Lincoln kneels a few distance away from the exit, wailing Shinyo's name as the light escaping through the exit disappears and only the darkness and the emptiness of the exit hall remains.
"Shinyo?" Lincoln asks, almost begging, before he starts breaking down again.
"Shinyooooo!" he repeats, over and over hoping that saying his name will make him come back to life. Tears rolling off his cheek like waterfalls, and the longer the silence and his absence persists, the worse his break down is.
"You promised!" Lincoln screams at the ground, "You promised you wouldn't die!"
He looks up once more. Staring deeply into the dark length of the only exit that he knows of hoping for a faint sign that Shinyo is still alive. Sadly, no matter how long he silently begs and prays, a response does not come.
He sucks the air in hard and brushes what he can off his clothes. Picks up Stygian and is ready to move on in spite of not having any direction or clue to use.
"Thank you," a familiar voice speaks, "But, moving on that easily if I did die pains me greatly."
Coming out of nowhere, from his blindside when he least expects it jolts him from surprise. He looks over his shoulder, and he sees Shinyo sitting underneath a tree, giving him a smug smirk.
(This bastard! Annoying piece of shit!)
Out of spite, Lincoln charges forward with his fists at the ready. This catches Shinyo off guard. He panics, his eyes shifting left and right to make sure no one else is controlling Lincoln, but when he sees no one, he has his hand at the ready in case he needs to draw his sword out. Instead, Lincoln draws him into a tight hug just as he is about to whip his cross-like blade out.
"You idiot!" Shinyo tells him off, but Shinyo does not listen. He focuses all of his energy into the embrace, but Lincoln continues just for the sake of it, "I could have wounded you if you were a tad bit slow boy."
He mellows the tighter the embrace becomes. Eventually, he returns the hug.
"I thought I lost you," Lincoln starts, the tears start falling again, the sobs soft, but every breath sincere.
"I am just so happy you are alive," he adds, letting the words escape his lips through sobs.
Shinyo smiles at him, a warmer smile than before, "I did promise, didn't I?"
"But how did you escape the explosion?" Lincoln asks, out of concern, "From my point of view, it was huge, and through such a narrow hallway."
"Explosion?" questions Shinyo, "There wasn't any explosion."
Lincoln raises an eyebrow, the tears are slowly stopping, only glad that they are still conversing in the present.
"Did Dirkan hit you in the head too hard that you have gone loopy?" teases Shinyo, a chuckle.
"Or I was thrown far away because of the strong blast radius."
"But there was never an explosion, Lincoln," insists Shinyo, hoping to have put an end to the conversation.
"Then what was that light I saw, blowing me away as I was going through the exit."
"As you said. Just a flash of light."
"So, you--,"
"So, I just nonchalantly walked out through the exit. You were wailing at the ground when I exited, so you did not see mee as I stepped out. I was going to call out but wanted to see how it plays out if you thought I died," Shinyo jokes, chuckling once again.
Lincoln punches him softly on the shoulder, smiles, and responds that his cries are not for him specifically.
"I would have cried the same for anyone who made me the same promise."
Both give off sighs of relief before starting to discuss a pressing matter that needs their immediate attention.
"Where did Dirkan go then?" Lincoln asks.
"When I looked up after the light blinded me, he was gone. Not a trace or a clue left behind as to where he was going."
"We must hurry then," urges Lincoln, standing up and getting ready to go, "Before he gets the chance to report our whereabouts to the Renegades."
"But, where do we start?" adds Lincoln as he realizes before he steps forward that he doesn't have a clue where to begin.
"First off," Shinyo starts to suggest, "We need to regroup with the Council members and let them know."
"But do you know where they could be?"
"Not one," says Shinyo as he tries to rack his brains for any clue that he could think of that could help them, "I also came here, other than the strong connection I had with the castle, in the hopes that they would make Black Noir their rendezvous point."
"Argh!" Lincoln screams out of frustration, scratching his head hoping it would help him recall anything that could help them determine where they could be, "At this rate, we will be further in the backfoot."
Shinyo decides to calmly think things through and sits down, crossing his legs, then closes his eyes.
"This is not the time to rest Shinyo!"
"I am thinking, calmly. I suggest you do the same."
To mock him jokingly, Lincoln decides to do the same. He sits down crossing his legs and starts a 'Hmmmmm' mantra even though Shinyo doesn't do it.
Shinyo ignores it in the beginning until it becomes unbearable.
"Can't you do it silently?" Shinyo aggressively asks Lincoln, but the latter only laughs with the satisfaction of irritating him, but it is cut off as soon as they hear crunching in their background.
"Did you hear that?" Shinyo asks.
"Oh, not ag---," and again, Shinyo's finger shushes him as it lands softly against his lips.
As they stay quiet, the surer they are that another individual, someone they are unaware of, is present in close proximity.
Crunch after crunch – soft, but not in a hurry – they listen to every step closely, but because of this, it is too late when they realize that the person is already upon them.
"Hello," says a young voice; an excitement in his tone, high in pitch to a point that brings agony to his ears.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he adds, "I didn't mean to be too excited."
"I know this voice," Shinyo whispers, before he stands up and tells Lincoln in a louder voice, "It's one of the Others."
"The Others," the voice repeats, "Is that how our masters are calling us now?"
Shinyo smiles and both give each other a hug. A shake of the hand. Shinyo's face is now hopeful and brighter, but Lincoln is clueless as to his response.
Confusion, then isolation creeps in as their conversation prolongs, and when he cannot take it any longer, he asks the person's identity, more out of annoyance rather than curiosity.
"I apologize, Lincoln. This is Tump."
"Pleasure to meet you," extending his arm for Lincoln to shake, and he does in kind. He has a very round head with a very high forehead. His hairline receding. He has a peculiarly ratty smile, shifty eyes, and a slight frame, but lean. His bracer has a blade attachment that is nearly S-shape in form, but wide enough to kill two people in one swipe if the wielder is strong and swift enough. He has a light armor that is mostly a combination of red and black with gray trims, sharp and sleek, and then a scarf with red spatters towards its tail end.
"Where are you off to?" Shinyo asks, brushing off the dust and the dirt off his black trench before he looks Tump in the face.
He tells them that he is on his way to the Renegade's base.
"Birch sent out a message to all of 'The Other' that we should meet there in," counting an imaginary calendar, "What should be two days from today."
Before anyone else could interject, he adds, "As it stands, we could arrive hours earlier than Birch and company. You want to tag along?"
Suspicious of the convenience, Lincoln doubts the entirety of the situation.
(The timing of it all!)
But exhaustion and their cluelessness win over, mostly for Shinyo as he agrees to go along with him.
"Saves us the trouble of looking for the Council Heads," Shinyo explains, and then turns to Lincoln asking for his suggestion.
Suspicion still nagging the back of his head, he would prefer moving along than sitting still and thinking of clues that could end up in futility. In the end, he nods in agreement but stays cautious of Tump.
"Let us carry on then," Tump suggests, "We'd prefer to be the first to arrive, don't we?"