[@FlitterFaux]

[b]Luke Schwarz[/b]

I was extremely successful.

Moreso than I usually even dared to imagine. In my attempt to shatter that metaphorical mask, I had S-ranked the challenge so hard that the literal one covering her face came off.

My eyes, just fractionally, widened at the result.

A face so gaunt it almost looked like a skull.

White eyes sunken and ringed, practically pits filled with the color of quartz.

Skin so pale it was like sheet— If not translucent.

She looked like hell.

Oh, geeze...

I was in for something really rough— But that was alright.

Now even moreso than before, I could tell that she would need it.

To unload before the fraying gave out completely.

[b]"Yeah, I know a park on the way. We can stop there."[/b]

I turned myself forward again, sparing her a glance—

It was striking how small she looked, despite just about towering over me.

I started off, saying nothing for a while. It tracked, judging from how disheveled her entire existence looked, that I was rushing headfirst into something that left miles of trauma and regret. Therefore, it'd be pointless, and actually counterintuitive of me to try and initiate small talk. As we walked, jogged, and sometimes even ran, I only offered a few words of advice and explanation regarding our surroundings— tips about metropolitan living, mostly. How not to get lost again.

I'm a mountain boy who comes from a small town, sure, but it was a small town that had exploded enough after the war to gain a bit of an urban area of its own— Not that it held a candle to Vale, but it meant that I knew, even hailing from what was effectively the boonies, these things better than you would think.

Other than that, though, I didn't press or pry. We wouldn't talk until we reached the park and some isolation— I had a hunch that she had a whole a lot of thoughts to collect on the matter.

I wondered if I wasn't making a mistake somehow, at points; diving all the way into the problems of a complete stranger was insanity by any measure—

But I suppose I've never been sane, if that were the case. Even back when I was just a kid, I was an anti-bully ranger who never thought before he acted.

I saw someone in front of me that I wanted to help.

That was all it took. I put on airs of consideration way too much, honestly. I've always simply followed my desires when it came to this—

No more.

No less.

I would rush headlong into whatever I wanted if it had somebody to save within—

For better, or for worse.