A Hole In The Sky

Cage gasps, leaning up from the ground quick. His breaths are shallow as he feels over his body with wide eyes. After a moment, he sighs, remembering where he is, "I'm here," he pulls his hair back with his only hand, "I'm alive."

Cage doesn't know if he ever wants to go to sleep again. In his dream, he was back in that place, alone with his thoughts. Severe panic had been all that he could muster for a time, and after that, he accepted it. He accepted that he had died and returned to oblivion.

That is not the case, fortunately.

---

Kyro groans, leaning up from the cave floor. His abdomen is sore, and he unwraps the makeshift tourniquet, crusty with dried blood. A gash splits the stomach of his leotard, and blood stains everything below. But the wound under is healed mostly. Only a thin line of dry scabs remains, and they crack and pull on his skin as he stands. Kyro wipes his face, looking around the cave.

A bit of crimson light peeks through the narrow opening. Ingen snores, the grating sound more akin to a blade against a grinding stone than a snore. He sprawls across the floor with a hand on his Warhammer. Always the paranoid one. Though Kyro does not blame him, especially with where they are. In the center of the humid cave, a pile of black scale bark sits with whisps of smoke rising from it, the flames extinguished before they all turned in for the night. Empty skewers lay to the side of it, barely visible against the black rock. Ingen had taken Cage's share with no remorse, though the one-armed man seemed happy to give it away.

Kyro was just about as confused as Ingen was when Cage had said it. He had already eaten? Impossible. Kyro hasn't seen the man eat a single thing since- His eyes widen. Kyro looks at Cage, leaning his head against the back of the cave, legs outstretched and arm in his lap. In that black leotard, he is almost invisible, but his pale skin gives him up.

Now that Kyro looks, he sees that what was once a spindly, walking corpse, is beginning to look like an actual living being. Thin muscle fills out the leotard, rather than bone. Even Cage's face, which was once merely skin stretching tightly over a skull, now fills out with a small amount of fat and muscle. He looks alive now, even if he still seems to be missing a few meals.

Of course! It makes so much sense now. The parasite. The centipede. They have to be going somewhere, and if he is correct in his assumptions, then Cage has been feeding off those bodies. Kyro will have to talk with him about it. However, there is one thing that confuses the Rajin. Kyro does not sense one lick of Vas from the man, even after his apparent feast. He had thrown the detail to the side when meeting the man, chalking it up to the delirium of withdrawals.

Those black eyes snap open suddenly, and Kyro starts, taking a surprised step back. The Rajin sighs, relaxing some after a moment, "Just waking up?" he asks.

Cage shakes his head, pulling his legs in and placing a hand on the ground to stand, "I woke up a few hours ago. Couldn't go back to sleep," he says, wiping the sweat from his brow, "This place is like a furnace."

Kyro chuckles, "Then I can't say you'll like it on Raj. This place is hot, but at least it's dry," Raj is humid, the kind that wriggles into your home, an invisible intruder. There, waking up dry and not in a puddle of your own sweat is a good start to the day. When winter comes around in the later months of the year, that humid dew in the air turns to ice that hangs from roofs, layers the streets, and freezes lakes. Though Kyro likes the winter. At least you can warm yourself with a couple layers of clothes then.

"Should we wake him up?" Cage asks, gesturing to Ingen. And as if on cue, the large purple man jolts, and the loud snoring ceases. His eyes open slowly, and he groans, leaning up with a hand to his bald head, "Blasted stone. Should've brought bedding..." Ingen curses, "...Even a hammock would do."

Kyro scoffs, "After all this time, you still think you can fit in a hammock? There's a reason only women use them," he says, looking down at Ingen.

Ingen slowly looks at Kyro, clicking his tongue as he reaches around to rub the middle of his back, his massive muscles clearly making the action much harder, "You are still here, Kyro? I thought you would have left by now," he retorts. Kyro was always already up and about by the time Ingen rolled out of bed, eager to torture himself with training. Though as Ingen glances at Cage, he thinks that perhaps he has met his match, "Still not hungry?" Ingen chuckles, the action devolving into a groan as he stands, his head cracking against the low cave ceiling. He curses, rubbing the back of his smooth head.

Cage cracks, trying and failing to hold back the laughter. Sure, a man that massive would terrify anyone in battle, but getting through doors without a headache must be a gamble, "No," Cage says, wiping a single tear from his eye, chuckling again, "No, I'm still pretty full."

Kyro smiles, watching the two as they continue their banter. Ingen seems to like Cage, which is a surprise. Most never get past the glare. Though he fears the opposite effect will take place for the other Rajin. Guilt by association. It is too late now, though. Kyro said that he would take Cage with him, and so he will.

Ingen gathers his things, slinging the bag over one shoulder, and the hammer atop the other. He's moved to the center of the cave, where the dome-like ceiling allows him to stand straight, "I see you've found no luck with the Rage Stones," he says, glancing at Kyro.

Kyro shakes his head, "We did, but we were attacked and lost them," he responds, sighing, "though I find myself growing sick of this place. We will return now."

Ingen nods, "We can return together. I have plenty to cover for the both of us," he says, shrugging the bag on his shoulder, "Perlo will have something to say about it, but well, he always does."

Kyro pauses, glancing at the several points jutting from the bottom of the bag. Where in Betor's name did he find so many? He almost rejects the offer, shame worming into his mind. Mavyl must have felt this way, only worse. Much worse. Strange, that. Kyro will save someone without a second thought, but when the action is returned? "Fine," he glances at Cage, "Have everything you need? We should be on our way."

Cage nods, shrugging, "Not like I have anything to carry," he responds.

"Ah," Kyro says, "I knew that... Let's get going then." he leads the ways through the narrow tunnel leading outside, Ingen and Cage following close behind. As Cage crouches through the tunnel, a stench wafts in his nose, "What's that smell?" he asks, nose scrunched as he nearly vomits.

Ingen laughs hardily, the sound echoing through the tunnel as they near the exit, "Sorry, Little man. I get a bit gassy in the mornings," he says.

"Gassy? It smells like something dead crawled from your ass," Cage says as they both exit the tunnel.

"Try waking up to that stench every day," Kyro says with a grin, half-turning to look at Cage, who distances himself from Ingen, truly looking as if he had smelled a decomposing corpse. Ingen bellows that haughty laugh, hand to his abdomen all the while.

Kyro looks out to the land, that lava river behind him. No ash falls, and while that may seem like a welcomed detail, it unsettles the blue Rajin. Kyro has visited this planet on collecting trips over a dozen times, and ash has fallen each time, sometimes in sprinkles, and sometimes like a storm, covering the black rock in short piles of white and grey. He looks to the sky, and that crimson star floats along, no bogs of smoke present to hide its vibrance.

Kyro looks farther, miles ahead at the stem, the entrance to Kalar. It's shaped like a reverse funnel, curving out at the bottom and extending in all directions to cover the entire planet. It's white in color, and the thousands of strands that seem to weave together always move, mixing the lighter and darker parts. Kyro has always wondered what exactly the branches and barriers are made of, though not even the most studied scholarly women on Raj have been able to tell him.

"Isn't the sky a bit... clearer than usual?" Cage steps up beside Kyro, Ingen standing on the other side. He has opted to stay far from Ingen, or at least from his backside.

Kyro nods, "It is," eyes drifting through the sky. He notices something strange near the stem, what seems to be a hole in the barrier, tiny cracks jutting from the edges. Impossible. Kyro sighs, are the withdrawals already taking hold of him again? "Come. We will gain nothing by worrying," he says, deciding not to mention the strange detail. If he is hallucinating, then he would rather not expose it.

Cage nods, following behind Kyro and Ingen. He looks to where the blue Rajin had been gazing earlier, noticing the solid blue light in the sky. That must be the stem that Kyro had spoken of earlier. It looks like an upside-down waterfall to him, one that curves into itself to create a perfect circle, the flow a bit too smooth. Though one question sticks out in Cage's mind, "We're gonna take a boat up there?" he asks.

Ingen chuckles, glancing at Kyro, "He truly knows nothing, does he?" he says, chuckling again, but eyeing his friend all the while. Kyro had been lying about Cage when explaining his origin, that much is obvious to Ingen. He will have to ask when they are alone, but for now, Ingen will have to trust his friend.

"Not a thing. I find it hard to believe he is as old as he says," Kyro responds, turning his head and side glancing at Cage, "You will see," Kyro replies to his question.

Cage nods in response. He walks behind the two Rajin men, and notices something strange. On the back of both of their necks, there is a tiny sphere embedded into their skin. They are black in color, almost seeming to glow. Cage looks between the two men, studying the spheres with narrowed eyes, "What are those things on the back of your necks?" he asks, "They look painful."

"Trackers," Kyro responds with blunt words, glancing back at Cage "Implanted into each and every Collector. If any Collector tries to go anywhere other than Kalar, or gets a little brazen with the guards in the city, then the tracker will detonate. No one survives what follows."