(no subject)

[keepsthefire]

Who: Rin Okumura, Ratchet, Alec Edwards, ??? [Later: Haku Yowane, Dart Volgue, Yukio Okumura]
What: A very cold and rude awakening from the end of the world
When: Feb 19th, mid-day on
Where: Meria


Fuck it was freezing. Beyond freezing. That kind of cold where you swore your bones were going to freeze inside and leave you a statue in the barren white wasteland that created the cold.

Rin grumbled to himself as he slowly picked up one foot in front of the other, up to his mid-calves in the hard packed snow that only gave when he brought his foot down on it. His tail was wrapped underneath his tattered shirt for whatever warmth he could manage from it, and on his back was a barely conscious Lombax.

All around them, whiteness seemed to stretch out for miles with the wind only whipping up more white, blocking any sense of vision from further out than a few hundred feet. As much as Rin could resist and regenerate from, he was already starting to feel a heaviness sinking in to his lungs and dragging weariness down in to his bones even more than the cold itself. Ratchet was still breathing, but barely, and at this rate they would be lucky if they survived another few hours.

Was this hell? Had Chaosmon succeeded in destroying everything, including them? He didn't know. He just knew that he had to keep going, keep moving, and hope to whatever deity was listening that something would take pity on a half frozen half demon and a Lombax.

Comments

[last_lombax]

Ratchet was freezing cold, shivering, and felt heavy. His tail hung lifelessly behind him and his ears drooped as well. His eyes were half open and just watched as the snow slowly passed by him. This was strange. Was this hell? He could have sworn it was meant to be warm and he wouldn't mind fire right now. No, this wasn't hell. He and Rin were alive...somehow. He slowly raised his head and looked around despite the feeling of his head swimming.

"Rin...? Where are we?"

[keepsthefire]

"I have no fuckin' clue..." Rin swore under his breath, stumbling a little as his knees threatened to give out from underneath him.

"I have no fuckin' clue and our damn D-Comms are gone..." he repeated, shaking his head violently to clear the haze that had continually threatened to over take him. He pushed forward, eyes narrowed towards the distance. If he kept walking in one direction, SOMETHING was bound to appear, right?

[last_lombax]

"Maybe...we got blasted to another planet. There are snow planets..." Ratchet shook his head, which was an obvious mistake. The world began to swim and he sucked in a slow breath.

"You don't have to carry me you know...I'm pretty sure I can walk."

[keepsthefire]

To the first comment, Rin just grunted, but to the second he immediately started protesting.

"You're bleedin'--" he was cut off by a fit of a harsh coughing that forced him to stop walking and speaking all at once. As soon as it was over though, he just kept on walking, trying to ignore just how badly his lungs were burning and his vision was tilting.

"You're bleedin' really bad... earlier you were barely breathi'... better if I carry you..."

But how much longer could he really keep going like that? Even a half demon was still half human, and his human weaknesses were beginning to win out over his demon strengths.

"Gotta... gotta be some one out here..."

[last_lombax]

"Yeah but...you're not doing too good. It would be easier for you if you didn't have to carry me too. Come on. Put me down and we'll walk together. There has to be something out here, like you said..."

Ratchet then followed suit and let out his own coughing fit, blood leaking out of his mouth once it was over. Shit...he was still bleeding.

[keepsthefire]

"'mfine..." Rin insisted flatly, seeming to do it more out of an automatic response than anything. His grip tightened on Ratchet, feet continuing their slow, tedious trudging through the snow.

"Yukio... pro'ly worried..." he groaned, voice thick and words starting to slur. He took another step, only for whatever he stepped on to suddenly yank out from underneath his foot and send him toppling in to the snow.

[last_lombax]

Ratchet let out a loud help as he fell off of Rin and into the snow. He landed face first and stayed there for a moment, paralyzed by the cold. He slowly pushed himself up, shaking off the loose snow and looking over his shoulder.

"What happened?"

[keepsthefire]

"Nn..." Rin groaned, sitting up on his knees, panting hard. Everything ached, worse than he'd ever felt before.

"Tripped... on somethin'..." he said slowly, turning and brushing snow away from where he had stepped, seeing faint hints of green along with creamy white that was offset from the white of the snow.

"... 'ey. Hey! I think there's a digimon under here!"

[last_lombax]

"A digimon?! Is it one of ours?!" Ratchet stood up and trudged through the snow and started to help brush the snow off the small digimon.

[alecswonderland]

Buwny had done zir best to stay near Alec during the confusion and panic. And luckily that had paid off in the end. Zir tamer had woken up a while ago, but with the heavy snow, they hadn't made much progress before Alec had collapsed. Buwny had covered Alec the best ze could with zir small body, trying to keep him warm. Ze was beginning to lose hope when someone stepped on zir ear. With a groan, Buwny lifter zir head and blinked at the whiteness around zir and Alec, finally focusing on the person and animal creature that was brushing the snow away.

"Alec...my tamer...he needs help. He's only a child..." Buwny said weakly.

[keepsthefire]

A kid? A damn kid out here in the snow, half frozen and possibly injured.

Goddamn that did not sit right with Rin at all, and it showed by the scowl on his features. But... he was out here with a digimon, which meant they still had to be in the Digital World somewhere. Something he could focus on after they got the kid out.

"Hang on! We'll get you out!" Rin called to the still half-buried Terriermon as he started digging his bare hands through the snow. He was already half numb as it was, and digging made it so he could barely feel the skin on his hands, but he wasn't going to stop until the kid was out.

Soon enough a hand appeared, followed by his arm, then black hair nearly frozen with the cold. Rin got down and thrust his hand in to the snow that was still piled on him, groping around for the boy's other side until he found it and yanked with what remaining demon strength he had. He tumbled back a bit when the snow finally relented, holding Alec in his arms.

[last_lombax]

"Shit!" Ratchet ran over and pulled the digimon up into his arms. He brushed the snow off of the Terriermon and let out a sigh. So they were in the digital world still. Well that was something at least. He looked to the boy and then to Rin.

"We need to find shelter now or neither of them are going to make it!"

[alecswonderland]

Alec groaned softly and clung to Rin. He was so cold that he could barely even move. Buwny looked over at him curled up in Rin's arms. "There's a light post nearby...we just didn't make it."

Later, in Junk City

[sakedrinking]

A bad feeling had sunk in to Haku's stomach as she sat in the passenger seat of the Hummer with Dart at the wheel, and Yukio in the back seat. Finitevus' call had come when Dart was still repairing her missing leg, getting ready to put a new one on. But with the interruption they had no time to spare, lest Ratchet, Rin and Alec get even more ill, so she had no choice but to have Dart drive the car while she made use of a crutch to get around.

The vehicle was weighed down with a heavy, uncomfortable silence. None of them wanted to do this. Doing so risked so much, but not doing it would risk more than any of them were willing to. So no one spoke. Because no one was willing to to say what was on all their minds.

It was either a trap, or Finitevus was going to stick to his end of the bargain, potentially landing them all in hot water if it ever came out that this interaction had occurred.

The Hummer pulled up to the abandoned factory that sat in shambles in Junk City. It hadn't been operational in years, and no one could quite recall what it used to make. But it was a good, inconspicuous spot for a city like Junk that had so many places like that.

Dart pulled to a stop, and Haku looked at him.

"Stay here."

He gave her a reluctant nod. He didn't want her to go with just Yukio, but even he knew Finitevus would consider that a breech of their agreement and everything would go to hell.

Carefully she scooted out of the front seat, putting her crutch down first before maneuvering out completely. It was awkward as hell, but she managed it, turning to wait for Yukio to come out from the car and join her.

[flameless_twin]

Yukio got out of the car and moved to Haku's side silently. The sunlight hit his glasses as it began to head for the horizon, hiding his eyes behind the glare on the glass. He was ready for this man, this Dr. Finitevus. Rin was his main priority, along with the child and Ratchet. He had a bad feeling about this and had made sure to bring his guns and any spare ammo he had with him.

"Let's go."

[sakedrinking]

Haku stared at Yukio quietly. She had never seen him this angry before, though she fully understood WHY. If any of her siblings had been with him, or - God forbid - her daughter, she would probably look the same. Determined, stone faced, ready for anything. And just scary enough to be intimidating.

But her attachment to the people involved were little more than friendship. She was worried, yes, but she left the anger to Yukio while she took the cautious side.

She nodded to Yukio and started forward on her crutch towards the door, entering the dim, sunset-lit warehouse area of the factory.

[flameless_twin]

Yukio stayed by Haku's side, his eyes scanning the warehouse. With all those shadows it was going to be hard to tell if the doctor had kept his side of the bargain as well. Lunamon was back in the Hummer and knew to come in if he heard gunfire. It was the best signal he could think of right now.

He walked in further and looked around, taking in every entrance and exit. If fighting broke out, getting Haku out was top priority. She could then contact DATS while he handled the threats with Lunamon. Now they just had to wait.

"Do you think he's here already, Onizuka-san?"

[sakedrinking]

"I don't know... he did say he had to get help carrying them from his digimon..." Haku said with a worried sigh. If that was the case, then they must have been in bad shape. Rin usually recovered from even the worst injuries quickly, but it was obvious even his demon physiology couldn't fight off hypothermia forever.

"... D... Doctor Finitevus?" she called out finally, worry and impatience finally winning out over any other hesitation she had.

[warp_ring_tech]

There was silence but only for a moment. Suddenly a large golden ring appeared in front of the two and out stepped the doctor himself. He observed the two for a moment before smiling.

"I trust you have come alone, Haku. Am I right?"

[sakedrinking]

Haku swallowed hard, but nodded slowly.

"Dart is out in the car. He won't come in. He's only here to drive me," she explained, motioning to her missing leg. "Please... just give us Rin, Ratchet and Alec..."

[warp_ring_tech]

"Of course." The doctor snapped and stepped out of the way form the ring. Black slowly stepped out of the ring. In his large Adult form arms he held all three of them, currently unconscious. They all wore jumpsuits instead of their clothes. Alec's digimon came in behind Black and had on a pack with all of their belongings inside.

"As I promised, safe and sound. Black can carry them out to your vehicle for you."

Yukio's eyes went straight to Rin, watching his brother's chest slowly raise and fall.

"And we are in agreement still, Ms. Onizuka, correct? A truce between us from this point on."

[sakedrinking]

Haku's eyes looked them all over slowly, getting vitals, heart rate, blood pressure, everything. They were all extremely ill, and Ratchet was injured on top of that, making his breathing even more labored and his heart rate weaker than the others.

This was bad. They needed to get them to the hospital quickly.

"Y-yes..." she said hesitantly, falling over the words, "I won't say anything to DATS, so long as you leave my family alone."

[warp_ring_tech]

"Then we have a deal. Black, go." Finitevus snapped again and Black nodded. He moved passed the two of them and headed outside, putting the three unconscious people into the back of the Hummer with only a few words to Dart about what he was doing.

Finitevus stayed where he was and observed Haku for a moment before speaking.

"Tell me, my dear. What are the two older ones? I've never seen a Mobian like the one and the other boy could glow." Yukio himself tensed at the question. Why was this man interested in Rin and Ratchet?

[sakedrinking]

Haku tensed as well, looking nervously at Yukio. Lying wasn't an option, especially when she was so terrible at it. Avoiding the question wouldn't work either, and telling him it was none of his business might start something that that she couldn't handle right then.

She chewed on her lower lip, trying to have some faith, the tiniest flicker of trust that he might keep his word.

"Ratchet is a Lombax. He's the last of his kind even in his universe. And Rin is a half-demon, the son of the lord of all demons in their world," she finally answered, giving an apologetic look to Yukio.

[warp_ring_tech]

The doctor was quiet for a moment before he chuckled to himself and shook his head.

"Oh my. So in one day I saved an entire species, royalty, and a boy with the gift of teleportation. What an eventful day indeed."

Yukio swallowed and looked at Haku. It wasn't a harsh look, but it was stern. He didn't blame her for telling but he hoped it did not come back to haunt them in the future.

"And so this one is his brother?" The doctor pointed to Yukio. The exorcist nodded.

"Yes, I am."

"So you are also a half-demon then, correct?"

"...Yes."

"Very interesting indeed. Well, you may both take your leave now." Black returned from outside and stood beside his Tamer with a blank expression.

"And do get them all to a hospital soon. We wouldn't want anything bad to happen to them." With that the doctor left through the Warp Ring and vanished with his partner.