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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Vice Captain
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 Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 7:44 am
Strictly speaking, this area is off-limits to non-staff, including members, but it is a perfect haunt for Pokemon who don't want to be disturbed, since this regulation is only loosely enforced. Its primary purpose is providing a landing pad of sorts for any Flying Type messengers who might bring news to the Guild Masters; as such, the main area is flat and broad, to accommodate even the largest of flyers (there are rumors Guildmaster Serrin once knew a Lugia, and designed the area to be functional for even Legendaries of that colossal size).
There's no safety rails here, just an empty, exposed space that falls off into the roof proper when it ends. It's the highest point in the Guild meaning it escapes some of the light from the city below, but gains the chill of unabated wind currents.
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Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 7:47 am
Neo & Nyx & Air & Eliot & Clara & Lux & Killian & Alexandru [Continued from here]
"Thank you, Tobias, you're a wonderful friend."
Neo would waste no time assembling his team, leaving Tobias to a groggy but delighted Eliot who didn't completely understand the fuss about looking at stars but was pleased to find his favorite Uncle there to greet him when he was awoken. The Meowstic proceeded to take the half-asleep Clara by the hand and bring her with him as he roused the others. Though the invitation to come had been an offer, not an order, the entirety of the group came out to join the stargazing escapade. The last to be collected was Killian.
"I would be happier here. I do not need to see such things."
"Don't be silly! It has nothing to do with needing anything. Have you ever seen a meteor shower?" A slow shake of the head was the reply. "Then you have to come. It's important to me that you see it, Killian."
The metal giant sighed, but he had been given no choice--an order was an order. "Very well."
Thus, Team Essence followed Tobias upward through the Guild building until the reached an odd stairwell that led them to the roof. Here was a place close to the sky, away from the lights and passersby of the world below. It was ideal for stargazing, although Neo had a sneaking suspicion that they weren't really supposed to be here.
Once they arrived, the Team members spread out. Killian was instructed to watch the children for their safety and the children were warned to stay toward the center of the area. Eliot was excited, running in circles and engaging Balerd when he found himself reunited with the other boy; he didn't know what was coming but he could feel the excitement in the air. Clara was held by Lux, who sensed the girl's concern at the stronger winds in the air, and Alexandru perched atop the Lucario's head, speaking quietly to the girl to reassure her. Nyx sat beside Neo, closer to the edge of the platform, tails wrapped around his paws and eyes thoughtful, and the Meowstic captain of the group smiled brightly at the reassembled group, using the collective anticipation to help himself recover from the unpleasant dream he'd woken from.
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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2017 10:51 pm
Robin
Jessica & Tobias & Balerd & Jeremiah & Joshua & Madeline
"I am pleased to hear that." Imperceptible, save for perhaps to Lux, was the pleased nature of his reply.
Tobias's motley crew of friends, half-friends, bewildered observers and singular arch nemesis would find themselves on the roof to find a waiting team Robin. A large, comfortable picnic-style blanket had already been set out well in advance to allow everyone to avoid the dirty imperfections and sharpness of the utility-oriented roof. Though hardly a sharp and nasty place, the fact that it was suited for abuse by the heaviest of fliers naturally meant it wasn't exactly as comfortable or pleasant to rest on as the park. It was, however, an area far more perfect and empty in every other sense. Water had been brought in large enough amounts to halt a person's thirst, something Jessica had done after suspicions that things were not quite as planned as Tobias had said, though after the somewhat heavy meal of the evening she hadn't the time or inclination to bring anything more than some simple buttered bread with her. At one point she had considered bringing nothing at all, but the tear between choosing nothing and choosing something mediocre had threatened to spread to her skull. A forced decision was better than no decision, probably.
Jessica would quickly move to greet Neo, Balerd would quickly move to engage Eliot, Jeremiah would respond with an upbeat wave and the remaining pair of the team would wait both patiently and not. Joshua seemed very much like he had a bee stuck up his butt, the reason of which would be or become apparent enough to those astute. He had never had the chance to "level" things with Alexandru, though he still wore the anti-curse charm he had been given, and it irked him terribly. For him, it was like watching someone bash their head into a wall. Alexandru was doing it to himself, but all the same there was the compulsion to stop it.
So when it was that the time seemed to be ripe, well before the meteors began to fall but well enough after the settling had finished so as to avoid any particularly conspicuous activity. "Hey. You got a minute?" Assuming Alexandru agreed (and he almost certainly would) Joshua would drag him off to a spot well enough away to make sure they were out of hearing range of anyone casually listening. He would circle a bit around Dru to get into the proper position, and then gesture as best he could towards his side. "Feel the skin there." Whether Dru did so by sound or by feel, he would find a massive line of scar tissue in the shape of an oval that started around the sternum and stretched most of the way to the side of his body. The skin between the scarred lines was perfectly normal, giving the appearance that at some point someone had chosen to cut the massive shape across his form for some reason.
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Posted: Mon Aug 28, 2017 6:25 pm
Neo & Nyx & Air & Eliot & Clara & Lux & Killian & Alexandru The members of Team Essence mingled comfortably with the members of Team Robin when they were all met, a much simpler process now that they'd shared an evening together. It was difficult to see someone you'd shared so much food and drink with as a stranger, particularly when you'd all shared some rather embarrassing experiences together. Fortunately, no one seemed to hold any lasting embarrassment from the experience--the only indication was a bit of extra color brightening Air's Ditto cheeks when he returned Jeremiah's enthusiastic wave. As casual conversation overtook the group, they settled into an easy familiarity under the night sky--it was just as idyllic as either Team's Leader could have hoped it might be.
Alexandru had left his perch to hover beside Lux's head by the time Joshua hailed him. The bat, unlike some of his Teammates, showed no signs of residual sleepiness, but seemed to be brimming with energy. It wasn't that surprising, as Zubat were naturally suited to the dark, but he was flapping his wings with more vigor than necessary. The reason for that, of course, was nervous energy--they were outside under the full moon that had twisted their luck once before, and, though it was well past the witching hour, there was still the chance for things to go awry. Apparently they were soon to watch blazing rocks fall from the sky, something neither he nor Lux was particularly suited to. He'd chosen to join when his friend did, unwilling to be the only one to stay behind, but there wasn't much purpose to it that he could foresee. There were so many ways a star viewing could go wrong... Hopefully there were more stars that fell to their right than their left.
"Ah." The Zubat flinched at the voice, turning to identify Joshua with his clicks. He was pleased to note the pedant still around the Poochyena's neck. "Certainly." He was concerned about what the dog might want, which led him to follow with a bit of hesitation, but he followed nonethess.
They stopped toward the edge of the rooftop, and Joshua seemed a bit... impatient? Agitated? Something of that sort. When prompted, he lit on the ground a bit awkwardly and extended a wing with a similar lack of ease. He felt along the Poochyena's side as he was told and almost withdrew when his skin found the rough scarring it was intended to. With a grimace he could conceal, the bat withdrew his wing after he'd traced it for a moment, clicking his sonar softly to view the thing in its entirety. It was terrible, in a word, and not something you would expect to be shown by someone you barely knew and had had only rocky relations with. Alexandru was more than a little taken aback, wondering if Joshua was trying to intimidate him. The Poochyena didn't really look like he was trying to be threatening though, not yet at any right. Given no better option, the Zubat decided to play it as safely as possible. "...It seems you've been through a terrible ordeal," he said, managing some sympathy over the wariness in his words. "You have my condolences."
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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 1:35 pm
Robin
Jessica & Tobias & Balerd & Jeremiah & Joshua & Madeline
"That's from a cave-in." He had enough memories of it. Not all of them, but enough. They were thick enough to cause him problems for a while, but thin enough not to keep him down forever. "There was a bit of shaking, I stumbled and the roof collapsed." The ground had shuddered slightly underneath him and he tripped not from the force of it but from the distraction. His mind wandered at the noise, wondering what it was; he swayed slightly and ended up tumbling. "It went straight through my chest." He didn't remember a lot after that. The sick taste of copper in his mouth, the slow wheezing as his remaining lung tried to provide air in spite of the heat escaping his veins, and the sudden but irresistible violation as a hand was forced into his mouth. "If something like that's not going to kill me, a curse sure as hell isn't."
He would never speak of how, exactly, he had survived--save the fact that he did and that it would, evidently, take a lot more than an idle "curse" to kill him. He had no illusions that he was immortal and his tone reflected that well enough. Those within the Glitter Caves often had similar tales, for the mark of a good worker was both to meet and avoid death. To push boundaries without breaking them. They were meant to be tales of both pride and caution, an insistence that Joshua was capable of finding his limits and surviving even when he hit that "wall". There was no sense of deep privacy in the story, at least not within the given details. Alexandru would, if Joshua had any say, never find out how he had managed to survive the way he did.
And if he had a choice in the matter, he would never have to try to "survive" that kind of thing again.
Neither of them would.
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Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2017 2:19 pm
Neo & Nyx & Air & Eliot & Clara & Lux & Killian & Alexandru Alexandru was quiet, listening to what little explanation Joshua gave with proper gravity. The purpose of the tale was only made clear at the end, and when he heard it the Zubat felt his stomach twist. Oh, that was what this was about.
The bat found himself in a difficult place, obligated to respect the Poochyena's wherewithal but frustrated by his inability to see the relevant point. Alexandru took a long breath before speaking, his swiveling ears indicating the speed of his thoughts. "I think you are an incredibly fortunate individual Joshua," the bat said, after a moment, dipping his head to his companion. "You survived something most Pokemon could not, and that is admirable. I'm pleased you found the help you needed to keep you here with us, and that you had the strength to hold onto your life until that time." While he didn't know the details, it was hardly a grand revelation that others were involved--you didn't survive a lung being punctured without intense and timely medical care. "But." the word had been palpable even before it was spoken. "Those who are fortunate are those who should be most wary. If you have been granted a boon by luck you should not press it further."
The Zubat tilted his head toward the sky and folded his wings with a sigh. "You seem like a clever man, Joshua. And a resourceful one. You do not seem as though you take for granted the luck that saw you to this moment." The crimson bat spoke calmly, politely; rather than speaking down to his companion he tried to make it clear that he respected him as a man who had simply overlooked the flaw in his reasoning. "So, then, it would make sense to you, yes? that luck is a finite resource?" He turned to face the Poochyena, and though he couldn't look at the other man his gaze would have been poignant. "Curses do not kill like cave-ins." There was more to be said about that, but it wouldn't do to over-explain. The bat was more than experienced with these conversations, and the best way to handle them was letting the disbeliever take the lead.
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Dark_Hunter-Angelic_Tears Vice Captain
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