"This war never ended, did it? Not for us." // O/O // Closed

(okay! Thanks! ^-^)

Winter took a deep breath. He identified as pan, had had a lot of different affairs and flings, many to preserve a cover, but…but Lila had been real. Lila had known almost everything and he had loved her, and then he had killed her. The demon had killed her. He inhaled, letting the breath out again. He tore his fingers through his hair. Stop thinking about her. He told himself. Just stop.

"Are you okay?" Mycah looked over at Winter, a bit of concern on their face. Winter didn't look very good, emotional-wise. In fact, he looked a bit like Mycah was feeling at the moment. The faces of Allx and Pan were still at the front of their mind, though they were doing their best to only think of the good things.

"Ha– I'm fine." He replied with a shrug. "Old memories that I really shouldn't have dredged up." He shook his head slightly. "That's all." He let out a breath, brushing a finger along the hilt of his dagger, letting the cold metal soothe him back into complacency and uncaringness. He didn't want to care. Not again.

"Oh. I get that." Mycah sighed and twisted their ponytail around their finger, then let their hand drop to their side. The next few hours passed in silence. Mycah didn't really want to talk to Winter– they didn't know what to talk about, even if they wanted to.

Winter kept his arms by his sides, occasionally fingering the weapons in a way that he knew must have looked very strange indeed to Mycah, but he couldn't help it. He had flipped on some sort of switch with thoughts of Lila, and now it was impossible to shut them back off again. Shut away the emotions and the reality of everything that had happened in his past, everything he had done.

As they got closer to the village, the trees started getting more and more spread out. Mycah started looking around more often. Back in the woods proper, they didn't have to worry about regular people. But now? They knew that people came into this part of the woods– they themselves had a couple of times, back in the day. And, or course, there was the possibility that the regular military would be looking through these woods. "Winter. We should watch out for people. They come in here sometimes," Mycah said softly, glancing over at him.

Winter cleared his throat softly, and looked at Mycah. "What? Oh. Yes. Of course." He replied quickly. "Right." He blinked as he recentered himself, running his hands through his hair. "Yeah. I'll watch. For people. I…" He trailed off. What the fuck is wrong with me?? He demanded, putting his hands on the dagger hilts, trying to center himself.

Mycah's eyebrows creased in concern. Winter seemed really… off. Well, they didn't really know him– maybe he was always like this? But they didn't think that was the case. Those memories that he'd remembered really seemed to have messed him up. But they couldn't really worry about him right then. Keeping an eye out for people was more important. But with Winter like that, could Mycah rely on him to have their back?

"Sorry." Winter muttered. "I'm all out of sorts today. I'm fine, though." Fine, except there's a demon stuck inside of me. He thought, shaking his head a little bit. He drew out a dagger absently, pressing the tip to his palm until it drew a bead of blood, watching as it ran down his palm. The pain helped to center him in times when he needed it. Like now.

"Alright…" Mycah said slowly, still doubting him. But Winter said he was fine, and Mycah didn't feel like pressing. They skirted around a large rock and stopped short. They were both standing at the top of a hill, at the edge of the forest. Below them lay a village surrounded by an imposing wall, with a camp on the outside of the wall. Nllam. Mycah's home. Their lips twitched slightly, a bittersweet feeling rising inside them. That town was so full of memories… both good and bad.

Winter put the dagger away, looking at the wall, village, and camp with curious eyes. "Where, exactly, are we going?" He asked, raising his eyebrows at Mycah.

"Well, I'm hoping we'll get to the capital city before being killed." Mycah continued staring at the village. "I just want to… check on something." They were still unsure what exactly their plan was for this whole thing. It was a lot of grey area with "Crin is dead" at the very end. How they'd get there, they didn't exactly know. "And maybe we can try to steal one of the vehicles. It'll take much less time to drive to the capital city than to walk there."

Winter nodded a little bit. "Mm. Alright. What do I need to be on the lookout for?" He asked, looking at Mycah for a moment, then looking around again. "Assassins, or what?"

"Probably not assassins. Civilians and soldiers, mostly. The civilians will alert the soldiers, and the soldiers will try and kill us." Mycah peered at the village, trying to find the best way to approach the camp. Thank the gods they didn't have to get into the village itself for a vehicle, or this would have been a lot harder. "What do you think about that one?" Mycah asked, nodding to a relatively unguarded car near the edge of camp. It didn't appear to have anyone in it, and the soldiers nearest it didn't appear as if they were actively looking for intruders.

Winter thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I uhm…I'm not a good driver, so whatever we get, you've gotta drive it." He replied slowly, running a hand through his hair. It was a little strange, he knew, that he wasn't a good driver, but…oh well.

"Okay." Mycah nodded. They'd been planning on driving it anyways, but at least now they didn't have to debate about it. The group of soldiers that was nearest to the car they were eyeing seemed to be having a discussion about something, which meant they were paying little attention to anything else. Perfect. "You can go when you're ready. I'll follow a little behind for backup." Mycah looked over at Winter.

Winter nodded. "You want me to take care of the soldiers, correct?" He responded, looking over at Mycah as he drew out the daggers, spinning them in his hands for a moment. Then they settled into his palms again. He had owned these since he was 18 years old. A very, very long time. Or at least, it felt that way.

"The ones that run at you, yes." Mycah grinned slightly. They were glad to have someone to run at the enemies again. It was just like old times. Except instead of their daughter– nope, they had to stop thinking of Pan as their daughter. Mycah took a deep breath to clear their mind. Instead of people they trusted, they had Winter. He wasn't untrustworthy, exactly, but… There was something about him.

Winter cocked his head slightly. "And the ones that don't?" he asked. He spun the daggers again, their familiar weight soothing in his grip. He looked over at Mycah. He didn't trust the other, but hells, they shared a goal, and this goal would get Winter what he wanted. Worst that could happen? He died. And that wouldn't be that bad.

"I'll take care of them," Mycah replied, their grin growing wider. Normally, they didn't exactly enjoy doing this. But now, every soldier they killed was a blow to Crin, no matter how small. And they were going to take every single opportunity to hurt her.

Winter nodded. "Alright." he said simply. And then he was moving, charging at the soldiers with the daggers at the ready. He knew that at least some of them would. And he was looking forward to it. Every blow he could land was payment for a lifetime.

Mycah watched for a few seconds, then followed Winter at an almost leisurely pace. One of the soldiers noticed Winter when he was about halfway to the camp and quickly alerted the others. A group of five turned and started running deeper into the camp, probably going to tell someone about the scary man emerging from the woods. The rest rushed towards Winter.

Winter grinned, and started to fight the five. He didn't say anything, and continued to fight. He wasn't quite the type to talk during a fight, he really wasn't. He was usually just…silent.

Mycah turned their attention towards the five running away from the fight. If they told someone and called backup in, that would ruin their chances of getting the car. Mycah focused on the one leading the charge. This was too easy. The first three went down before anyone even noticed. And by the time they realized someone was shooting at them, Mycah had taken them down. A grin spread across their face and they turned their attention to Winter.

Winter had already made his way through the majority of the group. Their blood had stained his hands, spattering the sleeves of his already stained shirt. He gave the last one a wolfish grin, and killed them too, then looked at Mycah. He wiped off the daggers and sheathed them away. "Done." he said with a simple nod.

Mycah was slightly surprised at how fast Winter had taken down the soldiers, but they'd take it. They ran the rest of the way to the car and opened the door. Thank Elief, the keys were in the ignition. "Get in." Mycah hopped into the driver's seat and waved Winter to get in as well. It was only a matter of time before someone noticed the numerous bodies and tried to stop them. With luck, they would both be long gone by then.

Winter got into the car, sitting down. His face was nearly expressionless, and he let out a slow breath. "So. Now we're going to the Alumi?" he asked, looking over at Mycah. He arched an eyebrow slightly. His white hair was wild and messy still. "Also, I need to stop somewhere for new clothes at some point."

"That's the goal." Mycah turned the key in the ignition and quickly backed the car out of the parking spot. "Hmm, you could check in the back. These things sometimes have extra clothes. And while you're looking, try and find a tablet-looking thing?" Mycah asked, unable to fight the hope rising in them any longer. Someone yelled at them from outside the car, something about stopping and showing some identification, but they ignored the shouts.

Winter nodded slightly. "Alright." he climbed into the back, and searched until he found some clothes that would fit, setting them aside. "I found a tablet. What do you want me to do with it?" he asked. He leaned forward to set it on the passenger seat, and started getting changed, moving quickly.

"Ah… If you… could you search for two people?" Mycah glanced down at the tablet and turned it on. Between glances at the road, they navigated to a search bar. "Pandora Dael and Allx Leigh. They…" Mycah trailed off and swerved around a group of soldiers who'd been walking across the road. "I just need to know if they're alive."