Lessons [Clive, Castle]

[Castle]

Before he could do so much as blink, a shock of intense pain lanced through his midsection. The force of it made him stagger backward, and he doubled over, suddenly unable to breathe. Apparently, his efforts to avoid a trap had yielded the opposite effect.

His main focus pinpointed on remaining upright. He was already lightheaded from the pain, and not breathing didn't help. He tried to look at Clive again, to keep his opponent in sight, but the pain in his gut was worsening after the initial shock. In a second, he blacked out and collapsed onto his side on the ground.

Luckily, he also started breathing again, though the first breath was a long, deep gasp that made his ribs ache. The blackness cleared out of his vision, and he momentarily forgot that he was in the middle of a fight and curled up tightly, fighting not to groan while he gasped for air. The darkness was now nowhere to be seen.

[Nothingness]

Clive stepped backwards as Castle slowly collapsed to the ground. He knew that his attack was a bit much to pull on the kid, but he needed to experience that feeling at least once. To believe that victory was near, only to have it torn completely away. There was never certainty on the battlefield.

Walking over to Castle, he knelt down next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Keep breathing. It'll pass soon." He took a bit of the pain onto himself--about half--before letting go of Castle and standing up as best he could. "Damn, I hit you pretty hard, huh?" He coughed a few times, sharing both Castle's pain and his expression. "But, you can't be getting cocky in the middle of a fight."

[Clive used Retribution, two posts until next use]

[Castle]

Castle was surprised to have some of the pain suddenly alleviate, but it still left him with quite a bit of hurt. Not all of the hurt was physical; his ego was almost as bruised as his abdominals. Still out of breath, but breathing more easily than before, he struggled to his hands and knees and coughed a little. He felt like he was going to throw up, but he wouldn't let that happen if he could help it.

"Y...You... bastard..." he growled through his teeth.

The worst part was that he knew Clive was right. In a match where the other person wasn't just messing with him, he would probably be dead. The facts were infuriating, but it was hard to run on fury when most of his energy was going into not falling over again. Clive didn't look so great, either, and Castle realized that he'd taken part of the injury into himself, like he'd done with Daniel's wounds the day before.

[Nothingness]

Clive welcomed the insult with a smile and chuckle. "Glad to see you can still bark, but I'd wait until your bite is back." Reaching for his shoulder, he felt the fabric of his shirt moist. Pulling his hand away, he saw his fingers covered in splotches of blood. He cursed and looked at the gap between his shirt and skin: some of the stitches had come undone, and the skin had begun to split open. Even though they didn't hold, they lasted longer than he thought they would.

"C'mon--no use laying there all day. That's not going to help. Let's get back to town." Clive reached down and wrapped an arm underneath one of Castle's, lifting him up and supporting his weight. The extra weight certainly intensified the pain in his stomach, but he was more worried about the stitches on the other arm coming loose. Still, he figured he had enough strength to get the two of them back to the city.

[Castle]

"Stop..." Castle began when Clive started to help him up. However, the sharp ache and stiffness from the forming bruise cut his protest short, and it wasn't until he was fully standing that he got his words back, "...Let go!"

Disregarding the pain, he tugged himself free of Clive's support and stumbled a few paces away. He winced slightly and instinctively put a hand over his middle, but he was able to remain upright.

"Is that seriously all you came here for?" he asked angrily, "You just wanted to mess with me to make some kind of point? Who..." he had to catch a breath, "...Who do you think you are, anyway?"

It was then that he noticed the blood on Clive's shoulder. He was puzzled at first, but then he remembered what happened yesterday. Why would he do something like this with a wound like that?

[Nothingness]

Clive let Castle free himself, and watched as the young man managed to spout out his questions. "Why did I do what I did? Who do I think I am?" Clive wasn't sure if what he was feeling was irritation or melancholy. Still, Castle needed to know his reasons at some point. "I already told you why I was doing this: I needed you to purge yourself of those emotions that would be used against you. I figured the easiest way was for you to let them out physically, though it appears I was wrong, and for that, I apologize. As far as who I think I am..."

His voice trailed off as he turned around, looking down the Great Maw. "I'm a man who has made far too many mistakes, and will keep making mistakes. I found a glimmer of redemption in my life, but I was a fool to believe I could help everyone find it as well." He laughed for a moment, and though it sounded more like a sob, no tears came. "I'm a foolish man that found peace within himself, but finds it threatened. I gave myself morals, but find it harder every day to adhere to them." With a sigh, he turned around to Castle. "I'm a broken man who's just trying to make amends."

He walked passed Castle without a word, not even looking back. If Castle wanted to keep talking, then so be it. If not, then so be it. Neither outcome mattered much to him.

[Castle]

It wasn't very often that a guy managed to make Castle feel like a jerk.

"Hey... wait a second," he called after Clive. He paused, and then sighed before he spoke again, "Look, I'm still pretty messed up from yesterday. My mind's been all over the place. It's not a great mood to be attacked in, you know?"

He took another moment to breathe deeply. His pulse was still racing, and maybe it was the injury, but his chest felt tight. He tried straightening up a bit to improve the air flow in his lungs. Then, he smirked a little.

"And, come on, was that last punch really necessary?" he added, half joking, but mostly irritated. He wasn't being totally forgiving just yet.

[Nothingness]

Clive stopped and turned around to face Castle. He listened to the young man's words, but didn't respond for a moment, though Castle's last comment cracked a smile out of him. "Well, it stopped you, didn't it?"

His eyes drifted from Castle and into the distance, as did his thoughts. Perhaps he'd been going about this in all the wrong ways. Why was he even doing all of this? Nothing was stopping him from going back to his old ways, but nothing was holding him back from leaving those behind as well. And yet...

"I haven't taken a single step forward." The realization hit him like a brick. "I tried to leave one past behind and return to living in another. What an idiot I've been. I haven't learned anything, and yet I expect myself to show others." His eyes had taken on a much harder look while he'd been contemplating, and he'd completely forgotten that Castle was even there. "I'm done with this. Why the hell should it matter to me what people do with their lives? Why should that determine my happiness?"

He continued looking down the Maw, and spoke softly to himself. "I can't go back in time, so why bother reliving it?"

[Castle]

Castle's smirk turned into more of a grin, and he shrugged.

"Fair enough," he admitted. He decided to take Clive's words as a compliment, since he'd apparently felt the need to stop him with such an overkill move.

He noticed the other man's gaze drift off into the distance. The sight was a little strange. Castle watched him quietly, unsure of what to do at first, or if he should even care. Eventually, Clive mumbled something that he couldn't hear, and he decided to speak up.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

[Nothingness]

Clive barely heard Castle's concern, replying absentmindedly, "Yeah, I'm fine." As he came out of his reverie, his face took on a more determined look. "Yes, I think I understand. I finally do." Smiling, he turned to Castle and continued to speak, his voice reflecting his joy. "I've been such a fool!"

He began to walk back towards the city. For one reason, he needed to take care of business. And for another, the re-opened wound on his shoulder was still bleeding. Castle was quickly moving to the back of his mind again, though that wasn't to say he didn't care anymore about the young man. In fact, he probably cared more about what Castle did now than before.

[Castle]

"Glad to see you figured that out," he muttered once Clive was almost out of sight. It was mostly sarcastic; he wasn't sure what the heck had gone on inside that guy's head a moment ago. Regardless, it seemed their encounter was over now.

He glanced around just in time to see a Shadow Heartless vanish into the air. In his current state, even though he was just sore now, Castle really wasn't up for any more fighting. He chose a different route from the one Clive had taken and headed back toward the town, walking quickly but gingerly. He made a mental note to never give his opponent an opening again.

Alone once more, his thoughts strayed back to Emi. If he found her, what would he be able to do?

He stopped and looked at the ground. Clive could have killed him a minute ago, and he knew it. If he had that much trouble against someone like him, how would he face someone like Jericho? Jericho wasn't alone, either; he had that girl and the giant spider. Who did Castle have?

Daniel and Gabriel were busy with something in that cave, and as far as Castle knew, Daniel was still injured. Clive had just attacked him for what he was beginning to suspect was a more self-serving reason than he let on. All at once, Castle realized that he was literally alone in the world, and that apart from his own mother, Emi was the only person he was even remotely close to.

"God..." he laughed quietly, bitterly, running a hand over the top of his head, "...I'm...I'm like a loser!"

At that moment, he realized that he had stopped near where Emi had parked the gummi ship several days earlier. It was just within sight, situated precariously close to a crumbling wall and some rocks.

There's no way I'm just going to not look for her.
Good answer.

And just like that, he was making his way over to the ship. Even though he wasn't strong enough yet, there was always room for improvement, and something told him that he wouldn't find that improvement here. And, even if he couldn't do anything about it, nothing would stop him from looking for any sign of Emi along the way.