bravenewworld | 015 // action - forest shrine, verdant forest

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015 // action - forest shrine, verdant forest

[ action - forest shrine ]

Let's get to it.

[ Haruka is in one of her Rhyhorn racing jumpsuits with the sleeves rolled up (though not quite to the scar she got botching her portion of the Sanctuary liberation efforts). She's facing down a member of the Divine Defense Force, light on her feet and ready for anything. If they're going to keep splitting up for missions, she needs an accurate assessment of her whole team's abilities. She can't respect what she hasn't seen in person.

So she's going to try to beat the crap out of them. All of them. One by one.

Passersby are welcome to stay to observe or challenge her, though responses to the latter may vary. The Divine Defense Force, however? Had better not hold back.

Haruka won't, either. ]

[ away from the sparring ]

[ Close enough to reach Trainer telepathically but far enough that the sparring shouldn't disrupt their afternoon, Sky the Beartic has spread a (leaf-embroidered) tablecloth across a tree stump and outfitted it with a variety of goodies for an outdoor tea party. There's plates of Poffins and PokéPuffs, as well as piping hot Berry tea from a fancy china teapot - Passion the Vulpix has accompanied them, and deigned to heat some water for their tea. There's also plenty of teacups, so anyone stumbling upon Sky, Passion, and a very confused World Shaking the Rhyperior is welcome to join their quaint assembly.

A word of advice, however: the teacups (and teapot) are sized for Beartic paws. Come thirsty. ]

[ later - throughout verdant forest ]

[ As the sun sets and the cool evening air wafts in, Haruka can be found on World Shaking's back, eyes half-closed as she navigates the Rhyperior through the trees. They haven't gone on one of these runs in a while, and after the scare she gave him in the caves, he deserved a treat. And she deserves to cool her head, too. They're all right. They passed another test. A respite's been earned.

The fact that she heard a god was spotted in this area from Snor-Lord and his human friends is utter coincidence. ]

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He's my first.

[ Haruka doesn't even think there are other ways of phrasing that, no. She's too busy watching the forest up ahead, and although she never exerts more than the lightest pressure on the Rhyperior beneath her, he responds instantly when she indicates he should avoid a tree or leap a log. ] ...The wind blowing over the racing circuit is even fresher, actually.

[ No, World Shaking, you may not batter down that tree with your head; they've got a passenger. Around they go. ]

Mm. That explains much. [She didn't train Charlotte as much as she raised her. She imagines it's similar. She watches, as Haruka expertly steers, and she glances down at World Shaking. Incredible control, she thinks.]

[She's envious.]

I should imagine so! Though the forest has an atmosphere that I quite like. There is nothing quite like flying among the branches.

What are the sports like at the Citadel? [ They're a competitive culture, right? She's heard of sparring...she thinks....having a territorial streak hasn't really helped her learn about other cultures. It's still a fairly new feeling for her, even after living with Sanae, to actively consider someone else is coming from a completely different background. ]

Most Windblessed can fly -- or, they're like me, and they have an ability that is close to it. We have aerial races, especially through the tree's branches.

[Her tone gets a little wistful.]

There are also fighting competitions, of course. The Valkyries have a few of those. But there are dances, too, and some other sports. Log hurling is popular in some tribes, as is ice skating. There is also a sport with a long stick with a net, and you hurl a ball towards rings. Sometimes it's played on the back of Pokemon.

[Gogoat Polo.]

You might like that one, come to think.

[ An active culture, then. Haruka thinks these over with a little half-grin - both the content and Mami's tone. ] It's a good home.

It certainly is. We like our sports and festivities, after all.

[She nods her head.] I've still been learning about Union's sports. The racing seems quite fun.

We manage. [ That's...one way to put it to someone who, though she's not advertising the fact, used to race professionally.

Oh, shoot, though: there's a little stream up ahead. ] ...Grab on tighter.

[ The Rhyhorn line, being Ground/Rock, hates water. World Shaking starts putting a bit more power into his steps, head lowered. Wait for the last possible moment... ]

Ah? Oh--he is going to jump it?

[Mami grabs on tight. More than that, she makes a length of ribbon appear in one hand, just to be careful.]

[ Smart girl. Haruka lets the way she's hunkering close to the Rhyperior answer that question, though.

Not much later, World Shaking answers it himself - powerful legs pump and propel him up, up, over the stream, tossing himself over and trusting he'll land okay. It won't necessarily be a smooth landing, but it will be a dry one.

Haruka pats his side. They need to work on two-legged jumps, huh. ]

Hyah!

[Mami keeps a firm grip; she doesn't end up needing the ribbon, but she had it ready. She does look down at the Rhyperior, surprised, before she looks at Haruka.]

Well done. I wasn't sure, I admit, but he handled that well.

[They could be in the drink, after all. Or have been thrown.]

[ The compliment makes Haruka grin: technique aside, results are what matter. ] You should see the races.

[ Some are obstacle courses. Obstacle courses with Pokémon that lack a turn radius.

...it's an acquired taste.

World Shaking, for his part, keeps running. Even when pounding past this tree dislodges a whole flock of very surprised Pidgey. ]

I certainly should.

[She's seen Skiddo and Gogoats race, after all. Impressive stuff. But... that's not her first love.]

Do they have aerial races, yet?

Maybe soon. [ Rhyhorn have been her particular passion ever since she met World Shaking. But given the way the world has expanded - both for Haruka personally and for Union in its entirety? That's only a matter of time. ]

...How much time d'you have? [ She can run for ages. If there's a timetable, though, she can adapt World Shaking's circuit. ]

I should enter those. [She says enter. She means win.]

Time? Most of the afternoon. I budgeted time to look for a god. If I met one, I wouldn't want to rush them to get to my next appointment.

[It's a joke. But she's quite serious, too.]

[ Haruka is used to that sort of joke. She laughs anyway. ] Then let's see how much ground we can cover.

[ They're here, mysterious forces determining the fate of the universe! Here atop this Rhyperior, racing through the forest!

...Well, might as well take the newcomer on the scenic route. Haruka adjusts World Shaking's trajectory with little more than a touch and a thought. There's some really impressive trees in this direction. Time to sightsee. ]

[Mami keeps a grip -- she knows how this works, by now -- and looks up with wide and impressed eyes. Those large trees draw a small gasp, then an approving nod. They remind her of the large tree that Citadel's built on.]

Ah, look at those! Fantastic! Let's--hm.

[She's standing up. Mami takes a deep breath, then throws her hand out -- and ribbons unfurl. Not one or two, as she usually does, but over a dozen. They secure to one of the large branches, then reinforce each other, and make a lattice work, while extending out.]

[It's a ribbon-made path upward, sized for one Rhyperior.] It should hold his weight.

[ Haruka stares for a moment: seriously? You seriously expect her to drive her Rhyperior up....

And yet. As long as she isn't nervous about it, she doesn't think he will be, either. And when is she going to get a chance to do something this absurd again? So why not. ] You're paying for the Potions.

[ But since it's World Shaking who takes the biggest risk here - assuming something goes wrong, and assuming she can't get him back into her Warp Band before they hit bottom - she won't steer him up until she sends him a bunch of very basic impressions and questions. Bridge. Up. Flight. Some images of his friends the Pidgeot and Honchkrow. New place to run. Good?

World Shaking is not sure it's good, but he bobs his head slowly. His next few steps take him onto the bridge. This is - this feels weird.

He shies. Haruka reassures him. And then, step by step, he begins to ascend. ]

Of course. It wouldn't be fair, if I misled you, would it?

[For all of her bravado, though, Mami is being careful. She hasn't done this with anything quite the size of a Rhyperior before. She reinforces the bridge here and there; it sags a bit with the first steps, so she quickly adds more ribbons to the lattice to make it safer.]

[Then she builds it higher, winding in a circle around the tree's trunk, and using it as a side as she makes it higher up.]

I'd thought of seeing if I could just lift him off the ground, but I thought World Shaking might have more fun this way.

He'll want to keep something beneath his feet. [ Rhyperior are not that adventurous. This seems to be going all right, though: he understands the concept of "bridges", and this is just a bridge that goes up.

And up. And up. World Shaking keeps his eyes straight ahead, and Haruka lets her instincts cast out all around them to make up for his narrow focus. If they work in tandem, they can't fail. ]

Ah, I see. He is a Ground type. [She takes stock of the tree, and decides to build their route down now. If she goes too high, the weight could tip the tree to one side. She doesn't want to test that with a Pokemon. She can do it with rocks or something. ]

[So at a point, the bridge begins to wind around the tree and then back down. They're getting a pretty good view, though.] Hmm. That forest does stretch on, doesn't it? I see why it took Union a long time to reach beyond it.

[ Haruka's watching the forest, too, letting her unconscious handle her part of this procedure. FORWARD, she sends World Shaking. She is not having him look over the sides (assuming he'd even get what he was seeing). ] It's funny.

[ Stomp, stomp, stomp. Funny indeed. She Bonded with World Shaking to become the wind, on their own, and now they're both above the treetops with someone from a different civilization. The whole world has gone funny in the past few years. ] We still think we're the center of the world, sometimes.

[ She shrugs self-depreciatingly. Union tends to be incredibly good-natured about its self-centrism - but, good grief, what even is their foreign policy. At this rate they might as well hire an Engineer or a Medic to run the country: the default is always "we can fix that".

A bunch of well-meaning, nosy, short-sighted, endearing children. ]

Hmm. I can see what you mean. When this was the entire world... it would probably be hard to feel differently. [She glances around the forest, then she looks back at Haruka. She considers, before she nods.]

It has its advantages, of course. There is something more honest about Union than some civilizations. We've had to worry about invaders -- or other tribes -- or Gigas. We became hardened. We turned inward, sometimes.

[She lets out a long breath, thinking of Kyouko Sakura and the other Valkyries. And the Matriarch.]

That can have a cost, too.

[ So that's it, huh? Haruka watches Mami carefully, then exhales. Whether she's just learned anything about the Citadel - or about Mami herself - she won't say. But she does nod, slowly, calmly. ] People would.

[ Is that - ahead - is that the ground? World Shaking starts to rush, causing Haruka to need to focus on reining him in. Her attention snaps to the Rhyperior, and while she doesn't move, he slows - a mighty tank holding back its momentum for now. ]

Mm. Different circumstances lead to different outcomes. [That's downplaying it, to say the least, but... Mami nods. She glances sideways at Haruka for a moment and wonders--ah, but then World Shaking speeds up.]

I see that he sees the ground. He handled this well, I must say! [She waits until the Rhyperior is on the ground, and firmly so, before she dispels the ribbons. It does take some juice to keep them all up, after all.]

[ Haruka just smiles sends some of those complimentary feelings along to World Shaking through their Bonded connection. The Rhyperior rumbles in what, in more feline Pokémon, might be construed as a purr.

She lets him run as fast as he'd like now that they're down on the ground, but it's not a good idea to completely exhaust him. Soon they'll have to call it a day. For now, however, she's happy to just let him go at the pace he'd like. Underbrush be darned. ] Should we drop you back at the city?

[ Or are you going to keep god hunting? ]

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wishingalone - 2015-08-09 19:04 (UTC) - Expand

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actsmagnificent - 2015-08-09 22:09 (UTC) - Expand

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