Day 49: Evening - Bus 1

[hat_einen_vogel]

Whatever promise the day had seemed to show in the morning, it had steadily turned for the worse since then. The weather hadn't bothered Prussia at all (other than the annoying women who seemed to think he could actually get sick by staying out in it, as if a little rain was just as dangerous as economic trouble), but by the time the nurses were

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[sasuke_of_sound]

The nurse that located Sasuke gave him a dressing-down from the very bottom of her soul (whatever there was of it). Apparently he was not only going to catch his death of cold, but he had gotten the collar of his shirt soaking wet, and honestly couldn't he be more responsible, and frankly the only real issue of importance that Sasuke could hear in her rambling lecture was that he really hadn't been imagining the air of hostility from the townsfolk today.

It was, according to the nurse at least, his fault for looking like a drowned rat, but unbeknownst to her, wet-rodent-no-jutsu came in handy: the patting down the orderlies at the bus gave him edged on perfunctory. After Sasuke had rolled up his sleeves and opened his coat to show that he wasn't hiding anything they allowed him on board.

With the handful of matches he'd rolled into his socks. Hopefully they hadn't gotten wet, but between his pants and shoes Sasuke was fairly certain that they'd stayed usable.

He sank into an empty seat and turned his head to the slightly cooler air by the window, Itachi's necklace in his pocket heavier than usual -- but it was probably just the rain, the sound and feel of it giving a certain pressure to the air.
[[for Zack!]]

[zack_fair]

With all that planning he'd done with Cissnei, Zack was almost disappointed that the nurses started to herd them back to the buses without incident. He knew it was a good thing that the town hadn't fallen into chaos, but he did thrive on that sort of thing to an extent. Maybe it was a good thing that the institute was reeling him in a bit, so he didn't end up getting himself killed again.

But he really couldn't think like that. He'd end up getting smacked by someone for it. Probably Aerith.

Speaking of which, where was the flower girl? He hadn't heard from her in a bit, though this trip had definitely jumbled things up. It had been interesting to see the town, but he hadn't gotten much done other than getting a proper talk with Tifa. Well, and meeting Usopp...

Zack couldn't stop himself from searching out Cloud as he dragged his soaked body up into one of the buses, but it seemed that his motion sick friend wasn't on this one. Shrugging, he looked for another bus buddy, and soon enough, he found someone: the kid from last night.

"Hey!" he greeted as he took the seat next to Sasuke, doing his best not to brush shoulders with the young man as he settled. They didn't need to make each other wetter. "Too bad about last night, huh? Guess there'll be other chances. How was your trip?"

[sasuke_of_sound]

The voice that unexpectedly greeted him this time was a good deal easier to place than the last: Zack, Sasuke remembered, Aidou's third from last night. The man had moved well in the brief glance Sasuke had had of his chakra when Heat's demon form had attacked, though it didn't necessarily mean that he didn't merely fulfill the warm-body requirement for a third in the basement.

Still, it was enough to make him interesting. Sasuke turned his face more towards Zack than the window and nodded once in recognition, if not quite returning the cheery-sounding greeting.

"There will be another opportunity," he said, dismissing the failure (yet again: perhaps less dismissed than displaced into the growing pile of them) in the basement. As for Doyleton ... "I got what I needed."

If nothing more than that. It had barely been a trip.

"What about you?" Zack had been obviously new; was this his first trip to the town?

[zack_fair]

Sasuke was right about that. Even if they hadn't gotten as far as planned last night, the key was determination. If they kept at it, they'd either get so efficient at it that they'd have enough time, or they'd get lucky -- Zack would take either. "Are we gonna try again tonight?" he asked curiously. He was up for it, though he also wondered if he should keep an eye on his friends from Gaia this time around. Not that most of them seemed to need it, and yet he couldn't kick the obligation.

Seeing how they were on the bus ride back, chances were they wouldn't be able to get a hold of Aidou in time to figure things out, anyway. Zack almost hoped that was the case, since then he wouldn't have to decide between making progress in the escape effort and watching over Cloud and the others.

It looked like Sasuke was going to be vague about how the trip had treated him, but Zack was at least glad to hear that it had been a success for the kid.

"Me? It was all right. Ran into a few people who I know, but I didn't really find out much, if that's what you mean," he admitted with a small sigh. "At least it looks like we're in the clear..." Not that he was going to assume that everything was fine, especially with this weather, but they were already rolling away from Doyleton, and that was something.

[sasuke_of_sound]

"Not that I'm aware of," Sasuke answered. "We're each pursuing different avenues of information, so we don't necessarily go every night."

Then again, he hadn't exactly checked the bulletin board in the grocer's. He hadn't even bothered to stop there at all today, fixated as he had been on trying to get at least one goal accomplished (and that had been just barely, so it wound up being a necessary focus). If Aidou had left a note, he'd missed it. He had other plans for tonight, anyway, but --

"We typically contact each other through the bulletin board," he informed Zack. Couldn't hurt to have a more regularly confirmed third. "If you're interested in coming again, I can let you know the next time we go."

What Zack said next caught his interest, though. People that Zack had met here, or people from his own world? The phrasing left it ambiguous, but ... and then a comment that suggested that Zack had been here at least somewhat longer than Sasuke had thought. The difficulty of remembering who was and wasn't new without sight was -- but, damn it, that was something he'd learned to live without weeks ago.

"How long have you been here?" He'd more or less offered alliance, at least for the basement. There was no point not learning more. "Were you here the last time we were in town?"

[zack_fair]

That worked just fine for Zack. While he knew it was important, having to dedicate himself to helping Aidou and Sasuke each night would have filled up his schedule in a way that he wasn't too set on. He did have people he needed to keep an eye on, and more than that, he wanted to work alongside some of his friends to see just how far they'd come.

"Sounds good to me! Just leave me a note and I'll do my best to be there." If he had advance notice, moonlighting as a basement helper probably wouldn't be too hard to organize. Zack was just eager to keep himself busy, so long as that also included seeing Cloud and the others with a certain regularity.

Still, there was something he'd been noticing about Sasuke, something that had been nagging at him since he'd met the kid last night. Now that they were talking in a more controlled setting, he thought he'd pinpointed what it was. The kid never looked him straight in the eye, but was generally staring slightly to the side -- it probably meant he was blind. How had he managed to fight that red-colored monster, if that was the case? Zack wanted to ask, but now probably wasn't the time.

The question asked of him was one he'd also gotten from Tifa. It looked like he'd given Sasuke the wrong idea, though. "No, I wasn't here last time, but I heard about it from a few people. This is my fourth day, so I guess you could say I'm pretty new to the whole thing." He'd still managed to make a few connections and run into a surprisingly large amount of people from home, though.

[sasuke_of_sound]

Well, that was promising. Sasuke nodded briefly to acknowledge Zack's request. If this one managed to last longer than some of the other patients Sasuke had met, then they might manage to get somewhere in the basement again -- it was bizarre to think that the last time they'd accomplished anything had been with Naruto, of all people. And he'd managed to initiate alliance with Renamon earlier today. They could always use more reliable people who could act as third to open the doors.

Although Zack proceeded to explain that he was fairly well-connected, something both a pro and a con -- it meant Zack was more likely to have useful information, but that he was also more likely to be tied up during the nightshift.

Still, in the grand scheme of things information was more useful than anything else.

"We've been attacked at different points on the trip before." And so Sasuke offered some first, basic knowledge for anyone who had been here as long as he had. "Reaching the busses doesn't mean that we're in the clear. Are the people you've spoken to people from your own world? How long have they been here?"

[zack_fair]

That revelation did cause Zack to stare for a moment. So... what, something might end up attacking the bus out of nowhere? Trying to fight in that sort of chaos, with the rain pouring down like it was -- it wouldn't be easy. Zack leaned forward so that he could try to get a glimpse out of the window, but it was impossible to see anything.

"I'll try to be ready, then," he said with a nod, though he got the distinct feeling that Sasuke wasn't able to see it. Zack chewed on his lip for a second, realizing that there was an easy way to test this. He slowly, quietly lifted up his hand and then waved it in front of the kid's face to see if there was any notice of it.

As for the question, that was simple enough. "They're mainly friends from my world. Some of them got here around the same time as me, but there are two I know of who've at least been here since last week." That would be Yuffie and Rude. He hadn't gotten to speak to the latter yet, but Tifa had made it sound like he was pretty settled in this place by now.

Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Cissnei, and himself were the ones who were on the new side. They all had a lot of catching up to do, but he was sure they could manage. It was trying to keep track of everyone that was the tough part.

[sasuke_of_sound]

It was good that Zack seemed to take direction well enough. There were some who would have been decidedly more inclined to argue than simply accept the fact of where they were (not that Sasuke had expected anything more from that quarter). Perhaps he could prove to be more than just incidentally useful after all.

Sasuke might have revised that conclusion had he been able to discern exactly what Zack was doing to check his sight, but instead all he felt was a slight whiffle of air. Had it been the nightshift, it might have sparked his attention; as it was, the drum of the rain on the roof already had him on edge, but in a way that directed more of his attention than usual towards the front of the bus, where the staff were, and outside.

And thus he failed to notice that Zack had done anything at all.

"You've met others who have been here longer, I assume," he continued, as if nothing had happened. "How much have you learned about this place?"

[zack_fair]

No reaction. Zack frowned and lowered his hand, figuring that that settled the question. Now he was relieved that he'd chosen to not ask, since it might have gotten awkward if he'd gone that route. Now that he knew, he could at least accommodate Sasuke without making a big deal out of it. The kid was clearly able to manage without his sight, if he'd made his way to meet him and Aidou last night, not to mention holding his own in that fight in the ballroom.

Leaning back more comfortably in his seat, Zack crossed his arms over his chest as he thought over Sasuke's question.

"Well, Aidou told me a whole lot in the few times that we've spoken," he started. "I know all about the brainwashing, about the reduced powers, and how apparently there's some kid around who specializes in making weapons." He just hadn't been able to get a hold of him yet. He'd have to get cracking on that tomorrow.

"Among other things," he finished with a smile, even though he realized Sasuke wouldn't see it. "Why do you ask?"

[sasuke_of_sound]

So Aidou had served as guide for Zack, then. Sasuke was almost surprised, but then again, he'd never seen the vampire interacting with someone new to the Institute. It made sense to inform those patients potentially capable of assistance of what they were facing, but he couldn't imagine that Aidou was particularly patient about it.

But now that he thought about it, there were fewer and fewer here who could say as much as the vampire could. Sasuke had only been here a day before; besides the two of them, who else had a more complete recollection? Clearly not the alchemists, if their numbers had dwindled so much that Zack could only look to one for assistance.

"It's worthwhile to ensure that one's allies aren't left entirely in the dark," Sasuke said, tone dismissive. "If you're waiting for a turn with the alchemist, are you armed at all right now?"

[zack_fair]

It looked like Sasuke had found him out. It made sense that the kid hadn't been able to discern whether or not he'd been carrying a weapon last night, as all he'd really done in that short fight was try to bean the monster in the head with his flashlight. Which led him to his somewhat pathetic answer. Four days and still no weapon? Angeal would have given him an hour-long lecture for that.

"Just my flashlight. Well, I can also manage some hand-to-hand if there's no other option, but put a sword in my hand and that's when I'm really helpful," Zack explained. Still, no one was going to do that. If he wanted to get armed, he was going to have to take care of it himself. Not that he could do much until tomorrow except keep searching around the institute -- though from what he'd heard, it wasn't like he'd be able to find a decent sword just lying around.

"How'd you get armed?" he asked out of curiosity as the bus continued to strain its way up the hill through the rain. He might as well see if Sasuke had any tips for him.

[sasuke_of_sound]

The obvious implication of that response was that Zack had familiarity with swords and wasn't just hoping to get a weapon for the sake of not having to deal with the various obstacles here by hand. Still, it could be a long time before the man might get what he wanted, if Sasuke remembered correctly. Since, after all --

"By luck," he answered. It was impossible to avoid that truth. "My first roommate was an alchemist."

Though even then, he'd had to improvise for a number of nights before he'd made the trip to collect enough metal for the sword he had now. In fact, Sasuke was pretty sure he still had a handful of gardening utensils (among other things) that he wasn't using lying around in his room. It was advisable to keep a few just in case, but he wasn't likely to need that many.

"I keep some makeshift weapons for backup, though I rarely use them. If you can't manage to get a real weapon soon, I'd be willing to give them to you." It was an offer easily enough made; it hadn't been difficult to acquire them in the first place, and if Zack accepted the cost of incurring a debt, all the better.

[zack_fair]

That was lucky. Zack's roommates kept disappearing on him, on the other hand, which was troubling because he didn't know where they were going and had no way of preventing it. It sounded like Sasuke's roommate had also disappeared at this point, though. Man, this place made things hard.

What he hadn't expected was a sudden offer from the kid. Sasuke hadn't come off as being a mean or uncaring person, necessarily; it was more that he seemed mainly focused on getting the job done... and fighting some fire-based creature, if that was what got in their way. Though looking at it that way, it made sense for Sasuke to want him to be more useful, and even a makeshift weapon would allow him that.

"Thanks a lot," he said with a smile. Even though Sasuke couldn't see his expression, it was automatic at this point. "I'll check to see if there are any alchemists left first, but if I don't have anything by the next time we head for the basement, then I'll let you know." Sasuke could just bring one of his pseudo weapons with him and that would be that. Simple enough, right? He didn't want to be an inconvenience, after all.

It looked like they were almost back to the institute, but he'd gotten a better idea of who Sasuke was and what he was like, not to mention the possibility of getting something more useful than a flashlight; a pretty successful bus ride, in other words!