meritocracy | ♛accidential video;

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♛accidential video;

[the feed blurs in, shaky and uncertain. there's grass, sky, and there's blood. there's golden curls and a familiar brown headband and there's blood.

the video screen is smeared with red fingerprints and there is suddenly white skin, spasming fingers reaching for the screen but there is not a single word. not a single sound.

it moves, slowly, the fingers twitching as if in agony before it moves to a face, blood smeared at the top of the chin, dirt speckled across the cheeks and eyes barely open. for a minute there's the flash of a horrible red, gaping wound beneath the chin but then it's back to a pale face, lips parting but no sigh coming out. then the video spirals upwards, once, twice, red fingerprints and all.

and the fallen woman hasn't uttered a single word. ]

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[Tear. It's Tear. Natalia's eyes flicker open again, blurrily. It feels like a few days ago she had been crying on her shoulder--how long was that?

Is she alright? She can do little else but blink into the screen and muster the same strained, white smile. It looks as much as a sorry as it is a quiet, weak hello. There's blood caked to her hair and her face but that smile is what stands out.

Tear I look absolutely horrible, don't I..a bloody Princess--how humiliating. Didn't I say once we'd go shopping----..too pretty to wear soldier clothes all the time--

[That sight frightens her, and it nearly breaks her resolve to stay put because those scientists had no right to do this to her, not to her best friend. Despite all that she attempts a smile for her, able to tell just what it was that Natalia meant with it. Why was she apologizing for her appearance, when no matter what she was beautiful?]

It's all right... Asch is already on his way, isn't he? If you're worried we can clean you up afterward.

...--

[She would swallow but it would hurt. She would nod but she would bleed. Instead Natalia just keeps smiling, blinking a few times as if that would continue to convey what she wanted.

I am worried--but not so much about that--..maybe once I might have more but..

But there are black spots and it's harder to focus.]

Natalia? [She could not speak at all with that gaping wound, could she? Even though she knows that she wants to, having shared similar frustrations herself. But what could she do to ensure she would stay awake until at least Asch arrived?]

Please, try to stay awake. I'm not leaving you. [She is not physically at her side, but she wants to let her know that she is at least here to listen.]

[Natalia blinks once or twice and then there's a tear streaking past her white face, and she bites her lip, brows furrowing as her eyes widen.

Tear I don't want to cry..!]

[If only she could reach forward to be there and wipe that tear away, to hold her hand so that she wouldn't have to cry for how scared she undoubtedly was. For Natalia to want to cry spoke volumes.]

... You're strong. No matter what, you are strong. [If Natalia did cry, she would simply 'forget' that she ever had. It wasn't the same but nonetheless she would respect her wishes.]

[Natalia is stubborn too. She isn't afraid--not for her. Worried about the others and if they're alright--that she's causing trouble. It frustrates her. But she says nothing.

She blinks at her again, smiling once again though it's fainter. Her eyes flicker stubbornly.]

[Except for all their stubbornness, there was still the possibility that it could not be enough to keep her awake before Asch arrived. And if Natalia were to pass out, there was the possibility that...]

Natalia. [She wishes that she had not had to raise her voice, but it was a surefire way to keep her attention focused on her.]

[Tear. Tear--

Her green eyes are faint, her smile like the taped-fonons Asch applied to her wound, not steady enough. There's a possibility in the back of her mind, as a studied healer, that she's suffered a grievous wound.

And that she might not be able to come home, after all.
Tear's voice is firm and she has her eyes closed, white as snow--before that voice calls to her. There's a green flicker under her closed eyes.]

Please, stay with me. [Grievous wound or not, Tear was going to put everything she had into making sure that Natalia would heal, that she would be able to hear her speak again and they can move past this like they had all the other terrible events suffered throughout their journey together in Auldrant.

She would be there for her.] You must stay awake, do you understand?

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