Ritsuka remained still, deathly so. Still and pale, the blood that ought to be coloring her features instead pooled on the floor around her.
And yet.
As Keke leaned in the lick at her owner's face again, clearly trying to wake her in her own way, did some of her fur move ever so slightly as it passed in front of Ritsuka's mouth and nose? It was almost imperceptible, so weak and small and slow that there wasn't even a noticeable rise and fall to her chest, yeah somehow, impossibly, she was breathing.
And a closer look, if Yasuho could stomach it, at her ruined and torn apart chest, would reveal an equal faint twitching. The torn muscles of her heart still weakly attempting to beat.
Dead, she thinks. Dead, dead, dead, her friend is dead, but her eyes must also be playing tricks on her. It must be an illusion, it must be her own fear rearing its head, or maybe something the murderer has done to drive a stake farther in. It has to be fake-
But the body exaggerates when it continuosly fails to do what it needs. The muscles that work are doing their best to move, and the muscles that are separated practically snap with each botched attempt. They're minute motions, but those minute motions are evident enough that the eye catches them with ease now that she's watching.
...At which point she actually is sick, at least a little.
"ORugh-"
Disgusting, but she can't think about that. How is Ritsuka even moving? God, is that why Keke is just trying to...to he...
Messy hand aside, the woman feels like she's been struck with a bolt.
The human presence is Ritsuka.
She's alive, she's alive, she's alive-
...For now.
Yasuho rushes over with a scream, no doubt startling the dog. Desperate hands fumble to pull the body together where it's impossible, pleas and cries nothing but gibberish from her mouth. She needs help-
Help will not get here in time. Help might bring the culprit back.
She needs someone, anyone, anyone who can heal-
...And as it is, they're probably occupied with the newest dungeon.
The phone at her side gleams with every desperate fumble. Her hands are already red and slick from trying to even assess what's happened as she tries to think of how to bandage wounds like this, and it smears ugly stains across the device when she notices the glow.
She found new rock things for this the other day...right? They were definitely doing some kind of healing in Tartarus, right? They have to be enough. It has to be enough...right??
Something to fix this- Something to keep her alive, something-
An outpouring of magical energy swirled and infused Ritsuka's body as the healing spell did its work. Muscle and bone knit back together, severed veins and arteries reattached, even that one shattered wrist reset itself. Ritsuka made a choked, gasping sound as her lungs suddenly were whole again, no longer struggling to take in a meager amount of air with each breath. Unseen, her pulse became detectable once more, her heart restored to doing its job rather than its shredded remains twitching ineffectually.
It was still horribly, painfully weak, however. A heartbeat that could barely be felt, breaths that remained shallow, her skin pale and almost cool to the touch.
The magic was healing her body, but she'd already lost so much blood. Far, far too much. And so she still showed no signs of waking up.
She feels like she's had the wind knocked out of her. Like something's struck her in the gut, forced all the breath from her lungs with such a blow that she can't get it back. All through it, Ritsuka's body pulls itself together under her fingers though, and so Yasuho calls for herself and her magic to keep going.
...until she can't. "Hahh...hhhh...Ritsuka- come on...please, Ritsuka, please we need..."
Cupping the other's face does nothing but smear blood on it, and Yasuho bites back tears. Something has happened here that the other was left to die, but even with this miraculous prevention of death, how can she say for sure that there's time to try and rouse her.
They need to leave, she thinks, and already her shadow moves to act on those words. Paisley Park creeps out and starts scanning the room for objects and begins blindly grabbing from the floor and counter, starting a small pile at their side. They need to get out of here, they need to go-
And isn't that what she's spent all the last while preparing for?
Thoughts and memories of idle nervous chatter while cutting swathes of fur bring more tears to the girl's eyes, as Yasuho finds the memory blurring painfully overtop of what's surrounding her now. It's hardly a full gore-fest of a mess but somehow the truth of what a brutal scene this is hits harder that way, as if the lack of excess makes it that much more Real.
There is a pulse under her fingers, Yasuho thinks with a swallow. She just...
"Okay." Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. "Okay. ...W...I'll get you out of here. And then I'll keep trying- until you can get up, it's going to be alright..."
There was still no response, no reaction from Ritsuka. Her breathing was no longer pained, but it was still oddly strained, the muscles struggling against the lack of blood. Her pulse was present, but faint and erratic. She would be no help in getting herself out of here, unfortunately.
Both Keke and Sage parked themselves nearby, clearly concerned about their owner, though that did have the benefit of keeping them out from underfoot. Beyond that... Well. Yasuho was already familiar with Ritsuka's apartment, having been here before. She would simply have to use her best judgment for what to do next.
Objects are moving behind her. Ritsuka is in her arms. Yasuho breathes deeply, and slowly in an attempt to calm herself down, and with each second she takes to do it her resolve manages to grow and steady itself.
They need to get out. She spent all that time preparing for what it would take to hide, get somewhere safe, to avoid this kind of thing, but the best she can do now is make sure it doesn't happen again. Paisley's 'sense presence' is on high alert- all there are around them are empty apartments with the occasional animal. The canines themselves are watching nervously, but for whatever reason seem to be behaving...for now.
And Ritsuka is limp in her arms.
She needs something that can move her- something that can carry her, she can't just pull a dragon in here from Hyrule or-
Yasuho's eyes fall on the racecar bed, and she immediately moves to start dragging the girl over. In response to the thought, Paisley darts for the bedroom to pull blankets and pillows off at random, sliding back to help wrap the girl carefully upon it. It's a tight fit- Yasuho's barely going to be able to drive the thing if she's right, and with a look to the dogs that's hardly preferred.
She needs something else then. Something that can carry...
"Keke! Here, up-" The chair. The chair can move, and if she leashes the two items together with Paisley she can probably make it work provided she's careful not to overshoot the speed. "Sage, you too!" Dogs on the chair, she can put what snacks and things will fit there as well...
Kettle on the bed, she'll have to hold that...
...Just one last thing then.
"Phhhheewwww...okay. Okay, please, first try..."
She needs to make sure this door doesn't stick around, but there's an easy way to do that at least. Carefully drawing the chalk around and over the front door after jamming it shut with something on the floor, she takes a look through the resulting portal.
Hyrule.
"Just a bit further then..." It's scary, how well this is working so far, but it's hardly as if that compares to what preceded it all. "Please...hang in there Ritsuka, I'll get you in the house..."
Ritsuka, of course, didn't respond, didn't move. But she continued to breathe, shallow breaths as her body struggled against all the blood she'd lost, but breathing all the same.
The animals did as they were told, even if Keke in particular needed a little convincing to leave Ritsuka's immediate side. But once again, that odd affinity for animals, the one that Ritsuka had once gone to the strange Goodwill and asked the shopkeeper for something that might help her friend with a pet dragon, did its work.
The rest of the apartment was still. Ritsuka's attacker was so certain of his work he spared no thought for returning, but the sooner they were out, the better, in any case.
As long as she's breathing, it's fine. As long as she's breathing, they can pull this off. The longer they take here, in this room of blood and silence, the more tense she becomes however, and so as she readies Paisley as the 'rope' and gets behind the wheel as best she can without jostling anything, Yasuho swallows.
Time to drive.
The car takes off without so much as an engine roar. The chair ambles behind, slower but not so slow that it's completely out of sight when Yasuho briefly brings the car to a stop. With how these chalk gates work, they're not quite at the gate of Hyrule. It works to their advantage, what with the usual one being inside a freaking cave.
Here, they're just beside the cave, which is handy as the chair trundles out. Yasuho grabs a stick from the ground, sticks it through the door...
...And the minute the door is unjammed it comes free from what held the gate together, separated chalk line forcing it to close.
Back to the car then.
It won't be a long drive. She hid that teapot close, who knew how injured they'd be if they needed it after all. But it's at least...easier, in a sense.
Better to breathe.
The car-bed isn't made for this kind of terrain, so at least she has to take it slow enough that the chair can keep up now. Just need to get to the teapot at the honey-cave.
Neither of the pets seemed particularly happy about this whole arrangement, the fact that they were indeed following their own being pretty much the only thing keeping them mollified. Keke in particular was clearly still agitated, looking around and growling at the slightest thing that seemed out of place.
Ritsuka still wasn't improving further, but at least she wasn't showing any sign of getting worse. Stable. But not waking, even as the magic race car bed bumped along the uneven terrain.
It's a short trip at least. And the bees of the hive there don't even move an inch as Paisley slips down low to carry the teapot out from the hiding place there. It was kept covered, fortunately, or they might have a whole other issue.
Still though.
"Alright you two, you first-"
Into the teapot you two, c'mon.
"Paisley, you bring Ritsuka down..."
She uh.
Doesn't really want to just drop the bed and Ritsuka in...
So this is the best compromise. Slide them down, with Paisley as careful as possible...
Keke hesitated when told to go, looking back at Ritsuka's prone form and whining. A little more encouragement though got the mutt to comply, and that was all it took for the leafeon to follow.
Of course, if Ritsuka didn't follow quickly, whether the pets would stay was a whole other question...
this is probably a good close point more or less...
It'll be fine. Ritsuka goes down quick, and Yasuho herself very briefly follows just to make sure everyone and everything has landed 'safely'- that includes the chair and all it's supplies.
"Stay here," she quickly orders, and just as quickly Yasuho's gone. They won't feel the teapot move, they won't feel anything at all really, as Yasuho herself takes off to find herself her 'safety well'.
It'll just feel like...a quiet. Stressful wait, before Yasuho finally comes back.
Comes back, and finally collapses to her knees beside the bed. She needs to do more, she knows that. They're hidden now but that's only part of the battle.
She's just...
(Give her but a moment. She'll be back to it in the end, to try healing magic, to answer messages. But for now she just rests her head against the bed, and lets herself break.)
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no subject
And yet.
As Keke leaned in the lick at her owner's face again, clearly trying to wake her in her own way, did some of her fur move ever so slightly as it passed in front of Ritsuka's mouth and nose? It was almost imperceptible, so weak and small and slow that there wasn't even a noticeable rise and fall to her chest, yeah somehow, impossibly, she was breathing.
And a closer look, if Yasuho could stomach it, at her ruined and torn apart chest, would reveal an equal faint twitching. The torn muscles of her heart still weakly attempting to beat.
no subject
But the body exaggerates when it continuosly fails to do what it needs. The muscles that work are doing their best to move, and the muscles that are separated practically snap with each botched attempt. They're minute motions, but those minute motions are evident enough that the eye catches them with ease now that she's watching.
...At which point she actually is sick, at least a little.
"ORugh-"
Disgusting, but she can't think about that. How is Ritsuka even moving? God, is that why Keke is just trying to...to he...
Messy hand aside, the woman feels like she's been struck with a bolt.
The human presence is Ritsuka.
She's alive, she's alive, she's alive-
...For now.
Yasuho rushes over with a scream, no doubt startling the dog. Desperate hands fumble to pull the body together where it's impossible, pleas and cries nothing but gibberish from her mouth. She needs help-
Help will not get here in time. Help might bring the culprit back.
She needs someone, anyone, anyone who can heal-
...And as it is, they're probably occupied with the newest dungeon.
The phone at her side gleams with every desperate fumble. Her hands are already red and slick from trying to even assess what's happened as she tries to think of how to bandage wounds like this, and it smears ugly stains across the device when she notices the glow.
She found new rock things for this the other day...right? They were definitely doing some kind of healing in Tartarus, right? They have to be enough. It has to be enough...right??
Something to fix this- Something to keep her alive, something-
A word comes to her mind.
"T...Teara... TEARAL-!"
no subject
It was still horribly, painfully weak, however. A heartbeat that could barely be felt, breaths that remained shallow, her skin pale and almost cool to the touch.
The magic was healing her body, but she'd already lost so much blood. Far, far too much. And so she still showed no signs of waking up.
no subject
...until she can't. "Hahh...hhhh...Ritsuka- come on...please, Ritsuka, please we need..."
Cupping the other's face does nothing but smear blood on it, and Yasuho bites back tears. Something has happened here that the other was left to die, but even with this miraculous prevention of death, how can she say for sure that there's time to try and rouse her.
They need to leave, she thinks, and already her shadow moves to act on those words. Paisley Park creeps out and starts scanning the room for objects and begins blindly grabbing from the floor and counter, starting a small pile at their side. They need to get out of here, they need to go-
And isn't that what she's spent all the last while preparing for?
Thoughts and memories of idle nervous chatter while cutting swathes of fur bring more tears to the girl's eyes, as Yasuho finds the memory blurring painfully overtop of what's surrounding her now. It's hardly a full gore-fest of a mess but somehow the truth of what a brutal scene this is hits harder that way, as if the lack of excess makes it that much more Real.
There is a pulse under her fingers, Yasuho thinks with a swallow. She just...
"Okay." Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. "Okay. ...W...I'll get you out of here. And then I'll keep trying- until you can get up, it's going to be alright..."
Breathe, breathe, BREATHE-
"It's alright...it's okay..."
no subject
Both Keke and Sage parked themselves nearby, clearly concerned about their owner, though that did have the benefit of keeping them out from underfoot. Beyond that... Well. Yasuho was already familiar with Ritsuka's apartment, having been here before. She would simply have to use her best judgment for what to do next.
no subject
They need to get out. She spent all that time preparing for what it would take to hide, get somewhere safe, to avoid this kind of thing, but the best she can do now is make sure it doesn't happen again. Paisley's 'sense presence' is on high alert- all there are around them are empty apartments with the occasional animal. The canines themselves are watching nervously, but for whatever reason seem to be behaving...for now.
And Ritsuka is limp in her arms.
She needs something that can move her- something that can carry her, she can't just pull a dragon in here from Hyrule or-
Yasuho's eyes fall on the racecar bed, and she immediately moves to start dragging the girl over. In response to the thought, Paisley darts for the bedroom to pull blankets and pillows off at random, sliding back to help wrap the girl carefully upon it. It's a tight fit- Yasuho's barely going to be able to drive the thing if she's right, and with a look to the dogs that's hardly preferred.
She needs something else then. Something that can carry...
"Keke! Here, up-" The chair. The chair can move, and if she leashes the two items together with Paisley she can probably make it work provided she's careful not to overshoot the speed. "Sage, you too!" Dogs on the chair, she can put what snacks and things will fit there as well...
Kettle on the bed, she'll have to hold that...
...Just one last thing then.
"Phhhheewwww...okay. Okay, please, first try..."
She needs to make sure this door doesn't stick around, but there's an easy way to do that at least. Carefully drawing the chalk around and over the front door after jamming it shut with something on the floor, she takes a look through the resulting portal.
Hyrule.
"Just a bit further then..." It's scary, how well this is working so far, but it's hardly as if that compares to what preceded it all. "Please...hang in there Ritsuka, I'll get you in the house..."
no subject
The animals did as they were told, even if Keke in particular needed a little convincing to leave Ritsuka's immediate side. But once again, that odd affinity for animals, the one that Ritsuka had once gone to the strange Goodwill and asked the shopkeeper for something that might help her friend with a pet dragon, did its work.
The rest of the apartment was still. Ritsuka's attacker was so certain of his work he spared no thought for returning, but the sooner they were out, the better, in any case.
no subject
Time to drive.
The car takes off without so much as an engine roar. The chair ambles behind, slower but not so slow that it's completely out of sight when Yasuho briefly brings the car to a stop. With how these chalk gates work, they're not quite at the gate of Hyrule. It works to their advantage, what with the usual one being inside a freaking cave.
Here, they're just beside the cave, which is handy as the chair trundles out. Yasuho grabs a stick from the ground, sticks it through the door...
...And the minute the door is unjammed it comes free from what held the gate together, separated chalk line forcing it to close.
Back to the car then.
It won't be a long drive. She hid that teapot close, who knew how injured they'd be if they needed it after all. But it's at least...easier, in a sense.
Better to breathe.
The car-bed isn't made for this kind of terrain, so at least she has to take it slow enough that the chair can keep up now. Just need to get to the teapot at the honey-cave.
"A..Almost there, everyone..."
no subject
Ritsuka still wasn't improving further, but at least she wasn't showing any sign of getting worse. Stable. But not waking, even as the magic race car bed bumped along the uneven terrain.
no subject
Still though.
"Alright you two, you first-"
Into the teapot you two, c'mon.
"Paisley, you bring Ritsuka down..."
She uh.
Doesn't really want to just drop the bed and Ritsuka in...
So this is the best compromise. Slide them down, with Paisley as careful as possible...
no subject
Of course, if Ritsuka didn't follow quickly, whether the pets would stay was a whole other question...
this is probably a good close point more or less...
"Stay here," she quickly orders, and just as quickly Yasuho's gone. They won't feel the teapot move, they won't feel anything at all really, as Yasuho herself takes off to find herself her 'safety well'.
It'll just feel like...a quiet. Stressful wait, before Yasuho finally comes back.
Comes back, and finally collapses to her knees beside the bed. She needs to do more, she knows that. They're hidden now but that's only part of the battle.
She's just...
(Give her but a moment. She'll be back to it in the end, to try healing magic, to answer messages. But for now she just rests her head against the bed, and lets herself break.)