literature

No Rest for the Weary (RP)

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It was the first time during their time travel adventures that Chase felt afraid. Something about this era was wrong. The city was choking him, and the townspeople never stopped. It reminded him too much of his time spent at the university. But in this world, he couldn't escape to ranching, for all his ranch Pokemon were in the distant future. He was glad to have sir Caliburn as a companion through it all. The Riolu found himself restlessly pacing towards the outskirts of town without a purpose or destination in mind. WatermelonMudkip

Audie was tired. No, actually, she was beyond tired. She missed home. She missed her birds, her house, her friends, her- huh? Oh, look, there was Chase. A fleeting moment of joy, or something close to it anyway, would flash through her as she looked down from her perch up in the tree at the edge of town. "Hey Chase!" She called down, struggling for a moment before finally pushing herself up into a sitting position. "Long... long time no see. How're you takin' the whole 'time travel' thing?" Captain-Coffee

Chase was surprised yet again but the sudden appearance of his redheaded friend when he was least expecting it. His mood instantly brightened at the familiar face. "Audie! I have not seen thee since the Stone Age!" Under normal circumstances that might have been a mirthful overstatement, but the truth in his statement made his head spin even more. "Ah, yes, we have found ourselves in yet another era... and I found myself needing a distraction," he admitted. The knight began to scale the tree with Caliburn holding tightly onto his cloak, joining her on the branch. "Perhaps I should look up more often," he said with a smile. "I should know by now that I can always find you up above somewhere." WatermelonMudkip

She had barely batted an eye as he began scaling the tree to join her, confident in the branch's ability to hold the weight of both of them. It was her napping branch, after all. Smiling weakly, she would run a hand through her, now short, red locks as Chase settled himself next to her. "Y-yeah, I guess..." Audie looked away, scooching slightly closer to the trunk of the tree, or at least as close as she could get. She knew she needed the comfort right now, but she didn't yet feel comfortable enough asking for it. "Who's this lil' fellow?" Audie asked instead, reaching a hand out to pet the Ralts gently before thinking better of it. Not now. Maybe when things returned to normal... or still never, didn't want to overload the poor thing. Captain-Coffee(edited)

Now that he was closer, Chase noticed Audie's usual ponytail was nowhere to be found, her hair cut short. "Oh, you have acquired a new hairstyle! It looks quite comfortable and easy to manage." The Ralts, of course, could feel the emotion coming from Audie even if Chase did not. He crawled over to her even after the hand was retracted and nestled against her with his head resting on her arm. "This is my young squire, sir Caliburn. He was placed in my care when a friend of mine moved away. He seems to have come along for this adventure. Did any of thine Pokemon companions accompany thee?" WatermelonMudkip

The Ralts crawling up to her himself was quite unexpected, and Audie couldn't think fast enough what she should do before he was already nuzzling her hand. "Yeah, I didn't want to wear one of those silly puffy dresses, so I... I cut it off." She tried to smile down at the Ralts, and with her failure she simply pulled the Ralts onto her lap, giving the Pokémon a gentle hug. It was greatly appreciated by the Yanma, not that she'd ever admit it. "And yeah, my Ponyta came along too, Henry. He's... he's somewhere." She brought her gaze back up to Chase, offering him a small smile before looking back to the ground. Captain-Coffee

"I see. Indeed, those garments appear to be quite bothersome. Some of the ladies I saw today were incapable of so much as sitting in their dresses!" That didn't suit Audie at all. Chase was glad to see her taking to Caliburn so well - the Ralts had a way of knowing what people needed. He glanced around, looking for any sign of the Ponyta from their perch in the tree. If he was anywhere nearby, they would surely see the glow from his flames in the dark of the night, but Chase saw no trace. "I shall help search for your steed if you wish," he offered, but he already suspected that she wasn't too concerned about her horse right now. WatermelonMudkip

The dragonfly lifted her head slightly, but shook her head before looking back down. "No, he'll be fine. He... he can, he can find his way back... j-just fine..." It was blatantly obvious that Audie was distracted. "I... I ain't too worried 'bout Henry..." Her nightmares had been getting so much worse lately, and with all the bad experiences she had had with people lately- Audie looked up, suddenly and acutely aware of the fact that she was crying. "I-I miss home, Chase. I miss my birds, and my home, and my bed- I wanna g-go home!" Captain-Coffee

Chase was struck with the realization that Audie had begun to cry. Caliburn squeezed into her, trying to provide some comfort, and the Riolu realized he should follow his example. But he was incapable of doing much of anything while up in a tree without risk of falling, so he leaped to the ground and outstretched his arms to Audie. The gesture was not a preparation to catch her - she could get down from the tree with no trouble - but more of an invitation to join him. He didn't want her staying in that tree alone all night. WatermelonMudkip

The warmth of Chase leaving her side did not go unnoticed, and perhaps caused the girl to cry just a bit harder. But as he landed on the ground and reached out to her, she could quickly see that leaving her alone wasn't in his cards. And she was so eternally grateful for that. Slowly, Audie would force herself up off the branch, her wings coming to life as she flitted down to the Riolu. Carefully she would cradle Caliburn in her arm as she reached the ground, feet resting on it as she was too tired to hover like usual. "W-Where are we goin'?" She asked softly as she looked to Chase.(edited)

He reached for her as she approached the ground and guided her down, holding gently yet firmly onto one of her arms. "The innkeeper has provided us with rooms while we investigate the crime. It is not home, but there is at least a comfortable bed, and some peace and quiet." With that, Chase led her down the deserted street into town and all the way back to his room at the inn. WatermelonMudkip

Audie allowed herself to be led away from her tree, away from the forest, blindly following the hand grasped upon her arm. Once at the inn, Audie would sink into a chair, curling in on herself immediately. Tears flowed steadily from her eyes, even as Audie made futile attempts to wipe them away. Finally, she would look back up at Chase before looking back down at her lap and mumbling softly: "I-It's been a rough few weeks...." Captain-Coffee

Chase knew this all too well. He'd seen her walls break down the day he confronted her about avoiding him. He knew what she needed was a shoulder to cry on, and he was more than willing to provide. The Riolu grabbed some tissues before positioning himself beside the Yanma, placing an arm delicately around her. He would blot away her tears as he listened to anything she had to say or wanted to get off her chest. WatermelonMudkip

The arm was appreciated, the blotting less so, but Audie only trembled with shaky breaths as she sat there quietly. Finally, she would open her mouth. "The dragon, th-the dragon was in a-a... an' he told me, an' I-I... I broke down there at the side of the road... A-a-an' then th-that guy... h-he said he had b-better thin's to do th-then fight someone who couldn't... wh-who couldn't... who couldn't stand on her own two feet!" A rough few weeks indeed. Deep down, she knew she wasn't making a whole lot of sense. But all Audie could think to do was lean as far in on Chase as she could, without touching his aura feelers of course.  Captain-Coffee(edited)

Her broken recollections didn't make much sense to him, but he could feel her pain nonetheless. Chase assured her that she was very strong and brave for making it this far, and that they would be home soon enough. He held her until she exhausted herself from crying, then carried her from the chair to the bed so she could be more comfortable. Once again, he projected a calming aura to help her rest. Only after he was sure she was asleep did he allow himself a moment of respite. Chase took the chair for the night, keeping watch over her until he himself drifted to sleep. WatermelonMudkip
:iconharvest-lunatone:

After being hurtled through time to the stone age and Medieval era, Chase and Audie aren't taking too well to Victorian times. They spend a quiet, depressed night together and hope for a better day.

Screenshot from chat: imgur.com/a/joI9d

Audie belongs to :iconwatermelonmudkip:
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Karma-Strike's avatar
;-; 

Tamas wants give them both hugs