[day 187] she calls out to the man on the street, "sir, can you help me?" (closed)

[ourlegends]

Who: Hilda, Yukio, Rin (N, AZ, Anna, and Colin later)
Open: Closed
When: Day 187
Where: The Hospital
What: Goddammit, Hilda.
Format: action brackets!
Warnings: A very injured teenager and probably a lot of yelling at her when she's awake.

[ After all of the drama of the previous night, Hilda had learned of what had happened that day before she and N talked, and found out that his castle had appeared on the Skyway. Not just another part of Unova, but a part of Unova that held a lot of memories for N. Memories that ... she knew damn well weren't all good.

She still hurt from their conversation, but she understood now why he was acting the way he was. She still had no idea what to do to fix it, so she focused instead on something she knew she could do: She wanted to see the castle for herself. She had to. It was a something she didn't feel she'd have closure on unless she saw it.

She didn't tell anyone where she was going. She slipped out with Emboar early in the morning after feeding the Pokemon, headed to the Skyway so that the two of them could make their way to the Castle themselves.

Getting there wasn't the problem. It took a while of searching, but they did eventually arrive at the Castle just fine. Hilda had stopped, gazing wide-eyed upon the crumbled remains of a once proud-standing castle. She could hardly will herself to move any more than that ...

... And that was her mistake. Something had begun to move into the castle, and it wasn't happy with the trespassers.

Hilda didn't know what had happened. All she knew in that next moment was pain. Emboar cried out for his trainer as she fell, now bleeding from her head and scraped up and bleeding more on one side from falling and sliding from that attack. The blow to her head made it so she was barely conscious as it was. Emboar cried out for his trainer, and tried to charge at their assailant, only to be knocked back. Hilda was lifted, with the intent of being finished off, when Emboar got up and blew a flamethrower in their attacker's direction. Now caught on fire, it let go of Hilda (who didn't escape that without some burns herself), who fell to the ground. Emboar scrambled to lift Hilda into his arms, taking the opportunity to run for it while it was distracted with fire.

He ran, as fast as he could, worried for his trainer's life ... ]

Comments

arrival at the hospital / informing the family

[ourlegends]

[ Finally, Emboar had made it back to the Bastion.

Finally, they were safe.

... Well, they weren't completely safe just yet. Hilda was still hurt, bad. She had faded out of consciousness on the way to the Bastion, and Emboar had no idea what to do to make things better for her.

Except, of course, to take her to the hospital.

Right ... that place helped her before, now she needed it again. Emboar started to make his way over there, frantic. He didn't know how he was going to communicate with anyone there, but he had to try at least!

He went as fast as he could go and arrived at the hospital fairly quick, desperately crying out for anyone who might have been around.

Someone. Anyone. Please, help! ]

[hellpyre]

[It was Yukio now who spent his days in the hospital, though it was often quiet enough that he didn't need to do much aside from learn the ins and outs of how this one in particular worked.

Rin, of course, was usually confined to the kitchen, but with that desire to spend time with Yukio and get to know this version of him better, she had been coming by with lunches in the afternoon and sharing the meal with him before going back to work.

As was the case today, with their eggs sitting next to each other on an empty bed wrapped in linens to keep them warm and the twins making idle chit chat over the lunch she had brought.

Partway through a sentence she stopped, looking up and towards the door with ears perked.]

... something's wrong.

[doctor_dragoon]

[Yukio looked up from his lunch, pausing with a bite halfway to his mouth.]

... Is someone here?

[He didn't wait for an answer before moving to set his food aside. He 'd learned quite some time ago how reliable Rin's demonically enhanced senses could be, hearing especially.]

[hellpyre]

[Beyond her enhanced hearing, Rin had also been around the Skyway creatures of the world long enough to begin tuning in to them the way she could tune in to demons. It wasn't as strong, and it was more like hearing some one speak in another language (and it was even more muted with Pokemon) but it was there and it was enough for her to realize something had gone down.

She got up with Yukio, moving for the door and spotting Emboar down the hall.

And was that--

Oh no.]

Emboar! Emboar, down here! Bring her down here!

[ourlegends]

[ Emboar heaved a sigh of relief as he saw Rin and Yukio. There were people here. One of them was someone he knew and trusted, too. Quickly, he brought Hilda over toward them, his eyes locking with Rin's. Even if Rin couldn't completely understand him, he hoped the look in his eyes would get his point across.

Please, help her. ]

[doctor_dragoon]

[Yukio didn't need to hear any of the communication between them to know what needed to be done. What had been an expression of concern and confusion quickly turned serious. Time to go to work.]

In here. [He turned, quickly moving into the emergency room. He could take stock of the girl's injuries there where all the necessary supplies would be within easy reach.]

Set her on the table. Gently.

later that day

[ourlegends]

[ Hours later, she began to stir.

Her eyes didn't want to open. Everything felt heavy. Heavy and ... really painful. She finally managed to open them, though, and she could see that she was in a place she didn't recognize at first.

... Wait.

It took her a few moments, but memories of when she first arrived here came back. She was in the hospital. Again.

What had happened on the skyway? All she could remember was being hit ... and then, she couldn't remember anything. Where was Emboar? Was Emboar okay?

Despite the pain, she tried to sit herself up. It wasn't working very well. The heaviness she felt was weighing her down, and the pain in her body was pretty bad.

Still, all she could think of was her friend. Where was Emboar? ]

[gianthobo]

[AZ had managed to cram himself into the room, pushing aside a chair so he could sit at her bedside. His head rested half on the mattress, his hat somewhere on the floor. At the sounds of her stirring, he looked up, face a bit puffy and voice rough.]

Hilda?

[ourlegends]

[ After he spoke, it took her a few moments to recognize his voice. She fell back to the bed, frustrated that she couldn't seem to sit herself up. ]

Mr. AZ ...?

[ Her voice was quiet, and she still sounded really dazed and out of it. ]

S'Emboar okay?

[ Of course that would be her first question. She cared far more for her friend's health than her own. ]

[gianthobo]

He's fine.

[He reaches up to squeeze her hand.]

What happened?

[ourlegends]

[ She feels his hand, and it's comforting despite how awful she feels. She takes a little bit to answer, trying to gather thoughts in the fog of her brain enough to say something coherent. ]

We ... went to the castle ...

[ AZ was the one who told her about the castle showing up on the Skyway. He'd know which one she meant. ]

[gianthobo]

... I was afraid of that.

[He winces and takes a deep breath, trying to collect his thoughts. It's hard to keep the anger and pain out of his voice, though he's trying.]

You realize how reckless and... and foolish that was, I hope? How worried I was? Even if you've been to dangerous places in our world... this isn't the same. You can't go out and do things like that alone. What if Emboar had gotten knocked out, too?

You could have been killed, Hilda. We could have lost you. We were lucky that your injuries were light this time, but there's no guarantee that they'll always be.

[unwrittenformula]

[N waited.

N waited for what felt like forever. For her to be declared "stable", for her to wake up, for himself to feel like he was capable of facing her after all of that...

But eventually he did inch himself in to the room, trembling visibly, truly shaken for the first time since his father had denounced him in front of Hilda and the Legendary Dragons. Shaken down to his core that something like his actions, his selfish, stupid actions could have this sort of consequences.

She could have died out there. She could have been another casualty like Night. She could have died because he pushed her away.

It was a wonder he hadn't thrown up because he felt truly nauseated to a point of tasting bile in the back of his throat.

But he pushed himself in to the room anyway, blinking back burning in his eyes and hesitating at the food of her bed.]

... Hilda.

[ourlegends]

[ She had been awake for a while now. AZ had already left, and it had left her alone for ... she didn't know how long. It felt like hours. She had tried to go back to sleep, since she was still in quite a bit of pain, but sleep didn't come. She had too much to think about. Way too much.

Hilda wasn't sitting up, so she couldn't see N come in, but she heard him. Something within her just knew it was him ...

Or was she just hoping it was?

It was confirmed when he spoke her name, and she wasn't sure what that feeling was that she felt when she heard him. On one hand, she was glad he was talking to her at all. On the other hand ... she didn't want him to see her like this. He didn't need to see her like this. Not when he was so troubled by other things. She was only adding to his problems, and she felt so horribly guilty about it.

He was here, though.

She took in a shaky breath. She felt like she could start crying again. ]

N ...

[ Her voice was quiet. ]

[unwrittenformula]

Hilda I--...

[N's voice caught in his throat, breath hitching as he felt his own tears starting to prick at his eyes again. His legs felt weak, too weak to push him further in to the room.

What if she didn't want him there...?]

[ourlegends]

[ She was definitely going to cry again. Tears welled up in her eyes, and rolled down her cheeks. She took another shaky breath. ]

I love you, N ...

[ It was all she could think of to say, and she thought that by now, she must sound like a broken record. She didn't care, though. After all of this, she needs to let him know more than ever how she feels, to remind him that her feelings for him wouldn't change.

Whatever he was going through, she wanted to be there for him. She'd love him anyway. ]

[unwrittenformula]

[That was it. That was all he needed to hear. All of those feelings he had squashed down, shoved down, convinced that he didn't deserve any of that affection because why would a freak without a heart be worthy of such a thing--

He could try to ignore them forever but the truth was beneath all of his ego and callousness towards humans was just a young man who wanted to be loved. Ideals and truth, they were important, too, but not nearly as important as Hilda was to him.

Hilda, who had done nothing but care about him, who had given up her role as Champion just to find him, who was lying there now saying how much she loved him even though he had tried to push her away.

It was a punch to the gut, to the heart, and those weakened legs collapsed. He dropped to the floor in the doorway, hand over his mouth as he let out a loud sob.]

I-I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!

Even later still

[freedom_engineer]

[Now that plenty of people have had time to come and go, it's time for Colin to show up. Unlike with everyone else, though, he doesn't seem to have any hesitation, any concern that he might be unwelcome. He just wanted to give everyone else their chances to say their important words before he could show up and ruin it. So here he is, giving a gentle knock on the doorframe before he steps in.]

Heard you had a spot of trouble out there, Hilda.

[ourlegends]

[ By this time she's on her way to falling asleep again, so she's only about half-awake when Colin arrives. ]

Mn ... Mhm. Sure did.

[ 'Spot of Trouble' was an understatement, but sure, let's describe it this way. ]

[freedom_engineer]

[He walks over to her, looking her over and giving her a scan to make sure nobody missed anything important. Yukio's a good enough doctor, though, so this is just him doing his typical engineer thing.]

Emboar was worried sick about you, you know. You want me to go ahead and scold you now, or wait until you're better?

[ourlegends]

[ She's waking up a little more now that Colin is talking again. ]

May as well do it now, since you're already here ...

[ Hilda was expecting more of that to happen anyway. She did a stupid thing and she's willing to take whatever yelling anyone has for her for it. ]

Later that day-

[aprettyred]

[ She's waiting.

She knows Hilda is awake, which might explain why when Hilda manages to look over toward Anna, the girl has a cup of water. ]

[ourlegends]

[ And look over, she does. ]

Anna ...

[ She tries to sit herself up. It's still hard to do, but she's done it before and she'll do it again. ]

Hey ...

[aprettyred]

[ Silently holding that cup of water out to Hilda now.

Her expression doesn't change that much, but its clear enough that she isn't happy. ]

[ourlegends]

[ She takes the cup of water with both hands and nods a little, offering a small smile. She can tell Anna's upset. Hilda doesn't blame her. ]

Thank you ...

[ She takes a sip of the water, then looks back to Anna. ]

M'sorry. I was really stupid.