bravenewworld | Light 'em up (The Calderan Day of Fire)

Entry tags:

Light 'em up (The Calderan Day of Fire)

It's the morning of the 19th and it's clear even to the inexperienced traveler that the city has a different air to it. If it wasn't the atmosphere that got them, then the stalls lining the streets would. Many people are still working on getting set up for the night festival, but the stalls that are complete are lining many corners and they are filled to the brim with bright colors. From afar, the streets look like someone threw a rainbow of paint across the city.

They haven't seen anything yet.

It's not yet time for the festivities so any visitors are free to wander the streets. The natives seem to be delighted if amused at all the people interested in the holiday and are happy to sell anyone as much colored powder as they want. They are glad to explain the fascinating origins of the holiday or even talk shop about what they're planning to show off later in the night. It seems that not even the gloom and unease that might have rolled into town with Union has caused these people to falter with their grandest tradition.

Sometime close to noon is when things change. The natives all kind of stop what they're doing. The colored stalls start to close up and everyone looks tense. Those who visited last year might take this as their cue to get ready.

A long, rattling trumpet sound rings through the streets and that is when all hell breaks loose.

It's every person and pokemon for themselves. Have fun everyone.

[Ooc: Feel free to make your own top levels in addition to using the prompts below! Have fun guys!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Elaine held her ground as the largest assassin turned toward her. She narrowed her eyes and lashed her chain, unafraid.

On the outside.

On the inside, this was a bad idea on so, so many levels. She'd been well protected within the Fairy Pokemon village, and the need for combat was low. It was only on rare occasion that she needed to summon up her power to fight, and usually for little more than a friendly training session with Raisin and Cleffa.

"Do I?" she countered. "I've got a good set of lungs. One little scream is all I need to bring this city running."

She was about to demand the identity of their master, but to her surprise, Harry's Pokemon intervened. Very efficiently, at that. The Gardevoir was new, but she recognized that monster dog immediately. It was obvious that they had the upper hand in this fight, and the element of surprise and numbers was lost to the assassins. Elaine put Cleffa behind her, taking on a more defensive stance. She was perfectly content to let that Moonblast go off as many times as the Gardevoir liked, since it was incredibly powerful against those with the Dark type.

She spared a brief glance at Harry, and winced sympathetically. He didn't look good. The nagging instinct to run was still strong, but it lessened somewhat when she saw the blood staining the corner of his mouth.

Elaine snapped the chain taut between both hands, her eyes rolling back into her head as electricity jumped up her arms and crackled through her hair. Whatever she was about to summon to arms, it was going to be big, and those that were weak to water were going to be very, very sorry.

If they needed motivation to flee, then she would give it to them.

"Deorum Fulmina, Deum Belli... Percutere in malum..." she chanted in low, rolling syllables. The crackles of electricity burned with harsh emerald light.

It was all a very elaborate bluff with flashy effects, but they didn't need to know that.

Numbers, surprise, even typing. All the carefully crafted advantages that the Greninja had brought into this battle had been lost to them. Worse still, they'd been turned against them! All the same, they were not to be dissuaded from their target so easily... until the woman started crackling with power.

Between the human crackling with electricity, her dual threats of both that power and the possibility of bringing down even more reinforcements... not to mention that Gardevoir still glowing with fairy light. Well, the odds had grown too stacked and besides that, their instructions had been to eliminate the wizard quickly and quietly and this fight had already grown too large for that possibility.

"This will be remembered, human." One of them croaked out before giving the signal to flee. Mouse tossed his head, flinging the Greninja in his jaws to the side while the rest gathered up their wounded and made to run for it. Even the one smacking around its ally got a nice bonk on the head before being dragged back into the shadows.

Mouse gave one last bark at the darkness before hurrying to his trainer's side and leaning down low enough for Harry to get an arm over the Stoutland's shoulders to lift him up. Lash let the clinging light of her Moonblasts fade... and then turned her hand on Elaine, glowing faintly with an aura of threatening psychic power.

"I'm okay, boy, I'm okay." He reached over with his free arm, patting the canine Pokemon's head and turned to those remaining in the alley. "Lash... keep it up."

If he'd looked happy and at peace a few minutes ago, all of that was gone when he fixed a look on Elaine. Even beat up, with one eye swollen and blackened, his expression was hard as stone and simmering with anger.

"You had better be who you look like because that is the wrong face to try and trick me with."

Elaine let the electricity fade from her body, but she didn't relax quite yet. Her grip on the twinkling chain in her hands remained firm so long as the Gardevoir maintained her threatening position, and she edged back slowly, one foot at a time...even with the static electricity leaving her hair sticking up in a ridiculously fluffy manner.

Annalise, on the other hand, saw Lash's outstretched hand and chirped a happy greeting, strolling forward with her hand held out too as though expecting to be greeted with a handshake.

"Annalise, no," Elaine hissed, dropping one edge of the chain to scoop up her naive little friend and pull her back. Honestly, this child...

She didn't miss the dark and mistrustful look Harry was giving her, and she took another step back. Gee, Harry, you're welcome. She might have been convinced to fire a feinted warning shot before booking it immediately, but what he said surprised her. Shouldn't it have been the opposite? If she was who he thought she was, he should be nuking her on the spot. That was...unexpected.

"...Long time no see," she finally spoke, her voice calm despite the dryness in her throat and the pounding of her heart. Her heel clicked as she took another step back, still wary and uncertain of her chances of survival.

Lash looked down at the Cleffa that started to come trotting toward her, and her lips curled into a sneer. Her hand tilted slightly, preparing to give the naive little fairy a taste of harsh reality when the human intervened for her. She still considered it but eventually settled on keeping the human where she was.

Although her sneer turned into a mild smirk when the human began backing away, fear and apprehension flowing from her. So she flexed her power a little, slowly lifting several bits and pieces of random debris into the air around them. Wonderful place, Caldera. So many rocks.

For Harry, everything hurt. From the top of his head to his feet he felt like one giant, soaking wet bruise. The physical was nothing though, the worse pain was the one eating at his gut at seeing the look on Elaine's face, drawn up from old emotions and memories. She was scared of him. Of him. Why...? No, first he had to make sure.

As much as everything ached and throbbed, he stood to his full height nonetheless.

"Sure has. Elaine Mallory's been dead for twenty-four years. At least that's what I thought until somebody who looks a lot like her lured me out of a crowd and down some streets to get beat up by thugs." He shook his head slowly. "You're gonna have to do better than that."

Elaine's gaze hardened somewhat as the Gardevoir began to push her luck. Now she was just showing off, and Elaine wasn't really in the mood to indulge her in a power play game. But it didn't take long for her attention to return to Harry the moment he began to speak.

His voice was deeper than she remembered. Harder. But those familiar echoes were still there. She hadn't counted on this conversation to wind up being as painful as it was.

"What do you want me to say?" she sighed heavily, lifting her chin. "What proof could I possibly give that would make you believe me? It's impossible."

And she was convinced that there was definitely nothing she could say that could cause him to forgive her either. She could tearfully explain that she'd been a helpless puppet, but she didn't think she had any tears left to cry over those two horrible weeks.

"Look, you're fine now. And you have your friends to look after you. Let's just call it a night and pretend you never saw me, okay?"

The expression on Elaine's face didn't mean much to Lash, and her own shifted into a mildly condescending look. She could crush this human and her Pokemon as well... and it was tempting to do but, ah, she had to play the part first. It seemed her beloved trainer had some history with this woman... she'd have to see how it played out.

"Pretend I never--? Hell's bells, after all this time, I'm supposed to just," he lifted a hand to scrub at his face, regretted it instantly, and let it drop again, "I thought you were dead, you can't expect me to just forget about all of this."

There had to be something. For Brightness' sake, after all the time they'd spent together as children there had to be one damned thing that only they knew about. Something she could tell him that would convince him one way or the other--

He paused, blinking and raised his head, meeting her eyes.

"... How's Raisin?"

She couldn't help herself. Every time the Trubbish's name was mentioned, the corners of her mouth twitched as she fought back a smile. Harry had just been violently attacked by Pokemon dead set on killing him. His face was bruised and bloody. And he was asking about Raisin.

"Still with me," she replied with a light hitch of her shoulders. "He's the one that found me after...all that." It felt callous to sum it up that way, but it still wasn't something she was comfortable going into detail about. She hadn't told any of the other village members what happened to her (though she suspected the Clefable just somehow knew), which made Harry the only person aware of exactly what took place in Sanctuary all those years ago.

"I'm surprised you remembered his name. It was such a long time ago."

That reaction says something. Their "teacher" hadn't known about Raisin, or at least not the Pokemon's name. Nobody had. He'd been the secret of two small children who hadn't had anybody else to tell. More importantly, he hadn't been with her when Elaine had attacked him.

Raisin was their secret.

"I remember all of it." He answered quietly. He swallowed and his jaw tightened. "He still big for a Gulpin?"

Elaine smiled, giving him one of those 'now really' sorts of looks. She knew what he was doing, and it was clever. She didn't know why he thought someone would try to use her face to lure him into an ambush, but if his reasons for paranoia matched hers, then he couldn't be blamed.

"Trubbish," she corrected gently. "He's a Trubbish."

She watched the motions of his face, stunned at what she saw reflected there. He didn't show a single sign of hatred or resentment...none of the things she feared he'd been carrying around with him all of these years.

A chuckle shook itself out of her throat as she ducked her head slightly. "And I tackled you when you first saw him because I was afraid you'd tell."

Trubbish. A Trubbish named Raisin that Elaine had tackled him to the ground and nearly pummeled his face in for discovering. Maybe DuMorne could have found out about it from her, but DuMorne was dead and this whole situation was way too overcomplicated for anybody else he knew would like to see him dead.

Especially because the plan would have had to start with "kill the jerk."

He swallowed hard, expression dropping as he seemed to slump when the realization hit him. He stared at her like he couldn't believe his own eyes. A hand waved toward his Gardevoir who frowned a bit but dropped her own hand obediently.

He'd thought about this moment for years. What he'd say, what he'd do. Whether he'd say anything or do just do that romantic running hug thing.

Instead, he shrugged, arms lifting and flopping back to his sides and said.

"They didn't have letters wherever you ran off to?"

Because he's a big, stupid moron.

Harry, you big stupid moron. She had a feeling he'd ask her something like that. Her head fell back with a frustrated little groan. "Harry, I thought you were dead. When I found out that wasn't the case, I didn't think you'd want to hear from me." She didn't really need to elaborate any further on that, did she? The less she spoke of it, the better. Just thinking about it gave her goosebumps, and they were clearly visible on her arms thanks to her sleeveless top.

"Cleffaaaaaaaaa Cleffa Cleffa Cleffa!" The little Pokemon squirmed and flailed, clearly way too excited to be held any longer. Elaine stopped trying, putting her down. Annalise immediately skipped over to the big Stoutland and stretched out her tiny arms, hopping up and down in a vain effort to hug the dog that was simply too big for her stumpy limbs to reach.

Elaine cleared her throat. Pink Fairy Pokemon distractions aside... She lowered her voice, brow slowly dropping. "I didn't want to risk being found by DuMorne either." She'd been this close to having her will completely shattered by that man, and turned into a homunculus to do his bidding. Even today she still carried the mental scars of his control. "I had to lay low."

"You thought I was-?" He started, staring at her incredulously. "Elaine, I almost didn't make it out of that damned house because I was looking for you. I stood out there and watched the whole thing collapse! I spent days after looking everywhere I could think of for any sign of you! I--"

His voice grew louder with each statement, more pointed, until the little fairy squirmed free of Elaine's arms and hopped over to Mouse. Fortunately, the large Stoutland was more willing to greet her kindly than the cold Gardevoir and quickly leaned down to nudge at her with his nose with a pleasant woof.

Harry sighed, rubbing his forehead. His head in general was starting to throb and he kind of wanted to lie down and take a nap until he stopped aching. That probably wasn't a good thing.

"DuMorne is dead." He said quietly, looking up at her. "That one I'm totally sure of."

He'd looked for her. He'd really been that frantic, that determined. All this time, she'd been so afraid that he believed she'd betrayed him. So damn afraid. It was stupid to be so uneasy at the mere thought of a contemptuous look from someone she cared about, but when the people she treasured could be counted on just one finger, that's just how it was.

She tried to speak. Couldn't. The thought of him digging through the rubble trying to find some remnant of her body was bittersweet, both touching and painful.

"I never wanted to hurt you, Harry." Her voice was thick in her throat. "Not that day. Not afterward." Elaine's head shook faintly from side to side, but her eyes didn't leave his bruised and bloodied face. "I'm sorry."

An apology couldn't ever be enough, but it was a start. She looked as if she might start toward him, but at the mention of DuMorne's name, she froze in place. Just talking about him made her feel shamefully vulnerable. "...How can you be sure?" she frowned, her brow descending. "I managed to survive. He was a lot stronger than I was." She looked around the alley and gestured. "You're sure this wasn't linked to him?"

There hadn't been much of anything to find, or at least that's what he'd told himself for years. He'd even looked up what kind of temperatures were needed to turn the human body to ash and remembering the heat on his face as he watched that old house burn he could believe he'd managed it.

It was the first life he'd taken and while it wasn't the last, he'd never conjured fire that hot or that furious ever since. He'd never quite been able to call on that anger, that raw, uncontained want to to destroy somebody even if it meant burning himself alive from the inside out ever again. He was thankful for that.

"Well, we don't always get what we want." He grumbled and winced a little at the hardness in his own voice. He didn't want to be angry but it was hard to keep that in check. He grunted, following her gesture around the alley. "I'm sure. Justin DuMorne burned. I watched it happen right in front of me."

He paused for a second before amending his statement, his eyes dropping.

"I made it happen."

Elaine had nothing to say to that. Her brow darkened slightly, and there was a bitter taste in her mouth. No, they certainly didn't get what they wanted, did they? If he meant to hold a grudge, well...that was his right. And it was what she'd expected to begin with.

She scrubbed her hand across her forehead then dragged it down her face. He sounded sure about what he'd done, but she just didn't know. DuMorne was a strong wizard. Harry definitely had potential, she'd known that from the beginning, but even so, she was skeptical. It could have been an illusion. It could have been a trick of the mind. She shook her head faintly as she looked away, and her brow furrowed further. "I hope you're right, Harry. I don't know, I really don't." It wouldn't be that easy to relax after years of nightmares, and looking over her shoulder every time she left Borealis and heard a faint noise behind her.

She looked at her childhood friend once more, studying him in grim silence. Then she exhaled through pursed lips, and held up her hand with a beckoning gesture from her fingers. "We're getting you medical treatment before taking any trips down memory road, though. I'm surprised you're still standing after all that."

He hadn't wanted to hold a grudge against her, and it made him more than a little unhappy that he couldn't help the old feelings of hurt and anger that welled up. It was a hard thing to let go of but he could trace the worst moments of his life back to what had happened that night. He didn't hate her, never did, but coming face to face with her here and now brought a lot of the bad things back.

He grunted without commitment at her questioning of DuMorne's death. It wasn't something he liked to talk about in the first place and battered and beat up in an alley while grappling with emotional turmoil just made it even less fun.

"I've had worse." He waved a hand and the Stoutland at his side glanced up, making a displeased sound (even if it's possible he has a Cleffa on his head now). "I've got some potions back in my room. Should do that trick."

"Potions. Really." Elaine folded her arms, shifting her weight to one hip as she sized the wizard up, her gaze lingering on his swollen and bleeding face. "I can't tell if you really believe that, or if you're just trying to be macho right now."

It also might be that he wanted to avoid her, but if that were true, she didn't think he would have bothered pursuing her so relentlessly through the streets. Certainly it would have been easier to let him head back to his hotel room and leave the past in the past for good, but she wasn't sure that was such a good idea. Someone had just tried to have him killed. She was willing to bet his room wasn't going to be the oasis of healing he seemed to think it was.

And the possibility of a Cleffa hanging out on Mouse's head was very high indeed.

"Tell you what," she dropped her arms. "Why don't I walk you there, you get your potions, and we go to my hotel room. I can guarantee there won't be any assassin Greninjas lurking in the bathtub."

"Potions. Really." Harry repeated. "I like to have a couple in the morning with my breakfast whiskey and gravel."

Super Potions actually and they'd take the edge off the pummeling he'd just taken for sure, even if there'd still be some bed rest needed to put himself back together completely. The problem was that if those Greninjas wanted to take another swing at him, the clinics or medical centers would be exactly where they'd look. He had gear and equipment at his room that he could hole up with.

Elaine's offer gave him pause though and his answer caught in his throat briefly. He blinked at her, jaw working, as his dumb man-brain ran through the implications of being invited back to a hotel room with his very attractive childhood girlfriend. And he immediately shoved those implications aside.

"Are you sure about that?" He asked, gravely. "They do love hiding in bathtubs."

"Hm hm," Elaine chuckled, relaxing. She'd almost forgotten what a smartass Harry could be sometimes. It was nostalgic in a way. "Over twenty years, and that sense of humor hasn't changed a bit." For better or worse.

Of course she was sure. It might be a tight fit with that huge Stoutland and any other Pokemon he decided to bring along, but they'd find a way to make do. "Hiding in my bathtub would be extremely unwise." Her fingertips brushed one of the dangling ends of her electricity-charged chain belt, just in case any further illustration proved necessary.

"I might be able to help with any lingering aches and pains too," she offered. "I've learned a few new skills over the years." The expression on her face turned serious as she knitted her brow. "More importantly, I'd like to know who's trying to kill you if it isn't DuMorne." She knew he'd been keeping busy in Sanctuary with the occasional rumor or report that filtered its way toward the villages near Borealis, but she hadn't thought anyone would actively attempt to assassinate him, and in the middle of a big city like this no less. It worried her. Hopefully it worried him too if he had two brain cells to rub together.

Harry grunted in a particularly manly fashion that had nothing to do with how much he was aching right at that moment. The idea of down a Potion and getting somewhere that at least had a nice chair to sit down in was beyond tempting. Some years ago a kicking like that would have barely slowed him down... he really was getting old, wasn't he?

"I can tell." He nodded with a glance toward that belt of hers. Elaine's talent with electricity had always been impressive as hell, and it looked like she'd only honed those skills as time went on. At her concern though, he shrugged a sore shoulder. "I can think of three or four guys off the top of my head, and without any markings or prisoners there's no way to prove any of them unless I head off to Sanctuary and start storming towers. Which I don't, because then they can send Greninjas to beat me up and do it legally."

Elaine nodded slowly, thoughtfully. She'd been away from Sanctuary for so long she wasn't sure who held power there any longer. Honestly she hadn't even cared that much to begin with, far more taken with her studies of magic (and Harry) at the time. "We can discuss the possibilities over coffee, once you've had some rest. Come on." She held her hand out toward his arm, ready to support him if he needed to lean on her.

Or that massive beast that some might call a 'dog.'

"I'll walk you home, like any proper gentleman would for a lady in distress." There was a brief flash of humor in her eyes and a quirk to the left corner of her mouth. See? She could be manly too. The Cleffa was more than happy to steer Mouse as if he were a horse.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Light 'em up (The Calderan Day of Fire)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject