huzzah the fic updates. The world is round. Someone is gonna die in this fic and it's not gonna be Yuri
They crashed hard and everyone could feel their bodies bruise and crack on impact but the worst of it was the fact that they landed in the middle of nowhere. Long deep marks clawed in Ba'ul's body and the keel of the ship busted to nothing. Not even getting into the hull damage. The fact they were all alive was a miracle but the injures were clearly sever. Yuri could feel the broken ribs and internal bleeding as he sat upright. Rita's face was covered in a large gash down the right side from where she had hit the ground as she struggled to hoist herself up.
Judith and Patty seemed to have somehow made it out relatively fine but they still looked like death. Where were they? It was hard to tell and there wasn't a road in sight which made him think they weren't near a town of any sort.
This isn't good. They need a doctor. A real doctor and not their patchwork artes that have been keeping them together this whole time. Shit, not to mention his head is splitting. "Everyone alive?"
He gets resounding groans as everyone forces themselves up.
"Where are we?" Karol moans looking around just as confused as the rest of them.
Likely near the remains of Emhead hill.
Judith chirps back out Ba'ul's words as they stare into the distance. It's miles off. Miles! Yuri knows that but he can still see the smoke in the air darkening the sky in a dark ashen cloud. Ba'ul had seen it from the air the destruction and the total- felt it too- and Yuri just really couldn't comprehend it. He couldn't comprehend that soot was raining down as all of them looked to the center of destruction. Nor and Torim harbor both just gone.
Poof.
How many people lived in those cities again? How many just died? Yuri didn't want to think about it as Karol began performing healing artes while Patty hands out what's left of their gels. "Sorry I don't know any healing spell."
"You're fine Patty." Judith says fishing out some bandages from the wreckage along with disinfectant. "Just be sure to save some for emergencies. We don't want to be out of gels."
"What are we gonna even do about getting to the capital?" Karol tosses down his axe on the ground letting out a circle that briefly relieves the pain. It won't fix any broken bones but it should fix internal bleeding and heal their bruises till they can find a real doctor. Can they make it to Halure like this? It doesn't seem likely. Hell, Yuri still doesn't think any of them could travel more than a mile if they had to.
"Hey, Ba'ul you up for carrying us?" In response Ba'ul groans and flips on his back. "What about the ship? Patty will she sail?"
She shook her head. "No way this baby will sail now. Busted to hell and back. If were in a port city I'd say we could have this done in a few weeks, but we're sunk."
"Great." Rita spits standing up only to scream clutching her ankle. "Fuck!"
"It's broken," Judith says looking over Rita's left foot.
"I know it's fucking broken! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" She pulled at the grass hitting the ground with her good leg. "We don't have time for this. We can't- just- how are we going to save Estelle like this?"
Rita's shoulders trembling as she turns away, probably to cry, folding in on herself, "We're not gonna make it at this rate… at this rate Estelle will unleash the Adephagos or she may even die."
"We're not gonna let that happen," He's not going to let it happen. "Hey, Repede, you able to scout around? See where we are?"
Repede gives a nod, "I'll be back in a few hours. Stay still till then."
Karol set about setting Rita's foot to the best of his abilities while Judith decides dinner is in order. Yuri can't believe everything that's happened all went down just today. Just today.
God, he's exhausted. Yuri's body screams with aches and burns throughout from all the fighting. Honestly amazing he's yet to have an episode.
With the amount of aer being pumped into his system usually his mind would be off in lala land. Gonna count himself lucky on that. Then there's that little bit about having picked up an apatheia from the Heracles's engine. It looks just like the last one aside from being a bit larger.
Rita has been studying it with the ruins of her equipment from the ground. She's grumbling to herself about who knows what till she calls Yuri over. "Hey, you can understand this thing?"
"Like what it's saying and shit?" The answer is sort of? Yuri could hear it well enough but it was broken and chopped. It felt angry with burning resentment towards the world.
Hate
"Are you able to read the aer around it?" Rita shoves it over for him to look over. "What's the density and shit?"
Yuri shrugged, "I dunno normal. It's not any thicker than most things."
Live
Want live
Rita grumbled to herself and went back to her work. While they waited on Repede the most they could do was wait and relax. No monsters around so either the blast scarred them off or Ba'ul was acting as a good enough deterrent. He's very warm and soft to sleep next to as Yuri curls down under one of his fins.
Tired.
He wants to sleep so bad but they need to get to Estelle and Repede should be back soon. Judith forces Yuri to shut his eyes when she curls up with him. "I know you're worried but once it gets dark, we aren't going to be able to keep moving anyway. It's fine to rest and get back our strength."
"Still doesn't make me feel any less useless." Yuri spat as his body forced out a yawn in revenge for all his recklessness. He doesn't want to sleep he wants to keep moving. He wants to save Estelle.
He wants something in this to go right. His eyes get heavier and heavier as Judith keeps stroking his antennas lulling him to sleep. "Dammit Judy, we don't have time for naps."
"We have plenty right now for you to crash."
"I don't want to."
"You should. You're speaking Geraios, Yuri. You've been speaking it since we crashed."
"No I haven't." Yuri would know if he was speaking Geraios. He'd just know because you don't just switch languages entirely for no reason. That's not how language works. He was talking just fine! Everyone was talking to him and if Yuri was pretty lucid but then he thought about it. Outside of Rita and Judith nobody had answered or talked to him directly.
"No."
"Afraid so."
Yuri buried himself into Ba'ul's hide. He knows he had a habit of slipping into the language when he wasn't focused or tired. But he should be fine! He's in the moment! He can keep up with the situation and more importantly his brain doesn't feel like it melted into sludge. He's not even sure how he can just completely unconsciously be speaking a completely different language for such a long time, but he is.
"No, I'm not! Hey, Karol you can understand what the hell I'm saying right?"
He waited for Karol to look at him from the supplies he'd been organizing and reorganizing and reorganizing on loop to relieve stress. After calling a few more times he turned to Patty who seemed to at least know he's calling for her. He doubts she understood any of it given all she does is give a smile and asks if he needed something.
Yuri coughed into his fist and tried again, "Can you understand me?"
Nothing. He tries again slower and focusing on his words trying to speak exactly as he thinks the letters should sound like but the longer, he tries the more a slow panic sits in because Yuri can't remember how to speak normally. He's trying just to say that simple sentence, but he doesn't hear what's wrong or understand how to get out the syllables if he can't tell what's wrong. What's wrong with him?
He shouldn't- how the hell does he say the word- he can speak- it's a fucking C he can pronounce a C- he's perfectly lucid- Can, he can say the word can! Why is this so frustrating?
Can!
It's one of the most basic words in the dictionary and he should be able to say it.
"Ca...c-can-caaaa-can. Caaaan,"
Everyone had circled around him giving him encouragement and trying to coach the sound out of him. "You were close. Keep going."
"Caaaaa aaaaaannn." He feels like a fucking idiot. It's one word. One stupid little word and he can't even say it. Let him say it. Come on, this isn't the time to have trouble speaking! "Cccaaaannnnnn."
"That's it!" Karol cheers but Yuri just feels pitied. He shouldn't be struggling to speak with the eloquence of a toddler. "Keep going."
"Uw?" It doesn't feel right but everyone keeps giving him nods of encouragement but at this point Yuri doesn't see much point in continuing. They can't understand him and he doesn't think he can manage that long of a word. Yuri just shook his head and gave up. He doesn't feel like forcing himself through this humiliation and instead chooses to curl up and hide under Ba'ul's fin because he doesn't want to deal with this.
"It's not that bad. I got what you were meaning through body language. I'm sure you'll be fine in a few hours," Patty ads and okay that's not the point. The point is that Yuri can't speak to right to begin with. That even that small dignity is poofed out the window even if he does get back to normal like Patty suggests. It'll be fine.
He'll be talking normally in an hour. He'll wake up fine and then tell them what Repede had to say. How the hell are they getting to Zaphias? How the hell are they gonna travel with Rita having a broken ankle? Just how?
It'll work out.
"Easy for you to say." Yuri huffs closing his eyes. He really is tired and his body is so sore.
Kill Me Now
She's not gonna die. Yuri's not gonna let it happen. He'll save her! He'll rescue Estelle and when he does he'll hold her close and yell at her for thinking she ever got the right to die. Only he gets to this year. He'll save her and then they can go to the beach and stare at the ocean together. They just live and not be afraid… He's going to die.
Yuri keeps pushing the thought off only for it to creep back into his head about how he's not making it to the end of this journey. Who is he even kidding? Yuri can barely fight and until he gets past this phase he's just going to keep slowing everyone down while they're traveling. Shit- if he at least knew a healing spell he could fix Rita's ankle.
Tired. So tired. His eyes shut and he wishes that fucking apatheia would stop screaming about revenge. Screaming about revenge while people are trying to sleep is not endearing. Things will work out. He's gotta keep that belief alive. Rita will figure something, and they'll get a happy ending.
They look completely like paws. Not to mention his spine hurts but he's blaming the crash for that. His eyes slowly drift closed till he finds himself asleep in absolute exhaustion.
He's back to talking normally thank god when they shake him awake after Repede gets back. It's night now and poor guy looks just as tired and beat as the rest of them. "So any luck?"
"We're not far off from Emhead hill but I wouldn't think of crossing through there. It's a just a crater of scorched earth now and the path to Nor isn't any better." Repede barks taking some of the dinner Patty had made for himself. "As far as I know there isn't any other route into Zaphias."
Yuri translates back and they all sit in frustration till Patty taps her spoon lightly against her dish. "Well, there is one but it's risky. The Blade Drifts of Zopheir. It's an ice floe that hardens into a path this time of year enough that you could walk across. If you're foolish enough you could even cross into the main continent."
"Traveling through the freezing cold with no provisions or way to heal ourselves? This sounds like a recipe for disaster." Karol groans.
"Not much of choice." Rita sets her bowl down and hobbles back to her workstation on broken plank that serves as a makeshift crutch. "We're saving Estelle no matter the cost."
Judith stretched setting her bowl aside, "I'll see if there's anything on the ship that I can make into winter clothing. We'll freeze in these clothes in a few hours."
"I think they're might be a small town near the end of the coastline that could provide supplies if we keep heading down towards it. Last I went they didn't have a lot but they were well stocked enough." Patty said taking a bite of the fish stew she'd made.
"We'll set off first light and won't stop unless it's an emergency. I want Alexei out of Zaphias before it's even been a week."
"What day even is it?" Karol asks looking up at the night sky. "I have not been able to keep track with everything that's been going on."
"It is Wednesday my dudes." Patty says.
"Holy fuck, it's only Wednesday? Why the fuck is it Wednesday?" Yuri groans and falls back in frustration on the grass.
Judith shrugs, "Because that is how days work and it is a bitch."
"Why does it matter that it's Wednesday? It's just a Wednesday." Karol says.
"Because that means the end of the week is in four days and we have to beat Alexei on a Sunday and that's my chill day. I don't want to fight monsters on my chill day. I want to lie back in a soft chair and eat tubs of ice-cream ignoring my existential dread."
"Can I join you?" Rita says throwing back her head. "All of this is giving me gray hairs and I need to decompress till I am no longer feeling like I'm screaming in a tube."
"What about hot springs?" Karol muses. "I could go for that."
Yuri nods, "Yeah. I like this. Rescue Estelle and beat Alexei on Saturday go to the hot springs on Sunday. It's a plan."
They all give a nice laugh and it's that moment of brevity in a stressful day till Repede barks, "But what about the whole mutation thing?"
"That can take a break Sunday too."
it's not Wednesday my dudes