“Uriel, your name will be Uriel”
For “light”, he figures it would be fitting.
Blitzle lets out a weak, strained, but happy bleat as she weakly lifts her head from the bnket she's lying on.
The newest member of Joshua's horse-thing gang proves to be a bit mild-mannered. Of course, Uriel herself is definitely not in a state to really show her personality.
She is malnourished, ribs visible on her underside. There are cuts and bruises along her hooves like someone took a thin wire across them (parasites?), and just general overburdening of her body. The generator must have mitigated the strain, but using that much electric type-energy for an extended period did the equivalent of straining her “type-energy muscles” until they tore.
Luckily she's not in critical condition, so all she really needs is a steady diet and time.
Pokemon are so deceptively sturdy it's crazy.
“Pony”
“Hm? Oh, that's not good”
The pattern of water against the windows is the first sign of what he fears.
But now that he looks outside the window, the sky is even darker as the ominous bck clouds roll in, rain falls heavily against the dull grass.
The clouds rumble and shake like the growl of an angry beast.
A thunderstorm.
He flips open his Pokenav, 9AM.
Well there goes any potential to explore today, unless he gets lucky and the storm is quick.
…should he stay here for the night?
That thought is IMMEDIATELY swatted down.
Staying in an abandoned school full of corpses that had Parasites in it? Fuck THAT.
Joshua likes the rain, he'll just have to tough it out.
It takes about an hour to get back ho- to base, to get back to base. And while it is darker outside, he'd rather take his chances with the standard mobs than… whatever the hell could happen here.
“Hope you don't mind getting wet, love”
Jophiel looks over her withers and raises an eyebrow. A quick look out of the window and her face turns to horror, but only for a moment, as she chuffs to hype herself up and gives him a firm nod.
“...I can't tell if you're scared of the mobs or just don't want to get dirty”
“Pony”
“...huh. Well, alright”
She's got a point, you can't exactly shoot the rain.
…
[POV: JOPHIEL]
*click-BANG!*
A zombie's head is blown open in a mess of gore, the crack of a small explosion rings in her ears, and the faintest smell of smoke comes from the revolver's barrel.
Jophiel flips her sopping wet mane out of her eyes and sends a quick pulse around her, grumbling slightly at her now ruined fur and mud-caked hooves.
The heavy rain makes it hard to see, or hear, but she's not going to let a bit of water make her lose her focus.
Four pings.
Four presences, one she instantly recognizes as her Beloved, another that feels like a thick mirage in her pulse, Gabriel, and a weaker one she doesn't recognize at first, Uriel.
What an odd naming sense… but Jophiel admits, being named “beautiful” does make her feel fuzzy inside.
No rising ego over here, no siree.
The fourth presence though… it's very obviously a “mob”, as her beloved would call them. It's a few yards out, stumbling closer.
Jophiel is, naturally, disgusted by walking human corpses and skeletons. But being a psychic type who's part of her power dips into illusions and tricks on the mind, they seem more like… mannequins? Is that the right word?
“Pony-Ponyta?”
“No that's right”
Mannequin works then.
As strange as it is, most of these “corpses” aren't actually corpses. She suspects they're just another… “generation”.
Hm.
It's getting closer now, she should really take care of that.
Jophiel knows that she should be using her attacks to build her abilities, but…
She REALLY likes the gun, almost as much as her shovel.
And… she wants to conserve her energy.
Yeah, that's a nice lie to tell herself.
*click-BANG!*
It falls dead, well, dead again.
The revolver barely has any kickback when she's using her aura, but she makes a point to slightly lift the barrel every time a shot is fired.
For no reason other than she finds it neat.
“Dang love. Starting to feel bad here, letting you do all the work”
Joshua’s golden eyes meet hers.
A smile crawls up her snout.
“Pony”
She doesn't mind.
As long as he's safe, happy, and healthy, there's not much she wouldn't do.
Safe? She can do that… mostly. A quick flick of her revolver to check her ammo follows that thought.
Healthy? Easy. Bug him if he misses any meals, the occasional Heal Pulse, and keeping the “demons” away from his mind.
Happy?...
She's…
She's trying.
She's really, really trying.
But in a world like this, is that enough?
Another ping.
*click-BANG!*
All she wants from Joshua is for him to be happy, it's all she asks for. As long as her partner, her dearest companion, her Beloved, is happy… she is happy.
But Jophiel, bearing the title of Horse of the White House, the bold, the strong. Wearing her heart on her sleeve…
…Is a liar.
She says all she wants is Joshua to be happy.
She says that… but she doesn't believe she can go back to sleeping in a Pokeball, and not buried in his chest, with his arms around her, letting her be lulled to sleep by his warmth and the rhythmic rise of his chest.
She says that… but she can't fathom the idea of having a meal alone, and not beside him, bouncing ideas for whatever crazy amalgamation of a meal they can think of just because they're bored.
She says that… but she dearly misses the Link they used to have, to have someone she cares for deeply to be CLOSER, so much closer, on such a fundamental level. Sometimes she wants to reestablish it while he's sleeping, only for a moment. But she won't. Like before, her own inability would hurt him.
She CANNOT allow that to happen again.
Never.
She says that…
…but she never wants to be alone again.
Being able to share and bond at such a deeper, more RAW level is… addicting. She wonders if there's others like her, having this same issue.
That's why she's been training, even when Joshua isn't looking. The collection of rocks hover in her saddlebag, idle, but her concentration is still being strained.
She doesn't think he noticed, but that's fine.
The worst part is that she knows Joshua wouldn't mind her acting a little selfishly, to build more memories. He'd welcome it with open arms, as he cares for her just as deeply. Joshua wants her to be happy, just as she does he.
A small part of her wonders how far she could push…?
The other parts beat it to death with a shovel.
And then left in an unmarked grave… for ter.
Maybe she's a little spoiled? That makes her chortle a little bit.
But a lot of those memories, those moments… are all locked behind her own mediocre control of her power. It could be so much greater, but because of her inexperience, she can't properly manage…
The Psychic Link.
She has to be better.
She NEEDS to be better.
The dull ache at the base of her horn seems to agree with her.
Another ping.
*click-BANG!*
She makes a mental note to ask for more ammo ter.
…
[POV: GABRIEL]
{ [13,192FT] UNTIL MARKED LOCATION }
{ [13,191FT] UNTIL MARKED LOCATION }
{ [13,190FT] UNTIL MARKED LOCATION }
{ SIGNAL DESIGNATION: “Mr. Joshua's House!” // UPDATED INTERNAL NAVIGATIONAL DATA }
{ ESTIMATED ARRIVAL TIME: [00:00:34:11] }
Thank you, Mr. Suit!
Wow~! That's a big number!
But that's okay! I can walk really~ fast!
Skipping alongside Mr. Joshua, Gabriel watches the water fall down her gss headpiece.
She tried catching the rain with her tongue, but obviously that didn't work.
{ SCANNING FOR HAZARDOUS MATERIALS … }
{ 0.0%... }
{ 6.2%... }
{ 19.7%... }
{ 30.1%... }
{ 57.0%... }
{ 77.7%... }
{ 100.0%... }
{ NO HAZARDOUS MATERIALS LOCATED }
{ PARAMETERS FOR “LOOP:HAZ-SCAN” RESET }
Gabriel hums, not really understanding when Mr. Suit does all these numbers things.
But he seems to like it!
Good for him!
“Hey, Gabe?”
“Hello!”
“You still don't remember anything about Ace?”
It was a common question Mr. Joshua would ask. While she remembers that there WAS someone named Ace, and that Ace is a friend, and made her suit, she can't seem to remember anything else.
“Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…”
She taps her dome and thinks really hard.
“Nope!”
“...okay then”
Gabriel smiles.
She wonders why she feels kinda sad as she answers that.
…
[POV: JOSHUA]
Standing in the pouring rain, he looks at his front wn, finally having made it back home.
Something is wrong.
On the edge of the border, a dispcement of dirt caught his eye, even among the harsh conditions.
Deciding to make a quick detour, he checks it out for just a moment.
He freezes.
Small, dark tendrils waving like grass in the wind, crawling out of the dirt.
There's a hole in his yard.
Just like the one at the school.
(A/N: Hey I hope y'all a more character building focus chapter today. Also, holy fucking shit I just got my very first donation and it was a whole 50. Thank you very much KC!)
