Dire Consequences: Team 2 and their Test [C] [Chris, PolarBear, TOPKite]

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

Another weary groan left the boy's lips as the world around him began to spin and fade. The shapes before him which had been so crisp and clear moments ago began to blur, causing the child to strain his eyes as he worked to pull himself to his feet. Each movement he made caused his entire body to scream out in agony, eliciting further pained noises from the youth as he bade his body to move. Suzaku tried to speak with the aim of uttering self-motivational phrases that he hoped would stir something deep in himself. He searched his mental framework for any hidden well of strength or reserve resilience that could bring him from this brink but he found none and thus paused with one knee firmly falling to the dirt below, his other leg buckling and straining under his own weight as he desperately tried to keep himself from completely collapsing. The scene before him was becoming more and more unfocused by the second. One smaller, blurry figure leaping around as it avoided three others shapes that were much larger in size.

"I'm spent..."

Suzaku lamented, knowing that despite his strong desire to contribute to the effort of warding off these horrid beasts that such a task was currently beyond his capabilities. He had taxed himself to his very limit and was struggling to even stand. There was no way he could fight. Moving his hand down to his belt the boy began to undo it, undoing the buckle before sliding his right hand to the empty sheath where his katana had once remained. With a small grunt and a tug the object along with the attached belt came loose, allowing him to plant the bottom end against the ground as he braced his own weight against it, using it as a means to push himself to his feet; a task that was worlds harder than the boy could have ever anticipated. Upon finally managing to stand Suzaku began to slowly register how the blurred figures were fast approaching in his direction, the smallest of the four leading the charge. The boy could only hope that the relatively diminutive figure was his leader. Even if it was, why was she leading the pack in his direction? Was she hoping for some assistance? It was admittedly an unlikely thought but Suzaku's addled mind struggled to make sense of the given situation, his trembling hands tightening around the body of his make-shift walking stick. With a weak yet guttural growl the boy braced himself. There was little more he could honestly do, being far too weak to use any more jutsu at this point. All he could do was watch as the distorted mob continued their approach, expecting the worst.

Just as the leader of the group closed in Suzaku felt his body being torn from his current position, the soft impact of another form slamming against him and the strange and foreign squeeze that followed, allowing for whoever had managed to reach him to carry the exhausted child away from the fray. Suzaku found himself gasping slightly in surprise, breathing sharply through his nose, allowing his keen senses to pick up traces of Kimiko's scent. The sound of the woman's slightly labored breathing and the feminine voice that laced each respiratory cycle told Suzaku that the one who had grabbed him had indeed been Kimiko. The boy registered the strange, new smell as hers before he felt his consciousness starting to fade. As the world around him began to grow dark Suzaku began to cry out in protest, his voice leaving him in a feeble and almost all too pathetic fashion as the words spoken came out as nothing more than a mess of unintelligible drivel. With another groan Suzaku felt himself finally slip into the world of unconsciousness only to wake up several seconds later as he felt the sweltering heat blast against his face from Kimikos rather impressive display of Katon mastery. Waking with a start, the boy's eyes snapped open as he began to look around the best he could, his breathing still heavy and his nose now filled with a mixture of burning odors and Kimiko's scent as his face remained relatively close to her shoulder, unable to really pull loose from her tight hold until they stopped and she set him on the ground, inquiring about his ability to walk while working to release the locks on the gate that separated the two from safety.

Suzaku felt all but lost at this point, his level of coherence dangerously low and thus unable to fully register the question as he moved one of his hands along the sturdy chain-link fence, grabbing hold of one of the many rungs, curling his strong and calloused digits through the metal latice work, using the structure to pull himself to his feet. It was only now that the boy realized that he had somehow managed to drop both his sheath and his belt during the hasty retreat. Along with that all of his primary armaments, aside from the wrist mounted blade were missing as well. He'd groan lightly, a definite sense of frustration filling his voice as he began to step back toward the dense forest before him, seemingly with the intention of going back to fetch his lost goods; the boy obviously not thinking very clearly due to exhaustion and blood loss. The trip would be cut short, however, as Kimiko seemed to stop the self imposed retrieval mission before it even began, ushering the boy through the now open gate and into a relatively safer area before locking the door behind them.

Upon releasing him to deal with the gate, Suzaku stumbled forward, falling to his hands and knees, breathing heavily as the world seemed to shift between focused clarity and unfocused blurriness. The boy was now all too aware of how his head pounded with pain, a pain that could aptly be described as "head splitting". A very noticeably grimace would cross the boy's face as Kimiko now turned to him, speaking rather loudly for Suzaku's current tastes. The words she spoke were irrelevant at this point as the boy was having trouble making sense of his own thoughts as every once of his mental energy went into keeping himself from passing out. Despite that though, Suzaku thought he had heard the Hokage mention something about a Hospital. Was she talking about him? Was he that bad off that he needed to be seen by a medical professional? Perhaps at one time he might have understood the concern but in his current state only a look of utter confusion seemed to take hold of his features as his amber hues stared at her with an unfocused gaze that spoke of his current state. Perhaps if the boy had been more coherent and could somehow see himself in this state he might have been able to draw parallels to his current expression and the one his father often wore when under the influence of alcohol. For now though the irony was lost on the boy as he continued to regard Kimiko and her words with unfamiliarity and utter confusion as he slowly tried to stand, finding himself unable to do so without aid of some kind to brace his own weight.

In the next instant another surprised gasp followed by a meek protest left the boy's throat as he felt his Hokage move to his side, grabbing him and lifting his lithe form into her arms; her small body holding a surprising amount of strength. Though, if Suzaku had been more grounded he would have realized that the ability to lift him was nothing to be in awe about as he had witnessed her easily smack aside a large beast nearly three times her size with a single arm. For now though the boy could only stare up at her in total bewilderment and wonder as he tried to struggle out of her grip, as if trying to insist that he could walk wherever they were headed; eventually passing out after a short while.

Exit