First Visit to the Guild

First topic message reminder :

The day was yet to be over as Tina, upon which Varda was still roosting, strolled into Grassveil with the intent to find the Guild. The Fennekin mostly allowed herself to be led by the chirps and pointings of the bird upon her back, much to the various interests of any spectators. She paid them no mind, though, proving to be a good actor of the nonchalant.

With their combined efforts, the pair soon reached the Grassveil Explorer's Guild. With afternoon now making way for the streams of sunset, they had come at an opportune time. Tina trotted into the main area of the Guild's hall, a sort of entry foyer, and stopped about in the middle, taking in what was around her.

She had to say, Tina had never quite ever seen architecture like this. Born and raised in the forest areas, the Fennekin had never personally seen anything much more complex than a particularly adorned den. But here was a whole building, all rather impeccably furnished (to her knowledge) and brimming with a sort of professional air she couldn't quite grasp...

"Wow," Tina said, finally and simply.

"My choice, huh..." Tina lamented, starting to think. Pecha Forest, where they had come from, seemed enough like a dungeon to warrant something. From her initial experience, however, she had been left wanting something more... exciting? She couldn't figure out a good word for it. But if the Riolu here was just as tough as the Fennekin could be, or even more that that, then the Fennekin felt like her next trip to that forest could be something more fulfilling.

But there was also the matter of what was here. If she wasn't officially with the Guild, then could she actually stay here? Tina had been told that civilization like this was far more firm on certain rules than out where she lived. Either way, she had to be sure she could secure a place to live while in her downtime, if there was going to be any delay in her joining the Guild.

Making a decision on her initial answer, Tina said, "Alright; Pecha Forest, day after tomorrow, before noon. How does that sound?" She hoped it was good. She also hoped she wasn't going to be a burden from sleeping here.

Varda nodded in acceptance, agreeing with Lance's points when it came to their future mission. It all sounded good in his mind, it was what they had agreed on! And he was certain Dawn would agree as well. The leader also made his decision about whether or not he would explore with Tina before or after the mission, deciding to not make Tina wait – which in the bird's eyes was the better idea! He didn't want to make the Fennekin wait after all, and he was glad that Lance agreed. He turned to look towards the fox when everything else about the exploration trip was put in her paws, as Lance allowed her to pick the place and time.

The Swablu didn't find a reason to butt in the conversation right now, letting the two Pokémon to decide for themselves. Tina seemed to think for a moment, clearly wanting to make sure that her answer would be a good one! And once she finally spoke... It did seem that way! Pecha Forest was close and it didn't seem like it was too dangerous despite the hairy situations the bird Pokémon had run into there occasionally, but he was sure that two Pokémon like Lance and Tina would handle that just well!

"I think it sounds good!" Varda chimed in, giving his two cents just in case Lance wasn't entirely sure for some reason. If he needed to hear another opinion, the bird was happy to give one!
"Oh, and well," the Swablu finally turned towards the leader of their team with a chirp, starting to answer the question he had about how the rest of his team would spend their time while he was out exploring with Tina,
"I was thinking that maybe I could train a bit! Strengthen my wings maybe. I could ask Dawn if there's something in particular she wants to do," he cooed with a nod. They could do something... Or just take it easy. It really depended on how he and Dawn felt at the moment!

"That sounds good to me."Lance said to Tina. "I shouldn't have much trouble with Pecha Forest, since I've been in there quite a couple of times. And I will have plenty of time to get ready & pick out a specific mission for my team to take on before we go exploring." He smiled, finally done organizing everything. After hearing what Varda had to say, he looked at both Pokémon. "So now that we have arranged everything...what do you two want to do?"

Lance did find himself agreeing with Tina's choice of place and time, which brought some more beams of smile on the fox's face. Lance could get a mission settled, Varda and Dawn could decide what they would do in the meantime, and generally everyone would plenty of lenience on the day before they went on their exploration venture. As for right now...

The Fennekin yet out a light-sounding, irrepressible yawn. "Actually, if you wouldn't mind..." Tina began, the exhaustion in her body definitely more apparent now, "I'd like to take you up on that offer for a room to rest in, heh..."

Varda couldn't help but smile and beam with happiness when everything was just going so well. Everything had been settled so easily, no one had fought or felt like they were being ignored, everyone had managed to affect the outcome – and for that, he was so happy! Their first mission would have to wait, but Lance said that he probably could have picked one now that he had some time before he left with Tina tomorrow. It was fine with the Swablu, forever. He was in no hurry himself...

The bird Pokémon turned to Tina as Lance asked what the two of them wanted to do now – and her response mirrored what he felt quite well. The yawn that escaped her mouth almost made Varda repeat it, but he managed to suppress it as he nodded.
"I like the sound of that," he cooed, sounding quite content if a bit less energetic now. He started taking some relaxed steps down the hall and towards their room, making the first move of leading the others there.
"We should go to our room. You can borrow my nest, Tina. I tried making it nice!"

Lance smiled when both Pokémon decided to hit the hay. He was somewhat tired himself, but he wanted to go for a stroll first. "You two go ahead, I'm going to go for a walk." He was always walking around anywhere he could. Walking around strengthened his legs and kept him quick and fit for battle and exploring. And being a fighting-type, both those things were very important to him. He turned around and headed towards the entrance of the guild, planning on walking through town for a little while, then going to bed.

The Fennekin nodded in agreement to Varda's sympathy and Lance's understanding. The Riolu, however, was going to go on a walk first beforehand; understandable, if he wasn't tired yet. Varda, meanwhile, was already offering his own nest for her to sleep in as he started to pace towards the rooms.

She barely made an effort to stifle her giggle. "Oh, you boys and how you aim to please!" Tina teased at Varda, bounding up next to and a bit ahead of the Swablu. "I'd just be content with any kind o' bed. Besides, I have a feeling a nest of your size would be a teensy too small for me."

"Oh, good bye Lance! Take care," Varda chirped as one of the Pokémon suddenly decided to leave for a walk instead of returning to their room, but Lance didn't seem to be as tired as the two others that had been out exploring for the entire day already. The little bird waved his cottony wing as he saw the team leader off, disappearing from his sight eventually. Hopefully Lance didn't exhaust himself so he would be prepared to go outside with Tina tomorrow morning...

The Swablu waddled towards the room that belonged to his team, giving a slightly puzzled look to the fox as she giggled how he "aimed to please" and dashed to his side. The bird cooed as Tina doubted that his bed would be big enough for her, sizing the Pokémon with his eyes.
"It's not a tiny nest! There was plenty of straw," Varda retorted as he pushed open a door, stepping inside a room and waiting for his friend to follow.
"We only really have three beds, too..."

As Team Mystical was almost a full-sized team, the room was big enough to fit a couple of more Pokémon, just in case. But as the bird had mentioned, only the current three members had their places to sleep and there wasn't much else in the room. It was empty as well, leaving the two Pokémon alone.
"It looks like Dawn isn't here," the Swablu chirped as he walked towards one of the piles of straw in the corner, neatly arranged into a more proper nest.



((I guess it's just you and me now, huh.))

The bird flapped ahead, seeming slightly offended at Tina's suggestion that his nest was too small for her. The fox had her doubts, and she had just thought to voice them as nicely as she could. If Varda was certain that his nest would be large enough for her, too, then who was she to judge, really? She followed the Swablu, regardless, still eager to get in a bed.

Varda pushed open a door for Tina to walk through, and so she did. Inside the room was what she assumed to be sleeping quarters, with simple dressings and plies of straw for beds. Well, maybe it wasn't so different from back home; she used to sleep on fresh leaves. The Swablu trotted forward, reaching to one particular pile of straw off in the corner, arranged into a sort of bowl-like structure often accommodated with birds.

Either way, it brought up another problem: There were only three beds, just as Varda mentioned. Where was Varda planning to sleep if Tina was going to be in his nest?

Tina tilted her head a little questioningly at the cotton bird's comment on how 'Dawn' appeared to be absent. "Dawn? Is that another friend of yours?" Tina asked reflexively, perhaps a little confused as to if he meant the time or some other Pokemon.

Varda waited for Tina to come inside and take in the sights patiently. Their room was plain and there wasn't all that much to look at, but it still was the team's sleeping quarters and even the bird's current home, not having any other place to stay – surely it was worth at least one good look! The bird at least seemed quite happy to have a friend over, his little beady eyes sparkling with excitement as he watched the fox come closer.

"Ah!" The Swablu gasped as he realized something once Tina asked about this mysterious "Dawn", wondering who she was. He had never even told her about Dawn! That was a silly mistake he quickly rushed to correct.
"Oh, Dawn is the third member in our team! Or the second, if you count Lance as a leader and not a member," Varda started, though at the end he seemed to get a bit distracted and lost in his own thoughts, thinking out loud. He quickly snapped out of it as he looked back at the fox.
"That doesn't matter though. She joined when I did and I think she's pretty nice! I'm sure you two will meet later – and I'm sure you two will get along, too!" The little bird chirped cheerfully, nodding.

Extending one of his fluffy, white wings, Varda motioned towards his nest he created. While not one that would fit an awfully large Pokémon, it wasn't made to be an exact fit to the bird's own frame. It did seem to be clean as well, not even having any extra feathers lying around.
"You can sleep here if you want!"

[gah, sorry for being so late to reply, i was terribly sick the last few days.]

After a moment of realization that he hadn't introduced his other other friend, Varda quickly went on to tell Tina about who Dawn was. The third member of the rescue team, and having joined at the same time Varda did, the bird was of the conviction that Dawn would get along quite well with Tina. She smiled a bit, but still held her head in a curious position; he had neglected to talk about what species of Pokemon Dawn was.

Of course, Tina was not going to put Varda down so quickly, given her experiences with how the Swablu was, but those aforementioned experiences painted Varda to Tina as a sort of... hyper-optimistic character? Someone who would paint any situation in bright and happy colors, no matter what the reality was...?

The fox put away her suspicions, demeaning herself for it. This Pokemon was being very genuine and friendly, and certainly would he have no reason to hide anything not shameful. She even went so far as to dig into her memories of parental advice, coming up with one of the ancient sayings known as 'Occam's Razor': "Of the solutions to a problem, the one with the least assumptions is most fitting."

Next problem: sleeping. Varda's nest was, in fact, large enough, and even quite neat to boot. "But where will YOU sleep?" Tina asked with a certain finality, looking back to the cloud-winged bird whom so eagerly offered up his own resting space.

Varda didn't see Tina's silence as a bad sign. Someone else might have, of course, as some kind of confirmation and excitement from the other party certainly would have put the more suspicious minds to ease, give them something to work with. But the way the blue bird saw it, there also were no complaints! He saw nothing wrong with silent acceptance – and he trusted Tina enough for her to say if she did actually have a problem with something. Their room might have not been all that grand and special, but hopefully it was enough for her to feel comfortable while she rested.

Another problem he had failed to notice was quickly brought up by the other Pokémon after he had offered his nest for her use. Indeed, the Swablu had been so worried about there just being three beds and four Pokémon while he was trying to make sure that Tina had a place to sleep... That he had forgotten all about himself being left bed-less if he offered his own! Someone would always be left out as Dawn and Lance would be returning later for sure and sleep in the room for the night. The bird Pokémon's eyes opened wide as he realized this fact.

"You're right!" Varda chirped as he flapped his wings, quickly calming down as he was forced to think about the issue. For a moment he seemed to be in rather deep thought, closing his eyes while he pondered.
"Maybe... I could just sleep on the floor here next to you," he started as he took a couple of steps around the nest he had built, sitting on the floor to test it. It wasn't very soft and he didn't know how easy it would be to sleep on it... But all wasn't completely lost.

"You are our guest! It's just this one night anyways, as I'm sure we can come up with something else if you stay here longer," the Swablu had come to a conclusion as he nodded with  smile, comfortable with this set-up,
"Then tomorrow, if I'm very tired, I could take a quick nap in the nest. I don't have to really go anywhere in the morning, after all. It will even be prewarmed!"


((Don't worry about it, people get sick and we don't require others to post 24/7, heh. I feel like our thread will be over soon anyways, but we might as well fill the second page as we're pretty close and only need a couple of more posts. Unless you want to continue after that!))