Of Glory and Riches (MonkeySage)

For Grassveil's guildhall, it was business as usual. Teams had come in every now and then to receive payment for completed missions and to rest up or pick up assignments as they were posted on the board. It wasn't a huge flurry of activity, but there were people around in the mess halls or in the rooms discussing anywhere from personal to guild business.

Near the mission boards, standing slightly off to the side and barely reaching the bottom of the post it board itself was a short, reptilian individual who fixed the posted missions with an amber-eyed stare. The lime green serpentine body with stubby legs and long, fanned tail revealed the new arrival to be a snivy. Not very common in the region, but he seemed to be present none the less.

His name was Jeremy, and for the last thirty minutes he hasn't moved from that spot ever since he entered the guild hall about an hour ago. In fact, despite himself, the Grass Snake Pokemon seemed slightly shocked at the fact that such a building existed in the first place. He came into the guild hall with a gaping mouth that settled into a carefully maintained face of stoicism… Though his wandering amber eyes betrayed his thirst for knowledge about this place.

"I didn't know they had a guild here…"

He didn't seem to be talking to anyone in particular, and the normally composed voice was toned down to a murmur.

When Jeremy came across this place he was amazed. Guilds back in his homeland hosted some of the most famous travelers, explorers, entrepreneurs, and treasure hunters the world had ever seen. Others were famous for their heroic actions in bringing down terrifying villains that were at the mercy of the cunning, vicious criminals that thought they couldn't be stopped.

Some of those individuals that came from the guilds became legends in their own right.

Jeremy tried to calm himself as he made efforts to go about this rationally. Compared to home, this guild was fairly small stuff. It was an opportunity though, and um… He DID find himself low on funds… Despicable, but even if he was proud he was also pragmatic. He needed to do some… Work.

Without really realizing it, Jeremy slowly back up to get ready to turn around when he felt something collide into him. Shaking himself a little from the light impact, the male snivy frowned and furrowed his scaly brow when he beheld the individual he walked into...

Kuro. The buffoon of a pokemon scratched her head in confusion at what had bumped into her "Who put a Snivy here?" She uttered in the most serious tone she could ever muster. Her tail came uncluttered by the impact, which quickly reformed itself to its former position. The Sharp Claw pokemon proceeded to live up to her reputation and sharpen her claws, making slight sparks appear with each swipe.

"Heh sorry bout that there, kinda lose myself in my own thoughts... I'm sure you know what I mean. You've been standing here since I came in. Just gawking at the board here"

She let out a mischievous giggle and leaned against the wall close to the bulletin board, glancing at a few of the requests with envy.

"If only I could join this place, I'd get a crew and everything. Save the day, get riches... and live haaaapily ever after... all that malarkey"

Shaking his head from the impact, the Grass Snake Pokemon refocused his amber eyes on the individual in front of him. Frowning at first, Jeremy rose a scaly brow when he made out her appearance.

Her features were… He assumed it was a her, seemed to be a mix between feline and weasel. With a rounded heady and a stubby body covered with thin, dark fur she was obviously some sort of mammal. Or not? A fanned tail of red feathers, one of which decorated an asymmetrical ear blurred the line somewhat. Jeremy wondered if they were natural. The most noticeable quality were the eyes though… Red with a white pupil which were framed with some of the longest, most noticeable lashes Jeremy had ever seen before.

He saved his normally snarky comments though for several reasons. One, he was tired. Two, at least she apologized. Three, the injuries he had sustained from a couple days ago were still fresh and sore. Four… Those claws.

However, as she rambled on (Whoever she was), she made a comment in regards to his presence there earlier. Balking somewhat, Jeremy gave a sniff. "I'm sorry… But what? How long have you been watching m-?"

He didn't even get to finish as the sneasel stared longingly at the board with her red eyes, already going on a tangent about how nice it would be to to form a crew, get rich, and become a hero. She seemed to trail off, almost longingly as far as the male snivy could tell.

Jeremy furrowed his brow, glancing at her before looking back at the board again. There was a pause for a moment before Jeremy turned around to face her, offering a leafy hand. "My name is Jeremy Blackwood. What is yours?"

What was he doing exactly?

Kuro thought for a second about shaking the snake's hand but realised the foolishness of it, considering how sharp her claws were, shaking hands were simply impossible for her without causing harm. So instead she decided the best thing to do was to curtsy to the seemingly conceited Snivy

"Kuro. No last name, only Kuro." She answered with slight mocking, copying the tone of Jeremy's voice but not doing so well. If any pokemon were to be observing these two manners of speech they would think that Jeremy was a King and Kuro was merely a jester.

Feh. In hindsight, maybe it was better to not shake hands anyway. Not only with the claws being taken into account, but Jeremy was somewhat shocked at himself at how he almost started conversation with the expectation of equals. This place was getting to him, and now he needed to assume a more noble air.

Still, he had to give props for the curtsey

He frowned at her tone, but decided not to comment on it unless her disrespect persisted. "You mentioned that you were interested in joining this guild earlier. Have you been looking for work?"

She scratched the back of her head in slight embarrassment "Well... I was hoping to get to it but... there's been around a billion distractions on my way here... I mean I ended up being up some mountains just getting my way here, and then this Pichu got stuck in that Serene Cave... I seem to attract lotsa trouble" Kuro let out a small giggle and retained her posture.

"How bout you? Got many adventures under your belt? Well probably not many, considering you haven't evolved... but then again neither have I!" She lightly chuckled to herself, her ramblings getting slightly smaller as for once she's found someone who was quite interesting in their own unique way.

Jeremy's facial expression largely did not change from his somber, elitist appearance as he listened to the female sneasel explain her story. For a while, the male snivy did not say anything at all, head turned away thoughtfully as his amber eyes scanned the posted missions on the board. There was a pause before he turned back to face Kuro.

"I came across the ocean. Made it to this town about four days ago." Jeremy shook his head as he put his leafy hands on his hips. "I thought I made a mistake at the time… But I had no idea a guild was here…"

The male snivy furrowed his brow for a moment before he fixed Kuro a more intense stare, reptilian eyes meeting her red ones. "So… You have had field experience before then?"

Kuro's smile didn't waver as it never did, yet the voice and posture of Jeremy seemed to calm her more than any other would. This was a rare sight to see as Kuro was hardly ever calm, her movement was cut to a minimum except from the mandatory sharpening of her claws. It seemed to her more like a habit than a necessity.

"Only a small amount, considering I've adventured with more than one pokemon since I left my home. I've had to do a lot of traveling to make my way here" She paused for a moment as she looked around the guild. seeing the joyful pokemon do their duties she turned back to Jeremy "I think it was worth the journey"

The Grass Snake Pokemon gave a non committal hum at Kuro's last statement. The bastard child gazed at the sneasel thoughtfully, sizing her up and making note of her almost nervous looking habit of constantly refining and sharpening her claws.

There was a pause before Jeremy asked, "So why did you leave home? It just seems like a long and treacherous journey to come all the way here without a reason planned out ahead of time."

It was a good question in Jeremy's eyes. The noble could not fathom for the life of him why one would travel just for the sake of traveling.

Regardless though… If she knew what she was doing then perhaps she could be useful? Poke was something he needed in ample amounts, but going out into savage lands, risking life and limb to get it? He needed reliable mercenaries… He needed some vassals to command and lead to greatness and wealth untold.

Rubbing the sore wounds from his first battle reminded the male snivy that he himself had a lot to learn, and it was likely he would not be able to do this himself.

Was he seriously considering this right now? It seemed so sudden but…

Maybe this was the chance he was looking for.

"Well when ya live alone all your life you tend to want... no... NEED companionship, I guess thats why I left my home of solitude, to find a friend or two to adventure with" Kuro explained her past almost proudly, where as others would possibly be saddened by reliving such a tragic history, yet her smile remained unfazed.

"How bout you huh? The same reason or something else? Like being abandoned by your parents? Well that would kinda be like mine too" She let out a small laugh, which is normally something that would, and should, not be laughed about. Yet Kuro seemed to talk about it with her natural glee attitude.

A thought did creep into her mind 'Hey this guy aint so bad, I mean sure he isn't the best looking guy out there but... he doesn't hate me... maybe I should make a team with him'

Jeremy frowned at her answer, scaly brow raised at the rather… Unexpected backstory he was presented with. Left behind by her family? Kicked out? What did she do to warrant that? Or… What did she not do? There were so many questions that could have been asked, but Jeremy did not ask them. Perhaps out of respect? Some sort of discomfiting sympathy?

He did look somewhat offended at the offhand comment about his own family relations. Snorting in response, and lifting his head high, the male snivy did his best to get across the whole 'I look down on your implicitness' pose. He had the presence, if only Kuro was not just a little bit taller than he was.

"Don't be ridiculous…" Jeremy started in a calm, if slightly sneering voice. "I am from the esteemed Blackwood family. I was not abandoned by them. I came to this place on my own free will. There are high expectations of my clan, and I intend to fulfill them." His confidence and dismissiveness seemed calculated and controlled, yet there was a flash of something in the male snivy's amber eyes. Discomfort perhaps?… Uncertainty? As quickly as it came, it was gone however.

There was a pause as Jeremy composed himself again, face carefully maintained in a neutral expression before he shrugged helplessly and sighed. "Alas, it seems I am sadly understaffed to qualify for an exploration team. I would require at least one other individual to accompany me to the field before I could lead the group to untold riches and glory."

The tone in which Jeremy put forward was full of implications… The male snivy was willing to start an exploration team, but he wouldn't be the one asking to join… He had his pride after all.

He gazed at Kuro with a somber expression, though his amber eyes had a light of expectation in them.

"Hmph... well.. I mean I wouldn't exactly mind making a team with royalty such as yourself" She bowed once again , in the presence of someone so regal, well in her mindset he was. And she had a strange respect for people who deserved it. She smirked and eyed the Snivy, hoping to gauge his reaction (Sorry for short post, feel like crap)

(OOC: Its fine. I understand if you are busy or not feeling well.)

Jeremy actually afforded a smile at that, amber eyes gazing at the sneasel appraisingly. "Well, it would be crude of me to deny willing service." With a clap of his hands, the male snivy grinned, glint of ambition in his reptilian eyes. "Let it be known then that the first official Blackwood led guild team has come to pass… We will work out the details of it later."

The male snivy put his hands on his hips. "Now… We need to talk to the guild master here."

She jumped up in shock when he clapped his hands as she was in a sort of daze, imagining all the cool adventured they would have and all the people they would save. And the riches.

Kuro nodded and looked around "Now... if I was a guild master where would I be..." She mumbled and her eyes darted across the room "Aha! To the door marked Guild Master!" She walked forward and happily, getting a few stares from the other pokemon, caused by her sudden shouting.

The Female Sneasel paced excitedly to the door and waited for her new companion to catch up to her, she leaned up against the wall besides the aforementioned door. Grinning like she never had before

Jeremy blinked once when Kuro dashed away in front of him in a flurry of excitement. The female sneasel was no doubt determined to get things finalized, and the Grass Snake Pokemon even had to admit himself that a twinge of excitement and purpose was now in his heart. Still, where as Kuro was yelling excitedly, Jeremy followed behind the wake of her spontaneity with his head raised high and expression calm, like the gentle wind that follows the storm… Though he did fix any other Pokemon who stared too long at the scene with a fierce and imperious gaze.

As they found themselves in the living quarters of the guild hall, it was not long before they came upon a large door. It was a fairly simple thing, and the only thing that made it seem different than the other rooms was the iron work present and the plaque that was emblazoned with the words "Guild Master".

Kuro stood to the side, and Jeremy gave her a glance with amber eyes before turning back the door itself. Clearing his throat, the male snivy tilted his head up, stature straight and professional as a leaf-like hand gently rapped the wooden surface with precisely 3 knocks.

When that was done, Jeremy backed up some, gently brushing off his sides as he waited before standing straight once again. The overall appearance was like a charismatic politician getting ready to speak with the masses or a diplomat getting ready to meet foreign leaders as he stood with head straight ahead, small smile on his face.