foolishwren | 034. [Video]

_{[It's a little before sun-up-- that weird hour of the morning where the sky is still dark but just starting to brighten in a thin, pale line at the horizon. Of course, where Heather was, that horizon was hidden by the trees, so it's... still mostly dark.]

[She's sitting up in her sleeping bag with a couple of blankets around her shoulders, next to the camp's fire, which had mostly burnt down to ash speckled with a few tiny, stubborn embers. They stood out against the general grayness of the clearing 'Camp Otacon' resided in. Said grayness was only emphasized by the layers of frost coating the earth and grass. It was well into October now, so... unsurprisingly, the weather had been getting colder.]

[Heather was not sure she liked this, though thankfully she's in possession of a living heater in the form of a now-distinctly-potbellied dog (Camp Otacon had been treating him well. Especially because though she'd never admit to being such a softie, she'd been giving him more treats than normal out of pure guilt over the whole 'I thought you were a double-head and also I was kind of a jerk to you in general anyway' thing), who was curled behind her and serving as a backrest.]}

So hey, guys. I have a question.

_{[Her words were accompanied by puffs of steam from her breath. It's c-c-cold this morning without the sunlight.]}

What happens when our warrants expire?

_{[A couple of people had asked her this before, but she'd never had too specific an answer to give them.]}

I heard we're like... basically off with a smack on the wrist and not much else, but... _{[She pauses, sucking her lips inward a little and fiddling with that stubborn eye-bandage. She's gotta be able to get rid of that thing soon, right?]} ... That seems pretty lenient for a bunch of "dangerous fugitives". _{[She's quoting Officer Jenny directly from that announcement, and there's suspicion in her tone. SCREW THE COPS, THEY'RE NEVER HONEST, RIGHT? THIS HAS TO BE A TRICK.]}

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Let me guess-- there's no legal system here.

[Apollo is kind of an idealist on that front. The law isn't perfect but it can be improved by the ~people~.]

From what I've seen, probably not.

But even if there was, I doubt a case would matter much.

_{[Heather's just jaded-- ... well that and she doesn't come from a world where lawyers are super special awesome. The law, sadly, has been more of a hindrance than a help for most of the things that Heather can remember (although to be fair it would have been easier to have GOOD experiences with the law if she hadn't spent most of her younger teen years shoplifting and being a general punk.]}

Do you think the system is that corrupt?

[Aww, Heather. Though Apollo will admit that there is corruption and overall incompetence in the system.]

Yeah, to be honest.

And incompetent.

_{[It was hard to think well of the law when you'd been through what she'd been through, even though she knew it wasn't really the law's fault everything that had happened happened. You couldn't really expect a court to take on the supernatural. ... But if the police had been able to do their damn jobs and bust the drug rings, discover the horrible things those people were doing to children and even each other behind closed doors... maybe it never would have gotten that far in the first place...]}

I'm not mad at the police for trying to do their jobs, honestly.

But I don't trust 'em to play fair.

I suppose I can't blame you. I don't trust very much about Johto. Everyone here seems nice, but you never know.

[Nice paranoia there, Apollo.]

_{[It's okay, Apollo! You're in good company. Although Heather's a little less sure what to think now... she'd been a staunch advocate of THIS PLACE SUCKS WE HAVE BEEN KIDNAPPED LET'S FIND A WAY HOME, but ... she'd made a lot of friends here, and it... wasn't really as though her crappy apartment back home was better than this...]}

Yeah.

I mean, I won't lie, this place has its perks... but I get the feeling not everything is exactly what it seems.

There has to be an ulterior motive somewhere. Why else would so many people be constantly dragged here?

_{[Ooh? Her 'fellow question-everything-er' radar was going off.]}

That's what a lot of people have been thinking.

_{[And Heather, almost right from the beginning.]}

Unless this place is just like the void all left socks go when you put them in the dryer and we're stuff it's sucking in whether it wants to or not, there has to be someone or something behind why everybody's here.

[Well of course. He makes a living asking questions and using logic.]

That's also possible. I prefer the ulterior motive theory because it means that there's more likely to be a solution to it.

Heh. Good point.

For awhile I thought it might have to do with those Team Rocket guys.

Now I'm not so sure.

Who else do you think it could be?

No clue, to be honest...

We know so little about this world....

[Apollo sighs and runs a hand through his hair (avoiding his spikes, of course.)]

Yeah. Information about anything is pretty scarce.

Yeah. I wish there were more books or something. Just to... y'know, get a grounding.

_{[Heather wasn't a huge bookworm, but if it meant learning something useful, she was absolutely all for sitting down and doing her homework.]}

One of the larger cities might have a library.

You think so?

I'm goin' to Goldenrod as soon as I beat this Gym Leader... I wonder if they have anything.

It's likely. I'm still in Cherrygrove, so I can't say for sure.

_{[Because he was a noooooob.]}

Heh! I'll letcha know if I find anything when I get there.

Thanks. I'll let you know if I find out anything worthwhile on my end.