Chapter 11: Stranger Encounter
My fingers clasp tightly round Zoey's. We're traveling again. I'm... I'm relived that even so with the expense of whom we have lost, Jen is still... and Bay is still... e-ehhh... truly, I'm relieved. And either way the last time I tried to save a life by the time I arrived they were already g-gone. And Kyo... Kyo is... well. Better. I suppose better. The cold, rocky ground becomes a comfort for my eyes.
"Hmm..." Vivi trots just by us, flanked by the eeveeloution duo. "I do wonder why our terrain only seems to come gloomier and gloomier the further we travel. Yes, supposedly a bright amber desert was cheerful enough—but with all of the dust, most exceptionally in the sky... and now look at these rock-like caverns..." A small moue forms upon her cream lips. "How uncomfortable is this predicament, yes?" Shake of the head, elegant horns streaming.
Softly, Espa contributes. Her voice is backed up in additional thoughts although overall the tune is quiet and flowing. "It is more than a little odd. Open space is confining us... ulgh. Nor am I claustrophobic, but it's still eerie. Can't help but dislike the slow fade of our comfort we call space."
"Heh. Makes me feel like we'll be ambushed at any time! Oh, what a party that would be!"
Espa hisses, "Umbre!" She squeaks. "That's not a good thing!"
"Oh, sorry, darling, I know. Just thinking aloud." A smug grin infiltrates the umbreon's glittering expression. Zoey beside me smirks: it's a lax look back at the lax one himself. Oh this laxity in the area... I bite at my lip.
They're all so precious to me... why can I not wrap them all tightly together and keep it with a bow, keep them from ever escaping into the dark of night again? If I never have to wash the blood from unopened wounds to begin with, my world would be a safer place. For them, surely. But to leave them behind...
Cracked onyx orbs pierce me from wherever that forsaken timburr lies. Oh I swear he never leaves... following me like a lost child, abandoned orphan—shadow from the nadir of the other side... ghh... Scary. I'm sorry. Scary.
"It would be a little fun to get ambushed, wouldn't you say?" murmurs Umbre from further along the cavern. "Then at least we'd have some... er... more company." We... used to be more numerous... didn't we...
Zoey's voice drowns out whatever comes next. Her squishy feet land with a plop from one side and her head turns around and she cries: "You guyyyyyyys! You don't have to talk about all the freakin' sad stuff, do you? I-I mean yeah, there's not that much good stuff to talk about either... but... but still! Hmph!"
Umbre chuckles softly, affectionately. "Zoey, it's not you we're upsetting, is it? Not that... not that I mean to. Sorry about that." The laughter in his face brushes back with his sigh.
Her fingers squeeze tightly with my hand. "I know! Let's sing to make everyone happy!"
"Zoey!" Vivi's amethyst orbs twinkle. The fur along her spine does rustle a bit, like that of a bush's, suggesting she's not quite sure about this. "As delightful as that might be... er... What if the singing was only further disturbing? You know?" She's joking it off. Silly...
"Hmmm... then maybe Llana should sing! She has a pretty voice and I'm sure she would be, like, the best singer ever! Almost!" She stiffens as the thought of a late friend summons. "Er, no! Best singer. And I mean it." Which causes the flow to ebb but still the bright brown fur and the smile remains.
The espeon's gem shimmers a bit. "But if dear Llana's a little shy, then you shouldn't force her to sing. I at least haven't heard her sing prior..." Luminous orbs widen. "Unless she has? Of course, I'm sure it would sound lovely, but... eh. Don't force her, dear." Those lilac orbs shift toward me, twinkling kindly.
Zoey's eyes fall back on me too. "Hnnn.."
Blush explodes across my cheeks. "E-E-Ehh..." Oh dear, now I'm put on the spot... d-d-do I have to? I don't... d-don't know if I'd feel comfortable about this... A-And would Ember and Cheeka really want to hear me sing? They're up just ahead with Quagsire and have been silent as far a I know throughout this trip: would they so wish to hear my wretched voice crack their glassy world? Not to mention Bay and F and Jen from behind... Now I'm embarrassed...
"Oop. Well, that was a total flop. Waah, I'm sorry, Llana! Pleaaaaase forgiiive meeeeeeeee!"
Her soft, white-furred face presses against my scaly cheek; I splutter—I splutter—I try not to whine. "I-I-It's fii-iine... Z-Zoey." Now the blushing just won't go away... with the e-embarrassment and now... e-ehhh... I raise one hand and cover my eyes with the forearm. Zoey's own furry, gentle fingers cup mine.
"Eheh. Sorry, Llana. You're just so cuuute~!"
"Hmmm! You funny little ones." Quagsire's sudden burst surprises me enough to cause my body to stumble forward and lose Zoey's grip for a good few seconds: her bright white fingers, so light in the pitch of the cavern, cup and shadow over me, pulling me back to my feet. "While we're walking, I'd like to ask: would a story improve the mmmmmood?" Soft Quagsire chortle; he must hear the cogs churning in our heads.
What story will it be this time..?
Without digression, our floppy blue leader continues. "This is a story about all the romance we so love, and fate, a long, long time ago..."
"Eh? Does this mean the story's actually real? It's happened?" Umbre sniffs.
Quagsire halts. The pans by his side stiffen. "Yes. Yes it does." Then he goes on without haste. "It... mmm, it takes place in our world. Our part of the world. Not here, but... hmm, you get it, mmhm. There was a boy, a great adventurer of all timmmmme! Hwah! Huzzah! Striking sounds! He learned a great mmmany things in his life, hmmm? Because his journey mmmmade him wise, patient... fun things you kids don't understand."
Umbre's ears flatten against his head. Zoey's follow suit.
Vivi giggles, just so softly.
"And he thought in turn these skills would... immmmpress people. Right? Why wouldn't they? Hmmmm, isn't he coool? Well no. He wasn't as cool as he thought, because there was a girl he so liked—yes, whistle and mmmmeowthcall here—and she didn't think so. Mmmmh! It brought him chaos in his heart! This girl, she was elegant and classy and knew her way around just anything! She danced around her enemies and showed them up, hmm-hmm!" Sharp nod. Sharp nod...
Deep intake. "Even when she turned around, stopped, and saw him, it was a bit... too late." Exhale. "He had mmmmoved on. He wasn't... doing the best by then. He learned this as he did with mmmmany things on his journeys. Take it with a grain of salt: mmmove on. He'd left, to put it plainly; and he wasn't commming back again."
Espa winces, stumbles. When I glance back it's like her eyes have iced over in fear.
Zoey whispers, "Was he dead?"
"No, he wasn't dead! Mmmmh, Zoey, you're mmmissing the point." And thus he moves on. "He was too shy, heck, stupid, and gave in too easily. He thought he understood when life closed off an exit. He thought he could take what life told himmmm and commmmprehend that he shouldn't be there. But things change, and he did not understand that. Oof. No. I pity him even today. He was a nice bloke. Shame he fell so low.
Then it's my turn to sigh after him.
Ye-Yes... Tim does come to mind...
"Turns out his head was emptier than he thought, and that just really mmmessed himmmm up. He did a lot of bad things, then. Their one mmmmeeting was split right down the mmmiddle: you'd think, even if she found himmm again, she'd be disgusted. She'd turn her back. Leave.
"Curse the fates as I don't know how she did it. Stopped himmmmm frommm a stupid thing, the stupid thing that would've been his last act alive, surely. But she did it. How did she find him? Hmm. She was a smart girl. And she forgave himmmm before he realized he had sommme forgiving to do." Soft, airy sigh. "One might almost call her perfect... saving a life when it should have cut close...
He clears his throat. "There was someone special—not she or he—very special—out there who thought these acts mmmad, insane, and deep down ammmmazing. So who knows where they are now... but the fire of life in their hearts—just none of it could be extinguished." And another sigh. "Mmmm... nice people indeed." He doesn't stop, but his voice cuts and ends there.
"What was his name?" Vivi's breath is but air just brushed over with song.
"Sir Ton. Hmm. I do believe there's a pun in there sommmmewhere. Delightful, eh?"
She giggles. Umbre snorts. Espa's gaze goes into her head somewhere foreign.
I don't quite know what to say at first: the words all jumble up in me... it was... a nice story, of course. They... they all were nice stories, though, so that is not much of a difference. It was a beauty, some sort of spectacle... and the story was real? I wonder then if he ever met one of them, S-Sir Ton, and that is what keeps their word afire. Still... it was a sweet tale; I quite enjoyed listening to it. Yes... yes indeed... indubitably...
"Llana?"
"Y-Yes?" What is it, Zoey?
"Can you sing now?"
"E-Eh!" I-I... but..!
Chattering raises like clouds or pillars betwixt the quagsire and the psychics.
Cheeka first. "She can sing if she wants to!"
"What if I'd rather the silence..."
"That's... that's not nice!"
"Eh!—Sorry, Cheeka. I mean that in the nicest way possible..."
She comes off shy of anger. "Ember..."
Well that settles it I'm not talking again. "You big meanies! You're making Llana self-conscious! Ember, go die or something! Emmbeeerrrrrrrrr!" Zoey's face blushes thickly and brightly like a tropically-found flower; her ears stand on end, eyes rigid. A center of the hottest of reds cloaks her face. "J-Just shut up and stop that!" Her fingers tighten around me.
"Mph. Llana." The pansear grants me one single moment of salvation. "I didn't mean it like that, Llana. Apologies." A tooth splits through his lip. "I just would rather more silence than much else. If that... ulg, sorry." Redder in the face than his accuser, he slowly turns back around and folds his arms in front of him. That tail of his with the red tuft of fur goes swinging and swinging with the indefinite strife of a pendulum.
Quagsire, then, joins in on the pounding. "Ember, does this mmmmmean you didn't like mmmmy story? Hmmmmmmm?"
His hands claw for his ears. "GAAAHHH! WHAT THE FUCK IS IT WITH YOU GUYS!"
Cheeka giggles softly, cheeks pink.
"Well I have to say I rather did enjoy it."
The moment such an icy tendril of tone creeps down our spines—we halt. The breath on my lips is not mine anymore, not even ours. We don't recognize it—no, not at all. Umbre, chortling a little hoarsely, wonders, "Hello? May I ask who we have the... um"—he gulps—"honor to speak with?"
"I suppose so. Your story was so lovely, it would be cruel of me not to, eh?" Zoey and I share a glance, then seek out the stark face of our virizion friend. If anyone, the floppy leader in front of us appears calmest; although that's no surprise. The only time I ever saw him knocked out of his demeanor was when Roland...
Zoey's fingers shift about me, more a hug than just along my hands. We wait slowly as the air chills about us, my skin itself icing over like the boulders with.. with... I shiver. Zoey tries her best—her body far warmer than mine—until we've tangled into a knot on the ground. Her tail casually flops over my head and I slump into the rapidly-chilling soil. My eyes just grow wider, wider, wider than icicles and snowballs and snowmon made by cute little children... who only wish to share a bit of joy in this world...
Her cloudy blue eyes are lined in purple. I at least think it's a her not a he. Per-Perhaps. She's donned a snowy garment not unlike a flowing bit of fabric... like a... dress, was it? Yes? Like the little things on kirlias and others of their ilk. But this one is not... not a kirlia. N-No. Not a kirlia. Long, wispy arms, hair-like falls of ice upon her cheeks and forehead—not unlike Zoey. No form of oshawott, either.
There is a fabric wrapped into a rather large bow across her body: it's a drab, depressing and dark blue, not unlike timeless ice spun together in sin. Of... some form. I don't know. It makes me nervous. Then again everything makes me n-nervous.
Our halt allows F and the others to catch stride. Her fire-red hands have Nayomi in grip, the little thing in question curled against her in sleep. F doesn't look so happy about it; whence she spots me beneath Zoey, she forces the both of us up and plops the thing in my hands. "Gawsh. Don't make me, like, watch her again," she mumbles; then, "Holy—gaawssshh, it's strangely lukewarm!"
Our gazes scrape against her. Slowly the victini turns and spies the froslass among us. "Oh Hey. Well, gawsh, that'd explain it." Cheeka giggles, abruptly stuffs a hand in her mouth. Her blue-tinged face gives more sorrow to her looks...
"Huh? Why do you all look at me with such surprise upon your faces?" She speaks in a voice not unlike my own, although its chillier demeanor and strange hint of... some very, very northern accent deters it. "Is it so unusual to see a fellow rogue in Truught? Geez, where are you from? Oh let me guess." Snide grin. "What was that town called again... you know, the one filled with soft-bellied ditzes..." Ah.
Bay, trotting from behind, brightens a bit. "Oh, you mean Post Town!"
"No," she counters, "I mean Ditzville." Blink. "No. Yes. Post Town. Whatever. Same thing. Let me guess, how many of you have died by now?"
I lose my footing.
The world goes off in alarms: black, white, red, red, throbbing heartbeats of red. My lungs have lost their senses, my knees bite into dirt, Nayomi's little head nigh bumps into a stone. I try to focus. I can't focus. How many? Howwww maaaaaaannnnyyyyyyyyyyyyyy? Aaaaaaaah! I can't think! I want to scream, scream, scream, scream scream! SCREAM! My fingers not upon Nayomi retreat for my face one at a time, I'm sobbing into my hands.
Gaurdio, Burr, Elijah, Roland, Mina... and who is next? Oh, I want to vomit. The thought is so slimy, so putrid, so awful... why can't we just... we just... e-ehhhhh... I'm freely sobbing and Nayomi is freely falling from my attempt at holding her.
A growl goes off like a siren by my ear. Zoey's fingers dig into me, shake me into reality, but it's not her that my eyes focus on but the onyx gaze behind that. Oh. He-Hello, Tim. I hug Nayomi toward me, deep breaths, try to recover. Everything won't stop spinning. Is it me or is the world ending? I don't know. They keep dying. Who's next? My gaze spins and spins like a top across them all. Who's next?
F and Ember and the intruder, Je—which splits back into that frigid, frigid creature. Espa—her belly—Everything. Hot and cold in one bleary mess... ulhhh... Zoey. Oh, Zoey, my eyes go hot through her. Zoey, Zoey... Where did tears come from? E-Ehhhh...
I don't want to know who's next...
I don't want there to even be a next... n-no... no, no, no...
Finally a hoof trots and plants itself in the soil. A slow, low growl emanates. There are dark eyes, but they aren't dark with what I so wiped from him—dark with anger.
"Stop being scary." And then he is quiet; the words echo in my head.
My gaze pilfers betwixt the two; frantic keldeo and that... that froslass. A little grin knits itself over her lips: she giggles and giggles and giggles... "Scary? Well, dear me, do I apologize!" Her sky-blue gaze trains itself on me, and again she giggles. "Apologies, apologies. I'm only another rogue out here in Death Central. Heh. Just another... I don't mean to scare you soft-bellied ditzes, now." Giggles just write across her. I'm uncomfortable... I hide beside Zoey, clasp Nayomi in my arms... she stirs a bit but otherwise stays silent.
And of course Quagsire turns. "Hmmm! Would this make you a native? Wow! Mmmmh, that seemmmms pretty cool, mmmh? What's your name?"
"Ahh, flattery. I pluck it like apples from your useless tree." Snort. "Name? Oh, right. My name is Frigid Outspring, and it's nice to meet you... I guess. Psh, I wonder how many of you will still be alive if we ever cross paths again. That would be quite the surprise." Another laugh. She just... f-finds us hilarious, doesn't she? Hysterical? Impossible? N-Nnng...
Casually Tim takes a step toward of. Oh dear, of course he does. Ember and Cheeka by the side of our floppy leader have gone just as still and silent as me. They don't dare a move. Their wide, psychic eyes take in the encounter of this new being. Ember's face narrows. I can only imagine the silent growl locked in his throat.
She smirks as the black-furred biped steps toward her again. She waits and watches, cloudy gaze thick with curiosity, as he clears his deep throat. "You don't know who we are, then, do you? Although I wouldn't expect a commoner like so to recognize us. Not even our fellow Quagsire? Not even"—his eyes shine feverishly—"not me, either?" He looks about ready to start... laughing. Freakishly laughing.
"No. No I don't. Why?" Her lips upturn.
"Because I've killed your entire family, as well as your childhood friends... including..." Tim's eyes snap shut, claws coming out in counting. "Your cousins. Your—oh yes—you remember your first lover who must have strangely disappeared one night? Yes. I killed her, too."
She hardly reacts. Or at least won't show up. Slowly licks her lips. "Nice to meetcha, Killer."
"Tim." His expression darkens, eyes opening. I doubt he likes her. I doubt... much of us like her. Quagsire is curious, in the least. Bay's no good at disliking anyone. Zoey must digress, since I-I do.
"So you're the one who's been leaving all the corpses? Turning the world to good ol' crap? That's all you? Mmh. You have my pride."
"Hm. I thought I'd like you more if I showed you some shame, but I suppose I was wrong."
"Eh. Oh well. Shall I be on my way, then?"
"E-Ehhhhhhh!" A cry from behind tugs us each aside. Vivi shuffles to her right, Umbre following a little hastily, as a blue dragonet goes tumbling to the froslass. Her fingers tightly entwine with the beast's torso, tugging at her floating form, tugging, tugging. "Please! Pleaaaaaase don't go!"
A bit of a hysterical grin accompanies Frigid Outspring's face. "What the hell are you and what do you want from me?"
Jen's amber gaze only tightens as she hugs that—that thing. "I-I want you to stay! I-I-I-I really really like you! And I... I feel bad about what happened to you! You should... y-you should stay with us! We-We'll be your friends! You won't ever have to be loneeellyyyyyyy!" She's so... I so... e-ehhh...
"Jen. Dear. Don't..." Vivi takes a step toward our friend, only the bagon shuffles away. She can't leave the side of the froslass, amber eyes thick and glassy. "Ouuhf..." We all know why she can't let go of... I mean... It's o-obvious. But I can't... I can't think about it right now. Zoey pouts, holding me closer. I can't think about him now...
Bay splutters, watching the bagon shiver and hold that other girl. He doesn't step up, but he doesn't step back either. Espa narrows her gaze, catching Vivi's and shaking her head curtly. F just snorts. But she doesn't say anything.
Quagsire is the first to break our new silence. "Hmmmm... well then I guess you'll just have to stay with us! How fun, mmhmm! You'll be joining us now, mmkay?" His smile just blooms. "Well, look at the bright side: mmmmmore stories frommmm mmmme."
Frigid Outspring stares at Jen, rolls her eyes, and slouches back, patting at the bagon with one of her wispy hands. "Well, I guess I have no choice. Eh, no big deal. I don't mind. I guess I'll become a soft-bellied ditz too. Not like I had anything better to do." She rolls her eyes. "Like our old pal Killer said, he has finished just about all of my family, eh? Natural disasters, demons... Gosh. Not sure how I survived." Ah... she doesn't care. W-Well... I don't mind too much.
"Really though, why aren't all you soft-bellied ditzes freaking out or something about the fact that Killer here's killed my family?"
I suck in a breath and step forward. T-T-T-Tii-i-iii-imm is my re-responsibility, a-anyways... "Because he's killed a lot of things in his life. An-And we're trying to... help him with that." I look away.
"Hm. Well stay away from me, little one. You're just brimming with light and healing, and it's making me rather uncomfortable." Spluttering, I fall back then. Zoey grunts, arm entwining mine.
Jen releases her grip some.
When Quagsire starts off again, and the pans follow suit, and we go after him, more or less into our old patterns again. F without Nayomi, but toward the back with Bay. Jen more in the middle and practically attached to our new... friend. Even if she is so uncaring about much of what we've glossed over... well... she's kinder than I thought she would be. I think. I don't know. Sh-She didn't hurt anyone. N-Not physically.
Vivi and Espa and Umbre stay just near us. We're more quiet now, Umbre especially with those jokes of his, thoughts of our own swirling in wonder. When we are this silent, it's easier to hear the commotion of steps and motion all around us—steps and motion that don't particularly belong to us. Other rogues like Frigid Outspring... I'm scared... th-though I suppose I can't help it, and it's almost expected by this time. Zoey is gentle toward me... if not gentler. Tim has gone and disappeared somewhere again. I'm sure he's still nearby.
Throughout all of these interactions, Nayomi has been silent. It's not unless Espa or Vivi mumbles something about distrust, fear, and what sort of monsters are ahead that an ear twitches and she does waken. I merely hold the poor, exhausted little thing close, and I think I smile a little bit, because she is very relaxing and sweet...
We meet Frigid Outspring! Yaaaaay! Anyone like her? XD She is different than the others... in more than a couple ways. Although she kinda reminds me of Ember. Is it just me or do I have a reason to feel like people don't like Ember xD Personally I love that guy... hahaha.
Do you think there was truth in her words about "soft-bellied ditzes"?
And then Tim tries to be cool but ultimately fails because he's not cool xD
Tim: … =w=
