Eseka Legends: Winter's Heart

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OOC: Okay, so I didn't get an IC done yesterday. Blame it on the database, it went all screwy just before I had finished my post. T_T

And like...Melissa, I already said it in DA but, thanks so much for the comic. It really made my day. ^0^

IC:

While waiting for Koji to respond - if, indeed, the odd boy was intending to do so - Mira let her gaze wander, her feet continuing in the right direction with all the absent-minded precision of a sleepwalker. The process with Emilie could have been handled...smoother, she supposed, but at least the girl didn't seem to be seriously offended. Seem...Mira felt like kicking herself, she out of all people ought to have known how easy it was for things to seem allright while being quite the opposite. The stand-in guide made a mental note of apologizing later, unable to resist a smile at the sight of Amarezoth taking a break from being the scary Egyptian-looking guy and playing in the snow with his pokémon. The girl felt a sting of jealousy at this. Sure, she was close with her pokémon as well - well, at least she thought of it that way - but they had never been as cheerful and carefree as those three. Serenade considered the very notion of frolicking in the snow undignified and constantly fussed over the health issues concerned while Genki was...well, Genki. He would just have stared at the snow and then asked 'Frolic?' with a tone of such utter pessimism and cynicism that it would have blown off whatever enthusiaism Mira had for the prospect and would probably have made her want to go inside and sulk instead. She sighed quietly, great as her two companions were, they were so...serious all the time.

{Mira? Is something the matter?}

"Huh?" the girl once again found herself aware of having spaced out as the Kirlia's voice brought her back to focus, "Oh, no, not at all." she demonstratively waved it off with her hand, "I was just spacing out. Um...did you want something?"

{It's about Tori.} Serenade replied, {He wants to be informed if there's anything he's not supposed to see or do. So please...I know that it probably won't happen, but please try to keep him informed.}

"Fine by me." Mira remarked, shrugging and falling into silence for a moment before adding in a lower, slightly sharper voice, "This is my childhood all over again, isn't it?"

{I'm not sure I know what you mean-} Serenade began, but Mira cut him off.

"Don't give me that." she warned him in a low voice, "You've been constantly around that kid ever since we ran into him and you're fussing like no-one's business. It's because he's like I was back then, isn't it?"

The old Kirlia gave one of those long, patient sighs that Mira had grown to hate, {It is true.} he conceded, {This young man is in a similar position and I feel compelled to help him just as I couldn't leave you out in the snow. But please...don't think of him as a rival, you are still my friend and I would never abandon you for another.}

"I never said you would." Mira retorted, but she knew already that it was quite the futile argument. Serenade had noticed the hint of jealousy almost as fast as his trainer and had apparently decided to cut it off at the root. Sure, she sympathized with Tori - who wouldn't? - but it didn't change the fact that the boy was - even if it was unintentional - taking up attention which the girl deemed to be hers by right. Sure, the Kirlia's fussing annoyed her, but on some level she had grown dependent on it as well. Serenade diplomatically chose not to comment on the fact, even though these thoughts were just as clear to him, which only added to the frustration.

"Why?" she hissed out at last.

{I already told you-} Serenade began patiently, but was once again interrupted.

"Not that." Mira cut in, "I meant, why did you want to help me? Come to think of it, what were you doing in that snowstorm in the first place?"

{Mira...} Serenade began, now sounding genuinely disappointed, {I...I told you then, there are some things that must remain mine and mine alone.} he sighed, {I don't want anyone else to carry my burden. Some day you might be ready to hear the truth, but for now...please, just believe that I am your friend and will be there to support you no matter what. Now please...let's not speak further. We have already arrived at our destination.}

"I-" Mira struggled furiously against the guilt trip offered by the disappointed voice - Serenade knew everything about her, after all, and they had been together for the better part of her life. Was that still not enough for him to trust her? - but like so many time before she caved in with a sigh of forfeit, "Allright." she mumbled in the Kirlia's direction, "Sorry for asking."

She turned her attention back up, attempting to force the heavy discussion out of her system by focusing on the tour guide thing.

"Well, this is it." she announced, turning around to face the group again as she gestured towards the scenery in front of them. The shrine itself was pretty much the shape of your average church, complete with the reversed V of a roof shape and the narrow steeple. Instead of the usual symbol on the front, however, there was a large - well, as much as the rather narrow front of the building would allow - round, decorative window. The window was predominated by a symbol consisting of nine, round tail-like parts, their tips pointing in different directions while the bases combined into a smooth swirl in the middle, forming a symbol which resembled a sun, colours reaching from a yellow so bright it was almost white at the center to rich dark red at the tips, the whole thing set against an equally carefully designed background of reds and oranges, giving it the appearance of a sunrise. The rest of the front wasn't that impressive, just a dark grey stone building with a somewhat worn, light green roof. The rest of the windows were narrow slits with only regular glass on them and the whole structure was surrounded by a small graveyard, contained by a decorative black metal fence, but the whole place had a feeling of...age about it. The stone and metal were smooth and worn and even the leafless, snow-covered tree on the right seemed ancient somehow.

"The dawnbringer's shrine." Mira finished, "Nothing that special, like I said. But it looks better on the inside. Now, as I mentioned, no cameras are allowed and pokémon must be small. Also, don't touch any of the items inside or you'll end up in trouble like you couldn't imagine. Trust me, I tried. Furthermore, this is a place of worship so unless you want the chantleaders to give you the evil eye I suggest low voices and no running." she offered them all a smile, "Now that that's over with...we can go whenever you're ready."
 
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"Never saw him around town, huh?" Hakira tilted her head to the side, grinning, "Well, that's prolly 'cause he wasn't there. I traveled aaaallll the way to New Bark Town to pick up this li'l critter here, and boy was he not happy about it. I had originally wanted a Cyndaquil (burning things is always fun) but I saw Kushin here, and, well, he was just the one for me. Not that he had the same opinion I did..."

She laughed at her own statement, remembering in her mind that (un)joyous trip to Elm's laboratory. The place was an absolute mess when she arrived, looking as though it had recently been ransacked by a couple of clumsy thieves. Despite all this, the professor was positively beaming when she arrived; it was as though her presence had somehow solved the borderline terrifying conditions of the building. He eagerly lead her to where the starters were being held, urging her to pick any one she liked. She could hear his aide muttering something about how things would finally be calm with them gone (especially that little blue pain in the neck), prompting Elm to wave him off angrily and once again encourage Hakira to make a decision. Reveling in how tense the air felt, she decided to waiver for a few more minutes, despite the fact that she knew right then and there which one she wanted. She debated over the pokeballs, looking from Cyndaquil's, to Totodile's, to Chikorita's, and back over them again.

Just as the now impatient professor was about to request that she kindly hurry the heck up, she held her hand to his face, then pointed with the other one at, as the aide had so kindly referred to him, the little blue pain in the neck's pokeball. The Totodile inside looked absolutely mortified at this, and, if he'd had the chance, would have popped out of the pokeball himself in order to lodge some complaints. Complaints that were probably pretty valid. Still, he was stuck, whether he liked it or not, and Hakira made sure to remind him of that. Of course, over the years she'd discovered that what the aide had said wasn't exactly what she had expected, and little Kushin wasn't the trouble-making, prank-pulling disaster house she'd hoped (see also: assumed) he'd be. His only problem was that he was stubborn, and didn't really seem to like anybody at all.

"Back then, you didn't like me much, didja Kushin?"

{I don't very much like you now.}

The black girl sighed dramatically, holding her arms up to the sky.

"Ah, cruel fate hath play-ced us together, and hath stuck mine good self with a li'l git like you! Why cruel fate? Why?"

{I'd suggest you go and boil your head if I didn't already suspect that it was a hobby of yours.}

~~*~~

Caroline pouted at this, as though what the fire pup had suggested was incredulous. Scaring others with the pure intent of hurting them? Why, she'd never! She liked to play tricks, she liked to scare them, but only because she found it funny. Her pranks had never seriously injured anyone before, and, though this may have been a bit of naivety on her part, she truly believed that no ghost playing pranks for fun would ever seriously mean to do someone too much bodily harm. Sure, there was tripping, or maybe walking into a wall, but she'd never even considered seriously hurting a person to be even the slightest bit funny, and she was quite sure Cecil didn't either. Or, at least, she hoped he didn't.

{Ah, yes, yes, that's right, Arrrthur. Seeing a frightened look on another's face is something I find quite funny; it leaves a sort of feeling of accomplishment, and I happily laugh. It's mostly things that one might consider... childish. Items walking on their own, tripping over something that isn't there, making spooooooky voices... Some things are more complicated than that though, but the end result isn't particularly dangerous,} she spun around, {Pulling off a trick just right, and seeing the results, it's all very exhilarating for me. And the end result is usually very funny. I do love to laugh, you see.} She paused, {Oh, Arrrthur! What makes you laugh? What are the silly things in this world that you find amusing?}
 
Amarezoth looked at Emilie who seemed to watch the little fight with his Pokémon. Wasn´t it normal to play with his friends? For Amarezoth it was quiet normal, his family had teached him to be kind and take care of his p in his own way. Even if he didn´t look like it, he had strong feeling about this two followers. Family... I´de never thought that i would think about them ever again. Time changes...

"Having fun? I'm glad to see that the treatment for your Raichu worked out," Emilie said. Amarezoth looked up to her. He didn´t knew what the girl was thinking but he was a bit confused. Everybody seemed to have good Pokémon, but Amarezoth realized that nobody did act with his Pokémon like him. "Of course i have fun with my friends." he answered quick to the girls question. "What´s about you and your Pokémon? Don´t you have a good relationship to them?" Sphinx was going to Emilie and rattled a little bit, smooching with her legs. Of course it was a bit irregular, cuddling a panther like Persian but Sphinx just felled to do something like that.

Thunder again climbed up his trainer on the front. He dug his claws into Amarezoth clothes and started to cuddle with his vest. [You are warm, Ama...] "Yeah, maybe..." [When did you do you last pray?] "It has been a while." [You could do it now. We are reaching the shrine.] "Oh..."
 
OOC: *drags herself here* It's been a bit slow here lately, hasn't it? XD And you're very welcome Alter! The comic was fun to draw. ^^


Emilie
~~~~~~~

As Amarezoth's Persian began to come toward Emilie, she thought it was a bit alarming at first. It wasn't everyday that a large cat pokemon rubbed itself against you. She smiled a little in spite of herself once she realized that it was being friendly and she was being silly. Amarezoth seemed a bit confused about Emilie's fascination with he and his pokemon's playing, so Emilie figured an explanation was in order. She paused for a moment.

"W-well... my pokemon and I get along but...," she trailed off, not sure how to put it, "We're not very close; at least not like that." What was wrong with her? Just a moment ago, she was reasoning how undignified it would be to roll around on the ground with her pokemon. Now though... she felt a small sting of embarrassment. She hated that feeling, and she couldn't understand why she was feeling it.

Thankfully, they had finally reached the shrine, and so Emilie had an excuse to get out of this conversation. Her face reddening a little, she spoke to Amarezoth again. "Looks like we're at the shrine; I'd better go research it a bit," she said, staring not at the young man, but the ground near her feet. With that she walked away from Amarezoth and his pokemon, and placed herself near Mira so that she could take in any information she could get.

The shrine itself was quite simple on the outside. Mira was right in saying that it wasn't any great cathedral. Emilie stared at the sun-like pattern in the decorative glass window. It was the Dawnbringer's Shrine, after all, but Emilie wondered what exactly made them put nine points on the sun. Why not ten? Or eight? These were questions researchers asked themselves.

She would have to put Arthur away though. While he wasn't the size of a Snorlax, he was a bit on the pudgy side, and he did scare easily. Emilie walked over to Arthur, Caroline, and Edgar.

"Sorry to cut the conversation short, but I need you to return, Arthur," Emilie said to the pup. She didn't expect him to have a problem with it, he never liked being out with others.

Arthur blinked for a moment. He had been about to answer Caroline's question! {But I... oh, okay,} he said with a small note of disappointment in his voice, {Just a second!} He turned back to Caroline and barked his answer quickly, {I think people falling over is funny too, and I also think people making silly mistakes is funny too! I h-hope we get to t-talk again sometime.} His voice sounded a bit nervous in the latter part, but he was still sure.

Emilie paused for a moment, more than a little surprised, then raised her hand up with her pokeball. "Return," she said, and Arthur was swallowed up by a glowing, red light.

Edgar blinked, a little overwhelmed by the mixture of emotions. He floated up to his usual spot near Emilie's shoulder.

"I'm ready to go in," Emilie said to Mira with an excited smile.
 
[OoC]
-happy skittle- Mika beat Tales of the Abyss today. And she rebeat Tales of Legendia. -luffs the Tales games- Now I just need my Wii to come in so I can play Tales of Symphonia mores! And then I need to get Tales of Destiny!

>> and Eseka is not being a stubborn pill. The pages are loading again~ -happy dance-

[IC]

Koji had calmed down considerably, the pink ball of fluff wobbling out of his arms and toddled over to Mira's calf and after a bit of squeaking and a bit of hard work, the baby skittered up to her new mama's shoulder, nuzzling into said shoulder til she got the attention she believed she both deserved and wanted. It wasn't that hard for an igglybuff to get attentions; it was after all, just a cute little baby pokemon who needed lovin just because they were babies.

But she wasn't there for long. When they got to the temple, the puffball was recalled and Koji slyly slipped his hands into a pair of gloves. Now, while it wasn't obvious, these gloves had a special camera built into the finger tip. It was completely invisible, at least it was supossed to be other than the little lens, and he got a quick picture of the exterior of the temple from his phone before pocketing it after getting a very very not-happy glare from a tempwatcher outside doing whatever it was they did.

Nodding lightly at Mira's words, he crossed his arms and waited for someone else to go inside. It'd be easier to get the tiny pictures if he was in the middle of the group as opposed to being on either end of the group. This was... big. He couldn't muss this up.
 
Occ: This thread has slowed down a bit, hasn´t it? <_<

Was Emillie red in the face? He wasn´t sure what he should think about that. They had reached the shrine and Mira had explained the rules of the old temple. "OK my big cat, i think you should return for now." [But Amarezoth, i want to...] the Persian said, vanishing in a flashy light. "So big mouse, it´s your turn..." [Wait Ama! I have to talk to someone. I come back soon, OK?] "No Thunder i have to return you now..." Amarezoth said angrily. Why are they suddenly causing problems? he thought for himself. He darted at the orange Pokémon with his pokeball and return Thunder as like as Sphinx. He was carefully not to show the pokeballs to the other group members. They had a purple color and the rocket sign was seen on it.

He held them very carefully in his hands so that nobody could see anything. He looked at his arm device and set off the sound. He didn´t need noise in a temple like this. Then he walked up to Mira, standing next to her and watching the shrine. His face darkened again and he got his old cold vista. With his purple eyes he watched the scenery and took a good look at the old building. "I am ready to go in, Mira." he said calm and cold.
 
OOC: Ehh..yeah, it has. Sorry about that, I was just kind of waiting for people besides Melissa and Mika actually acknowledging the arrival at the shrine. That and I was trying not to leave our continuous absentees (Plushie and Yibber) too far behind, but...I do believe that it's time for another...

IC:

"Right." Mira replied to the others, noting the amusing contrast in Amarezoth's cold and indifferent tone and the excitement in Emilie's, unable to resist smiling a little, "In we go then, just a moment."

The girl paused, turning around and digging around in her pockets for a moment, "Genki!" she called out, knowing that the Swinub was somewhere within hearing range like always, "Come over here, will you?!"

In response...nothing whatsoever happened, Mira spending a few awkward moments just waiting before she decided to throw in the bait, "I've got your food here." she remarked in a level voice, pulling out her hand from her pocket and holding out the fistfull of orangeish pokefood pellets she had dug out.

The specifics of what happened next were quite hard to follow, but the fact remained that the empty spot of ground in front of Mira had - within a matter of seconds - been occupied by a considerable amount of hungry Swinub, Genki charging at the food with the speed of a pouncing Persian, and devouring it just as fast.

{Is that all?} he remarked nonchalantly, muching on the remains as mira wiped the worst of the Swinub drool off on the snow.

"Only if you don't behave." the girl replied, pulling out a pokéball and pointing it at the little pig, "Genki, return."

Having recalled the ground type, she turned around again, walking up to the shrine doors "Allright, now that that's settled, follow me." with that, she pushed the doors open, feeling the rush of warm air strike her face and effectively remind her just how cold it had been outside. Absent-mindedly stamping off the snow froom her boots before she stepped inside, Mira blinked a bit as her eyes adjusted to the lighting inside.

For being the Dawnbringer's shrine, the building certainly was rather dark by interior, with its plain stone walls and narrow slit windows, but what the place lacked in natural lighting it certainly made up for with decoration. The usual wooden benches that one would have expected to find had been moved to stand discreetly by the walls of the single room, leaving a large, open space in the centre. The faithful certainly hadn't let this space go to waste, however, as tall brass chandeliers had been arranged across the space, the countless lit candles spreading a warm glow around them which seemed to fill the whole room with a pleasant, warm haze, glinting in the various gilded objects - chalices, statuettes of important people Mira couldn't for the life of her recognize, and a number of objects whose true shapes were obscured. At the very front was a sizeable altar behind which someone had set up an intricate formation of chandelierless candles, kept away from the floor only by small, discreet protective sheets beneath them. In the light of this formation, just barely visible beyond the haze, an alcove had been built into the wall, only to be dominated by the single painting that occupied it. On the left side, a small group of humans was huddled on the snow-covered ground, on the right-side, a fierce blizzard was raging, beneath which one could make out the vague shape of a light blue giant lacking any clear shape. A snowflake-arm was reaching for the humans, but its eyes - two yellow dots amongst the snowflakes - were focused elsewhere, glaring menacingly towards the centre of the picture where a brilliant sunrise was depicted, nine rays of light penetrating the black night sky that dominated the rest of the picture. Part of the sun had been drawn with a slightly different colour, allowing a careful viewer to distinguish the rough shape of a head in the middle of the sunrise, its two, narrow red eyes observing the scene and a beam resembling a pair of sizeable paws stretching out in the middle, separating the giant from the humans who seemed to be staring in at the peculiar sun creature with a mixture of fear and awe. It was a rather odd painting, and Mira had never quite understood it, but apparently it was a big thing for the worshippers, filled with religious symbolism or whatever.

"Well..." she remarked to no-one in particular, slipping off her coat and tucking it under her arm as she felt the heat building up, vaguely aware of the mumbling and chants of people within the haze "This is the shrine from the inside. Now, like I said you shouldn't touch any of the things here, and-"

"Dawnbringer's grace, you AGAIN?!"

Mira flinched at the male voice that rang out painfully close to her ear, twirling around just in time to spot the one chantleader she had hoped not to run into, "Umm..." she began, slowly backing away and trying to avoid the accusing stare of the older gentleman with the bald head and bushy, dark brown eyebrows - not to mention the equally impressive moustache beneath his nose - that stood in front of her, his light blue eyes - disproportionately small compared to the bulk that hung about his body - already staring at her with suspicion, "You just have a look around the shrine, don't touch anything and I'll be outside securing the-"

"Don't start that with me, miss Tanglebrook." the chantleader interrupted, his eyes narrowing further, "You might have gotten away last time, but even High Priestess Dahlia's granddaughter must obey the rules! Now hand back that statuette you stole!"

"Say what?!" Mira replied, nonplused.

"You heard me!" the chantleader thundered, his moustache moving furiously back and forth, "The snow spirit statuette you were fingering last time!" his glare intensified, and the girl was painfully aware of the way the other worshippers in the shrine were gathering up, obscure shapes between the candles, "You seem rather fond of it, and now it's gone and here you are, looking like you've just robbed the national treasury."

{Mira.} Serenade remarked, {Please tell me you didn't-}

"Of course I didn't!" the girl snapped irritably, the colour rushing up her cheeks, "What kind of a kleptomaniac do you take me for?"

"In that case..." the chantleader remarked casually, "You wouldn't mind if I inspected that, would you?"

"Of course I would!" Mira protested shrilly, "I haven't done anything, and you've certainly got no right to 'inspect' me, you-you dirty old letch! He can't do that, right?" she turned to the group for support, "I mean, you saw that I didn't take anything, right?"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, far above the heated argument shaking the walls of the shrine, a small, intricately designed Togetic statuette floated discreetly towards the steeple, accompanied by the soft flutter of wings.

OOC: Okay, sort of a random conflict but I needed a way to cut the post up. Whoever feels like noticing the disappearing statuette is free to do so, otherwise I'll just resolve the conflict however. ^^
 
OOC: Hey... no one's posted yet! XD Methinks Emilie will be too entranced by the whole place to notice the statuette. ^^;


Emilie
~~~~~~~

Emilie was an odd sort of person. She was always calm and sober, a real stick-in-the-mud when it came to fun. However, there was one thing that set free the kid within her, and that was learning about artifacts and ancient mythology. Her eyes would get this sort of sparkle to them, and she really could never stop smiling. To most it probably seemed very strange, but Emilie's life had always been about learning and old things from centuries past.

As they entered the shrine, it was not like entering a candystore; no, that would be more Mira's style. It was like entering a theme park. It was something rare and special, and it was non-stop fun that was, to Emilie, like riding a huge rollercoaster.

"Oh...," she said in an awed voice. Mira was right; all of the goodies were inside. Emilie was utterly captivated by the statuettes and the decorations and the painting that was so impressive. She practically ached inside to know the backstory of the painting and its underlying meanings.

Edgar felt the same way-- not that he had much of a choice though. He noticed that Emilie was only ever truly happy when she was dealing with these odd places. The rest of the time she always felt so... incomplete. Edgar sometimes wondered why she felt this way; it was an odd feeling to decipher.

Emilie was absorbing herself into looking at the painting when suddenly she was brought back to reality by a man speaking angrily with Mira, who seemed equally as upset. The girl straightened herself up and looked over to the two, apparently agruing over whether or not Mira had stolen something.

"Well," replied Emilie as Mira turned to the group for support, "Honestly I've been looking elsewhere... but I don't believe Mira would steal a statuette at the beginning of a tour. She would have to carry and hide it for the rest of the time; it could easily be discovered by the rest of us. In conclusion, I find it highly unlikely."
 
occ: Sorry that i didn´t post for a while. I was very busy, and somehow i waited for others to post. Would be fine if someone except Alter and Azu posts.

IC:

As they entered the Shrine and Amarezoth felled the warmth and saw the dark corridors, he felled just like home. Enjoying the mystic aura of the temple and fascinated by the pictures and old artifacts, he started to relax. Finally... i got some restfulness... he thought. His look was catched by a very old picture. It showed how humans preyed to a irrecognizable goddess. "My god! Is this a picture of the demon goddess Xelo´thath, the goddess of illusion?" he said to himself. Of course he knew it couldn´t be true, a temple wouldn´t have a picture of a demon. OK, it wasn´t right a demon, but an evil goddess.

But his thoughts were interrupted by a shouting priest who was arguing with Mira. Amarezoth felt like going crazy. With huge and fast steps he went to the priest. He positioned threateningly next to him. "What the hell do you think are you doing?!" he blasted out. "At first i got into this freaking snow storm, then i joined this strange touring group with lots of crazy people, then we nearly get stopped every 10 meters and now you gotta shout in your own temple?" Amarezoth eyes changed from cold to a furious, nearly crazy expression, his voice loud, dark and growling. "I was with Mira all the time and i tell you she didn´t steal your freaking statue or what ever YOU WERE UNABLE TO TAKE CARE OF! Now let me get some rest to enjoy your temple!"

He hadn´t been in such a state for a while, but he felled like bite the head off this priest. His aura would be more creepy than usual, that was for sure. But he didn´t know how long he could hold control of himself. This feeling agian... like in... the woods... with the... sneasel!!! He got a quick look on the Kirlia. Then he turned to the priest again. If he doesn´t stop... he tried to calm down i will quiet him with my bare hands...
 
[OOC: Hopefully this post is in context. ^-^;;]

Reith fell quiet after his conversation with Mira ended, withdrawing a little into his own thoughts--though not failing to recognize the group's new arrivals. The white-haired male smiled slightly as he saw Koji release an Igglypuff that rather promptly proceeded to snuggle against her trainer in an attempt to escape the cold. So young and innocent . . . Reminds me a bit of Kasen. Turning toward the path ahead, Reith lowered his gaze and followed the group as his mind directed its energies elsewhere. Not long from now, I might be able to make some real progress in my search for my father. After all this time, Father feels so distant . . . Sometimes I get the feeling I'm chasing a ghost instead of a real person. And even though it's what I've been hoping for, now that a bit of evidence that he's been here has arisen, it seems somehow unreal. Reith slipped Kasen's Pokeball out of his sleeve into his palm. Looking down at the object, his gaze softened with wistfulness. Please be alright, Father . . . Mom still needs you. She doesn't need any more loss.

At the sound of Mira's voice announcing, "Well, this is it," Reith lifted his gaze to the structure now before the group. The Dawnbringer's Shrine arose darkly from the pale snow, like something jutting up into the present from an age long forgotten. Not exactly what I expected, but . . . "It has an ancient beauty," the trainer commented. As his eyes flicked toward Mira, they paused--traveling briefly from the stand-in tour guide to her Pokemon before returning to the shrine. Having been occupied with his own musings, Reith had missed much of what had happened among the group members including the argument between Mira and Serenade. I wonder if something happened between those two. They seem pretty uneasy. Trainers began to withdraw their Pokemon as they made their way toward the shrine, leaving Reith somewhat grateful he had already returned Kasen earlier.

Taking off his cap out of respect as he entered the shrine, Reith soon found himself also removing his scarf and jacket out of discomfort once inside due to the warmth. A strange array of objects was placed about the room, visible only by slim drops of candlelight and the pools of dimness that surrounded them. Almost seeming objects themselves, a number of people were already in the shrine, apparently performing some type of duties that had no doubt been sacred to their families for many generations. Of greatest interest to Reith, however, was a painting that resided at one end of the shrine. The male tied his scarf and jacket comfortably about his waist, tucking the bill of his hat beneath the jacket at one hip, before making his way toward the image. Reith's wintery blue eyes warmed and brightened with wonder as he gazed at the picture, the light of his gaze melting like snow into clear streams during the first days of spring. "All the legends my mother told me . . . " he whispered, his voice scarcely a breath. Is this depicting one of them?

Before he could grant the issue any further thought, Reith's attention was drawn by a raised voice followed by a rather heated discussion. An older man was angrily addressing Mira, accusing her of stealing one of the shrine's statues. Mira, however, maintained her innocence and appealed to the tour group for support. This Emilie granted readily and rationally with some added reasoning to support her opinion. But before anyone else could add their piece, Amarezoth was suddenly at the chantleader's side, his anger ablaze as he raised his voice and snapped furiously at the man. After one look at the dark-haired trainer's eyes and his stance, Reith silently, almost imperceptibly, slipped a Heavy Ball into his hand. This situation just got a little more volatile than I'd like it to be.

While he had not Amarezoth's powerful stride, Reith could move with equal swiftness when he desired to, and now was such a time. Raising his empty-handed arm in front of Mira, Reith divided her from both Amarezoth and the chantleader as he spoke. "Please, calm down, both of you." The white-haired trainer's voice was soft, yet distinctly audible. His expression was placating, and his posture equally lacking in aggression, but his eyes . . . his eyes had hardened to what was, for him, an uncharacteristic iciness. And despite this gaze offering no threat of harm, neither did it offer any possiblity of its possessor yielding.

Meeting the older man's eyes with his unwavering gaze, Reith steadily continued, "I can understand that you'd be distressed at the loss of one the shrine's statues. Doubtless they are of great significance, and naturally we'd all want it to be returned as soon as possible. But we shouldn't jump to conclusions. Mira said she didn't take the statue, and I'm of the same opinion as Emilie and Amarezoth. I believe she's innocent. If you want me to, I will help you locate the statue later if I am able. But I ask that you would not accuse Mira of stealing."

Here Reith's eyes lifted themselves to meet Amarezoth's amethyst-shaded ones. The latter trainer was both taller and more heavily-built than Reith, despite being the same age, but the former showed no signs of faltering. "Thank you," Reith said quietly, "And I'm sorry this day hasn't been easy for you." His voice was controlled, but contained a distinct note of sincerity. "And this probably hasn't made the day any easier. But don't let anger make you do anything you'll regret. As you said, we should enjoy being at the shrine while we are here. No use in letting things mar our day more than they need to."

Reith's gaze adjusted itself, suddenly encompassing both the chantleader and Amarezoth as he awaited their answers.

[OOC: Is the statuette inside or outside the shrine? If it is inside, I may have Reith notice it in my next post--if no one else points it out first, at least.

I wonder if Mira will recognize the parallel between Reith and his father. ^-^;; I thought it might be there, but its extent was unintentional. I only realized how similar their actions were when I reread Mira's flashback.]
 
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OCC: Uhm... are we the only who are posting? Alter? Azu? Where are you?

ICC:

Amarezoth was surprised. Never anybody had made something comparable like Reith had done. Normaly everybody evaded him, perhaps feared him if he got upset like now, but this time there was a different. This was a new experience for Amarezoth. "Thank you." Reith said quietly. Thank you. That... That´s... Nobody ever has... The little sentence Reith had said was like a new world Amarezoth could see now. Of course he was upset and he did want to crush everything which stood in his way, but he couldn´t. The words repeated in his mind while he was looking at Reith with the most unsure way he could look.

"How... How can you..." Amarezoth whispered. But suddenly he calmed down. For some seconds, he looked down to the ground. As he searched eye contact with Reith again, he had changed to the opposite. He had a soft smile on his face and said calm "I have t thank, Reith. I´m sorry if i caused trouble again. You are right, we should enjoy the temple while we are here." Then he turned to the priest. "I am sorry for beeing so upset and furious to you. Please forgive me if i have insulted you. I just wanted to say that i don´t believe that Mira has stolen anything, but if my pokemon and i can help you searching for the statue, i will do it like Reith. Please excuse me now, i have to think about several things." and he turned to walk to the picture he had looked some time ago.

Again his Rocket training had helped him. Acting like this wasn´t the best thing Amarezoth could handle, but for sure it sometime helped. The great surprise for him was not that he had evaded such a situation, it was that some of the words he had said were true. This Reith... Why was i forced to calm down? I have to take a better look at him... Does he know who i am? Reith... THis name sounds familiar... he thought. Amarezoth stopped walking immideatly. Wait! he turned his head to get a short look at Reith. For some moments he stared at him. Then he started to grin, and turned around to walk to the picture again.

I see... but i think he can´t know... he looked down at his clothes. Damn! he thought as he saw that his belt could be seen with the Rocket sign and the black Pokeballs with the Rocket emblem on them. Why i am worring about that? They never find out...
 
OOC: Yeah, yeah, I'm here. Just takes a while to answer because there are three pretty large posts here and I've got a situation to tie together. Would have gotten it up yesterday, but I had Jujitsu practice. ><

Anyhow, I'd say that the statuette is outside/almost there atm, but never mind, I'll just sort that detail out with this post aaaand return an NPC whom I have been iffing for myself about back into the fold while I'm at it. :3

IC:

As Emilie spoke up, Mira flinched inwardly. Sure, that argument was reasonable, but that was precisely why it wouldn't work. The chantleader was an old man with a superiority complex and a natural talent for believeing only what he wanted to believe - including that the sun had somehow been placed onto the sky by an ancient pokémon - and she treated reason with just about as much respect as Mira, whom he had labled the root of all evil at their first meeting, the arrogant prick. Well, maybe he wouldn't have felt as inclined to do that if she hadn't been a rather skittish child at the time and bitten him on the finger for trying to pat her head. But come on, how much could you expect from a child of eight?

Mira was dragged out of her reverie at the sound of Amarezoth intervening, and much like Emilie's, this was an intervention the girl would rather have done without. Oh, he probably meant well, but there was just something inherently creepy about the guy which made his close proximity a very uncomfortable experience for Mira. The same could probably be said for the chantleader, who seemed momentarily shocked into silence by the sheer display of fury. Judging by the deepening red colour quickly reclaiming his face from the white, this was a momentary relief, however, and - if anything -had only served to fuel his righteous indignation. Any moment now it would erupt, and Mira mentally braced herself for the impact, sorely regretting having called for support from the tour group as she took a final breath before the eruption, which...never took place?

"I-" Mira almost gaped in awe as Reith suddenly stepped in, once again feeling extremely grateful for the boy's presence as he not only separated her from the two main sources of discomfort but also managed to calm the situation down. Maybe it was the tone, maybe it was the calm manner, maybe it was that unyielding look in his eyes, but Amarezoth actually stepped down, and even the chantleader seemed at a loss. There was just something...authorative about him, almost like-the girl blinked, trying to dismiss the mental image of a certain older gentleman with disturbingly deep, dark blue eyes that had nestled itself on top of Reith, a person whose suggestions were as strong as commands.

"The nerve!" the chantleader spoke up at last, trying to muster what little righteous indignation he had left, "For a bunch of foreigners to come into the house of the Dawnbringer and tell one of his servants how to behave within! And what strangers too!" he seemed to regain a bit of his old thunder as he let his glance travel across them all, "Some uppity foreigner girl, head no doubt filled with preposterous foreign 'science'! A devil of the south who first brings threats of violence in this sacred place and then feigns regret! And a-a-" he glared accusingly at Reith, trying desperately to fashion something about his person into a missile to throw at him, "A wraith!" he spat out at last, "A vicious, cunning, wraith from the icemists, no doubt seeking to spread the ice giant's curse into our midst! Attempting to extinguish the eternal fire of the Dawnbringer himself!"

Mira felt like screaming at and throttling the man in front of her, feeling the confused stares of the shrine worshippers, all of them having temporarily interrupted their duties to follow the drama. He had lost. That letcherous, snivelling, fat excuse for a chantleader knew he had lost the argument but now he was trying to have them driven out by slander? How dare he?! The girl was just about to open her mouth in furious protest at this indignity when someone else spared her from the trouble.

"Excuse me."

The voice was not as forceful as Amarezoth's, nor did it have the quiet but undeniable authority that Reith's did, but something about the utterly friendly and world-loving tone was enough to bring another pocket of silence into the midst of the argument. As she turned around towards the source of the voice, Mira could practically feel the collective stares of the congression turning with her. Standing in the doorway, framed against the dancing snowflakes behind him, Isa had suddenly appeared, the play of lights in his blonde hair and the serene smile on his face giving him an almost angelic appearance as he calmly shut the door behind him. Fortunately, he had had the sense to switch out of the nurse outfit, the little cap and pink now replaced by a pair of trousers and a fairly thick jacket, beneath which an equally thick shirt could be sighted, the tour guide badge pinned onto it clearly indicating a change of roles. The combination of sky blue and white in his outfit stuck out a bit, of course, but that seemed to be as natural to the boy as breathing and - as usual - he paid no heed to it as he shut the door behind him, walking calmly past the group as he proceeded to adress the chantleader.

"Isa!" the chantleader called out, "Dawnbringer's grace, finally a voice of reason amongst these madmen! Your friend is completely out of control and won't listen to me!"

"What?!" Mira protested, her temper flaring, "I'm out of control?! You're the one screaming and accusing people of being thieves and demons just because you didn't get to satiate your little needs by 'inspecting' me, you dirty old-!"

"How dare you?!" the chantleader took up the gauntlet, but both were silenced by Isa's interjection.

"Accusations of theft?" he inquired politely, placing a hand on Mira's shoulder to calm her down while holding up the other towards the chantleader in a gesture of peace, "Demons? Could you two please calm yourselves and explain this whole argument to me?"

"There's nothing to explain!" the chantleader retorted, "The girl has gone too far this time! She has dragged this bunch of suspicious foreigners into our midst and now one of our sacred treasures has been stolen! It's not hard to draw the conclusion from that!"

"Treasure?" Isa echoed, "Could you mean this?" he pulled out a carefully wrapped bundle from beneath his arm and unwrapped it, revealing an intricately detailed and gilded statuette of a Togetic which he handed over to the chantleader, "I found it in a snow drift outside." he explained casually, "Perhaps it accidentally fell when they were being brought back from polishing this morning?"

"I-" the chantleader stared dumbly at the statuette for a few minutes, "I guess that that could have happened." he conceeded at last, "But the fact remains-"

"That there was a disturbance here." Isa interrupted, "People shouting, including yourself."

"Well..." the man replied, "yes, but-"

"One of the chantleaders."

"But-"

"Spreading accusations."

"Well..."

"On the dawnbringer's holy day."

"I-

"I think apologies are in order." Isa suggested casually.

"Damn right they are!" Mira chimed in.

"From both of you."

"WHAT?!" the girl glared accusingly at her friend, as if she had just been stabbed in the back.

"It's not quite appropriate to call a chantleader a 'dirty old letch'. Now please, just apologise so we can leave this sad episode behind us and return to enjoying the sanctity of the shrine."

"I-" Mira protested, but backed down. There was no call to break this frail peace, especially with all the effort that people had put into establishing it, "I'm sorry." she said at last, adressing her feet without much conviction.

"I apologise as well." the chantleader said in a tone that was all but apologetic, attempting to assume the role of the mature spiritual guide, "Now if you will all excuse me, I must return this statuette to its proper place. I leave the group in your hands, then, Isa."

With that, the chantleader strode off in a decidedly disgruntled manner.

"I'm sorry about him." Isa remarked, adressing the whole group and offering them one of his usual smiles, "Chantleader Winterson is a good man, but a bit...over-pious at times. At any rate, I am Isa - your missing tour guide, as it were. It's nice to meet you all. I trust that Mira has taken good care of this group in my absence?"
 
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-OoC-

Buwahahaha. -rubs paddles together- LIVEEEEE -smacks Eska-


-IC-

Koji had been too busy taking secret unauthorized photos to notice for the first half of the little spat between Mira, Tour Guide B and some guy (Who would later be referred to in the 'Book of Koji' as someone who needed to pull his head out of his rear end) but when Mira squeaked (Yelped, squeak, squawk. Same thing.) he turned towards the three. Tilting his head curiously, he stopped the contraband pictures and listening intently, getting angrier and angrier with each passing moment. Finally, when the son of a jynx ran off with something that didn't belong to him (Or maybe it did but still, the way the guy took it and was acting was just completely unnessacary) and Koji couldn't help himself anymore. Yes yes, he'd lose some pictures but girls being mistreated was not something he liked nor was it something he tolerated. Quietly creeping up behind the girl, he tapped her on the shoulder til she moved and stepped inbetween Tour Guide B, the crazy Mankey running away and Mira. His eyes dark as ocal, he flashed one hell of a nasty look at the two, "First of, you, Tour Guide B, Isa, yes? Where the hell do you get off? Mira didn't do snot and you, yes you," 'You cheap traitorous wannabe tour guide who is in no way shape or form comparable to Mira', "made her humilate herself and completely lose any ground she might have had with fatty there. Then, you seemingly have this unncanny idea that you're just going to take over our little group, effectively pushing Mira out. That's not happening. If you're the witch we're supossed to be following around, so be it but Mira stays AND you cop the atittude and you will cop said attitude within the next oh, five minutes." Placing a semi-brotherly arm around Mira's shoulders, he nudged her back (Firmly but not too firmly nor was it painful) back into the little group and dropped his arm.

"You alright Mira? That seriously had to suck."
 
OOC: Ohhh...vicious. >D Nyu, now I've got a conflict of loyalties for Mira to sort out, so if this post came a bit later than expected that's the reason. :3

And yes, live, Eseka! LIVE! Where is everyone? o.O

IC:

"Wha-?" Mira didn't even have the time to ask what Koji - of all people - was up to before she instinctively realized that this was the correct time to stand back, keep quiet, and smile innocently. Well, she managed two of the three as the blue-haired boy proceeded to chew out...Isa? Ohh...the girl could practically feel Serenade seething with disapproval over such lack of manners, yet - even though Mira knew that technically she wasn't supposed to sit there and stand her most long-time human friend get verbally assaulted like that - she couldn't help feeling just a little bit of enjoyment over the situation, especially the last part that effectively confirmed that the boy had been acting out of concern for her. She really wasn't used to people - boys in particular - sticking up for her. In fact, before this day not one had done that for her thus far except for Isa, Serenade and - one a few occasions - her dad, two of which didn't count for obvious reasons. And...well, Isa was so effeminate at times that Mira found herself slightly doubting whether or not he should be classified under the category of boys, so maybe that didn't count either. Yet today she had been treated so warmly not only by Reith, but now Koji as well. Heck, even Amarezoth had stood up for her in his own creepy way. The collection was Tori short of being every guy in the tour group, and needless to say, that was enough for almost every self-conscious girl to start getting ideas, especially if her ego was as fond of being stroked as Mira's was. Besides, Isa had done something decidedly unfair this time.

"I-I'm fine." she replied to Koji's question, "Umm..."

{Mira.} Serenade's scolding voice entered her mind, preventing her from making any further comment, {Don't let the situation get to your head. You know next to nothing about that boy and his motives, are you just going to let him pick on your friend like that?}

'But...' Mira's mind whined back, knowing fully well that the Kirlia was fully correct and wanting anything but admitting it, 'That really was uncalled for, I mean I didn't-'

{He was trying to protect you from getting a major scolding from your grandmother, and you know it.} Serenade replied levelly, {Mira, you have a good heart but I really wish that you'd listen to it more often. You know fully well what you should do so please do it.}

'No I don't!' Mira insisted, her glance travelling back and forth between Koji, Isa, and Serenade, 'You're always saying that but I really don't! And don't-don't even try to tell me!' the Kirlia was still on her list of slighters for his continued evasiveness, and the girl wasn't ready to just swallow his advice just yet.

Isa, meanwhile, had apparently been formulating a response in his mind, his expression not betraying any change of emotion other than being sincerely hurt, "I was just trying to relieve the tension before Mira got into any more trouble." the boy protested, his voice sounding as hurt as his expression looked, "Whatever 'victory' you think she might have gained from this childish name-calling contest would only have been short-lived and would have been followed by far worse than just a bit of humiliation. You might afford to create such animosities, but Mira has to live in this town for years to come and further trouble with a high-standing community member won't help her one bit. Please..." he said softly, "Please stop being so hostile. I only tried to do what is best for Mira, as I'm sure you did as well, so please don't make such accusations when you don't know me or the relationship between me and her. Mira..." he turned to the girl, "You know why I did it, right?"

"I..." the girl was really at a loss for words at first, finally deciding on what she hoped was a suitable compromise, "Isa, Koji could you please not fight?" she gave them both a pleading look, hoping that her newly discovered influence over the other gender hadn't disappeared as quickly as it had come, turning her attention to Koji first, "Look, I really appreciate you sticking up for me, but Isa...he's...he's my friend, even though we don't always agree on things." she let her glance travel back to the other boy - albeit the term was used somewhat loosely here - "And...Koji is my friend too, I mean, at least I think he is. So please...I'll-I'll stay with the group for now, but let's not argue anymore, alright?"
 
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occ: Sorry, i was busy the hole time! We have big examination finals in Germany for our job education. In addition i have just arrived from my 3 country travel... ^^ Great Britain, Australia and USA. Man, that was awesome. It took 2 Weeks and a lot of money for this tour... ^^
@Alter: You are doing Jujitsu? That´s cool! I only can do Tai-Chi... But i do it with weapons... ^^;


IC:
The chant leader had gone and another guy had reached the group. "Isa" was the name of this boy.

Amarezoth watched the conversation from behind the group with a pleasant look on his face. I seemed that he wasn´t the only one who caused something like trouble. This boy who was called Isa seemed to know much about everything here. But Amarezoth wasn´t that interested in him. He gave more attention to Reith. Amarezoth didn´t know why, but he believed he had seen this guy somewhere before, or someone who looked like him.

His arm device rung silently. "Amarezoth here." he said softly into the device. He tried not to be too loud. "Hey Ama! Shera on the line!" "Hi Shera! What´s up? Why are you calling me?" "I have another treasure for you..." "You mean you found a rare Pokémon again?" "Yup. It seems a girl has found a injured Pokémon in the winter regions. She has offered that a good trainer could adopt it, cause she isn´t interested in train with a Pokémon." "What´s that for a Pokémon?" "A Pidgey. It seems a storm or something has blown it into this direction. However, the Pokémon got injured and got found a this girl." "But isn´t there something special about it?" "It has stripes like a tiger on it´s back and it´s wings. Also it has red eyes." "Wow, thats rare..." "I´ll give you the address on your arm device. Let´s talk later!" "OK, see ya!"

Amarezoth finished his call. He hadn´t been too loud, to make sure that he didn´t disturb someone. He pulled out his black pokeball where Thunder waited. In a short flashy light Thunder jumped out of his safe place. [Hi Ama! What´s up? Is there a fight or something special?] "Listen..." Amarezoth started silent, "... you have to do a special task." The Raichu came near so he could listen carefully, looking to every side to make sure nobody would listen. [Tell me...]

------------- Some time later -----------

Thunder

After some short instructions the Raichu left quickly the building. Amarezoth´s words were still in his mind. {Now you´ve got the Address Shera gave to me. Search for it and bring me some details about the Pokémon. Then you come back to me, OK? It will be our new team member...} [OK Amarezoth, you can depend on me!] Thunder said to himself while running through the snow white city. He watched carefully that nobody followed him. [This is Amarezoth treasure, and nobody else will get it!]

------------- Some time before ------------

Amarezoth

After his instructions the Raichu went out the temple and he went to the group again. Mira seemed to be in trouble again. It looked like the dispute between the two boys pulled on Mira's nerves. Amarezoth didn´t know why these boys started to argue. He went near Mira and the boy called Koji. "Erm, sorry Mira if i interrupt you and your two friends, but i think we should calm down a bit. All of you. You all should try to make the best of the day, so please try to get along with each other." Of course Amarezoth appearance didn´t speak the same language as he did, but he tried to steer the situation in another direction. Acting wasn´t the best thing he could do, and for just a moment he grinned evil, but only for a moment. "Please Mira stay with the group. I have seen that you also didn´t have an easy day like me, but let´s give it a change, shall we?"

He looked at her, softly grinning. Then he looked to Isa. "Could someone continue with the tour? I think the group wants to see more..." he said half out loud. Then he turned again to Mira and he silently said. "I´ve just bought you time for calming down and to sort your thoughts. A gift, from treasure hunter to treasure hunter..." he finished and turned back to the picture he was looking at before. He had thought about Mira´s reactions in the past. She got excited the time she had asked about Amarezoth´s Pokémon, and she had some strong and rare Pokémon by herself. This signs were the headstone of his conclusion: She is a treasure hunter for sure, and not a tour guide...
 
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OOC: Ohh...Tai-chi! My mum does that, although not with weapons, though. Those movements look all nifty and graceful. Plus, they teach some nice stretches over there (I know, the one mum tought me has sawed me from a sore back multiple times). ^-^ Me, the only weapon training I've ever had is a few basics with sticks in regular Jujitsu practice (Heh, I still remember the time when we were practicing the two-hand swing and I hit so hard that my practice partner's stick (a rather worn one, mind you) just snapped in half and the other piece flew across the room. No-one got hurt, but people were a bit freaked. Good times...xD), but since I've specialised in brasilian I don't even get that anymore. Anyway, that trip sounds fun, and exams happen to us all so you can't be blamed for being absent. Don't worry about it. ;D

IC:

Up until now, Mira's full attention had been focused on the argument at hand, the girl still making sure to keep up the 'give peace a chance' expression, but those priorities were quickly changed the moment Amarezoth mentioned the magic word.

Rare.

If the boy had thought that something as undistracting as a major argument would have kept those sweet little syllables from reaching the ears of Mira - easily one of the most seasoned eavesdroppers in Alvene - then he was sorely mistaken.

"Umm...could you guys please excuse me for a moment?" she asked in her most innocent tone, "I think Genki wants something. Try not to maim each other or anything meanwhile, okay?" with that, and another sweet little smile towards Isa and Koji, the girl hastily made her retreat towards a corner of the shrine.

{Mira!} Serenade scolded after her, not having missed that greedy little glint which always became visible in his charge's when something valuable was on the horizon and knowning precisely what it meant. Mira, however, was way beyond caring, quickly fumbling out Genki's pokéball and releasing the Swinub just by the shrine exit so as to not officially break any rules.

{Now what?} the Swinub inquired grumpily.

"So, you want to go out and forage again?" Mira asked, a bit more loudly than necessary.

{No, I don't.} the pig replied flatly.

"Well, allright then." the girl persisted, giving the ground type a 'play along for once' look and crouching down by him for a moment, "Genki." she whispered quietly, "I want you to track that Raichu that just went out, find out what's so important about what he's doing. Play along, please..."

{Why?} Genki - ever the pain to someone in a hurry - inquired flatly.

"Because I'll give you another pack of pokéfood if you do." Mira whispered impatiently.

The Swinub contemplated this for a moment, {Three.} he said at last, {And without delays like last time.}

"Oh...fine then, you little blackmailer." Mira hissed, "But only if you succeed. Now hop to it."

Out loud, the story was quite different, "Okay, just don't get lost out there and be back in half an hour, tops." she declared brightly, pushing open the door to let the Swinub out before dashing back to the group, donning her most innocent expression.

{That was entirely inappropriate, you know.} Serenade remarked disapprovingly.

'What was?' Mira retorted, feigning innocence in a way that he knew would wind the huffy Kirlia up, 'I'm just keeping up to speed with what Amarezoth is up to, like you asked. Aren't I a good girl?'

{That rarity is not for you, whatever it is.} the psychic type replied.

'Don't see his name branded on it either.' Mira replied, 'Finders keepers, I say. Now hush, you don't want to disturb the tour, do you?' she turned back to adressing the group.

"Oh, don't you worry." the girl replied to Amarezoth's remark, "I'll stay right here, like I said. And I do agree..." she added towards Isa and Koji, her face as sweet and innocent as ever, "Give peace a chance, eh? Now why don't we get back to the tour?" she patted them both on the back in a reconciling manner, busily steering Isa over to the painting at the back, "We could start with that." she suggested, making sure to be the centre of as much attention as possible to divert said attention from Genki.

"Thank you, but...what are you scheeming this time?" Isa asked quietly, giving his long-time friend a slightly tired look.

"Scheeming?" Mira whispered back innocently, "Why would I be scheeming about anything?"

"You're always scheeming when you've got that look on your face."

"Oh, pish-posh." the girl replied, dismissing the cosmic truth with a wave of her hand before giving Isa a light nudge, "Get back to your job and stop making up excuses, tour guide."

Isa rolled his eyes, "Allright." the boy replied at last, apparently forfeiting the argument as futile as he turned towards the group, "Could I have your attention, please?" he asked in his usual polite manner, "We're resuming the tour now."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Genki, meanwhile, was busily at work just outside the shrine, trudging through the snow-drifts with his nose loudly sniffing the air. The scent of the Raichu was still fresh, and not at all difficult to track, but the order to make the tracking covert was a bother. That Raichu sure was a bit on the paranoid side...stopping now and again just to look for people following him. Fortunately, Genki was never one to rush, patiently moving at a pace that kept the scent within range, even if the pokémon himself was not. Above that, however, there was another scent...a most peculiar one, faint yet exotic - definitely not part of the local tapestry of smells. In fact, were it not for the clear air and Genki's sensitive nose he probably wouldn't have noticed it at all. The Swinub decided to shrug this off and follow the Raichu's trail, though. It was easier to follow, and more importantly: there was food to be gained from this.

{Food...} Genki mumbled as he shuffled over the ground, {The things I do for a living...}

Meanwhile, up on a nearby rooftop, a small pile of snow peered intently at the two pokémon. It had been observing the Raichu pass by earlier, and now that this Swinub had decided to join in, the situation was becoming too interesting to just let slip by. Well, technically the most inconspicious pile of snow was supposed to sit there and keep watch, but that was so dreadfully boring, especially when he had accidentally dropped the shiny thing too. The pile sighed quietly at this before perking up again. There were other shiny things in the world, and right now these two creatures were far more fascinating. And so, accompained by the soft flutter of wings, a small pile of snow rose from the air and began trailing the duo from above.
 
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Occ: ^^ I hope i never have to fight you in a stick fight... Well, i have my own swords to train Tai-Chi. *melting* Hah, my swords are wonderfull... My biggest has a length from 158 cm. But usually i fight with the smaller ones. I shouldn´t buy every sword i like. Together they are... uhm, let me count... 9! -_-;

Well, at least i can do something like an action post! Until the others aren´t there...

IC:
Thunder

The snow was cold, the air fresh and icily. [Not something i like at all...] he said to himself. It was just important to hunt this treasure, Amarezoth was waiting so he was in a rush. His paws wasn´t used to something cold like snow or ice. He loved the sand or the streets, but nothing was here that could be nearly compared to that. Again and again he stopped to look out if anyone followed him, but nobody was there. Nobody on the streets. Well, i don´t think that someone will send ghost Pokémon at all. he grinned. Man, sometimes i think Amarezoth could be patient. Again he stopped to look out for strangers or Pokémon.

But nothing could be seen. [Sheesh, i think i can slow down...] he walked through the streets, searching for the address his trainer gave to him. [Hmm... i wonder... didn´t i forget something?] he had to think hard. No, there was nothing he could remember. Some people looked to him as if they never had seen a Raichu. [He he, perhaps because of my markings...] he laughed. Perhaps i´ll go eat something somewhere before i continue. The wind changed the direction and suddenly Thunder smelled something in the air he knew.

[That´s Mira! How could she?] Of course he didn´t knew that one of Mira´s Pokémon could follow him, it was her scent he smelled in the air. [Damn! I have to hurry!] The Raichu knew that if it was Mira, it would be a hunt for the treasure. He dashed along the streets, digging his paws and claws deep into the snow to increase his speed. [Let´s see if you can catch up with this Mira!] He strained his muscles. [Grrr... Agility!!!] The Raichu´s speed rapidly increased to it´s maximum limit and it was difficult to stay in the track.

One or two times he slipped against a wall, but immediately speeded up, not slowing down. He had to do this. Soon he found the house were the girl was living in. It was a big one, nearly at the border of the town. He saw that it had a chimney. [A chimney! That´s it!] he said, while he strained his muscles one more time. He forced himself to jump, which was of course not easy at all. The speed of the agility had reached it´s maximum so it was dangerous to fall over his own legs, but he could handle it. He flew to a wall, moved his weight to the side to change the direction of his body.

His legs touched the wall and he repelled himself with a jump to the house which faced this. He did this move one more time to reach the roof and the chimney. Thunder breathed hard and jumped into the chimney.

--------------------------------

Amarezoth

Suspicious... he thought. If a Pokémon wants something it just pops out of his pokeball. But it didn´t... What is she up to do? His thoughts were by Thunder. He was an excellent runner, so he didn´t imagine that anyone could follow him. "Hmm..." he pulled out his arm device and tipped on the button Pokédex. He got some distance between him and Mira who seemed to talk to her Friend Isa. "Give me some details about a Swinup..."

{What do you want to know?} The computer voice asked. "Biological characteristics..." Amarezoth answered. {A Swinub roots around with its nose to find food. Its favorite food is a mushroom that grows under the cover of dead grass. Swinub's nose is so tough that even the frozen ground poses no problem. Occasionally, it will find hot springs while rooting around in the ground. If it smells something enticing, it dashes headlong to find the source of the aroma.} the sweet female voice of his arm device told him.

"That was clever..." he said to himself. Thunder can´t do anything about something like that. The Swinub will definitively smell his scent. All Thunder can do is use his incredible speed. And after that, he is the best sneaker i can imagine. So if he finds the details about the Pokémon, he will try come to me as fast as possible. He grabbed his backpack to get ready for everything. He prepared some poke food, something to drink and for the worse case a super healer drink. Nice to play with you Mira...
 
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OOC: Urgh...sorry for the delay, I've just been completely braindead when it comes to RPing lately. =_= Oh well, doesn't look like anyone else is coming around in the foreseeable future. Yay for people spontaneoulsy disappearing. xP

Anyway, the vagueness in description was done on purpose as I don't have a clue of what the inside of the house looks like. Feel free to elaborate in your next post. ^-^

IC:

{Tsk...what a bother...} Genki muttered for himself. Thunder's little speed-up had been mostly lost to him, but the same could not be said for the new - and decidedly bothersome - route the scent had taken. Up on the roofs? The Swinub snorted, why couldn't people just use the door? He'd be buggered if he went climbing up there, especially since it wasn't necessary...

The Raichu might have had an advantage in movement speed, but Genki knew the town, and - having discerned the general direction the smell was coming from - proceeded to shortcut the journey and just take the back door; the back door to the house, that is. Thanks to his many foraging excursions, Genki was quite well known amongst the residents of Alvene, but what this particular resident was not aware of was that the lock on the back door was old and worn with age, easily coaxed open by the right kind of shove at the right spot, a fact which Genki had exploited on numerous occasions when scrounging on the streets just wasn't profitable enough. The chief resident had always been a bit of a softie too, so an adorable little pleading act might even yield some additional tidbits.

{Convenient...} the Swinub mumbled for himself, nonchalantly nudging the door open and shuffling his way into the house, immediately donning the poor, lost, wet little Swinub look as he wandered through the house, his nose still held high in the air in search of Thunder's scent - although as far as the casual observer was concerned he might as well have been looking for food.

Shortly after the Swinub had left the entry room, however, the faint rustle of fluttering wings accompanied a very inconspicious rush of wind as it entered the room, politely shutting the door behind it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mira, meanwhile, had been spacing out somewhat as Isa began explaining the mythology behind the painting. It was all old news to her, anyway; Mira's grandmother had used this particular tale as a good night story so many times that the girl knew it by heart. Once upon a time, Eseka was invaded by a wicked spirit of ice who settled on the mountain, spreading cold and darkness throughout the world with the intent of keeping it in eternal winter and extinguishing all life, but lo and behold - just as the people of Eseka were on the verge of extinction, the sacred spirit of fire known as the Dawnbringer descended in Alvene, entering a fierce battle with the ice giant and eventually sealing it below the ground. But the giant is still there, dormant but alive beneath the soil of Alvene, and each winter he tries to break free of the seal. And all good little girls go to pray at the shrine at midwinter, respect their elders and eat their oatmeal without complaining, because otherwise the big bad ice giant will come and get them in their sleep and-oh, wait, that last part probably didn't belong to the official edition. She hadn't said it out loud, had she? Mira blinked, her eyes scanning the group, no-one seemed to be giving her odd looks; so probably not, then. But wait? What the heck was Amarezoth up to in the corner?

"...and that." Isa continued as the girl discreetly wandered past the group and towards the Egyptian-looking guy, "Is why the midwinter festival is considered so important in Alvene, although of course, the more modern just see it as part of culture." he continued with giving the group his usual well-meaning smile, "Now if you will look at the formation of the chandeliers a bit closer, you'll find that they have actually been arranged to form the Dawnbringer's holy symbol, an act which - it's believed - wards the shrine from-"

"Excuse me." Mira remarked, tapping Amarezoth on the shoulder while at the same time peeking over said shoulder - although she had to stand tip-toed to do so, as the boy was considerably taller - and managing a quick glance at the pokédex, "Didn't you want the tour to resume? It's a bit rude to ask for one if you aren't going to listen, you know."
 
-OoC-

Mika is back! (And she's not happy she's a senior in Highschool now) And I do a bit of Aikido. ^^; It's only through martial arts club but I'm better than most of the other kids and our sensei is a 3rd Dan (I think. <<; ) , I haven't had time to go back into a dojo setting.


-IC-

Koji shut his mouth, for the moment, and let himself be dragged along by the group. He wasn't liking this at all. This wasn't how things were supossed to be done, people were not supossed to walk all over other people for the limelight or for their job or whatever. Sure, in this modern world things like this were to be expected but it didn't mean he had to like it nor did he have to approve of it.

He instead took the time to observe Mira. Intently, without seeming stalker-ish, and quickly determined his immediate worry was without ground. She could seemingly take care of herself and the expertise she was implying through her diction and tone choices proved she'd dealt with this particular individual before in a similiar if not identical mannor on a previous occasion. With a light smirk crossing his features at a rather low-blow she delivered to the twice-her-size male who was apparently spacing off after whining for a tour of the region (Or so he gathered). Those two were up to something, he could feel it. He kept talking softly, barely audibly, to his watch and now looked paniced as he grabbed onto various parts of his backpack. Koji's own hand went to his belt, pulling off a pokeball and let it slip between his fingers, not expanded, in case something happened.

"So what happens then, if the midwinter festival isn't observed properly?" Up until this time he'd been very quiet, leaning against a distant wall the entire time they'd been in this particular house, "Does the world come to an end or prehaps, is a spirit angered?" He wasn't familiar with this region's myths and legends but he was guessing there was more to this candy and icing story that they weren't being told to avoid scaring the poor poor tourists and, well he was always the person to pick at a scab and he really did want to know about some vetti or other evil creature lurking in the shadows.
 
OOC: Okay, WTF is up with this database? Every time I type out a freakin' IC it dies on me. T_T Well, I'm just going to keep trying until it works. x3

IC:

"If the sealing ritual is not repeated then the seal will weaken and break." Isa replied calmly, "Then the ice giant will return to take his revenge, bringing eternal winter and darkness in his wake." as the boy continued speaking - his voice as gentle as ever - a sudden breeze caused by one of the worshippers stepping outside brushed across the room, causing the candles to flutter and Isa's hair to flow in the smooth way it always did (oh how Mira had envied him for having that trait) giving the blonde an almost ominous appearance for a moment.

"..or so says the Book of Dawn." Isa finished, the peculiar moment passing as quickly as it had come, "Whether you chose to believe it it's up to you, but I certainly wouldn't suggest that any of you try to verify it, even though it may 'look cool' as some would put it." he cast an ever-so-inconspicious glance in Mira's direction.

"It was just a thought." the girl retorted, briefly turning her attention from bugging Amarezoth to roll her eyes at the boy, although the tone of her voice made it quite clear that it wasn't a serious argument, "Sheez, make one silly little suggestion and you never hear the end of it."

"At any rate." Isa continued, his smile having widened briefly in response to Mira's reaction, "The people of Alvene would much prefer it if you would let any ancient beings you might discover lie. We do take these things seriously here, and I'm sure you don't want to waste your vacation fighting with the community leaders."
 
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