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The others being mostly involved with this process, Jak glanced around, fidgeting. She overheard the conversation between Joy and Unfinished but didn't say anything, storing all the information away in her mind for later. ''And where do I go when we get to the Gate? Hmm.'' She wondered if any of the others had heard as well. She assumed that Ice had caught some of it; but really it wasn't any of her business. Instead she sighed and continued contemplating what she was supposed to be doing in the situation as a whole. |
The others being mostly involved with this process, Jak glanced around, fidgeting. She overheard the conversation between Joy and Unfinished but didn't say anything, storing all the information away in her mind for later. ''And where do I go when we get to the Gate? Hmm.'' She wondered if any of the others had heard as well. She assumed that Ice had caught some of it; but really it wasn't any of her business. Instead she sighed and continued contemplating what she was supposed to be doing in the situation as a whole. |
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| + | |Username = Wazamaga |
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| + | |Message = Although she was fully expecting it, Ura couldn't help but let out a gasp of surprise as the healing energies engulfed her injuries. After the initial tingling sensation had wore of, she noticed that the near constant dull pain that she had been feeling was almost completely gone. She quickly inspected her wounds, and although they were still there, she was already feeling immensely better. |
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| + | She took a few test steps around the area, did some test stances, and, realizing that her ability to walk and stand properly had been restored, was overjoyed, and ran up to Ice and hugged him tightly. |
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| + | "Thank you so much!" she exclaimed, "You have no idea how grateful I am! It ''sucks'' not being able to move around properly." She looked to the other wounded Raposa in the group, and called out to him. "Hey Akito, how ya feelin'?" |
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Revision as of 18:29, 1 February 2017
"Ok, we have to go. NOW!" Agent Strike pointed toward the mountain. "The base is located near Mount Sombrio. We gotta go, so hurry up!", she said, in a rush, before starting to walk.
Unfinished Tensed slightly with having Ura suddenly going blank, but sighed once realizing that she was likely sleeping. He readjusted her onto his lap and lifted her in the bridal style again. Looking over her wounds, he did what he could to determine if she needed help or not, using his own knowledge of shadow creature injuries. "I-I don't know much about raposa wounds....but it looks like for now she's fine...It'd probably be best if I travel with you in the sewers actually, to keep her dry." With that last part he looked at Joy. "sally, may you please hand me her acorn shooter? I can't really do it now... My arms are..*chuckles* kinda full." He asked while looking at said rapo.
Joy Nodded hesitantly. "D-don't see why not."
Sally looked at Unfinished. "Don't worry... A-actually, I can carry it. My hands are free." She said, following Gabriela.
Manere focused his gaze toward the sky; he watched intently as the layers of dark clouds overlapped and cleared thanks to the storm. It was dark, but he could make out some details. He listened as Gabriela spoke about the Alliance base and the urgency of getting to it. He stayed silent for a minute before finally joining in, "You can do what you think is best," he glanced at Unfinished holding Ura before breaking his gaze and continuing "but I'm not going. I'll be fine on my own. If anyone else wishes to stay with me they may." He moved over toward Unfinished and picked up the Acorn Blaster, placing it back in Ura's grip. "Keep that, and stay safe.", Manere whispered to him.
Unfinished held onto the shooter to keep it safe, thanked Manere, and walked to the manhole "Thanks...but no thanks" He said looking at Gabby, "It's too rainy and cold for her to travel there, plus, I don't think she wants to go. She may look like she's in bad shape...which she is....but she's stable, and will be better off down there." Unfinished was polite, but seemed more focused than he has ever been, he looked down the manhole, readjusted Ura into one of his arms, and started to climb down into the sewers.
Joy saw the whole even silent, not sure what to say. Once Unfinished disappeared into the hole she cleared her throat to say, "Meet us at the outskirts, they're not too far from the other side of the mount, you'll be able to telll that you're there when there's nothing but forests and purple fields. (ooc: look up the actual outskirts in the game) She glanced at the rest of the group "Anyone else wanna Join us?"
Gabriela returned to her cold, serious tone. "Hey, I wasn't asking. It is an order. You have to go, and if you resist you will be considered enemies; you all are in The Alliance's territory, as unidentified beings. You have to come. And I repeat, I am not asking."
Sally looked at the agent, completely speechless. "Guys... she is serious."
_/o\_ the lamp popped up outa nowere and closed the man whole cover and said in a evil voice "Hello there my fellow enemies *small laugh*"
Unfinished thought for a second, looked down at Ura, then at the lamp, smiled, then with a swift motion jumped and flew off with Ura in his arms into the sewers.
"Ah, there goes the facade of hospitality.", Manere mumbled to himself.
Manere shut his eyes and inhaled but otherwise didn't break his stare to the sky. "Do you think that I am not serious myself?", he retorted.
He turned to face Gabriela, his tone slowly matching hers, "You could point the way out of the territory and solve that issue, but I am not going with you, or anyone else. I neither want, nor need, your 'protection'."
Jak stood, silent and staring, as the whole course of events unravelled. She had no clue what to do, but instinctively backed behind Manere, as he was the one in the group she trusted the most. All the while praying that she would know what to do when.
Crystal nearly made it over when the Acorn Blaster went off. In its shock it flew up into the clouds again; then shook its head to calm itself and went back down, landing just nearby. It crouched down so Akito could get off its back. The worsening of the storm seemed to have some synchronisation with its startledness.
Ice backed away from the group as everything was happening. He didn't like how the hostility was escalating and was finding it hard to place himself in the matter.
He grew increasingly irritated as threats were passed around. As Gabriela scorned the group's efforts, and continued her own claims, he walked back over in front of her. "I have no clue whether or not you're telling the truth. But I've made it my policy to only believe those I really trust. Your guns - in fact, I could probably put all your weapons into this category - can do nothing to me or Crystal. You have no idea what kind of "weapons" we have. If you so much as touch one of these others, I will block it." He looked around. "That goes for everyone here. Oh, and might I add, threatening others, in my experience, usually makes them less inclined to do whatever you're asking, not more."
Joy looked at the manhole with a look of shock and amazement, yet still had anxiety. "Whoa..." she muttered, despite her fears she had a sense of pride "Taught him well.." She looked back at Gabriela, smiled deviously and climbed onto Ice's back. "I'd listen to them hun." she warned "You're outnumbered, and messing with creations." She said that last part quietly, almost as if it was a slip of the tongue.
Unfinished was flying as fast as he cloud, after a few minutes of hearing pretty much nothing behind him he flew up onto the walkway in the sewers to slow down and rest. He landed and leaned against the wall of the sewers, he looked down the way he came from, seeing no sight of the rapo following he allowed himself to fully rest. Sitting down he sighed, feeling the adrenaline drain from his being, his eyes started to flutter, but quickly forced himself awake NO, I Cant's sleep! with a new burst of energy he forced himself up on his feet, he was too tired to fly, but he could still walk. Looking back and forth, he turned the way he was going originally, and started to walk at a steady pace. All he could hear was the subtle squishes of each of his foot steps, the waves of water below, and Ura's breathing. With such stillness he was stuck with the thoughts in his head I've traveled about half of a mile so far...hopefully the others can keep Gabriela back...The others.. His mood dropped when he realized he had left his friends behind with the dangerous rapo Joy.. He breathed I'm sorry...please be safe
(Since my Character is knocked out, I'm going to do something a little more abstract.)
As Unfinished panicked within the sewers, he felt something strange coming from the Ura's Acorn Launcher. From deep within, it felt as if the magical energies of the weapon begin to intermingle with his own. It was an odd, completely foreign feeling, yes at the same time, deeply familiar, as if he has just met a long lost friend, or recognized a piece of text from a book he read a long time ago. It almost seemed as if the object was speaking to him, calling out, apologizing, trying to reassure him that everything was alright, and that there was no need to worry.
Meanwhile, as Ura slept, her dreams flashed from one thing to another, a conglomeration of sights, smells, and sounds. She saw some very familiar things: her home in Watersong, her mother Sarah and close friend Loki, her favorite meal next to beach during the sunset. Along with it though were some very unusual things as well, things that her unconscious mind couldn't quite piece together: An unending, engulfing darkness, a young, blonde rapogirl, her face half covered in shadow, and a large, dead, turtle, it's skeleton washed up on an island, with the remnants of ancient buildings on it's now cracked and deformed shell.
The only reaction that her physical body could make was a low groan.
looking at the acorn launcher Unfinished's worries started to melt, but only slightly. "N-no no don't don't be sorry..Just..I-I don't know it's-" he was caught off by Ura's low groan, his attention shifted from the weapon to the unconscious rapo. "huh?.." His moderate pace slowed.
Manere gave a slight smile but said nothing more.
For a few moments, Akito did nothing. He dismounted Crystal and thanked it then made his way over toward the group. "Hmm.", he grumbled upon seeing Gabriela.
Manere seemed to take notice of him and turned around, "There you are! Are you alright?" Akito made his way over by Manere before replying, "I'm fine. Maybe a little sore and tired, but I'm alright." he paused and smiled slightly, "Could be worse. At least I don't smell bad."
Jak wrinkled her nose, "Oh yeah, the smell. Real funny. Ahahahaha." She laughed nervously.
Ice continued, "Oh yes, another thing. I don't really care if you decide to slap the 'enemy' label on me. Let's just say, I'd be quite used to it, in fact."
Ura was still dead asleep in Unfinished's arms. One of her ears twitched as if she has heard something, but it looked like she wouldn't wake for another few hours.
The Acorn Launcher once again called out to Unfinished, but this time, it wasn't just a feeling, there was a voice, incomprehensibly quiet at first, but quickly gaining volume by the moment. It spoke to him in a slow and glacial, yet warming and thoughtful manner, once again seeming deeply familiar, but completely foreign.
"Unfinished..." it spoke, seemingly in his mind, "... it has been a very long time."
A jolt of hope hit Unfinished when he saw Ura's ear twitch, but sighed in disappointment when she didn't awake. He looked down when he heard the voice of the acorn launcher, "a long time..?" He has deeply confused, for he had never "met" the weapon, but..it felt familiar. By now the blue creature was stopped in his tracks. "Who are...you?"
"Hmm... Maybe a little too long," the voice said once again, "Perhaps this will jog your memory... and do not be alarmed..." At that very instant,but taking no longer, Unfinished suddenly had every single memory he ever had play in his mind, backwards, from the most recent to the very first. It was as if his life flashed before his eyes but only backwards, and as the flashback continued backwards further and further into time, It all culminated to one specific thought, event, and person, which was was soon confirmed.
"I am the Creator, Unfinished," it said calmly, once the sequence was over, "I drew you, and I am speaking to you through the Acorn Launcher. I am sorry I startled or confused you, but I felt it was time to make an introduction. It takes a great deal of energy to communicate to you in this way, but I took the opportunity."
"The CREATOR?!" He said in shock, his expression had a mix confused and shock, but gained a bit of anger in face. "Why did you abandoned the shadows?! Why did you abandon Me?!" By now he had a look of hurt, his eye glistened with coming tears.
"Unfortunately," it spoke again, " I had left many other things unfinished the day I started you, things that would take me millennia to fix. I am sorry if it seemed that I had abandoned you, or the Shadows, or anyone else, it was not my intention."
"I am talking to you because there is a grave threat to this world, one that I cannot combat myself, nor even fully comprehend, for my current state is gravely restricted. I need your help, Unfinished. These feelings you have had towards the raposa, towards Ura, they are not without reason. There is a purpose to your existence, one that you have yet to full understand, but have felt..."
As the Creator talked to Unfinished, the images in Ura's mind began to accelerate at an exponentially fast pace, switching back and forth between good, bad, and weird: a string of light, airy music; a distant and blood curdling scream; crystal clear ocean water with vibrant coral at the bottom; a robed raposa, incredibly old, and blind in one eye, staring; two figures standing on a beach hugging, a fresh spark of young love; and a grey haired raposa, consumed with Shadow, cackling wildly. It was halfway between a nightmare, and a daydream; heaven, and hell.
She groaned once more, seemingly in discomfort, and stirred.
Unfinished fell silent, his mind slightly blank, the words of the Creator felt so true, he wanted to believe them, he did, but a part of him wanted to deny it. "If...if that's true...then.." He fell to his knees, "Why....would she?" Unfinished felt a twinge of betrayal, but mostly hurt. "For years I believed her..Why would Joy lie to me?" His thoughts were cut off when Ura stirred, he held her closer, giving him some form of comfort. What do you mean? what is going to happen? Did Joy really lie to me? Did she lie about anything else? Why? What is happening? What must I do? So many questions circled in his poor mind.
"Do not fret, Unfinished," the Creator reassured, "all of your questions will be answered with time. Your friends never meant you any harm, only help, even if it doesn't seem that way." It paused for a moment, and waited for Unfinished to collect his thoughts.
"I have one task for you, Unfinished. You must protect the girl. She is the only thing between us and certain destruction, for she holds the key for me to defeat the evil once more... but I cannot do it without you. I apologize for leaving you in your current state, there was not much to be done; but aid me, and I will finish what I started..."
"... should you allow it..."
Ura's nightmare began to grow worse, the veering towards the disturbing and horrible: the acorn launcher, shattered on the floor; a poor, hungry little rapogirl and boy, out in the pouring rain;the smell of burning sulfur; and the sick and twisted shape of Gabriela Strike, consumed by the Shadow.
"Fine, whatever. I don't really care at this point. You will be captured soon, though." Gabriela glanced at Ice. "Do not get too cocky, it is time for you to learn you are not above the others." She said, giving him an agressive smile. "J-just... take her somewhere safe." She pointed to Ura. "See you later, in your cells!" The agent started running really, really fast toward the mountain.
"If I don't want to be caught, I very much doubt you will find me," Ice said quietly. I've only had a lifetime's worth of experience in that area, after all. But at the moment, his concern lay with the others. "Unfinished and Ura are in the sewers," he said to the rest of the group. "Where are you going to go?" He hadn't yet made up his mind as to his own course of action.
Crystal's head drooped. "This is too much for me. What's going on?" As if the question hadn't been asked twenty times already.
"But...Unfinished and Ura are in the sewers...?" Joy said quietly and slightly confused. She waited for the raposa to be out of earshot, "Me?" She said in response to Ice's question, "I plan to follow Unfinished, he's not a fighter, and that wacko rapo is bound to find him, I recon we all go together actually, so then she can't pick us apart." With that Joy jumped down from Ice's back beside the manhole."Ok buddy" she said to the lamp, "move aside". She then tried to move the Lamp by pushing it...with no success.
Unfinished wiped his eyes of any coming tears, he looked at the rapo girl in his arms. He still had so many questions, but he started to feel reassured with having a clear goal. "But...How? I can't fight." When he said that his mind flashed back to.. her, Gabriela Strike. "She was really scary" he added, "Where should I go?"
Up to this point, the Creator had been very quick to respond to Unfinished's questions, but this time, it took a while, seemingly as if the connection had been disrupted.
"The link is growing weak..." the voice finally came through, growing increasingly faint," return to the group, they can help. If...questions...Ice...Creation Hall...". It became difficult to hear what the Creator was trying to say, but the last part came through crystal clear, before the presence vanished entirely.
"She is waking..."
Ura stirred within Unfinshed's arms, and groaned, her voice extremely course and dry.
"Damn..." she muttered, her eyes still closed, "That was one hell of party..."
Ice...Creation hall? What-?" Unfinished stopped when the Creator stopped talking, The group.. he thought. He started to think up a plan when he felt Ura stir and talk. "Hey, are you ok? You seem troubled.."
Ura just barely opened up her eyes to see Unfinished holding her, and smiled. "Outlines?" She looked around, relieved, but did not recognize the place she was in, only that it was cramped, old, and smelled really, really bad. "Where are the others?" she asked, still gaining control of her senses, "Are they ok? What happened with Strike? Where are we?" She still had very little control of her motor functions, her body refusing to comply with her orders.
Unfinished gained a bright smile when Ura finally awoke, but frowned slightly when she asked all about the others, he proceeded to explain how Strike threatened them if the group didn't follow her, and how he fled down into the sewers, leaving the others with the dangerous rapo. "I knew that you didn't want to go to the base, and the rapo seemed really scary, plus it was raining, so I figured here was safe, I just hope the others are too..."
"Thanks," she said, coarsely, "God, that chick is one crazy fruit-loop." She looked around again, realizing her Acorn Launcher wasn't on her, and saw that is was in Unfinished's hand. She smiled. "I'm glad you held onto that, and that she didn't get her hands on it." She stuck her hand out, as if to take back the weapon. "It's very powerful."
Unfinished looked at the launcher, seeing his own reflection in it's metal, "Yeah, I didn't know the Creator used it to communicate though." He said while handing the weapon to Ura, "Or...used anything to communicate." Or knew him at all really He thought.
Hearing Unfinished talk about the Creator instantly woke Ura up.
"So he talked to you?" She asked, bewildered. She looked at the gun again, and back up. "He rarely does that. I've only talked with him once..." her mind suddenly darted back to her dream and the imagery that she saw, "... and that was a long time ago. He said that something is trying to block his connection with our world, and that only certain, incredibly powerful magical objects allow him to break through." She wriggled in Unfinshed's arms.
"You mind letting me down for a bit?" she asked politely.
"Not at all" Unfinished then let Ura down gently, "He did mentioned talking to me took a lot of energy, and before he stopped talking it became hard to hear." Unfinished then turned around to look back at where he came from, then back to Ura. "He said we should go to the others...talk to Ice for answers, mentioned a "Creation hall"?" He explained to her, hoping she would have some answer for why.
Manere and Akito watched as Gabriela ran off. Even Akito, who had been keeping a straight face up until now seemed puzzled by her decision to flee so suddenly. "...Good riddance.", Akito mumbled.
Manere, on the other hand, stayed silent and made his way to the entrance of the sewers. He gestured for Akito and the others to come over. "I think we're better off following Unfinished. In the sewers, at least, we won't be visible from the surface." Manere glanced back toward the group, "Is that fine?", he added.
"Yeah.", Akito answered, sounding somewhat aloof. Then, without much hesitation, he climbed down into the gutters. Manere followed shortly after but stopped midway and turned toward Ice and Jak, "Are you guys coming as well?"
As he waited for a response, a stiff breeze made its way across the surface causing his ears to fold forward some until he supported them; the storm seemed to be worsening.
"Thanks!" she said, standing up, and readjusting her dress, hopelessly trying to brush off the dirt and grime. Damn, this was my favorite dress too, mom is not going to be happy. She looked at Unfinished, and tried to find answers for him, but couldn't. She shrugged, and began to re-tighten the pseudo-bandage on her arm.
"Sorry, I don't know," she said, apologetically, "I've only just recently started to piece together this stuff myself. I know that the Creator uses Creation halls to draw things into existence, but I haven't ever seen one myself, or even know where one could be." She ran her fingers through her hair, letting it spread apart and fall back down. Wish I had my hair bow right about now. "I think regrouping is a good idea, and if the Creator thinks that the "Ice" guy is key, then maybe he can give us some answers."
Unfinished frowned slightly with the lack of solid answers, but nodded, "Mmmaybe Joy will know where one is, she said she's been all around the world, if not...we got Ice." Unfinished stood himself up, turned completely around, but backed up a bit so then he was beside the rapo, "Let's get walking" he instructed, and started to march forward back to the group's location, all the while glancing around.Protect Ura.
Ura was about to start walking forward as well, but still quickly realized that her foot was still pretty messed. She grabbed on to Unfinished as she tripped into him, and, while still limping, looked up and smiled, keeping up the same pace as the creation.
"Let's just hope their not too far away," she said, faintly, but warmly.
Unfinished wrapped his arm around Ura once again to give her support, "We traveled about half a mile, I'd say a little less," explained, not sure if that was a long distance or not. The continued for a bit before unfinished finally asked, "Do you..have any connection with the creator or something?" He glanced at the rapo.
Joy looked at the lamp, she felt a sudden inclination to rush and find Unfinished and Ura. "Please move, now!" She demanded the oil lamp.
"Half a mile isn't too far", Ura commented, "It's a short walk." At first, she almost didn't hear Unfinished's question, still focused on the "Dream" that she had just had. When she heard it though, she looked up at the creation, almost worryingly.
She though for a good while before answering, trying to formulate some sort of answer.
"Maybe..." she replied, still thinking, "When he talked to me three years ago he said that a few relatives from my past played a very important role in the downfall of... someone, I can't remember the name..., but that he would need my help one day, when it came. I haven't heard from him since." She paused for a second, "Maybe because he talked to you that day is near, did he say anything about me?"
"Y-yeah" He answered, "mentioned how you're a key...Separating us from certain doom, and how I'm supposed to protect you, somehow.." The creation explained uncertain while scratching his head, "ring a bell?" He glanced at her, hoping for an answer.
"Right! Splitting up may make us harder to find, but all that does is put off capture." Ice looked at the Lamp and frowned.
Garchomp growled at the thing; then, not waiting for directions, slapped it aside with its strong tail. It gave a low rumble and looked at the rest of the group.
Crystal bobbed its head, "I'll wait here. If you come out of a different exit, signal me."
Ice raised an eyebrow at his Pokémon, glanced around, and then entered the sewer. Jak scrambled down afterwards.
Ura thought again, but nodded her head no, she had none.
"Other than what he told me," she answered, "I don't know. I want to know how I'm connected, but my mother was always so quiet about the past... about anything before I was born in fact. I mean, she barely talks about my father, who died shortly afterwards. I know she's hiding a lot from me, but I've only just recently started to dig around." She broke her train of though, and smiled, reassuringly. "You're doing a great job by the way. I'd still be stuck at the Clock Tower if it weren't for you."
"heh...I guess that makes two of us then." He commented on her being in the dark about the past. They continued. He gained confidence when Ura applauded him on his job, he smiled and tightened his hold on her, but only a little. "Thanks."
Joy looked at Crystal and pointed past the mountain, "There are the outskirts, I suggest moving quickly, for the day will end in a few hours, and of coarse...Strike, we should find you there." She instructed the Pokemon, "stay safe" she added before jumping into the manhole.
Gliding down in front of the group, not so gracefully, was her entrance. She looked back at the group, "everyone here?" She asked, ready and anxious to move on.
Crystal nodded, then took to the air, flying in the direction Joy had indicated.
Ice and Jak glanced around at the group and each other; Jak did a head-count. "I think we're all set to go..."
Lamp:well see you guys later i'm off to do some business......
Ice ignored the lamp; instead he looked at Sally, "Where will you be going?"
Sally glanced at Ice, slightly mad. "I... don't know. Maybe I will try to investigate about this... Alliance."
Manere nodded and finally climbed down into the sewers. Now together, Akito and Manere began following what they believed to be footprints from Unfinished and assumed the rest of the group would follow behind shortly.
Before long, the light from the surface began to diffuse—not that there was ever much to begin with. "Hey, could you-", Akito began, nudging Manere. He interrupted, "Huh? Oh. Sorry." Outstretching his left arm Manere, once again, started a new flame. A dull, purple-blue, light filled the tunnel and slightly lowered the temperature. Akito thanked him and the two continued forward, slowly gaining on Unfinished and Ura.
Ice hesitated; then nodded and followed after the other Raposa as they went deeper into the sewers. Jak followed quickly after them.
Ice paused at the mention of light, "Oh, yes, let me help." A bright blue ball of pale blue light appeared in his palm. Truthfully, Manere's light was enough, but he figured more wouldn't hurt.
How long had they been walking? It felt like days, but was probably only a few minutes. Ura was deep in contemplation. Man, this is crazy, she thought, How am I going to do any of that? Is me being here some sort of link? What about the others, how are they connected to this? Are they?
Ura paused for a moment, not stopping but looking around. Truthfully, she had no idea where Unfinished and her were, it all just seemed like endless sewer system. Up ahead, however, she could see a faint, blue light in the distance, maybe a few hundred feet away. She looked up to Unfinished.
"Yo," she said to him, "Could that be them?" She pointed in the direction of the light.
"...MMMaybe?" Unfinished replied, not sure what else the growing light could be.
Joy, leading the group, kept focused, looking ahead, hoping to hurry and close the gap between her, and the rest of the group, she saw...something at the near horizon of the sewers, she sped up her pace by only a little, hoping it was her blue friend.
With the corridor well-let, Akito turned to thank both Manere and Ice.
He and Manere continued to trek through the sewers as Jak and Ice followed. It didn't take long for them to catch up. Akito estimated the time taken being only around fifteen minutes.
"You're alright..!", Manere smiled and exclaimed upon their groups finally meeting up. There was relief in his voice but at the same time a slight tinge of despondence.
Without much conscious thought, Manere broke eye contact and allowed his arm to fall some.
Akito remained silent.
Ura was unsure as they approached the light source. She didn't know if something had happened to the others, or if someone else was looking for them. Truthfully she didn't know how long she'd been knocked out.
The closer Unfinished and her got to the source though, the more detail she was able to resolve, and soon figures emerged from the light. Ura breathed a sigh of relief as she saw both Manere and Akito within the group, as well as the others that she had at least seen before and recognized. She didn't recall the shadow bat leading them, but nonetheless went with it.
As Manere greeted the group, Ura smiled and, realizing the conditions of her arrival had been below her liking, she let go of Unfinished. Seemingly unfazed by her injuries, she stood up completely straight, adjusted a few things, and spoke with a significantly different, rather elegant demeanor.
"As are you!" she said graciously, taking a step forward, looking over the rest of the group, "I'm glad to see that the rest of you are unharmed." She paused for a moment, thinking. "I do apologize if my introductions have been rather..." she looked to Akito, then Manere, still smiling, "hostile... but the circumstances were less than favorable." She took another brief pause.
"Allow me to properly introduce myself," she said, readjusting her posture once more, "My name is Ura, Ura Vermillion Havens, from Watersong." She took a small bow, eyes closed, lifting the edges of her now tattered dress up a little, "It is a pleasure to meet all of you." She rose back up, and smiled once again as she opened here eyes.
Ice nodded in greeting, slightly raising his eyebrows at the dramatically different conduct of the young Raposa. He lowered his hand, the orb of light remained floating by his shoulder; he glanced at the tattered Acorn Launcher. Himself he had never used one; he knew it was a weapon associated with Creation Heroes however.
"Ice Winters," he introduced himself. "Yes, that was a rather uncomfortable situation."
Jak bobbed her head, "Jak's the name, ah, the initials, nevermind, just call me Jak... Nice to meet you as well!"
Unfinished was glad to catch up to the group so quickly, looking over the group, his lips curved slightly upon seeing Joy. Not wanting to dwell to much on addressing her, he looked back at the group, hoping they, specifically Ice and Joy, had an answer. "We need to get to a "Creation hall?" He said, mainly looking at Ice, "Know where any are?"
"Joy." The shadowbat introduced herself, she beamed slightly upon seeing Unfinished, but proceeded to frown and fold her ears down seeing the almost disappointed look on her friend's face. Once he mentioned the creation hall, her ears perked. Creation hall? she thought, Where did he hear that?! "Why?!" she blurted out.
"Joy, Jak, Ice," Ura responded, looking at her new acquaintances as she said their names, "An honor. Yes, madam Stike was quite the belligerent one, let us be glad that she is not present at the moment." It was at this time, looking at the group, that Ura had noticed both Ice's and Manere's light sources. Before she could ask how they managed that, she was cut off by unfinished asking about the Creation Hall, and Joy's outburst.
"A Creation Hall, yes..." she said, not breaking her formality, "While we were separated from everyone and I was unresponsive, it appeared that the Creator himself had decided to pay my friend Unfinished here a visit." She glanced at her weapon, sill in the blue giant's possession, "Through my Acorn Launcher. We were hoping that Ice maybe had some answers, since The creator mentioned him before he was cut off."
Ice stiffened slightly, as the attention was now directed at him. "Well... yes, I do know where one is, in the central Raposa Village. But I don't know how to get there from here. I mostly used the Village Gates to travel in the past, and I haven't really been in this area, so I can't say what direction we would need to go in, or how far away it is. Although perhaps Joy would know." He hesitated at the Shadow Bat's initial reaction.
The shadowbat sighed quietly Well, no use in lying. She thought. "We're heading to said village actually, the gate that leads to it is the closest one." She explained, then looked down the tunnel where Unfinished and Ura came from, "the distance we're from the gate, is the same we're from the village in technicality." Her voice owned a slight hint of dread in it as she gave the directions.
Unfinished nodded as Joy told about the warp gate, remembering her mentioning that gate lead to the "dreaded raposa" as he once knew them. A mix of sadness but, an odd satisfaction came over him seeing she shadowbat uncomfortably explain, having confidence why she would act this way, but felt a bit of relief, due to her honesty.
Neither Akito nor Manere bothered reintroducing themselves.
"So there's a Gate here somewhere?", Akito joined, ignoring all the other questions that this newfound knowledge brought up, "Would it really be that simple?"
I don't remember that Gate. Then, he hadn't been everywhere, and he had avoided going to certain places.
Ura's ears instantly perked up when the Raposa Village was mentioned along with the Warp Gate. From what she had heard, no one had heard from the Raposa Village in decades, let alone been there. A slightly worried look appeared on her face, but she spoke with the same tone.
"Is that where you all were headed?" the young Raposa asked, backing off of Akito, "A Warp Gate? And it would take us away from here?"
Both Joy and Unfinished nodded in response to Ura's question, "We're going there because it's the closest, as I told Manere, Jak, and the baki, we are uuh....15...? Total miles, give or take, from the gate right now."
"Well then what are we waiting for?," asked Ura, her demeanor now suddenly returning to normal, "'cause I'm not gonna lie, anywhere is better than here right now. Things have tried to kill me, there's shadow everywhere, no offense Joy, and the faster we get to the Gate then the faster we can get to safety." She glanced back down towards the way that her and Unfinished had came from, then back over towards the group. Given the long trip ahead of them, and looking over herself once more, the young Raposa had once again realized just how bad her current state was.
"Although...", she hesitated, her voice turning slightly coarse, "I don't suppose that there'd be a point along the way where we could rest? I kinda need to sort myself out." She gave a slight nervous chuckle. "I'd probably slow everyone down considering my condition right now." She limped a little to get her point across.
Unfinished would've raised an eyebrow if he had one at Ura's sudden switching of behavior, but chose to ignore it when she went back to her previous limping self. He moved himself close to her, offering support in case she needed it. "Of coarse! Even once we leave the sewers we'll have a ways to go on the surface before we reach the gate. And there's no doubt it'll be dark by the time we get out of here, so we'd probably have to stop, unless the others want to travel in pitch dark?" At the last park he looked at the rest of the group, seeing if they had approval, or disapproval of the idea.
Manere replied, sounding somewhat surprised, "Yeah. That's a good idea." he paused "Is there a dryer location nearby?", he asked no one in particular. A few moments later, he returned his gaze toward Ura. "Are you alright?", he asked quietly, fully aware of the immediate stupidity of his question.
Akito looked down at his friend and nodded.
Joy answered Manere's question "This is pretty much the driest place....Unless you want to run in the rain to another broken building." She sighed "Look, it's damp, I know, but here is better than anywhere else." With that Joy walked ahead in an almost stiff mood.
Jak blinked, "I don't particularly like travelling in the dark, but we do have, aha, pardon me, travelling light sources with us.' She appeared to be at a loss for anything to say.
Ice couldn't help but laugh at that, "Yes well, if necessary I can also make a barrier to keep any incoming wet from above out. But if we stay here in the sewers that shouldn't be needed." He paused and hesitated at the shadowbat's manner; then looked at Ura. "If you want, you can ride Garchomp." He waved a hand at the silent Pokémon standing a couple of metres away.
"Well..." Ura replied, "I'm not doing any better than when you first asked me that, sadly." She turned to face him and patted her arm where the hastily wrapped bandage was. "When I first woke up here something was trying to make me it's dinner and did this to me. Luckily I was armed at the time and was able to escape, but it's a pretty deep cut. As for the limp..." She lifted up her dress a little, revealing her right foot, which had swollen considerably. She was wearing a pair of dark red high-heels. "When I snuck into Unfinished's Clock Tower I landed pretty hard and twisted my ankle. I don't know how bad that one is, but it hurts to walk on it, I can tell ya that. I'm also soaked, but I think that goes for most of us here."
At first the Raposa didn't see the creature with Ice, and almost recoiled in surprised when she looked up at it. Upon seeing it though, her eyes lit up, and she smiled. "Hey, that thing's pretty cool!" she exclaimed, "If it'll let me then sure! Better than me slowing everybody else down."
"Go ahead," Ice said. "He might look tough, but he's really just a big softie." This remark earned him a not-too-gentle headbutt on the shoulder.
He looked again at the Raposa's injuries and frowned. "I'm sorry I'm not much good as a healer. It's a pretty rare gift among Aura Guardians. I know someone with it as a specialty, but unfortunately I'm not them." He paused. "One of the Pokémon with me could perhaps ease the wounds somewhat; do you want to give it a try?" He then remembered that Ura hadn't been there for any of the previous explanations. "Sorry. I can try to explain first if you want."
Ura was about to ask for just that, but before she could get the words out she looked around once again, and shook her head.
"You know," she said, glancing over to Manere's blue fire-light and then to both Joy and Unfinished, "There's a lot of unanswered questions that I have right now, but I think I'll save them for later. If you think you've got something that'll help, then let's go for it." She returned her attention to Ice's companion, and took a few slow, but unhesitating steps towards it.
"Hey there," she spoke softly to it, sticking her good arm out, "you're not gonna bite me, are ya? What'dya call it again? A "Gar-Chomp"?"
He watched the Raposa approach the large Dragon/Ground-type. Garchomp took a step forwards and bowed its head, to place its snout in Ura's hand. Its skin was noticeably rough to the touch, like sandpaper.
Ice unclicked another Poké Ball from the back of his belt. "Yes, that's Garchomp, the Land Shark Pokémon." Pressing the button on the spherical object twice, once to enlarge the Ball and then to open it, a second Pokémon appeared in a flash of light. Primarily green and white, it had a humanoid figure and was about the same height as its Trainer.
"And this is Gallade," he said. He then addressed the Pokémon. "Ura and Akito have some injuries that could do with attention. We haven't got a great deal of time, but if you could use Heal Pulse on them, it would help."
Gallade walked over to Ura and Garchomp, pausing.
(If anyone needs reference pictures for any of the Pokémon, the sprites should be somewhere on Ice's page. Also there exists the wonderful yet terrifying Google.)
Feeling the texture of the Pokemon's skin, Ura gently moved her hand around and stroked the creature's head, as if she was petting it like a cat.
"He's kinda cute, actually," she said to Ice, smiling, "In a sort of a giant, Land-Sharky way." She said the next part to the Garchomp. "Huh Chompy?"
As the second Pokemon approached her, the Raposa lowered her arm and turned to face it. She had to noticeably look up to make eye contact with it. Damn, why does everything have to be taller than me? she thought, frowning for a split second before resuming her smile.
"Does it talk?" she asked, sticking her hand out once more, this time to shake hands, "Hey there, name's Ura, nice to meetchya!"
Manere nodded after listening to Joy, "Alright. We'll stay here."
Akito stayed quiet as Ura and Ice conversed, but his ears perked up some upon the mention of one of the Pokémon's healing abilities.
He moved over toward Gallade some then broke his silence. "Gallade can heal people..?", he inquired in case he misheard.
Unfinished watched the conversation between Ura and Ice. He smiled seeing that Akito and Ura were able to be healed of their wounds. Seeing that things looked ok with the group he turned his attention to the little lone shadowbat. he walked away from the group, but not to far. He signaled Joy to climb onto his shoulder. She did just that. "Yes?" She whispered. Despite being a couple of feet from the group, she knew they weren't out of earshot.
"Why?" He asked quickly, whispering also. "Why what?" "Why did you lie to me?" Joy shifted uncomfortably. "Wh-what do you mean?" "You know what I mean, the raposa, the creator, you said they were evil but.." He turned his head to the group. "But look at them. And...I felt the creator's presence. I felt an old connection. So why did you lie to me about them?"
"It.. It's complicated." She replied. He looked away, "Tell me it all." Unfinished wanted to really know why Joy lied to him. He wanted to trust the creator in what he said, but something pulled at him that Joy's intentions weren't entirely pure. "It was..." Joy satred. "To give us...a hero." She mumbled. "A what? 'Us?'" Unfinished questioned. Joy looked away. "I guess, it'd be best to start from the beginning, you deserve the beginning." She started.
She scooted closer to Unfinished's ear that was farther from the group, and lowered her wispier "It all started with a raposa named 'Wilfre'." From there joy explained Wilfre and what he did, how he created the shadows, and used them to terrorize the raposa, including her. She explained how the Creator made a hero to save the raposa, and why he killed the shadows. "Once it was all over, very few shadows were left, we were desperate, without a leader of some kind, I feared the creator greatly, what if he were to finish us off? I couldn't let that happen. Once I saw you, I saw you had the creator's power, but was clueless, and didn't know your origin....I couldn't pass the opportunity. So I shaped you into the shadow's hero."
Unfinished nodded and stayed quiet. Comparing what Joy said now, and what she said when he first met her. He stayed skeptical of her story, but smiled with the feeling that this was the truth. "Thank you." He said. He paused and asked. "So...You worked for Wilfre?" Joy looked at the group then nodded once. "Do you still now?" He said this as quietly as he could, Joy responded even softer. "Not technically now, but I am still loyal." Her heart was racing, fearing the others heard her. She stared into Unfinished's eyes "But I am loyal to you guys too, I won't betray you. Especially you." Unfinished smiled, "that's good." He looked at the group again. " I think I have to protect these guys, and I don't want to protect them from you. heh" "Yeah." Joy replied.
I Don't know how much I can promise that She thought. I really hope we don't run into him...
Garchomp appeared to enjoy the attention. It gave a low, contented rumble. Ice observed this and commented, "And, it would appear that he likes you."
He answered Ura's question, “No, not audibly, although he and I can communicate through our minds- due to me being an Aura Guardian and his abilities as a Psychic/Fighting-type. Over time, if you worked with him enough, you might also be able to do that; but that takes time and effort.” Nodding to Akito, he continued, “Yes! Through a technique – you can't really call it an attack, since it doesn't damage but heal – called Heal Pulse.” He then nodded to Gallade in order to indicate it could continue.
Gallade let go of Ura's hand and took a step back, assessing her and Akito; then it closed its eyes and clapped its hands together. A bright, pale pink light interspangled with rainbows flashed off it and onto the two with injuries.
“There,” Ice said. “That will help. It won't completely heal the wounds, but should definitely help both take the pain away and speed up the natural healing process a lot.”
The others being mostly involved with this process, Jak glanced around, fidgeting. She overheard the conversation between Joy and Unfinished but didn't say anything, storing all the information away in her mind for later. And where do I go when we get to the Gate? Hmm. She wondered if any of the others had heard as well. She assumed that Ice had caught some of it; but really it wasn't any of her business. Instead she sighed and continued contemplating what she was supposed to be doing in the situation as a whole.
Although she was fully expecting it, Ura couldn't help but let out a gasp of surprise as the healing energies engulfed her injuries. After the initial tingling sensation had wore of, she noticed that the near constant dull pain that she had been feeling was almost completely gone. She quickly inspected her wounds, and although they were still there, she was already feeling immensely better.
She took a few test steps around the area, did some test stances, and, realizing that her ability to walk and stand properly had been restored, was overjoyed, and ran up to Ice and hugged him tightly.
"Thank you so much!" she exclaimed, "You have no idea how grateful I am! It sucks not being able to move around properly." She looked to the other wounded Raposa in the group, and called out to him. "Hey Akito, how ya feelin'?"