#yayyy hekiru my awful little boy i love him so much

[ceeceetumbles]

MORE HEKIRU.

this is about him getting his cartridge - unless im dumb and missed it i dont think they ever addressed this in the canon text? so i just made something up. and if they did go over getting cartridges in the canon text and i just missed it then um this is just an au where u get cartridges like this. lol.

~~~

the cartridges had been lined up neat on the tabletop.

“choose the one that draws you to it,” the ranger overseeing him had said. she nodded towards the table, towards the thick cartridges that covered it. they looked bulky. they sat heavy in his hands.

he brushed his fingers over a few before finally settling on one in the middle of the back row. it looked kind of lonely. it made his heart sink.

“okay,” the ranger said. “good. now – see the slot at the back of your artifact?”

they’d pushed the artifact into his arms. he was afraid of it. his brain filled with pictures of himself dropping it. shattering it.

he glanced at the back of the artifact. there it was. he nodded.

“alright. it’s pretty simple. just – click it in.”

his hands shook. the other rangers watched, interested. what would it be? the spare cartridges had been thrown together into a pile and then lined up at random. what power would this nervous boy hold?

the cartridge snapped into place. they held their breaths.

the divine artifact was quiet for a moment, still and colorless.

hekiru’s heart pounded. maybe it wouldn’t work. maybe he had grabbed the one defective cartridge. maybe he was just so bad at all of this that there was something about him that would render any divine power useless.

then the artifact glowed.

the rangers cheered.

it glowed a deep blue, its tendons almost coming alive as they hummed and stretched. hekiru clenched his fists around the handle. one at the base of the blade, the other steady in the middle. he was not going to drop this thing, no matter what it did.

the artifact started to melt in his hands.

he sucked in a yelp and almost yanked his hands back to let the artifact clatter to the floor. it was melting. would it melt him??

but then he pictured the blue keeper himself shaking his head over the broken artifact. he pictured that scarred face turning to yell at him. can’t even hold a simple stick for a full five minutes, can you? you incompetent freak. you failure.

hekiru trembled. he held the artifact tighter. if it melts his hands off of his body, so be it. he will be renowned as a martyr. sacrificed his hands for the ranger cause, for the good of the people. maybe he’ll never need to actually see combat.

the thought lightened his chest a little bit. he held the scythe as tightly as he could.

���heyy,” the ranger said, impressed. “oh, nice. no one’s grabbed this one in a while.”

“w-what does it do?”

hekiru stared at the divine artifact as it dripped and oozed. the acid rolled in heavy droplets off of the sides.

“it’s a powerful solvent. eats through just about anything.”

hekiru, stunned, watched as the droplets pooled on the floor. they hissed as they ate through the concrete, leaving little dents behind.

“wow,” he mumbled.

“very powerful. very cool.”

his eyes fell back to the dripping acid on the artifact itself. it was running down the length of the scythe’s handle onto his arm, he noted.

onto his arm.

his eyes widened in shock and horror at the sight of it. the feel of it. he recoiled, choking on his own spit. his arm was going to burn off. his arm was going to burn off.

he squeezed his eyes tight.

but there was nothing. no burning. no scent of roasting flesh.

he carefully peeked at his arm.

no burning.

instead, the droplets had continued their descent. they ran down the length of his forearm and oozed off at the elbow.

his entire body, hekiru realized, was dripping. just like the artifact. they were one and the same. he was melting, too.

he stood still. he could feel it, he noticed, now that he knew to pay attention. he could feel the gloopy droplets beading up on his skin. he could feel them rolling down his sides and collecting at his fingertips until they dripped off.

the ranger said something else. hekiru couldn’t hear her. his heart was thudding and his blood ran quick through his ears.

he shifted the scythe and watched the droplets swerve with it.

he could use this. he could burn things. he could melt anything that tried to block his path. he could clear his way with this power. he saw his future, for a moment: fresh and bright. nothing could stop him anymore.

his chest heaved. he laughed.

the ranger smiled at him.