forum Realm of Many and Criminals of Pain (closed)

Started October 14, 2018 by @Rvan group

tune

Rigel followed carefully, looking behind him once, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach. He held his head high, forgetting about taking the metal reinforcements from the metal beams back.

They ventured onwards, following close in Youichi’s footsteps. Before long, however, they came to the banks of an extremely wide river. “We can’t cross this,” Daichi uttered, “It’s far too wide…”

“Don’t you have some kind of power just to stop the water flow for a little bit?” Rigel asked, looked over the river. “Or we could tunnel under it…” Just all long at we don’t stay in one place for too long…

Daichi raised his hands, allowing stable dry rocks to tower out of the water. “Be quick— I don’t think they’ll stay up long, and be careful.”
They all crossed with Kohaku allowing Rigel to go in front of her, thus being the last in line. She was hopping along the rocks when she misjudged the distance and lost her footing, plunging into the river. The water was cold and icy, and being the polar opposite, she was weakening in strength by the second.

Rigel spun around and saw it like it was in slow motion. He dove in the cold water after her without a second thought, rapidly swimming to her and grabbing her hand. The water was so fast and wavy (wave-y? Idk) he could barely get a breath in.

Kohaku struggled to get back on the rock, her sopping hands slipping on the rocks. “YOUICHI!!!!” She howled with the air she had. “JUNICHI!!!! Help!!!” I can’t stand this much longer!…
She had very little idea that Rigel was there.

Rigel grabbed her, trying to be as gentle as possible in the rapids, and wrapped his arm around her waist and heaved her up back onto the rocks, kicking against the bottom. Just as he tried to get himself up to safety, his foot twisted wedged itself in an underwater crevice. Rigel cursed, just as wave pushed him beneath the surface and he struggled to get a breath.

Youichi dove in and tried yanking them both from the water, but the rocks began to fall back in. “Daichi!!! Keep up the rocks! We need ‘em still!”
The panda struggled to exert his power for a longer period of time. “Hurry!” He roared.
Youichi managed to get them both out of the rapids and took them to the other side under a large coniferous tree. Rigel seemed shook, and Kohaku was barely conscious. “One of you! Say something!” He yelped.

Rigel was coughing up water, clutching his chest as he tried to get a breath in and at the same time get the water out. He was soaked and freezing. Rigel coughed up the last bit of water from his lungs, taking a few seconds to regain stability. Then he looked at Kohaku, scrambling over to her, “Kohaku?” He demanded, shaking her shoulder a little bit. Rigel knew CPR and mouth to mouth resuscitation if they needed it, but was still panicked.

Kohaku mumbled something to show she heard him and felt his shake, but couldn’t say anything back— she was too weak.
“It’ll take days for her to recover from something like that,” Daichi grumbled, picking her up in his arms. “That water was rough, and… she just can’t withstand that, let alone cold water in general.” He stroked the fur on her head. “She showed she was still alive, but that might not last very long…” He hated to say it, but it was the truth when you were running wild.

“What? Isn’t there anything we can do? What if we started a fire?” Rigel demanded, standing to his feet. Worrying for someone else wasn’t something he was used to, and he didn’t know why but he kinda liked it- caring for someone.

“Well, if we did that, we’d have to hunker down, and I don’t think we should do that until we reach the mountain range.” Daichi sighed. It’s too bad that Kohaku is the only one with Hi….
Mamoru nudged him a little bit and beckoned him to get moving.
So they were on their way again, but the group was silently worrying about Kohaku’s condition.

Rigel felt like a bundled ball of nerves the whole way, worrying about Kohaku. This is my fault, I forced them to pick up and move… Rigel made an effort to find dry wood on the way there and carry it, so they’d be able to start a fire as soon as possible. Slowly, the area around them changed from trees to shrubbery, soil to rock.

"It looks like we're getting closer to the mountain range," Youichi pointed to the majestic, looming snow-crested ridge. "I think I recall that there's a small remote village of elk and bear Doku Ningen. I think they're friendly, but only after you show that you mean no harm…"
Kohaku shivered violently in Daichi's arms. "We need to get somewhere and fast, so that village doesn't sound like a bad idea."

“Yes, anywhere that’s fastest,” Rigel agreed, picked up the pace slightly. Just as long as I have something to defend myself in case they attack me becuase I’m human…

(Timeskip?? Ish???)

They were in the final stretch of the tiny village. “Remember… keep calm, and show no harm….”
Kohaku shivered violently, giving Daichi his full attention. “I… I’m….. c….c….c…” She stuttered.
“Keep strong, Kohaku,” He uttered to her, stroking her brittle hair. “We’re on the road to recovery….” Gosh… I haven’t been this concerned since I needed to know how to take care of a pair of fox children….

(Yeah)
Rigel stayed towards the back of the group, ignoring the chill that clung to his wet and frozen clothing. Just get Kohaku to safety, make sure I’m safe… It will be fine… Rigel wished he didn’t look so human, wished he wasn’t threatening to them.

As they got closer and closer, an bear with a basket of something adverted his attention from his work to the group. He held out a massive paw, saying, "Who are you and what do you seek?"
"Well, we aren't sure if this one is going to survive much longer…" Daichi stepped forward with Kohaku still clinging to life. "She's barely speaking…"
Unfortunately, the bear saw past him and glared at Rigel. "How dare you bring a human upon this land!!!!?" He lifted his paw and conjured a massive tongue of fire out towards him.
Junichi doused it and barked, "He means no harm!!!!"
The bear only growled menacingly in response.

(Oof that's a lot of stuff)

Rigel, though shaking and wet, took a step back and paled. He tried to catch either Mamoru’s or Junichi’s eyes, taking another step back. My fault they’re here and Kohaku is like this… “Get Kohaku safe.” Then he warily began backing away from the small civilization, breath quickening.

The bear glared and sniffed. “We can’t completely trust that he won’t betray…” He walked to Daichi with heavy steps. “But why do you come to us?” He seemed definitely more irritated.
“This little one fell in the Sapphire River, and needs a place to recover….” Daichi shifted his arms— they were beginning to ache. “Our threshold was crossed, and… we had to abandon Katsumi…”
“Well, of course it was!!” He barked, still keeping an eye on Rigel.
More and more of the townsfolk began to gather around them, and it made them all feel the pressure.

“I’m leaving,” Rigel put his hands in the air, meaning to show no harm. “Just get Kohaku safe, I can meet up with you later.” He kept on walking backwards, trying to get as far away from the animal people as possible. This was all my fault, I shouldn’t be here… I’ll just go find a cave or something…

(NOOoooooo don’t leave!)

“You don’t understand where this human’s coming from,” Mamoru growled. “We’re all running away from the same thing, and…. we just need a place to stay!” He snarled, not afraid to take on the bear if necessary.
“All we need is for this one to recover and we’ll find somewhere else to stay,” Daichi tried to strike a decent deal.
“Just let them stay here,” An elk came forward— he seemed quite elderly, with a strange orange leaf budding out of one of his antlers like a tree. “If they insist on the human being harmful, then there’s no sense in letting the poor fox suffer.” He placed a hoof-like hand on Kohaku’s head, and his ears flinched. “Oh…. oh my…!”

Rigel stopped his departure, holding his breath, “What’s wrong with her?” I just need to know if she’ll be alright, I’ll leave after that… “Is she okay?” He subconsciously inched forward, trying to see better.

“This…. this fox definitely needs care…..” The elk tried his best not to shed a tear. “All of you— come.” He beckoned everyone to follow him. “And you too, human.” He said the word without a bitter context in attempts to make him stay. “I’m sure the fox needs you too.”
Surprisingly, the bear didn’t argue and went along with his own business.

Rigel let out the breath he had been holding, immediately coming back to Kohaku’s side. She was like a little sister to him, and he was worried. Rigel wrapped his arms around himself and followed, trying to keep himself from shivering so much.