[Urgency tugs at Joshua, pushing him, insisting that he crawl back to his feet, but the pounding in his head and around his heart together pin him to the ground. His eyes can’t adjust fast enough to the sudden changes from pitch-black to flashes of illumination. Colors dance in front of his eyes, with little context outside of Ryu’s yells and the screeching of a monstrous insect intent on emerging triumphant, if scarred.]
[Joshua rotates his torso, flopping unceremoniously to his side as he tries to witness the battle. Maybe try to throw in some level of assistance if he can stop his vision from swimming with hard blinks.]
[All he can catch amongst the painful din of sights and sounds are glimpses of mandibles, scales, legs, and teeth. A set of wings? The swinging of massive claws, gutting the now hapless creature—]
[—a memory—]
[—Ifrit’s smoldering talons plunging into Phoenix’s—his—body, the unimaginable pain of feeling oneself torn apart. Joshua flinches into himself and grits his teeth. He clutches at his chest and its renewed throbbing. For the briefest of instances, he feels pity for the centipede, but it’s short-lived and ends with that beam of white, searing light. The cacophony has stopped.]
[And there is a large, fearsome creature approaching him. Undeniably Ryu, but also not.]
[Joshua’s first instinct is to prepare for another battle, and he can feel his inner flames ready to answer the call, a reassuring pulse from the Eikon ready to unleash its power should the situation turn from dire to disastrous, even as he’s lays prone on the ground.]
[There’s a change in its form. Something closer to Ryu, but still not quite. Still suspicious.]
[He can feel the gathering of energy as the figure holds his hand out. The only thing that stays Joshua’s intent to retaliate is the lack of aggression in his body language, and he’s glad for it. The healing energy that washes over him alone is worth the patience. He melts into the relief with a soft sigh that fades into quiet breathing that he tries to steady against what remains of the dull pulses around his heart.]
[The quiet doesn’t last long, broken by Ryu’s hitched panting. Joshua recognizes the unique prosody brought by tears. He allows himself a few seconds of rest before he slowly raises to his feet and calls forth a new orb of fire to light what’s now a mess of debris and, morbidly, insect guts. He can't imagine that he, personally, looks much better, still covered in dirt with the new additions of blood and grit.]
[His first couple of steps are unsteady, but he manages to stumble the short way to the outline he assumes is Ryu. Joshua lowers himself to his knees and places a hand on his trembling back.]
no subject
[Joshua rotates his torso, flopping unceremoniously to his side as he tries to witness the battle. Maybe try to throw in some level of assistance if he can stop his vision from swimming with hard blinks.]
[All he can catch amongst the painful din of sights and sounds are glimpses of mandibles, scales, legs, and teeth. A set of wings? The swinging of massive claws, gutting the now hapless creature—]
[—a memory—]
[—Ifrit’s smoldering talons plunging into Phoenix’s—his—body, the unimaginable pain of feeling oneself torn apart. Joshua flinches into himself and grits his teeth. He clutches at his chest and its renewed throbbing. For the briefest of instances, he feels pity for the centipede, but it’s short-lived and ends with that beam of white, searing light. The cacophony has stopped.]
[And there is a large, fearsome creature approaching him. Undeniably Ryu, but also not.]
[Joshua’s first instinct is to prepare for another battle, and he can feel his inner flames ready to answer the call, a reassuring pulse from the Eikon ready to unleash its power should the situation turn from dire to disastrous, even as he’s lays prone on the ground.]
[There’s a change in its form. Something closer to Ryu, but still not quite. Still suspicious.]
[He can feel the gathering of energy as the figure holds his hand out. The only thing that stays Joshua’s intent to retaliate is the lack of aggression in his body language, and he’s glad for it. The healing energy that washes over him alone is worth the patience. He melts into the relief with a soft sigh that fades into quiet breathing that he tries to steady against what remains of the dull pulses around his heart.]
[The quiet doesn’t last long, broken by Ryu’s hitched panting. Joshua recognizes the unique prosody brought by tears. He allows himself a few seconds of rest before he slowly raises to his feet and calls forth a new orb of fire to light what’s now a mess of debris and, morbidly, insect guts. He can't imagine that he, personally, looks much better, still covered in dirt with the new additions of blood and grit.]
[His first couple of steps are unsteady, but he manages to stumble the short way to the outline he assumes is Ryu. Joshua lowers himself to his knees and places a hand on his trembling back.]
All is well. Keep breathing.