Prushka

"Prushka"

- You know, my name... "Prushka" means "the flower of dawn". Papa named me that! Hey, Riko... Have you ever seen a dawn?

Prushka (プルシュカ) is the adoptive daughter of the White Whistle Delver, Bondrewd. She was born in The Abyss and, as such, has never been to the surface. Although she no longer has a human form, her soul carries on with the delving squad Hello Abyss, in the form of a White Whistle.

Appearance
Prushka is a young girl with short white and green curly hair and glowing red eyes. Her attire appears to be somewhat influenced by the clothing of diving suits. She wears a green coat and gloves on top of a white shirt, as well as a big hat on her head she almost never removes. A portion of her right ear is missing, though it is obscured by her hair.

Prushka has an alternative outfit, shown in the cover of Volume 5 and during her appearances where she can communicate with Riko. She wears a set of goggles on her belt as well as some bags. Her hat is equipped with a lantern, like that of a delver's helmet. She wears a striped shirt with vertical lines and a mantle over it.

Personality
Prushka is a cheerful and amiable girl who loved her adoptive father very much. She is incredibly devoted to him, and would do anything to help him, holding him in a higher regard than anyone else. Having lived the majority of her life in the 5th Layer, she developed a strong curiosity for exploring and was fascinated by tales of others travels through the Abyss. She is adventurous and quite brave, going on her own adventures through the 5th Layer behind her father's back.

She is also very honest, and placed a great value on her friendship with Riko. She was surprisingly talkative, easily forming relationships with other people and showing no signs of insecurity or shyness despite not having ever been around others her age. Due to her horrible past and the influence of her father, she developed an amazing mental fortitude and became very obstinate to the point of being willing to challenge the curse of the 5th Layer multiple times just to learn more about it.

Early Life
Prushka is the daughter of an "Umbra Hand", the Black Whistle subordinates of the legendary Delver Bondrewd. As a toddler, Prushka was caught in an accident while being transported through the 5th Layer. She survived but was subjected to the curse of the 5th Layer and as a result, she suffered severe physical and mental trauma.

One of Bondrewd's subordinates, a Black Whistle named Gueira, attempted to heal her but to no avail. He considered the possibility of simply killing her - as she was currently of no use and was only suffering - until Bondrewd himself approached her. The White Whistle hugged her and declared that she would be his daughter, giving her the name Prushka.

Some time passed where Prushka's mind remained just as unstable, hiding alone in dark areas between walls. Often, she would have panic attacks and display fits of hysteria. One day, Bondrewd gifted her a small creature called a Meinastilim. The previously frantic Prushka slowly started approaching the strange animal with a dubious curiosity, and started showing signs of affection with it, naming it Meinya. Overjoyed with the first signs of recovery on his new daughter, Bondrewd declared that the day would be her birthday, signifying a new start for her.

After some time, Prushka saw notable improvements and behaved almost like a regular girl. One day when playing with Meinya, she accidentally climbed some stairs and was hit by the curse of the 5th Layer, resulting in her receiving grievous wounds. Despite the horrible experience, Prushka's mind was able to recover much more quickly than before, though her hair ended up permanently curled.

She spent the following years in Ido Front collaborating with anyone she could, and occasionally venturing outside with Bondrewd, carrying out explorations through the 5th Layer together.

Ido Front Arc
Prushka greeted Riko, Reg, and Nanachi as they arrived at Ido Front. She quickly formed a strong bond with Riko, despite them only being there for a very short time. As she helped the three escape on a boat, Prushka exclaimed that she wanted to go adventuring with Riko, Reg, and Nanachi.

But before this could happen, Bondrewd turned her into one of his Cartridges. Due to her devotion, she took the burden of the curse so that Bondrewd could receive the Blessing of the Abyss. Despite this, her desire to join Riko was so great that she thought about her all while receiving the curse, and her remains transformed into a Life Reverberating Stone, which Riko then took as her White Whistle.

Iruburu Arc
Prushka, now as a Life Reverberating Stone, is in Riko's possession, and travels with them throughout the 6th Layer.

While in the Narehate Village she is taken to be worked on by a specialist, Poriyon, who can bring out the best of her qualities as a White Whistle. Once completed, Prushka feels much more clear to Riko.

In the fight against the Fuzosheppu, as Riko desperately thinks of a way to save everyone she sees an image of Prushka telling her to blow her whistle.

After an exchange of blows in the battle between Reg and Faputa, Reg instructs Riko to blow her whistle. This triggers an activation in Reg resulting in him emitting a white glow with enhanced speed. Faputa curses at Riko for using Prushka against her and reveals it was her who instructed Gaburoon to bring the stone into the village. It was in order to test if the bond between Riko and Prushka was truely genuine as well as in hope of bringing Reg to the village because she thought it would trigger his memories to come back.

When Reg starts his battle against the Turbinid-Dragons he signals Riko to blow her whistle which she does and passes out after doing so.

The Curse Fleet Arc
While the group is asleep during their travels, Riko is able communicate with Prushka in what appears to be a realm of subconsciousness. Prushka tries to establish communication with Doni but informs Riko she is unable to do so. The two change topic and talk about Reg, Faputa and Wazukyan's goals. Then, Prushka notices someone is trying to wake Riko and both say their goodbyes to meet again another time.

Basic Medical Knowledge
Having lived with a legendary Delver for years, Prushka is quite knowledgeable of many things. She's well-versed in human anatomy and medicine, and is capable of treating lesser wounds quickly and efficiently. With the help of her pet, Meinya, she figured out a way to climb the stairs in Ido Front even while suffering the sensory-deprivation curse of the 5th Layer, indicating that she has a pretty clever mind and her memory was good enough to memorize Meinya's movements.

She appears to lack fighting ability, as she hasn't displayed any feats of strength and, when leaving Idofront, she would be escorted by members of the Praying Hands.

Drawing out the true power of Relics
After becoming a whistle, Prushka is able to activate ancient devices, as seen with the Altar of the Absolute Boundary, as well as draw out the true power of Relics, as seen with Reg.

Communication with the Whistle owner
As a whistle, Prushka is able to communicate with Riko on a subconscious level to the point of them having full discussions. She is also able to experience events via Riko's senses to the point of experiencing food Riko eats.

Quotes

 * (To Riko, Nanachi, and Reg) "Are you Papa's guests? Quite small, aren't you."


 * (To Riko) "What's with you, so suddenly... He's the best dad ever! He taught me a lot of things."
 * (To Riko) "What's a penis?... Ah! you mean like Papa's Rod!"
 * (To Riko) "No matter how dark the darkness of the netherworld gets, you'll be fine. You'll brighten it up, after all. Riko, push forward!"
 * (To Riko) "Call... Call me."


 * (To Bondrewd) "Papa... Please, reply to me... Papa... Please... Don't leave me... Papa..."
 * (To Bondrewd) "Papa... I... want to see... the dawn..."
 * (To Bondrewd) "So, Papa.. Just one thing.. Can I ask just one thing of you? I.. You know, I.. I want you to make peace with Riko and her friends."

Trivia

 * Prushka's name was given to her by Bondrewd and means "Flower of Dawn".
 * Prushka can be transcribed to Plushka, which is a Russian cinnamon bun.
 * Volume 5, features a bonus illustration featuring Prushka if she had received the Blessing instead of being packed into a cartridge.
 * While Riko is talking to Prushka about Reg, she gets confused as to what a "penis" is. To which she then exclaims, "Ah! You mean like Papa's Rod!". Prushka is referring to "A rod which is used to become a papa", which she learned from Bondrewd while dissecting an animal.
 * The changes to Prushka's outfit in her whistle apparition, when she appears to Riko, stem form it being Riko's image of what Prushka would wear if they went on an adventure together.
 * The band "indigo la End" released a song titled "Prushka" from their album Aishuengeki. The lyrics make multiple references to the sequence of events surrounding Prushka's death.