She nearly put her foot down when he finally made contact. Her hindsight almost made her dizzy as images flashed in her brain. It wasn't much of a story line, just flashes. Nothing made sense, all she knew was that there was a horrifying beast and the very sight of Louie with his eye popped from it's socket causing her to throw herself backward and gag, vomit trying to make it's way up the throat, but she swallowed back and began to shake again.

"You....your eye," she started, heaving a little more. She shook herself, head to back end, painting as the stone on her forehead faded it's glow again. She stared at him, this time as if she were looking at him instead of through him, eyes widened. She swallowed hard. "Did... I... oh..." She was at a loss for words.

"It's gone."

Little did she know he had since underwent a process of healing. All she knew is his eye had gruesomely come from his socket and it was a disturbing image she couldn't seem to shake from her mind. More or less, she regretted ever touching him, for biting his bait.

- - -

"Speech"

"Booker Speech" "Louie Speech"

What was there to expect. In reality he felt nothing, he only watched as her face contorted and she ended up scarpering backwards. Both of them were struggling to be in each other's presence and that did in fact make him smirk. But she mentioned his eye, and he once again snarled pulling back from her. After the healing. The process, there was some evidence left over of his injuries. Burns still covered most of the left side of his face, and his eye emitted a soft glow that mirrored its shade. Which in turn was identical to the stone embedded in his throat.

TOO FAR GONE NOW

Unsure exactly what to say in response, whether to deny the allegations or roll with it he said nothing. Paws rubbing into the dirt, he had heard enough. This woman had talent, and harboured something he envied. But she was still weak. Never would allow himself to get so close to someone. Everyone would see who he was on the inside and he couldn't allow that.

NOTHING

"OK. Well. I guess that settles that then," If he had a suit to straighten he would have and he glanced back in the direction he had come from. Interest in the Spire had worn off. One day he'd go back but maybe not today. Today had taken an interesting turn and he wanted to continue on with it. Keep exploring the possibilities. "You will be coming with me Penelope. Merry Men will keep you safe. There, you can learn to adjust to your blindness." Words rolling off his tongue, he was back to what he had been so many many months ago. A recruiter. The game had changed though.

MONSTER

It felt hard to breath even though she was taking in air normally. She listened for his reaction, but there was silence. The images plastered into her brain and she found herself growing to resent him, feeling tricked and conned. She shuddered, the giant dragon roaring in her head, the eye popping, the burns and the fighting and the horrors.

Go with him? W-What are you talking about? Go with you?" Her mind recoiled and went back to how he had been treating her and she frowned hard, brows furrowing as her mood turned with the growing resentment.

"Why would I go with you? You've only insulted me and belittled me. How am I suppose to trust you will do anything that benefits me?"

She snapped at him with her words and backed up two more steps. She was looking slightly above him. Purple irises traced her greyed pupils, staring forward with hopelessness in her eyes, the clarity of how lost she was glinted in them like her tears had.

"Why would you help me? You don't even like me." Her voice grew quieter again, thinking about when he said she had no friends. It felt right. Nobody had been to her aid since the incident. The only one who lurked was Dia, the evil bird who bit and infected her. Sadness crossed her face as her eyes slipped the right, memories collecting and temporarily distracting her from the images of Louie's past.

She didn't even know his name.

- - -

"Speech"

"Booker Speech" "Louie Speech"

Again her mind began to run, so too did her mouth. It was shameful really and he just shook his head as she barraged him with accusations and questions that he probably wouldn't end up answering. Most of them appeared fairly obvious to him.

TRAITOR

"No. You can't trust me. But is anyone in Origin cave really trustworthy. We all have ulterior goals. All we are are gemstones with vessels held together by a magic that is probably supplied by the giant big dumb rock in Pisces." Venom tainted his words, directed at no one but himself. The time had passed for him to be bitter about his life being meaningless. That ship had sailed and he had to move past it and move on. As Booker had said, this was his "second chance". It made him scowl.

Now she was bringing feelings into it and he had to stop himself from laughing in her face, dropping the mic and just walking out. "Whether or not I dislike you is irrelevant. The element you harbour contains certain gifts I envy." But Louie would never give up his throne as the prokaryotic king. Even if Magdalena expressed a talent that surpassed his, Khloros was the walking death.

NOTHING

Self esteem crumbling, he swallowed and set his blazing eyes on the woman, "Do you want to try and figure out your new life, without the ability of sight on your own. You will starve, be torn apart by others." voice quieter now, he spoke monotonously, "Merry Men will protect you."

Ears feel backward as he spit his poisonous words at her. Hatred seemed to fill every word he spoke. She cringed, looking at the ground and closing her eyes again. There was no difference. Open or closed, it was all darkness. He filled her with more pain and angst. She could feel the burn of a new batch of tears forming behind her lids, so she squeezed her eyes shut a little tighter, making sure nothing came out for him to see. The mockery was painful.

"How do I follow what I cannot see?" her voice cracked. It seemed like a legitimate question. How was she suppose to follow him to the Merry Men if she could not even see the nose on her face? Her snout trembled a little as her head sank lower, defeat cloaking her and weighing her down. What other choice did she have? She didn't, which was the worst part of it all.

"I don't have any choice," she breathed, a thought out loud. "How do I follow you?"

- - -

"Speech"

"Booker Speech" "Louie Speech"

Eventually she conceded and he found himself exhaling a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. If he could see the future, the ultimate outcomes of a scenario he would be immortal. But she whined about how she wouldn't be able to leave, how she couldn't know where they were going since she was blind and he wanted to slap her across the face. Once. Twice. And then tell her to snap out of it.

"Being blind doesn't mean you're helpless. God damn it it's not the end of the world. Just follow my presence, I don't know. " What did blind kids even do these days? How was it Iliad managed to cope so well and yet she was acting like it was the end of the world. Maybe he just couldn't understand it.

FOOL

There was a fizzle of magic. An elastic band between the two but it snapped as instantly as it came. There was no indication of it even being a thing and Louie stared ahead, "Let's just get moving. Merry Men is far from here and I want to get back before more shit starts. There are a few tasks I must do beforehand anyway and you're going to be there when it happens."

@Penelope

just reply and i'll try and roll for senso link again in my next post

He didn't know. He had no idea that she was diseased and gods knew what else would eventually come with it. She wasn't born this way. She wasn't meant to be blind. She was traumatized. Everyone she had met before Dia was good. Dia ripped that innocence away from her with a tiny peck with a specific kind of venom.

So she tried to listen for his foot steps. For the sound of paws padding upon the surface they would walk. Humiliation flowed in her veins like her life force did. Gods, what was she getting into?

- - -

"Speech"

"Booker Speech" "Louie Speech"

In truth, knowing that she had been blinded wouldn't have changed his reaction towards her. Blindness was some shit people sometimes had to deal with. Partial blindness had been his burden but he'd survived. Survived long enough to get to this point and move on. It was depressing in some way, that he had been without perfect vision for so long. But on the other paw, he had learned so much. Gained a reputation.

HALF FACE

Again the magic tried to snake out. It coiled its way from his gemstone to hers in an invisible tether and by the time the connection snapped he was physically jolted, head flicking upright. The magical tension was evident. A thin line in Louie's mind connected them and as he looked at her, a million thoughts flooded his head and he vomited violently on the ground. Everything in his stomach came up in one big upheaval and as he wretched, his past laughed.

FOREVER A FAILURE

Something jolted and her head began to spin. It didn't last long, however. She was straightened out in time to hear Louie vomit and she winced. Wha... ew. She shook her head and her mind swirled with a thousand other thoughts, most focused on Dia, the plague bird. She couldn't stop going over the memory. The innocence of herself greeting a white creature who acted friendly. The pinch of her skin and the feeling of betrayal of trust.

And then her sinking into darkness, with a voice laughing and poking, claiming her victim to her blinded face. Dia had done it. Dia had committed the crime that stripped her bountiful trust and pushed her into a world of complete darkness. And for some unknown time, she was lost. No aid, no help, none of her previously met friends coming to save her. Just lots of standing, starving, thirsting, restless and in pain. Her sickness was unfathomable and she was forever in fear of how much worse it would get - if it would even go beyond blindness.

Why me? Why? I could of been so much more. I could of become something. Now I am... nothing... I should of asked him to kill me. I still can.. Her head dropped again, but her eyes slowly creeped open. Open or closed, it doesn't matter. It's darkness. My life is darkness, now. Where did my happiness go?

- - -

"Speech"
@Louie

"Booker Speech" "Louie Speech"

It began to kick and fight with him. While it wrestled with his core, the rest of his magic was driving him into a stupor as the microbial world was called forth to the forefront and his body convulsed once more. Thick black tar began to rim his lips.

TORTURER

Every sense was fighting viciously against this alien connection. Memories and thoughts crossed his mind like binary code as his brain struggled to decipher what it was hearing. Both of his sensitive ears were roaring with static and he collapsed onto his stomach and let out a high pitched shriek. There were some words, some words and memories and he focused harder. Potentially choking on his own concoction he spat most of it onto the ground beside him in a bid to get it out of his mouth. Still it slicked most of his tender throat, and the sensorial link just added to the cacophony in his head. Snarling, he bit down on his front paw hard as he continued to froth.

It wasn't enough to tear at the skin, but the grip was tight and the black venom began to seep out of the sides of his jowls. The force of this act along was just enough to get him to focus on what were his own thoughts and what were not. This wasn't anything like the telepathic magic that was shared by Iliad and Penelope and his skin continued to crawl. Things began to settle down, but they came roaring back as the tapir began to sigh and mope about her own life. It didn't have the same crashing effect as it had before, but it was already beginning to depress him. As a master of the craft, he was regaining control. It was slowly, his heart beat was racing. Should he have been pre-accident he wouldn't have been able to handle it.

But he was stronger now.

LOSER

Easily one of the most confusing situations he had been in, he just lay on his side. Staring at the over grown plant eater who stood a little ways back looking like a gloomy thing. Both his own eyes were wide and he was surrounded by a pool of the sticky infectious substance. It coated his right arm that was still stuck in his mouth and he removed it and placed it on the ground. Continuously strange thoughts ran through, the only reason control was regained was due to the recognition and understanding they were in fact Penelope's. It had helped that she had spoken to him in his head briefly before. But this connection felt more intimate than hers had and he could faintly make out an almost tangible piece of rope that was strung between the two's conscience. Of course, it's not like he could see it right?

Probably a side effect from her Arcane magic mess, he just remained where he was. Panting.

@Penelope