56 - [video -> backdated to the 23rd]

[blackshadow]

[ video sent to Yuri about a minute earlier ]

[ The video only really shows Estelle's legs and the occasional glint of her blade as Tyr moves back. ]

—ot really! Are you having fun, are you, are you?

[ Or it would just be that if drops of blood weren't just scattered across the sand. ]

Sh-shut up! Yuri! Hurry up and get over here!

Oh, ar—

[ With that, the message ends, just cutting off Estelle's response back to him. ]

[ Public video ]

[ Tyr's neck and the underside of his chin are all that's shown as he speaks in a quiet, somewhat choked voice. As far as location goes, all that's obvious about it is that he's laying in the sand, under the shade of some structure. ]

I, I tried... Sorry... [ And with some more strength: ] Be careful...And save her for me.

[ Some time later, a black shadow covers the entire screen, only to disappear a few seconds later as the device slips out of his hand, showing the sky overhead. ]


[ ooc: Adding to the death count... He'll be around a little while longer for anyone who wants to respond. That shadow at the end would be Tyr's rune leaving his hand to attach itself to Yuri! ]

Comments

[negativegate]

[Rita can't even begin to stop the horror that surges through her when she gets this message. Estelle--no, the thing controlling her--it just killed Tyr...Tyr...He gave her his rune, and she wasn't with him, and now this...]

T- [She chokes, trying to call his name, then tries again, voice strangled.]

Tyr! You...you have to be- [Alive. Be alive. She knows it's impossible, but--he has to be alive!]

[blackshadow]

[ And he especially didn't want Rita to get this message. It was meant for Yuri alone, and even if he knows other people have seen it now... A little shiver runs through his body, feeling more shame than he thinks he's ever felt before. ]

Rita...

[ Part of him wants to to tell her he loves her, while a bigger part of him knows she won't want to hear him say that. ]

I'm, I'm sorry...

[negativegate]

[She shakes her head, shouting, trying to ignore that it's too late--after all, Tyr's answering; he's alive, and she can save him...]

No, don't--where are you?! Stay awake! I'll come get you!

[The words are all coming out in a rush as she fumbles with the device and tries to locate him.]

[blackshadow]

Don't!

[ He grips the device a little tighter, the fingers of his other hand digging into his wound. He's never sounded more broken before. As much as he wants to be with her now, he doesn't want her to die with him. ]

Es-Estelle... Yuri... Yuri is...

[ Something like that. If she manages to get his location, he's barely outside the safe zone, hiding in the shade of a wall. ]

[negativegate]

I'm not just staying here!

[She can't do nothing while he's dy--hurt like this. The awful way he sounds makes her more desperate to get there, and she starts racing for the edge of the safe zone.]

I'm coming for you, okay? Just wait!

[blackshadow]

Rita... Please...

[ It doesn't even sound like more than a little whimper, a plea for her to just stay back.

His head rolls to the side in the sand to hide the face she can't even see. ]

[negativegate]

No! Just hold on! Tyr, don't-!

[She isn't even entirely sure what he's pleading for--for her to stay away or come find him? Either way, the latter is what she fully intends to do, but she's so, so worried when he turns his face away.]

[blackshadow]

[ He just doesn't want her to see him being so weak and just crying. The last thing Tyr ever wanted to do was die, more so in front of Rita, but he can't stop it. It's hard to keep hold onto his device, and even his hand over his wound is limp now. Everything hurts even as he starts to feel colder.

His voice is barely audible when he repeats her name. And a few seconds later, the screen blackens. ]

[negativegate]

[A cold fear has been steadily growing inside her, and now it surges as she sees the screen blacken.]

Tyr! Tyr! Say something! You--you can't-

[Just a little more; she's almost there, but what if she's already too late? She knows he'll come back, but he doesn't need to go through this!

She bursts out of the safe zone and dashes through the sand to where he was, her breathing heavy and shaky.]

[blackshadow]

You...

[ That's all he can make out, and when the image returns, it shows only the sky. There's a sort of freeness over him that he can only assume is death. He can't fight it now.

He's still laying there when she comes, curled up a little and holding himself. There's blood staining his abdomen, his hand, and the sand around him. No amount of medicine or magic can save him now. He doesn't even register her footsteps. ]

[negativegate]

[She's running so fast and so hard that she nearly falls on top of him, landing heavily in the sand next to his body. She's speechless with horrow, but reaches out to grip his other hand. This...this can't be happening...]

Tyr...Tyr!

[Is he even still alive? She doesn't want him to die...She doesn't want him to die--that's all she can think.]

[blackshadow]

[ He can feel that at least. He cracks his eyes open, but can't turn his head to look back over to her. His hand is clammy, and he barely manages to wrap his fingers back around her hand.

This isn't right. He shouldn't be dying now, not like this. It's not how he wanted to die, just cut down and left to bleed, with Rita begging for him.

It's so pathetic. Everything he's ever done feels completely wasted now. And he can't even save Rita if he's dying this easily... But part of him just wants to give up anyway and feels content that Rita is just with him again. Her hand feels so hot and strong and alive...it has to be his Rita, he thinks. ]

[negativegate]

[Feeling his hand grip hers back--however weak--gives her a start. He's still alive. Rita absolutely refuses to do nothing, and fumbles in her pocket for a gel.

It probably won't work. Tyr's going to die. But she can't accept that so easily.]

Tyr...Tyr, eat this! Come on!

[She presses the sand-dusted gel to his lips, nudging them urgently.]

[blackshadow]

[ He doesn't fight at all; he doesn't have the strength left to as much as he wishes he could take the gel. Maybe it'd give him a little more time...

But he can't, and his attempt to say as much comes out as just a breath against her fingers. It's so... It's not right. If he could cry anymore, they'd be bitter tears. How can he be so weak? Too weak to help himself when the medicine is right against his mouth?

Not that he thinks of it too much longer. His hand continues to hold hers weakly, but he's not there anymore. ]

[negativegate]

Come on! Tyr!

[She feels so scared for him. She's ready to just chew the thing up herself and try to get him to swallow it that way--she can't even care if it might be kind of gross at a time like this--and she shoves it in her mouth, giving his hand a squeeze. Is he still breathing? She could hardly tell before; now she isn't sure, and her vision's a little distorted from the tears that form.]

[blackshadow]

[ His chest was barely moving before, but it's stopped now. Like everything else. As weak as he was before, there isn't even any tension in his muscles. He can distantly hear her voice as he slips away, but that's all.

He's dead now. ]

[negativegate]

[As she leans over his mouth, she can't feel his breath at all...Alarmed, she takes a moment to feel for his pulse-

Nothing. He's dead...She was too late. He died and she couldn't do a thing to stop it--maybe even caused it by encouraging him to give her the fire rune. How selfish could she be?!]

Tyr...

[He's dead, so she doesn't say anything else. What would be the point? She just sits there over him, swallowing the gel in her mouth but not tasting it, like she's gone numb. He'll be back, but...he shouldn't have had to die in the first place.]

[blackshadow]

[ Tyr wouldn't blame her for dying even if he gave her his staff. It's completely his fault. If he had been careful, none of this would have happened. But no, he was careless, and it meant nothing in the end. If Tyr ever imagined how he wanted to die, it wouldn't have been like this.

It's pure stubbornness that he pushes himself up immediately after waking up again sometime the next afternoon. Like he doesn't just feel...weird all over. ]

[negativegate]

[She still feels guilty for letting this happen. They should've all been together, not split up...She was so stupid.

--And he nearly gives her a heart attack when he suddenly rises like that. She gasps and stares at him, in the cover of a tent somewhere in the safe zone, and then she moves forward. He's alive again--she knew he would be, but she's still relieved to see him.

She doesn't ask if he's all right. She just wraps her arms around him.]

Tyr.

[blackshadow]

[ He wouldn't have got at all if she were with him. They could have both hidden out and attacked.

Her gasp immediately pulls his attention over to her , staring back. Part of him is disappointed that they're not in the normal City yet, but Rita's here, and they're safe. He's not sure what he would have done if Estelle killed Rita just because Rita came to save him... He clings to her, not even caring about the unsealed rune right now. ]

Rita... [ There are so many other things he wants to say, just like there's a multitude of emotions going through him right now, but that's all he can think to say. ]

[negativegate]

[Even if Rita had been with Estelle the whole time, that parasite never would've gotten control of her...Rita hates regrets, but right now, she's full of them.

She's so, so glad to hear Tyr's voice again and feel him alive and warm--not just baking from the heat of the desert. She can't think of anything else to say, though, so she just holds him tight.]

[blackshadow]

[ He wishes he knew what she was thinking, but at the same time, he knows it can't be good. If she's blaming herself like he blamed himself...

Holding each other is nice as it is. She feels so hot against him; he doesn't want to let go. He's probably made her worry, made her feel everything she shouldn't. ]

I'm sorry...

[negativegate]

[If she were to think about it that closely, it'd be a reminder of how they're often not all that different...

When he says that, replies like you should be and we were supposed to stick together,/i> fly through her mind, but she's not trying to blame him for it, so she bites her tongue as she struggles for what she really wants to say. As she crushes him to her, all she come up with is-]

Don't do that again.

[blackshadow]

[ Even without her saying those things, he already know he should have stayed with her. Sticking together and protecting each other- that's how it was meant to go. And the way she clings to him makes him wonder how much he must have hurt her. He slowly starts stroking her back. ]

I won't... I... [ All he can think to say is that he's sorry. He's sorry for so much right now. How could he be so careless and weak and selfish? ]

[negativegate]

[whoops, that html fail Maybe they're all to blame, a little. But blaming anyone isn't going to fix anything, even if everything's gone wrong.]

You're back, so... [She's glad about that, as worried as she is about how he must feel. She finally pulls back a little, just enough to reach for a plastic bottle she has nearby, which she all but shoves at him.]

Just--drink this. It's water.