INTRO LOG: A TAXING JOURNEY

[hadrielmods]

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for December. Watch your step!
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: December 10th-17th
Warnings: Taxxon-related violence, teeth shoes, general unpleasantness, mass confusion.

You wake up in the dust of the colosseum with no shoes on, regardless of the state of your feet when you arrived. There's dust covering your clothing and in your hair, but other than that, there's no signs of injury or bruising. You're also not alone- nearby, there are others, either still passed out or just waking up like you are. Feel free to take solace in that fact. Or don't- some of you aren't human, and are clearly not great people either. No offense.

To your left, there is a door in the wall of the arena, supposedly leading to the halls which will then show you to your freedom. To your right, and scattered haphazardly on the ground, are a myriad of teeth shoes. These shoes might be better than going barefoot right now, but good luck finding a matching set, let alone one that fits you.

When you do eventually try to escape, be careful. The halls are crawling with Taxxons. Large and grotesque, these caterpillar-like creatures have circular mouths and multiple rows of sharp teeth. Their sense of smell is impeccable, and they will stop at nothing to feed when they scent blood. So, you know, try to avoid stepping on anything sharp on your way out.

All done with the horrible monsters and awkward greetings? Try your hand at exploring the rest of the city! Find a house, find a new monster, or simply scavenge for supplies until your little heart is content. Good luck, and enjoy your stay in Hadriel!

► This log covers December 10th-17th.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well!
► Characters may find their own shoes scattered around with the teeth shoes if you like.
► All characters now arrive with phones that have network communication.
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!

Comments

kazuhira miller | ota

[vendetta]

01. ARRIVAL [closed to Big Boss]
Miller doesn't remember falling asleep.

He'd been on Mother Base (because frankly, he didn't leave it much these days; he was of more use providing support than working out in the field), coordinating new jobs and checking on the men while the Boss was out. Morale had been low lately, not necessarily because of anything they'd done wrong, but because of what had happened with the English strain. First the quarantine platform, then Eli's last stand which had gotten way too many kids killed—a lot of the men were taking it hard.

Kaz did what he always did: he got back to work.

But when he opens his eyes now, it's through the haze of disorientation. His aviators aren't on, and it takes some frantic groping through sand (sand?) before he finds them.

Once they're back in place, Kaz pushes himself up to sit and finds that he's in the center of some kind of arena. It looks like the Colosseum in Rome, except without the tourists... and there are other bodies scattered around him. Living bodies, but none of them are people he recognizes. He's obviously nowhere near Mother Base, but he has no memory of being taken anywhere, of even being apprehended—

He still has his cane and his artificial leg, that much he can be thankful for, but for some reason they've taken his shoes. With a grunt and the help of his cane, Kaz slowly but surely gets to his feet, the peg of his fake leg digging into the sand. Sand which looks to be periodically splattered with bloodstains, he can't help but notice. He only needs one shoe, and so he grabs the first one that isn't completely strange and pulls it on.

Given that he has no idea where he is and he's out in the open, exposed like an easy mark, Kaz makes no attempt to talk to the other people who are slowly waking up. What he needs to do is get away from this place to somewhere more protected and then figure out what's happened.

With cane in hand, he hobbles his way over to the single door that's available to him, which leads to some interior hallways. That's a little better, at least, but it's dim and nothing he's seeing is jogging any memories. CIPHER has to be behind this. They hadn't been able to get to the Boss the way they'd wanted, so they'd decided to come after him instead, because he was the easier target. Well, he sure as hell isn't going to go down without a fight. He'll make them regret the assumption that he'll be easy pickings.

As Kaz approaches a corner, he hears a series of noises, squelching and clicking sounds that give him immediate pause. Whatever that is, it doesn't sound good, but there's no other way out and he isn't going back the way he came. Taking a moment to steel himself, he sets his cane against the nearest wall and then grabs for his gun. With only one arm, this might prove tricky, but he presses himself up against the wall and then moves forward step by excruciating step.

Once close enough, he rounds it as quickly and smoothly as he can (which isn't very), and is faced with...

There's really no other word for it. It's a monster. A giant insect with more limbs than anything that large should have.

"What the hell?" Kaz barks, lifting his arm to shoot at the thing as he tries to back away without tripping over himself. If the bullets don't do any good, he'll have no choice but to run, and that isn't anywhere close to his strong suit.

Shit.

02. HOUSE HUNTING [open]
Kaz doesn't regret splitting away from Snake. He doesn't need his help, even if he's been established here for a month now and might be able to answer his questions. Kaz couldn't care less about that. There are other people here, so he'll get information from them. He refuses to go crawling back when he'd been cast aside like a stray dog.

He has to prove that he can survive in this bizarre place on his own, and the first step in doing that is finding somewhere to live. Kaz's journey through the city is slow-going, his body already protesting the strain he's putting on it by traveling such long distances, but he grits his teeth through the soreness.

By sheer determination alone, he's reached the apartment buildings that are actually intact. Architecturally, nothing in this city looks anything like what Kaz knows from Earth, but it's taking some time to wrap his head around the idea that they're in another world ruled by gods. The spire before him is no different, and he stares up at it, wondering what the protocol is for getting himself an apartment.

It doesn't look like there's anyone in charge, or some kind of landlord to negotiate with, but the idea that he can just stroll in and pick a room for himself is beyond him. Kaz takes a look around and then spots a stranger heading down the road toward him.

"Hey. Do you know if there's anyone around in charge of this..." He pauses and gestures to the spire with his cane. "Building?"

03. SCAVENGING [open]
It's not a pill that Kaz swallows easily, this idea that he's trapped in this strange place for the unforeseen future. Whatever his feelings about Big Boss, though, there's one thing he does have to admit: if there was a way out of here, he would have found it by now. Until now, Kaz hadn't realized there was such a thing as a cage that could keep Snake prisoner (unless a coma counted, and in a way it did). Hadriel had proved that theory wrong.

Now that he's got somewhere to stay, the next move is to make sure that he's got what he needs to survive in the long term. Kaz isn't used to gathering resources himself, he usually has other people who take care of that for him, but Diamond Dogs doesn't exist here. (Everything he built, taken from him again.) So he'll handle this himself, peg leg and all.

Once he makes it to the storefronts, Kaz first finds himself a backpack. He can only carry so much at once, which means that these scavenging trips will have to be a routine thing. Frustrating, to say the least, but he's too stubborn to ask anyone else for help, even if his missing arm makes the entire process take twice as long.

Nonetheless, Kaz makes his way through the rubble of the store, using his cane to sift through debris in search of edible food or clothing that would fit.


[ OOC note: While this top comment is in prose, I'm more than happy to thread with brackets/action tags! ]

house hunting!

[whichend]

From a distance, Arya thinks this man is a corpse. Or a revived corpse. Where she comes from, one does not lose an arm and a leg and survive. The exception, of course, was the Lightning Lord, who rose up even after his skull was bashed in. Perhaps this man has been exposed to a similar kind of magic. He moves slower than Beric Dondarrion, however, as if he's not quite healed. That's different.

So it's curiosity more than anything else that drives Arya to actually approach the man. It's not something she does often -- she has a blanket mistrust of all males over the age of thirteen. It's a survival mechanism, and some days, she wishes she'd developed it earlier. She's got her sword out, ready for a fight if it comes to it, but something tells her she can take this man even without Needle's help. That thought gives her a slight bit of comfort.

Once she's close enough to see him properly, she gives him a cold, analytical stare-down before responding. She's checking for weaknesses (those are obvious), strengths, and any clues to his identity. She doesn't think she knows him, but the glasses make her deeply uncomfortable. She doesn't trust people if she can't see their face.

"No one is in charge," she responds, flatly. "If you're looking for shelter, this can suffice." She shrugs. "I've never been in it myself, though. If I were you, I'd scout it out first. Check for bears." It's sound advice. She's curious to see what the man will do with it.

[vendetta]

It's true that Miller's combat ability has been hindered greatly by what he's lost, but he's also aware of how people underestimate him. They seem him as weak, like a tree so thin that it's blown over by a strong wind. But no matter how many times he's knocked down, he'll always pull himself back up.

This girl looks out of place here, especially with that blade that she's wielding. Just as out of place as the kids they'd taken in had looked on Mother Base. Miller had done everything he could for them, and yet it hadn't been enough. He heaps that blame on himself. If he'd been more careful with Eli, if he hadn't wanted to go easy on him, he might not have gotten away. He'd dragged all those other kids onto that suicide mission with him...

Miller forces those thoughts from his head, focusing instead on this girl. She's unconnected to anything that happened then, but she's a symptom of the same problem. She holds that sword like she knows how to use it -- another child soldier?

She offers him a direct answer, everything logical until that last point. "Bears?" Miller echoes, frowning as he offers the spire another look. "Are those common around here?" The Boss had brought back a few to their animal conservation platform, so it's not as if Miller is unfamiliar with them. But that means he's also all too aware of the kind of damage one can do. He definitely doesn't want to be caught unawares by one.

[whichend]

She nods, looking back up at the spire. It's awfully tall. What strikes her, though, is that the cave is taller -- impossibly tall. Arya vaguely wonders if someone built it. Maybe the gods did. Maybe something more sinister. There must be a reason why no one lives here, after all.

"Dire bears, specifically. They're larger, and faster, but they die all the same. And they make decent meat, if you don't overcook it. It gets tough quickly." Arya doubts there are actual bears in this apartment, though. They would have heard them by now. Bears aren't exactly quiet creatures. "They were in the coliseum months ago, but have mostly been driven back into the caves."

There could be corpses in there, though. Or other similar signs of destruction. That sort of thing doesn't bother Arya, but when she went scavenging with Steve the first time, she could tell he was a little uncomfortable by it. The dead do stink, after all, and the circulation in a cave isn't great. But the dead are preferable to the living, in Arya's book. The dead can't hurt you.

Which brings her back to her initial curiosity -- has this man been resurrected? Or did he use "technology," the not-magic that the others Arya has met are so fond of?

"Are you alive?" she asks, bluntly. It's kind of a personal question, but Arya doesn't care. She'd like to know who she's dealing with.

[vendetta]

Is this girl honestly talking to him about the upsides of eating bear meat? Kaz hates that it makes him think of Snake, who's always been interested in how just about any kind of animal tastes. He clenches his jaw and looks away, his hand tightening imperceptibly on the handle of his cane.

From what Miller has heard so far, most of the vicious monsters and animals have all been driven out to the caves. That doesn't necessarily mean that they're safe, his arrival is a testament to that, but he doubts that it would be a problem in these housing units. "Bears aren't exactly fond of enclosed spaces," he mutters under his breath.

As for any corpses or other signs of destruction that Miller might find inside the spire, he can handle it. He's seen some horrific sights in his time, seen his own men obliterated by CIPHER's ambush. He long ago decided he was on his way to Hell; as far as he's concerned, this Hadriel place is just an incovenient detour.

The girl's question startles him out of his thoughts and he stares down at her, brow knitting above his glasses. "No," he says bluntly, but then he has to acknowledge to himself that he probably should be dead, twice over now. First when Big Boss had wiped out his whole unit, and then the helicopter crash. He's just too stubborn to die, and he has too many debts to settle.

"Why would you say that?" It's not the sort of question someone asks out of the blue, but Miller's already determined that this girl is kind of off. If she's been trained as a soldier, it's understandable.

[whichend]

Arya would talk to someone about the upsides of eating acorn paste, if it came to that. It'd be a short conversation, since acorn paste doesn't do much except trick your belly into thinking it's full for a few minutes, but when you're on the run, it's better than nothing.

There might not be bears in there, but there has to be something dangerous. Arya's grown to expect that sort of thing. Danger is amplified when it catches you off-guard, and after watching the Lannisters torture villager after villager, Arya vowed that she would never be caught unaware, ever. It's all a matter of paying attention, of knowing what's happening around you at all times. It's why Arya's gaze can't seem to focus on one object for long, not even the strange man in front of her. She's wary, permanently wary, because that's the only way a girl as small as she will survive.

But she'll grow, eventually, and that's when she'll make them all pay. Arya threw herself into making herself dangerous. She has a goal, a reason to keep on living. It's why she can't forget herself, even if she's supposed to.

She looks back at Kaz and gives him a nod. She's glad, really, because necromancy is serious business, and not something she wants to deal with.

"Because you're lacking an arm and a leg," she says flatly, because it's obvious. "And no one survives wounds like that. I've seen." She's seen all the death a person could possibly imagine. Lommy lost his leg, and she carried him awhile, until he got weak and sick and ultimately, killed.

[vendetta]

It's difficult not to notice the way that this girl is constantly on edge, like she's waiting for the next shoe to drop or something to attack them out of nowhere. Maybe that's the way this Hadriel place is, or maybe she's been bred to be that level of paranoid. There's something to be said for always being ready for the worst, but to see that sort of habit in someone so young is disturbing to the say the least.

Then again, Miller had witnessed what Eli had been capable of, kidnapping Sahelanthropus to set up a last stand against the world. He isn't about to underestimate anyone else his age.

The girl's answer causes the fingers of his hand that's no longer there to twitch, and his whole body shudders with the phantom sensation. He sighs and redistributes his weight. "Maybe where you're from that's the case, but medical advances have made it possible to survive it." He looks down. "Besides, the people who took my limbs from me... they didn't want me to die. They wanted me to suffer."

Even so, Kaz is aware that if he had been left there for even a few more days, his body might have given out on him. It'd been a close thing, no doubt about that. He's alive because Venom had been able to get him to the necessary medical attention in time.

Miller fixes his gaze on the girl once more. "What's your name?"

[whichend]

Then whoever took this man's limbs was smart, Arya thinks, because death is a gift when life becomes bad enough. Suffering is infinitely worse than death. Sometimes, she thinks (when she allows herself to) that the rest of her family were the lucky ones. They're not afraid anymore. If Arya knows one thing from handling the dead at the House of Black and White, it's that the dead fear nothing. On the contrary, some are scared of them.

Arya nods in understanding. It wasn't murder. It was torture, and unlike the Tickler, whoever tortured this man cruelly decided to spare him. Is there food and gold in the village? The Tickler's voice is faint in the back of her mind. Arya bites lip, hard.

"They took my sight from me," she says, at last. "It was supposed to be a punishment, but I took it back. Will you take your limbs back?" Robbing someone of their power is a somewhat satisfying form of revenge, although killing them is better. The dead can't hurt you, after all.

"I don't have one," she responds. Names can be taken just as easily as limbs or eyes. She thinks he might understand it. "But the people here are calling me Nymeria." She looks up at the man. "What's yours?"

[vendetta]

Many people in Miller's shoes might have had the same thought, that they would rather be dead than have to carry on like this. But he's never considered it that way. Maybe in some of his darkest moments while a POW that thought had entered his mind, but now that he's back on his feet (so to speak) he's actually relieved.

If he was dead, who else would there to be exact revenge on everyone who wronged him?

Is this girl really blind? She can't be, she'd noticed that his limbs were missing, unless she'd been able to hear that. It doesn't seem possible, but on the other hand, he's seen stranger things.

This Nymeria really knows how to start in with the hard-hitting questions, doesn't she? Not that Miller minds, exactly, but every subsequent remark she makes only gives him a clearer idea of what she's already been through. "Kazuhira Miller. Kaz is fine, if that's easier. And don't worry, I already got my limbs back," he explains, tone darkening as he remembers that pivotal moment when they'd had Skull Face at their mercy. Shooting off the two limbs that had been taken from him -- too bad Huey had ruined it by putting that monster out of his misery.

Maybe he doesn't physically have his arm and leg back, but that had been the next best thing.

[camouflage]

One's a fluke, two's coincidence, three's a pattern. After Rainier had suggested keeping an eye on the arena for any other newcomers, John had camped out there a couple days here and there. It was mostly out of curiosity, just to have something else to do that wasn't surviving. He hadn't been entirely sure that another round of captives would appear, had actually almost given up on the prospect, but part of him knew. Their overlords were entities that fed off of hope and fear, as weird as that still was to admit, and only a fool would think they wouldn't purposefully pull in more 'resources'.

The point is, when there's suddenly a commotion stirring up at the coliseum, John isn't surprised. In fact, he willingly jumps into danger, missing that thrill he always got when smack-dab in enemy territory.

After getting out of the coliseum, the old soldier finds weaving his way back into it to be infinitely easier. Granted, navigating the corridors in the near-darkness, with only his lighter to provide any illumination, is still a feat. Thankfully, he's still got plenty of bullets left, six in his gun and another two clips on his belt. All he can do is hope it's enough against whatever slimy monstrosity is scuttling around this time.

That's when he hears the distinct sound of a gun firing and the squeal of whatever the round hits. His goal had been to make his way back to the center arena, lead whatever poor bastards that had been pulled in away to safety, but this took precendence. Whoever was on the other end of that gun was about to be in serious trouble. John follows the echo of the noise, counting a few more rounds being squeezed off, until he's faced with the back of some grotesque creature and--.

Kaz.

The urge to call out to him is strong, strong enough that it makes him falter for a few moments, before John recomposes himself. And dives straight at the monster's head, driving his knife into the back of it and splitting it clean open.

[vendetta]

The first bullet seems to do some damage, sticking in the creature's smooth skin as it screeches in pain, but Miller won't assume that's good enough. Not with something this large. He aims the gun lower, firing more rounds into areas that he can only hope are its vital spots, but he's really only guessing. He's seen some hellish things in his days, people turned into mindless husks by parasites, but this is on an entirely different level.

Could CIPHER have bio-engineered a monster like this? Is this their personal little testing area, set up just for him? But no, there were those other people who'd woken up with him. He doesn't have the time to think about it now. He's shot the enormous insect enough that he can only hope that it'll be slowed down, which means he's going to have to try and maneuver around it and make a break for it.

Miller is bracing himself to do just that when the monstrosity splits in two from the head down, its top portion cut cleanly in half. Kaz's breath catches in his throat. Matters had already been bad enough, but now he's going to have to deal with whatever was strong enough to dispatch that thing in one blow.

The monster falls, revealing the figure that had come up behind it.

Kaz stares.

It takes a few seconds to actually register. His first thought is that he's seeing things, that his phantoms are haunting him even when he's awake. This face (this one, which isn't scarred or marred with shrapnel) is one he hasn't seen for ten years. It can't be him.

But there he stands, just as Kaz remembers him, covered in that monster's blood and clutching tight onto his knife. The title, Boss, almost spills out of his mouth, pure habit and some sort of yearning that's quickly replaced with anger and betrayal, those more comfortable sentiments. This man is not his Boss, not anymore. He gave up that title when he'd decided to abandon their entire mission, to abandon him.

As always, his aviators hide most of Kaz's expression, but his mouth had been hanging open until he claps it shut, grinding his teeth together. "What the hell are you doing here?" He might have expected Venom to get dragged into this mess with him—they've been through plenty of messes together at this point. But Big Boss? As far as Kaz is concerned, they're done, and this unbelievable situation doesn't change that.

[camouflage]

They're getting bigger, is all Boss thinks when he goes to wipe his knife clean on his pants. The blood is warm on his face, on his hands, but it doesn't have that copper scent. He doesn't have anything on him to wipe it off except his own shirt, so he doesn't bother. A flick of his thumb relights his silver Zippo, illuminating the area once more and giving John a chance to see his friend once more.

The missing arm is nothing new. Keeping off the grid and putting his phantom center on the world stage had meant no contact with Diamond Dogs whatsoever, meaning he couldn't get information about them in any direct way. Everything he had learned about them had come from word-of-mouth reports from on the field, random mercenaries John had shared drinks with or worked with. Kaz, with his overflowing well of pride, flaunted his weakness as a symbol. Everyone knew about the Diamond Dogs' 'crazy, armless XO'.

The leg, though, that's new. And it presents a very real problem, considering their situation. John wonders how it happened, where, when, but this isn't the time for questions. Later, after they've managed to get out alive.

"The same reason you're here, I'm guessing," John replies, almost hesistantly. At the sound of the pure anger in Kaz's voice, confusion races through him. Though it's technically been nine years since they've last spoken to each other, John still struggles with time displacement. He feels as if it's only been six months since that helicopter crash. When this whole plan had been sprung into motion, John hadn't been able to say goodbye, or anything, to Miller. He's actually happy to see him, despite the fact that John would never wish his friend to fall into this hellhole, but Miller is... Well, pissed, is the word. "Are you alright?"

[vendetta]

The lighter only makes it easier for Kaz to study every facial feature, all the lines in Snake's face. It's one that he's been looking at every day, but not really. Maybe other people wouldn't be able to tell the difference, but Kaz can. He might have been fooled when Venom came to his rescue, but he'd also been near to delirious, wanting to see something that simply wasn't there. Its own kind of phantom pain.

He'd waited ten years. He'd driven himself into a frenzy time and time again, trying to get to Snake's hospital bed despite every attempt to keep him away. He'd waited, and when he'd heard the news that the Boss had finally woken up, he'd thrown himself right into the fire to aid his escape.

And then he never came.

Kaz had been given his stand-in instead, and if anything, he's shaped him into a better soldier, a better man.

Snake's answer isn't the one that Kaz had been looking for, because that really isn't the question he'd been asking. How could he have the nerve to show up like nothing had ever happened? The question he asks is even more offensive, and Kaz can't hold back laughter in response. "Am I alright?" Does he look alright? Kaz doubts it. He's got sand all over his beret and the rest of him, he's unsteady on his feet as he tightly grips the handle of his 9mm, and yes, he's pissed. "Who do you think you are, showing up all of a sudden and acting like everything's fine?" His voice is only getting louder as he talks, and soon enough that squelching sound joins in.

Another one of those things is coming, but Kaz doesn't even care. He's too appalled by Snake's presumptuousness.

[camouflage]

Okay, so maybe he should've phrased the question better. More of a 'are you capable of running if need be', instead of a 'I know you were just kidnapped and have no idea where you are, but are you okay' kind of question. John thought that Kaz would've taken it that way from the start, though, considering the old soldier was all about practicality. All that mattered in this moment was his commander's physical health; mental acuity could come later.

"Kaz, what're you talking about?" What did he even mean by 'showing up all of a sudden' or 'acting like everything's fine'? Of course John showed up suddenly, he had followed the sounds of gunshots not knowing who was on the other end. His little foray into the coliseum was about keeping assets alive, no matter who they were. And acting like everything was fine, obviously it wasn't. There were giant, man-eating insects after them: nothing about that was fine. What was he so angry about?

When it came to people, the only thing John was any good at reading was their bodies. He knew from the placement of their feet when they would jump at him, he knew from the way they carried themselves if they were injured or sick, he knew when they were lying or hiding something. When it came to getting a bead on their thoughts or what they were trying to say, he was about as lost as a rookie soldier on an obstacle course. People had called him dense when it came to relationships and he had never argued.

Could it be about--? That's when he hears them, the other monsters roaming the halls. They must've been attracted by the noise or, at the very least, the smell. They had to move. "Never mind, we don't have time for this. I know the way out, follow me."

[vendetta]

Of course Snake is always practical, to a fault in many cases. Kaz is the other extreme, never quite able to contain his emotions or keep them from consuming him. He's well aware that this is hardly the time for him to give Snake a piece of his mind, but he also hadn't been prepared to be approached by him in some unknown place without any kind of warning. He might have braced himself a little better (and kept more of his composure) under different circumstances.

Now that the fire's been started, though, there's no easy way to put it out. Every subsequent word that comes out of Snake's mouth only makes Kaz angrier, his shoulder and hand shuddering with fury at just how little he understands. They'd been partners and they'd made a promise to each other, to see through their dream together, and yet Snake apparently decided he didn't care about any of that.

Kaz knew Snake pretty well. Maybe not as well as some, or so Zero had tried to tell him, but he understood that his social skills weren't always the best, that sometimes he just didn't get it. That isn't an excuse in this case, though.

Follow me, Snake says, and though Kaz realizes it's right back to practicality, it causes something else to snap in him. "I'm not following you anywhere," he grates out, his tone like gravel. He's being stubborn to the point of endangering himself, but there's no way in hell that he can let Snake think that he'll fall back into line that easily.

Another one of those grotesque creatures is looming up from behind Snake. These things move slow, but even so, it's making its way toward them. Without any warning, Kaz leans to one side so that he can shoot over Snake's shoulder at it. He gets one good shot in before the shift in balance sends him toppling against the opposite wall. His aim might still be good, but that doesn't mean much if he can't stay centered. "Dammit!" he yells out as his bad side crashes into the wall.

[camouflage]

There's a moment, too long of a moment really, that John half-expects Kaz to shoot him when he raises his gun. Miller's anger is palatable when he forces out that he refused to go with John, enough so the shooting him doesn't seem so out of the realm of possibilities. And, honestly, if that had been the case, there's a tiny part of John that would have just taken the bullet.

Whatever it is that has Kaz this angry at him, practically spitting hate at him, it must justify him being shot.

But Kaz doesn't shoot him and John doesn't dive out of the way, just lets the bullet fly over his shoulder. Boss still trusts his second-in-command enough not to move when he raises his weapon, knowing it must be to down an enemy. When Kaz goes down against the wall, John whips around to assess the situation behind him. The aim of Kaz's pistol had stayed true and managed to hit the thing in the eye, causing it to thrash around long enough for Big Boss to make up his mind.

If he allows his friend to keep his pride, to do what he wanted, they would both be dead within the next five minutes. So John makes an executive decision, like any good CO.

"We're leaving!" Boss' voice is harsher than he means it to be, but his friend was being ridiculous beyond reason. This man was a trained soldier, but Miller's damn pride would always be his downfall. John scoops his friend up with much struggle. Thankfully, Kaz has enough of a leg left for John to pull off a fireman's carry, leaving one of his arms free to grab his own gun. When he unloads a few rounds into the thing's head, it goes down with a screech, the .45 caliber rounds tearing through it easily. With a path clear, Boss makes his way down the way he came.

[vendetta]

Really, he should have seen this coming. Snake isn't the type to let one of his men die on his watch, not if there's a way to prevent it. Even if it means bypassing what that person wants, he'll see them to safety. Not that Kaz really believes he's one of Snake's men anymore, that bridge has been burned as far as he's concerned. Still, there's not much he can do when a strong grip seizes him and he's heaved up onto Snake's shoulders.

It's humiliating, honestly, to have to be carried out of a crisis area like this. Miller brought that upon himself by never accepting any proper prosthetic limbs, but he'd also never imagined he'd end up in a situation like this, with Snake hauling him away from giant centipede... things.

Should he be relieved that Snake still cares enough to not let him die? Or should he be even more upset that he won't even hear him out?

Flopping around on Snake's shoulders like nothing but dead weight, Kaz uses the one arm he still has to keep a good grip. He's been carried like this before, by a man who'd felt the same, sounded the same. Back then, he'd thought that he and the Boss had finally been reunited. He hadn't even cared about the limbs that had been taken from him. It'd all been worth it, to make sure that they could be together again—

The magic words... Come on, say it for old time's sake.

No, he won't ask for that now.

scavenging

[closerift]

Kaz isn't the only one scavenging at the moment. A young woman in her late twenties is a short distance away inside the store, against the wall opposite. She slows when another person enters, eyes sharp and trained on the stranger, but continues her own search with occasional, wary glances toward Kaz.

"I had better luck at the next block over," the woman, Cecily Trevelyan, says. Unlike many of the others in Hadriel, she's dressed as if from another time, wearing a longbow strapped across her back, and determinedly ignoring the beeping that's undoubtedly coming from the device at her hip. Nevertheless, she offers the advice with a hesitant smile, placing a few cloth bandages into the pouch she wears.

"Is there anything in particular you're searching for?" Cecily questions. "If it's food, you can eat the fish from the river and lake; they're safe enough. We tried the bears, once, too, but... you know. It's hard to trust anything 'given' to us by Fear."

Or Hope, either, she thinks, but doesn't say. Not everyone agrees on that count.

[vendetta]

It's not surprising that there are others out and about with the same idea as him. Miller hasn't gotten an actual count on the number of captives, but either way, there's a fair amount of people wandering around in need of shelter, food, and clothing. Weapons too, but those are apparently harder to come by.

While he and this woman could have carried on with their tasks in silence, Kaz prefers to engage in conversation. Even a simple chat can lead to more information, and he doubts that anything here will actually be simple. The way this stranger dresses and speaks feels similarly out of place to the other people he's met so far. Everyone in this massive cave is foreign to him.

Save for Snake. But that doesn't mean Kaz is going to go crawling back. He can survive just fine on his own.

The advice this stranger offers him he'll take without any complaint, though. Fishing in the river he can probably manage even with his arm missing. "I'll keep that in mind. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea that this place is run by people who embody different emotions." Or... apparently they referred to himself as gods, but that was just too ridiculous.

"And I'm looking for food, clothing, medical supplies..." He takes a few hobbling steps toward her, looking over her strange dress and the bow on her back. "What's your name?" The more people he knows, the better, even if they do look like they walked right out of a fantasy novel.

[closerift]

It's a fairly big number, at this point. Cecily has been in the city for a few months now, and each one brings new captives to the caves. New monsters, too, which is just as concerning, particularly when (as he's noticed) there are few weapons to find.

"It does seem like something out of a story, doesn't it?" She scoffs, rearranging a few things in her bag to make room for more. "They have power, that much is for sure, but as for their being gods... well. I think it depends how you define that."

She doesn't trust them or like them and is therefore less inclined to bring them tribute, or whatever else they'd asked of their prisoners.

"There's some of that to go around." She retrieves some of the cloth bandages from her pouch and walks over, extending it in an offer. "My name is Cecily; I've been here a while now, if you've any questions."

[vendetta]

As out of place as this woman might look to him, she seems to agree that this place is almost too strange to be believed. That's a relief. If everyone around here acted like getting kidnapped by the embodiments of Hope and Fear was normal, Miller might have ended up feeling like the crazy one.

Kaz can't say that he believes in gods to begin with, so he already takes some issue with that terminology. He doesn't have any intention of kneeling down to them, that's for sure.

He isn't expecting her to offer him anything more than basic human decency, so when she hands over the bandages, he raises his eyebrows in surprise before adjusting his cane so that he can reach out and take the roll. Whether she's doing this out of the kindness of her heart or because it will leave him indebted to her, he's in no position to refuse. "Thanks. Kazuhira Miller. And I guess my first question would be, what kind of power do they really have? Those... gods, I mean."

[closerift]

Thankfully, not many who've been brought to Hadriel seem to have any intention of kneeling. More often, they just complain, then settle passively into the town that's seemingly been waiting for them. The only way they've found to be able to fight back is to kill the local monsters, when they appear (to the best of their abilities, which isn't always very much).

"Enough to endanger our lives, but not enough that they can return us... or, so they say." It's crisp and conversational; he's still a stranger, after all, and anyone could be an agent of Hope and Fear or even one of their monster lackies. Kaz seems humanlike-enough, so she just looks back at him, expression touched with the distaste she has for the 'gods.'

"They can grant gifts to the people who they favor and one draws out our memories to let loose monsters from our homes, if you can guess which that is. He's also inflicted awful illusions on us to cause fear. ... Ah, look, I've already given the game away. Sorry about that."

[vendetta]

As Cecily explains, Kaz tucks the bandages away into his coat pocket. It's really only the start of what he intends to turn into a stockpile. Back on Mother Base, they'd had whole shipping containers full of various supplies. He might not be able to create something on the same scale here, but he's never been comfortable with feeling unprepared.

"Well, that's convenient," he grouses with a shake of his head. These gods will make their lives difficult, but not actually send them back to where they came from. Then again, they must be here to serve some sort of purpose, or they wouldn't have gone to the effort to transport them in the first place.

When it comes to monsters, Kaz's world doesn't have a lot to choose from. Sure, he's met plenty of people who could earn that title, but Hadriel seems to prefer a looser definition. Then again, the Parasite Unit might count. At Cecily's apology, Miller manages a wry smile. "I think in this case, I'd rather have it spoiled ahead of them. And let me guess -- Hope isn't really all that his name makes him out to be." As he speaks, Kaz continues his search, bending down with some effort to grab a dinged-up first aid kit.

[closerift]

"Not exactly." She, too, returns to the search, but there isn't much left that hasn't been picked clean from the city's stores since the first group arrived months prior. "He gathers power just the same as Fear, but using less painful methods. Unless... it's his own brand of illusion, which only sets you up for massive disappointment later on."

Once you realize you aren't where he's made you think that you are. When the little daydream ends.

The Inquisitor straightens up, hovering near the doorway with a hand on the frame.

"If you have any other questions, I can do what I can to answer them. Else, I'll take my leave."

[vendetta]

Given how new Kaz still is, he hadn't had the chance to really think about it, but Cecily's words make perfect sense. Given that they've been abducted, there isn't much chance for hope to exist here, unless it's manufactured by playing with their minds. There are ways to do that, chemical imbalances that can be created to make people hallucinate.

The whole idea of "magic" is something he still refuses to believe if there's a better explanation available to him.

After doing some one-armed juggling, Miller drops the kit and the bandages into his pack and then slings it back over his shoulder. It looks like Cecily's ready to be on her way, but there's one more thing he'd like to find out.

"Just this... has there been any progress with finding a way back to where we come from?" Snake hadn't had much to give him on that, but he's not the end all, be all of everything. And this Cecily seems to know what she's doing.