towerofanimus | i wish you would step back from that ledge, my friend. [OPEN]

Characters: OU!Ratchet, open!
Setting: room 1-18, into the hallway if anyone's wandering by
Format: Initial post is prose, but action is preferred for the rest.
Summary: After facing a near-death experience back in his home universe, Ratchet's waking up for the first time. And he's none too happy.
Warnings: Aaangst, trauma, and a Lombax in shock.

It'd happened in a matter of seconds - with Nefarious defeated, his space station reduced to nothing, it seemed like they'd saved the universe. Everyone would have their happy ending, and Ratchet himself would go home knowing that he'd had a family. His heart was full.

--then, it was violently stopped.

He remembered an explosion, a psychotic sneer on his once-companion's face, then... blackness. Nothing but blackness as a voice vaguely calling out his name, the feel of wind rushing as the final sensation of his body plummeting down fading away with everything else. And for all sakes and purposes, he should have still be falling.

But... no. He'd been alive. He'd still been thinking. Time was lost as his body laid on the surface of something hard, awake, and yet unable to wake. It'd taken some force, a bit of oomph! to finally pry his eyes open, but when he had, he found he could breathe normally.

And he was staring at the ceiling of something that wasn't the Great Clock.

The Lombax had scrambled to his feet soon after, nearly forgetting how to work his legs and almost falling back over. But then he was up, and blindly wandering out the door with his mind struggling to comprehend what was going on. Was he dead? Was he alive? Where was Clank? Why had any of this happened?

Managing to push the door open, he began his trek down the hallway of this new place.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[And, Ratchet, you might find a little boy standing in front of the door when you exit - he's no more than nine years old, and he shares that room you just walked out of, so don't mind the look of shock at the sight of you.

The only things he's seen that look like you are Bokoblins, after all, so you'll have to forgive him.]

... Um. Are you... new here?

[please don't be a monster, please don't be a monster --]

[So lost in his own racing thoughts, the Lombax nearly stumbles into the little boy in his path, stopping short and struggling to regain his composure. His heart, which had stopped beating just moments ago, was now racing in his chest, his body shaking and legs feeling as though they were about to give right under him.]

--kid. [The voice is quiet, scratchy as if he hadn't spoken in a long time, but he just had been.] Kid, where are we?

[Because he's not dead. He can't be dead. This wasn't happening.]

Oh, you are new then! Um - you're in a big tower. We dunno where it is, though, sorry...

[This furry person seems really freaked out for some reason - maybe he's never seen a human before? Or maybe something bad happened...]

...'we'? Are there more people here? What's going on?

[Can't let his mind drift, can't can't can't. The memory starts playing over in his head and he starts getting even more freaked anytime it does.

But he might be absentmindedly clutching at his chest, surprised to find the armour still intact.]

[If Ratchet wanders down to floor twelve, he'll find a young boy there, walking around in the sea of projected stars.

Sora liked this floor, at first. Standing in it made him feel like he was running through the sky, traveling between worlds...a pretty fun idea to get lost in. Until he realized that the worlds shown were fading, that the universes were slowly dying, and that the pattern was just repeating itself, over and over. It's not a pleasant idea for anyone, but seeing worlds destroyed hits just a little bit too close to home for Sora.

No, he doesn't really like this floor at all. In fact, when Ratchet sees the boy, he'll be headed for the stairs.]

[He isn't really sure of where he's going, the idea of a small room with someone unfamiliar straight after his supposed death not quite the engaging one.

When he turns onto this floor, however, the Lombax finally looks up in awe, watching the familiar patterns of stars and planets looming overhead, fading out into new shapes, new forms. Like the nights when he'd taken Aphelion out after Clank had disappeared, using the endless void of space to calm himself down. Nebulas, planets, star clusters, comets... all the things he'd never got to see on Veldin.

The sound of movement veers his attention away from the projection to fall on a young boy, beginning to turn for the stairs. Somehow dreading the aspect, a gloved hand flies out to catch the other in time, his voice much louder than he'd meant for it to be.]

Stop!

Huh?

[Sora jumps back, caught by surprise at the sudden noise, ready to defend himself in case it was a monster. But when what he sees isn't a monster, he immediately relaxes, any sort of defensive stance forgotten.

...he should really do something about this getting sneaked up on all the time business. It keeps happening.

Still, the other's tone soon registers, and Sora doesn't let himself relax completely. Maybe something really was up. Best way to find that out was to ask.]

Stop? Why?

[The relief in the young Lombax is evident - shoulders slouching and ears drooping back when the other boy finally does stop. Though the word in itself causes a deep, bone-cracking shudder that's visible when he lowers his hand, tone softening to a more decent, humane level.]

Don't go. Not yet.

I still have questions.

[So maybe the hand doesn't go down entirely, but moves to rub his other wrist awkwardly. So much had happened in a short period of time - he just... wanted someone to talk to.]

Questions...?

[The request is so out of the blue, especially from someone Sora has never met, that it takes a moment to process exactly what it could mean. Questions about what?

Then, finally it hits him. That worry in the other's tone, the confusion, as if something really bad had just happened...he must be new to the tower.

In that case, Sora is more than happy to offer a helping hand.]

Oh! Did you just get here? Do you need help?

[It takes a good while for him to get his breathing under control, ears drooped along his back in concern and looking up at the boy warily.

And every so often, he clutches at his chest, just to be certain that he's not about to start bleeding out again-- no. No, he was fine. He wasn't dying. He was in some tower-place with a kid that obviously wasn't going to attack him and...

And he wanted to help. Yes. Yes! He could help him.]

Kid, you've gotta tell me. What am I doing here? How did I get here?

I need to get back to something called the Great Clock. Have you ever heard of it? I've got a friend in danger back there.

[Sora shakes his head, and knows that he has to tell him that they don't know a way out of the Tower yet. It's hard, though - he looks so worried about whatever he had to leave behind. What was he dragged away from, back in his world?]

I don't know. I don't think anyone really does. Someone brought a bunch of people here, but nobody knows why.

[And, for the really bad news-]

And no one's found a way out yet, either.

I'm sorry. Wish there was something better I could tell you. You're probably really worried about your friend, huh?

[Sora knows what that's like - to worry about a friend you can't reach. Just thinking about why he understands so well still makes him feel a little sick, and he hates the thought of anyone else feeling the same thing.]

i wish you would step back from that ledge, my friend. [OPEN]

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