| Strong on the Surface [Closed to Genma & Raidou] |
[May. 4th, 2009|12:21 am] |
[Directly follows Woke With This Fear]
When Raidou woke up, the darkness wasn't gone. But the world had changed. In the space between unconsciousness and memory, he managed to slit one unwilling eye open and took in a glimpse of his surroundings. Floor, walls, ceiling: concrete and stone, with high slit windows covered by thick cloth. There was barely enough light to see halfway to the opposite wall, probably only eight or nine feet away.
He moved and heard metal rattle. Felt gravity strike like a lead hammer and realized he was almost on his feet, hanging awkwardly from thick manacles clamped around both wrists. His arms were stretched out sideways and pinned slightly above his head; his ankles felt equally braceleted. Knotted tension in the muscles of his chest and shoulders, and tingling numbness in his fingertips suggested he'd been upright for a while, if not conscious. His throat and face felt battered, his back was a twitching, seething mess of pain, his hair was still letting the occasional drop of water slide down the nape of his neck, and cold was not quite the word for the unnaturally weak trembling in his limbs.
( He was naked. ) |
|
|
| All the Way Through. [Closed to Genma & Raidou] |
[May. 4th, 2009|10:01 pm] |
[Directly follows Strong on the Surface]
When Raidou woke up, it wasn't to darkness. He wished it was darkness, but someone had made a light so bright it was bleeding through his closed eyelids and leaving red after-images scrawled across his brain. Or maybe that was pain.
It was amazing, he thought with the parts of himself still capable, that the human body could tolerate so much pain without falling to pieces.
It was amazing you could give a feeling this big a name so small.
It was amazing he could still be amazed.
His weight wasn't even remotely on his feet. He thought about moving, trying to find his balance, and didn't dare. His hands were almost completely numb, his arms leaden and bloodless to the shoulders; but compared to the alternative, he'd take that lack of sensation and throw a parade.
( One shallow breath was enough to break his gathering awareness apart. ) |
|
|