[Game thread] Skull Ruins Pokerole

[Dragonstrike]

The next morning, Nahan's very, very withdrawn.  When he wakes, he doesn't join everyone else for breakfast, opting to instead sit a ways away with Masq, Kirlia, the bees, Swiftfire, and Yule.  The breakfast is simple, as usual, but it's better than nothing.  Nathan sends the Combee off to gather some honey once again, double checks that Yule is comfortable with staying in his pokeball while in the swamp, attempts to comfort Swiftfire since this place is very much not her definition of fun...

Kirlia can't help but stick close to Nathan the entire time, casting worried and cautious looks in Ventus's direction to make sure he's not getting much closer...he hadn't thought telling Nathan why he was so reluctant to interact with Ventus would have had this drastic of an effect...but he was going to be there for him regardless.  Even if he did loathe this swamp immensely right now...

How many nights has Nathan rested well since leaving Corsage?  He hadn't been keeping count, but he was pretty sure he could count them on one hand...

Nathan keeps carefully pulling out and glancing at the crude effigy of Mutios.  He mutters under his breath every so often..."Black Shade Protects...White Light Shines..."

When he gets a chance to, he's thinking he's going to attempt to make this clay symbol a little more solid so it's not quite as easily deformed.  It's not something he would likely want to use, considering what it represents both on a spiritual level and for Nathan's personal experiences.

The Yin pokemon...it's the complete opposite of what Nathan would like to be feeling right now, but it's...strangely comforting, holding this symbol that happens to coincide with a lot of what he's been feeling and experiencing lately...

...and he really hopes that Mutios is extending her protection right about now...
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Once again, Nathan's attempting to scout ahead on Swiftfire.

The going is rougher than before, though.  The swamp gets more murky, the waters deeper, the grasses taller...Swiftfire is having a hard time finding her footing, and it's just one more distraction on the long list of things Nathan's been worrying about, the things he's been trying to shoulder by himself, regardless of whether he wants to...

Kirlia's not paying much attention to anything except Nathan and where Ventus is right now.  This was really worrying him...he didn't think this was going to fix itself, but there wasn't much he could do except just be there for his friend...

Everything seems to be going fine for awhile, though.

...until Nathan, Kirlia, and Swiftfire practically walk into a Gulpin and a Swalot in the midst of their inattentiveness.  Masq is overhead, acting as Nathan's eyes in the sky (and leaving a trail of sparkles as he flies), but his warning squawk comes just a tad too late for Nathan and his grounded pokemon...