azume | Week 9.

WEEK 9

The one thing Team Galactic seems to have done right in this world is perfecting teleportation technology.

The device Maylene gave Rey will get all of you back to Eterna City easily; from there, it's a matter of very briefly stocking up on supplies on Sunday before you move westward, away from the massive, imposing form of Mount Coronet and into the deep shadows of Eterna Forest.

During your brief stay in Eterna City, it's likely that you'll notice a few things have changed, as far as both the people and the Pokémon go; this holds true as you make your preparations and disappear into the forest on Monday. It's heartening, maybe, to know that once again your actions seem to have made a difference; meanwhile, the trip to Lake Verity looks to be a long one, but it isn't entirely insurmountable.

The forest itself is large and dark, covered high overhead with a thick canopy of trees; the Pokémon here are plentiful, which likely cuts down on any inherent creepiness to the place - whether that's a good or a bad thing depends entirely on your point of view. Either way, it's going to be quite the adventure trying to make your way through; here's hoping that your luck continues to hold over the coming week...

CURRENT LOCATION: ETERNA FOREST
POKEMON AVAILABLE: PLAINS/FOREST

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY
[OOC: Welcome to week nine of Azume; feel free to make as many top levels as you'd like and tag out to other characters! This post is for all of your interactions this week... at least until the weekend. Don't forget that a write-up is due this weekend!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The beautiful Eterna Gym became something of a safe space for Rey the last time they were in the city; if she ever found herself having some spare time (and wasn't it luxurious, to have some legitimate spare time?), her legs tended to lead her there, where her and her Pokemon would sit amongst the flowers and try to recreate Emmeryn's flower crowns with varying levels of success.

So after the events of the weekend it seems like the ideal place to go, particularly if they're only planning to be in Eterna City briefly. Rey is putting Cleffa down amongst some flowers when she notices movement out of the corner of her eye; for a moment, she's disappointed, as she really did want to be alone....until she notices who it is.

...]

...you heard, didn't you? What Uxie told me about Cyrus.

[Hello to you too, Jake.]

[Hey. Rey's voice will effectively pull him out of his thoughts; he doesn't seem annoyed by it, though, or by the lack of standard greeting. He gets it, it's good.]

...Yeah, I did.

[Having safely deposited Cleffa in the daisies, Rey makes her way closer to where Jake is standing. here's an undercurrent of emotion running through her voice, and she isn't doing much to hide it, or prevent it becoming more evident.]

At least three, possibly four gods, and willpower strong enough to get them under his control. How are we supposed to defeat someone like that?

The same way we'd defeat anyone else: by being entirely too fucking stubborn to die.

[He seems tense, sure, but there's an oddly calm sense of confidence there as well. The sort of thing that comes from experience and not bravado.]

Sometimes that's all it comes down to. Once the odds get that fucking ridiculous, they stop mattering. You just square up and you decide you're not going to die today, and so you fucking don't. And if shit gets bad and you die anyway, at least you died fighting and not because some fucker that isn't going to play fair decided to snap you out of existence that day.

Same way I survived in Edonia and China. Same way you survived on Jakku.

[There's wisdom behind Jake's words and Rey would be lying if she said she didn't find them inspiring; she's been in a few situations that would fit what he's describing, and if anything, she felt...peaceful. Like she could accept her death, in the face of such utterly unfair odds.

But that was before, on Jakku. Before she had people she needed and loved, people who were depending on her to get back to them...]

...you're right, I just...

[...]

...I can't die here, Jake. I know that should make me all the more determined to win, but instead I'm just...afraid. Aren't you?

[He's quiet for a moment, looking at the pokemon instead of at Rey.]

...When I was sixteen, I nearly died. It was a long way from Edonia, in a jungle where I'd just watched everyone I gave half a fuck about die. I was on the ground with no weapons and nothing I could do to save myself, while some fucker I'd never met before went to town on my face with a knife.

[He's told a few people here how he got all the facial scarring; he sounds weirdly blunt about it. Clinical, but more in the sense that he's trying very hard to not let himself have feelings about it.]

Maybe I'm just fucked in the head, but I haven't let myself be afraid since that happened. Fear wouldn't have saved me then, and it's not going to save me now.

...is that...?

[Rey doesn't finish the question, but she runs a hand down her cheek. Silence follows.

...]

...I suppose it is a case of just pushing through the fear, isn't it. Fear won't help us defeat Cyrus.

[If only it was that easy.

...]

...do you have anyone back home you need to return to? Sherry, isn't it...?

[You know, at least she asked, even if it was only halfway. Usually that sort of thing gets people just...very determinedly not looking at it.]

Yeah, it is.

[He kind of shrugs at the rest of it; speaking of determinedly not looking, though, that actually gets him to break eye contact.]

Sherry's got what she needs from me. I'd like to see her again, yeah, but it's not like I'm really needed anymore - all the stuff I'm good for, her government has copies of. So I guess it's easier for me to talk about this sort of stuff, it wouldn't really be a great loss if something happened to me.

You've got some important shit to get back to, though, yeah?

[That earns Jake a nod, and Rey similarly shifts her gaze away; her fingers are suddenly very interesting.]

I haven't really gone into much detail, and I'm sorry about that. To cut a long story short, I'm part of a resistance movement trying to defeat a terrible organisation who's close to gaining control of the galaxy. We've...suffered some losses, lately, so our numbers aren't the best. Every person counts.

However, I'm...

[...how does she even explain this...]

...special. I'm the only person in the Resistance with certain...powers, I suppose you'd call them, and the leader of the organisation - the First Order - also has these abilities. We may be the only ones left in the galaxy who have them, so...I must return.

[There's so much more she could say - about Leia, about Luke, Finn, Kylo Ren...but that will do for now.]

That's the long and the short of it, anyway.

[Mm.]

Being the only person capable of saving everyone because the other guy who could have done it is way too busy fucking everything up - yeah, I've been there, too. Fortunately they were able to replicate my entire deal; that's what Sherry's got her hands on, why I'm not really needed in person. Bit different if you can't really do that, I get it.

We'll figure shit out. We don't really have a whole lot of choice. But you're not gonna die here either way.

[That makes Rey smile softly, although there's a melancholy tinge to it.]

At least we have determination, if nothing else.

It'll be enough.

[He sounds sure of that much, at least.]

I don't blame you for being freaked out or doubting this whole thing. I'm not exactly scared, but I'm not liking the odds, either. It's gonna be on my mind for a while.

As it stands, we don't have a chance in hell. But we're getting our shit together. Helping gods has to be points in our favor, yeah?

You make a good point, although I just don't know how much help we can expect from the Lake Guardians. The two we've meet seemed quite traumatised; not that I can blame them, of course.

[Uxie especially was...upset.]

...thanks for discussing this with me, by the way. I didn't want to bring down the mood of the group, but I couldn't keep it in any longer.

I'm glad you're not giving up.

I've never really been all that good at quitting, even when I probably should. So I'm definitely not going to about something like this.

[It sounds kind of self-deprecating, but it's true enough.]

You can come talk to me about anything you want, though. I don't mind it or anything.

[That actually makes Rey laugh softly.]

I think I like the idea of defeating Cyrus out of pure stubbornness. Uxie said he had an iron will, but...maybe you and I can best him.

...and likewise, by the way.

Week 9.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject