Tiamat's Circus

Anima couldn’t help but feel her smile try to falter, for a moment, as she heard about this ‘ghost’. Of course, it was likely that they existed; but the meat of the story was… Something else. It was almost ominous sounding, the way one of their servants offered to ‘show them’ what happened, only to never be seen again. And then, for her parents to have told her she had to let go… Perhaps, then, was the Servant the ghost in the story, and not the grandfather? Or had the parents been responsible for the Servants’ grandfather’s death? Or, perhaps even more... had the servant been planning to kill Anneliese…?! Only the first concept seemed remotely… Interesting, from a supernatural perspective. The other two aspects, however… Anima was only taken from this state of mind, as Jacklyn arrived to greet them… And immediately mentioned the man in the mask. She frowned, for a moment; visibly, before nodding. “...Actually, I will… Definitely believe you,” Anima chuckled lightly, rubbing at the side of her neck. “His name was Brady, and he was weird as…” she trailed off, letting the others carry on the conversation for a moment as she set to softening her expression. It was then, of course, that Jacklyn suggested they take a photo of them with the ‘first major landmark’ of their journey… The weird, half-sunken statue. “Oh, er... Right, of course, I can take your photos!” Anima almost immediately jumped in, voice a bit more enthusiastic than it should have been, as long as she didn’t have to… "Oh, I'll take one for you guys if you want too!" “Huh?” Anima paused for a moment, before shaking her head slightly. “No, you, um, you don’t have to do that,” she murmured, grip on Confi tightening ever so slightly as she gave an apologetic smile. “I, er… Confi’s camera-shy,” she tried to excuse herself; even if it was a flimsy lie, it was one that couldn’t easily be contested… And if she didn’t want to admit, or didn’t want to voice that she wasn’t comfortable having her photo taken, she didn’t have to. Instead, without waiting for any further prompting, she knelt down and put Confi down. She then rummaged through her backpack for a moment, to pull out her PokeDex. It was scratched up, been repaired, had buttons replaced and had been bashed several times… All by people who had owned it before Anima, and before she had gotten it, but it was hers; and the camera, at least, functioned well enough to take some pictures of her friends. It stalled for a moment as she opened the camera, but after a second, she saw a reasonably clear picture come onto the screen, and set about lining it up to catch both Anneliese and Jacklyn… Even as their faces scrunched up. “Ah… Right, that thing...” she murmured, before spamming the picture button roughly ten times in quick succession. It was always best to go for quantity, and then pick out the best one to have printed, she had been told. After that moment of repeatedly taking photos, she quickly folded the PokeDex back closed, before stuffing it back in her backpack. “Well then--” she began, acutely aware of the pounding headache the statue was likely giving her friends, and hoping to alleviate that pain for them. “We should move on now, we, uh, we don’t want to burn too much daylight on this leg of our, er, adventure, after all!” she explained, already beginning to move on herself. Hopefully, if she was lucky, they’d follow without questioning the strangeness of the statue-- For as long as they didn’t question it, she didn’t have to question it.

Marshall was pleased to see that Gene seemed to have things under control, having dispatched his Drengr with only a bit more trouble. She’d have to remember that in the future; as while she was poised for an ambush attack, that her allies may not always be quite so… Ready? She furrowed her brow. That wasn’t the word. Capable. Not in the idea that they weren’t capable of taking care of themselves, but in that… Their strengths lied elsewhere; and she’d need to give more warning, and think further ahead next time. She took a deep breath, adjusting her tie with one hand, as she let her weapon fade from the other. All of this is going to take some getting used to, even now… Ah, but there's no use slowing down yet. She followed after Gene after only a moment, doing what she could to make sure she walked in a casual, yet quiet manner; as there was no telling how many Drengr there were total in this castle. It was only after they walked through what felt like a maze-- A corridor which led to another door, which in of itself led to a raised platform as well as a pair of stairwells… “If I know the others… They’re liable to go upwards and only upwards, which means to go down would be a bad idea…” she murmured under her breath, tilting her head to the side slightly as she thought. “So our best course of action…” “H-Hey...you may want to take a look at this..." Her attention was grabbed, in an instant, as Gene spoke up, pointing out some more of the scenery around them that they could see from this raised platform. Of particular note, were several other buildings, including one particularly large building at the center of it all; likely the ‘center of power’, if she had to guess. “...Ah. That’s…” she murmured, cutting herself off before she could produce something as useless or witless as ‘lovely’ or ‘just great’. That sort of idle chatter had no place here, after all. Instead, she chose to narrow her eyes, scanning the road below them for… Well, just about anything of note; Drengr Patrols, identifiable symbols. Anything about the location they overlooked. And what she saw… Wasn’t exactly inspiring. To start things off, there was a trio of Drengr in a patrol of sorts with what appeared to be a Coyote Warg leading them, off in the direction of the left staircase. There was also another landing of sorts, similar to the one they were on, with a Drengr standing guard there; and to the right, the sight aws the same. Not to mention another group of Drengr walking in their direction, in a sort of ‘three + 1’ patrol. And if that was what she saw with her limited vision here… “...Too dangerous,” Marshall replied, flatly, as she began to back away. “Based on how calm they are, we can guess that Sabrina didn’t go this way; leaving only the direction Abby and you split off in for her to have gone. I suggest we begin backtracking, and regroup before we get ourselves killed,” she stated flatly, already moving to retrace their steps without hearing Gene’s reply. She wanted to think that it was because he would agree with her; because he would see reason. But she also knew… Well, that there was no time to waste, was all. So it was that she made short work of the distance they had traveled; no longer searching its every nook and cranny as she walked. She would have ran, but doing so would make a bit… Too much noise for her liking, and so, a power-walk was best. Climbing down the rubble was a bit of a challenge, and yet… Well, that wasn’t what weighed so heavily on her mind. If anything, the thought that stood out the most was frustration. The issue with that, of course, was finding a target for it to be aimed at. She could hardly be frustrated with Gene; as he had simply followed someone. In that fact, he was the only one who had done 'right' in her mind. Perhaps, then, she was annoyed with Sabrina, who ran off on her own; but in that manner, shouldn’t she also have been annoyed with herself, and Abby? Of course, while they were both only looking for the girl, she hadn’t particularly waited for Gene to follow-- And Abby hadn’t known for sure that Sabrina had gone this direction either. No, if she was frustrated with anything… It was their group’s knack for never saying anything. “...So, it was this way that Abby and - hopefully - Sabrina went, yes?” Marshall asked, glancing back to where she hoped Gene was, provided he had followed, as she came to stop at the ‘entrance’ they had all entered through, gesturing in the direction she hadn’t gone. “We should do what we can to find them and catch-up; if we ran into a patrol group, they surely must have as well, and…” she trailed off. “Well, we dispatched them as efficiently as we did only because we took the initiative and ambushed them,” she explained. “So, if they weren’t as lucky…” she trailed off, hoping she didn't have to finish the sentence.

“...Now, dodge to the right… Astonish.” Anima directed Confi with a calm voice, eyes narrowed on the battle as she kept her hands clasped behind her. She watched as Confi took the direction in stride, pink eyes diverting from the swirling stomach of the Poliwag in front of them as she tumbled forward in a rightward arc, coming to a stop right in front of the Pokemon… Before letting out a piercing shriek, ghostly aura rushing-forwards in that instant. The Poliwag stumbled backwards, burbling for a moment, before slumping forwards, unconscious. Anima smiled then, kneeling down as Confi trundled back, patting the Pokémon on the head slightly, and offering some food as a treat in return. “...Thanks for… helping me work out some stress here, Concon. I know they’ve not been… Too exciting to battle so far,” she tapped the Corsola on the head. “But it’s been nice to watch the fruits of our labor. I’m… Feeling better now; it feels more natural,” she smiled, even as the Corsola playfully tackled the palm of her hand. “I know, I know. Let’s do it one more time and see what comes out, alright? Maybe something stronger will pop-up,” she pat the Pokémon on their head, before rising to her full height. In response, Confi trundled back forwards into the Marsh, standing at the ready, and waiting for Anima’s instruction. “...Look up, and use Astonish,” she instructed, clasping her hands behind herself, as the Coral Pokémon raised her head to the sky-- And screamed. It was a… Novel use of the move, to be sure; in fact, to most people, using the move on the sky might have seemed idiotic. But when your Pokemon was slow… Anima’s eyes scanned the marsh around Confi, eventually locking into what appeared to be flashing lights darting through the reeds. They were hard to spot, but as they drew closer to Confi, it became much easier to pick them out. “...In front of you, to your right. It’s coming fast-- Harden,” Anima spoke calmly, even as her voice remained low; and despite the quiet way with which it was spoken, it came out so quickly and so naturally that, to her Pokémon, it was as if she had shouted it to the world. Confi’s surface went a pale white just as a blur of white, pink, blue, and even yellow shot from the depths of the marsh to slam into Confi; a glowing, pink beak attempting to pierce through the Corsola’s undead ‘skin’. “Before it can get away, stun it with Astonish,” she commanded, narrowing her eyes. Confi shrieked even louder, seemingly growing larger for a second as the Pokémon which had attacked her-- An Inkay, she realized-- A pokemon she had seen back home. Astonish will be weaker here, I think-- Isn’t it Dark Type? And it can hit Confi, so I need to be careful… But what was it Mom used to say about Inkay, if I saw one at the Beach…? To… “Look away,” Anima narrowed her eyes as the Wild Pokémon rallied itself; lights at the top of its head began to flash various colors. She felt her stomach begin to turn as her eyelids grew heavy, though she didn’t dare look away from its hypnosis. It wasn’t aimed at her, so it wouldn’t hit the right nerves in her brain, but the same wasn’t guaranteed for her friend. She glanced slightly to the side, and for a moment, she worried that their attacker had succeeded, as she saw Confi’s face buried in the water, but… Confi’s back legs peddled idly, pushing up water, marsh, and grass in front of her as she trundled towards her opponent, unabated by the flashing lights! “...And…” Anima trailed off, eyes narrowing on the Inkay slightly, watching as it kept up the barrage of lights… “...Tackle,” Anima instructed, smiling as Confi was almost pressing up against the (now particularly worried looking) Pokémon, pausing for a second, before looking up and charging forwards with a tiny, screeching war-cry. The impact was hard-- Harder than Anima was expecting, and elicited a small smile from the trainer as she nodded her head forwards. Even still, the Inkay had barely taken the hit before letting loose its own screech, and surging towards Confi at tremendous speed, beak slamming into and pecking away at the Coral Pokémon several times. She knew Confi would have been fine had this been their only fight; especially having used Harden before the battle had even truly begun, but… “Don’t let the battles before change the outcome of this one,” she instructed Confi as she forced her nerves to settle down. “Wait for the next attack, and… Tackle,” she instructed, as the Inkay reared back for one more Peck-- Only to meet Confi’s forehead in a sudden burst of speed. The Inkay recoiled from the hit, rearing back as if to peck one more time… before falling over backwards, floating in the water, facing the sky as it did so. “...Alright, up you go then,” Anima smiled, picking Confi up almost as soon as the battle was over, bringing the little Pokémon into a hug. “Thank you… You did wonderful,” she smiled, breathing a sigh of relief, even as the Pokémon's eyes began to droop in her arms. “...Yeah, I guess you’re probably pretty tired, huh?” she chuckled, tapping the Coral-Pokémon's forehead. “But-” "Anima, I found a new friend! She was hiding under my hat!" Anima smiled, as she turned to Anneliese, and gave a slight wave. “A-Ah? Another?” Anima looked almost gob-smacked at the prospect, mouth slightly agape. “Already? But you just caught Leopold-” she began, slumping slightly. For a moment, she wondered if she had been going about this the wrong way; after all, she had hardly caught anything, and here one of her companions was with three Pokémon already! But… Everyone does these things their own way. She smiled gently as she walked forwards, awkwardly stepping to the right to unstick herself from the marsh as she did so, and… Inadvertently revealing a trail of unconscious Poliwags, which had been conveniently hidden by her silhouette. “What’s, um… What’s the little guy or gal’s name?” she asked, leaning forwards to get a better look at the Rookidee. Anneliese presented the Pokémon, who turned away from Anima immediately and gazed off into the distance. "This ray of sunshine is Eleanora!" Anima snickered at Anneliese’s comment, before returning to her full height, and holding Confi parallel to the Pokémon. “I… I see,” she nodded, trying to figure out if Anneliese actually had meant that sarcasm or not, before finally caving to her instinct to deflect. “Sorry, I know this is going to be a weird question, but, did you, er… See a guy with a weird mask on your way here?” she’d ask, staring idly at the ground. "Mask? Oh, no not at all. I haven't seen any guys actually. Oh except for that young boy I battled but he wasn't wearing a mask....At least I do not think so." She screwed up her face as if trying to remember. Anima paused for a moment, nodding slightly. “...Good, then. Perhaps he was just a ghost, then, given how strange he was,” she chuckled lightly, looking up to Anneliese with a smile. “A spooky-marsh like this… Seems just the place for someone to haunt, don’t you think?” "Is that so? The only ghost I knew was in the basement and that was certainly not marshy at all. Oh but I suppose you would know better than I do would you not?" “You had a ghost in your basement?!” Anima brought a hand to her mouth instinctively as she began to smile. “Oh-- I was about to say we should go find Jacklyn, but you have got to tell me more--” she began, sounding… Excited, well and truly, for what may have been the first time since she had begun this journey.

…In a way, Anima almost felt bad for how quickly she had excused herself. But at the same time, there was nothing to do for it but move on, and try to blow off some steam; be that through travel or battle. She nodded along as Jacklyn, behind her, shouted something about this being route 102; it seemed that naming conventions were as simple as Anima had hoped, so for now, there was little risk of getting lost… Until paths split, of course, and then there was only risk of getting lost. But for now, the path remained unsplit, and so, she walked, Confi in hand. There were many pokemon, and many trainers, as far as she could see; so there was no question as to if she’d be able to find something to train against, and yet…Despite her words, and despite her talk of big-game, she felt little pull towards training just yet. “Further in,” she told herself as she walked. “...We’ll train further in. I’d… Like to get ahead of the others,” she chuckled lightly to herself, as she spoke to Confi; the undead-coral simply chirruping in response, as if to say she understood. In some ways, Anima could only assume she did. Still, perhaps because of this, she found herself reaching a strange area around the center of the route rather quickly, where it seemed to split off into two paths which wrapped around a large, marshy center; as if beckoning travelers to go around the marsh rather than through it. And yet, at the center, there was… A massive statue, partially obscured, as if having been sunken into the marsh. It was large and oval shaped, almost like a Clobbopus… Almost. Stranger still, there was someone standing in front of it: a man, with black hair. Curiosity, of course, killed the skitty; and while there were few more skittish than Anima on a bad day, she was also… Hopelessly curious, and so she found herself stepping into the marsh. It was uneven ground, and unpleasant to step into. Her face instinctively turned to one of disgust as she stepped through, socks soaked in an instant, and she became acutely aware that she would, at the very least, need to change socks and do laundry asap. But that, wasn’t why she had stepped into the marsh, and so she walked up until she was near enough to the man to get a better look at the statue, without looking at him. “Excuse me, uh, sir,” she began, holding Confi tightly as she spoke. “But I, er… Saw you looking at this statue so intently, and wanted to ask, um… do you know what this statue is of?” The man turned to face her, at her approach; revealing himself to be sporting a gas-mask on his face, though, Anima tried not to show her surprise at this. "Of? Yes. Of course. Of. Course." He said. Then muttered those two words to himself again before speaking up. "But is that really what you should be worried about? Do you know how many contagions are in the air at any given moment? How can you just walk up to someone and talk to them without proper precautions? What if I had the plague?" He looked down and seemed to be thinking. "Do I? I don't think so. But I can't rule it out..." “...Because I’d, um… Hope that someone with the plague wouldn’t go out in public, for fear of hurting others,” Anima began to reason, trying to sort through his… Strange manner of speaking. If she was an outcast, he was a… She shook her head. “And I know I’m not sick, or Confi wouldn’t have let me out of bed, if that’s something you’re worried about,” she smiled as gently as she could. “Um… Is there a reason you’re worried about sickness and contagion, though? Is there something going around?” she asked, an almost worried tone to her voice. “Should I stop by at the next Pokémon Center for a vaccine…?” "A reason? Yes, yes there's a reason. A plague?" He laughed, in the barest sense of the word. Letting out an uncomfortably loud and brief "Ha!" before growing silent for a moment. Then, "do you not know? Can you not tell? No, you wouldn't know. No. Know." Like before he muttered these two words again. "You're not even from here....yes, yes. Of course. Of. Course." He seemed to grow a bit anxious and then he suddenly looked at Anima intently. "A trainer. You're a trainer. Which means. Which means, which means, which means....Yes, a battle. We should battle." He nodded and turned fully towards her. "A triple battle. I want a triple battle. I need to do a triple battle." Anima frowned. She didn’t like… Anything about the way he spoke. It was as if he knew something she didn’t, as if she was in some sort of grave danger, and… As if he was looking down on her, for not knowing as much as he did. So when he mentioned a battle… For a second, she was ready to take him up on it. No matter how scary he looked, she was ready to battle him… Until he mentioned the type of battle, and all excitement seemed to drain from her face. “Er… Sorry, but I don’t have two Pokémon, let alone three,” she explained. “I… Er… I’m hoping to specialize in Ghost Type Pokémon, since they’re the ones I feel the most comfortable around,” she continued, before shaking her head. “But… What is it that I don’t know? That I can’t, um… Tell?” "Statue?" The man slowly turned to the statue and stared at it. Then. "Ha! Yes. Statue. That's all it is. Of course that's all it is. But is it? Is anything really just what it is? Are you?" He turned back to Anima. "No. You're. Something. Something about you. You're going to be important. How, why, when...." He shook his head, roughly, and his eyes looked more agitated than before. "Keep going. Find out. But no, you shouldn't keep going. You shouldn't find out. If you do, you won't be able to not find out." Anima frowned, again. “I won’t be able to find out what?” she asked, her voice growing more… Annoyed, than anything else, as she furrowed her eyebrows. “And who are you, anyways, to declare that I’ll be anything of note?” she murmured, voice almost weary of getting an answer. “To declare what my destiny will be?” "Who am I? Hehehe....who AM I? Yes. How can I really know? Name, I have a name. It's Brady. But that's not who I am, is it?" He stared at Anima for a while. She noticed that he kept tapping his leg over and over, more rapidly as he continued to talk. "Destiny...no, there's no such thing. Just science. Logic. Facts...Yes, science, logic, facts, science, logic, facts." His eyes closed as he repeated this. And when his eyes opened again he seemed calmer. "I don't know what you are here for. But this region. It is...." his voice trailed off. He seemed to be trying to remember something, then asked Anima, "Where am I?" Anima swallowed uncomfortably. Had she just seen someone experience a mental breakdown…? She shook her head, and nodded. “We’re in route 102, and you just introduced yourself…?” she lulled her head to the side, slightly, unsure. “Are you… Er… Okay?” she asked, voice as unsure as that was a stupid question. "102...why...why 102...The Professor. Professor Cedar. I...was going to see the Professor." He glanced over at Anima. "Who are you? Did you...did you need something?" He took a step back as if expecting her to attack. “Ah, be careful…” Anima nodded. “Professor Cedar’s probably in a bad mood,” she advised. “But, er… My name is Anima, and I’m a new trainer. You were staring at this statue, and I came over to ask you about it,” she did her best to explain in as calm a fashion as she could; even if she didn’t fully understand the sudden shift. "I see...I see." He muttered. Then he glanced back at the statue and began backing away from it faster. "Oh. This. This is...what is it..." Anima could see a bit of panic return to his eyes. He looked back at Anima. "I. I should go. I need to. I need to do something. Something. Some. Thing..." He shook his head and continued to back away out of the marsh. “I… Er… Don’t see,” Anima replied, before shaking her head. “But, er… Be careful, and er… Good luck, Mr. Brady,” she waved, as she herself awkwardly began to look around. It was only as he wandered off completely, that she turned her attention back to the statue, taking a step towards it… Only to hear a slight ringing in her ears. She frowned, shaking her head rapidly, as she took a step back to clear her head. That did the trick, the ringing stopping as she glanced away, and… With Confi in hand, she took a deep breath. “That’s… Weird,” she murmured, glancing down towards the ground. It was only the chirp of Confi’s confusion that brought Anima back to focus, prompting her to nod. “You’re right…” she trailed off, eyeing the Pokemon around them, as a Poliwag seemed to emerge from the marsh, almost as if coming out of hiding. “I think… It’s time we stopped procrastinating, and started training,” she smiled, as she knelt down, and let Confi down to trundle towards their (eventual) foe.

Marshall was once again pleasantly surprised by her teammates; for she had honestly expected them to split away so as to explore the tower better. However, as she had heard armored footsteps decreasing in volume, she was more than ready to welcome Gene’s presence. It was, in fact, as she was debating whether or not to draw her weapon, that he pushed forwards. A smile came to her face, as she nodded. “Good idea,” she advised in a hushed tone. “Your swifter status will make scouting a more natural task,” she explained as he disappeared; and as true a compliment as it was, she knew in her heart she hadn’t said it just as a compliment either. He would need to be confident in his abilities, and aware of the boons he could make use of, if they were going to deal with any sort of threat effectively; and it never hurt to try and encourage someone to apply themself. So it was that when he returned with… Fair enough tidings, that she nodded, and adjusted her cap. “...Three Drengr. Armored, with weapons; not unlike those at the gate, then…” she trailed off. “With some careful planning, I think we can take them with ease,” she smiled, in an almost natural fashion; as if she was using this as practice for an eventual real smile. So it was that as she walked, approaching slowly and as quietly as she could, she continued to speak in a hushed tone. “...You have that spell, which creates a wall of water, yes?” she asked, hand situated on her hat. “I’m going to propose you use it to slow them down, as I attempt to pick them off with my weapon,” she explained, nodding. “I’ve yet to summon it, but I’ve full confidence it will manifest in the form I’ve imagined. As long as we can force them to come to us, we should make it out of this fight relatively unscathed,” she encouraged again with a slight nod. From that moment, she stayed silent until she rounded the corner, and began to assume a firing stance. As if summoned by that motion, the rune on the back of her hand began to glow, and what appeared to be a nondescript rifle, with a dark blue and black stock came to be in her hands, perfectly steadied in her arms as she examined the golden embellishments for a brief moment. In all reality, it was hardly a functional rifle; but Marshall had never truly known the inner workings and exact manufacturing of a rifle either. This, instead, was simply what a gun might look like in her mind; and so it is what manifested, and what would work for her purposes through magic. She lined the golden sights up with her target, the Drengr in the middle’s head… And pulled the trigger. The 'bullet' was slower than she expected; it was possible to perceive, but she knew that to be because it was made of magic, given the nature of the rifle. There was a loud noise that followed, though still quieter than she was to expect, and as the Drengr in the center began to turn to see its source… The bullet met its mark, in a bloody, terrible fashion. It fell unceremoniously, messily to the ground, as Marshall took a deep breath, and steadied herself. The recoil was more than she was expecting as well, but that was from her inexperience, rather than the magical nature of the rifle. “Counting on you,” she instructed, no longer lowering her voice as she watched the other two carefully. Gene waited for the moment to strike, taking the shot that Marshall fired as his signal. "...alright...here's Water Wall..." he muttered, the sigil on his hand glowing as he conjured up a Water Wall exactly where he was told and at the precise moment too. The Drengr, meanwhile, had lost no time closing the distance before them; and only stopped as the wall came up between them and the Exalted. For a moment, a crucial moment, they looked confused. It was in this moment that Marshall swapped her aim to the one closest to her, teeth grit as he began to ready himself. “...Go for the one closest to you,” she called out to Gene as that one swung its halberd through the wall, destroying it, and the one closer to her lunged forwards. “Durch die Wälder!" she shouted as she steadied her aim, unabated by the lunging beast, and fired again; the shot… Different this time, as rather than a bullet, a blue bead of water shot forth from the barrel of her gun. For a second, it looked as if it might miss the Drengr, going low... "Durch die Auen!" -before arching upwards in an instant, as if directed to do so, spearing straight through the Drengr’s skull. Matter-mixed-with-water as the Drengr slumped to the ground, all momentum continuing as Marshall stepped swiftly to the side to get out of its way, taking a deep breath, and a moment to steady herself as she turned her attention to Gene and his foe; hoping to see him faring well.

Anima had only gotten through the first of the journal articles when Jacklyn and Anneliese had arrived; though she hadn’t actually tuned back into them. It was their arrival, in fact, that sparked her flipping through the pages back to some of the research notes, specifically those noting locations and sightings of ghost-type Pokémon. “...So Ruins, huh…? Guess that makes sense…” she muttered to herself, nodding as Confi idly toddled around her silently in a circle. “Ah, but that forest sounds interesting-” She had only just finished speaking, when Anneliese asked her first question, shaking her head idly as she read the book. “I… Uh… I’m broke, but no, these are some research notes the professor gave me. Scientific papers and journal articles-- the kind of stuff you use when studying for a paper in your English classes,” she tried to explain, smiling gently as she neatly pushed the various papers together into a pile, and tucked them under an arm. After which, she began to take off her backpack, and began the laborious process of finding her journal to stuff the papers into. “They’re on-” And then, the second question was asked; in response to what Jacklyn had said, no doubt. “Are you two perhaps outcasts as well?” It was phrased in such an innocent way; so much so that it blindsided Anima almost completely. For a second, she stood there in almost complete shock, her smile fading gradually as she realized what had been said, and her movements went slack. For a second, she could only think… …It’s odd. Hearing someone finally say it. There was a reason, Anima knew, after all, why she had never felt like she had truly had friends growing up. She had seen groups of friends, and been around groups of friends; they had called each other friends, but she knew there was a reason that she was only ever on the outskirts of those groups. She knew, that there was a reason why she often happened to be left out of things for such innocuous reasons, such as thinking she wouldn’t want to go even if invited. She knew that there was a reason that she knew so much about each and every one of the people she had called friends, as she had listened to their every crisis… And yet they knew next to nothing about her, save her name in return. And was a reason that she was so curious about a type of Pokémon most often shunned simply for its way of life. It was just odd to hear someone come out and say it. It took her a moment, as she carefully placed the research materials back into her journal, and placed them back in her bag, to reply; closing her bag as she manufactured a gentle smile, and nodded. “...I… suppose so,” she replied, in the tone of one who wanted to do anything but speak anymore, as she adjusted her things in her backpack,. “...I’m, uh..” she trailed off, rubbing at the back of her head. “Well, it’s…” she murmured again, as if trying to find the words. “...I’m going to head on. I’d like to get a head start on my training today,” she explained, her voice and tone quiet as she glanced between her companions, waiting for any potential objections, before… Heading onwards. Not being close enough to hear was generally a good enough excuse not to discuss anything further.

In any other situation, Anima might have felt bad… No, that wasn’t correct. In any other situation, Anima would have felt bad; she would have felt like Jacklyn had overstepped her boundaries, or that Anneliese had gone a bit too far, even if it was only driven by ignorance. Yes, in any other situation, on any other day, Anima would have liked to think that she would have scolded Anneliese, or tried to apologize for her; but perhaps today, and the day before it, had simply just been so weird that her morals were slipping. She didn’t go so far as to chide, harass, or continue the bullying, of course. It wasn’t as if she desperately wanted to point out that the old woman in front of them could certainly have filled the outcast role on her own, and that she didn’t need to stick to any labels; or that she very well could have been some sort of wicked witch, given her personality. She certainly hadn’t already thought of several other insults hidden behind flattery as well, given how wise the professor must have been in her myriad fields, given that wisdom does come with age. No, no, instead, she simply sighed, rubbed awkwardly at her neck, and… Spoke up, suddenly feeling somewhat bad for letting the girls loose so easily. “Er… Well, regardless,” Anima tried to push past the naive-insult that Anneliese had accidentally stumbled into, as she spoke; neither apologizing for it either. “If you put together the PokeDex information for this region, um…” she trailed off, closing her eyes. She needed to move the conversation along before they got bogged down-- And so, she made for the first question which came to mind. “...I have an interest in ghost-type Pokémon,” she explained, squeezing Confi tightly, as if to punctuate the comment with one of Confi’s disgruntled chirrups. “Do you… know of any that may be able to be found, or seen nearby?” she’d ask, tilting her head idly to the side as she spoke. "Hm?" The professor looked over to Anima, then down at Confi. "Ahh..." Suddenly she walked away from the door. There's noises inside of ruffling paper and things being knocked over. Then she walked out, winced at the sun again, and pushed a stack of papers at Anima. "There's some notes there." "Thank you," Anima smiled; as happy to have gotten answers, as she was to have, hopefully, defused the situation. "I'll... Er..." she trailed off, glancing blankly at the other two for a moment. "I can't speak for the others, but, I'll get out of your hair now-- Thank you again," she gave a slight bow as she took the papers, and began to back away from the house. She only paused to look back up, as she heard a slight rustling. “Here,” the professor called out, before nonchalantly tossing a Dusk-Ball her way; which Anima lost no time in catching in the same mess of jumbled items she held both Confi and the papers in. “Thank you…!” she gave another, more sincere bow this time, before briefly wondering if the others would follow... And resolving that, ultimately, they surely would eventually as she retreated towards the center of the town. It was only once she found a suitable spot, that she plopped Confi down onto the ground, and put the Dusk-Ball with the rest of her trainer-stuffs in her backpack, before finally rifling through the papers with… More interest than she would have liked to admit; though, she had to be careful given the fact that many of these papers felt… Old, as if they had been printed out, or written on ages ago. Still, for the most part, they were… Actually what she expected from the professor, in contrast to the rest of the woman. “...I see…” she trailed off, reading them very closely as she began to wiggle slightly from side to side. “...It’s theorized that their knack for scaring people comes mostly as a defense mechanism,” she read the words with a slight nod. “Though others instead have seemed to come to enjoy it, it is rarely ever done out of malice, but rather as a way to cement themselves as being,” she continued. “Ooh, now this is interesting…” she cocked her head to the side, trailing under the words as she spoke. “For further research, I’ve listed some locations that may be of interest due to ghost-sightings…” she trailed off, taking note of the locations… And then continuing to read on to the next page. “Are Ghost Types truly the Dead Returning to Us, or are they Species of Ethereal Beings That Simply Resemble What We Imagine the Dead to Be? Or, How I Stopped Worrying, and Learned to Love the Ghost Type…” she trailed off. “...What a terrible essay name. I have to read this now…” she trailed off; deciding it was interesting enough that she wouldn’t even question why, along with a flurry of actual research notes, answers, and information, she had been handed several printed-scientific papers on the matter of ghost-types as well.

To be completely honest, Marshall had fully resigned herself to the fact that Sabrina would… Completely disregard her warnings that they could, in fact, likely avoid getting into combat quite this early. That had been the modus-operandi of their group so far, and so it was as Marshall was sizing their foe up, and doing her best to calculate the distance between them… That Sabrina listened to reason. The good Conductor did little to show her surprise, save glance at the group’s most vocal member, before nodding, lightly. “...Don’t get too discouraged, Lady Draconis. There will be plenty more to fight,” she chuckled lightly, bringing her hand up to her cap, as she set about to follow the group. It was always good to have someone keeping an eye out to see if they were being followed, after all; though nothing came of it. In fact, by the time they had gotten around the side and to the back of the castle, they had already found their entrance… Provided everyone could get up. For a moment, Marshall had a brief flashback to the dungeon with the puzzle of water; a deep worry setting in that, given the fact that she had (hopefully) changed weapons, she might be unable to invoke the same tricks she had used before to climb the vertical wall… Only for those despairing thoughts to disappear in a flash, as she watched Abby ascend through her own means, and lower her hammer for the others to use. Without a second thought, Marshall bounded forwards towards the wall at full speed; using her momentum to help her first begin to ascend the wall, and then using a mixture of strength and fading momentum to kick off of it, so as to reach the hammer. For a second, she felt as if her hands might slip, or that she might go careening downwards… But with great effort, as she kicked her legs back towards the wall, she found she could climb the rest of the way using the Hammer as an anchor-point. “Many thanks, and good thinking,” Marshall gave the closest thing she could to a smile to Abby, as she adjusted her cap, and rose to her full feet atop the ledge. Marshall frowned slightly as she walked into the castle, eyes darting across the carpet and tatters; it was a quintessential evil fortress, that was for sure. She had hoped to explore a bit, to perhaps gain some insight into their foe… But as she realized the first among them was conspicuously missing, she realized… That wasn’t going to happen. “Note to self: abating the dragon’s hunger for battle only seems to stoke the impatience. Perhaps more combat would have been suitable to tire her out…?” Marshall made a few quick mental notes to herself as she glanced behind herself, adjusting her cap. “...Sabrina’s gone,” she advised Abby in a raised voice. “I’m going to go look for her,” Marshall explained, assessing her position. The hall went left and right both; and she had… No good way to tell which one Sabrina had gone down. Both were dimly lit, and well traveled. “...I’m going left,” she added, dutifully, before setting off in that direction; using one of her gloved hands to scrape a trail of dust from one of the walls. It was always best to leave a sign, after all. The hall, of course, stretched on for much longer than she’d have liked; it seemed to wind a bit as well, until… Leading to a dead-end. Or at least, a dead-end as far as this floor was concerned. There was rubble blocking the path completely; having fallen in from the ceiling. The ceiling, thankfully, had another ceiling above it, which… Likely meant there was a hallway above it, as well as on the other side of the rubble. And it just so happened that the rubble had fallen in such a way, that she’d be able to climb it as if it was a staircase, and thus… She made the soundest of executive decisions, and began to walk up the rubble-staircase.

Of all the things Anima wanted to do, go up to a stranger’s house - one who was, as Anneliese had put it - an outcast’s house, and knock to see if anyone was home… Was among the last things she wanted to do. Of course, there were worse things that could happen, but… This early in the day, and she wasn’t feeling it. It felt as if her heart would burst from her chest at any moment, even as she held Confi close to herself. Every knock Jacklyn made only served to make it worse. And she knocked not once, but twice. And the door, worst of all… Opened, and someone was on the other side. “We’re, um… New trainers,” Anima admitted, trying-- No, praying, that she could answer before Jacklyn so as to head off any statements of grandeur. “Sorry to bother you, Miss, but, we were new in town, and…” she trailed off, trying to think of a good answer. Of course, there was… No good answer to give. They were just here, and looking for something to do. Hardly a compelling argument or reason to be here. But… Anima was hardly the best liar. “...To be honest, I’m not entirely sure why we’re here. I think… We’re, um, looking for something to do?” she explained, though her voice made it out to be more like a question than anything else, as she cocked her head to the left. “Sorry again, for bothering you without a good reason.” The woman groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "This isn't a tourist spot..." she looked at the trio for a few tense moments. "You're not here to complain about the starter choices are you? There wasn't anything wrong with how I raised them. If they're disobedient, that's on you." "N... No Ma'am," Anima shook her head, swallowing uncomfortably. "I, er... I brought my own," she explained, squeezing Confi slightly; and in return, getting something akin to a squeak from the Pokémon. "But... If you raised them... Does that make you, a, er..." she trailed off, doing anything she could not to make eye-contact. "Professor, here?" The woman blinked. Her eyelids moving so slowly that it took some time to realize it was even a blink. Then she sighed. "Dang, walked into that one...Yes, that's me. The, ugh, 'renowned' Professor Cedar. Nice to, ah whatever." she mumbled the last, giving up her attempt at courtesy. “I, um…” Anima trailed off, staring at her with a bit of a wince in her eyes. Whatever she had expected from the professor… This wasn’t it. And while she couldn’t particularly blame the woman, considering they had just barged up to her house and knocked on the door… “I'll... get out of your hair then, ma’am,” she muttered, glancing idly at the other two, and… As much as she knew it was wrong to wish ill on others, hoping they’d bother the woman more.

Having said her piece, and with none of the others disagreeing, Marshall let herself fall to the back of the group as she adjusted her cap one-last-time, and then clasped her hands idly behind her back while they walked. It didn’t take long for them to begin seeing the signs of their destination, and she took that moment to think about what it could all mean. The lightning grew stronger here, but there were also more of the spires. Had they been set up merely as defensive measures? Or are they gathering power, like some sort of sci-fi film? The thought seemed almost too strange or out-there to allow for, but given the fact that she no longer feared death in a true capacity, the former conductor felt little reason for implausibility to be the sole reason for the erasure of an idea. There was, of course, also the concerning fact that the Drengr they had run into were getting more numerous, but they were easy enough to avoid - or, kill, she assumed - though her thoughts were honestly not on the Drengr. They were more locked onto trying to parse everything, as they got closer. After all, the Drengr had - for the most part - shown themselves to be mindless beasts in the best cases, blithering idiots in the worst cases. Yet here, rather than hunting and attacking for food, they seemed to be… Revering the castle; as if bound to it. As if worshiping it, as a god. That was an uncomfortable thought, Marshall had to admit to herself. For in that way, what made them different from the Exalted, who worship Lady River? She shook her head, and cleared that thought from it. There was no need to entertain any such ideas, as they crested the hill, and became able to see the structure. She frowned almost immediately, slowly raising her hand to the side, so as to summon her weapon… Only to lower it, as she noticed the Drengr at the gate having been yet to move themselves. “...Don’t attack yet,” she advised; her tone louder, and more forceful than it normally was. “Every other enemy has attacked us on sight, or made themselves out to be aggressive in some manner. They have not, which suggests one of two things,” Marshall explained, crossing her arms. “Either they know something we do not, and have some sort of defensive measure set-up-- or worse: know themselves to be strong enough to not need to come after us,” she raised one hand, to adjust her cap at this remark; a natural pause. “...Regardless, charging through and attacking will do nothing but give them the upper-hand, which leaves us with some options." Marshall paused then, for a moment, deliberately surveying their reactions before she continued. “But which one we take depends entirely upon a basic principle: do we want to fight and potentially get stronger, at the cost of either wearing ourselves down, and getting hurt before future battles within the castle, or do we want to avoid them entirely?” she asked, plainly, holding both hands out as she spoke. “Should we choose to fight, I suggest we make them come to us; after our last combat, I have reconfigured myself to be a ranged combatant. Similarly, I believe you attempted some ranged strikes as well during our trial, yes?” Marshall glanced towards Sabrina, and nodded slightly. “We should use those to weather them, and force them to us should we fight. Should we choose otherwise, however…” she trailed off, gesturing lightly towards the walls with her hand. “...The rain has not been kind to this place. I would wager that we may be able to find an unexpected hole in their defenses through which we might be able to enter the castle, and avoid this first taste of combat, should that be desirable.”

Citron chose… Not to process some of the comments made by the villagers. They had done what they could to help Peaches, even as the Wyvern laid her head down, ready as she was to sleep-- It would do no good to try and figure out what they were getting at when talking about what Peaches was ‘like’. Especially when they turned to and immediately gave some form of… Show of support? Acceptance? To Raki; they had been kind enough that to ask any more of them, even if that was just the answer to a question would be far too much. So, she didn’t. “Thank you,” she gave a quick smile, gently placing a hand on Peaches’ forehead, before rising back to her full height. “Let me help,” she murmured quietly as the villagers set to work clearing the area. She wasn’t able to do much more than collect any sharp pieces and hand those to the people who looked most competent at handling them, but… It was still better than doing nothing-- That was, until Raki shouted a name. It didn’t sound like the name of anyone in their group; nor did it sound like a name she had heard before, but he sounded worried when he went sprinting off; which… As Gunther had left previously, this now left her alone with Peaches and the villagers. She frowned a bit as she glanced around the area, returning to Peaches’ side as she glanced around the area, and… Tried to figure out just what she was supposed to do now.

Anima had only just gotten the tent mostly disassembled, and stuffed back into the bag it was transported in, when Anneliese spoke up; or rather, when she processed the words that had been stated a few seconds ago. “We- We did?” she stammered, practically wheeling around with the bag full of tent and tent-pieces, at a speed that threatened to turn the still-open bag into a projectile weapon. It was only as she made eye contact with the Rockruff, and as the small pooch darted behind their new trainer, that the fear seemed to drain from her eyes. “Oh, it’s.. A Pokémon,” she chuckled lightly, bringing a hand up to scratch at the side of her face. “For a second, I, Um, I thought you meant… Never mind,” she sighed, smiling. “It’s a pleasure, to, um… Meet you, Roland,” she chuckled lightly as Confi trundled forwards, looking up towards the held-aloft-pooch themself, only to let out a quiet “coo…” before bedding down in the grass. “Confi says hello too... I think,” she extrapolated, crouching down to poke idly at the ghost-Pokémon for whom it was far too early in the day, before slowly rising back up to her full height. “As for your hair…” Anima crossed her arms. Briefly, Anima contemplated making this a learning experience; a time for Annliese to learn how to do it herself. But… That seemed rude, and needlessly antagonistic. So instead, she simply nodded. “I’ll do it this time-- And. um, when we get the chance to stay in a hotel with a mirror, I’ll… show you how to do it yourself.” --- All in all, they made good time with everything considered. It took some work getting everyone ready, Anima realized-- Not the least of which being herself given how little she wanted to actually wake up this morning, but somehow, they had still made good time. At least, good enough time, as they had reached the next town just a bit after noon, if the scratched-up screen of her PokéDex was anything to go by. Of course, it was a bit hard to read, and the extremely low-brightness she habitually kept it at due to its ailing battery was a bit off, but… Well, regardless of what time it was, they had made it, if the signage reading ‘Fernsworth’ was anything to go by… Even if there was next to nothing else there waiting for them. “Looks like we’re, um… Here,” she announced with a half-hearted smile as she glanced around, gesturing hesitantly towards the two buildings; one at the center of the town, and one near the edge of the town. “I… Um, think, at least, that these two buildings are probably interesting? Not sure-- They at least look different from the normal houses,” she did her best to explain. “Though, the town seems kind of… Devoid of anything that's… Not a normal house. Where people... Um... live, so, uh…” she trailed off again. “Where do we want to start?”

The conversation progressed from there in, what was in all honesty, a predictable fashion; as far as Marshall could tell. The hunting party wasn’t completely convinced of who they were, but in all honesty - why would they be? And did it truly matter if they were convinced? It would dishearten some of the others for sure; but at the end of the day, they were who they were. Whether they were recognized as heroes, whether they were known to be ‘the exalted’, or thought truly to be special or not-- That didn’t matter, as long as they carried out their goals. Still, she held her tongue as Sabrina replied, and as Abby questioned the hunting party. In truth, they were questions Marshall should have thought of herself, but she was glad someone had asked them regardless. She let her hand rest upon the brim of her cap, pulling it down slightly as she did her best to focus on the conversation through the rain. Between the pouring rain’s noise, feel, and the thunder above, it was hard to focus… But she was able to make out enough from what they had said. It was only after the hunting party had begun to talk about leaving, and the skies had begun to clear, that she turned towards the hunting group and gave a curt nod. “...Travel swiftly and safely unto your destination,” she called out after them in an even voice; in what she herself thought to be an encouraging fashion, at least. It was then, of course, that Sabrina raised the next matter of import, and Marshall turned to address the young girl, in her habitual pose of partial attention. “...As for that matter, though I think we should be a bit more cautious than charging in at full-steam…” she trailed off, adjusting her cap. “I agree wholeheartedly, in that we should make for the Accursed’s abode,” Marshall smiled as she raised her cap to actually be able to see the rest of the party. “Though the other quarries we could deal with seem interesting in their own rights, there’s no guarantee that we will find ways to strengthen ourselves before we fight the accursed; and there’s no telling what will happen if we waste too much of our time fighting anything too much stronger than us,” she explained, her voice moving on to a more expositional, and more neutral tone. “Without that concern, there’s still the worry about how attacking the local wildlife could affect those living in the nearby villages, who need to hunt many of the creatures to survive; disrupting their ecosystem is not in our best interest, after all, thus…” she trailed off, adjusting her cap downwards once again, with both hands this time. “It seems only natural that we should head to the Accursed’s lair, gather our strength, and steel ourselves for the battle within.”

Despite having been the one to ask the question first, Anima was actually surprised to have the question turned back on her. She opened her mouth, as if to answer, but found nothing coming; her mind seizing for that moment, as she searched for something she could say. In truth, she had heard quite a few ghost-stories; it was the sort of thing that happened when you lived with a ghost type. Many of them revolved around Galarian Corsola themselves, and yet more revolved around Cursola - the eventual, apparent evolution of the ghost-coral pokemon - but her mind still seized up when it came time to answer. She was only saved by the return of Anneliese, who cheerily called out that they had discovered sticks. “R-Right!” Anima sighed, (not-so) lightly slapping her forehead so as to ground herself, as she nodded towards Jacklyn. “The, um, tent is pretty much set-up. It may be a bit, uh, crowded since there are three of us, but that should be expected. As for the next step…” she trailed off. “Jacklyn’s right, we should start work on the fire before it gets too terribly dark,” she smiled. “Though, I think I’ll, uh, leave that part to you. After all…” she trailed off, kneeling down to pick Confi up from the ground as she tottered by, sweeping the Corsola up from her feet, and into her arms. “Have you ever heard the story about the cursed Coral?” ---- The morning came as most mornings did; with Anima being awoken by someone else, much earlier than she wished she had woken up. Of course, the morning wasn’t only heralded by this. She had woken up many times in the middle of the night, tossed, turned, and forced herself back to sleep. Such was the nature of sleeping in general. She had been lucky enough, Confi working as a makeshift plush of sorts, but it was still strange getting to sleep on what may as well have been the ground with a light covering. She supposed, groggily, that she wouldn’t be sleeping in nearly as much as she liked during this journey. It took a few minutes still for her to force herself from the tent, squinting from the sunlight and all around looking generally out of place as she rubbed drearily at her eyes. She yawned for a moment as she blinked them several times, Confi trundling behind her as she came to stop in front of the tent, and… With nary a word, giving a half-awake salute to Jacklyn as she spoke; turning on her heels, and beginning the (barely conscious) process of trying to disassemble the tent.

Marshall adjusted her cap slightly, so as to get a better view of the others. She had relaxed a bit when the new people, a hunting party, didn’t seem immediately hostile. They were threats, to be sure, but there was a lot of interesting information to glean from this hunting party, and her companions had been quite quick to get to the heart of it. Gene, for example, attempted to convince them that the group was, in fact, exalted; but they didn’t seem to believe or understand at first. Their faith in the goddess was certainly more tenuous than those of the people in the initial town. Still, there were some names to catch. Storm-Blooded. Thunder-Head. Marshall would need to find out more about these… Though, it could be prudent to get more trust from them, before she attempted to push too hard on these points. “...First,” she began, removing her cap and speaking loudly. “Notice the lack of Animalistic qualities in our form,” she called out, shouting over the thundering spires. “One such quality of the exalted; that they do not possess mixed spirits or forms,” she explained, doing her best to recall what Luca and Rumian had both said. “Another such quality,” she began, closing her eyes as she readjusted her cap, and then, removed the glove from her right hand, revealing the faint rune that they all shared. Marshall would hold the back of her hand aloft for a moment, before placing the glove which seemed to only dim the light slightly back upon it, as she took a moment to inspect their reactions. “...Of course, this is not the full extent of our blessings; merely the mark of it. I could give you a demonstration, if that would be required to earn your trust?” she would ask, gaze lingering over the one she, at least suspected, to be the leader. The man looks curiously at the mark and seems still pretty relaxed, if not more intrigued before saying, "like I said, you guys are definitely not from around here that much is for sure. And if you really did help out Luca and Rumian that's good enough for me for now." “A man of character, who values actions over station; I respect that,” Marshall smiled, or, did the closest thing she ever got to it, as she adjusted her cap. “Then, to answer your question, we just finished Lady Ocean’s trial, and were scouting as much of this land as we could…” she trailed off. “...Is what I would like to say. But in truth, we were looking for the first Accursed so that we could carry out our duty, and rather than return to town for directions, my Companions chose to look for it themselves; thus, we are here,” she explained with a gesture towards the rest of the group. "That place?" The man grimaced at the thought, before saying, "I'd show you a map but well," he pointed to the sky. "But if you're looking to go there it's to the west of here. Normally you couldn't miss it but visibilities a bit low here." After a pause he said, "and well, I get you guys saying you're the Exalted and all but even then I can't recommend going there. I've never been there before myself but just looking at it from a distance gives me all kinds of bad feelings and the stories that go with it aren't great either." Marshall thought, for a moment, she thought about reassuring him that they would be fine; explaining that she had already been gored by a lance and come out fine, just peachy, however... Well, that wasn't likely to inspire confidence. "If that is the case, do you have other suggestions for what we may do to increase our strength, before we travel to that place?" she would ask, tucking one hand behind her back as she spoke, in a practiced manner. "I know I'm unlikely to be able to dissuade Lady Draconis for too terribly long, but I should be able to do so if we have suitable alternatives for the time being.” He raised an eyebrow saying, "I don't know if there's a 'quick fix' for getting strong enough to fight the Accursed. At least not for us regular folks. Can't say anything about the Exalted." Marshall simply... Nodded, in response. "...Ah, then let me rephrase that question," she let her tone shift for a moment, losing any emotional inflection as she spoke. "Are there any hot-spots of Drengr on the way there that we could... Happen to encounter, that may have been plaguing the town recently? It seems we learn more about our gifts after a battle, and..." she trailed off, adjusting her cap. "Well, it would be helpful for everyone if we were able to assist the town with some of the more troublesome pests." He thought about it for a moment before saying, "they're probably all in hiding right now. Storm and all. But you're likely to find them around that area or on the road from town to the castle. Seem drawn to it for some reason." One of the tiger's spoke up. "If it's a big fight you're looking for too you could always take on some of the favorite beasts of Storm." The tiger nodded northwest and though Marshall couldn't make anything out specifically they could see that, despite the lack of a spire, lightning seemed to be striking some of the same areas spots consistently. The gazelle spoke. "Ah but they're pretty dangerous and not bothering anyone. At least, if you don't bother them or anything." Marshall thought for a moment, before pulling her cap down slightly, and doing her best to smile. “...We’ll keep that in mind. Thank you for your assistance; that’s all I have for questions,” she explained, giving a slight bow, and then looking to Gene, Sabrina, and Abby expectantly, as she expected them to have questions of their own.