Trial of Clay: Laguna

"A shared death is not a shared fate," Seta says. "There are as many paths through these halls there are souls that wander within."

They turn, and the grayness moves down the hall. They lead you to a door-shaped hole in the wall, Not a door, because that would require a barrier of some sort. Wood, a hinge. This is more like a taught black curtain strung up in a rectangular piece.

"Through here," Seta says, standing next to the door, ushering you through. "You have returned once. I hope you can do so again. But that will depend on you."

You pass through the darkness. It's as brief as blinking, and you find yourself in a new world.

TRIAL OF CLAY
You're on the bank of a wide, rushing river. Your feet sink deep into the thick, gray clay. It pulses with life, importance, as if wishing to take a more meaningful shape.

Something watches you from the river, popping above the water just to disappear a moment later.

Make a vessel from the living clay to house your Pokemon's spirit.

SPOILER: Click to show

{THEME}

Laguna

It took Laguna a few moments to even figure out where to begin. If she tried to break free of the clay that held her so firmly in place, she'd be swept down the river without any chance of success. And yet, there had to be something she could do. Ducking beneath the rushing waves, she only found more clay as the ice-cold waters froze her to the bone.

As if expecting to find something within the clay, she began to dig her fingers deep into it, only pulling out large chunks of clay. It was cold, frozen, and hard, but it slowly became a bit malleable in her hands as it absorbed her warmth. It only froze her hands further, but an idea slowly began to form.

An old memory surfaced, of a time when she was happy. Just a little girl, playing with playdough and making little sculptures of her favorite Pokemon. It seemed like such a silly thing to remember, but feeling the clay within her hands she quickly made the decision.

She didn't know if there were multiple ways to pass these tests or not, but it was the only thing she had to work with. Marina was almost intangible, barely pushing against the rushing waves. Like a spirit without a body, Laguna would grant her a new one. She'd make it with her own two hands, kneeling in the freezing river.

"Marina," Laguna began practically having to shout over the sounds of the rushing waters. "Just hold on! I'll be there soon!"

Laguna sputtered for breath as the rushing water tumbled her back and forth, spinning her around at the bottom of the river almost like a death spiral. She nearly drowned before managing to pop her head back up for just a moment to breathe, before being pulled along once more.

It took her almost a minute before she finally caught a glimpse of her pokemon once again. The Brionne was desperately clutching a rock near the water's edge, struggling to hold on. There was no way Laguna could reach her, without getting swept past with the rushing waters. And so she did the only thing she could think of. She held the clay body above her head and tossed it over at the rock as hard as she possibly could before her legs were swept out beneath her.

For a moment, everything seemed to go white. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't see, she couldn't even tell which way was up or down. The freezing waters sapped her strength, and it took everything she had simply not to drown. Time seemed to no longer matter, only death awaited her.

She was barely even aware of a pressure on her back, her skin too numb to feel almost anything. And yet, a warmth suddenly slowly spread across her curled-up frame. She felt water vanish and immediately took the second to catch a desperate breath of fresh air before finally noticing.

She was in a massive bubble.

Her eyes flew open immediately as she coughed, desperate for air. She felt almost weightless, floating in a bubble that seemed to defy gravity itself. Lo and behold, her rescuer was none other than Marina herself. The Brionne balanced the bubble she had blown across her nose, bouncing it straight out of the water and onto the empty shores.

The bubble popped and Laguna collapsed to the ground, struggling to move after such a near-death experience. And it took her another few moments to realize that her Brionne was full of life once again. One of her eyes seemed a little higher than the other on her face, but the Brionne had effortlessly climbed out of the water to look after their trainer.

Not just their trainer, but their best friend.

Laguna somehow found the energy to quietly laugh, slowly reaching a hand out to gently feel her Pokemon's fin. "Marina," She spoke after another few moments of trying to catch her breath. "Don't ever scare me like that again."

The Brionne only seemed to laugh, giving her a look in response as if the feeling was exactly mutual.

Cold, on the verge of tears, and barely with the energy to move, they simply hugged as hard as they could. Eventually, everything would fade and the Trial would end, but they'd have each other. Always.