(IC) Pokemon: Journey of the Rainbow Goddess

[Winter]

Fuyuse
The Elder's House

"...and you're certain you aren't forgetting anything?" The corners of Fuyuse's lips twitched upwards at the way the doctor was fretting over her. In the four years they had spent traveling together, she hadn't seen the man so fussy since that first month when she was twelve.

"I am certain that I have not forgotten anything. I remember how to live off the land, the way you taught me to, I have the herb mixtures you gave me, as well as clean bandages, and I know that I can offer my services as a healer in exchange for anything else I might need if we run low on money. I have my tessen and my kurisarigama to defend myself and others with if worst comes to worst, and you know that Hitomi, Hanzo, and Daisho would lay down their own lives to protect me.” She had spoken more words this morning than she had in the past month, and as much as she disliked the idea, the young woman had a feeling that speaking more was something she was going to need to get used to. She’d spent four years perfecting speaking to her guardian more in motions than aloud, but today...well, today she was leaving him behind. Fuyuse reached up to adjust the straps of the basket she was using as a pack against her shoulders and tried to smile for him—maybe she could get his brow to stop furrowing and the worry to fade from his eyes if she seemed more confident.

“It certainly sounds as though you’ve prepared. It would seem I taught you well...perhaps too well, if you’re leaving the nest so early,” he chuckled, reaching out to brush a wisp of chestnut hair that had escaped her braid back behind her ear. Though the sound was amused, it contrasted oddly with the sadness of his expression, and just like that, her attempt at a smile slipped.

“I promise to come back, Waka.” As he pulled his hand away, she captured it in both her own. “I am not going away forever, just a little while. I much prefer treating injuries to causing them, and suspect that my time as a bodyguard will only make me appreciate my time as a doctor’s assistant far more.” And it might well give her answers about her missing past, though it seemed like a foolish thing to hope for after so long. Foolish as it was, the desire for knowledge about the life she had lost had come back in full force when the village elder had originally approached Fuyuse to ask about appointing her as one of Juno’s bodyguards along her journey. Had it not, she likely wouldn’t have agreed to leave in the first place—Waka was good at taking care of others, but almost laughably terrible at taking care of himself. She only hoped that he allowed his Audino, Momo, to look after him in her place...she just didn’t trust his Reuniclus or his Shroomish with overseeing his wellbeing. As much as she loved them, Shimeji tended towards airheaded and occasionally failed to notice the passing of entire days, while Daisuke had a knack for making Waka’s love of research worse, and the pair would quite literally pour over books, study samples, and experiment with cures until neither could continue to function and both eventually passed out. “Just promise me that you will not give Momo too much to fret over, alright?”

The doctor flashed a halfhearted smile before patting her hands with his free one and pulling his other hand out of her grasp. “I’ll do my best not to make Momo fret so long as you do your best not to make me fret, Fuyuse. Do not break your promise to return.” With that, he quickly reached out to pull her in for a brief hug, then looked down at the Houndoom, Croagunk, and Sneasel hovering close to their mistress. “I am trusting her protection to you three. Please...do not let me down,” he murmured, then nudged the young woman away from the crowd they had been standing in, towards the door to the elder’s house, where Juno and her bodyguards were to congregate. As she watched, Fuyuse saw all three of her Pokemon companions give Waka a firm nod before following after her.