The Crystal [pg-16]

[RainbowMunchies]

Talulah was a bit annoyed when Jen glanced back, then dashed out of sight so quickly. Talulah herself was fast, but between her armor and Lise, she couldn't quite keep up with the little ninja and her bouncing pig. With a huff, she layed low, waiting for a better chance when the diversion had come fully under way.

Their chance actually arrived rather quickly. With the sound of screeching metal, Talulah and Lise felt the earth beneath them shake, and then a massive sort of explosion occur practically under Leon's feet. Talulah's eyes grew wide, but she wasn't about to waste this chance that Kabutops and Leon had given them. Grabbing up Lise and putting him on her back, she made a dash for the town, not looking up or around her the entire way. She could feel Lise shivering, and worried for a moment that perhaps he'd be useless on this mission. Talulah herself felt her nerves giving way. The power Kabutops had managed to release still rang in her head and pounded in the very ground she ran on.

Her fears were quelled a bit when they reached the town. Ducking into an alleyway, Talulah set Lise down. They wouldn't have to do any more sprinting if they were lucky-- just keep out of the way of civilians. Hitting the ground, Lise straightened himself, showing that he was indeed ready to do what needed to be done, regardless of how pointless he thought it was. If this was what Talulah wanted, it was what he would go along with.

Talulah wondered just that. What was the point of this? No one had ever given her a straight answer-- not even her father. But now was not the time. She needed to steal first, and think later.

Jen and Spoink were far out of sight. This was no surprise to Talulah, but she still wished she had an idea of where the two had gone. It would certainly make it easier to know what direction to head in. Below her, Lise sniffed the air, sensing the direction the two had gone, and in turn which direction he and Talulah should take. He turned, and headed farther down the alleyway, with his partner in tow.

The alleyway ended, and Lise stepped back to allow Talulah to glance around the corner. In the distance, the fighting could be heard. Good, the diversion was still occurring. Even better, the street was clear. No doubt every one was on the other side of town by now, curious as to what all that noise was.

Slinking around the corner to the best of their abilities, Talulah found herself facing a shop on the other side of the street. Looking down at Lise, she nodded, and he nodded back up at her. They dashed forward, and Talulah tried the door. Locked, of course. Pulling out her sword, she rammed it through the glass of the window, before retracting and punching her armored fist through. From there, it was merely slipping inside and shoving all she and Lise could find into a large sack they found behind the counter.

 

[seal]

Marc walked away from the Witherian camp. His loyalty mission was to go into an Arleon camp and assassinate a general of their army. Marc smirked, this wouldn't take long. Marc and Houndoom walked through a forest, where he got lost a couple of times. Finally the forest ended on top of a hill. Marc looked down and saw the Arleon camp. All the usual hustle and bustle of war was there but soon activity would stop for the night.

Marc walked down into the camp and because the guard knew he was an Arleon soldier he was allowed in with ease. He walked through the camp with most of the soldiers offering him a cheery "Hello." Marc waited until night and picked his time to go into the General's tent. he put on a pair of gloves so no blood spilt on him. He sneaked up on him, asleep in the bed, covered his mouth and stabbed him in the heart with a knife. The general died instantly and nobody was any the wiser. Marc found a large cup near the General's table and filled it with blood. He then poured the blood on the guard who was sleeping outside the tent and put the bloody knife in his hand. Marc then hid the gloves in his bag and ran to the guard at the entrance to the camp. "I believe the General has been murdered by the guard outside his tent." said Marc.

The guard ran to the tent and Marc and Houndoom made a quick getaway. Now onto meeting the rest of them in that town they were talking about.

 

[MasterLink742]

Jen looked back at ran towards the town. Talulah shortly followed.
"Well, here we go." Blade said to Lametto.
Lametto nodded in reply.
The two girls were heading in different directions. Blade was supposed to protect both of them, but he couldn't do that if they were split up.
"Lametto, you go with Talulah and Lise, I'll go after Jen and Spoink. If you encounter any trouble, tell me telepathically. Then tell Leon." Blade said, and Lametto nodded back.
Blade adjusted his direction to pursue Jen, and shortly afterwards, the ground started shaking. Blade lost his footing and started to fall, but shifted his balance to turn the fall into a roll.
What was that?! Blade thought and looked around. There he saw Leon's and Kabutops' distraction, and parts of earth were coming up around Leon.
Lametto, you okay?
[Just fine... I think. I kinda lost Talulah, but it won't be hard to find them.]
That's fine, just make sure you find her.
Blade made his way to where he thought there might be some shops. There he might find Jen. He soon made his way to what looked like a town square. Blade saw a few shops, and looked in through the windows. At the third store, which seemed to be a general store, Blade finally saw Jen, who was loading supplies into a bag.
"Aha, there you are." Blade said quietly to himself.
Blade opened the door to the store. And approached Jen.
"Need any help?" Blade said, loud enough for Jen to her him clearly, but quiet enough to make sure no one near them would've heard them.

That's fine, just make sure you find her.
[Alright.]Lametto thought, [Time to find Talulah and Lise]
Lametto wandered through the streets, looking for Talulah.
Normally, a Ralts is very timid and will hide if there is danger. However, Lametto had been trained, just as his master, Blade had. Lametto, had trained to be braver, and would run under few circumstances. Now, Lametto was alone, in a foreign place. He was getting kinda jumpy... Lametto kept getting lost, down dead-end back alleys, and some other places he needed to avoid, to avoid being seen. Finally Lametto came across a deserted street. He looked around, then heard some glass shattering. Lametto was started, then looked in that direction, and saw Lise entering a shop.
[Finally!] Lametto said relieved.
Lametto made it to the shop and stepped inside.
[Lise! I found you!] Lametto was overjoyed to have found some friends.

 

[Kon~]

Jen's head jerked up at the sound of Blade's voice, and she turned gratefully, still working to fill the sack.

"How much more do you think we'll need?" she asked, gesturing towards the masses of supplies laid upon the shelves, ranging from medical to general to Mew knows what. The bag in her hand was straining at the seams with food and bandages, and she saw Spoink frowning at her from the corner of her eye.

[Greedy,] was all he said. She shot him a glare and then held out the filled sack for Blade to take, already reaching for a second.

 

[X75flames]

Kabutops was now making a beeline for Leon. He hopped that he hadn't pissed him off too much. Leon waited for Kabutops to get closer, and dived out of the way. Unfortunately, he dived too late, and Kabutops side stepped, then caught his ankle with the broad side of his blade. Leon flipped through the air, and landed on his back. He turned to see Kabutops coming back after him, and rolled to his feet, and jumped again.

Kabutops ran after Leon's flailing body. Leon landed, and looked at him. Kabutops rested his scythes on the ground as he ran. Sparks started to fly, as what seemed Leon's immanent decapitation drew nearer. Leon rolled from the ground to his feet, and jumped back into the air. Kabutops shifted his weight, and made a large circle to Leon.

Leon turned to see Kabutops. It would take him awhile to get to him. Leon looked out over the crowd that had formed. He thought he saw some of his team, and heard some soft footsteps of Kabutops screeching. The metal on ground sound grew louder, and Leon turned to his pokemon.

Kanbutops was closing in again, and was almost sure that he would doge again. Leon, instead, lowered his sword, with his hands high in the air. He flicked his hands, and sent dirt flying from the tip of his blade. Kabutops got hit in the eyes with the dirt, and stopped running. Purple once again glowed from his closed eye, shining through his eyelids. A circle rose around Kabutops as the ground shook from being torn apart again.

Leon felt bad for having to blind his friend, but he had to get rid of the crowd. Kabutops used Anchant power again, and the world around glowed with a ominous purple. Leon ducked, and rocks went flying over his head. He turned to see what the civilians were doing. Some stayed, but most fled from the rocks that soared at them.

 

[MasterLink742]

"How much more do you think we'll need?" Jen asked, gesturing towards the masses of supplies laid upon the shelves, handing Blade an already filled sack of goods.

"Well... From the looks of it," Blade said, examining the contents of the sack, "I think we are good on bandages and food. We still need clothing. But Talulah may have found that. We should grab some clothes, just in case." Blade said. "You can stay here and collect some more supplies, if you want, or you can come with me to find some other shops."
Blade didn't wait for an answer. He approached the moonlit street, and looked around. To the right, was a weapon shop. On the left was a tailor.
Blade approached the weapon shop first. He checked the door, but it was locked.
Big surprise. Blade thought.
He broke the glass with the hilt of the sword, and stepped inside. There he found what he was looking for. Sharpening stones. He took a sack from under the counter and filled it full of them. Looking around for any more, Blade saw something. A halberd. Beautifully crafted at that.
Looks like that might be made for a high ranking military official. Might as well take it. Blade thought.
He left the shop with the sharpening stones in one hand and the halberd on his back.
Blade approached the tailor, and waited for Jen.

 

[RainbowMunchies]

Lise turned at the Ralt's telepathy, letting out a silent cheer and tapping on Talulah's armor to make her aware of the new arrival. Talulah turned, and grunted to the Lametto before continuing her work.

It seemed they'd stumbled upon a tailors. It wasn't much for supplies, but plenty of clothes were inside. She sighed. Of course she'd be the one to get to gather something as lame as clothing.

"Okay Lise," she muttered, heading towards the mannequin behind the counter. A rather gaudy dress hung on it. "Grab all the manly clothes you can find. I guess we'll need disguises eventually. I'll get clothes for me and Jen."

She ripped the dress off the standing mannequin as quickly and carefully as possible. It came off intact. It seemed it had been a floor model of sorts, and a very nice dress. She couldn't read the price tag, but she knew it wouldn't be a small number.

Lise wandered around, grabbing several pairs of pants and shirts. He couldn't really see them, but he bunched the stiff fabric up in his flippers nonetheless, waddling back to Talulah, who'd managed to find and shove three more dresses into the bag.

Glancing around, it seemed they'd all but cleaned out the store. Perhaps they should stop by the shoemakers across the street? She debated it, looking down at the little Ralts.

"Is there any way you can tell us how much time we have left?" she asked it, looking across the cobblestone road at the shoes in the window. It was nice that everything was nearby at least. She hoped Jen was having the same amount of luck.

 

[Kon~]

Gritting her teeth, Jen watched Blade leave. She wondered briefly what Talulah was up to and how much supplies they'd gathered between them, and then shook her head, scooping a few more things into the sack.

[Jen, if we're disguising ourselves...] Spoink said slyly, hopping up next to the till. Jen paused - taking what they needed was one thing, but stealing money? She supposed they would need some in the future... and no one was around right now...

Growling at herself, she opened the till and threw handfuls of coins into the sack, ignoring their clinking and stifling it with bundles of more sacks. She could hardly even see what she was picking up now, but somehow the sack filled fast. Darting out of the shop, she saw Blade waiting outside a tailor and, still ignoring the slight clinking from her sack, she forced her way into the shop, smashing a window with her bare fist and ignoring the shards that forced themselves into her skin. She was so angry for no apparent reason that she didn't seem to feel it. Too late, Jen recognised the building chaos and struggled as it manifested itself.

"Grab everything you can. We're leaving as soon as possible. And where the hell is Talulah? Silly girl she is anyway. And you, you idiot. Hurry!" Jen's voice, low and menacing, sounded out of place, especially when hurling insults at people. She stuffed what little room was left in the sack with clothes and grinned when no more could she hear the tell-tale rattle of coins. Without even waiting for Blade to follow, she darted back into the alleyways she had used to enter the city and began pounding towards the cave. Spoink followed with a joyful grunt.

[It's been a while since I saw you like this. I prefer it.] he said with a hint of glee in his voice. Jen flashed him a smirk and a low giggle. Chaos was free once more.

 

[X75flames]

Leon watched as the villagers ran off. It was load enough with all the screaming that they should be ok talking now. "Kabutops, go find someone, and head back to the cave. If they splat up, I want them safe." Leon saw a nod, and then watched as Kabutops ran off again. Leon now turned around, and darted off down some alleyways. He was getting himself horribly lost, but it didn't matter. Leon stopped to inspect a window. It was broken, maybe from Kabutops, but more likely from one of his squad. Leon jumped into the building, and landed with a thud on the broken glass inside. He quickly looked up, "Talulah, times up. Let's go!" Leon looked around a bit more and found that Ralts. "Lametto tell Blade to keep an eye out for Kabutops."

Kabutops dashed around the city, looking for signs of his squad. There was a lot of panic, some people, but little collateral damage. If he could start a riot, then their exsit would be much smother. Kabutops nearly ran into someone. He took a step back and found out it was Jen, leaving the city with haste. [Good riddance Demon.]

Kabutops kept going, until he found a store, broken into. He looked across the street, and found too more. Inside the third was a lonely Blade. Kabutops lept in with little effort, and looked at Blade. [We need to leave.] Even though he couldn't understand him, he hopped that it would help get some point across.

 

[MasterLink742]

Jen punched the window, shredding up her hand.
"Grab everything you can. We're leaving as soon as possible. And where the hell is Talulah? Silly girl she is anyway. And you, you idiot. Hurry!"

Blade was speechless
What the hell did she just say?
Blade tried to stop her and found out what had gotten into her, but it was too late, she was gone.
[Hey, Blade look out for Kabutops, it's time to go.]
Thanks.
I'll worry about this later...
Blade hurried inside, and grabbed some clothes for a disguise. Soon afterwards, Kabutops appeared, gesturing for him to get moving.
Okay, there's Kabutops, now time to get out of here. Blade thought as he headed out of the city.

 

[RainbowMunchies]

No time for shoes. Ah well, the dresses were too long for anyone to see them anyway. Leon and Blade would just have to figure something out. Nodding to Leon, she looked around and located Lise in the corner, trying to pull a shelf of pants down.

"Lise, we have plenty of pants," she called over to the pokemon, hefting the sack of clothes over her shoulder. "C'mon!"

He turned and stared at her for a long moment, as if considering what she said. For half a second, Talulah was going to go get him, but he finally waddled over, looking up at her apologetically. She shrugged, before turning back to Leon.

"Alright, ready when you are."

 

[seal]

Marc sped out of the camp of the Arleons. He was thinking how easy it had been to fool them into believing that guard murdered their general. Marc sped through the forest in between the camp and his final destination. The forest was filled with tall trees. It was the type of surroundings Marc had grown used to during years of travel. Despite this he still managed to get lost twice but he's not the greatest map reader ever. Houndoom was in a good mood and spent the journey through the forest snapping at every wild Pokemon that passed by.

Eventually they left the forest and Marc saw the camp where he'd stayed the previous night. Marc rested for a moment and had some food. He was about halfway there to the village. Soon he'd meet up with the rest of the Witherian camp. After him and Houndoom finished their meal they left the cave and headed towards the city. They passed over some fields and despite it being virtually impossible to get lost on that type of terrain, Marc still managed it. Thankfully he blindly took a shortcut and cut off a good amount of his journey. Marc was still a bit tired from the events of earlier that evening.

Eventually Marc saw the town ahead of him and entered the town to search for his new companions. He passed multiple shops, some of which seemed to have been stolen from recently. Marc ignored this and searched the town further. Marc searched every narrow street but couldn't find anyone who was a Witherian. Marc didn't lose his temper about not being able to find things again and instead followed Marc's instructions to bring a sack of food from the town. Marc soon found a butchers, or Houndoom did.

Marc went inside. It was empty so Leon's show was still on. Marc stuffed as much meat as possible into the sack he'd been given. Houndoom was taking every bit of meat that wasn't in the sack whenever Marc's back was turned. Once Marc had taken all the meat from the butchers' shop, him and Houndoom ran as fast as possible out of town. After having left town he walked through the fields again, this time not getting lost for twenty minutes. Then he got lost. Once he found his way again he was certain the bag felt lighter. He also noticed Houndoom was insisting of being as near to the bag as possible. After another 5 minutes of walking Marc arrived back at the cave.

 

[X75flames]

OOC: Anyone can come back and fight, but RM, this is what happens when you get stuck with me :P



Leon watched as Talulah argued with Lise for awhile, then turned to him. "Alright, ready when you are."

Leon jumped back out through the window, and looked down the street. Everyone was gone. Leon wondered what had happened to the people who were watching while he and Kabutops ran. There was a faint sound coming from the town square, and an orange glow on the horizon. Leon went over a street, and looked down the road to see what all the commotion was about. A large group of people stood around one man who was shouting. A fair few of them had torches, and some others had who knows what hidden by the people around them.

Leon ran back to the store, "We have to go, now!" Leon watched the streets around them waiting for Talulah to get back to the cave.

Kabutops watched as Blade ran off, and was about to follow him when something hit him. He stumbled forwards and turned around to see what had attacked him. He saw a little kid with another rock in his hand. The boy looked like he couldn't even talk yet. Kabutops sighed, and lifted the boy up. He didn't like getting touched to much, and tossed the other rock at Kabutops. Kabutops set the boy down, hanging from a lamppost. He now turned again to return to the cave when the boy started to cry. Kabutops spun around at a new sound. A small group of people were coming down the road.

 

[the blazing cellist]

After having been admitted into the Witherian faction, leck made his way to a nearby camp to rest. The events that had unfolded earlier had left both him and his rhydon exhausted. after releasing the wild rhydon, leck collapsed in his tent. He slept until early next morning. As he woke, he stretched and looked around to notice his armor had been fixed and polished, his rhydon lying outside with a tremendous bowl of what had been food. The rhydon rolled over, half opened one eye to look at leck, then went back to sleep. Leck was about to go back to sleep when he noticed he hadnt eaten in what felt like days. He wandered over to the storage tent, grabbed some meat, and cooked it over a fire back at his tent. He also stole some spices, the scent of delicious cooking meat drifted through the camp leaving everyone hungry and wanting a little of whatever it was that was making the intoxicating scent.

 

[RainbowMunchies]

Talulah bounded out the window, turning around to lift Lise over the broken glass. He was far too short to bound up and over without ripping his stomach out. She was debating putting him on her back, but he seemed to want down. With a sigh, she sat him on the ground free of glass outside the store, standing up quickly to find where Leon had disappeared to.

Great timing. Spotting Leon, she began to step forward, but stopped short when a glow caught the outside of her vision. Hearing a shout, and then Lise peeping nervously beside her, she turned to see a mob of torches heading towards them.

Oh great, civilians with torches. Peachy.

"Leon, let's get out of here. I'm not fighting any innocent civilians."

She thought of all the children in the daycare back home. If they were coming at her with torches, she couldn't imagine slaying them, or anything of the sort. She began to head back towards the other side of the street, where the dark alley they'd slipped up to begin with offered a safe, dark hiding spot. For the moment at least.

Talulah could hear Lise's flippers slapping along beside her, heading towards the alley.

 

[X75flames]

"Leon, let's get out of here. I'm not fighting any innocent civilians."

"Go then. I'm going after Kabutops." 'And I'll take down anyone who thinks they can stop me.' Leon watched as Talulah ran off with Lise. He remembered Lametto, "So, are you coming or not?"

The baby started crying. Apparently he didn't like the lamp post too much. Kabutops kept staring down the street; no doubt they'd be coming to get him now. 'Stupid Arleons. They think that they can just make everyone bow before them.' Kabutops waited for the coming of the mob, he may finaly get to see how weak he was. The crying started to get on his nerves, so Kabutops pulled some energy out of the kid. Not enough to hurt him just make him sleep. Kabutops breathed deeply as even this slight amount of power flowed back into him. 'Maybe I'll be stronger leaving than I am now.' Kabutops couldn't help but laugh at the idea of drain all the towns folk like a bush of berries. Kabutops shook his head. Why was he so blood thirsty all of a sudden? He usually had a level head, except when with Leon.

 

[MasterLink742]

Leon looked at Lametto and said "So, are you coming or not?"
Lametto shook his head.
[No, I need to go find Blade] Lametto said telepathically.
And with that, Lametto scurried off to where he sensed Blade was.

Blade hurried through the alleys of the city. In one hand, he had a sack full of supplies in the other, a sack full of sharpening stones, and a few clothes for a disguise. On his back, he had his newly acquired halberd. To top it all off, he could hear a mob forming.
Great.
Blade had dealt with a mob before. It didn't go too well.... Many were killed. Too many.
Blade continued through the alleyways, when soon he ran into Lametto.
"There you are." Blade said.
[Yup, need help with that?] Lametto replied telepathically.
"It'd be nice..." Blade said.
Lametto nodded and then used his psychic power to take the three sacks.
"Thanks."
Blade hurried through alleyways, Lametto in tow, and turned the corner and nearly ran into Talulah. Blade avoided her, then slowed down.
"Nice to finally see a friendly face, did you find everything alright? By the way, have you seen Jen?" Blade said to Talulah.

 

[the blazing cellist]

After finishing his meal, Leck pat Rhydon on his side letting him know
it was time to get moving. Reluctantly Rhydon rolled over and got to
it's feet. Leck began the long boring task of packing his belongings.
He had heard of a group in Arleon city that he figured he could get to
pretty quickly if he made haste. He had heard of very powerful
soldiers such as a Leon and another that went by blade. He figured his
best chance was to get to that city and help them out with their
current predicament so as to earn their trust.

Days passed by and Leck was weary of road rations and traveling. He
had expected to get their much faster but had not thought of Rhydons
tremendous appetite and so had spent many hours searching for berries
and enough meat to satisfy both him and the Rhydon, but food was not
easy to come by nor was it easy to catch. He had also not considered
the terrain that he would be crossing and found him self crossing
rivers ans steep rock hills. When night fell he noticed lights off in
the distance and instantly his hopes had risen. He was not so far off
from the city as he had thought! That night he ate and slept well for
the next day was sure to be an exciting one...