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 Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2016 3:09 pm
The Miltank Café
A cozy café run by a Miltank and her family. It has a friendly but reasonably quiet atmosphere and offers all sorts of different drinks and smoothies, ranging from simple black coffee to the chocolate shakes that the café is known for.
The café caters disproportionately to guild members and other travelers, meaning that their doors open with the sun and close well into the night in order to meet the odd schedules and demands of teams who may leave early or return late.
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Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2016 4:50 pm
 GhostThe pale, four-legged figure stood out like a sore thumb against the bright colours and flashy patterns of the Pokemon she passed in the street. It made her fur bristle with anxiety and she quickly side-stepped from anyone that had the confidence or idle ignorance to step within a couple feet of her. In truth, she imagined that most of them would pay her little mind at all. They saw strange Pokemon on a daily basis, given the Guild’s penchant for attracting oddities into their midst. Why would anyone take particular notice of a snowy white Absol in the midst of such busy and unusual company?
Ghost did her best to ignore them, reminding herself that she was here for a reason. She’d woken late that morning, tired from a long mission that had lasted long into the twilight hours, but it had been anything but a restful sleep. Prophetic dreams were a trademark gift of her kind, but they were also a curse when one wanted a peaceful rest. The fear and anxiety that had wormed its way into her dreams had left her shaken, and she could still remember vivid flashes from the nightmare. The only problem now was in preventing the vision from coming to pass. After all, the future was in a constant state of flux. If she could reach the subject of the dream to warn or protect them, there was a significant chance that she could alter the timeline and reduce the risks.
She knew who she was looking for. Ghost wasn’t the most social Guild member, but she knew exactly who was who. Atius made sure that she was aware of Guild identities; it would keep her safe, he’d decided.
The sight of a familiar face made her freeze in place. She recognized the team around them, too, and she suddenly realized why. That was the person she’d been looking for. The only problem was that they were turning into a little café a couple blocks down the street. Ghost didn’t bother to run and catch up. There was no point, if she wasn’t even comfortable following them into the café in the first place. She’d just have to stand guard and wait for them. The urgency of the dream was significant enough that she would await them to finish their business, but it wasn’t such that it would happen before nightfall. She could afford the delay, particularly if it kept her out of a crowded and noisy restaurant.
Coming to a bench a block from the café, she settled down onto her belly and turned her head to wait. The street lights had yet to turn on, leaving her white figure in soft shadow and her pale eyes gleaming in the still-bright light of early evening. She didn’t move for quite some time, and the occasional passerby would have to look twice to reassure themselves that they weren’t hallucinating the strange Dark-type that kept watch over the better part of the surrounding street.
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2016 1:24 am
Venari
Katherine, Arturius, Rebecca
The cafe wasn't an uncommon stop for the members of Venari, though time and membership varied greatly. There was no common schedule with which they went to the cafe, it was just something they dropped by at every now and then in order to have something and maybe talk about nothing for a little while, depending on what it was that had brought them out to begin with. The latter was true in this case as both Rebecca and Katherine had departed the team room in order to tend to some errands, mainly as a way to kill time. But it did at least give them something to talk about, so they chatted idly in the partially filled cafe while waiting for their orders, and then some more while they consumed their orders. Arturius, as usual, was perfectly silent and simply rested on the table. He caught a few stray glances, as would be expected of a weapon, but not of any particularly exceptional amount. No matter how odd the presence of a sword was, there were plenty of odd pokemon in the city. No matter how dangerous it was, there were pokemon who were much more dangerous from birth. And it wasn't as if a small little orange Kirlia was the most threatening thing there ever was.
But, of course, as all things did the time in the cafe would come to an end and they would depart seeming in decent enough spirits and at a fair-but-not-slow pace in the direction of the guild. The only one wise to the presence of the observer was Arturius, who spoke nothing and did nothing. Ghost was simply an observer. She could have been there for any number of reasons. There was no reason to be particularly suspect of her presence, since it was much more likely that she was simply people watching or looking for someone else. Even if her intent was malicious, it didn't change the logical course of action. Remaining hidden was the best way to get the element of surprise.((Will format this tomorrow. Kept it light, mostly just to act as a backdrop for Ghost's approach.))
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2016 12:01 pm
GhostGhost lifted her head with unblinking, icy eyes. She had been lying here for over an hour, waiting for the group to leave the café. It made her body feel stiff to lie on a wooden bench for that long without really taking the time to stretch, but she could work out the kinks in her shoulders later. For now, she had to keep track of her targets.
The team had just left. They walked ahead of her on the open, cobblestone streets. The crowds had died down since the late afternoon, and Ghost had little trouble navigating the main road as the others continued ahead with their bags. They’d likely been running errands before they stopped for lunch, if the smell of food and medicine from their packages was any indication. The Absol recognized the smells, and some of them were quite similar to what Atius brought home for her on a regular basis.
Her long, sweeping strides caught up to the group fairly quickly, and Ghost’s gaze fixed on the little orange Kirlia. A long sword hung in its sheath at her back, a single blazing eye staring from the center of the hilt. A Honedge. ”Are you Katherine and Arturius?” Ghost’s voice was only just loud enough to be heard over the casual conversations of passersby. Her silver-blue eyes were full of caution and anxiety, but there was no trace of it in her voice or posture. She was getting more practiced at hiding it now that she was surrounded by crowds on every outing. Constantly sharing space with a massive metal being also helped somewhat.
”I’ve been waiting for you,” she explained to them somberly. ”I beg your time. It’s a matter of life and death that you hear my warning.” The anxiety would now be well-recognized as valid, her words seeming to hang in the air as though they themselves predicted misfortune. The ghost-like Absol glanced briefly at the Kirlia’s companion, looking her over for any signs of danger. She was called Rebecca, if she remembered correctly. They’d never met, of course, but the nature of her work meant that she was required to do some research into team members anyway.
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Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2016 8:35 pm
Venari
Katherine, Arturius, Rebecca
Arturius watched as Ghost slipped into the crowd and followed up behind them. The Absol's movements were well made and purposeful. It was enough to raise a small amount of curiousity, and concern, within him but there was no reason to act. He trusted his swiftness well enough to block a dangerous blow if one were to come but it was rare that one would manage to keep murderous intent absent in their actions. No, there was no real reason to fear the Absol; she was strange, but not dangerous.
That fact was well-confirmed when she spoke. Which was good because nobody other than Arturius actually noticed her. At least, not properly; Rebecca had been talking at length the way Rebecca often did and Katherine had been half paying attention the way she often did. Neither of them really tuned in properly to the voice that suddenly spoke behind them, and indeed they would have simply kept on walking if Arturius hadn't gently pulled backwards against Katherine's pace. It was the soft pull against her waist that caught her attention and caused her to slow down. "What's up?" She asked Arturius, not Ghost, as she turned back to look at him only to catch the obvious gaze of Ghost herself. It took her a moment of blinking as she tried to recognize what she had just heard, which was just a little surreal to be told out of nowhere by someone she had never met. "What?"
Rebecca was slightly quicker on the uptake. She nearly began speaking with an obvious exuberance. A greeting, a hello, an apology for having not noticed Ghost earlier. But Rebecca knew a great bit of cultures, their myths and their legends. It was her work, so of course she did. That meant she knew well enough what an Absol was and therefore the weight that Ghost's words carried were well apparent to her. Her face fell with concern and worry. "Oh dear."
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 10:45 am
GhostGhost watched as the Honedge shifted suddenly on Katherine’s back, pulling the Kirlia abruptly to a halt and drawing her attention toward Ghost. The Absol continued to stand still before them, although her eyes narrowed slightly as Katherine appeared confused by Ghost’s words. She was used to some Pokemon being confused as it wasn’t very frequent in this area to see an Absol, let alone heed their warnings. The Armaldo seemed to understand immediately; however, as her momentarily jubilant expression dropped to one of dread. That would lend credibility, at least. It was good to have someone with them who would understand the severity of their situation, at least to avoid accusations that she would lie or threaten them. It had happened before, and likely would continue in future.
She turned her attention back to the Kirlia and Honedge, looking them over for a moment to study their reactions. Arturius still said nothing, and as a sword his emotions were difficult to place. She had no empathic abilities as a psychic and their kin would. She’d have to start from the beginning, at least with the Kirlia.
”Absol are called the Disaster Pokemon. We see when something bad is meant to happen in someone’s future, and bring warnings to prevent it,” The white-furred Absol shifted slightly, still stretching the stiffness out of her limbs. Her voice only wavered slightly, to her credit, now that all eyes were on her. Being the center of attention was unavoidable right now, even if she wished it were. All Absol shared this duty.
”I can’t tell you when, but I can warn you of what I do know,” she explained uneasily, not wanting to promise protection for the group. Getting caught up in their affairs directly wasn’t something she was terribly keen on. Her voice echoed with a sort of mystical quality as she recounted the nightmarish dream she’d had that morning. It wasn’t intentional, but it certainly solidified the dreadful nature of her message. ”I foresaw you with very grave injuries, and a pair of scattered blades on the floor. Wherever it was, the floor was very smooth. It might have been metal, ceramic or stone. I remember a lot of blood, but I can’t say if it was yours alone.”
Ghost’s pale eyes were locked onto the Kirlia. She could guess that the twin blades were likely to be Arturius following his evolution, but it would only be a theory at best. If she was wrong and misled them, the results could be disastrous. She could unintentionally lead them into their deaths.
”Please, heed my warning as best you can. Be cautious, but not fearful. Fear itself leads to very rash decisions.” Ghost grimaced at her own words, knowing that she couldn’t control the Kirlia’s reaction to her warning. She’d heard from brief encounters with others that an Absol’s warning was not always helpful. Sometimes it was enough to urge paranoia from an anxious victim, and coax them directly into the circumstances surrounding their death.
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 5:00 pm
Venari
Katherine, Arturius, Rebecca
Katherine watched, her expression slowly dropping from neutral-positive confusion. "Oh, go away." Katherine barely even let Ghost finish before dismissing her and beginning to walk off. It was stupid. There was no way she was going to take that kind of thing seriously. Who would ever believe a random pokemon just walking up to them and telling them they were going to die sooner or later? Stupid things like this were just to get your attention so they could trick you.
"Oh, no no no." Rebecca, with surprising speed, stomped ahead of Katherine and cut her off as she tried to walk away. "Katherine this is young lady is an Absol, we must be certain to pay very close attention to what she says. It's very important that we take her seriously, her warnings are very important." Rebecca gestured emphatically with every claim.
"What does her species have to do with anything?"
"Katherine surely you're familiar with the disaster prophets in history?" Katherine skeptically shook her head no and Rebecca continued to list off other names. "Forebearer? Augur? Doom-herald? Seer? Omen-bearer? Quake whisperer? Tide-caller? Fate's diviner? Harbinger of death?"
"Harbinger?" One of the titles Rebecca used finally clicked into place with what Katherine knew of various histories and cultures. "That's just a stupid myth." Not that she bought into it. There were loads of stupid myths like that. The ones that involved legendaries, sure, those made sense. A Heatran dying and messing things up somehow or something made a lot of sense, but there were loads of stupid superstitions all over the place about ordinary pokemon and none of them were ever true. You could find dumb stories about just about any pokemon, like Wartortle living to 1000 years or Larvitar eating entire mountains or Machamp being able to punch a thousand times a second or Gardevoir reading everyone's minds. They were just a bunch of stupid myths, none of them were ever true.
Rebecca disagreed. "Oh no they're very real Katherine and we need to listen very carefully. If we don't we might end up very hurt!"
Arturius was silent throughout the confrontation.
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Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 6:03 pm
GhostGhost didn't waste her breath. There wasn't much she could say to Katherine to convince her when she already had her mind made up. That she was wrong about Absol was something Ghost couldn't help, much as she wished she had the tenacity to try. She simply looked uncomfortable as she watched Katherine and her Armaldo friend bicker about the subject of myths and legends.
She didn't recognize all of the names dropped in that conversation, but she could presume that a number of them were either Absol or psychics. She recognized Harbinger and Tide-caller, though. Both were Absol who had predicted catastrophic weather events. Tide-caller had warned of a great flood, saving countless villages along the coast. His name was echoed in many tales taught to young Absol so they might learn to be altruistic with their visions. Harbinger was more of a cautionary tale. Every warning he brought was ignored in favour of apparent common sense. He never lived to see one of his protected survive a vision.
Of course she'd have heard of Harbinger, the one Absol who no one believed. Still, she found it incredibly strange that it was the Kirlia of all species who would show such disbelief in an ability so similar to her own. Was there something wrong with this girl? She hadn't bothered to pry deeply into the lives of other guild members, helpful though that might've been. There were still rules about what you could or couldn't access in the guild records.
"Look, I'm not lying to you. I don't know why a Psychic doesn't believe in prophecies, or what I could even say to you to show you I'm not a fake..." Ghost's voice was sullen and quiet, looking a little hurt by Katherine's rude dismissal of everything she'd done. "But it's not like you're the first. We're always the last to be heeded and the first to be blamed." She turned and began to step off toward a side street, only pausing to look back over her shoulder at the Armaldo. She hesitated, looking torn. She was too embarrassed to fight Katherine, but the Armaldo believed her. She had to try and save the Kirlia, even if she wouldn't be thanked for it, right? She'd joined the guilds to prevent disaster. That was the whole point.
She took a shaky breath, and addressed the Armaldo more directly. "I... I'm not good with the people part of this. But I don't want to see an ally dead, either. You'll watch her? Keep her safe?" Her pale eyes were surprisingly emotive, considering that even the disappointment in her voice had been masked to a reasonable extent. "The Honedge, too. Arturius."
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 8:02 pm
Venari
Katherine, Arturius, Rebecca
Ghost could be sullen and quiet all she pleased, Katherine wasn't buying it. Katherine simply wasn't interested in fanciful stories and myths. She didn't really care why Ghost was trying to trick her but she wasn't having any of it, they were nothing more than stupid stories and her day was worse for having heard it. The self-pity was really nothing more than bothersome, it was bait to make her feel bad until she did whatever it was that Ghost wanted.
Rebecca was no less receptive because of it. Myths were Very Serious Business, as was the prediction of an Absol. It wasn't something to brush aside or it was certain to happen. Death would be waiting for them if they acted callously and without heeding the warnings. "Of course I will! Thank you so much for coming to tell us." Rebecca was as sincere as Ghost herself was. There was no belief in Rebecca's mind that the warning was anything but real and certain, knowing of it would change the course of their lives.
Katherine began to walk away, only to suddenly lurch backwards. "What are you doing!?" Katherine stumbled backwards against her will, the only thing keeping her from falling being the same thing that tugged against her. The strike of a Honedge relied more on sharpness and precision than on strength, but Katherine's small and light body wasn't so heavy that she stood a chance of resisting Arturius if he suddenly decided to move away from her. And so it was that Arturius dragged Katherine backwards, waist first, until the blue, gem-like eye of his crossguard came face to face with Ghost.
"Take us to your team room. I'd like to hear more."
"What?" Katherine was, understandably, a little upset at being dragged backwards against her will and then apparently having had some kind of reverse-invitation extended on her behalf to go somewhere. It showed well in her voice, and she nearly said more until a sudden click happened in her head. "Wait, team room?" With less anger, though not none, and more confusion. "She's in the guild?"
"She knows our names. She calls us allies. There's no sense in avoiding her."
"Ngh..." What he said made some sense, at least as far as it went. Ghost, whose name Katherine didn't actually know and had only ever been referred to as such for literary clarity, certainly seemed likely to be a guild member. Or at least someone who knew their names, and if Ghost wasn't a guild member that was probably even more reason. And, more importantly (most importantly) was the fact that while Arturius had previously remained neutral, he was now taking a side. Before it had just been her against Rebecca, and she was adamantly sure that she was right. Now that it was two against one, she was the bad guy and that basically gave her no choice but to agree. "Ghnnn fine."
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Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 9:55 pm
GhostIf Ghost were more socially secure, she might have smiled at Rebecca for her unwavering faith. The Armaldo was clearly someone who understood the gravity of an Absol's prophecy, and judging from her list she had been particularly attentive with her history. They could have been friends, if Ghost had any. Atius was the closest thing to a friend that she had, realistically speaking, and that was only because he was devoted to his job. Protecting her was his job.
"...Thank you," she murmured back, doing her best not to mind the sharp words of the Kirlia. It wasn't the perfect solution, but at least she had some reassurance that she wouldn't be leaving other Guild members to their deaths.
She saw Katherine turn to leave, clearly angry with both Ghost and her teammate for the absurdity of her situation. Then, she watched as Katherine was simply thrown backward again. The sword-like Pokemon on her back had evidently had enough of being towed around, and his not-insignificant weight on the Kirlia's back was certainly enough to throw her off-balance. She was mildly surprised that it hadn't just dropped the little Psychic onto her rear.
The glittering azure eye of a Honedge met her own pale ones, the crossguard not even a foot from her face. She was a little startled by his intensity and her snowy fur was fluffed up along her neck and spine. He wasn't asking when he demanded more information, and he certainly wasn't asking about entrance to her team room.
Atius would likely disapprove of this.
...Atius wasn't captain. She was captain. The thought coincided fairly well with Katherine's outbursts, and Ghost looked up at the confused and somewhat angry-looking Kirlia who'd been dragged across the square in front of the cafe.
"I am Ghost, Captain of Team Spectre." The introduction was brief, but it announced fairly clearly who she was. Her name and face wasn't terribly well known, but the team's name should be. The Guild didn't have many teams enlisted, so anyone at all involved with the paperwork would recognize the name of another team. Well, she supposed most teams didn't have quite the amount of paperwork she did. Or at least not the same type. Mercenary work was a little more... complex than rescue and exploration missions required.
"...I will take you to my Team Room. Atius will be there, but I can ask him to wait outside if you'd prefer privacy?" She offered it, half-hoping that the Honedge would decline. Privacy was sometimes requested in these conversations, but that didn't mean it put her at ease to remove her guarantee of safety.
Atius would also probably take offense to the suggestion, if she was honest with herself. Inviting a literal weapon, along with a stranger who hated her and a very enthusiastic Armaldo (who Ghost suddenly realized was covered head-to-toe in strange tattoos) was probably a good way to annoy her vice captain. Annoying Atius wasn't usually wise, but her responsibilities had to come first.
As she received his answer, she nodded and gestured with a tip of her head toward the Guild. She, at least, couldn't Teleport like a Kirlia. They'd likely be walking.
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Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2016 6:46 pm
Venari
Katherine, Arturius, Rebecca
Rebecca couldn't say much or do much else other than return the smile. Being thanked for it wasn't quite right; all she had done was listen to a message that had been given to her. But it left her in a spot with little to say and it seemed as if they would part quickly enough until Arturius took matters into his own hands and the conversation went ahead.
"It doesn't matter." Atius's presence, assuming he wasn't someone to disrupt, didn't matter. It was a matter of life-and-death, which for others might have been a particularly sensitive topic. For guild members it was a normal state of being through virtue of numbers. Sooner or later, someone was bound to die or be badly injured; that was just the way of things and there was no point in demanding privacy over it.
Unfortunately for Ghost, her existence was a total unknown to the team who were generally more concerned with their own affairs. Whether it was simply that they didn't care, or that it was something to happen at a later time, it simply hadn't yet. Not that it particularly mattered, as the one who needed to be swayed simply couldn't. Seeing into the future wasn't something you just kind of "did", if it was at all possible, and the idea that a stranger could just find them and tell them the future was dumb. But the majority had decided. So Katherine would work her way back onto her feet properly and, with an obvious pout, follow after Ghost with Rebecca close behind.
(Cont.)
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