[ set immediately after THEIR DESIGN, IGNITED ]

The Zoisite was having a difficult time fighting off the encroaching darkness of unconsciousness as Labradorite brought them as far from Draco as they could; though the insectoid kaiju was comparatively smaller, they were still a long, hefty weight that would drag in the brambles.

Zoisite nearly drifted off until Labradorite finally stopped, and the lack of movement jolted their attention back to reality. They had lost a significant amount of blood, and their vision swam when they raised their head and twisted, trying to throw their limbs in an attempt to grapple with where they were. A set of talons pressed into slick, labradorite-oil, and another found purchase on a soft, loamy earth. They twisted their body further, blinking, straining.

"... where," they asked, rasping as they breathed in the damp, temperate air. They fought back the urge to sleep, though their body ached deep enough to make one desperate for the sweet release of dreams. Light, their thoughts echoed dimly. The warm, guiding light of their magic... If they could focus on that, they could stay conscious.

V-Zoisite-One opened the jaws of their tail and slipped from Labradorite further, as they pried magic from their gemstone. The forest that surrounded them answered in kind, a deep rumbling through the air. Wind whipped through the branches with a rattling like one's own quills, and whisked harmlessly across the two giants, cold and refreshing. It was not what they had been attempting to do, and it sapped further at their strength. At least, for now, it kept them from chrysalizing. But as Zoisite remained limp and weak, how much longer they would be able to fight that temporary death remained a serious question.

@V-Labradorite-One

It moved steadily, as quick as it could without jostling it's passenger too much. The movement cause Zoisite's pinchers to dig into its flesh, neon red blood mixing with oil and putrescent green ichor. It was no doubt leaving an almost laughably traceable trail, and it could only hope the others were too busy with the mess it'd left behind to follow. It slowed down gradually but steadily as time went on, exhaustion from running and carrying so much weight and pain dragging it down. Finally it got to a hopefully safe, isolated spot.

It stopped in a clearing just big enough for it to fit in, if it curled around the perimeter. It felt Zoisite stir not long after, though it could not see it very well. It felt a sudden jolt of relief, almost belatedly realizing that it very well could've died sometime along the journey -could it have even formed a chrysalis while on it's back? Would it have died without substrate to anchor into? It lowered, crouching down so the Zoisite could get off easier.

"The Forest. We're alone." Just to be sure, it's head jerked up, six red eyes peering through the surrounding foliage before returning it's focus to it's injured clutch-mate. "You're hurt. We need to do something about the bleeding." Despite it's matter-of-fact speaking, it was terrified. What could it even do? It didn't know the first step to dealing with ANY of this-

It stamped down regret the best it could. It'd done the right thing. Zoisite had need space, it'd needed to be alone. Nevermind the fact that Doctor and Chaos-two had far more medical knowledge than it had. Ignore the fact that the oil that had no doubt dripped into Zoisite's wounds would likely cause infection, if it even resisted its chrysalis for that long. It'd finally done something.
But it needed to do More.

Its focus evaporated in a blinding strike of pain, whatever it'd been trying to get its magic to do backfiring violently. It shook it's head in an attempt to clear it, only muddling its thoughts before it finally settled down like mud in disturbed waters. Its gaze went from the limp form of Zoisite to its surroundings, looking for anything it could use to help. Plants? Leaves? Doctor had used some sort of plant- right?

@V-Zoisite-One

Not quite coherent, Labradorite's words were a promise of safety. The insectoid creature curled in on themself, quills rattling weakly as the weight of their body felt too much to fight against. "Alone," the Zoisite repeated, mandibles clicking with the weak murmur.

Later, would they contemplate the gravity of Labradorite's decision to stand with them? Perhaps. Right now, they were barely able to think of the present, much less the consequences laid out bare before them.

Curled up in a ball, their head twisted so it could see out at the world through a sideways lens. Weary, putrid yellow eyes squinted at Labradorite. If they understood, they showed no sign; only their heavy legs twitching closer to their center, a blood-soaked coat of bristles and broken spines.

They tried to fight off the urge to slip into the darkness, but trying to do anything else felt like a herculean task. They couldn't keep it up, could they? "... rest," the Zoisite said after a heartbeat. Submission seemed like the only answer. They were exhausted, and even keeping their eyes open was proving to be a daunting task. Everything in them wanted to give up, to fall into slumber-- mere sleep, chrysalis or death, the lines were as blurry as their vision, and they were losing the strength to care which it ended up being.

@V-Labradorite-One

It's gaze magnetized back to it's clutchmate when it spoke. It was weak. And it was getting weaker. Curling inwards like a dying insect, it's cracked carapace glowing green with blood, like earth cracked with hellish green flames. It barely reacted, beyond that. Just twitching limbs and curling tighter into itself.

It feared what'd happened, when they returned. It'd gone against the explicit orders of the overseer, had it not? Surely it'd be punished, to some degree. Not to mention Khavur, and Chaos-two. It didn't want to see those two. Not now, and not for a while. How long would it be able to avoid them?

Focus. There's more important matters at hand

'...Rest,' Zoisite had said. After that fight, they both certainly needed some rest. But with the state it was in, with all the putrescent green blood pooling around Zoisite's crumbled insectoid form...

"Not now. Just- Just a little bit longer." How likely was it that Zoisite falling asleep would lead only to sleep? What if it chrysalized? What if it...

Bleeding. You must deal with the bleeding.

It's eyes searched the surrounding clearing, into the forest beyond, but it found nothing. Plants it didn't know the use of. What had Doctor used? Grass? But he'd added some kind of magic to the grass... Magic was a fickle thing, something it'd grown a distaste for. But it had to try. Anything. Anything at all.

The effect of it's magic wouldn't be seen by Labradorite, but it would most certainly be felt by Zoisite. It'd become much harder for it to move, if not impossible with how weakened it already was. Pressure bearing down on it, pressing it into the ground. But at least all this pressure would help with the bleeding, right? Hopefully.

@V-Zoisite-One

Everything constricted around the Zoisite's body. It was lucky, perhaps, that they could still breathe with the immense pressure weighing down on its cracked carapace.

At least the pressure brought them some focus, pulled them to the present. There was nothing they could do, unable to move, but they also couldn't slip down so easily into rest with the feeling of weight grasping at all sides.

The Zoisite drew in their magic, perhaps on instinct or something more, reserving their strength. Their body began to slowly stitch together, magic weaving to try and staunch the bleeding now that the blood was being held where it could pool and clot.

Golden eyes stared up at Labradorite, barely able to stay open. Still, it was progress. Their body was healing, somehow, after all of that. Their energy was run so thin now though, they were completely defenseless-- completely in the hands of their clutchmate.

@V-Labradorite-One sorry for the delay and sorry Zoi isn't doing much aa

It'd felt the spark, the jolt of magic that signified a successful spell, but it didn't see what exactly that random spark actually caused. Zoisite's lack of movement was concerning for a brief moment. It'd make sure it was still breathing, make sure there was still light behind it's eyes, and only then would it somewhat relax.

The bleeding was lessening, at least. Or, that's what it thought was happening. It was hard to tell with everything already stained with neon or oily ichor. It considered drawing upon it's magic again, hoping that it'd have some useful effect. But it was no spellcaster, and the magic it'd been drawing on was wildly predictable? What if it made everything worse? What if it finished the fight Khavur had started?

It settled- still not anywhere near relaxed, but in a slightly more comfortable position- along the outskirts of the clearing, gaze shifting from the trees to Zoisite and back again. Occasionally It'd meet Zoisite's many golden eyes, but more often it's gaze was drawn to the cracks on it's carapace.

Keeping watch, it seemed, for however long was needed.

@V-Zoisite-One It's okay! Let me know if you wanna time-skip an hour or two or however long until the Zoisite is less hurty.

The Zoisite lay limply where their hatchmate had left them, feeling cold and numb from shock, but their gemstone was finally doing its work. Resting their head at an angle, they could peer up and watch Labradorite settle a ways away, setting up a watch.

Time moved slowly. While the instectoid creature didn't get much strength back from resting, as much of the energy was going directly into knitting together its carapace, as its attention drifted between a dreamlike daze and reality, their thoughts were finally starting to return to them. With this came a terrible feeling of dread, one that exhausted them as much as the blood loss.

Their body was marred with more than just scarring. Their coarse fur was soaked with golden blood and oil, several of their quills broken or torn entirely from their bases. If one went further, they would find the heart of the beast, no longer pounding with adrenaline but quivering weakly.

Zoisite had never been good at understanding their own emotions; unfortunately, the Chaos Forge did not forge creatures with emotional intelligence or depth. There was no training that Zoisite had been given to express or name the number of feelings that surged through it at any given point. Their own lifegiver gave it a series of ultimatums as a grub: simple, hard facts, that did not include emotions in the equations, and when Zoisite had killed and promptly puked from the experience, the Overseer hadn't the breadth of knowledge to deal with that either.

If their elders couldn't explain it, then they were left without the tools to be anything more than a stunted repeat of their predecessor. Perhaps worse. A creature capable of killing, a creature who would indeed kill and harm and not knowing how to process anything that came after the terrible storm. Self-destruction, inevitable?

Thoughts were already slipping off the edge of the Zoisite's mind. Emotions rose and fell, nauseating in the way they churned in the kaiju's gut. The fight was being shuffled farther back into the recess of their mind-- unable, truly, to process the harm it had done without, without, without-- and instead, their mind sharply turned to lock on one key moment.

"Labradorite," V-Zoisite-One croaked from the floor. "You're not a coward."

@V-Labradorite-One

It was a long time, to simply be alone with it's thoughts. It was used to doing something, being productive. It wasn't calm by any means, but it was still. A breather, a time to reflect on what'd just happened.

It's own wounds- wounds it'd been neglecting in favor of Zoisite- were doing well. Far better than Zoisite, at least. The cuts around its legs barely hurt at all, having healed up rather quick due to the shallowness. The gash across its side, where Zoisite had clung to, hurt significantly more. It throbbed to the rhythm of its heartbeat, but at least it wasn't bleeding anymore.

Something that had been bothering them- that it hadn't quite realized had been bothering it, was how unexpected the whole thing had been. It wasn't particular close with Khavur, but it's experiences with it- passing, light conversations in the forge, catching bubbles with it the odd training session they had together. In all of them it was well... not like that at all. Not so... hurtful. Had it snapped, somehow? Or did Khavur just spend too much time with Draconua? Or...

Zoisite's voice nearly made it jump, looking over to where it still lay- in somewhat better shape, not that better meant good by any means. But it seemed to be enough to prevent chrysalization, at least.

Its first instinct was to deny it. It wasn't brave, was it? It'd ran. It'd ran then, and it'd ran now. And now it was just sitting, waiting for someone to follow the more-than-obvious trail of breadcrumbs. For whatever punishment it's brash and cowardly action might've earned it. It didn't want to tell Zoisite that, however true that was. For a while, Labradorite would just stay silent.

"And you are not weak." It'd reply at last. "It's words... they were meant to be hurtful, to make us fight it." And it has been successful, had it not?

@V-Zoisite-One (sorry for the wait!)

Labradorite answered their thoughts with its own. V-Zoisite-One stared forward with unblinking eyes at the oil-slicked hide of their hatchmate, slowly processing the words. They found that they agreed, that they were not... weak, at least, not in physical form. There was something wrong with Zoisite, perhaps, but it was not... weakness. At least, it seemed like the wrong word.

"We survived it," V-Zoisite-One answered. That... That was the key to success, in the framework they had been provided. As long as they survived, that in itself was a form of success. Unfortunately, nothing about the moment felt like a victory. Perhaps because they had fled, but the alternative... That chaotic, self-destructive, total annihilation stared from the shadows. The cost had not been cheap, and each breath burned. The insectoid rasped: "Worse for wear."

They were quiet for a moment longer, consciousness struggling not to fall into stasis. "Yes," Zoisite agreed with a small click. Khavur had wanted a fight, and a fight she had gotten. The monster could still feel the slick of oil and blood cloying to their body, the phantom sensation of something brushing their tail causing it to snap shut behind it, tearing up some grass. Zoisite did not notice this, too overwhelmed by various sensations and exhaustion.

"... water," Zoisite added after a moment, shoving their heavy body up with weak, wobbling legs. They felt strong enough to move, now, the fresh scarring along side their carapace strong enough to prevent the wound from seeping further.

@V-Labradorite-One we'll finish this thread one day (so sorry for the delay aa)

Zoisite seemed to be getting stronger- all the blood on its carapace seemed tacky and old, not wet and fresh. Was it strong enough to return to Draco? They had to, eventually, but Labradorite found itself dreading that moment. Would they get in even deeper trouble for not only running, but hiding away for a day? If they weren't already looking for them-

'We survived it' It knew that Zoisite meant that as a comfort- a small victory. But was that all they could do? Simply survive batter and bruised? Worse for wear. It wanted to succeed- to thrive, but all evidence so far pointed to that being a far off future, if even a future at all. "Next time, we will do more than just barely survive." Could it keep that promise? Itd try it's best to, at least.

At Zoisite's request for water it stood, scanning the treeline. It knew the river to be sone distance away, but maybe there was a small pond nearby? Almost hilariously close by was a decent sized pond, fed by a trickling creek that disappeared into the trees. It was surrounded by foliage- some of which was blossoming- and perhaps the thickness of the trees and brush was why they hasnt noticed it. It was, in all, a perfect little place of respite- a hidden oasis in an ocean of trees. "I see water, it's very close." It began to walk them both over to the pond- keeping its pace slow so Zoisite could easily keep up.

As they walked, questions bubbled in its mind, before finally escaping to the surface. "Have you spoken to Khavur before?" It asked, "Do you have any idea why it would've.." it paused, searching for words, "..snapped?"

It bent down to drink a couple sips of water, before moving away to give Zoisite a little more space.

@v-zoisite-one (one day... and no worries!)