[center][h2][b]. . . ╰──╮Kaiji Serelith╭──╯ . . .[/b][/h2]
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Location: Dogfall                                                       Interactions: [@OliveYou] [/center]
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[img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/250620/911b453c42ce7d8076cb09fc01088279.png[/img]
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One second, Kaiji was hunched in the dirt, the image of suffering carved perfectly into flesh and ash and the next, a blur of blessed movement struck him across the face.

[b]CRACK.[/b]

His head snapped to the side with the force of the kick, body toppling into the dirt. Dust billowed in the twilight air as murmurs of alarm erupted from atop the wall.

[color=#b6b8a5]"Was that—? Did he just—"[/color]

[color=#888a72]"Who is that? Who jumped down?!"[/color]

Kaiji groaned quietly, dragging his body a few inches across the ground, one hand bracing against a rib that might have cracked (for real). A thin trail of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, painting his pale lips a little too perfectly. but his silver eyes flicked up now, framed by matted hair and mud. And in them, not fear. Not yet. "Wait," he gasped, voice hoarse, like cracked porcelain. [color=#1e9c0b]"Please—you're wrong—I’m not one of them!"[/color]

He coughed, deliberately low. When he lifted his face again, his expression had changed: confusion laced with hurt, like a wounded dog wary of a stranger’s hand. And still, he didn’t rise. He stayed small, ever unthreatening. [color=#1e9c0b]"You think I’d come here alone if I was a Grim? They’re right behind me—[i]please[/i], I’ve seen them. I’ve seen what they do."[/color] His voice caught, just right. [color=#1e9c0b]“I-I didn’t want to die screaming like the others.”[/color]

Then, barely a whisper. [color=#1e9c0b]"I just wanted to be somewhere safe."[/color]

He looked at Hwei then, truly looked, at the sigil’s glow behind him. At the fire in his chest and the steel in his calm. A smile almost dared to twitch at Kaiji’s lips again, but he didn’t let it show. Not yet. Instead, he dragged himself one more inch forward, shaking fingers stretched toward the sigil-guarded gate.

[color=#1e9c0b]"Don't leave me out here."[/color]