Note: It's time for some much-needed character development.
The girl stared up at him, her face incredulous and brows furrowed over dark eyes. They were reflecting green energy now, instead of firelight. For a long while she said nothing, her mouth opening and closing as if to speak. Then she burst into laughter.
Kasimir glared down at her, pain rocketing through his head. His helmet's seal had broken upon landing, causing the facing edge to push his scalp back from his skull. Blood still dripped into his eyebrow, and from there onto his cheek.
It was nothing more than he'd experienced before, though the headache was something he wished had not joined. The girl's laughter sputtered out into the night, echoing through the rocks and back onto his ears again. His temper flared, tempting him into action.
"I'm sorry, Kasimir, but you're so―" the girl threw her hand up, sounding exasperated. "Dramatic. Every time something bad happens around you, you get moody or―or downright depressed. How did you ever manage to survive?"
He breathed in sharply, turning his head but not his eyes. They remained locked onto hers, her mirth grating on his aching mind. He tightened his hands on his biceps, breathing out and trying to calm himself.
"The Island is not something to belittle," he said, carefully measuring his words. "Anyone you meet would kill you, just to steal the clothes off your back."
"Yeah, good luck with that," she snickered, covering her chest with her free arm. She let loose a hysterical titter.
"That is exactly the attitude that will get you killed, and quickly," he muttered.
"Well, I'm sorry," she whined, rolling her eyes. "It works for Jake, don't it?"
"Jake has been killed more times than I have," he snapped at her. "That is not an indicator of his success."
"It doesn't fucking matter, though, does it." She looked away from him, scoffing. "You just come back, anyway."
"It's not as easy as you think," Kasimir grumbled.
The girl shut her mouth with a snap of teeth. He realized, after a minute or two of utter silence, that she was waiting for him to explain. A result of his behavior toward her on the beach, when he'd told her repeatedly to be quiet and he would explain.
He drew in a breath and steeled himself for the conversation. "You asked me before, what happened when you die in the beacons."
"You didn't answer me," she whispered.
For a good reason, he knew. If she had even the faintest idea of what was truly going on...
Kasimir looked up at the thing, hovering above them. Remembered the first time he'd activated the stand in the center, arranging the tributes around it and placing his hand on the diamond. The veil of darkness that had overcome him and the others... the sight of Jake Ashley's grin disappearing in a flash as they stared down the largest spider he could ever conceive of, existing.
He shook his head, slowly. "Everyone who died in this place was never seen again. It's the same with the other towers. With the volcano. I..." he took another deep breath and held it, turning away from her and lowering his head.
The shame of it all. Why he felt such a coward. He released his breath, and shook his head. "I survived because others died. They wasted their lives for nothing."
"Why for nothing?" He could hear the curiosity in her voice, knew that if he looked she would be staring up at him with that same big-eyed look she had before.
"Because there is no way out," he replied, the sinking feeling in his chest becoming more painful than his scalp. "There is nowhere left to go."
"See, that's what I meant," she muttered. "Drama! Can't you talk plainly?"
Kasimir shot her a cold look. "You may think it nothing to carry the deaths of hundreds of people on your conscience. I do not."
"I never said that," she answered, defensively. Her face filled with blood, flushing the color of a dark wine. "I understand―well, I mean―" She blew out a heavy sigh, rubbing her forehead. "You never told me anything about it, at all. How am I supposed to―to know what to say?"
That was true. He felt the regret, as he understood. If he had actually prepared her for what they would face in this venture, she might well have proved herself worthy before the truce with Matus. She would have left him alone on the beach, and when the Stalkers came he would have been taken away―
To meet with Sammon, the leader of the Unnamed tribe. He assumed the man was seeking him because he'd discovered the treasure trove of equipment and ammunition tucked away in the Eagle Gate. A trove that included a very specific piece of equipment that only those who had gone into the beacons knew how to operate properly.
He watched the pulsing energy of his armor out of the corner of his eyes. Why he'd bothered to recover his armor, he could not begin to understand. It made him feel―
Powerful. Something he'd lacked on the Earth itself. Something he'd lost on the Island, despite his talents and ability.
That was why the girl made him feel so horrible. She empowered him because he'd kept her useless, made her need him―and she'd fought him every step of the way, because she didn't want to feel powerless herself.
And that was why she was his "burden", as Duval had said. Everything that had happened to her, to himself, was his fault. Kasimir covered his face with one hand, feeling ashamed. He was only mad at himself. To carry it over onto the girl was embarrassing.
"You wouldn't know," he said. "Nothing I have done has prepared you for this place. That you've survived this far is a damned miracle."
She looked mildly surprised when he glanced through his fingers, thoughts beating into him the shame of what he'd done. "Um," she started, making a face. "Okay?"
He knew he should apologize. Everything he'd done or said was touch and go, until this point. He'd sympathized with her pain, when she realized she was dead back home―but he'd scared the hell out of her on the beach after he'd shot Mara. He'd saved her from Duval, promised to protect her from the man, but let her walk right into the hands of the enemy at Riverbend.
He'd been correct in thinking he couldn't ally himself with anyone, or support them. And that made him even more a coward, than he'd been in the past.
"God," he whispered, closing his eyes. He squeezed his hand over his face, feeling the incomparable ache in his scalp grow more intense. "I'm so sorry."
The girl swallowed audibly, cradling her broken arm. "I―" she started, but he interrupted her.
"Every time you come down the light, you lose more of yourself." He dropped his hand, turning to face her. "You become simple-minded. Your body becomes weak. If you die too many times, you... stop coming down."
She didn't answer, right away. Sat on the rock, looking through him like he wasn't there, then down at her implant with a dirty look. She stood, abruptly, her broken arm banging against her chest. "Goddammit!" she groaned. "Can't anything make sense here?"
"It never gets any better," he murmured, to himself.
"Well," the girl said, her face filled with irritation. "Okay, so we can't make it over the wall. But what can we do?"
Kasimir stood in place, without an answer. Without the element needed to power his armor, he felt once again useless―he fought the feeling, reminding himself again of his stupidity.
"Oh, my God," the girl whined, rubbing her eye in annoyance. "How did Mara ever put up with you? Did she like, beat the words out of you?"
He laughed, then. Couldn't help it. As inconsistent as he'd been, the girl carried on without apparently noticing or caring. Kasimir put his hands on his hips and lowered his head, chuckling through his nose and unsuccessfully trying to still the outburst.
"She was a different person when I first met her," he said, lightly, once he'd calmed the laughing fit. The girl scowled at him. "I was different, too. Everyone changes, with time."
"Yeah, well, it'd be nice if you changed and talked to me for real," she grumbled, staring him down.
"I'll try," he said, feeling dizziness overtaking him. He lifted a hand and touched his scalp, taking an involuntary step backward.
"You don't look so hot," she mentioned. "Like someone tried to scalp you."
"We're both in trouble, here," he muttered. Looked about them, trying to arrange his thoughts better that they could leave without being harmed. He could barely remember what Willow Tree looked like, much less the layout of the guards on the walls. And the chance of that information being the same was nil.
"We could die," he said, slowly. "The quickest way out of here would be to come down the light."
"And end up on the beach again?" She shook her head. "The Unnamed are probably all over that place by now. Also, I don't want to."
Kasimir chuckled again, shaking his head to clear the thought from his mind. "Tek doesn't work without a power source. Mine is gone." He gestured to the rifle, thrown to the ground when he'd landed. "Can't even use the damn gun."
The girl coughed, wiping her mouth gingerly. "Gimme a minute," she said, quietly. She turned and coughed more, spitting onto the ground.
He spent the time studying the rocks that enclosed the tribute circle, his mind drawing a blank on any kind of alternate plan. The girl's implant flickered into being as she held the button down with her bad hand, making a small groan of pain. She studied the screen, her head moving back and forth as she read.
Kasimir watched the back of her head, seeing the fizzling hexagons of the menu as she changed the screen. A list of objects appeared, their text blurred by the distance between them. He moved closer, staring over the crown of her head, waiting patiently for her to be done.
To his surprise, he saw that she had learned to make weaponry. Bear traps, metal tools, armor, pistols and rifles, all were listed in the menu. He narrowed his eyes at the sight, a rumble beginning in his throat without his knowing.
"I told you I made a truce," she said, clearing her own throat with difficulty.
"Matus would not part with this knowledge willingly," he told her, his head seized with pain. "What did you trade?"
"Probably more than I oughta," she replied. "Said I'd make guns and traps and shit for him. Asked him not to attack you and the others."
Kasimir sighed. "And?"
She colored, under the green light of the beacon. "A favor," she muttered. "To be determined later."
He swore, turning away from her. Had he not sent her into that place she wouldn't be in the precarious position she was, owing the Sailback leader. God only knew what the man might come up with, to repay the debt―and with the Unnamed tearing through Riverbend, that favor might be sold on.
The girl dropped her arm, looking down at her feet and wobbling slightly from side to side. "I didn't think I had a choice," she said, sullenly. "We need the guns. You promised Jake, too."
"I know," he told her, closing his eyes. The blood from his head had stopped, crusting over on his forehead. He could barely put two and two together, much less begin to understand how to escape this place.
"If I had only let you leave," he added, ruefully. None of this would have happened.
"Don't start that again," she sniffed. "Out of all the assholes on this Island, I think you're the least annoying."
Her words brought a smile to his face, and the memory of her snot-nosed tantrum on the beach to mind. "And you're a stupid teenager," he agreed.
"Ugh," she groaned, rolling her head on her shoulders. "Jake was right, you never forget."
Kasimir laughed, but it was cut short as the dizziness in his head overtook him. He stumbled to the side, grabbing out for a rock. The girl said something, moving to grab him.
"...go anywhere until you're able to walk in a straight line," she finished, when the world had stopped spinning about him.
He mumbled something in reply, words in his throat unable to straighten themselves out. The girl shook her head. "I doubt anyone would look here," she added. "Think we'll be okay for a rest."
He nodded, slumping onto the ground in exhaustion.