2024-04-22: Give a Trapinch, Take a Trapmile

• Log: Give a Trapinch, Take a Trapmile
• Cast: Ruth Pauling, Damian Tamaoka
• Where: Southvoid Hills
• Date: April 22, 2024
• Summary: Damian takes some time to process what he saw recently, and comes across a sick Trapinch tries to help. Ruth, now in her Drifter form, sees Damian's efforts and comes to offer aid. Damianasks a few questions to try and understand Ruth better.

---

=============================<* Southvoid Hills *>==============================

The Southvoid Hills are the southern portion of the Kanto Region. Here, the land is more arid and dry compared to the rest of Kanto, and the Fumo Range splits it down the middle with large and foreboding mountains. The Pokemon here are known to be tougher and trickier to catch, and Pokemon Rangers are more active here. Safaris through this region are popular, often coming out of Fun City. Still, it is scenic in its own way, and many Nedians enjoy camping here, as smaller towns and villages are fewer and further between. To the south, one can see the energy field around Nede, and the glimmering symbols that compose it. Beyond that lies the eternal twilight of the stars.

BGM: Star Ocean: The Second Story - Field of Nede - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E03_d3DAOXs

<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.

    It used to be that the Southvoid Hills of Nede were as far south as the people of Nede could ever see or go. The energy field marked the edge of the fragment of the world they have left, and the very stars beyond.
 
     Then the rifts opened, and the arid landscape near Fun City found itself a whole new frontier to a world('s satellite) beyond.
 
     The Pokemon Rangers have had to step up their presence in the time that's followed since, but there's been some new unique challenges from having Nede become connected by a bridge beyond the vast reaches of space and time.
 
     One of them being strange, intensely violent creatures and people occasionally stumbling through. The handful of Psychics and Mediums that have visited since have found themselves perturbed by a foulness in the air. Visitors have been able to clarify what, exactly, that phenomena is - Malevolence. The problem is, much like most of the world(s) the Visitors come from, very few can even see it to begin with.
 
     Collectively, after some discussions... there has been an arrangement made for the times a specific individual is otherwise unoccupied. There is an understanding based on need, though even the Rangers give the individual a wide berth.
 
     A woman who can be mistaken for another Nedian is currently sitting down atop some rocks laid down in the Southvoid dunes, dressed in far too many layers for the climate... and yet never seeming ready to succumb to dehydration nor heat exhaustion. On her person, a lengthy and heavy firearm, sitting quietly before the rift to the Nanza Heartlands of Lunar.
 
     Where the Kanto Police have their hands full trying their best to prevent the war between Aveh and Kislev from spilling over, this individual seems to be their best hope for keeping some of the worst that could spill in from the Lunar-side Rift from coming over. Right now, she's keeping herself contained in the shell of who she once was, and the Malevolence ambient is only from other dangerous Hellions who lingered for a short time before being chased back out (or worse - but there's no signs of particularly violent struggle here today).
 
     The sun is about ready to start setting, and the Pokemon here just carry on with their day without paying the strange woman so much heed beyond a cursory glance.

<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.

Damian had only recently come to learn of Resonance, and even more recently come to learn of Malevolence and Hellions. He is--luckily or otherwise--blessed with that rare quality called Resonance, though whether it is a part of his other supernatural perception known as Spiritsight, or only developed in response to an almost constant stream of (over)exposure to every straught ghost, haunt, or spirit around him is anyone's guess.

He'd encountered his first hellions while in the company of those he trusted (Anne most of all, but also Ida and even the Seraph Lanval. Lanval had proved much less worrying once his nature was clarified, and Damian could separate out the particular way his presence made his brain itch out from those of every other spirit, ghost, and wandering soul he had ever encountered or perceived.) But his recent encounter with a strange--and atypical--Hellion while in the process of attempting to rescue some pokemon from some Lunarian bandits...

There had been a lot to process. Adrenaline and a determination to help the waylaid Silicobra had done a lot to keep him together, but later on, once all that had passed, and he was alone with just Purri and Pixi... he had finally let himself be physically ill, and then took a long time to try and process everything that had happened.

Purri was a great aid in that, as she was in most things.

But he was still in the area, not trusting himself to travel far while still upset.... and once he had calmed down enough the day had been in full swing, so he'd decided to wait a while for things to cool off before setting off.

And so he was trekking through the landscape now, with the sun starting to set and the temperatures starting to cool off. His hoodie is stashed in his backpack for the moment, leaving him in just a t-shirt and shorts, with a baseball cap to help protect his eyes. Purri is riding on his shoulder, though she's more drapped over it than sitting upright like she normally is.

He's stopped to tend to a pokemon who seems to be under some duress. It's laying on its side, with an armored body and a giant head (and jaws) that are somehow larger than its body itself. Damian is kneeling by his side, comforting it while he searches through his medicine pouch for an appropriate remedy while checking something on his phone.

"Purr?" questions Purri.

Damian looks up, and blinks. The clothes and especially that rifle look familiar, but... the form is different. Less monstrous.

Ida and Lanval said there were some Hellions that could hide their forms, right? "I-I th-think you're r-right..."

There is a small spike of fear and uncertainty from Damian, but he turns his attention back to the sick pokemon. Purri, meanwhile, starts to stroll closer, watching Ruth curiously as she does.

<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.

    To look upon her, only the clothes she's wearing are animated by the breeze. She's virtually a life-like statue - but the likeness to the creature that brought the rain and a loud, sharp end to four bandits is unmistakable.
 
     That's her, and she's here in Nede--
 
     The figure in the hood turns their head as Damian looks up and blinks.
 
     ...
 
     Purri advances, and before long, that figure stands up from her present perch and descends down into the sands as she closes in towards Purri. There is no Malevolence surrounding her, even though the truth is already known between them as to what she harbors within.
 
     "Take me to him," she says to Purri. There's something in her hand, like a... tile, of some kind? But, will Purri allow this known-yet-unknown entity to their vulnerable, frightened friend?

<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.

Purri does, indeed, know what this stranger really is... but she does pause to stare at Ruth curiously as she starts to stand and descend. She can't sense anything... but they've already been told that could happen, for Hellions capable of remaining in control of themselves. She frowns, eyes narrowing and her tail flicking gently back and forth in mild agitation. She doesn't like not having a clear idea of what the threat someone poses is.

But Ruth is descending, and Purri moves to not-so-subtly place herself in the woman's path. She stands upright on her hind legs, arms dangling at her sides, but her claws bared and ready to strike. "Purr," comes a firm statement.

But Ruth asks for that favor, to lead her to Damian, and Purri seems to narrow her eyes. "Purr... Purrloin." She points to Ruth's hand. "Purr?"

She seems to want to know what that object is, first.

<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.

    Ruth never looks at Purri head-on, but as Purri is shorter, she can look up and sort of make out the character of Ruth's eyes - staring off into a distance well beyond what's in front of her, all but lifeless, in a place where a smile cannot reach.
 
     'Purr?'
 
     The object in Ruth's hand... she seems to intuit the meaning, wordlessly beyond a chant that seems to invoke some sort of power from it. A Crest Graph - something culturally wholly foreign to Energy Nede - has its power invoked, as a mass of water splashes down into the dunes off to the side of Ruth. It's just water, invoked by sorcery. It is, noticeably, without a tinge of Malevolence within it - but it is water.
 
     "This," Ruth says succinctly. "They're suffering."

<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.

Purri blinks as she sees that Crest Graph. It's not common on Nede, but they have had it explained--at least the basics--so Purri at least recognizes the gist of it. Her head whips over to where the water manifests, and she drops down to all fours to sniff at the ground where the water manifested. "Purr..." Her trail swishes more slowly as she contemplates what she smells--or more properly, what she does not smell--and she looks to Ruth. She stands briefly again to hold a hand out in a 'wait' position, then runs back to Damian.

She rubs herself up against his side, causing Damian to reach down to pet her ears gently.

Purri looks up to her, and she vocalizes in her own way with Damian, who looks back down to her with a frown. Ruth can see and maybe hear them going back and forth a little bit, with Damian looking back at Ruth once or twice during the exchange.

"... a-are you s-s-sure...?"

"Purr!"

One last glance. "W-well... o-okay, if y-you think so..."

At that, Purri comes back, and looks up to Ruth again. "Purrloin." She turns and starts to walk back, but this time looks back over her shoulder.

That's probably an indication to follow.

<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.

    Ruth follows. Her presence looms, casting a shadow over the sick Pokemon, its would-be caretaker, and Purri alike. Isn't there some sort of mythological legend somewhere about allowing monsters to be invited...?
 
     "They're hurt," she says, simply, coming down to a kneel next to the hurt creature. She doesn't fully know or understand what this one is, or their typical life and diet, but she's found that pain and fear are almost universal to her ability to sense such things.
 
     "I can bring them water," she says to Damian. Damian has seen her bring water before, in the form of Malevolence-fueled rain, but that dreadful foggy atmosphere hasn't followed her today. "If that's what they need."

<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.

Purri precedes Ruth, of course, and when she reaches Damian she rubs up against his side once more, draping her tail around him to provide some extra reassurance. Damian reaches down to pet over her side, then looks up to Ruth as she kneels down. There is, predictably, a spike in his fear and anxiety when he registers her presence.

They're hurt. Damian nods. "I-I th-think... sh-she ate s-something spoiled..." Damian rubs over her side gently. "Sh-she's a T-Trapinch... n-n-normally b-burrow in th-the and and wait for p-prey..." Damian rubs over the Trapinch's side a little. "B-b-but... I d-don't see any i-i-injuries, s-so..."

There's an offer of water, and Damian's first thought is to the rain from the previous day. He looks down to Purri, but she pantomimes the using of a Crest Graph, and then nods. "Purr."

Damian looks up to Ruth and nods. "Sh-she m-m-might be d-d-dehy..." He stops nad sighs. "D-dehydrated, s-so water could help..."

<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.

    The strange woman doesn't waste time going through the motions to invoke the Crest Graph once more, summoning forth some water for the ailing Trapinch to come drink from. There is a gentleness here that seems completely out of character with the one they met on the other side of the rift some time ago.
 
     The lack of ceremony or flash in regards to the summoning of water might be the most strange thing of all, and yet, here it is - some water forms within reach of the Trapinch's enormous mouth, so that she can drink. Anything else for an upset stomach....
 
     "Usually the Rangers come," she says. There's a soft smile, almost sister-ly, but she never reaches out to touch the ailing creature with her hands. In fact, she seems to pull them back closer to herself once she's done casting the spell.
 
     "You can't bear to see anyone hurt, can you," she asks of Damian.

<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.

Damian is quicl to reach into his backpack when Ruth activates her spell. He pulls out something that he unfolds into the shape of a small dish and puts it down so that the water can be filled in there, and give Trapinch some more time to drink from it. The Trapinch looks at the wokan and then at Damian. He pets her side. "I-it's okay, I th-think..."

Purri is more sure in her statement of "Purr, purrloin."

Trapinch slowly lowers her head down to drink from the dish.

But the Rangers... Damian nods. "I th-think I j-just beat them here... B-but I'm glad I c-came along, wh-when I did..."

He looks up to Ruth, curiously, as she makes that observation. "I g-guess..." Now, without the fear of her monstrous (real) appearance to distract him, he can take note of certain things about her, like the way she smiles but not with her eyes, the way her stare is a little distant, and never focused on anyone... Damian looks down to Trapinch again as she continues to drink.

"I've r-read a l-lot about r-raising a-and taking care of p-pokemon... P-Purri's helped me s-so much, I g-guess... I g-guess I w-wanted to help o-others, l-like she d-does me..."

There's a moment as he considers what to say about his... rather complicated feelings about what Ruth did. "Y-you w-want to help, t-too, b-b-but... I d-don't understand... wh-why you helped... th-that way..."

<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.

    Ruth's movements are more deliberate and restrained in comparison. There is a distance here, even under the apparent gestures of warmth and kindness. She folds her hands over her lap as Damian feels out the words he wants to say about taking care of Pokemon, and how he wants to be kind and help others.
 
     Her eyes close, shortly before Damian asks the question that is the Phanpy in the room. Why she helped that way.
 
     "You were scared. You were almost hurt... or worse," she explains, as her right hand raises from her lap to go over where her heart is. "A heartless monster would have let them."
 
     A Silicobra appears, slithering along the sand and raising their head, flicking their tongue out. They escape back into the sand, which is normal, they are often timid and are prone to just spit up sand and then burrow to flee.
 
     It surfaces closer, at a respectful distance from the rest. Is this one of the ones that went over...?
 
     "All I've ever had to offer is fear, pain, and death," she says, of someone who just got done sorcerously conjuring water via Ley-drawing techniques for a dehydrated, food poisoned Trapinch. "So whatever good there is in someone like that," she says as her fingers curl, "I choose to be worthy of that fear."
 
     "That's why I watch the rift, when I'm not away."

<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.

"I w-was, b-but..." Okay, maybe it was a little foolhardy to attack four grown men, but... in other circumstances having four pokemon would seem to be enough, right? But they don't play by the same rules that Nedians do. "I c-couldn't j-just leave them..." A heartless monster...

Damian looks down, gently petting over Trapinch's head. "B-but w-we don't d-do that to p-p-people here..." Maybe a long time ago--they had soldiers and an army, once, but... not for a long time.

Purri looks to the Silicobra, tilting her head curiously. "Purr?" she says gently. Damian lets her handle that, he's still busy with the Trapinch, and the mysterious helper Hellion.

Fear, pain, and death... Is that really all? "B-but y-you wanted to p-protect me..." Even if it was in a way that is quite shocking to him. "... a-and you offered water, f-for this Trapinch... Y-you have th-that to offer..." On the other hand, she has a gun that, even by Nede's 'we don't let anybody have guns' stance is... quite alarming.

Damian looks up, but he doesn't try to force eye contact. "W-worthy? W-what d-do you mean...?"

<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.

    "We do over there," Ruth replies to the stammering about how Nede just doesn't do that to people here, as if to cut him off.
 
     "Sili~" Silicobra hisses gently and in a friendly manner, edging closer to Purri. This must be one of the ones from before! They look up to Ruth, briefly, but does very little beyond that. (They're not spitting sand at anyone, so, yay, friend.)
 
     Ruth is quiet as Damian works out his reasonings to her strange, circular logic that seems to contradict some of what she's actually doing in the moment. She concentrates on the fleeting pain and discomfort of the cared-for Trapinch, seeming all the world for someone who might approach a lack of object permanence without it sometimes.
 
     "You were scared and in danger. They didn't fear about what they were about to do to you or your beloved friends. So..."
 
     She trails off, lifting her head at risk of nearly meeting Damian's eyes.
 
     "It's fine if you're still scared. It's what I deserve."

<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.

They do over there. Damian looks down, and nods. "I g-guess so..." There's a difference between knowing something academically--they've all been warned about the dangers, of course--and to see the cold, hard, brutal reality. Especially when it was in service of his safety...

Purri meows at the sand snake and rummages through Damian's bag, then pads over with a berry held gently in her mouth. She sets it down on the ground near the Silicobra and then backs away. A gift, for a friend. Damian smiles as he watches Purri make the gesture, then turns his attention back to Trapinch.

Where Trapinch's pain and distress is lessening, Damian remains in a constant state of his own, and only some of which are related to Ruth. (Though that might, at the current moment, still be a significant portion of it.)

He was in danger, but it was for someone else's sake. He needed Ruth to save him--though could he and his pokemon have taken them on? Maybe, but if he was unprepared for the lethality Ruth used--quick, pinpoint shots designed to end a threat immediately and permanently--would he really be ready to handle someone who might not think twice about inflicting distress without immediate lethality?

Maybe not.

Still... Ruth stepped in to protect him, Anne's been helping him, he relies on Joy, and Peace... He likes helping others, but... he should be able to stand on his own two feet, right?

Another reson to work harder with his pokemon, so they can keep helping each other.

It's fine if he's scared. Damian looks at his lap. "... I'm n-not scared, c-cause you're different... j-just 'cause o-of what ou d-d-did...."

<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.

    The visiting Silicobra slithers closer to the berry, flicks their tongue, and then goes for it. (The berry must be of a flavor they have no strong feelings about either way.) They shake their tail in mild, reserved happiness as thanks, though they don't seem to have much to give in turn. (unless it's sand, which they haven't spit up yet, so that's a good thing, no one needs that much sand thrown at them ever)
 
     Damian voices out his feelings about why he's scared, now that they're all out of peril and in an environment more familiar to him - him, his close friend Purri, a Pokemon who needed help, and also there's a Silicobra there being cute. Familiar. The Nede of tens of thousands of years, where in the moment it can pretend everything is still the same.
 
     That they are not sharing the space with someone bearing a spiritual curse only kept under lock and key through a strong sense of self, openly wielding a weapon that has not had a place in Nedian society for tens of thousands of years.
 
     "It's what I do... and it's who I am," Ruth says matter of factly, as she starts to stand up. Her right hand is still over her heart, until it incrementally climbs up to go under her shawl and coat to massage her left shoulder from a twinge of pain. Things would hurt less if she could let go of that rifle, and all the weight it puts on her person.
 
     For all the burdens she's brought on herself, metaphorically and physically, she's still standing on her own two feet.
 
     "This is what I'm doing for your world."

<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.

Purri doesn't mind that Silicobra doesn't have anything to reciprocate. It was just offered to help a fellow pokemon out. Meanwhile, Trapinch seems to have had her fill and is layuing down on her stomach now, resting a little bit more. Damian keeps patting her back and side softly, since she seems amiable to the touch.

Meanwhile, Ruth has more to say about herself. What she does, and who she is... Damian looks up to her, as she stands. "Um... I s-still d-don't know how to f-feel about..." A bit more distress as he comes closer to thinkinga bout Ruth killing those people, but he swerves away from it a little mentally. "Th-that, b-but... i-if you were p-praying f-for them... th-thank you..." He looks down again. "I sh-should've, b-but..."

But things were kind of strained and tense and he was trying to cope with a situation he was very much not prepared for.

What she's doing for their world. Killing, for their sakes... but there are things that would easily kill them...

"I h-hope... s-someday, th-that there's a w-world wh-where... n-nobody h-has to k-kill anybody... B-but I-I'm going to w-work hard, s-so I can help p-protect people too... l-like the pokemon... A-and I hope y-you can stop k-k-killing, s-someday, i-if you want t-to..."

<Pose Tracker> Ruth Pauling has posed.

    "Someone should mourn them," says their unambiguous killer, and one of those circular loops of logic that spins around her heart and keeps the Malevolence going, as it were.
 
     She doesn't draw her gaze from looking upon Damian still sorting out their feelings, as that Silicobra approaches closer to Damian, looks up, and back towards Ruth with another flick of their tongue. They recognize her. For some reason, despite being the most dangerous individual in that space... that one wasn't afraid of her.
 
     What is it that Pokemon can sense that Nedians and their verbal peers cannot? Who knows.
 
     (Nede's had tens of thousands of years to figure that out and there's no clear consensus on that, but that's not the weirdest question mark they have.)
 
     She doesn't speak through Damian's stammering about his hopes for a world where no one has to kill. A tension passes through her right hand as the gnawing that never ceases in her mind chews on the nerve - the despair - of what she can never, ever be. What is no longer possible to have - and an answer she can no longer have no matter how much she tries to find out.
 
     Does she want to stop? She has no answer for that, as the child between them speaks his hope above his nervousness and fear. All she can do, then, is turn away and return to where she keeps her watch.
 
     "You'll have to," is what she musters. Even if she helps keep the portal between the southern parts of Nede and where Malevolence and those in its throes can filter into the walled-off garden...
 
     There's no putting the genie back in the bottle with what the Ten Wise Men have (re)started, and the consequences thereof.

<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.

Damian's had at least a cursory explanation of Malevolence and Hellions, but... he's still not that equipped to try and puzzle out the emotions that power a Hellion's heart.

Sometimes it's a chore enough just to understand regular people. And he'll still miss things, sometimes...

Damian and Purri both look to the Silicobra. Quietly, Purri says, "Purr, purrloin" to the Silicobra. Maybe someone like that needs someone looking after her.

Meanwhile, Damian keeps taking care of Trapinch, letting Ruth walk back to her vigil. Quietly, he says, "I s-still h-hope... y-you can f-find a p-p-place to b-belong."

Trapinch slowly stands up, and turns to give Damian a soft nuzzle. Damian manages to muster a small smile, despite the heavy subject matter. "W-well, if y-you're sure..."

A flash of light later, and there is a new pokeball on Damian's belt. Damian gathers all of his things and puts on his backpack. Purri jumps to his shoulder, and they both turn back to look at Ruth, silently.

Maybe Ruth is a protector they need right now... at least until Nede can figure out how to handle things on its own again.

That thought still makes Damian uneasy, but it's the best one he can muster as he turns and starts to set out on the way back towards Viridian City.