Altho Minisession 05-C/F-5

[01:33] <Sophia> It's February 2X + 1. The morning sun blazes a dark orange veil onto the landscape surrounding the busy city of Ivoryscape. On the hills nearby, at the edge of a forest overlooking the skyscrapers and houses and busy streets coming to life stands a woman in her early twenties. In her hand, she holds a cell phone, a quaint necessity of urban living that she had to grow used to.
[01:33] <Sophia> Her eyes gaze down once more at the message read across the screen, and she smiles. Sophia was elated that things had gone well for her friend and that she had been so eager to travel with her new beau. Sophia's reply had been brief, to the point, and all in all, rather unintentionally sad, a small message saying to enjoy her travels. Perhaps they would meet in the village. She was headed there alone, desiring some time alone with her thoughts anyway. It carried with it a sense of loneliness.
[01:33] <Sophia> And so... as she stood there, eyes scanning the horizon, feet resting atop the back of her immense Onix, her mind drifted.
[01:34] <Sophia> (The Onix is REALLY easy to see to anyone nearby. It's fucking hueg.)
[01:36] * Ryuu has been spending time at the edge of the city outskirts more often, training with his pokemon to refine his skills further. Not content with how things turned out in the recent missions and not wanting a repeat of what happened to his first partner to befall on any of his pokemon, he has resorted to training out here to better concentrate.
[01:37] <Ryuu> The area also makes good during breaks, with the air cleaner compared to that in the city
[01:38] * Ryuu happens to be taking a break after another early training session with his pokemon, looking out at the route and watching for any people that pass by as his pokemon either rest or play around.
[01:41] * Sophia pats the top of Nidhogg's horn, sending the massive rock snake forward. The rumbling can be felt for hundreds and hundreds of yards out, easily detectable by anyone with half a brain. Ryuu can clearly see the dust trail being swept out by her very presence. In her entourage are a similarly immense Gyarados and a sizeable Tropius, looking quite odd with all traveling together.
[01:42] * Ryuu then sees someone come along, riding on top of... an Onyx...? That's quite a rare sight to see, even for Ryuu- especially since there are other huge pokemon following along behind the Onyx. He raises a hand to wave from where he is, giving a greeting if the rider would notice. Ryuu's celitty, followed by the pignite, moves closer to the route to get a...
[01:42] <Ryuu> better look at the massive pokemon passing by.
[01:44] * Ryuu 's munchlax also joins by the route, carrying a bowl of its food and eating while looking up with idle curiosity at the parade of giants.
[01:46] <Sophia> With but the subtlest movement of her hand on his back, the Onix slows as he approaches Ryuu. The Tropius and Gyarados hang back, watching with vague interest. From Nidhogg's back, Sophia's calm gaze sweeps over to Ryuu. "Yes?" she says, her voice echoing a plain, matter-of-fact tone.
[01:49] <Ryuu> "Ah, just saying hi, actually," the young man replied with a faint smile, getting to his feet as he looked up to the girl riding on the Onix, "It's not often I got a chance to see someone traveling in such a manner... I'm taking a guess that you are not really from the city?"
[01:50] * Ryuu tries his best to be polite, since this is probably a first for him to actually initiate a conversation with a complete stranger. He is holding an egg warmer in his hands, containing the egg given to him by the family from the daycare center.
[01:52] <Sophia> "No, the deserts far to the south, in fact," Sophia replies, her face graced with a small smile. It much more befits her face than the look of mild disinterest from a moment before. "I have... long since overstayed in Ivoryscape. I thought it was high time I find a new avenue to cross." The Onix is perfectly still, looking like naught but a statue for all anyone knows. The Gyarados, however, is a little more restless. Writhing a moment and giving a small HUMPH, the beast seems eager to move on from such... disinteresting prey.
[01:53] <Sophia> Sophia's gaze shifts to the Gyarados, and it seems to relax a bit. It isn't afraid of her, but by simply looking at it, it has decided to wait.
[01:55] <Ryuu> "Haven't been to a desert before..." Ryuu nodded, his celitty running to his side after being frightened by the apparent look the gyarados was giving. It quickly climbed up to the trainer's shoulder for security while Ryuu's other pokemon gather around.
[01:58] <Ryuu> "I arrived at the region a several weeks back, so this region is rather new to me," Ryuu admitted as he notes how the gyarados seemed to calm with a look from its trainer, "So I have been thinking if it would be better to join the company of another trainer for once..."
[02:00] * Sophia is silent for a moment. "Where are you headed, friend? Maybe we are on a similar path." Her eyes don't seem to be focused on Ryuu anymore. They're looking out into the trees and through them into the skies beyond.
[02:02] <Ryuu> "I have not decided on a direction yet, so anywhere is fine," Ryuu replied, looking to where the woman was looking towards, "Maybe somewhere with less people compared to Ivoryscape would be nice for once. Too many things going on since last week that some time to reflect would be nice."
[02:06] * Ryuu looks to the egg in his hands after saying that, with a hint of sadness showing briefly despite a smile.
[02:08] <Sophia> A laugh escapes her throat, a light sound, whispery and recalling breathing in the high winds on sandy dunes. "You are not the first to tell me that one, friend." Her laugh is quickly stifled when she spots the look on his face. "Too many calls. Too many people with their little momentary hellos and never anyone consistent who is not embroiled in private matters. I... I long for home on days like these. If only for the chance to speak as family with a neighbor." She stops. "Oh, my apologies. I lost myself in reverie."
[02:08] <Sophia> "My name is Sophia, by the way. I am a Weaver of the southern desert people."
[02:11] <Ryuu> "Pleased to meet you, Sophia-san," Ryuu responds with a deep bow before looking up, "I am Seitamashii Ryuu, from the region of Seikuu." Ryuu then recalls most of his pokemon, except for the serious-looking magnemite and the celitty on his shoulder. "So where are you headed for, Sophia-san?"
[02:16] <Sophia> "Ah... a quiet village near here. I know not the name, only how to get there. A... good friend is meeting me there, I hope." Sophia leans back against her Onix's horn and says softly, "It will be better without the noise of technology. Maybe I will settle there for a time. It would be nice to at least seem a native for a time."
[02:20] <Ryuu> "I see..." the teenager replied as he scratched his celitty behind the ears, with the latter giving an electric purr before hopping over to the hovering magnemite, "Do you mind if I join you then, Sophia-san? A trip is not as difficult to take if taken with a companion, or that was what my sensei said."
[02:25] <Sophia> Again, silence. "... The winds blow ever towards another meeting with the mountain's shadow. Perhaps a companion would be best to cast away darker thoughts." Sophia smiles serenely. "Yes, I would be happy to have you join me on this trip, Seitamashii Ryuu." With but a minute movement, Sophia leaves the back of the Onix, landing gently on her feet, her skirts billowing around her. That fall was some fifteen feet. Taken like a champ. "And I know a face that has met great pain when I see one. It is my duty to notice these things. Or... it was, at least."
[02:28] <Ryuu> "Ah, I guess I tend to be too transparent after all," Ryuu remarked with a sigh, closing his eyes for a moment before nodding to Sophia, "And here I was training earlier, hoping that I could somehow get over it..."
[02:30] * Ryuu shook his head, putting the egg warmer to his backpack and giving his cheeks a few light slaps to straighten up. "I'm sorry, it's just that something really painful had happened a few days ago and I had been trying to cope with it ever since..." Ryuu said as he now manages a better smile, offering Sophia to lead the way while he is ready to follow.
[02:33] <Sophia> The older woman puts a hand on Ryuu's shoulder, giving off a relaxing psychic aura almost unintentionally. "Experience is the mother that scolds and holds her children. I can promise you will be the better for it." With a step down the path, she says, "Come, you will feel better knowing the road is behind you anyway." She makes no effort to pry or find what troubles him unless he wants to say, but the atmosphere about her is relaxing and inviting nonetheless.
[02:37] * Ryuu nods, feeling somehow better when Sophia put her hand on his shoulder, like a calm stream washing away a part of his burden. Sophia could feel something about Ryuu's back-- not exactly physical in nature since his thick jacket covers him well, just that something... off...
[02:39] <Ryuu> "Saa-- onwards then!" Ryuu said with a firm voice as he stood tall and pointed off to the horizon. His celitty follows his pointing action with its small forepaw, like some coordinated action.
[02:44] * Sophia doesn't say a word about it. That's not her place to ask, is it? As she leads them down the road, though, she says, "You know, Seitamashii Ryuu, my people say that ages ago, a mother and her son were playing by a stream. The mother, voice strong with life, sang to her son everyday by that river, who took in her voice and grew strong. When he grew older, he was betrothed to a maiden of the village, and to show his love for her, he sang to her by that same river each and every day, and when they had a child, a daughter, they sang to her as well. Song passed down from person to person, friends, neighbors, strangers even, all people sang in those times. That was simply how they communicated. How... harmonious it must have been..."
[02:49] <Ryuu> "Wow..." Ryuu remarked as he followed by Sophia's side, "I think... that such a song could express one's feelings to another is possible is incredible. I guess I would like to hear how it sounded like some day."
[02:53] <Ryuu> "From where I come from, people are valued according to what they have to offer to the society," Ryuu said, looking off to the distance while recalling the region he hailed from, "It's did not matter if you are younger than anyone else, as long as you have an 'ability' that helped to the society's advancement. A person's merit grants him a better position...
[02:54] <Ryuu> ... within society. I guess that is also why I ended up coming here, to find out what I can give back to my home."
[02:55] <Sophia> "I do not know what sort of song the mother sang to her son back then, but there is a song of the rivers my people sing. It evokes the feeling of the flow of water, the ebb of the tides. When I came to Ivoryscape, I found myself a few times in bars by the streetsides at night, and..." She laughs. "It was almost as if the stories were true there. I cannot remember a time when I heard so many sing so... off-key." She stops, listening to Ryuu's words. A small frown appears on her face. It's weird, like it doesn't belong there. "What of people who can give less than others?"
[03:01] <Ryuu> "Well... it's not that they have less..." Ryuu said, somehow recalling those who are behind compared to him, "There is a base level that everyone receives, even those who have limitations of how much they can give... The council, what the leaders of our region were known as, ensures that everyone receives the necessities for living- shelter, food, education."
[03:02] <Ryuu> "They then provide us with various tests, to determine our aptitude and inclinations..." Ryuu continued, now looking up to the sky, "It's how I ended up a trainer, and met my first pokemon..."
[03:04] * Ryuu trailed off at that point, remembering about those times that he spent with his very first partner, ".... It isn't really that bad, those days..."
[03:11] <Sophia> "... It seems almost perverse compared to my own people's ways," she replies with care. Frankly, the concept that people still go around with the less than others disgusts her, despite having lived in Ivoryscape for some time. "We share openly with one another, and we give to those who cannot support themselves. Each life has an equal and inherent value. I have had to struggle to live beyond my home's borders for some time because of that belief..." She sighs and is silent again. "... But had I not left, I would not have come to see people as they are here. Life affords us a new experience each day, after all."
[03:12] <Sophia> (Sorry, I spaced really badly just now. I need to sleep.)
[03:12] <Ryuu> (we can wrap this up quickly then :3c)
[03:14] <Sophia> (Sounds good. I'm gonna pass out any second.)
[03:17] <Ryuu> "Sou... Granted, those who get more have a much greater responsibility to the society, so I think it is better to be somewhere at the middle... or where I can be comfortable at..." Ryuu let out a light chuckle and smiled, "The council does not really leave anyone behind, and believes that whatever a person can give to society, even something that seems...
[03:19] <Ryuu> ...insignificant, has a profound effect to society. So there is respect even for those who work on the seemingly mundane tasks like ensuring the cleanliness of a city..."
[03:20] * Ryuu figured they have traveled a good distance for the time being and it would be a good idea to take a short break, looking around for a comfortable spot to rest.
[03:20] <Sophia> "Perhaps. We care equally for the enfirmed and the lame where I am from. Each of us lives but a fraction of the world, and so we can only see what the next dawn brings, I think. Tomorrow, I might be bedridden. Best to treat another as I would myself." With a smile, Sophia says, "On that note, would you like to learn the song of my people?"
[03:21] <Sophia> (I was totally gonna trail off with her starting to teach him, but whatever works.)
[03:22] <Ryuu> "Why not?" Ryuu replied, noticing a patch of trees where they can rest and at the same time share more about what they know, "I think we could stay over there, at least until the sun is not as hot, while you teach me the song."
[03:23] <Ryuu> (there :3c)
[03:24] * Sophia pulls off to the side to begin. "Ah, let me sing it once through for you and then I will teach you the words. They are... not in this language so be sure to pay close attention..."
[03:24] <Sophia> </mini>