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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Crew
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 Posted: Mon May 25, 2015 8:39 pm
Erinn The Paras cringed back even further into his chair when his companion reacted so violently, and he raised his claws defensively against her angry words. Now he was being chewed out, and he couldn't handle it--not after everything else he'd been through today. He knew what he was thinking, but there wasn't any chance of him being able to explain it to the Charmander when he could hardly form words: his mind was shutting down on him as the emotions began to spiral out of control. His breathing began to grow shallow and rapid as he stared at his companion with an expression bordering on terror. "Th-Th-They... I-I-I-I..." he was trying to talk but the words wouldn't come out right. Of course his friends were important to them but they were also necessary, just like books or the library or the Charmander herself were all important. There was no way to explain that to her though, not when he could hardly think enough to keep from keeling over. Spots were beginning to form on the edges of his vision, and he quivered uncontrollably, overwhelmed by anxiety--oh why did this have to happen now?! "P-P-P-P-Plea-se..." he stuttered out desperately, "P-P-P-Plea-se... P-Please..." Why couldn't he think of any other words? "I-I-I'm s-s-sor-ry..." Erinn tried to quell his trembling by pressing his legs into the chair, but that only made it worse. What was happening? Was he dying?((Um...so sorry Jessica: Erinn's been pushed into an awful panic attack. My poor Paras is caught in a full-scale mental breakdown...))
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2015 2:30 pm
Robin
Jessica
Jessica sighed. She really didn't understand him. She had spoken a bit strongly but this was just... ridiculous. He didn't seem to be able to talk anymore but Jessica couldn't just leave. It was the same as before; she had done... something and she was going to do her best to fix it one way or another. She couldn't just leave after doing... whatever she had done but words didn't seem to be helping and they didn't seem like they could do anything at all anymore. Instead she simply hopped up onto the chair beside Erinn, which was more comfortable than it sounded due to the somewhat well-sized chairs that the guild used for convenience, and sat behind him. She carefully moved her tail out to the side in order to keep it away from both the fabric of the seat and Erinn and then, with one hand, she gently patted and rubbed his back. "You don't have anything to be sorry about."
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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Crew
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 11:12 am
Erinn Words--words--why weren't there any words? Closing his eyes and burying his face in his front legs, Erinn moaned softly to himself, wishing that he could just make the world stop going dark around him. If his eyes were shut at least he couldn't see those ominous spots that formed around the edges of his vision. The Paras continued to quiver uncontrollably, so he hardly noticed the shifting of the cushion when his Charmander companion climbed on behind him, not reacting at all to her presence until she touched him. A jolt ran through his body at the initial contact, but he relaxed a moment after since the motion was familiar to him. He'd experienced similar instances of soothing before, so it was comfortable and effective enough to start him crying again which was an improvement, really, I promise.
The Paras sobbed quietly, quivering beside his Charmander companion for several minutes unable to do anything more than be taken by his misery. When he finally was able to speak again through the jolting sobs, he sighed woefully. "B-b-but... You sh-shouldn't have to deal with this. You don't even kn-know me... I'm just some p-p-p-pathetic stranger who c-c-can't deal with his own p-problems..." Crying in front of others was the worst thing to do--it made them anxious and concerned and that made him even more worried and remorsely--also, he'd never cried so much in front of a complete stranger before, maybe not even in front of any of his teammates before. "That's why...I'm s-sorry," Erinn said softly, hanging his head. "T-t-talk about an awful f-first impression." It was easier to say something like that, and truthful nonetheless. He was sorry for a lot of things, but that was the most immediate one, and one that he could actually handle unlike his larger issues. Crying had helped though, as had his companion's caring touch: he was beginning to regain some sort of composure.
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 12:14 pm
Robin
Jessica
Jessica sat there gently patting the Paras beside her and she continued as he spoke. She was thinking and feeling a lot of things. The tiniest of little voices in the back of her head was annoyed that it had all happened, that he had had such a breakdown over nothing, that he was so guilty over nothing. It was a voice that was by far overridden by the much louder voices that were driven by both positivity and negativity. There was a definite guilt. Whatever his problem was, it wasn't her fault. She knew that, she knew that quite keenly; he clearly had some very serious issues and he had had them for far longer than five or six minutes. But even if she knew that she sure as hell didn't feel that way. There was also a sense of empathy and a sense of concern... it wasn't the first time she had done something like this. It was always so much easier to understand and so much easier to handle in the past. In the end, it was a sort of awkward mixture that left it difficult to judge her character based on the way she felt. Was she staying and investing because she felt guilty or was it the more altruistic aspects of her personality that made her feel guilty to begin with? Did it matter?
Probably not.
And the guilt definitely didn't stop her from giving him a light, almost playful slap on the back. It wasn't hard enough to hurt him, at least she didn't think so, and served better as a faux reprimand. "If everyone could solve their own problems, we wouldn't have a job." Really... what would the guild do if everyone solved their own problems? Yardwork?
She intentionally glossed over the comment he made about "first impressions". There were things to say but none of them were worth saying. "My name's Jessica."
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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Crew
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Posted: Wed May 27, 2015 2:16 pm
Erinn "But w-we're members of the Guild," Erinn replied morosely, "We're supposed to s-solve those problems, n-not make more of them. E-Everyone I know can deal with them. E-E-Even when their problems are s-so much bigger than mine--even wh-when I'm the one who c-c-causes their problems." His friends were full of that special quality that allowed them to function even when it seemed like the world was collapsing around them; he didn't have anything like that. Sure he could take action when it was absolutely necessary, but he was far better at hiding from those problems so they wouldn't overtake him. Erinn didn't see himself as a hero, but then, he'd never had the opportunity to witness his own actions from the outside; it didn't matter here though, here he was beginning a new chapter of his career--and it was off to a less-than-stellar start. "My name's Erinn," he added tiredly, wiping the tears from his eyes once again (he'd lost track of how many times he'd done it since he arrived here), "Th-Thanks for listening to me Jessica." It was yet another thing to support his belief that someone like she was far more suited to Guild work than someone like himself. She'd dropped what she was doing to help him, or at least try, and that was a noble thing indeed. The Paras still didn't have any answers to his questions, but he was certainly calmer now: enough so to shoot Jessica a watery and half-hearted smile.
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Posted: Fri May 29, 2015 12:29 pm
Robin
Jessica
"No, it's fine." She couldn't really take a "thank you" after all of it. She felt like she had accomplished something, sort of, but it didn't really undo the fact that she had made Erinn cry to begin with even if it wasn't her responsibility in the typical sense. It didn't help that what Erinn said was just so inherently wrong that she couldn't leave it be. It was like he was living in some sort of alternate reality.. The things he said simply didn't line up with how things were.
"But you're wrong." Fundamentally wrong. Wrong on a basic level. Incorrect. Jessica herself was proof of that. "We all have problems. The job of the guild is to take care of the problems that people can't solve on their own. A lot of us joined because of that, I think... there's some people here who joined because they didn't really have a choice. They need something from the guild and the guild is here to fix that." That was the truth for her. She had come here because she worked for her money but that was becoming increasingly impossible. She needed a partner, she needed an organization around her in order to continue safely carrying out her work. Other people were the same, she was sure; there were probably lots of people who had been forced towards the guild in order to do what they wanted to or needed to.
...If that was the case, there was only one way for Erinn's problem to be solved. The guild needed to help him and a very specific part at that.
"I'm the captain of team Robin." She said it a bit suddenly but there it was. "We're a treasure hunting team."
It was, if little else, an implicit invitation for Erinn to identify his own team.
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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Crew
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2015 5:26 pm
Erinn Erinn tried to believe it--he really did--and on some level he understood what she was saying as true. He knew that other people had problems and it wasn't just him, but the problem was that they could deal with those problems and he couldn't do that. The result was that the poor Paras continued to feel responsible for his attitude although in actuality there was nothing he could do to change it; his mental well-being came from being surrounded by the people who loved and cared about him--now that they were a part of his anxiety he was in a very difficult place. So he did accept Jessica's claim, he just didn't really believe that did anything to prove him wrong. "W-Well, I guess it helps a bit," he conceded, albeit somewhat hesitantly, "It's just..." How can you solve someone else's problems if you can't even deal with your own? Shaking his head quickly, Erinn put the thought aside. "Nevermind." He was afraid to think about anything too much, since he wasn't fully convinced that his panic attack was gone for good; even slight provocations could be bad--he didn't know what exactly had brought it on, so as far as he was concerned anything might push him over the edge again.
"I'm a member of Team Mi--Team Phantasm." The Paras squeaked out his new Team's name after the slip-up, choking out the words more than speaking them. It was the first time he'd been asked that question here, and years of habit were very hard to break. The mistake was utterly mortifying for Erinn however, echoing the indecision that was defining his current troubles. "T-Team Phantasm," he repeated hoarsely, "We're Treasure Hunters too." It was almost embarrassing to mention that fact to her, since she was undoubtedly the better qualified of the two--the only thing worse would be if he was on a Mercenary Team, but fortunately that wasn't one of his problems. Still, he'd pretty much passed the point of embarrassment with his Charmander companion: there weren't many ways to humiliate oneself further after crying in front of a stranger.
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Posted: Sun May 31, 2015 12:13 am
Robin
Jessica
"Ah." Treasure hunters? "That means we're coworkers then." She smiled as she said so. It was a good fit for him, probably. His claws and small body were suiting for the work of a treasure hunter more than anything else. He very clearly lacked the disposition necessary for a Rescuer or Mercenary and while his body was excellent for finding things it was surely much less ideal for forging a new path. The work of a treasure hunter most certainly suited him well, both physically and emotionally. Ironically enough, though she would never think such a thing, it suited him better than her. Biologically she was probably better off pushing herself to evolve and then acting as a mercenary. However, for her it was her calling.
"Now then..." Jessica pushed herself forward off the seat, turned, grabbed the bag of gold that had gotten smushed against the side of the chair and brought it down for Erinn. He didn't seem like he would have the easiest of times taking it off the seat himself. "Lets get you back to your team room."
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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Crew
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Posted: Sun May 31, 2015 4:32 pm
Erinn Erinn smiled back tentatively, his heart not really behind the gesture as much as he wanted it to be. "Y-Yeah, I guess we are." Really he considered any of his fellow Guildmates to be coworkers, regardless of their sector; it had been the same when all the Guilds had been separate before--they all worked for the same organization, regardless of specialization, so they were all coworkers. Still, maybe that meant something to Jessica, so he let it slide without bringing up the matter; the last thing he wanted was to get into some sort of disagreement with her again.
He stared after the Charmander as she slipped off the seat, finding himself rather surprised by the action. The Paras wasn't really sure what he had been expecting to come next, but it certainly wasn't the abrupt change of topic. Uncertain whether he had regained the ability to move again, it took Erinn a long moment to shift his position back to a standing one, legs quivering under him when he did so. Taking a few deep breaths, the Paras's eyes filled with determination and his wobbling suddenly rectified itself, allowing him to stand firmly on the cushion. After another few moments, Erinn scuttled off the side of the chair and back down to the floor, moving on his own without any particular difficulty: if it weren't for the audible sigh of relief he released when he took his place beside Jessica, there would have been little indication that it had been any sort of struggle at all. "Ah, thank you," he said hastily, realizing a bit late that Jessica had taken his reward bag down from the chair for him. With a nervous smile, the Paras picked up the object in his claw and placed it on his back between his mushrooms where it had been when he'd arrived. It occurred to him that it might be a bit inconvenient for Jessica to walk him back, but he appreciated the company and so didn't mention it. "I-I'll be fine from here," he said as he stopped at the library's exit, "T-Thanks again for your help. I r-really app-appreciate it." Erinn remarked politely, making it clear that he needed some time to himself on the way back to his Team Room. She had helped, in a sense, but it probably wasn't as much as either of them would have liked; at least Erinn had regained his head however, that was something. "I-If I can ever do anything for you, j-just let me know. M-My partner and I would be happy to lend you a hand if you need it." The Paras turned his gaze forward, focusing on trying to remember just how the hallways lined up in this new Guild building and doing his best to ignore his anxieties for the time being. Recalling the proper path, he turned to Jessica and offered her a fragile smile and a wave before scuttling off on his own, prepared to face his life again.
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Posted: Sun May 31, 2015 10:41 pm
Robin
Jessica
Erinn wanted to head back on his own. It was a little disappointing in a certain sense but there wasn't much to be done about it. If he wanted to go back on his own, then trying to force it to be otherwise would probably only make things worse and she didn't want that. "Of course." Jessica smiled warmly. She would take him up on that if she ever had the need, though she wasn't sure it was one she would ever have. Erinn didn't seem like he would be good for much beyond his person... though sometimes big things came in small packages. "You too. Feel free to come looking if you ever need some help." She hoped Erinn would do the same. She didn't know anything about Erinn's partner but she had the faint feeling that she was at least a little more reliable than whoever it was.
She hoped it went well for him.
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Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2015 2:33 pm
 VyraVyra stepped partway onto the bookshelf, reaching up with one paw to try and grasp the spine of a large, dusty book. The spine said that it was section C of the encyclopedia of magic, and she just hoped that it might contain the answers she sought.
Curses were fickle things, particularly when it came to researching them. Each curse was unique in nature, with anywhere from one to multiple ways of counteracting their effects and in some cases even ways to dilute those effects over time. It was a curious aspect of magic, and one that she knew well. Her situation was complex, though, and she had a sinking feeling that this encyclopedia would do her little good.
As her claw caught on the edge of the spine, the book tumbled from the shelf. She quickly ducked back, allowing it to clatter to the floor with a large thump. Old, worn pages were spread bare on dusty floors, and the Vulpix hurriedly gathered the book together properly before the librarian could investigate the source of the noise. Considering the topic of her studies, it would be better if she did not draw extra attention to herself.
She then loaded the book onto her forepaw, bracing it into place with her chin, and hobbled toward the nearest table to have a better look at the contents of her newest discovery.
Something. There had to be something here, right?
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Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2015 4:44 pm
Ty stepped into the library with a sheathed Arturius in his hand. They were an awkward pair by an observer's gaze. Arturius, as always, appeared as a blade did but he was clearly much too large for a Pancham to actually use in one hand but much too small to be a proper two-handed sword. Of course, it was hard to tell why that was the case; swords were relatively uncommon and it could have simply been that "it" was the best one he could find. All the same, that didn't stop him from meandering about the aisles. A few times, he halfway pulled out a book before stopping, looking down at his sword and putting it back. Eventually, he found his way to the book that would give him what he wanted: The Encyclopedia of Fighting Types. Arturius reasoned that it had the best chance of holding the information that Ty was after and it was for that reason that both of them came. Arturius was simply curious. Ty had a deeper and more substantial reason to know, having had his curiousity sparked by his new teammate Rebecca and a lack of knowledge of his own past.
He pulled the Encyclopedia out with one hand and held it upright all the way to the table. He sat it down alongside Arturius and began to leaf through it until he got to the category he wanted. There was only one entry. Pancham, Pangoro.
And he began reading. It was slow, somewhat, a fact that was owed to his lack of practice. He could read and write but he was not a poet or a librarian, not that that fact stopped him. Ty had, if little else, discipline. Something as mild as not being hyper-literate wasn't going to stop him from reading through it and finding out a little more. This was what he came here to do and that was what he was going to do.
Or that's what he was going to try to do, anyways. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Arturius slip out of his sheath slightly and then stare in silence for a moment before speaking towards a Vulpix that wasn't that far away.
"You have been branded."
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Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2015 4:57 pm
VyraVyra tensed, her ears twitching in agitation as the words washed over her. Her emerald eyes were immediately off the pages of the old tome in front of her as she scanned for the source of the voice. There was a silent twisting in her stomach, anxious to know if the person speaking was also capable of helping... or hurting her situation.
Her eyes locked on the nearest person. A young Pancham, his head buried into a similarly-sized encyclopedia to her own. Granted, his book appeared much better cared for, seeing as hers was about as useful to the average Pokemon as a paperweight. It had probably been used as a doorstop, really- it had nothing of value within its pages. She knew more about curses than it seemed to.
The Pancham's partner, however, was the one to speak. It was a long, shining sword. Its surface shimmered with a mysterious quality and the priestess could feel the fur rise on the back of her neck. It was a ghost-type, a Honedge. That gleaming, jewel-like eye stared directly through her in an unnerving way. Vyra simply stared back with a level expression, her chin lifted.
"Honedge. Are you the one to speak with me?" Her greeting was abrupt, tails swishing to one side as she stepped down from her seat by the table. Her dark paws touched the floor with grace, and it became evident that she was more lady than warrior. She had no real amount of muscle tone to speak of.
Despite this, her greeting was not a true question. She knew it had been him to speak, for the intensity of his gaze was not easily lost. He was the only ghost in the room- perhaps because of this, he could sense her curse?
"I am Vyra, priestess of the Sun Shrine. What branding do you speak of?" A test, perhaps. There was no need to reveal more than necessary, but she could not allow the comment to pass freely, not when there was a chance he might aid her in her plight.
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Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2015 6:30 pm
Venari
Ty Arturius
Arturius slid the rest of the way out of his sheath and began to float. He floated upwards and off the table in order to lower himself to eye level with Vyra. "I am Arturius, the Hunter's Blade. Your soul had been branded with a seal of flame." It was said as if it were a simple thing. There was no boisterous tone or pride behind his proclamation of the title, nor was there any particularly sharp indignance in his claim. It was all said very plainly, as it was nothing more than a matter of fact. The only significant traces of emotion in how he spoke was curiousity in the quiet question that came afterwards. "Did you kill someone?"
He was curious. Of course he was curious, it wasn't particularly surprising that he would be. Curses were rare and ancient things and Vyra's was especially strange. It was a slurry of many things, many feelings and many ideas. But there was a notable lack of rage and the notable presence of raw pity. It was an odd combination to see in a curse, to say the least. Who laid a curse out of pity, of all things?
Ty stopped reading and watched, with the only words uttered by him being a very simple, "What."
He didn't really know what was going on yet.
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Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2015 6:41 pm
VyraVyra's ears flattened with indignation, but bit back the remark that she could not allow to grace her tongue. He would test her as much as she would to him. Curses were not to be toyed with, or to take lightly in any form- not the sort she dealt with.
Still, his words caught her by surprise. She had expected the introduction, and the answer to his question, but she was not expecting the quiet consideration in his voice. "Well met, Arturius," she answered stiffly, her green eyes alight with caution.
"I've killed no one, nor do I intend to. That is not the work of a priestess," she continued smoothly, her speech falling into an easy formality. She didn't often reveal emotion through voice or body language. Nobles hid their feelings, though she suspected that the ghostly sword before her could tell by instinct that she was nervous, and that perhaps she was hiding a little more information than one ordinarily should.
Vyra met Arturius' gaze with a calm expression, completely ignoring the Pancham who accompanied him. She wouldn't have known how to answer him, regardless. "I can only guess at the reasoning behind my curse." Jealousy, perhaps? She wasn't sure what circumstances had led the Ninetales to do what it had, but it was a brand of shame across her name. A priestess could not work with a curse barring her path forward, nor could she live among her own kind knowing that one of their own had turned against her so strongly. It was a true and eternal exile, excepting the unknown conditions of her curse.
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