video

[neededlassie]

[The screen flickers on to show a boy who looks like he’s a little bit in a fog. Behind him, a Buizel bounces around happily through the snowdrifts, nearly disappearing only to poke her head up every now and then, her whiskers and fur caked with snow.]

Hello? Is anyone out there? My name is Shaun Mars. There was this lady who called herself my mom, and she gave me a backpack full of food and clothes and stuff, and I sorta...just wanted to know if that had happened to anyone else. And also, if the food was...safe to eat. It’s like rice, and I think there’s fish and vegetables and stuff too, or something.

I think I might've gotten someone else's Pokegear thing. It says it's my birthday today, but my birthday was two days ago.

Comments

Re: Action

[naive_nature]

Oh, most certainly! I bet all the lifeguards here have them!

Action

[neededlassie]

[That reassurance pleases him, even if he'd already figured it out himself.]

I got lucky. I don't really like water, but Susie can keep me safe if I have to cross it anyway.

Re: Action

[naive_nature]

Do you know how to swim?

Action

[neededlassie]

[That makes his manner change a little. He looks down at his feet.]

I used to.

Action

[naive_nature]

[He looks a bit confused.] Used to? ....Did something happen?

Action

[neededlassie]

[Shaun is silent for a long moment.

If this was someone he knew or was related to, he might be inclined to tell him at least part of the story. How he spent four days treading water in a well, with cold rain mercilessly beating down on his head and nothing but a locked grate above him. How every time it rains, he almost hyperventilates at the sound of the water pattering on the window. How it took him three weeks of therapy to feel safe in a bathtub.]

...I don't wanna talk about it.

Re: Action

[naive_nature]

All right. I understand. [What could have happened to this poor kid?]

Action

[neededlassie]

[A lot. A lot is the answer to that question.]

Are you on your way to Cherrygrove?

Re: Action

[naive_nature]

Yeah, that's right. I hear that the bigger cities have more to offer. Are you going too?

Action

[neededlassie]

Yeah, I am.

I heard it's about three days to the next city from here, though. Do you go places on your own a lot?

Re: Action

[naive_nature]

I heard the same.

Alone? Well, sometimes. I suppose it depends on the situation. When I was in Africa, though, we always traveled with a group.

Action

[neededlassie]

You've been to Africa? Did you get to see any lions?

Re: Action

[naive_nature]

[Grins.] Yeah! I was there for six months on a mission trip. We did a lot of good, building houses, teaching kids to read, that sort of thing.

Lions, oh yes! In fact, I saw a huge pride of lions just outside one of the villages! There were all sorts of animals that the local people were used to that you wouldn't even think of seeing outside a zoo!

Action

[neededlassie]

[Shaun doesn't know what a mission trip is, but he's the smarter Mars child, he can figure it out.]

That's really neat! Were you ever scared the lions were gonna eat you? Cause they weren't in cages.

Action

[naive_nature]

Not so much. Lions don't like to go after people. They fight back too much. They'd much prefer a zebra or gazelle, yeah? Though, I nearly got bitten by a very poisonous snake...

Action

[neededlassie]

Oh no! Are you okay?

[This kid's biggest adventure was being kidnapped and trapped in a well for four days, which seems pretty sanitary in comparison.]

Did you have to go to the hospital?

Re: Action

[naive_nature]

Oh, no, it didn't get me, thank goodness. It was a Black Mamba! The deadliest snake known to man! I didn't even see it in the grass. Thankfully my guide was keeping an eye out. He moved so quickly and darted his arm out like this- [he jabs the air.] and he grabbed it around the back of it's head! It was amazing!

Action

[neededlassie]

[Shaun jumps back a step when the older boy's arm darts out and grabs at the air, his eyes as wide as saucers.]

Were you scared? Was he scared?

Re: Action

[naive_nature]

It was a bit scary, yeah. But he wasn't scared a bit. He took out his knife and killed it right away, so it couldn't hurt anyone else.

Action

[neededlassie]

Whoa. He was really brave. Do those kinds of snakes eat people a lot?

Re: Action

[naive_nature]

Well, not really, they're too small to eat a person, but they're very poisonous. They're also very fast!

Action

[neededlassie]

Snakes eat things bigger than them all the time, though, don't they?

Re: Action

[naive_nature]

Yeah, but it'd take a pretty big snake to eat a full grown human. [He laughs.]

Action

[neededlassie]

[Shaun smiles.]

Oh, like an anaconda? I read a book about snakes.

Re: Action

[naive_nature]

Yes, something more of that nature. It would still have to be really, really big though! [He laughs.]