This Damned Job | Spartan

We're painted red
to fit right in

It wasn't often that Elinda deliberately avoided things, but the Gala had been trouble. Frankly the kind that she hadn't had to deal with in years, and the first thing that the trainer did following the events of Vega was immediately head north. Into the relative safety of the Gurios Mountains as she had done in the past, and straight on through to the city on the other side of the mountain range.

All for the simple fact that she needed time. Time to think, and to reevaluate. The cold did wonderful things to stimulate the mind, and Elinda was used to it enough that her usual black shirt, pants and boots were more than enough with just the crimson travel coat to guard against the worst of the mountain air as she walked through Nair's streets, hands stuffed inside her pockets.

Well, the first and foremost question she had to deal with was a simple one. What was she going to do next? When Elinda had chosen to travel to the region she had done so for a couple of reasons, albeit neither of them had anything to do with Stellara as a specific place. The first had been to work with Beldum and get him back to where he had been before. Simple enough, all he needed there was experience and enough battling to evolve. Nothing that couldn't be done in Hoenn or another region she was familiar with. The second reason, however, had been more a spur of the moment decision tied into the first. A farewell tour of sorts, something to remember since Elinda was well aware that she wasn't who she used to be. Opportunities to go out on grand adventures were becoming more and more rare as she got older - she was still in her prime physically, but between a family life and other responsibilities those chances were slowly slipping away. Again, though, not something that couldn't be done elsewhere as Elinda had only chosen this region for the fact that it wasn't one she'd already visited. A chance to relax and recapture a few old memories in the process.

She wasn't looking to get pulled into another war.

Because that was where things were going to go. It might not have happened yet but what this new group had done in Vega wasn't something just anyone could do. Aside from requiring a significant degree of manpower it had financial backing and training behind it - the tactical gear made that readily apparent. And more to the point Elinda had seen this before. In a different time and place with different people, but all the signs were still there. The only difference was that it had started with a whisper in Tokai, a single assassination that Elinda felt she was in no small way partly to blame for. But here? Here it was going to start with a bang, and what scared Elinda about that was she didn't actually know who was involved this time. All she knew was that she wouldn't be. Couldn't be. The last time Elinda had tried to help in a similar scenario she'd only made things worse, and at personal significant cost.

So that was the question. Leave, or stay? And if she did choose the latter, what would it mean in the long run?

Almost without realizing it, though, Elinda had crossed paths with another individual who seemed more than willing to echo a similar frustration to the sky. Having been rather preoccupied with what was going on in her own head the blond hadn't really noticed that her feet had carried her into the city's central square, and for the most part she was alone in the empty space. All save for one rather significant exception, another woman who was bellowing at the sky. Not someone that Elinda herself recognized, but at this point it didn't particularly matter.

"... guess I'm not alone on that, eh?" Elinda started with a weak smile, looking the other person over as she approached them. All the while, however, keeping a relatively safe and respectful distance of a few meters. Going off the look of the area she could only assume the other individual had gone out there to be alone, all the more likely given the brief verbal display just now.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

---

Beldum - Level 16. Take Down.

Ferroseed - Level 5. Growl, Tackle.

Skarmory - Level 5. Peck, Leer.

Aron - Level 5. Tackle, Harden, Mud Slap

Staryu - Level 7. Tackle, Harden, Water Gun, Rapid Spin

@tag