a thing; w/ ruinsprofessor & conductingresistance

[simulsimul]

universe list
canon
breached
confessed
dadly
future
grigori
mercenary
MEover
origin
reversal
titans


scenario list
canon: Kratos needs to stop running off
confessed: wing reflex
confessed: actual wingpull
confessed: turning Renegade
confessed: son meets father
dadliness: confrontation
dadliness: awakening
dadliness: illness
dadliness: a fundamental lack of understanding on the word 'abducted'
dadliness: updating parameters
dadliness: assassination assignation
mercenary: hiding in the library
mercenary: aftermath of librarian saviour
reversal: oracle destroyed
titans: storming the tower
titans: safety in the canyon
titans: night horrors


canon
- combo of Kratos and Zelos ending
- Zelos does the stupid thing, but not so far as his death, and is still the eighth member of the party to Derris-Kharlan.

scenarios
scenario one: Yuan tracks Kratos down at Dirk's.


breached
- canon right up until after Botta’s death
- no one uses Yuan’s name around Mithos so Mithos walks right into the Triet base with them
- cue an epic OH SHIT in which Yuan gets a lil bit beat up while covering the evacuation of the rest of the base
- until Kratos appears to intervene and have the Chosen group get Yuan out of there
- Mithos gets Kratos tho and he’s a bit mad cos, yanno, traitor and all
- time to be locked up and punished and need to be rescued
- kind of puts a crimp in the creation of the Eternal Ring plans
- mostly cos Mithos turns Kratos lifeless, with some armour to regulate his mana so he remains a seraph. can't have the seal becoming less powerful, yo
- it does mean he can only obey orders tho
- the first rescue fails miserably but at least no one dies and they know they need to reforge his key-crest
- the second rescue attempt (circumstances of canon-point under percolation) goes a little better, though Yuan almost gets killed by Kratos trying to attach the key-crest
- luckily that and the first telepathy in a while gets through and Kratos manages to break out a la Colette, and heal Yuan enough for Raine to get there
- after which, angreh father-son beatdown on Mithos.

scenarios
None yet.


confessed
- almost successful assassination lands Kratos as an injured stranger in Iselia (1-2 years pre-canon)
- recuperation leads to accidental-on-purpose 'holiday' in Iselia
- doubts result in a request for Dirk to make a key-crest like Kratos' own
- oracle room undergoes some stealth sabotage
- regeneration journey is slightly delayed, prompted by Genis and Lloyd being discovered at the ranch
- Triet is awkward. so very awkward. for the Renegades -- whose side is Kratos even on these days and why was he vanished for two years?
- initial overall journey similar to canon, save that Kratos is a bit less circumspect about advising Colette on how to cope with angel transformations
- there are more overt Dun Wanna Feelings
- then Luin, wherein things happen and the group is in town during the Desian attack. the others naturally want to fight but tis a mite difficult against an army and building-destroying magitech. luckily, angel on their side. unluckily, wingpulls in order to muster the power to cover the townspeoples' retreat
- questions and confessions ensue
- Colette rejects the key crest (for the moment) so there's still hopefully maybe ambiguity about Kratos's position re the last seal
- it wouldn't fit anyway, it's modelled for the hand like Kratos's is because he was a derp and did not specify otherwise, so Lloyd needs to make a thing to make it fit
- slow protective retreat toward Asgard.

scenarios
scenario one: Kratos confesses before Salvation; Raine wants to follow up.
scenario two: Raine's examination of an angel; and also Kratos realises how far he's put his foot in it.
scenario three: Kratos goes to taunt Yuan a little, and also ask for his help.
scenario four: in which Raine makes Kratos tell the children all the things, and Yuan takes too much amusement from it.


dadliness
- Kratos retires in Iselia under the name Irving to raise Lloyd after the death of his wife
- no exsphere. ageing occurs! so does a beard and a braid
- teaches Lloyd swordplay, but on the sly, to avoid the other villagers noticing. his daytime job is weaving
- Lloyd finds the box of their exspheres and wants details. after some prodding by Dirk, Kratos explains how exspheres are made and that one is Anna's life. Lloyd is too young yet, but when Lloyd comes of age (~15) Kratos lets him make his own decision re wearing it
- Lloyd chooses not to wear the exsphere
- Genis befriends Marble and Lloyd meets her, as in canon; this happens before the journey begins, with the fallout
- difference being that Colette is still in the village so they can't be too horrible, so they just demand Lloyd be turned over for a flogging
- Kratos stands in his stead because natch. luckily, they're only mooks and don't recognise the bearded weaver as anyone important
- gives Lloyd his guilt complex early tho
- the oracle happens much the same way except Botta doesn't quite recognise the weirdly familiar bearded swordsman
- he does when he's reporting to Yuan tho
      'there was an exceptionally skilled human'
      /brief physical description/
      /did x other faintly recognizable thing/
      and both he and Yuan are aware that Kratos has been awol for a while, so there's a moment of pure silence and dawning 'no, it couldn't be'
- but then obviously one of them has to go make sure
- cue an interruption just out of Triet.

scenarios
scenario one: Yuan feels the need to investigate; this results in Kratos injured and abducted.
scenario two: Yuan realises he can't kill Kratos with his own two hands; Kratos gets mothered.
scenario three: Kratos gets sick on the heels of his recovery. Yuan mothers him some more. Botta disapproves.
scenario four: Kratos recovers and makes an escape attempt. Sort-of.
scenario five: Kratos recovers more and talks to Botta, when not needling Yuan about his lack of preparedness.
scenario six: Sheena's contract takes a slight shift into undercover instead of assassination work.


future
- Aselia is Earth ~10,000 years in the past
- all is peachy-keen except the tree is now underground and the elvens/half-elves/some humans are in hiding in the centre of the planet, hidden thanks to the summon spirits
- Colette is working with humanitarian aid in various impoverished nations
- Zelos is a diplomat in West Asia / Middle East trying to keep the peace
- Yuan is a crotchety lecturer at Cambridge who's also HUGE into environmentalism
- Lloyd and Kratos are having family time in space
- occasionally the trio on Earth meet reincarnations of people they used to know
- but rarely at the same time and almost never in a position where they meet
- but then they start meeting them
- lots of them
- all in the same span of years
- they're starting to think something's hinky
- until the space-elves attack
- and then they know something is hinky.


scenarios
None yet.


grigori
- at some point significantly before canon, Kratos actually calls it quits
- the Church's institution calls him a fallen angel of vengeance
- really he's just going around trying to help people and avoiding being taken back to Cruxis
- assigns himself to the Chosen parties whenever he can, up to Colette
- ????? idk some kind of profit somewhere

scenarios
None yet.


mercenary
- when Yuan visits Kratos at the beach when Lloyd is 3 months old, he does not manage to escape before Anna and Lloyd return
- accidental attachment to this kidlet who likes pulling his hair
- three years later, Yuan can't stand to hold back while Kratos fights Kvar, so he throws caution to the wind to help
- Anna is still killed but they rescue Lloyd and Noishe and both are branded as traitors
- Lloyd is raised as a Renegade with Dad, Uncle Yuan and the extremely reticent Uncle Botta (how dare)
- meanwhile in Tethe'alla Yuan infiltrates the castle as the library archivist
- stays out of sight, mostly, but has a good ear around the politics thanks to recruiting Princess Hilda
- also happens to stumble on Zelos hiding in the library right after his mother's death
- look he's got a 'nephew' he can't just do nothing (even if all he meant was to recommend a book)
- unwittingly accidentally 'adopts' the Tethe'allan Chosen by virtue of being the only one who doesn't treat him like the Chosen
- sometimes Kratos brings Lloyd to visit and basically they're all separate pairs of exasperated bros
- by canon Lloyd and Kratos are wandering mercenaries, helping people on the sly while gathering intel to send back to the Renegades
- Yuan and Zelos are actively building resistance to the Church using inside knowledge
- the ninja are all Renegades
- Colette is escorted by Raine and by the priests
- yes the 'chain up the Chosen and drag her to every seal if necessary' priests
- she meets Lloyd randomly in Triet but Lloyd doesn't know her as the Chosen. they're a bit out of touch on the Journey of Regen timeline
- stuff happens and they keep missing each other up until Palmacosta, which is a warzone between the Desians (and Dorr as their figurehead) and the Renegades (with Neil as their leader)
- Colette wants to help; priests say no
- out come the chains
- Raine objects, but she has no exsphere so what can she do
- btw Genis got caught in the Iselian ranch and tossed in as a traitor to be made a host
- he gets sent to the Palmacosta ranch
- right after Neil manages to take the city, after Colette and Raine leave it, Botta takes the Palmacosta ranch and rescues Genis, among others
- Genis becomes his little shadow and is much preferable to Lloyd, in Botta's opinion
- Lloyd and Kratos are still trying to catch up to Colette to rescue her when they drop by
- Genis hears what they're trying to do and insists on coming along.


scenarios
scenario one: in which Yuan accidentally adopts a Chosen instead of a book from a library.
scenario two: in which Yuan is accidentally-deliberately adopted by the Meltokio Castle Knights.


MEover
- Mass Effect crossover someplace in the realm of 15,000 years after TOS canon
- except started before then, cos elves are really from Feros, planet of the cranky telepathic plant
- got decimated by the protheans trying to assimilate them into their empire
- elves objected, got killed a lot, fled Feros and got stuck in Aselia's orbit
- kinda forgot a few things but planted a seed from the Ferosian mother plant on Aselia
- Origin hasn't forgotten tho, kinda has a grudge against grumblegrumbleprotheansgrumble
- the entirety of TOS happened, and then some
- Kratos, Yuan, Lloyd, Colette and Zelos are the only ones left, but tis okay, they have each other
- somethingsomething natural space disaster, Aselia is destroyed but they manage to move Yggdrasill onto Derris-Kharlan and do a quarian by becoming a roaming ship
- mana is a variant of eezo lbr
- Derris-Kharlan's too big to use the mass relays, but c'mon it generates its own mass effect field so they develop tech to do hops on their own
- they're in no hurry tho, i mean lbr primarily angelic, elf and half-elf population
- so they're just bumming around their local clusters doing thorough investigations on all the things
- so much eezo on their ship
- so much
- suddenly the Normandy running from a reapers comes along to hide behind them
- reapers start shooting
- everyone on Derris-Kharlan objects
- JUDGEMENT IN SPACE
- so much profit and judging of reapers.


scenarios
None yet.


origin
- Kratos tells Lloyd the dad thing in Triet
- dad and son feelings ensue
- they culminate at the Tower of Salvation in Kratos stabbing Yggdrasill in the back
- unfortunately he does not quite die but impales Kratos against a wall and goes berserk on the Chosen party to the point of Yuan stepping in to help
- that is, by threatening to stab Kratos in the back while he's vulnerable (with Kratos's permission)
- Yggdrasill calls his bluff and fails, and Yuan does the thing
- while Yggdrasill is distracted the Chosen's group nail him but good and he retreats
- luckily while heart-stabbing happened, Kratos's cruxis crystal is still intact, and between Raine's healing and Yuan's mana transfusion he survives long enough to be taken to the Triet base and a refresher
- stuff happens in some fashion or other up until opening Origin's seal
- as it turns out, the mana tranfusion has fused the lock, so to speak, and Kratos can't unlock the seal even voluntarily
- only way to get Origin out at this point is to let him fuse with Kratos, so Kratos becomes Origin
- stipulation of this: Kratos refuses to let go of his humanity
- luckily Yuan already has a literal bond with him thanks to the mana transfusion, so with him as his summoner Kratos can keep his humanity, and only use Origin's powers when Yuan summons them
- commitment like woah for a literal eternity
- but hey, they messed up but good and it's the only way they can reunite the worlds.

scenarios
none yet.


reversal
~ 2000 years in, Kratos and Yuan conspire to kill Mithos and succeed, sorta
- he's stuck inside his exsphere, possessing people
- but he manages to survive and while Kratos and Yuan claim Derris-Kharlan for their base, he takes most of the angels as 'fallen', as well as the Eternal Sword
- most of his bases are hidden behind dimensional slips created by the sword - Iselia included
- Origin refuses to trust either Kratos or Yuan with the job, anyhow, and they don't have a summoner
- instead they're forced to fight Cruxis, embroiling the worlds in an angelic war between Cruxis and the new organisation of Chayim
- the Chosen bloodlines are more important to Cruxis than Chayim, but Mithos seals the seals so only the Chosen bloodline can flip the mana switch. Kratos and Yuan need someone to do that until they can reunite them, so the Journey remains an institution, just without compulsory death at the end
- there is angelification tho, if only so Chayim gets more soldiers and so the Chosen can defend themselves against Cruxis
- Kratos sends Anna and Lloyd to Iselia, because even though enemy territory, it's the safest place there is for them
- Anna get word to Kratos that the Desians are using Iselia as a long-term cruxis crystal cultivation location, and that the sword is held there
- her spy succeeds but is intercepted, and Mithos locks down the dimensional slip to prevent exit and access by angels for ~15 years
- Lloyd grows up in a town with a heavy half-elf population and believing he's training to help the good guys
- he has his own cruxis crystal as a host, but doesn't tell his mother due to the faith-based propaganda encouraging hosts not to bring it up or risk the powers not taking
- he wants to help though, so he steals a key-crest to ensure he can fight
- Yuan and Kratos plan to assault the town and shrine but Mithos uses the sword to interrupt travel between worlds, keeping Yuan in Tethe'alla and forcing Kratos to attack Iselia alone.

scenarios
scenario one: Iselia is attacked by Chayim to claim the sword, with the sword already gone


titans
- Yggdrasill captures Kratos before Kvar finds Anna and Lloyd, but after Kratos makes an Eternal Ring
- Yuan figures hell no and raises the Renegades to try and take Derris-Kharlan, rescue Kratos and solve the split-world problem
- the attack fails. a lot.
- Renegades are wiped out, Kratos is still in Cruxis's hands, but Yuan manages to escape with the Eternal Ring
- Cruxis follows him to Triet base, which gets destroyed and the few remaining Renegades scatter
- Botta is still around tho, helping out how he can
- mostly Yuan just goes searching for Lloyd and Anna
- doesn't manage to find them before Kvar does tho, and Kratos hears from Yggdrasill that they're dead
- this is slightly inaccurate, cos Lloyd still winds up rescued by Dirk in Iselia
- where Yuan eventually finds him, not knowing that he's 'supposed' to be dead
- so Yuan settles in Iselia for a bit to watch Lloyd and the Chosen
- cuts and dyes his hair, the whole shebang
- learns how to carpentry, invents a new use of magic lightning and light can totally become a laserbeam amirite
- winds up being Genis's role model just because scholar and magic-user and half-elf who can pass but also takes no shit from people
- is one of Colette's companions on the Journey when it starts
- he's been challenging their understanding of the Church's institution this whole time lbr
- Sheena is still a thing because the ninja have taken over the Tethe'allan base, which has survived, somewhat
- a grilling ensues
- sometime just after the Asgard Ranch Yuan does have to drop the bombshell
- about how the Journey is just a front, he and his bestie are angels, btw his bestie is Lloyd's dad
- how they're out to topple the institution of religion
- forget sacrificing Colette for the Regeneration, when they get to the seal they can do that without anyone dying
- and then move straight on to rescuing Kratos in Derris-Kharlan
- then they get to the Tower and realise Yggdrasill has Kratos under a Prometheusesque punishment a la 'impaled on the Eternal Sword to suffer the Seed's pain and watch the Chosen get murdered'
- luckily this does not happen, as they manage to rescue him and escape Yggdrasill instead, barely
- retreat to Botta's hiding-place in Asgard so Kratos can recover
- and also find out that Lloyd is actually alive
- the Chosen group goes around to make as many pacts as they can while in Sylvarant
- they get up to Aska when Yggdrasill sends his angels to attack Asgard
- cue Yuan and Kratos being unstoppable battle gods together


scenarios
scenario one: in which Yuan leads the Chosen's party to the Tower of Salvation to dismantle all the traditions ever, and find Kratos waiting for them in serious need of a rescue.
scenario two: in which being in safety reveals that Kratos is not precisely unscathed, but he's doing his best.
scenario three: in which Kratos is emphatically not okay, but with Yuan's help, could be.

Comments

[conductingresistance]

[There is a crick in Yuan's neck by the time he realizes Kratos is asleep.]

[And it is an odd pleasedness, knowing that despite all this Kratos is relaxed enough, trusting enough, to simply fall asleep on him. Yuan straightens, mind clear of earlier troubles though he now has a strange haze of -- what is it? It's peculiarly warm, and the dulling isn't entirely unpleasant.]

[...he can't sleep like this. And Kratos, if he sleeps like this, is going to wake unable to walk.]

[Yuan looks down at the weight in his lap, and he can look at Kratos without feeling some painful fury creeping its way up inside his throat. He can bear to touch; there is little anger left in him now.]

[He sighs. And reaches to haul Kratos up beside him, which seems like the least disruptive option.]

[simulsimul]

[It is. Kratos stirs, but without being hauled, simply -- essentially -- pulled, it's a smooth enough motion that he doesn't waken from the stirring. ... Though he is, of course, dead weight; and this resolves that he winds up more on Yuan than not.

[Which means that when morning comes and he stirs again, this time wakefully, he is chagrined to find himself where he is. Even at the same time that it is relieving, still, that they can find their way clear to it. The knowledge of what he'd said, what he'd done, is still a sharp weight; but it's less than it was, with the fact of Yuan's acceptance buoying it.

[Still ... he could have moved earlier, because when he shifts to move off Yuan, his leg is quite far from helpful, even for its current state. Kratos grimaces as he levers it off and around, so he's sitting instead, and glances sidelong at Yuan, wondering if there's anything more which needs to be said, if he's even awake.]

[conductingresistance]

[...Kratos winds up mostly on Yuan. Yuan doesn't have the will to shove him further, not after the couple of days they've had. Besides: Kratos is warm, and he's not about to turn that away.]

[No one else should walk in on them. Should.]

[Yuan hopes.]

[He is secure enough, apparently, that he falls asleep anyway, and realizes he has only when he wakes to Kratos shifting. His eyes slit open, intending to assess if he should pretend to be asleep or not; but then his eyes meet Kratos's, and the concept of pretending is discarded as impossible.]

[...what does he say? Though it is a relief to note he is -- at peace.]

...Do you need-- help?

[simulsimul]

[Kratos's eyes are mostly sheepish; but at the question he looks down, tests his leg.]

... Given some time with the heatpack, I should be able to manage, I think.

[Which is, naturally, by his cot; a distance of a few feet. Far enough that Kratos questions whether Yuan would insist in getting it for him or not. Sidelong and past hair, Kratos glances at Yuan again, wondering.]

Do you --

[... How does he even begin.]

I meant what I said last night, about helping with the burden. If you -- need me -- in order to sleep, then ...

[They both, it seems, slept better than in days. Kratos hasn't missed how disturbed Yuan's sleep as been of late either, and if it works for Kratos then there is no reason not to offer it to Yuan.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan starts steadily flushing a dull red. He shouldn't. He can't.]

I can't ask that of you.

[Not only is it that in a close camp there is every chance of someone witnessing this, and that even as a master he has not the right to demand any part of Kratos's body, but-- becoming dependent on Kratos in that way is-- what is it. Is it frightening?]

[He only knows that the weight of the concept makes his gut clench.]

I'll reach your heatpack.

[But Kratos is on him; he'll need to disentangle. Yuan shifts, preparing to do so.]

[simulsimul]

I offer it.

[Kratos knows that Yuan wouldn't ask. Or demand, as the case may be. But he can't make Yuan accept, either; and given the size of the bed, there is hardly room for them even with Kratos sitting up as he is. He attempts to move himself to give Yuan more space, using mostly the strength of his arms; and, notably, he doesn't try to rise. His leg is stiff. And Yuan would not appreciate his attempting to rise, given what Yuan himself is rising for.]

[conductingresistance]

I can't--

[Yuan doesn't know what he can't, only that he contains a fluttering like a trapped bird. He extricates himself from under Kratos with minimal grace, stands with stiff shoulders and crosses to Kratos's cot for the heatpack.]

[There's a moment to compose himself before he comes back and offers it, and-- sits on the edge of his bed, though his better judgment says he should simply have done and be about his day.]

[simulsimul]

[Kratos ducks his head a little in silent thanks, and it's a far cry from the smallness he was vying to create in the recent past. He does not expect Yuan to sit down again, isn't sure what to do with that; but he applies the heatpack, and activates it, and then glances sidelong at Yuan.

[Well, if he's there ...]

Why?

[conductingresistance]

[He doesn't know. Yuan sits there rigid for several moments, himself trying to figure it out.]

[Eventually he settles on the most obvious answer.]

It is difficult to keep such a thing hidden in a camp like this, especially if it is-- continuous. And-- I do not wish to-- create a dependency.

[In either of them. Really. Yes, that's it. This is definitely for both their own goods.]

[simulsimul]

[The first, Kratos cannot gainsay; except --]

No one has made a habit of bursting in; even Lieutenant An-Lin.

[Which rather mitigates that fear.]

Ought I stop asking for such aid, then?

[And that is the more salient point; that if dependencies are what Yuan fears, then he ought to fear them for Kratos also.]

[conductingresistance]

It only takes once.

[But Kratos may have that. Yuan inclines his head very faintly. And-- then startles, glancing over when he hadn't meant to.]

No. That isn't-- necessary.

[The situations are completely different. Yuan shifts. Almost gets up, settles again, rearranges his hands like he doesn't know what to do with himself before forcing himself to sit still again.]

[simulsimul]

One to air rumours everyone already knows.

[There is -- not much to be drawn, from Kratos in Yuan's bed, except that which they aren't doing.]

But I am forming a -- dependence -- upon you. For having such a need. How is it different?

[He's watching Yuan closely, but sideways, past the shaggy unkemptness of his fringe, tousled from sleep.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan huffs with some annoyance.]

Are you so sanguine about having the entire camp sure I'm-- taking advantage of you?

[He isn't sure if he cares. He has kept his honor, such as it is, as impeccable as he can; but his reputation will always be colored by half-elf and sometimes counterbalancing it weighs so heavily Yuan doesn't know that he can.]

[The latter garners a shake of his head.]

To help is-- the least I can do, when I am responsible for so much of how you have come to be here.

[He hesitates to say he is all Kratos has, for he does not know in truth if Kratos has formed some other bonds -- but any of those are mostly at home in Nidavellir, aren't they? And now, in the wake of that ambush, there will be double the suspicion.]

And I am not in your power.

[Save for how somehow there are layers of guard Kratos has stripped away that no one else ever has.]

[simulsimul]

I'm accustomed to rumours relating to such things. And I daresay there are many who would say it's the opposite.

[Subsistence bloodliners, freed from the responsibility of bearing children, are known to be promiscuous. It had taken even his sisters a while to believe that Kratos had never indulged in such a fashion. Sylvaranti may or may not know of such perceptions; but surely with how they've fought in the past, there are some who would believe it.

[Very quietly:]

And we both know that I am not in yours, in truth.

[Or they would never, could never, speak of such things; or Yuan would not have hesitated to take revenge for his lost soldiers.]

[conductingresistance]

I would not care to weigh Tethe'allan against half-elven.

[This is somewhat bitter. Who will rumors say takes advantage of whom? Yuan does not, in truth, want to know; but he is equally sure he will hear someday.]

[He turns to Kratos properly, and he finds he cannot speak further. It is true: they are by now both vastly, painfully aware that Yuan has no fangs when it comes to Kratos, that his bark is only that. It is-- utterly terrifying. To feel where Kratos has settled inside his armor, and not know if that blade will cut.]

[So Yuan looks at Kratos, and words and control both desert him, and his face is a study in naked conflict for several moments before he can think of how to fold it away again.]

[simulsimul]

[It's such an open look that it reaches into Kratos and touches the part of him he had thought only applied to his siblings; and without thinking, without restraint, he reaches out to cup Yuan's cheek, a huff in his breath and gentle patience in his eyes.

[Then he remembers that Yuan is not accustomed to this, that Yuan grew to adulthood without such casual affection; and his hand drops to shoulder instead, to squeeze briefly before withdrawing.]

The offer is there, regardless.

[conductingresistance]

[The warmth of Kratos's touch lingers long, long after he has taken his hand back.]

[He does it so easily, Yuan thinks dazedly; as though it is what makes the most sense in the world to him, to reach out and touch to comfort his former enemy.]

[And he wants for it, more damningly, and misses even that scant touch when it is gone.]

[It is-- maybe for the best that Kratos simply leaves it like that. The offer is there. Very well. Yuan barely knows how to ask after it, doesn't think he could make himself form the words to request -- affection -- unless perhaps his life depended on it. Kratos does not seem about to argue more; Yuan will manage whatever comes his way, even at night.]

[But he at least needs to acknowledge that offer out loud. Yuan glances down.]

...Thank you.

[simulsimul]

Of course.

[And Kratos knows, they both know, that Yuan will never ask. But: Kratos has already decided it doesn't matter. Like the volunteering of information, if Yuan is to have it, it must not way for Yuan's words. Kratos saw the look on his face, the yearning. It must be given, with asking or without.

[But for now the conversation is over, and the day is significantly bettered from the previous, even this early in it; and the talk had given the heatpack time to work. Kratos is able to rise and limp about to begin their day as is his current duty.

[Lieutenant An-Lin, at least, seems to have noticed changes; her eyes flicker between them when she comes to deliver reports, and some of the tension leaves. Kratos doesn't know what she was thinking; her equanimity rather gives him some wry understanding of how people take to him. But it's clear she's noticed the differences.

[So the day passes; and they reach the ford mid-morning the day after, and Kratos is acutely aware of what he had cautioned. The regiment, when the scouts bring back news of shallow water, is already lightening with the assumption they can finally move forward. Lieutenant An-Lin, when she comes with reports from the leading battalion that they've reached the shoals, certainly has an air of expectation that she may relay orders to proceed. The ground is damp enough that waiting for them all to arrive before they cross is sure to turn messy.

[Kratos keeps his face lowered, but his eyes are on Yuan through the curtain of his bangs, and his jaw is tight.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan, too, notices that his lieutenant has noticed -- something. He doesn't entirely know what, and he's not sure if she knows either. But all the same, things are easier over the course of the day.]

[Occasionally guilt still nags at him. Yuan accepts that this will probably carry on for some time, if it ever stops at all.]

[At the ford the only reason Yuan hesitates is the grasp for good reasoning.]

We keep moving.

[And he knows it will not be a popular choice, but he is opting to trust Kratos's words, given everything around them.]

It is the first site we have seen, we are in enemy territory and they're well aware we're here, and this will be expected.

[Rationale follows after, for the lieutenant; Yuan hopes that in some part she will agree, for if he can talk her around then she will help ease the way well enough.]

I do not mean to lose more people if it is avoidable. We keep following the river.

[And it is such an effort of will not to look at Kratos, and the line of his shoulders is a rigid, brittle thing; but Yuan trusts, and he will make them all survive.]

[simulsimul]

[The lieutenant's brow furrows; but her gaze betrays her thought by flickering to Kratos; and then she nods, bows and withdraws, obeying. And Kratos is left with the excruciating suspicion that she knows precisely where that foresight came from, and perhaps thinks she knows why.

[The regiment is not happy. There are grumbles when they make camp that night.

[There are fewer grumbles as they continue the morning after, and find the skeletons of horses and dragons and people buried in silt and mud on the delta, swept there by floods. The level of those floods are made clear by the line of silt built against the banks as they enter the delta proper. It's highly fertile ground; it's a death trap. The regiment marches on, and Kratos is silently but acutely aware of no few measuring, puzzled, curious looks.

[The delta spreads all the way to the sea; but there's a build-up of rocks which divert part of it into the mountains. It begins as gorge, levels into valley; but the water is shallow enough to wade through it, though it means they're on the march into the night before the gorge broadens and they can make camp proper. It is the only way -- to take delta and gorge in one march.

[It is awful work, too; the water is deep enough that a boot sinking is liable to be stuck, and filled, and risked left behind. Wagons must traverse the narrow edges or risk being caught in the mud themselves. All the while, from the uneasy looks upward, everyone is thinking of those washed-away skeletons in the mud.

[Kratos is fortunate. He can't walk in this; so, he is relegated to a wagon or astride a pony. He can't say definitively they won't meet the same fate as the skeletons in the delta; but he's more than evenly sure they won't. There is no excess of water to send sweeping down this way; the tributary ends in a lake in the mountains.]

[conductingresistance]

[There are lines, regarding questioning and grumbling; and for some Yuan provides justification, and for some he does not. He needs and wants his people to trust him, as far as they can; but he cannot justify every order he provides, either. So Yuan walks a brusque line himself, and is -- peculiarly relieved when they come to the delta, when it becomes obvious why crossing previously was a bad idea.]

[Yuan trusts.]

[Where they do cross is frankly miserable, and there are injuries here and there from simple accident, from the forces needed to traverse mud and water. It isn't long, in truth, before that pony Kratos is on is going to be needed, and there is no good cause to leave a soldier limping injured when Kratos is as hale as he is ever going to be.]

[It is a brutally practical sort of rationale. Yuan oversees the transfer, and then considers the matter of Kratos, and rumors and kindness and--]

[So many factors as to be paralyzing. Yuan eliminates all save practicality, looks at that, and then himself dismounts so he can beckon to Kratos.]

Up. For now you can ride behind me.

[simulsimul]

[It's an assessment Kratos himself had come to. The carts are as filled as they can be, without sinking or slipping; and for brutal practicality, it's the only option. He's still surprised when Yuan says it, but he says it as an order. Which it is; they are in public.

[So Kratos bobs his head and murmurs an 'as you wish, Master Ka-Fai'; and he can stand on his bad leg long enough to pull himself up and work that leg over, if in an exceedingly ungainly fashion.

[He still must hold himself somewhat apart once Yuan has mounted, even if there is only so much that can be done, under these conditions. In truth, when they reach the valley everyone is too miserable to look to their commander and care about their commander's slave having to cling to his back to avoid falling, given the jostling of the horse trying to walk through silt, and the near uselessness of his leg.

[By the time stone starts giving way to grass and foliage, and water starts flowing more freely and clearly, and gorge opens up, the front-runners are liable to cheer for it.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan has to restrain at least one impulse to help.]

[But when Kratos is settled he swings up in front of him, and-- it's perilously close to an embrace, even with the remove Kratos wisely holds himself at. Such that Yuan knows he will miss it, when Kratos is gone, and this kind of yearning is... not completely safe.]

[They press on. Yuan tries not to think about it.]

[Despite all this, though: it's a safe crossing, on the whole. And it's because of Kratos. And Yuan can't quite help the quick tight flash of a pleased grin when the first cheer of solid open ground goes up.]

[Later, when they make camp, to tend injuries and rest and regroup and assess their direction from here, Yuan is unsurprised to note he misses Kratos's presence at his back. All it does is stiffen his shoulders again and make him more determined to press on without aid.]

[simulsimul]

[Camp isn't a particularly comfortable affair, given the softness of the ground; and between fears and the cliffs rising overhead, most don't bother to raise a tent. It's practical in the event they need to move out in a hurry, and accounting for the softness of the ground even after they've left the river.

[The path where Tethe'allans make the same trek is evident from tamped soil and a lack of foliage -- but only visible once the river is crossed. It's a neat little subterfuge: putting up with the indignity of wading through river for the inability to be tracked and the trap further up the river.

[The ground gets more solid as they move northward, combined with less foliage; it turns to stone unlike Nidavellir, being all grey and dun, and Kratos misses the bright colours. The air is either stiflingly dead or wind to rival the Sylvaranti capital. There is a valley ahead, and Kratos is not at all sure what they might find there, or where his loyalties should lay. If Bia has fortressed the lake, they'll be running into a fight: and whose lives is it his responsibility to keep safe?

[He doesn't know. But his mouth is turned down and his head lowered, even if his conflict may only be seen by Yuan.

[It doesn't matter, in the end, because they don't reach the lake. Rain comes in the night, thunderous and pouring, falling on startled soldiers otherwise sleeping soundly; and it's so abrupt that even Kratos isn't sure if it's simple misfortune or deliberate. In an enclosed space like this, there may not be floods -- but the cliffs show the levels to which water can rise.

[Worse is when he realises where the only cover is: the track investigated by scouts and declared leading only to a cave, about which Kratos had said nothing, even to Yuan. It's a slope which leads off from the water, a canyon moving lower which captures river overflow; stone is made dull and dark by the torrential rain, but at least on that track there's no risk of the river sweeping anyone off their feet.]

[conductingresistance]

[Yuan does observe the conflict, and it gives him some pause -- what is it, here, that makes Kratos look like this? Is it incoming risk, or simply deep thoughts?]

[...No. Kratos did not let them take the crossing that would surely have been a deathtrap. Yuan -- trusts -- that if they are about to walk into something worse, Kratos will say something.]

[It is surely insanity, to rest the lives of so many on the willingness of a prisoner of war to volunteer information. And yet: Yuan trusts Kratos.]

[The rains, therefore, are almost certainly incidental. But there are there nevertheless. Yuan reviews geography in his head, comes to the same conclusion. That earlier scouted track, the slope and the canyon out of this main path of the river, is their best option for storm shelter. Nevertheless he hesitates -- there is a glance cast at Kratos --]

[He cannot ask. Yuan acts on the available knowledge, and trusts, and starts issuing orders.]