Day 201 [event post]

[bastionpc]

Who: Zahi and everyone who wants to go hunt down the cure
Open: Open
When: 201- onwards
Where: the monument, and then out on the Skyway
What: People in the Bastion are falling sick, and Zahi knows where a cure can be found. Unfortunately, it won't be easy to get to.
Format: action
Warnings: none

[On Day 201, after several people have fallen ill, another meeting is called. This time, however, it is not Nathaniel who has called for everyone. It's Zahi.]

Okay, I know everyone's been worried about the people in the hospital, and it looks like our fears weren't unfounded: some of the people who went on that last trip, they caught something.

I've been watching the symptoms, and I think I know what this is. A long time ago, back before Zayna was born, there was a terrible illness that claimed the lives of many Ura. Everyone who fell sick here, they had the same symptoms as those who caught the disease before.

On the plus side, this means that it can be cured. I know of a clinic, way out in the Terminals, where there should be some medicine stocked. Not only can we cure the sick, but we can give another kind of medicine to those who aren't sick yet, so they won't catch it at all.

The downside is that it's gonna take a while to get there. It'll be at least two days there, and possibly more to track down exactly where the clinic is, and then the same amount of time back. We're looking at a four-day minimum, which means we won't be much help to those who are sick right now. They'll either be dead or getting better by the time we get back.

Then there's the fact that it's really dangerous out there. Zayna and I were out on the Terminals before we came here, and let's just say that there's a reason we went looking for somewhere safer to stay.

If you'd rather stay here, I can understand that. The Bastion is an amazing place, and I wouldn't be surprised if someone here managed to save everyone. But I'm not a fan of putting all my eggs in one basket, so I figured it's worth a shot to go and try to get some of the medicine.

What do you guys think?

Comments

Day 203

[individuates]

[When he wakes with his hair plastered to his forehead and the covers twisted around him, it takes Kaoru a few sluggish minutes to figure out why and when he finally summons the energy to sit up a stabbing headache drives him back down with a whimper.

He eventually forces himself up on his elbows in an effort to extricate himself from the blankets and, once free, grabs an armful of clothing without actually paying attention to what he's taking. There are only two thoughts running through his mind, those thoughts alone propelling him forward - must go to Seimei. Must keep Hikaru safe. He's heard enough about this sickness to know he needs to try to keep Hikaru well away from it. Well away from him.

Even though he really, really wants to curl up in bed with all the blankets he owns. He can't concentrate on that thought too much, it is entirely too appealing.]



[He makes it to the hospital eventually, stifling coughs into his bundle and jeez, those stairs almost killed him. He slumps against the door and just starts banging. Someone had better let him in. The pounding is only going to get more and more frantic the longer he is ignored.]

Hitachiin-Abe HQ

[individuating]

[Hikaru's in the kitchen, trying to piece together some semblance of a meal, when the thudding sounds of someone in a rush call his attention. With Seimei and the others in the hospital already, it doesn't take a lot to send his concern into complete overdrive and he's ditched his shoddily prepared vegetables in an instant to practically fly to the door, heart hammering in his throat--just in time to see his twin stumble outside.]

Kaoru?! [God, no, no - there are very few reasons why he'd be running out of the house like that and absolutely none of them are good. Hikaru doesn't even think about shoes, dashing out after him and reaching out desperately in a panicked bid to grab his arm.]

Kaoru, wait--!

[individuates]

Don't-!

[he manages to evade him somehow, at the cost of his balance. He turns to face him and stumbles a few unsteady paces back, shaking his head and suppressing a couple of coughs. Trying to hold them back isn't going to help but if he has this coughing fit he's pretty sure he won't be able to stop]

Hikaru, Hikaru you can't. I'm sick.

[do you understand? He needs to go into the hospital with the sick people. You're well now, right? Kaoru can't be the one to make you sick.]

[individuating]

[Hikaru's taken aback for a moment by the command - Kaoru said don't, that means enough is enough, that means he needs to stop - but it only takes half a second to recover and quickly taking those few steps forwards to try to help brace his brother, panic and concern written all over his face. He's not going to listen to you this time, Kaoru.]

If you're sick, then I'll already have it too. [That's just the way it happens. If he's successful in grabbing hold of Kaoru, Hikaru's hand will be quickly fluttering up to feel his forehead.] Kaoru, please.

[Please don't be sick with what the people in the hospital have, please let him do this, please don't just try to run away as if it'll accomplish anything.]

[individuates]

[he whimpers softly, trying to tilt his head away. But at the same time one hand clutches on to Hikaru's arm, the other gripping the bundle tight, holding back what he really wants to say.

He feels so vile Hikaru, please make it better.]

You can't - what if you don't have it yet, what if I make you sick...?

[individuating]

[God, his head is so hot--Hikaru swallows hard, trying to work past the fear. They need to get him to the hospital, right? Right.

Hikaru runs his hand through Kaoru's damp hair, pushing it away from his face. Just--calm down, they both need to calm down a bit.]

I've done everything you have. [His voice is a bit high-pitched with the panic, but it's true, he's done literally everything.] It's a virus, right? So the incubation period would have already passed, there's nothing we can do about it now.

[That's just basic stuff, but rather than help ground him at all it just makes him worry more. Just how long has Kaoru been ill, exactly? He takes a step forward - fuck shoes, seriously, it'll take too long to go back inside and put them on - with the intent of wrapping an arm around Kaoru's waist to help support him.]

We'll go to the hospital, it'll be fine--you'll be fine, everyone will be fine. They're getting the cure now, so it'll just be like having the flu.

[it's okay, Kaoru, don't feel like you have to say anything. Hikaru will ramble enough for the both of you.]

[individuates]

I dunno. Maybe you just… you haven't caught it yet.

[ducks his head and swallows a couple of times, trying to clear his throat, though his chest doesn't feel right, either and shivers keep racing through him. It's so hard to think straight like this and… God he really needs to cough.]

[pulling away feebly]

The hospital, Hikaru… I have to go.

[individuating]

We're going. [And Kaoru's not arguing him out of this, he will carry him if he has to. In fact, the look in his eyes says he's strongly considering it anyway, even as he drops his hand from Kaoru's hair to rest it against his chest. It's obvious to Hikaru that something's severely wrong, and god it stabs at him that he can't do anything.]

C'mon, together. [He takes a solid step forward, pressing lightly on Kaoru's hip with the hand on his waist. With that one there and the one on his chest, he's sure he's got his twin braced enough that he can catch him if he stumbles.] It's easier this way, right? With both of us?

[individuates]

[he nods and… is about done, actually. He can never fight with Hikaru for long, and he's upset that Hikaru's scared - knowing that Hikaru is scared because he's scared. And pushing Hikaru away is hard enough without the chills, without the blinding, room-spinning headache that seems to be trying to make its presence felt in his entire body.]

[rather than slump all his weight on Hikaru, he rests his head meekly against his shoulder and tries just to keep in step with him]

…sorry.

[hellpyre]

[Any sort of effort to physically move is nothing short of agonizing for Rin still. Even the mere action of sitting up, of moving an arm to get water, to try and eat (though she did very little of that, and she had already started to drop pounds because of it) was enough to make her want to cry just from how much it hurt.

But that banging on the door was cutting in to what little sleep she was getting right then, and by sheer force of will and some sort of spike in adrenaline she was able to get out of bed. Using the walls to move along, she took slow, aching steps towards the door, dark hair hanging heavy around her pallid, sickly face.

It takes far too long to reach it, but finally Kaoru will see that face peek out through the recessed window, drawing tight as she uttered an unheard "Oh no..."

Fumbling with the locks took even longer, but the door did eventually open, the weakened half demon still having just enough strength to grab him and drag him inside wordlessly.]

[individuates]

[stumbles forward when he is grabbed - more than a little unsteady on his feet, but at least manages to keep upright. He pulls her right into a hug, though, as soon as he's got his balance back, his voice more than a little wrecked from coughing]

Hey. What are you doing up?

[You're sick, Rin-chan, you should really have left it to someone else to answer. Even though it's his fault for banging on the door in the first place]

[hellpyre]

Y'need a bed...

[You're sick, too. She wasn't just going to leave you out there to bang on the door forever.]

'sides, you woke me up. ... sorta.

[individuates]

[lifting his arm as he pulls away to stifle a cough into his sleeve. Right. Yes. That. Of course.]

[if she leads he will follow her, fingers snagging onto anything available]

Hikaru... Hikaru's coming soon. I sent him back. For clothes.

[another stifled cough, trying to hold back an all-out fit]

Rin-chan, Seimei. Where's Seimei...?

[hellpyre]

[She's going to try to lead him, though her steps are just as slow and achy as his.]

Hikaru-kun needs to stay out. You don't want him gettin' sick, right?

[Though knowing him he'll try to anyway.]

In his room. He's gonna have puppies when he sees you in here...

[individuates]

He insisted... Had to carry me here.

[he tried, he really tried to keep his distance, he did. He doesn't want Hikaru to get sick. Doesn't want Hikaru to get sick because of him...]

Said he's probably sick already. So it doesn't matter.

[hellpyre]

Damn it... you're both [cough] idiots...

[There better be an empty bed somewhere close by, she's already starting to lose strength.]

[individuates]

I'll just... Go with Seimei. [doesn't matter whether there's a bed there or not, he'll squeeze in somehow. He just want to be near - can he have that, Rin-chan, please...?] Or take me back to yours. Let me do your hair. Put it out of the way for you...

[a full-body shiver, glancing around the rooms]

...how many so far, Rin-chan?

Later in the hospital...

[yinyangfox]

Breathing...feels like a furnace...

[ He can't even be bothered to speak anymore, the effort more taxing than anything else. The silence of his room was generally welcome. He liked the quiet and people able to think. Closing his eyes meant seeing Kaoru, and much as he just spent his time sleeping or weeping, it was a small comfort to know the boy was out there somewhere - not in the hospital, not dying. ]

So dry...

[ His lips are parched, his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth. It isn't for lack of care - everyone was doing everything for all of the victims of the plague, trying to keep them hydrated and clean and just...trying. But the heat is burning everything away and he feels so weak. Just a few days of the illness and Seimei looks like damp parchment laying over meat and bones. He just looks like he's wasting away. No real weight loss but for water weight, yet the awful fever pallor and the shadows of irregular sleep wear heavily.

All he has now, all that keeps him from uttering a last breath, are the occasional glaces to his window where lips still stain the outside.

Kaoru.

He could try to hold on a little longer. Just a little more. Colin said someone knew there was a cure somewhere. If there was an answer...He was just so tired. Tired of taking all the medicines and drinking everything and having people like Jay and Colin look at him with those face. But...there's always hope. Perhaps. ]

[individuates]

[a soft click as Kaoru opens the door and lets himself into the room. Seimei's was only two doors down from Rin's but the distance felt like miles when everything ached, when his head pounded relentlessly... but it was fine. It was all right, now that he'd made it, and he had a little spike of adrenaline pushing him forward and to his love's bedside, settling on the edge of the bed and stroking his hair from his face with a trembling hand.]

Hi, Seimei.

[yinyangfox]

[ Though he hears the voice he does not believe its existence. Kaoru was safe and away, healthy and loved by his brother and he would be cared for even when...the inevitable happened. Yet shallow breath caught briefly when fingers touched his sweat-slick head and peeled the hair from his face so gently.

Perhaps it was Jay? Colin was kind enough, but not quite so delicate about things. He had to be hallucinating when he head Kaoru's voice, though. No surprise really, considering how inflamed his skull must be. The pressure was unbearable most of the time, pounding and burning and driving him to fits of tears all over again. Even now he could feel the dampness rolling down the sides of his face and nesting in the hair nearest his temples.

Still, illusion or not, it was so wonderful to hear that voice in his last hours. ]

[individuates]

Shh...

[His fingertips tenderly combed the hair away, massaging gently. If his worry wasn't clearly plastered over his face in the first place, it certainly is now - he doesn't have the energy to waste keeping it in check]

[he sits up properly and a little too quickly, and has to close his eyes against a sudden swell in his headache, and a whirl of vertigo before he can manage to take stock of things by the bedside. A jug of water and a glass - right, he needed to make sure Seimei drank something - a basin of water and a cloth. Not much else. No medicines?

He dampened the cloth and set to gently dabbing the sweat and tears away, occasionally pressing his lips to Seimei's skin, too.]

Everything's okay. Everything's all right now.

[yinyangfox]

[ The pain was too much for him to really open his eyes, and yet he did, straining to do so, squinting against light that was too bright and air that was too dry. It took time for his eyes to adjust, focusing on the face hovering. He needn't have tried so hard - he would recognize that hair no matter what.

His chalky, damp face crumpled with despair, fingers twitching on the bed as he strained to reach out, lips moving over and over long before papery, dry words whispered past. ]

No. No no no. Not you...you were supposed to...supposed to... [ And just like that he shamed himself with more tears, because what else could he do? He had failed utterly this time. Killed himself, killed Kaoru, broken his promises. Everything wrong. ]

...Punished...[ He croaked softly, defeat evident in his face as his eyes struggled to stay open past tears and weariness. He was being punished for making promises he was too weak to keep. Everything was being taken away and ruined. He never should have said the things he did. He was wrong to confess to Kaoru, to bring him close and expose him to his world and any dangers in it and now he was being punished, and Kaoru would suffer it as well. His selfishness would destroy everything. ]

[individuates]

[a soft, pained noise in turn, gently gathering Seimei into his arms. God, don't weep, please don't weep like that.]

It's all right. It's all right, Seimei, it's not your fault. Not your fault. Hush…

[the cool cloth comes back in an effort to dab the tears away, and he has to swallow a few times in order to keep his voice coming.]

You've done nothing wrong, my love. No one's being punished.

[yinyangfox]

[ But that wasn't the truth. It was his fault, he tried to say, though no words came; he just shook his head and moved his lips, the barest of twitches. He'd started everything. He'd been fool enough to open his mouth and speak the words. He'd been arrogant enough to build a life around it, build a home. He'd loved a human again - such fragile things - when he should have kept to himself and remained solitary like ever before.

Kaoru would be somewhere else right now, living with his brother, oblivious to Seimei's existence or at the very least completely ambivalent. Not here in this place, surrounded by sickness, likely sick himself.

Dying.

How could he do anything other than cry, when his body refused to obey and had not the strength even to fight away the boy's hold or insist he leave, find a means to help his chances? If this was not divine retribution, he had no idea what else it could be - Abe no Seimei did not have the luxury of believing in happenstance.

All he could manage was silent weeping, tears sliding down his face in steady rivulets while he shook his head slowly once more as though he could deny the reality. ]

[individuates]

…I know. That you blame yourself over this. [one of his hands eases into Seimei's hair. He can't do much to help the tangles in this position, but at least he can massage a little] But you don't need to. You don't need to, Seimei...

[It wasn't Seimei's fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. The plague might still have found its way to the Bastion even without their stumbling across it. They had done what they could to contain it - it hadn't worked. It was what it was]

There are people out there. Looking for a cure. They'll be home soon.

[Hikaru had been so sure about it on their way here; and that certainty had passed on to Kaoru. The group would come back with the cure. Or someone in the hospital would manage to figure it out. They just had to hold out a little bit longer]