031. Action (for those in Azalea) (forward-dated to Wednesday late afternoon)

[foolishwren]

_{[It's cold out.]}

[It's actually really cold out.]

[Without the wind, the day would be pleasant-- even a little toasty, if the sun hit your back just right.]

[But with the harsh gusts whipping the olive-green (... but getting oranger by the day) foliage over and around Azalea into a frenzy, it's about as easy to keep that heat as it would be to try and cause a tornado by running around in circles really fast. Needless to say, it's one of those autumn days that takes 'crisp' and turns it into 'Maybe today would be a good day to stay inside on the couch and watch cartoons.']

[Only a fool or somebody very unfortunate would be outdoors today without a coat.]



[Depending on how you looked at it, Heather Mason falls into both those categories.]

[Gravelly dirt crunches under boots as-- ... um... something that only sort-of resembles Heather-- but with far more dirt and filth and blue-black patches and dead leaves and congealed blood-- comes shambling through the trees and onto the turf of Azalea Town like some sort of shaggy forest creature. Both eyes are blackened, one refusing to open at all. Knees torn up and scabbed like the aftermath of the most epic five-year-old bicycle crash in history. Same with her palms. Split, chapped lips, cuts and scrapes aplenty, and to top it all off, her hair hardly looks blond anymore, though whether it's all the leaves stuck in it or the fact that her black roots have started to take over like weeds is pretty hard to say.]

[She's got one arm wrapped around herself-- and the other hand has its fingers twined deeply in the matted, grungy mane of the rust-colored, exhausted-looking animal that pads along beside her, keeping his side firmly pressed against her leg. Said animal's ears lift, along with his snout, as he snuffles excitedly at the air.]

[Smoke! Lots of smoke!]

[Swiping a hand under her nose, Heather shuffles to a halt and squints ahead at the quaint little buildings, all nestled together. ... Okay... they weren't shimmering or vanishing after a few minutes.... that meant they... they had to be real.]

... 'ther m'seeing things or we made it.

_{[Aaaand then she winces. Even in her own skull, her voice sounded froglike and croopy. Not good. Not a good sign at all. What I wouldn't give right now for a hot drink--]}


[There's a great, whistling rush and a gust of wind goes whipping past them, forcing Heather to buckle her knees and hunch over, rubbing her bare shoulders and clenching her teeth to stop them from exploding into spasms of chattering. It was cold enough all on its own, but in this state, she felt like it was blowing clean through her as though her body was tissue paper.]

[And sleeves. A hot drink and sleeves. Those would be really, really nice. Pants, too.]


[A sharp whine and the touch of a wet pink tongue on her hand brings her back to the present and she looks down at the beseeching brown eyes staring up at her, managing something resembling a smile, despite herself.]

C'mon, Cooj...


<sub>[Stifling a nasty cough with one hand, she grabs his mane again with the other and the two set off to totter on into the town. Although she'd never been there before, it was a sight for sore eyes after everything she'd been through the past two weeks.]





[ooc: Heather does not know there's a warrant out for her arrest yet on account of her 'Gear being absolutely borked. 8I; So she'll be pretty... out of it and confused if someone brings this up to her.]</sub>

Comments

[philanthrotaku.livejournal.com]

. . .

[...waaaait.]

...?

[AASDFGHJKLJHGFDSASDFGHJK]


Heather!

[Have a BONE-CRUSHING NERDHUG.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Heather hadn't made it far into the town-- and Otacon's surprise attack caught her completely unawares.]

[She let out a high-pitched squeak as she was just sort of... snatched up. Bone-crushing hugs were bone-crushing no matter what state you were in, but given how generally-roughed-up she was... ow.]</sub>

WH-- whaaahckkhOtacon?!

_{[WHATACON NOW.]}

[philanthrotaku.livejournal.com]

HeatherIwassoworriedaboutyouIthoughtmaybeyouweredeadsomeonetoldmetherewasawarrantouforyourarrestandLiquidsgonetooohgeezyoulooklikehellareyoualright?!

[That was beyond English.]

[It was Nerdese.]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[Cujo had skittered to the side to avoid being stepped on and was now barking-- though it was nowhere at his usual volue. Even HE sounded like he had a cold! His stumpy tail was wagging, though. He recognized Otacon.]

[Heather, on the other hand, looked mildly shellshocked, couldn't understand a word of what he was saying, and sort of-- planted a hand against his chest and tried to squirm free. It was sort of sad how light she was at the moment that even OTACON could lift her off the ground.]</sub>

Wh-- OW, let go! Otacon!

_{[SQUEEZING ON HURTY PLACES.]}

[philanthrotaku.livejournal.com]

S-sorry, sorry!

[He put her down, kneeling to pet Cujo with a relieved smile.]

Come on, we have to get out of the open. I set up a campsite in the forest, and I think things should bow over as long as you stay out of sight.

1/2

[restardom.livejournal.com]

[ Rise was patiently working with her lower-leveled Pokémon, but something... something makes her look up. She frowns, narrowing her eyes as if trying to make sense of what she's seeing, and then a very mixed expression of relief and worry crosses her face. ]

H--

[restardom.livejournal.com]

Oh my gosh, Heather!!

[ there is an idol running towards you. Not about to hug just yet, because god does she look horrible. ]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[And the horrible forest monster that was Heather's sorry self paused and looked in Rise's direction at the sound of the voice. The eye that wasn't-- well, swollen shut had a sort of... hollow, gaunt look about it-- but it's Heather, all right, and while she does kind of flinch backwards a little at first (because... yeah, she was anticipating a hug and right now hugs meant PAIN), she also manages a grin.]

Rise!

I uh-- [COUGH COUGH.] You got NO idea what a sight for sore eyes you are...!</sub>

[restardom.livejournal.com]

[ As she looks her over, Rise miraculously manages a smile-- but it's shaky at best, and her eyes are already welling up with tears. She'd been worried since the hallucinations had started, and Heather's involuntary post hadn't helped matters at all. Still, she's just so happy to SEE her. ]

Weird, I usually only get that from guys. [ about to suggest the Pokémon Center, she suddenly remembers the warrants and reports, and frowns thoughtfully. ] ... Let's get you to the inn, okay? I'll get you some medical stuff after that. Y... y-you'll be okay.

[action]

[used-beatup.livejournal.com]

[Guess who mostly ignored his Gear during the nightmare thing and after, and thinks the news is boring, so had no idea there was anything wrong with Heather? THIS DUMBASS, who has also been in Azalea since the event! At first, he has no idea what the miserable creatures dragging themselves out of the woods are and barely notices cause he's trying to eat cup ramen. But G-Dawg is a dog. He knows that scent, it's the girl with the funny furret. But this isn't funny. He whines at Beat and walks over- Beat squints and gets up to follow... having a double take when he finally sees who it is. He dents the styrofoam cup a little.]

Heather!?

#@$%-

[puts the ramen down so he won't spill hot water everywhere when he freaking dashes up. G-Dawg as it were, didn't go straight up to Heather but rather is looking at the outskirts of town to see who GOT her.]

[action]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[OH, BEAT. YOU AND YOUR CLUELESSNESS. But it's okay. It's the thought that counts.]

[Heather's head snaps up as G-Dawg approaches-- and for a second, there's a flicker of... fear? Is that fear on her face? It's a good thing he didn't run straight up to her, anyway. She steps back a little-- but then manages a weary, cracked grin at the sight of Beat.]</sub>

Uh-- ... yo.

_{[It's said in that 'yeah I know what I look like' tone. THANKFULLY, none of her wounds appear to be particularly recent, though they are pretty nasty.]}

[action]

[used-beatup.livejournal.com]

[G-Dawg looks back over at Heather cluelessly at the reaction, but then gets to sniffing about.]

Yo, man.

[Beat picks up that tone but it still begs the question]

The hell happened? You get punked? Better sit down.

[action]

[foolishwren]

Uh... you uh... you really don't wanna know.

_{[MONSTERS. MONSTERS EVERYWHERE. ... Okay actually it was more like POLICE AND OTHER HALLUCINATING PEOPLE everywhere, but there you go. If she'd known what had ACTUALLY happened, she'd probably have gladly shared the details, but... right now she still totally thinks she was back in Silent Hill.]}

I'm-- ... gonna, as soon as I like... find. Clothes. Or something.

[seasalttwilight.livejournal.com]

You're okay.

[There's relief in that statement. He was keeping an eye open for Heather while he walked down route 32. When he wasn't brooding. Barney will be along to laugh when Heather is feeling better. It's no fun kicking someone where they're down]

[foolishwren]

_{[Heather's slow zombie-shamble along the edge of town comes to a halt at the sound of that quiet voice. She looks over her shoulder, squinting through her good eye.]}

... Hey.

... S'much as can be expected, anyway.

_{[She lets out a hoarse laugh that turns into a cough.]}

[seasalttwilight.livejournal.com]

[Roxas nods. He doesn't really want to stop her for too long when she looks like she's going to collapse]

At least you didn't leave completely.

[foolishwren]

_{[Collapse was right. Heather pretty much looked like she'd just clawed her way up out of a grave.]}

Heh... I thought I might've... but here I am.

[action]

[combat_butler]

*Today in the life of Hayate, he is heading out to train near Azalea with his Growlithe! Being completely oblivious to Heather's whole ordeal outside of a few surprisingly well drawn wanted posters, upon spotting her, he can only instantly think of one thing to say!*

--ah! She really was the person on all those posters!

[action]

[foolishwren]

_{[Considering the police had ample video footage of Heather resisting arrest (in fact, that clip of her kicking poor Offixer Jerry in the crotch had been played on loop down at the station again... and again... and again...), they had indeed been able to churn out a pretty accurate drawing of her! ... Of course, the filthy, feral-looking thing slouching its way on past Hayate looks... a little dirtier than the one in the poster.]}

[action] 1/3

[combat_butler]

*SUDDENlY: Moral Dilemma!*

*This girl is a criminal!11 Clearly she did something bad and should at the very least go serve her time for whatever it was! I mean that was a lot of posters up for her! Or maybe the police just are excited to have someone other than the Rocket's to look for-- wait no, Hayate! That's not important! What's important is contacting the authorities, right now! Getting involved is Bad News!*

[action] 2/3

[combat_butler]

*... on the other hand, look at her! She's a mess! She wouldn't last two minutes in jail looking like that, you should at least give her a coat, or maybe some medical attention! Taking her to the pokemon center would just involve "Do Not Pass Go, Go Directly To Jail!" what kind of friend would you be if you called on her in that state?! ... am I even friends with her? I barely know her-- She seems really popular though, surely someone else will help her!*

[action]

[combat_butler]

*... ... ... HEAVY SIGH*

U-um, excuse me, miss! Can I have a moment of your time?

[action]

[foolishwren]

<sub>[ooc: o-oh god I pretty much just cracked up and it hurt my sore throat I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY. Fff poor Hayate and his moral dilemmas.]

[Completely oblivious to the epic internal struggle of moralities occurring a moderate distance away from her, Heather continued onward until he spoke up. Then she stopped and turned to look at him with a wide, glassy, one-eyed stare that had an unnerving... hollowness to it.]

[Brutal hallucinations followed by wandering around in an unfriendly wilderness for about a week will do that to you.]</sub>

.... yeah, what?

_[Croak.]

[savethefarron.livejournal.com]

[Snow happened to be heading outside right then, and... HOLY SHIT IT'S HEATHER.]

Heather!

[He's jogging toward her now, grinning with relief.]told 'em you'd be alright. You're too tough-shit to die.

[foolishwren]

_{[Heather's head snaps up in Snow's direction like some kind of bird of prey, and there's a sort of weird, hollow look in her eye at first. But it dissipates in the face of a tired, crooked smile. Snow was a sight for sore eyes.]}

I thought about dying, but then I decided I had better shit to do and came back.