THE CAVES Pt 4

Instructions

Sebastian came to visit Purple every day after that. Some days were definitely better than others, and on some, all he could do was sit there and listen to her cry. But at the end of the week, he could tell she was making progress. He was surprised he had started caring about her more than himself. Before, he was just trying to heal himself up and get back to the surface. But now, he wanted to make sure Purple could do the same. Two more weeks passed through the same cycle. They’d been down here for almost a month now, and people were starting to get nervous about what was happening above. But at the same time, the 40-or-so characters that were stuck down here were becoming better and better friends. Sebastian already knew almost everyone. And it’s not like life down here was horrible. Sure, it wasn’t ideal, but they’d made a pretty comfortable home. One day, Sebastian was stopped in the hall by one of the Doctor’s bodies. “Good morning, Sebastian,” he said. “Hey,” Sebastian responded. “Could I ask you a favor?” “Fire away.” “Thank you.” The Doctor gestured down the hall at Purple’s room. “I would like to see more improvement in her walking abilities by the end of the week,” he said. “You are undeniably her closest friend down here, and I would appreciate if you could help her.” “Oh- yeah, I can get that taken care of. What should I do this time?” The Doctor pulled out a map from a pocket on his cloak. “These are areas of the caves I’ve marked with moderately flat ground. Take her to any of these today and practice with her. Improvement is arbitrary in this situation- just come back when you feel you’ve done enough.” “You got it,” Sebastian said, scanning over the map before folding it back up again. The Doctor nodded. “Thank you, again.” “Of course,” Sebastian said. “Always willing to help a friend.” He slithered past the Doctor up to Purple’s room, gently pulling away the curtain. She was sleeping soundly in her bed. He quietly came into the room, waiting a few seconds before tapping her on the shoulder. “Hey, sleepyhead…” He said, quietly. Purple stirred, mumbled something indecipherable, and brought her hands up to rub her eyes. “...Hi,” she said, quietly. “Hey,” Sebastian responded. “How’d you sleep?” “Alright,” Purple said. “I got to bed late, but didn’t wake up in the middle of the night…” “That’s a step in the right direction,” Sebastian said. “How about I take you down to the cafeteria for breakfast, and then we go on a bit of an adventure? Doc wants us to try walking again today, and we’ve picked a pretty good spot to practice.” Purple’s smile faded to a look of concern. “...But… last time…” “Forget about last time,” Sebastian said. “We’d forced that on you way too soon. You weren’t ready. This time, I’m positive you are.” Purple hesitated for a second, but then nodded, sitting up in her bed and stretching her arms up to the ceiling. “There you go,” Sebastian said. “How does that feel?” Purple brought her arms down and shook them out, taking a deep breath. “It’s okay… It hurts a bit, but… Yeah, it’ll be alright.” Sebastian nodded. “Yeah, you’re ready,” he said.