Sethera

The stage: a lighthouse. The actors: a Rattata, a Poamoo, and a girl. The audience: yet more Rattata. This was where one of the most important battles Belle had ever participated in was occurring. It would be the most important, but the battle where she backed out, resulting in being kicked from her team, or the later battle where she ended up joining another team were also pretty important. Except this battle had nothing to do with teams, no. This battle was about dignity, and the preservation of one's core beliefs. This battle was about not being forced to climb up those darn stairs. Belle gritted her teeth as she watched the Rattata evade the Tackle coming its way. This thing is fast, she thought with a flash of annoyance. "Too fast," she muttered out loud. The Rattata glanced at her smugly before turning back to the match. Irritated, the girl spoke up, "Come on, Moo, you've gotta be faster than a stupid rat." Blanching when said "stupid rat" glared at her and started running at her, she backed up a few steps. "I-I mean, uh...beautiful and intelligent rat?" The rat ignored her and kept up its charge. "Crap," she muttered, raising her voice soon after. "Moo, get it!" The Poamoo let out a low as he started his own Tackle. Distracted as his opponent was, he managed to hit this time, knocking the rodent out of its trajectory toward Belle. "Okay, keep it up," the bluenette said, mind thinking fast. It seems like we might have to make use of tactics like that to win this. It's too wily to let us attack it blindly. Nodding to herself, the girl narrowed her eyes at the rat. "Hah, looks like you're all bark and no bite." When there was no reaction, she continued, "Do you understand what I mean? I'm saying you're weak." That seemed to get its attention. The Rattata raised its head to bare its long incisors at her. "Naaa!" it let out a savage cry, lowering its head again to charge at the girl on all fours. What sounded like a good idea ten seconds ago was less good when one had a Pokémon barreling towards oneself with killing intent leaking from its gaze. Belle gulped. Is this how I die?

"Hey!" Mac said, turning towards Ari. "You wanna go too, shrimpy?" Mac said, putting a hand out and placing it on top of Ari's head. "It'd be a good warm up before a real fight." She pouted at the boy. "See, it's just that attitude that gets you into trouble," the Litleo shook his head sagely. Did I sound kingly just then? "I-I mean, I'm not... really wanting to fight per se?" Kazo commented. "I-I mean, judging from his name... he makes tornadoes... a-and you don't 'fight' something like that... a-at least not with a lot of collateral damage... A-and... I'm not shaking in my boots. I just..." Ari didn't catch the last few words, but that was fine. He already knew that Kazo was, unlike Mac, a lot smarter and wiser and nicer. And if he didn't want to battle Tornadus, then it probably wasn't a good idea. "I AM pretty impressive, true." Tornadus said, flexing one of his mighty arms once again. "Hard time with women you say?" The legend grinned then swooped down at Kazo, putting an arm around the boy's shoulder. "That's no good. Women are one of the best parts of life. You're missing out kid. Why don't you tell me your troubles and I'll give you some advice." He flashed Kazo a thumbs up and shook the boy in what was probably meant to be a friendly manner. "Women? Yuck," Ari gagged. "Why would you want advice for that?" he wrinkled his nose in disgust. -- Easter almost felt like giving up with the number of doors there were. Almost. He wasn't going to leave Dora behind. He just knew Brooke would have something to say about that to him, and she wouldn't be saying it with words, oh no. It'd be her fist meeting his face. Not to mention, he was getting to be a little fond of the brat too. Fond enough he'd be looking even without Brooke's added incentive. Eventually, after looking into one that seemed to someone's room, and was filled with paintings of what looked like a Skitty Gijinka, a Kingdra Gijinka tapped him on the shoulder. "Miss? Er...you're....one of the king's guests right? I don't know if you should be here...er, are you looking for something?" The Kingdra seemed to be strong but Easter couldn't sense any threatening feeling from him. Instead he just seemed a bit unsure and awkward. Still, he was a dragon type. His eyes lit up briefly, then flickered out when he remembered he didn't exactly have time to be picking fights with random citizens of Merm. Remember the plan, the plan. Dragons aren't involved in that plan. Sighing internally, the fairy type sent a coquettish smile toward the man. "Eheh..." he chuckled in embarrassment. "I seem to be a little lost... Sorry, is this your room?" Interesting taste he has here...well, I can use that if so. He batted his eyes innocently as he giggled, "I'm so silly. Well, you see, I was looking for my friend Dora, is all. Have you seen her anywhere, sir?" -- Randy explained the situation as they climbed, and soon they made it to the top. Must have just missed Nani and the others, then, Keanu thought. Things soon heated up when the legendary, Heatran, started a fight with Randy. Marie joined in, and then things escalated from there. Now, there was a large plume of lava shooting up for the sky and looking like it'd land on him and Marie in a large spread. Sighing, the Pikachu closed his eyes. "In the background comes a splash, the distant sound of the sea. A soft sound. A quiet sound. The kind of sound that you can dream to, a lullaby that washes over you. As you listen, the sound gets louder, the gentle croon growing into a shout, and then a roar, a cacophonous wave of sound that threatens to deafen you. And before you know it, you are hit by the wave, spinning around with no knowledge of what is up or down, left or right, nothing but the endless surge of water and foam. You are submerged, and you realize, with a sudden clarity of thought, that you are drowning. Then the wave ends, and you are left gasping for breath on the beach, hands fisting in the sand as you watch what could have been the instrument of your death slide, almost shyly, back to sea, the sound ebbing down to its former murmur, a quiet sound, a lullaby. That is Surf." He opened his eyes, and rode the tide.

Oh fiddlesticks, it's running right for me. It was true that Belle's entire walk through Route 102 was filled with Pokémon and trainers running at her and giving her the scare of her life. It was also true that somehow, she had managed to get through that route with just one Pokémon. However, that didn't mean she was any better at battling, or, well, anything to do with Pokémon. She was just one girl, one very much out-of-shape girl. "Crap!" she shouted, running quickly to the side. I need to get out of the way, she thought, completely disregarding the idea of throwing out her Poké Ball. That would require stopping, which would require time, which would require her not getting hit. Being bigger and having longer legs wasn't much of an advantage against a creature with speed to more than make up for the disadvantage. Belle didn't manage to get far before she was quickly Tackled in the side, falling down on the opposite side. "Ugh...that hurt," she groaned, before realizing that not only had she fallen over, but the Rattata was also standing on her, and those teeth were far too close to her throat for comfort. "Gah!" she flailed, dropping her Poké Ball in the process. Thankfully, it landed on the button, releasing the Pokémon within. "Moo," the small, green cow-like creature lowed, taking in the situation in a slow glance of his sleepy-looking eyes. "Moo...get this thing away from me..." Belle groaned. The Poamoo nodded before releasing a couple vines that reached out and lashed the Rattata off of his trainer. "Thanks, Moo..." the bluenette panted as she picked herself up from the ground. "Now...uhh..." she thought for a second. "Tackle." However, the rodent Pokémon had already started to move even before the girl had said anything. Moo was not prepared to be hit in the face with a Quick Attack, halting his own attack in the process. "Shoot, this thing is fast," Belle muttered, glancing around the area. It looked like the other Rattata had backed away, forming a small semicircle around them as they watched the battle. There would be no getting out of this fight unless she climbed the stairs. The girl clenched her fists in renewed determination. "No way...are you making me climb those stairs!" she declared. "I'll take you down here and now, and show you the power of a true couch potato." She turned to Moo. "Moo, Tackle!" "Moo!" the Poamoo let out his own laid-back battle cry before charging at the Rattata.

"I understand, but as it is, if she's really just a lost traveler, then it's our job to help her out." Yue nodded, shrinking in on herself. Why did I even say anything? she wondered, before getting distracted by Rona's next words, accompanied by a hand on her shoulder. "I won't let anyone come to harm, you don't have to worry about that." Her hand's...really warm...no, that's not important right now. The girl looked up, blushing. "A-a-all right, thank you R-Rona." -- The group had set out from their home fortress early that morning, staying to the road for the most part. Their leader, was, of course, ever vigilant, even as he addressed them all. "Our task is simple. We are to escort Edda to the Port Town of Enta. It'll be a long trip, so get ready for more walking than normal." Rona winced slightly, atop of Cormag. "I'd give someone a lift but..." Cormag growled. "Well, you know." She finished with a laugh. Riding with Rona... Yue pondered as she walked. I bet it'd be really cool, flying through the sky like that, but also...really dangerous. And scary. But if Rona were there... Then what? I doubt she'd let anybody get hurt. Maybe it'd be safe with her there. "Skies seem pretty clear today." Rona declared. "Well, danger-wise that is. You all might as well relax. I'll be alert enough for everyone!" She's always making sure we're all safe and accounted for, the archer smiled, and then glanced at Edda, her smile slowly morphing into a frown. I hope she won't have to keep us safe from...her. She really didn't know much about this girl, aside from the little she had gleaned from listening in on the previous conversation. That this girl worshiped a dragon, that she was Jouran, and that Rona didn't like her. That alone was enough to make her suspicious. Now, Yue didn't particularly hate Jourans. After all, Rona was a Jouran, and she was an admirable example of a person if ever there was one. Even Raynor seemed...not as bad as she had originally thought. However, she was wary of this girl, who Rona, a fellow Jouran, didn't even trust. Discreetly, the archer took a couple steps away from Edda, before turning to the nearest person who happened to be...Ada. She blanched, before quickly calming herself. Ada or Edda...both bad options, but one worse than the other. Taking a breath, she started to speak. "Um...uh..." she hesitated. "Nice weather...we're...having?" She trailed off into silence. Oh spirits oh spirits oh no what do I even say next? What do you say after the weather? This is why I can never talk to people. I never know what to talk about. Everybody always gives me weird looks when I speak, makes me wonder if I should even bother. Oh spirits maybe I should've just...stayed silent. Yes. Silence I can handle.

The riverside had become a chaotic melee. On one end, Link was currently slamming the flat of his blade against his shield in an effort to scare the beavers away. One beaver stubbornly clung to Remy while the other jumped off and started hissing at Link while backing away slowly. However, it didn't look as if it would run away quite yet. Its fellow persisted in attacking the horse before falling off as the stallion's struggles became more violent. Kicking the beaver with a stray hoof, Remy fled upstream, and somehow, miracle of miracles, Ciela managed to stay atop him, though she had little control over him at the moment. Her shouted commands for him to stop went unheeded and ever fainter as the horse ran further south. Adelaide slowly got up, stumbling as she did so, but ended up falling back down again, squishing the beaver that was just kicked underneath her. The beaver struggled for a bit but it looked like it wouldn't be getting free just yet. The third beaver was currently preoccupied with attempting to bite through the metal of the iron lance that Edrick wielded. It held on even through the boy's wild shakes, even while bleeding from the lance wound. Growling, the beaver finally let go and started charging at Edrick again, not putting anybody else in its eye. Meanwhile, the beaver near Sienna and Catriona had run at Sienna again. The Protean looked as if she was ready to do something--perhaps transform--but the beaver was faster. The animal had leapt on her and bit down, hard, on her right hand, clinging to the woman the whole time. "Get off her!" Catriona shouted, fury at her own helplessness rushing through her. The woman ran forward but did not attack. The beaver was far too close to Sienna to attack. She could miss again and hurt Sienna in the process. So instead she ran forward and grabbed the beaver around the middle in an attempt to make it let go. An attempt the animal didn't seem to take too well to. In the river, the beaver there had tried valiantly to fight back against Shiro, but in his larger form, was unable to do much but flail uselessly, especially after being kicked. It sank underneath the water, where it seemed to become even more slippery and hard to grasp. But, for now, it was stuck. On the other side, the beaver currently attacking Gunther seemed confused by his soft tone of voice. Slightly lulled, its jaws began to loosen from their clamp on the knight's arm. Licorice watched all of this a frown. As things were, she might cause even more of a mess were she to jump in. So instead, she made do with standing back and making sure no more beavers got near. The black fox ended up scaring away a couple that looked like they wanted to join the fight. Glancing to the side, where it looked like Ciela and Remy were fleeing, her frown deepened, and she ran after them, transforming into her larger form once she passed the melee. It would not do for them to get too far.

Posting this here to let everybody know that I am back. Again, sorry for the extended hiatus but I was not in any condition to be writing. Everybody who wants to remain in the RP, please post here so I know you're still interested.

Last time, on Fire Emblem: Curse of the Goddess. Though our heroes managed to defeat the dreaded horde of Awakened at the abandoned shrine, their search for clues of the Great Dragon's location is not over. Led only by the words of Urvan, leader of the Pelinna Patrol, they know that the legendary wyrm is "north" of the Pelinna region, and only that. They headed west, where there was said to be a village, hoping that the village will give them more clues as to their next destination. However, the path to the village was rainy and tiresome, and before long they found a river blocking their way. Staying the night, they decided to cross it in the morning, having found a ford upstream. However, daytime poses other dangers, as that area is teeming with territorial beavers! Catriona had not expected this. Beavers. She had never heard of a beaver before, let alone seen one, but apparently her sister had. Listening to the younger girl lecture on about animal behavior, of all things, was starting to give her a headache. She just wanted to be across the river and done with this. Still, it looked like the beavers wouldn't let them move through their territory without a fight. Across the river, Gunther had managed to calm down the beavers surrounding him, though one of them, the one that had gotten shot with an arrow, jumped at the armored knight again. Gritting her teeth as she watched the man do nothing to defend himself, Catriona turned her attention to Alois, who was still in the middle of attempting to cross the river. His crossing, however, was currently imperiled by the presence of yet another beaver. Still, the beaver looked to have been distracted by Shiro, and had started to attack the Protean instead. It wasn't much better on their side of the river, if in fact, it could be said to be better at all. To the south, three beavers had gathered around where Edrick, Ciela, and Adelaide stood. And two chose to mob Ciela, or more accurately, Remy. The horse screamed in pain and started to kick out with its hooves wildly. Here now was where the difference between a charger, or warhorse, and palfrey, or riding horse, stood out. Most chargers would not panic at being attacked, but unless trained for battle any horse would give in to its baser instincts. So she had learned on the field. And it was for this reason that proper warhorses were worth their weight in gold. Unfortunately, Remy, though belonging to the recognizable Mirial White breed--famed for not only their speed as a racehorse, but also their elegant looks--had not been trained as a warhorse. Harassed by the beavers, the stallion started to buck and thrash, uncaring of anything save getting the animals off of it. Ciela, his rider, looked to be barely holding on to the reins. "I'll help!" Adelaide shouted, leaping off her own pegasus and running forward to try to calm the raging beast down. To most people, such an action would be suicidal, but for somebody with experience, who rode an equine of her own, it was risky, but possible. Still, luck worked against her this time, and a stray hoof hit her in the eye, knocking her to the ground, barely avoiding being trampled. The third beaver of the group, rather than join its fellows in the attack on Remy, lunged for Edrick instead. Lastly, the one near Sienna had jumped up to attack her legs. This isn't something I was trained to deal with...but no matter. I will take down anything that stands in the way of our mission, be they bandits or beasts. Catriona dashed forward, sword at the ready, whipping it out for an overhand chop...and missed, her blade burying itself in the dirt. The woman felt her face grow hot. This...was not how she expected this attack to go. She was used to fighting human foes, not animal, and human beings were a little...taller. With any luck, the others will have more experience at taking down these creatures. To the side, Licorice watched the fight in growing disbelief. To think mere beavers could...then again, these seem to be rather ferocious beavers. OOC

Belle breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she got off the boat. It had been uncomfortable, sitting there surrounded by people she didn't know. Sure, they had seemed friendly, but that was how everybody had acted at first. It was hard enough being around that Naomi girl, much less her two companions. Now, at least, she was alone. Alone in a creepy lighthouse, but nonetheless still alone. Jacklyn had wanted her to climb the stairs with them, but climbing was one of Belle's least favorite activities, right alongside calisthenics, running, and all other forms of exercise. So instead she let herself sit on the bottom stair while waiting for them to be done exploring the place, glancing at the walls every so often. It was quiet. Eerily quiet. So quiet that, maybe, it would have been better to go with the others. The girl shivered in the dark alone. Then a noise. A slight pattering and clicking. Licking her lips nervously, Belle shrank back against the stair she was leaning against, rifling through her pocket for the Poké Ball containing her Poamoo. Rather than shout out "who's there" however, like a suicidal moron, she just stayed silent. With any luck, whatever it was would pass her by. Except luck worked against her this time, because out of the corner of her eyes stepped...a Rattata? She would recognize that Pokémon anywhere. The elongated incisors, the purple fur, and that goofy tail. "Raa," the Pokémon cried, stepping forward. It looked curious, ears perked, nose twitching. Its tail waved from side to side. Belle looked down at the hand gripping her Poké Ball. I did want to get another Pokémon, she thought. And Rattata's supposed to be easy to train. Mind made up, she narrowed her eyes, deadlocked in a staring competition with the rat facing her. ... ... ... "Guess I should stand up first."

Yue had been following the conversation between Leon and Rona quietly, content to let them take center stage while working to chop wood. She had taken a short break, however, her stamina not being quite up to par compared to the other two. Annoyed at her own lack of ability, the archer let herself sink to the ground and blend into the background. And then Ada arrived, dark tome in hand. The silver-haired woman immediately stood up, eyes riveted on the following display of dark magic. Her body began to shake, and she fell to the ground once more, though this time not out of choice. Her legs had gone soft, knees knocking together, and before she knew it she had collapsed, though still conscious. Rona glanced over at Yue, not seeming to notice her state, and knelt by her. "If you wish to stay here that's fine. You know where to find us if you need us." She smiled at the archer before getting back up and following Leon away. Stay there? With dark magic being practiced not more than several meters away? No, heavens no. The girl rose from the ground and followed the others, though her muteness and quiet steps made her seem more ghost than person at that moment. Her eyes were wide, and at first glance one would mistake it for fear, but on closer inspection would see it for what it really was. Shame. Every time Ada came near Yue felt shame. Shame for running away from her home tribe, for rejecting the dark magic that was her birthright. Shame for rejecting Ada, a practitioner of dark magic, in turn. She deserved nothing but kindness, but it felt like, for every step forward the archer took, she fell two steps back. It would be safe to say that out of everybody in the group, she was most discomfited with Ada, though Raynor came close. So the girl followed the others away from the stables, because she was too much of a coward to stay. Soon, they reached a room where an unfamiliar girl sat. Freezing, the archer quickly hid behind the doorway, head peeking around the corner. Listening in on the conversation like a lurker, the girl gulped as she heard that the other was a Jouran, a worshiper of the dragon. Rona seemed to not like her either, but the other quickly changed her tune once it was decided that they would be escorting this...Edda to Enta. Still, the fact that Rona didn't like her...that was enough reason for Yue not to trust her either. "Do either of you have objections or more questions for her?" The other two seemed content to let this happen, and normally Yue would too, but...the girl bit her lip. There were just too many unknowns here. She couldn't feel like she could trust this strange woman at all. She wasn't even sure how she came here. Did they just let anybody into the base now? Unless...did Layne find her? She was in a bed after all. Still... "I-I don't like this," the archer spoke out, deciding to draw attention to the fact that yes, she was there too. She shrank back as soon as she spoke. "S-sorry," she apologized, though it wasn't apparent who exactly she was apologizing to. "B-but we barely know you...you're suspicious...it just seems bad." The more she spoke, the more it felt like her reasons didn't hold water. They dealt with strangers all the time...and Raynor was rather suspicious but he was accepted as one of them. Really, the only valid reason she had to dislike this girl was because Rona didn't like her. But she couldn't exactly come out and say that, right? Or maybe...was she overthinking that? The fact that one of their more vigilant members didn't trust this girl...that was definitely a good reason. "And...Rona has really good judgment. If she doesn't like you..." she looked down on the ground, embarrassment taking the wind out of her sails. "W-we just don't w-want any trouble is all."

Everything was going so great. Ari had met Kazo's mom and she seemed to like him! That made him really happy to hear. It was obvious that Kazo's mom was important to him, just like Ari's mom was important to him. And Kazo was important to Ari, so...being liked by Kazo's important person just felt really nice. Like coming back home again. Even if he wasn't...really home. It was hard to explain. Anyway, Kazo's mom liked him, gave him clothes even, and then the wedding happened! It was really cool, and Ari couldn't help but wonder if maybe that's what they planned for him back home. Originally they had wanted him and Tiana to marry eventually, at least that was what Iago had said, but Ari wasn't really sure if he believed him or not. That old notebeak was always telling him he had to something or another. He hadn't really liked the idea of marrying anybody, still didn't, but if all marriages were like this wedding then maybe it wasn't so bad. Even if his two friends didn't seem to think so. Kazo looked bored and Mac had fallen asleep. A little annoyed, the Litleo was about to boot her off of her chair when Kazo did it for him...picked her up, anyway. But when people looked to be getting ready for the reception, or whatever it is they called the after-party, a large tornado appeared in the middle and turned into a green man. Who apparently was a legendary. Tornadus. Ari had never heard of him, but Mac apparently had, and that was enough for him to believe it. Then Tornadus started talking about them smelling familiar, and the lion cub was listening patiently...until he insulted Kazo. The man threw his head back and laughed. "Man, people are so spunky these days aren't they?" He then pointed at Kazo. "Except you, why's that? You're bigger than both of these lovely ladies so how come I can see you shaking in your boots?" Ari stomped ahead, tail sticking straight out behind him like a banner. "Kazo's not shaking! And if he is, he's just trying to hold back the urge to fight. He's not a hothead like some people," he stared straight at Mac while speaking the last words. -- Following after the Tentacruel, Easter sighed and stretched. He really wanted to see what their library looked like before anything else. Sure, Brooke was interested in this Gisei fellow, but really, the most important thing, the reason that they were there, was to find Phione, or at least sniff out their whereabouts. Maybe this wasn't a good idea, he thought. Leaving Brooke to her own devices. Still...Denku is with her, and he's got a head on his shoulders. He should be able to prevent her from doing anything stupid. Not that he thought the Emboar was stupid, far from it really, but, well, he just had a bad feeling. She was pretty protective of Dora, after all, and the king seemed bound and determined to keep Dora with him. That right there was a conflict of interest. Eventually the two reached the throne room, but couldn't find the king. They went through a side hallway, however, where the Kingler was standing, looking to be on his way somewhere else, before being interrupted by the two of them. Despite Brooke's absolute stance to not trust the king, the fairy type was still unsure. If they played it right, the king could be a useful ally. With his backing, they would be able to go wherever they wished within the boundaries of Merm. So he began his request that they explore that cell, hoping the man would be willing to grant it. Except the king was less than impressed with their request. With a firm denial, the man rose from his throne, visage twisted with anger, snapping at the Tentacruel guard to "keep an eye on him." Watching the king's departure with a sinking heart, Easter shook his head. Now wasn't the time to be disappointed. After all, that just meant they had to go for plan B. Which might already be in process, actually. "Sorry about this," the Tentacruel said awkwardly. The two had started to gain a slight rapport while Easter had been busy distracting the guards earlier. It truly was a shame. "So am I," the Sylveon replied, and fired a Psyshock point-blank at the guard. Checking to see the gijinka had been knocked unconscious, he shook his head slowly in disappointment. "Type coverage...nobody ever expects it for some reason. Though I do make a point to avoid conflicts with poison types." He stepped over the guard's body. The gijinka had lost all importance in his mind. What mattered right now was finding Dora. He started to glance through the various rooms attached to the hallway. -- Keanu groaned after finally breaking free of the melee. He had been trapped in there for a while, dishing out a few attacks, but for the most part, dodging them. Which, thankfully, was relatively easy for one of his species. Letting loose a sigh of relief, he perked up at seeing a familiar face. "Eyo, Randy!" However, the Incineroar looked...a little distracted. He seemed to be roaring back at the volcano, shouting something about fighting him. The Pikachu resisted the urge to facepalm. "Gods...what did you all get yourselves into this time? You all right?" He stared at the wounds covering the other, though the tiger still looked to be in pretty good shape. Keanu looked around as he began to climb alongside the fire type. "Where are the others?"

Catriona was a little unsatisfied at the answers given to her. It seemed that the only person who had been to the village, Alois, didn't have much to say about it. Shaking her head, the woman walked with the others. Seeing some mushrooms brought back memories of the night prior, when Penelope had regaled them all with tales of poisonous mushrooms and their various effects. Not something she had wanted to think about while eating mushrooms, but after glancing at the expression on her sister's face, the woman had closed her mouth before she could tell her off. Let her have her fun, she thought with some guilt. She's still so young...she shouldn't even be here. She should be at home, studying from her books and playing draughts. Not trekking through the wilderness and chasing after a fairytale. Except by now she had learned that there was more than a bit of truth to those "fairytales," enough to give her confidence that the being they were looking for existed, or at least used to exist. But if they found nothing, if the Great Dragon had already died or disappeared, then... We shall cross that bridge when we come to it, she thought. There was no use in wracking her wits over "what ifs." When they reached the ford, the river was still swollen from the previous night's rain, but the area where they were was shallow enough that any person over 6'0" or 182 cm could walk across without their head sinking below the current. Gunther was one such person, though he would find the going slow and difficult. With every step, pebbles turned beneath his feet, and, were he not careful, he would easily find himself losing his balance. Thankfully, his crossing was done without too much trouble, the river calm compared to the day before. Next up was Alois, who, while shorter than Gunther, would still be able to keep his head above water by hanging from the rope. Back on shore, the beaver looking at the stick, rather than be intimidated by Rohns or Sienna, turned to face the two, arching its back and opening its mouth wide to show off its oversized teeth, emitting a cry that sounded uncomfortably akin to that of a screeching human baby. Two more beavers came out to join it, one charging at Edrick right after he finished speaking, the other aiming for Ciela, or more specifically, Remy. The second beaver did not join in on the attack, instead waddling toward the swaying tree. At the same time, four more beavers exited the underbrush on the opposite side. Two surrounded Gunther, screaming and spitting at him, a third started to tug on the stick that the rope was tied to, and the last entered the water with hardly a splash, nothing but the top of its back, head, and tail appearing above the surface. It made for the opposite shore, but seemed to change its mind at the last second and swam for Alois, who was in the middle of his crossing. "What madness is this?!" Catriona shouted, unsure how she was supposed to react to these aggressive animals. Put a person in front of her and she could cut them down. But an animal? She had little to no experience dealing with them. Not even her time on the border helped her now. Animals had, for the most part, been smart enough to stay clear of what had been armies in all but name. "How annoying," Licorice muttered with a sigh. "It appears that we stumbled into their territory." OOC

Mac nodded. "Guess we don't know much about each other really do we?" she muttered. Ari started guiltily when he heard Kazo's voice. "Alright you two. If you're gonna follow me, you might as well meet her too. Come on," His mother let a soft laugh before looking over Kazo's shoulder. "I guess you've formed your own little gang, eh Kaz?" "Ari! You were too loud!" Mac said, loudly, as she scrambled to get out in the open and marched over towards the pair. She looked up at the Tyranitar, standing stiffly, and seemed to struggle to say anything. Then. "I'm Mac! K-Kazo's leader! He's done good work so far. Uh. Yeah!" Ari filed in alongside her. "And I'm Ari. I'm Kazo's f-friend!" he stuttered over the last word. Now was not the time to say he was Kazo's brother, especially in front of his mother, no matter how much he wanted it to be true... "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Kazo!" he said, fighting the urge to look down at the ground and twiddle with his thumbs. Wow, Kazo's mother...she looked so big and cool. It was then that a thought hit him. Oh no. If Kazo found his mother, did that mean...? He turned his head to stare at the dragon type with wide eyes. "A-are you gonna be staying here then, Kazo?" he didn't really want him to, but if he did, then...then, that would mean...they would have to separate. Or Ari would stay too. That was a choice he wasn't sure he'd be able to make. -- Brooke elbowed him. "Easter! Stop thinking about random legendaries for one second." The Sylveon turned to stare at her in disbelief. Random? What? "Remember what we came here to do?" No, this was exactly what they came here to do. "We were sent by a legendary called MewTwo. He’s a powerful Psychic-type who claims he can see the future. He needs us to find someone for him; we don’t know who, but he told us that the one who would know was ‘the greatest sinner in Merm’. I don’t know enough about your city to make assumptions, but do you think that person could be Gigi?" That was...not what he had said. But far be it from him to ruin whatever plan the Emboar was cooking up in her fiery head. "Oh, so we are bringing up Mewtwo," Denku chipped in. "Yeah, I'm not usually one to just trust random people, but he read my mind, and teleported us pretty close to here, not placing us in the city only because he was worried of the panic that would arise. So yeah, if he says who we're looking for is here, then I'm inclined to believe him," He shrugged. "And if this 'greatest sinner in Merm' in this 'Gigi', then being able to... interrogate him would be alright. But honestly, just being able to look around the city and chase that lead would be reward enough. But if you really can't let the saviors of your daughter do something as simple as that, I'll settle for the legend and legendaries thing. Better than leaving empty handed." Easter was impressed. Denku was rather quick on his feet. He remembered that he had done something similarly impressive before, so it shouldn't have surprised him that much, but honestly, he wasn't used to rock types being so clever. Then again, his evolved form was a dark type, and those types were naturally cunning. "Gisei is a dangerous man." the king replied. "Letting someone see him is...ill advised. But, perhaps, as long as we are careful, I can allow a short meeting. However Dora must remain here while you talk with him. I don't know much about this Mewtwo, our records don't say much about such a Legend. I have heard the name Mew however and know they are important." He looked towards Easter. "We have a library with some records on Legends that relate to us. I can send someone with you to take you there if you'd like." Yes! That would work beautifully. The Sylveon bowed at that. "Many thanks," he smiled. Even if Gigi ended up being a dead end, they should be able to find something on Phione or Manaphy here. He said something to Denku about exploring the city and then turned to Dora, beckoning her forward. He knelt in front of her and put a hand on her head. "You're much bigger. In fact...you've grown strong. Have you been fighting?" He looked up towards the three, giving them a suspicious look. "I'm strong!" Came Dora's response. The fairy type sighed. This kid would give him a headache. "As you probably know yourself, Your Majesty, Dora can be a bit...stubborn. We have gotten in some spats on the way here, but I assure you, she was always out of harm's way...whether she wanted to be or not." He shrugged helplessly. -- Things escalated pretty quickly after that, as Keanu had guessed they would. He was about to help Marie out with her Thunderbolt issue when a shout redirected his attention. "Let's test out the new blood!" A Lava Plume headed his way, fired off by a Camerupt. The Pikachu groaned. "See what you caused, Marie," still, his lips curved up into a grudging smile. "All right, yeh asked for it," he said, summoning a large wave of water to combat the Lava Plume. Riding on the wave, he shouted down. "Betcha didn't expect this." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Marie battling a Rhyhorn and Nani fighting a Pangoro. While the wave canceled out the plume, the fire attack was strong enough to cause the wave to dissipate into steam underneath this feet. Landing on the ground, Keanu was about to follow up with another attack when a Skarmory headed his way, slicing him with a shining gray wing. Jumping back, Keanu let loose an Electro Ball at the flying type, sighing in relief when the other squawked and fell to the ground. "Not really a scrapper. That's more my braddah, but what can ya do," he shrugged, shooting out a wave of electricity at the Camerupt. The attack caused sparks to travel across its body in paralysis.

"Do you...hafta be good at things? S'there something wrong bout being bad at things?" Naomi responded. The girl went quiet as she thought that over. Belle couldn't really say she understood the girl's logic. Why would you not want to be good at something you liked? The very thought of not wanting to be the best at your hobby was just baffling. "I guess there's nothing wrong with not wanting to be good at things," she started slowly. "But if you like that thing, then why wouldn't you want to be better at it?" She liked video games, and it felt even better when she got good at them. A strange, exhilarating feeling, as if she had just climbed a mountain and stood at the peak. She felt...fulfilled. Meanwhile, the brunette looked down at the Rhyhorn, Princess, beside her. "D'ya wanna get better?" The Rhyhorn snorted and nodded its large head. She then looked over at Belle. "I dunno how t'get good." She said. "Seems really hard." "Hard..." the bluenette muttered. "I guess it is, but once you're good, that's the best feeling." The other girl gave a goofy, crooked, smile. "You're a good friend aren'tcha?" "Huh?" the blue-haired girl jumped slightly in her seat. "Friend? What..." When had they become friends? They had just talked for a little while. Granted, the talk was a lot calmer and nicer than any other talk she'd ever had, but...friends? Didn't becoming friends involve things like secret handshakes and secret clubs and going over to each other's houses? At least that was the impression she had gotten from watching other people at school. Or maybe it meant building rockets together and sharing insecurities and punching them in the face? That was what anime had taught her. Or was it saving somebody from a monster and making fun of their hairstyle and traveling together for extended periods of time? That was what video games had taught her. She had done none of that with this person...except perhaps the insecurity thing. Was that enough to make them friends? She didn't need friends. She had gone her whole life without friends, and would probably go the rest of her life without them. She didn't need friendship when she could experience it through anime and video games. Real life people were never as kind or as selfless and two-dimensional people. Besides, nobody had ever wanted to be her friend. They wanted her to travel with them, sure, but that was only because of a mutual need. There was nothing more to it than that. Friendship...that was something extra, useless, unwanted...like her. She said nothing as she stared at the screen. The squinty-eyed male was saying something. "We're in the same boat now." Was that what was going on here? They were both trainers, standing on the same boat, so they were friends? That seemed so...simple. Belle wasn't sure what to think about all of this right now. Ugh. She held a hand against her forehead. This girl is giving me a headache. She jumped again at feeling the boat move underneath her. "Aagh!" she fell off the couch and onto the floor next to Naomi. "Guess we started to move..." she muttered, cheek squashed against the floorboards.

Leon looked at Yue, "well, I suppose I'm fine." He gestured to the stables. "These were originally built to house horses, though from what I can tell not very many and it wasn't in the best of shape when we got it. Unfortunately," the boy sighed saying, "wyverns and kinshi are much larger than a worse, or at least wider. And now with a third unique mount here, I have to make sure it can house all of them." "That sounds hard," Yue replied, peering in to the stables to look at the creatures inside. "I'm not the best at carpentry though, so if you'd like to spot me or give any tips while I work you're welcome to. Well, only if you want to. If you were busy before, I can manage here." "A-all right. I'm not sure what good I'll be, but," she bit her lip, "But I'll try." While one wouldn't know it to look at her, she was actually quite strong in the arms. She had to be, pulling bows all day. It was one of the first things she had been told to work on when she started learning archery. That and her tendency to flinch at the slightest possibility of pain. It had really messed up her aim when she was learning. But even with that, she wasn't sure she was strong enough to chop wood. Somebody well versed with an axe would probably be better for that. Somebody like Rona. Glancing around automatically, she drooped. Of course, Rona's not going to appear just because I'm looking for her. About to turn back to Leon, the girl froze when she spied what looked like...was that Rona? "R-Rona?" Yue asked hesitantly, peering at the distant figure. Why hadn't she come out? Did she not want to talk? Maybe Yue wasn't supposed to notice her, was supposed to pretend she didn't see her. Oh no, she messed it up, didn't she? "I-I mean," she looked at the distance. "Rona? I didn't see Rona, nope, nuh-uh," she shook her head wildly, hoping that Leon would believe her.

With the tasks complete, the group had managed to not only build a shelter, but also gather food and scout the land. They had even made a couple campfires, with dinner consisting of Gunther's unique "mushapple soup." Catriona still wasn't sure how to feel about that name, though the dish itself was surprisingly delicious. Mushrooms and apples...she had never thought such things could actually mix well together, but it worked...somehow. Shortly before she ate, however, the lord approached both scouting groups. "Did you find anything of note to report? A way for us to cross the river?" If all went well, they would be able to cross in the morning and be well on their way to reaching the village that Licorice had mentioned. Once the group had finished their meal, they settled in for a wet night underneath the shelter. While they took volunteers for watches, nothing particularly interesting happened during the night, except that the rain finally died away in the wee hours of the morning. By the time everybody woke up, the sky was clear, though the after-rain petrichor caused the air to smell particularly earthy. A double rainbow shone over the group as they sat down to break their fast before cleaning up the campsite. As they did so, the white-haired woman looked to the native Histians. "Do you know anything about the village across the river?" Licorice shook her head. "No, nothing at all. I only know there is said to be a village to the west of the abandoned church, and that is all." She swung her head to look at Adelheid and Tsetseg. "Perhaps the Patrol would have come across it? No..." she seemed to rethink that notion. "That is probably too far out of their range." After the group finished eating and cleaning up, they approached the broken bridge. While the river was not as bad as before, it was still far too swift and swollen from the rain to risk it, especially with Remy among them. Remembering what she had been told last night, Catriona turned to Link and Shiro. "Lead the way," she ordered. It didn't take longer than ten minutes before the group came upon the place the pair had discovered last night. The rope they had tied across the river stood strong, though the tree swaying crazily in the breeze did not. A few rocks peppered the shallows, but it seemed the river was still deep enough to be a problem without aid. A pair of beavers waddled about the area aimlessly, though one started to inspect the branch the rope was attached to on their side of the river. OOC

Catriona began to make herself useful around the camp, aiding anybody who looked like they needed a helping hand. For the most part, everybody seemed to be doing fine. Edrick had managed to find a good spot to camp, where the ground was not quite so soft. Penelope was busily giving instructions on how to set up the shelter, though the white-haired woman wished she would talk less of the various kinds of shelter, and more about...well, one in specific. Something practical, and within their abilities. Every so often, she paused, glancing around to make sure they would not get ambushed in the night. Most of the others had already left, and the ones who remained were devoting most of their attention to their tasks. Licorice, who throughout most of the night had been silently trudging through the rain, took the opportunity to join Sienna by the fire. "This rain has been long and miserable," she commented as she settled down. "I care not for it. It is a relief that we have your fire at hand, else we might not have started one so easily." Even now, the flames looked to be on the verge of guttering out, hissing constantly as the raindrops splattered against the charred wood. "To think that you can use magic. Like Inari of old," the black fox said. "What a wondrous power." -- The grassy rise that Edrick had discovered seemed almost perfect for what they needed. The ground was relatively firm and the fact it was on a rise kept the water from pooling on the surface. However, putting up the shelter ended up being a bit more work. Most of the woods and grasses were soaking wet, and the rain made it difficult to grip anything, much less see anything. Still, in the end, they managed to erect the shelter. Gunther and Ciela would find an abundance of mushrooms, but only the one apple tree. Still, it bore quite a few of the reddish-green fruits on its boughs, only some of which had already been nibbled on by the various critters and insects of the area. Sienna had managed to keep the fire going, even with the rain, so they did not have to go through the difficult task of starting the fire before they even worked on the food. If Adelheid and Tsetseg flew, they would notice that the rain seemed to be making Tyltalis uncomfortable, but he was still able to keep going as the wind was not that strong. The ground below looked to be getting boggier and boggier the further north they flew, and the mountains loomed ever closer. Eventually, they would see that the river split itself into two up ahead. The two would also notice what looked like a flickering light down below out of the corner of their eyes. However, if they turned their heads to look, they would see nothing. Aside from that, there looked to be nothing that they could use to cross the river. Upstream, Link and Shiro would find more success with their task. The frog would find that the water near the tree was shallow enough for him to wade through, but only barely. However, the mercenary would find that the tree seemed a rather unsteady support, groaning and creaking as it swayed in the wind. It looked as if one good gust would send it toppling over. And indeed, if he tried exerting any force against the tree, whether by rope or otherwise, it would start to bow ominously. OOC

Kliff Lewyn Pent Louise Greil Titania Alfonse Feh

Naomi's eyes widened, glancing at her Rhyhorn and then back to Belle. "You're like a genius," the brunette said, sounding impressed. "Maybe I should tell Knight stuff." She nodded. A genius huh? I don’t know if I’d go that far. "Yeah, that's probably good. 'Specially if you just got him," the blue-haired girl agreed. "When I got Moo, he kept looking at me. Like he was waiting for me to say things. Still does sometimes." The more she thought about it, the more she realized that Pokémon, and battling with them, was really complicated. Like a new genre of game, one that was neither a platformer, RPG, or shooter, but something all its own. It was closest to a fighting game, but still fundamentally different. For one thing, button mashing wasn't a thing, unless you wanted to do that on your Pokédex. While Belle loved a good game, she wasn't so sure she wanted to master this type of game...the game of real life. So instead she turned her attention to the television. The girl was currently blushing and stammering in front of a guy with glasses now. Skittymura or something. She acts so differently around him than Stakatakasu. Than again, he acts a lot differently around Kushieldon. "Belle." The bluenette started. She had forgotten that Naomi was even there for a while, so engrossed by the show. "D'ya know why people try?" What kind of question is this? This girl really was something else. But she had given her the idea to ride on her Pokémon, so Belle decided to answer her seriously. "Try? Hmm..." she thought for a bit. "I dunno. Don't really have too many things I try on, except games. But that's 'cause they're fun. And I like being good at the things I like, so I end up trying to get good at gaming." She continued, starting to wake up more as she spoke. "Can't really say much about other people, but I guess they try because they want to get good at things too." That was probably why Ivan and Jacklyn were so enthusiastic about battling. While Belle couldn't quite bring herself to match their mindsets, she could relate to the emotions behind them.

Ari was dreaming about running after bears alongside lions while being chased by tigers when he was shaken awake. Mumbling slightly, the cub blinked sleepily at the blurry blue figure of what had to be Kazo. "Hrrngh..." he groaned. "S'ill early." Despite his sleepiness, the Litleo sat at the table and ate with the others. When the Gabite waved at them on his way out, Ari waved back, still half-asleep. Perfect. He could go back to sleep. And then Mac stood up. "Ari." She began. "I'm gonna follow him. I don't know what's up but something's up and he might need us when he finds whatever he's looking for." She kicked at the table. "Plus there's nothing much else to do around here I don't think. You can come if you want but you're gonna have to be sneaky. Think you can do that?" The normal type turned to stare at her. "Sneaky? I think if anybody needs to worry about being sneaky it's you." He sighed. "I'm still sleepy, but I suppose somebody has to make sure you don't get in too much trouble." Despite his words, his tail started to twitch in excitement. He was really good at sneaking up on people. Or at least, he tried. His dad had tried to teach him how to be stealthy and stalk his prey, but he had never been quite as good as him. It turned out he was still better than Mac though. While following Kazo she almost fell off the walkway twice, nearly picked three fights, and got chased by a dog for a short while. Ari did not enjoy the last part very much. Thankfully Kazo seemed entirely focused on whatever it was he was doing so Mac and Ari were be able to keep up with him and stay out of sight. "Wonder what he's thinking." Mac muttered as she watched the boy run into some woman. She listened closely, and let out a gasp when she heard him say the word "mom". She then started to shake Ari over and over, asking if he had heard that, which, yes, he had, please stop shaking him now. "I d-d-did," Ari said, voice wobbling slightly as his body was shaken back and forth. "But wow. I didn't know Kazo was from here." Thinking about it, he didn't know all too much about Kazo's background, like where he came from, or about his brothers. Which was a little sad to think about. Did that make Ari a bad broth-friend? That he didn't ask? -- Easter listened as Brooke asked about how Dora was brought to the surface. That was a good question, and one he hadn't thought to ask, too concerned with their mission of finding Phione. Phione, child of Manaphy, who had been last sensed in Merm before they disappeared, causing Manaphy to hide away from the world. Mewtwo had feared something terrible would happen to both if Phione wasn't found, but...well, judging from the king's reply, this would be harder than he had thought. Of course. Things were never so simple. It seemed like this "Gigi" had wanted to steal Dora away, but for what purpose? While the king did not want them to see him, the Sylveon wondered if perhaps he knew some things, like the whereabouts of Phione. The king obviously did not, or at least he did not want to tell them. But he had said nobody from the surface was here, and from what Easter remembered, Phione was a water type. Which meant that the king could be counting Phione as one of them. But to call a legendary's child one of their subjects was bold indeed... Easter glanced at the others. Revealing exactly who they were looking for could be risky, especially with all the gijinka in the same room. Still, did they have much of a choice otherwise? Or perhaps they should hedge their bets and investigate on their own? The Kingler took another deep breath. "Now, you three, as I said I doubt that who you seek is here. If there is something I can do as reward for taking care of my daughter until now then you have but to ask. My kingdom is vast and rich there's much we can acquire if it is needed." "Hmm..." Easter hummed in thought. "I don't particularly have much I need unless you have TMs or candy. Otherwise I'm fine. Oh!" he exclaimed. "Do you have anything or anybody who knows about local legends or legendaries? It's one of my passions, you see." Technically, that was true. -- While Randy talked with Trevor, Keanu yawned and wondered just how long they would be walking. Eventually, the group made it into Trailsau proper, but instead of what one would normally expect when walking into a town, they wandered into...a battlefield. "W-we c-can't really s-search for them easily w-with all this going on." Trevor said, shrinking back as a Fearow swooped past them, almost bowling over the group, and went flying towards the Manectric. "Yeah, I can see that," Keanu sighed. "Let's see if we can go around, eh?" Except rather than do the smart thing and scurry through, Marie decided to pick a fight with one of them, a Manectric, firing off a Disarming Voice toward them. "M-MARIE!!" Randy shouted, moving up towards the Brionne, now standing at her side, giving the young girl the side eye. "And you get upset with me when I pick fights? Sheesh...talk about the pot callin' the kettle black." "Yeah, not the smartest move there," Keanu said, sidling up to stand to the side and slightly behind them. "But if they like beef, then we'll buss 'em up."

Leon looked a little nervous, saying, "well, it would probably be best if we got going, yes." Soon afterward, Ada and Layne arrived, carrying a strange girl. It was agreed to carry her back, but Yue wasn't sure she liked the sound of that. A strange person...what if she woke up and tried to kill them all? Or rob them all? Just the thought of that was terrifying. Thankfully, Rona was thinking along the same lines, as she had volunteered to stand watch over the stranger. After hearing that, Yue felt more comfortable with the idea of letting her stay here. If the trusty wyvern rider was going to guard her, then they had nothing to worry about. The next day, the archer glided over to the stables, ready to sing out her morning greeting to all the lovely animals there. "Hello, hello!" she chirped as she approached. "It's great to see you all this--oh!" She stopped short upon seeing the leader of the Iron Falcons, Leon himself, standing in place, doing...nothing, it looked like. "H-how are you today, Leon?" she asked, moving a little slower than before. Noticing the pile of wood at his feet, she brightened. "Oh! Chopping wood today? I didn't know you knew how to use an axe. Wait..." she thought for a bit. "Oh! Silly me, you bought that. Never mind..." she felt like she was babbling. "Um...what are you using it for?"

The girl tilted her head and stroked her hair, wincing as her hand got caught in it a moment. "S'kinda fluffy." She responded with a shrug. "Hi Belle!, M'name's Naomi." She managed to get the whole thing out. "I'm with the uh, those two up there, loud boy, loud girl. They're fighting. Probably. Lots of fighting. Maybe Knight went to fight." Loud boy and girl? Belle hadn't seen anybody who looked like that, but, granted, she had gone downstairs as soon as she had heard the words "couch" and "television" from the captain. Still, they sounded like her own companions. "Pro'ly fighting the people I'm with. Ivan and..." she yawned, "Jacklyn. So, Naomi, huh? Weird name, but I don't have much room to talk." The brunette looked up at Belle. "Princess fights by herself a lot, don't have to tell her much, she gets it. Knight doesn't. Is that weird?" She finished her statement with a yawn and tried to squirm up the couch to no avail. Merely rubbing along it like a cat. Eventually she gave up and just slumped her head back onto the cushion. "Whatcha watchin?" She asked, looking at the television curiously. "Moo's good about that too, but not always," the bluenette replied. "I had to tell him to use Vine Whip, maybe cuz he just learned it or somethin'," she shrugged. "Maybe different mons are just different." That made sense. Honestly, she hadn't thought too much about it before. Compared to shows and games, Pokémon just weren't that interesting. But this girl had a lot of questions. "I'm watching..." she glanced at the screen. "Torradigon. It's 'bout a girl with a Torracat and a boy with a Druddigon." She didn't say anything more than that, but as the show unfolded it became obvious what it was about. "Who are you calling a pint-sized Litten?!" a short girl with long brown hair shouted. Oh, she's loud too, Belle thought. She and Jacklyn would get along, probably.

Ari tossed and turned for a while before he finally went to bed. It was getting easier to sleep, but he still felt restless sometimes, and tonight was one of these nights. He finally managed to nod off, and his sleep was filled wth dreams of lions and tigers and bears. "Oh my," he mumbled in his sleep. "I gotta save them...hrrngh...zzz..." -- "It explains so much and yet so little," Denku commented. "But yeah, this was out of left field for me too." Easter shook his head as they continued through the city. At least, with Dora being a princess and all, there shouldn't be too many places she couldn't go. And if Phione was in one of those places, well...so much the better. Still, whether the rulers would be cooperative or not...that was still up in the air. He'd like to think that they would be, but he hadn't gotten where he was through mere hope. When they got to their destination the singing slowed down, though there was still a humming in the background. A pair of massive Carracosta opened the gates by simply pulling the giant doors open by a rope, but they closed behind them as soon as they stepped inside. Which was a long hallway that began to rise in a spiraling staircase halfway across, leading to a tall throne with a man standing in front of it. He appeared to be a majestic-looking Kingler gijinka holding a scepter with a conch shell atop of it. Even Dora looked a little nervous, her greeting not quite as bright as it could be. He answered in a rumble before turning to the rest of the group. "And you have brought strangers into my land. You know how we feel about outsiders, Dora." The man started down the stairs and the room came to life with waterfalls, behind which stood vaguely gijinka-shaped silhouettes. "You have brought my daughter back and for that I thank you. But I must admit I suspect that is not why you came here. I can see it in your eyes. There's something you want. Is it a reward you seek?" Easter glanced at the others in the group before taking a single step forward. "Your Majesty," he started, hoping that this was the correct term. He had to admit, it was a little different standing in front of a king of all people. With all due luck his personality wouldn't be like the emperor's. "You are correct that bringing your daughter back is not the only reason we came here." In fact, we didn't mean to return her to begin with. "There is, in fact, another reason. That is, we are looking for somebody." He saw no reason to hold back their true reason for coming here. Perhaps the king could even help them find Phione. -- Keanu rolled his eyes at being ignored yet again by his traveling companions. Sure, they were trying to find the kids, but it wouldn't hurt to add a bit of levity to things now, would it? Regardless, things weren't looking too good what with the kids being gone and all. And now it seemed like they were trying to find a legendary, and now they had to follow them? The Pikachu had a sinking feeling he knew how things were going to go, and that was "not well." Especially after hearing what Randy said about fighting. Sighing, he filed in line behind the others. "Well, don't go getting in over your head, ya hear? You jump in too far, then we gon' have to fish you out," he grinned. "And the kids we're looking for?" Nani asked. "What are they like?" "Well, I'll take a guess that they're just like their father," he groaned. "Stubborn and bullheaded." -- She was going to do this. She was going to end this fight once and for all. This had gone on long enough. The shiny Crobat sped toward the red-headed bug type, the one who had had so much potential for greatness...all of them did, but they squandered themselves serving the legendaries. She felt sharp teeth clamp down on her foot, but her momentum was too fast, and she still hit the Scizor in the chest. Ready to attack her again, she stopped dead, body freezing as electricity locked her muscles in place. It was then that an arrow slammed itself into her back, and soon after, the gijinka she was going to attack shot forward, Bullet Punch aiming directly for her front. Veronica let out a shout as all the attacks hit, one after another. Groaning, she hunched over, holding a hand to her chest, coughing out blood. "You were lucky...Zygarde," she hissed. "You had some...pawns to help you out. Be happy...that they are far more short-sighted than I," she sneered, before suddenly the air around her started to roll like a whirlwind, forcing everybody to back away. The bat's scarf snapped out like wings as she rose into the air, spinning slightly in the process. She looked at the group, shaking her head sadly. "Fools...perhaps one day you will realize your ignorance. Zygarde...you may keep your life today, but...you cannot run from justice forever." With that, the woman climbed higher and higher before soaring away on the wind.

The other side was right there. Not too far, a distance that would take her a few minutes to cross were it dry land, and yet they could not cross. It was strange, how much of a difference it made being water rather than land. If only she could traverse it nearly as easily, as easily as Shiro was currently doing. "Even at my full size, I could not touch the bottom," He stated. "The water's current is also strong. I wouldn't advise you all to try swimming across. Maybe I could carry everyone across?" "A good idea," the woman replied, eager to be back on the road again. If they could find some form of shelter on the other side... Her sister had some reservations. "You could bring some of us over yes," she said, stepping closer to the river bank. "But making this journey in the dark, in the rain, seems ill advised. Plus, for all we know there's a sea serpent in the water." Catriona stared blankly at the other girl. "I do not think that so likely," she muttered. How could a fabled beast so enormous fit in something like a river? No, more likely, if one actually existed, it would live in the sea. Gunther, well used to her antics, leaned forward. "What do you think we should do?" He asked her. "We should build a makeshift shelter on this side. At least until morning. By then hopefully the rain will have stopped and it will be easier to cross. I have a good grasp on how to craft such things as long as the proper materials are gathered." The woman shook her head, nonplussed. This girl...she had never seen her so much as pitch a tent before. Then again, neither had she until she became a soldier. Bearing that in mind, the lord had her doubts as to how helpful her sister would be in this scenario. Gunther turned to Catriona. "You want to cross, don't you? I'm not sure it would really save us much time. It's almost late enough to set up camp as is." The lord's face tightened slightly, before she sighed. "Perhaps there is some merit in your words," she replied, glancing at the others, who seemed all too ready to set up camp for the night. Her sister was currently listing how to construct several different kinds of structures, more than a few of which seemed either impractical or impossible to build with the materials at hand. Where would we get seaweed? "Nevermind continuing for now. And err...Princess, this might sound a little weird..." Ciela, who, thinking about it, had been rather quiet since they left the shrine, approached. "Do you have any spare set of clothing? Lemme borrow it until we reach the next town, alright? My dress is barely wearable right now." Catriona glanced at the other woman's clothes, a little puzzled as they still seemed to be performing their function, if a little dirty, but nodded her assent. "I do." It was not much, only one outfit, but it was there were her old one to become torn beyond repair. Still, it seemed that Ciela had greater need of it than she. "You may wear it if you wish." Taking it from her pack, she gave it to the troubadour. "The next town..." she thought for a bit. "Perhaps we should all buy more there." The sound of a person clearing their throat from beside her broke her from her musings. "Ahem. Your Highness? Can I make a suggestion? It has to do with what we discussed last night." It was Link, speaking in a rather low voice, though that was not so unusual for him. Giving him a nod, she listened as he continued to speak. "Make camp for the night. Designate two or three people to gather supplies and build a shelter, while another group works on doing upkeep; cooking, drying out clothes, the usual. Allow Shiro and I to scout the river and find a better place to cross while all of you are working on that -- between the two of us, we can cover the land and water and have a way to cross set up before we break camp at sunrise." "I," Edrick started, pausing to take a drink. "I have a tent," he finally managed to say. "Might not be the best thing, but we could cut it up and use it as a tarp. Cover up a spot where we could get a fire going." He began to look up at the trees, idly brushing a bit of hair that had stuck to his face out of his eyes, exposing a few golden-blonde strands from among the grime. "That could work, though I would rather not ruin your tent in the process," Catriona replied, attempting to distract herself from the fact that Edrick's hair looked to be changing color at this time. That was...unexpected. It seemed Shiro was not the only one to have made use of mud to camouflage his hair. The woman turned to Link. "While I would prefer it if we pressed on, it seems my opinion is of the minority." She shook her head, before turning to the group. "It appears we will be staying the night on this side of the river. We need to set up shelter, which includes gathering the supplies for it, and prepare the camp," she listed off the assignments. The woman glanced at her sister, who was instructing Alois. "It appears we have a couple recruits for the first task, but we still need help on the other duty. Lastly, we need people to scout the area, specifically the river. Link has already volunteered for this, but we need one more. Shiro, do you wish to do this?" she looked at the Protean. It didn't have to be him. Sienna, Tsetseg, or Adelaide could also be useful, though she wasn't sure how well the latter's pegasus would fly in this rain. -- Those who volunteered to help set up shelter would find that there was no shortage of foliage, though there was a small clearing not too far from the bridge. While not thick enough to be considered a forest, the area they were in contained a great number of trees, a mixture of deciduous and coniferous. There was also a great deal of underbrush and grasses, though most of them were dripping wet. It would take a while to find anything that was at least somewhat dry. While most of the animals were in hiding in the rain, there were a few frogs by the river, and every so often one would see the glint of silver scales in the river itself. Several trees had brown-and-white mushrooms growing at their base. Anybody with knowledge on fungi would be able to recognize them as edible, and that many were in fact the porcini, or penny bun mushrooms. There were even a couple chestnut trees as well as a single apple tree bearing red-and-green apples. If one followed the river downstream, they would see that it appeared to get even faster and deeper. There didn't look to be an easy way to cross. The further north they got, the swampier the ground became, until it became almost impossible to keep going. Upstream, however, the ground was relatively dry, though the river seemed just as fast. However, after ten minutes of following the banks south, they would come upon what looked like a natural ford, where the river grew shallow enough for Shiro to stand, though just barely. Several rocks dotted the surface. Nearby, a tree practically smothered with penny bun mushrooms swayed unsteadily in the wind.

The other girl nodded...and almost fell back asleep, while nodding again. Yeah, there was definitely something up with her. She was as ill-suited for this "trainer" thing as Belle herself was. "Princess never needed that. She'ws fine layin a'tome all the time. We've been together for years and never went for a walk once before coming here." The girl seemed strangely proud of that. Still, it proved what Belle was thinking. Pokémon didn't need to be taken on walks. Her new companions were just odd. "Makes sense...they use all energy in battle...an' rest when not..." "I dunno what a Poamoo is but is it big enough to ride? Princess is good at that. You should get a Pokemon that can carry you around. It's the best!" She blinked for a while, sitting there, looking up at the girl. Then, "Who're you nyway?" "No, Moo's not big enough, no' yet anyway..." the girl frowned. "Tha's a thought though..." her eyes drooped as she thought that through. "If I get a 'mon that can carry me around...that's less walking for me! Genius!" she nodded, looking a little livelier than earlier. "I guess it's not just fluff up there, huh? Oh, I'm Belle," she said. "Short for Belladonna, but that's such a mouthful, way too long to say out loud," she yawned, picking up the remote and starting to flip through channels idly. "Wha's your name?" she asked, voice going back to its normal, drooping quality.

Yue stopped short before Raynor, who looked...wholly unconcerned with the fact that he may be in VERY. GRAVE. DANGER. "So... did you enjoy your jog?" the Jouran asked. It was then that the archer remembered her previous embarrassment. Oh no, she thought, face reddening. I ran away, didn't I? It looked bad...but I'm back at least. "S-s..." she stuttered, attempting to form the word-- "Raynor, Yue. Is um, is everything alright?" "Friend, I take it you've finished your shopping? Get anything good?" Oh, when had they arrived? But that was good. This meant that if something happened to Raynor, it wouldn't be up to Yue alone to do something about it. Breathing a sigh of relief, the girl was about to reply when Raynor did for her. "Yeah, I got this kickass tome of Dark Magic!" He called out in a loud voice. "Just wait until I master this! Everyone will be surprised as hell when a Salamander charges at them, bolts of Dark Magic being fired from its back!" "E-eep!" Yue jumped. "P-p-p-please! Don't be so loud...please." She looked around nervously. "You never know...who may be listening." Perhaps it was just paranoia, but she felt like there were even more eyes on them than before. While Rona whispered in Raynor's ear about something, the silver-haired girl turned to look at Leon. "S-s-so, Leon, w-what did you get here?" While she was addressing her leader, her attention was actually focused on her surroundings. "D-do we need to run?" she whispered.