potion approaching (andromache & kingston, day 1)

The middle of nowhere with a pulse; the electrical currents of his joints stuttering with each step. Kingston had ended up somewhere entirely different than expected when he continued to walk and walk. The emptiness of being alone within the massive forest straight out of a fairytale kids used to believe in unsettles him far too much to be normal. There's nothing more than the sweat continuing to drip down his brow until the cooling breeze of night beginning to fall settles his forehead. Only time gives him nothing for a bit, he could still feel the way his skin burns with wounds that he's only taken the bare minimum of patching up.

The bloodbath was just a fleeting memory already; a dance upon his vision where blood and flesh tear. The horrors of wounds he's only seen on the screens around Three having finally settled into his own fingertips. Blood drying on the axe still across his shoulders where it's easily secured. Strong enough to pull his entire body with the momentum. The insignia still glittering just ever so slightly in the darkness, but he doesn't study it anymore. Instead, he stares at the path before him. The trees had given way and slow scatter as if dancing in his vision. Beams of light breaking the canopies where they strike the ground with a sudden warmth. Avoiding them, he keeps to the strips of land, wondering if they're more of a laser than sunlight. Better to not take chances.

Kingston creeps along the edges, sparks of his own curiosity settling in as he notices the crystal clear waters in front of him; a clearing where the brightest beam he's seen glitters. In his mind, there was too much danger to go that way. Instead, he turns around, focusing on the water where his vision shows himself. A mirror of his eyes staring back at him; a dance of emotions as he can see the way some twigs have already gotten caught between the curls of his hair. There's a pause in this moment; realization settling in of his true actions already. Kingston was really there. Alone. Dirty. Tired. And it was only the first day.

Backing up for a moment is when he notices her. One of the girls from One, specifically the one with the bow firing at a distance at Esther. What was she doing there alone? Was it a trap? He can feel his skin already crawl with worry as he looks around him, avoiding moving from the spot. Frozen in almost panic, he can't quite feel his hands as the grip onto the ace tighter, pulling it from his shoulder. Except, he stumbles with the weight. Too quickly, he feels his foot land with a sudden sound. A twig breaks and he wants to die right there and right now.

"Don't come any closer," The words snap out; teeth against his skin as he can feel a predator's bite at his neck. Metal glistening in the forest; a calm peaceful pool of water next to him as he stares her down. "What's your name, Three?" The words are confusing; almost sprinkling his mind with a thousand different thoughts. Would she kill him? Did she want others to know she killed Kingston Cesaire here and now? Instead, he holds the axe tighter and steps back a step, almost out of pure muscle memory. If things got violent, he could try to make a run for it. Or, he could try to muscle her into the pond. Perhaps she wouldn't be able to swim? Too many thoughts fight for control before his soft voice drips out almost frozen to the air around them.

"Kingston."

A drop of sweat. The single drop sets off his mind; whirring it to a sudden stop.

A light twinkles; was she investigating the lights? Alone?

"And you, One? What's yours?"