs to be away from other people right now. ]

I need to get out of the city.

Okay.

[Fie helps haul him up. She still doesn't have a concrete idea of what's happening, but the urgency is reason enough for her to go along with it. She looks around and quickly disregards the way he was heading. Not quite into the festivities, but still bordering on too close.

Her eyes land on another road that apparently leads away from the masses and celebrations. It'd have to do.]

Follow me if you're able. [She takes a few steps in the decided upon direction, turning to make sure he's behind her.]

[ It's what he was aiming for when he started blindly charging forward, but his swimming and blurry vision hadn't really allowed him to pick the best route. Everywhere he's run so far has had people there anyway, so it's not like he's gotten any clues as to if he's doing better or worse with getting to safety.

He breathes out some shaky relief as he nods, though even that makes his head throb. With an unsteadiness to him, he does manage to push himself back to his feet fully. ]

Thanks.

[ He's mostly able. He's at least taking some steps after her, able to see well enough still to make out her fuzzy (pretty literally, but not like he'd know) form. ]

Mm. Are you able to run? If so, head forward. It's a straight shot for now from the looks of it.

[While directing him, Fie keeps an eye out for anyone else hanging around. If they linger too long, she'll make sure they go on their way.

Once Sougo begins his unsteady lurching forward, she's already ahead, sometimes on bordering window sills to get a better vantage point. It's somehow a little more unnerving to see it from this angle. It gives a better idea if how in disarray he really seems.]

I think so.

[ He actually has no idea, but he was doing it before (mostly), so he can probably do it again. He forces his legs to move faster as he starts to build up some speed and charge ahead.

From a bird's eye view it's clear how hard it is for him to move in a straight line right now. Like a drunk Sougo weaves back and forth as he jogs down the road, breathing heavily as he focuses single-mindedly on getting away from people.

He's only met Fie once, and though that one meeting was relatively positive it's not like he could even recognize her in the state he's in right now. He's putting a lot of blind trust in the very first person he very literally ran into during all of this. ]

[She manages to keep ahead of him one way or another, occasionally calling out a change in direction or slight turn to avoid running into something. One fork in the road and two shopping stands later, Fie's finally found a place that looks deserted enough for whatever this guy's going through.]

Over here! [Her voice carries to lead him to an old stone structure-- an unkempt building from the looks of it. Seems a decent size, not too small so he won't feel cooped up, but not large enough to pose a danger or anyone or anything else nearby.

Fie pokes her head in first and quickly realizes it is larger than it seems, mainly due to a sizable concave section carved into the rock wall at the back. All right then.

She steps outside and gestures for him to enter, still on edge, but concerned all the same.]

Inside.

[ There's a relief in this, a sense that he should finally be able to let his powers loose in here safely and away from people. At least he's trust that Fie has guided him someplace away from people, in the very brief interaction they've been able to have so far it definitely seems like their desires are lining up here.

The thing is that while Sougo doesn't know how badly this could go for him, he is relatively certain he knows how badly it will go for anyone around him.

So as he charges past her into the building, he waves an arm in one large motion behind him. ]

You need to get away from here!

[ Because he's about to let some magic out, and it's not gonna end well.

(An understatement). ]