Noelle's September Quest Ho-ho-home [Catch-All]

[holidaygirl1225]

Who: Noelle & Shoka, Archnemon, Bigby
What: Quests! (Scholastic Decisions, No Pain No Grain, A Dour Struggle)
Where: Icefall Lake, around Death Blood Murder Skull Town, the woods
When: Mid/Late September
Warnings: Pokemon battling (violence/injury), potential references to death/disassociation

Comments

deltarune spoilers but there's so many unanswered questions its probably not much

[holidaygirl1225]

"Fahaha, that's true," she says, grateful for a reprieve. And then Shoka gets right back into it.

Noelle is tempted to play it off, divert the question... but she did start all this. She takes a shaky breath.

"I... I don't know."

She closes her eyes. She can still feel her feet snapping twigs and tearing through grass as she ran. Screams still ring in her ears. And then everything goes blank.

"We were... exploring. Me, my sister, my neighbor Kris, and their older brother Asriel. We did that a lot. Kris liked seeing creepy stuff in the woods. I was scared, but it was okay if we were with our siblings. We... found something. And..."

She's shivering again, but not because of the cold.

"... the next thing I remember, I was sitting there with a blanket wrapped around me. The night was lit up red and blue with police lights. They kept asking me what happened, but I didn't know. Dess was gone. And, Kris..."

That's when they stopped talking. Not just in the sense that their friendship fell apart-- they literally stopped talking. Nobody- the police, their family, even Noelle herself- could get a word out of them.

"... sorry. This is so much... haha. I just... trust you to talk about this, Shoka. I guess."

It's been so long since she had to explain it. Everyone in Hometown knew. She sensed they were stepping on eggshells around her, even now. She bites back tears, putting her smile back on.

[telewarped]

Far from a tactile person, Shoka doesn't dare reach out to Noelle, but she does shuffle a little closer, watching the changes in her expression and posture carefully. Noelle's still trying to smile, of course, even after all that.

"Geez," Shoka eventually manages. "That's... a lot."

A short silence, then, occupied only by the whistling of the wind.

"I'm... glad you do. Trust me, I mean." Whether that's a good choice or not. "But—seriously, don't feel like you have to talk about it, if it's too much. It's... really none of my business. I probably shouldn't've even asked..."

It's not like she can offer any actual help, after all, but she still wanted to know anyway—to understand Noelle a bit better, maybe, or because she got the feeling that this is one of those things Noelle keeps bottled up, lest it make anyone uncomfortable or upset. She wonders if there was anyone else Noelle also trusted enough to talk about it with.

"But if you think it would help, to talk about it..." she rambles on, trying to be gentle. "I don't mind listening. Whenever." Doesn't have to be now, is the unsaid. They're out on a quest in the cold, after all, and accompanied by a third who could overhear them at any moment (although, if Aegislash has heard any of this, they've kept that fact politely to themself). "Sounds like you haven't really been able to talk about it much."

[holidaygirl1225]

"I'm the one who started all this to begin with. I could've just said I'm not afraid at the snow and left it at that. I guess I really am a motormouth, haha..."

She used to do most of the talking when she was around Kris, too. But they hadn't really talked about all of this... besides in her dreams, at least.

"... but thank you, Shoka. Really. I can't help but think, maybe... maybe I'll find some clue about her in this world. Even if that sounds crazy, it's not bad to hope, right?"

[telewarped]

"Honestly? Nothing really sounds crazy to me anymore."

It sounds like those in Noelle's world had absolutely nothing to go off of. Maybe the chances are slim, but if she, Noelle, and so many others found themselves suddenly dragged away from their homes and into an entirely different world, why not Dess, too?

"If you think there might be a chance, then I believe you. And I'll help you look, obviously."

Even if she has no idea where to start yet. But Noelle said they found something that day, didn't she?

"Anything specific I should be... I dunno, keeping an eye out for?"

[holidaygirl1225]

The prospect of Shoka helping her look cheers her up considerably, even if the chances are still slim. After all, it means she's not alone.

"Um... well, she'd probably also be a deer Pokemon in this world. I could describe physical traits, but I'm not sure how many carry over... she's really self-assured and a bit of a troublemaker."

A little like Shoka, really. Though, Noelle feels like Shoka only acts self-assured.

"You're really nice to me."

[telewarped]

"Y'know, there's a difference between 'really nice' and 'not completely heartless'... Did you already forget that we're on the same team? You don't have to deal with this on your own—and I kinda owe you anyways. I'm with you, whatever happens."

Really nice or not, she seems to realize belatedly how soft and earnest her voice sounds, saying that last part. To hide any show of embarrassment, she draws her own cloak out of her satchel and ducks under it (never mind that she suddenly feels more warm than cold in this moment).

(It's made from the same white material as the one she gave Noelle. They do match after all.)

"A-anyways... You said before that you found something, on the day it happened. What was it?"

[holidaygirl1225]

"I'm with you, whatever happens..."

She turns this over in her mind so long that she doesn't realize for a moment that Shoka asked her another question. There's not much to really think about, though. "I... I'm sorry. I can't remember. I think it was something in the forest. Something... dark. Like, literally. I can't remember the stars, or my hands in front of my face..."

No matter how hard she tries, she just can't remember. "Maybe now, I'll never know."