Yankee

Good Morning, Starship! The Earth Says Hello!

Welcome~!

Hi! I'm Perio :>

Hey there, welcome! Have fun and let us know if you have any questions!

What Are You Listening To?

Hello :)

Welcome to the guild!

World of Light

Word Count: 591 (+1 exp)
Level: 9 - Total EXP: 155/90
Location: Edinburgh MagicaPolis

The further the trio ran, the more hopeless the thought of reuniting with the other Seekers for their respective missions became. The trains could have taken off already without them, or worse - one or more of them could have succumb to the onslaught. The Cadet chose to believe that everyone else had made it out alright though, given how tough and resourceful the people he'd come to consider friends had proven themselves to be. Anyway, if he, Band, and Red couldn't meet up with their teammates then they'd figure out a plan of action later once they were safe.

So they toughed it out, lungs burning until they could see escape in front of them. It wasn't one of the many colored metro stations that they ran toward, but an exit from the metro altogether. Daylight filtered in through the windows and doors of a wider open space, and it was through there that the three men made it out. Even after bursting out of the metro, the Cadet didn't stop running until the sound of feline tidal wave was cut off. He then slowed to a jog, then a stop as he turned back and noted that none of the cats were following them out.

"Oh my wrog..." he panted, working to catch his breath quick. He made his way back toward the other two, craning his neck to get a look at the city while they were out there. It was huge, more modern looking than not, and pretty damn cold. If the Cadet had to take a guess where they were, it would be that vague frozen section of the map they'd gone over at Alcamoth. Of course the most striking thing about the area was the super massive bumblepumpkin in front of them, in fact being where they'd just exited. That the entire metro had really been indoors, and not just underground somewhere was mind-boggling. As an aside, the fact that other-worldly cultures also carved their bumblepumpkins like his did was amusing.

The Cadet refocused his attention back on the doors that the trio had just come from. Through the glass they could see what remained of their pursuers, unwilling to leave the building. Though glad that the chase was over for now, it would have been a lot easier to lose a big chunk of the cats in city streets, he thought. Then, maybe they could have snuck back inside and chanced another trek toward the stations. With the horde staying put inside, that was a pipe dream.

"This giggisux," the Ace Cadet said, staring into the slowly disappearing crowd of cats behind the doors. "What are we gonna do now? We can't get back inside. I guess we call a Moogle and let home base know what happened, see how far away we are?" From the other two teams or from Alcamoth, he didn't specify. He let out a groan, rubbing the back of his head.

Among the metro cats, only one pursuer remained while the rest retreated back into the depths of the Nyakuza Metro. She was more woman than cat, with a large frame and the Gleaming coloration that forced her to stay and fight even while she was suffering from the cold. She charged then, right at Big Band. She was so focused on her prey that she didn't notice the monster hunter come up next the detective, and with shield still in hand he swung his arm out into her path. She crashed into it, skull colliding with the thick steel.

World of Light

Word Count: 556 (+1 exp)
Level: 2 - Total EXP: 61/20
Location: Dystopiascape - Gutsford

Pit only made it to the train just before the duo of Tora and Poppi, having covered where he could for the others. They squished inside, deemed safe once the cat-pulled train car took off. The Seekers sprawled out, healing, relaxing, and otherwise decompressing from the hectic chase.

"Did they really have to sic the entire subway on us? There were way too many!" the angel complained, leaning back in a seat with his legs stretched out.

He awaited Roxas' literal awakening after being spiritually awakened by Geralt's friend heart. He had been the most injured it seemed, and now that everyone else was patching themselves up or being patched up by the team's healers, all that was left during the ride was to fill the boy in on the nature of the World of Light. As it turned out, when Roxas regained consciousness he already had a good grasp on it.

"Whoa, you already know a lot," Pit said, surprised. "Yeah, I'm sure we'll run into them eventually! There's still a lot of people missing out there, but they're only missing until we find them!"

He pulled his legs up to sit cross-legged in the seat, nodding along to Midna's explanations. He only added a little more to it, like bringing up the 'army of master hands' - "So if you see a giant white floating glove, he's not that friendly right now. ...if he ever was?" - and mentioning the Seekers' base at Smash City Alcamoth, where he and a few others had come from to make it to Twilight Town in the first place. With that, Roxas was pretty much caught up.

After that, Midna asked about the symbols on her new guns, but since Pit didn't have a clue he just gave her a shrug. Soon enough the train came to a stop, arrived at it's destination. It turned out to be a bustling town, modern and colorful. The buildings were mostly brick and mortar, including three huge structures with many people going in and out, mostly on the younger side.

"So what's this place?" Pit questioned, squinting at the lettering on the buildings that he couldn't even read in the first place. Nearby, Blazermate answered the question with enthusiam.

"Schools? Uh, why would there be superpowers in a school?" he asked of the Medabot, his tone incredulous. Besides the superpowers, why would they find 'terror' there either? "Don't kids just go to learn stuff there? It's probably pretty boring.

"Plus we're not in the right place. Midgar is supposed to be a super big city." As he said that, the Twilight Princess exclaimed about a mountain-like city, and sure enough when Pit turned to look in that direction there was no way to miss what she saw. "Skyscraper" was an understatement, the metal buildings they saw from here were crazy big. He could scarcely imagine how large they were up close!

"Wow, it's huge! That must be it!" Well, finding the place had been easy thanks to the immense size of it. Getting to it would be another issue, as was pointed out. "I guess it is a little far to walk."

So the first mission for the "Black Team" would be securing transportation, which would give them a chance to explore the town a little. Borrowing some wheels shouldn't be too difficult!

World of Light

^{____________________________________________________}
Level: 7 - Total EXP: 141/70 ------ Level: 4 - Total EXP: 56/40
𝙱𝙿 ●●●●● ---------------------------- 𝙱𝙿 ●●●●●
Word Count: 1122 (+2 exp)
Location: The Under - Dirtmouth, the Chasm

The Travelers slammed into the train car, along with their allies. They arrived more or less around the same time, the space quickly becoming cramped with both Bowser and Sectonia squeezing in alongside Junior's clown car, but soon enough the doors closed and the cat attached to the train started running, doing it's thing to get them out of the metro. They'd all made it out in one piece.

...hopefully. As the train was moving and the Seekers could spread out a little, it became clear that the Purple Team were down two members: Big Band and the Ace Cadet. Neither Primrose nor Therion commented on it. During the ride, the former was happy to let someone else do the healing. Both the travelers felt their wounds mend and their pain fade, and they thanked the Koopa prince - one warmly, the other quietly.

When their train stopped, it was not at the Queen's Station, though it looked similar. Maybe it was the same place, but a different area? As one of the only two that had taken the Purple Line before, Therion didn't think it mattered either way. They were underground, or in "The Under" or whatever, so they were where they needed to be. As the group moved on they didn't see much around, save for a contraption made for taking people up.

The Travelers looked up at the lift, letting the more excitable of their group take the first ride while others just flew up the shaft. As they waited their turn, Therion said offhandedly, "I kind of get it now. The whole fusing thing."

Seeing the demonstrations, and the boons it had given the others - from the healing, to Primrose's teleportation, and no doubt many more - it wouldn't really matter how freakish they ended up looking. It was all a means to an end. The dancer looked over at him, waiting for him to continue.

"All of the skills from learning a new job, none of the hard work."

"There are some drawbacks," she told him, following with an example. "You get the good with the bad. I noticed since my recent fusion that the pyromancy I gained from another spirit seems to have been weakened."

So it was a good thing that the Seekers traveled in such large groups, they were able to accommodate each other's weaknesses. She did not say this aloud, but Therion seemed to sense the thought anyway if the curl of his nose was any indication.

"But if you want to try it, here." Primrose produced the spirits she had, that of a few of the metro cats and the one humanoid that had attacked Therion. He took one in each hand, raising a brow at his friend. When had she had time to grab these?

The thief considered the spirits in his hand, where the face of a metro cat and the blue haired man he'd killed stared back at him. In general, he wouldn't turn away from getting stronger. Who would? Besides, it wasn't permanent - he'd seen that princess take the spirits out of people back in Twilight Town, however unpleasant it looked.

"What the hell," he said, pressing both spirits to his chest.

For Therion

Notable spirit and fading spirit consumed:
Ranulf and Metro Cat
The host's skin tone has gotten a bit healthier, his shirt has lost its sleeves, his pants have gotten bluer, and his poncho is now mostly orange with an ochre lining above the fringe. His boots are green-tinged, and so are his new fingerless gloves. His hair goes from white near the roots to blue around the middle to black toward the tips, all low saturation, and it's a bit shorter and straighter. He now has a tail that follows the same color scheme, as well as cat ears. His eyes are now yellow with black slits. In terms of personality, he's gotten friendlier and cheekier. These Spirits confer the Powers Laguz Shapeshift, which allows the host to temporarily assume a strong, agile beast form, and Cat Sense, which gives heightened senses of hearing and smell. These spirits also confer the Weaknesses Beast Bane, which causes the host to take double damage from weapons that are effective against beasts, and Water Aversion, which makes the host dislike getting wet.

When the light faded, he felt the changes right away. The scent of the earth was stronger than ever, and his ears, or rather his hearing, seemed clearer... speaking of his ears... Therion reached up to the top of his head, feeling the new additions there. He felt a tail flick behind him, his tail, and that sensation was so weird. He looked up at Primrose - Did I just get shorter? - who noted his new bright eyes in the dim cavern light. Or, eye - one of them was still obscured even though his hair had gotten shorter along with the color change. From below the bang, a facial scar peeked out, no longer fully hidden.

"Orange doesn't look that bad on you," Primrose teased. As expected, Therion rolled his eyes at her, though this time he couldn't keep a small grin from his face.

They rode on the lift next, out of the sunken station and into a dingy town (where Primrose offered the other cat spirits to the rest of the group). It looked pretty sad, but the town itself was only a part of the view. It sat in the shadow of a massive spire, on the edge of something incredible.

There before them was the Chasm, a hole wide and deep into the pit of the earth. The jagged rock around it suggested that some kind of sweeping, powerful blow had carved the Chasm into what it was now. It was quite beautiful in it's own way, the trees striking against the stone backdrop. Even with all of the man-made equipment and structures, it gave off the feeling of raw, powerful nature.

But when Therion looked at it, he had only one thought.

"Are you serious?" he groused. He had expected that they would start off underground, but now they had to descend? Whether it was a mountain or a pit, a long fall was a long fall.

While the Seekers took in the sight and no doubt came to the same conclusion that they'd have to descend, Primrose hailed the hunched, masked figure sitting nearby. "Might you tell us the name of this town?"

The Elderbug looked up, though his mask disguised his expression he seemed helpful at least. "Oh! Well, this is Dirtmouth. I hope you aren't too disappointed by our little town, travelers."

"Not at all," she replied. The town's name sparked some recognition in Therion, and he glanced at Jesse. Back at Queen's Station, she'd said something about Dirtmouth. The bugs had told her about it being hours away. The other stations must really have been dead ends, and wherever the train had just taken them was a new place - which meant they wouldn't have to do a grueling climb up before going back down.

"We lucked out, huh," he commented to the Director.

Rika and Kamek then set about scouting the Chasm, a smart idea. She watched the constructs, magical and mechanical, fly out over the gigantic pit and then turn down, scoping the route out. Then came the suggestion of gathering some things to prepare themselves for the descent.

"Just what I was thinking," Primrose agreed. She looked at the various miners and workers going about their business, figuring that even in a ramshackle town like this there must be a supplier of equipment somewhere close by, if not in the town itself. Perhaps some safety equipment for those of them that couldn't fly, like the gliders they'd used back on Split Mountain as a protection against plummeting down.

Sum up your week in roleplaying in just 3 words

Working on it.

Pokemon: Ascendancy

_{_ _ _______________________________ _ _}

A few days ago.

With: Hestia @Ambra

A Dinner Conversation

The body was a strange thing. Most people’s appetites seemed to vanish when they were overly upset or concerned, but for Hestia it was the complete opposite. She craved sweets most of the time, and luckily it was easy to satisfy herself. Pine and Orion shared whatever cupcakes and ice cream she brought home with her, and together they munched away at the unhealthy snacks, sometimes late into the night as they watched drama movies. It was nice… for about two days, until she couldn’t stand being huddled away in Hammerlocke any longer. She had to get out, do something, anything to get away from the negative thoughts that stormed in her mind, even if it meant eating somewhere completely different. A singular place came to mind.

It wasn’t something she was wont to admit, but High Steaks granted Hestia a certain amount of comfort during times of extreme stress. It was exactly what she needed at the moment, no matter if her already wounded pride was even more wounded in the process. She was only grateful that she arrived at the establishment with good timing– it didn’t seem as full as it usually did, which meant she didn’t have to deal with too many people at the moment. Good grief, if she had to withstand paparazzi or those types of fans, she was sure she would lose it.

”I’ll have the apricorn and Poke-tail coconut curry, please. Oh, and can you throw some pechas in there too? And your best beer on draft," Hestia asked the waitress who had walked up to her table by the window. The woman smiled tenderly, nodding as she took the order and left. Sighing, Hestia leaned against the back of her chair and turned her gaze towards the window. Perhaps her usual dish would help lift her spirits.

After a couple of minutes the staff returned with her drink. The waitstaff kept an eye out in case she needed anything, but mostly left her to her thoughts. She didn't need to wait for very long to receive her meal, though it was preceded by a familiar voice.

"There's only one person that dares adding Pecha berries to the curry."

The owner and head chef stood by her table, a glass of amber liquid in one hand and Hestia's order perfectly balanced in the other.

Thanks to the chairman's decision to cancel the league, the first few days the restaurant had been swamped with people trying to get information out of Nordrin. Even the poor staff had been pestered with questions just in case they'd heard anything. After it was clear that the gym leader wouldn't be saying anything and threatened to start throwing overly nosy patrons out, patronage had gone back to its normal levels.

Well, for the most part. Truth be told business was a bit slower than usual, reservations to watch Pokemon battles while dining had been canceled, and everything piled up on top of Ryker's continued disappearance - leaving Nordrin in an even more sour mood than usual over the last couple of days. When he heard this particular curry order called through to the kitchen, he took over the ticket as he usually did. It was a couple seconds later that his brain caught up to him and he realized who it must be for, though.

It had been a while since Hestia last visited. If she was doing so now, given the circumstances... she probably needed a distraction. Nordrin needed one too - which is why after he'd set the Dragon-type leader's food down with professional grace instead of standing over her to gloat as he'd done in the past, Nordrin stripped off his apron and claimed the opposite chair at her table. It seemed the extra glass was for him, and he took a long drink from it, eyeing Hestia over the rim.

"I know I own the place, but if you'd rather dine in peace feel free to tell me to fuck off," he said.

The taste of wheat and a slight hint of citrus teased her tongue as Hestia sipped delicately from her glass, her eyes briefly skimming over the people outside the window for a few more moments. A long, quiet sigh drifted out from her lips as she settled back into her chair and pulled out her phone. Still no news on what was going on with the whole kidnapping incident, great. She’d hoped there would be some sort of update by now, but alas…

Hestia blinked up at Nordrin when he had appeared by her table, critiquing her for her choice in adding pecha to her otherwise hearty dish– though her look of distaste morphed into curiosity when he sat down across from her. She cocked her head at him as if pondering whether to shoo him away from her table, but the smell of food was too enticing to ignore. Instead of indulging in Nordrin’s suggestion, she instead tucked into her curry.

“I have to ask, what’s the occasion?” Hestia jabbed her fork in his direction, referring to his decision to sit with her. She smirked at him teasingly, though not before swallowing another mouthful of food. “Usually you’re holed up back there doing fuck all. The kitchen too much to deal with today?”

Nordrin raised an eyebrow at her choice of words.

"How you managed to make it sound like I do no work and too much work simultaneously I don't know," he scoffed. He leaned back in the chair and took another drink while he considered just blowing off her question. After a few seconds he put the glass down and sighed.

"Believe it or not, the chefs get breaks. It just so happens to be mine, and you happened to be sitting at my favorite table," he said in a completely humorless tone. He didn't care if Hestia believed him or not (and to be fair it was kind of a stupid fib) because he moved the budding conversation right along.

"I'm more interested in what you're doing here. I know the food's good, but we do takeaway now, y'know." A slightly bitter smile crossed his face, the same that denoted his particular brand of sarcasm. Hammerlocke wasn't that far away, a curry would have still been hot if delivered by flying taxi.

Hestia glared at Nordrin over the rim of her glass as she took another sip of her beer. It was tempting to go along with his tune, but she wasn’t really in the mood to carry on the back-and-forth with her usual gusto. Instead, she gave him a furrow of her brow and a slight frown.

“I had to get away from Hammerlocke for a bit. Things are getting too crazy over there. Every time I go out, people run over to me as if I had all the answers.” She took another bite of her food, although the Pecha berries had soured in the course of a moment. Hestia glanced down at the table as a flurry of questions and doubts threatened to resurface from the depths of her mind. “I tell them that the challenge is still going on, but you know how people are. It isn’t enough for them.”

Her conversation partner blinked, evidently not expecting an honest reply like that. He'd thought that she'd needed a distraction, but he'd also thought she'd snap back at him. Nordrin let a moment of quiet pass between the two of them before he sighed again, more heavily.

"Ah. I had to start throwing people out on their arses for pulling the same thing here, so everyone else's too scared to try asking anymore," he told her. "So for hideout spots, you picked a good one."

Nordrin crossed his arms over his chest, tilted his head back and fixed a glare at the ceiling. "I can't wait for this to be over."

Though for every day that passed with no sign of Ryker, the more confusion the situation was to Nordrin. Sure he hadn't been bugging the police, true to his word, but that was because he was choosing to trust that the chairman would let them all know of any developments. So far there was nothing but radio silence. No clues, no leads, not even a ransom. Maybe some of the other leaders were right and he just skipped town on his own, but damn, he should have left a note if so.

Hestia hated to admit it, but seeing Nordrin bothered about the travesty at hand soothed her a bit. Yet, no matter how much more she felt at ease, she couldn’t bring herself to polish off the plate of food in front of her as she usually did. It felt like there was a big rock in her abdomen that blocked off a section of her gut from the rest of her body. The Pechas had only grown more bitter as well. She clicked her tongue and dropped her gaze to a certain spot on the table.

“Don’t worry. The police has this all covered. It’ll be over soon, like Hyacinth says. Best to just focus on our work and it’ll blow over in no time.” Hestia spoke the words, though there was no emotion behind them; it was a blatant cover for how she truly felt. Betrayed. Hurt. Worried. But damn her if she allowed Nordrin to see her vulnerable side. Who knew, maybe he’d use it against her the next time they faced each other in battle.

Hestia forced a smirk on her face as she looked back over at Nordrin, her tone of voice regaining some of its typical furor. Though, despite her desperate attempt of maintaining her charade, the fire behind her eyes did not rekindle. “You’ll be even busier than usual soon, so no need to worry too much about something you can’t control. Might accidentally let a few more challengers than usual squeeze past you if you don’t focus on your gym leader duties~”

At that Nordrin scoffed, having brought his attention back down to the woman across the table.

"You remember I told Hyacinth I was only going to run the restaurant side of High Steaks, yeah? 'Sides, I doubt any challengers are even going to make it to me. They have to get through Iris, Isiah, Bianca and Holly first, and who the fuck knows what they're doing. Doubt it's their job, though." And that wasn't even counting the minor leaguers who had to get through Astrid, Sebastian and Sawyer first. The chef really didn't expect anyone to turn up this year while everything was still going on with the champion's disappearance. This was even more true for Hestia in her position as the final obstacle before the real deal. Poor girl, battle was really in her blood. It was apparent that she wasn’t acting like her usual self either.

Nordrin regarded Hestia through narrowed eyes, working his jaw as he turned his next words carefully over in his mind before saying them aloud.

“...”

Hm, this was harder than he thought it would be. He and Hestia didn’t really have the kind of relationship where they could confide in each other. He barely had that at all with any of his peers in general. But he wasn’t a quitter, so after an extended pause he finally asked, “...how are you holding up, really?”

There came the tense silence. She almost expected it; Nordrin was obviously too smart for her to fool. Her eyes flickered back towards the window as the quiet only thickened, only for it to be cut through by Nordrin’s question. “I’m fine.” Her answer came forth through grit teeth as she crossed her arms. Her fingertips buried themselves into the sleeves of her shirt. “Like I said, I’m only stressed out because of the people hounding me for answers.”

Her vulnerability had turned into frustration– which in turn transformed into anger that was promptly aimed at the man sitting across from her. “Why do you care so much, anyways? You hardly gave a shit before,” Hestia huffed as her cheeks turned red. “You trying to catch me off guard or something?”

Nordrin stared at her, and then promptly barked out a laugh. The restaurant's few other patrons glanced over at their table.

"There's that fire. For the record, I still don't give a shit," he said. "But Hestia Joy, moping around just because of some nosey arseholes? That doesn't add up."

Was he actually concerned for his fellow gym leader? Of course he was, you didn't spend years working with someone without developing some sense of camaraderie, even a twisted one. For Nordrin, it was unnerving to see the spunky woman acting so out of the ordinary. When she snapped at him just then it was much more like their usual interactions. If he had to play the bad guy to breathe some of the usual life back into her, he'd do so gladly.

He lifted his hands in an exaggerated shrug, but he finished his next sentence with a toothy smirk. "If you don't want to talk about it, we won't talk about it. I'm no shrink after all. But when I see a fire that looks like it's going out it makes me want to stoke it, is all."

Nordrin’s response only drew out a deeper, much more crimson blush from Hestia’s cheeks. So, that had been his plan– to nag her enough just to break her facade. Of course, that was just like him. She gave him a deadly scowl, one that could kill, before she reached over to her glass of beer. Her intrusive thoughts begged her to just chunk it at him. Instead, she tossed back what remained of the stout and slammed the glass down on the table.

“You’re an asshole,” she grumbled, half-defeated as she turned to dig through her purse. Her haphazard rummaging ended with her producing a wad of money– which was enough to pay for the meal, drink, and provide a hefty enough tip. She slammed that down on the table as well before she shot up from her seat and glared down at him.

“Thanks for the food, but next time you should add a little bit more Pecha,” she snapped. Before Nordrin could reply, she turned on her heel and left.

He watched her go, all the way through the restaurant until the doors closed behind her. Then he gathered up the dishes, nodding for her table's server to come back and grab the cash. The waitress glanced at Nordrin, and chanced a comment.

"You blew it, boss," she said, raising an eyebrow at him. The two of them made their way back towards the kitchen.

"Ha? How so?"

"Well you were trying to cheer her up, right? Seems like you just pissed her off."

She was surprised when Nordrin laughed. "Seems like it worked to me. She didn't leave with that mopey expression on after all."

The waitress sighed, figuring she wouldn't have been able to understand her boss' thought process even if she tried. Once Nordrin had freed his hands he clapped them loudly together, getting the attention of the staff that had been not-so-subtly watching the two gym leaders earlier.

"Alright, chop chop! Show's over, back to work!"

---

Present day.

The sudden call itself did not come as a surprise. Nordrin had been waiting for further word from the chairman, whether it was good news or bad news. Some kind of update at the very least. After a week of silence from the man, the chance of the eventual call being "good news" was almost completely diminished. He did not, however, expect the call to asking for help.

"What-" he managed to ask, just before the call dropped. Hung up on, probably in order to ring the other gym leaders. The quick, frantic message had barely processed in Nordrin's head, and he felt a vein of frustration become visible on his forehead once it sunk in.

"Do you know how fucking far Wyndon is from Hulbury?!" the leader shouted into the dead receiver, just before chucking it in frustration. Luckily Puck had flitted into the kitchen at the sound of his trainer's agitated voice and he caught the phone before it struck the wall, flying it back over to Nordrin. The fairy leader pointed at the Ribombee, commanding him to, "get some of the others and meet me 'round the front, now!"

Puck gave him a chirp and salute, speeding away to sound the call to the other Pokémon. Nordrin ripped off his apron and made to leave the kitchen. It was another slow day, though as Hestia predicted business had picked up since they spoke - probably due to Iris entertaining the first challengers. That was today, wasn't it? And a robbery now, of all times?

"Trouble again, chef?" One of the cooks asked as the leader walked by.

"Of course," Nordrin scoffed. He stormed through the gym, dialing the city's taxi service as he did and demanding their swiftest Corviknight. If emergency calls and meetings were going to be a thing for the future, he'd have to invest in a flying Pokémon large enough to carry him on short notice. As it was now, at least he'd have a ride waiting.

When he exited, he found the taxi just touching down and a group of his own Pokémon ready to go. They were returned to their Pokéballs and Nordrin hopped into the cab before it landed, barking the destination: Wyndon.

Hey, hey you! Come read me please!

Welcome to the site! Enjoy your stay!