Authors Notes: I know you've all been waiting so patiently for this chapter and with good reason.
OnyxHarmony (AsktheBlindArcher) wrote it. Ryan is also her OC who is the man Inky married.
Cricket belongs to S-obbles
Zareth, and Glass belong to Grumpy-Zane
Beta read by ceata-88
All other OCs belong to me
Read the Zareth AU before reading Kino AU. It will not make sense otherwise!
Please Read and Review!
Cumbersome
Chapter 3
Familiar Faces.
Ryan shook his head as the droid shivered, watching the beast he'd slain slowly slip down the snowy hill and stop. "Did you really think I'd shoot you without cause? Foolish." Sliding his bow into the holster on his back, he offered his hand to Kino. Kino eyed the stranger suspiciously and grabbed his hand, pulling himself up.
"Just who the heck are-" He blinked and looked around, seeing Hope lying face down in the snow. Letting go of Ryan's hand and helping her up, he dusted the snow off of Hope and the jacket she was wearing. "You okay?"
Hope tilted her head to the side. "Snow is really cold, and I heard some arrows-"
Kino sighed and shook his head. " 'Course it's cold, all snow is cold-" He looked to Ryan, who was walking away. "Hey! I asked you a question! C'mon, Hope." Running to catch up with him, Kino grunted when Ryan stopped-causing Kino to run into him.
Grumbling when he turned around, Kino raised an eyebrow. "I asked ya who you are, y'know?" Ryan watched the droid and stared from under his hood, as if examining him. He slowly backed up, looking to Hope behind him.
"Why's he starin' at you like that, Kino?" Hope sounded confused, raising an eyebrow.
He shook his head. "I dunno, but it's startin' to creep me out."
Ryan slowly pulled his hood down, red eyes watching Kino. "My name is Ryan. Ryan Brookstone."
Kino stopped, crossing his arms. "That's impossible, Ryan would be old and-" Zareth sounded off inside Kino's head. 'Kino, you really should get more information before you spout something off-' He grumbled. "I'm telling ya, that ain't Ryan. He'd be all old, elemental masters age y'know." Ryan stared at him, raising an eyebrow. Who was he talking to? No one else was around him but Hope and himself. Zareth chuckled. 'How many people you know that has red eyes, Kino? Sheesh..' Kino grumbled. "Well there's Danika, she's got'em."
Ryan went silent for a moment. "You mean my daughter?"
He stopped, looking up at him. "Y..Your daughter? Danika is your.."
Ryan sighed and shut his eyes for a moment, opening them to look down at the ground. He didn't speak more on the subject. Turning to Kino, he smiled-though it was brief. Only one person used to talk to himself like that. It may not be Zareth, but he had learned a long time ago that there were different fusions spanned across time and generations. "Took you long enough to find me again. So you're the new Zareth of this outfit, eh?" He rubbed Kino's head, ruffling his hair. "Not sure if I should say welcome back or not."
Kino grumbled and fixed his hair once Ryan let go. "I got a name, Ryan-"
He shook his head. "I know. I'm guessing it's Kino, since that's what Hope called you." He began walking back toward the house, seemingly not bothered by the massive fire nearby.
Hope frowned as they walked past it, nudging Kino. "What's that?"
Turning his head to the flames, he snorted. "It's fire, Hope. It's really hot and-" He shook his head, turning back to Ryan. "Anyway, we need to find Danika so she can take a look at Hope."
Ryan paused, turning back around to face them as he eyed Hope. Was she part droid? That would explain their need to see Danika. He sighed and turned to look at the fire, shutting his eyes. "I'm afraid you're too late. She and her brother passed away twenty minutes ago, within mere moments of each other."
Kino stopped walking, staring at the fire. "They..they're dead? Is that what the fire is?"
Ryan opened his eyes, watching the flames crackle and waver on the wooden encasement. "Yes..it is. Julien passed of old age, and I suppose his sister didn't want him to be alone..she died in my arms." His voice appeared to shake for a moment, but quickly stabilized. He didn't have time to be sad, no matter how much losing his the last of his kids hurt. Kino and Hope needed help.
Turning to Kino and Hope, he stopped and frowned. "Kino..you're crying.."
Kino gently touched his face and looked at the tear droplets on his fingertips, looking up at Ryan as his eyes dimmed for a moment, then briefly flashed a bright blue. "I..It's not me."
Ryan knew that color. It was a sharp, icy blue hue. It faded back to Kino's ocean blue eyes, and he wiped at his eyes. "Zareth is crying, isn't he?" Kino nodded and Ryan sighed, looking at the fire. "That doesn't surprise me. He cared about them a lot. That man would go to hell and back for his family if he had to. Anything to keep them safe." He shook his head. "They weren't in pain, don't worry...I'm gonna miss them too, though." Turning to Kino, he gave a soft smile. "The fire should burn out soon, and then we can go."
Hope frowned as she watched the fire slowly smolder into embers, and nothing but ash. "Go where?"
Kino shook his head. "Yeah, where? Danika was the only one good with droids, right? And another thing, how are you so young? Shouldn't you be old?"
Ryan chuckled. "Alright two things, Kino. First, Danika was a living prodigy, amazing droid repair and speaking the language, a gifted mind of her generation. However, my sister is..pretty good at it, too. She doesn't work in the field but she knows enough to help you."
Kino frowned and crossed his arms, trying to think. "Sister..Sister? You have a sister?"
Ryan frowned. "Well I mean, she's not related by blood, but she was raised with me. That's all that really matters."
Zareth cleared his throat inside Kino's head, his voice was soft and quiet. He was obviously still sad. 'Sorcha. Her name is Sorcha. You know, the half oni woman that Inky talked about in her journals. Danika and Julien's aunt.' Kino nodded to himself and looked at Ryan. "So what's the second thing?" He looked over at the fire, making sure it was fully out.
Ryan began walking again, shaking his head. "I'll explain the age thing as soon as we get to Mom. Think you can get me to er..damn..I almost said Laffy's to see Danny, but..she's been gone a long time.."
Kino scratched his head and followed Ryan, having Hope follow behind them. "I think Laffy's exploded a while back."
Ryan nodded and turned around as he walked, looking at Hope. "What did you need Danika for her again?"
He shrugged. "Hope knocked her head real bad on the train when we were runnin'." He frowned to himself as they walked, squinting at the yellow house they passed on the way to the car. "I found her, Danny made her but I don't really know what she is..probably a droid, but somethin' is different about her. Can't put my finger on it."
Ryan was silent for a moment, stopping and watching the house. He sighed and went inside, grabbing the house key and a small box of papers. "Sorcha is sleeping for work tonight, so we can go see her tomorrow. Right now, you both need to be checked out by Mom. I know she moved over here and visits back and forth between my verse and yours..can't believe Julien wanted to live out his retirement in Zareth's verse.." He chuckled and paused in the doorway. "Guess he got attached to it. I don't blame him..this verse changed my life for the better." Ryan grinned at Kino.
'Shucks, Kid. I didn't do too much. Inky's the one who got attached to you.' It was a brief echo in Kino's head, and he rubbed his face as he chuckled.
"He heard me, huh?"
Kino only nodded, then grimaced when he saw the outside of the house. He knew it was yellow, but not that yellow, with the white trim. "Ugh..who put together this rag-tag shack anyway? The yellow is giving me a headache.." Glass spoke up in his processor, scolding Kino. 'I poured blood, tear n' soul into every brick n' side, post n' shingle. N' all you gone do is piss and moan b'out it! You know damn all between a brick and a box..'
Kino held his head for a minute. Ryan steadied him, afraid he might fall over. "What was that?"
He grumbled and rubbed his head. "Apparently Glass is mad at me for insulting his house."
Ryan looked visibly confused. "Glass? Who the hell is Glass? Isn't this Dareth's parent's old place?"
Kino shook his head and began walking toward the car with Hope behind him. "Let's just go."
Ryan locked the front door to the house, heading to the car and getting in. "Make sure she's buckled in."
Hope frowned. "Why do I have to wear a seatbelt?"
He paused, turning his head to look in the back seat where Kino now sat beside Hope. "For safety."
She only tilted her head. "Are you sure?"
Ryan chuckled and shook his head, starting the car and driving into the city. "She's an odd one, Kino. But then again, we all are."
Soon pulling into a parking space at Zareth's Place with Kino's help of directions, Ryan frowned as he turned the car off and got out. "What's this place?"
Kino helped Hope out of the car, chuckling. "What, you never been here? Ever? C'mon, you tellin' me you don't know about the root beer bar Otto opened?"
He paused, watching the building. "Otto? Inky's little brother? Hell, he was a baby when I met him..never saw him since then." Ryan shook his head, beginning to walk inside with Hope and Kino. "So, all fusions are made up of two people or creatures, so who are you-" He frowned when he heard a familiar popping noise behind him, stopping when he saw two people walk out in front of him.
"Dad!" Kira and Omino shouted at the same time.
Ryan watched the blonde man lift his head from cleaning off the counter. "There you two are, where in the hell have you been?"
Omino shook his head, one hand on his hip while waving the other dismissively. "C'mon Dad, you know Kino does whatever he wants."
Kira shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, we try and tell him not to. But he just kinda..goes."
Otto sighed and set the cleaning rag aside, watching the two. "Yeah, yeah you're right. So who are these two?"
Kira looked up at her dad and pointed over at Hope, who was currently looking around for Kino-who had 'vanished'. "That's uh..her name is Hope, Dad."
He frowned and watched Kira, a slight look of confusion on his face. "She a friend of yours from school?"
She shook her head. "Nah, not exactly Dad. She's uhm.."
Hope poked her head out from underneath a table, where she'd been looking for Kino. "I'm a complex hallucination that probably has something to do with what Kino ate for dinner the night before." She stood up, dusting herself off as she went over to look at the figurines on a nearby shelf. "Or at least that's what I heard Kino say. Has anyone seen Kino? He disappeared-" Ryan chuckled silently to himself and shook his head at how oblivious she was. Kira sighed and went silent, trying to think of how to explain this.
Otto frowned at Hope's explanation, looking at Kira in hopes of a better one. "A..hallucination?"
Shaking her head again, Kira looked up at her father. "Dad, she was created from Grandpa Zareth and Grandma Danny's DNA. Or..whatever." She rubbed her face in slight frustration. "It's all still pretty unclear and we're all a little fuzzy on the details. Hope is..well, she's our aunt...I think?" Kira looked to Omino who shrugged and ducked behind the counter to play with a creature who began letting out silent purrs. Ryan seemed confused at the noise. Did they have a cat? Shaking his head and looking at Otto, he seemed to be..eerily silent.
"But..that doesn't explain the blue.." Otto walked over and gently patted Hope's head.
"So you aren't mad, Dad?" Kira seemed confused, watching him.
He shook his head and gently chuckled. "Kira, weird things happen all the time in this family."
"He ain't wrong, Kira." Ryan shook his head. "I can't count the number of times we've had strange occurrences since I've been around Inky and her fam.." He trailed off, sighing and clearing his throat.
Otto frowned and turned to look at Ryan, squinting at him and circling around him. "And just where in the hell have you been, Skyscra-"
He flinched, glaring at Otto. "Don't. I don't wanna hear that nickname anymore. It was hers."
Sighing and watching Ryan, Otto shook his head. "You're right, you're right. My bad, Ryan. Say, did you bring Danika and Julien? Haven't seen them in a long time, and-" He stopped when he saw Ryan's empty gaze. "What? What's goin' on?"
Ryan took a breath and watched Otto carefully. "They uhm.." He could feel his throat tighten, as though he may start crying-but he fought the urge to do so. "They passed away today, Otto. Within moments of each other. Danika died in my arms after Julien died of old age mere minutes before her."
Otto stopped and turned to Ryan, expression unreadable for a moment before it shifted to sadness. "I see..at least they weren't in pain, right? I mean, they passed relatively peacefully?"
He was silent for a moment, but nodded. "Yeah..they weren't in pain. Had to burn the bodies, though."
Otto looked slightly alarmed at this, turning to Kira and Omino for confirmation-as though he couldn't quite believe Ryan.
The two siblings nodded in unison, though Kira turned away and rubbed her arm, as though she were still upset by the sight.
"I did what I did because of the people this family has been caught up in before. Fucks sake, Otto. Before you were born, Gaya tried to kidnap me and use me as a weapon. Call me paranoid if you like, but I've seen people do some shady shit in my life and I ain't havin' someone use my kid's bodies for something." Ryan said, crossing his arms. The fear was clearly present in his voice as he shifted uncomfortably where he stood.
Silence filled the room, and Otto ran a hand through his hair. He seemed to be trying to process the information. "I understand. I mean I ain't mad at you over it."
Hope frowned, tilting her head in slight confusion. "Who's Gaya?"
As innocent as the question was coming from Hope, it caused a wave of unease to fill most of the people in the room.
Ryan shook his head. "It's better you don't know just yet, Hope. Not until we go find my sister and get you checked out." He was quiet after that, fingers rubbing carefully over Hope's cheek and patting her head. "We'll tell you when it's appropriate so it doesn't overload you." Clapping his hands together as if he were ending the tension in the room, he chuckled at Otto. "How's about you tell me what I've missed since I've been gone, over some root beer, hm?"
Rubbing the back of his neck, Otto couldn't help but grin. "Alright, alright. It's on the houseā¦.this time." He pointed his finger at Ryan and narrowed his eyes as though he were trying to intimidate him, which only caused him to start laughing at himself. "I..I can't do that with a straight face, sorry-"
As Otto composed himself, the front door to the bar swung open and a familiar face peered inside, orange antennae subtly twitching.
Oh fuck. Oh no. Ryan felt himself start to internally panic, watching Cricket come into the bar and sit down at a stool. He thought he'd had all the loose ends tied, had let everyone know about the deaths...well, he'd at least tell Cryptor and Min when he saw them next. But he'd nearly forgotten about Danika's wife. Running a hand nervously through his hair, he tried to think of how to break the news.
Cricket swiveled around on the barstool, chuckling to herself. Stopping when she finally got dizzy, the orange LED eyes on her facescreen blinked in confusion-as though she thought she were seeing things. "Ryan? Holy hell, you're still alive?"
Ryan could only chuckle as he sat down next to Cricket and shook his head. "Yeah, yeah I am. Though I suppose I've got a little birdie lookin' out for me these days. Listen..." His tone softened, watching the droid tilt her head. "I've got some news about Danika, she-"
"Oh yeah, Dani is great! Haven't seen her lovely face for a good day or two, but I know she'll be back around in no time. Can't wait see her." Cricket interjected, joy clearly present in her tone.
"Actually Cricket, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Danika is.." He sighed and paused, trying to collect his thoughts. "Passed. She's passed away, not more than a few hours ago."
The silverware Cricket had currently been toying with clattered to the counter as she dropped it in shock, the droid beginning to laugh uncomfortably and twist a napkin in her hands instead to calm herself, running her fingers over the soft material. "What? Haha..hah..Th-That's a real funny joke there Ryan, Really funny!" She shook as she winked at him. "Y-You got me, good one!"
Ryan shook his head and reached his hand out to comfort Cricket, only to hesitate and pull his hand back. "I wish I was joking, I really do. Her and her brother died within minutes of each other. She didn't suffer, Cricket. I promise-"
A half forced laugh of desperation left Cricket, as she slowly began tearing the napkin to pieces, discarded bits falling to the floor below. "I..I don't understand. She..-" Her voice cracked as she stared at Ryan, facescreen glitching occasionally as she tried to process all this. "She was supposed to stay with me." Cricket's face screen powered off and went black as she began to teeter, falling over and slumping against Ryan.
Catching her and looking to Otto and the others in confusion, Ryan carefully picked Cricket up in his arms. "I think she just-"
"...shutdown." Kira finished for him, staring at the immobile droid in his arms. "What do we do now? Are we gonna take her to see Sorcha? I mean we have to take Hope anyway."
Ryan shook his head, standing up with Cricket in his arms. "No I don't...I don't think Sorcha can fix this. It looks like a forced shutdown. A hibernation, maybe?" Looking over at Otto, Ryan jerked his head in the direction of the stairs. "I'm gonna borrow a room, alright? Prop Cricket up in the corner so she doesn't fall and get hurt."
Otto only nodded, tossing Ryan a key. "Anything you need. I take it this means you're gonna head out with Kira and Omino in the mornin'?" He shook his head. "Just keep my kids in one piece, Ryan. That applies to Kino, too."
Ryan was already halfway up the stairs when Otto spoke, pausing to look at him. "Yeah. I'll keep them as safe as I can. See you in the morning, Otto."
