Chapter Forty-Seven:
Stuck in a Moment
Disclaimer: I do not own the series Pokémon. Like, at all. It and all its respectable characters are © to Game Freak and Satoshi Tajiri. However, all writing contents and semi-plots here are © to me; unless it is stated otherwise. All shows/ books/ video games/ songs that are mentioned in this chapter are all © to their respective owners, I do not own them.
Notes: To the anon guest who told me to not use "ye olde speak" for legendary pokémon as it is "cringe", I think it's inappropriate to solicit "advice" that I hadn't asked for. You can write what you want in your stories, but it'd be rather polite if you kept it too yourself unless I specifically asked for it from my readers.
It has also recently come to my attention via several comments regarding the grim direction that this arc in the story has taken. I know that it's been dragging for some of you, and I will be honest, it was starting to do the same for myself as well.
I'll admit, when I began this arc, I had just lost my last job last year, and it did take quite a blow to me and my kids, as I was unemployed for over six months. I was pretty depressed, struggling to pay bills, feed my family, make sure we didn't end up on the streets. Applying to hundreds and hundreds of jobs, and not getting a single interview except maybe once a month if I was lucky…I think anyone would have been feeling like crap, and for me, it bled into my work.
This seems to be a familiar note for a lot of people as of late, sadly enough.
Thankfully, my current job took a chance on me last December, and I've been thriving and feeling a lot better since, my meds have changed for the better, and I hope to push things into a positive direction for future chapters, starting here!
Thank you for sticking it out with me so far, I appreciate it, my lovelies. Now enjoy the chapter because it doesn't end with an animal attack! Huzzah!
Current Team: Keno the Swampert, Sela the Mightyena, Ambrose the Kirlia, Faye the Swellow, Nux the Gyarados, Gunner the Lairon
Badges Won: Stone Badge, Knuckle Badge, Dynamo Badge
I'm not afraid
Of anything in this world
There's nothing you can throw at me
That I haven't already heard
I'm just trying to find
A decent melody
A song that I can sing
In my own company
I never thought you were a fool
But darling look at you (Oh)
You gotta stand up straight
Carry your own weight
These tears are going nowhere, baby
You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment
And now you can't get out of it
Don't say that later will be better
Now you're stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it
-"Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" cover by Scarlett Johansson (Original by U2), "Sing 2"
"What do you mean my place in the travel course was 'terminated'? I paid good money to secure my spot."
Morgan Greene raised a brow, her lips quirking. "And you'll be refunded your 'good money'. But I doubt this outburst is really about the money you paid out."
It wasn't. Shay knew that, and apparently, so did Director Morgan.
Morgan Green leaned back in her seat. Her eyes were half-lidded but still sharply observant. It was unnerving. Shay had to remind herself every few seconds to not fidget or squirm.
"I counter your question with one of my own: 'do you want to know why you're not attending the pokémon traveling course'. I'm sure you're expecting it, so I'll just cut to the chase." She dipped a hand toward the side of her desk and pulled a drawer open. When her hand returned to the desk's surface, she placed two sheets of paper on it, side by side, and slid them across towards Shay.
Shay leaned forward, brows furrowing as she looked at both sheets. One was a certificate of her graduation from the survival course. The other…
"You're preemptively passing me for the travel course, without me having even taken it. Without learning about the benefits, the dangers, the practical applications and actual first-hand educational experience—"
Director Morgan held up a hand, and Shay fell silent as the older woman pursed her lips together.
"You know more than a thing or two about these kinds of things. That much is apparent. It was in the way you carried yourself during the entire wilderness survival course, how you assisted in mentoring some of your peers who were struggling in one way or another, in spite of all the shit that decided to unload itself on you and yours throughout the last month. Basil and the other instructors were watching the entire time, in case you forgot."
"That still doesn't—"
"I'm not finished."
Shay reluctantly clacked her jaw shut, her spine going rigid as she reluctantly fell quiet and waited.
"You're not one of our usual fair of students that comes to this place. You had a baseline knowledge of nearly all the course requisites, and even experience in some respects, which gave you a leg up on your peers. From starting up wet fires to proper rock-climbing techniques, even knowing the absolutely simplest of things such as boiling water to purify it, if you didn't have iodine on hand. Half your classmates would have gotten sick if you hadn't told them ahead of time before any of the instructors even brought that to light. And anything you didn't know, you took those things to heart and I give credit where credit is due." Director Morgan paused and leaned forward, tapping the survival course certificate with her index finger. "You more than earned this one."
Shay studied the neat calligraphy on the certificate. The loops and swoops, the flourishes, the elegant curves that ran thin and thick in all the right places. It was even on a nice piece of weighty cardstock. And there was her name, right there on both certificates in bold print: Shay Kenway.
"And this one?" Shay replied, motioning to the second paper.
"Tell me…how do you fall into water from a significant height? Say thirty or forty feet."
Shay furrowed her brows, perplexed at the question. She decided to answer, nonetheless.
"You don't swan dive or jack knife into the water, that's for sure. It's safer if you go feet-first by twining your legs and pointing them downwards together, and you should tuck your arms in a hugging motion." Shay replied.
"How deep can the average person safely dive with little, if any, gear?"
"Roughly sixty feet, as a very generous starting point. The deepest free dive record I recall is about four-hundred feet, but that kind of record belongs to professionals who have years of experience under their belt. It's also incredibly reckless and dangerous without any scuba gear present for any newbie to even attempt because of multiple variables, like pressure differentials the deeper they go. Might as well call it what it is: suicidal."
"Can a person survive a fall from a plane without a parachute? Or even from a pokémon's backside, perhaps?"
"It's…possible by a very slim margin. But it would depend upon how high the fall originated from, when you reach terminal velocity, what kind of terrain you'd be landing in—there are a lot of factors to account for. Water, mountain, snow, sand, buildings, the very air—different terrains end in differing results, and most of those are almost always guaranteed to be fatal. Surviving a fall like that is incredibly low—less than ten percent, I think, maybe lower—no matter the steps you take while in free fall without the assistance of a parachute or a pokémon—"
Director Morgan held up a hand and Shay once more clacked her jaw shut.
Shay suddenly felt like a fresh-faced private first class facing off against a weathered master sergeant in the fleet for the first time. It was different from boot camp. It was different from combat training. It was different from military training school. The universal itch of anxiety, however, was this: when someone with more rockers and chevrons or even shiny bits on their collar passed word or orders to you, you don't get to question it. You take what they have to say, because shit rolled downhill. If you went out of line, even if it was simple backtalk, it could end in an NJP—reduction in rank and pay; any and all privileges revoked such as driving your own car or wearing civilian attire; barracks restriction; even base restriction…
It was like being a child all over again. And just like a child, it made her clam up, afraid of saying the wrong thing that would trigger a one-sided, angry tirade aimed at her. That kind of mindset could make anyone anxious and neurotic. Shay had come across plenty of others over the years who turned out even worse than she had been.
Conclusion: Director Morgan Green was not the type to crack an inappropriate joke around to try and levy a buffer between Shay and the other woman.
"Most of our clientele tend to lean on the younger side of things. Teenagers and young adults. We do have the occasional old-timer who wants to 'reconnect with nature' and sign up for our courses to get their itch scratched. You, on the other hand, came here more than prepared."
Shay pursed her lips, unsure if she should answer. When the other woman raised a brow, Shay tentatively pressed on.
"I've heard this spiel from Basil already. Along with the whole 'why are you here' curveball. And I'll tell you what I told him. I may have a baseline foundation of knowledge of things, but I don't know everything, including practical application and experience in several areas. I actually learned a lot more than I originally thought I would. I may not have needed the survival course like I do the traveling license course, but…I feel like I'd be better off safe than sorry. Like I needed to know these things, just in case."
"Needed to know these things…just in case?" Director Morgan repeated carefully as she raised a brow at Shay, head tilting a bit to the side.
Shay quietly cursed herself.
"You…you know what happened to me. With that weird cat-thing over a week ago—"
"I'm aware, yes. Thank you for reminding me about that. I know you're curious, so I'll give you the short answer: the necropsy confirmed it wasn't a Persian, even though it looked quite similar to one. Roughly the same size and weight but lacking in the same physiology makeup in what we would typically find in a Persian specimen. Fauna that aren't classified as pokémon and that are of that size are rare enough, borderline almost nonexistent. Sure, we have things like deer and rabbits, little weasels and songbirds, even parasites and annoying little bugs—but that thing was a sizeable predator. Not exactly common, given that pokémon tend to dominate the pyramid of survival. Especially when it comes to its specialized predators."
Shay cleared her throat politely. Could she influence this narrative? Give her two cents and build up a case of plausible deniability for herself at the same time? Maybe even get more information at the same time?
"Do you…do you think it came from that dome-thing from a few weeks ago? Did anyone even figure out what it was? Or what was inside it?"
Director Morgan sighed, leaning back in her desk chair and shaking her head. "It's possible that animal came from it, but I personally can't conclusively say. I was only given the bare basics about the necropsy and nothing more. Not to mention, your pokémon disappeared inside that thing for a while, who's to say something else didn't come out of it? I don't know much about the official reports, since it seems like the authorities aren't keen on releasing any more information about that either. Not yet, at any rate. I suspect they want to keep as much as they can hush-hush for as long as they can—at least until they figure it out themselves."
The older woman motioned to the second certificate with a tap of her finger.
"After everything you went through over the survival course—ruptured eardrums, a wild animal mauling, losing part of your pokémon team to that…thing…for a few days, well…this is the least we can do. Consider it a boon, of sorts. I didn't make this decision lightly, so don't treat it as such." She pushed it forward towards Shay. "I suspect that you're gearing up for a long and bumpy road. You're going to need this to smooth it on out as much as possible."
Shay reached for the slip of paper, a knotted coil of stress and anxiety she'd been feeling for weeks on end finally loosening, coming to an end—
"But!"
She groaned internally. Of course. There's always a catch.
"If I hear you screwed up even once and there's an incident report about it, I'll make sure your license gets revoked so fast, the ink will still be wet on the page by the time it hits you." Morgan Greene leveled Shay with a steely stare. "Do we have an understanding?"
Shay nodded mutely and pulled the paper towards her, sliding it behind the wilderness survival course certificate. Translation: if I screw up, don't get caught. It's not illegal if you don't get caught.
"Good. Deanna has a few things for you out front, so make sure you see her on your way out in the lobby."
Shay stood and nodded, carefully tucking the papers to her chest. Shay was about to leave, but a question popped into her head, and she paused, turning back to face Morgan.
"Hey, um…those shard trinkets we received over the course. Do I return them to Deanna or to you, or…what?"
"You keep the shards. You earned them, didn't you?"
"I mean, sure. Okay. But what do I do with them?" Shay frowned. Should I send them back to Norman's? They'll just be taking up room in my pack…
"Some people put them on display at home or make little trophies out of them. I've heard of others using them as paperweights or decorations for their offices or apartments. But I prefer this one: use them as arrowheads. You learned how to make your own arrows, didn't you?"
Shay blinked at the other woman. Oh. OH. That…makes a lot more sense. Learning has occurred, knowledge received. And I didn't even have to pay for it. Not today, at least.
"Are you sure you don't want one of us to take your pack?"
Shay's lips twitched. Was that the third time Keno has asked her that? Or was it the fourth?
"Keno, for the last time, I got it. I have this wonderful thing called painkillers, and they are working fabulously. I'm doing okay."
It was a half-truth. She was still sore in all the wrong places, but she wasn't in pain. She could handle the aches for a little while longer. They were a reminder that she was still breathing and still alive. The Swampert shot her a disconcerted stare. He startled when something bumped into his leg, and he looked to see it was Sela on his other side. The Mightyena glanced up at him, her head turned just so to give him a glimpse of her good eye. She snorted and motioned with her snout toward Nux. Keno frowned and looked to the Gyarados. When he drew his attention back to Sela, she motioned to Nux again insistently, and then to Shay's pack.
It finally clicked and he flashed Sela a grin and a nod of understanding.
The sun was barely up and already Shay was sweating. Her legs burned, but it was a good kind of burn. It not only felt like she was finally moving forward, but she actually and physically was. Away from Shardust and closer to Lavaridge, closer to yet another badge. Closer to the Hoenn League. Closer to Sinnoh.
Closer to home.
"If she wants to drive herself into the ground, let her. We'll just drag her back to town so the human doctors can yell at her for being an idiot." Sela said, trotting on ahead of the others.
"Hey! I'm right here!"
"I know. That's why I said it in front of you so that you could hear." The Mightyena intoned flatly.
Sela flashed her trainer and Keno alike a toothy smile before trotting off ahead of them both. Nux swung his head over Shay and gently nudged the back of hers with his snout. Or at least, she thought it was meant to be a gentle nudge. It nearly sent her toppling forward. Keno caught her by her pack, leaving the woman dangling forward by the straps and the tips of her toes.
The Gyarados rumbled overhead and before Shay could recover, get her feet properly beneath her, she was sliding out from the straps. A broad hand easily caught her around the middle and Keno crowed, "Quick, take it, Nux!"
Shay craned her head up in time to see Nux snatching her pack by the back between his front teeth. He swiveled his head around and slotted the arm straps over one his dorsal spines. Nux arched his backside and the pack rose upwards, well out of her reach. Keno pulled her back to her feet, and she scowled up at the Swampert as his grip on her retreated.
"That was such a dirty move."
"You are going to rip your stitches if you don't at least take some time to recuperate. You're always on us about taking it easy. It's your turn now."
"If you three are done, we have a town to get to!" Sela called from up ahead, her tail held aloft and stiff in annoyance. Gunner dutifully kept carrying on, unfazed by the incline of the trail. Faye had perched herself on a leaning, bare tree, its branches spreading out like arms, reaching upwards to the sky. Shay opened her mouth to respond, but clacked it shut when an itch-shiver-scratch trailed across her skull and a bolt of cold raced down her spine. She shivered and glanced at the culprit, who now stood on Keno's other side, having taken Sela's place.
"I would say we're wasting daylight but given I can't even tell quite as well as you…I'll just have to trust all of you to tell me otherwise."
Smartass, she shot to the Kirlia, and felt his amusement press back in response.
Shay rolled her eyes as she turned her attention back to Nux and Keno. Somehow, she had a good feeling that they'd planned something like this ahead of time. "Fine. Fine! I'll let you take my pack, but only this one time!"
"It'll be as many times as it takes to keep you from driving yourself into the ground," Keno said and gave her a light push forward. She shot him a warning look, and he returned it with a toothless smile. As annoyed as she wanted to remain, it rapidly fell from her as she started up the trail after the other half of her team, grit and sand and small stones crunching pleasantly underfoot.
The verdant forests that lay along the base of the mountainous terrain leading up to Mount Chimney were slowly receding away. Scrubby, hardy plants took the place of old trees and dense underbrush as the warmth of the sun beat down on them. The incline toward higher elevations started out mundane and gentle enough. It soon grew steep and so too did the surrounding mountainous terrain.
If she hadn't known any better and had only just been told that there had been a rockslide in the area a month ago, there was no evidence of it now. It was almost as though it had never happened.
Shay found herself beginning to peter out by noon, drenched in sweat. Her limbs burned from effort and at the steady incline of the trail, but it was a good kind of burn that she welcomed. The unfortunate caveat to that was how her bandages itched where her sweat had soaked into the material, irritating her stitches and the wounds in-between. She also found her pain to be mounting, slow as it was in building up and creeping into the burn in her muscles.
Only then did Nux deem it worth allowing her access to her pack when she called for a break. She guzzled down lukewarm water from her canteen, downing two painkillers in between thirsty gulps. She broke out a midday meal for everyone and nibbled away at her own food, busying herself at the same time with mapping out their progress on her x-transceiver.
When she finished with that—and was pleasantly surprised at how far they'd come so far—she checked in on everyone else.
"There's not a lot of water out here, is there?" Keno said, shielding his eyes as he looked upward and around at the high walls the mountains were creating around them. Shay zoomed in on her map and a smile quirked her lips. She stood and turned on her heel, eyes flicking upward briefly as she motioned to the west.
"It looks like we're about a quarter mile from a little creek, over in that direction," she commented. Faye took off before anyone else could move. Keno and Nux exchanged a knowing look before Keno stepped towards Shay and presented his open palm to her.
"I can fill that up for you."
Shay shook her canteen, hearing very little inside and noting how light it felt.
"Thanks," she replied and capped the top of it before depositing it into the Swampert's hand. It looked ridiculously small in the center of his palm, like a child's tiny toy in the hand of an especially large adult. She cracked a smile at the sight, even as he turned to face the others.
Faye returned, perching atop a spindly, bare arm of a leaning deadwood tree. "Shay was right. The creek's not far from here. It doesn't look deep enough for you two to soak much. You'll probably enjoy the mud as long as it's wet, though."
"Okay. Thanks, Faye," Keno replied and then waved his unoccupied arm westward as he called over his shoulder. "C'mon, everyone. Let's drink up what we can before we leave!"
Gunner settled in stride beside Ambrose, who placed his paw on the Lairon's backside to grip one of his spiny protrusions as a guide. Nux waited for the pair to get ahead of him before falling into step with Keno, taking up the rear. Faye took to the air once again, gliding after the four. Sela remained steadfast, sitting besides Shay.
"Hey, aren't you going to get a drink?"
Sela grumbled back. Shay frowned and returned to her seat upon a flat, upraised rock. She gently touched Sela's scruff.
"Everything okay?"
The Mightyena glowered at the distant horizon to the northwest, at the mountains that rose up in varying peaks and heights, with Mount Chimney escalating above them all farther on.
"No. I'm not leaving your side." She finally said, muzzle pulling back into a grimace. "Not again. Not after last time."
Shay furrowed her brow, and gently began massaging the area between Sela's shoulder blades and hackles.
"That wasn't your fault, Sela. None of us expected to be attacked by anything out there, not a mountain lion—"
"It doesn't matter if it was that thing or another pokémon! I shouldn't have left you alone. I should have stayed and had Faye go on ahead. I should have been there to protect you!" Sela snapped back, flashing her teeth at Shay. Her ears flared back almost immediately, the anger fleeing from her good eye as she realized whom it was she had just shouted at. Sela ducked her head back down, a soft whine building in her throat. "I…it should've been me. I can take a hit a lot better than you, Shay. When it comes to teeth and claws, I mean. If Keno and I hadn't found you…if we'd been any slower…"
There was a rare hint of fragility lining Sela's words, one that Shay had never heard her use around the others. Shay shifted closer to Sela, bringing her other arm around the Mightyena, leaning her head into her scruff.
"I felt the same way when I couldn't get to you when you and Gunner disappeared. I…I didn't know what to do, because that thing was just…surrounded by all those official types so fast. I couldn't have snuck in, even if I wanted or tried to. And I did. I tried three times, but I got caught and almost sent to jail. Basil had to bail me out before they could haul me away." Shay huffed a hollow laugh, her throat growing tight. Sela shifted beside her but said nothing.
"I felt useless. Worse than useless! All I could do was just…sit outside the border and just…wait. I hate waiting! All I did in my old life was hurry up and wait! And they say that no news is good news but…I didn't feel that at all. I just…it was dread, sitting in the pit of my stomach, burning away at my insides the entire fucking time. It felt even worse when they finally found you and Gunner, and I couldn't help you, couldn't do anything for either of you—I couldn't…do anything. I had to wait even more."
Her grip around Sela tightened. "I'm sorry I couldn't get to you and Gunner sooner."
Sela said nothing, so Shay fell into silence alongside her. A breeze began to stir, offering a brief solace from the hot sun above. She found herself lulled by the soft silence around them and from her fatigue as she remained leaning on Sela.
"I don't think we'll get anywhere talking about our regrets. We'll just end up going in circles and we can't fix what's already happened." Sela said after a while, stirring against Shay. The sound of her voice roused the young woman from the semi-slumber she had been sliding into. She pulled herself upright, failing to fight back a yawn.
"Were you sleeping?" Sela grumbled, leaning away, glowering mildly at the young woman.
"N-no, I'm just…tired," Shay flushed in embarrassment, rubbing the back of her head, a sheepish smile twitching upward on her face. She avoided Sela's burning gaze at first but sighed and met it. "Sorry. And I was listening, I heard what you said, and maybe you're right. I still just feel like…I just wish that things could've panned out better than they had."
Sela pulled from Shay's hold and reluctantly, the young woman let her. Sela got up and took a few steps back onto the hiking trail, tilting her nose upwards in the direction of the wind. It ruffled her fur until it died down at last, and with it, the respite from the heat.
"We still have a long way to go, and we can't keep falling back on old regrets. They'll just keep dragging us down and holding us back. We're still standing, so just accept what happened. For now, at least, until we're clear of all this. Until we've fought our way to the top and beat everyone else."
Sela craned her neck to look back at Shay, her muzzle set in a grim look. Shay studied her, not daring to break eye contact with the Mightyena. She found it harder to look at her these days, and still wasn't used to the scarred half of her face, or the rakes along her shoulders and backside. But she couldn't keep pretending what Sela and Gunner had gone through hadn't happened at all. She couldn't keep ducking her gaze
She couldn't pretend anymore. It wasn't fair, especially to Sela. So, she didn't.
Shay met Sela's half-gaze head-on, unflinching as she nodded to her.
"Okay. We'll do it that way, then. No regrets."
Sela's muzzle pulled back into an approving smile, her sharp teeth glinting. "Good. Glad we have an understanding."
She paused and her attention broke from Shay to focus on something else before returning to her trainer. Shay glanced over her shoulder, just as Sela spoke up.
"The others are back. I'll go get that drink of water now."
"Don't take too long."
Sela trotted past Shay and paused long enough to get her a quick lick on the cheek before continuing on. "I won't. Promise."
"The human lady in charge gave you the license? But you didn't go to the class! How does that work?"
Shay snorted, a brow raised as she shot a quick glance toward Keno. He relaxed when he saw her smiling.
"That's pretty much what I said. She told me to consider this license a boon for everything we went through during the survival course, but if I screw up and she hears about, she'll make sure it gets revoked. I also think it was to keep me from suing the school or something…even though I kind of remember signing a liability waiver…"
Their evening campfire crackled and snapped as Shay fed it fresh fodder. The flames licked away at the new source of food, and grew larger. She hesitated adding another branch, then set it aside, seeing that it was large enough to start heating up the hanging pot above it. She sat back on her makeshift rock seat with a sigh.
Already the sun had dipped beyond the western mountains, and with it, the cooler element of night was settling in.
"What's a 'boon'? Is it something you can eat?" Gunner piped up, shuffling closer to settle besides Shay. She laughed softly and gave him a pat on his flank.
"And what's a 'liability waiver'?" Nux added.
"Omigod, so many human things to learn. Ummm….okay. A boon is like a gift, or a timely benefit. And a liability waiver is…it's a kind of agreement or a promise. If I sign that paperwork, then I'm agreeing to any terms or conditions that the survival school says could happen to me. By signing it, I'm agreeing that I read the paperwork that mentions I could be hurt, maimed, or even killed over the duration of the course, and if that happens, I won't come back and complain or sue the school for compensation."
Shay took a pause and checked on the food in the hanging pot. She stirred away at its contents, making sure to scape the bottom to prevent anything from sticking to it or burning. She returned to her seat.
"This also applies to any family or friends too. They can't complain to the school about what happens to me either, since I, as the affected party, have signed the paperwork that states I understood the risks and dangers and that I would still like to attend the course."
Shay paused longer as scanned the faces of her team. For the most part, they stared at her politely until she finished.
"Does…any of that make any sense to y'all?"
They exchanged looks and quiet words with one another before most shook their heads. Ambrose was the only one who remained still and quiet, but he had his head tilted in her direction.
"I…kind of do, but it's a lot to follow." Keno admitted, shrugging his shoulders self-consciously.
"Humans have too many rules. Why are all of you so complicated?" Faye intoned flatly, head cocking to the side. She was perched atop one of Nux's horns, and he glanced upwards at her, giving a little nod of agreement.
Shay smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. "Yeah, I don't know what to tell you. Humans are complicated. And we do make a lot of rules and laws and all that junk. I'm human, and I still get lost myself sometimes, so you're not the only ones who're confused."
"And yet, you seem to be doing just fine and getting by," Ambrose said cheekily.
"It comes with the territory," Shay replied before she sighed. She stared at the fire, watching at how it wavered and danced and how the wood glowed so brightly, it almost hurt to look at. She reveled in the smell of woodsmoke, hoping that it would linger in her clothes come the morning. She loved that smell. It reminded her of her childhood and all the good things that had come out of it. Her thoughts tumbled over that and she lingered on her parents, her family, her friends. Everyone she was missing.
"I had a really simple plan when I got out of the Marines. My parents were planning to move to a place called Montana—well, I should say my dad was planning it, not so much my mom. I've seen some pictures, it looked nice. Lots of woods and mountains and open plains. National parks and dinosaur museums and dig sites. I was hoping to move to be closer to them, when my contract was up. I've been away from them for so long, I…"
Shay fell quiet, hands curling together in her lap. Her shoulders gradually lowered, her gaze similarly dropping from gazing at the fire to the dirt right in front of her.
"I miss them a lot. I didn't…call them as much as I should have. Especially my mom. I was always tired after work and I used that excuse a lot to…to not answer their calls. I feel so stupid and selfish now for not doing that."
From the corner of her eye, Shay caught sight of movement. She turned her head, just enough to see that it was Sela. She was staring directly at Shay. Stiff, still, and waiting. The corners of Shay's lips twitched upward, ever-so-slightly. It was enough for Sela to give a nod of approval, of encouragement.
The lump forming in Shay's throat lessened as she swallowed and cleared it, forcing herself to get up and check on the contents of the hanging pot once more.
"I'll have to fix that when I get home, though. And I will. But right now, we just…have to stay the course." Shay said. She deemed the food ready and carefully hauled it off the collapsible pole the pot had been hanging from and set it aside. The gathered food dishes were quickly filled and passed around before Shay returned to her seat and let out a big sigh.
"Which reminds me…Nux?"
The Gyarados snapped his head up toward her, a mess of stew already rimming his snout. Faye beat her wings and snapped at him in protest, but he hardly noticed the way her beak bounced off his horns until she settled again. Nux blinked at her a few times and a grin slowly broke across Shay's face. He gulped down the bite of food in his mouth and licked his chops before answering. "Um…yes?"
"We're flying tomorrow."
Additional Notes: I know some people have pointed out a couple of loose ends once or twice, but I do want to assure y'all, they'll be tied up in due time. Some things will come up soon enough, and others are for later down the line.
Also, for Director Morgan Green, I can't help but hear Angela Bassett for her character. That lady has got such panache and poise, especially from all her work in American Horror Story, Black Panther, and Horizon Forbidden West. She's so fucking amazing!
