Rivers Flow Through Empty Canyons Sometimes

Hitting Rock Bottom

River woke up absolutely disoriented the next afternoon. He had one of those nights of sleep when you wake up not knowing where you were or if you slept for 3 hours or 3 years.

He could hear a lot of scrambling on the bus as he started to get a bearing of his surroundings. He checked his phone to see the time and realized he severely overslept. He had to be off the bus in one minute.

He scrambled out of his bunk and pulled out some clothes. He hurried back into the bathroom. He assumed no one would be using it since the bus was empty at this point.

He was going to get shit from Nihil for being late but he would get even more shit if he wasn't presentable. He didn't know why no one woke him up. He knew most of the ghouls on the bus despised him but not even Copia tried to wake him.

He quickly got himself undressed and into the fresh clothes. He also let his hair down to brush it out. He took some time to put it back in a ponytail though. It had to look nice and not rushed. He was going as fast as he could without looking like a mess.

He hadn't eaten when he got back on the bus the night before and he couldn't eat now but he just had to push through. He'd gone days without eating before, he could do this now.

He managed to make it off the bus in only five minutes and he looked presentable as well. He would take that as a win. But he could already see Nihil standing near the venue door, glaring at him. He didn't know if he could take the shit show about to happen.

"You've finally decided to show up! You know, you have been acting out the entire time we've been gone!" There was a hint of tiredness in his anger. "Maybe I should have left you at home!"

River didn't know what possessed him but right now, he couldn't take this. He just walked right past Nihil and flipped him off on the way. He was caught off guard when his wrist was suddenly grabbed by his papa.

He didn't have time to defend himself or even retaliate before he was knocked to the floor with a punch. Yes, Nihil was a frail old man, but he somehow always found the strength to hurt him like this when he was angry.

"I shouldn't have ever treated you kindly! Now you think you can do whatever the fuck you want!" He was beyond pissed now. "I have never given a fuck about you! I will never give a fuck about you! You are a nuisance! I only keep you around because you're useful!"

River looked up at Nihil and tried not to cry. He had thought those things before but he didn't want to believe it was true. It hurt a lot hearing those words come from him.

He stood up and stared at Nihil as he tried to decide his next course of action. After a moment, he turned right around and started to walk off.

"Come back here right now! I have work for you to do!"

"Fucking do it yourself!" He turned back towards Nihil to glare at him before finally walking off for good.

He knew he was going to get it for this. He knew this was a horrible idea. He just couldn't take it right now. It felt like so much was changing for him in such a short amount of time. He kept making mistakes and he felt isolated. He couldn't even figure out how to properly interact with the ghoul he fell in love with.... The ghoul he fell in love with... Rain...

He needed to make things right with Rain and fast. He could go out and look for him now but he doubted that Rain would have time to talk with him. He couldn't just sit around the whole time though. He had to find something to do.

He decided to go out and help the crew set up. He knew they could always use an extra hand and he had height which was also a big help.

River helped all the way to lunch time and, to spite his papa, he had something to eat. The venue had provided food from some nearby burger joint. He just grabbed one of them and walked out to eat alone. He couldn't let Nihil catch him doing this.