#arvend

Arven's typing for a while. It shows in the bubbles that keep popping up. It's clear he keeps typing and erasing. Finally he settles on something.

[ text ] can you tell me more about it?

(txt): sure. what do you want to know?

@arvend ↬ "No, I’m fine. I just, umm… just a little panic attack. They come and go."

❝ hey, arven ... ? ❞ gentle knock resounds from the doorway as bianca opens the door to his dorm room ever so slightly, just enough to get her voice through ⸻ it's late, when most are prepping for dinner before curfew, though she finds herself lacking an appetite since their foray into area zero. they haven't properly spoken since they've returned home, with her opting to give him his space after everything that's happened ( &&. of course, her habit of reclusing back into her own dorm alone hasn't helped either ), but she'd be lying if she said she hasn't been worried about him the entire time. head peeks in through the crack just a bit, eyebrows raised ⸻ she can at least tell that his lights are on, so he should be awake, right ?

the school lunch room and kitchen is quiet in the late afternoon, long after classes have ended and students have dispersed for the hope of being free of homework and the influence of the many teachers for the next several hours. the quiet is broken only by the pat-pat-pat of little feet before there's a pair of little hands grabbing at arven's pants.

a cursory glance down reveals the culprit: not a student, but a gible with his mouth wide open in pleased surprise, tugging on arven to see what he's doing.

" YOUR FEET TOUCH THE VIRIDIAN GRASS. UPON THEM THE DEW IS BLINDING. COUNTLESS DIAMONDS FALLING FROM THE CLOUDS LIKE HELIUM ACID, ENSCONCED UPON A DISTANT MOON. YOU SCRY THE WORLD CHANGE. YOUR EYES ARE SO SMALL.

AS LIGHT BURNS THE SKY YOU FIND THE SELF ABSCONDED. THERE IS LIFE HERE. IT IS MALFORMED, ANTEDILUVIAN. IT HAS LIVED TOO LONG. IT HAS SEEN TOO MUCH. IT BEGS TO DIE AND IT CANNOT. IT HAS PERCEIVED THE EXTINCTION OF WORLDS AND THEIR CARCASSES BORN IN TIME AND STILL THEY ENDURE.

YOUR ANKLE IS GRIPPED. YOU FEEL HANDS UPON YOUR SKIN. THEY SEIZE YOU, BEGGING. TERRIFIED. THEY WANT TO END. THEY KNOW NOW THAT THEY CANNOT AND THEY ARE HORRIFIED. THEY HATE YOU FOR BEING SO YOUNG. THEY MOURN FOR BEING SO PRIMORDIAL.

Progress was going smoothly.

From what he gathered, there were some Pokémon around in the north province he had either not caught altogether, or had captured elsewhere and had yet to evolve. A glance to the sky confirms that yes, it wouldn’t be sunset for quite a while. He had enough supplies to last maybe three days without reconvening in Mesagoza. A few more hours wouldn’t scuff anyone’s knees, right?

And perhaps… he should have taken a rest after all. He was tactful enough to be unscathed, but running into two groups of pawniard and bisharp, with each eager to fight his team one on one had absolutely exhausted the brunet. A now, with the sun well hidden behind the mountains, Theo and his party sank to the ground, catching their breath.

“We should…probably set up camp…on flatter ground...you up for that?” A hum in return from Gholdengo agrees with Theo’s inquiry. It seems as though being tough as gold required stamina too, ah? A faint smile graces his features as he offers the Pokémon a hand getting up, and the two walk deeper into the bamboo thicket.

There were luckily little gaps between each stalk, which made it easier to navigate to his target; he had spotted a yellow splotch in his vision, and assumed whatever it was had made it to a small clearing. And that clearing was the perfect place to go for a proper rest. It was only when he got closer that realization reared its head. That yellow was a backpack…and he knew that backpack.

Both Gholdengo and Theo picked up the pace, only after he was a few yards away did he call out to the backpack’s owner.