2024-04-21: Death Knocks at Nede's Door

• Log: Death Knocks at Nede's Door
• Cast: Ruth Pauling, Damian Tamaoka
• Where: Nanza Heartlands
• Date: April 21, 2024
• Summary: <Summarize!>

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=============================<* Nanza Heartlands *>=============================

The center of western Meribus is a dry, parched land centered around Nanza Barrier. Though not as intense as some Filgaian badlands, it can still get terribly hot here, and there are numerous narrow canyons that make navigating it a maze. This region has been prone to banditry for over a thousand years, as the narrow canyons can make it dangerous to cross. Nonetheless, there is a simple method to getting by here: paying bribes. Whether it is bandits or the small ports on the eastern coast, providing a vital connection to Meribia, one should be ready to provide a few silver if they want to get by here.

BGM: Lunar: The Silver Star - Overworld Theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtOfhXli8XQ

<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.

    Two portals opened up to Energy Nede. The one that's had more traffic and attention is the one that leads to a literal warzone based in a long-ruined village that was burned to the ground. To the arid Southvoid Hills of Energy Nede, however... another portal opens to that world's natural satellite. Both rifts are siphoning Ley energy towards the area of Phynal for reasons uncertain but doubtless terrible, what with the Ten Wise Men now set on their fell designs.
 
     This portal goes to the Nanza Heartlands, a dry part of the (mostly) lush continent of Meribus. It's not a gentle place to be, with numerous canyons forming maze-like tunnels and countless places for lowlives to lay low from the Guard and/or ply their trade.
 
     Some make an almost honest living as hired swords to help see caravans to and fro. Almost. They're usually insistent. Persuasive. And well-armed. The rest, standard-fare bandits and cutthroats happy to take whatever they can and run.
 
     When the portals opened, numerous Pokemon escaped from their walled garden of Energy Nede to go tour the strange lands beyond before the Pokemon Rangers and Kanto Police could even take notice and act, and this has been a point of interest to the powers that have any sort of designs on this part of Meribus.
 
     One trade that has started to bloom in particular...
 
     Poaching.
 
     A quartet of ne'er-do-wells who look an awful lot alike - humans, with their odd rounded ears, wearing bandannas and loose-fitting lightweight clothing as to not melt in the heat waves that happen, are cornering a Silicobra trio. Their main form of defense is to expel large amounts of sand to blind people and hide by burrowing into the ground, but the ground here is far too tough to burrow into, and it turns out two of the ne'er-do-wells bear the gift of Wind-aligned sorceries courtesy of Althena's Blessing.
 
     (A select few Silicobra members do have the capacity to inflict poison with their tails, but it's not very potent, so... yes, they're effectively almost defenseless here.)
 
     "Finally, got 'em cornered," says one of the bandits as they smash a fist into their palm. "How much do y'think they'll pay for 'em?"
 
     "Sili..." Whines one of the Silicobra, trying to lay flat on the ground.
 
     "Ain't as bright as the purple ones, or that one black one with the red fangs," another says, "but they ain't bitin' so much compared to 'em, so..."
 
     "...Someone oughtta keep watch for that wizard that's been makin' the rounds," mutters one of them, "the lightning one, let's not get too carried away yet."
 
     There's some deliberation going on about making sure someone is watching their six from something or another, but underneath the rising harsh sunlight... there's a poaching about to happen, only a few twists and turns away from the mysterious portal to Energy Nede.

<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.

It's dangerous, exploring other worlds. Damian's made a few trips now to both Filgaia and Lunar, and although he thinks he's getting a better idea of what to watch for, and being more prepared for various eventualities (potions, sunscreen, maps), it still doesn't feel safe. Even with a team of pokemon with him--even with Purri with him, who is his oldest and most stalwart defender--there's still more than enough things he hasn't seen that he knows he can't afford to get complacent.

Just how many spells do they have on the other worlds, for instance? Are they anything lile Symbology, or do they have unexpected effects? The most powerful offensive spells for Nedians require being unlocked, with strict government regulation, permitting, and supervision. Visitors--well, technically he's the visitor in this moment--don't have that restriction, so anyone with magic could be vastly more dangerous than he's prepared for. (He knows about the restriction of Black and White prayer magic, but that... doesn't help him narrow things down that much.)

Still... there was a certain urge to explore, and a certain cultural norm around the idea of kids going off and taking journies on their own. He's been this way before, guided by Ida and Lanval, and he wasn't wandering off into the wilderness, just trying to get from the portal to the nearest city and back. What could go wrong?

He's dressed in his usual outfit of a purple hoodie, black t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers. The hoodie is unzipped, though, to account for the heat, and his long, pointed ears might mark him as an Elf to those residents on this side of the portal.

The backpack, however, is distinctly different, as is the mostly-purple feline, Purri, riding on his shoulder. He sighs a little as he trudes down the path, looking forward to getting back to Nede and some of the conveniences he misses.

It's Purri who hears something, ears perking up. "Purr?" she says quietly.

Damian stops, and turns to follow her gaze. "Wh-what is it?"

Purri drops down and stalks off to a vantage point around a corner, and Damian follows, leans, watches...

Those poor Silicobra... Why are they... There's talk of selling them... and those whines the pokemon are making, Damian's heart breaks. "Th-that's not right," he says quietly. "P-Purri, we g-gotta do something." Purri leaps back up to his shoulder as he reaches for a pokeball and summons Pixi.

The foxish pokemon appears, and with a naturally quiet, "Vul?" looks up to Damian.

"We're g-gonna save those p-pokemon. F-ollow my lead and b-be ready w-with Disable and S-Spite."

Damian emerges, Purri on his shoulder and Pixi trotting along by his side. "H-H-Hey! Y-you're s-scaring those P-pokemon! L-let them g-go!"

<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.

    A stammering elf(?) youth and a strange-looking purple cat interrupt a quartet of full-grown men armed with weapons. They're all carrying some form of sword - one might think a likeness to Damian's friend Dirk, but these are weapons that are not well-maintained but nonetheless well-used. Chips, scratches... and a bit of rust.
 
     They only pause out of sheer incredulousness, with two exchanging glances to one another in terms of, 'is this for real?'
 
     The third breaks out into not at all warm snickering, while the fourth - they're barely distinguishable from one another - steps forward.
 
     "Say, I kinda recognize the look. There's been a bunch of strange elves comin' by, lately, all dolled up in some fancy threads," he says, as he steps forward in front of the other three with his sword held in his hand.
 
     "'n I don't recognize your accent. Sounds like you don't know how we do things 'round here, kid," a grin grows on his face, "so tell ya what. Leave your money, turn around, and... we'll all have a good day, yeah?"
 
     Damian may notice, in the distance, a shadow rounding a distant corner. A shadow belonging to a heavily robed figure who's carrying something... a strange spear? No, that looks a lot like a firearm. They're wearing a hood up, so it's hard to get a read for who or what that is.
 
     There are also suddenly droplets of rain, despite the lack of overcast clouds - but there is a gloom building in the air. The moment a few raindrops hit the ground, Damian will be able to see what it is that rises up as a foggy cloud of vapor, as if some sort of acrid reaction to where the raindrops strike.
 
     That's Malevolence - the same stuff Damian and Anne got a crash course on at the Emrys Mire, warned to be common on this planet. Guild. Shame. Regret. Despair - in water vapor form, with a blackish-purple hue.
 
     Do the poachers notice?
 
     "I thought I said someone's gotta keep an eye out for the wizard," he snaps, as one is holding an open palm to the rain and looking up like something's amiss.
 
     The three visiting Silicobra individuals are still huddled in fear over there, while that strange hooded figure draws nearer at a measured, relaxed pace... they're not calling much attention to themselves.
 
     The rain starts to pick up further.

<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.

There is also a small, cute, multi-tailed fox with him! Pixi is alert and at attention, but still standing at Damian's side. If--when--the fight starts, she'll surge on ahead.

He's not an Elf, but somehow it doens't feel relevant to bring that up right now. He doesn't fully understand how they do things around here... but he understands enough. Energy Nede has poachers, after all.

(... He might technically be a poacher himself, thanks to his membership within Team Rocket, but that's... not something he wants to think about, in the moment.)

"I-I-I'm n-not g-giving you my m-money. It's n-not right t-to hurt th-those pokemon. S-so you'd b-better--"

There is a figure, but Damian's attention is much more firmly on the four bandits before him. But when that first bit of rain falls, his eyes widen and he jerks back a few steps. "M-M-M--" Purri, even though this would not seem to be the time or place, leans over to rub her cheek against his. He relaxes enough to get the word out. "M-M-Malevolence. Th-the rain, i-it's--y-you sh-should all-- G-get out of h-here!"

Pixi backs off when Damian does, and Purri shouts something, "Purr! Purrloin!" to the three trapped Silcobra. Run, while the poachers aren't paying attention to them.

Damian is still backing up, slowly, trying to get further away from the rain as it intensifies. It feels awful--he's definitely done some things he's not proud of, things he is very mush ashamed of. And he once knew a Despair so deep that he fled from his parents...

But he is mostly concerned in the moment with keeping anyone else from getting infected. "I-it's n-not a w-wizard. P-please, you h-h-have to go!"

<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.

    "Who're you to say what's right or wrong, kid? That's just the way things are in Nanza!" The lead guy - in so much that he's the one closest to Damian and addressing him and his cute animal companions, starts to raise his weapon at about Damian's chin level even though there is plenty of distance between them yet.
 
     It is a distinctly uncanny thing, in terms of social graces. Even the roughest ruffians of Energy Nede - Damian would know - don't quite go to threatening deadly force on a personal level like this.
 
     "So I'd better what," he asks, around the time the Malevolence-powered rain starts to become a conversation piece.
 
     The Silicobra hear Purrloin's warning, and there is a rocky outcrop that is just cover enough for the three of them to huddle together underneath.
 
     "Wait, he knows the wizard?" Calls another. All of the bandits seem entirely unaware of the threat of Malevolence - lacking in Resonance, as it would have been explained.
 
     Damian will catch, in the distance, bands around the sleeves of the hooded figure lighting up to Symbological symbols - along with the gloves and boots. The little flash of light is more attention-grabbing than the finer details of the change in the silhouette's posture and shape, up until a single wing shoots out the back (and only one, to that figure's right). A lengthy, thin tail seems to slink out like it were a snake itself, wrapping around the length of the now raised firearm.
 
     "We're not goin' anywhere!!" The 'lead' bandit sneers, as he extends a hand to the summoning of his gift of Althena's Blessing as a bright, greenish light dances around his hand...
 
     There is a deafening bang noise. And another.. and another...
 
     The light leaves the hand of the bandit directly threatening Damian as they fall over to a fourth deafening report.
 
     One could confuse them for distant thunder, of a sort, as the rain continues to fall. The figure - no longer hooded, with glowing eyes not unlike the beast that everyone ran from, approaches with their rifle lowered. Four horns trailing backwards from within mossy green hair come into sharper focus as they close in. They're still far from Damian.
 
     He could turn tail and run if he wanted.
 
     The figure stops abruptly before the bandit closest to them, coming down to for a penitent kneel. Their firearm's stock is planted in the ground, naginata-like bayonet blade pointing to the skies. The violet light of their eyes dim, from their eyes closing - but that's a Hellion. Unmistakably, without ambiguity, a Hellion - but they're drawing no closer.

<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.

Damian recoils another step when that weapon is raised at him. It is one thing to have a pokemon with a weapon or a weapon-like appendage threaten you. It is, however, quite another to have a person do it. Even with as much distance between them as possible, that's still another casual violation of Nede's social norms he wasn't quite prepared to deal with yet.

The glint of Symbology does catch Damian's attention, though. And now that he's noticed, he can see the way that wing and tail slink out of a vaguely humanoid-form--that is not any pokemon Damian is immediately familiar with. And is that a--

A rifle. A Gun.

One bandit asks what he'd 'better' do. Another comments about him knowing a wizard. Damian's only reply is to point. "H-H-Hellion! RUN!" He turns tail, and Pixi does too, and the reatreat back to their hiding spot as four rounds ring out. And then stop.

There's nothing but that awful malevolence. Damian holds a hand to his head, wincing. A very large, spiritual presence... and it's getting closer----it must be the one he spotted moments before. He pants for breath as he waits, pressed flat against the wall.

There's no sounds of fighting. No more rifle shots. And the Silicobras are still trapped. He has to try and get them out of there before they get infected. It's not clear if they can be infected, but there's no sense taking that risk.

Damian and Purri slooooooowly lean out from their rock again to observe Ruth. Quietly, to Purri, Damian whispers, "Wh-what are th-they doing..."

Just as Ruth's spiritual presence is a beacon to Damian's senses, Damian himself has a lot of fear and worry that might provide a reciprocal beacon to Ruth--and plenty of it was already there before he attempted to save those pokemon.

<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.

    The Silicobra trio are safe where they are, at least for the moment - but there is a powerful Hellion standing (...kneeling) between Damian, his Pokemon friends, and some wild Pokemon caught in-between.
 
     For a time, the Hellion is completely motionless, almost like a statue. What little light comes through into the gloomy locale makes some sort of beady bauble wrapped around their otherwise exposed right forearm glint. Some sort of religious something-or-another, maybe. If they were holding some form of incense, it wouldn't be far off from the funerary rites more familiar to a Nedian.
 
     ...
 
     "You're scared." A distinctly feminine voice, which can only come from ahead. Uncharacteristically gentle, considering the violence that has transpired before. "You're frightened." Echoing the sentiment she just said, with a synonym.
 
     ...
 
     "I won't hurt you." She states, simply. "Let me mourn them. Then... I'll see you and your friends back home."
 
     So claims the Hellion.

<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.

Maybe they could go around the other way, leads them out--no, who knows how long some of these canyon paths run, and they could be that much worse off by then. If he only had a burrowing pokemon, he could make his own path...

Damian frowns as he watches from his hiding spot. If Silci were fully evolved she could scout overhead for them--Purri makes a good scout but doesn't have that much climbing ability...

He squints the longer he watches the Hellion. ... Is she... praying, maybe...?"

'You're scared.'

Damian lets out a rather embarrassing squeak as he pulls back into his hiding spot. Did she see them? Is she coming this way right now to do Arceus-knows-what to them? His heart is pounding in his chest and he brings one hand to his chest to try and calm his breathing. Have to stay calm to think clearly.

It's only when Ruth states that he's frightened that he blinks. Well he is hiding, but...

He risks another peek.

No, she's still kneeling there, doing... whatever it is she's doing. Damian blinks as the Hellion says that she won't hurt him, and he looks down to Purri. Purri looks back, just as confused and unsure of what's going on. "Purrloin?"

"D-d-dunno..."

But then she says she's mourning them, and that gives Damian pause. He hadn't even thought about that, which he really should. He respects the importance of tending to the departed, even if he can't stomach what his parents want of him in that regard.

"... Y-y-you're m-mourning th-them? B-b-but you... you..." Killed them, but he can't quite bring himself to say it in those terms. His eyes flicker down to the bodies--urk. No, look away. "Y-you did that. W-why w-would you..."

She'll escort them back, when she's finished... "A-a-and you h-have to l-let the o-other pokemon go, t-too..."

<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.

    It's very strange, isn't it? To feel such great remorse over something one just simply does. A contradiction. The thing that empowers Malevolence, which in turn drives the Hellions born from being so suffused in it.
 
     Not once is there a sign she's about to pounce the moment that Damian sneaks a look. Only the intermittent flicking of a serpentine tongue betrays the subconscious reflexive sensory tic, with the air so suffused in... well. To go down this direction sounds like a page out of any number of young adult-aimed action-horror titles.
 
     ...To be frank, by Nedian cultural standards, there's something very caricature-like about the creature there. She seems to resemble an Ardaemont, kind of, although the colors are all wrong, her hair's not quite long enough, and... it almost seems like some sort of fancy graphical take on a monster that one sometimes sees in films over in Vermilion City's theaters. (The Unova reenactment-style ones, specifically.)
 
     Nonetheless, the loss of life here is very much real, as seems to be her desire to acknowledge it.
 
     The silence that follows the incomplete question may not alleviate the concern, nor clear up the contradiction... but there's that other demand. She has to let the other Pokemon go.
 
     "They deserve a kinder world than this one," she says in seeming agreement. Some time, vague but not short and certainly tense, comes to pass as she rises up after she feels satisfied with paying her last respects to some uncertain criteria looking from the outside in. The moment of truth - a terrible ambush and a dark fate awaiting Damian, or...?
 
     "I can keep most of the Hellions here away," she says, starting to face back to where Damian and his friends are, but never quite meeting eyes with him though he can see the glow. "If any more bandits threaten us along the way..."
 
     "They won't." She seems sure of that, as she at last musters the will to look away, back in the direction of those Silicobra huddling there.
 
     One of them, in fact, breaks away from the group, slithering forward to look up to the Hellion without so much fear or concern. As if there were some quiet acknowledgement on their part, inquisitively flicking their tongue in her direction.
 
     The Hellion does not shoo them, nor does she beckon them closer.
 
     "If you're still scared," she says of Damian, "you can come closer." That seems like it'd achieve the opposite, but, her right wing flares out in invitation. It is cover from the rain, even if it is close to her.
 
     "Why were you and your Pokemon out here, all alone with one another?" She's aware of the terminology, which may come as some surprise.

<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.

It is tense in that long, indeterminate amount of time that it takes for Ruth to finish her mourning. Ruth's presence is, spiritually speaking, undeniable, and seeing a Hellion up close is putting such a strain on him, he almost wants to leave.

But he won't. Not without seeing that those Silicobra are safe.

Yet, as time goes on, he can see that the Hellion is, somehow, not like those skeletons, or the great beast that chased them in the Mire. She talks, for one... and seems to be acting on something other than instinct... or perhaps it is more accurate to say on something more than just instinct. He can see how that tongue flickers.

He holds his head a little as he waits, doing his best to breath and stay calm.

He knows there are pokemon who will play tricks, to pretend to be harmless or to hide and then spring a trap for someone who wanders close... but this doesn't feel like that. Could it actually be safe? Lanval and Ida did say some Hellions could keep their sense of self, but that it was also incredibly rare... What are the odds, then, that he would run into one right after learning of Hellions?

There is a lot of time to think about the fate of those that have fallen. The Hellion is, seemingly, mourning them, but... Damian could do something for them. But the thought of trying to engage his Spiritsight with such a powerful Hellion so near is... sickening. There's already so much...

(There is no judgement, in his mind, on whether they deserve it or not--that's not his place, to make judgement of the deceased.)

Still, maybe that's something he should ask Shige about in particular. In case... in case this happens again.

But Ruth eventually finishes, and to his demand, she speaks of a kinder world... Damian blinks. Nede is a lot less harsh, in many ways, than Filgaia and Lunar have been. But... "... y-you know? A-about Energy N-Nede?"

She promises that no more bandits will bother them, and Damian's stomach turns a little to think about it. "Wh-why d-did you..."

There is something familiar, in the way Ruth can't quite look at him. He knows that tic, has seen it plenty of times... but that's a thought for another time.

A shake of his head as Ruth offers him to come closer. "N-n-no th-thanks..." He does start to move closer, with Purri and Pixi leading the way, but he keeps a wide berth around Ruth, moving to check on the two Silicobra that are still in hiding. "H-h-hey," he says gently, reaching into his pack and offering two poffins. "I-I-I c-can... h-help you get h-home... b-back to Energy Nede. W-would you like to c-come with...?"

Assuming he can coax them out of hiding and they assent, he'll look them over and start to tend to their woulds with a small symbological healing spell that causes his hands to glow softly with a green light. (But not the same kind of green light as the deceased bandit was conjuring.)

He looks over to the first one to emerge, watching them carefully... "Th-they're not af-afraid of you..."

But as to what he was doing. "I-I w-was on my w-way b-back home... w-we heard..." Well, they heard the pokemon, and then the bandits, but he doesn't feel like repeating that part.

<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.

    Her wing folds when Damian decides he's not going to draw closer - which, to a conflicted heart, is probably the right call. The other two Silicobra still in hiding look up to the jostled Nedian, flicking their tongues. One quietly hisses, in exhaustion, 'ssssssilicoooo,' before yawning and letting themselves bask in the Symbological healing light. The other just snatches up their offered poffin without a word and swallows it whole without much of a thought. (The one that's basking takes it up, eventually.)
 
     The one that was investigating Ruth eventually slithers along back to the other two, flicking a tongue up at Damian before slithering along behind the other two. (This one doesn't beg for a poffin but will happily accept if a third one is produced.)
 
     The 'they're not afraid' gets a little laugh, but it doesn't feel like that happy of one. It's as much response as she has to give before Damian speaks of what led up to this.
 
     "You're not the first," she says, as she starts walking ahead to lead back. She straightens out her posture some. By estimation, she's a little over 190cm tall, casting an imposing figure. The sunlight above directs her shadow over everyone behind her, but this is probably a coincidence more than some sort of manipulation of the element of darkness.
 
     "Some days I watch the rift between here and Nede," she says. She holds her rifle in both hands, her tail coiling around it to help keep it as she lifts her head and looks ahead.
 
     "Someone like me doesn't deserve to... be in a place like your home. With so many of your Pokemon full of love, just," the guilt in her voice is tangible, "your world... I like that a place like it exists."
 
     She rolls her left shoulder, where Malevolence has strengthened and reinforced it with vigor she normally no longer has, parting her right hand from the grip of the rifle to go over her heart.
 
     "So the days I'm here, I watch between your Southvoid and Lunar's Nanza. For all the death, the pain, the fear I live in," and for, sometimes, at her worst, "if any good comes from someone like this."
 
     Someone did think so.
 
     "Then it's enough to keep you and your Pokemon safe." She keeps her hand over her heart until it feels heavy enough with guilt she feels satisfied in telling herself she is not a heartless monster. "Other times... I keep Hellions that can't control themselves out."
 
     Others like her. Why is she the exception? Why is she special?
 
     "If you're scared... then that's fine." Is it?

<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.

Purri and Pixi are facing Ruth and sort of standing guard for him while he takes care of the Silicobras. Damian offers a tentative smile to the third one as it returns from inspecting Ruth and, of course, does offer them a poffin of their own. She's also the next to be examined and healed.

To the first one, Damian quietly says. "Y-you sound tired... I'm s-sorry i-if they g-gave you a h-hard time... W-we'll g-get you back, a-and you can rest there..."

But he shivers, when he sees the way that shadow falls. It's uncanny, and he doesn't make a habit of viewing things with unsettling themes or vibes like that. Assuming the Silicobra follow along, Pixi is in front with Damian, he'll try to lead and stay ahead of the snake pokemon, and Purri will bring up the rear, keeping watch in back.

"You w-watch..." Damian casts a worried glance back to where the fallen bandits are still laying. They deserve proper burials, but he doesn't have the means to do that right now. So instead he looks ahead, to Ruth. "Wh-why...?" He hopes she's not making a habit of killing bandits, even if it's in the name of protecting others.

The way Ruth laments that she doesn't belong in their world... That guilt... Damian looks down. "... B-but... y-you'd like t-to be part o-of it, w-wouldn't you...?" Otherwise, why would she sound so guilty. "Th-there have been a-a lot of v-visitors, l-learning about, a-and sh-sharing our way o-of life..."

"W-we're willing to sh-share..." Well, share some things, at least.

He's silent for a while as he thinks about Hellions entering Nede. Pokemon got out, so it only makes sense other things could get in... Could they handle it, if they were at all like the Hellion they encountered the other day? Some might, but the vast majority of them?

Not to mention the other drawbacks of having Malevolence around...

He looks up again. "B-but you can...?"

If he's scared... "Y-yeah, a l-lot... ab-about... a l-lot of things, I g-guess..." Being in the presence isn't helping, even if Ruth seems conflicted and intent on protecting Nede in her own... violent way.

<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.

    "...cobra," the tired-sounding Silicobra murmurs a ways behind Damian, a little mumbly. They can't wait to go back to the warmer environs of which they're more familiar.
 
     They're otherwise at relative peace, given the circumstances, which is an extraordinary sign of trust in the Nedian.
 
     It's not too long a walk to the rift from here. That the rift ended up here was as good a reason as any to start working on serious, useful maps for this part of Meribus so that travel to and from here can be less painful (beyond the bandit problems).
 
     Along the way, as Damian mentions about how much Ruth might like to be a part of it, how the Visitors have all been indulging... the willingness to share, even, of which Nede has done in spades.
 
     "Years ago," Ruth says, "a lot of us on Filgaia fought for something like that. What we were left with..."
 
     They were left with more than Energy Nede, which only has the fragment of itself left, but if it's anything like what happened with the bandits... that's still awful, isn't it.
 
     The rift comes into sight with one last bend, where the familiar (engineered) breeze of the arid Southvoid Hills blows in. The sleepiest Siliconda comes to life in realizing they're this close to a place more familiar to themselves.
 
     "I'm still myself," Ruth says, but there's no denying how she seemed like such a different person between taking the shots and after, as her serpentine tongue flicks again. "To leave such a place on your own... you weren't running away from it, were you?"

<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.

But there was fighting, a long time ago, that left them with... something. Lots of fighting that leaves a long-lasting impact... "... a w-war," he says, quietly. "I-it's happening again, o-on Filgiaa, i-isn't it...?" Kislev and Aveh. Though 'again' might not be the quite the right word. Still, continuously, unending might all be apt.

"We-we h-had them too... a l-long time a-ago..."

Damian can feel those warm winds, too, and he looks back to all of the Silicobras with a smile. "W-we're almost there...!"

Ruth is still herself, but who or what she is is still something of a mystery to Damian. He was told some Hellions could act this way, but also that they were rare... And he's not sure about someone who would kill so readily, even if it were to protect others."

He stumbles a step, though, when Ruth asks that question, and the general fear and anxiety he feels as a baseline spikes noticeably. "N-no...." But something in his voice (and in the emotional background radiation Ruth is privy to) suggests that he is running away from something...

<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.

    "It's never stopped. It never does." Her fingers tense and curl. Malevolence intensifies, but luckily, there's another rocky outcrop that serves as shelter from some of the rain above if DAmian wants to huddle with his Pokemon friends together for a bit while she processes those feelings of hers.
 
     Regardless of benevolence of intent and ultimate effectiveness, she is a Hellion, and as much a vector for Malevolence as any other. What she did to those bandits could have easily happened to Damian and the Pokemon, but... it hasn't.
 
     It is a strange coincidence to get to have a crash course on what a more functional Hellion might look like, after having had to deal with the remaining Malevolence at Emrys Mire (and its present alpha predator).
 
     She stops when Damian stumbles, turning around as there's the flash of those eyes nearly meeting his with the flicking of her tongue. He's lying - to her, to himself. (It's less the taste of 'lies' and more 'distress.' She'd need to be some kind of cat-like creature to be able to say, confidently, 'lying.' But alas, she's not a lying cat.)
 
     "Then... I won't be catching you about to take on four armed men who think nothing about who they're willing to strike down," she settles on, as she walks towards some raised piles of stone to take a seat, like a proper decorative grotesque as she bows her head.
 
     Nede is ahead, and for the time being, she sits on the Lunarian side, letting herself work her own knotted-up, recursively contradictory feelings.
 
     Her right wing flares out and curls over herself, blotting out her view of Damian and the others with all the expectation he's going to run on through with his friends, in a world that seems so much like the one that some of the people of Celesti yearned to have.
 
     One she does not deserve, despite having already benefited from some of its luxuries... and yet seems willing to engage her own despair over to see to its continuation.

<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.

Damian has some own thoughts to process on that, as well... Shige said something similar, though she was talking about a different war. (And Ruth may be far more literal, regarding the everlasting Kislev/Aveh stalemate, but Damian might not quite have grasped the full extent of that state of affairs...) either way, the thought of something like that leaving such a lasting impact is sad and more than a little distressing. When that rain intensifies, Damian ushers the small travelling party of pokemon off to huddle up in toat outcropping. No sense getting any more Malevolence exposure than necessary.

But he does avoid the truth, when Ruth asks, and the distress Damian feels about his parents is quite keen and accute. He's mostly avoided thinking about them, which--to be fair, he's had Team Rocket business on the mind lately regardless.

He just nods to Ruth's--warning? Admonishment? Regarding attacking the Bandits. He thought he had a plan, anyway... a plan he's willing to concede he might not be willing to attempt the same thing again... at least not without another trainer or Drifter for support.

"O-okay everyone, l-let's go..." Damian walks by Ruth at a great remove. Sitting, relatively close, and taking one last moment to study her, he can see some small details he perhaps missed before--like that Symbology-enhanced band, for instance. So she's been there, and even taken some advantage...

How contradictory.

Damian stops, just before he's about to step into the portal, with Purri leaping up to his shoulder. "Um... th-thank you. A-and I hope... U-um... y-you f-find a p-place to be happy..."

And with that he turns and walks through the portal.