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[attr="class","textbox"]"There ya go, little guy."[break][break]

The purple scarf that fluttered around Isaac's mouth and nose made him the spitting image of his patron, but it wasn't just a fashion statement. With the soot storm raging down from Mt. Pyre, it was the one thing stopping Isaac from coughing up a lung. He peered down at the Spoink in his arms through the reflective goggles slapped over his eyes, wiping their mirrored surface clean.[break][break]

With the attempts on Isaac's life slowing down by each month, moments like this were what really put his powers to the test. Search and rescue was a ranger's bread and butter. Who could search better than the guy that could run with the wind? Who could rescue better than the guy that could patch up your injuries on the way out?[break][break]

Of course, that cheat only worked the first time. While the winds that surrounded him kept those in his company safe from most harm, a sootstorm like this was another story entirely. His winds would carry the soot alongside him, leaving the poor Spoink at the mercy of the storm. Not ideal.[break][break]

"We're gonna get you somewhere safe, okay? So just close your eyes and trust me." Even with his warm eyes and soft smile covered, the tenderness in his voice helped reassure the Spoink. He held it close to his chest as if he were a living shelter, occasionally giving his arms a little pump to help its motion-assisted heart keep beating.[break][break]

Their destination was simple; the psychic trail of the Spoinks' kin.[break][break]

Unfortunately, the storm wouldn't make that easy. Buffeted from all sides, Isaac was left stumbling blind through the sootstorm. At times he tried to tip the scales, calling up a shield of ice to keep the soot at bay. Unfortunately, Lavaridge laughed at his efforts. The sweltering temperature and galeforce winds quickly chipped it down to nothing.[break][break]

They couldn't go on like this. For now, they'd need to take shelter until the storm eased up. Squinting through bleary eyes, Isaac made his way to what looked to be a sufficient shelter. Even as the stunted tree bent in the force of the storm, it held fast, leaving a pale shadow from where the soot couldn't reach. It was perfect. Throwing caution to the wind, Isaac made his way to the shelter and huddled behind it.[break][break]

So focused was he on getting the Spoink to safety that he didn't even realize when his elbow came to rest against another's.

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Aurelie shuddered as she dared a quick glance to squint up at the sky, which was positively black now with whirling soot, dirt, and sand whipped up by the wind. She was grateful for the shelter provided by the stunted tree, particularly against occasional gusts so strong she wouldn't have been able to stand up against them. Huddling against the tree trunk, she considered her options.

Thankfully, her pants and long sleeves covered her limbs and torso, Aurelie could already feel the skin on her face stinging from the abrasive flying sand and soot. Thinking frantically, she rummaged through the tote bag where she'd brought a swimsuit and large towel for the hot springs. Pulling out a knife, she started cutting a strip off the towel to wrap around the lower half of her face.

So intent was she on this task that when an errant elbow suddenly bumped hers, the redhead jumped and let out a startled yelp. "Arceus! What the..." she burst out, looking up toward her unexpected guest. "When did you get here?"

With a final convulsive jerk, Aurelie finished tearing through the towel. Tying it tightly over her nose, cheeks, and mouth, she felt better for having some cloth to breathe through. Only then did she turn fully toward the other person who'd joined her under the tree's hunched-over trunk.

She chuckled wryly to see the other person's far more sensible getup of protective goggles and a scarf around their face. I wish I'd come so well-prepared, Aurelie reflected, sucking in a breath through her towel. Under all that, through the haze of soot, it was impossible to see much of their face.

Her voice muffled now by her own face wrapping, she ventured cautiously, "Sorry about that. I didn't expect to see anyone else out here. You took me a bit by surprise!"

A small, plaintive oink drew Aurelie's eye toward the Spoink huddling at the base of the tree, spattered with ash and soot. She swallowed a little at the sight of its pearl, reminding her of a mission years ago to steal them off their Pokemon.

"Hopefully, this tree will be enough to block the storm for all of us," she murmured apprehensively, brushing soot out of her hair. "Do you happen to have any idea how long it's supposed to last?"

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

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[attr="class","textbox"]It turned out it was hard to see through blurred facial equipment and hard to speak when your mouth was muffled to high heaven. Who knew? Neither Isaac or Aurelie could tell who the mysterious stranger that just approached them was. Neither particularly cared, either. There was safety in numbers, and right now their shared priority was to survive.[break][break]

" 'Bout five seconds ago," he explained, jerking his head toward the direction he'd come from. "Sorry 'bout crashing the party. But I needed to get this little guy out of harm's way. Storm ripped him away from his family, y'see." The other Spoink would at least be safe in their parents' psychic embrace, but this one? He'd never make it on his own.[break][break]

At Aurelie's returned apology, he laughed with a shake of his head. "No sweat. I've been there," he said. The times when he felt like a bounty on his head was lurking around every corner had mercifully passed, but that reflexive jumpiness had never fully left him. " 'Sides, least now we're not braving the storm alone, eh?"[break][break]

Perhaps if the Hoenn region wasn't stuck braving its storms alone, things could finally move forward for the better.[break][break]

"Not sure," he admitted in the face of her questioning. "Can't stay I like sticking around Lavaridge much. Though it's weirdly neat getting to see one of these up close for a change." It'd be neater if he wasn't here on business. But hey, a chance was a chance. "Once it starts dying down, though, I'm gonna try and look for this guy's family."[break][break]

"How about you? What's got you this far out on the route?"

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]A Ranger. Of course. Aurelie repressed a sigh, fearing to inhale too deeply with her mouth even through the towel. Who else did I expect to be out here in the middle of a sandstorm in the wilderness, with a helpless-looking Pokemon trailing after them? she thought wryly. Only a Ranger...

Still, the fact that they were here too heartened her. Aurelie was well-aware that she was used to towns and cities, not nature, and thus probably had the survival instincts of an overly trusting toddler. Having someone better-versed in natural phenomena and disasters seemed like a good thing in the midst of a freak windstorm stirring up soot, dirt, and sand everywhere.

"Yeah, it is a relief not to be alone out here," she admitted. "I just wish we had a sturdier shelter than a single tree, though!"

She did feel herself sweating a little with anxiety at Isaac's perfectly innocent and innocuous question. If there was a good way to tell a Ranger you were delivering weapons to be used in an anticipated war against the League, Aurelie wasn't thinking of any. Nervously, she fiddled with the towels still in her hands, tearing off another strip to wrap around herself.

"I'm just here to visit the hot springs in Lavaridge," she explained with a cough that unexpectedly turned into a hacking wheeze. "Ugh! This soot! Anyway, the traffic going into the town looked bad, so I took a detour out here to wait it out. Now..."

The layers of terrycloth wrapped over Aurelie's face shifted from side to side as she grimaced. "Now, I think I see why the traffic looked so bad. Everyone wanted to get indoors before this storm hit!"

A furious blast of wind gusted directly across their tenuous shelter, causing the tree to creak ominously. Aurelie nearly toppled over from the force of the gale, only managing to catch herself by throwing out one hand to the ground. The shred of towel ripped out of her hands and swirled away into the storm, to be immediately whipped out of sight in the churning darkness.

"Arceus! If I didn't know better, I'd say the wind was trying to knock us out of the bit of shelter we've found," she exclaimed grouchily. "Like it doesn't have the upper hand already!"

She glanced hesitantly at Isaac. "Do you think we should...link arms or something to keep from getting separated? I'd say hold hands, but, well, we're not teenagers on a date, right? I just get the feeling...we don't want to get isolated out here with no one else to help us..."

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

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[attr="class","textbox"]In a perfect world, Isaac could chirp out an "I could help with that!" and whip up an icy bunker. However, between the dryness of Mt. Chimney and the intensity of the storm, he could barely work up the chutzpah to keep the ice cold. At best, the winds would disrupt the waters before he could supercool them. At worst, enough ice would form to cause plenty of shrapnel.[break][break]

"Yeah. Bet we could stumble our way to a nice cliff if we really put our minds to it. But can't blame ya for not wanting to take the chance." It didn't help that Lavaridge's famous hot springs, as Aurelie had mentioned, were in the opposite way from all the shelter and support. "Soon as the storm eases up, though, we should give it a shot. We're in a real bad spot right now."[break][break]

A cough, a hack, a wheeze, and a fall made it clear that Aurelie's body agreed with Isaac. He took a quick step forward, not enough to immediately catch her but enough to quickly help her back to her feet. "I got you," he murmured, a touch of protectiveness and warmth bleeding into his voice. "You doing okay?"[break][break]

In regard to her hesitant offer, Isaac slipped an arm around hers. "Good call," he said, firming it up ever so slightly to keep Aurelie from another fall. "Should be a more stable grip this way, anyway."[break][break]

It was stable for Aurelie, at least. With her arm clutched gently in Isaac's, and the Spoink swaddled up in his other arm, poor Isaac was left with no arms of his own to work with. At this point, he was just as dependent on Aurelie to keep him safe as she was on him. For some rangers, this would be quite the predicament to be stuck in.[break][break]

To Isaac, used to both overcoming overwhelming odds and trusting in the kindness of strangers, it was just another Tuesday.

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]"Thanks for the help," Aurelie gasped in surprised gratitude when the goggles-wearing Ranger helped her stand back up after the wind nearly knocked her down. With a shaky chuckle, she quipped, "I guess we're getting a free taste of what it feels like to be a Butterfree blown about by a Gust, right?"

When the Ranger said "I got you," her breath caught for a moment. For a moment, Aurelie could have sworn there was something familiar about the cadence, the accent. Something that tugged at her heart, oddly. But the wind was whistling so loud, who knew if she was just imagining things?

"You're right, a cliff does sound nice right about now," she mused aloud, picturing it in her mind. A tall, sheer rock face, maybe with an overhang to shelter them from above... That sounded pretty much perfect.

But soot spiraled furiously around them as the wind only intensified, and Aurelie could see nothing but darkness as black as night. Ducking her head, she hunched over to present a smaller surface of attack for the flying particles and leaned unashamedly against the Ranger's strong shoulder, tired and worn-out.

How long they stood like that, waiting for the storm to pass or at least subside, she couldn't say. It could have been hours or merely minutes. It was impossible to tell time in the midst of that swirling blackness.

Yet, eventually, there was a lull. Aurelie almost didn't believe it at first, but gradually, they started to be able to see landmarks and even terrain features around them through the shifting curtains of soot and sand. To her dismay, though, the redhead didn't see any promising cliffs nearby.

Then, with a gasp, she pointed off to their right with her free hand. "There! That shape! What's that? Is that a house?"

Squinting her eye at it, Aurelie shook her head, but the hope in her voice only strengthened. "No, I think it's a…shed? Maybe a utilities room or something? It looks super old and beat-up. But still..." She glanced back at the poor tree bending in the wind. "I think it's worth trying to get into that."

Even if the door was locked, Aurelie had a handy multi-tool in her pocket that she was pretty sure had a lockpick or pliers as part of its arsenal. And if they could make it inside... Even the thought of it made her impatient.

"Come on, let's go!" she exclaimed, tugging the Ranger along with her as she made a desperate dash toward the decrepit-looking aluminum shed.

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

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[attr="class","textbox"]Even as their makeshift sheltered shook like a leaf and soot buffeted his chest, Isaac stood firm against the storm. To some, being burdened down by two charges would only slow their approach. To Isaac, it emboldened him. It had always been the quirk with him, he noticed. If fighting for no reason, he was pathetically weak. If fighting for what he loved, he could move mountains.[break][break]

To think, the runaway youth who thought he'd never be loved could now share that endless heart with a perfect stranger.[break][break]

They raged against the storm, waiting to see who would blink first. Despite everything, it had been the storm that chose to do so. In its lull, Isaac couldn't help but laugh. Shelter had been closer than he could have ever thought. "Whatever it is, it's a sight for sore eyes," he said. "Bet we could've made it if we pushed through."[break][break]

Clearly, his charge agreed. She damn near dragged him by the tangled-up arm, Isaac's balance shifting a few steps as he tried to keep up with her pace. "And I thought I was gung-ho," he lightly teased, even though he was secretly thankful she'd agreed. The sooner they could get to better shelter, the sooner they could whip up a plan.[break][break]

Speaking of plans, Isaac wouldn't be Isaac if he wasn't cooking up a few. "I think I see a way in," he said, craning his neck to the side as if spotting a nearby window. At least, to an average onlooker, that was how it'd look. Isaac himself was much more interested in the creaky door hinge, the slightest of gaps between it and the rest of the cold, hard aluminum. "Mind holding the little guy real quick? Just give him a little bounce now and then and he'll be all good."[break][break]

Little did Isaac know, he was making her stare her regrets dead in the eye.[break][break]

At least his words were true. He'd only be gone for about ten seconds. One to unlink arms with the girl. Three to sprint to the side of the shed. Five minutes to round the corner and seemingly disappear without a trace. And, finally, one last one to pop the door open with a flourish.[break][break]

Surely, he'd climbed through a window, right?

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Sprinting headlong toward the promise of the abandoned little building, Aurelie laughed breathlessly when the goggles-wearing Ranger playfully teased her about being gung-ho. "Oh, I should've asked permission before dragging you off like this, huh? I guess I just took it as a given that we both wanted to make a run for it!"

Thankfully, the man seemed quite game to be dragged along toward the building, even over the rough terrain through the curtains of soot. Almost as soon as they got there, he announced he already spotted a way inside. Before she could react, he dropped the Spoink in his custody in her arms and rushed off.

Staring after him speechlessly, Aurelie looked down at the Spoink. "Well...I guess now it's just you and me, buddy." At the sound of her voice, the Pokemon turned toward her, oinking plaintively and even a little fearfully.

Aurelie gulped. The limpid depths of its black eyes reminded her vividly of a mission years ago when she shamelessly stole valuable pearls off several Spoinks. There was no accusation in this one's gaze, yet she felt oddly guilty at the memory.

"Look, it wasn't my idea," she started to tell the worried Spoink, before catching herself. "Wait, no, it was my idea. Well...I didn't mean to hurt you. Or your friends. I don't know if you know any of the ones I met... I hope not."

The Spoink turned its face away from her, quite as if it didn't believe her at all.

At this point, the Ranger's return came as a distinct relief. Even more relieving was the way he returned, by throwing open the front door with a flourish. Startled, Aurelie looked up from the Spoink with a gasp of delight, before charging gratefully inside and kicking the door closed behind her.

"Oh, thank Arceus!" she exclaimed exultantly, placing the Spoink on the ground and spreading her arms wide.

Inside, it was little more than a storage shed, with some rusty-looking equipment scattered on dusty old workbenches. The walls shook and trembled with every gust, and the roof rattled overhead. To Aurelie, though, it felt like paradise at the moment. No scouring wind, no blinding soot or sand in their faces, and no fear of being swept away in the storm...

With a joyful gesture, Aurelie untied the towel ridiculously wrapped around her face and breathed a long gulp of dry, none-too-fresh, but soot-free air. "Ahhh! That's so much better! I knew this would be a good idea! But…how did you get in here so fast?"

Then, she shook her head and grinned, extending her hand toward the Ranger. "I mean, where are my manners? Thank you so much for finding a way in! I'm Aurelie."

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

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[attr="class","textbox"]As the towel fell away from his charge's face, Isaac was faced with a striking nest of red hair.[break][break]

As she spoke, greedily taking in gulps of semi-fresh face, he found himself realizing just how familiar her voice was.[break][break]

He prayed she wouldn't turn around. He knew what he'd see. The black band peeking through her curly hair. The light tone of her arms, not from war or sport but from a honed professional. The practicality and curiosity that prevented her from taking little miracles and turns of luck for granted. His stomach lurched, and his brain fired on all cylinders trying to find an excuse.[break][break]

"Me?" He looked at the hand, as if afraid taking it would be putting on Cinderella's slipper. "Oh, y'know. Just the dumbass who didn't even recognize his own big sis."[break][break]

Guilt. Relief. Concern. Fear. Joy. All of these and more blended together, not just in Isaac's voice but in his eyes as he pried his goggles off of his head. His scarf was the next to fall, easing down his face with a slight roll of his shoulders. There was no room for ambiguity and little games anymore. There were just two beloved on opposite tracks in life, depending on one another to weather the gathering storm. All the while, none the wiser, the Spoink merrily bounced around the room. It was as if, bar it, time had stopped.[break][break]

"I'm really glad you're safe, Aurie."

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]When Aurelie saw the face that gradually emerged as the Ranger peeled off his scarf and goggles, she immediately slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand. Of course, it was Isaac. Who else would be running around Lavaridge Town saving Pokemon in the middle of a soot storm?

She stared at him in silence for a moment, as his own words of recognition sank in. No more of a dumbass than me, she thought. But...big sis? Oh, Isaac.

In the inevitable torrent of emotions that deluged her at the sight of him, only a few feet away, meeting her gaze, anger formed the foamy tip of the wave. It was true for Aurelie, she knew. She'd called him by her own little brother's name by accident enough times now to realize their dynamic.

But for him? Well perhaps Isaac believed it too. And yet... While he was one of only a small number of people in Hoenn she was sure she loved, she knew he had brothers and sisters in spirit everywhere here. Family of all kinds, of choice if not of blood. The man for whom he'd left Rocket had been like a brother to him, too.

So, where does that leave me? Aurelie thought, her hands unconsciously curling into fists. Left behind, that's where. Let down...though I guess at least not actually stabbed, like Admin Cross.

With that thought came pain, which the anger tried but couldn't fully conceal. It hurt, still, even though it'd been months. And yet, the redhead knew it only hurt because there was love there too, still. Even after all this time.

Slowly, her hands relaxed at her sides as she looked him over. Isaac looked happy, healthy, and bright, even under a layer of soot and dust. He looked like he had hope in his life again, and a spring in his step. And is he even more muscular than before? she wondered irrelevantly and amusedly.

Becoming aware of the growing pause, she cleared her throat awkwardly. "Hey, stranger," Aurelie ventured, her voice a little huskier than it had been even a moment ago, though she'd been shouting and panting through the driving wind and blowing soot.

Part of her knew she should be worrying about the prying eyes of Rocket, possibly watching her as she recognized a known defector and yet, minute by minute, wasn't stabbing him to death. Or whatever the crazy madmen of the organization would want her to do.

But she didn't want to think about that now. There was so much else to think about. Such as—

"Wait, where's your partner in crime?" Aurelie asked, her eye widening slightly as the whistling wind intensified to a shrill, monotonous howling. The roof rattled and moaned like oboes and flutes. "How come you and they aren't 'magic wind'-ing through all this mess right now?"

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT

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[attr="class","textbox"]Isaac winced a little at the change in Aurelie's tone. From her word choice, to the way she re-adjust her verbal mask, one of two things became clear. Either they shouldn't have been talking right now, or Aurelie had disowned him.[break][break]

Sure, she was all nice and sweet (and grumpy, but in a loving way) when he and jack wainwright crashed her couch. But that was in front of someone else. Someone she had a reason to put a mask on in front of. Someone who didn't share their struggle. Of course she'd need to keep playing pretend. She already had to. It was her hide at risk if she didn't.[break][break]

Out here in the wastes, when it was just the two of them?[break][break]

"I don't-" Isaac started, only for Aurelie's words to make him realize she hadn't meant a human one. "Suicune tends to keep their distance. They'd rather I learn by doing instead of relying on them all the time. 'Course, whenever I'm in need, they've got an uncanny ability to find me. So maybe they're watching more than I give them credit for."[break][break]

When Isaac remembered how quickly Suicune had found him in the aftermath of Cillian Quinn's attack, he found himself wondering for just how long he'd been this distant observer. Had he been given a guardian angel for longer than he could have ever known? Or was Suicune in the right place at the right time, a pair of winds that blew through each other's lives but never touched?[break][break]

"You've probably seen them more than most," Isaac admitted. "Pretty wild, huh? I'd call it a sign, but . . ." It didn't matter how important Aurelie was to him if he was dead to her. This wasn't like Naomi Sato, where others kept conspiring to keep them apart. If this was Aurelie's choice, no matter how painful it was, she was entitled to make it.[break][break]

"If it was just for me, I'd be wind-ing around. But I'm not charging blindly through the storm while that Spoink's in my care." Today was for business, so business may it be. "So I'm doing things the old fashioned way today. Least 'til it's clear enough to get back to search and rescue."[break][break]

"I'd ask why you're really out here. But something tells me you're not in a great spot to share."

[attr="class","aurelie"]

[attr="class","aurelie_body"]Though Aurelie had tossed out the question about Suicune mostly just as something to say while she hurriedly untangled her roiling thoughts and emotions, she found herself unexpectedly fascinated by Isaac's descriptions of the Legendary Pokemon. Their partnership sounds so...nice, she marveled. Supportive and thoughtful, but independent and respectful. That's so...healthy.

Arceus knew Isaac deserved a relationship like that. Honestly, all his relationships should be like that. And ideally, all of hers too, though that seemed less likely to actually happen.

She also perked up in surprise when he suggested that she might have seen more of Suicune than most people had. "And here I thought Suicune just had the right priorities in life: Good food, above all else," she chuckled. "Why else would they play delivery driver for your forgotten takeout?

"I never thought it might be because you..." The redhead fell silent and sighed gustily for a moment. A soft smile curved her lips at Isaac's reason for not riding magical winds through the storm. Of course, it was for the Spoinks' sake. It made sense for both his work and his nature.

When he didn't quite ask what she was doing out here, Aurelie shrugged and prevaricated—but only slightly. "Business trip, actually. I was delivering a shipment of new knives to a customer around here. Enough knives that I didn't want to entrust a paid courier to do it.

"I wasn't expecting all this," she admitted freely with another chuckle, glancing up as another gale of wind shook the aluminum walls sheltering them. Then, she looked back at Isaac and hesitated, before taking a step forward toward him. "Isaac, I..."

And then suddenly it all seemed so stupid. The conflicting emotions, the worries that Rocket would find out, the distance she wanted to maintain. If Rocket had someone with X-ray vision to penetrate the storm and the walls of this shed... Well, why would they bother wasting it on her?

"I've missed you," she confessed straightforwardly, forthrightly, with more genuine feeling resonating in her voice. "I've missed you so much, little brother."

Without another word, Aurelie surged forward and swept him up into a hug. If he resisted, she wasn't about to force him into an embrace. But she hoped she wouldn't.

"How have you been? Are they treating you well enough? Are you eating plenty? Did you ever...meet someone new?" Arceus, I sound like my mother, she thought with a mental chuckle and a slight pang of homesickness. But Aurelie really did want to know!

[attr="class","cred"]VEL OF PIXEL PERFECT