It's been years that he's been in this place and while he knows just how corrupt governments can be, Kaz has made himself a home here. A place he wants to stay in. A not so promised future he will have at any cost, all he has with Jesper and Mat, and a kind of peace he knew he would have never found in the Barrel... nor would he have left the Barrel to find it.
So he's accepted the oddities, the chances, and the more and more regular communions with the Singularity. Especially now with Mat there with them, seeking to find the answers now to keep them together. Nothing about this mandatory meeting leaves Kaz believing that this is going to be working towards that.
He's there though, with the others, as wary and dark seeming as the first day he arrived. Any hint of color he's shifted to is gone, all but for the bright gold of his cane. He finds himself staying to a near meditative state, aware and listening but not relaxing. Not for a second.
So when all Hell breaks loose, he almost feels vindicated at the sound of shots and the madness suddenly around them. I told you so is on the tip of his tongue, even as he's jostled closer to whatever is going on. He swings with all his might, the carefully balanced metal striking hard with the skull of the guard, hearing the wet crack of his skull. The man might survive, but Kaz didn't care. He only cared about getting Mat, and Jesper, out of there.
He knew the loud report of Jesper's pistols, even over the noise it was familiar and comforting in a way. Even as he uses his cane and fists to stop the natives from going for the Summoned, he saw someone he knew being tugged on by one of the Elders. He doesn't even think about it. Just focusing on the man's heart, on slowing his heartbeat, on stopping his heart. He hasn't managed that far before, but then he hasn't had much chance to practice where he could go to death. Yet he feels it when it does, when the collapsed form is gone.
He pauses a moment, considering that and feeling a grim satisfaction as someone hits against his back and when he turns, cane raised, he sees Jesper. He's seen the crater growing, remembering before and knowing this could turn on them as so much else has, but it's the Singularity he feels trust in. Almost even faith, not that Kaz has held faith in anything but himself since he was a child. Inej would likely be happy to know if she was still there.
"This way," he calls back. "Best worst chance we've got," he adds. It would almost be humorous if not for what they're in the middle of and the odds they're facing.
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So he's accepted the oddities, the chances, and the more and more regular communions with the Singularity. Especially now with Mat there with them, seeking to find the answers now to keep them together. Nothing about this mandatory meeting leaves Kaz believing that this is going to be working towards that.
He's there though, with the others, as wary and dark seeming as the first day he arrived. Any hint of color he's shifted to is gone, all but for the bright gold of his cane. He finds himself staying to a near meditative state, aware and listening but not relaxing. Not for a second.
So when all Hell breaks loose, he almost feels vindicated at the sound of shots and the madness suddenly around them. I told you so is on the tip of his tongue, even as he's jostled closer to whatever is going on. He swings with all his might, the carefully balanced metal striking hard with the skull of the guard, hearing the wet crack of his skull. The man might survive, but Kaz didn't care. He only cared about getting Mat, and Jesper, out of there.
He knew the loud report of Jesper's pistols, even over the noise it was familiar and comforting in a way. Even as he uses his cane and fists to stop the natives from going for the Summoned, he saw someone he knew being tugged on by one of the Elders. He doesn't even think about it. Just focusing on the man's heart, on slowing his heartbeat, on stopping his heart. He hasn't managed that far before, but then he hasn't had much chance to practice where he could go to death. Yet he feels it when it does, when the collapsed form is gone.
He pauses a moment, considering that and feeling a grim satisfaction as someone hits against his back and when he turns, cane raised, he sees Jesper. He's seen the crater growing, remembering before and knowing this could turn on them as so much else has, but it's the Singularity he feels trust in. Almost even faith, not that Kaz has held faith in anything but himself since he was a child. Inej would likely be happy to know if she was still there.
"This way," he calls back. "Best worst chance we've got," he adds. It would almost be humorous if not for what they're in the middle of and the odds they're facing.