[Wherever Dokja is in the labyrinth during the Oracle, something small and aerodynamic flies overhead before dive-bombing him directly in the face. There is nowhere to cling onto the face, though, so it falls off and instead latches onto Dokja's front as it slips by.
A small, fuzzy little guy looks up at Dokja from center chest.
But bizarrely, in D's quiet, low voice, it says:]
Something has happened to Eustace. I'm looking for his Shard. I'm sorry.
[Sadly, the bat can only repeat these few sentences, but it is very cute while it remains stuck to Dokja's clothes.]
[ WHAT IS IT NOW!! Dokja makes a strangled, startled noise at being dive-bombed, though instead of batting (heh) away the creature clinging to his front, his free hand instead reaches out to better support it.
And then the actual bomb drops.
Dokja immediately stills and the sword in his other hand clatters to the ground as he shakily uses both hands to pry the little bat from his front to bring it closer to his face. He can't even think about how odd it is to hear D's voice come from the small animal's mouth, the rest of the world and everything with it fading away as his breaths shorten in distress. ]
What do you mean his Shard? Is he... is he dead?
[ Just asking that places a sharp ache in his chest, and Dokja is finding it more and more difficult to breathe. When all he gets is the same repeated sentences, he has to reach out for the nearest wall to steady himself, his surroundings suddenly spinning as he succumbs to his panic.
... It takes a while, but eventually, Dokja manages to pull himself together just enough to send a terror-laced Communion to D. ]
[Such a very cute creature brings the horrid, tolling bells of doom. Sorry to Dokja. At least the wee bat doesn't purposefully try repeating the sentences over and over for no reason. It's quiet unless Dokja happens to talk to it, and it feels the need to respond (with the same phrases...).
It climbs up to tuck itself in Dokja's collar and cling to the shoulder and neck almost in a comforting way while Dokja goes through it.
On the other hand, but not D's left one, D has had enough time to go through a few tribulations over the Shard. It takes him an equally long amount of time to respond to Dokja again. The attempt to connect the communion is a chaotic, low churn of shadow and muffled pain. Sore muscles. An ache which feels like it shoots down Dokja's left arm and over his chest.
D's voice is slightly raspy as it fills Dokja's mind.]
[ Eustace tried to fight him? That doesn't sound right, but Dokja's thoughts can't extend to reasons why this could have happened. He feels dizzy, and the additional pain lancing through from D's side of the Communion does nothing to help. Everything seems to be going to shit, and it takes a great deal of effort for Dokja not to slide down against the wall to end up as a useless lump on the floor.
Instead, he moves forward with unsteady steps, swaying a bit as he does, like even the ground has decided to work against his favor when it's really just Dokja being two seconds away from a full blown panic attack.
At least the bat on his shoulder is cute. ]
I'll find him, [ he rasps, unthinking as he speaks. ] Leave it to me.
[ It's not vengeance that fuels him, but pure desperation. And whatever the hell it is that D's going through right now, it sounds like he could use a break. ]
Also, yeah, that's what he said when he heard Eustace started it. When D shifts, another wave of discomfort bleeds across and rebounds into Dokja's despair. Something else follows, the faintest prickles of warmth; not comfort, or happiness exactly. Rejuvenation? Warm, bitter. Like working a sore muscle, it hurts as much as it feels good.]
Don't.
[Elsewhere in the maze, D is hunkered at the hip momentarily against one of the thin, tall spikes among the hundreds of others on the floor. The opened wound through the side of his stomach and through his shoulder is trying desperately to stitch itself back together. The healing is so slow now in Kenos, and he's wondering if he would be dead had he not drank a good helping of Gen's blood.]
Silco... gave him... something. He's faster... and stronger...
[D does not yet know much about Shimmer, so he isn't sure if it will wear off. Or when.]
I couldn't get the Shard. I don't think... he plans to harm it.
If not for the distraction of feelings that creep along their connection, Dokja might have slipped into complete and total despondency. But as it stands now, he maintains enough of himself to keep grounded. Eustace's Shard is still intact, he repeats to himself over and over, and if D is right, then it'll stay that way.
It's just hard to hold on to hope when that same hope has eluded him time and time again. ]
I won't fight him.
[ He's familiar with Tartaglia, or the version of him that had once been. Dokja hadn't realized the man had returned, but at least now he knows who to look for. AS FOR D... ]
I'll get the Shard back. You... [ inhales shakily ] you need to rest.
It doesn't surprise him Dokja would take time out of being swallowed in despair to scold him like he's a son. And really, as any good son, he does not trust Dokja not to try fighting Childe if it came down to it. Not when it's Eustace, when it's Eustace's Shard.]
There's no time.
[It's an honest rebuttal. THEIR ORACLE EVENT!!! He's too stubborn (like Dokja and Eustace both) to sit down for five minutes when many things are on the line.]
Be careful... if you run into Silco. [SEBASTIAN MIGHT TAKE YOUR ARM OFF OR SOMETHING. Just a friendly warning.] I'll tell Gray... later.
Oh no. Gray. Dokja had been so consumed with his grief that his thoughts hadn't extended that far. She's sure to be devastated just the same, and he has to squeeze his eyes shut to keep himself from spiraling even more than he already has.
While he appreciates D's warning, Dokja doesn't trust himself to speak now that the earlier panic has gripped him once more. He's useless like this, he knows, and he's never wanted the Fourth Wall back in his head as much as he does now. At least then he'd be able to think, and the only response he can give D is a brief acknowledgement that doesn't come in the form of words, but a trembling touch across their Communion.
And then it's cut. He has to find Eustace's Shard. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drops this in while i'm also here (harbinger oracle time)
A small, fuzzy little guy looks up at Dokja from center chest.
But bizarrely, in D's quiet, low voice, it says:]
Something has happened to Eustace. I'm looking for his Shard. I'm sorry.
[Sadly, the bat can only repeat these few sentences, but it is very cute while it remains stuck to Dokja's clothes.]
D:
And then the actual bomb drops.
Dokja immediately stills and the sword in his other hand clatters to the ground as he shakily uses both hands to pry the little bat from his front to bring it closer to his face. He can't even think about how odd it is to hear D's voice come from the small animal's mouth, the rest of the world and everything with it fading away as his breaths shorten in distress. ]
What do you mean his Shard? Is he... is he dead?
[ Just asking that places a sharp ache in his chest, and Dokja is finding it more and more difficult to breathe. When all he gets is the same repeated sentences, he has to reach out for the nearest wall to steady himself, his surroundings suddenly spinning as he succumbs to his panic.
... It takes a while, but eventually, Dokja manages to pull himself together just enough to send a terror-laced Communion to D. ]
Who did it?
no subject
It climbs up to tuck itself in Dokja's collar and cling to the shoulder and neck almost in a comforting way while Dokja goes through it.
On the other hand, but not D's left one, D has had enough time to go through a few tribulations over the Shard. It takes him an equally long amount of time to respond to Dokja again. The attempt to connect the communion is a chaotic, low churn of shadow and muffled pain. Sore muscles. An ache which feels like it shoots down Dokja's left arm and over his chest.
D's voice is slightly raspy as it fills Dokja's mind.]
Tartaglia. He said... Eustace tried to fight him.
no subject
Instead, he moves forward with unsteady steps, swaying a bit as he does, like even the ground has decided to work against his favor when it's really just Dokja being two seconds away from a full blown panic attack.
At least the bat on his shoulder is cute. ]
I'll find him, [ he rasps, unthinking as he speaks. ] Leave it to me.
[ It's not vengeance that fuels him, but pure desperation. And whatever the hell it is that D's going through right now, it sounds like he could use a break. ]
no subject
Also, yeah, that's what he said when he heard Eustace started it. When D shifts, another wave of discomfort bleeds across and rebounds into Dokja's despair. Something else follows, the faintest prickles of warmth; not comfort, or happiness exactly. Rejuvenation? Warm, bitter. Like working a sore muscle, it hurts as much as it feels good.]
Don't.
[Elsewhere in the maze, D is hunkered at the hip momentarily against one of the thin, tall spikes among the hundreds of others on the floor. The opened wound through the side of his stomach and through his shoulder is trying desperately to stitch itself back together. The healing is so slow now in Kenos, and he's wondering if he would be dead had he not drank a good helping of Gen's blood.]
Silco... gave him... something. He's faster... and stronger...
[D does not yet know much about Shimmer, so he isn't sure if it will wear off. Or when.]
I couldn't get the Shard. I don't think... he plans to harm it.
no subject
If not for the distraction of feelings that creep along their connection, Dokja might have slipped into complete and total despondency. But as it stands now, he maintains enough of himself to keep grounded. Eustace's Shard is still intact, he repeats to himself over and over, and if D is right, then it'll stay that way.
It's just hard to hold on to hope when that same hope has eluded him time and time again. ]
I won't fight him.
[ He's familiar with Tartaglia, or the version of him that had once been. Dokja hadn't realized the man had returned, but at least now he knows who to look for. AS FOR D... ]
I'll get the Shard back. You... [ inhales shakily ] you need to rest.
no subject
It doesn't surprise him Dokja would take time out of being swallowed in despair to scold him like he's a son. And really, as any good son, he does not trust Dokja not to try fighting Childe if it came down to it. Not when it's Eustace, when it's Eustace's Shard.]
There's no time.
[It's an honest rebuttal. THEIR ORACLE EVENT!!! He's too stubborn (like Dokja and Eustace both) to sit down for five minutes when many things are on the line.]
Be careful... if you run into Silco. [SEBASTIAN MIGHT TAKE YOUR ARM OFF OR SOMETHING. Just a friendly warning.] I'll tell Gray... later.
no subject
Oh no. Gray. Dokja had been so consumed with his grief that his thoughts hadn't extended that far. She's sure to be devastated just the same, and he has to squeeze his eyes shut to keep himself from spiraling even more than he already has.
While he appreciates D's warning, Dokja doesn't trust himself to speak now that the earlier panic has gripped him once more. He's useless like this, he knows, and he's never wanted the Fourth Wall back in his head as much as he does now. At least then he'd be able to think, and the only response he can give D is a brief acknowledgement that doesn't come in the form of words, but a trembling touch across their Communion.
And then it's cut. He has to find Eustace's Shard. ]