Wanderlust (Marina Elemento x Kiyiya Sakura)

[Marina Elemento]

Estelle Dominique Lareau


Estelle had been doing her best to keep the fever contained, but there seemed to be nothing she could do about it except for watch over him and make sure he was still somewhat okay. As the hallucinations continued, Estelle would just smile and tell him to go back to sleep. Though she knew he was okay, she still desperately wanted to know who or what had done this to him. A few times while he was actually sleeping, she'd gone to the window to look outside. She wasn't sure how long it had been, after all when it seemed to be daytime, it was still rather cloudy and dark. She was glad they were alone though, so that she could focus on taking care of him and making him better.

Rust was stirring a bit when she was wiping his face with a fresh wet towel. Estelle looked at him with a small smile. "What?" she asked, deciding to go along with it, even if it was another hallucination.

 

[Player Advisor]

Kaine(Rust) Parker



He smiled up at her, "You have the most wonderful eyes..." He raised his hand to touch her face, "like, if the sun had melted and the drops fell into your eyes." He smiled at her for a moment, his eyes hazy, before his hand slipped and he went back to sleep.

Rust came around hours later, raising a hand to his head to rub his eye. He moaned and opened his eyes. taking a deep breath, as it felt like he hadn't stretched his lungs in a while. He looked around, and realized there was a damp cloth on his head. He took it and looked at it, putting the pieces together. The attack, it had made him ill? He sat up slowly, his back stiff, and the wounds on his torso protesting, but not as much. His shoulder hurt the worse, and he looked at the bloody bandages. Estelle had taken care of him, that much he was sure of. He felt horrible for doing this to her.

 

[Marina Elemento]

Estelle Dominique Lareau


Estelle's eyes widened at his touch, and her face grew pink with blush. She smiled down at him, then placed the towel back on his forehead gently and rose to her feet.
Over the next few hours, Estelle spent her time taking care of Rust, almost forgetting to take care of herself. She'd eaten most of the bread in the bag, and promised she would give some to Rust once he woke up. Their water was still rather plentiful, as she had grabbed several bottles from the shop and that was what most of the bag's contents consisted of. Between eating and taking care of him, she stared out the window, praying that it would all be over soon.

At the sound of Rust's moan, Estelle snapped back on her feet again and rushed to his side. He looked much better, but the pain was probably the worst. She looked at it the bandages around his shoulder and frowned. "Hey," she said, then proceeded to unroll some fresh gauze and open the bottle of medicine. "How are you feeling?" she asked as she changed the bandages with the fresh ones.

 

[Player Advisor]

Kaine(Rust) Parker



Rust looked at her, and did his best to stay still as she changed his bandages. "I feel..." What did he feel? He felt different, changed, stronger, but weak. "Hungry?" the words came out of his mouth before he could think to stop them. Hungry? Well I am, but... "I feel better. Thanks to you." Looking over his body, he realized she had done a lot to help him. "I'm sorry. This must have been very troubling." He looked down at his lap, ashamed.

 

[Marina Elemento]

Estelle Dominique Lareau


Estelle finished changing the bandages, then put the supplies aside in the bag. She looked him over, then handed him a banana. After he ate that, she would probably end up making him a sandwich, because she could imagine how hungry he was. It was the best she could do at the moment. As she got out the bread and slices of cheese (which were a bit warm, but luckily still good), she watched him carefully, smiling. "Don't worry about it. I'm so glad you're feeling better." When she was finished, she handed him the sandwich and a bottle of water. She crossed her legs and watched him eat, suddenly feeling perfectly content.

 

[Player Advisor]

Kaine(Rust) Parker



Rust was thankful for the banana. He ate it faster than he realized, and before he knew it, there was a sandwich ready for him to eat. "Oh, thank you." He ate it, and felt amazingly better! He looked down at his chest, checking out the wounds he had accumulated, only to find scars. "Whoa! What the!?" He felt his skin. It was normal skin, and the scar tissue was new, but completely healed. "How did you--?" He looked at Estelle as if she were magic.

 

[Marina Elemento]

Estelle Dominique Lareau


Estelle raised her eyebrows in surprise. She wasn't sure how he was healing so fast, but she was glad. Curious, not really realizing how odd it was, she unbuttoned his shirt further to check on the wounds. There were scars, but they were mostly healed. She touched his skin gently with her fingertips, biting the corner of her lip. "Hmm... it must be really good medicine, I guess." Her hands fell to her sides and she picked up the half-empty bottle to read the contents. It seemed normal, like any other medicine in the first aid kits she'd seen.

 

[Player Advisor]

Kaine(Rust) Parker



Rust shivered as she unbuttoned his shirt, but not from being cold. His body was still warmer than usual, but his fever had gone down considerably. He wondered what exactly was in the medicine she had used. He looked over at the bike, seeing it still unfinished. He still needed to get that heating mechanism. What time was it? He looked at his wrist. Where was his watch? Had she taken it off when she was nursing his wounds? He looked outside to see nothing but grey, though it was clearly daytime. Taking a deep breath, he stood, taking a moment to steady himself before waling, shakily, to the window. What he saw nearly sickened him. There was blood all over the street, and the bodies of two abnormally large wolves lay dead in the blood puddles. Looking more closely, he saw bloody Paw prints, no two sets of bloody paw prints, leading off towards the first part of the city. They sent a shiver up his spine.

Looking over at the building he had tried to retrieve the heating mechanism from, he was reminded that they needed to leave this city. "We still need that part." He said, turning to look at Estelle. He leaned against the wall, pressing his face against the cool surface.

 

[Marina Elemento]

Estelle Dominique Lareau


Estelle watched him get to his feet, ready to catch him again if she had to. At this point, she was rather prepared to stay close to him just in case; she refused to let him out of her sight ever again.
She followed his gaze out the window but looked away quickly. Those images had been haunting her all through the night, though they stayed in her mind. She looked around the room, still unsure of where they would find the part. "D-did you find anything earlier?" she asked, not wanting him to leave again. It made her too nervous. Whether those creatures were scared off, dead, or just plain gone, the fact that they were still alone, suspended in their journey without protection terrified her.

Estelle made her way over to him and her fingers brushed against his arm. "What should we do?" she asked, not really expecting him to know, but willing to do anything he asked of her.

 

[Player Advisor]

Kaine(Rust) Parker



Rust Looked back outside, not liking the answer he had to give. "I have to go back out there. I managed to loosen the part I need in that building, but I couldn't get it out completely." He had been watching the street, There seemed to be nothing, and the freaks seemed to wait until nightfall to do much.

He went to his bag for a change of clothes, seeing as his were torn and bloody. He pulled off his shirt and he seemed a bit more muscular, his back tight and firm.

His clothes changed, he made his way to the door, debating to tell Estelle to stay put again. Last time, three freaks tried to get in. "Will you come with me? It shouldn't take long... but..."

 

[Marina Elemento]

Estelle Dominique Lareau


Estelle sighed and nodded, not wanting to leave his side. She turned to give him some privacy when he was changing. Had it been her imagination, or was he becoming more muscular? He certainly didn't look as emaciated as he had before. Estelle looked at the ground as she waited, tapping the windowsill. Then, she turned, meeting him at the door.
She grabbed his hand. "Of course. I'm not leaving your side ever again." She hadn't meant the promise to sound so dramatic, but she couldn't help it.

 

[Player Advisor]

Kaine(Rust) Parker



Rust gripped her hand in return, smiling at her. His smile was more confident, and a tad bit wolfish. Were his canine teeth always so sharp and pronounced? He opened the door and stepped out, hold in a hand back telling Estelle to hold up a moment. He looked around, turning his head those way and that to hear anything. It seemed like he could hear better than he could before, hearing the flap of wings above him as a seagull flew by, hearing the scrape of trash as it was blown gently across the street. Aside from that, he heard nothing to set off any alarms. "Lets go, quickly."

In the building, he led her upstairs. "Perhaps you should keep a look out through that window. This shouldn't take long, but best to play it safe." He set to work crawling in he oven. He took hold of the part and pulled, expecting to have to wriggle it some more, but instead, it popped right off. "Oh, I must have loosened it more than I thought." He stood up and looked it over. "should do it, lets get back."

They left the building and made it back to the garage without incidence, and rust set to work right away. They were leaving this nightmarish place that day! No matter what.

 

[Marina Elemento]

Estelle Dominique Lareau


Estelle was surprised by Rust's smile. It was still him, the face she was becoming so familiar with, but he seemed.. different. She wasn't sure why, but as long as he was okay, she didn't care. She paused at the garage door, then when he seemed to think it was safe, she stayed close to him as they walked. The sky was rather gloomy, as it had been for the past few days. She didn't like it, but she kept her head held high anyway.

When they reached the building, she sat up on the windowsill and kept watch. Paper and trash blew in every direction from the soft breeze that swarmed through the town. It looked even more deserted than before, if that was possible. She looked back at Rust, relieved to see he had the piece and got it with ease.
When they returned safely, Estelle exhaled, greatly relieved that they were both safe. She was tired of all this toil, and as Rust worked, she began getting excited for the journey ahead. Finally, they were going to leave. Estelle glanced out the window here and there, humming quietly to herself.

 

[Player Advisor]

Kaine(Rust) Parker



Rust made short work of putting in the last piece and soon, with a few more adjustments, they had a working steam bike again. "Now we just need a good supply of water and we can keep this baby going!" he said wiping sweat from his brow. "Lets gather it up and get out of here." He went to his bag and shoves some of the tools he had found into it, for future repairs, along with his tattered clothing and supplies. He took it over to the bike, placing what Estelle handed him next to his belongings and covering it with the tarp. He pushed the bike to the garage door, leaving it to open the heavy lifting door. It did not seem as heavy. Perhaps the constant use had made it easier. The door up, Rust came face to face with a rather ragged looking young man, a younger man slightly behind him. Rust acted quickly and stepped in front of Estelle, shielding her from them.

"Calm down now pup, I'm not here to hurt anyone." the man said, grinning. "I just wanted to see if you survived last night, which obviously you have. And lookie here," He said, craning his head to see Estelle over Rust's shoulder, "This is the sweet little morsel we smelt last night. Delicious!" the man laughed. "Ahh, but where are my manners? My name is Bongo, this here is Happy." The man had a gruff, but still young.

"Rust." Rust answered distrustfully. "We are leaving now, and I don't want any trouble."

"Oh I suspect not! And we shant impede you. I merely wanted to check on you brother."

"We are not related." Rust said firmly. The man only smiled. Rust moved to get past them, watching the two of them as he pushed the bike with one hand, and held Estelle close with the other. The man made no move, but the boy, Happy, looked fidgety. He was eyeing Estelle hungrily, even licking his lips.

"Oh, a word of advise, before you leave. You might want to take a bite out of that cute little morsel before tonight, or she may not make it through. We'll be in touch."
Bongo saluted and practically dragged Happy away.

"Freaks," Rust scoffed as he watched them leave. "C'mon Estelle, lets leave this place in the dust." He mounted the bike and waited for her to get on. When both on and steady, he took off down the street, not looking back.

 

[Marina Elemento]

Estelle Dominique Lareau


Estelle watched the two strangers uneasily. They didn't look.. normal. She didn't enjoy being called a "little morsel", whatever the heck that meant. The younger of the two boys made her the most nervous, as he was eyeing her rather hungrily. She glared at him, but it didn't seem to phase the thing. So, she kept her mouth shut and followed Rust warily, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Everything the two said, however, made Estelle more uneasy than it should have. 'Brother'? 'Take a bite out of...' what?? Her mind screamed questions that she wanted to say aloud, but she kept her mouth shut and followed Rust to the bike, without looking back at them. She scanned their surroundings quickly, then got on the bike behind him.

"R-Rust?" she spoke up after a moment of driving. "What do you suppose they meant..?" Her legs had been shaking, but now as they moved away from the scene, her body relaxed against his once more, and the feeling of safety returned somewhat.