Starfire woke up to the black world that had enveloped her for almost a day. Stretching like a contented cat, Star angled her head towards where she heard a small noise.
"So, you're awake."
Ah, not ProtoMan then. Bass. How delightful.
"Don't frown at me like that Starry."
That one word snapped Star to attention faster than a kiss from ProtoMan. Reaching out, she felt her fingertips brush the worn cloth of Bass' cape. "Oniichan…?"
Bass clasped his hands around Star's hand. "The one and only Starry."
Starfire gawked for a moment before throwing herself on Bass. "Oh Oniichan!"
Bass couldn't help it, he was grinning from ear to ear. "Yeah…I missed you too Starry."
Looking up towards a face she couldn't see, Starfire tried to picture how Bass would look. "What made you remember, Oniichan?"
With a grin, Bass ruffled Starfire's hair. "Remember that silly little habit you have of sometimes talking in your sleep?"
Turning a wonderful shade of pink, Starfire giggled. "Ohhh…so that's how you knew!"
Looking over her shoulder, Bass eyed the sleeping ProtoMan, who was curled in a somewhat undignified ball. "So who's the red dude?"
"His name is ProtoMan, Oniichan." Star stated simply. "He's my partner and he's saved my life a bunch of times!"
A loud and long yawn marked the awakening of ProtoMan, who began to sit up.
"You might not want to do that Proto, there's a big ol' stalactite hanging right there."
Looking up, ProtoMan found that indeed, there was a stalactite hanging only a couple inches from his face. "Wow! Good call Starfire. But how'd you know that it was there?"
Starfire began to run her fingers along the torn edges of Bass' cloak. "Simple. I hit my head on it on the first day and fixed it into my internal compass. Then I figured out where you were sleeping in relation to the stalactite and simply calculated that you'd hit your head when you sat up. Easy enough, really."
ProtoMan worked his way across the cave. "Well, we'd better get something to eat. It's been almost two days!"
Eyeing the red Navi curiously, Bass wasn't ready to leave his sister's side just yet. "Eat? We're Navis, we don't need to eat!"
Pulling up some moss, ProtoMan sighed. "We don't need to eat, but we do need to drink."
Frowning, Bass ground his back teeth. How could he have forgotten? A Navi is comprised of two things: A frame and data. Data gives the Navi personality and other important traits. A frame gave the data a place to stay. But inside the frame resides the most important data: the core data.
Core data contains the personality matrix for a Navi, and without that, the Navi would be deleted. Although Bass knew some Navi assassins who could kill you without even getting near the core data, taking out the core data was the most effective way. If a Navi didn't get enough water, the frame would start to shrink. Not enough to be noticeable, but enough to squeeze the core data uncomfortably. It is said that the feeling of having your core data being compressed is similar to suffocating or running out of air in a room. If let go long enough, the frame would eventually squeeze the core data until it disintegrated, deleting the Navi.
Since there was no water in the cave, the three could only rely on the plant life for water and nutrition.
Chewing thoughtfully, Starfire looked in what she hoped was Proto's direction. "You're SURE these aren't poisonous?"
"I'm positive Star! By the way, Bass" ProtoMan said quietly through a mouthful of mushroom, "What made you remember everything about Starfire?"
Finishing his mushroom, Bass shrugged. "Humans and Navis have strange habits. Talking in their sleep being one of them."
With a knowing smile, ProtoMan leaned back. "Ah, I see. Starfire mentioned the word in her sleep and you heard it!"
Now I must inform you that Navis dream similarly to humans. Only, when Starfire said 'Oniichan' in her sleep, she wasn't dreaming about Bass. She was probably dreaming about tap dancing pineapples with tires on their heads. Don't ask me why, Navis often say things that are totally unrelated to the dream they're having wile they sleep.
Working a couple bits of mushroom from his teeth, Bass sighed. "What I don't understand is why did Star go blind?"
Starfire finished her mushroom and moved closer to Bass. "I remember getting hit in the back of the head with a rock, but then everything went black!"
"I understand now."
All eyes shifted to ProtoMan, who was leaning coolly against the wall. "When that rock hit your head, it probably corrupted your data."
"But that doesn't make any sense!" Bass exclaimed, "That rock hit the back of her head, how could it have corrupted the optic data? That data is in the front of a Navi's head!"
It took only thirty quick seconds of thought before ProtoMan had it worked out. "Of course…waves."
"Hello," remarked Bass sarcastically, "In case you haven't noticed, we're in a cave, not at the beach."
"No Bass, not that kind of wave, I'm talking about longitudinal waves!" Setting up a couple rocks in a row, ProtoMan found a good-sized one and tossed it in his hand. "Tell me Bass, what happens when you break the balls in pool?"
Bass shrugged. "I dunno, the scatter."
"Exactly. Now what will happen when I hit the balls on the end of this line?"
Quickly, Bass ran some calculations in his mind. "They'll scatter, like when you break."
ProtoMan raised an eyebrow roguishly. "Oh really?" With a flick of his wrist, the red Navi sent his rock skittering along the floor and into the end of the line of rocks. Unlike Bass' prediction, the rocks bumped into each other, sending the one on the end careening into the darkness.
Bass picked up one of the rocks. "How in the-?"
"Like I said, longitudinal waves. It's the way sound travels. One particle bumps into the next and so on. That's what probably happened to Starfire's data. The data that was originally hit crashed into the next one before moving back to its original position. The optic data just happened to be closest to the frame and collided with it, causing corruption. In this case, you lost your sight. At best, you'd be colorblind, but still able to see."
Starfire gave a low whistle. "Dang. That's quite the explanation Proto."
He shrugged. "Well, it's not like we've got anything better to do around here."
Taking his finger, Bass drew a number sign in the dust. "Who's up for tic-tac-toe?"
Scooting towards the makeshift board, Starfire smiled. "Sure, I'll play you Oniichan."
The silver-haired Navi couldn't help himself. He moved forward in spite of himself. "I play winner!"
Bass guided Starfire's hand to the board and then smiled. "You know, now that you're blind I'm not gonna go easy on you."
Gamely, Starfire returned the grin. "Don't worry, I won't be either."
Several moves later, Starfire drew a diagonal line across the board. "Tic-tac-toe, three in a row. I win."
Leaning back, Bass rubbed his helmet. "Darn it Star, how did you do that!"
As ProtoMan moved into position to play, Starfire's grin widened. "Yeah, he never could beat me when I could see."
