Fredric heaved a soft sigh as he pushed past a particularly young tree, glancing down at the forest floor. The footprints were still clear and he had followed them a fair distance already. There were no scuff marks or signs that the Rabbit had tripped or even stumbled as he walked, so it was safe to assume the Rabbit was at least unharmed.
Up ahead, a sound interrupted the daunting silence of the forest; humming. It was bright and cheerful sounding and not unpleasant in the least, though it sounded somehow strange... as if the hummer wasn't quite sure what they were doing with their voice. He headed in the direction of the sound, noting that the footprints followed this direction. It's probably Bandi.
Soon he came upon two trees with a dark green vine strung up between them, pulled and tied taught. Fredric frowned at the sight and let his eyes trail to the other side where the blue Rabbit stood with his back to the Bear. He seemed to be preoccupied with something.
Fredric approached the vine, raising a brow. It doesn't look like this serves any purpose... He reached out to grab it, but before his hand could make contact Bandi's ears perked and he said, "Don't touch it." Blinking, the Bear looked up towards the Rabbit.
"Why?" he questioned, though he pulled his hand away from the vine anyway. The blue Lapinian had sounded serious.
Whatever the Lapinian was holding he set down before turning around to face Fredric. "This is why," he said much too happily, picking up a thick branch and bounding over to Fredric and the vine. Swiftly, he moved the branch so that the vine was pressing against its center on the side Fredric was on, his hand hands holding the branch by its top and bottom.
Bandi began pulling on the branch and Alfred watched as the vine began cutting through it, and within a few seconds the branch was sawn clean in half; the vine didn't seem to have suffered at all. Fredric had no idea how that was possible but he didn't even have to ask. Bandi was more than happy to offer the information, it seemed.
"The vine has these really sharp ridges," the Rabbit explained, holding the two halves of the branch up for him to see. "The cut's a little rough because of it, but it cuts really easily, and it's really strong. Strong enough to cut bone, even."
Strong enough to cut bone? That seemed like a really strange thing to say and Fredric frowned- just how did the Lapinian determine that? However, he decided to ignore that for the moment. Instead, he said, "You need to come back to camp, it's getting late and the temperature is falling."
Bandi frowned and glanced aside, back towards whatever he had been doing. Fredric allowed his gaze to follow Bandi's and noticed a strip of vine tied between two smaller branches, which were in turn tied together using some other, root-like vine. The branches were carved and somewhat shaped, but it was crude at best.
Crude, but makes for a functional saw.
"I'm not done yet," the Rabbit finally said, looking back at him. "I need to do more tests and see how to best..."
Whatever the Rabbit was saying was lost on Fredric as his gaze drifted to Bandi's hands.
They were covered in red- dried blood, he realized. The red stood out like a sore thumb against his bright blue fur, and as Bandi let the branch pieces fall to the ground- whatever he was about to use his hands for, Fredric didn't know- he could clearly see his left hand had been sliced completely open and both hands were covered in cuts and gashes of varying severities. They seemed to have stopped bleeding already, but that didn't really matter at the moment; Fredric was wondering how the hell Bandi hadn't collapsed from either pain or blood loss.
He reached forward and grabbed Bandi's left wrist, pulling his hand closer to inspect, brow furrowed. The rabbit hadn't taken good care of it at all; he could see dirt and even a blade of grass in the gash. If that doesn't get infected, I'll be surprised, he thought, frowning and looking back at Bandi for explanation.
The Rabbit blinked at him and glanced at his hand. Then he smiled and said, "Oh, that? I found the vines after getting my hand caught in them. I tried to pull away, but the ridges got me. It'll be fine, though."
"Fine?" Fredric parroted, glancing at his hands again. "This is not alright, Bandi. Your hands are completely torn up, how are you even using them in this state? You need medical attention immediately. "
"You're making something out of nothing," Bandi dismissed, tugging his hand away with a roll of his eyes.
Fredric frowned and watched him closely, noting the way his eyes flicked to the side and he smiled just a bit too widely. His smile was strained and his eyes somewhat unfocused as they looked everywhere except Fredric's eyes.
Had Fredric not been looking so closely at the Rabbit, he would not have even noticed.
He's in severe pain, he realized, brows raising. He's smiling and he's in severe pain... I didn't even realize it at first. How did I not realize it?
"Come on," he started lowly, sternly. "I don't care about your opinions on pain, but your hands need to be taken care of. You're likely to get an infection this way. Mangle and Chica found a stream earlier, let's at least try to clean these."
"Streams have bacteria too," Bandi pointed out with a strange wave of the hand and a sigh, but he ducked under the vine to follow the Bear anyway.
"Well, it's better than dirt," Fredric sighed, turning around and heading back the direction he came. "You shouldn't have continued handling that vine without proper protection for your hands. We don't have any medical supplies."
"I'll be fine," was Bandi's simple, careless answer. How can he be so nonchalant about this? Doesn't he realize he could lose the use of his hands?
He sighed yet again and stopped by the stream, turning around to face his Lapinian companion. "Sit," he commanded, and after a few moments of silence, the Rabbit did as he was told, dropping down the the ground next to the water. Fredric knelt down and quickly ripped a part of his own shirt off, folding it up and dipping it into the stream. "This will undoubtedly sting," he warned, taking hold of the Rabbit's left wrist and beginning to dab carefully at the wounds.
"It doesn't hurt," Bandi stated flatly and Fredric glanced up at him. The Rabbit's expression had gone completely blank and he stared straight ahead. Clearly it does.
Fredric let out a tired breath and cleaned the blood and dirt away, frowning sharper as the full extent of the damage was revealed. It's even worse than I thought. He re-wet the makeshift rag and began cleaning the Rabbit's right hand off, relieved to see that the injuries on this hand were not nearly as bad as on the other. The cuts weren't nearly as deep; clearly the worst of the wounds had come from his hand getting caught.
However, he did notice something was wrong with the Rabbit's right hand, watching as the fur matted and stuck together from the mixture of blood and water.
Underneath the fur and clear against the Rabbit's skin were thin scars, at least a year old if Fredric had to guess. With a sharp frown, he turned the Rabbit's hand over, dropping the makeshift rag to brush the blue fur back to get a clear look at the skin hidden from sight. Even on the back of his hand there were more thin scars, each looking very purposeful and trailing up his fingers and down his wrist in... patterned lines. They were very purposeful, very mechanical, and looked like they had been carefully carved into the Rabbit's arm.
It looked painful.
He found himself following a single scar all the way to the Rabbit's elbow, frown deepening as he realized that they were from a rather "primitive" device- primitive for Lapinia, anyway. Fredric didn't know much about Lapinia, but he did know that they had advanced far beyond the common tools of knives... so just why did the blue Lapinian have scars that clearly came from a knife?
Where did you get these?
"Um, excuse me?"
Fredric blinked and looked at the Lapinian, who was watching him with a raised brow. "I know I have fabulously lush fur," Bandi started, and Fredric realized quickly that he was making a joke of the notably awkward motion, "but you shouldn't play with a stranger's fur."
The Bear was silent for a few moments, studying his blue companion. He thought about asking about the scars... but he didn't. They were none of his business, he knew, and they didn't seem to affect the functionality of the rabbit's hand. They were just there.
Instead, he heaved a sigh and released the Rabbit's scarred wrist, ripping off two more strips of his shirt. "Hold your hands out," he commanded and when Bandi did so, he began tightly wrapping the strips of shirt around them and tied them off as makeshift bandages. It wouldn't make for a good long-term solution, but temporarily it would help... He sighed again and looked at the shifting, unfocused green eyes of the pained rabbit. "Really, Bandi, why would you let this happen?"
Bandi glanced back towards him and then towards his hands. It was silent for several seconds before he finally said, "Please don't call me Bandi."
...What? Fredric blinked owlishly and released the other's hands, letting the Rabbit draw them against his chest in a protective manner. That had been unexpected. "Why not?"
The Rabbit's lips tipped downwards. It wasn't a scowl or even a frown of annoyance, but it wasn't a neutral expression either. Fredric watched as the Rabbit's ears suddenly dropped down and he glanced aside, his brows drawn together. He was the picture of uncertainty- nothing at all like Fredric had been taught to expect from the advanced, strong-willed Lapinians.
It looked vulnerable, actually. Very vulnerable.
"Bandi..." the Rabbit started, glancing up at the Bear again. "Bandi... is the name my parents gave me, but it's... not... me. " He hesitated, his gaze going down to his bandaged hands. They had begun to bleed again, staining the makeshift bandage red. "Bandi Cator is just... a... a science student who... happens to be the... son of the highest military officer on the planet. Bandi Cator is just some... genius with no life to call his own... who could tell you every mathematical and scientific formula that exists..." He glanced back up at Fredric, his eyes unsure. Fredric watched him quietly, allowing the Rabbit to say his piece; he was willing to hear him out. "I'm not... really Bandi Cator. Bandi is just some... mask I have to wear. For my own safety. To please my parents. But... I'm... I don't feel like Bandi Cator."
Fredric tilted his head slightly at the Rabbit, his own expression gentle and non-judgmental. I understand... "Then who are you?" he asked, voice soft, inviting. It seemed to work as the Rabbit in front of him relaxed somewhat.
"I... don't know," the Rabbit admitted, eyes trailing back towards the ground as he began rubbing his right wrist absently, not even noticing the blood seeping through the bandage and clinging to his fur. "I was... never really given a... chance to find out." He hesitated for a moment again, his bandaged hands fidgeting nervously. Clearly he had never spoken about this before- he probably had no idea how to speak about it. "But... um... when I... play... my Chaska... I kind of... think of myself as... just... Blu. Not... Bandi or Bandi Cator... just... just Blu."
Blu. It sounded like a colour- the colour of the Rabbit's fur, he noted- but at the same time he didn't think that was how the Rabbit meant it. After all, before that day, the word "blue" meant nothing to either of them.
He tilted his head slightly, watching the Rabbit curiously. "What does... Blu... mean in your language?" he asked, keeping his voice as gentle as possible so as not to startle or intimidate the Rabbit back into his guise of indifference.
The Rabbit- Bandi? Blu?- looked back at him. He seemed to be debating on whether or not to answer. Fredric waited patiently, keeping eye contact with the blue-furred Animal. The silence settling around them was deafening, only the sound of the stream next to them breaking through.
Finally, when Fredric was convinced that the Rabbit was about to shut him out, he answered softly, "Hope."
Hope. Such a simple word, yet it said so much about the Rabbit in front of him. It said a lot more than he was sure the Rabbit wanted to show, more than he meant to show- more than he even knew it showed.
Bandi Cator is hopeless.
That was what it meant. The Rabbit in front of him was suffering on so much more than a physical level but he didn't want to say it- probably didn't even know it. It still manifested itself, though; his subconsciously-chosen name was everything he himself wanted to, but could not, be.
Fredric let out a soft sigh and gave him a gentle, understanding smile. "Well, then, how about I just call you Blu then?" he suggested. "It's a nicer name than Bandi anyway."
The smile that the Rabbit- Blu- gave him was a genuine smile, the first real one Fredric had seen thus far. It was bright and warm and grateful, and the uncertainty and worry shadowing his face slipped away. The Bear had thought it was bright out before but the sunlight couldn't even compare to Blu's smile. "Thanks, Fredric."
The Bear chuckled as he stood up. "Well, I actually don't go by Fredric," he admitted to the Rabbit, helping the Rabbit to stand up as well.
Blu blinked at him and tilted his head slightly, a curious light in his eyes. "You don't?"
"Nope," he confirmed, heading back towards the camp. The air was still heavy, but the temperature was significantly cooler than before. Sleeping directly on the ground was completely out of the question. "I actually go by Red."
Blu raised a brow and gave him a small, sincere grin. "Aw, is that a play off of the colour red?" he teased, despite both of them knowing it wasn't. Fredric chuckled.
"Not at all," he answered honestly, despite it being a joke. "Not any more than your name being a play off of the colour blue."
"So what's that mean in your language?" Blu asked, his tone a little more serious and genuinely curious. "'Blu' means 'hope' in mine… so what's 'red' mean in yours?"
"It doesn't exactly have a translation," he admitted, trying to think of a way to explain it. He glanced up at the canopy above as he led the smaller Animal. "It's more of an... idea. It's like... freedom, but it's not the word freedom?"
"Like... a feeling?" Blu guessed, tilting his head slightly as if trying to understand.
"Yes," the Bear, Red, confirmed with a nod. Feeling is a good word for it. "It's the feeling of freedom, or the feeling of not being controlled or confined. Something along those lines."
"I've never felt that," Blu mumbled to himself, but Red still caught it. He didn't get a chance to ask, though, as the Rabbit quickly continued speaking, as if sensing the Bear's oncoming question. "So, Red and Blu, huh? Wonder if we can make a rainbow," Blu added jokingly, earning a snort from Red.
He'd let it go for now. After all, it probably wasn't something Blu would want to share with a near stranger.
"Wouldn't that be interesting," he agreed instead. It was rather interesting- He hadn't expected the Lapinian to have a sense of humour, if he was honest with himself. He seems a lot more chatty than I first thought. Really friendly, even.
However, Blu fell silent as they approached their makeshift campsite. Red glanced over at him and frowned as he noticed Blu's amused smile and pain-dazed eyes were replaced with a perfectly neutral expression. He wore neither a smile nor a frown and his green eyes, after seeing them shining so brightly the past few minutes, looked so dull and dead as they entered the others' presence. It was the expression the Rabbit had been wearing when he first saw him, he realized. It was his disguise.
Back to being Bandi already, huh? He didn't voice it though, just allowed the Rabbit to pick a spot (he noticed it was as far away from the Lacatran Rabbits as he could get and still be within the "safe zone" of their camp and shelter). He started to follow, deciding he didn't fancy leaving the little blue Rabbit alone now that he knew... something was up.
"Fredric," he heard a soft voice call, and pausing, he turned to look at the other two Bears, both of whom were wearing frowns as they watched him. Red approached them and sat down in the spot Freddy gestured to; a little distance between him and the brothers but close enough for a friendly, but private, conversation.
"Yes?" he asked simply, deciding he didn't really need to say more.
"That took a while," Goldie was the one to say, frowning slightly as he watched the Rabbit settle down, off on his own.
Red considered just dismissing it, but the way Freddy was fidgeting told him that the Bears were legitimately concerned about the Lapinian. Obviously they had noticed something wasn't right as well, and they had probably already noticed the "bandages" on his hands. In fact, Red would be surprised if they hadn't noticed them. Both of the older Bears were very observant, he had already figured that out.
"He injured himself," he told them quietly, not wanting the Lacatran Rabbits to overhear. Who knew what they would say about it. "Somewhat on accident."
"Somewhat?" Freddy raised a brow at that. Clearly he was concerned about the use of the word somewhat.
"He got caught up in an idea," Red explained vaguely before expanding with, "He found a vine by accident that sliced his hand, and he seems to have started making a tool out of it. He was… really caught up that he didn't take care to protect his hands from it."
This didn't seem to comfort either of the brothers as they exchanged a wary glance. "Does he have no regard for his own safety?"
Those scars flashed through Red's mind, but he pushed the images aside. He hadn't even asked Blu about those, there was no way to know if they were self-inflicted or not. In fact, he actually doubted they were; the hand that carved them was too steady, too neat, to have been in pain. "It doesn't seem like it. He didn't seem to have any plans to take care of his injuries, kept insisting he was alright when clearly he wasn't. He was smiling, actually."
A frown tugged at the darker Bear's lips. "Ah… typical Lapinian philosophy," he murmured.
"Pain isn't real, it's only in the mind," Goldie sighed, shaking his head. "Out here that philosophy will get him killed."
"The Lacatrans would be more than happy to oblige," Red muttered, ignoring the displeased look Freddy gave him. It's only the truth. "I'll keep an eye on him," he decided, turning his gaze towards the Rabbit in question. "He seems strangely at ease around me. Perhaps it's because I attended to his wounds and was willing to hear him out."
"Whatever it is, he took to you quickly," Goldie noted with a slight lift of his shoulders. Red wasn't familiar with this gesture so he assumed it was something that had recently developed on the Ursian home planet. "I guess that's a good thing, though, huh?"
"Perhaps," Freddy agreed with a slight nod of his own. "The two of you are about the same age, even… so maybe that helps. It strengthens a feeling of camaraderie."
I'm not so sure about that, Red thought to himself as he nodded politely to the Ursians and stood up to go take a seat next to Blu. I don't think he knows what normal teenagers are supposed to act like. Certainly not like either of us.
He kept his thoughts to himself as he sat down next to the Lapinian. "Hey, Blu," he greeted casually, feeling slightly victorious when the Rabbit awarded him a small, but genuine, smile.
"Hey, Red," he replied quietly, but they didn't speak again. Instead, they sat in silence and listened to the soft chatter around them as the others all got to know one another. The air was tense and everyone was wary at best, but friendly enough to get along. Red didn't fail to notice most of them were staying close to their own kind, though Chii and Chica seemed to get along very well with Mangle. It seemed like he and Blu were the odd ones out. Somehow he wasn't surprised.
Red pretended he didn't notice the way the Lacatrans looked at the two of them- at him. It was their problem, not his after all. They could continue pretending that they weren't just like Blu, but Red... well, Red recognized that down inside they were all the same. They all bled crimson.
As darkness fell around them, the only source of light and warmth was the fire and the makeshift grassy "carpet" beneath them. Staring into the orange flames, he was suddenly reminded of a night long ago, when he was barely eight... It had been night, and nights on Ardraw were... deadly, to say the least, and the fire was the only protection they had from the night. It was... eerily similar, he realized.
The chill in the air at that moment, hardly minutes after the sun had set, reminded him of Ardraw. He didn't want to know what this planet was like during its colder season, if it had one. If it was anything like Ardraw, they would never survive.
He closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh, ears lowering slightly at the somber thought.
Hope, huh? Well, Blu, I hope you have enough to share...