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Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Yeah, it'll be shocking to him when they run into the guard later and he realizes Atlas has thought he was dead this whole time

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

That could be another good bonding moment for them then :)
And Cas is already starting to have second thoughts about going back to the capital

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

When Iris apologized and agreed to keep moving, Cas didn’t say anything. He didn’t have the energy to tell her that there was no reason for her to be sorry. Despite the tough face he was trying to put on, he was just as distraught about what had just happened as she was, so he couldn’t blame her for having a panic attack. If anyone ever went through everything they’d experienced since they’d left Maisie’s apartment and came out on the other side perfectly fine, he would have thought they were a liar or a sociopath. He just couldn’t bring himself to argue with her about it when he was barely strong enough to make it to another hideout before he collapsed in on himself under the weight of the abject horror that still brewed underneath the surface of his calm exterior.

Walking close beside her, he dropped his gaze to the ground, mentally and physically exhausted from the attack. He wasn’t sure if Iris knew where she was going, but he didn’t bother to ask. It wasn’t like he could give her any suggestions, after all. He still barely knew which district they were in, so he didn’t have the foggiest idea where to search for more lodging. Content with trailing along in silence, he didn’t look up again until he heard her say that they might have to make use of the forest and the road. “Whatever works,” he muttered, inwardly surprised by how little he cared that the path the was suggesting was supposedly dangerous. It seemed like he’d reached his limit on how worried he could be for his own life at some point between the bloodbath in the plaza and the bombs that had just been dropped by the Aspirian military. Right now, he was morbidly numb to the fact that he was in danger practically all the time.

In addition to that, his excitement about returning to the capital had waned drastically since he’d seen the bombers in the air. It was hard for him to believe, but there was even a part of him that wasn’t sure if he wanted to go back at all. His father obviously didn’t care that he could have been killed. It explained why the soldiers had never found him in Regis’s basement too. Atlas wasn’t even looking for him to begin with; he was too caught up in his hatred of the Scourge to care that his son was missing. His throat tightened with the thought, and he swallowed dryly, fighting back against the dejection that welled up within him. What was the point in going home if “home” was a place that moved on with or without him? Now that he knew how little he meant to his own father, he even wondered if it would be better for him to be killed out in the middle of nowhere rather than go back to a life in which he was nothing more than a subject for the media to use to keep the high borns entertained.

Pained by his own thought, he took a shuddering breath and looked up as they approached the woods on the outskirts of Bel Bicis. After walking through the debris for a while, his lungs had started to burn from constantly inhaling dust and ash. He hoped the gritty clouds would settle soon, so he could breathe fresh air again. “Is this where we’re going to be staying for the rest of the day?” he asked and then coughed as speaking irritated his soot-coated throat. A few days ago, he would have assumed she was leading him to a shelter on the other side of the trees, but he’d been traveling with her long enough to realize that the forest probably was their shelter for now.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Yep. I could also definitely see Cas having a nightmare about the dead family in the plaza that night

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

“As far as I can tell, I’m still in one piece,” Cas sighed in answer to Iris’s question without recoiling from her touch. In hindsight, they were lucky to have come away from what had just happened with nothing more than some cuts and bruises. He could feel a thin trickle of blood making its way down the side of his face, and his head hurt from the impact with the cement, but otherwise, he wasn’t in much worse shape than he’d been in before the bombs had landed. Things could have been much worse. Short of dying, they also could have been severely injured by the building that had collapsed or run through by shrapnel from the blasts. That they were both seemingly alright for the most part was nothing short of a miracle.

He could tell that she was struggling with more than just the injury to her head though. As she stammered about finding shelter and not knowing what to do, he felt a pang of worry that the attack had affected her on a deeper level. Truthfully, he was still rattled after they had almost died too, but he was still functioning enough to focus on what was important at that moment. There wasn’t time to grieve or panic because they were still in danger as long as they were out in the open. He was sure that the non-physical damage he’d taken would hit him hard at some point, but for now, he was burying it inside of him so he could work up the strength to keep going rather than break down in the middle of the road. It was the only choice he had until they were safe from the rebels.

When Iris stood up, he quickly followed suit, climbing to his feet beside her. It was difficult to do while he was aching from hitting the pavement, but he managed not to stagger. Watching her, he could see the anxiety written across her face, the rapid rise and fall of her chest as she struggled to breathe. She looked like she was having a panic attack. “Iris, Iris,” he repeated her name, reaching out to press his hand against her upper back, concerned that she was going to hyperventilate. “Calm down. Try to breathe slowly.”

Not thinking about the conversation they’d had just a few minutes before, he gathered her in his arms again, doing his best to comfort her until she was able to get her air intake under control. His resolution to keep his distance from her suddenly felt insignificant after they had nearly lost their lives. Holding her was practically a natural reflex to him, as if she was meant to be in his embrace. He rested his cheek against the top of her head, momentarily letting his fears shed away as he consoled her.

After a few minutes had passed, he shifted slightly to glance down at her again. “Are you okay?” he asked gently, trailing one hand absentmindedly over her shoulders. “Are you ready to keep moving or do you need another minute?”

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

That sounds good! And that'll give them all afternoon/evening to talk and process the insane day they're having

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

As they laid on the ground, Cas could feel the dust from the collapsed building settling in gritty layers over his clothes and hair. He was glad that Iris had had the sense to usher them out before the second bomb had struck. If they had stayed put, they would have been crushed. He shivered at the thought, clinging to her tightly in anticipation for the next explosion. He wasn’t ready to die, but he felt completely powerless to prevent it. When Regis had attacked him in the basement, he’d at least been able to defend himself. However, there was no way he could fight back against a bomb. If the aircrafts dropped one much closer, they had no chance of getting away with their lives.

Distantly, he could hear the whistle of the projectile falling through the air as the third bomb was released, and he held his breath anxiously. The missile hit the earth even nearer to them than the last two had been. He ground his teeth as a powerful gust of wind rushed over them followed by another jarring quake. What was left of the housing complex crumbled behind them, but none of the debris flew far enough to put them at risk of being hit. The worst of the blow was the trembling of the pavement beneath them and the deafening sound of the targeted district detonating.

Cas gasped for air, unable to hold his breath any longer, and coughed as he inhaled some of the chalky dust that was still swirling around them. His whole body trembled with a mixture of panic and adrenaline that had yet to fade. Until now, he hadn’t known just how traumatizing warfare really was, but now that he’d gotten a taste of what the destruction was like, he wanted nothing more than to make it stop for good. There were too many ruined buildings, too much violence, too many corpses. Trying to absorb it all left him feeling dizzy, and he wished he could go back to a time when he’d been blissfully ignorant of it all. But there was no going back. His eyes had been opened to the carnage in the nation he’d always thought of as a utopia, and he could never ignore it again.

As the aftershock from the bomb continued to resonate through the ground under their bodies, he cradled Iris against himself, feeling her shake uncontrollably while she whispered under her breath. She didn’t seem to be taking the experience any better than he had. Steeling himself mentally, he risked glancing up at the sky. The air was full of dust, so he couldn’t see clearly, but he could see the shadows of the bombers drifting further away. It looked like the worst of the attack was over. They were safe for now.

With a long exhale, he rested his head back down on the ground and closed his eyes, trying to recover from the shock of nearly dying. “It’s okay… we’re okay,” he murmured, partly to himself although the words were meant for Iris. He laid still for a few minutes longer before he shakily sat up. Letting his eyes rove over the buildings around them, his expression was dull. In the absence of fear, he was left feeling numb inside, too overwhelmed by everything that had happened that day to process it all.

“We should find someplace to take shelter,” he said quietly, turning back to Iris. While the bombs were falling, it had been safer to run outside, but now, they were back to the first danger they’d faced: being spotted by members of the rebellion. To prevent that from happening, they needed to find a place to hide out until she was well enough to keep moving.

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Sounds good! We could probably have that happen the next day or the one following, so Cas and Iris have a moment to catch their breaths before everything falls apart again lol

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

I could see that too. Also did you have an idea for them to get caught by the rebels at some point? I feel like I remember talking about that, but I don't remember what we plotted, if anything xD

Amnesia [Suki & Summer]

Yeah, I'm thinking that this will cause him to wonder if there's even a reason for him to try to go home, since he thinks no one cares that he's gone. That could in turn change his perspective on being with Iris, giving him a "what the hell?" kind of attitude, so he stops keeping his distance. Then later on, when they come across the soldier who doesn't recognize him, that could be when he hears that his father thinks he's dead, and he'll realize he had it all wrong and have a renewed desire to get back to the capital :)