[color=silver][center][h2][color=0099aa]๐ƒ๐ฎ๐ง๐œ๐š๐ง ๐’๐ญ๐ž๐ฐ๐š๐ซ๐ญ[/color][/h2] __________________________________________________[/center] Fist met tree, over and over, harder and faster, each punch taking Duncan further away from the funeral and all that had preceded it. Or that had been the plan, anyhow; by the time his fist punched through to the other side, entire arm sinking into the hole he'd made without a tinge of pain, he realized his usual method of stress relief had been rendered practically useless by his new body. So, [i]shit[/i]. Duncan stepped away from the abused tree, taking a long drag on his cigarette. He knew he was supposed to preserve the last few he had, but if having to bury your dead friend wasn't grounds for a relapse, he didn't know what the hell was. This was his second since the funeral, and at this rate, he'd need a third soon. He blew out smoke and stared at the tree. Right. So, now what? Was he just going leave it like that? He hadn't exactly set out to make firewood, but since he'd sort of started beating this thing up, he might as well. Somehow. Would he be able to grab the tree by the hole and just... tear it in two? But then it'd be in two pieces instead of one, and that didn't really fucking help with anything. Holy shit, even with all his strength, he really was [i]useless[/i]. ... Maybe he'd see if he could find a boulder and make an axe out of it or something. Truth be told, Duncan hadn't really thought about what he set out to do when he'd left camp earlier. The entire point of his violence against the local flora had kind of been to not [i]have [/i]to think for a bit. To occupy himself with anything else than the shit that had happened or the shit he should've been doing. Like... thanking Asahi for trying, [i]relentlessly[/i], to save Yuki, despite being... Duncan shuddered, remembering what he'd seen in Asahi's head. He wasn't sure what to make of the guy, but snake or no, at least he'd been useful. Duncan? He couldn't even bring himself to go back and check up on Yukiko and Daisuke. Or โ€” and that was the one task he dreaded the most โ€” talk with Haruko. He probably had to apologize, which sucked, because [i]she [/i]probably wanted to comfort him, and he [i]really [/i]didn't want to be comforted right now. But he couldn't exactly keep avoiding her, either. She very rarely asked him for anything, and the few things she'd asked of him yesterday, to talk things through with Shun and to save Sasuke and Yuki, he'd failed. Shun was nowhere to be found and probably wolfbear food at this point, he'd nearly [i]killed [/i]Sasuke, and Yuki was like [i]ten feet underground. [/i] [i]"Youโ€™re not the sorta guy to just avoid talking about this after, right?"[/i] He was. ... Right. Time to see if he could tear a tree in two. Duncan bit down on the cig, cracked his neck, took a step forward andโ€” was interrupted by a familiar voice, reminding him how useless what he was about to do was. [color=0099aa]"You think I don't [i]know [/i]that?" [/color]he snapped, turning to face Rin, but she was already continuing as if he'd said nothing at all. Apparently, she wanted to build a tower. [color=0099aa]"What,"[/color] the question came out so flat it was more a statement. When he continued, he eyed her almost wearily. [color=0099aa]"Why? For... scouting purposes, or something? To see what's out there, right? 'Cause we ain't gonna be building a place to stay. We [i]can't[/i] stay here."[/color] He doubted that was what she meant, but the thought alone made him nauseous. He refused to live near Yuki's grave. Refused to be reminded of him day in and out. He wanted [i]home[/i]. Back to... Come to think of it, he didn't exactly have a lot to return to, huh. Another drag, this time longer, contemplative, and then he let his shoulders sag. [color=0099aa]"... I'll help. Getting bored of doing nothing, anyway."[/color][/color]