chroma | catchall for vin

[countermeasures]

i haven't had coffee yet so this won't be pretty yet

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[allomantic]

[from the way she pauses - no, she doesn't.]

I don't know what?

[countermeasures]

...

[god. well, she can't not tell her.]

The one who hurt you was me. I know very well how badly you were injured. I - your eyes... I...

[allomantic]

...What?

[she sounds shocked and horrified, but not angry.]

You... But we didn't see you at all before that! How did we miss each other?

[countermeasures]

I don't know.

[she stares down at her hands, not that vin can see.]

I woke up alone, and by the time I saw you, I was already... I'd changed.

[allomantic]

Jiuqing...

[the horror doesn't leave her voice, though it's met with concern. what happened to all of them was terrible, but - at least her and kashuu had each other through the entire journey, until she lost herself as well.]

I am - so sorry.

[countermeasures]

Vin, no.

[well, now jiuqing sounds horrified. she's shaking her head, too.]

You do not need to apologize to me.

[SHE GOUGED YOUR EYES OUT, MA'AM.]

[allomantic]

If we had found you before...

[maybe things could have been different. she has a brief memory of seeing someone covered in goo who maybe looked vaguely like jiuqing flying by them at one point and takes a breath.]

I know how painful it is - to have the memories of hurting people. [to remember what happened after changing like that.] You should not have had to go through it alone, on top of - whatever else happened to you while we were parted.

[countermeasures]

Vin, I took your eyes. And I attacked Kashuu, too.

[she tried so hard to kill them both. she hadn't succeeded, but only because they'd succumbed to the same transformation.]

How can you just...

[allomantic]

[she pauses for a moment, because - talking about this, when it mirrors something she's trying very hard not to think about is difficult, but she doesn't want jiuqing to think she bears her any ill will, either.]

If it was... similar to my own experience - your awareness was gone by that point. Am I correct?

[countermeasures]

That's true... but...

[...she knows that, if the situation was reversed, she'd be insisting that it wasn't vin's fault.

she knows, but...

it's hard to accept. she had gone there to look for them to help them, not to hurt them.]

[allomantic]

[she's quiet for a moment.]

The people I killed afterwards - was that my fault, then?

[whatever jiuqing says likely won't have an impact on how she views her own actions, but - she's saying this to prove a point, not to soothe her own guilt.]

[countermeasures]

[immediately:]

Of course it wasn't!

[allomantic]

...I know.

[not really, and she has to fight not to hack up some petals, but.]

But that means it was not yours, either.

[countermeasures]

...it's kind of you to say that.

[...]

You'll... use the pods and recover quickly, won't you?

[allomantic]

It is not kind. It is merely honest.

[but, to that second point...]

I have already healed most of the damage. I will go back later to finish it.

[countermeasures]

[her shoulders slump a little with relief - she trusts vin to keep her word.]

Good.

[allomantic]

And you? I imagine - you are hurt as well.

[even if she can't see.]

[countermeasures]

...I used the pods for three hours, and I'm stable. I've bandaged my wounds as well. I'll take it easy this weekend and go back in once...

[well


you know.]

[allomantic]

[she nods, but...]

Jiuqing, may I ask - what happened to you while we were apart?

[countermeasures]

...

I really don't know where to start.

[allomantic]

The beginning, perhaps...?

[but even if she's curious, she doesn't want to push her to relive something horrible so soon after it happened. she knows it's difficult for her to think about all of it, especially what happened at the end.]

If it is not too difficult.

[countermeasures]

The beginning wasn't... too bad. I woke up alone on a tundra, and - heard footsteps. There were soldiers, and they called me a heretic, and attacked me... but I was rescued by someone named Ysayle.

When I asked how to get back, she said she didn't know, but that the dragons might be able to help me. So, she took me to... I think it was called Dravania?

[allomantic]

They attacked you? Were you badly hurt?

[she nods, though.]

Dravania... The version of Aymeric we met there mentioned something about it.

[countermeasures]

...I wasn't terribly hurt there, no.

[she nods slowly]

Did... you see him in Ishgard? I saw him there, too, before...

[before she went full monster and attacked them.]

[allomantic]

I am glad, though - I wish you weren't hurt at all.

[she nods.]

Yes. At the time, it seemed like it was really him... He talked about the Prism, and it seemed that he recognized Kashuu and I after some prompting.