melodiesoflife | We're going on an adventure, Charlie!

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We're going on an adventure, Charlie!

WHO: Rukia Kuchiki, Yuri Lowell
WHAT: While searching the Calm Plains for Cait Sith, Rukia and Yuri get caught in a storm. They take shelter. They continually pester each other throughout the log because that's what friends do.
WHEN: April 8th
WHERE: Aqures Ixen -> Calm Plains -> Ancient Caves

DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!

She should have known something was wrong when Raven didn't come home last night. She'd been worried sick. Of course he was free to act on his own, but if he was going to be somewhere unusual, she was pretty sure he'd be the sort to let her know he wouldn't be around for a while. She asked Chappopo to deliver a letter, since the Moogles always seemed to know where people could be found. When her little companion returned, shoulders drooping and still holding the letter, Rukia could guess what had happened. And she was right. Crystal stasis.

Again.

Frustrated, worried, and angry, she paced her room for several minutes with her hand over her mouth. It couldn't be helped by either of them, and apparently, crystal stasis was necessary to prevent people from turning into those horrible murderous zombie-like beings that had appeared the last night of October. She'd be mad to wish for that kind of alternative. But at the same time, there was no way to be sure how long he'd be there. Would it be a few weeks, or would he be permanently stuck there like Angeal, or Manami? She had no way of knowing unless the next batch of Heroes had someone assigned to their home to take Raven's place.

In the end, feeling upset wasn't going to help her. What she needed to do was master more of her jobs as swiftly as possible, to unlock the full potential of the Onion Knight and hope that the answer to their problems lay within the Temple of Heroes on Mysidia's continent. There were apparently quite a few to choose from, but she'd already made up her mind due to sheer proximity: Cait Sith. Twice Rukia had found him and paid for his experience boost, and she was willing to pay a third time too.

However, going alone was a fool's errand. What was more, she didn't really feel like moping on her own, and she suspected she probably would if she didn't have someone there to poke her forehead every time she started to slump. So who would she bring? It could have been any of the people in her household, really. Ichigo had known her longer than any of them, and she did mean to spend more time with him. But she was also reluctant to pull him away from this place when it was important for him to connect with the other Heroes too. Flynn was an excellent warrior, and as good and kind a man as any she'd known. But she wasn't sure he had it in him to give her a kick in the seat if she really needed it. Not to mention that she'd feel guilty about teasing him the way she did Ichigo and Yuri.

So, given that she scarcely knew Selphie, she made up her mind with little difficulty. She armed herself with Sode no Shirayuki at her hip, even if she couldn't unlock her true powers with it, and dressed in the warm furs of the Beastmaster job she was continuing to master. The snow was melting at long last, but it still wasn't all that warm, especially when one got further away from the Crystal of Fire. Finally, she made sure she had plenty of gil to pay Cait Sith once they found him. All that remained was to kick down Yuri's door and drag him off for adventure. If he knew about Raven, he was probably feeling a little down in the dumps himself.

Approaching his door, she gave Yuri a courtesy knock before barging in anyway. It wasn't as if he were getting dressed at this time of the day. "Oi," she announced herself, and folded her arms with a wide grin. "Let's go to the Calm Plains. We'll get rusty if we don't get any training, and I want to maximize my jobs while we're there."

Straight, simple, and to the point.

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Rukia didn't mind working with a silent partner. She'd lived for years with Byakuya, after all, and there were few who could match the nobleman's reticence for idle conversation.

But it was unusual for Yuri. When he cracked a joke, the furrow in her brow would ease, and she'd respond appropriately...usually with an elbow aimed at his side. Once the silence returned, however, she began to wonder if all was truly well with him. It could be very well that he was simply trying not to draw the attention of monsters, but that was doubtful. Yuri seemed to enjoy the challenge of a good battle.

Should she ask...?

Turning the thought over in her mind, the weather's severity sharply increased, heralded by a flash of lightning, and the sound of thunder only half a heartbeat later. That sounded close, and on the plains where the two of them could easily be the tallest objects around, it wouldn't do well to linger here.

"We must find shelter," Rukia frowned, hastening ahead. It looked like there was an outcropping of rocks and boulders ahead, and a craggy decline. They might find a cave there.

As she hurried, the rain turned from a steady drizzle to heavy sheets, peppered with hail stones. It wouldn't be long at all before all of them were soaked to the skin.

Yuri was good at keeping things smooth and usual. Even if he didn't feel well, he usually was able to cover it up pretty quickly. His acting was also very well done to the point where he can convince people without much effort. However, sometimes there are moments where that layer cracks. Maybe right now it's not happening but he was human. All of these things would eventually affect him.

He liked fighting and he liked a good battle. It meant that he would be able to get his mind off of things he didn't want to think about. The sight of Rain wasn't exactly his favorite thing to look at. After all, tragedies came with it.

Rukia was free to ask but he probably would dismiss it or tell here there was nothing wrong. It would be a conversation where he would beat around the bush with her until she gave up on trying to get answers. However, Rukia was persistent, thus she could probably get something from him if she tried hard enough.

"Wonderful. It's going to be one of those days huh?"

He sarcastically remarks as she said they needed to find some sort of shelter. Despite the complaint, he and Repede followed after her when the rain poured.

"Where exactly are we going to finding shelter when it's pelting like this?"

Yuri questioned while he tried to find somewhere that they could hide.

"Who knows, but we should look regardless," she shouted to be heard above the growing howls of the wind. Nimbly she leaped from rock to rock, making her way down the side of the rocky hill. She was already feeling the stark chill of the spring storm, and she wondered if it had turned from rain to sleet. Regardless of what it was, they weren't likely to find Cait Sith in this kind of weather.

Finally she spotted an opening more than big enough for them to fit through, though Yuri would have to duck. Rukia called out to Yuri and Repede, waving them over before darting through the opening.

The cave was dark (of course), but it didn't reek of monsters or any other animals. It seemed uninhabited. But more importantly, it was dry. The furs of Rukia's Beastmaster Job drooped sadly as she rubbed her arms briskly, trying to warm herself. Starting a fire would be ideal, but rocks didn't exactly sustain flames.

"You're both all right?"

"Right."

He keeps searching as Rukia said those words. It's not like they have much of a choice given the turn of things. It's better not to get soaked too hard, or he'll probably end up with a cold. Not that he ever gets sick to be honest, but who knows right? Yuri followed her while scoping out the area as well until a cave was in their eye sight.

He followed her until they were both inside. Repede was standing to the side, shaking off his wet fur and Yuri was trying his best to wring out his clothes. He might have appeared a little paler than he was earlier, but he payed no heed to it since he felt fine at the moment.

Yuri looked around for anything that they could possibly use for a fire. Unfortunately, he didn't see any.

"More or less. Repede's not fond of being soaked but he's fine."

Rukia raised an arm to shield herself (unsuccessfully) from the water droplets flying off of Repede's fur. Would that she could do the same with her own clothes, but she couldn't really wring out leathers or fur trim. She squeezed out what she could from the tips of her black hair, but the short locks remained plastered to her cheeks and the nape of her neck.

"I can cast a few Fire spells with my Ninjutsu. But with nothing to burn, they won't keep us all that warm," she sighed, picking a spot against the cave wall and sitting down in the dirt. She pulled her knees tight against her chest in hopes that she might warm herself this way. It wasn't very effective.

"My apologies. Had I known the weather would be this bad, I would not have been quite so...insistent." By now her temper had cooled significantly, and her expression was serious and apologetic.

Repede did look somewhat apologetic for getting her wet again, but the dog had to shake off his own fur because he was soaked to the bone too. He's not a cat but he can't say he liked being wet either. After that, he curls in a corner and watches the two of them in silence as his pipe swings back and forth in his mouth as Yuri tries to dry himself out.

There's a sneeze followed by the sound of him wringing his clothes. Seriously though, he never got sick so Yuri brushed it off. He's not even entirely sure there was anything wrong at all so he didn't say anything.

"I think we'll be fine once the storm blows over. It'd be a waste of your abilities if we can't keep it going."

He offered her a smile.

"Stuff happens, it's not like you can control the weather so don't worry about it."

He leaned back against the wall of the cave as he said that. Man, was he feeling tired for no apparent reasons. Yuri didn't seem to be mad at all as he gave her another look. It wasn't Rukia's fault that it rained. Hell, Yuri wanted to get out and do something himself so it was partially his fault too. He didn't protest after all. Now they were stranded for the time being with no provisions. Talk about bad luck.

"...I see. Thank you." Yuri was rather forgiving, wasn't he? What he said was true, but even so, many would have found reasons to complain, or to blame Rukia's impulsive need to vent her frustrations.

But now that they were here, away from the city in the cold quiet of the cave, she found that she couldn't escape her feelings any longer. She was worried about Raven. And she missed him. Being childish and stomping around the plains wasn't going to make those feelings disappear. All she could do was hope for the best, because there was no one to blame for this sort of thing. It just happened.

She tipped her head back to look up at the cave ceiling, keeping her thoughts to herself for a long, long moment of silence. Finally her head tipped forward and turned to study Yuri. He seemed weary. "...Are you all right?"

Edited 2016-05-16 02:19 (UTC)

"It's not something you need to thank me for, honestly."

He waved his hand dismissively as the other thanked him for his forgiveness. Honestly She didn't do anything wrong in the first place. If he was against endeavors with her he would have outright protested but they both knew that they needed some time outside of their home.There's no surprise there on both of their parts. It just was a shitty rainy day in general and Yuri was more or less neutral to it at this point.

He watched the storm from outside, stroking Repede's fur as he did. He turned to Rukia giving her a raised brow for her comment.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

He might have felt a little warm.

"Tch. You're dodging the question." She didn't seem angry about it, though. Instead she just sighed, combing her fingers through her wet hair. It wasn't as if she could blame him. She was the same way when people asked her what was wrong. Giving the answer wasn't always easy, and at the moment, she wasn't sure if his problem was physical or emotional. It could have even been both.

Rather than interrogate him, which would most likely prove futile, Rukia got to her feet and approached Yuri directly. He looked tired, and a little pale. It could have just been the dim light, but she wasn't taking chances.

She placed the back of her cool hand against his brow, and her frown deepened. "Are you ill?"

"Look I'm f--"

He stopped when her cool head rested against his forehead. They were definitely cooler than him. Maybe he was going down with something. Perhaps, that's why he suddenly felt so exhausted. It didn't help that he didn't get much sleep in the past few days due to the weather forecast and other things.

Honestly, there was a lot of stuff going on that he's been thinking about. It was one of those weeks and it was his luck to get caught in a storm when he was unguarded and unprotected. He sighed some. Protesting to Rukia at this point seemed futile. He knew when he was arguing a losing battle.

"I hardly get sick, so who knows."

He bluntly replied.

She vastly preferred his honesty. Rukia nodded once, understanding, then settled herself to sit on the other side of him, so he had a wet dog on one side, and a wet shinigami on the other. Eventually their body heat would reach him and prevent him from getting too cold.

"We should keep you from getting too cold," she told him frankly. "Your immune system isn't as effective in lower temperatures." Would that she had a better way of keeping him warm, but there was no such luck.

"Once the storm lets up, we'll head back. My reasons for being here were foolish to begin with."

"Y-You-- what are you doing?" he seemed confused to why she settled to sit next to him while his dog took the hint and moved closer. Suddenly, Yuri felt a bit clustered in his little space. Aw, c'mon people he can take care of himself. He's totally fine, only he really isn't and he could feel the fever hitting him some.

The ground was cold so it felt nice. He was trying his best not to just fall flat on the floor by leaning back against the walls of the cave.

"I think you're taking it too far. I'll be fine."

He insisted, but clearly he wasn't but the warmth helped. Honestly, he felt hot rather than cold but that was probably the fever if anything.

"Oh yea, what reasons were those? It can't be anymore ridiculous than my reasoning."

Not that he'd talk about it.

"Relax already," Rukia chided him. Repede was intelligent enough to understand what needed to be done. Now for the foolish master. "It's obvious that you're unwell, and sitting here in your wet clothes will not improve your situation."

At least she wasn't asking him to strip off his wet clothes. It wouldn't have bothered her any, but he surely would have shrieked about protecting his modesty. So instead she put her arms around him and pressed close against his side, a small warm weight ready to support him.

As for her reasons? Rukia glanced at him with a frown before her gaze drifted. "I would have thought that would be obvious." She said nothing more, and for a while, it seemed as if she would keep her silence. But at last, she relented.

"I only just got him back. And now again... Three times he's been taken from me." Granted, during one of those times they'd only been friends, but they'd been walking rapidly down that path toward something more at the time. "I was...frustrated. And angry. But where am I to place my anger?" It wasn't Raven's fault, or anyone else's for that matter.

Her shoulders rose and fell with a quiet, unhappy sigh. "What about you? What's your ridiculous reason?"

Yuri's stubborn nature never actually changed much. Even if he learned to rely on his friends a little more and embraced their support, there were still stuff that he didn't want to openly talk about and one of the reasons why he was like this right now was due to it. He just quietly closed his eyes for a moment. The weather was just the worse and his luck was just as rotten.

Not that he would wouldn't take off his clothes if he was told to since what was modesty anyway? He didn't seem to care for that either. At least, Rukia wasn't playing 20 questions with him. He appreciated the girl for that reason. Now her act right there caught him off guard. What in the world is this girl doing?!

"Who-Whoa there shorty."

He retorted even though he had little energy to really stop her much less push her off. Ah, yeah he remembered that Raven was in the Crystal Stasis and that was a sort of insensitive question on his part. He rested a warm hand on her head, while letting her do whatever she pleased for now. It's weird but he's not saying it's not comforting.

"Right, it seems to me like the old man really doesn't want to kick the bucket since he's always coming back. On top of that we don't know why people fall into the Stasis in hard details."

"Hard to say. Sometimes you just got to let it go no matter how pissed you get."

Believe him, he knows more than he should in regards to these kinds of situations. He didn't respond for a while, seeing he didn't want to really talk about it but he at least gave her something.

"This weather makes me feel lousy, and depressed. Though I'd take an adventure with you to get rid of the thick air I was breathing."

He shrugged.

She could feel that he was tense; she supposed not everyone grew up as she had, where it was more than common to huddle together for warmth and comfort. Many people in this city were unaccustomed to using physical contact as a means of bonding, it seemed. It had never bothered her, and she often thumped people's arms or chests to express warm familiarity.

Young people were so shy.

It appeared that he adapted soon enough, however, when she felt his hand drop onto the top of her head, settled on her wet hair. Rukia smiled. Good, she thought, he was relaxing. There was nothing romantic or expressly intimate in a non-platonic fashion about her actions; she'd already dedicated her heart to someone else.

"Yes," she agreed when he spoke of Raven's stubbornness. "I understand that wasn't always the case. I'm pleased to hear that he's found a reason to fight for his life. You had something to do with that, from what I read." Before she had been reluctant to tell anyone she'd read Raven's file, as she'd seen it as a gross invasion of privacy on her part. But there was very little about Raven that Yuri didn't already know, save for perhaps the life Raven had lived as Damuron.

Her head shifted slightly beneath his hand as she turned to look at him. "The weather? I see..." She didn't, really, and the knitting of her brow demonstrated this. "Is that always the case when it rains?" Because she knew someone else who didn't care much for the rain either, and he just so happened to dwell in the same household.

Yuri was used to people he knew or expected to do that sort of action but Rukia-- he didn't know all that long. Whereas he knew her well, he didn't know her on this sort of level. It threw him off a little but he's fine for the most part. After being tense, he just lets it run its course. There's no real point in exhausting himself over fighting her and telling her to lay off.

By no means is he shy Rukia. Thank you very much. He's very totally okay with this. It's just the initial action took him by surprise Yuri knows that and honestly he can't see her as anyone more than a valuable and reliable friends-- maybe a sister of sorts though the question was little sister or big sister? He's not sure since she's older than him but she can still be a lot more childish than she lets on.

"Getting down and dirty in people's files now huh?" He half joked when she talked about Raven. He knew what the other talked about. He did peek at it briefly and for the record he did stop people from trying to access his files. He locked it well enough anyway. After all he wasn't that interesting.

"Yeah, the rain brings pretty bad memories, if you ask me and it's wet and depressing."

He shrugged as he let his hand slide down now to his side. Repede whines a little at his comment knowing what he's talking about.

"It's partly your fault," she felt the need to point that out when he teased her about picking through Raven's file. "You allowed me to continue believing he was an enslaved elderly man. Naturally I was curious to know the truth, after it was so cruelly denied to me."

Yes, it was a tragic story indeed. But somehow, it had wound up bringing the two of them closer together, which made it more and more difficult to regret her snooping. Maybe she'd go take a peek through Yuri's if he continued to tease her.

However, she quieted when it seemed like he was starting to open up to her. Rukia didn't want to push, nor did she want to reopen any old scars he was trying to mend. But she did want to know him better, and listen if he had the need to speak what was weighing on his heart.

"...I have a rather painful memory in the rain as well," she offered, her gaze shifting to the side to get a better glimpse of his face. "If you wish, we could exchange our stories."

"It's not like I had any obligation to have to tell you anything. It's the old man's call if he wanted you to know or not."

He shrugged some as she said that. Of course Yuri's jokes can be a tad bit too serious and people tend to take it the long way. He didn't seem to care though as it's quite obvious in their current conversation. In any case, he just keeps his eyes closed as she kept to herself for a moment. Honestly, he wants the rain to stop and be done with.

Such a day this turned out to be really.

"Nah, I'm not interested in digging up someone's past and I'd rather not talk about myself as you know already, Shorty."

He's curious but with how they are he doesn't think it's necessary for them both to talk about it. These things were better left unsaid.

"Mm," Rukia hummed her quiet agreement. It wasn't easy for her to open up either, especially where Kaien was concerned. But she'd been willing to make the offer for Yuri's sake, if it would have helped. Perhaps this was why they'd butted heads so often. They had more in common than they realized.

"As you wish. But the offer is there, should you need it. You know this." She smiled down at him for a moment before lifting her chin, her fingers lightly stroking his hair the way a mother might attempt to soothe a tired child, exhausted from the weight of his emotions. It seemed like he needed someone to do that for him now and again, and if there was no one around to see, then there was no risk of injuring his pride.

"Thanks I'll keep that in mind, Shorty."

He replies with a brief smile for those words. He knew that she meant well so he doesn't hold it against her at all. He'd definitely share with her when the time is right honestly. For now being in the presence of each other was fine with him. She's doing more than she thinks she is. He's sure. Yuri closes his eyes some as he tries to at least rest his weary and exhausted body.

It was a weird feeling of having someone sort of mother him in such a way, but right now he's really not in the fighting position much less had energy to really fight Rukia or Repede who now is sprawled on his legs.

Rukia rolled her eyes. "Someone wants to wake up with a moustache, it seems." Not that she would...not this time in any case. Both of them were hurting, and in need of a friend just to stay nearby. They had that in one another, and she was immensely grateful for that strange and beautiful friendship. She smiled once his eyes were closed, continuing to stroke his hair while she and Repede lent him their warmth. It was about time he took the opportunity to rest.

Her other hand drifted to pet Repede's wet fur too. He was a good companion for Yuri, and she was glad Cid had found a way to bring him into this world. There was little to do now but remain silent and wait for the storm to pass.

By this time he's so far off sleeping that he doesn't really hear her. Though, he's on guard enough that if she does anything that he can feel, he'll probably wake up. It's his way of showing her that he trusts her for the time being. He really doesn't want to doubt her in the future so she better work hard to conserve her trust with him.

He can't deny that the comfort was welcoming. It's something that's quite rare and being someone who have no parents, he's grateful for that kind of gesture.

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We're going on an adventure, Charlie!

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