[ xie lian's answer is so, so quiet. san lang, currently a bunny in his lap, makes a tiny noise and burrows in a little closer to xie lian's leg. ]
They experienced a great tragedy on the surface - a calamity. The very same that chased the locals out of the city, I believe. We had found ourselves in the catacombs underneath the city - and there were creatures in there, incredibly powerful monsters that the four of us had difficulty fighting off. The locals who were there kept pursuing deeper and deeper into the catacombs, each time the monsters would attack them, and there was no sign of them stopping. We had hoped to evacuate the people in the catacombs, and destroy the catacombs after using a detonator, effectively eliminating the monsters for good.
...but, no matter how much we tried to convince them that the surface was safer - that they would run out of catacombs eventually, that they couldn't run forever - they refuted our arguments and wouldn't listen to a word of it.
[ really, for the first time since coming here, xie lian looks his age. he's always been too mature to be seventeen, really, well mannered and calm in every situation, with a wise outlook (for the most part) on the events that occurred around them, but...
right now, he is a child, and he looks up at kotetsu with his brows knit, eyes shining with frustration and desperation. ]
I tried everything, Mr. Kotetsu, and they chose to die, instead of to come to the surface - no matter what we did.
[ it's easy for kotetsu to forget this, with how the two of them have interacted to this point. bonding that shouldn't have to happen to a seventeen year old. but this strikes him hard.
he reaches over to place a hand on xie lian's, a comforting motion. ]
You can't blame yourself for that. I know... I know it's easy to say that. And very hard to listen to. I have my own guilt I carry. It's not something you can easily brush off.
"You did your best" feels wrong to say, but I have faith in you that you did.
[ xie lian keeps that gaze on kotetsu for a moment, not so steady as he talks, before he finally huffs, and looks away, down at his lap. he lets him keep his hand on his, too. ]
...I went back. There was a moment where we were going to be attacked by those creatures, and hemmed in, with the switch to destroy the catacombs in hand. We could have collapsed the catacombs and ended it there, and killed them all in the process.
[ that switch felt heavy in his hands. xie lian will not forget it, anytime soon.
his lips twitch a little, though, into an almost smile. ] ...but, I didn't press it. I punched a hole in the wall of the tunnel we were in to get to the survivors, instead. That was how we were able to save the ones we did, at all.
[ sometimes god has to punch a hole in the wall to save the day ]
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no subject
I take it there were more that didn't make it?
[ because that phrasing... ]
no subject
...not for lack of trying.
Mr. Kotetsu, you often do heroic sorts of things, don't you? Have you... ever had someone, who refused to be saved?
no subject
Not exactly. I've had some situations where people have died, but not straight up refusing. Did they say why they wouldn't go?
no subject
[ xie lian's answer is so, so quiet. san lang, currently a bunny in his lap, makes a tiny noise and burrows in a little closer to xie lian's leg. ]
They experienced a great tragedy on the surface - a calamity. The very same that chased the locals out of the city, I believe. We had found ourselves in the catacombs underneath the city - and there were creatures in there, incredibly powerful monsters that the four of us had difficulty fighting off. The locals who were there kept pursuing deeper and deeper into the catacombs, each time the monsters would attack them, and there was no sign of them stopping. We had hoped to evacuate the people in the catacombs, and destroy the catacombs after using a detonator, effectively eliminating the monsters for good.
...but, no matter how much we tried to convince them that the surface was safer - that they would run out of catacombs eventually, that they couldn't run forever - they refuted our arguments and wouldn't listen to a word of it.
no subject
That sounds like it was hell to go through. Their fear is understandable, but... Not being able to reason them...
[ shakes his head ]
no subject
right now, he is a child, and he looks up at kotetsu with his brows knit, eyes shining with frustration and desperation. ]
I tried everything, Mr. Kotetsu, and they chose to die, instead of to come to the surface - no matter what we did.
no subject
he reaches over to place a hand on xie lian's, a comforting motion. ]
You can't blame yourself for that. I know... I know it's easy to say that. And very hard to listen to. I have my own guilt I carry. It's not something you can easily brush off.
"You did your best" feels wrong to say, but I have faith in you that you did.
no subject
...I went back. There was a moment where we were going to be attacked by those creatures, and hemmed in, with the switch to destroy the catacombs in hand. We could have collapsed the catacombs and ended it there, and killed them all in the process.
[ that switch felt heavy in his hands. xie lian will not forget it, anytime soon.
his lips twitch a little, though, into an almost smile. ] ...but, I didn't press it. I punched a hole in the wall of the tunnel we were in to get to the survivors, instead. That was how we were able to save the ones we did, at all.
[ sometimes god has to punch a hole in the wall to save the day ]
no subject
he'd do the same in a heartbeat. ]
A man after my own heart. Maybe you deserve the title "Crusher of Justice" around here.
[ yeah. yeah, sure was a nickname kotetsu had back home. ]
You fought with all your strength. You should be proud of what you could do. For the lives you managed to save.
no subject
[ it's a little joke - teasing. they really are cut from the same cloth, aren't they? ]
...Even still, I think... it is hard. It was hard, to just allow them to leave. I wanted to go after them, but we were attacked.
no subject
I understand... But it sounds like you might have lost your life if you had done more.