OOC: OMG! O_O
Welcome back BB!!! ^__^
Yay! Our little family is united again! Well, as united as it will ever be anyway. XD I'm sorry to hear that you've had personal problems, but I'm really glad that you're back, so...welcome back. ^^ Oh, and Melissa is feeling better too! A glorious day this is! Carrot juice for all I say! *Passes around bottles*
Yeah, to those who didn't know yet; I happen to like carrot juice. ^^
Anyways, yeah, I'm one lucky dog. Today, the only thing on the agenda for our Swedish class was to read on this one book which I had already read through during the christmas holidays so I got to skip that lesson, and there was a skip hour after that so I got two extra hours of sleep this morn', didn't have to go to school til' twelve, and I only had a double lesson in Economics. *Gloats* My school so pwns all of yours! XD
Oh, and I know how vicious swans are...although you should remember that there are two species of swan (At least here in Finland), here we have the smaller, original species, quite friendly and timid by nature, and then we have those big, nasty-tempered, bullying swans who moved in from somewhere else in Europe (England maybe?). And those moved-in swans now have numbers' advantage and are picking on and killing off the original swan population! The big meanies! XO
IC:
{Ohh! Thankies, nice persons!} Kachiko exclaimed as both Reina and her pok?mon promised to help her, giggling in delight as the girl lifted her up, {My papa looks like...} she took a pause, never having been confronted with such a question before and having, for once, to ponder what papa looked like again, {Erm, my papa...well, erm, papa is really tall!} she concluded at last, {Uh-huh, really, really tall, like this...} she held her little hands as far from each other as possible, {Only bigger, and papa wears things on his legs, like this nice big person} she nodded towards Reina, {Only they are longer and not all curled up or anythin', and papa has got these big, black things beneath the blue things, and...and-} the Mawile fell silent, unable to come up with any more ways to describe papa, {And I will point out papa to you!} she repeated dutifully, nodding her head enthusiastically, the huge jaws snapping about absent-mindedly in the air before turning on their grin, {Yes! I will be the bestest pointer out of papa ever! You'll see!} for a moment, the Steel type remained silent again, smiling cheerfully while attempting to look in all directions at the same time in an effort to spot papa, her head turning so energetically that it was a wonder that her head remained attached.
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Meanwhile, 'papa', was just as busy, if not even moreso, in his search for Kachiko, plowing his way through the crowd at random, occasionally checking the vicinity of trainers with Beautiflys and Butterfrees, mostly silly-looking girls as he noted to his annoyance, in the hopes of finding the little Mawile in their vicinity, but to no avail, his frustration rapidly building. Rounding yet another corner, the boy was so preoccupied that he almost ran into someone, managing an emergency dodge at the very last minute and casting a frustrated glare at the person who had stood in his path. It was an older woman, probably at the end of her forties or possibly the beginning of her fifties, wearing all the trappings of a fake fortune teller; shawls and eyeshadow and all that nonsense that impressed guillable tourists. And sure enough, the woman soon began spouting the usual jargon;
"Ahh...I see that the fates have brought yet another lost soul to my presence." the woman said, waving her arms dramatically, "It appears that my vision was correct!"
"Out of my way!" Valen growled, being in no mood for plesantries, especially when it came to nutty old ladies whom he had nearly collided with, "I'm busy!"
"Oh, aren't we all, dearie?" the woman replied in an airy voice, seemingly paying no heed to the boy's voice, "Ah, but I hear the spirits of the otherworld, their voices are telling me that you are a spirit in need of my guidance."
"Is that so?" Valen asked in a cold voice, "Well now you hear my voice telling you to get out of my way! Save your ramblings for some guillable tourist!"
"Ramblings, are they?" the woman asked, now sounding a bit more annoyed, "Well then, how would you explain that I know..." she paused for a moment, shutting her eyes and humming something in an attempt to create a dramatical effect, emphasising the procedure with energetic hand gestures, "That you are searching for someone?" she concluded at last, her voice triumphant, "Yes, the voices of the otherworld have spoken. You are definitely searching for someone, a she perhaps?"
"None of your bussiness." Valen retorted fiercely, feeling his anger build. Who did this woman think she was, interrupting her search like that? For anyone in possession of even half a brain it was plain to see that he was searching for someone, and that 'she' thing was probably a fluke.
"Ah, so you would believe, sceptical one." the woman replied, a slight flicker of contentment audible in her voice as she clearly noticed she had struck a vein, "Yet still I maintain that it is, and that I can help you. But first, allow me to hear something more about this someone you are looknig for. She is a girl, yes. A girlfriend perhaps?"
"No she's not!" Valen retorted, now beginning to pale out of sheer anger, his hands clenched into tight fists, "Kachiko is a Mawile and my pok?mon, and there's nothing you can do to help me find her! So why don't you go tell your precious spirits that and leave me alone?"
"A Mawile, eh?" the woman replied, "Oh dearie, dearie, dear...I know all about the Mawile you seek, but since you aren't interested..." she shrugged, even this simple motion gaining an over-dramatic touch, and turned around, fully aware that the boy would stop her. And she wasn't dissapointed.
"Hold." Valen said sternly, "Are you telling me that you saw where she went?"
"Maybe..." the woman replied nonchalantly, "But my memory isn't what it once was, dearie...I can't say for sure...unless..."
"Unless?" Valen echoed, a measure of distaste evident in his voice, he knew a minor case of blackmail when he saw one.
"Unless you would allow me to do a reading for you, dearie." the woman replied, her eyes gleaming.
"And how much would this reading cost?" Valen asked dryly.
"Cost?" the woman echoed in a slightly offended tone, "What do you take me for, dearie? A common charlatan?!" she gathered up her shawls, puffing herself up self-importantly, "I, madame Ostria, am a proffessional medium. I don't charge people for readings. Now supplies and trinkets, on the other hand..." she smiled shrewdly, "Those are another matter alltogether. But it's not your money I'm after, dearie." she added, her voice gaining its familiar airiness, "It's your aura, I have never seen its like before...so strong, yet so obscured. I wish to hone my skills on it."
Valen gave a tired sigh, although it was fortunate that this old woman seemed to be too mad to make proper profit of the situation she had been given, "How long would this reading take then?" he asked irritably, "For every second I waste, finding Kachiko becomes that much harder."
"Oh, only a couple of minutes, dearie." the old woman replied, her face breaking into a smile as she took this as the boy's acceptance, beginnign to rummage amongst her shawls until she finally found what she was looking for, pulling out her hand triumphantly, a bundle of small paper slips held tightly in it "Here you go, dearie." she said, holding the bundle out to Valen, "These are karmic fortunes, choose one for yourself and your aura will see to that you choose the one which ?s right for you."
The boy merely nodded, passionlessly grabbing the first slip that came to mind and bringing it up in front of him.
"Go on, dearie." Ostria urged him, sounding almost as impatient as a little child, "Read it."
"Your sweet and bubbly personality is a constant source of joy for those around you. Watch that figure of yours and something big will happen after summer..." Valen gave the woman a blank look, "Thanks." he said sarcastically, pushing the slip back to her before beginning to walk off, "That was really enlightening."
"No! Wait!" Ostria called after the boy, grabbing him by the arm and offering the slips again, "It is as I anticipated." she explained eagerly, "Your strong aura has briefly confused the karmic essence of the fortunes. It will pass soon. Please, try another."
"Fine." Valen snapped, snatching another one of the fortunes and reading it out loud;
"Note to self, microwaves are not cat-friendly. Remember to sue producer for lacking safety instructions."
"Wait!" Ostria called, hastily snatching the slip back to herself, "That one must have gotten mixed in by accident. Here dearie, try one more time." she held out the fortunes to him in an almost pleading manner.
"Whatever!" Valen called, now feeling a good bit angry again as he snatched a third piece of paper, this time staring quietly at the words for a minute.
"Well?!" Ostria asked, almost peering over the boy's shoulder, "What does it say, dearie?"
"What your pursue will be yours but you will loose something dear."
Both remained silent for a moment, Ostria rubbing her hands together triumphantly "It worked!" she called out triumphantly, "Tis' an accurate reading, dearie, I'm sure! The spirits of the otherworld tell me so. And I must say I'm fascinated, no-one's ever gotten that one before."
"I'm so glad you're amused." Valen replied coldly, offering the slip back to the woman.
"Oh, no, no, no. I can't take that back, dearie." she replied, shaking her head and holding up both hands in refusal, "One can't take back a prediction. You keep it, dearie, it might serve to guide you in the future, ominous though it is."
"Whatever..." Valen replied, carelessly folding up the slip and putting it in his back pocket, "Now where did the Mawile go?"
"That direction, dearie." Ostria replied, pointing in the direction where Valen had been heading before the two met "Do come and tell me if that one comes true, won't you? We could have a game of poker too-" she stopped, realizing that the boy had already rushed off and shaking her head "Poor sceptic..." she said for herself, "And a rude one at that, he'll learn his lesson when the three Exeggutors of the apocalypse come for him, oh yes, he will rue the day..."
OOC: Meh, hope that was an accurate Ostria. Vincent's reaction is in my next post. ^-^