ITT: We Have All Become Pokémon

(I still feel like I heard something going on nearby, but everyone else is so otherwise occupied that I just decide to ignore it and catch up with them)

"If you wish to be alone then it would be best to wait until we return to Morbitesse's manor. Given our propensity for losing track of group members, we may very well accidentally leave you behind again."

I pause.

"It should only be a short walk."

Right, losing people. I guess I shouldn't be surprised if they end up "losing" me again later on after what I've done. But... why do I feel so bad about being left alone? Why can't I just accept that I'm not the victim here?

"Just... go on. I'll be behind you."

Mila stands up carefully, and slowly begins to put her weight back onto her injured foot, stopping as soon as the pain begins to throb up through her leg. Not being able to go on all fours due to the bag and its lack of straps, she decides just to ignore the pain and make her way over to the manor.

[Somewhat excited yet bewildered by the fact that half my face seems to be back in the real world, I pluck a couple more peppers, making a note to keep some seeds to dump back into that jar...which is kind of an odd gesture thinking on it, but I'm not the one running the thing...anyway, I go back down the street to where the others were. I notice Mila close by and the others up ahead...she doesn't look so good, she's walking kinda slow, maybe injured? I decide to walk up beside her.]

"Hey, Mila." [It occurs to me, now that I can really start to feel it, how uncomfortable it is to hold two peppers with only one hand. I hold them up, as if suggesting her to take one.]

Mila's face turns flush with emotion after noticing more of Eliot having reappeared in the world, and she struggles to determine his motives for talking to her. Looking around at the others, she tries to keep her composure; however the pain from her foot, the awkward balance of trying to hold the bag while also deciding whether or not to take the pepper from Eliot, and the difficulty in reading his emotions overwhelms her.

"Oh, why are you talking to me? You saw what I did, didn't you? I'm sorry... I'm pathetic. Please don't hate me. Why shouldn't you, though, if all I can think about is myself? Please..."

"I can't do this right now..."

edited 1st May '17 5:18:13 PM by Cabe_Bedlam

[My smile fades a little. I look away for a moment; part of me just doesn't want to deal with this, knowing full well what I've inflicted on myself. I'll admit, I told them not to freak out about it and head back to Orichalcum, but noooooo, they had to stop and start wailing on each other like a bunch of idiots—no, no, don't, don't beat on them for this. They didn't know, they were out of the loop...they could've handled it—no. They were blindsided and confused when they had just been blindsided and confused the day earlier by being brought here...and I was stupid for trying to Sketch Dras, I wasn't thinking...but that's in the past, isn't it?]

"Mila, it...it's okay, you..." [I look back at Mila, taking in a deep breath...and gesturing once more for her to take a pepper, seriously, this is starting to hurt.]

Despite being told to go on ahead, I remain at Mila's side as she gets up and starts walking. My focus finally moves from her when we're approached by a more corporeal Eliot.

"Greetings. I see you've made progress in returning to us."

My eye swivels from the bell pepper offered to Mila, to the satchel in her hands, and then to her injured leg. Then I turn to the others that have made it back to Orichalcum and call out to them.

"Can someone take this bag from Mila, please?"

> Oz enters the town, finally catching up with the others.

"...hey guys, i'm terribly sorry i'm late again— huh?!"

> Looking closer, Oz can see Mila walking rather limply, Beldum being, well... Beldum, and a disembodied mouth now accompanying the disembodied hand.

"Eliot! You're returning back! And— oh, Mila, your leg— it's hurting... uh, hang on, I, uh... oh."

> Having no healing items at his disposal, Oz instead tilts his large head down and points at it.

"You can ride on my back if you want to. I mean, well, technically it's my head, but... nevermind. Anyway, hop on."

An amusing proposal.
*I attempt to take the bag off Mila.*

(As I rejoin the others, I notice Mila's leg clearly having something wrong with it.)

Shouldn't we get that checked out? Or give Mila a berry for her leg?

I also catch up to the group, also noticing Mila's wound.

"Oh man... you weren't okay... well, Dras-Il said she'll set up a healer for us, can you hold out until then? We might be able to make some sort of makeshift crutch until then."

The confluence of people around Mila furthers her already-fragile mental state, causing her to drop her bag, and back up into a corner curled into a ball.

"Why... please... I can't ... deserve ... please."

Mila's blubbering is barely intelligible, though it would seem to indicate that she would rather be given some space to herself.

!
*I use this opportunity to swipe the bag under my wing.*

edited 2nd May '17 10:29:04 AM by StarAndroidJaguar

"Sorry for not being here for a while, I was busy regretting my actions."

[I look over at Wrench, my lips curling in slight disgust, but I do my best to let go of his comment earlier and turn my attention back to Mila. Looking at her, hearing her blubbering, seeing her avoiding the others, I just...I don't want to see her like this, I never wanted to see the others like this. My breathing starts getting heavier: I have that same panging feeling of being overwhelmed as I did back when I saw Oz was bleeding...she, she's hurt.]

[I approach her, slowly, and reach out my hand to lay it her on the shoulder.] "Mila, you can tell us what's wrong. Please."

*A figure observes the collected cast, wound tightly around a branch from the trees above. Mostly hearing, though. The leaves are in the way.*

(I suddenly feel like I'm being watched, though I don't know where from. I wonder if the others feel the same way or if they are still trying to calm Mila down.)

Mila curls up further, almost reminiscent of an armadillo attempting to protect itself from the outside world save for the fact that her outsides are made out of soft fur instead of an armored shell. Nevertheless, she manages to hide her head and make anything she says even more difficult to understand.

"What ... I did. Why ... alone? Can't ... please."

For any creature with psychic abilities and no sense of decency, Mila's thoughts are equally as garbled and panicked, though they seem to slow down and almost disappear as her breathing becomes more ragged, and her attempts at speech cease.

[...oh, god, this better not be some kind of delirium...post-traumatic delirium? Stress, she's stressed. I back away, then look at the others with my one outside eye.] "We...we need to get a d-doctor for her."

[I look at Mila again (faintly catching the aura of another Pokémon in the trees...though that's probably Sushi, I saw her scouring the trees earlier for...um...oh, uh...anyway), and I just...I want to help her, but...I dunno, it feels like she'll have some kind of...complete...implosion if I try and go up to her. I cup my hands around my chin, then bring them down, tapping a thumb against the other paw.]

[I approach Mila again, this time moving beside her and sitting down. I still don't know what to do, let alone say, but I can only hope my presence here sparks something. I shift myself so that I face her, my hands cupped within one another, though I don't look at her.]

"Doctor? We can do that..." Finley thinks, before getting an idea. "What about Koss? Can he help? It might be a stretch, but isn't it worth a try?"

"Mila? Are you OK?"

[I turn to look at Finley who may notice that more of my face seems to be back.] "That...that would be great, just get...y-yes, get Koss..."

"Right then. Does anyone here remember where we can find him?"

Finley smiles a bit upon seeing Eliot return more, but that isn't the focus right now.

edited 2nd May '17 6:15:24 PM by BaconZorp

Well, I can't remember. Was that while I was sleeping in a bush? (I glance back up at the tree overhead again)

*The Goodra may be able to catch a glint in a couple of large, red eyes glaring back at him.*