[Upon meeting this morning for another lesson on proper usage of firearms, they had briefly discussed the message that they had received earlier today from Dagger. Though Kino assured him that they weren't worrying too badly and that they would deal with whatever the "surprise" was when it occurred, and though they had kept a ready countenance and tone of voice while doing so, the traveler was nervous. The entire camp was. A very large number of them were going about their days with a guillotine blade looming, invisible, overhead.
But Kino was not the type to sit and wait for such a thing to happen. The threat of random danger or violence was something that they had grown used to, even before joining this crew.
It explained the situation, at the very least, but none of it could have properly prepared Kino for what was going to happen.
They had already passed through the initial stage of a first maintenance on one's weapon, vital before one started to draw and fire it for whatever reason, and Kino was giving some instruction on the matter and process of aim. The words proceed at normal cadence, the kid's arm rising in a gesture when, without warning, the orange display on the cuff flickers once and then dims with a sort of utter finality. The effect is instantaneous. Kino's words freeze in their mouth, whatever they were using for breath suddenly transfigured into something they could no longer use. It sits, a thick miasma which burns as the primary stage of shock causes them to instinctually and immediately try to fill their lungs.
1... 2... 3...
It was for the first few seconds that they could remain standing, but that was largely because the sudden constraining of their muscles prevented movement. It only lasted that long; without warning Kino collapses in a heap, giving a single thrash before beginning to shrink in on themselves, as if they continued to minimize they might disappear and be free of the pain. It was extraordinary; an all-encompassing block which speared through every other thought, blotting them out until none of it made sense. Light and color of vision, sound, no, none of it—there was sickening vertigo-like feeling of a heartbeat slipping into arrhythmia, the panic and pain of suffocation, all sewn together with a feeling of awful pressure which rapidly and exponentially grew. In a blink, disorientation and confusion set in; Kino would scarcely remember what they had been doing a moment before. All there was was the force of pain, the forcible withdraw of small limbs, the strain of a skeleton to withstand a horrid pressure, and the ragged sounds of Kino attempting to breathe.
In this moment, absolutely nothing in Macha, and conversely everything about Macha, was trying to kill them.
[The effect of Dagger's message on the camp had been instantaneous. It was a subtle thing, but easy to notice if one knew where to look. A bit more bustle than the morning hours usually saw, but it was a quiet and tense sort of thing, anxious energy coiling up tighter and tighter as the day began to draw on. Some had taken the news better than others. He shouldn't have been surprised to find Kino among the former.
He had been half-ready to call off the meeting that morning should Kino be too focused on whatever surprise was eventually coming their way. But the kid's impressive trait of levelheadedness remained even now. He suspected their meeting might provide a welcome distraction for them, and thus was willing to drop the subject after only a brief discussion.
Despite all the assurances, it doesn't stop him from keeping a careful watch on his young weapons tutor as their lesson began in earnest. And it's for that reason, perhaps, that he catches the flicker of the light on their cuff before it blinks out completely. A mere curiosity that abruptly leaps into urgency when the effect it has on the traveler immediately becomes clear.]
Kino?
[He adopts a look of confusion that is quickly replaced with worry as they take a pained and panicked breath. The cuff had failed. Everything he'd learned in his training with medical painted that as the most dire turn of events. One that wasn't supposed to happen. Couldn't. There were fail-safes in place to prevent it.
That means this was deliberate.
Surprise.
He sees the kid start to go down, quickly closes the short distance between them. Hands reach out to steady them even as they begin to curl in on themself. A detached part of his thoughts recalls that straining against the pain could very well make it worse.]
Kino, stay with me. [There's a note of alarm marring his usually calm voice, the shake of panic punctuating.] Focus on me, focus on my voice, alright?
[Blind and futile hope that the kid could even hear him, let alone spare the slightest bit of focus for anything beyond the torment being visited upon them.
Because what else could he do here, beyond provide an anchor to steady them through this storm of agony?]
[Kino was not very susceptible to the type of dread that infected the rest of the camp with Dagger's message. A traveler's existence back home meant that they were constantly at risk, and with all the altercations they had dealt with, they were always aware of that risk. It was different here, yes. Their name had been listed. Dagger had promised a "surprise," though the words surrounding it certainly made it sound like a punishment. Parker had called for caution and had assured them that it would most likely involve bodily harm. Still, Kino tended to deal with problems when they presented themselves and not when they were promised. And so they were here, doing what they had promised and helping Ginko, even though he had given them a few concerned glances so far already.
But they soldiered on, and it turned out like this. In truth, Kino wouldn't in the future be able to think of any better way they could have gone into it. It would have been just the same no matter what they were doing, who they were with. If anything, they might've been grateful they were with someone like Ginko.
That would all be in retrospect, though.
The present was far different. In truth, Kino was not accustomed to panic or pain. For someone so young, they were very rational and collected. Master had taught them well, and they tended to be able to avoid the worst of pain in fighting by pre-empting enemies that would have the upper-hand. Because of this, what is happening to them now is something well and truly out of their capability to deal with. It's a very unique type of panic and horror, that Kino is breathing in something the same consistency as air but having it choke and burn, far worse than any kind of wood smoke. It's a vicious cycle, only inviting Kino to gasp for breath, only causing it to worse. Grappling at their collar. The world is a sickening and bright smear of color; they close their eyes tight against it, barely able to make sense of anything as oxygen deprivation sets in.
It's hard to hear what Ginko is saying; they can hear their name, that's a little clearer, a path worn into familiarity, but everything else. It's so difficult, it's so, so—the clock is ticking down past the half-way mark and already Kino wants it to end however it might, having the sickening feeling that it might very well end. Kino did not fear death, though they did not welcome it either—it was an eventuality they wished to stall until its time, but this was not it. They were trying so dearly to try to withstand but it—every single fibre of their body was burning now, fire-bright, an impossible weight like millions and millions of gallons of water pressing down and against them at every angle. In a way, that's how it felt—like drowning, deep, deep beneath the surface of the ocean, if someone had replaced all of the water with some type of burning, clawing acid.
There is still energy in Kino when Ginko reaches out to steady them; they weakly move against it, though it's not enough to do much of anything. Everything else is the tension coiled in every muscle, occasionally breaking into a spontaneous spasm. Seconds pass so slowly and they quickly grow tired, overtired, exhausted. Twenty seconds pass and Kino is out of the thralls of panic, slipping into the even more insidious grasp of shock—growing very still, in stark contrast to their struggles of seconds' past, breath slowing to a steady choke and rasp. Twenty-five and they're only barley holding onto consciousness, the entire world faded to black with the slightest pinprick of light as a spear lancing through their head from where their eyes are barely open. Ears ringing, the pain and pressure continuing to chase them down the rabbit hole their consciousness is trying to escape into. They cough, everything about the simple action hurting, the acrid taste of blood strong in their mouth.
Kino is unconscious, barely breathing, as the clock ticks towards thirty.
28... 29... 30.
The lights on the cuff reactivate. A second's silence, then the next breath Kino draws in draws smoothly, like a hand over the surface of water rather than how it had been moment's previously, a hand drawn over a bed of razorblades.
A few more breaths and some color returns to Kino's face, though, for the moment, they are still unconscious.]
[Death, the act of dying, was a strange thing. It could come swiftly or drag on for hours, days. It could be as simple as laying down to rest and never rising, or as agonizing as bleeding out from a ragged wound, slow and torturous. Or as terrible as the world itself pressing down against you with all of its unforgiving force.
Ginko has seen the dead and dying up close before. It wasn't often, but it was, at times, an unavoidable sight in his line of work. There was a gentle melancholy that went hand-in-hand with it, the sadness of this final destination in the cycle of life. It was a viewpoint that could only be afforded to someone largely detached from the situation at hand.
It was different when someone you know and care for is dying right before your eyes, Ginko realizes now. The panic it sets upon him is something completely unexpected, an alien sensation that leaves him reeling.
Because he knows if this keeps up for much longer, Kino wasn't going to make it. He is suddenly, desperately wishing he had read up more on Macha's environment, wishing he knew some way ease this terrible burden the traveler had been dealt. He'd never felt quite so powerless as he did now, kneeling beside the kid as they thrash weakly against the weight pressing down upon them. All he can do now is hold them steady, continue offering encouraging words he knows must be falling upon deaf ears. But his words grow more panicked as Kino begins to grow still, urging them to hang on, begging them. When they finally go limp, Ginko is shocked into silence. As the final few seconds tick on, the only sound is Kino's thin, labored breaths.
The light on their cuff returns to life.
Ginko stiffens, watching with bated breath as Kino slowly but surely begins breathing steadily again. The relief sweeps over him like a wave, overwhelming in its intensity at first, but quickly making way for a more tentative hope. They were alive, but they hadn't gotten through this unscathed. The leftover adrenaline from his panic spurs him into motion, measuring their pulse, checking vitals. Going through the motions he had practiced countless times in his training helped center him.
Finally, he scoots forward, very carefully lifting their head to rest on his lap at a slight angle. It would help keep their airway clear, make it easier for their overworked lungs... and perhaps it would offer some minor comfort should they reawaken. The kid wasn't in great shape. Ginko would need to get them to Medical very soon, but they would need a few more moments to stabilize first. In the heavy silence that follows, he watches them, expression weary.]
[It's gradual, the way Kino's body begins to realize that its surroundings is no longer trying to destroy it. Breaths begin shallow but then grow infinitesimally deeper, desperate to replace the usable oxygen that the thirty seconds of deprivation had robbed them of. It was also very slow how Kino's body slowly relaxed—the awful shift in pressure had caused every muscle to tense up, to push back against the bizarre lack of homeostasis, but now that things had returned to relative normalcy, exhaustion set in and the kid was growing limp because of it.
Kino's vitals are still weak, an uneven cadence of breathing and a heart-rate that would give any doctor nervous pause after having heard it. Straightening them up was a good idea, though Kino's breaths are often interrupted by coughing—just a few at first, not too powerful (mostly because they were too weak to manage anything else), but that, too, changed gradually. After one round of coughing that had nearly devolved into a fit, Kino falls still again, a thin line of blood trailing from their mouth.
The kid's eyelids flicker, perhaps barely open, but they weren't really completely conscious and they were certainly not aware of what was going on. All of this would be a blur for them later, one where they had come within an inch of death and had to be yanked back to the world of the living. A terrible sort of whiplash to have to deal with.
A few minutes pass, though, and the coughing dies down a little and Kino continues to breathe. Stabilizing just a bit, but like Parker had told them earlier this day, this would most likely require further medical attention.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
DAY 119, shortly after 06:00
But Kino was not the type to sit and wait for such a thing to happen. The threat of random danger or violence was something that they had grown used to, even before joining this crew.
It explained the situation, at the very least, but none of it could have properly prepared Kino for what was going to happen.
They had already passed through the initial stage of a first maintenance on one's weapon, vital before one started to draw and fire it for whatever reason, and Kino was giving some instruction on the matter and process of aim. The words proceed at normal cadence, the kid's arm rising in a gesture when, without warning, the orange display on the cuff flickers once and then dims with a sort of utter finality. The effect is instantaneous. Kino's words freeze in their mouth, whatever they were using for breath suddenly transfigured into something they could no longer use. It sits, a thick miasma which burns as the primary stage of shock causes them to instinctually and immediately try to fill their lungs.
1... 2... 3...
It was for the first few seconds that they could remain standing, but that was largely because the sudden constraining of their muscles prevented movement. It only lasted that long; without warning Kino collapses in a heap, giving a single thrash before beginning to shrink in on themselves, as if they continued to minimize they might disappear and be free of the pain. It was extraordinary; an all-encompassing block which speared through every other thought, blotting them out until none of it made sense. Light and color of vision, sound, no, none of it—there was sickening vertigo-like feeling of a heartbeat slipping into arrhythmia, the panic and pain of suffocation, all sewn together with a feeling of awful pressure which rapidly and exponentially grew. In a blink, disorientation and confusion set in; Kino would scarcely remember what they had been doing a moment before. All there was was the force of pain, the forcible withdraw of small limbs, the strain of a skeleton to withstand a horrid pressure, and the ragged sounds of Kino attempting to breathe.
In this moment, absolutely nothing in Macha, and conversely everything about Macha, was trying to kill them.
7... 8... 9...]
no subject
He had been half-ready to call off the meeting that morning should Kino be too focused on whatever surprise was eventually coming their way. But the kid's impressive trait of levelheadedness remained even now. He suspected their meeting might provide a welcome distraction for them, and thus was willing to drop the subject after only a brief discussion.
Despite all the assurances, it doesn't stop him from keeping a careful watch on his young weapons tutor as their lesson began in earnest. And it's for that reason, perhaps, that he catches the flicker of the light on their cuff before it blinks out completely. A mere curiosity that abruptly leaps into urgency when the effect it has on the traveler immediately becomes clear.]
Kino?
[He adopts a look of confusion that is quickly replaced with worry as they take a pained and panicked breath. The cuff had failed. Everything he'd learned in his training with medical painted that as the most dire turn of events. One that wasn't supposed to happen. Couldn't. There were fail-safes in place to prevent it.
That means this was deliberate.
Surprise.
He sees the kid start to go down, quickly closes the short distance between them. Hands reach out to steady them even as they begin to curl in on themself. A detached part of his thoughts recalls that straining against the pain could very well make it worse.]
Kino, stay with me. [There's a note of alarm marring his usually calm voice, the shake of panic punctuating.] Focus on me, focus on my voice, alright?
[Blind and futile hope that the kid could even hear him, let alone spare the slightest bit of focus for anything beyond the torment being visited upon them.
Because what else could he do here, beyond provide an anchor to steady them through this storm of agony?]
no subject
But they soldiered on, and it turned out like this. In truth, Kino wouldn't in the future be able to think of any better way they could have gone into it. It would have been just the same no matter what they were doing, who they were with. If anything, they might've been grateful they were with someone like Ginko.
That would all be in retrospect, though.
The present was far different. In truth, Kino was not accustomed to panic or pain. For someone so young, they were very rational and collected. Master had taught them well, and they tended to be able to avoid the worst of pain in fighting by pre-empting enemies that would have the upper-hand. Because of this, what is happening to them now is something well and truly out of their capability to deal with. It's a very unique type of panic and horror, that Kino is breathing in something the same consistency as air but having it choke and burn, far worse than any kind of wood smoke. It's a vicious cycle, only inviting Kino to gasp for breath, only causing it to worse. Grappling at their collar. The world is a sickening and bright smear of color; they close their eyes tight against it, barely able to make sense of anything as oxygen deprivation sets in.
It's hard to hear what Ginko is saying; they can hear their name, that's a little clearer, a path worn into familiarity, but everything else. It's so difficult, it's so, so—the clock is ticking down past the half-way mark and already Kino wants it to end however it might, having the sickening feeling that it might very well end. Kino did not fear death, though they did not welcome it either—it was an eventuality they wished to stall until its time, but this was not it. They were trying so dearly to try to withstand but it—every single fibre of their body was burning now, fire-bright, an impossible weight like millions and millions of gallons of water pressing down and against them at every angle. In a way, that's how it felt—like drowning, deep, deep beneath the surface of the ocean, if someone had replaced all of the water with some type of burning, clawing acid.
There is still energy in Kino when Ginko reaches out to steady them; they weakly move against it, though it's not enough to do much of anything. Everything else is the tension coiled in every muscle, occasionally breaking into a spontaneous spasm. Seconds pass so slowly and they quickly grow tired, overtired, exhausted. Twenty seconds pass and Kino is out of the thralls of panic, slipping into the even more insidious grasp of shock—growing very still, in stark contrast to their struggles of seconds' past, breath slowing to a steady choke and rasp. Twenty-five and they're only barley holding onto consciousness, the entire world faded to black with the slightest pinprick of light as a spear lancing through their head from where their eyes are barely open. Ears ringing, the pain and pressure continuing to chase them down the rabbit hole their consciousness is trying to escape into. They cough, everything about the simple action hurting, the acrid taste of blood strong in their mouth.
Kino is unconscious, barely breathing, as the clock ticks towards thirty.
28... 29... 30.
The lights on the cuff reactivate. A second's silence, then the next breath Kino draws in draws smoothly, like a hand over the surface of water rather than how it had been moment's previously, a hand drawn over a bed of razorblades.
A few more breaths and some color returns to Kino's face, though, for the moment, they are still unconscious.]
no subject
Ginko has seen the dead and dying up close before. It wasn't often, but it was, at times, an unavoidable sight in his line of work. There was a gentle melancholy that went hand-in-hand with it, the sadness of this final destination in the cycle of life. It was a viewpoint that could only be afforded to someone largely detached from the situation at hand.
It was different when someone you know and care for is dying right before your eyes, Ginko realizes now. The panic it sets upon him is something completely unexpected, an alien sensation that leaves him reeling.
Because he knows if this keeps up for much longer, Kino wasn't going to make it. He is suddenly, desperately wishing he had read up more on Macha's environment, wishing he knew some way ease this terrible burden the traveler had been dealt. He'd never felt quite so powerless as he did now, kneeling beside the kid as they thrash weakly against the weight pressing down upon them. All he can do now is hold them steady, continue offering encouraging words he knows must be falling upon deaf ears. But his words grow more panicked as Kino begins to grow still, urging them to hang on, begging them. When they finally go limp, Ginko is shocked into silence. As the final few seconds tick on, the only sound is Kino's thin, labored breaths.
The light on their cuff returns to life.
Ginko stiffens, watching with bated breath as Kino slowly but surely begins breathing steadily again. The relief sweeps over him like a wave, overwhelming in its intensity at first, but quickly making way for a more tentative hope. They were alive, but they hadn't gotten through this unscathed. The leftover adrenaline from his panic spurs him into motion, measuring their pulse, checking vitals. Going through the motions he had practiced countless times in his training helped center him.
Finally, he scoots forward, very carefully lifting their head to rest on his lap at a slight angle. It would help keep their airway clear, make it easier for their overworked lungs... and perhaps it would offer some minor comfort should they reawaken. The kid wasn't in great shape. Ginko would need to get them to Medical very soon, but they would need a few more moments to stabilize first. In the heavy silence that follows, he watches them, expression weary.]
I'm sorry, Kino...
no subject
Kino's vitals are still weak, an uneven cadence of breathing and a heart-rate that would give any doctor nervous pause after having heard it. Straightening them up was a good idea, though Kino's breaths are often interrupted by coughing—just a few at first, not too powerful (mostly because they were too weak to manage anything else), but that, too, changed gradually. After one round of coughing that had nearly devolved into a fit, Kino falls still again, a thin line of blood trailing from their mouth.
The kid's eyelids flicker, perhaps barely open, but they weren't really completely conscious and they were certainly not aware of what was going on. All of this would be a blur for them later, one where they had come within an inch of death and had to be yanked back to the world of the living. A terrible sort of whiplash to have to deal with.
A few minutes pass, though, and the coughing dies down a little and Kino continues to breathe. Stabilizing just a bit, but like Parker had told them earlier this day, this would most likely require further medical attention.]