castle_perrault | Start over, begin again

croppedout posting in

There's a rather unsettling sight near the lake this evening. Even though the water shouldn't connect to any rivers or any outside source, a boy has somehow washed up on its shore. He's completely drenched, winter coat clinging to his frame, hair sticking to his face. His lips are slightly blue, as if the water is much colder than it should be in late spring. The water laps around him, but he remains motionless.

...Until he coughs.

Satoru has always been a fiercely determined individual, and it seems part of him is still stubbornly clinging to the fragment of life he has left. He told the killer he wouldn't die until he saw him destroyed.

That's a promise.

After all that commotion, a castle floating in the sky is... mildly tame, for Satoru.

He's deemed that if he's going to be trapped in a fairy tale setting, he may as well enjoy it, and being such a young boy, he's enjoying it with the energy of a hummingbird high on sugar.

You may bump into a kid stacking piles of books high in the library, draping a blanket over them so he can huddle inside. You may end up rudely interrupted when the kid swings open the door to your room, bolting off with no explanation and only a quick apology.

...Or you may find him at the source of all his energy, with the candy room half-decimated and Satoru slumped on the ground in a giggly sugar coma.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

momentbymoment

After many years in her line of work, Eva is starting to wonder if she has developed a sixth sense for things. Things like life-changing moments, or true danger. Usually only within the structure of a memory map. Sometimes in her real life, too.

And today, she's feeling it in the Castle.

It's like an itch, drawing her outside and toward the lake. She follows it, more than willing to spend time outside, and worried that even more drama is going to crop up while she's still busy dealing with Neil and whatever is wrong with him.

Even some distance away she sees something is different about the view. She's primed for it, and that helps, her eyes extra-focused to find something wrong. She breaks into a jog, a chill prickling on her skin, a premonition.

Then she sees a child, a young child, lying on the bank and breaks into a fill-tilt run, stopping in a slide onto her knees when she gets within range. She sees people die every day, but they are old, and lived full lives. Her mouth feels like she swallowed poison to look at the motionless body of a preteen boy. Don't you dare.

She turns him on his side, first, hoping he will cough up the water himself. If not, she has no hesitation about starting CPR. Her hand touches his throat with two fingers, looking for a pulse. She finds it, and breathes relief.

Then he breathes. A cough, then another, and water dribbles down his face. Thank god.

"Hey, that's good, keep breathing."

From:

croppedout

Water. Water slipping from his mouth, down his already soaked face. He's coughing up water, and judging by the struggle he's having to breathe, he's guessing he must have a lot of it in his system.

Should never have trusted him. I'm such an idiot. I'm going to die no I can't I have to stop him...

A woman's voice is somewhere floating above him, and he tries to pinpoint it. It doesn't sound like anyone he's ever heard of before. He would open his eyes to see who it is, but they feel weighted down, like every other part of his body.

So cold...

What happened?

He... Wasn't he the one that pushed me? No, that isn't it.

So many voices tangle together in his head, and he coughs up more water.

From:

momentbymoment

He still isn't conscious, but he's out of the most immediate danger. He's still coughing on his own and that means he'll be okay. If he doesn't catch hypothermia instead.

Eva clucks her tongue at the blue in his face. The water shouldn't be that cold! But logic seems to hold very little weight here. Carefully as she can, she tries to peel his soaked coat off his body. Keeping the cold wet fabric on him will only make him worse.

"You're going to be okay. Just keep breathing, keep coughing the water out. You need to get this wet coat off if you're going to warm up." Telling him what's happening as it goes should help, right? That's what EMTs do for conscious victims.

From:

croppedout

He feels his arms lifted up and the heavy fabric of his jacket being peeled off of him. He shivers between coughs, but at least getting that off doesn't seem to be making him worse.

Eventually, he does start to open his eyes, squint at the woman in front of him. Definitely doesn't look like his mom... is she looking for him? She must be so worried...

One violent cough gets him to expel the rest of the water from him, and he gasps for air, numb fingers twitching and looking for warmth.

From:

lightofthestars

It is Grune's turn to care for Neil. It is the Batman's turn to watch Chara. Her children are fed and occupied. At last, she has a moment to herself.

...Or she did, until she found Sophie walking to the lake on her own. When she asked, the little girl had said she was going for a swim--which had meant Tauriel had need to follow her. Alas for her time to spare.

As she walks along, listening to Sophie's sometime conversation, she finds that there is peace in this, too. Even if she is not alone, the lake is calm and the air is sweet with the scent of water.

Then she sees the small body upon the shore. She runs.

From:

lostlegacy

It's really weird. Sophie was just in the middle of telling Tauriel about the picture she had coloured when Tauriel stopped for a second and then ran away really, really fast. Sophie starts running, too, but wow is Tauriel fast.

"Where are you going?" she yells.

From:

croppedout

The child doesn't move as Tauriel rushes to his side, but he does manage one cough, expelling a bit of water from his mouth. His eyes remain closed, as much as Satoru fights to open them.

He can hear a child's voice. Kayo? He can almost imagine her scolding him now. He wants to reach out and hold her hand again, tell her it's okay, because this was all to protect her.

His fingers twitch, digging in the ground slightly.

From:

lightofthestars

Elbereth be praised, he yet lives.

Once she reaches his side, she scoops him from the water into her arms and carries him onto the dry shore.

"Breathe, small one, breathe," she tells him, her voice a soft almost-prayer.