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Ryuu stood in darkness not knowing where she was everything was black in the large area noticing that she felt no pain her body was free from injuries there wasn't even any sign of blood on her clothes. She began walking hearing nothing but the echo of her own footsteps, is this where you went when you died? She didn't remember this place the first time she died before her PAK brought her back. She continued walking stopping when she heard voices; Ryuu spun around looking for the owners of the voices but didn't see anyone. The voices continued seeming to be coming from all around her but they were mumbling, and their voices mixed together so she couldn't make out what their were saying. Ryuu remained in one spot for a few more seconds, and the mumbling voices stopped. Still standing in the same spot the young Irken tilted her head looking around waiting to see if the voices would return, and maybe they would be clear enough for her to understand what they were saying. All she was met with was silence so she continued her way into the endless abyss staying alert incase the voices returned. She continued on the only sound again came from her footsteps she stopped looking around growling in frustration. She didn't know where she was going; would she have to wonder here forever? If she kept moving will she eventually find something? Ryuu clenched her fists yelling out to no one. "What do you want me to do? Give me a clue anything!" Something must have heard her as a faint beeping sound caught her attention. The small sound came so suddenly, and was so faint Ryuu wasn't sure she actually heard it; the doubt soon vanished when the beeping sound came again but it was still faint. Taking this as the clue she asked for Ryuu began to slowly walk to determine which direction it was coming from. It sounded like it was coming from her left she turned following the faint noise; soon it became louder to the point that it was the only sound she could hear. Ryuu broke out into a run when a dim light pierced through the darkness in front of her, she didn't know what the light was but it was the only thing she could go to in this place. As she neared the light got brighter and the beeping's volume increased, she thought it was weird that she had been running all this time, and hadn't even broken a sweat she wasn't even panting. The beeping was roaring and she had to shield her eyes as she ran into the bright light. Ryuu slowly opened her eyes everything was blurry she waited for her sight to adjust while she tried to turn her head to the side but it felt heavy and the effort was wearing her out . She laid her head back on the pillow panting a bit causing pain in her sides and chest, while waiting for her body to rest she decided this would be the time to figure out where she was. She was in a bed that she knew but since she couldn't move her head at the moment Ryuu had to gather as much information she could with the little amount of visual she had. She heard a quiet beeping from a monitor then realized she had a respirator over her face. After she stumbled into the facility and giving the soldiers the data chip she remembered being lifted up and carried she guessed she was in the facility's medical bay. Laying still for a while Ryuu began to make another attempt to turn her head this time with effort she managed to move her head so she was now looking at the door, with this small victory she decided to see how far she could push her body as she slowly struggled to sit up. In another part of the facility Ammy had just walked into the building making her way down the corridors stopping at a certain part in the hall looking down at the floor remembering the soldier pushing her down the hall after she saw Ryuu as they passed this area she saw where Ryuu had collapsed she panicked seeing the large amount of blood but more so because no one would answer her questions about Ryuu. For the first few days Ammy didn't know anything about her friends' condition she wasn't even allowed inside the facility. After a week she was finally allowed inside the building to see Ryuu and they told her about her older friends' condition, and that they weren't sure if their procedure would work so there was still a chance Ryuu could die. That fear soon disappeared when Ryuu's condition was stabled but she still hasn't woken up. Ammy moved her gaze away from the floor continuing down the hall, she soon came to the medical bay opening the door but before she could step inside Ammy froze in place seeing Ryuu slightly turned on her side on the bed seeing the injured Irkens arms shaking as she struggled to push herself up into a sitting position. Her arms and body refused to obey her as Ryuu managed to roll onto her side but the sound of the door opening caught her attention causing her to look up seeing her friend standing in the door way . She tried to smile at Ammy not knowing if the younger Irken could even see it since the respirator was still on her face. Soon Ammy sprinted from the doorway to the side of the bed carefully helping Ryuu sit up putting some pillows in a pile behind her friend to support the injured Irkens back. Ryuu leaned into the pillow glad to finally be sitting up doing her best to move her head a bit signaling she wanted the respirator off. Ammy watched her friend getting the message she removed the respirator, since Ryuu was awake and able to breathe on her own now it was no longer needed. Once the object was off her face she looked up at her friend giving a weak smile her voice was horse and a bit slow, "It good to see you again little sis." Ammy smiled back before gently hugging Ryuu not squeezing too tight in fear of hurting her. She was happy her big sis was alive ,and had finally woken up Ammy was afraid she had lost her, she felt weak arms wrap around her returning the hug but heard a small painful grunt and panting from her friend. Ammy moved her head a bit so she could see the older Irkens face which looked pale, and some beads of sweat formed on her face soaking into the bandage pad tapped across her face. With all that happened at the moment Ammy was so happy that Ryuu was awake she didn't realize that movement was putting a lot of strain on the other Irken. She pushed herself up to get a better look at her friend. Ryuu had a slightly pained expression even though she was smiling. After all that she had been through Ammy could only imagine how much pain she must be in. "Ryuu I'm going to find a doctor to look at you I'll be right back." With that Ammy stood up walking out the door. Now that she was sitting up Ryuu's eyes scanned the room not wanting to try moving her head again ,it was about the same size of the room she stayed in when she was first brought to the facility as a child. It had the basic things her first room had except this room smelled like disinfectant and was white. Looking down at her right arm she saw the scar from Uriks whip coiled around her forearm stopping a few inches from her wrist, she wondered if Ammy saw it but her attention was brought to the I.V. drip in her arm, this was to keep her hydrated that's when she wondered just how long she had been unconscious. Soon the door to the medical bay opened a doctor walking in followed by Ammy who took a seat next to the bed as the doctor began to examine Ryuu . He took a small light from his lab coat grabbing Ryuu's chin making her look at him shining it in both her eyes as he spoke. "Do you know your name?" She answered her throat felt dry causing her voice to come out raspy, "Yes its Ryuu, Ryuu Zarakk." "Good what's your rank here on Irk?" "I'm a berserker." "Okay who trained you?" "Blore Terakk." The doctor nodded placing the light back in his coat before checking her vital signs. Ryuu didn't know why he was asking her all these questions but decided not to say anything her throat was sore and answering those questions proved a bit difficult. After the doctor was finished examining her he went to explaining her condition. "Sorry I made you answer those questions but I had to see if the procedure worked." Ryuu looked at him confused, "What procedure?" "Well Ryuu when you were brought here your PAK was severely damaged and its energy was about to run out ,and we wouldn't have enough time to repair it for you to survive. Thats when we decided to do a experimental procedure we removed your PAK connecting you to a large computer, your body would stay alive but your mind was blank leaving you in a coma like state." Both Ryuu and Ammy nodded as he continued. "It took a lot of work to repair your PAK the shot nearly reached its core and damage that seemed to be caused by a explosion nearly fried all the wires but we managed to restore all of it ,we reconnected it to you four days ago waiting for you to wake up. We didn't know all the effect it would have on you so that why I asked you those questions to test if your memories and speech were still intact. Ryuu nodded struggling to push herself up a bit more and was quickly helped by Ammy . The doctor watched continuing to speak, "As you noticed you're having difficulty moving that's to be expected, when your PAK was reconnected it first restored your brain so you can speak. We thought you'd be out longer allowing the rest of your body to recover but you woke up earlier than we thought. Your body is going to be more sensitive and hard to move but should soon be functioning normally." Ryuu took all the information in before speaking, "How long have I been out?" Ammy was the one to answer. "Two weeks." Ryuu's eyes widened turning to look at her friend her voiced raised as much as it could "Two weeks!" The doctor placed his hand on her shoulder, "Don't excite yourself your awake that's all that matters now." She calmed down a bit about to lean back into the pillows when the medical bay door opened as Blore entered marching over to the bed. Ryuu's body tensed he didn't look happy the memory of what he did to her when she was eleven the last time he was angry at her entered her mind. The doctor moved aside while Ammy stood up taking a few steps back letting Blore through, when he reached the bed he grabbed the front of the hospital gown she wore pulling her up causing her to hiss and squeeze her eyes shut in pain. Ammy was about to try and get Blore to let her friend go but felt a hand grab her arm she turned to see the doctor shake his head all she could do was watch. Ryuu opened her eyes waiting for whatever Blore was going to do, "Ryuu what you did was stupid and reckless!" She flinched a bit at his raised voice waiting to see if he was going to hit her but was surprised to feel him release the front of the hospital gown his voice turning calm again. "But if you hadn't done it many of our soldiers would be dead, and we wouldn't have gotten the data on the enemies berserkers." She stared at him surprised that he might have actually thanked her for something she did, in the ten years she had knew him he never said anything like this to her usually he would yell at her or punish her she guessed her being unconscious for two week gave him some time to cool down. Everyone stood there not saying a word but the silence was broken by the sound of Ryuu's stomach growling. She looked up with a weak embarrassed smile on her face as the doctor spoke, "I'm sure you must be hungry I'll have some food brought up." Soon Ryuu was eating food brought on a tray if she didn't have such a hard time making her arms work she would be shoveling the food in her mouth as fast as she could. Ammy's cheerful voice caused her to pause, "Slow down Ryuu you'll tire yourself out and might choke." Ryuu gave her friend a smile before talking, "I've been out for two weeks without eating anything you can't blame me for stuffing my face." After finishing her food the tray was taken away from her, she looked and felt better than she did when she first woke up. Ryuu turned facing the doctor speaking her voice not as horse anymore. "I want to go home now." The doctor stared at her scratching his chin before answering, "Well I guess you can go your condition has stabled so your no longer in danger ,but are you sure you want to leave so soon you just regained consciousness." Ryuu nodded, "I'm sure." "Alright then I'll have you discharged but before I do I want to check and redress your injuries." Ryuu gave a small quick glance at her friend before looking back at the doctor, "Um okay." She got a little nervous she didn't want Ammy in the room when her bandages were changed she didn't want the younger Irken to see the wounds. She looked over at Blore who seemed to understand, he moved from leaning against the wall standing next to Ammy. "If Ryuu's going to leave the medical bay you'll need to go to her house and bring her some cloths." Ammy nodded leaving the room followed by Blore who stood outside the door watching the younger Irken walk down the hall. Back in the room Ryuu had done her best to remove the hospital gown shaking and panting a bit since she refused to allow the doctor to help her, she didn't feel as dizzy or tired after eating something she wanted to show she could remove the gown on her own. Undoing the last button Ryuu pushed the gown off revealing the bandages that nearly wrapped her entire upper body. The doctor began to cut and unwrap the bandages once they were off Ryuu asked for a mirror, he handed one with a shaking arm she held it out examining the damage to her body. The small cuts and bruises on her body were almost gone but the bruising on her ribs would take a little longer to disappear, the bullet wounds on her stomach and left part of her chest had began scabbing over but the skin was still a bit red and bruised around the wound. The gash on her right side was about the same but hurt when she twisted her body, she wasn't sure if it was from the wound or her ribs. Ryuu didn't even try to look at the bullet wound on her back or the one on the back of her right shoulder she knew that they were bad she could see the large cut curve around part of her bicep. She then moved the mirror higher seeing the ragged cut across her face sighing these were just some more scars to add to the others on her body but at least these were ones she could be proud of. She handed the mirror back as the doctor began to examine the injuries while Ryuu told him to do it quickly before her friend came back not caring how rough or painful it would be. He did as she said quickly cleaning them while Ryuu hissed squeezing her eyes shut and clenching her jaw to keep from whimpering as he began redressing the wounds. Outside Ammy made her way to the medical bay carrying some cloths in her arms but before she neared the door Blore stopped her signaling her to give him the cloths , she complied handing them over she guessed Ryuu didn't want her to see her injuries but what the older Irken didn't know was that she already saw them. Before Ryuu was moved into the medical bay once her PAK had been repaired she spent the first ten days in a large room where she was hooked to a computer that's where Ammy visited her after a week so she saw her big sisters injuries, old scars and the large berserker symbol tattooed on her back since Ryuu had to lay on her stomach with no shirt so the wires could be plugged where her PAK would be. Back then the wounds that the older Irken got from her battle on Nork looked much worse. Blore took the cloths knocking on the door. Inside the doctor was finishing wrapping the last of her injuries taking out a syringe injecting it into her arm hearing the knock he walked to the door taking the cloths dropping them in Ryuu's lap before turning so his back was to her. Pushing the blanket off she made her body move so her legs dangled off the side of the bed as she started pulling on her pants, this turned out to be harder the she thought even though the doctor gave her something for the pain she still felt it a bit when she moved but managed to get the pants on. She began pulling on her shirt trying not to let the fabric touch her covered wounds, once dressed she let Blore and Ammy back in. After everyone was in the room the doctor began to speak, "Her flesh wounds look to be healing nicely theres no infection but she has two fractured ribs that will take a bit longer to heal so her recovery is going to be painful. I've given her something to ease it but only for a few hours so I'm going to proscribe some painkillers." He turned to face Ryuu, "You'll have to have some type of physical therapy Blore will take care of that." He then glanced at Blore, "When you decide to start her therapy tell me I want to check if her body can handle it if you start too soon it could reopen her wounds and possibly make them worse, but if she is well enough I'll schedule appointments to see her progress, and one more thing when beginning her treatments don't have her go into berserk mode yet her body is to weak to handle it .If she tries Ryuu could go into another coma like state we wont know when she'll wake up and if she did we don't know if we can treat her." Blore just looked at him crossing his arms before speaking, "I won't start her for a while so for now I want her to try and do things on her own to build strength back in her muscles before I start her on therapy." He gave a slight glance at Ammy before continuing, "Which means no babying her." Ryuu wasn't worried about that Blore had her do things on her own many times it was what was expected from a berserker, the doctor brought out some paper work when Blores communicator went off . He answered it humming giving short yes or no answers before hanging up, "I'm needed back at the control tower ,and I know Ryuu can't get home on her own so I'm going to allow someone to help, I ordered a soldier to take her home." Blore signed the discharge papers before he left, while the doctor gave Ryuu the medication explaining how much she should take when the pain returned, he finished speaking just as a soldier stepped into the room saluting. "I've been sent to bring you home ma'am." Ryuu nodded as the soldier moved to the bed, Ryuu pushed herself to a standing position holding on to the side of the bed her legs shaking she wasn't sure they could hold her up. Before her legs could give out the soldier slung her arm over his shoulder placing his other arm around her waist standing up straight with Ryuu leaning on him a bit. He stood still for a few moments looking down at her ,she nodded her head showing she was ready to move, he complied slowly moving to the door ,Ryuu did her best not to rely on him so much putting some weight on her own legs as they moved. Ammy took the pills the doctor proscribed following the other Irkens out the door. By the time they got to her front door Ryuu was sweating trying to catch her breath holding onto her side every deep breath caused some pain but thanks to the injection from the doctor it wasn't bad. "I think I can handle it from here." The soldier stopped looking down at her, "Are you sure?" Ryuu nodded the soldier wasn't about to argue with her he slowly released her. Ryuu stumbled before leaning against a wall the soldier watched in case she changed her mind Ammy was also looking at her with a worried expression the older Irken saw the look on her friends face giving a small smile hoping it would help. I did as Ammy gave a small smile back, the soldier saw he was no longer needed he gave a salute before walking down the hall to the elevator. Ryuu started using the walls to help move when she felt someone grab her arm, she looked down to see Ammy pull her arm over her shoulder to help support her, Ryuu tried to gently push the younger Irken away but Ammy's grip tightened as she flashed Ryuu a look. "You still can't walk by yourself so I'm going to help weather you want it or not." She wasn't use to anyone helping her when she was hurt but was too tired to fight her on this so she let her friend help, Ammy had gotten a bit stronger from the defense training she was given but Ryuu still didn't let her friend support her full weight. They entered the house Ammy set her friend on the couch grabbing a extra pillow she had Ryuu sit up placing it behind her back for support before sitting next to her. She saw her big sis was still holding onto her side with a slight look of pain on her face, she couldn't give Ryuu the pills she had already been given something for the pain before they left. That's when she got an idea; Ammy got up went inside Ryuu's room grabbing the puzzle box from her nightstand before heading into the kitchen grabbing a cookie before returning to her seat next to the older Irken. She opened up the puzzle box placing it and the cookie in Ryuu's hands, Ryuu Looked down letting the song wash over her slowly putting the cookie in her mouth smiling, "Thanks little sis." Ammy smiled giving Ryuu a small hug, "Your welcome big sis." They stayed on the couch watching TV for a while when Ryuu started to get sleepy but she didn't want to go to bed this early. "Ryuu do you want to go to sleep?" She shook her head looking back at Ammy, "No it's too early, and I've been asleep for two weeks." "True but you're falling asleep so it's off to bed now." Ryuu whined in a childish voice, "But I don't want tooooooo, and I'm older so you shouldn't be able to tell me what to do." Ammy laughed she missed her friends' childlike behavior. Eventually Ryuu gave in reluctantly letting Ammy help her to her bedroom, she only took her boot and gloves off collapsing on the bed laying on her back since it might hurt to sleep on her side or belly . Ryuu leaned into the pillows smiling the soft fabric felt good to her aching body she hadn't slept in a bed for four months and the medical bays mattresses weren't that comfy Ryuu almost instantly fell asleep not even bothering to get under the covers. Ammy put the pills and Puzzle box on the night stand next to the bed before turning off the light heading back to her own house hoping Ryuu would get better soon. Back in the control tower Blore had already contacted the Tallest telling them that Ryuu had woken up they wanted him to show her the information as soon as possible, he didn't want to do it today it would be too much for her but he had to show her soon and start her on therapy, Irk was still under threat and it could get dangerous the Tairns still thought Ryuu was dead and could attack Irk before her recovery. He never thought he'd live to see the day that Irk was in threat of being taken over; he leaned back in his chair looking over the data. Ryuu didn't know how long she had been asleep but was awoken by pain shooting through her body her flesh wounds throbbed a bit but was nothing compared to the pain in her ribs. She gripped the sheets in her fist holding her sides letting her eyes adjust to the dark slowly turning her head able to make out the faint outline of the medicine container on her nightstand ,her body still felt heavy but she manage to turn onto her side it hurt but she needed to move. She laid there for a few seconds waiting till the pain eased up with a shaking hand she reached for the container grabbing it she fumbled with the lid doing her best to remember how much she was supposed to take. She got out two pills dry swallowing them knowing she couldn't get up to get something to drink. She buried the side of her face into the pillows getting her breathing to level out her arm wrapped around her sides, she had never felt this much pain before even when she was sprayed with a high powered hose when she was nine the burns on her body back then didn't compare to this. The pain eventually vanished leaving a numb sore feeling she carefully rolled onto her back her breathing going back to normal, knowing she had to deal with this for who knows how long wasn't going to be a pleasant experience . She was still exhausted her eyes closing bringing her into a dreamless sleep.