wildkotetsu | 12 • Virus Cure • [Voice/Backdated to the 31st]

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12 • Virus Cure • [Voice/Backdated to the 31st]

[Crunchcrunchcrunch—blurry images, mostly just colors, flash in his vision. He thinks he hears voices screaming; then he thinks he hear's Barnaby and Kaede, and then Nami... and then himself? Raw and unrelenting pain pounds at the sides of his head and he screams something inhuman—

October 31st, 9 PM, another piercing yell rips through the trees. Unlike the miserable cries months prior when Bunny died, this is all blind shock, something teeming with some residual rage before he realizes he has nothing to be angry about (yet, until he remembers what happened, what he'd done). There's a thud and a rasping, heavy set of breaths that verge on the edge of panic; he shakily throws his journal open. The screen is blacked out with his palm, which is basically what's keeping him upright at the moment.]

Is—everyone...? Where's everyone?

[Everything's dark at first, and even when his eyes adjust it's still dark. He's in the forest. He hadn't even realized he'd walked into it until just now, but it's the last thing on his mind as he tries to talk to the journal. His stomach is all twisted up and he's covered in grime. No, this is... What happened? He'd been with Nami, and he... Shit, he's not sure what went wrong. He remembers his powers suddenly shutting down, the infected biting down on him... He moves to touch the raw wound on his neck and realizes he has no clue what's going on (don't touch it, don't touch it). The one on his arm is still there... Did he have more? He couldn't be bothered to know-

He's covered in blood.

His stomach flips, but no matter how hard he tries to remember the hours beyond him turning...

Nami.

His voice is suddenly louder over the journal, raspy with concern.]

Nami, did she—is she okay?! Did people get out? Dammit, someone tell me what happened out there-

[He curls inward suddenly, his body feeling all wrong, and his hand pulls away from the screen. Coming back from... From whatever he was, it really fucked up his body. He feels too hot, beads of sweat dotting the page. He needs peace of mind, because right now? He thinks he has flecks of something under his nails... He doesn't want to think about it.]

If you were on the draft, let me know you're alright... Please. I didn't hurt any of you, did I? I can't remember... What'd I....

[He, uh. Isn't good at moving right now, but he's not even sure how to bother with it, with what's happened. He just curls up and waits for answers, because how do you even pick yourself up and dust yourself off when you're pretty sure you've hurt innocent people? Possibly... no, he can't think of that. He's too tired to budge, and frankly, that doesn't really matter at all. There were a few times in his life he hoped, when he woke up, that it was all just a nightmare.

This is one of those times.]

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It's over, Kotetsu. [That's the most comforting thing she can think of.] They sent all of us back.

[Grune is just taking a little break from the Nightmare Night celebrations at the moment--and by "taking a little break," it's actually that she got distracted and wandered off for a bit.

In the peace and quiet of the forest, she opens her journal to see what everyone else is doing...and discovers a message she's very glad not to have missed.]

Kotetsu? Are you all right?

...

Over? What—

[But it was just happening, wasn't it? Did they get teleported back in? Why would they bring him back if he was... one of them? The infected? His head is spinning.]

What happened? How'm I here?

[It admittedly takes him a minute to figure out who that voice belongs to, what with how badly his brain has been catching up. When he finally replies, he's trying his best to smile at a screen that nobody can even see. Maybe he thinks it makes his tone more genuine.]

I'll be all right. I just—I didn't know what happened out on the draft...

Can't... remember a lot.

Were you...did you contract the virus?

[However Kotetsu eventually arrives, Nami is still out in the orchard working. There's a glow of warm light moving down one of the avenues, slowly but surely as she picks off another row.

Never mind it's closing on 10pm. She's not even half done. And it's not like she has anything else to do. Maybe by the time she's finished, she'll go home. Hah.]

She's all right, I think.

[That's about all he can manage right now, exhausted and stressed out as he is from everything that's happened. He's glad that Kotetsu's all right too, really he is, he just... doesn't have it in him to express it.]

[As soon as Kotetsu gets an idea of where Nami is, he'll peel himself off the ground and crank up his NEXT power long enough to start on over toward the orchards. Rest be damned—he needs to make sure she's really alright, because last he checked? He was a lunatic thanks to an infectious illness that made people crazy and bite everyone around them.

He sorta' crash-lands a bit in the process, though. Leaves a short, shallow indention in the ground, and he rolls over quickly, limping off toward the light; his logic isn't all sound yet, but as long as he sees she's in one piece, he can finally throw himself down and get some actual rest.]

Nami—

[He winces, stumbling onto his knee and clasping his stomach; churning and aching and all that fun stuff. The bites are really nothing compared to the way his body's feeling right now.]

She's all right? Have y'seen her around?

[Gotta be clearer than that, Richard. He's having too hard a time worrying for the people from the draft—god, there were so many.]

How's everyone else? How many——causalities did we have?

... Yeah. [He muffles a groan, blinking hard to refocus. Talking through some of the waves of nausea is a little tougher than expected.] I got bit sometime during the—the, uh, the evacuation...

[There's no reaction to his crash-landing. Though Nami heard him, all right... kind of hard not to. Listened for a few moments and was reassured that there were no branches broken. But she doesn't move. She has no idea who or what that is at this time of night-- just that it came in fast.

When Kotetsu manages to stumble his way into the right row, she's holding the lantern up, just waiting to see who's come to visit.

...well. You don't look that much better than the last time she saw you.]

Hey.

[No, he's definitely worse for wear. A little on the wobbly side. Or a lot on the wobbly side. Whatever help he could've had prior to arriving didn't do him a whole lot of favors, and he's too tired to even keep his powers going; it flickers on and off until the blue glow just cuts off altogether.

...

His shoulders slump. She's okay. See, Kotetsu? She's fine.]

You're—not hurt? I didn't... did I—

[hurt you?]

[Nami puts the lantern back down on the grass. And then after a moment, eases the basket down off her back.] No, I'm not hurt. Barely got touched. [Everyone else died instead. You know, par for the course round here. But even so, Nami's all too aware of just how frayed Kotetsu looks. She's not so far into her own world that she can't be gentle.]

You didn't lay a finger on me. And you couldn't help it.

[Okay, when you can't reassure Grune, you're not doing so good. If anything, now she's even more worried.]

Where are you? Are you at home right now?

Then that's why you don't remember very much, and right now you probably don't feel well. Is someone with you?

Not since...

[And here he has to pause. When WAS it? He isn't sure. He isn't even sure what day it is anymore-- everything has just become one long nightmarish blur in his mind.]

... I don't know. I haven't been keeping track.

[He hasn't wanted to keep track.]

[Well, he still thinks otherwise anyway; if he'd been strong enough, if he'd just done what he could to hang onto himself... But then... that overwhelming feeling took him over, and he was wiped clean. Wiped clean from his own mind; the bite wounds on his neck and arm remind him.

It was a horrible feeling, something that terrified him to his very core as it happened.The agony in those injuries before he spiraled straight down into illness. When... the power caps had been turned up to their max. He remembers the thoughts that gripped him. 'Someone please help me-'

He just has to tell himself that that was not and never will be weakness.

But for now ...Nami's okay. Physically anyway. Mentally, he knows better, but she's okay. He smiles at the ground, his hands on his knees. Has it always been this cold out here? Can't stop shaking.]

Not hurt... Good... That's really good.

I'm sorry—I didn't mean to leave you alone.... shouldn't have.

No, but I'm a'right. I just—I need a minute alone, y'know? While I figure out who's back and who...

[He trails off. He doesn't have the heart to finish that sentence.]

Just got back. I think.

[Maybe. He's not even sure at this point; his feet just sort of... carried him for a while there.]

It'll be okay. I jus' have some stuff I gotta' do.

[Like track down Nami and Sanji and all the people he fought beside—did Crapbeard get out, too? He thinks he must've. Had to have. But then... so many people were changing at once...]

[How could his stomach not twist at that? Not since when?

He's nearly panicked, but he reels it in, tries to remain calm.]

Do you know who made it back? Who else?

[There's silence, because Nami... doesn't know what to say. She's not firing on all cylinders, too tired and too focused on not focusing that coming up with the right words-- or any at all-- is an effort that's beyond her.

What she does do, after a moment, is step forward gingerly and reach for him, hands settling gently on his shoulders. Her intent is to try steering him toward the cottage, but the man's a wreck. If he loses his balance, well. She's ready for that, too.]

Why don't you tell me what you need to do so you can go home and have some rest?

[Because he really doesn't sound like he should be doing anything but sleeping for a long time.]

[After some thought, she realizes that even she doesn't know the extent of who got to return and...who did not.]

When your minute is through, you should find somewhere quiet to rest. [Unable to actually make him do it, this is the best she can hope for.] Your body is still feeling the affects of that disease. [She doesn't sound too hopeful that he'll listen.]

[He makes a few steps before he staggers down to his knees, holding one of her forearms gingerly with a quivering, beaten hand. Thank god he didn't hurt her. He knows he probably hurt other people... He's scared to think about that. Just focus on the positives. Just. Focus.]

I'm sorry...

[Ah, he's still rambling from the last time he'd spoken. Too tired to detour.]

Won't let you down again, a'right...? Just don't give up...

[To be honest, he knows what he's talking about, but then he kinda doesn't. He's never been very good with making points. Or maybe he's just rambling because if he doesn't, he'll have his own miniature break-down. Could be why he's trembling so much. He's not sure.]

... I gotta' see who made it back.

I gotta' make sure they're okay.

[As a way of asking forgiveness for not being there when they needed it, mainly. They've all been through the wringer—they gotta have each other's backs now.]

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12 • Virus Cure • [Voice/Backdated to the 31st]

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