When Malady drifted back into consciousness, the sun was reaching its zenith and the temperature had risen, but the stream where the Umbreon lay remained in dappled shade. Even once awake, she remained motionless for a brief while, still lying half-in, half-out of the water. The injuries accumulated over her journey across Johto still hurt, but the contrast with passing out half-dead from heatstroke was blissful. At the very least, she was well enough to travel.
She opened her eyes, stretched, and crept out of the riverbank's stand of trees. The road was visible in the distance, and she briefly thought of returning to it. But it was the middle of the day, and there was no telling how far she would have to go before finding water again. She would have to wait until dark before going anywhere.
Still thirsty, Malady returned to the stream and gulped down as much water as her stomach would hold, then flopped onto her side and writhed around on the rocky streambed with gritted teeth. Gravel dug into her wounds, but the rough stones dislodged the accumulated dirt and dried blood that clung to her skin and fur. Then, satisfied that the water had gotten the worst of the grime, she retreated to the water's edge and began to lick every inch of her body. She hadn't groomed herself properly in weeks, not since the Grimer. It felt so good to be clean again... but everything hurt so much. In truth, she was being far too zealous: licking and chewing at the burns from the previous night's attack until the blisters ruptured and scratching the much older hot spots until the sores oozed blood and pus.
But there was nothing Malady felt like she could do about the pain, any more than she could make the sun set faster. Pain and illness were natural forces to her, like storms; she could avoid them, but once she was caught in the wrong place all she could do was curl up into a ball and wait for them to pass. She was still hungry though... maybe she should find food now and have more time to travel that night. But she had no idea where to start. She had spent her life in the company of humans, and after the epidemic she had kept to the cities. There were occasional homes and stores with dried or canned food, domestic varieties of berry bushes in gardens, and tiny non-pokemon creatures like mice living in walls, attics and cellars. But here in the Safari Zone she was completely out of her element. The wild berry bushes were harder to recognize and the animals were either up trees, underground, or too elusive to catch. But this river... it could be the only source of water for miles. Surely at some point other creatures would come to drink; at the very least prey, but maybe even another survivor who could help her!
She couldn't just lie around and wait, though. She had to move... do something... anything. If she couldn't follow the road, she would follow the river. Downstream was toward the ocean, where she had come from... she had to go upstream, towards somewhere new. Taking a brief look around, making sure she remembered where the road was, Malady began to limp upstream along the riverbank, hoping she would find an ally, or at least sustenance.
((Moved to this post because it's in turn: PeaceArt79, do you want to have our characters meet at some point in the next turn or two? It seems like Ferald might be joining Kitana's group, so it's probably a good idea to avoid being alone in the middle of nowhere...))
