Characters: Laurence, Gehrman, Master Willem, Lyza, Ozen
Word Count: 7.456
Summary: Laurence and Gehrman learn the name of the mysterious girl. Laurence also learns that meeting a White Whistle can end up in a lot of pain.
(Author's note: I didn't intend for this chapter to get that long, but I added more and more stuff to it! I really wanted to cram this all in chapter 6?! What was I thinking?!
Anyway, I have to admit, I just added Lyza on a whim, but writing her was really fun?! She is loosely based on the flashback we saw of her when Ozen was reminiscing, and I added some of my own headcanons. Of course this Lyza is still a teenager, sixteen or seventeen years old, so she can't be the Annihilator yet, but she already is a menace. I also tried to portray her deep fascination with the Abyss, something that Laurence is actually lacking. As much as he likes the places, there is a healthy dose of fear left in him.)
"Okay, Laurence, it's time for a break.", Gerhman called.
"Fucking finally.", Laurence left his pickaxe fall to the ground pretty much immediately and hurried towards some bushes.
Gehrman rolled his eyes and mumbled to himself: "He really could have asked for a break to take care of this..." While Laurence was busy, Gehrman unwrapped the sandwiches he had made this morning and when Laurence returned, cleaning his hands with a damp handkerchief, he handed one of the sandwiches to him.
"Here, I made sure that you get the one with the marking on it.", Gehrman said, sitting himself down on a small rock.
"It's the extra salty one, right?", Laurence said, sitting down next to Gehrman and getting his water bottle out, "Finally we can eat, I have been starving." With that, he bit in his sandwich and took a large bite.
"Don't forget that you probably will puke later.", Gehrman said, "You are not yet used to the curse."
"Gehrman, please, don't talk about puking while we eat.", Laurence said, "That is a problem for future me, now I just want to enjoy my meal."
Gehrman shrugged and decided to let future Laurence handle the curse, then bit in his own sandwich. Both boys were able to eat in peace for a while until they heard a chuckle and the same voice as before sounded from one of the trees.
"You didn't try to catch me, ginger boy.", the girl said.
"Aaah, it's that blondie!", Laurence pointed at her and nearly let his sandwich fall to the ground, but managed to catch it just in time. "Just so you know, I am not ginger boy, I am Laurence."
"Okay then, Lawrence.", the girl said and Gehrman braced himself for what was about to come.
"It's LAUrence, not LAWrence! First my hair, now my name, what do you plan to butcher next?!"
Laurence always hated to be called either a redhead or someone pronouncing his name wrong. "Come on Laurence, I am sure she's just messing with you.", Gehrman said.
"Your friend is fun.", the girl said, "Is he always like that?"
"He's actually quite calm today.", Gehrman said after he looked at Laurence, who still scowled at the girl, "He didn't even call you a bad word."
"One more wrong word and it won't stay like that.", Laurence growled, then bit in his sandwich a lot more furiously than he wanted to, having to fight to actually chew and swallow the piece he had in his mouth.
The girl chuckled again and then said: "You didn't answer my question, Laurence." She pronounced the name extra carefully this time, which didn't ease Laurence' scowling as he was busy chewing the far too large bite he had taken.
Once he had finally swallowed it, he said: "I am still valuing my life."
"Awww, but where's the fun in that?", the girl asked, twirling a lock of her long hair around her finger, "Don't you want to see the bottom? Don't you want to uncover the secrets?"
"Of course I want to uncover the secrets.", Laurence replied, "But it's simply not yet time for my soul to go back to the Abyss. I am only fifteen." Laurence considered the conversation done with that and put his attention back to his sandwich.
"Oh, you are one of these guys.", the girl said, putting her attention on Gehrman as Laurence was now actively ignoring her, "And what about you? Are you of the Abyss Faith yourself?"
"Not as much as Laurence is, but I believe in it as well, yeah.", Gehrman said.
"Fascinating.", the girl said, "Oh, you haven't given me your name yet. I suppose you won't be so mad when I accidentally pronounce it wrong." She chuckled again when she noticed the glare of Laurence who indeed had still listened.
"It's Gehrman.", Gehrman said, "And you should give us your name as well, it was you who approached us and wanted to talk. You are wearing a whistle, but who tells us that you didn't kill a delver and stole it from them?"
Laurence froze as Gehrman accused the girl of being an illegal delver, coughing a bit because he had been close to choking on some demon fish.
The girl chuckled again and this time her smile turned into something different, something... dangerous. "Who says that if I wanted to kill you I wouldn't have done it right away?"
"Okay, stop this, right now.", Laurence chimed in, "I told you I don't want my soul to return to the Abyss right away, could you stop talking about killing and dying? Tell us your name finally, or I'll keep calling you blondie."
"Well then.", the girl said as she stood up, "It's Lyza. Remember it. One day I'll be a White Whistle."
And as sudden as she had come, she was gone again, leaving both Gehrman and Laurence rather confused.
"Is that anyone we should know?", Laurence asked.
Gehrman shrugged. "Whoever she is, she seems to be quite adamant to see the bottom.", he said, "We shouldn't be bothered by it too much, chance is that we never see her again. There are so many delvers."
"Hmmm, I guess you are right.", Laurence said, finishing his sandwich and washing it down with the rest of his water bottle, "Let's continue work."
Despite Gehrman's words, they actually saw Lyza again, on the same day actually. They had to cut their work short because a dangerous beast had decided to hunt in the area they had worked in and Gehrman had dragged Laurence away, back to Master Willem. With their area not safe anymore, they had to go back to the Seeker's Camp.
The second time of being hit with the curse wasn't as bad as the first time, but Laurence still couldn't hold the contents of his stomach inside of him and Gehrman was sitting next to him rubbing his back while holding a hand over his own mouth. Having to see Laurence puke everything out wasn't doing his nausea any favour. He looked with jealousy at Master Willem who could just shrug off the second layer curse like it was nothing.
Then, once Laurence could stand again, they went inside where Kari already waited for them. "Ah, you are back.", she said, "You are in luck, we have a very honoured guest today. Ozen the Immovable has come to the Seeker's camp with her apprentice."
That information made any lingering nausea of Laurence disappear at once: "We are going to meet a White Whistle?! The one who has been said to be a White Whistle for at least thirty years already?! That is so amazing."
"Catch your breath, Laurence.", Gehrman had to laugh a little, "Though I can get your excitement, I have never seen her as well and I really want to know who the lucky delver is that is her apprentice."
Kari smiled and led the trio into the main room of the camp where Laurence could see a huge figure right away, her face obscured by an equally gigantic hat, but that wasn't what he put his attention on, because...
"Blondie?!", he blurted out when he saw Lyza standing next to the figure who had to be Ozen.
"Hey ginger boy.", she said, "It seems that we have already met again."
"I told you to not call me that!", Laurence was ready to start his rant, only being stopped by Gehrman taking his arm and shaking his head and the large figure speaking.
"Oh, you already know each other?", Ozen asked.
"We met during our work, yes.", Gehrman said, "And I probably don't have to say it, but she was messing with Laurence here. He just never learns to not let himself be teased."
"Hey.", Laurence said, trying to cross his arms but failing because Gehrman was currently holding his right one.
"Lyza, I told you not to always rile the other Blue Whistles up.", Ozen said, "I don't like shenanigans, you know that. Take this more seriously. Don't be such a little brat."
"But that is no fun.", Lyza said, "Besides, nothing bad happened. I made sure of it."
"You tried to lure me deeper into the Abyss.", Laurence said.
"And did you follow me? Nothing bad happened.", Lyza said.
"Enough.", Ozen suddenly shouted, "Enough of this, the both of you." She lifted her head so that her face was seen better and it was nothing that Laurence had expected. Before he knew out he had already opened his mouth.
"Wait, Ozen the immovable is still so young?! But with how old the stories are I thought she would be an old hag!", he blurted out without even thinking. Gehrman next to him finally released Laurence' arm to instead put his hand into his face, having his usual "Laaaaurence." already on his lips.
Suddenly, Ozen stood in front of Laurence, murmuring: "Seems like this one needs some manners too." Before Laurence could even realize what was happening, he found himself slammed into the wall of the Seeker's Camp, pain coursing through his whole body, but mostly his arm and his head.
"Laurence!", Gehrman cried out, this time in worry and shock instead of being annoyed, running to his side.
"Oh, that was the wrong thing to say.", Lyza said from her spot slightly behind Ozen while Kari was rushing at Laurence' side as well and Master Willem went to confront Ozen.
"Would you please not hit the Blue Whistles in my care, Lord Ozen?", he requested.
"Raise them better then, Willem. Besides, this was just a small slap.", Ozen said, turning around, "Come, Lyza, we are leaving."
Lyza looked back at Laurence one last time before following Ozen and Willem went to check on Laurence, who was still conscious, but bleeding and his arm was bent at the elbow in an angle that couldn't be considered healthy.
He also was crying, thick teardrops falling down on the ground, mixing with the blood running down his face. "Why did she hit me?", he sniffled, "It hurts. What kind of monster is she?"
"Please calm down.", Kari said, looking over Laurence' injuries, "Your injuries don't look too bad, but you have to allow me to dress them up."
"No, don't touch me.", Laurence said, shivering from the pain and the fear, scooting away from Kari who tried to touch him, "Nobody's coming close to me! Nobody! Ow, why is my arm hurting so much..?"
Laurence finally looked down at his hurt and upon seeing the angle it was bent his world just turned into black.
When Laurence awoke again, he was staring at Kari's face. He also was still in pain. Ah, that hadn't been a horrible nightmare then. Who would have thought that not a beast of the Abyss would injure him but renowned White Whistle Ozen?
"Oh, you are awake. I was hoping that you would stay unconscious a little while longer.", Kari said upon the realization that Laurence opened his eyes.
"What?! Why?!", Laurence asked, trying to scoot away from Kari, but failing. He was currently leaning against the wall while he was sitting on a bedroll. He noticed that he had been moved into the guest room. Still, that Kari wished that he hadn't woken up wasn't a good sign.
"I couldn't relocate your arm yet.", Kari said, "I took care of the bleeding wound first. Don't worry too much, it only needed three stitches and they can pull the suture back on the surface. Now, let me get you something to bite on..."
Kari stood up and left Laurence alone, who started to shudder a bit as the memory of his bent arm flooded back into his head. At least it was the right arm, he supposed. He slowly raised his uninjured left one and touched his forehead where thick gauze had been wrapped around the wound. "Ow.", Laurence murmured when the touch agitated the wound and he lowered his hand again, instead forcing himself to look at his arm.
Yes, it certainly was bent at the wrong angle. He tried to pull back the sleeve, but failed thanks to the pain. Kari had said that she wanted to relocate it, so it wasn't broken, just dislocated? Either way, it meant he was in pain and he wouldn't be able to delve anymore until he healed. What a mess, they just had been here the second day and he already was out of commission.
Kari returned with a piece of leather and Gehrman. Laurence looked a bit confused at his friend. What was he supposed to do? Give him moral support?
"Kari asked me to help you undress.", Gehrman said.
"I thought you might be uncomfortable with me helping.", Kari said, "Your friend is far better suited."
"Oh, right.", Laurence said and allowed Gehrman to come closer. The vest was pulled off easily enough, but the shirt was more complicated. Laurence' elbow was rather swollen and it also didn't want to bend in any direction. It didn't help that it hurt so much that Laurence was more whining about the pain instead of actually directing Gehrman where to pull.
Finally, the shirt was off as well and Laurence was glad that he hadn't hurt his legs, because being shirtless in front of a stranger, even if it just was to dress his injuries, was far better than not having any pants on. He just wished he would have a few more muscles, he was so thin that sometimes people didn't believe he was a delver.
Now that Laurence could get a better look at the arm, he had to avert his gaze soon, the whole area around the elbow was bruised in a bluish and purplish tone. And it was so swollen. Even Gehrman looked uncomfortable about it.
Kari came closer and handed Laurence the leather. Laurence took it between his teeth and prepared to bite down hard on it. He knew how much it hurt to relocate or set a bone, he had fallen down a cliff in the Abyss as a Red Whistle and managed to break his arm back then. Gehrman had carried him back (and because Laurence still had been a new Red Whistle he totally had puked all over Gehrman thanks to the curse) and he had needed to stay a few days at the hospital.
As Kari's fingers were touching Laurence' arm, his left hand was searching for Gehrman's hand who had stayed with him. Gehrman got the cue and took Laurence' hand in his own, rubbing his thumb over it. It helped to calm Laurence down a tiny little bit.
"Ready?", Kari asked. Laurence took a deep breath and then gave a single nod with his head, which wasn't the best idea when he currently had a headache from having a split forehead.
"I am counting to three.", Kari announced.
"One."
Laurence started to bite down on the leather.
"Two."
Laurence tightened his grip on Gehrman's hand.
"And three."
Before Laurence could even realize what was happening, a massive pain surged through his arm up until the shoulder as he felt like he nearly bit through the leather strap and apparently tried to crush Gehrman's hand when his slight groan was anything to go by, but surely was not as bad as the pain that Laurence just had been forced to feel.
"And done.", Kari said, "I'll give you a few minutes and then continue with the treatment."
Laurence sat there heavily breathing, the leather strap had fallen in his lap but was promptly forgotten by him. "Fuck, that hurt like SHIT!", he cursed out.
"He's fine.", Gehrman said, "Whenever he is able to curse like a sailor, he's fine."
"Fuck you, Gehrman.", Laurence mumbled, groaning as the pain slowly subdued from his whole arm to around the elbow area.
"You are welcome.", Gehrman said, knowing that Laurence would thank him properly later and was just too out of it at the moment thanks to the pain.
Like promised, Kari let Laurence catch his breath for a few minutes before continuing. She prepared a nice smelling concoction which turned out to be an ointment. Kari carefully applied it to the bruises and then dressed Laurence' elbow with a bandage.
"This will help against the pain and the bruising.", Kari said, "You will see that the swelling will go away a lot faster than if you leave it untreated and let your body heal it on its own."
"Thanks.", Laurence said, now feeling mostly tired after the long day of work and his injuries caught up to him, "But I still don't know why she thought that hitting me full force was necessary."
"Oh, that was just a little slap.", Kari said, "If she would have hit you full force, you would have been dead."
Kari said it so casual but Laurence' face darkened with sheer terror and he didn't speak for the next five minutes or so while Gehrman helped him getting redressed.
"You shouldn't move your arm until it has completely healed.", Kari said and as the last step gave Laurence a sling to rest his hurt arm in, "And you probably should lie down a bit, we will get you once food is ready."
"Okay.", Laurence simply said and then muttered, "Thank you, Gehrman."
Gehrman smiled. There it was, Laurence would always get his manners back in the end. Even though said manners mostly didn't exist.
Gehrman and Kari left the room and Laurence laid himself down on the bed roll on his back, trying to sleep, but for whatever reason, sleep eluded him. Instead, he just stared at the ceiling, not being able to shake the events of today away. Mostly how the day had ended, the rest had been rather pleasant. Outside of the blondie. Wait, her name was Lyza. She actually was staring at him right now.
She was WHAT?! Laurence shrieked in surprise when he indeed saw Lyza's face staring at his own, jumping up from the bed roll and recoiling because several sharp jabs of pain jolted through his body.
"Woah, sorry, I didn't want to surprise you so much.", Lyza said, "You just weren't noticing me at all, so I wanted to check if you were still alive."
"Don't do this ever again.", Laurence panted out after he had managed to lie back down. Lyza had been far too close for his own personal comfort. Gladly she had backed off now. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to apologize.", Lyza said, "For my Master. Ozen. Because I know she won't apologize. She hates everything shenanigans and doesn't take kindly to pranks or teases."
"Did my inconsiderate declaration really warrant slapping me against a wall?", Laurence asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Ozen has been around for a while.", Lyza said, "And the longer someone stays in the Abyss, the weirder they get. It is said to be especially bad with White Whistles."
"And you really want to become one of them?", Laurence asked, "I should introduce you to my friend then, he's the same. Stares in the Abyss and claims it stares back."
"Oh, but it does.", Lyza said, "Did you never notice?"
"Stop, it's enough that one guy I interact with says creepy things like that.", Laurence said, "Apology taken, now let me rest."
"But you weren't even sleeping.", Lyza pointed out, "Just staring at the ceiling. I wanted to keep you some company."
"I didn't ask for company, but if you insist, you could get my notebook out of my rucksack.", Laurence said, "I still have to write down what I learned today."
"It surely doesn't include how boobs feel like.", Lyza said with a light laugh as she went over to Laurence' rucksack, making him furiously blush.
"Okay, so the notebook...", Lyza said and then she gasped as she pulled out Laurence' weapon from the rucksack, "Woaaah! What is that?! A relic? Did you keep it for yourself?! I thought you were a sucker for rules, but maybe you are cool after all."
"What?! Don't fucking touch that, that was a gift of my friends.", Laurence said, "They got it for my promotion to a Blue Whistle."
"That's not a relic?!", Lyza said, her eyes glistening, "Don't tell me they got it on the black market. Blue Whistles don't have enough money to get anything there."
"No, how do you think we should even enter the fucking Black Market?!", Laurence said, "He built it. My friend. Gehrman, I mean."
Instead of Lyza's curiosity being sated she was even more fired up now. "You tell me a sixteen year old built a relic like this?!"
"It's a weapon.", Laurence said, "And he's seventeen."
"You tell me a seventeen year old built this?", Lyza repeated and looked at the cane with big sparkling eyes. "That's fascinating. It is apparent that he had to use cheap materials, but the craftsmanship is already amazing." Lyza turned the cane in all directions to look more closely at it.
"I told you not to touch that.", Laurence grumbled, trying to ease himself up in a sitting position, grunting when his arm didn't like the motion at all and started to feel like it was on fire again. "Ow..", he said, feeling tears well up in his eyes, which he furiously wiped away with his left hand. He wouldn't cry in front of a girl.
Lyza hopefully hadn't seen that and when Laurence put his attention back on her, she was still inspecting the cane. "If it could be built out of Abyss materials it would be a fantastic weapon.", she said, "I see he used wood from the trees on Orth, the wood from the second layer here would be optimal. I see there is a blade inside, I doubt that any ore from the Great Fault was used... oh wait, what is that?"
Lyza had discovered the button that would turn the cane into the whip. "Ah, be careful with pressing that.", Laurence said, still in his awkward half lying, half sitting position. It was too late though, Lyza already had pressed the button and made an excited noise when the cane transformed.
"Again, you tell me that a seventeen year old built this?", she said, exploring the metal threads on the leather whip, "That is more than amazing."
"He did this since he was a Red Whistle.", Laurence said, giving up on trying to get up and lying down again, "He has even more ideas. One day he wants to build them all. That is just a prototype."
"He will be able to make a name for himself even if he has to retire from delving.", Lyza said, standing up and looking around for a target, at least it looked like it with the way she was holding the cane.
"Would you fucking not?", Laurence said, "That thing isn't to play with."
"I know, but I really want to see how well it cuts.", Lyza said, "Wait, I know.", she grasped something from her pocket which turned out to be a small fruit, tossed it in the air and then managed to hit it first try with the cane, which actually left Laurence' mouth open.
"If you don't manage to become a White Whistle you could join our group.", he said, being rather impressed, "Once we established it of course." Laurence then reevaluated his words, "On second thought..."
"Pass, I'll become a White Whistle for sure, but thanks for the offer.", Lyza said before he could finish, "So what else do you have in here...?"
"Don't you want to clean up?", Laurence grumbled, looking at the mess on the floor. He also wasn't too happy with Lyza looking through his stuff, "Besides, stop looking through my stuff. And fucking stop touching it!"
Lyza had his fishing rod in her hands, casting him a curious look. "So, you like to fish? Are you good at it?", she asked.
Laurence thought himself as being too predictable, because at this simple question he felt himself swell up as he started to talk: "Well, I am happy to inform you that I reached first place at the orphanage fishing contests regularly. I am always praised for providing so much food because the fish bite so well at my rod and the bait shop owner says I am his favourite customer. I know the best bait for every fish on the surface and-"
Soon Laurence had talked himself into a fishing frenzy, barely noticing that Lyza looked through the rest of his stuff, but nothing grasped her interest as much as the cane had. Instead, she sat next to Laurence, but it was unclear to him if she listened or not. He wasn't paying attention anymore.
He only stopped talking when Gehrman came in. "Laurence, the food is ready and, oh, I am so sorry, Lyza, if you ask him about fishing he won't ever stop."
"I found it kind of wholesome.", Lyza said as she got up, "I like people who are passionate."
Lyza then left the room and Laurence noticed that there still was a mess on the floor. "She didn't clean up.", he hissed.
Gehrman noticed the mess as well and just shrugged his shoulders. "No clue what you two were doing here, but we can clean up later. Do you need help walking?"
Laurence considered. His legs weren't hurt, but he had a bit of a problem getting on his feet with only one arm.
"Help me up, please?", he asked, his tone sounding far too pleading. Gehrman helped him without saying a single word and then slowly let go of Laurence who swayed a bit, but managed to get his footing after a few seconds.
He followed Gehrman to the dining room where Master Willem and Kari already were. Lyza was there helping to set the table and... Ozen was there too.
With a gasp, Laurence hid behind Gehrman, starting to shudder.
"Uh, are you alright, Laurence?", Gehrman said, trying to turn around to face him but Laurence would keep hiding behind him.
"Does... does she have to be in the same room...?", he asked, pointing weakly towards Ozen. Once she caught sight of him and stared back at him, he shrieked and hid behind Gehrman again, his shuddering only getting worse.
"You did it again, Ozen, you traumatized one of my Blue Whistles.", Master Willem sighed.
"Teach them better manners finally.", Ozen said, "Come Lyza, we are eating somewhere else."
Lyza followed Ozen out of the room carrying their plates and looked back guiltily at Laurence, who only managed to somehow calm down once Ozen was gone and Gehrman gently guided him to the table so that he could sit down.
The meal was mostly quiet and even though Laurence had been very hungry after the curse had subdued, he barely had an appetite anymore and left most of his plate untouched, even though Gehrman had been nice enough to cut everything into bite sized bits for him.
"Come on, Laurence, you should eat more.", Gehrman said upon seeing his plate, "After all, you puked out most of your lunch."
"Don't fucking talk about puking.", Laurence said, but there was no bite behind his words. Then, after a minute or so he murmured: "Why did she leave the room? Does she think I am too much of a pain to be around or something...?"
"Actually, she was being considerate.", Kari said, "Didn't you notice how much you were shaking? If she would have stayed you probably would have worked yourself up in a panic attack."
"Oh.", Laurence said, "...Why did she have to hit me? I don't want to be afraid... Aren't White Whistles supposed to be our heroes...? Then why..."
"Meeting a White Whistle is rarely how you imagined when you were still a small child.", Kari said.
Despite Laurence' best efforts his earlier tears that he hadn't shed finally began to flow freely, dripping onto the food on his plate, making it even more salty.
"Oh dear.", Master Willem said, "Gehrman, I think Laurence should rest now. Would you get him back to the guest room?"
"Of course.", Gehrman said, leading Laurence back to the guest room where he spent some time shedding his tears. As the evening went on however, Laurence found his jolly nature again and was finally writing down his experiences in his notebook.
(Gehrman also had finally cleaned the floor from Lyza's mess and gasped at the state of the threaded cane. Laurence had to explain that Lyza had snooped around in his stuff.)
"Okay, so my experiences today were...", Laurence murmured, "Finding relics that are mostly shaped like eggs. Uh, I guess I'll leave the talk we had out of it..."
"Definitely leave that conversation out of it.", Gehrman agreed.
"Meeting a menace.", Laurence continued, "Finding more relics. Seeing that beast with the horns. Having been hit by the curse. And... hm, do you think almost dying after meeting a White Whistle and having a mental breakdown about it counts?"
"You were not almost dying, don't be so dramatic, Laurence.", Gehrman said, "How are your injuries by the way?"
"Hm, they still hurt, but not as much anymore.", Laurence said, "Ah, and then meeting the menace again. She snooped through my stuff and then made a mess of the floor and she never cleaned up!"
"I have the feeling she likes you.", Gehrman said, "Or more how easy it is to tease you."
"I don't like her though. At all.", Laurence grumbled, "She was a menace the whole day. Even when she came to supposedly keep me company, she was a menace. No wonder, she is the student of this monster."
"To be fair, Laurence, you did say something very inconsiderate to her.", Gehrman said.
Laurence stopped writing and his gaze gouged itself into Gehrman. "Gehrman, she claimed that she only slapped me a little and I got a laceration and a dislocated elbow from it. And several more bruises that I slowly start to feel."
"I never said that this was okay.", Gehrman said, "Just that your big mouth got you into that mess."
"I don't think I will ever open my mouth around Ozen ever again.", Laurence murmured, shutting his notebook.
"Probably for the better.", Gehrman said as he was finishing up cleaning the threaded cane. The both boys talked a bit more then until it was time for them to sleep.
It was hard to tell the time in the Abyss, so when Laurence awoke he was unsure if it was already morning. Gehrman however was still asleep and he normally was the one waking Laurence up (it was either him or Micolash) and Laurence noticed that he simply had woken up because he had to use the bathroom.
It wasn't too easy to get up with his injuries on his own, but he managed and stumbled towards the hallway, though, once he was out there, the face of Ozen suddenly flashed in his mind, the pain that had exploded in him when she had slapped him and the shuddering from dinner came full force back.
Laurence wasn't able to take another step. What if he would meet Ozen in these hallways?! Maybe she didn't need sleep and would wander the Seeker's Camp getting some cruel joy in scaring unsuspicious Blue Whistles. Laurence was sure he would wet himself on the spot if he ran into her, so he turned around and did the only rational thing he could think of.
He was waking up Gehrman.
"Laurence, what's the matter? It must still be the middle of the night.", Gehrman said, rather drowsily once Laurence had finally managed to shake him awake.
"Go with me to the bathroom.", Laurence practically demanded and then added a small, "Please?"
"You are fifteen and surely old enough to go on your own.", Gehrman grumbled.
"I, um...", Laurence said and then whispered, "I am afraid of meeting Ozen on my way there."
"Seriously, Laurence? She's surely asleep, just go.", Gehrman said, with a wave of his hand. Oh, Gehrman just didn't want to understand. Laurence couldn't physically get himself to actually set a foot out there at night. Not with the prospect of Ozen being out there.
"If you refuse to come with me, I'll crawl into your bed until it resolves itself.", he said, face deadpan. Gehrman was up in an instant, knowing that this wasn't an empty threat.
"That's gross, Laurence.", he said, "But fine, I'll walk with you. But I'll wait in front of the door."
"Of course, do you think I want that you to hold my fucking hand or what?", Laurence said, but ironically enough, he was clinging to Gehrman's arm on their way to the bathroom. Every single noise made Laurence jump a little, he was far too agitated.
Once they reached the door to the bathroom, it opened and someone came out, scaring Laurence so much that he pressed himself at Gehrman while his shuddering started back up, but his fear turned into anger when he saw it was Lyza who had exited.
"Blondie?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!", he shouted, "What were you doing in there?"
"Uh, the same thing as you are about to do, I suppose?", Lyza replied, "What else should I do in there?" She then looked at Laurence and Gehrman with a scrutinizing look and laughed, "Oh, come on, you guys can't go to the bathroom on your own?"
"For your interest, I don't even have to go.", Gehrman said, "Laurence forced me to come with him because he seems to think that your Master is out to get him at night."
"Gehrman, why did you tell her?", Laurence whined, his cheeks flushing a deep red. That was so embarrassing.
"Oh, that is a new one, I have to make sure to tell her. I look forward to her reaction.", Lyza said.
"Nooo, don't tell her.", Laurence said.
"Anyway, Gehrman, I would make sure to get ginger boy in there before he wets himself in fear.", Lyza said with a wave of her hand. Laurence gasped and hurried into the bathroom, coming out a few minutes later.
"I wish I had died earlier.", he said to the waiting Gehrman, "That would have been preferable to... whatever happened here right now."
"You are dramatic again.", Gehrman replied, "Let's go back to bed."
Back in bed Laurence actually had a bit of trouble falling asleep, still being far too embarrassed about their encounter with Lyza and especially what Gehrman had blurted out, but eventually managed, this time sleeping through until it was morning.
With his injuries Laurence couldn't go delving with Gehrman and Master Willem, so he had to watch them leave alongside Ozen and Lyza. Lyza was staring at Gehrman with fascination and regarding her interest in Laurence' weapon she probably would bombard him with questions.
Not being able to delve didn't mean however that Laurence didn't have to do any work. After Kari was done with the dishes, she brought him to a room, where a great tub was used to wash the relics that should get back to the surface for sale.
"You can't actually dunk your arm into the water, but you can help with drying.", Kari said, handing Laurence the first relic. It was a bit difficult to take it with the fingers of the arm that was restricted by a sling, but once he managed he could dry it without too much trouble.
"Almost all the relics we found here were in the shape of eggs.", Laurence said, wanting to fill the silence with some small-talk.
"Around forty percent of the relics here are egg-shaped, that is correct.", Kari said, "The area you searched at must have been full of them. It's unknown what most of them do, but-"
"Valuable trash, I know.", Laurence finished her sentence, "I was picking up valuable trash for five years in the first layer. Great to know that I am continuing with it, just at a deeper, more dangerous place with a heavier curse."
"Once you aren't a Blue Whistle anymore you are allowed to keep relics if you file a motion with the guild.", Kari said, "I promise, the job as delver will get much more interesting then. Just... you know that we actually have these restrictions to ensure that you kids don't go on suicide missions right away?"
"Yes, of course.", Laurence said, slowly getting the hang of drying the relics despite his injury, tossing more and more of them into a bowl, liking the clacking sound it made, "If a new Red Whistle would try to wander right into the third layer, they would be eaten by a Silverfang before dinner."
"You get it then.", Kari said, "That is good, I have seen Blue Whistles here who were sure they would be able to wander right into the fourth layer and survive. As if the curse wouldn't bleed them out right away."
Laurence shuddered a bit at the mention of the fourth layer's curse. It was so much worse than simply having to puke and feel sick for a while. It surely wasn't something he looked forward to, so he changed the topic, or more, got the topic back on track.
"It just takes so long.", he said, "Five years and now I probably have to do this seven more years. That's like... FOREVER."
Kari chuckled. "You are still young.", she said, "Time moves more slowly for you. I promise, once you hit a certain age, ten years will pass in a flash and you wonder what happened. Especially if you spend a lot of time in the Abyss. Time is warped here, especially the deeper you get."
"Ten years passing in a flash? That must be a hoax.", Laurence murmured, though the second part of Kari's statement interested him more.
"So that is why Ozen is still looking so young? But then why is Master Willem such a crusty old man?", he asked.
Kari chuckled again. "You really have no manners.", she said, "With Willem, he never promoted to Black Whistle and he always enjoyed it the most to guide the fresh Red and Blue Whistles from the orphanage. Time had much more of an impact on him, because he spent most of his time at the surface as well as the first and second layer. While the time even in the second layer feels slower, at most on the surface a week will have passed after you have been a few days down here. Get deeper and deeper and a day in the Abyss means month on the surface. It apparently is especially bad deeper than the fifth layer, but nobody who has ever gone down there has come back."
"...My friend really wants to see what is below there.", Laurence said, "He wants to see the bottom. I am... not so sure about it. Not being able to come back. It scares me. I don't want to lose everything and everyone I ever knew and loved."
"You are not alone with your feelings.", Kari said, "A lot of delvers decide to not pursue to become a White Whistle, which apparently opens up the path into the deeper layers, though once it happened, something changed inside of them. Just... be careful when you interact with White Whistles. Ozen is actually one of the most considerate ones that I've met."
Laurence shuddered. "If she is the nice one, I don't think I want to meet any others..." And deep inside him, Laurence also hoped that Micolash would never be able to obtain a White Whistle, as selfish as that felt of him.
They then fell silent and worked next to each other until Laurence noticed that, if he wouldn't be injured, Kari would be all alone in that big camp.
"Say, aren't you getting lonely here?", he asked, "All on your own?"
"Me? No, don't worry. I have guests all the time. Every delver who wants to get into the third layer comes resting here and I get to meet all the Blue Whistles and their Moon Whistle mentors while they go on missions in the second layer. It's never too silent here. It actually is a bit of a relief when everyone is out, that means I can clean this place."
Kari handed the last relic to Laurence and got up. "And we'll do that now that the relics are cleaned.
Laurence gasped as he considered the size of the Seeker's Camp. "I shall help you clean this WHOLE thing?!"
"Don't worry, you are still hurt, I'll let you do something unexacting.", Kari said, finding a rug and handing it to Laurence.
Laurence spent pretty much the rest of the day with the task of wiping different surfaces and was sitting at the table writing in his notebook when the others returned. Gehrman looked utterly exhausted.
"Lyza pestered me with questions the whole time.", he said, "She really was interested in my weapons."
"Did she get you to build her one?", Laurence asked, barely looking up from his notes.
"No, that is only for us and the rest of our friends. For now.", Gehrman said, "She said she would find a relic that would be better than my weapons. If we meet again once we are older, I think I would like to spar with her to see if my weapons are stronger than her relic."
"If we ever see her again.", Laurence murmured. It was normal for delvers to never see each other again, especially when one was the student of a White Whistle. She probably would stay longer in the Abyss than just a regular Blue Whistle.
"How's your arm by the way?", Gehrman asked.
"Oh, it barely hurts anymore.", Laurence said, "Kari also said that it heals well and I should be able to climb up with you tomorrow."
"That's good.", Gehrman said, "I will go help with dinner now, I am starving."
"Good idea, I have been barred from the kitchen.", Laurence said, "Kari took your threat seriously."
"I will make sure to make your dish extra salty.", Gehrman laughed as he vanished towards the kitchen while Laurence finished up his notes.
Ozen and Lyza didn't return to the camp that night and as predicted, the next day Laurence' elbow was still bruised, but the swelling had gone down enough that he should be able to climb up again. They would have to take the long way anyway, thanks to the curse.
As they left the camp, Master Willem asked him: "And Laurence, how was your first delve in the second layer?"
"I wish I could have done more.", Laurence said, "At least I now know how the Seeker's Camp looks from head to toe. Oh, and I wish I wouldn't have met the blond menace."
That actually got Gehrman to break out into a fit of laughter which in turn got Laurence to call him out while Master Willem just looked with a smile at his two proteges. He hoped that one day one of them would take over the orphanage.
(Author's note: So, while I was writing some other stuff several things happened... There were a few interviews and chapter 63 came out. And my god, was it WORLD BUILDING gold!
I actually didn't have too many ideas for the Blue Whistle Arc, but thanks to the new information I have so much more scenarios I can explore now! I look forward to it.
Oh, and if you ask yourself if Laurence really would be such a little shit. Yes, he is, that is why Gehrman knew it wasn't an empty threat ^^ Laurence knows how he gets what he wants.
Yeah, I know, this chapter is mainly light-hearted, but I don't try to tell a great adventure, that is what the canon story is there for. I want to explore the daily lives of delvers while making some references to the canon that actually was part of inspiring Made in Abyss.
Of course, because this story only has a very loose plot I follow, you can feel free to make some requests and I can integrate them in future chapters.)
