Sethera

There seemed to be some history between this "Cora" and Alois. From the little that the fighter had mentioned of this village, Catriona could guess at some of it, and the girl's words filled in the rest. Still, it seemed like his presence had done much to calm the situation down from a potential fight to possibly giving them a place to stay. She took a deep breath. "Well, I don't really know what's going on, but I suppose it doesn't seem like any of you coulda done something with the whole village. I don't know where these animals came from. They certainly weren't here when I left and there were a lot more people before. I don't think they'd all just up and leave though." She frowned. "I don't suppose you all were planning on sticking around were you? It's small but I could let you hold up in my house till you go." Link seemed to agree with the thought, though his voice sounded strange for some reason. Different...not like his usual. Shrugging the thought off--perhaps it was a side effect of his sickness--Catriona turned to Alois, who seemed rather...eager to visit the mayor's house. Or rather, to raid it. While she wasn't sure exactly why the boy would be so eager, the lord could only conclude that there was no love lost between the two, and left it at that. "While I understand that the mayor's house might have something of interest there, I see it more prudent to wait for the others to catch up," Catriona said. "If we go too far ahead of them, they might not be able to find us. However," she paused, "We could have Gunther and Shiro remain, as they are already investigating the hut. In which case, we only need notify them." Keeping in mind the fact that they did have two injured with them, much as both Link and Citron tried to hide it, the lord looked at Cora. "If I may ask, perhaps we could stop at your house first? Or..." she glanced at Alois. After all, Cora was not the only native of Phar. Turning back to the girl, she asked, "Is it terribly far from the mayor's?" Meanwhile, both the beaver and the hare had finished gathering up all the fruit. The latter had started to pull on its ears again, seemingly bewailing the state of the stall. Patting the other on the shoulder awkwardly, the beaver then waddled back toward the group, letting out an annoyed hiss as it listened to them talk. After some time, both it and the hare straightened, turning back to stare at the hut where Gunther and Shiro were. -- At the loud croak, the sleeping man in the hut jumped upright with a dumbfounded expression, wide awake. Turning around, he first noticed Gunther, but his attention was rather more focused on the giant frog in front of his face. Glaring, he started to growl and then, standing up on all fours, began to shout, the cry fading to nothingness before he began again, a series of shouts with no intelligible words. -- "That may be true, theoretically, it's still possible to make the future what you want it to be. That's the entire point of living isn't it? The future may be a mystery but it is a mystery in which the answer may be influenced by those investigating it. All I must do is come up with the right strategy and we'll all live happily ever after." Licorice's ears flattened, seeming disappointed. "Not everything has a fairytale ending," she warned. "Believing that there is always going to be a right choice, a right strategy, is...naive." However, rather than reprimanding, she sounded a little sad. "It's kind of frustrating not being able to do anything for you, but... I guess it's best if I just learn from here instead." Ciela rubbed the back of her head, looking a little apologetic now. "I... uh... apologize for biting your friend earlier. I got too carried away." The Protean shook her head. "That was unwise of you, however..." she sighed. "I can understand why." She hesitated. "Dariella is...not the easiest of people to deal with, but you would do well to not anger her either." "Well, well, with all of us here and stuff, lots of fun times will happen in the future right?" "Perhaps," the fox's tail wagged slightly. "Or perhaps we shall experience some not so great times." She grimaced. Like now. However, as time went by, the heat gradually receded from Licorice's bones. With it, came a clearer mind. Standing up, the fox Protean transformed back into her humanoid form. "I feel better now," she declared. "Well enough to rejoin the others at the village." Leaving the cave, the fox glanced around, seeing nobody in sight but Remy, though her ears pricked slightly as she seemed to hear a noise nearby. "She's gone, then..." she murmured to herself, before turning back to the others. "I should be able to find my way back to the path, and from there to the village, though...it might not be necessary." She blushed slightly, the way back clear as day behind her. One only had to follow the bent branches and flattened bushes. Not too far away, a large hawk was circling, its beady eyes fixated on a spot lying just out of view of the others.

Things just seemed to get more and more awkward. Yue didn't know much about conversation, but she suspected that just standing there in silence wasn't something people were supposed to do when they talked. That was more what she did, and she had been told that that was a very very bad and awkward thing to do. But now Edda was doing it too, so maybe this was normal? Or she was just as bad at this. Probably the latter. The others seemed to have no problem filling in the gaps in conversation. Looking away from Yue, the girl said, "let's get going." And with that, began to walk off along the road once more. The archer breathed a sigh of relief. She had talked with Edda...and somehow survived it. Even though the conversation got a little weird at the end there, it was over now, so she didn't have to worry about carrying it further, or making small talk with someone so scary. Yue then followed the girl at a slower pace, letting the gap between them widen as they walked. Soon after, the rest of the Falcons caught up, and the silver-haired girl blushed when she realized she had almost left her boss behind. -- The journey to Enta had been long, but Yue had enjoyed every minute of it. Unlike many of the others, she felt more at home in the wilderness than in civilization. She much preferred forests and meadows to icky cities and towns, full of people who could get kind of scary if something bad happened. Not to mention, they were usually pretty smelly too. Animals didn't smell much better, but they had a different smell to them, one that Yue found comforting in its familiarity. Eventually, however, they were forced to stop after cutting into the Alelle Woods. In front of them stood the Evas River, and Yue only knew what it was called because she had crossed that very same river on her flight from her hometown. Leon seemed to think that now was a good stopping point, turning to the rest of the group, "alright, let's set up camp here for the night." As soon as he said that, Yue let her shoulders slump. While she enjoyed being out and about again, she could tell that she had started to get a little out of shape, staying in one place for so long. Once again, she would have to adjust to the aches and pains of traveling. The archer shook out her shoulders, letting her pack fall to the ground. "I-I'll go hunting...if we need food that is," she volunteered. "I-if we're fine, then...please, just ignore me."

Ari huffed a breath in impatience as he listened to the others argue. They didn't have time for this! Part of him now regretted waking Tornadus up, but he had thought the legendary would help at the time, not make things worse. But then things got much, much worse. Unlike what he had thought, Mia wasn't stuck in the mud at all. Spinning in a large ball that did much to free the mud from her form, the Miltank launched herself back toward the raft, unfurling herself from her attack and flying spread-eagled right...toward...Ari. "Alright, fine." Mac said, electricity charging around her body. "Let's do this." Ari didn't have time to say anything cool. He dove for the side, hoping that he would be able to avoid the brunt of the attack that way, spitting some Embers up toward the Miltank soon afterward. They needed to slow her down, but how would they be able to do that? The fire type didn't exactly have any moves that could do that kind of thing. -- Dora stared at Easter's outstreched hand then looked at the Sylveon curiously. "What am I supposed to do with that?" She asked before bouncing her way up to her feet. "What...? It's to help you get up--oh never mind," Easter shook his head. He kept forgetting that Dora didn't exactly have hands. The Wooper looked at Easter's wet hair and giggled. "You got smelly." She said. Then, she did something very strange. Standing up on her tiptoes, she clamped her mouth around a bit of the fairy type's hair, wrinkling her nose soon after. "That's not very yummy salt." With that profound response out of the way Dora started to hop her way towards where she thought the others might be located. The Sylveon shook his head again and followed the girl, grimacing as saltwater droplets sprayed across the ground. His feelers waved in agitation as he grumbled. "Bleh. When I said I wanted to explore Merm, I didn't mean I wanted to get sopping wet in the process." Hopefully he would find the others soon. The sooner he was able to rinse the saltwater out of his hair, the better. -- Keanu breathed a sigh of relief as Randy Brick Breaked the rock out of the way. "That was too close," he muttered. Glancing to the side, he winced when he noticed that both Marie and Nani looked to have taken damage from the attack. Nani, in particular, looked to be in bad shape. "Oh, no," he moaned. "This is bad. Very bad." And then Allie summoned a sandstorm. Great. "Now, what are you all going to do?" the Tyranitar said. She took another few steps back, and crouched slightly, her body glowing with dark energy. "There's still time to run, you know." Gritting his teeth, the Pikachu glanced at Randy before looking back at Allie. "If you think we're gonna run, you don't know us very well, do you? Well, you don't know Randy, anyway." He shook his head. "I've already given up on avoiding scraps with him around. And..." his eyes narrowed as he shot out an Electro Ball. "It's not the Alolan way to let ohana fight alone." -- "Well, Skymin, what're your plans now that you're out and about?" Shaymin shook his head. "I'm gonna have fun, of course!" he grinned. "I'll probably still stay in the grove, and if anybody worthy wants to fight me, then of course they can!" he puffed up his chest. The others looked like they would be heading back, talking amongst themselves before Hatwoman turned back to the legendary. "I don't think that will be the last time they try this. And next time they might do more damage to this grove. Perhaps you'd be safer if you came back with us, to Alpha. It seems that those in Omega are intent on causing you harm for whatever reason." "Hah! I know your plan," the flying type said, wagging a finger at her. "You just want me to come back with you so that you can talk more about them. Well, lemme tell you: fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Nah, I'll just stay here. If anybody wants to harm my grove, then they're gonna have to go through me."

Catriona frowned in thought as they approached the market square. It seemed that she wasn't the only one with health issues in the group. She would have to keep an eye on Link for any further signs of sickness, just as she would have to keep an eye on Penelope for any signs of pregnancy. While she wasn't sure that it was that girl, specifically, that Shiro had been referring to, it never hurt to be vigilant. She noted out of the corner of her eye, the rabbit nodding to something Gunther had said. Something about a stall. Still, it seemed to lose interest in the knight pretty quickly, beginning to gather up fruits. Upon returning to the group, Gunther suggested that he would keep an eye on the naked man, which worked for her. The man was trustworthy and sturdy. Even if he was attacked, he would be able to take the hits with little to no issue. Nodding in acceptance, after asking her question of the stranger, she blinked at...the odd enthusiasm of the girl. Pausing, she took the time to sift through what this person had told her. "Paradisi...so you are a farmer then? Like Edrick?" At least she thought he had mentioned something along those lines. Her gaze sharpened as she took in the more relevant news. "So you have no idea what could have caused this...in that case, none of us do," she sighed. "And I trust Alois to be telling the truth in this instance," she replied flatly, unsure how this woman could have jumped to such a wild conclusion. Though this whole situation is rather absurd... Catriona was shaken from her thoughts by an unfamiliar voice. "Holy cow is that a wyvern?" A pause, then, "You! What are you doing here? What did you do with the villagers?" Turning on her heel, the white-haired woman stepped forward to face what looked to be a young girl with dark hair dressed in a mix of chainmail and leather. The sword at her side and the ease with which she wore her armor proved her to be a warrior of some sort, but the way she fumbled for it did not speak of any particular skill. Still, the lord had been taught not to underestimate her opponents, so she would not hold back if it came to a fight. Before she could do anything, however, Edrick, Citron, Link, and Alois spoke out. Deciding to remain silent, as all that needed to be said had already been spoken, the woman stared at the girl steadily, watchful of any tricks, though she relaxed slightly when Alois said she was harmless, she did not let her guard down entirely. Around them, the animals had perked up, and began to move toward the newcomer Alois had called "Cora" in a surging wave of fur and feathers. Even the beaver had looked up excitedly, though its expression quickly changed to one of disdain. Sniffing the air, it resumed picking up fruit, very obviously ignoring the girl. Meanwhile, in the hut, Gunther would find no signs of magic or anything unusual at all there. Just an ordinary hut of wattle and daub. The floor couldn't even be called a floor, more like the ground, as it was nothing but packed dirt. Aside from the bed, the only other furniture was a small table with half a wheel of cheese and a loaf of bread with a couple slices already separated and laid out on a stone plate. A washbasin still filled with water lay nearby, and a small closet stood against the wall. Opening it, however, revealed nothing but various leather garments that looked as if they could fit a full-grown man. Of more interest was a small shortbow leaning against the end. Unstrung at the moment, it looked crudely-made but nonetheless well taken care of. The naked man shifted in his sleep, sniffing slightly, though he didn't seem to have woken up just yet. -- Licorice stared at Penelope, a hint of incredulousness in her eyes. "You are an interesting human," she said. "Most would run at the mere mention of that when faced with what they would deem a monster, but you do not." Her ears perked up in interest at her next words. "I have not heard that story, no," she admitted. "But then again, I know little of human warfare." Her eyes became slightly lidded as she thought. "Still, that makes sense. If one attacks from the inside, then one has the advantage of surprise," she shifted slightly. Penelope laughed lightly. "You know, Licorice, in spite of your obvious discomfort, this is almost pleasant. Just sitting here together. Nothing cataclysmic happening. No undead or bandits to deal with. Hopefully after this quest we can have more peaceful time to relax and enjoy each other's company." The fox shifted in place again, ears flattening. "...Yes, that would be nice," she replied, not meeting the tactician's eye. "However, one never knows just what the future may hold," she warned. Watching Tsetseg's interactions with Ciela, the Protean chuffed a laugh before speaking. "I never know what to expect from any of you," her tone was warm. Looking up, she said, "As you said, Penelope, this is...pleasant. It would be nice if times like these could last forever." However, the expression on the fox's face, rather than content, looked almost...lonely. -- Outside, the hawk had grabbed the vole that Rohns had been stalking, letting out a victorious screech as it began to lift off into the air again, though still within reach of the wolf cub. Dariella sighed. "And so the prey which the predator had been stalking so patiently, had been snatched away just like that," she chuckled, brushing a lock of hair back. "My my, how greedy. Not even my darling can satisfy you." She shook her head. "I suppose you must be used to getting your way though." She hummed, pushing herself off of the tree she had been leaning against. "He would be disappointed to see how far things have fallen." The blonde began to walk into the surrounding foliage, turning back only once. "I'll let you be this time." She giggled. "After all...I have my own 'quest' I need to see through." And with that, the woman walked into the forest, melting into the trees as if she had never been there to begin with.

Everything suddenly seemed to be going weird. The boy that reminded Belle somewhat of herself was looking more and more afraid by the second. Then he made Ivan take a nap, except it wasn't like the kind of naps that Belle would take. This was a forced nap. It was still probably better than, say, what Sabrina did when she lashed out, but that was a low, low bar indeed. "You better... not be here... when I wake... up... kid..." And then Ivan landed atop of the scattered garbage with a thud. Belle sighed and fought the urge to just lie down right then and there and join him. No, somehow, the other two had failed their diplomacy saves, or didn't have enough points put into negotiation, and now she had to step up to the plate. And get everybody to calm down. The alternative meant she would be forced to probably sit through yet another battle, or worse yet, join one. Unfortunately, it looked like that would indeed be what would happen, as even though Jacklyn had...hid behind her for some reason? Now she was sticking her head back out to shout and now, here she was, stepping forward, Poké Ball in hand. "If you want to fight, as an adventurer and trainer I'll battle you!" Sending out her rabbit thing from her Poké Ball, the Pokémon letting out a puff of smoke from its mouth as it looked to be challenging the Haunter, the purple-haired girl crossed her arms and glared at Dennis. "So?" "I didn't steal nothing from you! I don't want to battle I just wanna be left alone!" Dennis said, backing away in fear. "People always say to stand up to bullies but when you do they just get madder...." He glanced at the three of them. "I-I'm not gonna let someone t-tell me that I should let people push me around." Letting out a whimper he looked towards Haunter before sighing and turning back to the Jacklyn and her rabbit. "If there's no choice then I guess I gotta. Haunter, use Confuse Ray." "I never said you should let people push you around, I just wanted you to calm down and listen. These two aren't all in the right, but you haven't been helping things either." The bluenette blew a strand of hair out of her face. All of this talking, all of this effort, and for what? From the looks of it, neither one would listen to her, and a battle would happen regardless. "This is stupid," she grumbled. "We could've avoided this. But whatever, I give up," she threw her hands in the air. "You two fight this out. I'm gonna just sit here and read this comic book." The girl opened the comic again, beginning from where she left off. "Mimer's calling card was left behind, and now Gligarman must rush to the scene of the crime. It will be another busy night in Mothim for Gligarman!"

"Oh um, hello there, um," Edda froze, seeming a little...nervous? Eh? That's strange... Still, it wasn't like Yue was able to focus much on the strangeness of this strange girl, what with everything starting to go black in front of her. Scary scary scary scary scary scary scary scary-- "Meep." Huh? Time seemed to freeze, broken only by the archer taking in a ragged gasp of air. She had, it seemed, forgotten to breathe earlier. Lowering her head, the girl closed her eyes briefly as her temples throbbed, taking care to breathe evenly. It was something she had been taught to do from a young age as she had had a terrible tendency to faint whenever things got too terrifying for her. Raising her head and opening her eyes, she stared back up at the Jouran, shaking in place, but, thankfully conscious. "Are you..well? Cold?" What was going on? This girl was...concerned? For her? Why? She's an evil evil Jouran who's gonna do evil evil stuff to us and yet-- She was concerned. The girl, perhaps confused by the continued silence, shrugged, "meep?" "E-eh?" Why was she saying meep so often? Wait, that sounded a little similar...to what she had said when she was terrified earlier. Was she...imitating her? Making fun of her? She's not smiling or smirking though...so maybe not? Realizing, just then, that Edda had asked a question, and Yue had failed to answer not once, but twice, brought her back to earth. "Oh! U-um..." she looked down, poking her index fingers together. "U-u-um...hello. I'm...Yue..." She trailed off, ducking her head shyly, letting her hair fall in front of her face. She would need to cut her bangs at some point. They were starting to get a little long. Or maybe, she would just let them stay long, so she could just hide behind her hair when things got a little scary. "A-a-and I'm...fine. Sorry..." She wasn't sure why she was apologizing, but maybe this person would be less likely to do evil things if she could appease her. "S-s-so," she stumbled over her words. "U-um...are you...well?" Isn't that what she was supposed to do? Ask the other person how they were after being asked? She really, really wasn't any good at this talking thing.

Well. It looked like Ivan had just made what Belle had said to be a lie. Not that it really mattered. Belle yawned as she looked at the two of them, eyes half-lidded. "Yer all gettin' so excited over nuffin'," she muttered. "Sto' fightin', gettin' tired jes' lookin' atcha." For a second, she had thought she had seen a...strange expression on Ivan's face. She wasn't the best judge of facial expressions, but it had not looked like a happy face. But maybe she was just imagining things. She did that sometimes. But it looked like that wouldn't happen. Dennis, who now looked scared and angry, narrowed his eyes as he looked at Ivan. "Kind of...kind of a h-hypocrite aren't you?" "Ah-hah!" Belle muttered as she picked up what looked to be...yep, there was the date--the newest issue of Gligarman. Opening up the comic book, she started to read. "The city of Mothim...a city plagued by villainous foes. Once more, the Mimer delivers his message of doom!" "Haunter, Hypnosis!" "Tha's kinda unusual f'r a message o' doom..." the bluenette mused. Wait. Her eyes widened in realization. "Wait, what's going on?" she asked, shock sending a jolt of adrenaline down her bones. "Hey, hey, stop that." She forced herself to stand, wobbling slightly. "I don't want to fight here. I just finished fighting an annoying rat and now I just want to take a nap and read a comic book." The girl began to stagger closer to the others, comic book still in hand.

Shiro bowed to Catriona, the motion smooth and natural, though she remembered that the Proteans of the frog village had been oddly formal as well. He then proceeded to update her on current events. "Lemonade?" the lord wondered. "I know not what that is. Is that a weapon of sorts?" Perhaps Penelope would know, but she had a liking for the esoteric and unknown. "Peaches...that seems an odd name for a wyvern." She would have sooner thought the beast to be named Ikran or Tigrex. Something more fitting of its ferocious nature. Peaches, on the other hand... "I apologize if I am interrupting something. I will leave you and Link to it. But if I may advise, I do not believe the group would be able to support a pregnant woman for nine months, so please be careful." Catriona blinked. And blinked again after he left. "I do not understand," she said. "What does a pregnant woman have to do with the matter at hand?" she glanced at Link before sighing. From what she knew, there were no pregnant women among the group, but she would have to keep a sharp eye out for any signs...not that she knew what such signs would be, aside from the obvious enlargement of the abdomen. She would especially have to watch Penelope. It would not do for a royal to have a child out of wedlock. "Link, if you have seen anybody with signs of pregnancy, please tell me. We cannot afford to have our quest be slowed down by such conditions." Though in truth, if Penelope were to get pregnant, then at least Catriona would have a valid excuse to leave her behind. Royal honor or her life...if I had to choose one I would choose to save her life. Thus...if she decides to get pregnant, I will not stop her. Leaving through the door, Catriona approached the rest of the group, ignoring the animals gathering around the perimeter, though one of their number, Sienna, seemed to be engrossed in watching them go about their activities. Passing by a large brown hare, the lord stepped back curiously as she noticed it seemed to be making its way toward where the others were. Gunther split off from the rest to...was he talking to the hare? "Excuse me...this might be an unusual question. But do you know what happened to the people here?" The hare wriggled its nose furiously, eyes wide, before sitting back on its haunches like the beaver had so it could...make some motions with its paws? Though it was unknown what exactly it was trying to convey at first, it eventually ended its pantomime by pointing in the general direction of the broken stall, Peaches, and the merchant, tugging its ears down as it let out a mournful keen. Soon after it hopped away from Gunther to nudge at one of the fallen lemons, looking to be playing an impromptu game of folk football as it rolled it toward a nearby crate. It didn't take long for the beaver to join it and begin to gather fruit as well. Catriona finished her walk toward the others, looking over the tanned girl curiously. She did not seem hostile, at the very least, and the state they had found her in did much to lessen any anxieties she would normally have. Overhearing the last bits of conversation, she decided to jump in. "If that is the case, then perhaps we should make our way to the mayor's house? But first, I found somebody when I went inside one of the houses earlier." She looked around at the group, eyes settling on the merchant, curious as to what the girl's reaction would be. "A human man, fast asleep and as bare as the day he was born." The woman then looked back at the hut. "I left him in there, still asleep, but I do not like the idea of leaving him alone for too long. As it is, he might have some information for us." Finally, she turned to face the stranger fully. "Speaking of information, do you have any idea what could have happened to this place, Miss...?" -- "I think all there is to it right now is to wait for it to wear off." "That is correct," Licorice nodded, but she was a little floored by the tactician's next words. "Oh, don't be silly." The girl seated herself. "I'm always worried anyway. I've got to make sure everyone under my watch is fine after all." The last part had a hint of pride in it as she sat up straighter. "Not to mention you've already tried to eat me once. What's one more time between friends?" Tsetseg nodded along with Penelope, "yeah, yeah. We're all friends and stuff so we all gotta make sure we're all fine. No one left behind and all." "Heh," the fox huffed a laugh. "I suppose your words make some sense...after a fashion," her tone grew slightly teasing at that. "I do not believe you would appreciate being 'eaten' again, however. And..." she hesitated. "I did not realize you humans also adhered to that principle. Nobody left behind, hmm?" Her expression grew a little sad. "Would that everybody could follow that." She was distracted from her musings by what followed. "Yes, dark magic is definitely one of the more dangerous magics. It can be all too easy to get carried away." The fox watched Ciela and Tsetseg's proceedings with some amusement. "What exactly are you doing?" -- Dariella hummed as she waited outside, expression mild. "You know," she addressed Remy. "Your master is quite the little spitfire. Not at all how I pictured a member of the esteemed House Mirrahel to behave." She giggled. "Though I suppose it would be a fallen House now, with only one person bearing its name. Or not. She never did fully introduce herself, after all." The woman sighed, gazing up at the sky. "At least the other two were polite. I suppose I can trust my darling's safety with them." She paused. "For now." Glancing over to where the Rohns had wandered off, the blonde smiled before saying. "Don't get too far now, dear. It can be rather dangerous in these woods, after all." Not long afterward, she heard a hawk screech as it began to dive for the very same vole that the wolf cub was chasing.

Ari was just starting to despair when Kazo came over to lend a hand. Knowing the Gabite was there as well filled the Litleo with increased confidence. Now that Kazo was here, they could do it, he just knew it. "I don't need any help! We just gotta stop that woman!" Mac snapped, but reached out to grab Ari's hand anyway when the wind threatened to take her off her feet. The wind wasn't weakening though and even with all three of them being connected like this they wouldn't be able to keep from being blown away forever. The fire type gritted his teeth as his feet started to slip on the raft. Thankfully, Elsa managed to summon an ice pillar which gave them some relief from the wind. Soon after Mac tore her hand away from Ari's and put both hands behind her back. "Er, I didn't need that, but thanks for looking out for your leader I guess." Ari rolled his eyes. "Of course you didn't." But he decided to let that lie in favor of the more important matter. Tornadus. "What's the big idea!?" the legendary roared. "You wanna fight too?" Mac turned to him and snapped. "I'll fight you later! But right now we have to fight her not each other! Can't you do anything besides blow wind?" "What's that supposed to mean!?" The Litleo facepalmed. I heard that fire types are supposed to be hotheads, but they have nothing on electric types and... He looked at Tornadus. Flying types? Grass types maybe? He is green. Whatever, he shook his head. "It means that you both need to calm down or nothing will get done!" he said, his patience as frayed as the raft. "Tornadus, do you have any other attack that won't cause the raft to break?" -- Easter groaned as the Future Sight hit. "You go down as badly as a Drifblim," he muttered, "Or a Skuntank." Distracted by the pain, he was too late to stop the Brine attack when it hit him. The rush of water managed to do more damage than expected, causing the Sylveon to clap his hands together even as his hair hung in front of his face. Head bowed, he concentrated briefly before rising and glaring at the Frillish. Undeterred by Easter's...well, inaction, the jellyfish released a jet of bubbles at him. Gritting his teeth, the Sylveon ran forward, ducking into another roll that had his muscles screaming in protest. Ignoring the pain, the fairy type shot out a ring of stars at both the Frillish and the retreating Corsola. Continuing to run, he grinned as a wash of golden light fell over him, the surroundings darkened for a brief second. Renewed, the Sylveon powered up a Psyshock, throwing it right at the Corsola, who had turned back to make sure nobody was following it. "Sorry, but I don't need you to go back and warn the king. Not yet, anyway." His sinister smile would be the last thing the water type would see for a while, as everything turned black soon after. Pivoting on his heel to face the Frillish, he giggled at the dismayed expression on the gijinka's face, which soon turned into a look of determination as it fired off yet another Night Shade. Dodging to the side, the Sylveon began to run once more. Soon enough, he had reached the ghost type, and, body glowing with a strange golden energy, released a massive star straight into the Frillish's face. "Normally, I'd play around more," he said, dusting his hands off over the water type's unconscious body. "But I'm in a little bit of a hurry. I hope you can understand. Plus..." he tilted his head to the side. "You're not...my type." With one last giggle, the fairy type pranced off, stopping right in front of Dora. "Come on, scamp," he said, stretching a hand out. "Let's join up with the others. And..." he tugged on a lock of still-drenched pink hair, sighing. "As soon as we get out of here, I'm going to have to take a bath." -- "Heh...nice one Keanu!" Randy shouted in the back. When Keanu glanced back with a grin, the Incineroar was in the midst of dodging the rocks with an impressive display of acrobatics. To the side, Marie breathed out a blast of Icy Wind, and Nani...had disappeared. Oh well. The electric type shrugged. She was a ghost type, so she was probably doing some sort of attack. "I. Hate. Getting. Wet!" Allie shouted as the Surf attack hit, shivering as ice crystals formed on her body and pitching forward when Nani showed up to kick her from behind. "Dammit you're all such pests!" She shouted out. "You wanna know why we fight? Cause there's no other way anymore! Something needs to change and it won't change by having a pleasant chat, not anymore!" The woman spun and struck Nani with the back of her hand, which was covered in Dark energy. "You're just bumps in the road in the face of our power! Your struggling is futile! We'll win in the end no matter what!" A pair of stone blades formed in her hands and she leapt into the air. "Dude, you're too tense!" Keanu shouted back, "Lighten up a bit." Looking up, he saw amidst the rain and falling boulders, Allie shooting down, heading right for him. Oh, sweet mother of--. Eyes widening, the Pikachu stepped back, but he knew that wouldn't be good enough. Biting his lip, the Pikachu shot up a Thunderwave, to hopefully distract the Tyranitar even if it didn't slow her down. "Looks like now's the time to say alola and leave." With that, the electric type summoned a burst of speed to carry him away from that area, and hopefully from the attack. -- The Houndoom was still lying on the ground for some reason as he spoke. "Well, Skymin, the name's Nine. Though," he chuckled, "I guess Solarfire is fine." Looking directly at the legend he said, "and well, myself, I'm a chaser. Getting close to finishing up too." Clearing his throat, he said, "but, well, that's not why we're here. More to the point, what are you doing here, just, in the middle of this grove?" "Sleeping, that's what!" Shaymin, or Skymin, laughed. "You know, it got so boring after a while. Not as many people coming to challenge me, plus I was getting tired, so I decided to sleep for a while. Also this place is my home," he stretched his arms behind his back. "Plasma Rider?" the Rotom said, pointing to himself. "My name is Lok and, just like Solarfire here, I'm also a chaser!" He said confidently, pointing towards himself. "And we came here to help you out with these hooligans!" He said, giving the legend a thumbs up, before taking a look around him. "And it seems like we did a pretty good job, I think." He grinned, turning back towards Shaymin. "A chaser too huh?" the legendary asked. "Wow, I hit the jackpot! Not one, but two Chasers!" his voice sounded giddy as he approached the both of them. "And you're both...super cool! Not as cool as me though, of course," he grinned. "Thanks for helping out, by the way. Not that I couldn't have handled them myself, but I can't always let loose and do that." The Mismagius giggled at Shaymin's nickname for her. "I'm Gwendoline, or Gwen for short, but you may call me what you want." "Ninja..works." the Accelgor muttered. "I wouldn't call myself a Chaser really...just a traveler." "Yeah, I wondered about you," Shaymin said, turning to the ghost type. "You're more like Other Me, or More Boring Shaymin," he shrugged. "Your grove is very beautiful, by the way. I had no idea a place like this existed here. I've never been this far into the the land here so this comes as such a surprise." His expression grew more excited again. "Isn't it? Though it's...seen better days. Used to be that much bigger," he spread his arms out wide as if to emphasize. "I don't know how much you know about the towns here, sir Sky Warrior...but the people of Omega, they worship...that one. I think...that's why this group attacked you. Something to do with them." The legendary's face shuttered. "Tsk, bringing them up again," he grumbled, casting her a look. "I should have known...you're a local, aren't you Miss Hatwoman?" his gaze seemed to pierce right through Gwen. "You and Plasma Rider," he looked at Lok before turning back to the Mismagius. "But..." his eyes narrowed suspiciously before he pointed right at her. "You're weird," he declared. "And, it doesn't matter why that group attacked me. What matters is that they did and we beat them."

"Huh? Of course! We needed information, no matter how unlikely it was that he might have it... It would have been dumb to not at least try!" Dumb to not try? So he's saying my idea is...smart? Maybe...he really did get a knock to his head. "Not hurt, no. Just a little... Frustrated? We don't really know why they're looking for Jourans, we don't know how many potential ambushes there's going to be ahead of us... And I can't help but feel a little bit guilty for putting us on this path, even though there's nothing I can... Really do about it now." The healer started to scowl again before catching himself with a grin, shrugging as he spoke next, "I appreciate the concern though! You have any injuries that need to be patched up?" "I...I don't think it's your fault. You couldn't have known." Or actually, maybe he could've known. They had learned that Aeora was looking for Jourans earlier, hadn't they? "Um...I mean, uhh..." she scrambled to think of something, anything to say that would be helpful in this situation. "E-even if you did know, it's not like you meant for anybody to get hurt, right? You were just trying to help." While she had disagreed with the decision to escort Edda to Enta, and still did, that didn't mean that she wanted Layne to feel bad about this. He was usually so cheerful, so it felt wrong to see him look so down. "A-and, no, I don't have anything...I don't think," Yue looked herself over, nodding in relief to see nothing more than some rips and bloodstains from previous injuries. While she had suffered through that healing session for the sake of being strong enough to help Rona, now that the battle was over, she would rather patch herself up with a vulnerary or two. Or just a bandage. I still don't understand how Layne, another Yonan, could be fine using...that magic. While they were talking, a familiar violet-haired girl arrived. "I agree with Layne. I think keeping him alive, at least for the time being, had benefits. You weren't wrong at all, Yue." Oh spirits. It looked like yet another person was in need of healing around here. Ada must have gotten herself hurt in the head as well while the archer wasn't watching. Forgetting her usual fear, Yue opened her mouth to ask if the shaman needed to get her head looked at, but was interrupted by the arrival of...that weird brunette from before. Her arms outstretched to the sides she began to speak as she got near. "I absolutely love to see companions who are so close they care so much about each other's status." She looked at Layne. "You seem like such a noble guy. I would've thought, with your face, you'd be one of those smooth operators but it seems you're the kindly type." She then turned to Yue. "And you! You've impressed me twice so far. That earlier attack was so accurate, despite there being something in the way, such talent! And despite it you're so humble. So amazing!" "E-eh?!" the archer ducked her head, face heating up. "I-I-I..." the silver-haired girl stammered. She didn't know...what to say. She didn't even know this person, but she had...impressed her? Her? Yue? I'm not even that good, she thought. I just had a good teacher, and... And she just tried to do her best, because even if she wasn't the strongest, or the fastest, or the most skilled, she was still an Iron Falcon, so she couldn't just...do nothing. Still...she felt a little bit better now. About her role in that battle. I really feel like I didn't do anything, but I guess I did something, at least. After the woman left, shouting that she was coming with--wait, coming with?! As in coming with them?!--Ada walked closer, rubbing her head. "She's, uh... She's something, isn't she? She came over to me during the battle to try and 'save' me from my magic. Traveling with you guys, I almost forget that people feel that way about dark magic, at times..." Layne let out a brief sigh as he rubbed at the bridge of his nose, a small mumble escaping him as he did, "...She's one of those types, huh? She was scolded by Susanoo, you remember the pirate guy right, for trying to get me to heal him when he got injured. I just kinda stayed far away from that." The blond lowered his voice afterward, mumbling something that Yue could barely hear, but she had stopped paying attention by then. Dark magic. While she wasn't as uncomfortable with it, fundamentally, as she was with staff magic, she was still, well...uncomfortable with it. Every usage of Shade or Dusk had the Yonan's metaphorical hairs on end. The girl bit her lip as she slowly shuffled backward, eyes nervously flitting toward the tomes that the shaman was in the middle of putting away. That person, Alexis, might be weird but...I agree with her on one thing at least. The woman also seemed to have some sort of misunderstanding about her--she wasn't nearly as cool as the pegasus knight was making her out to be--but that was...well, she would find out with her own eyes just how untalented Yue was later. "I...I should go," she mumbled, before hastily beating a retreat from the two. Caught up in blind panic and Don't think about it don't think how much of a disappointment I am, Yue didn't watch where she was going, and before she knew it, she had crashed straight into somebody else. "Oh gosh oh spirits I'm so sorry oh no I didn't mean I..." she trailed off, eyes widening when they locked with glacial blue. "Oh...h-h-hi E-E-Edda," she stammered. "I-I-I...u-um...uhh...meep!" her vision started to fuzz around the edges.

"N-no!" Dennis stammered. "I didn't ask him to do anything! I swear!" He began to sweat as the trio surrounded him, whimpering slightly and taking a step backwards. "He just...he just brings me things. Food. So I can eat. That's all." His eyes darted from the group to the windows to the trap door. Then he called out "J-just leave me alone! I didn't do anything to you just stay away." He backed up more, the Haunter by his side wary now. "Oh really?" Belle asked skeptically. "Well, you're wrong. You did have your Haunter steal from me, so that is something. But...I have my Gummy Bewears now, so I guess it's fine," she waved a hand airily. The fact he might have stolen from other people and that it might be wrong didn't even cross her mind. "Just don't take my stuff again." Her eyebrows rose at seeing how...panicked he was, which reminded her. Hadn't she been in this position more than once? Surrounded by people, trapped, unable to escape. But instead of being afraid, she had reacted by shutting down entirely. Words couldn't hurt her if she didn't care anymore. Eyes dulling slightly, the girl thought, Maybe we should give him some space. However, Jacklyn seemed to think differently, moving to intercept the boy with great force and bear hug him into submission with a scowl, simply saying, "please, keep apologizing for- " she cut herself off at a tongue going across her face, throwing Dennis at his the ghost in reaction saying, "ew, gross, ew." Rather than try to catch the boy, Belle yawned and popped a bundle of Gummy Bewears into her open mouth. "Heard tha' ev'ry human has a unique tongue print, bu' I dunno if applies ta Haunter too." She sidled up to Jacklyn and inspected her face, poking it slightly, "Huh. Weird, saliva feels kinda...tingly," she frowned, wiping her finger off on her sweatpants absentmindedly. "Anyway," she turned to the disoriented Dennis and his Haunter, frowning. "Yer gettin' excited over nothin'. We're not gonna hurt you or anythin'," she shrugged, deciding to leave it at that before plopping down on the ground and shuffling over to the Gligarman magazine she had seen earlier.

The beaver was unfazed by the angry wyvern, hissing straight at the lizard's face while tensing, as if preparing to attack. When the creature turned away though, the beaver also did, its body shaking slightly. It didn't seem to calm down much after that, though Gunther's words helped somewhat. Then, as Alois asked it where it was that morning, the animal let out a stream of angry chitters, sitting on its haunches so it could gesticulate wildly with its front paws. However, what exactly it was trying to convey, was unknown. As the group talked, the other animals on the edge of the square began to cautiously approach, though they gave the group a wide berth. Many began to nose at the stalls. A fox crept up to the meat kabob stall with pricked ears, but instead of eating the meat as expected, grabbed the spits and carefully deposited them in a wooden box. Another, a small green frog, hopped up to a cabbage stall and began to lovingly stroke the leafy vegetables. Meanwhile, a large brown hare approached the group cautiously, looking equal-parts afraid and determined. -- Meanwhile, Catriona found herself completely dumbfounded, a state she had been in more often than not lately, to her frustration. The chimney? Shaking her head, the woman approached Link, sharp eyes noting right away the way his left arm hung at an awkward angle, turning backward instead of forward. "You need to get that looked at," she said quietly, casting her gaze around till she zeroed in on a few small, thin bones on the ground. Picking them up with only a slight wrinkling of the nose, the woman reached forward to grab at his arm, accidentally jerking it in the process. "Apologies," she muttered, face flushed slightly. It had been a while since she had made such a mistake. Years, in fact. However, it had also been at least a year since she had last had to apply any first-aid to a comrade. While she had been relegated to the medicinal tents for much of her career in the Garou, her defeat of a Pontic general had moved her to the front lines. And now, with a healer on hand, there was little use for her skills. "Hold still," the woman said, aligning the bones on either side of the arm and tying them in place with a couple cloth bandages she procured from the supply bag. Wrapping the lot of it in a sling, she stepped back to inspect her work with a critical eye. "It will do," she said, ignoring the way her hands itched to tighten the knots and adjust the position. She could not take the time to make this perfect like she did most things, not with a stranger in the room. Already, it was remiss of her to focus on Link rather than the naked boy sleeping on the floor, but instinct had taken over. "We should leave, and tell the others of our findings." While they could continue the report, the possibility that the boy was faking was something she could not ignore. The talk would have to wait. Opening the door, the princess blinked in surprise at the sight of Shiro, arms folded and staring straight at her. "Shiro," she greeted. "Is there something the matter?" she tilted her head toward the square, where she could make out the figures of the group, as well as several animals entering the area. -- "I apologize. We've been through plenty of rather unusual events lately. I can only imagine some of us are....rattled." Dariella smiled, but did not reply. There was no time to, anyway, as they had reached the end of the cave very shortly. She stood to the side, lantern lifted slightly so that the group could see. Licorice blew a long breath out of her nose once everybody had finished speaking. "Outside would have been better for you," she said. "I will be fine, and I'm sure the chieftain would not miss me that much," her tone was wry. She turned her head to Ciela. "I doubt you could heal this. There is dark magic in the brew. Normally it would not be this potent but my..." she paused, "...special nature, worsens the effects." She shook her head. "It is not your fault. You did not throw the potion at me, nor feed it to me. I was the one who was careless." She looked at Tsetseg then. "There is nothing to do but wait out the effects." "Which you all being present are not helping," Dariella spoke in a singsong tone. "Dariella...please..." The blond huffed. "Oh, very well. I admit I'm not in the best of moods, anyway." She patted her arm, which had stopped bleeding, absentmindedly. "I am sorry for that," Licorice bowed her head. "No, no, worry not," the woman waved a hand airily. "I should've been more careful. Looks aren't everything, after all." Her eyes lingered on Ciela, more specifically, her hair, "Well, I can tell when I'm not wanted. I'll wait outside with the horsie." And with that, she left, leaving the lantern behind. "Sorry..." Licorice broke the silence that followed. "I did not mean to make you all worry about me." She shifted slightly, appearing a little uncomfortable. "While I do not condone you all following me like that...that was...very kind." Her ears flattened slightly as she lowered her head.

"It'll be fiiiine." Tornadus replied, an almost childish grin on his face. "This woman's gonna learn not to mess with a Legend!" At least Mac had managed to make use of the wind somehow. She had almost flown toward Mia, slamming her foot into the Godslayer's face with a twist that sent the woman tumbling off the raft. However, even the Helioptile was starting to suffer from the strong winds. "I like to fight but I'd rather not do it in the water you know!" "This isn't the time for this!" Ari snapped at Tornadus, rare anger rising up. Legendaries were supposed to be guardians, protectors. And yet here he was, putting them all in danger. "The raft is falling apart around us, and you're just making it worse!" Glancing toward Mac, the Litleo started to creep across the raft toward his friend, keeping his body low to the ground to hopefully prevent himself from being blown off as well. Stretching out a hand, he yelled, "Grab my hand!" Still, inside, he couldn't help but wonder if this would do any good. He wasn't that big, and he had nothing to extend his reach with either. -- Easter felt a brief burst of satisfaction at seeing the Corsola go down...that was neatly punctured by the Slowking's use of Heal Pulse on the Frillish. "You're really a pain in the neck, you know," he commented, glaring at the Slowking in the back. "There's only room for one healer here, and you're not it!" Glancing around, the Sylveon noticed that both the Frillish and Corsola had surrounded him, looking to catch him in a pincer movement. Which, normally he wouldn't have let happen, but his fixation on the stupid Slowking had let them maneuver around him.Thankfully, Dora had his back, shooting mud from her mouth at the Corsola. The mud seemed to slow it down, giving him just enough time to get himself out of the blast range. Quickly going through his options, the fairy type decided to duck into a roll--toward the side away from the Frillish. Now with a clear view of the Slowking, he sprang up, staring straight at his target. "Lights out," he muttered, charging up another Moonblast and aiming it right at the psychic type. The attack ripped through the air and came at the Slowking in a burst of pink light. When the light faded, he could see the form of the psychic type, kneeling on the ground, but still conscious. The fairy type clicked his tongue. "Looks like I need to do a little more." Slowking were rare enough that he had forgotten they were quite bulky, at least when it came to special attacks. Further back, the Corsola looked like it was gearing itself up to attack, though it was still shaking mud out of its eyes. To the side, the Frillish summoned yet more ball of shadowy energy as it tried to get between him and the Slowking. "Oh, no you don't," the fairy type muttered, beginning to run...right at the gijinka. It looked almost like he would use a Tackle attack on the ghost, but suddenly veered to the side, slipping around the jellyfish. Groaning as multiple Night Shade balls crashed into his back, the Sylveon blinked as he realized he was right between the Frillish and the Slowking. He began to grin, eyes just a little too bright and smile a little too wide for it to be normal. "Hello," he giggled. "That was fun, but you know, you've been just a little bit annoying, don't you think?" he chirped. "Look at me," he gestured at himself. "I'm bleeding all over, and well, that's not very nice." He tilted his head to the side, hands behind his back, grin growing wider. "Weren't you ever taught about the sacred rules of hospitality?" His grin stretched almost to the sides of his face as he took his hands out from behind his back, revealing the charging Moonblast. "It's important to keep in mind. Otherwise you might just do something you'll regret." The Sylveon laughed as he threw the glowing ball of pink light forward, right at the Slowking. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the Frillish desperately leap forward, but it was too late. "And now you see why you shouldn't treat guests badly, don't you?" -- Keanu sighed when Allie began to trash talk them. Can we please just get to the fighting part? "Let's just get this done and over with." Almost as if she was listening, the Tyranitar summoned fist-sized stones that rained from the sky. A frightening face appeared soon afterward, slowing their movements. "This time you'll all fall." "Oh great," the Pikachu grumbled. "Just what we needed. More rocks." Taking the initiative to attack first for once--after all, he knew by now he wasn't getting out of a fight--the electric type ran ahead of the others and summoned a large plume of water. Guiding it to carry him past various stones, he let it lift him higher and higher, until he was standing tall over the ground type. "Try this on for size!" he shouted, letting the wave engulf the Godslayer in a rush of water. -- "You can....transform. Just like...Meloetta?" "Yeah, cuz I'm super awesome and all," Shaymin replied boisterously. "It's prepare for trouble, and make it double! Get it? Since there're two of me?" And then the Mismagius girl came forward. "That was really impressive." She said, her smile turning more genuine and calm. "I can't pretend to understand the desire to fight but I can see you're incredibly strong. Do you have any idea why they would be after you?" She hesitated. "Does it have something to do with...them? The one that lives underground?" "Ah," the legendary's enthusiasm died a little. "Why do you want to talk about them?" his nose wrinkled in disgust. "Let's talk about me. I'm pretty amazing, in case you haven't heard." He puffed his chest out. "Those chumps were probably after me because they wanted to test themselves against my mad skills." He crossed his arms, nodding confidently before looking up in realization, "Who are you people, anyway? What are your names? Or do you want me to give you nicknames? Because I totally can." Without waiting for a response, Shaymin began to point at each of them in turn, starting with the girl in the hat. "You look like a Hatwoman," He pointed at the guy in the hood next, "And you can be Plasma Rider," he turned to the horned man afterward, "You seem like a Solarfire." Lastly, he looked at the girl in the scarf, "And you're totally a Ninja!" After saying that, the boy spun on the spot, jumping high into the air and falling back down with a dramatic pose. "And I am called," he paused rising from his crouch to stand confidently, "the great and powerful Shaymin...specifically Skymin right now." He put his hands on his hips. "You can also call me Cooler Shaymin, the Sky Warrior, or just plain Awesome!"

The way that Cherrim transforms between overcast and sunny form is pretty cool, in my opinion. Sobble's got an interesting expression, but that's about all it has going for it for me aside from it looking like a chameleon.

The both of them are pretty cool, but Luxray wins out over Gengar in this for me.

I love Porygon2. Porygon-Z always struck me as kind of creepy and psychotic-looking. Porygon2 is a cyber duck. It's great.

Hippowdon is amazing. We need more hippo Pokemon, period. Same with tiger Pokemon. Get on that, Gamefreak, plz.

I love the both of them, though Goomy wins by a small margin as I actually have memories associated with it, and nothing with Yamper so far.

I have never been a fan of Dragonite's design and probably never will be. Meanwhile, Greninja's pretty cool, in my opinion.

I know like nothing about Zeraora, though I do like cats and stuff. But Zigzagoon has a lot of happy memories for me. Also I just now realized this is the battle of the Zs.

I like Espeon, but it's not my favorite of the Eeveelutions by far. Not sure why, but something about Bruxish is just super amusing to me. Probably helps I'm a fan of parrot fish too.

She knew it. Her idea was dumb. The bandit chief didn't know anything, and oh, why did she even say anything? It wasn't like there was any point to it. Either nobody heard her, listened, or what she had wasn't worth saying out loud anyway. Why did she even try anymore? Because, for some strange reason, Leon listens. That ended up being a major impetus for her joining the Iron Falcons. Not very many people noticed her, or cared to, but Leon did. It made her feel slightly more confident, like maybe, just maybe, she could take a teeny-tiny step forward. Except she was still kind of pathetic and not very smart or talented or anything cool at all like the others, but she would keep trying for his sake. And...maybe for the rest of them too now. In the end, the bandit boss was killed by Raynor. Who then wanted to talk with Rona. Yue's eyes widened. Wait, wait, he wanted to talk with her? Alone? About what? Was it scary Jouran stuff, or maybe... Her eyes widened further until they felt as if they would pop out of her head. No, that can't be, she started to panic. Does he...like her? Her stomach churned, and, turning away, the archer glanced at...Layne, who was grimacing slightly as he mumbled something that the girl could barely hear. He brushed his hands together before just taking a few steps away from the others, over towards Yue to give her a small smile, "It wasn't a bad idea though." "W-w-w-what? Really?" the silver-haired girl stammered, blushing slightly. "Y-you think so?" That was...odd. Nobody thought her ideas were good. Not even Leon usually. Maybe the healer had gotten knocked around the head a couple times during the fight while Yue wasn't looking. "Are y-you all right?" she asked, stepping closer to the man, momentarily forgetting her usual aversion to him and his healing magic. "You're not h-hurt, are you?" She tightened her grip on the scratched bronze surface of the bow in her hands. "If you get hurt, th-then, well, that's bad..." she trailed off awkwardly, eyes falling downward to focus on her shuffling feet. Every time I say something, I sound so...stupid. Of course it's bad if somebody gets hurt. He knows that. I know that. Ugh. She blushed furiously. He's going to think I'm saying he's stupid or something, isn't he?

"I'm gonna be honest buddy, I'm not really sure what we can do. Your fire will light the raft on fire, and I can't dig through wood..." "Keep her from causing any more damage." Elsa replied, gritting her teeth as she continuously pushed out her ice to cover more of the raft. "Sorry, can't....I gotta focus." "No, it's fine." Yeah, there really wasn't anything he could do here, was there? Ari frowned. While he wasn't in the direct path of the Hurricane attack like Kazo was, he could still feel some of the wind from where he was. This wasn't good. Not only would it be a bad idea to get close to the fight while all of this was going on, he wasn't sure if the high winds would just blow out his Embers. So instead the Litleo concentrated on Working Up his power even more. "There's not much else I can do..." he muttered, before looking up and shouting: "Tornadus! The raft! It's breaking apart!" Still, the legendary might not have heard him over the roaring wind, or even cared to listen. He sounded pretty mad back there, after all. So was Mia. Everybody was mad, and fighting, and the day had started off so happy, too. -- Easter sweatdropped at seeing Dora lounging on the throne, but he couldn't help the spark of relief that coursed through him. Shaking his head, the Eeveelution turned back to the others, closing his eyes briefly when the Future Sight attack hit. He glared straight at the Slowking. "You've been annoying this whole time," he said, charging up a Moonblast to throw at him. The man was surrounded, but by now, Easter didn't care. He would blast through them all to get to that gijinka if he had to. Unfortunately, it looked like one of the idiots had decided to get in the way. One of the Corsola, and it seemed like the attack was enough to get them out of the fight. Growling out in frustration, the Sylveon's ire rose as the Frillish summoned large, shadowy-looking orbs that were sent straight at him. Avoiding some, but not all of them, Easter tumbled to the side, catching a glimpse of the other Corsola out of the corner of his eyes. "Oh no you don't," he said, noticing that it seemed to be wanting to get behind him. He had to remain calm, no matter how much he just wanted to blast through all of these chumps and find the others. The hostile way they acted...didn't bode well for the others. Perhaps he wasn't the only one to have acted violently before. Or maybe the king was just being a plain old jerk. Either way, he had to think strategically right now, and with multiple enemies like this, Swift was his best bet. Even if that Slowking was being a pain in the derriere. Grimacing as another barrage from Spike Cannon started, Easter ignored the pain--and the familiar rise of fightfightfight blood roaring in his ears with dark laughter slipping between the cracks. He couldn't let himself lose control. Not yet, anyway. Releasing another round of Swift, the Sylveon panted slightly as he glared straight at the Slowking, blood dripping down his face from a small cut on his forehead. -- It looked like things were getting shaken up over there. Literally shaken. Cracks had started to form in the ground ahead as both Allie and Nani used a move that seemed to split the earth in two and cause it to rumble. Keanu almost fell over himself, were it not for the balancing skills he had honed from surfing on the waves. Randy forged ahead, already starting to banter with Allie as he...stood in place? Huh. He wasn't actually rushing into a fight for once. "Yeah, there's no point anyway, since we already beat Heatran before you!" Keanu rolled his eyes. Way to taunt the enemy there. Strolling up next to the two, the Pikachu yawned and stretched his arms. "So, we gonna scrap then?" It really seemed like, no matter where they went, they ended up fighting. It was almost ridiculous at this point, but the electric type was starting to expect it lately. "Guess we have no choice." -- "Are you....unharmed?" "Hahahaha. Man. You legends, you really are all surprises. Glad to see you're alright." "Course I am!" the youth replied confidently. "I'm the great and powerful Shaymin, after all, mwahahaha!" He threw his head back and laughed. "Even some of the bigger legendaries fear me," he blustered. "You saw how I took those two down, right? Bam, kapow! Just like that," he threw a couple air punches before finally appearing to notice the conditions of the others. "Oh, wow. You don't look too good, do you?" he said bluntly as he leaned down and poked at the Accelgor. "Sorry," he shrugged his shoulders at the group. "I'd help, but I'm not the healer. Other Me is. I'm the cool one, the one that gets stuff done." He pointed a finger at his chest proudly, then looked at the fallen ghosts around them. "It's just too bad there weren't more baddies to fight. It's been years, no, decades, or maybe centuries?" he scratched his head as he got distracted, before shaking his head in annoyance. "Bah! Point is, it's been way too long since I got to show my stuff. You get me, right?" He glanced at each of the group in turn. "You gotta. You're all fighters too. Or at least most of you are, anyway."

Catriona was not sure what to think of the situation before her. The stories she had heard of wyverns and their behavior were...not the most pleasant. The woman could only be thankful that they had not had to go up against them in the Garou, though Pontus had their own share of...difficult soldiers. However, this creature did not look nearly so ferocious, struggling helplessly beneath the rubble of the stand. The lord was not one for sympathy, especially to strange beasts, however she did not feel as if this creature were in any position to do them any harm. So long as they stayed well away, that is. The woman opened her mouth to suggest that when Edrick stepped forward. "Well," he began, planting his spear into a gap in the cobbles, "we might as well try and get it out. Someone help me with this." The lord blinked. And then blinked again when he was joined by Alois, though the fighter veered off to help the dazed girl...woman? It was honestly difficult to discern from this angle. And then the slow trickle became a flood as everybody moved to help either the wyvern or what Catriona would assume to be its rider. The likelihood of it being a wild wyvern was rather low, considering wild wyverns didn't usually venture this far north. It seemed the decision was taken out of her hands. The white-haired woman made to step forward as well. While she did not approve of freeing a potentially dangerous creature, she could only hope that it would not turn on them as soon as it was free. If so, then she had a blade for a reason. And then Link caught her eyes and coughed. “Your Majesty…” he began in his usual toneless whisper. “You asked me to get you answers, back at the Fox Village. I did. I think it’s important that I share what I learned, if… if your Majesty would… grant me an audience before making any decisions on this situation.” He gestured to one of the huts nearby with a nod, face slightly flushed. Catriona frowned. The nights were getting colder, and they had just been walking in the rain the day before. There was a good chance that the green-clothed man had gotten sick from their earlier trek. In fact, had he not gotten sick while in Ithome as well? Then she remembered what he had said. Answers...with everything that had happened, that had slipped her mind. Giving the man a brisk nod, she waited for a few beats to make sure that the group was suitably distracted and unharmed before slipping off to the hut he had mentioned, though were any to look back, she would make a dismissive gesture to ease their minds. While the woman did not particularly care to leave the others alone in a strange place, Alois was a native, and had proved himself trustworthy. Gunther was obviously reliable, Edrick had proven to be a doughty fighter, Sienna could take care of herself, as could Shiro, and Adelaide was a former squad leader for the Pelinna Patrol. No, these people would be fine for the short while it would take to have a private conversation. Neither Link nor Catriona would have to try very hard to leave quietly, however, as most of the barrels were rolled off, crates were lifted away, and the stand itself lifted just enough that the wyvern's wings were unpinned. All any of the group--including the wyvern--needed to do was give one last heave and the creature would be freed. At that moment, the beaver came forward to sniff cautiously at the wyvern, before backing away and running over to the downed brunette. It gave her a sniff as well before turning up to look at Alois, emitting an annoyed chitter, tail slapping at the ground. It paused soon after, straightening and glancing at the stranger again. Turning around, the critter lifted its paddle-like tail and slapped the girl over the face with it. Meanwhile, the hut that Link had pointed out stood at the edge of the market square. The door, like many of the others, had a small hole in it. Still, it swung open easily enough. The interior, while certainly not fit to receive royalty, was good enough for their purposes. However, it looked as if it were occupied already. Curled up on a patch of straw was a human male with tawny hair, naked as the day he was born. His pose was a little odd, head tilted toward his curled-up knees. He whimpered slightly in his sleep, stretching out one of his legs, foot thumping against the ground. Strangely enough, there was a perfectly good sleeping pallet beside him. A small fireplace was nearby, though it seemed as if a fire had not been lit in it for at least several hours if the lord judged correctly. There was no glow of embers, no heat emanating from it at all. "We can talk here," Catriona said, with a glance at the sleeping male. "However, I do not believe that to be the wisest course of action." -- Dariella blinked, looking a little baffled at Tsetseg's question, ignoring Rohns's warning snarl in the process. "Am I a sheep? Or mouse?" she chuckled suddenly. "Oh, no no," she shook her head. "I do not believe that I am." She smiled even more gently, continuing to play keeper with Ciela. "I do appreciate the concern, though. You really are a sweetheart, aren't you? Reminds me of--" The woman cut herself off with a yelp, drawing her arm back as if stung and tearing it free of the blue-haired girl's jaws. The blonde stood frozen, staring down at the pair of bloody bite marks that had torn a hole in her sleeve. "Interesting," she observed, face eerily expressionless. "You're the first person to make me bleed in...a long time." Her face turned thoughtful. "I suppose that's what I get for letting my guard down around you though," She lifted her head up to stare straight at Ciela. "However, don't you think that that was a bit rash, Miss Celestinia?" The air around the two seemed to grow heavy. "If you keep acting without thinking like that, then you'll only be a burden to your friends." The blonde shook her head. "I'm not so sure that my darling would appreciate you getting the group into trouble that could've been avoided. In fact..." Dariella clapped her hands together, beaming as the pressure around both herself and Ciela became almost unbearable. "Why don't I just go ahead and--" "Stop!" a voice echoed from within the cave. Just as suddenly as it came, the pressure disappeared, and the woman pouted. "Aww, you're no fun." "Let...inside." "Are you sure?" the blonde questioned. "Better...alternative." "Oh, you! Have a little faith," Dariella giggled, before smiling at the group as if nothing had happened. "I suppose you can come in, since Licorice says so. But remember to be careful. She's not in the best condition to be receiving visitors." The blonde picked up her lantern before turning around and leading everybody into the cave. The cave entrance, while large enough for them to walk in, was still small enough that Remy would have to duck his head. However, the ceiling grew taller and the walls wider as soon as they entered. The cave itself was shallow, and the group would be able to see the far end from where they stood. There, partially lit by the warm glow of the lantern, lay a familiar, bedraggled-looking giant fox resting on a patch of moss. Her sides heaved as she stared at them with bloodshot eyes. "You," Licorice rasped. "Why did you follow me?"

"I'm more worried about leaving her than staying." Penelope said adamantly. "I don't abandon my friends." The girl thought for a moment. "I can keep my distance until it wears off. And then we all can rejoin the main group." Dariella shook her head. "You two really are quite stubborn about sticking around, aren't you?" she asked with a glance at Ciela as well for her earlier comment. And the troubadour didn't seem to be done either. "And I will be coming in, please and thank you. You are her friend, yes, but I am the one that caused this to happen. What sort of healer causes suffering to their patient, then on top of that can't even deal with that situation?" "Oh?" The woman turned to the girl with an expression of disbelief. "Really? You? You certainly don't look like a dark magic user, but I suppose appearances can be deceiving." "Furthermore, like hell I would just entrust someone from our group to a random asshole appearing out of nowhere, acting suspicious like you're some sort of fairy tale plotmother." "Well, that's just mean," the blonde pouted, though the slight curvature of her eyes belied her words. "Youth these days. No respect at all," she turned her face skyward in exasperation before tilting her head down at the healer. "Still, it seems like you're a little hard of hearing. I did say that it would be dangerous for you if you approached, but you seem to insist on risking your life anyway. Perhaps you should listen to your horse," she smiled at Remy, before turning back to Ciela. By now, the troubadour had finally reached her. "Now, now, don't be so hasty," Dariella said, refusing to move out of the way. "Little mice that charge ahead have a tendency to fall right into the cat's claws." Try as she might, Ciela would not be able to get around the woman. Even if she attempted to get around her, the woman would edge to the side just enough to completely block her path. "You know," the blonde commented off-handedly, as if she weren't engaged in a game of "keeper" with the blue-haired girl. "Now that I see you up close, you look a little familiar. Something in the face, or maybe it's the hair." She smiled genially. "What did you say your name was again?"