Chapter Text
February 22nd, 20XX
1745
It was nearly the end of the day. Outside, the sun was setting in between the cobbled together houses of the Tribesfolk. Snow fell in wispy flakes on the rooftops. Every breath of air outside was sharp and bitter cold. The workday was coming to a close; people were dragging their feet along the pavement just to try and make it home.
Inside, Rudo stood on the wobbly stool, straining to reach as high as he could. Regto wasn’t home from work yet, but Rudo wanted to be helpful. Next to a large mixing bowl he had pulled out an old recipe for making bread. On the top shelf one last sack of flour; Rudo was nearly climbing onto the countertop to try and reach it.
It had only been a few months since Regto had officially started teaching Rudo how to read and write. It had taken very little time for Rudo to figure out reading. Regto had been lucky enough to find a few children’s books, which Rudo picked up on in no time. It was only a matter of weeks before Rudo was already trying to read some of Regto’s chapter books. The writing part was proving to be much trickier. It wasn’t that Rudo wasn’t able to understand how to write; the issue seemed to be in the physical act. Between all the pain in his hands and the years of not using them, Rudo simply lacked the strength and dexterity needed. Those oversized gloves of his certainly didn’t make things any easier, even if they did dull the pain in his hands. Regto tried everything to make things easier for Rudo, from making the pen grip easier, to helping strengthen his hands altogether, but none of it seemed to make much of a difference. Even after all that time and effort, Rudo could really only hold a pen for a minute or two. Any longer than that and he would get too frustrated and give up.
But now that Rudo was reading so well, Regto decided to let it be for the time being. He figured since Rudo was learning other things with his hands as well—just last week he was able to feed himself an entire bowl of rice and wash the dish too—they could worry about learning to write later down the road. Besides, Rudo was bouncing off the walls with excitement over his new reading skills and wanted to put them to good use.
Now standing on the countertop all together, Rudo finally had the sack of flour within his reach. The little recipe card said all he had to do was mix the flour with a few other things and put it in the oven. He didn’t know much about cooking, but he could at least manage that. Regto would be so proud to see what Rudo had accomplished while he was at work! He reached up, grabbing tightly onto the sack to bring it back down.
The instant Rudo picked up the sack, a violent shockwave of pain ran from his fingertips all the way through him. It hit him so suddenly and without warning, it was as though lightning had struck directly through his arms. He let out an involuntary scream, slipping off the edge of the counter. The bowl, flour, and Rudo himself all came crashing down to the floor. For a good long while, Rudo didn’t move or even speak. He just laid there, his mind awash in a swirl of blinding pain and terrified confusion. It felt like white hot needles were being shot through every vein in his arms. The pain was unreal; unlike anything he had ever felt before. It was somehow even worse than before he had ever worn the gloves at all.
Very slowly, Rudo somehow was able to pry his eyes open. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of everything. Had something happened to the gloves, like some kind of physical damage? Or had the powers that had helped with the pain originally simply stopped working? Rudo looked around until he saw his arms. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. The only difference Rudo could see were the small red spots on the bandages underneath; the scars had started bleeding again. That in of itself didn’t scare Rudo; most days there was at least a little bleeding from his scars. It’s why Regto was always so insistent about changing them regularly. So why was he in so much pain all of a sudden?
Rudo looked around the room once more. He couldn’t see great; there wasn’t much coming from the dim light on the ceiling. It was quiet; Regto probably would be home soon, but Rudo wasn’t entirely sure what time it was. The clock was too far away for him to see. For the moment, he was completely alone. Without realizing it, Rudo began to cry. It started small, but it wasn’t long before he was loudly sobbing against the cold floor. He felt so helpless, lying in a crumpled heap, feeling nothing but agony running through him. He desperately wanted something, anything that would ease the pain even for a fraction of a second. Realizing there was nothing he could do in this state, Rudo closed his eyes in one last ditch effort to escape everything he was feeling.
~
“Sorry it took me so long to get back Rudo, you must be starving by now! Let’s hurry up and get supper cooking.” Regto burst in through the door, his usual energetic self, but stopped within moments.
Usually when Regto would reach home, Rudo would stop whatever he was doing and hide somewhere near the door. Just as Regto would be coming through the front door, Rudo would jump out from behind the bookshelf or the couch to try and scare Regto, who would always jump back in fear before running and chasing Rudo around their home. It was something Regto always looked forward to after the long workday, seeing his son’s giggling smile burst right out in front of him the second he got home, but today there was no one jumping out at Regto from just around the corner. From the first time he’d pulled his prank, Rudo had not missed a single day since. No matter how busy Rudo, or how late Regto came home from work that night, Rudo was always there to play his little trick. The fact that he was nowhere to be seen made Regto’s heart beat wildly in his chest.
“Rudo, I’m home!” called Regto, trying to maintain some kind of composure in his voice. He set his things down by the doorway and slowly began to move around the small living room. Thankfully, it didn’t take long before he found what he was looking for.
Next to the kitchen counter on the floor was Rudo, curled into a ball. His eyes were closed but tear marks were streaked across his cheeks. Both of his arms were twitching; each time they did Rudo would cry out for a second, then return to a quiet sort of whimpering. Near him was a torn sack of flour and a broken glass bowl. The sight was as pitiful as it was terrifying; Regto could feel his heart sinking deep in his chest.
Regto was kneeling on the ground in a fraction of a second. His first instinct was to pick Rudo up and try to comfort him, but he quickly stopped himself. He suddenly realized he had no idea what had happened that left Rudo in that state. Clearly, he was alive and breathing, but beyond that he wasn’t sure how dire the situation was. Maybe Rudo had just slipped and fallen and was more shaken up than anything, or maybe he was hurt much more drastically, and trying to move him would only make things worse. Regto needed to be extremely careful if he wanted to help.
After stopping and thinking for a moment, Regto finally spoke before gently placing his hand on his son’s head. “Rudo, are you alright?”
At first Rudo didn’t say anything, just very slowly turning his head until his eyes met Regto’s. Tears were still bubbling from his eyes. He didn’t try to get up and move. Instead, he just stared blankly, as if he were trying to comprehend the words spoken to him.
Regto tried his best to keep his voice as calm and collected as possible. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“It...it hurts,” Rudo mumbled, barely able to squeak the words out.
“Hurts? What hurts kiddo?”
“My hands...they hurt so much,”
Regto looked down at Rudo’s hands. At first glance, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. The bandages he had put on last night looked the same except for a few spots of blood on his arms, which wasn’t anything they weren’t used to, and his gloves still sat on his hands Aside from the occasional twitching, he looked the same as when Regto had left early this morning. In theory, Rudo shouldn’t have been in any more pain than he was at any other given moment.
“Your hands are hurting? Like from before we gave you the gloves?” Regto tried desperately to put the pieces together.
Just as Rudo opened his mouth to speak, a particularly mean jolt of pain shot through his arms. Without thinking, he let out a shriek before gritting his teeth. Regto nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound. He wanted to help, but was unsure what he even could do. After a few moments, the shock passed, leaving Rudo panting and dripping with sweat. His head fell back to the floor as he started crying all over again.
“Make it stop.” Rudo’s voice was so weak it was barely a whisper.
Without thinking, Regto scooped up Rudo and held him close to his chest. He had one hand trying to support Rudo’s arms and the other on his back to try and comfort him. Regto could feel tears dripping onto the front of his shirt. For a long while, neither of them said anything. The two of them just sat in silence on the floor, surrounded by dirty flour and bits of broken glass. It was eerily quiet in their small house, except for the muffled noise of Rudo sobbing into Regto’s front. After about a minute, Rudo’s crying slowed from a steady wailing until it was a hushed kind of sniffling. Very slowly he craned his face up so his eyes, swollen and bloodshot, could meet Regto’s. At first, Regto didn’t speak, just gently brushing Rudo’s hair off his face.
Thinking hard about what best to say, Regto finally spoke up. “I’m sorry you’ve been hurting and I wasn’t there to help you, Rudo.”
Rudo didn’t say anything in return, just winced quietly as another flash of pain whipped through him.
“But I’m here now, so let’s see if we can get you situated better and figure out what’s going on.”
Still holding Rudo tight, Regto stood back up. He looked back down at the mess on the floor for a moment; it would need to be cleaned up sooner or later, but that could be handled at another time. For now, getting Rudo feeling better was top priority. The first step would be unwrapping his hands to see if the damage had gotten any worse.
Regto gently moved towards the couch to set Rudo on it. “Let’s get you comfortable and I’ll be right back with some supplies for—”
Before Regto could even finish his sentence, Rudo began to panic. He gripped onto Regto’s clothes as hard as his hands would let him, despite all the pain it was putting him through. Tears began to burst from his eyes all over again, and his little legs began to kick wildly with all the strength he had left to spare.
“Rudo, calm down.” Regto, shocked by the sudden change, stopped dead in his tracks. “I’m just setting you down so I can grab a couple things. I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”
Rudo didn’t answer, just continued crying quietly without letting go.
Regto let out a long sigh and stood back up. “Alright, alright. I won’t let you go, bud. Just take a deep breath for me.”
Quickly Rudo began to calm down once more. Regto stopped to rethink his plan all over again. His original idea was to have Rudo try and rest on the couch while he changed the bandages, but clearly that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. The next best place would be in the bathroom where they kept the bandages and clean rags, so the two of them headed in there. With one hand still holding tight to Rudo, Regto pulled out a stack of clean towels and a fresh roll of bandages, then the two of them sat on the edge of the tub. Realizing that this time Regto wouldn’t be leaving him, Rudo loosened his grip and sat upright. His brain was still barely functioning through the massive influx of pain; he swayed as he sat on the ledge. Regto kept one hand on his back in fear he was going to tip over and end up face first onto the tile if he didn’t.
With one hand keeping Rudo from falling, Regto reached over to turn to tab on. Even if nothing looked wrong, seeing the blood drip through the old bandages meant Rudo’s arms were probably in need of being cleaned and redressed. Once the water was running, Regto threw a couple rags into the tub. With those soaking, he turned back towards Rudo.
“Alright Rudo, I know you’re really hurting right now, but we have to change those bandages.” Regto reached and placed his hands on top of Rudo’s gloves, almost as if to signal what was coming next.
Still in his daze, Rudo slowly shook his head in protest. “Hurts too much.”
“I know it does, but we have to, kiddo. I’ll go as fast as I can, and as gently as I can. But we need to get to the bottom of what’s going on.
Rudo looked down at his gloves for a long moment. Tears flooded his eyes, dripping down his cheeks and onto the floor. Regto didn’t try to push him along, giving him time to process everything. Finally, Rudo lifted his head back up. His eyes were closed and he didn’t say anything else, just nodded once to give Regto the permission to start.
Regto gave him a warm smile. “Thanks, bud. You’ll start to feel better real soon.”
As gently as possible, Regto grabbed the ends of each glove. In one swift motion he pulled them and put them to the side. The second they were off, Rudo’s arms seized up as he cried out. Those silent tears had immediately broken back out to a loud wail. It seemed like the pain had gone from bad to worse in a matter of seconds.
Regto took one arm and began unwrapping. “I’m sorry, I know it hurts Rudo. Hang in there just a little longer for me.”
With steady hands Regto worked to undo the dressings. As dirtied bandages fell, the scars were revealed. Burnt-like skin with deep, red gashes scratched across them. The lines looked almost like someone had taken a burning hot wire and whipped it over the skin at random. All over, fresh drops dripped from between darker dried patches. The blood dripped down from the skin onto the tile.
Rudo’s arms looked just the same as they did when he wrapped them a couple days ago.
Regto let out a long sigh. Things hadn’t gotten worse, but they certainly hadn’t gotten better, and his options for how to help were limited as best. He had clean bandages, and rags to clean the skin, but that was about it. Any kind of topical medication was completely out of the question. Proper medical tools were nearly impossible to get on this side of town, and even when some were available, the prices would be astronomical. He would never be able to afford them. Getting standard oral medication was practically out of the question, too. Because real medication was so hard to obtain, most Tribesfolk were forced to try and make their own painkillers. Whatever drugs Regto would be able to get his hands on would be either laced, pumped with some kind of filler, or both. Even just packing up and going to a medical facility would be impossible. There wasn’t a single Tribesfolk hospital around for miles. Despite the hard work of the staff there, it was an underfunded, overcrowded, borderline unsafe place that most considered to be a dumping ground for people truly left with no other options. On the off chance Regto did manage to get him over there, the moment they realized who Rudo was they would both be turned away.
Regto shook himself out of his train of thought, bringing himself him back to the task at hand. Rudo, though not sobbing as heavily as before, was still in a great deal of pain. All the bandages were off now. Regto reached down and wrung out a couple of the rags soaking in the cold water.
“Well, your arms don’t look any worse than they did before, so I guess we should be thankful for that,” remarked Regto. “Let’s see if some cold rags help and we’ll go from there.”
Cautiously, Regto wrapped one of Rudo’s arms in the damp rag. Rudo flinched for a second, then seemed to relax his arm slightly. Some of the tension began to slip from his face. Regto’s jaw nearly hit the floor when he saw.
“Does your arm feel better?” asked Regto, still in awe.
“A little,” Sighed Rudo. “Not burning...as much.”
Regto smiled a bit, wrapping the other arm in a cold rag. “That’s a relief. We’ll keep these on for a little while before we put the bandages back on. I’ll get some things ready, sound good?”
Rudo just nodded and closed his eyes once more. Gently as possible, Regto set Rudo’s arms down in his lap and stood up. He tossed the old bandages away and stepped out into the kitchen. There were still bits of glass and spilled flour all over the floor. Dinner was still needing to be made as well. Regto cleaned up the spills as quietly as he could, before putting the last of the rice to boil on the stove. Once he had finished up, he glanced over at the clock; it had already been a couple hours since he had gotten home from work. Time seemed to have gotten away from him once again.
With the last of the dry towels, Regto slipped back into the bathroom and sat down on the edge of the tub. Rudo was in the same position as he was earlier, still swaying like a palm tree with exhaustion. His crying had stopped at this point, except for a few stray tears still in the corners of his eyes. Stains from earlier still sat on his cheeks. As not to startle him, Regto carefully set his hand on Rudo’s shoulder first.
“Alright, let’s get you patched back up,” whispered Regto. “Then we’ll eat and get you into bed.”
Rudo cracked open his eyes but didn’t say anything. He just stared at Regto for a moment before closing them once more. Regto, taking that as a sign of affirmation, removed one of the damp cloths. The bleeding had mostly stopped at this point, but the scars still looked as angry as before. Taking a roll of clean bandages, Regto began wrapping the limb. He worked quickly but not hastily, moving in almost a hypnotic rhythm. He wanted to get the bandages on so he could get the gloves. As Regto worked the two of them sat there in near silence.
After a few minutes, Rudo spoke. “I’m sorry.”
“What for?” asked Regto, not even looking up from his work.
“For ruining everything.”
As Regto finished on one arm, he paused to look up. Rudo had his eyes open now, but they were turned away. Strands of off-white hair partially hid his eyes. Tears were now streaming down his face, but he wasn’t wailing like before. Instead, his voice was so quiet it was barely a whisper. Regto felt his heart shatter at the site.
“Rudo, why would you think that?” Regto picked up a new roll of bandages and began wrapping the other limb.
“Because I spilled the flour.” Rudo’s voice started to crack as more tears poured from him. “And broke the bowl. And messed up dinner.”
“Bud, that was an accident! Things happen. It’s no big deal.”
“But now my hands aren’t working again, and now I can’t do anything again, and you worked so hard to fix my hands before, and it’s all my fault-”
“Rudo, take a deep breath.” Regto finished wrapping and tied off the bandage.
“But, but—” Rudo was crying too hard to continue speaking.
Regto slipped the gloves onto Rudo’s hands. Rudo looked down at them and let out a shuddering breath. Now that they were back on, he had relaxed a bit, but was still sobbing hard. Without saying anything, Regto scooped Rudo up and placed him on his lap. His arms wrapped around Rudo’s small frame, nearly swallowing him up. Regto didn’t say or even do anything. A few minutes passed before Rudo’s sobs calmed down enough for him to take some deep breaths.
“Rudo, none of this is your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong,” explained Regto calmly. “Pain is very complicated. When someone has had a lot of pain for a long time, it doesn’t just go away overnight. Sometimes, even when you’re doing everything right, it just comes back suddenly.”
“But why?”
“Pain comes and goes for lots of reasons. No one knows exactly why.”
“That’s stupid.”
Regto let out a quiet laugh as he stood up. With Rudo still in his arms, the two of them made their way back into the main room. Meanwhile, Rudo turned to bury his face back into Regto’s shirt. As Regto sat down on the couch, he kept Rudo on his lap.
Once they were sat, Rudo peeked up his face. “Is the pain back forever?”
“Not forever. We’ll keep trying things that should help with your hands, and I bet in a day or two the pain will be a lot more manageable.”
Rudo let out a long sigh but didn’t respond.
“And until you’re back to your old self again, I’ll be around to help you just like I did before!”
“It’s not fair.,” grumbled Rudo, curling up more into Regto’s lap.
“Yeah, you’ve got a point kiddo.” Regto set his hand atop Rudo’s head, ruffling his hair. “But even so there’s not much we can do about that, now is there?”
“I guess.”
Laughing softly to himself, Regto gently scooted Rudo from off his lap and onto the couch. Rudo continued pouting but didn’t complain this time. Regto headed back towards the kitchen and grabbed a small bowl and spoon. The pot on the stove had been cooking for some time now. He poured the last of the rice into the smaller bowl and brought it back over to the couch. Instead of sitting back down, Regto sat directly in front of Rudo with the bowl sitting in his lap.
“In the meantime, it’s late and you need to eat.,” reminded Regto. “Think you can do it yourself, or do you need help?”
Rudo managed to get himself up before turning towards the bowl. He stared with a focus unlike any other at the spoon. For a long while he just stayed like that, practically shooting daggers at the rice. Every couple of seconds his arms would twitch like before, and Rudo would grit his teeth in an attempt to bear with the pain. It was clear he desperately wanted to reach for the spoon but simply couldn’t. No matter how badly he wanted to.
Regto, noticing quickly, came up with a plan. “How about I worry about the spoon, and you hold the bowl? The heat should help with the pain too.”
Rudo didn’t say anything, just closely watched every move. Regto carefully picked up the bowl and placed it in front of Rudo. Very slowly, Rudo reached out until both his arms were loosely wrapped around the bowl. It didn’t take long for the warmth to seep in. As it did, Rudo felt the tension in his arms begin to ease as well. The pain was still intense, like his bones were being shattered with each fragment dragging through the muscles, but the warmth made things at least a tiny bit more bearable. Meanwhile, Regto brought the spoon up to Rudo’s mouth so he could take a bite. Regto fed him the whole bowl with a gentle smile on his face.
By the time Rudo had finished his last bite, he could feel the exhaustion tugging at his mind. The sheer intensity of pain was draining all the energy he had left. He wanted nothing more than to crawl into his bed and sleep for the next century. Regto, sensing how tired Rudo was, put the bowl and spoon to the side. He picked Rudo back up in his arms and the two of them headed for the bedroom. By the time Regto got him tucked in under the covers, Rudo was nearly knocked out.
In his barely awake state, Rudo spoke. “Thank you, Dad, for everything.”
“Of course, kiddo. Now get some sleep.,” whispered Regto.
“I’m sorry.”
Before Regto could say anything back, Rudo was out cold and softly snoring. Regto felt his heart aching as the words played over and over again in his mind. He hated seeing Rudo like this. So frustrated and hopeless about himself.
And the worst of it all?
Regto was completely powerless.
From the first day Regto brought Rudo home, he knew he would move Sphere and Ground for that kid. It didn’t matter that they came into each other’s life through less-than-ideal circumstances, or the challenges they would face. Rudo was Regto’s kid, and he loved him with all his heart and soul. Seeing all the things Rudo was able to accomplish with his new gloves brought him an insurmountable amount of joy. It was a feeling unlike anything he had ever felt before. On the flip side, seeing Rudo in so much pain and so unable to do all the things he had worked so hard to learn how to do felt like a knife right through his chest. Whatever Regto could do to keep it from happening again, he most certainly would find a way to do.
It was late into the night; Regto could feel his own exhaustion coming for him too. It had been a long day to say the least. He climbed into bed, feeling his eyelids grow heavy the moment his head hit the pillow. Just as he was able to sink into sleep as well, he heard a noise that made him shoot straight up. He turned over to see where it was coming from. Rudo had begun crying quietly again. He was still asleep, but his face was contorted into a grimace still. His arms twitched near constantly, making him toss and turn his head with each one.
Even sleep could not spare Rudo from the overwhelming pain in his hands.
Regto, almost on instinct, reached out. He placed his hand over Rudo’s chest and began rubbing small circles with his thumb. Within a couple minutes, Rudo began to relax. His head stopped bobbing back and forth. The twitching in his arms began to slow. Tears still dripped down his cheeks, but his face began to slowly relax. Soon, he appeared to be sleeping more soundly like before.
Regto let out a long sigh but didn’t stop. He kept his hand on Rudo for a long while, even after Rudo seemed to relax. If it helped, Regto was prepared to stay in that same position all night.
It was clearly going to be a very long night for both of them