thebastion | Pre-Day 61: pre-game threading

It did more than that, all hell broke loose!

[Okay, skirt questions can come later. As weird as it is, Bon can deal. Rin is his friend, after all.

When he stands up, it's easy to see just how beat up he is. Those Squirts haven't been giving him an easy time, and his clothes are filthy from blood, sweat, and dirt. Someone's been hauling ass to keep from falling off the floating landscape.

Bon goes over to Rin, and he doofs her on the head before speaking.]

There's somewhere safe to go, right?

[Because he needs to rest and bathe and patch himself up, and he can't do that with the constant threat of being eaten looming over him.]

[A faint grunt sounded when Bon slumped against her, but thankfully her demon strength wasn't reduced at all in spite of being away from Assiah and she was able to loop an arm around him after tucking her sword away.]

God, they put you through the ringer... c'mon, it's safe up ahead...

[Shifting his weight against her, she turned towards the Bastion, taking slow, careful steps towards it.]

It's not that bad, I've had worse.

[At least he can still walk, right? Nevermind that he needs a little help to do so.

He's not too happy about leaning against anyone for support, he's a big guy who can take care of himself. Normally. But since it's Rin, he'll force away his pride (which is screaming in his head, by the way) long enough to actually get to safety. He'd rather not die right now.]

What happened?

Even so...

[She had reason to worry. The monsters that crawled and hovered around the skyway were like things she had never seen before, never faced before. She was glad the smaller ones were afraid of her flames, but the bigger ones stared her down with absolutely no fear, and frankly they were a little terrifying.

Silently, she hoped Bon had been spared any encounters with them so far.]

No one knows. I don't know how I got here, just that this world completely fell apart...

[They cross the threshold in to the Bastion, and while there's nothing all that physically different (aside from it being a much larger free-floating chunk of land from the rest of the skyway) there's a sense of peace there.

She found a place for Bon to sit, carefully lowering him on to a flat stone.]

You gonna be okay if I leave you for a minute? I gotta find the first aid supplies...

[Oh, this place is nice. It's much better than the shithole of the Skyway. A guy could get used to this.

Once Bon is sitting on the ground, he waves Rin off to go find medical things. He never knew Rin to fuss like this, but he's too tired to complain or put this together with the different uniform Rin is wearing. He just barely survived a really terrible day, he needs some time to recover.]

As long as those demons don't follow us here, I'll be fine.

[He might be snoozing by the time Rin gets back, though.]

[Being part of another world's post-apocalyptic efforts to rebuild for the past twenty days has left Rin sort of a well-concealed nervous wreck. She was still putting on her usual brave face, but little things had started to slip through. Caring for other people was one of them, especially since most new arrivals looked as bad as or worse off than Bon.

And some of them didn't survive even after they were rescued.

She hated how much her heart was racing. Other people had been just that - other people. Strangers. This was a classmate from home, and she was quietly scared that if she didn't act fast enough he could be one of the ones that didn't make it.

No. Stop. Can't think like that. This is Bon. Bon is tough. Bon and her survived Kyoto together. He's going to be okay...]

No, they won't cross that boundary.

[Her reply came before wandering off to get the first aid kit, so returning to him dozing wasn't that much of a surprise. She had slept for almost two days after arriving, most of it drifting in and out of disturbing fever dreams.

But she didn't want to wake him, so she started tending to his wounds quietly, a bit fumbling with her technique still but decent enough thanks to having Yuki for a sister.]

[Bon has been trying not to think about that either. He's not stupid, he has a reasonable guess at what all of those statues he had seen are. Even though he hadn't seen any of his close friends, he had recognized the uniforms on a few of them, and it didn't take much to put two and two together.

It didn't explain how those students had been changed into statues, but it had happened.

Bon is a light sleeper anyway, and sleeping upright does not make for good sleep. He doesn't wake up right away, but eventually he blinks awake only to find that Rin is taking care of him. The annoyance quickly builds up in him, and he is moments away from snapping out something about being able to take care of himself, but looking down at Rin while she bandages his arm makes him notice things.

Things like that subtle curve to the front of Rin's chest, which can't be written off as folds in the shirt.]

What the hell?!

[Whoops sorry hopefully Rin doesn't mind having Bon's arm ripped out of her hands as he pulls away suddenly.]

[That had certainly been one of the more disturbing moments of clarity Rin had ever had. She didn't get ill often but realizing who those people had once been made her lose what little food she had in her stomach that day.

Since then, she'd made it a point to not look at them directly.

She certainly wasn't expecting to have him jerk away that roughly, and the way she was bent over him didn't exactly give her very good balance. She topples backwards and lands on her rear, letting out a yelp of surprise.

Have fun with that accidental panty shot you caused, Bon.]

What the fuck, Bon?! Owww my tail...

[Oh god. This just jumped up about a thousand levels in horrifying.

Bon doesn't mean to look, but he can't help it and suddenly he goes bright red in the face while holding up an arm to block his vision. He can't handle this Rin is supposed to be a boy what is this madness.]

Why are you a girl? You're not supposed to be a girl!

[Normally she wouldn't care about some one staring because what is modesty, but with Bon utterly freaking out over it she instinctively jerks her torn up skirt down between her legs, her own face going bright red to her pointed ears.]

I'VE ALWAYS BEEN A GIRL! WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!

[And with Rin yelling, that only makes Bon yell too. They're in a freaking out noise feedback loop right now.]

YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN A BOY! THERE IS NOTHING GIRLY ABOUT YOU AND THERE NEVER HAS BEEN!

[At least he's not in shock, right?]

DO I LOOK LIKE A BOY TO YOU?!

[Even so, they're making a lot of ruckus.]

[Yeah, the other residents are probably staring by this point.]

NO! THAT'S WHY THIS IS ALL WRONG!

IDIOT!

[Remember that first aid kit Rin went and got? Yeah that's now flying at your head, Bon.]

[Yep he's getting beaned by it. Good job Rin you knocked him over.

It did stop the yelling, though.]

[... oh.]

... shit! I'm sorry!

[She crawls over to where Bon crumpled, brushing scattered supplies off his face and chest, the beat up tin box laying open a few feet away.]

[Being already injured, dodging was pretty much out of the question. And while Rin brushes the bandages and such off of him, he's just holding his head while he hisses in pain.

When he speaks again, he sounds a lot less angry.]

Damnit...

You have good aim.

... eheh... wasn't even aimin' for your face.

[Girl or not, she probably sounds a lot like the Rin he knows. But there's a tiny, apologetic smile as she tucks hair behind her pointed ear.]

You okay... ?

Edited 2013-04-16 21:11 (UTC)

[That's the most disturbing part of it all: she sounds just like the Rin he knows. Not in tone, she's got an obviously female voice (how did he miss that earlier? He must have been distracted), but the words she uses are what he would expect Rin to use.

It's just like the Rin he knows suddenly turned into a girl. Except not really, this Rin acts like she's been a girl all along.

It's so confusing.

Bon sighs and relaxes, letting his arm rest on his forehead as he closes his eyes.]

What is even going on here?

[It's not just Rin that's confusing, it's the whole thing. The world, the Bastion, everything.]

[That's pretty much it. For her, it's always been this way, but Bon was still like the Bon she knew back home, which makes it even weirder.

She sighs and sits back on her knees, shaking her head slowly, tail wrapping around her midsection.]

I wish I knew...

[So Rin doesn't have any answers either. Great. They'll both have to be ignorant about it until they find out what happened to the world.

There's another question Bon really needs to ask. He's not so sure he wants to hear the answer, though. He has his fears, and he doesn't want them to be confirmed.

But it's better to ask than to never find out, right?]

Who else is here?

[If Rin made it here and Bon made it here, then the others did too right? Bon doesn't care if they're changed like how Rin is, he just wants his friends to be here damnit.]

[Rin shakes her head to his question, eyes darting away and back towards the entrance of the Basstion. None of the statues looked like any of their classmates, but that didn't mean they were okay.]

[Bon's eyes go wide for a moment as he realizes what Rin is insinuating. Then he quickly turns his head and looks away, to cover for the stabbing pain he feels in his chest. Koneko, Renzou, his parents, everyone...they're all gone?

No. Not gone. They just haven't been found yet. Until he finds statues of them, he's going to keep believing that they're out there. He can't bear to think of any possibility.

Still, he's visibly upset at this, which is why he's not looking at Rin. He doesn't want to show his anger and pain to anyone right now.]

Damnit...

... we have to keep lookin' for 'em.

[She's been thinking along the same lines as him, though with each passing day a little more doubt worms its way in to her heart. It's in her voice, as much as she tries to hide it.]

[Rin is right, Bon knows she is. But he and Rin are pretty much the toughest two students in their class, and Bon himself just barely made it there. How could anyone of the others survive?

But no, now wasn't a time for negativity. If it was just them, then they would have to go rescue the others, once they found them.]

You're right.

[So Bon sits up finally. He's got a red mark on his forehead from the medical box, but he doesn't seem to care. He's got to be strong, not only for Rin's sake, but for the sake of everyone else.]

We'll find everyone.

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