[attr="class","rosepost"]He's internalized the actions of a god, put it on himself, made it an individual fault. She's stubborn, but she isn't heartless. Any comfort she can offer despite her anger at him is based in faith he doesn't have, so she does him the favor of being unreactive to the emotional outburst he doesn't want to have and turns into the forested area of the island.[break][break]

She takes her time, walks around the Gogoat sounds until the tangled hurt in her chest releases over time. Time heals, but Rex hasn't had enough of it to work past the event in Littleroot. She would prefer to meditate, but it's more effective for the both of them to calm down by scouting out the island until she's ready to wrangle the milk producing pokemon.[break][break]

The wrangling is easier than she thought. The Gogoat didn't seem to care, and when she climbed up a tree to secure a berry for it, it seemed all too happy to follow her.[break][break]

She walks back to camp, thinking of what to say, but Rex breaks the silence first. "See for yourself," she says, and the Gogoat appears several paces behind her. "It likes to chew hair, so don't let it get too close." She sits a respectable distance from him beside the fire, distinctly unhappy with him but aware the feeling was mutual. She doesn't have much in the way of an olive branch with the Cufant in the room, but ignoring it in favor of survival was the logical choice. "I see Gallade's been busy."[break][break]

Althus Rex [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]"Everybody dies," she snipes back, "and people survive miraculous circumstances because of the divine." It wasn't her place to justify nor defend the actions of the divine, but. [break][break]

She has to clench her jaw to keep from yelling as he insults the object of her faith. As he demands to understand who receives punishment when he doesn't care about any of it. She accepted the judgement, but he had had to make no such peace with the divine, which was why he was so upset about the god's decision. "You don't believe any of it, anyways, so why does it matter now?" Dusk settles around them, but ironically, she feels she sees him in the light for the first time. [break][break]

"Forget it. I'm going to make the most of our time before we lose all the light." Wrangling a gogoat was better than having her god questioned.[break][break]

Althus Rex [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]She hadn't heard of it.[break][break]

Almighty Sinnoh was a protector. But Rex gave no indication of lying, and she had dealt with hundreds of liars over the course of her life, particularly in her career. "Almighty Sinnoh only punishes -"[break][break]

She knows better than to finish the thought, as strong as he knee-jerk reaction is to defend her deity. To try to understand the divine, to try and apply reason to them, was to try and confine them within the limitations of human understanding. It couldn't be done, and to try was heresy. [break][break]

It's no concession, but she says, "Almighty Sinnoh's will is not for us to understand." It's not comfort, but she points out, "You are still here."[break][break]

Althus Rex [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]She couldn't parse the refusal to share. She knew her faith was largely restricted to Sinnoh, but even still, everyone regarded Her as a god. Prayer was reserved for Her followers, but she had never heard anyone seem so reserved about discussing the divine. And after allegedly seeing a god in person? Who wouldn't talk about it endlessly?[break][break]

"Are you lying to me?" She didn't intend to sound so hurt about it. But if he was lying about the Almighty Sinnoh to, what, earn some kudos? She couldn't abide by it. [break][break]

Immediately after the question, she heard the telltale cry of a Gogoat. Her judgement of Rex had to come second to their survival, but she couldn't bring herself to break away from the campfire to pursue it just yet. Had she gotten him all wrong? His bravado was obvious, but this seemed to be a particularly offensive lie.[break][break]

Althus Rex [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]Her eyebrows shot up at his comment, and then he was gone.[break][break]

She stood there for several moments before kicking herself into action to gather the same supplies. The Almighty Sinnoh over Littleroot? What could her deity need with such a town? [break][break]

A million questions plagued her as she grabbed supplies. She made several trips back to their encampment, watching the pile grow. Before long, dusk threatened the island, and it was time to settle in.[break][break]

She had placed stones to make her fire pit and was in the middle of starting her fire when she heard Rex. "Tell me about Littleroot."[break][break]

Althus Rex [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]She heard a very soft cry. It seemed low. She looked around at the ground, thinking some child had fallen, but instead, she found a small mycelium fairy that had been stepped on. She kneeled down and gently lifted it in her hands. It was unmoored as the brick slats left no room for rooting, so it must have traveled a ways from its home.[break][break]

"I got you buddy. Let's hit up a pokemon center, yeah?"[break][break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]Old place. Lots of ruins. An understatement, she'd argue. But she loved it. Time was precious. Praise the Almighty Sinnoh for her protection of it. [break][break]

"I left because Hoenn's facing a war." All the markers were there. Her parents were both scholars of history before becoming couriers. History was sacred, and her parents kept a close eye on it even as they looked to the future. They had told her months ago that Hoenn was showing signs of facing the same trouble Kanto succumbed to. "I have the discipline and the know-how to deliver parcels in the worst conditions. When supply lines and communications fail, it will be up to individual couriers to support the resistance."[break][break]

Maybe she was giving herself too much credit. Only time would tell, praise be.[break][break]

"This is a good starting place. We can both gather sticks and dry brush and stash it here, then worry about the structure after we have supplies. This area's dry enough to make a fire, but we'll want some stones to give the fire some circumference to safely burn without taking the island with it. Then, we can talk about food and keeping watch tonight in case there are more aggressive wild pokemon." She was one of those people incapable of taking a vacation - the need to go, go, go fueled her. So long as she had structure and objectives, she could survive anything. [break][break]

Althus Rex [break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]Activity filled Slateport. It held a feverish energy as the conflict loomed. People were hurried in all of their actions.[break][break]

The reason for their hustle felt bad, but she did appreciate people who could move quickly. She hated how leisurely other people tended to be. She needed to be busy and have structure and achieve lots of objectives.[break][break]

[attr="class","rosepost"]A dozen bus benches. He really knew how to inspire confidence.[break][break]

But the downward spiral was gone. "Sinnoh doesn't have a lot of dicey areas, but my family's guild promised fast delivery no matter the weather. We would deliver in hurricanes and during wildfires. A little training was necessary to keep that promise."[break][break]

It didn't make the mentality of being trapped on an island any easier. She didn't have additional pokemon to fight something in the sea and use it to surf back home. The strategy could also be worthless. Who knew how populated the sea was right beside their island? "Okay, shelter first, then. I can make a fire anywhere, so we just need a dry spot."[break][break]

Althus Rex [break]