2024-04-14: Part-Time Drifter
- Log: Part-Time Drifter
- Cast: Hannah Curie, Timu Guado, Sable Aomori
- Where: Cinnabar Island - Harbortown
- Date: April 14, 2024
- Summary: Hannah checks in on Timu after their encounter with Loren at the Pokemon Mansion, and finally gets to meet Anne's daughter Sable. They discuss Drifters and what it means to be one.
=======================<* Cinnabar Island - Harbortown *>======================= Cinnabar Island is a small island in central Kanto. A large, but dormant volcano is on the west side of town and dominates views of the island. Harbortown is a small settlement on the island, which is a charming seaside town. It is sometimes visited by vacationers, but not especially commonly. The town largely gets by on fishing and several scientific stations nearby, which study Energy Nede's remaining ocean. The streets are often quiet, and people are friendly here. The most common visitors are Trainers, and the hotels and restaurants frequently cater to them. BGM: Pokemon Let's Go Eevee & Pikachu! - Cinnabar Island - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5t-gIYniAM <Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
The battle with Loren had been brief, but intense, confined as it was to an indoor setting that was, quite literally, falling apart. (Literally, in Chase, Phwee, and Graveller's cases.) Thankfully, nobody seemed too worse for the various falls or the battle, and in the wake of Loren's escape (aided by Runeberry's pink, cottony Misty Terrain), there'd been a chance to recuperate, compare notes, and then get out of the building before any new injuries were sustained.
Hannah herself had an exciting development, too: Eimi and then Agapi had both evolved into their chrysalis stages, which meant that they were in their pokeballs at the moment as being cocooned made it difficult to get around. Cassandra the Absol is still out, though, padding slowly alongside Hannah. Zephyr, oddly enough, is nowhere in sight for the moment--an oddity, since every other time Timu might have seen Hannah, Zephyr had been on her shoulder, circling overhead, or perched nearby. Hannah doesn't seem too concerned by this, though.
Hannah was previously enjoying the beech, and is still dressed in a strange combination of her swimwear and her drifter gear: a green bikini; a gray hooded sweatshirt, left unzipped; a brown leather belt around her waist, with a pouch on the side; a pair of well-worn hiking boots, and her trusty satchel, worn over one shoulder and slung behind her. She's pretty short, about 5' tall, but doesn't seem to let her smaller stature diminish her. She's about 20, with medium-length curly pink hair and bright green eyes.
She'd caught up to Timu after the fight, wanting to check in on how she was doing. They've only run into each other a few times, but she had escorted the Guado girl to Filgaia, and felt a little bit of protectiveness towards her as a result.
"How you been holdin' up, Timu? I imagine things have been mighty hectic for you, hoppin' between worlds an' all, an' with everythin' that's goin' on."
<Pose Tracker> Timu Guado has posed.
Timu needed to see Moteray to a Center after they got knocked unconscious through a timely Rollover, but other than that, things go about as quietly as they can in the wake of all of that. In the moment, Timu's walking with her Fuecoco friend. She towers over a lot of people here, yet feels smaller and smaller knowing just how much has been happening beyond the portal.
Timu hadn't yet taken the time to enjoy the shores of Cinnibar because of some of the hanging dread, still dressed in her traveling outfit while Fuecoco enjoys the trip. For a world well-explored and otherwise unchanged for tens of thousands of years, the Pokemon all seem to enjoy the world in the moment, and Fuecoco is no exception.
She has her healer's staff slung on her back as she walks, looking downcast rather than ahead. Her family isn't looming over her shoulder to keep her gaze high and straight ahead, allowing her posture to gradually slacken in osmosis of other teenagers her age who (generally) aren't from cultures quite as uptight about posture and emotional distance.
"...I don't know," is the best she manages to Hannah as Fuecoco crosses Timu's vision, looks up, and smiles with a big open mouth while holding his arms up. The universal language for 'up! Pick me up!'
She obliges.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
Sable Aomori was far enough from the Mansion at the time of the battle that she entirely missed it, and the things that came of it. She heard the rumors pretty quickly, though.
Now it's daytime again, when her dad is working, and she's finally planning to see Timu! ...Sable is one of those who slouches, too. She's a bad influence on Timu maybe!
For now, Sable is away from the beach, having just stepped out of one of the labs where she'd been asking some questions about something, while she waited. Now, she turns, and sees--
"Timu!" Sable says, raising her voice a little to get her attention. SHe starts walking to meet Timu and Hannah halfway. "Hello," she says. "I'm Sable."
Sable's picture is in many places at Anne's house, and on her desk at the lab.
"I see Fuecoco is having a good time."
Ulpi the Prinplup walks behind her, trudging along on the sidewalk. He walks a lot more easily than he did as Piplup.
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
Hannah had gone to the Pokemon Center, too. Cassandra took a fierce hit protecting Eimi, and she wanted to make sure she was doing all the right things for her two newly-evolved pokemon. And once all of that had been done, it was late enough to settle in for the night, but today is a new day. New chances for beach enjoyment!
But for the moment, she is watching Timu softly, noting that slouch, and that response... "It's okay not to know how you feel, hun," she comments quietly. "Don't be afraid to go askin' for help if you need it, okay?" (This is maybe a bit rich coming from Hannah, who took off for five years without telling anyone why, but she has learned her lesson on that, at least.) She smiles as Fuecoc asks for ups. "Your friend seems to think highly of ya, though."
Hannah, for her part, doesn't slouch. (She can't afford to anyway, with her height.)
She gives Sable a friendly wave when she spots them, along with a "Howdy!" She studies Sable for a moment and then brightens. "Oh! You must be Anne's kid. I've been doin' some work for your mom on an' off. She was a bit of a lifesaver when we first wound up on Nede. Nice to finally meetcha in person."
<Pose Tracker> Timu Guado has posed.
Timu listens to Hannah's advice as she looks to Fuecoco's little happy eyes, big happy mouth, and mostly contented hands. Mostly contented because he wants to hug, so Timu holds him closer for a bit as she nods her head.
'Timu!'
Timu looks up. "Oh! Sable!"
Fuecoco decides he wants to see, and Timu's of like mind to put him down so that he can run over, wave an arm, and meet with an evolved Piplup which he looks upon with awe and wonder. Ulpi grew up!
"I'm sorry I wasn't able to get in touch earlier," Timu promptly bows in apology in a manner a whole lot like the Hoenn cultural re-enactors do. (It's going to remain one of the strangest coincidences how it has so much in common with some of Spira's own idle social gestures.)
"Sable, this is Hannah. She's a Drifter, like me... or... I'm a Drifter, like her." Timu's not sure what the correct way to introduce it is, but there's a sudden uptick in her mood, like suddenly she's sprung to life.
"Your Piplup... they evolved," Timu says the obvious, but it's more of a guess that it's the Pokemon formerly known as Piplup who is by Sable's side now.
It leaves her in the moment to bring up what happened in the mansion.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
Sable gives a small smile to Timu. Most of her expressions are small like this, but Timu might have gotten calibrated to her expressiveness by now. "It's OK," Sable answers. "Nina came around so I got to spend some time with her too. That way I can see both of you."
Then, a look to Hannah. "You work for my mom?" she asks. "...That doesn't surprise me. She adapts to things really well. She always has. It's nice to meet you, too."
Drifters!! Either way. "When I go to Filgaia, do I count as a 'Drifter'?" she wonders.
Then she nods. "Yes. We ran into one of the Ten Wise Men's minions... Ulpi fought really bravely, and evolved because of it. Though he did have help. I don't think i'm quite ready to stand on my own against them yet..."
A pause. "Did you get held up because of the incident at the Mansion?"
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
Hannah gives Timu a reassuring pat on the arm. (It'd be on the shoulder, but...) She smiles as Timu and Fuecoco hug, and reaches down to amiably pet Cassandra's head. Cassandra makes a gentle rumbling sound and leans in, bumping her side against Hannah's leg.
It's amazing how many little coincidences of culture keep popping up everywhere.
Timu introduces her, and Hannah smiles. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. Name's Hannah Curie, but Hannah'll do just fine." She chuckles, "I've found most drifters are different in some regard, so neither of us have gotta be a drifter exactly like the other."
She looks to Prinplup as Timu mentions the evolution. "Well now. Congrats!" It sounds like it was recent, if Timu hadn't seen them yet.
She nods to Sable. "Sure do. Little things helpin' her around the lab, filing, runnin' errands. Stuff like that. Honestly it's kinda nice compared to some of the gigs I'm used to." She nods. "She took to us visitors easily enough, yeah."
But Sable asks about her own Drifter status. "Mm... Now that's an interestin' question. Leavin your own planet ain't really a requirement for bein' a Drifter, you know? Heck, for the longest time those've us on Filgaia couldn't even leave it, an' we still called ourselves Drifters."
She taps her chin as she continues to mull it over. "Bu the same token though... I suppose you could still be on your Journey, whether you're on Nede, or Filgaia, or Lunar, or anyplace else. Not that I'm assumin' you are, I'm just comparin' the two. Think it mostly comes down to mindset, in the end. But there's as many different ways to be a Drifter as there are Drifters themselves, as I was sayin' before. So I think it might be up to you."
But Sable relays how Ulpi evolved. "Well shoot, that sounds like a mighty fine pickle. I've had a few run-ins with 'em myself. Glad both you an' Ulpi came out of it okay, though. And there ain't no shame in recognizin' your limitations and where you still have room to grow."
"Sure did. Both of us, in fact. Everyone came out relatively unscathed, though, an' a couple of my own pokemon evolved in the process." She sounds proud of her two pokemon for doing so well. "Cassandra here--" she gets a ruffle, "--did mighty fine work herself, too."
<Pose Tracker> Timu Guado has posed.
Given the way the Guado tend to withhold many of their emotions in speaking with others, the way Sable holds hers feels a bit more natural to Timu from a cultural perspective - she doesn't seem put out by this at all, though she does bring her hands up as Sable mentions the idea about how she's 'not quite ready' to stand on her own against them when she still remembers, freshly, how she only just survived Michael.
5t"...Oh!" She comes out of the thought with the incident at the Mansion. "Yes, that's right. I'm sorry I didn't get in touch... Moteray took a hard hit, so I had to go to the Center as soon as I could. He's okay, now."
Fuecoco wasn't out of his ball for that mess, but he's nodding vigorously. They played together for a while earlier! (It's more apt to say Moteray floated off somewhere and Fuecoco just chased after him for a bit.)
"I'm glad you and your friends are all right, too, after running into people like that," she says, as she looks to Hannah to hear her explanation about the Drifter life.
"Being a Drifter is... you're not really tied so much to one place, always going between places to find work, or to go into old places to scavenge for things lost to time." Now that she thinks about it, the Al Bhed of Spira may well have just always been 'Drifters' by the Gaia definition.
"I usually got steady work being a healer, too," Timu adds. Her Spiran 'prayer magic' had been more of a boon in the life she'd leave for, but in a way, it's a part of her heritage she can't really leave behind either.
She nods along with Hannah mentioning how people came out relatively unscathed for the most part. "...Over in G-- Filgaia," she has to catch herself from not using just 'Gaia,' "there's... there's a lot of conflict. A war just broke out, and... there's people from that side of the rift who seem to only want to cause trouble."
This is a very vague way of saying 'Solaris is awful, terrible, no good, very bad to everyone around them.'
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
"Okay, Miss Hannah." Sable sees she's older!! She's polite like that. ANd she listens to what Hannah does for her mother. "I see..." She nods. "Yes."
But Sable might count. "I am still on it," she confirms how she thinks about it. "It's just... changing a little, from what I expected. I want to do the Pokemon League challenge still, but... Not yet."
'Quite' is a big of an exaggeration; Sable feels almost ready to take on the Ten Wise Men's minions, not really the Ten Wise Men themselves.
"Up to me... OK."
"That's not a problem," Sable says to Timu. "Moteray is important."
GOing into old places... Hmm. "I see. Yes. That sounds... fun."
"I know some healing Symbology too," Sable says. "But I wouldn't want to try to fight without my Pokemon."
Filgaia... Yes. "I saw some of the war," she explains. "I'm going to be more prepared for it, next time. ...We only have war in our histories, but I've heard stories. So it's not completely unfamiliar."
"...Good work then, Cassandra."
Ulpi appraoches. "Prin.."
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
"Well thank you kindly, hun," says Hannah as Timu expresses she's glad Hannah and her friends came out of those encounters okay. "Me an' my friends, we've had our fair share of scrapes, haha." She laughs a little, self-effacingly, while rubbing the back of her head. But a moment later she's a little more solemn. "... They sure were on a whole other level, though. Barely scratched 'em the first time we ran into 'em."
Timu offers more perspective on being a Drifter, and Hannah nods to that. "That's as good a workin' definition as any. An' even at that... all kinda reasons. Some people scavegin' ruins are lookin' to make a quick buck, others are lookin' for lost magic or technology, others are interested in lost cultural knowledge... Still others want to test themselves. I imagine there's just as many reasons to take a Journey, come to think of it."
"I used to... well, kinda a whole lotta things. Won't go gettin' into that now." 'Attacking bandit groups to recoer stolen goods' is not the kind of thing she wants to discuss with kids. But she sighs and nods as Timu describes the kinds of people in Filgaia. "Sure are, sadly... an' it seems some of them've set their sights on Nede, now... Odd kinda symmetry there, I suppose, with the Ten Wise Men causin' trouble on our stars."
Hannah chuckles, almost looking a little embarrassed. She still doesn't feel that old... "Well, I ain't one to stand on formality, normally, so Hannah without the miss'll do. But I ain't gonna fault ya if you're more comfortable the other way."
"It can be mighty interestin'," delving into ruins, that is. "Can also be mighty dangerous, so you gotta keep your wits about ya."
"Knowin' a little bit of healin' magic's never a bad thing."
"Sadly we ain't exactly strangers to conflicts. Had a whole heapin' load of 'em in our recent past... I ain't gonna tell you not to go to Filgaia, but if you can, make sure you go with others. There's safety in numbers."
Cassandra lifts her head proudly at Sable's compliment. "Absol." Then she looks to Ulpi and gives a nod in greeting. "Ab, absol."
"Me'n Cassandra met on Filgaia, if you believe it. Guess a bunch of pokes made it through the rifts 'fore they started watchin' 'em."
<Pose Tracker> Timu Guado has posed.
"Rille helped me with understanding what it all asks of someone to be a Drifter," Timu adds to Hannah's shared thoughts on the hows and whys of it. "I wouldn't be here without her."
Fuecoco ambles around next to Cassandra. "Fue?" He tilts his head, then rights up and holds up an arm with a little shout. "Co! Fueco. Fuecoco!" He's being chatty about it!
"I've seen them out there," Timu nods to the mention about a number of Pokemon having made the jump to the worlds beyond the rift. "I wonder if they've made friends with others on that side too..."
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
The Ten Wise Men... "That's what I've heard," Sable says. "That they're really powerful... But I don't want to look away."
Lots of reasons... "There are," Sable says. "Everyone has their own goals. Everyone has their own reasons. It's like that."
A lot of things? Well, "Sorry..." About the Ten Wise Men. "I met some of the ones making trouble. He was always grumpy, but..."
Pause. "Hannah's OK then."
Dangerous. Sable nods to Timu. "She helped me out, too. When I was out there. She seems really nice..."
Prinplup nods magnanimously to Fuecoco, and chirps at Cassandra. "Prin."
"I'm never alone," Sable says, gesturing to Prinplup. "...But more company than that is good, too. That's interesting... I wouldn't have expected that you'd meet there."
"I hope so," she says to Timu. "But... wild Pokemon can still be dangerous."
"I'm happy you made it over eventually though, Timu. ...I have a while before Dad gets off work, so I can hang out."
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
Hannah looks to Timu. "Well now, you made Rille's acquaintance? Glad you had her to lend you support. She seems like a real dependable sort. Saw her catch a whole dang bell recently, protectin' a bunch of townsfolk. Mighty impressive feat."
"Lotta folks go it alone as a Drifter, but... those with sturdy friends tend to last longer. For me it was Zephyr. Who is actin' like I never feed 'im." She says the last part with the emphasis of someone critizing someone else and wanting them to know it. Except... the only person here with Hannah is Cassandra.
She nods to Timu. "I certainly hope so... though..." She sighs. "Had to do the heavy liften' of explainin' what Cassandra was when I found her. Not sure how quickly that knowledge has spread, considerin' everythin' goin' on." Hannah will save the story of Cassandra being shot at by soldiers for... another time. A much later time.
Hannah nods to Sable. "Ain't gonna encourage you to do anything you ain't ready for... but keepin' your eyes open is a skill that's gonna serve you well in general."
"Havin' pokemon's a good start. But I'd recommend experienced Drifters, or at least other people, while you're gettin' the lay of the land still. Thinks might be gettin' rougher there right quick."
"Ain't gonna invite myself along, but if y'all are headin' to the beach we'll be headin' the same way."
Cassandra looks to Fuecoc and nods, gently. "Absol, absol." She's a bit more refined and dignified than certain of Hannah's other animal companions, but still friendly enough. She returns Ulpi's nod as well. "Absol?" She trusts both of them are faring well with their trainers?
<Pose Tracker> Timu Guado has posed.
Timu quiets when Sable speaks of not wanting to look away as regards the Ten Wise Men. She's not sure how some of the Drifters have been able to stand and face down a handful of them multiple times, and still be okay enough to keep going with life, but... there's other thins to think about, too.
"Rille might even be stronger than the Ronso," Timu says, and somehow the idea of her catching a bell is not quite as world shattering a feat to share from the time she's known her.
Her hands lower as Hannah mentions about how Cassandra was being shot at. A lot of machina going off at once can be loud and frightening for anyone, especially creatures that generally seem inclined to love and trust.
"Fuecoco~" Fuecoco says with a bit of melody behind it, as a friendship appears established, walking along back to Timu whom kneels down to rest a hand around him.
"That's good," Timu says of being able to hang out, "I've really wanted to." She was afraid she might've missed that opportunity after the Mansion incident. She closes her eyes and considers all what's going on around. Is it okay to take it easy and play, when...
"Fue~" Fuecoco calls, trying to pull his Trainer out from her little trance of intermittent trauma of Spira's own troubles, where she stands up again and looks to the others while Fuecoco nods back to Cassandra and Ulpi as if to say 'I got it, she's fine!'
"...Let's all make the most of it!"
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
A whole bell! "It must have been a big bell..."
"Is he?" Sable wonders, and tilts her head. SHe doesn't see a Zephyr anywhere close. Oh, well. But Rille might be stronger than, "The Ronso are very strong then?"
"Oh... That would be difficult," she says. She nods. "I'd like other people, too. That's what I did when I went to Kislev and Aveh. I traveled with other people."
Sable nods at Timu. "Me, too," she says. Then, Hannah doesn't invite herself, so, "I'll invite you then. We're going to the beach."
Fuecoco to the rescue!
Sable says, "...Yes. Let's make the most of it."
Ulpi crows again, approving of Fuecoco and Cassandra both.
<Pose Tracker> Hannah Curie has posed.
Hannah's answer to Timu's ponderings, how the assembled Drifters can keep going, would be rather simple: she's still got stuff to do.
"Might be," agrees Hannah. She looks to Sable and nods. "Came right outta the bell tower. She recovered right quick, too. Glad to see it didn't lay her low any longer than it did."
"He is," confirms Hannah. "He'll be by in a moment or two, an' you can meet him then."
She grins at Sable and nods. "Well, then, I'd love to come along. Much appreciated, Sable."
Cassandra, like Hannah, seems to have a thing for kids--or younger pokemon, in this case. She smiles, softly, watching Fuecoc take care of his trainer. There is a nod to Ulpi, as well. "Ab!"
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a weird looking Talonflame just drops out of the sky and lands right on Hannah's shoulder. Hannah doesn't seem to mind much--if one watches very carefully, Hannah actually tilts her head to the side for just a moment to give Zephyr's wings some extra clearance to fold up. He's a striking bird, with bright red tailfeathers.
"Well look who showed up just in the nick of time. Alright, now let's go, girls!"