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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Vice Captain
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 Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 7:38 pm
Tales of the Members of Team MistMelody
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Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 7:39 pm
”Cass… I’m worried.”
The Lapras turned his head curiously, looking back at the little Pokemon who lounged on his back. Phione was lying back on Cassiel’s shell, staring up at the sky with with eyes, an atypical frown set on his little face. ”What troubles you little one?” The Lapras said, turning his head back to maintain his course though his attention remained with the little Water Type on his back. ”The day is warm and sweet, the sea is cool and calm: all is well.”
Phione continued to stare up at the clouds, pleased by the sound of his friend’s voice but still unhappy. ”Clive came to visit yesterday. He said that Riley went back to the Guilds too.” His words were somewhat wistful, and filled with the sadness that came with missing one’s friends.
”But isn’t this a good thing? Sereni told us that Erinn was joining too, if you recall. Perhaps the two will be able to re-establish your Team in the future.”
Phione shook his head, something that Cassiel could sense rather than see, and he spoke up again. ”That’s the problem. Riley made a Team with Keiran, and Clive’s going to join up with them soon. Erinn’s on a different Team. He won’t like that…” The little Water Type shifted to a sitting position, staring out at the waves that lapped against Cassiel’s sides quietly, thinking about his friend’s predicament. ”I’ve told you about Erinn, Cass. He doesn’t like to be alone, just like me.” But Phione had it far easier than his Paras friend and he knew it; the son of a Legend would always have friends wherever he went. Daddy always looked out for him: because of Daddy he had Seri and Nox and Cass and so many other friends with him all the time. Erinn didn’t have that. ”He must be feeling so lonely…”
Cassiel frowned thoughtfully, listening to Phione’s tale. It was an unfortunate set of circumstances, to be sure, and the young prince was always so concerned for his friends that it had doubtless been weighing on his mind ever since the Vaporeon who brought the news had parted ways with them; he had been awfully quiet since that point, now that the Lapras thought about it. ”You really think his new partner won’t be sufficient?” Cassiel said after a moment. ”They will be living together after all, and partners often become close very quickly. Your Era and Ethfael are a sign of that, surely.”
”Era and ‘Fael are special,” Phione said, smiling at the thought of the two. ”But you’re right, it’s normally a good way to make friends; the trouble is Erinn isn’t good with change.” The Paras had never been one to adapt to new situations with any sort of ease. After they’d finally settled down into their new home after all of the bad things that happened, it took the Paras over a year to really seem like he felt at ease with the place, and that was when he’d been surrounded by friends and encouragement on all sides. Being in a new Guild with an unfamiliar partner and separate from his former Team entirely, that would be a trying experience for him. ”Erinn needs to know that he’s not on his own. He needs a friend to help him.”
”So what do you intend to do?” Cassiel said, hearing the stirrings of an idea in his young companion’s voice.
”I need to send Erinn a friend. Someone who can help him and let him know that we’re still there for him. Clive can’t do it because he needs to help Riley, so that leaves me.”
Cassiel paused, looking back at his passenger with interested eyes. ”You can’t go on your own dearest Phione, you know better than that. Imagine what Nox would do.”
”I know I can’t go,” the little Water Type said, the same strains of longing in his voice as before. ”But I can send him the best friend I can manage.”
”Who will you send?”
”Would you do it Cass?”
Phione stared up at his Lapras friend with hopeful eyes, placing a gentle flipper on his friend’s neck and rubbing it fondly. ”I know it’s a lot to ask, and I hate to see you go, but I know Seri and Nox won’t do it, and you’re my very best friend along with the both of them. I know that Erinn would be taken care of if you went to stay with him.” Wrapping his flippers around the Cassiel’s neck in a hug, Phione clung to his friend tightly. ”Please won’t you Cass? I don’t know what else to do.”
Lowering his head, Cassiel placed a gentle kiss on Phione’s head. ”If that is what you wish, I’d be happy to do so.”
”Really?”
”Really.”
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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Vice Captain
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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2017 8:23 pm
Prompt: Write about a phobia
He hated them. Ghastly creatures with venomous smiles, always staring through you with hungry, predatory eyes. Poison Types exemplified all that was wrong with this world, at least as far as Clive was concerned. It wasn't right and it certainly wasn't good--no creature should have to actively try not to kill those it touched.
Poison was a killer--took the lives of Pokemon slowly and painfully, sucking their life away until they withered into sad, empty husks of themselves. All it took was a Poison Type's touch or breath--a simple, thoughtless action and suddenly someone was struggling for their life, fighting to ensure it didn't steal their consciousness or worse still, stop their heart. They could choose what type of poison they wanted it to be, he was certain of that. It was a small mercy that most of them never tapped into their lethal stores, but the fact remained that those stores were there at all, and a mere whim could bring them forth.
It didn't stop there. Pokemon of that type spelled doom for certain areas. If they gathered, their toxins contaminated the land, making it unsafe for those not of their kind. Death dripped from their skin even if they tried to stop it: they weren't safe and could not be trusted, because even they could not control their own poisons. If they passed over the same stretch of land too many times, it would grow barren; if they rested in one place, the ground would grow hard and any roots beneath were doomed to kill the plants they nourished; any food they touched would be unconsumable to others, laced with acid; any water--Legends forbid they got to the water--would be made impure, would become a dose of danger to anyone who drank from it, or worse for those who swam or bathed there.
There was a feeling--a feeling worse than any other and known to precious few--a feeling of slowly becoming toxic. That feeling was why Clive dreaded Poison Types more than any other, because he knew how easy it would be to become like them.
Vaporeon were beautiful, delicately-made creatures, so similar to water they could become it if they chose. A body like that had to be taken care of, so it would remain pure and healthy. If the water that made you was tainted, you were no longer "right," but some mimic of what you were supposed to be. If unnatural things got under your skin, into the flow of water through the blood of your veins, it made you more than just wrong, it made you cease to function. He hadn't known these things when he was young. In his Eevee days he hadn't liked the unclean, but hadn't minded it like he did now. Now that his very essence could be corrupted by outside materials, he couldn't be too careful.
The first and last time he exposed himself to impure water, he'd experienced the feeling. He was resting, newly evolved, exploring the water that now felt more like home than the land. Clive dozed in the shallows, feeling his gills filter the water into breath and back out, drowsy in the warmth and calm of the pool. A spray of ripples disturbed the surface and he cracked an eye open, glancing up to see water-blurred green skin. He kicked down and shot up to get a better view, just in time to see a small Budew wandering into the trees. Clive opened his mouth to hail the other Pokemon, but as he did a strange sensation came over him. Something was wrong.
It had taken too long to swim to the shallows, drag himself up onto the ground, his breathing coming in ragged spurts. He felt a tingling sensation, his body feeling too-warm, especially behind his eyes. His head spun and his stomach churned, and he felt his body tremble, considering coming apart. Something was inside of him, and as he stared helplessly at the water, wondering if it would be better inside, if he needed the moisture more than he'd thought, he saw what it was. The water that was clear before, now contained odd purple strands, tendrils of something concentrated in the place the Budew had left before. As he tried to push himself up to get a closer look, Clive glimpsed his paws, tinged purple with the selfsame strands, and fell to the ground in a sudden surge of weakness. The purple was inside him--it was inside him--and he needed it out.
Before his body could adapt to it--before the toxins (for that was what they surely were, he recognized them now) could become a part of him, Clive forced himself to melt. He let his physical form give way to water, feeling the lightness of being that came with being liquid. His mind raced and his water rearranged, expelling the purple from itself and collecting into a puddle of pure, good water--the water that was him. It was a painfully long time before he managed to piece himself back into Vaporeon form, mind and body shaken by the shock. When he regained himself he turned tail and didn't look back at the pond, knowing the longer he stayed the more he risked letting it back inside him.
The Pokepologists always said Eevee were unstable, adaptable; in the depths of his heart, Clive feared that his evolution wasn't enough to stop that instability. When the poison was inside him he'd felt more than just pain, he'd felt the hunger of the stuff, trying to take him over, change his water to sludge. Vaporeon had the least certain form of all the evolutions, still able to shift between water and creature--it wouldn't be impossible for the water to become so filled with something else he would no longer be a Vaporeon, and that terrified Clive. Becoming the same as those creatures--those dangerous, careless, deadly creatures--was something he would never do.
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2017 9:27 am
"He hasn't come back."
Cassiel turned toward his small charge, skin prickling at the defeat in the Paras's voice. "Pardon?"
"He hasn't come back, Cass." Erinn's claws were trembling, and his eyes were glossy with ghosts that Cassiel had seen before. "He said there was something he needed to take care of, and he'd come back afterwards. And I was worried because he wouldn't say what it was, even though I was supposed to be his partner." The Paras's words were cracked around the edges, but they started coming faster and faster, now that the floodgate was opened. "He said it was important, and that he'd be as soon as he could, and that I should take care of things while he was gone. And I did! I did, Cass, I've been doing the paperwork and the training and handling light missions! You came here after he'd been gone for almost a month and I even took you on as a member without him. And now you've been with me"--Erinn breath was a short, painful gasp--"you've been with me l-l-longer than he was."
And that was the end of it. The Paras's breathing grew more and more frantic until it broke into sobs, tears streaming down the little bug's face. He wept, and his legs gave out beneath him so he lay on the floor, crying into the well-kept wood that lined their room. When he cried everything blurred together and he didn't have to see the ghosts that Silver had left behind, all the Espeon's trinkets and oddities that made his absence sharp enough to sting.
Then, a pool of blue. Erinn's flooded eyes couldn't make out the details, but his Lapras companion was there, all around him somehow. "Shh..." Cass's hushing was like the sound of waves, and from the vibration that hummed through Erinn's chest at the sound, he realized the Lapras had wrapped his neck around him in something like a hug. "How long has this troubled you, my friend?"
Erinn's voice was tremulous. "I can't remember how long it's been."
Cassiel made a soft sound, cooing like a mother to her child. "You should have told me." Erinn felt the larger head of his friend rest atop his own, and breathed in the clearwater scent of his friend's cool skin. The tears trickling down his face began to slow. "How can I help you if you leave me in the dark?" The Lapras's tone was gentle, only mildly chastising.
"I'm--I'm sorry, Cass... It just seems so silly--"
"Nonsense." Erinn felt the Lapras shake his head. "Nothing that worries you is silly, Erinn. If it is something that causes you distress, it is something that matters to me."
Erinn's thoughts stilled, the angry voices of doubt in his head silenced by the calm of Cassiel. "...Thanks, Cass."
"Of course, I only speak the truth."
Cassiel didn't move, so Erinn buried his head in the Lapras's neck, closing his eyes and focusing on his breathing, as Cass often told him to do. In and out. In and out. Good things in. Bad things out. It took some time, but when he opened his eyes again he felt a bit better. "Cass?"
"Hm?"
The problem still remained. "What do I do about..."
"Your partner, yes." Cassiel sounded pensive. "I think...perhaps it would be best if we stopped waiting."
Erinn stiffed, wriggling around to find the Lapras' face. Cassiel's gaze was soft, meeting Erinn's panicked eyes with calm. "W-W-What do you mean? You don't think he's--?"
"I couldn't say." Cassiel took a breath, sighing softly as he straightened, letting Erinn go. "It's possible, but it's just as possible his task has proven harder than he expected, and he's unable to communicate with us, wherever he might be." The Lapras's indigo eyes glimmered softly in the light as he looked back to the Paras. "I've heard the stories. You and the others of MistMelody are no strangers to ordeals like that."
Erinn's eyes darkened, memories flooding through them. "You're right." A shiver ran through him, which didn't evade the Lapras's notice. "If he's going through something like that then...I wish I could be there with him."
Cassiel smiled. Erinn's heart was a charming thing, when he had the occasion to show it. "I'm sure your thoughts are appreciated, wherever he may be." A faint smile surfaced on the Paras's face and Cassiel felt a surge of pride. Erinn was trying.
"I have a thought." Erinn looked up, startled, and Cassiel chuckled softly. "Don't worry, it's a thought I think you'll like," he assured his friend. "The others from your team before--they have a Team here." Cassiel nodded, a thoughtful look on his face. "And as Team Phantasm is the union between you and your partner, which is suspended until further notice, I see no reason why we shouldn't request a union of our Teams."
Erinn was the picture of confusion. "Wh-What?"
"You were concerned, before, about being separated from your former teammates, yes?" Erinn nodded, and Cassiel returned the gesture. "And now, as acting leader of this team, whose partner is on hiatus, you have the ability to do what you please with it. I suggest we offer a merger to your former teammates."
It took a long moment to sink in, but slowly Erinn's expression brightened, filled with hope. "You--Could we really do that?"
"I cannot, but you could, most certainly." Cassiel's smile had returned at the sight of Erinn's delight.
"Really? I could really--with Riley and Keiran and Clive and--Cass!" The Paras looked as though he could burst. He seemed ready to pick up and move at that instant, but his expression clouded again after another moment. "But is it really okay?"
The Paras looked to his Lapras companion for guidance and Cassiel nodded. "I believe, from what you've said of Silver, that he would want you to do your best work here, as a guild member. I also believe that you will be able to show even more of your best surrounded by the ones you love, and the ones who love you." He looked at the Paras, as if to say "am I wrong?"
Erinn hesitated. Perhaps it was a bit too long, but eventually he nodded, expression resolute. "I think you're right. I'll be able to do better with them." The Paras looked around the room, eyes lingering on the egg he was keeping safe in the Espeon's absence. That would come with them for sure. The other things he would continue to take care of, but this room could wait until its other owner came back--until the things inside it were needed again. Erinn looked up to meet Cassiel's eyes, thoughts running fast like wildfire. "Just tell me what I need to do."
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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Vice Captain
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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2017 3:37 pm
"...Today is what?"
"Pi Day." Ethfael's expression was serious enough that Eon had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. The Dragonair was so straight-faced, so utterly sincere in his delivery that it was impossible to believe it wasn't some sort of joke. Ethfael was never this grave, particularly about pie of all things.
"Okay, so it's Pie Day," Eon said, a smile twitching at his lips. Ethfael's gaze narrowed and Eon raised his paws defensively. "Hey, hey, I don't doubt you. I just didn't know this was a thing."
"It most certainly is." Ethfael raised up from his coils, ears swiveling as though he heard something. He held his breath for a moment as he listened, then released it when the sound was past. She hadn't come home yet. Of course she hadn't--she wasn't supposed to be back until the evening, but it didn't make him any less worried that she'd catch him in the middle of his plan. "I don't know how you managed to miss out on this holiday for so long. I was sure Era sent some to everyone."
Eon shrugged. "I mean, Era sends me pie a lot. Or at least sweet things. But she does that to everybody. I just didn't realize there was a special day put aside for pie in particular."
Ethael nodded, looking down at his mate's brother sagaciously. "There is, though it's actually a day intended to honor a number." Seeing a blank look from Eon he sighed. "3.1415926535 and so on. It's notable for being never ending, as well as for the role it plays in determining the measurements of circles."
Eon squinted, mulling the concept over. "Circles like the tops of pies? Is that why they named this number after a dessert?" It was honestly a really weird concept.
"No, no P-I, not P-I-E. It's a letter from a different language and--" Ethfael paused, noting Eon's bewilderment, and sighed, pressing his tail to his head in exasperation. "Never mind all that though, this is really beside the point."
Eon felt a surge of relief that he wasn't going to be schooled further on this weird custom, but his confusion quickly resurfaced when Ethfael produced a metal pan from the nearby shelves and placed it on the table between them. "The point is that Era is currently out delivering pies, as she does on this day every year, and when she returns we will have a warm pie waiting for her."
Ethfael looked at him expectantly and Eon stared at the pie tin before him in bewilderment. "I don't... I mean... Why am I a part of this?" Of all the members of the team and their extended family, Eon knew he wasn't the best pick for this task. Even some of the kids were better at baking than he was.
"Because I am ill-suited to the task and required someone better suited to it," Ethfael replied, lowering his head so he could meet the Pikachu's gaze at eye level. "And also because I feel that the gesture is most meaningful when a certain amount of effort is put into it." The Dragonair's gaze was soft and somewhat far away. "I know that Era has been missing you, Eon. And I know that neither of us is particularly apt at this, but it is not my goal to make something particularly beautiful or skillful. I would rather make her something she will be able to hold onto for a very long time."
Eon felt a bit of embarrassment color his cheeks at fondness in the Dragon's tone. Legends, his sister couldn't have a better mate, could she? The Pikachu rubbed his arm awkwardly, uncertain of how to handle the amount of emotion he'd been faced with, and then sighed. "Yeah, you're right, huh? I'm really not around that much anymore, I owe her something special while I am here." With a half-smile, Eon wandered over to Ethfael's side and gave him a gentle punch of encouragement. "Well? C'mon then, big guy, let's make a pie."
Ethfael raised a brow at the nickname and Eon chuckled nervously. But to his surprise he didn't receive a tongue-lashing, instead the Dragonair turned and began to fetch what could only be the ingredients necessary for their creation.
"What type are we making?"
"Nothing extravagant, just Oran Berry." There was a smile in his voice. "She has a special fondness for it."
(( Maybe WIP?
Reminder to myself her birthday is March 12th according to old posts. Also Lum Berries. Also reminder of this:
"She carried with her two freshly baked pies, hot out of the oven, that were larger than Era herself was. She had been down in the kitchen all morning, baking them with the Oran Berries which she had purchased. The recipe was one that had been passed down by her family for a long time, and Era had created her own special rendition of it long before she had joined the Guild that most who had tried absolutely loved. She had decided that it would be a passable Christmas gift for someone as well-known and respected as its recipient. There had been little wrong with the baking procedure, except that when she was taking the pies out of the oven, she had managed to fall into the flour. Era had done her best to get most of it off so that she wasn't white as a ghost, but there were still traces of it on her. She'd wanted the pies to be fresh though, so she just had to deal with the flour...."Yes, sweet tea is wonderful,"..."I like it medium," she informed the Ivysaur. "Slightly on the stronger side though, to bring the flavor out a bit more." She had found that allowing her tea to steep longer brought the flavor out a bit more, which she thought was nice.... There was something about the spring and zesty flavor of mint that appealed to Era and seemed to brighten the tea as well. Sort of the way that Era herself was when she brightened her teammates spirits. At any rate, she'd taken a special liking to it above other herbal teas, making it a favorite.... "Legends and fantasy mostly, but I like a good history book when I get the chance. There are lots of things that have happened over the years, that are really fascinating!" ))
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