Triste lowered herself into the sub after Vergil and closed the hatch behind her, eyes narrowing as she took in the interior of the craft. "Cosy..." Her voice echoed tinnily amongst the claustrophobic mass of levers, wheels and buttons.
Glancing around, she made her way over to the uncomfortable pilot's seat and buckled herself in. At Vergil's question, she looked over and smiled sardonically. "Oh, sure. Though I did skip out on most of the classes. Which one's the brake again?" Checking to make sure she knew where all the controls were, she nodded. "Alright... now or never. You ready?" Waiting until Vergil had secured himself, Triste raised a hand and threw back the lever that kept them suspended in the cradle. Triste felt a brief rush, her heart rushing up into her throat as the submersible dropped down, then a jolt as the craft hit the surface of the water.
External light rapidly began to fade as the sub sank deeper into the sea, further from the docking point. As darkness started to settle over them, Triste hit the lights and the interior was illuminated in a bright, artificial glow. Swallowing, she turned to look at Vergil. "Alright, let's go." In front of her, through the window, the craft's headlight beams cut through the inky blackness, two insignificant cones of light in the gloom.
------------------------------------------
Rio looked over his shoulder and nodded at Emilena. "Coming!" He was crouched in front of Foley, pressing the strip of gauze against the man's head as firmly as he could. He wasn't exactly a doctor, but even he could tell from Foley's pale skin and shivering that he wasn't doing so hot. Gently taking his hand, Rio pushed it up against the gauze and took his own away slowly. "I've gotta go for a second, but you have to keep the pressure on it, okay? And whatever you do, don't fall asleep asleep, or I'll kick your ass." Waiting for a moment to make sure Foley's hand didn't fall away, Rio pushed himself up and quickly hopped over to Emilena.
Drawing close, the boy grimaced as he saw the large section of flesh flapped back across her leg. "Aw... shit. Alright, I'm... I'll do it." He could feel himself getting light-headed as he stared at the raw, exposed flesh, but he bit his tongue, forcing himself back into the moment. You can't afford to be a fucking pussy now!
Bending, he picked up the shoelace and looked at it. The plastic part at the end would make it easier to poke through, and luckily the material wasn't too thick. It wouldn't exactly be a walk in the park though. Letting out a breath, Rio looked Emilena in the eyes. "I'll try and be quick..." Taking up the katana, he angled the point towards the skin adjacent from where Flora had already cut. It poked through with no resistance, and as Emilena howled in pain he gritted his teeth, fighting back the bile in his throat. Putting the weapon back down, he held the shoelace tightly between trembling fingers and tried to carefully push the lace through the cuts. He missed, and the hard plastic point scraped against the pink meat beneath her bloodstained fur. This time, Emilena wretched, and jerked her leg back instinctively.
"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!" Rio cried out, his voice cracking. He held on tightly to her limb so it wouldn't move anymore. "I'll get it this time, I swear!" Trying to steady his shaking fingers, he prodded the lace forwards again, and this time it poked through the hole with only a little resistance. Ignoring Emilena's screaming and squealing, he determinedly kept working, pushing the next flap of skin. The whole procedure took several minutes, of stabbing through her flesh, and drawing the lace through. By the end, Rio was covered in a film of sweat, and his ears were ringing from the screams. Finally, he wrenched the shoelace through the last hole and pulled it tightly, fastening the sliced skin flap firmly against her leg. He sat back, exhausted, his hands coated in her blood. "I... I think it's done. Is it done?" From the state of her limb, he couldn't tell by sight if he'd helped or just made things worse.
