Today was the day, today was actually the day. Panther glanced at the pictures on the wall, the thing he'd only saw as a shrine and rightfully so. This wall was a testament to his past, no matter how alarming it was that it was there. This wall was everything he'd lived up to now.
Before he was a mercenary... he was good. It was hard to acknowledge that he was doing bad for so long before this encounter with Dante... but, he'd killed people. He'd killed so many innocent people. Maybe if he died from this, it'd be karma finally evening out.
"Are you ready to go?" Dante called from the top of the stairs. The best part of all of this had to be that Dante cared so much for him, but was sending him to his death.
He reached out, grabbing a picture from the wall of him and Dante. It was a picture, clear as day, of him and the raccoon in the hospital after Panther had thrown himself in front of a car to save Dante. He stashed it in his pocket, "Yeah, I'll be up in a few seconds."
"I've put all the things you need into the storage compartment on your Wolfen. We'll be leaving in about 10 minutes," he called back, his footsteps echoing as he slipped back away.
How many things was he saying goodbye to really? He lost Krystal... he lost Star Wolf... alls that was really left was the fidgety raccoon that was upstairs, freaking out about as much as Panther wished he could.
He felt his hand go straight to his pocket, the feel of the photo paper through the faux-fabric comforting. With a small sigh, he took one last look at the wall before turning and going up the stairs. This was it.
Every stair echoed painfully, the walk seeming to be forever. There was no turning back now... the chance had been gone for a while now. When he killed Leon, it was all over.
As he got to the top of the stairs, he heard the front door shut as Dante had made his way outside again. He was still outfitted in his combat boots and flight jacket, bearing the emblem of Star Wolf despite how long it seemed to have been since his last time in the skies with them.
True as could be, Dante was sitting on the Wolfen immediately outside. Panther gave a small wave to him, "How do we get there in the first place?" he asked, realizing he had really no idea where they were going despite having to leave in just a few moments.
"Oh, don't worry about that. I'm flying," he said, the feline freezing mid step. It was strange ship, even he had to work for some time to be able to get used to it... then again, he must've gotten it down from the roof.
"Are you sure you can fly it?" the feline asked, taking the last few steps to close the gap between him and the ship. Dante brought his heel back into the Wolfen, sliding off as the glass hatch opened. It was a safety feature from Leon. If something hit through the shields, the hatch would open so whomever was piloting the ship could get out.
Panther just nodded, getting into the ship and sitting in the slightly cramped seat in back. The raccoon hopped in a few seconds later, pulling the hatch down and starting the ship with ease. "Just tell me when you're ready to go," he said, glancing back to the other male.
"I'm ready whenever you are," Panther said, trying to be as confident as possible despite his fear about practically everything that would happen. No matter how he looked at it, the chance of death was incredible. These were people that were trained to fight on the ground, always had and always will. Panther was always used to the sky, being high above everyone and everything. This concept of being on the ground was new to him.
After about five minutes of flight, which eliminated basically anything that was popular or still inhabited, Panther spoke up, "How far away is this place anyways," he said, glancing back to the dot that was Corneria.
Dante glanced back, smiling at him, "You'll see soon enough."