FujiwaraPhoenix

Pokemon: Dream

Richard Evans

Route 5

The speed at which the battle had ended had left Richard somewhat less tense than he had expected himself to be, especially after the close call that was catching Sara just a little while earlier. Briefly, the young man considered if he was being too hasty in capturing Pokemon as he watched the ball he had just thrown shake and shudder.

That thought was promptly discarded as the Pokeball clicked shut, and Richard simply strolled over to pick it up and stare at the Nidoran inside.

"Poison, rock, and grass... Honestly, that's not too bad of a core team," he muttered to himself. "Everyone covers someone else's weaknesses to an extent, so we should be good for a bit..."

Though he was briefly lost in his thoughts as Sara calmly sidled back up to him, the beeping from his Pokedex pulled his attention back to reality. Choosing to pocket the new Pokeball for the moment and resolving to get his new teammate in battle-ready condition sooner rather than not, Richard pulled out the device to see what it was that he was being messaged about.

Troublemakers, it seemed, were the issue at hand. After a brief glance towards both Luna and Sara, the young man returned the latter to her Pokeball and motioned with his head in the direction of the dig site he had seen on his way into the route.

"Looks like trouble's brewing. Luna, we're headed back; be ready for a battle once we arrive, okay?" he asked. The Snivy was a bit hesitant at hearing those words, but after quietly gripping the bell at her neck for a moment, gave Richard a nod.

With that, the young Trainer began to beeline to where Laurel had directed him to go; any other wild Pokemon could wait when there were more important things to handle right now.

@Rune_Alchemist

From Realms Beyond — An Isekai Crossover RP (Now Accepting)

Kochiya Sanae

Aventon

Having spent the last few days doing what she could in aftercare—which, in this case, really just meant 'praying for those who were healed but unconscious to recover'—Sanae had most certainly seen better days. For what little it was worth, being moved to one of the town's sole undamaged inns meant that she didn't have to sleep on the hardwood floor every night, and even that much gave her that much more energy to get through the day. It was no plush futon, but any improvement to her living situation was still greatly welcomed.

Beyond that, though, the Moriya shrine maiden had spent a majority of her time scouting out more of the region. Flight magic did not seem to be all that popular, which made her ability to fly around all the more valuable in keeping watch from the skies and looking around for anything that might be noteworthy enough to report on. It wasn't anything groundbreaking in the long run, but flying through the skies—even if it was for a less leisurely purpose than usual—was a good way to take her mind off of everything she had seen. She might not have been a child, but after having been so comfortable with the way that spellcard rules 'protected' them back in Gensokyo, seeing what actual battles could bring about—and what people were capable of—left her quite grateful for the world she had lived in before.

If only they could resolve this incident and go back home, though.

Those few days that followed both the routing of the centipedes and Raven Heralds alike did bring forth new revelations, though. Apparently, while the rest of them were out on their escapades in the nearby forest (or, in the case of Rayne and the newcomer, right outside the town walls), Anne had cared for the children that had been present when they had first arrived, and in so doing provided them with that most certainly felt like a prophetic dream of sorts to Sanae.

To her, it felt clear how to proceed—namely, to explore the capital and see what it was plaguing it—but that meant splitting their forces to travel in the first place. The issue of a possible Herald counterattack had been brought up as a possibility multiple times over the last few days whenever she happened to overhear Anne's discussion with Kendrick, but that only served to make her antsier.

What could she do? How could they proceed? If this was Gensokyo, it'd be a simple matter to simply charge ahead and beat up the enemies one by one...

But this wasn't Gensokyo, and the enemies here didn't abide by spellcard rules. Her own capabilities in battle paled in comparison to the others', but she still had to do something to help solve this incident.

With those thoughts in her head, Sanae continued to spend her time in the skies lost in her thoughts. Eventually, a stroke of luck would leave her to notice a trade caravan in the distance, and it was her word that would allow the town to be notified of the matter a day or so in advance.

Once the caravan had arrived proper, Sanae found herself among the group of otherworldly travelers perusing the goods that they had present. The young woman less interested in that, though, so much as she was in their next destination. Though she had grown fond of Aventon's residents, her intuition told her that simply staying at this town forever wouldn't bring them any closer to any answers.

The traders themselves seemed rather curious about the otherworlders, what with their somewhat out-of-place appearances compared to both the townsfolk and the others who they had seen. Natural curiosity only gave way to a willingness—or maybe even a bit of forwardness—to reach out and ask those present about why they were here in a frontier town to begin with.

The goods that the traders were willing to move, though, seemed to showcase a brief glimpse into the lives of those who lived in the country. There was food and cloth aplenty—perfect to help shore up what Aventon had lost in the attack—and it seemed apparent that the animal parts they had retrieved over the last few days were more than sufficient to act as materials for barter, but also simple clothing, spare weapons, and even other prepared animal—and monster—parts that seemed to have some use or another. On top of that, there did seem to be a small selection of trinkets and toys for children, and even a few tomes—tightly covered and kept away from the elements—for those few oddballs who wanted to learn more of the world from the comfort of their homes.

Unfortunately, magical goods seemed to be in short supply; if prompted as to why, the traders on hand would come up with a variety of reasons—the lack of expertise in magical goods on their behalf, a lack of skill to create them present within their contacts, a small market for them from traveling merchants like themselves...

It did seem as if there were stores for such things in larger locales, but a group like theirs? Far from it.

Eventually, though, Sanae did choose to reach out to greet one of the more important-looking merchants in the group—a middle-aged man with graying hair—and after a bit of small talk, brought up the question of where they were from and where they were headed to next.

"Mmm... Well, we left from the capital, Nieve, and circled around westward through a few towns before ending up here at Aventon," the merchant began, "but I think that our current route ends here. We're headed back to Nieve once we're done here, so please, do make the most of the time you have perusing our wares."

"Back to Nieve...?" Sanae parroted before glancing at the other people summoned from other worlds nearby. "...Do you think it'd be too much to ask if some of us could travel with you, then?"

"With us? Well, I think you'd have to pay a bit to join as a customer; we're not a traveling service, after a—"

"We can all take care of ourselves, I think," Sanae interjected, "In fact, I think we might be more capable than the guards in your employ right now."

A few of those same guards seemed to overhear the young woman speaking and snickered to themselves snidely at her (in their eyes, delusional) statement, and the merchant she was speaking to seemed to carry the same opinion. He, at least seemed to be holding it in a bit better.

"Well, miss, you might be a bit well-spoken, but I don't know if your words are sharp as a blade," he responded, a hearty chuckle slipping past his lips, "That big golem-like friend of yours I'd believe that from, but—and I say this with the utmost concern for your well-being—these people with me are quite amazing in their own right, and they're proud of it. Making light of them is only only going to cause problems for everyone, myself included."

@VitaVitaAR@EchoWolff@Izurich@Lugubrious@Drifting Pollen@Raineh Daze@DracoLunaris@Rezod92

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

??? — Ruined Inn

After being unceremoniously stabbed in the neck, the zombie stumbling out of the cellar simply crashed straight into the stairs out, it's unmoving body lying on the wood as the two responsible for it conversed.

But that lackadaisical response was not befitting the nature of the creature that had just been stabbed. Though it bore a new wound from the knife driven through it's neck, the assumption that stabbing it like that would be the end of their troubles would only bear more in turn. Slowly, the undead creature would rise back up, seemingly unperturbed by the attack beyond a slightly more mangled face thanks to the falling squarely upon one of the stops. Aware now that the attack had become from behind it, though, the monster turned around and attempted to return the favor with the blade still gripped in it's hand.

Simple, mindless zombies these were not, it seemed.

@VitaVitaAR@RolePlayerRoxas@Aku the Samurai@SilverPaw

---

Neir — Slums

After hearing her name called out, Meira's ears immediately perked up. The catgirl's head seemed to almost snap towards Cassius, and after seeing the elf kick over some piles of trash, grew curious and walked over to what he had done. Cassius hadn't seemed like the type to indulge in wanton destruction, so maybe there was a purpose to doing what he had.

And indeed their was. The presence of a tightly-bound package of unknown origin beneath the garbage and refuse was rather difficult to simply blow off as no more than an errant item forgotten by those living here. This had been placed deliberately, though she could feel nothing from the contents at a glance...

Well, her instinct as an adventurer told her that it was a problem.

"...Yes, it certainly does count," the young woman replied, reaching out to take the package before a chill ran down her spine. Whatever was inside was definitely bad news, but that was all the more reason to bring it to be examined.

"Ah, damn it, this is going to be annoying. I just know it..." she complained out loud before forcing herself to pick the package up. "Whatever. Let's bring this to the guild so we can get it checked—"

Before Meira could finish speaking, though, a dagger seemed to fly by her cheek before lodging itself within one of the wooden planks behind her. The culprit—a rather gaunt-looking man covered in a cloak—seemed to be eyeing her.

Well, not her specifically; it seemed that his focus was on whatever it was Cassius had found.

"So much for an easy day," she sighed, dropping the package to the side before casually unsheathing her blade from where it lay upon her back. "Cassius, I suppose you wouldn't mind if I asked you to take that thing and step back?"

Without so much as a hint of struggle, the catgirl pointed her blade towards the man and before taking a rather unorthodox stance with it.

"Can't have it getting stolen away, after all."

In an instant, Meira leaped forward, her blade at the ready as she began to slash and stab at the cloaked man as only a berserker might. Despite the ease with which she swung her weapon, though, the gashes and holes that were being carved into the earth from her misses made it clear that the weapon was heavy in it's own right. Even so, her target seemed to be doing well enough in running away...

Straight towards the shack that the three otherworlders had originally awoken within.

@ERode@Zeroth@TheMushroomLord

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

Tachibana Masaru

Nagano Prefecture — Abandoned Mansion

With the komainu that had been pursuing him now most certainly dead (for the moment?), Masaru took a quick glance around to reassess the state of the battle as it was now. There weren't any accidental casualties in the interim—at least, not for anyone who injuries would matter to—so the Agent was free to join in on the whole 'dogpiling onto the only two targets left standing' thing that was going on.

The hail of electric arrows dividing in midair certainly felt unfair, though, especially when he could only fire one at a time. That wasn't any sort of replicable skill he could learn, and trying to clash with that head-on wouldn't do much of anything. All that could really be done was add more chaff to be blocked in hopes of overwhelming the onna-bugeisha so that someone who could land a more decisive blow could jump in and close this out.

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

Neir — Slums

Though it seemed like it was a bit difficult to wrap her head around the initial explanation he provided, the more succinct version of Cassius' explanation was enlightening enough to Meira on it's own. Her reaction was, understandably, rather mixed.

"Mmm... I guess there are people like that no matter where you are in the world, huh?" she asked, a slight grimace peeking through on her face before she brought herself in line again. "...But yes, I get the idea well enough. It's not really my place to judge, though; when some rich idiot's ego is as big as their wallet, sometimes you have to swallow your pride and follow along."

With their dialogue taking another somber turn, though, the catgirl glanced back at Cassius for a moment before up towards the sun still high in the sky.

"...It'll be a bit longer before my patrol's done, so if you don't mind me making sure nobody's up and died in the last few minutes, I can go report in and we can head into town proper. It'll probably be a nice change of pace from all this, at least," Meira said as she began her last pass through the shacks steeped in desperation and poverty. "If you do see something I might have somehow missed, though, do let me know."

@ERode

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

Neir — Slums

"Cassius... Got it," Meira responded, repeating the elf's name once before nodding her head and starting to continue back on her walk around the area. Hearing that her new companion wanted to ask about what she did, though... That was a novel experience in its own right.

"Well, if you want to hear about what I do, then sure," the young woman replied, more than willing to explain her job to the man who had already made this day somewhat more interesting than it might have usually been. "Adventurers... Well, honestly, it wouldn't be too farfetched to call us mercenaries with a better reputation. We take jobs from whoever offers them, handle whatever they're asking for, and get paid using the guild as a middleman."

After waiting a moment to see what Cassius' reaction would her comments would be, if any, the catgirl would opt to elaborate a bit more on the role that she played.

"In my case, most of the things I do involve things like culling the local monsters if they get too out of hand. I know a few teams like diving into dungeons for a chance at some rare treasure trying to strike it rich instead, but that greed could just as well leave someone for dead as it could bring them fortune."

There was a bit of a bitter tone that swam beneath her words, but Meira chose to pivot away from the matter and back towards Cassius and his experiences.

"...Well, that aside... It sounds like wherever you're from is a lot safer than what I'm used to, so it must've been some wild misfortune to bring you here, of all places. Mind if I asked what you used to do, or is that something you'd prefer to keep to yourself?"

@ERode

---

??? — Mosslit Cavern

For all the concern that the group had over the possibility of the room being laden with traps, the fact that the chest cracked open without so much as a hint of an explosion or it being some sort of monster would be thoroughly... Unnecessary. The rusted lock of the chest would easily crack and give way under the pressure and the slightest show of force from the half-elf, and the top of the container would pop open without any sort of fanfare.

Upon further inspection, the box would appear to have a flute carved of a white-green stone of some sort and left covered in a soft fur pelt of some variety.

The nature of either object was still unknown, of course, but inspecting the interior of the box would make it clear that there was no sort of trick, magical or otherwise, lying in wait.

@Crusader Lord@Thunder999999@Crimson Paladin@Expendable

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

Steven Yu

??? — Dirt Road

Though his first fight was far from pretty, resolving everything unscathed was probably the most Steven could have hoped for. He could feel Hikari's judgmental gaze digging into him as he made his quip, and the young man quickly decided that it was for the best to not linger too long.

Was it his form? It had to be his form, right? With a Japanese name like that, maybe she thought the way he fought was an insult to the craft?

...She wouldn't have been wrong if that was the case, granted, but it wasn't like he could do any better handling a katana for the first time!

Rather than fret about the opinion of his peers, though, Steven chose to focus his attention towards the bandits—or, well, he would have, had Duncan not already gone and scared what remained of them into retreating. Breathing a sigh of relief, the kitsune quietly sheathed his sword and began walking back towards the armored man to regroup. His gore-splattered face was, admittedly, not the prettiest sight, but given how he had intended to go into medical anyways the sight didn't feel that disturbing to him.

Whether that was good or not was up for debate.

As he approached, though, the entrance of undeniably villainess-like young lady very promptly caused Steven to stop in his tracks. The way she carried herself and the overwhelmingly proud nature of her voice may as well have started ringing alarm bells inside of his head. Tropes and trends didn't really matter in a situation like this, where he—who was probably no better than a street rat or vagrant in her eyes—was staring nobility in the face.

Luckily, Duncan's choice to speak for them meant that Steven didn't have to worry about committing any sort of faux pas in the process of introducting himself. As the man introduced the group in sequence, Steven gave a formal bow towards the blonde. This one, at least, was a lot less uncertain than the one he had given Hikari earlier during their introductions.

Given how he was likely the youngest among their group (physical appearances nonwithstanding), though, the kitsune deemed it best to let the others handle the flow of conversation for the moment.

@Raineh Daze@Sir Lurksalot

---

??? — Mosslit Cavern

By dint of being what it was, the glowing moss that Nyana chose to gather did indeed continue to glow after being picked off the walls. The glow seemed to be derived from something within the plant itself, but though those processes remained unknown for the moment, the light it provided would be very much appreciated by those without the ability to make out the darker sections of the cavern.

With moss in hand, though, it would be simple enough to light up the center of the chamber. The ground, contrary to the fears of the group, was bereft of any tripwires or pressure plates. Some might have considered the situation to be eerily normal, but one could just as well argue that it was exactly what one would expect a cave to be to begin with.

@Crusader Lord@Thunder999999@Crimson Paladin@Expendable

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

??? — Ruined Inn

The lock to the cellar—which, of course, had been secured from the outside—unlatched without much effort. Protected from the elements as it was, the door's hinges were left fully mobile (if not a little squeaky from the lack of lubricant for the hinges). Slowly, the wooden door creaked open as the intrepid explorer pried it open, and the light from inside the inn only barely filtered inside.

In so doing, however, the source of the scratching noise would be made promptly clear. A zombie, it's body dusty and dried out, began to shamble towards Bianca with what appeared to be a knife in hand.

The fact that the zombies were capable of complex motor functions like climbing stairs and wielding weapons would be a concern in it's own right, but luckily the undead still seemed to be rather slow in it's approach. As to how to deal with it...

Well, there were a dozen ways to solve that issue.

@VitaVitaAR@RolePlayerRoxas@Aku the Samurai@SilverPaw

---

??? — Slums

Given that she had been expecting some sort of meandering or dodging of her question, the catgirl was left rather surprised at the elf's rather succinct response to her question. The slightest bit of shock crossed her face as she took a step back, but that emotion was quickly suppressed as she seemed to lose herself in her thoughts for a moment.

"...Well, I can't say that I'm not at least intrigued now. Fine, I'll play along," she finally replied, a slightly cheeky smile on her face as she continued. "This is the city of Neir, one of the bigger cities in this country of Cethaim. It's ruled by a bunch of nobles with King Selm at the top, and that's honestly all I've ever cared to learn about. As for that other stuff... Well, I haven't heard of any talk of war, else I'd have probably skipped town by now."

With her own side of the deal settled, the catgirl listened in quiet contemplation before nodding ever so slightly.

"Mmm... Your story's a bit farfetched, but I guess if it was some teleportation spell gone wrong at play..." she mumbled to herself before shaking her head. "No, no, too many possibilities. But if you say you've come from a 'place of schooling', I don't think it'd be hard to find a job inside. Honestly, it'd probably do you better than any of the manual labor the people living here usually opt to do."

After crossing her arms and nodding her head, the catgirl looked towards the elf's extended hand, then back towards his face.

"I don't usually work for free, though, but I am fine with handing out a few favors here and there," she said, finally choosing to shake his hand with mild conviction. "If you don't mind a small bit of testing to see if you're as smart as you claim, I could probably help you out here. Don't know if I can say the same for your friend back there, though..."

The catgirl seemed to pause for a moment after finishing her own statements before realizing that she had forgotten something important along the way: introductions.

Oops.

"...And before I forget: my name's Meira. I'll be able to get things started after I'm done patrolling the area for the day, but at the very least I'm going to need a name from you to work with, no?"

@ERode@Zeroth@TheMushroomLord

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

??? — Dilapidated Shack

Though mildly intrigued by the elf's decision to follow after her, the catgirl chose to shrug her shoulders and simply acquiesce to his decision to follow after her. So long as he didn't attempt to actively impede her if something came up, what he chose to do wasn't really any problem of hers.

"Advanturer's Guild? Yeah, I'm a member... Though if you're asking a question like that, you must have been in one heck of a gated community before," she responded, casually glancing over her shoulder as she made sure that the elf was listening. "Slimes are a bit of a non-issue, though; the worst they usually do is bounce around and eat corpses of the dead. Annoying at times, but that's just nature."

At that, though, the catgirl slowed down before finally turning back and giving the person following her another once-over.

"...Well, if that's your question, then how about I ask one of my own? Your clothing looks way too clean for someone who should be living here. I know I said everyone's got their own troubles back there, but you don't strike me as someone who's had any, so..."

The young woman leaned in closer, staring straight into the elf's eyes with an unflinching gaze.

"What's your story? I'm all ears."

While Cassius was being questioned, Connor would find that there were indeed insects—roaches, mainly—crawling beneath the boards of the shack. Killing one of the dozens that would soon begin to scuttle away wouldn't be an issue, but not even a single point of experience would be granted to him in doing so.

@ERode@Zeroth@TheMushroomLord

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

??? — Mosslit Cavern

Amidst all of the uncertainty about what had happened and how to proceed, the decision to launch a ball of ice at the lone chest would prove rather fruitless. Not because the ice had missed—no, it had certainly landed on the chest and bounced off with a 'thunk' indicative of blunt force meeting wood—but because nothing came of it.

It seemed that the group would need to take it upon themselves to examine the situation rather than carefully prod at things in hopes that they would react in turn.

@Crusader Lord@Thunder999999@Crimson Paladin@Expendable