Berry birds

First topic message reminder :

Shara is not a very rich bird. No, for all the travelling and adventuring, Shara did not have much money. In fact she found herself short trying to buy dye. Frustrated and in her natural colors, she flew across the mountain to relax at the sea a bit.

Seeing a forested hill she remembered that dye crafting costed less than buying the finished product. She would just have to find herself a berry. maybe some treasure to fill her empty purse as well. in any event, beating up wild pokemon always helps a bad temper.

Landing in a way that held none of her usual grace or speed, shara began to dig around the bushes of a clearing, looking for spots of bright color on this dismal hill.

[Dungeon enter -10 energy]
[E=7]

The melody at first did not apear to affect the seviper, but soon it was lulled into sleep. shara relaxed and took inventory of the items scattered around. two seeds, another one of those boxes and some candy that had already been scooped up by Varda before the fight.

"Man that move is handy. like seriously. I wonder If i can learn it?" Shara mused. "anyway more junk for your bag. maaaaaaaan, this stinks. how long have we been at this, 'cause it feels like forever. I mean we found TWO freaking tresure chests, but no berries? It'd be easier fitting a wailord into a puddle than finding berries in this place."

Shara calmed down after venting a bit. All this wonderfull tresure and she still couldn't get her arcues damned feathers dyed. she adjusted her goggles out of habit, and kicked a stone, waiting for Varda to finish picking up the trash.

Varda kept singing, unfortunately not really able to keep an eye on his surroundings as he did so and thus didn't even know if it was working. Luckily the large snake didn't rise and attack the singing bird, as eventually it did grow drowsy and let out a long yawn before it slumped to the ground and curled up into a little – or as small as a snake of that size could – ball. Eventually the lullaby ended and the Swablu opened his eyes, finally seeing that the feral Pokémon had fallen asleep. Letting out a sigh due to how relieved he was, the little bird waddled over to Aria and motioned her to keep her voice down so the snake didn't wake up.

"I don't know... Maybe? Maybe if you know many lullabies. My mother used to sing them often," the Swablu chirped quietly, whispering with a smile as the Pidgey quite seemed to enjoy his ability to put others to sleep. Plenty of items seemed to be around them, so he used the time to pick up some seeds and another one of those strange locked boxes just lying around. The candy he had found was given to Aria, seeing how she seemed to be having a bad day and Varda was certain that something sweet would cheer her up...

"It doesn't look like there's all too many berries here... We could still look for a bit, but," the bird Pokémon started quietly, looking at the Pidgey,
"But if you don't find any... I have some berries if you would like to have one."


Current Energy: 5 (7 -2 from item rolls. Gained 2 Quick Seeds and 1 Pretty Box.)

Varda motioned with his wings for the Pidgey to keep her voice down as she started to speak a bit too loudly to his taste, considering that they were still a bit too close to the sleeping snake Pokémon... But as she continued and he listened, that little thing was soon forgotten as the bird cooed in awe. Aria pointed out her alias and how her singing abilities were her reason for picking the name in the first place, telling the Swablu all about the many songs she knew and could sing. Lullabies apparently weren't all that popular... But she did mention how she was an aspiring musician, though! That one wasn't missed by the blue bird.

"Oh, you're a musician?" He asked with his eyes sparkling, clearly curious and wanting to know more as he followed the Pidgey. But the Swablu hadn't noticed how the dark snake behind them had begun to stir, waking up due to the noise the two birds were making as they spoke. Varda himself had turned all his attention towards Aria, not even really keeping an eye on what was around them as he listened keenly.

"Yes, ma'am!" The more commanding tone of Aria quickly got the bird Pokémon to resume his search when she made it clear that she wasn't going to leave empty-handed– winged. Perhaps if things went really bad, he could just pretend to find a berry he actually picked from his bag... But he did still believe that the misty hill had to have at least one hidden for the Pidgey somewhere!
"What color are you looking for?" The Swablu asked as he checked the bushes for berries, trying to keep a conversation going. He didn't notice how the Seviper that had woken up was slithering closer to the two...


Current Energy: 6 (5 +1 from new page)

"I was hoping for something exotic, not just a pecha or oran berry. maybe a Watmell berry, match the turning leaves, or a chesto berry, get a nice dark purple going on for halloween*" Shara said, explaining her cosmetic desires. "and I'm not a mus-"

She was cut off by another seviper, or possible the last one woke up and followed them?, attacking from behind the cotton swab water drop. shara was able to tackle it away but the noise attracted another pokemon, a Fletchling. It had something purple in it's talons.

"GIVE ME THAT BERRY EMBER MCFLYINGPANTS!" Shara yelled, taking off to fight the other other small bird. in her frustration and Impulsive actions she had forgotten that Varda was still in trouble. Oblivious she launched a Hidden power, one of the orbs glancing the Fletchling.

[rolls -5 energy]
[E:1(that was close)]

Varda listened as the Pidgey started to tell what kind of a berry she was looking for when it came to the color of her dye. No Pecha or Oran berries made the bird coo quietly, as he did realize he had many of those with him... Pretending he just found one of those could have made Aria disappointed. However, he did have a Watmel berry! ...Back at the Guild, where he had stored the large berries he possibly couldn't carry with him. But mentioning a Chesto berry made the Swablu perk up, as that definitely wasn't something Violet had in her berry garden!

"Ooh, do you think there are Chest–" Varda started in his usual excited tone, but his sentence was cut short as Aria suddenly charged towards him and pushed the snake that was about to attack the blue bird aside. For a moment the Swablu was rather confused as he didn't have the time to register all that was happening around him, but it was soon quite apparent that they had been attacked by a wild Pokémon.

The bird had managed to buy some time with the Pidgey's quick reflexes, but once she dashed off to fight another bird high up in the air, the snake only had one target left: him. Backing away with slow steps, Varda started to spread his wings to leave the snake on the ground where it couldn't harm him... But he was too slow, struck by a poisonous tail that caused the light bird to fly backwards and land roughly on the moist grass.

The two birds were gaining height, the Fletchling unsure of how high it would fly, tried to level off, that gave shara all the time she needed to hit it. The Fletchling dodged, but it was a feint attack, aimed straight down.

The two were tumbling trough the air, exchanging random attacks, when the fletchling finaly let go of... candy. In her anger shara tackled the Fletchling down faster, barely leveling off in time. good news, that fletchling wouldn't be bothering anybody anytime soon, bad news, shara saw that Varda was in trouble.

Shara could not believe the extent of her stupidity. She made a terrible adventurer. She forgot about her friend, and may not get back in time to help. even if she did she was exhausted. she should have eaten that oran berry. she would have if she knew it was going to take this long.

Maybe she could make it. maybe if she was fast enough. If she was just fast enough she wouldn't have to leave anyone behind ever again. Shara beat her wings faster, and faster, so fast it hurt terribly, but she needed to get there in time. If she managed it she would crash into the seviper with the force of a hyper beam at the speed she was going at.

[I leave whenever she gets there and if she hits up to you.]

The air escaped Varda's lungs as he hit the ground, forcing him to let out a quiet coo as the air rushed out of him. It had hurt a bit, the snake's tail had been quite strong as it hit the small bird and the impact of the ground wasn't all that soft, either. The good news were that the blue bird was rather soft himself due to all the fluff and padding he had. But the bad news was that as he lied there on the ground, looking up at the gray sky and the sun through the sparse canopy... He felt rather weak and sick, quite certain that the snake's venom was now in his body.

Weakly, the Swablu tried to roll over to his feet as he attempted to stand and get away from the snake Pokémon, not wanting to let it get too close to him now that he was prone... But his movements were sluggish and he found moving a rather difficult thing to do. The snake slithered closer, enjoying its easy target that couldn't get away as it bared its fangs – completely ignoring the Pidgey that was flying at it with breakneck speeds!

The Seviper hissed as Aria suddenly hit its body, the force of the mighty attack throwing the snake many feet away from the prone little Swablu. Finally the feral Pokémon had been knocked unconscious as it hit its head, lying limply on the ground.

after initial impact shara didn't feel much, she tumbled through the air, not even thinking about trying to regain control. she smashed through two bushes with almost no resistance, then hit a tree. she just lay there, slumped over on her back, the whole world around her seeming like an illusion.

Time didn't seem to matter. Shara did all she could right now, so she would wait and see what happened. The tinge of twilight reached her through the mist, it was almost sunset. she mused that she had spent a day looking for a single berry and found fabulous treasures, but nothing she actually wanted.

Shara hoped she had done enough...

Varda lied on his back, trying to gather the remaining strength in his limbs to get up. The snake didn't manage to attack its helpless prey, as the little brown bolt of lighting had struck before it had the chance. The forested area of the misty hill quickly grew quiet. The fight was over, no one was moving – even the air stood still as the thinning mist gently rolled by. Finally, the blue bird forced himself to roll on his stomach and push himself up with his cottony wings, wobbling in place and letting out a little cough.

He checked his bag first, quickly making sure that nothing in it had broken. And then, he looked around. The feral bird Pokémon was on the ground, not moving. The snake and Aria... Were missing, the Swablu couldn't manage to see either of them until he took a better look. Finally, a dark, long shape sticking out of a nearby bush told him that that was where the snake had ended, unconscious and limp, half inside the bush.

Varda started to take slow, unsteady steps towards in, guessing that it was probably where the Pidgey had flown as well. It was starting to get dark and the idea of being alone in a misty, dark forest full of angry Pokémon wasn't all that... Fun.
"Aria?" The Swablu chirped carefully, his voice a bit hoarse and weak,
"Are you here...?"

"Ugh... yeah I'm still here. Barely. Sorry about chasing after that Fletchling. If I wasn't so fixated on getting berries then I might have stayed to fight." shara said, ashamed of herself.

She rolled over onto her stomach, everything was sore but nothing seemed broken. she got up, and started walking through the gaping hole in the bushes she made. Varda didn't sound much better than she did, but at least he was alive.

once she got a look at him her suspicions were  confirmed. she walked over to him, then sat down on the ground.

"In the twilight, I fell from tall heights~" Shara sang " I planned on landing, I prayed with great might.

"But in the end i did expend, the thoughts of great gods, and left my fate to the wind, to lift me of from my sins~"

Shara finished the verse, too tired to recite the whole song. It always seemed to end up like this. When she was well and done with she would sing. Shara guesed this meant that she had given up on the berries.

[Meh, i tried finding a fitting song from the real world for this scene, but couldn't, so I made a bit of a song up. :I]

Varda carefully waddled towards the bushes, attempting to push some of the branches aside so he could see Aria behind them. However, his wings didn't quite have the strength thanks to the poison, but at least he could hear the Pidgey replying to him and he did still have the ability to speak.
"It's fine... I'm only a little hurt," the bird Pokémon chirped weakly, staring at the bush that was separating the two. The snake and the feral bird that had attacked them earlier both were unmoving and quiet, but the Swablu could only hope they would stay that way for a long time.

He could hear Aria stirring behind the bush, getting on her feet and starting to walk towards the blue bird. Despite how tired he was, Varda still had a great big smile on his face as he finally saw the Pidgey again, sitting down next to her when she did so as well. He quite enjoyed the opportunity to rest and do nothing, just listening quietly as Aria started to sing. It didn't last for long as she was as tired as he was, but the Swablu still enjoyed it.

"Do you... Sing often?" He asked carefully, his voice quiet and soft. The little beady eyes of the bird Pokémon looked towards Aria as he smiled, tired but still looking awfully happy as usual.
"Oh, I have many Pecha berries and Oran berries... I know you said you didn't want them, so," the Swablu suddenly started as he looked up at the darkening sky,
"I have a Cheri berry with me, though. And I have some Watmel berries and Sitrus berries back at the Guild. You could have one of those if you want..."

"Yeah actualy, I do sing a lot. I enjoy it. I'm not a musician, but Singing is my jam. Grew up with a lot of folk songs from my flock, when i started traveling I heard so much amazing music. Despite all the fun I was having, I always had to leave friends behind. maybe I'd be better off If I stayed in one place. I've been thinking that a lot lately" Shara said.

Shara stood up and walked towards the cliff. the sunset painted the sky brilliant purples and oranges. Shara contemplated the offer. she did basically get nothing while Pillow wings got some neat loot. Shara didn't mind all that much, except for the boxes, they were really pretty.

"welp I'm probably going to stay the night in rainfront. I'll take you up on that offer though the next time I'm by Grassveil. Thanks for the adventure mr. poof."

Varda nodded as the other bird mentioned how she did sing a lot, which wasn't really a surprise seeing the way she did it earlier! The blue bird was feeling rather weak or sick, so he rather just sat there next to Aria and listened to her tale, hearing about her own flock and their songs. It seemed like the Pidgey had traveled quite far, always leaving behind friends and now wondering if she should stay in one place...
"Maybe you could move to Grassveil Town," the Swablu offered quietly, liking it quite a lot himself if he had many Pokémon he knew close to him.

But then the realization hit him as the strange, confusing haze in his mind due to the poisoning was slowly disappearing. If Aria had traveled around a lot, seen many Pokémon... It was possible that she had perhaps seen his family, too! And if she truly had as great of a sense of direction as she had claimed to have... She could lead him back so easily!

Before the bird was given an opportunity to ask, the Pidgey had already got back on her feet and started to walk. Varda was still feeling a bit shaky and sick, but clearly his body was already processing the venom and he felt a bit better already. Slowly, he waddled over to Aria as the two watched the sunset and the beautiful sky.

"Oh... I should probably head there too, first. Rest up a bit," Varda chirped softly, letting out a giggle as the Pidgey told him her plans to continue. Rainfront Town was closer than Grassveil Town, and the Swablu was absolutely exhausted! But now that he had some time, he quickly shook his head to clear his mind and remind himself of that important question.
"Um, can I ask you one quick question?" He went ahead and asked, looking at Aria,
"You said that you had traveled a lot, and... Have you maybe seen my flock? I kind of got lost and have been looking for them..."


((If you want, you can definitely end this with your next post and have the two fly off to Rainfront Town. Kinda looked like you already were doing it in your last post but I think that Varda really just had to ask this still, heh.))

Shara shifted uncomfortably. She had avoided any flocks for fear that they migh be her own or at least know of her. She didn't want to disappoint Varda, but there was no way she knew if any of the flocks she avoided were his.

"I, I don't know. never hung around any flocks, incase they might recognize me ya know? Do you know if they have migration pattern? you might be able to find them if you just wait around at some spot they like to roost." Shara said, offering all the help she could. "Well I'm going to go on ahead, see you later Varda"

Shara took off and left. She was tired. In the end these berry birds had nothing to show for their efforts, but the sun will come out tomorrow.