Rain Dance

Kimi gave a small cry of surprise when Adair burst through the wall of rocks and rubble. She covered her head and coughed from the dust.

Voltaire rushed in after Adair, prepared to quickly sweep up Kimi and run down toward Ava. He hadn't counted on her leg being trapped under a boulder.

"...Shit," he hissed, working to move the large rock off her leg. How had she planned to escape while she was stuck like this?

He had just managed to get her free of the stone when felt his back get seared by black-and-white flames. Adair's emotionless assault has shifted back to him as the broken Hero charged back toward them. Hurriedly he scooped Kimi up and ran. He needed to get to Ava.

Kimi cowered against his chest. "You didn't have to save me!" She protested lightly. "Now you're hurt"

(Does she know the attack came from Adair? I know Voltaire explained Chiaroscuro to her, but I don't think she's actually seen it yet)

Voltaire was too busy running, avoiding falling rocks and preparing to guard against Adair for him to reply. He knew he couldn't outrun the Hero, not with Chiaroscuro boosting his speed, and Kimi wasn't going to able to run with that bleeding leg. He wondered if it was broken. He hoped to God it wasn't broken.

Adair was distracted by the constant shower of debris, but he was still gaining on them.

(No, she doesn't)

Kimi whimpered slightly as a falling bit of rock hit her leg. She clung to Voltaire, secretly thankful that he did rescue her.

"Ava!" Voltaire called out, before nearly being pierced by a falling stalactite.

"Volty!" called the phoenix, her voice close by but her body still not in sight. "Are Kimi and Fiery with you?"

"Yeah!" he shouted back. "I've got Kimi and Adair's-"

Voltaire felt himself knocked down to his knees as Adair struck him hard on the back with one of his flaming arms. He hunched over Kimi as more blows came in quick succession.

Shit...Shit...

"Fiery! Fiery stop it!" Ava yelled, and soon the blows ceased as Ava shielded them with her body. "Bad Fiery! Bad Fiery!"

Voltaire could see only the black-and-white flames spewed by Chiaroscuro. After a little while the bright-dark flame ceased, and the Hunter thought he heard a feeble apology from the Hero.

"Going going going going," Ava hastily spoke as she quickly helped everyone onto her back. She began running ahead, where the light of outside soon appeared.

Kimi clung to Voltaire still. "Was that Adair doing that?" She asked with wide eyes.

Adair soon reached the outside and flew off into the sky. It was already night.

Voltaire nodded tiredly, his back sore and throbbing from the attacks. "Chiaroscuro. His heart stops and all his emotions get cut off, and then he starts spewing soul flames everywhere."

"I'm sorry," Adair murmured in monotone, his head drooped forward.

"And then he gets depressed as hell afterward," Voltaire added.

"I'm sorry."

"Stop that."

"I'm sorry."

Voltaire sighed. "He didn't used to be like that. It's what that bastard family of his did to his heart. We're trying to fix it. That's why we're going to the tournaments, so we can access power that might be able to heal him."

Kimi frowned slightly. "M-maybe, Maybe I can try healing him?" she suggested after a few moments of silence. "Do you think I would be any help?"

Voltaire shook his head.

"It's not anything they put into him. It's what they took out and left broken," he replied. "And probably the trauma of being betrayed by his family."

Adair looked away, but didn't say anything.

"Anyway, looks like you're the one who needs healing," Voltaire went on, looking at her injured leg. He began to breathe white fire on it, hoping that would be all it would need.

"Save your fire breath." Kimi sighed. "I just need to clean the blood off and it will heal itself." She murmured. "I'll be fine" She leaned against him, cuddling into his warmth.

Voltaire stopped his firebreathing, but the appearance of the dried blood ailed him. He ripped one of the shoulder bands of his shirt and tore off a piece to clean the blood with, causing one of his shoulders to become bare. He dabbed the remaining blood off her skin, relieved that the leg didn't appear to be seriously injured. It could have been worse. It could have been so much worse.

It didn't matter that he was nice or kind or whatever Kimi thought of him as. He didn't have any damn control over it. He brought misfortune to himself and, more importantly, to anyone close. That cave didn't collapse by itself or because the demon was defeated. It was his damn fault. His damn black soul nearly got everyone killed. He started to shake.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, hugging Kimi tight. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

Kimi blinked in surprise. "Voltaire, I'm alright" She soothed. She wrapped her arms around him and gently stroked his back. "I'm okay. We're all okay. Its not your fault"

"I...I..." Voltaire croaked, his voice breaking as tears gathered in his aqua-green eyes. He nuzzled her shoulder, choking back a sob as he shook.

"Volty, Volty, what's wrong?" asked Ava. "Kimi's right. We're okay. It's the stupid cave's fault."

This only seemed to make more upset, as he buried his face into her shoulder. Adair watched in vague amazement, still caught in his own stupor.

Kimi stroked the back of his head gently and murmured to his soothingly. "Hush. I'm here. Its all right. You don't have to hold it in." She cooed. "You can cry if you want to" She gently pressed her lips to his head. "Hush"

Voltaire's body continued to shudder with sobs, occasionally mixed with a half-drowned apology. Gradually the sobbing lessened, until he finally slipped into a fitful slumber.

Kimi continued to hold and sooth him. She did her best not to let her shifting wake him.

"I wonder what happened," Ava spoke softly, letting out a faint warble of concern. "Volty usually gets mad when something like this happens, not sad. He never gets upset like this."

Kimi kept quiet. It wasn't her place to talk about it, especially after Voltaire had told her not to. She continued to stroke his hair soothingly.

Voltaire began singing weakly in his sleep, a beautiful but sad tone to the inaudible song. There was no fire or wings, just singing.

Adair had already fallen asleep a while ago.

(You can move things forward whenever you feel like it.)

Kimi sighed softly as she listened.

-------------

Kimi fell asleep at some point during the flight, but she had never let go of Voltaire. Even as she lay next to him, her arms were wrapped around him to sooth his tears.

Voltaire woke up with the morning sunrise just emerging. He noticed Kimi and became aware that he was lying in her gentle grasp. But he didn't remember falling asleep, much less falling asleep in her arms. What had he been doing yesterday anyway? They were in a cave, they came across a pool...then everything rushed back to him, including the guilt. He softly nuzzled Kimi's shoulder, not wanting to get up.

Kimi was awake instantly. "Are you alright?" She asked softly, looking at his with wide eyes. "Do you feel better?"

Voltaire was startled by her sudden awakening, and was glad he hadn't accidently breathed fire or set his arms ablaze. He had already done enough damage. He nodded silently to her question but didn't meet her eyes.

Kimi carefully sat up. "Are you sure?" She asked. "Do you want to sleep some more? Ava said it'll be a while yet until we get to the next tournament. You have enough time"