the sand that slips [open]

[Deleted]

"Huh?"

The sight of the blue, expansive sea instead of the verdant forest stopped him on his tracks and lighted the first emotion - confusion - on his stiff expression. A sheepish smile melted into it but did not change the same dimness that hovered behind his eyes.

"Aha...I went to the completely wrong direction," Joshua muttered to himself, an empty, hollow chuckle going out of his parched, dry throat. "Oh well, might as well..."

When Joshua stepped forward, he heard another set of footfall follow. Turning his head, he reacted with surprise at the shiny Skarmory behind. He once again made a sheepish smile.

"Oh, you're still here. Sorry about that." Joshua flipped his hand, gesturing the Pokemon to fly off. "Go now. Shoo. You don't need to follow me everywhere. Or walk, for that matter! Use your wings, Erinyes. Wings!" he chided, wagging a finger. But his words and action did nothing to make Erinyes blink or waver. She held on to quiet and solemn look, eyeing at Joshua penetratingly...softly. Somehow, Joshua knew that this was how she had been staring at him for some time.

Joshua relented, but only for a bit.

"Fly ahead to Ceres Forest for me then, Erinnie? I'm going to smoke some pot first..." Joshua felt a shiver down his spine - his own Pokemon had just use Leer on him. "Just a joke, Erinyes, just a joke. Silly. Now shoo, shoo."

He met Erinyes hard glare with a wide smile, neither backing down for ten seconds. But at last, someone had given in. Erinyes unfolded her metallic wings and flew off. Once she was far away in the sky, Joshua turned and continued walking toward the vacant docks.

"Thank you Erinyes."

But right now, he needed some time alone. And what better way to spend some alone time by watching the sunset? Joshua hadn't planned this at all. He wanted to go straight to Ceres Forest and hide in some tree where the world could not watch. But he supposed this romantic sight was fine too. The corniness of it made him feel a bit at ease.

"I guess you're mad at me after all," he said with a sigh, smiling to himself. He hoped to rein the heaviness in his chest with the smile, but the attempt led to a trap, letting loose a disembodied voice that shook him apart.

"You're Joshua Wind? I'm..." 

He tried to cut the voice off but it persisted, continuing.

"...there's no easy way for me to say this but your..."

He took in a deep breath. The sunset had all sort of colors. It was really beautiful. Even the sea had been transformed to a shining gem.

"...she saved many lives we didn't think either that..."

What kind of joke was this?

"...didn't find her - sorry...but she...your sister's most likely..."

He didn't hear the rest, or maybe the voice had finally decided to stop. The light before Joshua seemed too bright that he couldn't help but cover his eyes. The air that he had taken in was disappearing, withering from the presence of the mysterious heaviness. He didn't want to breathe and he wished he could stay motionless and still like this.

When he couldn't help but gasp, there were words that he didn't intend to let out, words that had weighed inside his chest.

"Dying like that..."

He didn't cry, just like that time four years ago when he was told that his parents were dead. 

[2tsunz]

The mask no longer sat so easily on his face. The burned half chafed against the wood, but he had no choice but to wear it, when he was out this far.

"These are strange times to walk alone in," he said. "And strange times to send away a friend a friend in. There are those who would advise you against such reckless action."

@asemu

CHEVRIE OF GS

[Deleted]

He opened his eyes to the sound of the voice and saw a glimpse of the cement, now dyed in the purple hues of the setting sun. At that instant, Joshua was yanked out of the cage of his thoughts and into the ever-moving present, barely a minute having passed by. But trapped in the dark cloud in his head, it felt like he had aged for a few years and he'd woken up in a world that seemed even less real.

Yet he cared - somehow - for the pathetic sight that he had staged. Joshua didn't know how to react to being spoken to all of a sudden by a stranger, but he was, in perfect calmness, making the slow but sure effort to come up with something. The strangeness of this did not pass by him unnoticed. After all, hadn't he just broken down from the despair of losing another family member? Another death that he could only hear from the mouth of others? Being told that his parents were dead, being told that his sister was dead. There was no corpse; just the pitying recount of a person Joshua had never met before.

He rechecked his sanity, skimmed quickly to his last memories. He hadn't jumped off the bridge and died, had he? Joshua lowered his hand, putting it under the gaze of his scrutiny, a dry, coarse palm staring back. There really were no tears and he didn't feel anything at all.

Was it that easy? Or did he not really care? All was a farce. All was a twisted farce he'd ingrained in him to put up.
 
Maybe...this was the true him. 

Joshua smiled.

"Strange indeed!" Joshua chimed, clasping his hands behind him. "I've always been curious what's it's like to watch a romantic sunset with an older man."

2tsunz

[2tsunz]

"I'm always eager to help people broaden their horizons," Batin answered. "But you haven't even offered me your name. If I'm sighted outside and unchaperoned with a man I don't even know, my reputation will be quite ruined and I'll never find a suitable marriage. Then you'll have to wed me yourself."

He grinned unpleasantly. At least the mask concealed most of the wreckage of his burned face when he did so.

@asemu

CHEVRIE OF GS