Shoka Sakurane (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
telewarped) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
bottlecaplogs2026-04-17 04:59 pm
telewarped) wrote in bottlecaplogs2026-04-17 04:59 pm
[CLOSED] the only me is me
Who: Shoka Sakurane, Siffrin
What: Over the Brink
When: Mid-April
Where: ???
Warnings: Hallucinations, fog-induced paranoia, suicidal ideation, quest-typical peril
It only takes a few minutes for the search to go completely awry. Not only are the other teams and Chimecho conspicuously absent after Siffrin and Shoka teleport, but there's nothing even remotely familiar about their new surroundings. Open sky surrounds the stone platform they're standing on, and—while this is a fact that evades Shoka's notice, as a Pokémon that doesn't truly breathe—the air is suddenly thinner. To make matters worse, a few experiments with their Grumpearls make it clear that they won't be contacting home base any time soon. They aren't even able to contact each other, even while standing right next to one another.
Against her nature, Shoka tries to muster some optimism for Siffrin's sake. At least they still have her around to look after them, after all (so she jokes with some of her usual smugness), and they have plenty of supplies. Maybe they just wound up a little off course and Chimecho will be waiting for them right around the corner.
When Shoka starts to take a look around, however, it's immediately apparent that there really isn't any walking around the corner from here.
"Hey—Frinrin?" she calls out. "You're not scared of heights or anything, right?"
(A star, scared of heights. Hah.)
She's perched at the very edge of the platform—the edge that was there all along, obscured by the gnarled branches of trees—staring down into the sheer drop below. There's the fog they were warned about: an expanse of white spread out beneath them like a sea, wisps of it rolling like gentle waves against the stone. They're moored in its center, so high up that they're out of its reach.
Gazing out into the abyss at least reveals what they're really standing on: the top of a stone pillar. Several others just like it reach out through the fog, their peaks brushing the sky.
What: Over the Brink
When: Mid-April
Where: ???
Warnings: Hallucinations, fog-induced paranoia, suicidal ideation, quest-typical peril
It only takes a few minutes for the search to go completely awry. Not only are the other teams and Chimecho conspicuously absent after Siffrin and Shoka teleport, but there's nothing even remotely familiar about their new surroundings. Open sky surrounds the stone platform they're standing on, and—while this is a fact that evades Shoka's notice, as a Pokémon that doesn't truly breathe—the air is suddenly thinner. To make matters worse, a few experiments with their Grumpearls make it clear that they won't be contacting home base any time soon. They aren't even able to contact each other, even while standing right next to one another.
Against her nature, Shoka tries to muster some optimism for Siffrin's sake. At least they still have her around to look after them, after all (so she jokes with some of her usual smugness), and they have plenty of supplies. Maybe they just wound up a little off course and Chimecho will be waiting for them right around the corner.
When Shoka starts to take a look around, however, it's immediately apparent that there really isn't any walking around the corner from here.
"Hey—Frinrin?" she calls out. "You're not scared of heights or anything, right?"
(A star, scared of heights. Hah.)
She's perched at the very edge of the platform—the edge that was there all along, obscured by the gnarled branches of trees—staring down into the sheer drop below. There's the fog they were warned about: an expanse of white spread out beneath them like a sea, wisps of it rolling like gentle waves against the stone. They're moored in its center, so high up that they're out of its reach.
Gazing out into the abyss at least reveals what they're really standing on: the top of a stone pillar. Several others just like it reach out through the fog, their peaks brushing the sky.
parachute mechanics confirmed for ISAT 2
"Gross..."
Their suggestion that they carry her the rest of the way is just a little humiliating (almost as humiliating as the thought of using her disguise rag as a parachute)... but when she tries to open her eyes again, the whole world is still spinning. For the time being, climbing down herself doesn't seem to be in the cards.
"Well..." she sighs. "If those are my only options... Guess I'm gonna have to take the Shinxpress."
Climbing up onto their back fortunately isn't that difficult, considering she's already halfway there thanks to the way she was leaning on them. Cautiously—and with extra care given to making sure she doesn't knock their hat askew—she pulls herself up, coiling her tendrils loosely around their front. At the very least, she doesn't add much more weight to their load (though she does, as always, leave a subtle chill down their spine).
"Sorry—again..." she mumbles. "I... think it was just that one move doing it, at least... For some reason."
Which is to say, she feels as if she's slowly but surely recovering—and if Siffrin falls, she hopes that her Fly will be able to give them wings.
2 min time loop repeats until you land without dying
Siffrin waits until Shoka seems settled on their back before they start carefully picking their way down to the lowermost edge of the root. There's a short drop to another ledge down below that, which they land on very gingerly, ready to bounce off it if this also crumbles. But it holds, so they pause to make sure Shoka still has a grip, then continue.
Wherever they feel like they're on particularly stable footing, they stop to lean from side to side and calculate their next few jumps, trying to compensate for having just one eye. Even so, in a few spots they're left to pick their way nervously directly down the cliff by sinking their claws into the side. Those sections take much longer, with most of that time spent trying to find a pawhold that won't crumble.
"I... think it might be affecting all my moves... For some reason."
Siffrin pauses for a second, ear twisting anxiously. They glare across to one of the other pillars. Did they just see something vanish into a crevice?
"Will you be okay if we get into a battle...?"
your mind
When they first start moving, she has to shut her eyes against a fresh wave of nausea, huddling pitifully under the brim of Siffrin's hat, but the further down they get, sure enough, the dizziness ebbs away that much more. Eventually, she's able to open her eyes and look around without feeling completely sick to her stomach.
Come to think of it, these cliffs... They're not too far off from Chimecho's description of the region where she and the Lum researchers got lost, are they?
She's still staring out into the distance when Siffrin asks their question.
"Duh," she answers automatically. Why wouldn't I be? she wants to quip... but the reason why she wouldn't be battle-ready is perfectly obvious: she's still recovering from her mystery sickness, still being literally carried. "I mean, I'm already starting to—"
Starting to feel way better, she means to say. Maybe even ready to be a big girl and walk all on her own again! Siffrin (or a voice she thinks is Siffrin's) interrupts her.
"We've got company."
"Huh? You sure?" She bristles, eyes scanning the fog—and sees nothing. "Where—?"
no subject
"You saw it too?"
Under Shoka, their muscles tense as if about to try jumping across to the other pillar - then they relax. There's no way they would make that leap, even without carrying a whole extra person, and with how crumbly the footing here is they'd probably just break off whatever they landed on.
But they're still more than half-convinced that it's a Pokemon making Shoka sick, and maybe it's that one specifically. So they charge up and zap the cliff at the entrance to the crevice with a warning bolt of Thunder Shock. It fizzles out quickly against the rock, and...
Nothing moves.
...but that's just more proof! If what they thought they saw before was just the breeze ruffling leaves or moving fog around, wouldn't it keep moving despite any attacks?
no subject
"I didn't see anything, Frinrin. Didn't say I did either..."
That doesn't mean there isn't anything out there, of course, but this moment reminds her of a simple fact:
"We are in the fog now. I... think it might be time to start checking for things that might be off." She pauses, thinking. "What did you see? Another Pokémon?"
I'm figuring Shoka gets to rescue Siffrin after Big Fog Argument
Siffrin shakes their head, tip of their hat bobbing above Shoka. Suddenly they're not at all sure what she said. She's right about the fog, though - is it messing with their memory again?
"...yeah. I thought I saw someone hiding in there."
Mmgh. Alright, maybe they should just get to the bottom first. Fortunately it's only a few more leaps to get to the treetops, where Siffrin leaps gratefully to the first large branch they see - they're a lot more confident here, thanks to a year of living in the Canopy.
YES 🫡
She'll keep an eye out—and make it a point to check in with them every now and then, the way they're both used to by now.
Even after they reach the treetops and make their way down toward the undergrowth, the trail remains no less treacherous than it was at the start. Brush that should be hiding solid ground beneath gives way to open air as they attempt to step through; branches that appeared sturdy one moment snap all too easily. It isn't long before disorientation sets in. More than once, they have to pause to discuss whether or not the vine-entangled tree before them is the same exact one they passed by an hour ago. More than once, Shoka argues that it definitely wasn't, only for Siffrin to tell her they didn't say anything.
If nothing else, Shoka soon recovers from her nausea enough to manage walking on her own again. In fact, she's even able to traverse along a thin branch using her Shadow Sneak entirely without issue. It's almost as if her bout of sickness never happened. Almost as if she was faking it. But why would she?
Dark shapes skitter along hanging vines. Eyes glint in the dark spaces between the leaves. Though it all, Shoka can't shake the feeling that they are being followed after all.
Eventually, they come across a pool of clear water, shaded by tall brambles heavy with berries. Only once she sees it does it occur to Shoka how hungry she is. How long have they been walking?
"So, world traveler," she asks Siffrin, her eyes on the berries, "what do you bet any of this is safe for consumption?"
cw: emetophobia mention
It's lowering Siffrin's defenses against the other things, too - the rustling shapes of Pokemon are making them more and more wound up. Shoka's sudden ability to use moves again but not trying to Teleport once more is gnawing at them, though they're trying to trust she has a good reason.
But they know how to function even when they're not doing good. They're fine. They can handle it. They need to make sure Shoka makes it out of this.
They squint their eye at the brambles, shaking out sore paws.
"With our luck?" Siffrin jokes. But they don't recognize these berries, which means there's no way to be sure. Except...
"I could take a test bite. If I'm not throwing up my guts in a couple hours, they're probably fine."
Not at all safe wilderness behavior, really. Which they're fully aware of! But it's a gamble they've taken before, when they were desperate enough - sometimes it paid off, sometimes it backfired, but never enough to kill them like just stuffing themself would have. So far.