What was I doing?...Help! [Completed]

[whtwizardbakura.livejournal.com]

Character(s): Bakura Ryou and any rescuers/passersby NPCs Charlotte and random rickshaw driver
Content: Bakura wakes up outside Muspelheim, wonders what happened and then enters...and kind of collapses. Charlotte comes along to play rescuer and arranges transportation to the local hospital for Bakura.
Setting: Muspelheim Gate [O-3] to Paradisio Hospital
Time: Saturday, midmorning to early afternoon
Warnings: Nothing as of yet, just a poor, hungry, displaced and wounded Bakura.


Bakura sat up with a bit of a start. "What was I doing?" Bakura blinked, feeling damp rough ground underneath him. He looked around slowly. "Where am I? This doesn't look like Battle City anymore."

Slowly, he stood up and checked to make sure he had everything with him. Ring, Duel Disk, Deck, the small amount of yen he had in his pocket...Yes, everything seemed to be in place. His stomach growled as he looked over his possessions. "Wonder what trouble the voice caused this time" he mumbled more to himself than anyone else.

He looked around. Then he spotted what he was looking for--people. Perfect. Bakura smiled as cheerfully as he could and approached the crowd in a medium-sized line. He hoped he could keep himself from stumbling into the people when the line began to move.

The line moved steadily until Bakura could see the true design on the gate. He stared wide-eyed. Whomever had designed it had a very good knowledge of color and textures--tall, beautiful golden flames seemed to leap out from the gate and touch the round domes above it. It was something empowering and comforting at the same time, although he couldn't figure out why he felt that way.

He politely took a brochure from the man at the stand who said "Welcome to Paixao!" Then told another man "Bakura Ryou" when asked for his name. He accepted the metallic blue device offerred to him from the second man as he was gently prodded through the gates. "Thank you" he said quietly, as he was pushed through. He stood for a second, looking around and then down at the reasonably-sized device in his once empty right hand and clumsily flipped it open with his left. Duel Disks weren't exactly the most convenient piece of dueling equipment, but he wasn't ready to be carrying another thing under his arms just yet. "A laptop?" My Journal Bakura Ryou went across the screen. "Hm...Well, I haven't had a journal in a while."

He played with a few buttons and then managed to move off the side of the path toward a green area and sat down, feeling a little sick. As he sat, he noticed the somewhat bloody bandage on his upper left arm--the same arm that had the duel disk. "Oh..."

Instinctively, he knew he'd definitely need some sort of medical attention. But right now he didn't want to move. He felt powerless to do anything and he rested his head on his other arm and his knees. His eyes closed and he just hoped someone would notice that he really wasn't in any condition to be out and about like this.

Comments

[paixaonpcs.livejournal.com]

It was Charlotte’s day off, and as such, she took up her favorite pastime: people watching. One of her favorite places to be in the city was near the Muspelheim gate. With all of the recent visitors, it was exciting to take a seat near the gate and just watch all sorts of people enter. Whether it was through destiny or some other means they were called to the city, Charlotte wasn’t sure. Usually nothing of great import happened. A few people always caused a commotion on their way in. It was unavoidable. People were never happy outside the city. Once inside, everything got better. So she sat beneath a sparkling jeweled tree, simply watching while enjoying a bagged lunch. People came in, people talked, people made friends and headed off.

Among the influx, Charlotte spotted an interesting-looking boy make his way into the city. Not only did the boy’s appearance – white hair, of all things! – spark her interest, but also the fact that she could clearly see a bandage fixed about his upper arm. That was worrisome, as even from her distance she could see that it was starting to bleed through. When the boy got to a green area, she decided to take action.

Face set in determination, Charlotte gathered up her lunch and made her way to the boy’s side. She sat down gently near him, arranging her skirts appropriately. Charlotte wore the typical Paixaoese Victorian-esque fashion, her blond hair pinned back neatly under a flowery hat. “Excuse me, young man, are you in need of assistance?” she asked softly, blue eyes sparkling in anticipation of being useful. “I know of a very good hospital nearby if you are willing to come with me.” She smiled comfortingly. “Everything will be all right. You’ll get the best care there, I assure you.”

[whtwizardbakura.livejournal.com]

"Excuse me, young man, are you in need of assistance?"..."I know of a very good hospital nearby if you are willing to come with me."..."Everything will be all right. You’ll get the best care there, I assure you."

At the start of the pretty much one-sided conversation, he looked over toward the voice to meet the blue eyes of a blonde-haired woman wearing those strange, but apparently traditional clothes that reminded him of Pegasus J. Crawford (http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j79/WhiteWzrdBakura/screencaps/iamgod.jpg), that platinum-haired crazed lunatic creator of the Duel Monsters card game who dragged them all to his Duelist Kingdom. Or perhaps those portraits of Pegasus' blonde and blue-eyed fiancée (http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j79/WhiteWzrdBakura/screencaps/Pegs-ep40-curledups.jpg) from the attic.

He nodded slowly when she finished talking. Although he didn't even know this stranger's name, he was somehow put at ease by the woman's actions.

"You can call me Bakura." He murmured, an edge of tiredness in his voice. He actually wasn't quite sure if he could manage to stand up without feeling ill, let alone walk a straight line. However, help was very welcome, even from a stranger.

When he noticed the woman's bag lunch, his stomach growled. Had he really dozed off for a few hours? Or had it been near lunch when he arrived? It was apparently near midday now in this strange place and the sky didn't look very comforting at the moment either. He didn't want to ask her if there was something she'd share from the bag since that was a little rude in his opinion. He hated the gnawing suspicion of how he had gotten injured that his stomach was insistently reminding him of. At least this woman hadn't asked the obvious question that any person he would have suspected would ask: How did you get hurt?

And honestly, he was glad for it because there was no logical explanation... How could he explain that the necklace he wore contained this demon that would take him over and hurt him and anyone he was close too?

[paixaonpcs.livejournal.com]

“Ah, Bakura.” Charlotte smiled again, the same kind of smile all Paixaoese shared. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. However, I do not believe that staying out here is in your favor. There have been rumors of a storm arriving later, and this cold weather is only good for helping you catch a chill.” She eyed his bandaged arm once more, then continued clucking over him like a mother hen. “You seem tired. It would not be fit for you to walk to the hospital, so I shall arrange transportation for you. You stay right here, and I will be back in a moment.” She gathered her skirts and stood up, swishing her way towards the streets of Muspelheim.

She looked around among the mix of visitors and fellow city citizens for what she wanted. Aha! Pushing through the crowd, she gave a loud whistle, waving one of her arms above her head. The people around her began to give way as a rickshaw made its way towards her.

The rickshaw driver eyed her curiously. She dressed well, so she’d be a promising patron. He tipped his hat at her. “Good morning, madam. Where are you off to today?”

Charlotte reached into an inner pocket and pulled out some money. “I will not be going anywhere; however, I have a patron that I will fetch.” She pressed the money into the driver’s waiting hand. “You are to take him straight to Paradisio Hospital, understand?”

The driver smiled, tucking the money away. It was really his lucky day. “As the lady wishes.”

Charlotte nodded. “I will return momentarily with your passenger.” She scurried off once again, going back to the grassy area where Bakura waited. He really should have chosen a more comfortable area to sit. The grass here was pricklier than the area where she sat earlier. “Ah, Bakura,” she said, voice ringing with pride, “I have secured a rickshaw for your use. Come, it is not far. It will take you to the hospital I told you about.” She extended a hand in case Bakura needed help getting up again. Again, she smiled that strange smile.

[whtwizardbakura.livejournal.com]

Rickshaw? Bakura racked his brain for what that was--he remembered the word from history class last year. Something roughly resembling a carriage, but without horses or the full cover of a carriage came to mind. Hm...the development of technology here was out-of-place. This was an odd place. Even though he hadn't known Kaiba all that long, he was pretty sure the awkward medley of technology here would break the brown-haired multinational CEO's brain.

Anyway, at least he was safe for now. He accepted the woman's hand with his right, after flipping the journal to his left. He hoped he wouldn't scratch the cover of the journal too much with the card-activation edge of the Duel Disk still on his arm. Again, she had asked none of the obvious questions, like what the Duel Disk was or what was the necklace he was wearing supposed to mean. He wondered briefly if every person very familiar with the area had the same oblivious innocence. The sentiment was overruled shortly as her opinion being that his health was more important than his obviously being a foreigner with a distinctly out-of-place look.

When he was on his two feet, he waited for her to guide the way. This was a strange place and she was obviously more familiar with the area than he was. Pausing, he realized that although he had given her his surname, as was proper in Japan, she hadn't introduced herself. He smiled, "Thank you...ah...May I ask you what your name is?"

[paixaonpcs.livejournal.com]

“Oh! I’ve been remiss, haven’t I? I’ve given you help but I haven’t even told you my own name.” Charlotte blushed, gripping Bakura’s hand as she led him across the grass towards the streets. “Well, I shall fix that. I am Charlotte. Do forgive me. You deserve a better welcome to our city than the one I’ve given to you.”

She sighed happily, looking around at all the people walking the streets. “You came during a fit of cold weather, which is a shame. You should see the city during the spring. There’s so much life around. It’s a wonderful place to go sightseeing.” Charlotte was content to chatter about the city she loved and lived in. “You look like a cultured young man to me. Of course you should take your time to get better and mend properly, but while you’re here, try to see a show in the Ceu de Mouraria. It’s our impressive opera house, and the acoustics in there are simply to die for. And be sure to visit the Matteus Museum of Art. The works in there are breathtaking…”

Charlotte kept singing the praises of Paixao as she led Bakura through the streets towards the waiting rickshaw. Its driver glanced at Bakura, noting the bandage as well.

“Now, sir, it is important that you drive with all haste to the hospital, understand?” Charlotte ordered the driver. “And don’t you dare take the long route, lest infection set in.” She looked back to Bakura. “This man will take you to the hospital, and he will make sure you arrive safely. I will not be traveling with you. You’ll have strangers aplenty fussing over you soon enough. Travel safely, young one.”

The driver nodded to Bakura. “Climb in and we’ll be off.”

[whtwizardbakura.livejournal.com]

Bakura couldn't help but allow a small smile to form on his lips as Charlotte talked. He didn't get compliments too often about his being polite or a bit of an artist. Although he was uncertain how she had come to that conclusion of being cultured, as he didn't much of his artsy stuff with him. Maybe she thought the Duel Disk was some sort of foreign palette? It would look like that to someone unfamiliar with the technology...

He listened to her go on and on about the city as they walked. Even though he felt more like it was his mother dragging him across the street. Not that he remembered much of his mother. He was glad for both her guidance and her talking, because she was pulling him at a speed that he simply couldn't be stupid and trip over his own two feet and because it let him focus on something else, rather than the fact that he was injured.

The brief good mood faded when he noticed the rickshaw driver glance at his arm and Charlotte command the driver to go straight to the hospital through the shortest route. He hid the fading good mood behind the perfect smile of a fool. He nodded when Charlotte told him the driver would get him to the hospital and she would leave him in his care. "Thank you again, Charlotte." I don't know how I'll repay you or even if I can, he added mentally.

With that, he climbed into the rickshaw. Once seated, he began to unfasten the Duel Disk from his forearm. It was in the way, and he guessed he could probably hug both the journal and the Duel Disk to him and still get out of the rickshaw and manage to get into the hospital. He thought quietly about how grateful he was to Charlotte, as well as wondering what his friends were doing right now.

The rickshaw stopped before he knew it. He saw the sign, Paradisio Hospital, as the driver looked over his shoulder at him. Bakura didn't need to be told anything, and slowly climbed out. He knew the driver was watching as he walked toward the doors. The place seemed very high-class, even from the outside. As he opened the door, he leaned against it and raised a hand in what he remembered was an old symbol for a blessing, that he was certain the driver would understand as an "I'll be all right. You can go now." With that he turned and entered the hospital.