eyeforaneye | ELUVIO SAMPLE ; ARRIVAL

ELUVIO SAMPLE ; ARRIVAL

[ It smells like metal, an old wood polish he remembers from his childhood, and something else entirely unrecognizable to him. He'd know. He's taking stock. And for all his lessons in blending into the background and keeping himself unnoticed, his own sweat- and blood-stained clothing makes him feel that he's tainting every overly smooth surface that he touches.

Sasuke's not too exhausted to panic but he is too analytical to immediately rebel, keeping his mouth shut and his eyes open throughout the introductory video. He even peacefully accepts the items handed out to him while his head pounds behind an otherwise emotionless exterior, duffle bag swung over his shoulder as he eyes the other equally dazed arrivals.

This isn't a genjutsu and it isn't a dream; he's never seen anything like this place nor does he have the ability to imagine it. It's only when he's herded into the hallway with the rest of them that he dissents, slipping away from the group when he finally does see something familiar. ]

Suigetsu.

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(time's passing in a bit of a haze. as opposed to sasuke's apparent calm, keeping himself under lock and key, suigetsu is stunned into apathetic silence. he doesn't know how long he'd been trapped by the infinite tsukiyomi, but it's mellowed him out after showing him future events that can't come true and precious things that were too sweet to block from his mind. at the very least, no one dies in orientation and that's a plus for the eluvio staff members — they have the hardest job on board.

someone talks at him. there's no telling what they're saying when he doesn't bother to strap on his communicator. suigetsu can't be bothered to find out, much less respond, more interested in staring up and around as he parks himself just outside of sliding double doors in the vast belly of the mothership. until a voice calls his name, startling him into the present.

a turn of his head, casting a glance down the long, emptying corridor.)

Sasuke? (hell, it's been some time since he's seen him and suigetsu can't help the wide stare at the state of him, momentarily forgetting their circumstances as he hurries nearer.) You look like shit...!

[ Suigetsu's reactions are stilted, slow, and it doesn't require much thinking on his part to form a guess as to why. The last thing he remembers -- prior to being faced with cold glass and uniformed workers -- was dispelling the Infinite Tsukuyomi with Naruto's help and watching equally dazed shinobi, all caught up in a useless war, regaining their bearings.

There hadn't been time to see if Suigetsu had been among them but it seems impossible that he wouldn't have been. ]

Don't speak so loudly. [ As he casts the departing group a sidelong glance. ]

Have you seen anyone else?

No. (an immediate reply, before he actually considers it,) I mean, not that I could see...

(he wasn't exactly looking and he wasn't even sure he wanted to catch sight of anyone familiar. now that his legs are stretched and the weight of his tiredness is shoved down somewhere to be dredged up when he's alone, suigetsu feels a little better it's sasuke of all people.)

Does it matter? Seriously, Sasuke, your arm— (like sasuke doesn't know it's gone...)

[ Again he catches himself wondering if he's somehow daydreaming, hallucinating, tricking himself but he knows better. His gaze shifts to his arm -- to the absence of it -- then back to Suigetsu, mouth a firm line. ]

Is gone. [ He finishes the thought for him. ]

Were you shown a video? What do you remember?

(looks like he doesn't want to talk about it.

suigetsu has to piece together what's happened on his own, but all he can really guess at is that sasuke ran into madara and things got nasty. or fought the other madara who posed as tobi, but was really some wrinkly guy they knew all along. he's still confused; he doesn't care anymore.

is the war over?)

Eeeh... It was some orientation thing I didn't pay much attention to. We're on a big hunk of metal in the middle of the stars, et cetera...

(yeah, that's about it.)

[ It isn't the strangest thing that's happened to them, but it rivals it. ]

So it was the same. [ His headache's worsening and with it comes the throbbing pain of a phantom limb that he has equally little time for, adjusting the weight of that bag he's still carrying. ]

What about before? I lost track of you in the battle.

(they lost sasuke before and after the birth of the ten-tails' tree form, that impossible-to-chop-down marvel of nature and chakra. thankfully, those short moments with him are the easy instances to recall, anything after the infinite tsukuyomi activating getting pretty foggy.)

We managed to put the Hokage lady back together, got in a fight with one of those inhabited Tobi clones, and found that creep Kabuto healing ya.

(from nauseating slugs to that disgusting zetsu guy to kabuto, his crowning achievement debatably being the most abysmal. it's a very long story cut short, not wanting to get too deep into what happened after that. at least his day seems to be going better than sasuke's, despite the depressing nostalgia.)

Now we're here. Should I even ask about the rest? I don't know if it's worth the trouble...

Edited 2017-02-11 04:07 (UTC)

Tsunade. [ The absent, distracted reminder that's half for himself and half for Suigetsu, piecing together the puzzle in his head. It'd all happened so fast despite how long they'd toiled on the battlefield; when's the last time he ate? slept?

If a blood loss-induced fade from consciousness doesn't count, at least. ]

The war's ended and the Infinite Tsukuyomi's been halted. All the other details are-- [ the private conversation with Hagoromo, the emergence of Kaguya, the brutally unforgiving clash with Naruto ]

--are just that. Details.

Then we can talk about 'em later. Right now— (suigetsu looks around... uh, yeah, where are they?) I guess we should find you a healer.

(priority numero uno. then they can figure out what to do with themselves.)

I've got a weird feeling we're gonna be here a long time, anyway. What do you think, Sasuke?

[ With their luck? It wouldn't be a surprise.

The war's end doesn't diminish his desire to get out of here but it lessens any sense of urgency, hand raising to his temple as he follows up a quick scan of the hallway with the activation of the sharingan. Good, at least he's regained some of his energy. ]

My chakra reserves are low but rest will fix that. We don't need to think about a healer when my wounds are closed. [ Even if only just. ]

More importantly, I can confirm that this is no jutsu.

(what to say... with sasuke, it's never as easy as opening his mouth even if he does anyway. he always has something dire happening in his life where his pretty well plateaued after getting broken out of that tube. eighteen now, it all feels like a fever dream. but this...

now they're trapped again, just somewhere far larger and far more contained.)

They did say it was an accident. Kind of a huge accident, if ya ask me... (a glance over, hand out.) Want a chakra boost? Can't your googly eye sap it from people?

(I HAVE. A LOT.)

Aa, I listened... Whether I actually believe it or not remains to be seen. Right now it's just all the information we have to work off of, along with whatever we've been given here. [ Another nod to the bag he's holding, though Suigetsu's offer gives him pause.

It feels like the wise thing to do, a mutually beneficial gift of utility to ensure for Suigetsu that his ally isn't weakened in an unknown situation, but something about it makes him envision a wall of water. A shield between himself and the hachibi, and Suigetsu's order to run.

A yell to break the silence in an oppressively quiet cave. The offer of a scroll he'd kept with Sasuke in mind, even after he'd left him to be captured.

Maybe it's the recent loss against Naruto that's making him question himself and what the hell he's been doing up until now... or maybe it's the blood loss. But the fact that it's Suigetsu at his side right now is a private relief, and his hand extends to his without further unnecessary questioning, the single point of contact enough for him to begin consciously leeching his teammate's distinctive chakra. ]

Our first priority should be scouting out the area. If there are others here with us, we'll find them. [ As long as it's not like the Raikage or something. ]

Whatever it is, it's creepy. I don't want to wear a stuffy uniform. (he's really upset about this in particular and he talks about it while sasuke needs a pause to make his decision, endless yapping feeling a bit like a mindless comfort more than having something important to say.) They kept prodding me with things after decontamination, like it was some check-up. They even tried to take a blood sample, but I guess they settled on the vial of water...

(he feels the pull from sasuke's hand, the trickle of his impressive storage of chakra traded for a great sense of relief. with his teammate feeling better, they'll have a better chance while scouting. even though suigetsu looks him over with some degree of wariness, despite it all.

with everything that's happened, he's not too sure he knows him as well as he did. he did leave them, without a word, on a couple of very recent occasions. suigetsu knew he was always to be of some use and that use likely met its end after they all joined back up with orochimaru, but it's starting to drag on him now — what's he supposed to do? sasuke's going to duck out again, deal breaker to a fault, and he figures he'll have to find the six missing swords on his own. but how, when he's too weak to get them himself? does he just bide his time with orochimaru? where will juugo and karin go?

mangetsu would've known what to do.)

Ahhh man, maybe they've got a map or something on this thing they gave us, but I've got no clue how to work it. They could've given us instructions. (shaking the wrist communicator with a scrunched expression, like there wasn't just an entire orientation class on it and the ship, willing it to take his mind off of things.)

I remember what was shown in the video, at any rate. That's a foundation to work off of.

[ The video tour had been long enough for him to commit as much of the map's graphic to memory as possible, and if it's accurate (and to scale) then this ship is far more expansive than any other vessel he's ever been on. A crew's quarters? Common areas? Stores? The ISC Eluvio, huh...

He openly eyes the communicator that Suigetsu flaunts, having yet to dig his own out or look over the "stuffy uniform", but he had taken a moment to at least read over the contents of the envelope. ]

There's a transcript available if you've forgotten it already. That, and the instructions you're talking about. [ He draws his hand back after what's only a minute at most, standing taller. It's enough to tide him over, at least for now. ]

Check the papers that you were given.

(ugh, that involves reading and actually doing something that isn't complaining...

suigetsu does, however, crouch low with his duffel bag and rummage through when sasuke's finished gathering chakra, thankful he doesn't feel all that different — aside from a dull, weighty sensation in his arm that goes ignored. inside, the few items he's been given are found to be indistinguishable from the things the other new arrivals have received. generic uniform, generic dog tags, generic informational packet.

at least the uniform's got some purple.

pulling the envelope out, though, he scans it ever-so-briefly before looking bored.)

Let's just go look around, like you said. The rest of our stuff is in our rooms on the residence floors, so we've gotta get over there anyway. Why'd they have to take my water bottles?

[ The sharingan's far easier to maintain now and that fact alone brings him a greater sense of security, unnatural red eyes sweeping quickly again over their surroundings like he might spot something else out of place, something useful. ]

Aa. [ As if he didn't even hear the mumbled complaint, so accustomed to tuning it out by now. ]

I'll feel better with Kusanagi returned to me, though the strength of the crew members I saw was negligible. [ Here he looks back to Suigetsu, dirty sandal scraping against immaculate flooring to signal that he's ready to move. ]

They took a sample of my blood as well. [ And he is Not Excited about that. ]

(kusanagi, that's right—)

I don't have Kubikiribouchou, either. (a half-hearted reply, too used to disappointment now to really let it do more than tire him out.) Though, I haven't for a while now I guess.

(when sasuke begins to walk, suigetsu naturally falls in and matches his stride.

and, like commenting on the weather,) I'll break into the med bay later and destroy the samples, so I wouldn't worry about it.

I'll count on you for that, then.

[ The appraisal he offers him seems critical but that furrowed brow is less a result of Suigetsu's attitude and more his body's response to the insistent pain radiating from his shoulder, allowing himself a quiet sigh. ]

We're at a disadvantage. We'll fix it. [ One way or another. Whatever tools aren't provided to them they'll acquire, through appropriate channels or not. ]

One of the papers mentioned weaponry in my assigned room. Yours didn't?

(a roll of a shoulder, acknowledging the first comment. sasuke's always been aloof, but even when curt it doesn't do much but roll off like oil. only when he's mad is he particularly intimidating.)

The weaponry you came with, probably 'cause they think we'll attack them. (kind of surprised he himself didn't, but that's shock for you.) I didn't have any on me. I'll be fine without 'em anyway.

(he's got guns for hands, tbh

stopping short at another pair of double doors, suigetsu stares as they open by themselves and peers at the mechanism. everything seems to run on electricity here, though, which is kind of concerning. at least he can short some of this stuff out with enough water... probably...)

I'd check the area first, but, errr...

(there is NO WATER.)

[ The automatic doors impact him less; there'd been a few in Orochimaru's hideouts that had operated independently as well and for a moment he wonders at Suigetsu's instinctual reaction... before he's forced to remember just how little freedom he'd had in comparison.

Somehow it feels like years ago and just yesterday all at once, but it's fair to say that his grasp of time is tenuous right now. ]

... normally I'd say splitting up to cover more ground would be wise. [ Normally. ] Right now, whether you think you need weapons or not, we should head for the living quarters first.

[ And after that declaration he takes a sudden left, clearly expecting to be followed. ] We'll split what I have evenly.

A-Ah. If you say so. (it's probably a good idea, he's not exactly a planner.) But you're in worse shape than I am.

(helpfully pointing that out, still adamant on keeping his hands free until he gets a sword in them. one kunai'll do the trick, suigetsu thinks, reconsidering, that's all i'll use.

sasuke recuperates quickly, but having enough chakra missing to agree to a transfer? well. he keeps quiet about it, but stays in that single file to avoid the constant stream of people who seem content to ignore them — and the aliens, which startle him enough that he doubles his pace and nearly steps on his teammate's heels.)

Did you see that thing?! (whispered, but still loud.)

Edited 2017-02-12 08:25 (UTC)

[ His eyes would shut in an indulgent two second questioning of his life when Suigetsu nearly presses against him but he's a professional... and right now fully aware of the fact that he looks like an easy target, guard too high to break his line of sight with potential enemies. ]

First you want to question my condition, then my eyesight? [ It's not a departure from his stoicism in tone but definitely in meaning; don't you insult him. ]

I saw it. Don't draw unnecessary attention. [ Yeah, easier said than done given how they both look right now. ]

(ugh—) That's not what I meant!

(listen, he draws unnecessary attention wherever he goes whenever he opens his mouth, so it's not like this is a surprise. an underlying irritation bubbles up and, for the most part it's kept down, but he's out of his element. suigetsu can't remmeber having seen anything like this before; the alien or their surroundings.)

You never listen to me, so why should I listen to you? (a fireless retort, looking back over his shoulder... it's gone, or so it would seem to his eyes.) If anyone's stupid enough to pick a fight, you know I can handle things.

[ "I know that you can probably handle things" will lead to an unproductive argument and his head's already pounding; maybe overusing the rinnegan to such a degree right after awakening it was a bad idea.

Maybe most of the things he's done in the past week have been bad ideas. ]

[ "I do listen to you".

No, also wrong. ]

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