bravenewworld | Departure

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Departure

The time has come.

At General Ironborn’s direction, the assorted troops of Caldera, Citadel, Refuge, and Union begin to roll out of the gates of the city. It would be a long trip – Sanctuary lay far to the west of Caldera, beyond any of the territory currently known to Union. Crossing the perhaps now-familiar desert would be merely the first leg of this journey. The atmosphere, as they depart from the gates, seems chipper. There are high hopes for the reclamation of territory from Gigas, and the people of the Sanctuary Resistance, especially, begin to entertain the appealing notion that their city might be free once more for the first time in decades, exchanging wide smiles and congenial laughter.

They do not travel light, of course. Caravans pulled by Ponyta and Tauros accompany them, stocked to the brim with food and supplies to last their small army for weeks. Their efforts hopefully wouldn’t last much longer than that, but they are assured by the Sanctuary natives that so long as they were able to reclaim a portion of the city, the people would happily provide them with what they needed. Other wagons are stocked with odd-looking machinery and gadgets – those sitting inside will spend the majority of the journey fiddling with equipment. Anyone who inquires will be informed that the technicians are making preparations to highjack Sanctuary’s communications network for their missions – perhaps they would care to assist? Still others are filled with armor and weaponry, useful Enhanced Items hurriedly crafted by the artisans of Union, and a few even tote heavier Pokémon who wouldn’t be up to the task of traveling the distance alone.

As it turns out, war is very troublesome to wage.

Over the course of the journey, there is plenty of time for idle conversation and brief side excursions or rest stops. The caravan eventually elongates and stretches out such that the furthest travelers are several miles in front of the rear – still, it is simple enough to go between wagons. In a pinch, the Valkyries swooping in the sky are always happy to take on a passenger for a short ride.

Eventually, word would spread that they were only a day’s travel from Sanctuary, and the mood will become somber, serious. But in the meantime, why not chat up your fellow travelers?

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[ That works out, Haruka supposes. It does indeed ensure Michiru will never be bored.

The Pokémon she's on, however, lifts its head and gives a mighty yawn. Haruka nudges it with a foot - easy there, buddy. They've got a while still to go.

But the sun is dipping towards the horizon... ] We should be stopping soon.

[ It's sundown. Do you know where your Roselia is?? ]

[Michiru sits back, looking around at their surroundings.]

I suppose a good campsite is too much to ask for.

[she doesn't seem at all worried about her Pokemon. If nothing else, she has the utmost faith in Waltz.]

[ Well, from the looks of things, their options are desert, desert, and....hm. Desert. Haruka laughs. ] You sound like a rich lady.

[ As opposed to a travel-hardened veteran of multiple apocalypse-preventing quest campaigns!

...Who also happens to be a rich lady. Sssh. ]

[her voice has taken on a teasing tone] Was it that obvious?

[though she has - thus far - refrained from thinking about the hour long bath she plans on taking when they get back]

[ will this be this another of those baths that's better with company...

Haruka just grins, but is stopped (spared?) from replying by noticing a ripple effect passing down the caravan: word has gotten out to start bunking down for the night, in order to give the Pokémon a rest. So she pats her yawning mount and steers the wagon out to find a decent campsite.

She prefers the fringes. That way they'll be on the front lines if anything discovers them. ] Bedtime. Pick a rock.

[perhaps they should find out...

That gets a quiet sigh from her. Though she's still grateful they're not in a cave.] Do you count?

[no, but she's actually looking around. If they want to camp away from the caravan...] That outcropping over there, on the lee side. [with that bit of foliage. With the dropping temperatures, any cover beyond the wagon itself should be welcome.]

[ ....Smart pick. But she knew her partner was clever. Haruka heads for the indicated area. ] As milady wishes.

[ So were you calling her your mattress or were you calling her a rock? ~~Not that Haruka has anything against rocks. Rhyhorn, for example, are magnificent creatures.~~ ]

[Michiru just chuckles and will gracefully descend when the wagon rolls to a stop. Can't it be both?

As she stretches, Waltz Teleports in, looking disgruntled and carrying Lulu under one arm. Lulu, on the other hand, looks extremely excited, if smudged with dirt. And the Grass type is holding tightly onto a ball of tumbleweed bigger than she is.]

Did you chase that down? Rose!

[Waltz sets down the other Pokemon and suppresses an eyeroll.]

[ Sorry, Waltz: Haruka thinks this is cute, so once she's got this caravan stopped and this Pokémon unhitched and she's fetched it a bucket of water from a supply cart to thank it for a job well done, she bends over to get a better look at Lulu's prize. ] He'll like that. We'll have to find a spot in storage.

[ They should probably indulge these moments while they still have time. War is coming - or, well, they're bringing the war. ]

[Lulu beams, holding up the tumbleweed for the humans to inspect. Michiru takes it, looks it over gravely, and then carefully hands it back to the Pokemon.] Perfect. It's very evocative of the desert.

[Lulu hops happily, holds it up once more for Waltz to admire, and then makes her way to the back of the wagon so she could squeeze it in somewhere.

Michiru just chuckles quietly.] We might as well be prepared to bring back a cactus as well.

I hope we have room. [ A desert-themed play would have very easy sets, though. Haruka isn't sure she's keen on wearing, say, Calderan costumes, but...whatever. In the long run, it doesn't really matter.

Want some water? She brought back their whole allotment for the evening. ]

We'll make sure it's a small one.

[a quiet murmur of thanks as she takes a sip of water. Being able to make her own water is all well and good, but she's more likely to save that for dire situations.

She offers a canteen to Waltz, and then reaches into the wagon for their camping supplies. Splitting up these tasks is second nature by now.]

[ Haruka's grabbing everything needed to make a fire - food first. Her Ninjask appears out of nowhere, obeying a silent summons. Her Pokémon will eat one at a time.

Ninjask, however, notices that Haruka needs to dig a fire pit and ignores the food in favor of buzzing to a good spot on the ground and beginning to dig. And dig. And dig. ]

.....Oi.

[ They're not going to be able to reach the tinder in that. ]

[Michiru starts unpacking utensils and food. A quick, hot meal wouldn't go amiss for any of them. Waltz automatically helps, disappearing to find something burnable.

A glance at the new hole in the middle of their camp and then a glance at Haruka.]

[ ....too deep, Trainer? Ninjask can sense the disapproval Haruka's radiating, and begins filling in her hole. She was just making sure no enemies could reach the fire once it'd been constructed, but if Trainer wants to be so bold as to put it in plain view, that's her decision.

The fire pit will be ready (properly this time) when Waltz returns. And Haruka's there with a matchbox. She nods at Waltz. ] Go for it.

[Waltz starts properly stacking the pieces she's found - and rolls in some tumbleweed underneath the stack, hoping it'll be easier to burn than the branches she had found.

At least these ones aren't quite as magnificent as the one Lulu found.

Michiru sets aside a small pot and the pasta, and then beckons Lulu over. A small Water Pulse, a towel, and then she's rubbing down the Grass type of any dirt. She's fussing a bit more than usual, but this is a desert, after all.]

[ Good choices, Waltz. Haruka will just get this fire started now.

Once that's both burning well and under control, she goes to fetch the food. Bathtime gets a smirk. ] I thought plants were supposed to like dirt.

[Lulu bounces by, damp towel still on her head. It's nice and cool, after the heat of the day.]

Lulu doesn't mind. [Michiru does.]

[ Ah. ] I see.

[ Yeah, that's another stupidly head-over-heels glance. You're just so....Michiru....sometimes, you know that? It's really funny and also really endearing. ]

Do you?

[she's either unaware or blatantly ignoring that look. Instead, she's spreading a tarp on the ground in lieu of a tent. It certainly doesn't look like rain tonight, but she'll still be glad to have something (relatively) clean to sleep on. Or sit on, as she's doing right now.]

[ ....Practical woman. Haruka stirs the pot of pasta as Flight the Reuniclus hovers over to check in. All clear, Trainer.

Receiving a few dried Berries for its report, it floats to the tarp to eat. Hello, Trainer's Trainer. The tiny head bobs politely. ] I'll take first shift tonight. We should get as much sleep as we can.

[ Before Brad catches up to them.

Oh, or did you think she meant the war? ]

[Michiru gravely returns that nod. At least the Reuniclus seem...well. Relatively happier with them? Or at least they don't seem unhappy.]

Let's hope the rest of the camp has the same idea. [ragtag army and all. Waltz hands her a small sack and Michiru picks out the salt and whatever other spices would go with the pasta. Maybe if she doesn't think about Brad, he'll get eaten by something.

Lulu bounces up to Flight and seems intent on offering that damp towel to it. It's nice and cool!]

[ What, don't you trust their stealth? Neither does she. But the night's catching up to Haruka, too, so rather than sass, she stirs the pot. Ready for the seasonings when you are. ] We're making good time.

[ Flight does not seem to understand at first what the towel is for, but after phasing a piece of Berry through its cell wall into its mouth, it transfers its dinner to just one giant psychic hand and accepts the towel with the other. It's supposed to place this on its head...?

The towel levitates, floating over Flight's head and staying there. Apparently the cell doesn't quite understand this concept just yet. ]

It has been uneventful, I'll give them that. [not that she minds. Better uneventful than filled with problems. And here you go, Michiru's handing over the small packets.]

[huh. That's pretty cool. Buuut...] Rose! [Lulu picks up a (dry) towel and then wears it like a hat. Tada! Like this!]

Forty years of security works in our favor. [ Thank you muchly, Michiru. Haruka adds the ingredients and stirs the pot: this kind of cooking, she can do. ] If only we were as prepared as the enemy's unprepared.

[ Oh, making contact. Flight understands now, so the towel descends. A shiver runs along his cell wall, sending the whole thing shaking like gelatin. That's cold! It even startles a laugh out of the Pokémon.

Haruka pauses. She won't give this event more than that, but....that laugh was noticed. ]

Departure

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good thing neither of them are looking behind the wagons. there's a brown dot, huh

brad and ferrari should start a poetry club

is that where the scripts for these plays come from

maybe they're consultants

gene has an idea to pitch to them.....

they can have their own pokeplay. the audience is filled with admiring bidoof

ferrari and gene did find some budding thespians when they asked random strangers

now they just need to keep Brad's attention

one of them could wear a green wig?

somewhere, Michiru shivers and starts planning another trip

have we proven he's repel-proof

no, but that's a very good point

i think michiru got some from rei (?) as a salvation present

maybe it's time to experiment with different repels

this sounds much simpler than cross-country travel. let's do it

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