(ACE) The MARSH Team

"Probably run down and abandoned. It will probably still be really dangerous but at least there we will have much more shelter and places to hide. In the marsh we were totally exposed." Martha was disappointed with Rhea's prediction of the city's condition, but was not surprised. Any hope of an adventure had died long ago for the young Flaaffy. "We can discuss that on the way," Rhea then added, referring to Martha's previous question about what to do. She nodded, but then grew concerned when Rhea handed Eliana over to Seth and said that she was going to take up the rear.

"Ooh Mum ... be careful." Martha had to admit that she always felt uncomfortable when the Kangaskhan was not around. It was odd, but it was almost as if she had actually become her mother, even though they had only known each other for a short time. "You ... you want me to come with you? I can help! I can!"

Virgil grew more than concerned when Rhea merely plowed forward, his sharp eyes catching everything that betrayed her. Her aloofness, her distant demeanor, how she held herself... Something was definitely wrong. He followed, watching, waiting for something else to slip and give him more information. As Martha asked about the town's condition, Rhea's reply was a small, blunt distracted narrative. "Probably run down and abandoned. It will probably still be really dangerous but at least there we will have much more shelter and places to hide. In the marsh we were totally exposed."

"Yeah, but it'll give those rotters more places to hide, too," Seth grumbled, though it seemed his words weren't heard by the distracted mother. Still, Virgil couldn't help but agree with his brother; the city would prove to be as dangerous, if not more so, than the marsh itself.

The small peace was broken when the small skorupi completely flipped its shit after Seth had kicked it, running off with a wail. "Akira, come back!" Martha cried, but of course, proved to be to no avail. I wonder what scared him ... I hope he'll be OK..." Seth scoffed and growled to himself, "I sure as hell don't." But again, Seth seemed to go unheard. "So erm ... Mum? What will we do once we get to the city?"

"We can discuss that on the way," Rhea replied quickly, moving behind them and pushing them forward, ahead of her. Virgil turned and looked at her, alarmed and confused with this sudden change. "That guy running off like that may have drawn attention to us again so we have to move. Everyone make for the city and I will follow. Don't wait for me once you get there, just hide." The liepard's eyes narrowed further, tail beginning to lash from side to side. What was she hiding? Was she hurt more in the fight just now than she'd let on? Likely. But why leave them like this...? He watched as she fished her precious little Oddish and hand her to Seth, of all pokemon.

"Don't let anything happen to her, you hear me? I'm trusting you...Seth."

Seth stared, confused as paranoia slowly set in. Was this a trap? The fuck was going on? "And why, exactly, am I holding onto her?" He accepted the little squealing oddish, holding her as he would one of his siblings. His emerald eyes stayed on the kangaskhan, however, not liking this sudden turn of events.

"Mom just said that idiot bug was likely going to bring trouble," Virgil replied quickly, his eyes staying on Rhea. "You're staying behind to take care of it... Right, Mom?" He paused, waiting for her reaction and reply.

"Hmmmm..."
"Don't you fucking 'hmmm' at me!"
Marco blinks his bright blue eyes in confusion at the tall Psychic as the Gothitelle snaps angrily at him and pulls his arm away.
"Sorry, does that bother you?" He asks as he presses the sensitive tip of his wing-shaped ear against the dark-skinned chest. His other ear twitches as he picks up the sounds of Frank's heart beat.
"Of course it bothers me." Frank replies grumpily as the Audino's furry tipped ear moves over his chest.
"Well there's no broken bones but you've got some bad bruising."
Frank rolls his blue eyes but lets the Audino move his hands onto the Gothitelle's limp left arm.
"And that's a fracture. Time to get you patched up."
The Rabbit-like Normal Type's cream colored paws glow violent around their edges with psychic energy as he tightly holds Frank's arm and sends power down into the bone. The Psychic energy invigorates the cells, causing them to reproduce rapidly and fix up the fracture.
Marco knows that having a fractured arm held like this must be painful but the Gothitelle doesn't even seem to notice until the fracture is healed and he yanks his arm out of Marco's paws.
Busily the Audino moves the Heal Pulse over the Gothitelle's other wounds until the dull ache of a thorough beating fades and Frank gives a barely audible sigh of relief.
"There, all done." Marco says with a proud grin.
"About time, we've lost nearly an hour of travel time!"
"Hmmm..."
"Hmmm me one more time and I swear I'll rip off an ear, I fucking mean it!" Frank snaps as he turns on Marco. His blue eyes glow entirely without pupil as psychic energy flies from his purple tinged hands to lasso around the Normal Type and roughly haul him into the air.

Marco flails his short arms, causing him to start to spin in mid-air until the power holds him still suddenly cuts out and he falls back to the ground with a thump.
Standing back up Marco brushes off his pink fur.
"O.k. I deserved that." Marco says as he quickly skips back up to Frank's side. "But maybe next time you can check if the big 'mon is undead or not before picking a fight with them."
"He started it, looking at me funny like that." The Gothitelle says as he serenely drifts onward. The ground is starting to become softer and wetter as they approach the marsh proper.
"So you just had to jump him..." Marco mutters under his breath as he struggles to navigate the muddy ground.
"And I kicked his ass!" The Gothitelle says emphatically and Marco can't help but mutter an agreement that it had been impressive to see Frank take down a Rhyperior like that.
"Perhaps if you were a bit more careful I'd have less reason to go 'hmmm' Francis." Marco suggest cheekily as his ears twitch. Was there something up ahead.
"Don't push it." Frank replies but a faint grin crosses his face as he cracks his knuckles.

Eliana didn't like this. She squirmed and cried as Momma once again took her out of the comfy and warm pouch and handed her off to Seth, who seemed less than enthused to receive her as well. "Momma!" she called out, wiggling her little feet as fast as she could as though running on air would get her to the Kangaskhan, but Seth had a firm grip on her. Whimpering she curled her bottom lip in and began to chew on it, hoping with all her heart that Momma would hold her and make the twisty feeling in her tummy go away.

Rhea looked to Eliana and fought the urge to coddle her sad child, knowing that what she was doing was for the best. Seth's question was roughly answered by Virgil and Rhea hadn't the heart to tell him that his reason was only half right. Instead she looked at him and gave him a gentle rub behind his head before ushering him along. "That's right Virg. And I promise I'll join you as soon as I can." The half lie tasted bitter on her tongue and she had to force herself not to take it back and just run with the others. But with her injuries she was more likely to draw attention to the group than protect them from it.

"You ... you want me to come with you? I can help! I can!"

"No!" Rhea cried out in fear, the ferocity of her voice beyond her control. Feeling bad for her harsh reaction she knelt down to the Flaay's level and offered her a kind smile. "I mean, no, Martha. I can't risk you getting hurt. Just...look out for the others for me while I am away, alright? You know these boys need someone to keep an eye on them." She patted the girl on the head and tried to send them on their way before turning back to the woods surrounding her prison and walking in the direction the screaming bug had gone. The deep bites on her shoulders were throbbing but the one on her tail was going frighteningly numb.

It wasn't a good sign. And Eliana's cries as she left echoed in her head, haunting the mother who feared she would never see her child again.

((PM me if I need to edit guys. I hoped giving them loving pats on the head wouldn't be too much but Rhea wanted to show she cared))

Rhea reached down with her large, surprisingly gentle claws, and rubbed Virgil's head behind the ears. He leaned only slightly into the brief embrace, his emerald stare still firmly fixated on the kangaskhan before him. "That's right Virg. And I promise I'll join you as soon as I can." Sure you are, Rhea... Sure you are.

Seth frowned as Eliana squirmed in his grasp, adjusting her so he had a better grip. The brothers could tell something was obviously amiss when Rhea told them to go ahead, but their collective fears and theories were solidified when Martha asked to stay and help. "You ... you want me to come with you? I can help! I can!"

"No!" Rhea cried, the fear in her voice as plain as Virgil's spots. That did it. And while Rhea tried to backpedal her initially very emotional cry, the liepard came to the conclusion that he would need to investigate... the sinking feeling that she wouldn't return was becoming more and more apparent the longer she tried to keep up the facade. "I mean, no, Martha. I can't risk you getting hurt. Just...look out for the others for me while I am away, alright? You know these boys need someone to keep an eye on them."

"Let's go ahead and go, kids," Virgil spoke, assuming the head of the group, "Scout out somewhere safe." He glanced up to Rhea, his expression strangely unreadable, and trotted along the trail toward the city. Seth, unsure of how to go about the situation, could only follow, the babe still squirming uncomfortably in his arms.


The first building was the first to be checked by Virgil's quick scouting, finding nothing but old corpses and debris within. Nodding the other two inside, he waited until they were both safely in to begin to speak. "You two need to wait here. I'm going to go back and see what's wrong with Rh-- Mom," he spoke in hushed tones, eyes and ears still on high alert to his surroundings. "Don't leave the building. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Didn't we just hear the same bullshit from Mom?" Seth spat, his own words nothing but harsh whispers. "Just using it as an excuse to fucking run off again, huh?"

"Shut it, Seth. Now's not the time." He began to move back out the building, glancing back to the others. "There's something definitely wrong with her, and I'm going to find out what it is. You two-- stay. Here." He then bolted, his strides as silent as an owl's wingbeats.

"No!" Martha jumped at Rhea's loud reply, clutching the wool on her chest in fear. Almost immediately though, the Kangaskhan composed herself and knelt down to Martha's level, her face hosting that kind smile that the young Flaaffy loved. "I mean, no, Martha. I can't risk you getting hurt. Just...look out for the others for me while I am away, alright? You know these boys need someone to keep an eye on them." Martha giggled as Rhea's hand patted her gently on the head. "Don't worry, Mum, I'll make sure that they behave." She then watched with a solemn expression as Rhea stood up and wandered off in the direction that Akira had fled. "Be safe," she whispered softly.

"Let's go ahead and go, kids." Martha's ear twitched as Virgil's voice rang out into the silence from behind her. "Scout out somewhere safe." Martha nodded and trotted a few steps behind the Liepard as he took the lead. Within minutes, the trees and muddy swamps had left them behind and tall, empty and hauntingly quiet buildings had replaced them.

She followed Virgil into the first building that they passed, cupping a hand over her mouth at the sight of the rotten corpses within. Although the place reeked of death and decay, at least it seemed fairly safe. Martha sat herself down on a torn old couch just as Virgil addressed them. "You two need to wait here. I'm going to go back and see what's wrong with Rh-- Mom," he whispered. Martha's mouth dropped open but before she could protest, he continued. "Don't leave the building. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Martha almost wanted to hold the Liepard back by the tail, but as and Seth started to converse she had a moment to think about it further. It was true that Rhea had been acting strangely since the battle, and if Martha couldn't go to make sure that she was OK then Virgil would've been her top choice. She was worried at what the Liepard might be throwing himself into, but most of her concern remained on Rhea wandering off on her own. If anyone could help her, if there was anyone she trusted over all others, it was Virgil.

He firmly ordered them all to stay put before bolting from the door. "Be careful," Martha called as he disappeared from sight. Heaving an anxious sigh, she turned her gaze to Seth and the wriggling, protesting Eliana, who was no dount unnerved by Rhea's absence. "Do you want me to try and settle her?" she asked, hopping off her seat and pushing the door closed. "It's not a good thing to make a lot of noise here..."

With a gooey squelching Marco missteps and the mud sucks in his foot up to his pink furred thighs. The Audino's delicate ears flutter in distress as grime coats his fur. He hated getting dirty and a tiny whimper leaves his mouth as he sinks deeper into the filthy mud.
The Gothitelle, black 'dress' hovering well above the bubbling mire, turns faintly and a glow plays around the pink fingers of his hand as his power wraps around the Audino's body and roughly yanks Marco out of the mud, unceremoniously dropping him back on solid ground.
As Frank stares over the empty and boring looking marshlands with no signs of anything interesting in the murky muck.
"Let's go back to the city. There's nothing out here and I need a bath." Marco was as he tries to wip some of the mud from his fur with a stick he has found. His short puff of a tail twitches.
Frank grunts an affirmative in response and turns away. If it wanted to avoid another beat down that Rhyperior would be far away, if not drowned in the mud.
Besides he's hungry.
Ignoring Marco's protests he lift the Audino in the air once more, carrying the pink Normal Type behind like a balloon as he hovers back towards the band of larger trees that blocked them off from the rest of the city.
Marco had insisted that they set up a base in the pokecenter for the medical supplies which Frank found annoying because unlike the sensible arrangement in his home region here the Pokemart was a separate building which prevented him from being able to get supplies easily.
"Come on Cottontail." He says with a grin as he carries Marco back through the forest to the City.

Frank hated humans but enjoyed being in their cities. Broken and abandoned the tall buildings were empty, empty, empty with no-one but him and the occasional wandering undead to make their mark on the empty landscape. Well, and Marco if the Audino counted. Frank thought he didn't.
Hovering above the ground Frank drops Marco by the broken electronic doors to the human built medical facility. They no longer responded to pressure on the pad outside the door so Frank had punched a hole in them to fit through.
"Get cleaned up then I'm gonna see if I can get some Lemonade." The Gothitelle says bluntly but instead of running inside to clean up his fur Marco is waiting still.
An expression of intense concentration comes over his face as Marco's ear twitches, his incredible sensitive hearing picking up the faint sound of voices.
"We've got visitors." He says mildly.
"Time for some fucking action." Frank says as he cracks his knuckles loudly.
"Please don't hit these ones." Marco says, rolling his eyes as he runs after the hovering Psychic Type.
"Depends on whether or not they decide to fuck with me." Frank growls back.

((I am hitting a complete block for these two right now. Skip for now. Kaze, are your two hearing the group or Rhea because they are in two different places at the moment. It will help me come up with a better post next round if I know, lol.))

Seth frowned as his brother disappeared once more-- the bastard liepard was really fucking good at it. It wasn't like he could grab the long scythe-like tail, either, as his paws were already full with Eliana. Quickly seeing the entire situation as some sort of set-up, it was all the smeargle could do but silently fume over the day's proceedings. No doubt that son of a bitch will use this chance to vanish again... and I'll have to fucking track him down... AGAIN...

"Do you want me to try and settle her?" Martha's soft words broke the silence and his flurry of vengeful thoughts. He glanced up at her, somewhat surprised she was still there. Certainly, if this were a rouse, she would have been with Mom and Virg. "It's not a good thing to make a lot of noise here..."

"Yeah, sure... Go ahead..." He offered the small oddish to her, emerald gaze flicking over to the door Martha had just finished closing. It would just be his luck to be left with the kids again...

With a neat little hopping run Marco makes his way through the broken buildings. His large and very sensitive ears twitch as he picks up various sounds from all over the human city. It was the power of these sensitive ears that enabled him to be the best medic possible by picking up the natural rhythm's of a patient's body but in these times incredibly sensitive hearing had a myriad of other uses.
With a cheerful hum the Audino strides through the city. Knowing that Frank, hovering a bit behind, will protect him from attack the pink-furred normal type is a bit less discreet than he would normally be about wandering free in such an environment.
Brushing most of the purple mud off with his cream paws Marco wipes the last of the grime off on the corner of a broken chunk of masonry.
His delicate ears flicker again and Marco peeks around the corner.
His wide blue eyes focus on the shape he sees in the street; a large pokemon with thick looking brown skin.
"Oh it's a Kangaskhan." He says mildly, wondering what the Parent Pokemon was doing here and with an empty pouch of all things.
The epidemic gets to us all. He thinks sadly.

Behind him Frank cracks his knuckles.
"Think it's looking for trouble?" He asks with a sly grin, ready to throw himself into the fray at a moment's notice.
It may not be a very friendly way to think but he hated interlopers. At least the undead put up a distant fight but other living tended to be insufferable. Marco would pansy around trying to see if they were o.k. and they'd eat up all their supplies if they weren't fucking thieves already.
Not that he was going to stay in this mud ball of a city much longer but this was his territory and he wasn't going to give it up until he was good and ready.
Pursing his lips the Gothitelle black antennae flick forwards, the black branches of 'hair' vibrating faintly as he draws up psychic energy into himself.
"Frank you said you wouldn't hit them." The Audino scolds and Frank smirks.
"Maybe, depends on whether or not Big Momma's got a civil tongue in her head. You know I hate uninvited guests."
Hovering out from behind the broken building Frank folds his arms emphatically and looks down at the large Normal Type with bright blue eyes.
"You just want to get in another fight." Marco grumbles, running to catch up to the tall Psychic.
With a cheerful smile he waves to the brown-skinned normal type.
"Hi there~"

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. The only sound in her world was that of her heavy footsteps as she trudged ever further away from her children. Her shoulder and tail were dribbling blood leaving an obvious trail that she paid no mind to. If anything she hoped something would find her, something that would follow her and not the others. The Kangaskhan had been foolish with the Mightyena and allowed their fangs too deep. And as the numbness slowly crawled up her tail she knew, despite her prayers to the contrary, she was likely one of them. And that thought terrified her.

"Hi there~"

Rhea turned slowly to the overly cheerful voice from behind her, confused when she saw an unfamiliar pair of Pokemon. She had never seen such strange species before and briefly wondered where they were from. But that thought was quickly banished when the sudden irrational fear came across that they would try to hurt her baby. She had to keep them away from Eliana, but she would have to do it while trying not to hurt them. No, it was better to drive them away rather than send them bleeding into the city to simply wander upon her precious girl.

"You should go back," she warned slowly, eyes barely able to focus on the two. She had lost so much blood that her vision was beginning to swim. "Wherever you're from...there is nothing for you here. Nothing left. Those things took it all." Rhea did her best to hold back her slowly bubbling rage, the very idea that they could be a threat to her Eliana kicking the Motherly Pokemon's instincts into overdrive. Despite not even knowing what the hell they were she knew she would kill anything that would dare threaten her Eliana.

((In case it isn't obvious Rhea is slowly becoming infected. Things will be moving at a different pace from here on out ^_^))

Virgil kept to the thin shadows as best as he could, grateful that his body was far more cooperative now than it had been the day prior. While it wasn't foolproof cover, he really only had to keep behind Rhea far enough and keep her in eyesight. But when he started hearing voices nearby, he retreated further into the underbrush, pausing in his sleuthing mission to make sure whatever was nearby wasn't hostile.

"We've got visitors," the first voice begins, causing Virgil to flinch slightly. Had they seen him...?
"Time for some fucking action," the other replies, earning a frown. Well, it looked like one of these guys was bad news. The two came into view, granting Virgil a visual of what he was dealing with. An audino and gothitelle...? More Unova pokemon?
"Please don't hit these ones," the audino, seemingly exasperated by his company, admonished as it struggled to keep up with his psychic companion.
"Depends on whether or not they decide to fuck with me."

Classy...

After they passed, the liepard took care to stealthily follow, emerging from the underbrush to pad silently behind them, even as they spoke/bickered at each other. Once they gained on Rhea, he disappeared into the other side of the trail, using some ruins and debris as cover. "Oh, it's a Kangaskhan." The audino paused for a moment, as if reflecting on something, but the gothitelle seemed only pumped. "Think it's looking for trouble?"

Virgil scoffed at the idea of the psychic type taking on Rhea. Right, dude. Looking to plant a fist in your face, likely... He continued to watch, even as the more amiable audino dismissed his friend's bloodmongering and went up to Rhea, introducing himself. "Hi there~"

Rhea's reply, however, worried Virgil. "You should go back," she began, her words slow and beginning to slur. He raised a little from his perch, wanting a better view of her form. She was bleeding-- a lot. His gaze narrowed; why would she wander off if she was so brutally hurt? They could have helped her, foraged berries, made a tourniquet, much like they had with him after the Wargle attacked. Unless... "Wherever you're from...there is nothing for you here. Nothing left. Those things took it all."

He shook the brief, terrifying thought from his mind and settled it with a small breath. He'd need to watch and make sure...

"Yeah, sure... Go ahead..." Martha put on her biggest, brightest smile as she took Eliana from him, sitting the little Oddish on her lap and lightly bouncing her up and down, softly singing, "Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy girl." After about a minute she raised her hand and began to playfully poke Eliana on the nose. "Bop!" Martha's tail flickered in contentment as she copied what her mother had always done to her as a young child. She fondly remembered the simple yet satisfying lifestyle she used to lead at the farm - grazing in the fields; playing hide and seek with her sister in the barn and regularly having her wool shaved off to be sent off for textile production.

She placed both of her hands on Eliana's sides and began to gently rock her from side to side as she looked over at Seth. "Do you ... think that things will ever go back to the way they are? I mean..." She swallowed, tugging on a section of her wool nervously. "Is this it now? Is this how we're going to have to live? Do we even have a choice anymore?" Unintentionally, Martha's voice had become coated with sadness and she quickly reverted this by beaming at Eliana and starting to bounce her again.

The Normal Type's words are ominous but Marco has only gotten where he has in life by being completely oblivious to things like that. Besides she looked hurt and if there was one thing Marco couldn't stand it was seeing someone hurt. His pink furred paws start to shimmer around the edges with violet light as he takes a step forwards towards the injured Kangaskhan.
"I'm a healer, I can help you." He says softly, not wanting to spook the large normal type. Behind him he can already feel that Frank is squaring up to battle in the stupidly macho was the Gothitelle had. Oooh, she looked bad too with large bite marks visible where something with sharp teeth had torn at the flesh. Frank's hand grips his shoulder, stopping the Audino from moving any closer as Marco looks up at him and twitches his short puffy tail.
His patient's voice seems slow as if it is having trouble speaking and even though its shoulder and tail are bleeding profusely it is trying to drive them away. Was that because it didn't want to pass on disease? Marco wondered with a flicker of one wing-like ear as he tries to focus on hearing the Kangaskhan's heartbeat.

"This was my city first." Frank says bluntly and crosses his arms over his chest. The Kangaskhan was huge but with all its bleeding trail it wasn't too terribly impressive. In fact it looked half dead and ready to cross over into fully dead in a matter of weeks.
The Gothitelle's blue eyes are icy, he makes no move to attack and stops Marco from getting closer but neither does he try to flee. After all if this thing was going to cause trouble then it was better for Frank to kill it here then track it down later. He doesn't give the Kangaskhan's words much thought. They had their shelter with a place to sleep and food waiting for them not too far back from where they were now. He wasn't going to give that up just because some sulky kangaroo wanted some alone time.
"I don't know about you but we're doing just fine for now."

She felt as if she was swimming between consciousness and unconsciousness. Where was Mama when she needed her?... She smiled dreamily... A big Pokemon... In her dreams Mama was there, Mama smelled of blood, and then something big... She had been cut open... Sparks was loosing it, Sparks was loosing it. She had to get herself awake again. With a loud screech, she tears at her wounds, opening the leg wound up wider. Blood spatters, and Sparks smiles. Now things are becoming more clear... She limps her way to someplace new, with a cold scent. Her eyes glaze and she smiles. She smiles, she smiles, and she listens to herself drown in her own laughter.

((This was interesting. Couldn't think of anything else.))

Eliana didn't struggle as she was passed from Seth to Martha, giggling madly as the lamb began to play. "Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy girl." The little Oddish sneezed when the Flaafy gently tapped the middle of her face but then lit up with a bright smile. Martha was nice. She liked Martha. "Marda!" she called out happily, stretching out her leaves to try and touch the pink face as it lost its smile and grew more serious. "No. Ha-Happy Marda!"

Eliana giggled as once again she began to get bounced, happy that the sadness was gone.
__________________________

"I'm a healer, I can help you."

Rhea looked at the odd looking rabbit thing and shook her head. She knew there was no way he could fix what was happening to her. But she had to keep them away. Away from her Eliana, away from her children, just- "Away..."

Shaking her head violently the Kangaskhan tried to clear the fog beginning to cloud her mind, annoyed that her tail was completely limp and numb behind her. Was infection supposed to travel that fast? She didn't really have time to ponder that as the male in a black dress began to speak in his pompous tone once more. "This was my city first." She snorted and pointed a clawed hand towards the cocky male. "Not yours you scavenger. It was the humans first, you just waited for your real enemy to perish before you came in behind like a coward and claimed what you did not earn." She hated types like him.

I don't know about you but we're doing just fine for now. Another snort was her reply. "If you say so." Rhea didn't like this male. His attitude made him a threat to her children and if he dared she would spill his blood across the entire city. The very thought sent a shiver up her spine and had her feeling a little light headed for a moment, eyes glazing over before she shook her head to clear it. Something was wrong. It shouldn't be this fast.

Seth was grateful as Martha took the offered babe, putting on a bright smile and happy demeanor for the little oddish. It struck the smeargle odd that, miles -hundreds of miles- away from his own home, his own siblings to care for, and here he was... in nearly the exact scenario he'd lost. Though the flaaffy wasn't his own kin, nor the bouncing little plant, it had a familiar feel... something he hadn't had in a while. He went to the window, scanning the dull scenery as Martha tended to the baby.

"Do you ... think that things will ever go back to the way they are? I mean..." Seth looked back at her as she tugged on her wool nervously. "Is this it now? Is this how we're going to have to live? Do we even have a choice anymore?"

His expression somewhat blanked, he considered her questions a moment before shrugging half-heartedly and turning back to the window. "...You mean scavenging for shelter and food or taking care of other people's kids?" he asked with a mirthless chuckle, emerald eyes fixated on something unseen in the distance. "No... the world's changed too much. Humans are gone... Pokemon are nearly gone... If anything survives this hell, it'll take a long time for things to get back to even remotely normal." He glanced down a moment to his cerulean-tipped tail, then chuckled. "I doubt we'll live long enough to see that happen."

Movement outside caught his eye, though, and he lifted his head to better see what was out there. A pachirisu, bloodied and uncoordinated, wandering the neighborhood as if it were a dream. Seth's expression stayed, his body language the same. "There's an infected outside," he whispered, his voice lacking fear. "Nothing big. Keep quiet and calm."

_____________________


The more he watched Rhea, the more the liepard grew concerned. She was languid, a tad uncoordinated... Her tail followed her limply, as if it no longer functioned. She looked already half dead. The audino approched her cautiously, likely hoping she wouldn't tear his face off. "I'm a healer, I can help you," he offered, but Rhea sluggishly refused.

"Away..." she moaned, her tone coaxing Virgil a little closer. They'd only known each other a few days, but... Watching her quickly descend into what was likely the living purgatory the other undead were caught in was proving to be a little too much for the onlooking cat. The gothitelle strode forward, his gusto and dim-witted bravodo irking Virgil. How he wanted to just claw that asshole's tongue out...

"This was my city first." The blunt statement seemed to have struck both Virgil and Rhea the same; irritation. Why the hell would he say that? She was barely in the city's boundaries anyway. "Not yours, you scavenger. It was the humans first, you just waited for your real enemy to perish before you came in behind like a coward and claimed what you did not earn." Though her words rang true enough, it seemed the moronic gothitelle hadn't had enough.

I don't know about you but we're doing just fine for now. Another snort was her reply. "If you say so."

This was getting stupid. Rising from his perch, he sprang down to them, keeping a small distance from Rhea... just in case. "Look, asshole, she's not interested in fighting you," he growled, tail lashing angrily behind him. "So just back off. Find some moron as stupid as you to fight. We're very proud you learned to pee on a stump-- now go away and find someone else who cares." Glancing to Rhea, he asked in a softer tone, "...You don't look so hot, Mom..."

"Marda! No. Ha-Happy Marda!" Martha blinked, momentarily startled that Eliana could say her name. It touched the Flaaffy to no end to see the little Oddish pining for her smile. She beamed in response, and lightly tickled Eliana under her chin. "I am happy, sweetie! Happy as can be!"

Her playful giggles ceased, however, at Seth's response to her question. "No... the world's changed too much. Humans are gone... Pokemon are nearly gone... If anything survives this hell, it'll take a long time for things to get back to even remotely normal. I doubt we'll live long enough to see that happen." She had expected an answer like that, and somehow it made her feel better to have a bit of clarity; at least now she could get to work on adapting to this new life instead of living in false hope all the time; hope that Arceus would descend from the heavens and purify the world of the plague that was slowly eating it alive.

"I ... kind of expected that," she said softly, trying hard to maintain her smile for Eliana while tears threatened to spring from her eyes. "I don't remember much from when I was really small. Not anymore. But the bits that I do remember were nice ... I wish I could have them back..."

Images of endless, lush flower fields, the bright midday sun and the grazing herd of Miltank flowed through her mind as Seth suddenly turned to the window. "There's an infected outside. Nothing big. Keep quiet and calm." Martha nodded as she cradled Eliana close to her, hoping that the child would stop laughing and would drift off into a sleep. With only two of them capable of fighting, and with a baby to protect, an attack was the last thing they needed.

And there was another one.
Frank folds his arms as he glares at both intruders. A flicker of blue lighting seems to play around his eyes, his never very deep resevoir of patience is running dry.
"It was their city Alleycat. Then it belonged to an ugly ass Rhyperior who's now cooling what's left of his head in the marshes. I earnt for this territory and I'm not going to let you walk all over me just because wide-load here came stumbling in looking for a place to die. Go somewhere else."
"Frank stop it." The Audino chides the tall Psychic, his delicate ears fluttering reproachfully. "They've done nothing wrong."
"Leave it Marco. I'm not putting up with this shit this early in the morning." The Gothitelle snaps back.
The Audino looks embarrassed for both of them and considers apologizing to the both for Frank's behavior but something about the Gothitelle's icy glare tells him it would be a bad idea.
His delicate ears flutter, picking up the tiniest of sounds and amplifiying them. He can hear the sound of Frank's heartbeat and his own and that of the Liepard, all perfectly steady and healthy if heightened with tension.
"Miss I do suggest you calm down and let me heal you." He says in his steadiest doctor's voice, letting the healing light around his paws grow. "I just want to help."
The Gothitelle snorts and Maco taciturnly ignores Frank's espousal of disbelief.
He was a born healer, it was the one thing he was good at and the only thing he thought of as a calling in life. Even if he couldn't fix the only disease that mattered in this time...
He couldn't stand by and let someone suffer, no matter what Frank said and the Kangaskhan was seriously injured.
"Do you know how she got these injuries?" He asks of the Liepard who seems to know the injured Normal Type and at least sounds sane.
If he knew what caused the damage then he can get the correct supplies from the pokecenter; disinfectant, bandages, shots for tentanus and rabies...
Or of course there was the alternatives for those who had been bitten by the infected; Amputation or decapitation.

If Frank is surprised to see a Liepard in Sinnoh he gives no sign of it over his growing irritation.
Crossing his black skinned arms empathatically the Gothitelle glares at the Liepard.
He signs. He should have been ready for something like this, the stars never lied and there were some ill omens in the sky last night.
"It was hard enough getting all the undead away from here the first time so yeah, I think you are looking for a fight." Frank growls at the Liepard."You see unlike you, whenever I see a pokemon that sick I start to get a little nervous about having them near me incase one day they decide to, I don't know, chew my face off while I'm sleeping."
Frank looks down at the Audino.
"If you want to take care of her go ahead, I'm not dealing with this shit."
Frak emphatically turns his back on the two, making an obscene gesture over his shoulder at the Liepard before floating off down an alleyway.
Of course he isn't really going to leave, the little Audino was his healer after all and without him he'd have to go back to scavenging what supplies he could find but right now he really really wanted to hit something and Marco so disapproved when he attacked other living.
Well, let the pink rabbit handle himself for a moment. It would only be a couple of minutes before Marco was pissing himself and running back to him.

She opened her eyes a bit wider. In front of her, was a big path. Nice and big, and it led to a human living area, where the forest and wilderness divided. So many ruined squarish and rectangular blocks were there, was that where the humans used to sleep?
And then she saw them. Or heard them.
Their voices were close by.
Mama had always said her hearing was exceptional. Mama couldn't hear the voices. Mama couldn't hear anything beyond the river and Sparks, and her sister, and her brother. And Papa.
"Maybe...one of them is Mama."
There was a wooden square somewhere farther away. The voices of the others were coming from around that place.
"If it's you, Mama, Sparks will come to you, Sparks will love you, and you will, and will love me back. Oh Sparks has wanted to see you for so long. Sparks has wanted to see you ever since Papa tried to kill her. Oh he was such a bad Papa. Is Sparks crying?"
But she was not. She was laughing, as she walked towards the area in the middle of the big block things.

"Look, asshole, she's not interested in fighting you," Virgil came from seemingly nowhere behind the annoying psychic and his friend.  "So just back off. Find some moron as stupid as you to fight. We're very proud you learned to pee on a stump-- now go away and find someone else who cares." The Motherly Pokemon chuckled at her pseudo-son's response and felt a brief flicker of pride before a sharp pain in her spine pulled her attention back. "...You don't look so hot, Mom..." Snorting she looked back at the Liepard with a lopsided smirk. "Tell me about it. Virg you...you shouldn't have followed me..."

"Miss I do suggest you calm down and let me heal you. I just want to help." Rhea's smirk fell immediately to a frown as the pink thing came nearer to her with glowing palms. "This is calm, you mutated Chansey. And I already told you I don't want your help." Shifting herself to her full height the female glared down at the 'healer' and tried with all her might to will him to leave. "Get away from me and my children."

"If you want to take care of her go ahead, I'm not dealing with this shit."

He was walking away. Towards the city. Where her children hid. Towards Eliana. "NO!" The female roared, warnings flaring in her head that the black one was heading in the direction her children had fled. "Stay away from them!" Her body began to glow once more with the light of her Outrage as her mind flared with the perceived threat this psychic posed to her children.

________________________________

Eliana's laughter died down and her face fell in confusion when Seth mentioned something being outside. Why were they both so serious all of a sudden? She wanted them both happy again! She struggled as Martha pulled her tighter but the warmth and pressure of the embrace soon had the small child yawning. What was going on? She wanted to know...but suddenly the idea of a nap was sounding like a much better plan at the moment. As her eyes locked onto Seth's form she reached out with one of her leaves before it fell lightly away, the small Oddish finally succumbing to the desire to sleep.

((Skip please, not a lot for Martha to do.))

((OOC: Marco immediately runs back to Frank, Frank laughs at him and mocks him for not believing the Khangaskhan is nuts))

She walks towards the square, still laughing. The others can hear her, she knows, but who cares if she dies or not or if they decide to be her Mama and Papa and make things all right.
A Spark fizzes weakly around Sparks as she limps. How long since Papa had bitten her and drove her away? She can't remember.
There is a smell of mud in the air, mud just like that rainy day when Papa was there to care for her again, and then he bites her and all Sparks knows is pain and words written in red across her mind.
They're in there. Kill them. It'll be fun. Papa loves for you to listen to what I say. Obey me, and you obey Papa. Get it?"
She walks towards the smell of mud, like that wonderful day she began to hear the voice again.
....No that wasn't right. This isn't Sparks. This is just Sparks being stupid. Sparks doesn't like to be bitten by Papa.
But Sparks still will walk towards the others, she thinks.

Rhea yelled angrily as the pair turned and ran, unleashing her Outrage into the area around her in her frustration. They were going for her children and she wasn't going to have it. Virgil was still by her side but Eliana, Martha and even Seth were in the city somewhere and were at the mercy of these two fools. She chased after them as best she could but her movements were getting slower, her tail dragging completely limp behind her as she ran, and the Kangaskhan soon found herself unable to see the duo.

Angry she began to repeatedly punch a tree until her knuckles were completely bloodied, trying to work out her frustration so she could think clearly. Her children needed her and she had no idea where they were, or whether or not those two would find them first. If that effeminate black male found her brood it was more than likely he would attack them, and her poor Eliana was still just a hatchling. She had no idea how to defend herself. No...she needed to get to them as fast as she could.

She realized with a start that she did in fact have something that those other two didn't and Rhea quickly stomped off in search of a purple spotted cat. Sighing in relief when she spotted him the large normal type came up quickly to the Liepard before pointing towards the city. "Virgil...where are my children?"