foolishwren | 72. [Video]

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Current Location: Olivine City Inn

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72. [Video]

_{[The screen is slightly steamed up when it comes on, but it soon clears enough to give a shaky view of the ... bathroom floor, and part of a towel? It doesn't stay there, though. Instead, the focus seems to be (or is TRYING to be) on the football-sized black thing zipping across the floor and out of view.]

[Then the camera awkwardly turns to the face of its holder, who apparently just get out of the shower, judging by the way her hair is plastered down wetly around the sides of her face and the towel she's got wrapped around her shoulders like a cloak. Said shoulders are hunched. Apparently she's perched on the edge of the bathtub. No questionable steamy semi-nude shots from THIS girl, though-- this is SERIOUS BUSINESS, and Heather's voice is an odd mix between amused, proud, and exasperated.]}

This is a Public Services Announcement about why you shouldn't let your Pokemon into the bathroom when they're about to level up even if they do like playing in all the water leftover after a shower.

Watch and be enlightened.

_{[The camera turns to the floor again as Heather slowly and methodically sticks one foot out and sets it down on the tile.]

[INSTANTLY and without any warning, the black thing comes streaking back onto the camera with the intention of violently attacking its trainer's toes with a long yellow beak and a volley of chittering squawks.]

[Heather yanks her foot up again with a small shriek and the Murkrow goes scuttling off behind the sink.]}

See? SEE?

Here, I'll repeat the demonstration for anyone who may have missed that.

Everybody watching?

_{[She repeats the motion, this time putting both feet on the ground.]

[The attack-crow reappears, wings flared and beak wide-open. It squabbles and pecks around in circles around Heather's feet for a second or two before, once again, skittering off across the floor to hide in the bath curtains, tiny claws clicking on the tiles.]}

I can't make it more than a couple of steps without getting Murkrow'd. I used to be able to outrun her, but now she's like an unstoppable toe-eating machine.

And all because of this.

_{[She presses a button on the 'Gear to make it repeat its last automated message. Which it does, in a cheerful computerized voice.]}

WREN grew to LEVEL 5! WREN learned PURSUIT!

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-- Actually, do you have some time to talk?

... WELL, considering Wren's probably not gonna let me outta here any time soon... yeah!

You remember that whole soul-sucking bug thing? [ she's settling down on her end, making herself comfortable with a Meowth kitten staking his claim on her lap. ]

... Ooh. Yeah, I remember.

_{[There's a pause-- Heather's demeanor's changed just a little bit. But it hasn't turned reluctant... just more... well, solemn.]}

... Hang on, I uh-- I'm just gonna grab my clothes.

_{[Because there was something distinctly uncomfortable about being naked while talking about... what had essentially been the mental equivalent of going FURTHER than naked and seeing right under peoples' skin.]}

... Don't go anywhere, okay?

My lap's being held hostage, I'm not going anywhere.

[ as much as she'd prefer not to talk about it, this is Heather. Rise can't keep it from her, not when it's something that's obviously relevant. ]

_{[Yeah... Heather's already dodged a couple of 'talks' already, but Rise is someone she's not going to hide from. Not about something like this.]

[She sets the 'Gear down and wraps the towel around her more firmly before getting out of the tub-- there's some squawks from Wren, but the danger of the toe-eater was pretty clearly exaggerated for comedic purposes because no epic fight occurs. There's some rustling of cloth, and then the 'Gear gets picked up again, its owner now clothed, rubbing her hair dry with the towel.]}

Back. Sorry, just figured...

Yeah, I get it. [ and she's quick to nod, scratching Mabo's ears and taking a deep, hopefully calming breath. She'll wait for Heather to get fully settled before she speaks again. ]

You know, you told me once, about the girl who looked like you... the one who was all burned?

_{[She sits down on the closed toilet, resting the 'Gear on her knees as she listens.]

[At first, she'd assumed this would be about what she'd seen in Rise's dream ... but that was definitely not where this was going. She swallows, starting to feel a sick twinge in her stomach.]}

... Yeah, I remember that...

We were in that place for awhile, right?

... I think... well, it was an amusement park, with a carousel, but I think I wound up in Silent Hill.

_{[Oh boy...]

[Heather sucks in a deep breath and then lets it out in a long sigh, reaching up to rub her face. She hadn't known Rise was there-- not consciously-- there had been a lot of people traipsing around in her head that night, just like she had crossed into theirs on several occasions... but she doesn't doubt her friend in the slightest.]

[And hearing which of those horrible, rusted memories she had wound up in was making it worse.]}

... God, Rise... I didn't...

Whatever you saw... I'm really, really sorry that you had to see it...

[ when Rise smiles, it's painfully obvious that it's merely an instinctive gesture. Not that she feels like she needs to act around Heather, but it's her way of coping. ]

Hey, it's not your fault. I was the one who didn't understand anything.

_{[Yeah, Heather knows... it still makes her cringe a little bit on the inside.]}

What... happened?

I don't-- ... I must not have been there. Not myself-- I mean.

I saw some people in my dreams during that week, but other people were there too... ones I didn't see in person even though they got caught up in-- ... well. My crap.

[ Rise nods, understandingly. She's not sure how many people saw her own dreams, but she hasn't really wanted to think about it. ]

Um, well... I was at a run-down amusement park, and... there were these... dead mascots all over the place... [ her voice is already getting quieter. ] But then there was this carousel, and I-- I didn't know, at first, that the horses were alive--

_{[Oh, god... oh god. There are very few things that Heather would want her friends to see less than that carousel.]}

... Rise...

Did... did you have to...?

... I watched. [ her eyes darken at the memory, and her tone turns bitter-- it's almost loathing for herself. ] I couldn't... I couldn't do anything, e-except talk to them, and she-- oh, god, Heather, it was like they were screaming and... j-just, one by one--

_{[More than anything else right now, Heather wishes she were PHYSICALLY there-- just so that she could give her poor friend a damn hug.]}

... Rise, it's-- ... you did all you could. You-- ... you did more than anyone else did.

_{[No one had ever told Alessa she was brave or that she deserved better... perhaps that single kind nurse had, once or twice-- but no one else.]}

... Wait, she?

[ Rise nods, weary and blinking against a fresh wave of eye-stinging. Ohhhh, no, she isn't going to do this. ]

... You. I mean, like... your Shadow. She helped me get back.

... I-- ... so she didn't hurt you, right?

_{[She didn't THINK Alessa would have tried to harm anyone but herself... but she had to make sure.]

[Watching the tears in Rise's eyes is hard. She just... wishes she could reach through the 'Gear.]}

No-- no, she didn't. [ she'd been worried about that, but the creature had seemed more concerned for her than anything. ] I'm okay, Heather.

Okay... good.

... Rise, I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry.

I never wanted you-- ... I never wanted ANYBODY to have to see that. ... To have to see them...

_{[She's not sure if she should tell Rise that in reality, she killed the horses herself. Maybe she already figured that out from the way Heather's 'Shadow' had done it in the dream. The poor girl looks upset enough...]}

... You had to go at it on your own, didn't you? [ it's not accusatory, Rise's just pensive and holding back as much as she can, for Heather's sake. It's never easy remembering things you'd rather forget, and she's pretty sure this qualifies. ] That place, the carousel-- it had to have hurt much more.

_{[Heather is silent a moment or two.]}

... By the time I got to the carousel, I was... sort of numb.

_{[She doesn't look particularly proud of it, and she stares down at her hand, running her thumb over her knuckles.]}

I didn't... it hurt worse later than it did at the time.

_{[At the time, it had just been a matter of survival. She'd cut the horses down as quickly as possible, more out of desperation than mercy... After a certain number of turns of the ride, she'd be dead herself if she hadn't slaughtered them all. It hadn't been until later that the significance had hit her-- what the horses had meant.]}

... How long were you... I mean, that whole place...

[ she can't even imagine what it must have been like for Heather, when Rise had started to go numb after what felt like only an hour or so. ]

I'm not sure.

... I think it was just one night, at least on the outside. But time passes weird when you're in the Otherworld.

The TV world goes by the same time, but I know what you mean. It felt like time went faster in there.

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