[ It's a painful moment, where the ash and smoke curl in the wind, the fear and dread of coming upon something that was once yours, now gone, taken in such a terrible way. It isn't his history, but his heart aches in that moment as though it might be.
And it almost is. There's a flash of memory, the heat continuing from one scene to another, smoke holding the unmistakable stench of burning hair, burning copper, burning blood. Ahead, there is the wet noise of a sword meeting flesh, and—
—it ends before it can reveal much more than that, but Dimitri draws away quickly when he's pulled back into the present, sucking in the fresh, clear air of camp. ]
Ash...
[ The rain still pours out ahead of them. No smoldering flames. No wreckage, no disaster. Dimitri's voice comes out shaky, distant, like he scarcely realizes he's asking at all. ]
i'll bust out remire too later but i need this image parallel
And it almost is. There's a flash of memory, the heat continuing from one scene to another, smoke holding the unmistakable stench of burning hair, burning copper, burning blood. Ahead, there is the wet noise of a sword meeting flesh, and—
—it ends before it can reveal much more than that, but Dimitri draws away quickly when he's pulled back into the present, sucking in the fresh, clear air of camp. ]
Ash...
[ The rain still pours out ahead of them. No smoldering flames. No wreckage, no disaster. Dimitri's voice comes out shaky, distant, like he scarcely realizes he's asking at all. ]
Was that your home—?