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Aventurine unwittingly crushes the gadget in his hand. His fist already has to harness much of his frustration, another vessel had been an order. Unfortunately it didn't hold out long, and now the filament of his frustration simmers around him, wild and uncontrolled, ready to lash out - a cauldron left boiling. He puffs air from his nostrils. He is a very sanguine man, he daresay flippant and foolhardy, bordering on insouciant, yes, but that does not mean he does not have a waspish side and as it stands, he could cuss out these IPC members for their incompetence. But doesn't. His own uselessness clods enough of the frustration around himself. Truly, what irony! For all the power he possesses, not even the Aventurine Stone could be of help. An IPC soldier, who must have seen his bad mood, grovels, "Sir, Aventurine, the results of the ground scan has come back empty."
Aventurine's jaw tightens, patience wearing thin, "Then what are you waiting for standing around here, move to the next sector!"
The man quails. "Yes. Of course!" They scram.
Aventurine huffs and looks at his phone. Nothing. He swipes the unimportant notifications left, watching other popping up but not the one he is looking for. He turns his phone off, closing his eyes with a thin exhale through his nose as he presses his phone against his chest. He knew he should have accompanied the doc! He looks out their quarters where a blizzard screens the world.
He hadn't planned for a stop but something attracted him to this measly planet, an irrefutably pull he couldn't quite dismiss.
Snowflakes sublimate before they even reach his skin. He scours this white world, not viewing any living organism he could possibly weigh on entropy and thus, a world that does not fall under his purview. He lands gently in front of a cave entrance, drifts of snow droop precariously over the overhang. He walks where snow cannot lie - bare stone, steamed dry by passing heat. The cave seems to recoil and welcome him all at once - frost crackling along the walls, melting, refreezing in his wake. He kneels. His gauntlet, for a moment, hesitates before touching flesh. Even now, he measures his restraint. The pulse he feels is faint. An unconscious person, a familiar person, inadequately dressed. He holds his fingers in front of blue lips, and feels a thin draught of air. His fingers curl against their jawline. Cold skin quenches the heat of his palm. He gently tilts it so to reveal the bags under those eyes. He doesn't speak. Looking over his shoulder, his lips tight.
Aventurine winces at the sound of his phone going off. He flicks it, and frowns. He opens the chat-
Unknown
has sent location
Excuse me? Who are you?
The user you're trying to reach is currently out of the service area. Please try again later.
The message pops up right after he sent his reply. Aventurine frowns. Looking at these excuses of IPC members tumbling about, he whips around, holds his coat shut as he scurries outside and taps into Aventurine Stone. Power shifts within him, changing him. The blizzard slams into him like a relentless force. It doesn't bother him, ploughing through the whips of biting cold as he traces the coordinate to a remote cave.
The snow crunches under his boots as lands. He frowns, looking about and cross checks the coordinate.
He steps inside, and then he rushes across.
"Ratio-!?"
He falls to his knees, immediately feeling his pulse. When there is a faint one, he wedges the doctor between his arms and his chest. "Amberlord above-"
When Aventurine looks down, he frowns. Nestled beside the doctor, on the dry stone, a faintly radiant yellow feather. He picks it up. His thumb brushes over it, and then it all skids to a halt.
His mouth moves before he could think otherwise.
"Phainon."