The Way Back Home (Jay)

[akira]

Elena quietly wandered through the meadow, her Pokemon at her side. Initially, she had come out here simply to get away from the city and briefly escape the hell that she was living in. Constantly in fear of being hunted by her father, and treated like some sort of vermin because she had no home or money. It was a welcome break from all of this, made even better by her beloved music. However, the bad was steadily beginning to outweigh the good.

Hunger and fatigue were quickly starting to catch up to her. It had been a while since she had been able to eat anything...or stop to rest. She saw little choice but to sit in the grass and rest. At the very least, it was better than sleeping in an alley. However, even as she able to give her tired feet the break they needed, there was still the issue of her empty stomach, which growled loudly in protest to the lack of nourishment. Elena let out a sigh and mumbled bitterly to herself, as though responding to the growls "...quiet already..."

Her Pokemon sat beside her, concerned for their trainer. In truth, the Pignite was just as hungry as Elena, but he had more energy, and was able to go longer without it. The other two didn't even need any food. Regardless, Elena was choosing not to let it bother her. For now, she'd try and get some rest, then maybe head for the nearest town. Now that she thought about it, the only place she had ever lived in was the capital...perhaps she'd be able to find a place outside the capital that she would finally be able to call "home".

[Jay]

About quarter mile away, a little girl possibly only ten years old at the max could be seen running ahead of an older young man who could be only around his twenties in general form and physique. "Big brother I see the hills! I see them!" Rosa called as her head turned back for only a brief moment as she ran. Her jacket and scarf were bundled so tightly around her that it made her appear a lot more plush than she really was, yet Felis had refused to allow his little sister to go out of the house without dressing warm. The weather appeared to be in that awkward middle stage of warming up into spring but sometimes carrying an icicle moment here and there, and Feliciano Rossi was far from letting his little 'rose' freeze.

"Be careful you don't trip on the grass, Rosa," Felis smiled aloud knowing a bit too well that if Rosa was going to trip, no amount of prior warning words would reach the girl to the point that it would stop said trip from happening. The blond haired man himself wore a white blouse-like shirt with a black jacket and dark colored pants. It was hard to walk in his normal attire for long periods, and given that this day was devoted solely to Rosa (given that he didn't believe anyone else would be out there on that particular day more or less because of the weather shifting and what not that tended to drive people towards the beaches rather than the grasses), Felis had broken off from his regular wear and had gone with something more simple in the end of it.

What appeared to be a large basket of sorts with a cover on it rested on Felis's shoulder as he walked. He had prepared quite a few sandwiches and an assortment of foods with the belief that they'd probably stick around for lunch and maybe even dinner (though in itself the entire packing could probably have fed around 8 people on both meals give or take). Felis... loved cooking at the end of it all. It wasn't so much the idea of showing off this cooking as actually cooking, and he knew it. It let him have time to think and work in a motion that was easier to think in, and it was quite a nice 'escape' of sorts to distract those that would make him do his duties more often than not (though on Felis's defense, he did try and do most of his work most of the time).

Rosa looked back for a moment as Felis spoke his words and simply giggled to herself and continued running abet a little faster. She didn't leave the castle by herself ... Well... aside from a certain incident a few weeks ago when she had wandered away without telling anyone.... which ended up giving Felis a heart attack from fear and the likes with his belief that she could have been captured or killed which he, at the time of her finally returning, accidentally admitted openly despite Felis's general tries to conceal his worries from her. But thankfully for the day at least, Felis had taken off from work and given them both a day out. Sad to say though, Miguel, the family knight of sorts, seemed particularly busy with quite a few things here and there and had resolved to get them done while Felis and Rosa were out. Therefore, that simply left the two of them there out to enjoy themselves on their outing together.

"Come on come on come on Feliiiiiiiiis!" Rosa called as they continued to move farther into the meadow. Soon enough, they were at least within hearing range of Elena... and then a little bit more and even eye range if one looked hard enough. "Felis come on! Let's go!" Rosa continued to call back repeatedly as she ran. However, just as was anticipated, as she ran and looked back, Rosa forgot to see what had been in front of her and tripped rather quickly over some grass before falling face first on someone or something...er..... "Ow..........." was all that escaped Rosa's mouth.

[akira]

Elena had, by some miracle managed to ignore her growling stomach enough to actually drift into a state of half-sleep. It was better than what she usually got. However, this didn't last long. Though she didn't hear the voices, her Pokemon were unable to prevent the rather rude awakening that followed. Letting out an "oof" as the girl fell on top of her, she let out an annoyed grunt "Oi...what the hell are yo-...eh?"

Initially, she had assumed it was one of her Pokemon that had awakened her, as it wouldn't have been first time, only to notice mid-sentence that it was, instead a little girl. Her annoyance died down some, but not completely. She wasn't so bitter that that she was going to get angry at a child...and yet, it was still rather annoying that this happened at all "...you...okay? What are you doing all the way out here?".

Grabbing hold of the girl, she helped her up while simultaneously sitting herself up. Once the girl was off of her, she glanced around to see where her Pokemon were...as it turned out, her Pignite had drifted off as well, while her Magnemite and Porygon were amusing themselves elsewhere. Letting out a sigh, she muttered to herself "...way to keep watch, guys..." It was at this point that her stomach let out a rather loud growl...it would have been impossible for Rosalba to not hear it, and Elena was unable to help but blush upon realizing this.

As soon as she noticed Feliciano, she was able to put two and two together. Seemed the girl was out with her...older brother, maybe? He definitely looked too young to be her father. Letting out a sigh, she picked up a pebble that happened to be nearby and threw it at her Pignite to wake him up...the Fire/Fighting-type woke up with a start, looking around before noticing that Elena was awake...and with some random girl. Upon noticing that the two of them were awake, the Magnemite and Porygon returned to Elena's side, wondering what was going on.

Elena, assuming the older male would eventually catch up, chose to wait for him, not really feeling like standing up. Even if she did, she wasn't even entirely sure if she had the energy to do so. On top of her current physical state, the cold, which didn't really bother her at first, was quickly catching up with her. Granted, she was used to the cold...sleeping in on a stone floor in a basement made sure of that, but it didn't have any less of a negative effect on her. At the very least, she had her Pignite to keep her warm when she needed it. It was one of the benefits to owning a Fire-type. Either way, as soon as Feliciano caught up with his sister, she looked up to him "...so...I take it she's with you?..."

[Jay]

The questions that hit Rosa's ears made her falter for a moment. It wasn't so much the questions themselves that she couldn't answer so much as just the fact that she was still getting over having just actually tripped over someone. Rosa moved up as Elena did and seemed to be trying to brush off the dirt and things before her head turned and she actually fully examined the person she had tripped over. The young girl would have spoken, yet the sound of a rumbling stomach hit her ears first. After said moment was up, Rosa opened her mouth to ask a question on said stomach. However, Feliciano had already come into rage, and a question had been posed from the girl instead. Rosa sighed and closed her mouth. Felis, who had come into rage enough to see what exactly Rosa had tripped over instantly seemed to smile rather lightly at the girl though mentally sweat dropping at the realization that there was in fact someone there... Well... one cannot assume... or presume... or something sume, it seemed. "Ah, sorry about that," the blond haired man said aloud more or less rubbing the back of his neck and apologizing for Rosa tripping over this new person. Somewhere between taking up his position and coming to terms with actually being head of a household, Felis had started to take up just about everything that Rosa did to his own. Assuming Rosa had knocked the girl over, Felis extended a hand to her as though to help her back up.

Upon hearing Felis's words, Rosa snapped to this as well. "Sorry..." she said rather quickly putting a few fingers over her mouth after that. The child's teal eyes seemed to roam off away from the girl, as children often do when they don't wish to associate with accidents or things they've done wrong, and ended up settling on the pokemon that had come back to the girl. "Wow! Cool pokemon," was the first words from Rosa's mouth as she stared at the foreign looking creatures.... well.. two looked... somewhat more familiar, but the fire/fighting type certainly didn't look like anything Rosa had ever seen... which was probably for the best given that if she actually associated type, it might scare her a little.

[akira]

Elena couldn't help but smile as the two apologized, though more or less ignored Feliciano's and instead focused on Rosalba...it wasn't meant to be disrespectful. She merely saw no reason for him to have to apologize for something he didn't do, and therefore saw no need to respond to it. Reaching up and patting Rosalba reassuringly on the head, she spoke softly "No harm done. Just be more careful from now on. Okay?"

Once again, her stomach growled loudly, but she did her best to ignore it...and hoped that, by some miracle, the other two didn't hear it. She was already in a pitiful enough state as it was. She didn't need her stomach making it any worse. Either way, when Rosalba went on to praise her Pokemon, the three of them felt rather pleased with themselves, which made Elena smile some. "Heh...thanks. They...well...they're the only friends I have...I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them..."

Despite how depressing her words may have sounded, she said them in a tone of deep gratitude. After all, what she said was true. Had she not run into them on that fateful day, she would have wallowed in misery until she wasted away. She knew this fact all too well, and she would never forget it. Regardless, she shook such thoughts from her head. After all, she was in front of two random strangers. Letting out a sigh, she looked toward the two of them "A-anyways...I'm Elena...what are your names?..."

Truth be told, the only reason she was acknowledging Feliciano was because of Rosalba. She normally didn't trust men, due to the only two men that were ever in her life being heartless monsters. But deep down, she knew that not all of them were like that, which was the only reason she wasn't outright hateful toward him. Plus she didn't want to set a bad example for Rosalba. As he reached his hand out to help her up, she reluctantly took it, allowing him to pull her up. However, the moment she was on her feet, another loud growl emerged from her stomach. Not only this, but her legs gave out from under her, causing her to fall rather painfully into a sitting position. "...damn it..." between her loud stomach and how exhausted she looked, it didn't really take a genius to figure out what was going on here. Her hunger and exhaustion had finally taken its toll on her, and she was too weak to stand.

[Jay]

As she found that she wasn't going to 'get into trouble', not that the child got into trouble much at all, Rosalba looked back at Elena and grinned. "My name is Rosalba!" she chimed lightly grinning to Elena whose name she was now repeating over and over in her head as she tried to keep it in her mind. Upon hearing the growling of the other girl's stomach, Rosa blinked a moment and turned her head to one side. "You're hungry?" she asked raising her voice a little higher at the last word of the question.

Upon hearing the name of the girl, Felis had been about to introduce himeslf but was cut off by Rosa and just smiled for a few seconds until he found that Elena had sunk back down onto the ground. A rather worried expression came to his face, yet when Rosa asked on hunger, the blond haired man found his eyes settling on the basket he was still carrying. Without a second thought, he looked back at Elena and smiled lightly. "My name is Feliciano," he answered back with a smile. Then and there, he resolved to also ask another question. "Would you like join us for lunch?" He wouldn't go into the fact that he had more or less heard her hunger and decided to leave that simple and clean on decision.

Rosa looked towards Felis and grinned considerably as she more or less believed that her older brother had read her mind or something of the general idea. Later, she would actually realize that it was probably Felis's own thoughts as well, but she was far too excited with the idea of eating and talking about Elena's pokemonto really register better thoughts. "Please?!" she tried lightly.

[akira]

She was deeply ashamed of being seen in such a pitiful state, though she was also used to it. Too many times had she been simply looked over when she was desperately in need of some food and rest. It was why she eventually began resorting to stealing, though the idea makes her cringe. Still, she did whatever what was necessary to survive, and had long given up on the idea that she might receive charity from someone else. Which was why she was honestly shocked when the two of them offered to share their lunch with her.

"...are...are you sure? I mean...I-I don't have any money...so..." Even as she tried to speak, several thoughts were racing through her mind. It was becoming increasingly obvious that this girl was unused to such kindness, and it seriously threw her off. And yet, it was slowly sinking in that, just maybe, there actually were people who were this generous. As such, she gave a quiet nod, speaking softly "I...th-thank you..."

[Jay]

Feliciano waited a moment when the girl asked if it was alright and would have replied right then that it was certainly alright. However, he was cut off by the thank you, and something in that simply made him too giddy for words though it was far from the fact that he had been thanked so much as it was that this girl was willing to have lunch with them which meant that this was someone to meet and talk with and and... Ah, he was getting ahead of himself. "Certainly," he smiled back lightly before slowly setting the basket from his shoulder down on the ground. "Rosa and I were looking for a place to have lunch.. the area is beautiful isn't it?" he asked with a light smile.

Rosa grinned greatly when the offer was accepted and then found herself quickly reaching into the basket that Felis had brought and finished out what appeared to be a long green ....er... tablecloth maybe? The cloth was far from what one would have expected of the traditional pick nick blanket format with it being rather thick and laced at the ends.... It had just happened to be the only thing that Felis could find that would work on such an outing in the end of it all, and it wasn't like they couldn't clean it or replace it if need be.

As she held it up, Rosa seemed to twirl a little with it and ended up wrapping herself up in it causing the long green cloth to now be a cape or cloak maybe. Felis seemed to grin a little at his younger sister as he saw her all bundled up in it. "Rosa are you going to wear it or set it down?" Felis chuckled a bit to himself. Upon hearing the question, Rosa seemed to giggle to herself and then slowly removed the cape and then allowed it to set on the grass then and there.

[akira]

Elena still couldn't believe it. These people almost literally came out of nowhere, and they're willing to share their food with her. In the capital, the most she ever got when asking for some food was a kick to the ribs, which resulted in a very angry Pignite. But these two...it reached a point that she couldn't help but ask "...if...if you don't mind me asking...are you two from the capital?..."

She also gave an agreeing nod in response to Feliciano's comment regarding the weather, and she couldn't help but laugh at Rosalba's antics. For the first time in her life, she was genuinely enjoying herself. It warmed the hearts of her Pokemon to see her smiling, to the point that her Pignite was holding back tears of joy. Of course, he wasn't going to let the others see him cry. He had an image to maintain, after all. It was then that Elena thought of something "Oh...um...would it be okay if my Pignite ate something too? He hasn't eaten anything in a while either...it doesn't show, since he has a lot more energy than me, but I know he has to be hungry..."

[Jay]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc64/Heart-of-Thorns/FelisRosa.png);color:#45632c;][atrb=height,310][atrb=width,397][atrb=style,border:0 black none,bTable][scrolly:h(200),w(210),sy,as(padding:4px;margin-top:10px;margin-left:100px;)]Felis blinked a moment when the question came about them from the capital. Shaking his head a little, Felis answered back. "No, we've been to the capital, but we both live out east," he answered back with a light smile. "I don't think I could live in the capital. It's far too busy and busy." Rosa blinked a moment before nodding as well. She had grown up in the castle... she really couldn't imagine living in a different place. Rosa's eyes slid to the Pignite, and almost instantly, she answered yes to Elena. Felis found his stomach twitch at the sight of the fire pokemon, but he was far from ruining a good lunch just because of his personal fears on fire... He'd slowly managed to grow out of said fear as time went on, thankfully... though then again... every once in a while it spurred up in him... After a moment, he managed a smile of sorts. "I didn't bring any pokemon food, but if he doesn't mind eating human food, I don't see why not," he answered back lightly. "Any of your other pokemon need food?" he asked. Something in Rosa had been able to pick up Felis's hesitation no matter how small it had been, and for a few seconds, she was quiet and mentally frowned. However, when he said that it was alright, she found herself smiling again and then grinning towards Elena. [/scrolly]

[akira]

Elena nodded "...I see...so it's true. I didn't even know there was a city other than the capital until earlier today...that's why I came out here...to leave that dreadful place forever. But...I didn't know traveling outside of a city was so hard...still...I had to try. That place has nothing but bad memories." She shook her head, trying to get such thoughts out of her mind. The last thing she needed to do was ramble to these two.

When the two of them agreed to share with her Pignite, she smiled "Thank you...and no...Uninstall and Mad Machine don't eat....it's just me and Reckless Fire." The Pignite let grinned. He didn't let it show, but he was rather hungry, and he definitely didn't mind "people food". For him, food was food. "Anyway...I'll try to make sure he doesn't eat too much." The Pignite grumbled, but was understanding. Large Pokemon tend to eat a lot of food, and he would've felt bad about eating everything and not leaving anything for anyone else.

Unfortunately, she didn't catch the hint of unease that Feliciano had due to the Fire-type, otherwise, she would have asked the Pignite to keep his distance. But it wasn't like he went around shooting fire around for no reason. Usually, the only time any flames of any type were visible was when he battled...and Elena had never been in a battle, so it's been a while. Other than that, he'd occasionally find a safe place to vent and shoot a few flamethrowers, and he always made sure no one was a around when he did. It was basically his version of stress relief. Also, luckily for Luciano, he hasn't evolved into Emboar. That would have been something else entirely

[Jay]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc64/Heart-of-Thorns/FelisRosa.png);color:#45632c;][atrb=height,310][atrb=width,397][atrb=style,border:0 black none,bTable][scrolly:h(200),w(210),sy,as(padding:4px;margin-top:10px;margin-left:100px;)] Rosa's face was literally something paralleled to D: as she listened to Elena. Bad memories? D: Awwwwww! Butbutbut... However, Rosa hadn't had time to really say anything because a bit of something hit the young girl, and she found her stomach twitching a little. her own bad memory...maybe... After a few seconds, she found herself quickly locking it back up as fast as she possibly could. No, she wouldn't do anything with that.... no no no no. After a moment, she just allowed herself to go on and managed to keep her smile. In truth, Felis had noticed a little as Rosa had paled, yet when she seemed to quickly pick herself up again from whatever it was, the blond haired man mentally noted it and then seemed to take the thoughts on what Elena had said. Well, those were interesting names for pokemon... a little odd but not really bad. After a few seconds, he smiled a little. "Heh, we have a pretty big lunch, I'm sure he'll at least be partially filled by the time lunch is over," he smiled rather honestly back at the girl. After a moment, the blond haired man started to pull things out of the basket and set them out. What came as a large stack of sandwiches, a salad, and some cherry soda was finally produced. In truth, Felis would probably have been happier if the soda had been wine, yet he'd never let Rosa sip that stuff... at least not until she was eighteen... if not older... twenty one... yes that was a good age... or maybe twenty five... somewhere in there, yes. That worked. Opening the bag that the sandwiches were in, the blond haired man set them out on a paper plate that he had pulled from the bottom of the basket. "It's a help yourself kinda thing," he smiled lightly. Rosa grinned a bit and picked up one of the cheese sandwiches before nearly inserting the entire thing in her mouth at once. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm<3 Veggies were good... but chheeeeeeessseeeee was sooooo good! "Yummmmmmmm," was all that came from the young girl at that point. [/scrolly]

[akira]

Sadly, Elena was unaware that, in outwardly going on about her bad memories, she had inadvertently awakened some bad memories in Rosalba. Has she known, she would have felt terrible. It was probably a very good thing she didn't. She may be somewhat cold and bitter, but she wasn't heartless.

As Feliciano brought out the sandwiches, she couldn't help but stare at them...and drool. Try as she might, she couldn't control herself. She hesitated a bit, before grabbing a few of them at random and hungrily devouring them one by one. Her eyes filled with tears of joy with each bite. It was the first thing she had eaten in almost five days, and she didn't have to resort to stealing for it. If this was a dream, she never wanted to wake up. Her Pignite also took a few sandwhiches, but was a bit more civilized in how he ate them...somewhat ironic, considering that he was a pig.

[Jay]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc64/Heart-of-Thorns/FelisRosa.png);color:#45632c;][atrb=height,310][atrb=width,397][atrb=style,border:0 black none,bTable][scrolly:h(200),w(210),sy,as(padding:4px;margin-top:10px;margin-left:100px;)]A light laugh escaped Felis as he noticed Elena eating. In truth, he was not aware, really, of the number of days the girl had gone with out food and had simply assumed that she had a big appetite....which... to a chef, of which Felis assumed he'd fall into the guild of chefs if there every was one, was something to be happy about. "How does it taste?" he asked lightly more or less wanting to make sure that the food was alright... another chef trait, one could guess.... Assuming that the question had been posed to everyone, Rosa giggled a little to herself as she ate. "It's ALWAYS good Felis!" she chimed back before noming the rest of her sandwich up and going for a second one. The blond haired man chuckled a bit to himself and then seemed to realize he'd better snag something before it was all gone... heh. Taking up a sandwich rather daintily, Felis bit into it rather carefully making sure the flavor was up to his standards.. and indeed it was ^.^. This pleased the blond haired man to no end. [/scrolly]

[akira]

Once she got some food in her belly, she slowly began to settle down. She couldn't but feel a bit embarrassed by this, blushing brightly as she nodded in response "...it's wonderful...I...I'm sorry you had to see that. I don't know what came over me..." Of course, that was a lie...she knew exactly what came over her. She was both excited and incredibly happy. Anyone would be after going so long with no food.

Finally, everything was beginning to sink in, and she could no longer hold back the tears. "...no one has ever been this kind to before...I...I don't know how I'll ever repay you..." Before she got too mushy, she quickly wiped her eyes and grabbed another sandwich...eating it in a far more civilized manner than the ones before it.

[Jay]

[atrb=style,background-image:url(http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc64/Heart-of-Thorns/FelisRosa.png);color:#45632c;][atrb=height,310][atrb=width,397][atrb=style,border:0 black none,bTable][scrolly:h(200),w(210),sy,as(padding:4px;margin-top:10px;margin-left:100px;)]Feliciano Rossi could only smile rather lightly when Elena said she was sorry. Sorry? That was silly... it meant she enjoyed his cooking which, to a chef, was a great compliment in any instance. "No worries at all," he smiled only to notice then that she had started crying. Wait what? D: What was wrong? However, in another moment, it seemed that she had shoved the tears away and was calm again. As he took the reason into his own mind, Felis blinked a few seconds. No one had ever offered her a picnic or something of the like? Well that... wasn't nice .x. That was possibly the only thought that came to mind then and there, and though it was childish in nature to believe that some hadn't been invited to the simplest of pleasures, it still confused Feliciano for a few seconds. However, after a moment, the thought occurred to him that indeed, some, especially in this day and age given the economical crash and the like, couldn't afford such things.. Upon this epiphany of sorts, all Felis could do was frown even more. "There's no need to repay..." Felis answered back finally managing to catch his wording and align his thoughts. "Thank you for having lunch with us." Rosa, who was more or less trying to munch her way through yet another sandwich without eating the crust, was eying Felis carefully as he talked to Elena and was debating whether or not to try and dispose of the crust somehow before he noticed. However, after a few seconds, she realized that she should probably say something as well....erhm... though nothing really came to mind... ._.. Hm...And well... After a few seconds, she looked towards the Pignite. "Pst... wanna eat my crust for me... >> << >> I don't like it and Felis'll be mad if I don't eat it..." she whispered to the fire pig after a moment. [/scrolly]