victory_road | run from your home town [action]

Entry tags:

run from your home town [action]

Who: Astrid, Open
Where: New Bark Town, Rt 29
When: Morning
Summary: Compared to the last unfamiliar awakening, this place is pretty nice, but old memories die hard and not all gut reactions are helpful.
Rating: G probably
Log:

This is bad.

This is bad, this is bad, this is bad.

It has been a very long time since Astrid woke up somewhere she didn't recognize, and while the woman in the house - a cozy place that she would appreciate if she wasn't immediately panicking - is kind, and gave her a few things, Astrid can't stay put long enough to be properly shooed out. Clutching the bag she's been provided with to her chest, she bolts for the treeline as soon as she's out the door.

It isn't until the little village is behind her that Astrid starts to catch her breath, calm the hammering of her heart, and become starkly aware of the cold sweat forming on the back of her neck. Letting out a little groan, she drops her things onto the ground and sinks down to sit on a fallen log.

"Ordis?" she calls out, looking up at the sky. Of course she gets no answer, which lurches her heart straight back into her throat. "Ordis?!" Frantic this time, Astrid leans down to put her head in her hands.

"Where am I?" The weakness in her voice is mortifying, but at least there's nobody around to see.

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All the frantic calling is hard not to notice for anyone near by, and maybe unfortunately for her there is someone near by. Another newcomer, this one with a black bird shifting back and for on his shoulder.

Hubert eyes her from a distance, pondering just walking away, but...

"It seems to be called Johto."

Edited 2022-05-17 21:14 (UTC)

The shift in demeanor is instant. While the sudden voice is startling, it takes about half a second to flip over into anger. Astrid jolts to her feet and approaches the stranger with long, determined steps.

"What am I doing here?!" Her eyes flash - literally, there seems to be light swirling somewhere inside them - and she stops just out of arm's length. "Whose fault is this, and where are they?!"

The idea that this person may not know doesn't cross Astrid's mind. He's dressed well and has a poise she doesn't see often; clearly, this is somebody important.

And in character with his poise the man doesn't balk or back down at her angry approach. Instead he tilts his chin up to look even taller than he already is.

"I have no idea. I just arrived as well." Said with complete calmness.

"Bullshit."

It's true, though, and Astrid knows it. He doesn't look like somebody who would be wandering the forest, or in some backwater town. Instead she starts pacing in little circles and thinking out loud.

"We must have been plopped down here for a reason. It looks like Earth but I can't feel the void anymore... so why here? Instead of, you know, a city. Somewhere more convenient for whatever they want to do to us. That woman, in town - have you spoken with her? Maybe she knows something."

And if not, Astrid owes her an apology.

He can't blame her for the frantic pacing or theorizing- he had done exactly the same thing when he woke up too.

"Ah, the so called 'Mom'? Yes, we've meet."

"What did she say to you? --Sorry for biting your head off." Whether this is a genuine apology or an attempt to make the man more likely to help her is hard to tell. "I think she probably spoke to me but I wasn't really listening at the time."

Bruno wasn't sure what his next move was until he saw the woman running out of New Bark Town. He'd just arrived himself, and while he wasn't happy, she definitely seemed to be having a harder time with the adjustment. So, although not without hesitation, he'd followed after her-- Careful not to run after, and seem like he was giving chase, but rather shuffling along. This also gave him plenty of time to reassure the shy snake creature he'd apparently been partnered with as they want along.

When he reached the woman, he crouched down before her. "Hey, I know, it's pretty scary. But panicking isn't going to make it easier, you know? Trust me on that one."

Astrid isn't expecting to be spoken to, especially not so close, and while the man's voice startles her his kind demeanor keeps her grounded. She's grateful for it.

"Not really on purpose," she grumbles, straightening up and scrubbing at her scarred eye with the heel of her hand. It's easier to see now that she's pretty young, maybe an older teen at most. "Last time was... bad."

Seeing she's younger than he'd thought makes Bruno feel even worse for the girl, especially paired with seeing that scar. He nods slowly, clearly uncertain on how to be comforting here. But he's going to try anyway.

"Sorry, yeah, I... I know what that's like too. I mean, that it's not on purpose. This, this kind of crazy thing hasn't happened to me before, though. That's-- It's awful that you're going through it again. I'm sorry."

"I mean, I can move and there are no knives so it's already a better time." It's hard to tell that it's a genuine statement, but it is. She holds her hand out, pointed carefully away from both the man and his snake, but when she feels deep inside herself... there's nothing. No light from her hands, no Void wrapped around her heart.

"...Astrid, by the way." She huffs it, but it's clearly not at him.

He doesn't understand her gesture, but he also barely notices it, being rather focused on her words instead. He's seen his nieces and nephews deal with things they weren't nearly ready for, and it seems this girl has gone through hellish things, too. It hits close to home.

"I'm Bruno. I... I don't really know what's going on right now, either, but maybe we can find some answers back in town?"

"I think I owe someone an apology back there... probably a good idea." Astrid stands and dusts herself off, but she freezes when there's a rustling from the tall grass.

"Uh... that your little snakey guy?"

Bruno holds his breath as he looks over to where Tiago was, but he's still there, although he's gone from patiently lying in the dirt to looking alertly towards the grass, and as the rustling grows closer the Silicobra starts digging down into the ground.

"Oh I don't like that... Astrid, did you get one of those red and white balls, too?"

"Eh? Maybe." She crouches down to rummage quickly through the pack she'd been given, finally finding the little ball as the mysterious presence reveals itself as...

...an absurdly fluffy little grey kitten, toddling out from the underbrush and giving them a confused meep.

Edited (dunno why the image link is being so weird) 2022-05-28 15:13 (UTC)

[Radley has decided to come back to New Bark Town, mostly on the begging from his Eevees, who want to play with all the kitties they heard a woman raises. Radley loves kitties, so he decided to see if he'd like one for himself too. And there's the prospect of catching a Flying Pokemon in the area.

He knew he might run into confused newcomers here, so coming upon Astrid near the town isn't a surprise. Of course, Evie the Eevee springs into action first and hurries over, chirping adorably in the hopes of cheering Astrid up.]

[A forest having little creatures in it is expected, and while Astrid isn't expecting any of them to be friendly the fact that one of them is brings her focus out of the past. She reaches out to scratch behind the creature's long ears.]

Hey there. Is this where you live?

[Evie is thrilled with the attention and nuzzles her hand.

Radley soon catches up with the other Eevees.]

Hi! That's Evie. She loves making friends and trying to cheer people up.

[The presence of a cute animal is enough to keep Astrid from startling when Radley speaks. She scoops the critter up and stands.]

Sorry, is she yours?

[A stupid question, since he knows its name and seems to have a small herd of the things.]

[Evie beams and wiggles her ears.]

Yeah, she is. She was my introduction to this place. I didn't really intend on raising them, but we ran into Evan here, and then they got close and had Kiryu, and Isla saw them all playing and wanted to join the fun.

[He chuckles fondly.]

[Astrid turned Evie over in her arms so she could tickle her belly.]

They just come with you, out of nowhere? If I want a take kubrow I have to hatch one myself, wild ones don't tame down.

[Evie loves it and waves her legs in the air.]

Well, Evie was my starter, so I had her at the weird house. I found Evan being hurt in the park. I took him to get help and he wanted to come with us when he was better. Kiryu's their kid, so all he's known is being with us. Isla just found us and wanted to play.

[Radley smirks a bit at that.]

Eevees are probably tamer than some other species of Pokemon. They usually seem to hang out in urban areas, maybe because they like people?

What's a starter?

[Astrid hasn't explored the bag she'd been given very much; she'd been a bit too panicked to think about it.]

Oh, that's the Pokemon you get when you first get here. Sometimes they stay in their Pokeballs until you let them out. Other times, they let themselves out. Evie really wanted to meet me right away, so she was on my bed when I woke up here.

Oh, yeah? Maybe...

[Astrid returns to the discarded bag and actually starts to go through it. Most of it is practical - a set of clothes, shampoo, a lunch that looks rather tempting now that she thinks about it - but she does find an odd little two-toned ball and some kind of hand-held computer. The ball has a button on it, and that intrigues her more at the moment.

Pressing the button causes a flash of light that coalesces rapidly into... an odd little duck creature.]

Well, would you look at that.

[The creature hovers and lets out an electronic beep that, somehow, Astrid can read as curiosity.]

Edited 2022-05-20 11:37 (UTC)

Oh hey, that's cute!

[The Eevees all want to say Hello! Isla wonders if it wants to play.]

[Not quite the word Astrid would use, but she can't deny the little creature is charming. It wiggles its paddles as the Eevees crowd around it, and the computer in her hand lets out a chime.]

Porygon is capable of reverting itself entirely back to program data and entering cyberspace. This Pokémon is copy-protected so it cannot be duplicated by copying.

Oh, so kind of like a cephalon?

Edited 2022-05-20 20:14 (UTC)

Wow. That's unique.

[He's amused by the copy-protected notice. That figures, in this day and age.]

What's a cephalon? Something from your world?

Yeah, it's kind of like an artificial intelligence? They used to be people, and granted not all of them went... willingly.

[Astrid wrinkles her nose. The Orokin era was disgusting in a variety of ways; she had jumped at the chance to unseat them.]

It's just named Porygon, then?

... Um gee. I'm glad that doesn't happen around here.

[That sounds like the stuff of nightmares.

He looks back to the new Pokemon.]

Yeah, that's it's species name. You can give it a personal name, if you want.

It wasn't all bad. At least one became a cephalon to protect herself from dementia. Joining the weave gives you access to all kinds of data, and means you can't die.

[Whether this was a blessing or a curse was up to the individuals involved. Astrid reached out to take the Pokemon in her hands; the texture was plasticky, definitely not good to pet, but there was definitely a thrumming from inside. It beeped at her cheerfully.]

So, you know. Not all bad to be a cephalon, and this guy doesn't need to know all that stuff.

Oh. Yeah, dementia is a good thing to avoid.

[He smiles at the Porygon.]

So, if you want advice on where to go from here, I can tell you a few things.

Oh yeah, that'd be great. I guess I can't go home? Can I at least send a message?

[Her brother will worry. Despite the unpleasant texture, she finds herself holding the Porygon closer and giving its head little strokes.]

I'm Astrid, by the way.

Not voluntarily. It seems like eventually most of the people go home, but only when the god of this world or whatever brought them here decides to send them back. Messages so far haven't been possible either. But I've heard that time stands still back home, so it's like we haven't left. There's a few people who have been sent home and then come back again and they've apparently said they go back to the moment they left.

[That's one weight off his mind, at least.]

I'm Radley.

[That's... well, good doesn't seem right, but at least she won't be missed. Astrid isn't looking forward to what the separation will do to her, if anything, but at least there are nice people and cute animals. Speaking of...]

Where do you get more of those guys? Do you... I dunno, buy them? There's plenty of little critters back on Earth and Venus, but they're not typically friendly unless you hatch them yourself, or get them when they're really young.

Most of them are in the wild. A lot of people battle them and then scoop them up when they're too weak to fight back, but that just doesn't sit right with me. I haven't got any of mine by battling.

You can also buy some from breeders. I'm going to be breeding these cute Eevees.

Are you from an Earth?

[He's amazed that a Venus is inhabitable. That must be another dimension from his, surely....]

[Astrid nods.]

Mm-hmm. Given that this isn't home, I'm guessing it's not the same as your Earth.

[She's catching on remarkably quickly, but look, she's just recently spoken to an older version of herself from an alternate timeline. The concept is less new to her than it might be for others.]

How much do the baby Eevees cost? They're awfully cute.

Yeah. It's similar to mine in some ways, but in other ways it's pretty different.

[Radley picks up Kiryu and pets him.]

I'm not fully sure what to charge yet. The breeders all have different prices. I might charge 1500 Pokedollars, or it might be less. I can put you on a waiting list for an egg. I already have two friends on it.

That'd be really cool.

[Astrid sets about packing her bag back up, sans the bento box.]

If you're not new, what are you doing out here? Seems kind of boring when you're not freaking out about being kidnapped.

Cool.

[Radley smiles.]

There's a lady here who raises kitty Pokemon called Skitties. The Eevees wanted to see them and I thought maybe I'd get one. They're available to good homes, from what I've heard.

[Radley could almost hear Astrid's ears perk up.]

Can I come?

[Radley smiles.]

Sure. I was going to invite you. Hopefully it won't be hard to find her place. You'd figure it wouldn't be, in such a small town.

[Astrid's face splits into a wide grin and for a moment, she almost looks like a normal teenager despite the scar, the light swirling in her eyes, the metal embedded in her face. It's pretty common for her mood to rapidly fluctuate.

She holds up the little ball and shows the Porygon.]

You wanna stay out, or duck back in? Up to you.

[Cephalon bleeps and nudges the ball with its beak, flashing red and disappearing inside. For a creature made of data, it makes sense to Astrid that it would be cozy when turned back to code.]

Edited 2022-05-21 08:47 (UTC)

[The Eevees scamper ahead, hearing the calls of the Skitties.]

I guess they know where to go.

[Indeed, before long the Eevees find the house and the Skitties and start playing with them.]

Aww, they're really cute.

[Some of the Skitties come over to the humans to say Hello.]

[Astrid squeals at the tiny little kitten stampede, immediately dropping to her knees to pet the ones that had run up to her and Radley.]

Oh, they're adorable!

[Chin scratches, ear rubs, light cheek pinches - the kittens appeared to love it all.]

[Radley grins and picks one up as well. She snuggles him, purring.]

Oh yeah, this cutie is coming with us if she's one of the ones for sale.

[The Eevees exclaim in delight.]

[One of the kittens, an especially small, fluffy one, is hanging back, seemingly nervous about all the activity. When Astrid notices, she holds her hand out and lowers her voice.]

Hey, it's okay buddy. Here-

[She takes out the bento box and pulls a small piece of meat from the sandwich inside; the smell of it is enough for the Skitty to creep forward, sniffling curiously at it.

The curiosity rapidly gives way to hunger, and it noshes down on the little slice with a soft little mrrp.]

[Radley smiles.]

Aww, that's really cute.

[This definitely feels like home. Pokemon cats are just like other cats. With unusual colors. And special powers.

The Eevees continue to happily romp with some of the others.]

[The treat is enough for the Skitty to let Astrid closer, and once it was done she scooped it gently up. It had a tag and was, rather appropriately, named Nibbles.]

I think this one is coming with me.

[Radley is amused by the name.]

It looks like mine is Cuddles.

[Not the name he would have chosen, but it does fit.]

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run from your home town [action]

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