foolishwren | 98. [Action for Saffron City, backdated to Friday]

_{[It's funny, because these sorts of weekends have come to be ones that Heather dreads, clear memories or no. She doesn't remember much of them when they roll around, but she remembers enough, and usually what she remembers is bad.]

[So yeah, she's sort of been walking on eggshells, waiting for this to happen.]

[BUT... between all the craziness going down throughout November... bundling over to Kanto with the rest of her family to cheer Crow on during the Tournament, spending Thanksgiving in the packed-to-bursting household of a grumpy FBI agent and the enormously large family unit he seems to have somehow gathered (despite... being himself) ...]

[It drives weird dreamy weekends filled with amnesia and horror and the Koolaid Man bursting through the wall out of the mind, a little!]

[.... Which is why, yeah, uh, she's out taking Cooj for a nighttime walk on Friday night, and doesn't quite notice anything's up yet.]

[Or the pink bunny following her around.]}

[OOC: Tags may be horrendously slow due to NaNo, but I had to hiatus-break at least a LITTLE for 4th Wall! Robbie the Rabbit will be lingering in the background of any given thread, but feel free to throw anything at Heather and not bother with the spooky pink bunny chillin over there.]

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Uh, yeah. Something like that.

[He could have sworn this was the subway tunnel a second ago. Then again, maybe he should expect weird shit like this to happen.]

[At least she wasn't trying to shoot him or... something.]

This happen a lot?

Yeah, pretty often.

_{[She offers him an open smile (more open than the one she's giving Anne down there, actually-- GO FIGURE SHE'D BE FRIENDLIER TO A CONVICT THAN A COP) and turns towards him-- unfortunately, the fact that her dog is out with her means that she's not the only one who wants to greet him.]

[Cujo shuffles forward pretty much immediately and invites himself to shove a big cold nose against the crotch of Murphy's pants.]}

--CUJO! God dammit! That's not very ladylike!

_{[SORRY MURPHY SHE IS TRYING TO DRAG HIM AWAY someone teach this child about leash training.]}

I guess that's comforting.

[He'd be more enthusiastic about it if, you know, he wasn't... Murphy. Or if there weren't a giant dog-creature invading Very Personal Space right then. At first, he goes tense, like he's about to grab for the nearest weapon -- but stops. In the end. He makes an uncomfortable noise, and shoves at Cujo's head instead.]

[Nothing that's wanted in his Personal Space lately has been interested for good reasons, after all. But for all the fact this one is huge and strange-looking, it's a damned sight friendlier than anything in that town.]

Shit-- I. Down girl.

[Cujo is a boy, Murph.]

_{[SORRY MURPHY.]

[Don't worry, Cujo's intentions are purely innocent. He's too dumb (and too... dog) to have anything else in mind. Silent Hill is the only place where the wildlife wants to get into your pants for the other reasons.]}

He's a boy, actually, I was just being ironic or something-- _{[She finally manages to ank him away, and he just sits there in her arms and beams happily up at both of them, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth.]}

Sorry, he's like--

The rudest.

Sorry.

Oh. Right. Ironic.

[He's just going to take a couple steps back. That's a huge dog. And, no offense, Heather, you don't look big enough to hold onto it if it wants another sniff.]

[He scrubs at his face, absently touching the cut on his cheek. Nope. Still there.]

This is probably going to sound weird... but where am I? Where is this place?

_{[She can hardly even lift him-- as evidenced by the fact that when she tries, she sort of disappears behind the wall of fur and becomes a pair of skinny legs that end in a squirming dog suspended in the air.]}

I, uh-- this is Saffron City, in a country called Kanto.

I don't actually know what this world is called, but I guess I should get the bad news outta the way and tell you that it ain't Earth.

[Not Earth. All right then.]

[He blows out a breath, pressing the heel of his hand against his eye, as if to stave off a headache.]

Honestly? That's not the weirdest thing I've heard today... Anywhere's better than... there.

... Yeah, uh... where's 'there'?

_{[Not that it's REALLY any of her business, but hey... if he's gonna mention it, she's gonna ask.]}

Not anywhere you want to go.

Hell... I don't know if it's even on maps anymore, whole place was deserted...

[Murphy, that's not the name of the town, use your words.]

... Well, gee that sure tells me a lot.

_{[Is she rolling her eyes? You bet she's rolling her eyes.]

[Because after Silent Hill, anyone cryptically telling her there's a place she ought not go is just begging for a 'GUUUUURL YOU AIN'T EVEN SEEN WHAT I SEEN'.]

[She doesn't even remotely suspect that he might be talking about her birthplace.]}

[He spreads his hands.]

Look, it's been... it's been a day.

I wasn't even supposed to be there. The bus wrecked. I'd never even heard of Silent Hill until...

[Until he was running for his life from a glowing red thing in a hellish prison landscape and fighting monsters in the streets.]

_{[... She promptly whips her head towards him.]

[... Oh.]

[... OH.]

[WELL then.]

[Pursing her lips, she regards him for a moment, before shrugging nonchalantly and putting one hand on her hip.]}

Ohhhh, THAT old place.

Yeah, like, I was BORN there, so....

_{[She's feeling sassy today, apparently. GO ON, MURPHY. ASSUME YOU JUST INSULTED HER BIRTH TOWN AND OFFENDED HER.]}

[Well. That's unexpected. He gapes at her for a second, looking her up and down -- mostly because she looks way too normal to be from a town that messed up.]

[If only he knew.]

Yeah. That old place. I... guess you haven't seen it lately.

[He looks vaguely apologetic.]

Have you? I mean... that's not normal. That's not right. None of it is.

_{[GUUUUUUUUURL.]

[If Heather weren't ... well, ultimately sympathetic to anyone who'd been through the hell that was Silent Hill's other side, she could totally take this opportunity to be a major dick right now.]

[But even she's not that mean.]}

Oh, don't worry, buddy. I've seen it.

_{[Seen what it... CAN be, anyway... she's pretty sure that on the surface, to most people... it's still a normal town with one hell of a spooky reputation. But he's not talking about that Silent Hill.]

[He's talking about the real one. The one underneath.]}

What's your name?

[He looks up, sharply. And... looks at her. The only kids he'd seen were -- well. At this point, he's not even sure they were kids. Maybe they were all in his head.]

[Maybe it was all just in his head.]

[Except she's claiming otherwise.]

You... You've been there? How the... how the hell did you get out?

[She might as well have just said she's been to the moon.]

Murphy. Murphy Pendleton.

_{[Well, the kid right in front of him is as real as they come-- would Murphy's brain EVER think of an outfit that stylish? Come on now.]}

Bloodily.

_{[It's not a very detailed answer, but it pretty much rings true. She holds out a hand. Her brain is already ticking away. Because she's found another one. Gotta tell dad and Henry, STAT.]}

Heather Mason.

[... Murphy's brain isn't that creative. Even under the influence of Silent Hill.]

[He blinks, and, somewhat mechanically, sticks his own hand out in response. It's not a rough shake, and his skin is cool, a little damp. It's hard to keep it otherwise in a place like that.]

Heather.

[She gets a nod.]

So. Now what?

_{[Heather's handshake is firm-- almost a little TOO firm. She shakes like a teenage boy who's got a point to prove-- something Murphy is probably familiar with, although perhaps not from the receiving end.]}

Now?

Well, I guess it'd be good to start with takin' you to my dad...

There's more of us.

... Survivors, I mean.

98. [Action for Saffron City, backdated to Friday]

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