Previously in NWC-
Reno discovers that Medusa is a heavy sleeper. Reno begins practicing swordplay, openly admitting he has no clue what he's doing. Reno and Luna argue again! Medusa, thinking they were playing, decides to join in, smiting Reno with the unmatched power of nature and causing him to be thrown several feet as a result . He looks under his shirt to find the largest bruise he's ever had...
Luna watches in silence. After Reno closes his eyes, she slowly drifts over to Medusa. "Medusa, sweetie?"
"Muh?" Medusa turns her attention to Luna.
"(Goodness, no wonder Reno couldn't bring himself to admonish her, she's far too adorable.)" Luna works up the courage and speaks, her voice clear and concise as she talks slowly. "Medusa. What you did was very wrong." Medusa's smile disappears and she looks guilty once more. "(Why do I feel like the bad guy here?!)" Hardening her resolve, Luna powers through. "You hurt Reno, Medusa. I know it was not your intention, but it's the consequences of your actions." Medusa's face turns to one of shock as she hears that she hurt Reno. "You have to be gentler with other living beings, okay? Reno, and even myself in my current state, are not meant to handle that level of playing, okay?" Medusa's expression continues to darken as the weight of her actions bear down upon her.
"Ree…" Medusa looks over at Reno who's face is scrunched in pain as he silently sits against the tree. Overwhelmed with guilt, Medusa's eyes begin to well up, quickly overflowing.
"(Just perfect. What an utterly terrible way to find out she's capable of crying.)" Luna watches as Medusa slowly slides over to Reno, crying. "(Mother Universe, what am I going to do with these two?)" Luna watches as Medusa approaches Reno, presumably apologizing. Not wanting Medusa to mistakenly harm him more, she decides to step in. "Medusa, sweetie, come here." Medusa turns around and nervously returns to Luna. "Reno is a bit tired now, so you should give him a little bit of space, okay?" Medusa wipes her eyes with one of her vines and nods her head, slowly going and sitting on the other side of the FTG. "It's not even lunch and one of us is dying and another having a mental breakdown… this does not bode well." Luna looks back and forth between the two before finally sighing and going to check on Reno.
"Daa…" Medusa occasionally glances behind her at Reno and Luna, her guilt growing with each and every time. She suddenly gets an idea and grabs a nearby piece of wood, using her vines to quickly chisel it out. Within a half hour she's made a bowl, coating it with her purple liquid to give it a shine reminiscent of actual wood polish. She leans her head over the bowl, letting her purple liquid slowly seep out and fill the bowl. Afterwards, she runs back to Reno, her face once again bright with excitement as she holds the bowl above her head. Before Luna could react, Medusa puts the bowl up to Reno's mouth.
"Huh? You brought me something to drink, Medusa? That was nice of you." Reno forces a weak smile as he willingly accepts the liquid, not aware of what it was.
"Reno, n-" Luna, finally noticing the color of the liquid, tries to stop him. Unfortunately for her, she's too late to react. Reno begins to drink the purple liquid by the mouthful, his eyes shooting open with surprise.
"Mffph-!" His eyes shoot open and body begins to twitch with disgust. His weakened body is unable to do anything as Medusa feeds him the liquid, the liquid rolling down his face as he tries not to swallow anymore. He ends up drinking over 90 percent of the liquid by the time Medusa is done. Reno's body begins twitching and seizing up as he falls over again, his voice only capable of making sounds of disgust.
"Reee!" Medusa happily waves the empty bowl around as she watches Reno.
Reno quickly pushes himself up, jumping to his feet. "I need water!" He quickly begins running around, before finally falling to his knees. "It's so damn gross!"
"Wha-" Luna watches in complete disbelief as Reno seemingly recovers instantly. "Reno!"
"What?!" Reno looks over, yelling.
"You're fine!"
Reno's eyes widen with surprise as he realizes the truth to her statement. He pulls his shirt up to see that his bruise was still more than present but his pain had all but disappeared. "No way! That purple stuff must be like a pain killer!" He pokes his stomach, getting slightly concerned. "I… don't feel it."
"That's wonderful!"
"No, like, I don't feel it. My stomach, it's numb." He continues to poke his stomach, becoming slightly concerned with the lack of feeling from it.
"Perhaps the liquid contains anesthetics which is preventing you from feeling pain?"
Reno quickly turns to Medusa who's shaking with anticipation. "Medusa, that's amazing!" Medusa throws her arms up in excitement and runs circles around Reno, sheering happily.
Luna watches with concern. "Reno, I believe it would be best to rest, maybe even for a couple of days."
Reno stops chasing Medusa around and looks at Luna with confusion. "Why? The pain is gone. I don't feel anything."
"Because, anesthesia doesn't just magically heal you. It blocks your brain from receiving signals from your nerves which causes a lack of pain for a varying period of time based upon the strength of the anesthesia. You're still injured, and the pain will return in due time, worse if you don't rest!"
Finally calming down, Reno begins to contemplate Luna's words. "Fine, I guess I don't really want to risk getting hit in the stomach again anyway. I'll start figuring out what we're going to do about the campout tonight."
Luna's demeanor shifts entirely. She speaks with excitement upon hearing Reno's decision. "Yes! I had forgotten about that with all of the excitement! We should begin making a shelter to sleep under tonight!"
"I thought we were just gonna sleep on the ground."
Luna's excitement immediately disappears, replaced with utter bewilderment. "What?! Camping is supposed to be a fun event where people use nature to craft a small shelter to protect themselves from the elements! Then, once you've made your shelter you're supposed to move on to other fun activities such as telling stories and singing songs!" Luna's voice quickens as she progresses, her disappointment in Reno taking control of her. "You can't just sleep on the ground! That's not camping, that's being homeless! What kind of imbecile would be given such a prime camping ground just to 'sleep on the ground'?!"
Reno stands there, entirely caught off guard at Luna's reaction. He lets her vent, mostly due to the fear of what would happen if he interrupted her. Finally, after Luna finishes, he speaks. "Okay, okay. You could have just said you didn't wat to sleep on the ground. You didn't have to go off on me like that." He scratches the back of his head as he looks around for good shelter building materials.
Luna manages to calm herself, letting out a quick frustrated huff before cooling off. "I'm sorry, Reno. I was just looking forward to camping, and I allowed my emotions to get the better of me."
"It's okay. I get it."
Luna waits for Reno to continue, but he doesn't. "That's it?"
Reno's eyebrows scrunch with confusion. "What do you mean? I accepted your apology. What else am I supposed to do? Gaslight you?"
"No! I just… you would normally ruin the moment by saying something entirely unnecessary."
"I mean, I can if you want me to."
"No, no. This is fine." The two begin their search for large branches and branches with leaves on them. Medusa, curious at first, decides to go back to her project that she'd put on hold. After roughly an hour of searching, Reno and Luna have put together enough supplies to make a shelter. "This should suffice, don't you think?"
"I wouldn't know. Most people use tents in my world, not this super survival level stuff. Hell, I would see more people using camper trailers than anything. They aren't camping at all! Being in a confined space in a little fabric structure that gets blown away with the slightest gust of wind when you don't put it together is all part of the fun!" Reno slowly begins putting the larger branches in a rectangular form, serving as the main unit. Luna and Reno work together to discuss the plans for their little shelter, pitching and discussing ideas. It takes them some time before they finally manage to get all the wood to stay, but they slowly complete it. Happy with the size, Reno begins placing the thinner branches across the top, making it look as good as possible. By the time noon has come around, he's managed to make their first shelter. It's not pretty, but in terms of what's available to them, it's the best they could ask for. "I'm going to be completely honest," he steps back, admiring their work, "This turned out much better than I thought it would." Satisfied, he wanders over to check on Medusa. Finally, re realizes what she's making. "No way!" He rushes and procures the barrel Kent had given him to use for making stocks and takes it to Medusa. "Here, try this Medusa!"
"Muh?" Medusa looks up and takes the pipe out of curiosity. She fiddles with it before finally figuring out where to put it. It takes a bit of effort, but she's able to slide the barrel in.
"Medusa, that's amazing! How'd you even know what to make?!" Medusa looks up at Reno, her eyes bright from his praise. She points at one of her vines and then at Reno's head. "Wait… did you… did you read my mind?!"
TO BE CONTINUED...