[ Ishtar was relieved to see both of them unharmed for the most part. She smiled as Takeru rushed towards her. She patted his head, and smiled softly at his greeting. ]
Ah, Zero found you first huh? That makes me feel very relieved. I was worried what might have happened to you and Patamon out there by yourselves.
[ She replied, and returning his hug. Ishtar was fond of children, strangely enough. ] I don't think any of us wanted to show up here like this, honestly...
[ Thank you Korra for saving her from falling to her death. Anyway, she waves at Zero with a smug grin. Is that a smile, maybe? If it was, then Ishtar totally caught it. Though, she won't be making too many comments about his expressions. There were more important things to worry about. ]
Yeah better later than never right? I got a little lost along the way~
[ Ishtar replied with a soft laugh. She didn't need that kind of apology for something he wanted at the moment. The situation couldn't be helped and she wasn't going to let him run off on his own the way he was. He might not really hurt anyone, but he might hurt himself. She knew him well to think just that.
She wrapped her arms around his back with a light pat along with it to let him know that all was well on her part. Ishtar knew how to fix her own wounds, so it wasn't like she would be bleeding to death or anything. His breath tickled her neck, but the sensation wasn't anything different from what she had already experienced. A slight wince of pain when he finally bit down on her.
The pain wasn't anything compared to what she had experienced. It was almost like a paper cut, only not at all. Ishtar didn't know what came with vampires from different worlds when they drank the blood of others, but for Zero, he'd probably be overwhelmed with a lots of things, when drinking her blood, mostly it was her own emotions, however there's a unique taste to her blood compared to most people, due to her being a descendant of Phelios. ]
[As Takeru continued the hug, he just looked back at Zero and then back at Ishtar]
Yeah, he did but he was helping me out! I was going to go look for some campfire but he found me instead. I guess it was a good thing or else I would have never found you! But I didn't know that you know Zero-san!
[Or for that matter, he didn't even know what his name was! Still, he gave a giggle] It's kind of funny how Cerealia works doesn't it? That we end up finding each other somehow!
But the important thing now is that you're not lost anymore so we can work together and figure out how to set up a camp! It wouldn't be good if we didn't have a fire or something!
[Zero was still wary of making his position known with a fire, but he wasn't alone anymore. He knew Ishtar would need a source of heat once it got colder late on, and the kid probably needed the same.]
Just call me Zero.
[He told the kid before heading back to build a fire for them]
[His fingers tightened against her skin when his instincts registered the first taste of blood. Zero had never taken blood from a normal human before. It tasted different from Ichiru's. From Kaname's and even... the name of the unknown person evading his grasp but it didn't matter. His bloodlust latched onto the girl in front of him now. He pulled close, as his lips moved against her skin, drinking deeper. The gulps of blood laced with something he could not pinpoint were returning sanity back to his mind, and along with it, memories and emotions that laced the blood he was drinking.]
[ He's such a cute little kid! Of course, Ishtar allowed him to do as he pleased for the time being, since it was better to give him a sense of security and not leave him scared or shook up. Honestly Takeru was a pretty brave kid for his age. Ishtar could tell by the way he carried himself, even if he was scared on the inside. ]
Zero's always finding people. He's really good at that. I guess it is since I found you both after running around there for a while.
[ Ishtar chuckled a bit. ] Yeah, he's someone I've known for a long time. He might look a little grim on the outside, but he's very kind. Fire would be good though...
[ She did trail off because she probably knew what Zero was thinking. After all their days traversing weird locations in Facility 3 was definitely experience they carried. ]
I didn't get to prepare anything before they dropped us here...so it's a bit frustrating.
[ She replied eyeing the creature that was still trying to claw at whatever barrier Nanoa had. ]
Maybe? I wouldn't want one of them to be attracted to me though. It looks really aggressive.
[ She replied shaking her head before adding. ] Do you know what's going on here? It's been kind of a wild ride for me so far and I have no idea what the heck is going on.
[Once Takeru let go of Ishtar, he simply followed Zero as he started to build a fire. Of course, he was so use to having Agumon just breath out fire for everyone. Oh the joys of living in the wilderness...]
So does that mean Zero-sa...Zero is what someone would call a grumpy bear? He might look scary on the outside but he's really nice in the inside?
[Sorry, Zero, this is Takeru being blunt at his finest!] Well, maybe we can get prepared now? I don't know what they have in the jungle but we can gather some food up! I know that's what my friends and I did when we were in the Digital World, we had to find and save a lot whenever can!
[ Ishtar could feel the strength of the fingers curling around her skin as he feasted on her blood. Even if she had experienced it before-- that feeling of blood leaving her system was never really pleasant. It was a very strange, tickling and slightly painful sensation. However, compared to the many times she had been bitten, this one was probably a lot more gentle. In the sense that she knew Zero wouldn't purposely try to hurt her, no matter how strong he latched to her as he drank her blood.
There were a lot of sinking emotions in her blood, mostly the strong emotions of great sadness, and guilt overpowering everything else. A sense of duty and many more things were mixed in the blood. That was only the start, though. There were several flashbacks or images of a certain dark haired knight that she had grown fond of, from her childhood to when she turned into a teenager. Those flashes were suddenly dissolving into a more obvious and noticeable face of a vampire that they both knew from Facility. The only difference was that the vivid image was when the dark haired knight and Yujinn, another person that they knew were leaving the castle, and Ishtar had followed the two of them.
There was a lot of mixed emotions in that scene, only to be brought to something much warmer when the long silver haired vampire's hand was momentarily gripped by the girl as inaudible words were said. Eventually, the vampire's hand gripped onto the princess and they were watching silently as the two familiar figures disappeared into the night. There were more vivid flashbacks such as when Ishtar young and asked her caretakers why she didn't have a mom or a dad, and the occasional times she had suffered from being poisoned and tucked into bed as well as the feeling of betrayal when she thought that her guardian didn't love her.
There were some other flashbacks from Facility--seeing the white rooms and walls were pretty obvious, along with the splattered blood that painted the memory. A tall slender man, with sharp red eyes, and a butler appeared to have caused the bloodshed-- and yet another one not as clear as the image of the man with red eyes. This one was overpowered by guilt as all there was in the image was a lot of blood, vivid amounts of it, piling and piling.
It seemed endless. The longer he stayed connected, the darker the feelings were, guilt, sadness, depression. The earlier memories were nothing compared to these, however, there was always that feeling of warmth, happiness, and others buried in the sorrows. It was just turning everything dark, black, painted with blood. The emotions just kept coming and coming and Ishtar herself was unaware of what kind of feelings were being transmitted with the blood that was being taken. She didn't know that there would be shared feelings, or memories. Even if they were flashbacks, they were memories that she didn't want to resurface or bring up with Zero.
Those kinds of thoughts continued to manifest themselves. She had a firm grip on him, still, unsure how much blood he needed, but she was patient and she trusted him. Everything would be okay. It would all be over soon. She just closed her eyes and allowed it to continue. She knew he was hurt, and upset, but she didn't ever want to leave him alone. He was someone important to her and that could never be replaced. Along with those images that he was getting, there may have been brief flashes of himself, and Ichiru along with others that were rather warm and heartfelt. ]
I thought it was a ViViD stage at first. That's been happening a lot, hasn't it? But I realised it didn't bring any of my ViViD equipment with me, and none of the menus work.
[ Hmm. ]
Well, at least it's better than that time I got stuck in code hell!
Uh. A while back almost everyone got transported into this big blank space filled with what looks like ghosts of people that used to be on Cerealia but have since disappeared. At least, that's what the people I met there tell me.
[ She scratches her chin. How could she possibly explain something she didn't fully understand herself? ]
And it felt like our own code was unravelling in there. People were slowly turning into nothing, but luckily we all got pulled out in time. It wasn't a happy place! At least this jungle is just a jungle.
That's kind of eerie even for something that already happened. I sure hope this isn't gonna turn into something like that.
[ Well, Ishtar also had bad memories of things that happened in Facility. So this was not helping her mood. Though, Nanoa was right, this was just a jungle for the time being. ]
Yeah a jungle. Having codes messed with could be really troublesome, I agree.
It was really creepy! But we came out alright in the end so I guess I shouldn't complain too much. And the jungle isn't all that bad, either! At least now we have open skies! The metal roof of the colony was getting a bit stifling, to be honest.
Let's see. Assuming this is Tellus, we should probably find our way back to Cerealia at some point. I can't say it's a perfect place to live, but it does beat the jungle, and if we want to really get home, we probably need the technology.
[ And Nanoha really wants to get home. ]
Apart from that, surviving here isn't a big deal. I can take care of the animals here easily enough, so I'll probably try to get as many people under my protection as possible. The jungle must be rough for people who can't fly.
Yeah it's not the best but it's better than a jungle. We need the stuff in Cerealia for research and stuff right?
[ She mused giving the other girl a raised brow and a thought since that's what it seemed to be leaning towards to be honest. Ishtar did too and she wanted to be back where she could find ways to get back home than be stuck in this place. ]
I'm pretty much the same as long as it's not too overpowering, I think I'm good to go and protecting people is what I do best at right now. It must be great to be able to fly.
Well, unless somebody can build a laboratory out of mud and wood, at least.
[ She's not going to dismiss the possibility. Alchemists can do pretty amazing things. Too bad Nanoha's not one. She knows about the bare minimum for magic users from her world, which is definitely not enough. ]
Flying is great! It's honestly one of my favourite things to do. I've been able to fly since I was nine, and I wouldn't give it up for the world. That it's really helpful for getting things done is, of course, a bonus!
[Happiness mixed with worry blanketed those early memories that slipped into the blood. Zero didn't know much about her childhood aside from the few times the Facility had allowed him a glimpse of the girl who would grow into the Ishtar he knew today. He always knew she was a child of light that had been thrown into darkness to light the way for those trapped inside. He knew this, yet as the memories moved to the facility the light began to flicker more and more. He felt her worry blot out the sun. The more he drank, the more he realized that the longer she had been prisoner of the facility, the darker the path she was forced to walk.
His fingers tightened around her arms as the blood continued to tell tale of how the girl who had saved him had needed saving herself and yet there was no one there to help her, no one to save her from-- Was that...Sebastian? He recognized the demon, but what was going on? What was all that blood? The guilt. Overwhelming guilt suddenly poured into his conscious and Zero suddenly pulled away.]
--?!
[He gasped as the last drops of blood showed him just how far she was willing to go for him. How much she would sacrifice to save him, but that wasn't why he'd pulled away. The guilt. He could still feel the weight of it on his shoulders as if it were his own. What.... what happened?]
........
[Blood smeared his lips as Zero stared back her, confusion clearly visible within the red irises.]
.... What... happened? After I left?
I was already sobbing and you are a mess with your man tears!
[ He had a strong grip on her and it only continued to get tighter as the time progressed. She's not sure what's causing it but she didn't really argue but trying to keep herself at a somewhat comfortable position with fangs buried in her neck.
The feeling was still uncomfortable as continued to drink on her blood, but Ishtar was a bit surprised when he suddenly pulled away from her. There's a bit of a wince at the sudden retraction. She was blankly looking at his face for a moment, smeared with her blood. She felt a bit light headed, but if anything it wasn't something she couldn't quickly take care of.
It took her a moment to register what he had to say, but she was also light headed so after a few minutes of silence she managed to speak softly to him. ]
...W-What? What do you mean?
[ She knitted her brows together. His eyes were still red and she reached to wipe off the smear of blood that was on his lips. ]
Yeah, that's not really possible unless they got someone who is a complete genius.
[ Though the possibility is definitely there. It would be useful but the idea of it was complicated in general. What to do really. If only smarter people from her world was here too. It would work wonders honestly. ]
I wish I knew what that felt like I can't fly or anything like that.
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