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Panting loudly, Senkuu trudged through the woods with Gen at his side, silently judging his companions' lack of stamina. They needed bentonite clay for one of Senkuu's projects: stone age toothpaste. Since the village had been enjoying more and more sugar, Senkuu thought it would be important to for them to have good dental care, prevent any tooth loss and help to ensure that they could continue with their usual diets - finding soft food would be difficult in this stone world.
Making the toothpaste would actually be one of the easiest parts about the whole project. After collecting the clay from near a volcano, since the bentonite clay came from volcanic ash that settled in marine environments, all that Senkuu and Chrome would need to do was mix the clay with salt and distilled water, as well as peppermint or spearmint essential oils for taste. Luckily for them, Chrome and Senkuu had already made both, using a still to separate the oil from water when boiled.
"You sure don't have much stamina, do you, Senkuu-chan?" Gen prodded, turning to watch Senkuu struggle to climb up a hill. "You'd be 10 billion percent dead if you had to make this trip by yourself," he added, giving Senkuu a smile as he glared at him.
"Shut up," Senkuu spat back. "Trashy mentalist," he huffed, nearly out of breath.
The two had been walking through the vast mountains outside of Ishigami village, looking for any signs of ash deposits: grainy soil, burnt or charred layers of plant life, or petrified wood. So far, there had been none, requiring them to keep moving in search of their clay.
"Damn it," Senkuu complained, reaching the top of the hill, taking a moment to catch his breath besides Gen.
If he weren't to have been so tired, Senkuu would have thought the view to be pretty, at least from a scientific standpoint. Various hues of green and brown spotted the horizon as it rose and fell in elevation, a bright blue painted the sky above with few clouds dotting it as the sun shone brightly down on them - it burned so very bright without the tree cover from above. Unfortunately for him though, Senkuu was very tired, so gen was the only one to enjoy the view.
"For a stone world," he commented softly. "It is very beautiful, isn't it, Senkuu-chan?" He asked, bending down to his height as he huffed.
"Yeah, yeah," Senkuu waved him off. "What does beauty have to do with science? We need to find an ash deposit."
"I'm not sure if we'll be able to, Senkuu-chan," Gen spoke, pointing out across the horizon. "It looks like there's a storm rolling in."
"We'll be fine," Senkuu argued. "A little bit of rain never killed us."
~~~
"A little bit of rain, huh, Senkuu-chan?"
"Shut up!"
Despite Senkuu's thoughts on it, within about 5 minutes of Gen's comment, a serious storm had rolled in, bringing in a torrential downpour and lightning with it. There was enough static in the air to cause Gen's hair to stand on it's own, mimicking Senkuu's.
"Isn't it about time we started to head back?" Gen yelled over the thunder nearby, hand coming up to block the rain from continuing to hit his face, the pain of needles rushing over his skin.
"We're almost there," Senkuu called back, leading Gen through the storm.
He'd spotted a patch of possible ash remnants at a far off pond earlier on before the storm rolled in and had set their course for it; when Senkuu made a decision, he followed through with it, no matter the conditions.
Step by step, the two continued walking through the forests, over the hills and back down them as Senkuu continued to huff with each step. They'd nearly slipped on the downhill parts, needing to use sticks or grip onto trees to prevent themselves from sliding down the muddy trail.
"Be careful!" Gen called, gripping the back of Senkuu's collar as his foot fell out from under him, the mud giving way, causing him to lose his footing.
Senkuu didn't respond, instead continuing to trek ahead down the muddy trail. He kept walking, keeping himself in front of Gen, until he wasn't there anymore.
Reaching a slope unseen in the bad weather, Senkuu fell down the side, tree roots and branches cutting him as he fell.
"Shit!" He swore, cuts and bruises forming on him as his body hit anything and everything in his path.
Placing his hands out in front of him, Senkuu managed to push some of the branches out of the way, but it was one of the worst decisions he'd made. Hands still out in front of him, Senkuu fell over a small hump on the ground, launching him onto the ground face first.
His hands hit first, a sharp crack coming from one of them, as the rest of his body followed, collapsing in to the dirt and laying there - too weak to move, still processing the pain as the wind screamed around him.
"Senkuu!" He heard Gen yell from nearby, panicked and fear stricken. "Senkuu! Are you over here?!" His voice was barely audible over the howling wind and pelting rain.
Gingerly, Senkuu sat up, supporting his left arm with his right, pain radiating down it from a malformed part of his forearm - broken, most certainly.
"Over here!" Senkuu screamed back, hoping his voice would carry over the weather. "I'm over here!"
He remained quite for a moment, hearing a rustling nearby. It may have been Gen, but there were also animals out here; Senkuu didn't want to become lunch.
As branches parted, Senkuu was met with a familiar face, white and black hair slicked down from the rain as he stepped over to Senkuu, kneeling by him.
"Are you okay?" Gen asked, wrapping an arm around Senkuu's body, taking note of him cradling his arm, his form shaking from shock and the cold rain that didn't let up.
"I can walk," Senkuu responded, accepting help to stand up. "We need to find cover until this passes."
"I saw a cave nearby," Gen responded, beginning to walk back the way he came. "We can hide out in there until the rain lets up."
~~~
Slowly, the two walked with Gen leading, reaching a small cave. It may not have been warm, but it was dry and provided coverage from the storm outside.
With gentle care, Gen helped Senkuu to sit back against the wall, helping to prop him up and find a couple dry sticks and logs from inside the cave - nothing outside would burn for some time. Working fast, Gen collected every scrap he could feel and piled them into a small bundle near the back of the cave by Senkuu, who had remained quiet except for small sounds of pain.
Pulling out the stone age fire-starter from his pocket made from flint and iron pyrite, sparks flew until one caught onto the leaves and began to feed the small light, growing with great speed until the cave was illuminated, allowing Gen to get a good look at his friend.
Senkuu's hair was flattened down, an almost impossible occurrence, while he was covered in mud and leaves, sticks holding tight to the fibers of his clothes, all while he kept his arm cradled near his body.
"Are you okay?" Gen asked, taking a seat by Senkuu against the wall. "What did you do to your arm?"
"I broke it," Senkuu responded factually, keeping his gaze on his arm, mind moving quickly to think about how he could fix it - only one stuck out and he wasn't looking forward to it. "I'll need your help."
"What do you need?" Gen asked seriously, he knew this was no time for jokes - his best friend needed him.
"A couple strong sticks, at least a couple inches in diameter, some fabric, and your help in a second here," Senkuu fired off, keeping his eyes focused on his deformed arm. This was going to hurt like a bitch.
"Okay, what's the plan?"
"I still have a radial pulse, but it's best if we get this put back in place as soon as we can," Senkuu explained while Gen grabbed the sticks and began tearing his outfit for fabric. "It's a compound fracture, so I'll need you to pull my arm while I push the bone back into place."
"Huh?" Gen froze. "Won't that be like really painful, Senkuu-chan?"
"Of course," he responded, matter of fact tone. "But, it has to be done sooner or later. I'd prefer sooner."
Shaking his head, Gen set down all of the supplies in front of Senkuu. He wasn't sure who was more worried about this: him or the guy who'd be having his bond pushed back into place.
"Alright," Senkuu began, snapping Gen's attention towards him. "Grab my wrist and pull towards yourself. I need you to pull the bone far enough back that I can get it into place, okay?" He explained, guiding Gen's hands to their proper placement. "I'm not going to lie, I'll probably make some noise, but don't stop, no matter what, got it?"
"G-Got it," Gen replied, mustering up his courage as he gripped Senkuu hand tightly.
"Okay, pull."
With that single word, Gen pulled Senkuu's arm towards him, feeling Senkuu tense as a gasp of pain left his mouth.
"Keep pulling!" Senkuu ordered, eyes snapping open as he began to push on his arm, forcing the bone slowly back into place at a snail's pace.
Pain shot through his whole body, a single tear dripping down his cheek as the bone sat back in place with a small pop.
"Let go," he spoke, breathing deeply and trying to pull himself together. He'd never thought that he'd have to feel his bone shift back into place, but yet, here he was.
Leaning back against the wall, Gen did likewise, looking over at him with a worried look.
"Are you okay?"
"I will be, I just gotta support it until we can get back into the village."
"Let me," Gen spoke softly, reaching over to grab the supplies as the fire crackled behind him.
Placing a stick on either side, Gen tightly wrapped the fabric, knotting it to keep it stable, at the top and bottom of Senkuu's arm. Silence filled the cave, only the crackling fire audible, as Gen worked carefully, not wanting to cause Senkuu anymore pain.
"There," he concluded, kneeling back and looking at his work. It was crude, but it did the job.
"Thank you," Senkuu replied.
"You're welcome, Senkuu-chan!" Gen replied. "Not too bad for a mentalists, huh?" He asked jokingly. "Go ahead and get some rest, I'll keep watch."
"You sure?"
"I'm not the one who just had a bone pushed back into place. Yes, I'm sure. Get some rest," he commanded, wrapping an arm around Senkuu as his breathing evened out. "Sleep well, you idiot. When you wake up, I'm gonna kick your ass for making me worry about you," he vowed.
The night continued and the sun rose again, the fire dying through the night, but neither had noticed, curled up against each other fast asleep. As they woke up, both silently agreed to not acknowledge it and headed back to the village, closer than they had been before and silently vowing to never put the other in that same position again.