[Closed log]

[dreamsofahero]

Who: Sion and Ryner
Where: Their house/property outside Ecruteak
When: The morning after prom
Summary: Canon updates mean terrible things and buttloads of guilt
Rating: PG, because this is denyuuden and we can't have nice things
Log:


The sun still hadn't risen yet when Sion awoke, blinking. That in and of itself was no surprise, it was a rare occasion that he slept through a night uninterrupted, but he immediately noticed that something was off. This wasn't where he'd remembered falling asleep to begin with.

And it was dreadfully familiar.

He hadn't seen this place in months, but it took only a moment for the memories to come rushing back. Both the long time he'd spent here, as well as all that had happened in Roland since then. And yet despite it all, here he was again, as if nothing had changed. The same bed, the same room, the same house... Every he and Ryner had done together in their time in this strange, nonsensical world.

Then, of course, there was Ryner. Sion could hear his even breathing, still sound asleep. Not that that was any surprise, Ryner could probably sleep through the end of the world if he were allowed to. No, that was no surprise, but rather the fact that they were still both here, after everything that had happened. After everything that Sion had done.

It was too much for Sion to bear.

"Sol?" Dusk was giving him a concerned look, watching him intently as he carefully moved to climb out of the bed. Of course she'd sense that something was amiss... Sion shook his head, holding a finger to his lips and glancing meaningfully in Ryner's direction; they didn't want to wake him now, did they? Then he reached out and gently stroked the absol's head, his expression sorrowful.

"I know it's asking a lot, but could you do me a favor?" he asked, as quietly as he could manage. Dusk gave him an inquisitive look, and Sion rummaged through some of his things until he came up with a pokeball. Her pokeball. "I need a little time to think. By myself. So..."

The look of concern remained, but Dusk was clearly conflicted. On the one hand, she wanted to make her partner happy, to do as he said. But on the other, there was something very, very wrong right now, some sort of disaster just waiting to happen, though she didn't know what.

Sion just gave her a sad smile. "Please," he said. "That way I can still have you nearby, just in case," he promised.

"Sol..." It was reassurance enough. After all, when had Sion ever given her reason to doubt him? He'd certainly never done anything to break her trust before, so while still a little reluctant, Dusk complied, returning back to her ball. Then, quietly, Sion turned, opened the drawer of the nightstand, and placed it inside, closing the drawer behind it.

That done, he straightened, and still moving as quietly as possible so as not to wake anyone else, threw on some clothes and slipped out of the room. Then it was over the railing and landing softly in the living room to walk over to the front door. Of course, it was impossible that none of the pokemon would be awake, but a simple shake of his head and muttered "not this time" was sufficient for those cases, at least. Which meant that soon enough, he was quietly closing the door behind him and stepping out into the predawn gloom.

And within moments, he was out of sight.

Comments

[tearsofademon]

Ryner stayed a little behind Dusk as he waded up stream, partially because he didn't want to contaminate any evidence that Sion might have left behind - it would be bad to accidentally splash something crucial that he'd have no way of noticing - and partially because he wasn't sure Dusk was definitely recovered enough, and he wanted to be able to catch her if needed. He couldn't be sure if Sion's stubbornness had rubbed off on the Absol or if she'd been partnered with him partially because they were so alike in that way, but fact remained that that was a thing.

Besides, he'd still be able to see things she might not be able to, given his extra height, so it wasn't like he was useless if he hung back a few feet.

Sion was meticulous, yes, but claims that he was perfect were severely misinformed. There was no way he hadn't left little clues somewhere. The problem was finding them.

[dreamsofahero]

Sion wasn't perfect, no, and obviously after traveling so far even he undoubtedly must have started tiring, himself. Not that that would have deterred him in the least, of course.

Still, though, if Ryner was paying close enough attention, he might notice a thing or two. An overturned rock, some damp soil where water shouldn't normally be able to reach, that sort of thing. So he was on the right track, at least, even if there was no indication of Sion slowing down.

[tearsofademon]

Those little details didn't escape his notice, no. And the confirmation that they were still going in the right direction - that they hadn't missed something, probably anyway - was welcome.

Still, as he waded, he muttered to himself. "Stupid Sion... I swear, when I find that dumbass..."

Not that grumbling to the void was going to help much, but it made him feel slightly better.

[dreamsofahero]

It's probably a good thing Ryner noticed, considering that a little further up, while the banks are no less steep, the stream for a time had a smooth, sandy bottom. Easy walking, and even easier to hide tracks in.

Though for that matter, even a little beyond that patch, whatever signs there were before seem to no longer appear.

[tearsofademon]

He took another glance at the walls as he noticed the sand. Was there any chance that he might have climbed up them here? Probably not, but better to check.

[dreamsofahero]

If he did, there was no sign of it. Perhaps he stuck to the water after all?

[tearsofademon]

Probably...

Still, to be sure, he called up. "Hey Fio, anything up there around here?"

[dreamsofahero]

Fio paused a moment to trot back to the edge and shake his head. So far, not a trace on either side of the stream. Perhaps there would be something to find further upstream.

[tearsofademon]

"...All right, thanks. Let's keep going."

Continuing forward it was, then.

[dreamsofahero]

It wasn't long before the sandy bottom turned back to pebbles, though for the most part still lacking in the large rocks of other areas. The banks still loomed to each side, high enough now that the top edges were taller than Ryner would be able to reach when standing at the base. Much of said banks was rock, as well, the stream apparently running through a natural cleft between whatever stone lay under the layers of soil. At the same time, however, the woods pressed in closer, with trees whose branches and roots dangled over the ravine, shading it somewhat. Further ahead, the shade deepened, casting the stream into a state of permanent gloom.

[tearsofademon]

On the one hand, that was why Fio and Rose were still up on top.

On the other hand, if this would be a challenge for Ryner to climb, he surmised as he glanced over it, it was unlikely that Sion would have been able to.

...He'd probably gone further into the woods, it'd have lots of places to hide. Still, he took a minute to look to see if there was anything here that looked promising, while glancing at the Pokemon to see if they smelled anything.

[dreamsofahero]

While a challenge, climbing wouldn't be impossible, in theory. It wasn't exactly smooth rock, and there were certainly plenty of clefts and cracks in it. For that matter, some of said cracks were quite large, and occasionally the right combination of out-jutting rock and overhanging vegetation created small alcoves, though there were none that appeared large enough to fit a human. A little ways ahead, shortly before the more deeply shaded parts of the ravine, there was even a space carved out where flowing water from some long-past flood had cut open a route up the side. It was steep and looked to be treacherous footing with the pebbles and small rocks that lined it, but could probably be used as a way up if nothing further along sufficed.

Fio, currently on the opposite bank, was still searching, not having found anything so far.

[tearsofademon]

Well, maybe it wasn't quite impossible, then, but Ryner certainly wouldn't have been able to climb that without leaving a trace. If Sion had gone for that, it'd be obvious. The wall where he'd climbed would at least be wet, from walking downstream.

So then the question becomes. Did he continue down the ravine, or did he go down the side path?

"Dusk, anything down that way?" he asked the Absol, indicating the side route. If she didn't, that didn't necessarily mean anything considering the water, but might as well try.

From his owly perch, Harper sent out another psychic wave, listening for the thoughts of anything nearby, even static. Surely if they were getting closer, eventually he'd find something...

And Rose, more out of curiosity, peeked over the edge into some of the alcoves. Just because they didn't look big enough for Sion to hide in didn't necessarily mean they wouldn't have anything interesting, right?

[dreamsofahero]

Other than those wild pokemon who happen to be in the area, there didn't appear to be much for Harper to pick up. Well, perhaps a glimmer of something that maybe felt a little different, but then again, if it was, it certainly was gone again quickly enough. Certainly too quickly to get any kind of fix of direction and distance, assuming it was anything noteworthy in the first place.

The walls of the ravine certainly looked dry enough, though it could be hard to tell in some of the more shadowed parts. For her part, Dusk trudged toward the gap a little further ahead, her relative slowness a silent testament to her exhaustion. It took a moment or two, but when she examined the shallows and immediate bottom she paused, then gave the area a more thorough investigation, even climbing a short distance up. Then she gave an excited cry and started scrambling for the top, sending a shower of displaced pebbles down in her wake. Hearing her, Fio leaped back from the opposite side to start trying to pick up the trail himself.

As for Rose, there was nothing of note to be found in the various holes and gaps... Other than occasionally a pair of eyes belonging to a paras or such staring back at her, that was.

[tearsofademon]

Well, that was promising.

"Guess that's a yes..." Ryner muttered, doing his best to try and follow the excited Absol, keeping himself in position to catch her should she fall and shielding his eyes from stray pebbles kicked up.

"Clefairy!" Rose greeted one of the Paras in the holes cheerfully, asking if they had seen a human with silver hair passing through.

[dreamsofahero]

Dusk did manage not to fall--barely--though there was certainly a good deal of scrambling and scrabbling at the loose rock on her part. Once at the top, she was greeted by Fio, and the two promptly got to work tracking the trail, moving back and forth to make certain that they didn't miss anything. It certainly appeared that it made for the woods, however.

"Paras...?" the paras looked at her curiously. It had just been napping here before all this commotion.

[tearsofademon]

"Fairy fair?" A human! Long, silver hair. We're looking for him, it's really important. But if you haven't seen him, that's okay too. ...Is the gist of what Rose is saying to the poor Paras, sorry Paras, you're getting wrapped up in nonsense.

Before following the Arcanine and Absol toward the woods, though, Ryner glanced up at Gail. "Hey, can you guys check downstream a bit for me?" In case the idiot king had decided to double back or something.

Gail, for his part, gave a hoot of acknowledgement before he flew off to do just that.

[dreamsofahero]

"Paras..." No, it hadn't seen anything, it was napping, after all.

In the mean time, Dusk was waiting somewhat impatiently for Ryner to catch up, with Fio waiting somewhat less anxiously beside her. They'd definitely managed to narrow the trail to this point, at least--while the sun had dried any traces of water tracked up from the river to here, the scent still remained, and this was one of those gaps were it would be easy to slip into the woods without leaving many signs of one's passage.

[tearsofademon]

"Clef~" Oh, well, thanks anyway! Rose said as she scamperd off to join the others.

Satisfied that the other potential path was covered, Ryner followed toward the woods. "All right, this way then."

[dreamsofahero]

Dusk and Fio needed no further urging to plunge into the forest, though at least they took enough care so as not to accidentally trample the trail as they went. Fortunately, as the forest deepened, it appeared that Sion's own exhaustion must have been catching up with him--the occasional broken branch or freshly fallen leaf leaving clear indication of his passage.

Downstream where Gail was flying, nothing appeared to have changed from when they passed that way before.

[tearsofademon]

Well, if there was nothing out of the ordinary this way, then there was no reason for Gail to continue down this path, so he turned around to fly after the forest crew.

As for Ryner...

...Clear indication, huh.

Too easy.

"Be extra careful, okay?" he said quietly, making sure to pay even closer attention to the sides of the trail himself. (Which was exhausting, but for an important cause.) "If he's leaving this clear a trail, there's a good chance he's trying to throw us off."

[dreamsofahero]

So far, there was nothing that indicated Sion had been doing anything other than pressing forward. Well, up until a point where a particularly large, dense patch of undergrowth blocked the way. On close examination, Ryner might find evidence of someone trying to push their way through it, but evidently Sion must have given up, as the trail veered off to the side at that point. Dusk immediately started trotting down in the new direction, though heeding Ryner's warning Fio took a moment to give the undergrowth a thorough examination (or, well, as thorough as something the size of an arcanine can) before moving on.

[tearsofademon]

Ryner didn't quite trust it.

"Hey Rose, can you go through there and see what you can find?"

"Fairy!" With a salute, Rose started squirreling her way into the undergrowth. Perhaps a big dog might not be able to examine it properly, but a Clefairy is small and nimble.

[dreamsofahero]

"Sol..." To her credit, Dusk did pause to wait for Ryner when it became clear he wasn't following yet, though she certainly looked less than patient about it.

In and on the other side of the undergrowth was... nothing. Either Sion had been there and done an incredible job of covering his tracks, or he truly had given up after his initial failed attempts.

[tearsofademon]

It didn't take too long for Rose to scour the place, but she eventually crawled out and shook her head. Nothing there, Dear Partner.

"Ahh, well, thanks. If we'd skipped it, you know that's where he'd be hiding. Come on."

Time to keep following the dogs, then.