002 - Video in Cherrygrove.

[hipstermark]

[Hello, network! Have a Vanille, and, er...

This... thing. Sitting behind her, playing with some spoons, alongside her cowering Shelgon and her Vanillite, who's hovering around and putting more ribbons over the glitch pile. Vanille gives a nod to the camera, before... starting to navigate to her bed. There's quite a few ribbons on the ground, too - and she's following them! In the very corner of the room, canonmates may see a pile of familiar clothes - a Purge robe, tightly piled up. Well, others might see it, too.

As she lays down on half the bed, she gives a pout, and a dramatic (if not playful) sigh.]
Now, I'd be okay with getting a lot more sleep and rest - if I wasn't forced to stay in this room! Scoop, Veh and - well, I haven't named my Shelgon yet, but she's here too - we've been having a girls night in - ever since I caught Veh! She's the one with all those ribbons on. Really, we've had nothing else to do! It's like... we're stuck in a maze, and there's no way out of it - there's no way out of the door, or the window! So - anybody have any fun ideas for me to do? I was hoping the news would have something - wasn't that a strange show, though?
[...Pause, with a slight hmm sound. Yeah, the EV news creeped her out a bit. Though, even though Lightning had reassured her it was a different world, Vanille was still watching the news to see if she get mentioned.]
Well, I've got another with me. But it hasn't moved since I caught it - it's over there!
[Vanille says, tilting the camera to reveal...
A Fossil Kabutops Missingno. A bright pink one. As Vanille turns away, it seems to scowl a little, but Vanille doesn't seem to notice.]

 

See? I wonder if it's just shy - Veh isn't as shy as it. I'd have the rest - I'm actually worried about them! As soon as I caught these two, more and more have been vanishing... they just go to the PC, right? I'd check, buuuuut... well, I'm stuck!
[...Vanille pauses. She doesn't want to think that they might be injured. They're just in the PC... right?]
Oh! Lightning, Pitch? Veh sometimes teleports away and grabs food - I haven't been starving! Though it still is rather lonely, being stuck in here.

((OOC: The door to Vanille's room is stuck closed by glitches, but there are plans with that.
Also, tags will be super slow at first - I'm still recovering from RL troubles. I just wanna get my two posts out before the event ends.))

Comments

[hipstermark]

[The fossil is struck - sadly, it only has eyes on one side of it.

Invisible eyes, but still.
So, as Lightning lunges - it's tackled. The funny (?) thing about being like it? Well, it's level one. At that level, all it can do is flail a little - as Vanille takes in what's going on, it takes her a few moments to realize she's not pinned, she has room for her legs... without stopping to check if Lightnings okay, Vanille suddenly grabs Veh and Scoop - and runs out of there, into the corridor, away from all those words and reminders.

Before stopping. There's an invisible wall there - though not all around, Vanille starts to use her hands to feel where it stops. Vanille just wants to escape, to run away. She won't look back, that thing will be gone. Hopefully.]

[soggypastry]

[She doesn't need to be checked on--protecting her people is what Lightning is good at, even after all this time. She flips back, up and off and leaving it stunned on the ground to flail for a moment. She doesn't waste time after that, turning on her heel to bolt back out the door. Faith has already nudged Shelgon into the corridor behind Vanille, so once Lightning clears the threshold, she shuts the door with a hard slam that rattles the frame.

She doesn't waste time to see if it can get out, though. Still moving, leaving the Shelgon to Faith's nudging, she grabs Vanille's wrist and tugs.]

Come on!

[hipstermark]

[Vanille doesn't need to get tugged to know she has to run. The Shelgon lets out a bit of a yip, as it suddenly barrels off, towards freedom.]
I know!
[Vanille just says, though. She's good at running. It's all she did...
No. Now isn't the time for angst! She can cry when she's all alone, tonight. Though, Lightning might notice Vanille is being a little careful - she has to feel for invisible walls, after all!

And dodge them. Which she's doing well.]

[soggypastry]

[She notices. She notices and wonders what the hold up is, but she just keeps on tugging as Faith bolts after the Shelgon, now suddenly playful instead of rushing. It's in her nature, really.

It's in her nature as much as protectiveness is in Lightning's. Vanille can need to dodge the walls as much as she has to, but once they're out--downstairs, at least, if not outside in the fresh air, Lightning lets go and turns back around to face her friend, barely the slightest bit out of breath.]

Are you hurt?

[hipstermark]

[Vanille lets out a sigh, before letting her body relax.

She was out of that room, the one she just had to endure. Would it have been worse back home?

No! No no no! No more angst right now - Vanille gives the slighest of smiles, but shakes her head - showing her arms.

Slight little cuts - almost looking like papercuts - pepper her arms.
Yes. They hurt. I mean, it's the sort of injury a Potion would stop, but Vanille... well, potions only work on Pokemon here. And you don't even break them over peoples heads!]
That's all it managed to do - I'm tougher then I look!
[She's not letting her voice shake right now. She's not going to mention the emotional pain, she'll let Lightning look this over for now.
She needs the fresh air, at least, before she can even start to comprehend everything.

Before she can talk about it. Now, if this were Fang, Vanille would be spilling it straight away, and leaping in for the huggles. But, if you haven't noticed, Lightning is not Fang. It's easy to get them mixed up, I know.]

[soggypastry]

[Lightning sighs, letting her shoulders slump in slight relief--good she's not badly hurt--before she reaches down, digging into her pouch and coming up with a small spray bottle, purple in color. This wouldn't work on anything bigger than what Vanille has, and it may not work at all, but it nothing else it'll stop any stinging. She reaches forward to take Vanille's arm, gently this time.]

This may sting a little.

[Probably, anyway. The last time she used one of these on herself, all it did was stop the bleeding faster than leaving it exposed to open air would have. But it's all she's got on her at the moment--her human use first aid kit is upstairs in her room, with the rest of her things. She'll get them later--for now, she's looking at Vanille.]

You sure you're alright?

[She's not Fang, that's for damn sure. But that doesn't mean she thinks everything's okay now that they're outside. Not after that display.]

[hipstermark]

[--Ouch! Yeah, that does sting a little. By reflex, Vanille does pull her arm back slightly - but, of course, she holds it out again.

But at that question... Vanille pauses, looking to the ground a little. Lightning would have seen the room - she can't hide it right now, can she? It'd be, like, super obvious. So, after a few moments - she shakes her head. Veh gives a bit of a look as well, giving a bit of a shake, going back to looking, er, normal.]
That's been happening ever since I captured that fossil... but I wasn't able to release it. I even broke his Pokeball, and he wouldn't leave.
[She's not looking up, though. She's trembling the slightest bit. How much did Lightning figure out from that glimpse into the room, into that view of her living nightmare?]

[soggypastry]

You can stay in my room tonight. I'll deal with it once you're behind a door that won't stick shut.

[Still gripping her wrist to deal with the last of the cuts, Lightning can feel Vanille's trembling more than she can see it, and she looks through her bangs at the other woman. How much did she figure out? Not much. But enough to know that straight answers are even further out of reach than normal today.

So she sighs, focuses on the cuts before she lets go and returns the bottle to her pouch.]

I said Hope was twenty-eight, right? He's been here for just under a year now. You know what that means, don't you?

[She doesn't know what Vanille's last memories from home are, but judging from her earlier reactions, she can guess they aren't pleasant. Does she know they survived? or does she think they were Cie'th? She can't tell. All she can do is try to make a guess and ease a worry or two.]

[hipstermark]

[He's been here for that long? Vanille hadn't thought of that, either... but if he'd been here for that long? Vanille's hands stop trembling, and a smile covers her face again.

But she's still barely looking at Lightning, and she just blurts this out:]
I'd rather sleep out here.
[She then says, before replying to that last thing - one at a time. Just whatever gets to her mind first, I suppose. But she has put it together - if he's 28, and if he's only spent less then a year here...

Well. Fate does change. The miracle happen. But how...? She'd ask, but... well.

But, quite suddenly, she stumbles (?) forward - to cling to Lightning.
She's no Fang, but she needs a bit of a hug. There's just so much she's heard today, there's so much freedom she has. Vanille, though, almost can't take it.]

[soggypastry]

[Sleep out here? Lightning can't really blame her and it comes to the same ending, really. So long as she can't get stuck behind a door that needs to be destroyed again, it's all good. She can barely nod in acceptance of Vanille's choice before she's got a front full of Pulsian girl clearly clinging. If this had been a year ago, she would have stiffened. As it is, she's still a little slow but she wraps an arm around Vanille's shoulders and holds on.

She's not Fang. Not by a long shot. Just like Vanille isn't Serah. But they're still family, and it's been a long day. So Lightning will let her cling, speaking softly to say what's left to be said.]

We make it. All of us survive. [All thanks to Fang and Vanille's sacrifice for their new family. She doesn't say that, though. Even she knows it would be too much.]

[hipstermark]

[They survive.

All of them survive - that's what makes Vanille unable to hold in her tears. She's been trying so hard, but... she's relieved. She's just so relieved, as she lets herself relax.

But she's going to stop pretty soon. She lets go of her hug, and gives Lightning a nod, her expression oddly easy to read.]
Well! That's... nice to know.
[She's still got puffy cheeks, though. Look at that relief on her face, a fine mix of smiles and tears. Though she is totally understating her happiness, she still doesn't want to think of where she came out of. But now she knows... she's got happiness waiting for her.

But, for now? She doesn't want to leave here for that happiness. She's got her cute pets here, after all, her little animal pets--

Oh!]
Do you think the PC will be working? Most of my Pokemon got sent there while that fossil was around.

[soggypastry]

[Lightning smiles a little at the look on Vanille's face. She knows that look. Has worn it herself a few times, when family arrived or returned. It's a burden lifted--a burden shared. She still doesn't know exactly when Vanille is from, and for now she won't ask. She's done what she could, so she'll get off this topic and nod.]

Could be. It wasn't working when I tried it, but that was a few hours ago. Wouldn't hurt to check it again.

[The Center is thankfully further from than Inn. More distance between them and that fossil...hopefully it hasn't gotten out.]

[hipstermark]

[Vanille nods once more, and gives a bit of a skip in her step.]
Right! I'm sure they've got people around the clock, trying to fix it!
[She thinks Johto is a lot better then it really is. But isn't that hope adorable?
But she is walking quite carefully. Why? Because she needs to make sure that fossil isn't here. Plus the walls - which, thankfully, aren't making her path into a maze.]

[soggypastry]

Probably.

[Faith, having been chasing her own tail for a while, climbs up to drape herself over Lightning's shoulder while she falls into step behind Vanille without another word. She doesn't know why she's walking quite so carefully, but it doesn't really matter.]

If it's not fixed here, we can try in another city. I'll call Hope to tell him we had to move on early.

[Though she's hoping that by then things will be fixed. Her Cocoonian isn't bad, but her hand and head ached by the time that conversation was over. It's almost more trouble than it's worth.]

[hipstermark]

[But then, Vanille shakes her head, as - whoops, she kind of hit a wall there. Gotta step around - behind Vanille, her Shelgon is taking simple steps at the back of the group, looking backwards to make sure there's no monster following the,, and her Vanillite starts floating around her again, twirling protectively.]
We can wait - I'm sure my friends wouldn't mind waiting in the box for a little longer.
[She wants to see Hope. To see if this is all true - she's not going to let them leave until the three of them are all back together.]

[soggypastry]

Then we wait.

[For however long it takes for him to get out of that cave and into town. He knows where they are. He'll find a way. She knows him well enough to say that, and so she can focus on something else. Something much like a certain fossil, probably still in the Inn.]

Do you want me to check your room later? You'll have to go back inside eventually.

[The weather is warm, sure, and Vanille's used to the outdoors, but they can't leave things like that. It's their job to deal with the things they catch, but she won't put Vanille through staring at those words or her brand again. Not if it can be avoided.]