and unfortunately for him, freya is not a familiar face, but she might be as close as he gets. she doesn't come across him yet. she's getting herself looked at. she's getting her team looked at. she's making sure that through all of the adrenaline, she's actually okay. 

just some scrapes and bruises. minor burns from the cold.

the last time she'd walked away from kyurem, her mind had been twisted. warped beyond comprehension. a year of recovery is partly why she's here, refusing to shrug off her hurt. and besides, Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki will be happy to know she's gotten through that thick skull of hers. somewhat. 

"not too many, miss morningstar, but there are a few, i'm sure, who wouldn't mind a visit."

now she happens upon him. oldale's hospital is small, its workers slightly overwhelmed by the influx of people after the silent icelands encounter, so no one sees the man stumbling down the hallway in a hospital gown. no one except her.

"nurse? can i get a nurse?" she says and picks up the pace, holding out both arms to steady him. 

"what the hell are you doing?"

Noel Parker

☉

the hard lines on her face deepen and concentration knits in her brows as his weight falls into her. a couple of aids move over to help her, but she waves them off and shoulders his weight for herself. the wounded need tended elsewhere and besides, nowadays she's more than capable. 

tired gold eyes lift to his lifeline half an hour later, listening to the steady beeps of his pulse. the nurse told her she was welcome to leave, but that he should be up shortly. wanting to save them all the trouble of dealing with a traumatized cadet, she stays. 

moxie keeps her company. the dratini glows softly in her lap, tail draping over the side of the chair. freya rubs her feathery accoutrements and dozes, blinking rapidly when the man in the bed stirs. 

"steady there, cadet," she says. "don't give the nurses more trouble - i think we'd all like to avoid putting those back in your arm." 

Noel Parker

☉

"yes, i was there," she says, albeit gravely. there was a moment when she had a choice - continue the onslaught against kyurem or go into the caverns. and save people like him. save people who were on comms calling for help. would he be here, in this state, if she'd made a different choice? 

"we won." it's an easier way of saying we didn't, but such a beast couldn't be felled. they separated reshiram; they lost reshiram. they banished the world-devourer; they could not stop it from cleaving a chasm in the earth. 

"for now. and from what i've heard, our operatives are all accounted for - " she bites her lip, "in different conditions, but alive nonetheless."

while he's at no risk of leaping out of the bed, she finds her way back to her seat and falls back into it. exhaustion lingers in her. emotions she hasn't had time to parse gnaw at her amygdala, threatening action, but she quashes the feeling.

Noel Parker

☉

you did what you could.

and was it enough?

he does not understand the actions he's promising. he does not understand the inevitably that is this creature. this beast stalked her for months. it lived in her head, in her every breath, every tremble, promising her death. 

"it's freya," she says. she tries to search her mind for more on noel, but comes up short. given his attire, he's a ranger, and she guesses not one that works directly under ollie. 

"and honestly, noel, i think that hoopa is a bigger issue. without it, kyurem's marooned on its hellscape of a plane." she tilts her head back and looks down at him through her lashes. "if it's a bother, i can be going, but sometimes it's good to talk through this stuff. help process it, you know?"

Noel Parker

☉

"trust me, i know. i've been there." how many hours she'd spent chasing her jumbled thoughts around in her brain, refusing to let them out from behind her teeth. she forced herself to swallow and then had the audacity to wonder why it hurt. 

"it's easy to feel powerless." she's been there too. "but you did good by being there. there could have been a lot more wounded. there could have been death. but there wasn't. and that's because of people like you, putting their lives on the line for their friends and for the region."

she commits his name to memory. paxton concordas and she talked about finding prospective trainers like this. she'll just need to know if he can handle himself in battle, or if he's just another waiting casualty. 

Noel Parker

☉

"there's always a bigger dragon," she says quietly. she leans forward, stretches out her arms, elbows on her thighs and chin propped in her palms. it's something she's said before, words that have run through her mouth in an attempt to help others, though she'd never, before recently, thought they applied to herself.

"no single one of us will be strong enough to take that thing down. what fought it back?" she slides, heel to the balls of her toes, arms languishing by her sides as she stands. 

she goes to his bedside; he turns his face towards her. 

"teamwork. you want strength? surround yourself with people you can count on." and then, with a smile - knowing, wistful - she departs. 

"and don't push yourself while you're mending. we need you out there."

Noel Parker

☉