This world is inhabited by creatures that we call pokemon. People and pokemon live together by supporting each other, but now the scourge threatens the safety of the entire region. Kohaku has become a dangerous place, where children stay at home and only brave souls go adventuring.
Welcome to KOHAKU. Come for the nightmares. Stay for the tea and crumpets.
The season is SUMMER. It is easy for survivors to forage for food from the land, as there are entire abandoned farms ready for harvest. On the downside, you can smell the corpses.
swarms
GRAND OPENING !
Welcome to KOHAKU REGION's grand opening! If you're interested in joining, come check out our grand opening giveaway!
hapinasu quietly stabs at a scourge sentret at her toes before continuing along the dirt path. the taste on her tongue is bitter, brought from the stench of the scourge bloody, dismembered body parts. it's a mix of that and her sorrow, with a dash of exhaustion. it tastes awful, unlike any other bad food. it's devastating, but it doesn't want to make you throw up. it makes you want to slice off your own tongue.
she's waddling along slightly slower now, and she sees a crab. it brings thoughts of dan which bring thoughts of rhea so she looks away for the time being, although her body is unconsciously taking her to it. and when she's close enough, the scent of fish fills her nose. normally she'd deem it unpleasant. but it's familiar. and it's just what she needs right now.
hapinasu scowls at the crab, glaring at him with hostility swirling in her eyes. but she can't keep up the act; not now. not here. so she sighs and looks to the ground in shame. she does not wish to show her face to him. but a thought runs through the back of her mind, teasing her. <he's your only hope.> she reminds herself, frowning.
so finally, she manages to get the words out of her lips:
Ambrose simply grinned more at her hostile glare. Yep, that couldn't be anyone but Hapinasu. "You look like shit," he muttered. "Guess that makes two of us." He started scuttling around her to try and get a better view of her injuries: by the time he was done checking, his usual goofy grin had given way to a look of worry. It seemed he could take the pain, but he wasn't fond of seeing it dished out.
"Hapinasu, are you oka-"
Rhea's gone. Holy shit. He couldn't help but wonder what happened, and if he would've been able to stop it . . .
Yeah, because that worked so goddamn well for his fallen Arbok. It'd just be another fuckup etched onto his conscience.
"What happened?" he asked, a fire starting to alight in his eyes. "Do you know where she's been taken?"
It could've only been Scourge, surely. One of those monsters walking in the skins of men, just like "Odin." Compared to this new threat, the Amberwell seemed like a walk through the park. He already knew what they were capable of firsthand, and yet the thought of them hurting Rhea, or worse . . .
His blood boiled and his fist clenched. There'd be hell to pay for what they've done.
"hush." she hisses at ambrose. "you will never understand the pains of solitude." she holds up the scyther claw, her eyebrows low. how dare he insult her, this crab. at a time such as now. she will never understand such a creature. hapinasu glares at him. "i do not want to hear as much as a word out of you." it's not a question, it's a demand. she turns to dan, relaxing herself. it's a tactic that's she's exercised a lot in the past hours.
hapinasu shakes her head solemnly. "i don't know where they've taken her--" her thoughts are broken off by the sheer terror that they bring. she takes in a breath and murmurs out: "only that it's bad." she glances at dan's clenched fist. he's angry, she notices. about what, she doesn't know. but he has ever right to be furious-- dan has probably learned of the walking and talking scourge by now as well.
"there are people who walk among you; they seem normal but." hapinasu struggles to find a way to put it into words. "they're dangerous. infected, maybe." she exhales.
Ambrose's brow furrowed, his attempt at camaraderie thrown back in his face. He turned away from her, grumbling a bit. "Jeez, you try to worry about someone . . . "
Admittedly, Dan was relieved a bit. At least she was alive. At least here was still hope. However, this was still no matter to take lightly, and the idea of those monsters taking her, hurting her, doing Arceus-knows-what both terrified him and pissed him off. Nevertheless, he tried to keep a brave face as he stooped down to the Blissey's eye level.
"We're going to find her. It probably won't be easy, and I'll need to find all the help we can get, but once we get moving those infected won't even know what hit them. They've crossed the line, and after we're through with them they're going to regret it.
Would you mind describing who took her, and did they say anything about where they were going?"
He tried to keep his voice even, but the quivers of sadness and rage were unmistakable. And yet . . . also an undercurrent of fear, despite his best attempts to keep it buried. Just one of those monsters was able to best him with ease, 3-on-1. What would he even be able to do against more of them?
But he had to try. This wasn't a matter he could just brood over and forget about. No, this was a time for action.