[open]

[earthshaken]

Who: Terra, and anyone who wants to check up on this dumb loser
When: Backdated to 3/04?? A few days after the ill-fated raid
Where: CERES hospital
What: Terra's recovering from being shot. Good times.
Rating/Warning: Mentions of violence/injury, character death

[Terra didn't have much memory of how he'd reached the hospital. The doctors had described how they'd found him unconscious on the roof drenched in blood, Keyblade lying beside him and Baymax with him. The last thing he remembered was Soramaru and Masamune's deaths, something that had stood out starkly in his memories for more. After that, there was little but the feeling of warm light and his Keyblade in hand.

Thanks to Korra's quick action the bullet wound in his chest had more or less been taken care of, and the rest was just a patch job, along with treatment for the blood loss. His arm was another matter, and since he refused to have its coding fixed instantly by one of the medical robots, he settled for having it in a sling.

He didn't trust medical robots here for a second, when it was CERES' security robots that had shot him in the first place. If anything, they'd make it worse, wouldn't they?

After a few days of bed rest and some minor surgery on his wounded arm, he was finally feeling well enough to get up and move around. The first day or so of recovery was hazy, but now he's beginning to feel restless -- sitting around in a bed is giving too much time to dwell on his failures in the raid. Were Hiro and Korra even alive? And what about the other groups they were separated from? He sends them -- everyone who participated in the raid -- the following message:]

are you okay?

[And then to Roxas, who is probably wondering where Terra disappeared to, the following message:]

I ran into some trouble a few days ago
at the hospital now
don't worry abou t me. i'll see you soon

[Good job on the least reassuring message ever, Terra.]

Comments

[coexistent]

[it's true—roxas has been wondering what terra's been up to, though he's been doing his best to keep distracted. terra's probably just busy, since everything has been pretty crazy lately. but with things starting to calm down, he'd wanted to actually address some of the things he's been wondering... only to not get any response from terra.

naturally, he's a little concerned.

so when the message comes in, roxas reads it eagerly—it's not like all that many people are clamoring for ice cream at this time of day. but he's almost immediately filled with a sinking feeling from the message itself; he wants to just pack up and head right to he hospital to check on terra, but he knows he can't do that. just like any other time, he can't put the job aside because of his personal feelings. so instead, he responds (probably a bit too frantically and without checking for mistakes) as soon as he can.]

You ran into trouble?
And you're at the hospital?
What happened/.? How am i not supposed to worry when you tell me that... hwo hurt are you??

[who would believe this kid doesn't the heart to worry?]

[earthshaken]

[Terra has a sinking feeling when he sees how worried Roxas is. It's not like they're especially close, when they still have so much to learn about each other, so he didn't expect him to be this worked up about it. Maybe a little concerned as much as the next person, but now he wonders if he should have mentioned it at all.

The response is slow; Terra is still getting used to typing at the best of times, but typing with one hand makes the process that much more difficult.]

trespassed onto ceres property. security didn't like it
but i'm going to be fine
i just wanted you to know where i was

[coexistent]

[for roxas, it's hard to help. he has so few people in his life—especially when it comes to people he can put his trust in or call an ally (or friend). they may not have known each other for very long, but terra is one of the few people roxas has here. another keyblade wielder, another person who may know something about who he really is and where he comes from.

after experiencing betrayal and loss from his best friends, the idea of potentially losing any more people scares him witless. he won't question terra's reasons for breaking into ceres or doing dangerous things—that's a way of life he knows and understands. but having experienced comrades being destroyed and losing xion, this kind of stuff just doesn't sit well with him. if it's not something a simple curaga (...or an elixir) could fix, it has to be pretty serious.]

If you're there, it had to be kind of serious though, didn't it?

[at least, that's what he's learned about hospitals recently. after another minute, he'll send out another message.]

Is it okay if I go there? [he kind of wants to be assured that terra will really be okay by seeing for himself.]

[earthshaken]

[The reply takes a little longer to reach Roxas. Not because it took longer to type -- it didn't -- but because Terra's wondering if he wants anyone to see him like this. If there's one thing he hates, it's feeling weak and vulnerable.

Well... He has his pride, but he also doesn't want Roxas to worry even more. So he replies:]

yeah.
i'll tell them you're coming, and theyll let you see me

[Probably. And if not, he'll just discharge himself early, with or without their permission. Hospitals are weird!!]

[coexistent]

[roxas isn't exactly fond of the fact that terra neglects to answer his first question—it gives him a sort of sinking feeling, but also feels a little too reminiscent of how evasive the organization was with him. there's not much he can do about it, anyway. terra's not refusing his visit, so he'll be able to ask more directly later, right?]

Okay. I'm at work right now, but I'll be done soon. I'll come right from there... it's not that far away. [he'd leave right away if he could, honestly.

terra may not like this because of how it makes him feel, but roxas just really wants to make sure he's going to be okay. that's the problem with having so few people in any world to ally with or look up to. sometimes, he thinks a little too simply about these matters, but he can worry about it later. one thing at a time, and the first is making sure he can see terra.

...really, if they don't let roxas in, he'll probably just bust into the room anyway, because he's dumb and impatient and doesn't like being told no.]

[earthshaken]

[Fortunately there's no need for busting in, since the staff know to expect Roxas. When he enters, Terra looks a little pale, and his arm is in a sling, but at least Korra was able to quickly treat the bullet wound in his chest. Outwardly, there's not much left there besides a healing scar, but it's still painful. So he's been kept confined to bed rest to avoid the risk of making his injuries worse before they start getting better.]

Hey, Roxas.

[What should he say? That he'd been convinced he was about to die? That in is final moments, one of his many regrets was that he couldn't help him? Maybe Roxas meant more to him than he'd ever realised... even if he's still not wholly sure why.

He doesn't even know how to begin discussing any of that, so he just offers a faint smile.]

Sorry if I scared you.

[coexistent]

[it's probably also for the better this way, considering he more or less ran the entire way there. even though roxas takes a second to try and catch his breath, he's still panting as he enters the room.

it probably doesn't help that roxas wears the worry in his expression—he's definitely not the type that's good at hiding what he feels (again, who would believe he doesn't have a heart if they didn't already know?). he doesn't say anything at first, giving terra a chance to say something first. and even though it's not much, those words and the smile are enough to alleviate at least some of his concern. he exhales in a bit of relief.]

Terra... [and after a moment:] You're really okay.

["okay" as in "alive" and definitely not as bad as it could be, even if he doesn't really like what he's seeing, either. he's going to ask more questions in a second, but first he's going to sit down, because between the running and the relief, he feels a bit weak in the knees.]

[souling]

[Don't mind a certain someone crawling up to Terra's window. She'd rather not walk around in a hospital, where someone could abduct her and perform experiments. Absolutely avoided.

No, she climbed up the side of the building and tapped on the window, face and mask pressed against it, completely and entirely.]

[earthshaken]

[Zombie girls mouthbreathing at his window was absolutely what he needed during his hospital stay. He has to do a double-take at first, just to make sure he's not imagining it.]

Hey!

[He climbs out of bed, using his good arm to slide the window open.]

What are you doing?! You could fall!

[souling]

[Give her a moment to climb in and brush herself off. That was pretty dangerous.]

It was better than going through the inside. If they find out I'm here, they're sure to kidnap me. But I still had to visit you!

[earthshaken]

[He shuts the window behind her, this time with a little difficulty. Doing everything with one arm is annoying, something he's quickly discovered.]

What? No one's going to kidnap you.

[souling]

Of course they are. This place already tried once. I'm not going to play that game again!

[Hang in there, Terra.]

[earthshaken]

Why would they try to kidnap you? When did it happen?

[HE'LL FIGHT EVERYONE FOR YOU!! ... Just as soon as he's done recovering from his last attempt at fighting CERES, anyway.]

at some point on some day...

[undauntingdawn]

[wandering around the city has led riku to being right outside the hospital. he's been getting a feel for this place and trying determine whether or not xehanort's hand is involved with all this. time travel shenanigans, drawing people in from different worlds: yeah, the shoe definitely fits on that old bastard's foot. now--

hold on. light mixed with darkness, that feels like... riku turns toward the hospital and frowns thoughtfully at the building. why would he be there? is it even him? well, only one way to find out. asking at the front desk about someone named terra plus a physical description results in being given a room number to go to. definitely on the right track.

soon enough, the room comes into view and he steps right on inside. what is knocking? not something riku considers doing, that's what. thankfully, it doesn't end up being some poor stranger on the bed, but the exact person he hoped to find. concern flashes across riku's face at the state terra's in. just what happened to him?]

You look pretty beat up.

[how your successor says hello.]

[earthshaken]

[Terra's flicking through his Cerevice for any news when Riku arrives, and that familiar voice makes him snap to attention. Had he realised his successor was going to drop in, he would have made himself a little more presentable and less... pathetic-looking. Then again, could he really disappoint Riku's opinion of him more than he already had?

Well, maybe he could. He'd drawn on the darkness inside him once again, back when he thought he was going to die from his wounds. Even under the circumstances, he wasn't sure it was the right thing to do, when it had accomplished nothing but fanning the dark fire inside him even further. He should have trusted the others would get him out of there safely... But once again, fear took control, that dangerous thing that keeps pushing him closer and closer to the darkness.

He sets his Cerevice aside wearily and looks back at Riku.]

...Yeah. I misjudged an enemy, and paid the price.

[Story of his life.]

[undauntingdawn]

[that gets his eyebrow to arch the smallest bit. how badly did he have to misjudge for this to be the result? and what sort of enemy could have done that to a keyblade wielder?

granted, riku lacks any idea about how skilled terra is. even so, if sora could somehow hold his own after getting the keyblade then surely terra had to be better than that. he steps further on inside the room and sits down in a nearby chair. no point in standing around when you can sit. without asking if it's okay to do so.]

What happened?

[as in details please. there's no judgmental tone; only concern mixed with curiosity.]

[earthshaken]

It's a long story... But it goes back to a while befofe you showed up, when the city was flooded. The culprits were some elemental spirits, who were angry with CERES for stealing away someone very important to them.

I promised I would help them. So I joined a raid on CERES' headquarters, but while we were fighting our way through... [He touches the bullet wound only narrowly above his heart.] The security robots shot me.

[And not even with the kind of energy bullets Braig had used. These were impossible to deflect or dodge, and he doubted even his armour would have been of much protection.]

I'm lucky, though. Two of our group didn't make it, and I still haven't heard from the two who were left.

[undauntingdawn]

[the already serious expression on riku's face becomes even more grave as the story goes on. so ceres isn't as benevolent as they claim. good to know he was right on the money with that one. not that spirits who flood cities sound any better, however.

when terra places that hand over his heart, riku's gaze follows it. that is so close to the heart. a centimeter, no, maybe a few millimeters closer and terra might not be in this bed to tell this tale right now.]

You're lucky you managed to get out alive if they were that set on stopping you. [in hospital with some wounds beats dead.] Who did they kidnap that's worth that sort of security?

[earthshaken]

Well... [Terra lapses into thoughtful silence; he has to think back for a few moments. The past few days have made his memory a little hazy, and pain isn't helping much, but he'll try and explain this in a way that makes as much sense as possible.]

The spirits called her the Bridge. She's the oldest of them all, and unlike CERES, she's filled with kind and good magic. That's why I wanted to help them.

[And maybe a little of the reason was the guilt that still haunted him about what he did to Princess Aurora. Saving someone else in a similar situation could be a way of making amends, even if he couldn't help the Princesses from here, but...]

I'm still waiting to hear back from the others who went in there. For all I know, she's still being held captive, and the entire raid was for nothing.

actually tags in the right place...

[zerotohiro]

[Baymax returned to Tadashi's apartment which means Terra was delivered to the hospital safely, but that didn't do much to assure Hiro. He'd worried about the guy for a while before he contacted Korra. They had been planning on heading to the hospital to see him when they both receive the message and Hiro flips the call into a video chat. The pair of them are sitting side by side in Hiro's apartment peering into the camera.]

Shouldn't we be asking you that? [Because he knows both of them were wondering. Korra will probably interject after Terra responds but they're both waiting patiently.]

there is no wrong place for hiro tags

[earthshaken]

[When Terra responds, it's to breathe a sigh of relief upon seeing Hiro and Korra.] You're alright...

[He didn't really want to respond with a video feed of his own, from where he's patched up in a hospital bed, but now isn't really the time for pride. Besides, seeing him might help reassure them both he's going to recover. He gives a small, apologetic smile.]

Sorry... I guess I feared the worst for you both, after everything that happened. How did you escape?

[braavado]

We had some help in the end. [Korra glances at Hiro, then back to the screen at Terra. While he's looking a little under the weather, he is recovering, and that's the important part here.]

How's the arm feeling? We were really worried about you when Baymax carried you off...

[earthshaken]

It'll take a while before I can use it again, but there's no permanent damage.

[It'll be frustrating, being unable to fight or do even basic things properly, but he won't complain. Least of all when two of their group didn't make it.]

Did you find anything in there, before you got out?

[zerotohiro]

Good. [He almost deflates upon hearing that. No permanent damage is a good sign. However, when Terra asks that question he just rolls his eyes toward the ceiling, nodding slowly.]

...you could say that. We kinda found something reallllly important. [But do they want to discuss this over the network? CERES, supposedly, is offline...but then again Mosley just waltzed out of the darkness so who knows if that's even true.] Kinda surprised, but it happened. [A beat.] Are you up for a visit, maybe? I don't know if it's information we should be sharing on the CereVice.

[earthshaken]

I don't know if where I am is any more secure than the CereVices...

[He looks around and off-camera, as if expecting eavesdroppers. Seeing none, he continues.]

But I'm staying away from the robots here. So as long as no CERES employees are hanging around, it should be safe for you to come talk.