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 Posted: Tue May 10, 2016 4:46 pm
Robin
Jessica & Tobias & Balerd & Jeremiah & Joshua & Madeline
Jessica listened to the response with interest and found it surprisingly measured. It was a willful evasion of the obvious, an intentional escape from the implied meaning. Nyx had too complex a skillset to have spent his life brokering transactions, he had done something otherwise and the change of pace in his life likely had some other purpose or cause. It was ultimately a superficial answer that anyone could have given; everybody came to the guild to look for a partner. If they thought a partner wouldn't be beneficial, they would have just done whatever it was they wanted to do. It was a non-answer to a question that had been designed to lightly probe the depths, to learn a little bit more about the man behind the name. "It is for the best, but it's also good enough news for us. If there was no trouble then we'd be out of a job, right?" She didn't let her demeanour break. It was odd that Nyx was so adamant about directing the conversation away from himself, but some people were like that. It was something to remember and reflect on at a later time, but for now it wouldn't stop her from smiling and enjoying the conversation properly. She was engaged and having fun, she had no reason to suspect a conspiracy of some sort. It's not like she needed to know his life story. He could have very well simply been a very private person.
Though her smile did drop to a more thoughtful and somewhat neutral expression as Nyx continued to speak of the partnership system. The process for her had been a simple one with a very complicated outcome. "They did good. I'd heard they were good back in the day so I was a little surprised when things started the way they did, but..." She glanced to Tobias, who seemed to be too engaged in his own matters to pay attention to Jessica and Nyx. "It worked out, somehow. It looks like we both got partners that suited us and I'm glad for that. If we'd been put together some other way, we probably never would have made it to where we are and we never would have had a chance to meet like this. I can only speak for myself but it looks like we've all managed to build something excellent around ourselves with our own hands." She mentally shook off the thoughts. She still wasn't sure how she felt about the entire package. She didn't know exactly where it was or where it was going, due to the nature of... well, everyone on the team except for Jeremiah. She could articulate easily enough how she felt about a given aspect but the complexity of the package defied easy explanation. "Tobias and I had a rough start, but I think we've come to a good understanding on the field."
Which, now that she thought about it, seemed to stick to her a bit. It was the kind of feeling that came from having something stuck in your teeth, but without knowing that that's what it was. Hmm...
Jeremiah, like pretty much everyone else in the room, lost a moment's focus to look in the direction of Alexandru but left it be. The explanation was readily enough given so Jeremiah simply politely tended to himself for a moment by eating while waiting for either Killian or Neo to respond to him. Claydol weren't ghosts, but Jeremiah didn't know that. Jeremiah didn't know much. Though he did know the food was good and he was certainly enjoying it, so there was that. When Killian spoke, and Neo did in turn, Jeremiah smiled and said, "Yup!" He still didn't know why this was apparently such a good thing but since that was the case he would smile. He turned to look over at Killian and Jeremiah did much the same motion by tapping himself on the chest. "Hey, we're like twins!" Disregarding the whole size, height, weight, species, age, etc. thing, anyways. "Mine's right here too." The gem on Jeremiah's chest housed his existence; it was a grave and significant statement made rather innocuously. Though the gem was grown deep into his chest, it was a veritable weakness that he had nonchalantly revealed to everyone in the room. The thought that someone could use it against him had never even crossed his mind; they were all too friendly for such concerns to cross his mind.
"Ah, yes. I know such things well, it is most difficult to break free of them." What it was that Tobias was referring to when he spoke of "such things" wasn't readily obvious but his intent was empathetic in nature. Whatever it was that he meant, he meant it on a personal level that he himself understood. "But he will be fine in time of this I am certain. It is something that will take time, as it does for all things, but he will eventually be well so long as he wishes to be. And I am sure that such is the case even if Alexandru does not wish for such things himself, he does not seem such a short-sighted person as to relish such things." Tobias carefully plucked some food from his plate and put it into his own mouth, seemingly taking a moment to think. "Alexandru will be back in time and all will be well."
Joshua, of course, was still running around. He'd be back, probably in the next post or something.
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 9:42 am
Neo & Nyx & Air & Eliot & Clara & Lux & Killian & Alexandru
"We would indeed."
Nyx listened to Jessica attentively, terribly intrigued by her response. They did good? A partner who suited her? Tobias was neither of those things, unless the Linoone was hiding some uncanny usefulness beneath a facade of impropriety and disregard for others. He also did his best to hide his skepticism at her further claims. The Charmander had been so agreeable and reasonable thus far, what was this nonsense about being unable to accomplish what they had if things had turned out otherwise? Destiny and fate were things best left to the superstitious, and Nyx was certainly not one who believed in those sorts of trifles. Certainly they wouldn't have met like this, but there was similar certainty that they would have met--perhaps sooner. They could have been partners if timing had worked out differently, and if Tobias had not been her partner they may have encountered each other sooner; his deliberate avoidance of anything to do with the Linoone likely played a far greater role in this than Jessica would ever know. In the end he dismissed it, assuming that the Charmander was doing the polite thing and making the best out of something that was clearly less than ideal--she was practical enough in other matters that he could forgive that. "It's been quite the experience." Nyx murmured his assent to her closing remark. "I think we're also beginning to create something worthy of note. Neo and myself are hopeful that we can continue to move towards grander things, and he strongly believes that connections with our coworkers can only help with this." He smiled slightly. "I'm inclined to agree with him if our fellow Team leaders are of your caliber, Miss Jessica." To an extent anyway. He could take or leave the rest of her Team, though Joshua had seemed a reasonable enough sort; fortunately, there were a number of reasons for only Team Leaders to be involved in certain affairs, so he didn't foresee an issue aside from Tobias, but even he could be kept at at a distance thanks to the presence of the children.
Then she continued to an easier, more approachable topic, and one that caught his attention again. "Oh?" he raised a brow in interest. "I must say I'm intrigued. Your partner is a rather peculiar fellow." One word of many, perhaps better-suited, words to describe Tobias. "I imagine it was quite the adjustment?" He wanted desperately to know what it was that made her so inclined towards the Linoone--there simply had to be some reason. Whatever it was couldn't redeem Tobias of course--nothing redeemed a person who harmed his partner even a strong friendship forming between the two--but perhaps it could explain how a normal-minded person could find him agreeable. Neo and I, too, had rather shaky beginnings. It's quite the peculiar story--he enjoys telling it to the others when the mood strikes him." The Vulpix glanced at his partner, who was still preoccupied with the others--it had been quite concerning those first two days, but it had thankfully sorted itself out quickly. The comment was an invitation to trade stories, which he hoped Jessica would take advantage of.
Fortunately for Jeremiah, the only members of Team Essence listening didn't have any intention of using his secret against him; unfortunately they were also the ones who would give up that information in a heartbeat, one because he had to if asked, the other because he similarly wouldn't imagine anyone would do any harm with the knowledge.
"W-What's a soul?" Eliot, who had been distracted from his meal by the ethereal voice of Killian, looked at the adults curiously. He'd never heard the word before tonight, but now Daddy and Jeremiah were saying it over and over again.
Clara, hearing her brother speak, jumped at the chance to do something other than listen to everyone else talk. "It's invisible, right Daddy?" The girl looked at her father expectantly. "You can't see it, but everyone has one, and it's the thing that makes you what you are?"
Neo blinked, surprised at his daughter's detailed explanation. "Well...yes, that's how I understand it." Souls were complicated concepts to explain to toddlers. "Maybe Uncle Jeremiah can help explain it?" he offered, looking up at the Sableye hopefully. "Ghosts have a better understanding of these things." Which was probably why Clara had such a ready answer to the question. He briefly wondered where his daughter's soul rested, recalling Nyx's claim that she was more than just a child, but the Ghost of another Pokemon who'd been reborn. It was easy to forget, despite her precociousness--to the Meowstic, she was his special little girl, no matter what else was true of her. The children turned their eyes on Jeremiah at their father's indication, curiosity written on their faces as they waited for his answer.
Tobias had just spoken a number of words without really saying much at all, earning him a baffled look from Air and a curious expression from Lux. "I certainly hope so," the Lucario replied, tilting his head slightly as he watched the Linoone's aura. "I'm not particularly familiar with superstitions," Lux confessed, "particularly not those Alex speaks of on a regular basis. Do you know anything about them Tobias?" His comments suggested some familiarity with the subject, though what kind of familiarity was anyone's guess. "You mentioned being well from them?" As though it was an ailment of the mind--perhaps superstitions could be said to be as such, but it was a curious way of putting it, as though there was a way to treat them.
Joshua, for all his well-meaning effort, would find Alexandru's trail led through the Guild and into the fading day beyond. Wherever the bat had gone, he clearly had the intent of getting far away from the party. Joshua could continue to trail him if he desired, but that path would lead him to be absent from the group for a longer time than could be considered polite, and would take long enough to be inconvenient at the very least. Whether he intended to return or not, one thing was certain: Alexandru had clearly meant to make some distance between himself and everyone else involved in the previous situation.
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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 4:49 pm
Robin
Jessica & Tobias & Balerd & Jeremiah & Joshua & Madeline
"I feel the same way. The more of us who meet up to befriend and cooperate, the better we'll be able to act. We can share information, help each other and if the need arises we can work together to do so much more than we could do alone. I hoped that we'd have the same standards and I'm glad to see we do." It was earnest and heartfelt, she really did feel that way. To others, diplomacy and cooperation might have seemed an impersonal thing but to her it was the one place where Jessica, the freelancer and Jessica, the person intersected. There were too many reasons to forge that kind of bond and few, if any, to avoid it. She also had to admit to herself that Essence was likely a great deal stronger than her own team was... Tobias had, thus far, been the star of every combat scenario but Linoone were not exactly notorious for their strength. Her ragtag group of unevolved pokemon paled in comparison to a Meowstic, Lucario, Golurk and, from what she had seen of Air, virtually anything else. She could only speculate that they were perhaps less specialized than her own team, based on the somewhat idyllic nature of Neo as was apparent from his message board statement, but appearances were deceiving. Without having had the opportunity to dive into his person, she couldn't presume him to be a less shrewd individual.
The thoughts were also a pressing reminder that she really, really needed to focus on doing more normal work. She didn't regret going after the Frozen Wastelands mission but she wasn't eager to go through that experience again... There were no free lunches, after all. She would have to see to it that her next mission was a mundane one in order to help acclimate Jeremiah and Joshua to the normal pace of things.
"Yes." Just like that, with no hesitation. Tobias had been an adjustment. An adjustment. But Nyx was prompting her, he wanted to know more about it and she wasn't so remiss as to ignore such a plain intent. It, after all, didn't get much more plain than stating you were "intrigued". "The first few weeks were... difficult. To put it mildly. There was a lot of time spent establishing routine and boundaries and then Balerd suddenly happened, so I had to work on my own for a while." She carefully glossed over the details while still telling the truth. Tobias had had a great deal of issues when he first came into the area and many of them were less than flattering in nature. Balerd's "adoption" especially was to be kept a closely guarded secret. He wasn't a bad person, at least she thought he wasn't, but without an understanding that words couldn't convey they were the sort of issues that would open a rift. She had, similarly, instructed Tobias to refer to is solely as a "private matter" and an "adoption". "But during the early few guild expeditions he showed he was good on the field and he proved it again when we went out on our own. We cooperated well and that was enough." It had been more than that, but what he had done during the faked rescue mission was to remain unspoken. It had been a significant moment for their relationship as captain and co-captain, but it was the sort of thing that was bound to elicit a misunderstanding. Especially on a first meeting. "I guess it shows my background, but he showed he was capable the moment we met. He was fast enough and skilled enough that I was willing to put aside personal differences long enough to see how he did. I specialize more in miscellaneous services than fighting, so having a similarly capable partner was what I wanted. And he proved that to me. He's obedient, he's honest and he does more than I tell him to without going beyond what I tell him to. He acts intuitively to secure the course of action without going beyond it." If they were running, he would dash ahead to scout. Things like that helped and were done most efficiently when they didn't need to be spoken. But he never went off on his own. "I can count on him and, as a captain, that's what I need to know. Most people don't have that. When it's just you and one other person you can't risk them doing their own thing, you know?" Jessia was, first and foremost, a captain. You put aside personal differences in the name of work. She also seemed to have come to peace with the personal differences they had had, since she spoke frankly in spite of Tobias's proximity. Tobias himself was surely aware, but offered no comment or expression. "I guess by the time that was proven to me, we'd smoothed things out enough and I'd gotten used to the rest."
It had all been very strange, but it had worked out. Somehow. Whatever. "But you said you and Neo had a rocky start? How did that work out? You two seem like you'd have gotten along great from the start." She was a little surprised, and genuinely curious, but not that surprised. New partners often had a rocky meeting, even amongst professionals.
Thank god Nyx wasn't listening then, goodness. Jeremiah was suddenly posed with a question he had no real idea how to answer. Understanding what a soul was was one thing but explaining it was another thing entirely. Especially to a child who couldn't see the way he could. It was kind of like trying to explain colours to the blind and it was something that Jeremiah didn't quite know how to do but by god would he try. "Well uh, it's like you, kind of. Um, your soul is you, and it's inside of your body. It uh.."
"Your soul's you~ It's who you are. It's some special stuff that fills you up inside and it's what makes you, you! It's why we can move and think and feel, but a teapot can't. We have souls and that's what makes us people! Stuff doesn't, which is why it isn't people. Normal people like you and me have a soul that's inside of a body, but some pokemon like Jerry are just a soul that made their own body to live in. Some people, like Killian, have their souls stuck inside of stuff that's not normally alive. But since they're inside of it, they are! Some ghost types can do stuff to souls, but only the really big scary ones can and your dad'll protect you from those." Madeline entered the conversation somewhat suddenly, having almost cut off Jeremiah to do so. Her enthusiasm was well apparent and amiable, a fact well punctuated by her turning to look at Jeremiah with a bit of a wink. "Isn't that right Jerry~?"
Jeremiah nodded with a grin. "Yeah! It's uh, like that!"
"Some pokemon are most certain that life has rules that are not to be broken and that doing so will invite a catastrophe most devastating. They are simply beliefs and are not true, the only thing in life that will invite catastrophe is others, I think. It is a belief that he will shed in time." Once more, Tobias was exceedingly abstruse. "He will be well so long as he is among those who have such good sense. It will take time as he does not take pleasure in the way he is but he fears it, but it will most surely happen. Such things cannot be held for long." Ah, Tobias. Were you willfully being difficult to understand, or were you just being weird?
Joshua, of course, had in fact found that Alexandru was gone. The bat had swooped out a window too shut for Joshua to leap through and the trail was lost in the evening breeze. He returned, not triumphant but hardly downtrodden, and asked a justified question to no one apparent. "Is there anywhere I can rinse off?" It was warm, it made him sweat, he didn't like it. He could take the heat better than most of his old coworkers but it's not like the glitter caves were exactly the warmest of places. He hated feeling this sweaty. It wasn't the heat that bothered him, it was the feeling of his fur being slightly matted.
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2016 9:08 am
Neo & Nyx & Air & Eliot & Clara & Lux & Killian & Alexandru
So she was one of Neo's type, the type who believed numbers to be an advantage when it came to fieldwork. Needless to say, Nyx was not one of that kind. Connections were all well and good when they were kept at a distance, but the moment you let others involve themselves in your work countless complications arose. Even Neo was better left at the Guild, where he would be safe, than brought out to work on a mission. When alone, Nyx could work at peak efficiency and by his own devices, but this wasn't common among the Pokémon of the Guild because burning everything to the ground was generally frowned upon by these outrageous people. Jessica, for all her merits, was only a Charmander after all, and they weren't particularly known for their fighting prowess prior to evolution. He understood why she would have that sort of mindset, and it wasn't entirely misguided."Naturally," Nyx nodded in agreement. "Neo wouldn't have it any other way, and, as his partner, I share his sentiments." By necessity, but they were shared nonetheless.
He listened to her continue on the subject of Tobias quietly, and found it frustratingly unhelpful. It was deserved, no doubt, particularly after he'd given a similar sort of answer to her question about his work before the Guild, but Nyx recognized his own tricks when he saw them. He didn't resent Jessica for it, but it did make things more troublesome than he would have liked--he still wasn't particularly closer to learning what Tobias's usefulness actually was. Everything she'd spoken of could be managed by someone else, someone better. She trusted him to follow orders, but he knew several stronger Pokémon who specialized in obedience; she wanted someone fast and strong, but Linoone weren't pinnacle examples of either of those qualities; she wanted someone to run counterpoint to her own skills, but those sorts were better when they weren't Tobias difficult to manage in everyday situations. It left him with the realization that, for all Jessica's practicality, even the Charmander possessed that same odd quality of Neo's that forced her to give second chances and believe in the capabilities of others. It wasn't a bad quality--he could never say that anymore, since it had been the only thing to keep him and Neo together at the start--but it was so much less convenient than simply finding a person who suited your needs and working from there. Investing time in another person was not something Nyx was particularly fond of doing.
"It's true." Nyx's response was calm and even agreeable, all things considered. "Trust is the most important factor in the end." Which was why he worked alone--if you trusted your own abilities you didn't need to worry about trusting others to do what you could not. "I'm glad you managed to come to an arrangement then." He left it there. She'd talked extensively enough about it that it was clear he wouldn't be getting any further on the subject.
On to other things then. "Yes, for much of our time here it's been an easy partnership, but there was a good deal of tension the first couple of days." The Vulpix took a drink to clear his palate before continuing. "When Neo and I first met, he'd just returned from retrieving his bow--I'm sure you recall that prerequisite? I was waiting for him when he returned, having handled all the paperwork regarding the room, supplies, and other peculiarities that we vice captains are left to manage, yet when he came in it seemed that he wasn't expecting me yet." The Vulpix shrugged. "We managed that fine but then something set him off and he wouldn't say a word to me. We sat staring at each other in silence for a long time, and if the gathering bell hadn't rung I can't say when we would ever have untangled ourselves from that situation."
"After we made our way back from the introductory session" and Tobias had solidified his position as someone to be forever hated "Neo and I were able to discuss the issue further. Apparently when he'd found his bow he'd had a rather unsettling run-in with another Fire Type, who'd set fire to a wing of the Ruined Castle. I said something to Neo that reminded him of that experience and it left him fearful that I was that unsettling individual." The Vulpix chuckled. "It didn't take long to set him straight once the initial shock had faded, but it was a bit alarming to see my partner looking so frightened on our first meeting." Fortunately, Neo didn't nurse fears as other Pokémon did; he'd come around quickly and completely."We returned to the same castle later, to tie up some loose ends that had been remaining, and we never did come across that individual." The Vulpix frowned. "I wonder about it from time to time--I would rather appreciate it if there wasn't someone out there giving our Type a bad name." Right Nyx, because you don't set things on fire or make eerie comments or generally strike fear into the hearts of the innocent.
"Interesting..." Lux pondered Tobias's commentary as he finished off his bun, licking the sauce from his paw thoughtfully. There were a number of interesting things about what the Linoone had said, in truth, but the Lucario was most interested in one of them.The only thing in life that will invite catastrophe is others. Well, there was some truth to that.
"Wouldn't it be, uh, pretty hard to stop believing something like that?" Air's expression was troubled as she tried to puzzle the situation out. "I mean, if you deliberately broke the rules of life, wouldn't that be like...defying Arceus or something?" The Ditto-Buizel looked nervous even at the mention of such things. "I feel like that would be enough to keep me from ever trying to let go of those beliefs. Better safe than sorry, right?"
"Difficult, certainly, but not impossible." Lux's response came surprisingly quickly. "There are things far larger than us that we overcome all the time Air. No matter what power is held in a name or idea, nothing is permanent." The Lucario shook his head slightly. "It does all of us well to remember such things."
Jeremiah and Madeline together provided a rather involved explanation, and while Eliot seemed a little overwhelmed, Clara was nodding vigorously, excitement obvious. "Yeah, everybody has a soul, Eliot!" The girl smiled. "Yours is warm and right in there." She reached a hand around her father to press her brother's chest, near his heart.
The puppy frowned, thinking everything he'd been told over very carefully."So...I'm a soul?" he said, sounding a little overwhelmed by the knowledge. "And...y-you? And Daddy? And Balerd? And Uncle Toby?" Your soul's you. It was a hazy sort of thing to comprehend in the first place, but Eliot was trying very hard. Clara made it sound like everybody knew this sort of thing, and it made him feel a bit left out. Everyone's a soul. It made his head hurt.
Neo rubbed his son gently behind the ears. "There, there Eliot, it's difficult to understand, I know." The Meowstic turned his son's head to face him. "The important thing is, your soul is what makes you Eliot, instead of Balerd or Clara, and that's why everyone has one of their own, because otherwise we'd all be the same person." It would be easier for him to understand when he was older, but hopefully this would help.
Killian watched Joshua enter the room, pushing the door shut behind him. "Yes." The Golurk extended an arm toward the room's leftward extension.
Neo's ears twitched as he registered Joshua's question, and the Meowstic gave Eliot one last pat before rising to his paws. "I'll show him Killian, don't worry." The feline beckoned Joshua over as he began heading toward the hallway. He led the Poochyena down the hall to the furthest room on the left. "You can wash off in here," Neo said, opening the door for the quadruped like a good host. "We keep a lot of supplies in here too, but it's also our washroom. There are towels just on the right if you want one when you're finished." Provided Joshua had no further questions Neo would return to his place at the table, allowing his guest some privacy.
In his absence not much had changed, though he was just in time to overhear Eliot presenting Madeline with a follow-up question. "How can y-you tell if sommmething has a soul if you'rrre not a g-g-ghost?"
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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2016 11:43 am
Robin
Jessica & Tobias & Balerd & Jeremiah & Joshua & Madeline
No real comments, no real congratulations, no real questions. She had spoken enough at length to elicit plenty from anyone, but Nyx simply glossed over it all. It was a bit offputting and she found herself beginning to treat the conversation as more of a business engagement than a social get-together. She shoved the instincts back and away. She wasn't trying to appease anyone or reach a certain goal, it was just a social visit. The only thing she wanted to do was build a partnership on top of a genuine friendship, but the latter explicitly excluded treating things like business. She was here to make friends, not to negotiate. Business arrangements were secondary. Secondaaaaaryyyyyy.
"Ah." That was a problem she could both understand and empathize with, surprisingly not with Neo but instead with Nyx. She held very few of what troubled Nyx herself, but that didn't mean she hadn't been a victim from time to time. "I know how it is, it's unfortunate isn't it? Fire types don't have the best reputation, especially fire types like us." Most types could cause a significant amount of localized destruction, depending on their capabilities and the area, but none were quite so dangerous as a fire type. If you struck down anything else the damage would come to a stop but the blaze of a fire type could simply burn and burn and burn. There were things done to protect against it, but it was still a real threat to virtually anyone. It led to fire types often not having the best of receptions in some areas, especially those whose species had a poor reputation. Nyx's she didn't feel the need to say, as he was surely aware that they were renown for curses. "I've been avoiding evolving for a long time just because it would've hurt my business too much. It's hard to pick up good clients if you look like you're going to beat someone up." Charmeleon, and Charizard especially, had a reputation for being somewhat aggressive. She couldn't say it was entirely wrong but it wouldn't have made business any easier. She didn't want to deal with the kind of work that that body would attract, which worked out well enough for her. Her work rarely demanded power over a quick mind, quick feet and a certain amount of skill. "But I'm glad it worked out between you two, it's the mark of someone decent to be able to overcome that kind of thing."
"Yes." Lux spoke before Tobias could, but not for a lack of a similar swiftness. It was not a thing to ponder, it was simply a matter of fact. "It is as I said, it is most difficult to escape such things." He was having to repeat himself, a fact that was irritating to anyone, but not deeply so to Tobias. He hardly minded having to repeat himself now and then. "He clings to them only because he fears letting go of them. It is not his wish to hold onto such things so in time he will change and it will be for the better." Tobias scooted back slightly before leaning over to his left side and gently tugging Balerd in towards him. The little ball-bird had eaten voraciously and promptly fallen into a food coma. Balerd's mind had only one track and that had been set on food rather than things such as conversation, foresight or inquisition, but there would surely be room for more after some time for digestion. "If he is among good company then he will be well. I am most certain of this, moreso than many things. It is only time that matters." Alexandru would be well and Tobias was certain of that, it was simply a matter of time.
Though he did lean over slightly to scratch Eliot lightly while Neo was absent. Scratchies fixed everything.
"Don't worry about it little guy~ Anybody that's anybody has a soul, and if there's a soul inside of something then it's a person. I'm a person, and so are you, and so's your dad. And we all have souls, just like that. Some people might try to hide themselves but that's all it is, they're still people. All you gotta do is sniff 'em out, right?" It was a simple explanation meant to appease a child in the easiest of ways. Things weren't actually any different then they had been before, souls were just an extension of a concept that Eliot likely already had an intuitive understanding of. He probably knew, even if he couldn't articulate it, what a "person" was. Madeline simply attached the concept of a soul to that. Jeremiah had nothing to say, because he wasn't smart enough for that. Poor Jeremiah. He tries, really.
"Thanks." Joshua on the other hand splashed around a bit, rubbed himself against some towels, rolled around, et cetera, before returning to the meal proper. He wasn't perfectly dry but that was the way of things, it would manage itself in time. He was, of course, oblivious to the ongoing conversation regarding a certain flighty bat.
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2016 2:22 pm
Neo & Nyx & Air & Eliot & Clara & Lux & Killian & Alexandru
As far as Nyx was concerned, everything was fine in the conversation between him and Jessica. She clearly hadn't wanted to speak in detail about her experiences with Tobias and he was doing his best to defer to her on that graciously. Of course he wouldn't congratulate her on handling Tobias, that would be a grievous error, especially with the Linoone so near. He'd been attentive and respectful, and that was all he asked of anyone he spoke with. Fortunately, Jessica showed no signs of an outward change in demeanor, so the Vulpix continued to remain relaxed and open--at least so much as the contrary vice captain of Team Essence displayed those qualities.
"Yes, it really is troublesome." She'd had similar experiences then. "It's a shame that even now these sorts of prejudices pop up in our society. A Pokémon can't help the species he or she is born into." A fact that he reminded himself of every time he looked at his reflection--no creature was born into its evolved form, it couldn't have been helped. "Though in your case I imagine it could help you pick up other sorts of clients, wouldn't you say? Your kind are esteemed for the power you grow into." So was his to an extent, though it was overwhelmingly more negative; things like that didn't particularly bother Nyx however. "But I understand. A friendly face can get you far in this world, especially among those who prefer a harmless façade." He smiled slightly. "You're a shrewd business'mon in all aspects, aren't you?" Which was both something to be wary and appreciative of, at least from the Vulpix's standpoint.
His smile grew as she complimented his partner. "Yes, I like to think so," the Vulpix replied. "Overcoming hardships of any kind is something worth celebrating, wouldn't you agree?" Nyx dipped his head to his dinner, chewing slowly as he reflected briefly on his cooking. Next time he'd have to add some more flavoring to the vegetables, their flavor was less notable than he would have liked.
"Okay." Air sunk into her seat, surprised by the sudden decisiveness in the pair who sat beside her. Personally the Ditto didn't know how to even begin casting aside something so enormous, but if they said Alexandru would do it she had no reason to doubt them. Still, it sure seemed like the Zubat wanted to hold onto his beliefs, even if that want was born of fear, but maybe that made some sort of difference in the end. It wasn't for the Ditto to say, so she returned to her meal, popping a warm chestnut into her mouth and chewing it quietly.
Lux, too, allowed the matter to rest, turning his attention to his meal until Joshua rejoined them. "Welcome back," the Lucario said warmly. "Would you care for some baked apples? They're really quite delicious." They were sitting to his left paw--he could smell them--and they would be passed if requested. Alexandru wasn't mentioned: while it seemed like Joshua had left with the intent of pursuing the bat it was clear that he'd returned by himself for one reason or another, and the lack of Alexandru's aura mingling with the Poochyena's suggested it wasn't due to a lack of persuasiveness on Joshua's part. Lux trusted the bat would be back in time however, so there was no need to concern himself with it; better just to move on and allow the bat to slip back in when he returned as innocuously as possible.
Eliot was confused. The poor boy was trying to comprehend something that left even adults stumbling over their words, what else was to be expected? But it was beginning to make a bit of sense, the more he allowed the words to move about in his mind. So people. People were souls and things weren't souls. That made sense, at least a little bit. It was just one of those things that had multiple words to talk about the same thing. This was why he didn't like words, they complicated things that were really very easy to understand. But then Madeline said something to confuse him again.
"If I sm-smell you, I smmmell your soul?" Clara had said his soul was warm. If souls felt like something they probably could have smells too. The puppy leaned forward, sniffing in Madeline's direction. "You sm-smell like sharp fl-flowers." Not like normal flowers, that was for sure. But there was more too. "And like dark. And like sssomething--sommmething icky." Which one of those things was her soul-smell?
"Eliot!" Neo looked flustered. "It's not nice to tell someone they smell 'icky.' Tell Aunt Maddie you're sorry." The Meowstic hadn't noticed anything off about Madeline's scent, but then again he didn't share his son's sniffing capabilities.
Eliot hung his head. "Sorry A-Aunt Mmmaddie..." He was just trying to figure out what her soul smelled like, not to be mean. She did smell like something bad though, something that smelled like sickness, but not quite the same, and the boy had yet to add the word "poison" to his vocabulary.
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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri May 13, 2016 7:30 pm
Robin
Jessica & Tobias & Balerd & Jeremiah & Joshua & Madeline
"Other clients, for sure. Not good ones though. A job that might involve fighting is fine, but if the job is fighting then it needs to be avoided. Nothing good ever comes out of that. There's no winning that kind of request because all it means is you got lucky. Sooner or later you'll get a client who will underestimate or understate what they need just a bit too much and then you don't have any options. Stuff like that's a roll of the dice and I don't like gambling." She also had a lot of ethical qualms with how those jobs tended to go, since more often-than-not you weren't necessarily working for the best cause. She'd always been warned away from jobs like that and she took it to heart quite readily. She was quite certain about that, she could be hired and paid for a lot of things but murder wasn't one of them. "But you're not wrong." She returned to a pleasant smile from the momentarily frank disposition she had undertaken. "People are a lot happier to work with a little Charmander than a big, blocky Charmeleon. If you need something done, you're much happier to work with someone who you think can't threaten you. If I really need to evolve, it'll happen. I've just never needed to, because I've never put myself in that spot." She had had close shaves, lots of them, but none so simple and close as to be solved by evolution. In the last such experience, evolving wouldn't have stopped what happened. So it simply didn't. She needed a real struggle, she thought, something where she had the need and the time.
Whether that was the truth or simple egotism would remain to be tested.
"Of course." She smiled and laughed lightly in a friendly joy. "We've all overcome them, we'll overcome more and that's something I'll gladly drink to. We all worked hard to make it here and I'll celebrate that any day." In earnest she couldn't really say "all", but it was more the sentiment that mattered than the literal interpretation. The fact that Madeline was just a guest and that Joshua hadn't really done s**t didn't matter just yet.
Tobias leaned the other way this time to pat Air. "Do not worry Air, all will be well in time. You will see this to be true, I am certain." Pat pat pat, right on the silly orange furry Buizel head. There there Air. Don't worry, things will be okay.
"Please." Baked apples weren't exactly his kind of usual fare but he wasn't going to complain. Besides. It was free. Free food was the best food. It was the best food you could possibly get and nobody could ever tell Joshua otherwise. Joshua let the apples get passed to in front of him, or down to him, and leaned forward in order to paw one into his mouth. He might not have been the most formal eater when it came to his own plate but leaving your drool in someone else's food was, in his mind, ******** gross. "Thanks." And then there was little more to say. He didn't really know anyone there and with all the other conversations going on, it was (intentionally or otherwise) easy to simply be quiet and enjoy the food.
"Nah, don't worry about it. He's not wrong~" The comment stung in the back of her mind, a fact that would be well apparent to Lux (though perhaps not Neo, due to her typing), but she didn't let it show. "I'm just a liiiittle bit sick is all, my body doesn't quite know how to calm down so it gets like this. It's nothing to worry about as long as you don't rub up against me. If you do that, all your fur might just fall out~" It wouldn't be that extreme, probably, but early on she had given Jessica a few mild rashes until they learned better to avoid needless skin contact with one another. Jeremiah for some reason seemed to be completely unaffected, which was a blessing nobody was willing to question lest it disappear. "But you can't smell a soul, not unless your sniffer's out of this world." A giggle. "What you can smell is people. You can smell them, the places they've been, the things they've touched. And if it's a person, it has a soul. So if you sniff a person out you can be sure they have a soul, right~?"
Jeremiah, at this point, had completely given up on trying to give any input and instead was listening while he ate. Madeline was much better at this than he was. And of course, he wasn't the only one eating; he was, if anything, the slowest of the group. Jessica was well trained to handle a mix of conversation and dining, whereas the rest had had extended periods of silence and much more voracious appetites to work with in comparison to the Sableye who slowly sampled most things. Eating for pleasure and experience tended to be slower than a process supplemented by need.
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 8:44 pm
Neo & Nyx & Air & Eliot & Clara & Lux & Killian & Alexandru
"Yeah!" Eliot yipped in confirmation. "You smell like you're sick, but...not." The puppy didn't have the words to explain it. There was the smell of sickness and then there was the smell of the icky stuff coming from Aunt Maddie--it kind of smelled sickening itself. Tilting his head, Eliot's eyes widened when the Dark Type confirmed his thoughts. "Fall...out?" He stared at the Umbreon, then down to his fur, then back at her. His fur sometimes came out but never in big amounts. Would rubbing against her really make something like that happen? "Wow." It was kind of scary, but kind of cool. Eliot's tail wagged slightly in response to her further commentary, and he nodded eagerly. "I smmmell people. People have souls." That was a pretty easy way to think about it. If he could track a person they had a soul--the idea mollified the child for the time being. "A-Aunt Mmmaddie sm-smmmells too?." She knew an awful lot about it after all, his family didn't normally talk about smells in the confident way the Umbreon did.
Eliot had been occupied, giving Neo the chance to turn his attention to the two Pokémon at the head of the table who'd been apparently hitting it off quite well. He'd been hearing their chatter on and off, despite his own conversations, but not paying a lot of attention to it, so he took the time to listen in now.
"Evolution is a thing best left to those who understand its consequences I think," Nyx said, nodding slightly. "It's a subject of particular interest to me--one of my pet research projects if you will. The alignment of energies required for such a thing and the part the willingness or unwillingness of the individual involved plays is fascinating." He smiled slightly. "The same can be said for lack of and prevention of evolution. It takes a surprisingly strong mind and will to maintain a lesser form, but preservation can be just as admirable as transition." In certain cases. He'd seen all kinds in his time and the one thing he knew for sure after all of his was what he'd always known--if it weren't for his mother he would have reached his proper form long ago. Pokémon who wanted to evolve were drawn to the things that would accomplish it, those who needed to evolve would do so despite all odds, and those who were determined not to evolve could only do so when driven by the most powerful desires.
Jessica was in high spirits and Nyx returned the gesture with a smile of his own. "It's in our nature after all." The Vulpix's tails swayed gently behind him. "As Guild members we won't stop until we've done whatever it takes to overcome the trials ahead." He caught Neo's eye and smiled. "Don't you think, Neo?"
"Well, of course!" Neo grinned back at Nyx, then glanced across to Jessica, smile never fading. ]"It's the most important thing that we don't give up, no matter how hard it gets. That's why I'm here anyway, Nyx and I have talked about it a lot." The Meowstic glanced to either side where his children sat beside him, a fond smile on his face as he looked back to the Charmander. "There are things in this world--Pokémon, places, all sorts of things--that need protecting. Things like this"--he gestured around the table at their collective--"are worth fighting for. That's why we won't let anything best us, because everyone deserves moments like this one." Neo smiled, positively glowing with conviction. "So of course it's worth celebrating what we've done so far! It can only lead to even better things in the future!"
Clara liked it when Daddy smiled like that. Even when he talked about things that were kind of scary, he always came back with that smile that promised everything was going to be alright in the end. It made her feel safe and warm inside, and she smiled slightly to herself as she nibbled her roll, but said nothing.
Air was once again on the receiving end of Tobias's pats, and the disgruntled Ditto-Buizel sighed slightly. It was hard to be Air. Young enough to not-quite fit in with the adults, old enough that no one considered her a child; capable of impossible feats, incapable of interpreting the simplest social cues. Yes, hard was the best word to describe it, and Air was feeling that difficulty more than ever tonight. As Lux passed Joshua the apples, Air glimpsed a gelatinous dish resting somewhat far away, between the Sableye next to Joshua--Jeremiah was what he'd been introduced as, right?--and Madeline. "Um...Excuse me, Jeremiah?" Air stared at him hopefully, her voice somewhat timid. With the luck she'd been having thus far she probably had misheard his name. "Could you pass the gelatin down?" It would probably have to go through someone else's paws to get there, but she'd asked and that was something. The Ditto liked gelatinous foods for their texture, and it would be nice to have something to soothe her nerves--she hadn't been able to fit it on her plate the first time around.
Lux shot a glance at Air as he returned the apples to the tables, keeping an eye on the Ditto's aura as it fluctuated this way and that. It seemed she was alright for now, but it would probably be best to engage her again before too long. But there was also the matter of their guests and the necessity of entertaining. "On the subject of superstitions, I think I recall one," the Lucario folded his paws thoughtfully, not speaking to anyone in particular. "Yes, it was the practice of an old organization I was a part of to plant Gracidea wherever we went. Goodness, I'd almost forgotten about that." The Lucario chuckled, a warm, low sound. "They're the flowers of gratitude, as you know, and the symbol of Shaymin. The idea was that planting Gracidea in a place would cause a Shaymin to watch over it and help it to prosper." He smiled nostalgically. "We planted so many of those flowers, yet never so much as glimpsed a Shaymin. But that doesn't mean they weren't there of course." He winked at Air. "It's not always bad to give people something to believe in, not really. But if you're going to believe in something, it may as well be something worth believing in."
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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 11:57 pm
Robin
Jessica & Tobias & Balerd & Jeremiah & Joshua & Madeline
"Some~" It took Madeline a moment to figure out what it was that Eliot meant, exactly, but she picked up with it smoothly enough. "I used to be a lot better at it than I am now, but I was never quite as good as you are." Eevees were very versatile creatures which afforded them powerful senses that generally lacked specialization. Evolution tended to bring some senses to the front while pushing others further back. Espeon had an exceedingly sensitive sense of touch in order to detect the flow of air. Umbreon on the other hand, "When I evolved my sniffer stopped being quiiiiiiite so good, but my eyes got a lot better. If there's even the smallest amount of light I can make things out just fine~" had very good eyesight. They had good noses, better than most pokemon even, but it was hard to explain to a kid that her sickness had limited her sense of smell. It was still adequate enough to manage but she had lost her tracking abilities. "You see, my kind can turn into all sorts of different things when they're kids. Some of those forms are good at sniffin' and some aren't. Mine isn't too good for that kind of thing."
For the most part she was just guessing, because kids weren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed and you didn't really need to understand what you were talking about most of the time.
"Nah, it's nothing admirable." It was a compliment and she would accept it readily enough in posture and expression while playing it off verbally. "I've just done a good job at avoiding danger. If the time really came I'd evolve in a heartbeat to save what needed saving. I've just managed to avoid that in order to keep my advantage." Ah, the coveted "humble-brag" in which you play down things while talking about how great you are. Good job, Jessica.
Jessica's focus on Neo was both genuine and analytical. It was her first real chance to see what the man was made of and her first real chance to understand him as anything other than a good host. Thankfully, he was an easy type to get a read on. He was probably hiding some skills or capabilities underneath the surface, but the surface itself was a rather transparent one. His character was not locked behind any doors. He was genuine to the message he had left on the board; he really did just want to help other people and make a positive difference in the world. He was the type that lost a finger for someone else, but it was often worth it all the same. Neo would be a bit of an overwhelming fellow, but not a bad one. He would be easy to befriend, which perhaps explained why Tobias had managed to make friends with him, and easy enough to work with so long as jobs were picked carefully. She somehow doubted that he was a deepseated pragmatist, even if Nyx was. "Of course." But that kind of analysis would be useful later on, not right now. Right now was social time, not business time... taking notes didn't hurt, but she wasn't going to use them. "The sky is the limit if you're willing to put yourself out there and be smart about it. There's always something to find, someone to help, something to stop. We'll never run out of those things and those things will never run out of us."
Oh Air, you silly Ditto. You weren't being patted because you were young, you were being patted because it was Tobias and he was going to pat you on the head. It was Tobias, really. Goodness. Not that had any impact on Jeremiah fulfilling the request with a upbeat, "Sure!" Jeremiah would pick up the bowl and stand up in his seat in order to reach across the table where it would be received and carried on further by Tobias as the only one who could conceivably take it. Although they were a few positions apart lengthwise, the relatively small size of the children (and relatively large, lengthy size of Tobias) made it possible without having to include Lux. Which was good because Lux couldn't see s**t.
And then the conversation on that end of the table shifted to the matter of superstitions once more, this time spearheaded by Lux. "I do not know if I would believe such a thing as such creatures are most reluctant to explore." Shaymin were naturally very reclusive pokemon who did their work in secret but hid themselves otherwise. They weren't inclined to explore much, as a rule, choosing instead to tend to their gardens. At least, such was as Tobias understood it. "But I do not think that it is a bad thing to believe. There are much worse things to hold to ones heart as Alexandru does and perhaps it would do him well to consider such alternatives." Thinking of flowers was a good bit better than scaring oneself over silly numbers and tables.
"I think it's nice." Jeremiah felt a different way for, ultimately, the same reason. "I don't know much about Shaymin or whatever, but flowers are nice even if they aren't very tasty." They weren't very shiny either, but that was how it was. Not everything was a gemstone and that's just kind of how it worked. If everything was going to be a gemstone then the world would be rather strange indeed, so it was probably for the best that they weren't. Yes, Jeremiah liked flowers being just the way they were. "If it gets them planted then it's a good thing right?"
Joshua, who held his tongue, thought that the superstition was kind of stupid and a waste of time. But perhaps this wasn't the time or place to say it, especially not after what had happened the last time he had called a superstition stupid. Yeah, it probably was best to avoid touching that even with a ten foot pole.
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 9:17 am
Neo & Nyx & Air & Eliot & Clara & Lux & Killian & Alexandru
Eliot was pleased. "Daddy says my n-nnose is rrrreally good," he said happily. What that meant he didn't totally understand, except that he could smell things nobody else could. "Y-Your e-eyes?" So she could see no matter how little light there was? That was pretty cool. He normally had to rely on his nose when it got really dark. It was like Daddy had told him: everybody had different things they were really good at. He listened again, eyes widening at her explanation of the Eevee line. "R-Rrreally?" he looked very impressed. "Llllike Air? You can t-turrrn into th-things too?" The puppy panted slightly from the effort of using all these words, but when he glanced at his sister she gave him an encouraging nod. Apparently he was doing it right.
Neo smiled, nodding in agreement with Jessica's reply. "Yep, we'll always be there to handle it, no matter what," he said cheerily. "And there are other things too. The world is full of things to discover, you know? That's one of the perks of the job. Already it's taken us so many places. Jungles and ruins and tundras... Not everybody gets a chance to see stuff like that. We're pretty lucky!"
"No doubt," Nyx said, eyes on his partner. "And there's still much more left to explore."
"It makes me excited for every day!" Neo said, tails swaying happily. "Have you ever been out to the Ruined Castle, Jessica?" The Meowstic's eyes were bright with enthusiasm. "It's really an incredible place. I thought I heard Nyx mention our missions there." He received a nod from his partner. "We came across this colony of Unknown who make their homes there, and they all only talk using words that start with the letter that matches their body shapes!" The story was not only an interesting one, but an excellent conversation-starter, and Neo loved to share it. "At the start, we thought they only understood us if we talked like them, so Nyx tried it for a while. 'Names: Neo, Nyx. Native notice names nimble navigator-negotiators necessary?'" The Meowstic laughed as Nyx turned his gaze downward, feeling the slight sensations of embarrassment from his friend. "It turns out it wasn't necessary in the end, but it was really impressive."
Air helped herself to the gelatin when it was passed to her, being sure her scoop included a number of berry chunks in its contents. The Ditto ate with a spoon, since she had a form that allowed for such things currently, and she smiled as the cool, fruity taste slid down her throat. She nearly missed Lux's wink, but opened her eyes just in time to catch it. "That does sound nice," Air said, opting to agree with Jeremiah. "Too bad they aren't all as nice as that..." The latter comment was murmured to herself, more reflective than anything.
Lux nodded. "Yes, it was nice, and an ultimately good thing. I never put much stock in it personally but some friends of mine believed it very strongly." He shook his head. "I am no expert on Shaymin myself, so I can't say whether it's possible or not, but it's the sort of thing that has no negative consequences, only positive ones. If you do it, something good might happen, if you don't do it, everything continues as normal." It only meant trouble if you put too much stock in such things, but they were little more than harmless traditions if you didn't believe they could lead to negative consequences.
He turned his gaze to Jeremiah, appraising the ghost's blue aura over Joshua's orange. The two mixed with each other slightly, and he tasted the spice of pepper on popped corn, surprised by the way they complimented one another. It was rare that even friends (as this pair's auras indicated they were) were so fortunate as to have well-matched tastes. "Still, Gracedia probably are better planted than eaten, this is true." He said, with a good-natured chuckle. "Sometimes it's nice to have something for the eyes to enjoy." Not that he could partake of that sort of thing these days. The Lucario's sightless gaze fell back to his own plate. "Planting flowers is one of the small, good things we can do for the world, and there are plenty of those to be found if you only give it a bit of thought."
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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 6:56 pm
Robin
Jessica & Tobias & Balerd & Jeremiah & Joshua & Madeline
"Naw, not like Air." She couldn't do anything like that, as cool as that would be. Hers was a much simpler and much less reversible process. "You see, when you get old enough and strong enough you'll turn into something reaaaaaally big. Much bigger than you are now, much stronger too. All of us do that. Most of us can only become one thing when we grow up, but a few kinds like me can become a bunch of different things. When I was just a lil' lady, I had a whole world of options for what I was gonna turn into and I turned into this~ If it had turned out differently I could have been able to shoot fire like you, or move things with my mind like your dad. And I'd look real different too. If I'd turned into something else, I'd probably be able to smell loads better. But I didn't, so instead I can see in the dark~" Madeline wasn't aware that Eliot's eventual evolution would necessitate a fire stone, but the rules played out all the same. A stone would only react if what was on the inside was ready for it.
"I haven't, not yet." Jessica couldn't exactly share in Neo's enthusiasm. She had traveled a lot on her own, or in groups, prior to joining up with the guild. It was always good to see new things but the novelty of it all had worn off for her. The beauty of the areas she explored was something to be enjoyed, but it wasn't something she sought. It was one of the lesser concerns on her list. Good scenery beat out bad scenery but really, when did it ever come down to the sights? Not that that stopped her from sharing the moment with him, as although it was an enthusiasm she had lost it was one she had once had and it was one she could empathize with. The Glitter Caves had been a nice place, even if she had never even once had the chance to stop and look around. she could remember it well enough, which would have to do since they could probably never go back. She wasn't sure how she felt about that in the long run, either, though she would remember the end of it all until the day she died. God, that had been satisfying.
She joined in on Neo's laugh, careful to not exceed the threshold of "politeness". "It is, I've always prided myself on my tongue but I've never been good that way. There's not a lot of people who could do something like that." Really, it was quite impressive. A bit of a silly talent but no less impressive, it was something out of the reach of most people. "I'd love to share stories, but luckily I've had mostly plain missions so far. Only the one into the Glitter Caves really stands out, which is where I picked up Jeremiah and Joshua." The one from the Frozen Wastelands stuck out sharply as well but she couldn't talk about that one. She could have lied about it, but the less she spoke the lie the less likely it was to come apart. As far as Maddie knew, it had been a fairly regular and boring mission. They had gotten into a tussle, Joseph had helped them, then they showed up to pick up Maddie. So that one simply wasn't going to be talked about. "It's a beautiful place, even though it was mined out ages ago the walls are still covered with natural crystals that bring down the sunlight. If you can take the time to appreciate it it's a good place to look around a bit." She laughed a bit, both as a part of the conversation and at the memory. "Sadly my team is probably banned after what happened last time, so I doubt I'll be going back any time soon."
"Ah, yes. I was meaning to speak of this." Lux's final comment on flowers elicited little more than a quiet and general agreement. The subject had more-or-less run its course due to a lack of material and a lack of contradicting opinions. Flowers were good, superstitions could be destructive, Alexandru needed to calm down, et cetera. Tobias instead moved towards an unrelated subject, prompted by something Lux had said. "You are blind, that is most apparent especially now that I have seen you move, but I am uncertain as to what it is that you are using. As you are easily able to recognize Joshua I do not believe that it is psychic," a fact furthered by the reality that he didn't receive a subtle "feeling" from Lux the way he did from Neo, "but I am most uncertain as to what you are using as your ears do not seem large enough. How is it that you see?"
It was a question that he wished to have an answer for for a variety of reasons. In part, it was because it bothered him. Although very limited, he could feel the perception of a psychic and even reject it if it became intrusive. He had been trained for that skill, but this was not psychic. This was something entirely distinct that could apparently perceive him, an unseeing sight, that he had no way to detect. While he was genuinely curious, that was also the kind of thing that made a man of his origin a little nervous.
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 9:23 pm
Neo & Nyx & Air & Eliot & Clara & Lux & Killian & Alexandru
"Oh." That was disappointing, he would have liked to see Madeline turn into different things--it was always so fun when Air did it. He did recognize what she was talking about instead though, a fact that showed in the way his ears perked up and his eyes brightened. "Yeah! Daddy says...wh-when I'm ooolder...I'll be like Mister G--Guilllldmast-mmmast-er Frrrost!" He'd never met the Arcanine, but his Dad had pointed him out on a walk one day and he was huge! Eliot couldn't imagine being that big, but it was exciting to think that it would happen one day. "You...d-didn't have to be this way?" The puppy stared at her, thinking about the other things she'd described. "W-Why...Why...?
"Why did you decide to be this way, Aunt Maddie?" Clara helped her brother voice his question, both for his sake and her own. She was curious too, there had to be something that made her choose this option over all the others, if she had them. "Did you really need to see in the dark?"
"It's nothing really." Nyx said, though he kept the tension from his voice for the sake of acknowledging the compliment. He didn't mind when his accomplishments were noted for their usefulness, but he wasn't one to boast of things that were ultimately trivial. "It's best to avoid miscommunications however you can. I simply worked with what I observed."
Neo reached a paw over to jostle his partner good-naturedly. "And we're saying it's better than we could do, silly. Don't be so modest." He glanced over at Jessica, adding in a stage whisper: "Nyx doesn't like it when I brag about him, but he deserves to be bragged about."
Nyx smiled slightly. "Enough, enough. There are better things to talk about than me."
And Jessica did speak of other things. Essence's leaders listened to Jessica attentively, Neo looking fascinated and Nyx nodding in agreement. "Yes, Joshua mentioned the Caves earlier. I've been to visit them myself, and the crystals really are a sight to behold."
"Wow, I wish I'd come with you," Neo said wistfully. "It sounds like it's really beautiful." He didn't know a whole lot about precious stones, but they were pretty to look at.
"There will be time for it I'm sure." Nyx said reassuringly.
Neo nodded, but was more focused on Jessica's last comment, a bit of concern showing on his face. "Did something bad happen?" he asked curiously. It was a pretty serious thing to be banned from an area--honestly he didn't even think it was possible--so it could hardly have been all that plain of a venture. "It didn't have to do with Jeremiah and Joshua, did it?" It wasn't that he expected they were the source, but that he was worried they'd been forced to leave for whatever reason Team Robin wouldn't be allowed back. At least they'd found a nice home here, regardless of what happened back at the caves. They seemed happy enough, as far as he could tell.
"Aura!" It was Air who answered, her usual vigor flooding back as she beat Lux to the punch. "Lux can't see using his eyes, but he uses aura to help him see all sorts of things." The Ditto-Buizel grinned delightedly. "He's teaching me to do it too."
Lux chuckled at Air's excited explanation, nodding his agreement as he turned his eyes on Tobias. "Yes. Pokémon of my kind as well as a select few others are capable of seeing what others cannot: aura." The Lucario raised his right paw and a halo of golden energy flickered into existence around it--it looked as though he'd stuck his paw into a torch, though it radiated no heat. If anyone happened to reach out to touch it, it wouldn't feel like anything at all. "This is my aura. When I shape it, I can make my aura visible to those who cannot see it." He released the aura and it flickered out, leaving no trace. Every living being possesses a unique aura like this--think of it as your vital energy. They have a number of different qualities, and those who can read them can discern much from a Pokémon's aura. Emotions, physical health, general personality traits--the more skilled an aura reader is the more he can learn through just observing an aura." There was no question what sort of skill level Lux himself possessed. "So I am blind, yes, but only to those things which lack the presence of life." The Lucario smiled. "For those things, I must resort to different measures."
Lux was perfectly willing to impart the information he had to Tobias, as he was to anyone interested in learning, but he didn't miss the hint of trepidation marring the brilliant white aura before him. He didn't mention a thing about it, but he found it wise on the peculiar Normal Type's behalf. Aura was, in many ways, more powerful and more frightening than Psychic could ever be. Without the ability to sense aura, there was no way to detect it, and there was no way to hide your aura from another as you could learn to conceal your thoughts and emotions. To those with aura sight, everyone was an open book; the only thing Lux had neglected to mention explicitly was that learning to read that book was something that didn't come naturally. Anyone who saw aura could tell the living from the unliving and the physical health of a being, and most began to pick up on emotional indicators over time, but that was the extent of it. Things like aura tracking and transfer, acute insights into personality and emotional processing, and other complexities only came with years of devoted study. But those who possessed the capability to see aura often nurtured it to some extent--it was a sacred gift, and one that few took lightly. Level of skill could also be read in aura, as well as inclination towards the power, whether it was possessed or not. In the end, Lux had much he could share on the subject, but it would be ill-suited to those who were blind to it and wary of it in the first place. Instead, he took a sip of his water and waited for the anticipated questions to follow his explanation.
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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 12:08 am
Robin
Jessica & Tobias & Balerd & Jeremiah & Joshua & Madeline
"Yep, sooner or later you'll be a big ol' guy. Then maybe you can carry your dad instead of the other way around." Confusion was the immediate reaction, but then the clarafication came and an answer was provided. "Nah, nothin' like that." It wasn't that she needed to see in the dark, and it wasn't really anything special. Eevee evolved for different reasons at different times and there were different attitudes towards the act. Some felt quite strongly about it, feeling that it was some sort of venerated right unique to their types. Others were much more ambivalent. Each one, no matter the details, found that their evolution suited them once they had some time to walk around in the new shoes. Madeline was one of the latter variety and she lacked any particularly strong feelings on the matter. "Evolution comes when the time is right, y'know~ When you're big enough, and old enough, and you need it enough, it'll happen. For my kind, you'll turn into whatever it is you need to do whatever it is you gotta do. I just got old enough and the time was right so it happened." That was really it. There had been no fantastic battle, no dire need, nothing like that. The Frozen Wastelands wasn't exactly a bright place but it was bright enough underground once you got used to it. If you learned the paths it was fine. There hadn't been a real need, or something that demanded the adaptation. It had just been a convenient end. "I guess if I wanted anything, it was to grow up. I was the last of my little group to evolve and I didn't want to be left behind." It had sucked, for a while. She had been teased more than once about being small.
They asked, of course. She had put it out there for that purpose. It was really all that she could share without digging into her pre-guild affairs. "It did, actually." Actually reflecting on it, it had been literally everyone's fault except for her own. Jeremiah made the request, Joshua had helped send the request but never intervened, Tobias... Tobias'd. Hm. Whatever. "It was the mission that kept us overnight, actually. You kept Balerd for us that night. Jeremiah had put the request out. We met up with him when he was being chased by dozens, he shoved a gem into our hands and told us to keep it safe for him. We managed to find a local city, met up with Joshua and got the full details. It was all a rabid competition where whoever presented the best gem to the princess the next day could marry her. We stayed safe, set a trap and we spent the rest of the night running and hiding until we ran into Jeremiah." It was glossing over a few details here and there, but when you were telling a story about yourself you couldn't get too deep into the "heroics" of it. Her speech was animated, but too much focus on a single act would seem self-indulgent. "By that point, Joshua had split off from us. With Jeremiah's help we managed to hide out for most of the night until it got closer to day, at which point we managed to make our way towards the princess." Again, glossing over the more nuanced aspects of it. "Tobias suddenly pounced on Jeremiah and shoved him into the ground, I shouted, but it had been a trick to begin with. It wasn't him, we hadn't seen Jeremiah since we got the gem at the start. The Sableye who had been with us was an imposter and Tobias had noticed that his eyes looked different. How the hell he noticed that I have no idea, but it worked out." Tobias, however, she could speak positively of. "We got in front of the princess, the guards fetched Jeremiah on her orders. She drilled into him over having been missing and rejected him. She announced that she would still accept the gem if Tobias presented it, and that he would marry her. Joshua had warned us that she wasn't the nicest and she was deadset on proving it."
Joshua barked lightly from down the table, interrupting the story for a moment. "She's a huge bi... ad person. Very bad."
"Anyways. Tobias walked up to the throne and shoved it down her throat. He said it would suit her better when it came out the other end. The entire room went dead silent and the next thing I knew we were running out full force to escape. It worked out, she got what was coming to her, but I don't think I'll be welcome there anytime soon." She didn't have any hesitations in telling the story. The Sableye princess had seemed like a thoroughly repugnant individual and she had no shame regarding what had happened. It would be one of her fonder memories for a while, at the end of it. "I don't think Jeremiah should go back for a while either, but since there's other Sableye that look like him he should be fine eventually. Joshua stayed for a while and met up with us later. It was a good job in the end."
"Hmm..." Tobias mulled over the explanation passively.
Joshua was the one to voice protest. "Wait, you're telling me you can read my mind?" Nope, nope, nope. Joshua didn't like that. He was a dark type, he was supposed to be immune to that s**t and he took suitable solace in that fact. It wasn't that he was an intensely private person or anything like that but nobody was an open book. The idea that his mind was being passively read was justifiably unnerving. Even if Lux said something like "only emotions", that meant he knew how Joshua reacted to things. Joshua didn't like that.
"I do not believe that it is of much concern. It is little more than one can do normally." On the contrary, Tobias seemed very ambivalent to the extent at which aura could be used. The idea of sight unseeing was an issue to him, but none of the rest of it phased him in the slightest for a reason that was obvious enough. "It is very much quite simple to know such things. One's form speaks much as one's mouth does and there are few things that are unapparent. It is certainly a most simple task to know such things, I do not believe that such an ability is of significance in such a way." Things like body language told you a lot about a person, particularly everything that Lux was talking about. Their reactions, their ideas, how they were feeling, and so on... Nothing "wondrous" that Lux could do was outside of Tobias's exceptional gaze, though how aware he was of the nature of his own gaze was another question entirely.
"But it would be most desirable if there were a way to suppress such things. It would be difficult to hide from one such as yourself."
Jeremiah, being an actual open book who would gladly point out the physical incarnation of his own soul to a room full of people he'd known for 20 minutes, mostly just thought that it was "pretty cool".
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 2:13 pm
Neo & Nyx & Air & Eliot & Clara & Lux & Killian & Alexandru
"Left behind?" Clara frowned, bobbing slightly. "That doesn't sound nice..." It sounded lonely. She wouldn't ever want to be left behind, somewhere in her head she knew what that was like, and she didn't want it ever again.
"Grow up!" Eliot's paws kneaded the floor in excitement. "When I grow up I'll be big, and carry Daddy!And Clara! And everybody!" He liked the sound of that.
Clara had more reservations. "Do...Do you have to evolve to grow up Aunt Maddie?" She didn't really want to change, she liked being the way she was now. If she had to evolve to grow up, maybe she didn't want to grow up. But she did want to grow up! Grown-ups used words and were nice and knew lots of things; she wanted all that too, but not to change because of it.
Neo and Nyx listened to Jessica's story diligently. The Meowstic was a far more responsive conversation partner than the Vulpix, nodding his head frequently and occasionally making soft sounds to accentuate his reactions to each turn in the tale, which were written on his face. Concern, surprise, and curiosity all took their turns coloring his expression, but it seemed like he was enjoying it overall. Nyx, on the other hand, wore his usual look of mild interest, but his eyes never turned from the Charmander, which showed he was being just as attentive as his partner.
When she had finished, Neo exhaled slowly. "Wow." He sounded impressed. "It sounds like you got yourselves caught up in something big down there." The Meowstic shook his head. "Some Pokémon have pretty intense competitions I guess," he murmured, running a paw through his fur as he processed the whole thing. He couldn't really fathom the concept of a jewel securing a marriage to someone, but he knew things like that were practiced in some places. "But I guess that means Jeremiah really did find the best gem, huh? That's pretty impressive." To locate something so precious was no easy feat, even if you couldn't protect it on your own. "And even though the princess didn't turn out to be worth it in the end, you guys still managed to help Jeremiah and Joshua and all made it out just fine." He smiled. "It sounds like a successful mission, definitely."
Even as his partner smiled, Nyx frowned, deep in thought. Tobias had recognized the difference in Sableye, which had kept them from failing the mission entirely. He turned his gaze on Jeremiah, staring at the ghost's sapphire eyes for a moment. It could be fairly difficult to discern the differences between members of the same species with similar characteristics except by voice--if Tobias had used Jeremiah's eyes to determine the presence of the imposter that indicated a rather notable attention to detail, something that struck Nyx as terribly ironic given the Linoone's attitude toward other individuals. This ineptitude was emphasized by the way he'd managed the princess, something surprisingly aggressive for Jessica to mention, particularly in front of children. It didn't matter to Nyx in the end how they dealt with the princess--though he would have dealt with her in a more permanent fashion--but it demonstrated again Tobias's willingness to commit unsavory acts in public, regardless of the situation. That sort of person made covering one's tracks almost impossible, and Nyx didn't like that at all.
But these things were his personal musings, and he owed Jessica a response to her tale. "Yes, a job well done," he offered, agreeing with his partner. "It's difficult to manage others when they're blinded by passion, as the Sableye must have been, but you came out unscathed on the other side." He mulled over the other facts he'd been given carefully. "So Jeremiah intended to give the gem to the princess, and enlisted your assistance in protecting it. But Joshua gave you the full details?" The Poochyena's role in these events was the only one that remained unclear. He shifted his gaze from Jessica down to Joshua to see which one would respond to his implicit question, and he'd give his focus to whomever spoke first.
Tobias was right of course, though even the signals of the body could be falsified by a careful individual, whereas aura could not. Lux didn't bother to fight him on it, though it was rather interesting to hear the Linoone speak of his perceptive nature. Air seemed to agree.
"Wait, hold on." The Buizel looked up at Tobias curiously. "You mean you can tell what Lux sees through aura...just by the way somebody looks?" Now that was cool. "Really? And it's easy to know that? How do you do it? I didn't know you could do that at all!" There were no bounds to the Ditto's enthusiasm once she learned of a new skill, that was certain.
Lux turned to Joshua, taking the time to address his concern. "No, I can't read your mind," the Lucario assured him. "As Tobias says, there are other, non-psychic means of discerning most things that aura can teach. Think of it as a gauge of how you're feeling, little different from your tone of voice or the way a Pokémon's scent changes when he's afraid." Being a Poochyena, Joshua would likely be familiar with the smells of strong emotions like that, and really that was just as invisible to the average Pokémon as aura. "The only ones who can read your mind are those with Miracle Eyes," he said, pleased by his turn of phrase.
Lux turned back to Tobias after and smiled slightly thereafter. "Well, yes. Young Riolu never get to experience the joys of hide-and-go-seek, it's true." And if they did, they were quickly proved too good at it to play with the other children, as were those with strong noses, though the latter could be combatted with the proper masking of one's scent. He considered the quandary for a moment longer before voicing his thoughts out loud. "Yes, there's no good way to hide, and even if you distract one with aura vision, the trail of one's aura does not fade quickly. The best way to remain unnoticed would be to lose yourself in a crowd--your path could vanish if it were overwhelmed by others's." Could. There were few paths a determined aura tracker could not follow, but there were also few such skilled and persistant individuals. Tobias was a peculiar individual who seemed to have a very particular set of skills and concerns that may have been worrisome to some. Lux allowed him the benefit of the doubt, because he'd done nothing at all to warrant distrust, and he seemed a decent fellow, if a quirky one. Besides, the Lucario intended to make friends here, and it was a harmless thought experiment--he knew better than to say something he might come to regret.
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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 5:44 pm
Robin
Jessica & Tobias & Balerd & Jeremiah & Joshua & Madeline
"Someday~ Evolving is a part of it, so sooner or later it happens. But that doesn't have to happen just yet. It'll happen when you're ready for it and you can grow up lots until that happens. Just look at Nyx~ He's like that, but he still hasn't evolved. So don't worry yourself over it." Evolving was a crucial part of growing up and one couldn't say they had really "grown up" completely until they evolved. Of course there were a few exceptions to that, mostly in pokemon that Madeline was unaware of, but the floating balloon child didn't seem to be one of them. She was one of those pokemon that would evolve as she grew, as the time and the need was right. She would become something else in order to manage the life in front of her, as so many others did. "It'll wait until you're ready for it."
"It worked out for the best. Even if she had accepted it, I can't imagine anyone being happy with her. Everybody was safe, nobody got into any trouble we couldn't avoid." It wasn't necessarily the best run of things, but as far as endings went she couldn't really imagine a better resolution. Jeremiah had managed to slip back in for his stuff, Joshua hadn't had any trouble, Jessica and Tobias were probably banned for life but that wasn't a problem. It sort of sucked but, hey, it was worth it. They probably wouldn't have been allowed to decline anyways. The princess hardly seemed the type to take that well. "And yes. Jeremiah's message told us everything we needed to know, but we didn't fill in the blanks until we ran into Joshua by coincidence. We would've gotten the information some other way if we had to, we just never needed to. I don't think any of us expected it to happen the way it did, it was a pretty wild night for the locals." The simple truth was that Jeremiah hadn't known what to expect, having only been prompted to send the message at the suggestion of Joshua to begin with. He wasn't old enough to know what had happened the first time around; the ceremony could only happen when a princess came of age, which necessitated a new princess. So it happened about every sixteen to twenty years, leaving Jeremiah as little more than an infant if he was even alive the last time it happened
"Joshua and I have been friends for a really long time, ever since uh... stuff happened." Yes, stuff. Stuff happened, that's why they were friends. "He helps me out a lot with stuff, he's really nice." It wasn't quite the answer Nyx was looking for but it was the one he was getting. Jeremiah didn't pick up on the implication, he just knew he was being looked at.
Joshua kept his attention away from the compliments and towards more pressing matters. "Alright." He wasn't totally pacified by the explanation that Lux gave, but he was willing to accept it. He was pretty good at keeping things to himself when he actually wanted to, or at least he thought he was, so the idea was a touch disquieting all the same. But the fact that his thoughts couldn't be read was a good thing because that was simply crossing all kinds of lines. He had no idea how the non-dark types could stand it, it seemed like a real s**t lot to him.
Tobias was much more involved in the discussion beyond the simple acknowledgment that Joshua had given. But it was ultimately a somewhat confused explanation, a fact that would be well apparent to Lux. Tobias was unsure why he was explaining it. "Yes? It is a most simple thing to do, one must simply watch those who they see. There are many signs in how one speaks, walks, stands and breathes. It is not difficult to understand what it is that the other is from such things." Was their breathing slow, fast? How much hesitation was there in their step? How even was their tone, the rhythm of the words? Did they stumble over themselves at all? How did they stand when they weren't moving, and what did they do when they sat? What was their build like, the marks on their body? "Those who are skilled at such things may hide that which is hidden but the fact itself cannot be obscured. Nyx and Jessica are both most skilled at this and are difficult to understand at times. I am also skilled at such things but I do not make use of them as I do not see a point in such things unless it is ones intent to trick the other, so I do not understand why it is that such things are done." It was all spoken in a very candid, matter-of-fact way as if he was explaining something that everybody at the table was expected to know.
"Is that not the case?"
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