Ninth Dream: When you fall down... [Action]

[rainsrespite]

Home/Streets:

[It's been a few days now, since the conflict ended and Yuuna returned home. She'd kept the dojo closed and taken a brief leave from her Ranger duties to recooperate. Mentally, she wasn't sure that was going to be enough time, but she had responsibilities and duties. It didn't help that she was hesitant to broach anything with Merrill that didn't involve cuddling, but more than once she'd woken up in a cold sweat. Not that she didn't think her lover wouldn't understand, she just refused to burden anyone else with her problems. Not even Merrill, especially not with how the Dalish woman had reacted to the incident. She'd be there to help, to talk if needed, but she wasn't going to push. She'd be there, Yuuna'd be there, and life would go on. Life had to go on at home, time would help heal the trauma, and that was all there was to it.

That not wanting to burden anyone didn't entirely extend to her Pokemon though, as the ones that couldn't read her thoughts? Knew something was off. Yuuna wasn't taking them on runs, or pushing them to train, and eventually she's forced out of the house at Poison Point. And she has to admit, her partners are right, but that doesn't mean she has to want to go out and be social.

Which prompts a very, very odd sight: Yuuna being dragged through the streets of Union by a gaggle of Pokemon. A Bagon, Gible, and Jigglypuff all riding on a Rhyhorn's back pushing her alone while a Hitmonchan is literally dragging her down towards her dojo. And while all this is going on? A Spoink is merrily bouncing on her head...]

Yashio's Dojo:

[Once she finally does get in the door and gets into a rhythm, things become a lot simpler. There's her fists, all wrapped up with thick strips of cloth, and there's a bag. That's it. Just the bag. Her focus narrows, her fists fly hard. One two. One two. One two...wham...and with a particularly weighty punch her knuckle manages to puncture the lining. With a growl, she steps back and just starts kicking it, vicious and precise strikes that drain the rice grains out of it onto the floor.]

Drop! You stupid thing! Just...go down!

The Park:

[And finally, she ends up that evening in the park where she'd first had that meal with Merrill. Her Pokemon have realized that training is not going to help, and they've basically shoved her down and several are quite literally sitting on her. A Sylveon is just flopped over on her chest, while a Spiritomb hovers protectively around her head (ready to snatch up any nasty thoughts), and that same Spoink is bouncing up and down on her stomach, squeaking in delight. The rest of the assembled Pokepals are all close at hand, doing things like playing with sticks or all the fighting types putting on a breakdance show, trying to get trainer to laugh.

She's doing that, of course, but to an outsider? This might look a little absurd.]

Comments

the streets!

[roadsprings]

[ Bilbo's on his way to go shopping - goodness knows his pantry needs restocking - when he catches sight of Yuuna. well, truth be told, it was the bouncing Spoink that caught his attention to begin with. it's not often you see one of those hoppypigs bouncing somewhere above head height, after all. he watches the scene, nonplussed, for a short instant, not sure whether he ought to laugh or not, before he decides to approach the bizarre-looking group. it's been a while, after all. ]

Well. Good morning to you all - now, you must forgive me for asking, but am I witnessing the start of some form of bizarre kidnapping incident, here?

[ he looks and sounds utterly bemused, but there's a twinkle to his eye. ]

[rainsrespite]

[Look, Bilbo, she's not always caught in bizarre situations or getting high. Really, honest...but inwardly she groans, and outwardly she blushes a bit and slips free of Gouken. Or he lets her go because it involves conversation.]

Something like that, Bilbo. [The Spoink doesn't stop, of course, it just...giggles piggishly and twinkles it's eyes right back down at Bilbo.]

They decided that I just had to get out of the house today or something.

[The assembled monsters all nod. And the general sense of them is that they're worried about her, because she's been sitting around too much since last week. And they're bored.]

[roadsprings]

Ah. A touch of cabin fever, is that it?

[ he catches that sense loud and clear, and it makes his gaze slightly sharper with concern of his own. now that he thinks of it... Yuuna had been at Sanctuary, now hadn't she? was this something to do with that? ]

Well, I must say that you all make quite a sight, dragging your poor Trainer through the streets like this. [ shifting his attention back from the Pokemon to Yunna, he adds: ] Still, I - I can imagine that they only mean well, really.

[rainsrespite]

[Images, especially from Hitmonchan, float up of a far away city. He'd been there, he'd boxed with those things, and he was just as bothered.]

Apparently so. [All the Pokemon, when addressed? Stop and look at Bilbo, nodding. The Jigglypuff expands a bit, and gives her trainer a good sock on the arm. For old times sake.

She gets swatted for her effort, but not hard. Little pest.]

And I guess so. I haven't really been out much since I got back. Just to the shop, really.

[roadsprings]

[ Bilbo frowns absently at the images he's receiving. he hadn't been unfortunate enough to have faced any of those poor creatures himself (the Enhanced in the tunnels had been bad enough), but just hearing about them second-hand had made him deeply unsettled.

the uniform nodding coupled with Yuuna's words, though - ah, he'd thought so. trying to get her mind off it.

lightly: ] I thought it had been some time since I saw you last. Is... is everything alright?

[ a silly question, and he knows it, but he doesn't know how else to broach the subject while still giving her a chance to shy away from it, should she wish to. ]

[rainsrespite]

[She takes a breath, long and steadying, and exhales. A practiced motion, a way to calm her nerves and her breathing.]

A few weeks, yeah. Had to...get ready and all that.

[She gives Bilbo a look, a curious one. That question was an odd one, given that she knows he's smart enough to have worked it out. And likely even more apparent since Merrill hadn't been herself lately either, and Bilbo knew them both.]

As for my well-being. Sorry if I've not been around the library, I didn't want to make it all gloomy. But to tell you the truth? I'm not sure, Bilbo. [Because lying? and not talking about things? Was just going to make it worse. And she trusts Bilbo Baggins. He just has one of those faces, and after the incident where he'd made sure she didn't do anything stupid while dealing with berries? The trust cam easier.]

[roadsprings]

Oh now, really-- [ he waves a hand dismissively at the library comment. ] --frankly, bebother the library, that's far from the real point here.

[ the bluster that was in that comment evaporates almost instantly once he says that, though, replaced with something a little more gentle, if awkwardly so. ] Would you, that is - do you want to talk about it? I heard about that... nasty business, that happened while I was scrabbling about down in the tunnels, and if you think it may help...

[rainsrespite]

Do you...actually want to talk about it Bilbo? [She swallows hard.] It's...a pretty ugly thing. Ugly enough that it's upset Merrill too. [And you two are close, she knows that.]

Talking though, I mean I haven't with anyone yet. But I don't want to impose.

[roadsprings]

Everything about what happened in that city that night was ugly. With only the possible exception being that we managed to do what we came for.

[ and even then, he has his doubts. he sighs shortly. ] Look, I will not lie to you, part of me wants nothing to do with it, but... you are my friend, and this is clearly hurting you. Talking to me would be the last thing I would consider an imposition.

[rainsrespite]

[With that confirmation, Yuuna takes another deep breath and nods.]

Then...let's do it over tea. My friend runs a tea-shop just around the corner. And if you're going to listen to me, want to or no...friend or no, the least I can do is buy you a drink. Because I am immensely grateful.

[roadsprings]

Tea does sound like a fine idea. Very well, you lead on, if you will, and I'll follow.

[rainsrespite]

[And without another word, she will do just that, leading them to a small and out of the way shop on a corner. It's a little shabby, but in that homey sort of way, and the exterior has a porch for sitting with buzzers to call over a waitress.

Which she does, and orders tea and biscuits and poffins for the Pokemon.]

Okay...so, I guess honestly first question: What do you know, about what's going on?

[roadsprings]

[ the homey-ness of it all puts him a little more at ease as he settles into his chair, honestly; a good choice. he thinks he'll need that homey quality to ground him for the conversation to follow.

his brow crinkles in a small frown. ]

Not much, I will admit. If it is wholly to do with Sanctuary, I only know what was in the report released to everyone involved afterwards. Those... homunculi, was it?

[rainsrespite]

Homunculi was the word I heard tossed around, yes.

[She sits, just...sits, for a moment after that statement. She's not really sure how to proceed but eventually she manages a question.]

D'you know what they were?

[roadsprings]

Something similar to the Enhanced, weren't they? People who were - who were changed, somehow, by those magi. Changed and... controlled by them?

[ the uncertainty in his voice isn't just from not being sure of his answer. mostly, it borders on uncomfortable disgust for the whole concept. ]

[rainsrespite]

Similar, yeah.

[She pulls a face, head shaking uncomfortably.]

But not completely. See, Enhanced? Still have more will of their own than not. I didn't get that feeling from the Homunculi. They seemed mindless, like...I dunno. Shells. Not like, say, when a Pokemon uses powers on things to temporarily control them...but like they just didn't have any free will left.

[roadsprings]

[ Bilbo's frown seems to have entrenched itself on his face until she finishes, when he screws it up and lets out a breath, leaning back for a moment. ]

Saviour.

[ ... and here comes the fridge horror. ] ... Then the magi, they - oh, no, they must have been using them like weapons!

[rainsrespite]

[Yuuna nods, a slow and unhappy one. Her eyes are firmly fixed on the cup below and her hands twitch, curling inward in frustration.]

They were. They'd mutilated those people, gave them hooks or claws for hands, and had them attack Gigan soldiers. And when we objected? Us.

[roadsprings]

[ in lieu of answering immediately, Bilbo just shakes his head speechlessly and takes a drink of tea, not even sure what to say. gods, he'd expected something horrific, but expecting something doesn't make it any easier to hear. ]

I'm sorry. I can't even begin to imagine what that must have been like.

[rainsrespite]

[Yuuna's quiet too, taking a long drink from her own cup while she lets Bilbo collect himself.]

It's...fine. It is what it is, and it's over now. It won't happen again, if we have any say in the matter.

[And she believes rather fervently that Union will stop it.]

What's really bugging me is Merrill. She...seems to think that people will confuse what she does for the same thing. Since it's magic from blood.

[roadsprings]

[ Bilbo, for his part, believes well enough that Union will try its best to stop it. whether or not Sanctuary's magi will let them is another matter.

his fingers, which had been nervously and softly tapping the side of his teacup, stop abruptly. ]

What-- is that what has been bothering her? [ he looks aghast. ] Anyone who talks to her for more than five seconds would know she'd never do something like that.

[rainsrespite]

[And as for herself, Yuuna believes they will stop, if only because Gigas is right there, poised to strike.]

It is...[Yuuna nods in confirmation.] Anyone who so much as looks at her can tell that. I mean, I told her as much myself, but she's still worried. Because let's be honest...people do react out of fear.

What do you think? I mean, is there some way we can show her that nobody's afraid of her? Because seriously, she's harmless and just...it's doing my head in worrying about her. She's barely spoken in a week.

[roadsprings]

There has to be something we can do. I mean, we can't just leave her worrying, not about something like this. I don't know... [ a brief, wry smile crosses his face. ] We could always try and coax her out for long enough to see that people aren't running away from her screaming in the streets. Or-- she's with the Seekers, isn't she? Surely she must have friends or, or colleagues, there, who know she's harmless as much as you or I do.

[rainsrespite]

She does have friends in the Seekers, yeah. And apparently made friends with a kid from Sanctuary recently too. [Yuuna manages a half smile.] But I like the idea of getting her out of the house. Maybe another short trip, if you're up to it?

[roadsprings]

As a matter of fact, I rather find that I am. Seems I've picked up a taste for short trips, recently. [ he manages a crooked smile back. ] Though I beg of you, let's try and make this one free of any hallucinatory experiences.