Definitely not getting in the way -- Shores of Japan [Closed]
Air, dammit, air! Ravi's lungs demanded. His body obeyed automatically and he rolled over onto his side, coughing up salty seawater and taking gulping breaths of air until the burning pain in his chest lessened. Deciding to stay lying where he was - it felt hard, rough and flat - for a couple more seconds or so, Ravi cracked open his uncovered eye. No good. Things were kind of on the too blurry side right now (plus, it was dark out here, wherever 'here' was). Well, he'd just wait for that to fix itself.
"Took you long enough!"
Ravi blinked. He could make out a vaguely human shaped figure suddenly looming over him. What should have been a startled yell but came out as more of a croak escaped from him. It was muffled a second later when a hand clamped down over his mouth. His fingers scrabbled at the holster strapped to his thigh, reaching for his hammer, but another hand closed around his wrist and an unexpected weight settled on top of his legs.
"Shh! You idiot, you're going to draw attention to us!" the same voice continued in a frantic, raised whisper, closer now. Something seemed familiar about it. The tone? Speech patterns? Either way, that was weird, because now that things had come back into focus properly, Ravi realized that he was staring up at a young woman half sitting on him and bending over him - or staring at her chest, at least, since it was right above his face - but he'd never met her before.
She was cute.
Ravi grinned against the girl's palm. Whoever she was and even if she'd seemed annoyed just then, he wasn't going to complain about waking up to a pretty girl leaning over him, let alone be in a huge hurry to move. And since he felt pretty alive and awake now, if a little sore, he couldn't be dead and in heaven (too dark and creepy looking around here to be heaven anyway) or dreaming.
To his disappointment, the girl let go of him and stood up. He did the same, pushing himself into a sitting position first before getting to his feet. "Hey, aren't you going to--" he began, but broke off abruptly when his gaze fell on Timcanpi, sitting on the girl's head. "Tim!" Ravi threw a quick glance around. If Tim was here, what about the others?
He stretched his hand out towards the golem, hoping that Timcanpi might have something recorded in his memory that would answer his question, but the girl made a face at him, her expression apprehensive. "It's no good, Ravi. We already looked, but we couldn't find anyone else. You're lucky I saw you and fished you out when I did or you'd probably be a goner. Don't I get a thanks for that?"
Wait.
"Huh? Thanks?" Ravi gave the girl a puzzled look, studying her closely for a moment. How'd she know his name? "Well, I appreciate it, yeah? Guess I owe you one." He smiled. "Anyway, since you already know my name, mind telling me yours?"
She stared at him as if he'd just said something really strange. "Chomesuke! I'm Chomesuke. Who else would I be?!"
Ravi's jaw dropped. No way. Chome-- This was Chomesuke?! No wonder something had seemed familiar, but somehow he wouldn't have pictured that to make the connection straightaway. (Damn, he... she... Chomesuke made a cute girl.) But. Just. How the hell? And why?
Before he could ask Chomesuke all those questions, the Akuma beat him to it by volunteering the answers him-her-crapthiswasgoingtogetconfusing-self.
"We're on Japanese soil now, so we have to be careful," Chomesuke explained in a hushed voice. "I'm trying to make sure we don't get noticed. But I can't stay with you for long and what happened is really bad. There's no way you can keep going to Edo on your own, Ravi. I think what you should be doing is what Marian said. Turn back, if you're going to end up getting in the way."
Ravi was silent for a while, letting his gaze wander to their surroundings. If he'd made it here in one piece (okay, thanks to Chomesuke), then who was to say that Linali and the others couldn't be fine, too? Besides, they'd already left enough people behind. There was no way in hell that he was going to turn back without looking for everyone else first.
He turned his head, flashing Chomesuke an easy smile. "Hey, c'mon, Chome~ Don't worry about it. I've still got my hammer and I didn't drown, so things aren't all bad. I'm not heading back yet. For all we know, Linali and the others could've just landed in some other place, yeah?"
The question was where.
"Took you long enough!"
Ravi blinked. He could make out a vaguely human shaped figure suddenly looming over him. What should have been a startled yell but came out as more of a croak escaped from him. It was muffled a second later when a hand clamped down over his mouth. His fingers scrabbled at the holster strapped to his thigh, reaching for his hammer, but another hand closed around his wrist and an unexpected weight settled on top of his legs.
"Shh! You idiot, you're going to draw attention to us!" the same voice continued in a frantic, raised whisper, closer now. Something seemed familiar about it. The tone? Speech patterns? Either way, that was weird, because now that things had come back into focus properly, Ravi realized that he was staring up at a young woman half sitting on him and bending over him - or staring at her chest, at least, since it was right above his face - but he'd never met her before.
She was cute.
Ravi grinned against the girl's palm. Whoever she was and even if she'd seemed annoyed just then, he wasn't going to complain about waking up to a pretty girl leaning over him, let alone be in a huge hurry to move. And since he felt pretty alive and awake now, if a little sore, he couldn't be dead and in heaven (too dark and creepy looking around here to be heaven anyway) or dreaming.
To his disappointment, the girl let go of him and stood up. He did the same, pushing himself into a sitting position first before getting to his feet. "Hey, aren't you going to--" he began, but broke off abruptly when his gaze fell on Timcanpi, sitting on the girl's head. "Tim!" Ravi threw a quick glance around. If Tim was here, what about the others?
He stretched his hand out towards the golem, hoping that Timcanpi might have something recorded in his memory that would answer his question, but the girl made a face at him, her expression apprehensive. "It's no good, Ravi. We already looked, but we couldn't find anyone else. You're lucky I saw you and fished you out when I did or you'd probably be a goner. Don't I get a thanks for that?"
Wait.
"Huh? Thanks?" Ravi gave the girl a puzzled look, studying her closely for a moment. How'd she know his name? "Well, I appreciate it, yeah? Guess I owe you one." He smiled. "Anyway, since you already know my name, mind telling me yours?"
She stared at him as if he'd just said something really strange. "Chomesuke! I'm Chomesuke. Who else would I be?!"
Ravi's jaw dropped. No way. Chome-- This was Chomesuke?! No wonder something had seemed familiar, but somehow he wouldn't have pictured that to make the connection straightaway. (Damn, he... she... Chomesuke made a cute girl.) But. Just. How the hell? And why?
Before he could ask Chomesuke all those questions, the Akuma beat him to it by volunteering the answers him-her-crapthiswasgoingtogetconfusing-self.
"We're on Japanese soil now, so we have to be careful," Chomesuke explained in a hushed voice. "I'm trying to make sure we don't get noticed. But I can't stay with you for long and what happened is really bad. There's no way you can keep going to Edo on your own, Ravi. I think what you should be doing is what Marian said. Turn back, if you're going to end up getting in the way."
Ravi was silent for a while, letting his gaze wander to their surroundings. If he'd made it here in one piece (okay, thanks to Chomesuke), then who was to say that Linali and the others couldn't be fine, too? Besides, they'd already left enough people behind. There was no way in hell that he was going to turn back without looking for everyone else first.
He turned his head, flashing Chomesuke an easy smile. "Hey, c'mon, Chome~ Don't worry about it. I've still got my hammer and I didn't drown, so things aren't all bad. I'm not heading back yet. For all we know, Linali and the others could've just landed in some other place, yeah?"
The question was where.