eureka! part 3.
Aug. 21st, 2012 02:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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log▶ Part 2
He wakes to something digging into his back. That something is warm and soft, and wiggling into flesh and causing a great deal of discomfort. Walter groans, then flips over onto his back with his elbow raised. His arm collides against the source, knocking the small frame back as he lays against the dirt. It's wet and sticky.
"What . . . ," he groans again, one hand resting on his stomach and the other running through his mussed hair.
"Mistake," a voice cuts in. It is young. "A regrettable mistake has been made." And familiar.
Walter's eyes snap open and he cranes his neck to the side. A little girl with raven black hair sits beside him, arms crossed and the hem of her short dress stained in dark red. A bloody stone lies innocently next to her.
"You again."
"Guriko is Guriko. 'You' is she, but she is not 'you.'"
Walter wheezes, "I don't care."
"How is Mistake feeling?"
Truth be told, he feels as if a wagon strung on four horses has hit and run over his back. It throbs to lie as he is, but he would rather not plant his face in the ground when speaking to Guriko. He weakly balls his hands into fists, glaring at the sky. He doesn't say anything.
"You must be in discomfort. After all, Mistake has done as his name suggests." A pause for dramatic effect. "He turned over."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he snaps.
"You turned over."
He has not the energy to argue pronouns with Guriko, and so doesn't deign her with a proper reply. Rather, he makes a noise akin to an annoyed growl, spurred on by her irritating skirting around and his very real discomfort.
Guriko smiles a smug smile, then nods knowingly. She raises her right hand; blood coats her pointer finger and thumb. Walter stares, and realizes a moment later that it's his.
"Just earlier, Guriko braced herself to do the grotesque and dispel the source of pain," she begins in a grave tone, pinching her bloody finger and thumb together. "So she shoved her fingers into Mistake."
Walter gives her an impossibly flat look. She ignores it.
"But because he turned over, Guriko was unable to complete this gruesome task. The bullet is still lodged in the soft flesh of his virgin back -- "
"Stop."
"If he will turn back over, Guriko will resume her operation with the utmost care. But this time," she pulls out a spoon, "she will use this."
Eyeing the spoon, Walter sits up and reaches for his back.
------
Near shore, Minato follows Tiir, who paces back and forth on the deck, hand cupping his chin. Though his brows are knit in frustration, Minato is as calm as ever and observes his captain quietly.
Their hours of searching for Derunio had turned up fruitless and has been the cause of Tiir's anxiety for the last half. Months of searching have been thrown off the cliffs with this loss, and nothing Minato says can alleviate Tiir's concerns. At this point, they can no longer risk revisiting the tall grasses lest Walter survived and they incur his wrath.
Stopping, Tiir wrings his hands atop the rail.
"We can't leave this island until Derunio is found," he says. His eyes narrow, boring imaginary holes into the ebbing tide.
"We'll try again tomorrow," Minato advises. "It's getting late."
"It would be problematic if other hunters anchor here in that time frame . . . "
"We're the only ones who know what Derunio look like. We can do it, Tiir."
Tiir's sigh courses through his body. His shoulders slump, and Minato approaches to rest his hands on them. He gives Tiir a reassuring squeeze, maintaining optimism in the thick air of pessimism.
"Tomorrow, we can go back to where we lost sight of it."
By then, Walter would be dead or on the move -- out of sight, out of mind.
Relaxing against Minato's touch, Tiir remembers his place and straightens. His face hardens, pushing his moment of weakness aside as he turns around. He gives Minato a confident smile, then retires to the cabin for tomorrow. The sun has set, and he would rise in the crack of dawn to retrieve Derunio.
Minato lingers by the rail, watching the tides ebb in and out. He, too, retires to the cabin at midnight.
Fittingly, Tiir is the first to rise between them. It takes him less than ten minutes to prepare for the new search, after which he goes to Minato's bedside and gently shakes him awake. Running on less than five hours of sleep, Minato is quick to spring to action. He shrugs on an extra layer of clothing to accommodate for the cold of the early morning, then accompanies Tiir outside.
As before, however, they soon split off. For Minato's "good," Tiir insists on covering the side of the vicinity where he'd almost offed Walter, while Minato takes the other end. Because his side is closer to the forest, and thus farther from shore where hunters would land, Minato is less bound to make human contact. For as Tiir suspects, he marches to the spot where they lost Derunio and find only dried blood.
He smirks despite his foul mood, and brushes aside a thicket with more force than is necessary to continue his search.
Minato carefully parts the bushes and finds a girl caked in leaves and dirt. He blinks.
"Hello," he greets, recalling the event in the Cassla pub. "Are you lost?"
Guriko shakes her head, then indignantly and proudly replies, "Guriko is a master of directions. One journey, and she can retrace her steps with ease. This tiny island is not even worthy of the grand title of 'labyrinth'!"
She steps toward him, leaving the dark shade of the trees just behind them. Minato's gaze drifts to her feet, where he sees splotches of dried blood running from the bottom of her dress to her knees. He inclines his head to the side.
"Guriko sees that Blue is too impressed by her simple achievement to utter a word. But that's okay," she assures, nodding her head. "She sees plainly that it is not she who is lost, but this lanky boy before her."
"Ah . . . Guriko?"
"Blue should no longer worry. Guriko will lead him back to shore!" She steps around Minato, then twirls on her heels to point. "Follow this Guriko!"
"Thank you, Guriko," Minato says, testing her name. "But I have a question for you. Where did you find that stone?"
He gestures to the stone in her grasp. Guriko follows his point to her own hand, then back to Minato. She squeezes the stone which is caked in blood, and chooses to keep that business buried for the time being.
"Guriko will tell you once she has brought you to the safety of the sea. Onward, little man!"
▶ Part 4
He wakes to something digging into his back. That something is warm and soft, and wiggling into flesh and causing a great deal of discomfort. Walter groans, then flips over onto his back with his elbow raised. His arm collides against the source, knocking the small frame back as he lays against the dirt. It's wet and sticky.
"What . . . ," he groans again, one hand resting on his stomach and the other running through his mussed hair.
"Mistake," a voice cuts in. It is young. "A regrettable mistake has been made." And familiar.
Walter's eyes snap open and he cranes his neck to the side. A little girl with raven black hair sits beside him, arms crossed and the hem of her short dress stained in dark red. A bloody stone lies innocently next to her.
"You again."
"Guriko is Guriko. 'You' is she, but she is not 'you.'"
Walter wheezes, "I don't care."
"How is Mistake feeling?"
Truth be told, he feels as if a wagon strung on four horses has hit and run over his back. It throbs to lie as he is, but he would rather not plant his face in the ground when speaking to Guriko. He weakly balls his hands into fists, glaring at the sky. He doesn't say anything.
"You must be in discomfort. After all, Mistake has done as his name suggests." A pause for dramatic effect. "He turned over."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he snaps.
"You turned over."
He has not the energy to argue pronouns with Guriko, and so doesn't deign her with a proper reply. Rather, he makes a noise akin to an annoyed growl, spurred on by her irritating skirting around and his very real discomfort.
Guriko smiles a smug smile, then nods knowingly. She raises her right hand; blood coats her pointer finger and thumb. Walter stares, and realizes a moment later that it's his.
"Just earlier, Guriko braced herself to do the grotesque and dispel the source of pain," she begins in a grave tone, pinching her bloody finger and thumb together. "So she shoved her fingers into Mistake."
Walter gives her an impossibly flat look. She ignores it.
"But because he turned over, Guriko was unable to complete this gruesome task. The bullet is still lodged in the soft flesh of his virgin back -- "
"Stop."
"If he will turn back over, Guriko will resume her operation with the utmost care. But this time," she pulls out a spoon, "she will use this."
Eyeing the spoon, Walter sits up and reaches for his back.
------
Near shore, Minato follows Tiir, who paces back and forth on the deck, hand cupping his chin. Though his brows are knit in frustration, Minato is as calm as ever and observes his captain quietly.
Their hours of searching for Derunio had turned up fruitless and has been the cause of Tiir's anxiety for the last half. Months of searching have been thrown off the cliffs with this loss, and nothing Minato says can alleviate Tiir's concerns. At this point, they can no longer risk revisiting the tall grasses lest Walter survived and they incur his wrath.
Stopping, Tiir wrings his hands atop the rail.
"We can't leave this island until Derunio is found," he says. His eyes narrow, boring imaginary holes into the ebbing tide.
"We'll try again tomorrow," Minato advises. "It's getting late."
"It would be problematic if other hunters anchor here in that time frame . . . "
"We're the only ones who know what Derunio look like. We can do it, Tiir."
Tiir's sigh courses through his body. His shoulders slump, and Minato approaches to rest his hands on them. He gives Tiir a reassuring squeeze, maintaining optimism in the thick air of pessimism.
"Tomorrow, we can go back to where we lost sight of it."
By then, Walter would be dead or on the move -- out of sight, out of mind.
Relaxing against Minato's touch, Tiir remembers his place and straightens. His face hardens, pushing his moment of weakness aside as he turns around. He gives Minato a confident smile, then retires to the cabin for tomorrow. The sun has set, and he would rise in the crack of dawn to retrieve Derunio.
Minato lingers by the rail, watching the tides ebb in and out. He, too, retires to the cabin at midnight.
Fittingly, Tiir is the first to rise between them. It takes him less than ten minutes to prepare for the new search, after which he goes to Minato's bedside and gently shakes him awake. Running on less than five hours of sleep, Minato is quick to spring to action. He shrugs on an extra layer of clothing to accommodate for the cold of the early morning, then accompanies Tiir outside.
As before, however, they soon split off. For Minato's "good," Tiir insists on covering the side of the vicinity where he'd almost offed Walter, while Minato takes the other end. Because his side is closer to the forest, and thus farther from shore where hunters would land, Minato is less bound to make human contact. For as Tiir suspects, he marches to the spot where they lost Derunio and find only dried blood.
He smirks despite his foul mood, and brushes aside a thicket with more force than is necessary to continue his search.
Minato carefully parts the bushes and finds a girl caked in leaves and dirt. He blinks.
"Hello," he greets, recalling the event in the Cassla pub. "Are you lost?"
Guriko shakes her head, then indignantly and proudly replies, "Guriko is a master of directions. One journey, and she can retrace her steps with ease. This tiny island is not even worthy of the grand title of 'labyrinth'!"
She steps toward him, leaving the dark shade of the trees just behind them. Minato's gaze drifts to her feet, where he sees splotches of dried blood running from the bottom of her dress to her knees. He inclines his head to the side.
"Guriko sees that Blue is too impressed by her simple achievement to utter a word. But that's okay," she assures, nodding her head. "She sees plainly that it is not she who is lost, but this lanky boy before her."
"Ah . . . Guriko?"
"Blue should no longer worry. Guriko will lead him back to shore!" She steps around Minato, then twirls on her heels to point. "Follow this Guriko!"
"Thank you, Guriko," Minato says, testing her name. "But I have a question for you. Where did you find that stone?"
He gestures to the stone in her grasp. Guriko follows his point to her own hand, then back to Minato. She squeezes the stone which is caked in blood, and chooses to keep that business buried for the time being.
"Guriko will tell you once she has brought you to the safety of the sea. Onward, little man!"
▶ Part 4