A hissing wave crashed over dewford, cutting through the interdream mist and roughly put-together encampment. Hutched over a table, dragging her finger across the map, Penelope was giving a explanation to one of the other rangers.
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Until a familiar voice came crashing through.
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"Freya," the soft utterance of the councilwoman's name trickled in a low whisper. "is there something that you need?"

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[attr="class","ooc"] freya morningstar[break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-ditto"]

somewhere, deep in the heart of the mountain, overworked members of the league navigate deeper and deeper in a race against their enemies, clearing whatever obstacles they can. she's still waiting for the call. 

she shoulders her way under the tent. micolash follows, albeit slowly, and paws at the canvas. freya leaves him to his own devices. 

"i'm here to check in on the supplies. we haven't been able to reach you; they think it's the interdream mist." she rolls her shoulders and casts a wayward glance at the folks penny had previously been talking to. 

"would you mind if i had a word with you alone?"

PENELOPE LIVY
supply

☉

Her response is immediate, starting with a curt nod toward the ranger (who immediately fled the scene) and ending with glance back at Freya.
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"The interdreammist has been bad, but not enough to warrant a visit."
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A curious eyebrow tickled her hairline.
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"Is that all you came to ask me about?"
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[attr="class","ooc"] freya morningstar[break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-ditto"]

"no," she says, "it's not."

micolash chitters when the ranger scurries away and makes to follow them, but freya clicks her tongue and he folds over himself, looking dejected. 

"on mt. pyre, you asked me what wolf i had my mark set on." pale gold hardens. "where are we with the investigation?"

PENELOPE LIVY
supply

☉

"Not enough to strike down any target, I'm afraid."
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Bitterness swelled up within them in similar ways; like twin flames. Where before they might've seen each other on opposite sides, Penelope could fee their intentions intertwining.
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"But as much as i want it to be a indicator that we're wrong, it's likely he is just good at hiding evidence."
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[attr="class","ooc"] freya morningstar[break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-ditto"]

she runs her tongue along her teeth. the arrow meant for him is packed in her belongings, with her in her own bedroll, guarded by a few of her dragons. but she knows she cannot wield it. she cannot strike him down with it. 

"i'm curious what you thought about his admissions during aqua. regarding Elisabeth Fiorelli."

the woman who made the very arrow meant to dispose of him. 

PENELOPE LIVY

☉

"I don't know the future, but I do know people,"
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Her eyes returned to the map of dewford. At marked piece of humanity's claim to this piece of nature; at every jutted piece of land that cut into the ocean around it.
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"And, lately, Matias always found a way to direct his anger back at the league. You'd think they were the source of all his problems. The only question is whether his volatility extends beyond just his emotions."
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Trust wasn't this incorruptible thing. While only fuzzy memories remained of their night shared among the sputtering embers of Mt Chimney, there was no washing the betrayal she'd felt. The absolute obliteration of all trust in the Volatile
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[attr="class","ooc"] freya morningstar[break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-ditto"]

secrets that are not hers to tell lay like a rock in her stomach. years have lapsed and they have been twisted beyond recognition, locked in shadows for so long that no ounce of shed light can scrub away the painted darkness. but that does not dismiss the truth. 

of a best friend gaslighting, ostracizing, and tormenting another. of pushing them so far to the brink that they collapse in on themselves like a dying star, surrounded, with careful precision, by dozens of innocents caught in the crossfire. 

"dahlia treats him like a child. we walk on eggshells around him and his patron because we're afraid of the damage it can cause. cataclysmic power, in the hands of someone like him..." she sighs wearily.

"i just want my city back."

PENELOPE LIVY

☉

"And you'll get your city back."
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Resolution solidified the words that spilled. With hardened eyes, the councilwoman concluded her business with Dewford, trailing far beyond its borders, out to the small dot that made up Sootopolis.
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Not far from their shores, yet out of reach all the same, the councilwoman could hear the lone island's call for help through the parchment. She could feel the regret well up inside her, no different than the shame the nips at her ankles every morning.
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Ever since the beginning, her intentions remained steadfast: but what did that measure up to? Nothing. Sootopolis was still captured, and people were still suffering.
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If anything, her actions only furthered the man responsible for it all.
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"We just have to play it careful. If there are questions of our own Elite four, then well,"
her eyes finally raise to meet hers. "who can you trust?"

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[attr="class","ooc"] freya morningstar[break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-ditto"]

she wants to believe her. she so, so badly wants to believe her. but it's been years since she's been able to walk the streets of her home without fear for her safety, not counting the night she'd nearly drank herself sick and ended up in Elisabeth Fiorelli's apartment.

idly, she fingers the black scale hanging from her neck. she'd traded the answer to a riddle for its safe return. if she had arrested the rocket then and there, maybe they could have avoided all of this. the realization does not sit well with her.

"matias has done nothing to earn my loyalty. nor i yours." but penny's own call to justice has, at the very least, earned freya's respect. and it's said with the softening of the corners of her eyes. 

"but i'd like to earn it."

PENELOPE LIVY

☉

To her delicate words, something...unfounded flashed across her eyes.
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Memories of a conversation shared long before broke through the static of betrayal and mistrust. Back when the meteor hadn't landed and her goals were as simple as earning Melody Miro's trust. Back when her mind was her own and no one elses.
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Back when she knew the own merit of her promises.
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"Then our goals are aligned."
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Trust is a fickle thing. Once before she'd never thought to see the dragon queen among their ranks. Burnt bridges made that path seemingly impossible, but like with all things in hoenn, reality remains moldable.
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"But for that, I'd like to know of something."
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Pushing up from the table she was leaning over, the councilwoman bridged the gap between them through small steps and watchful eyes. She stopped merely outside the other's direct orbit.
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"I was once with a man that I loved. During the heat of it all, I would've done anything for him. And that's something I can only recognize now, after stepping away. " She paused, took a short breath, then continued, "I was fortunate enough to know of his alignment to Rocket after he broke away. But if he hadn't left when he did..."
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The wind spoke the rest for her.
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"What I'm trying to say is that I understand. But it's because I understand that I have to ask: if it comes down to it, where do your loyalties lie?"
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KING WAYLAND or the league?
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[attr="class","ooc"] freya morningstar[break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-ditto"]

penelope invades her space as an intimate and freya's breath stills, gold upon those odd, orange eyes of their councilwoman, and for an instant a horrible resentment strikes her pupils. the corners of her eyes crinkle and she wills her lips not to snarl, her fingers not to curl.

"to hoenn's people," she says, brutally and wholly honest, and she knows it is a non-answer, but it is her answer still. 

this war is bigger than all of them. the crime organization's heart, its core, she would eviscerate if she could, but the world is painted in hateful shades of gray and squabbling over contrast in the wake of complete ruination, total calamity is blasphemy. 

still, there is a truth there, branded by flame - she would burn the world for king and delta if it meant keeping them safe.

PENELOPE LIVY

☉

"to hoenn's people," the woman says, brutality thick in the answer that held no clarity.
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This war was bigger than all of them. And yet, when a crime organization comes ravaging through their homes, pitch forks in hand, sending flames to their walls with lawless care, and would this misplaced trust become the poison the dagger is doused with before it strikes her back?
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The world isn't black and white. Gray hues color the in-betweens, creating nuance in the definitions they fight to solidify. But in this space kept between councilwomen, there were only two options left: To accept or to reject. To defend or to discard. To hold confidence or doubt.
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"Then for Hoenn's people we shall return Sootopolis. Together."

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[attr="class","ooc"] freya morningstar[break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-ditto"]