Tea for Three

Rally

Rally rushed back to the inn, wanting to make sure that her thanks to her friends was not going to cause an issue. She rushed along towards the inn through the market, the hustle and bustle of the area causing a slight problem; though only mid-day, the marketplace was rather crowded, and in her rush to get to the inn and book her room not for herself anymore, but for two more, Rally did not give enough focus to suppressing her aura-based abilities.

A crate split open, its wooden frame smashed to pieces.

Rally had lost control due to the sensory overload of aura stimulus. Unable to take the pain of it, she ended up stumbling, crashing head-first into a nearby crate with enough force to break it open. "Hey, are you okay?" Several pokémon responded to the crash, rushing over to check on the little Riolu.
"I'm okay," Rally responded, clearly not. "I was just admiring this great crate and got a bit carried away, that's all." Coming to her senses, Rally placed a hand on her head, clearly in pain.

"Little girl, are you sure you're gonna be okay?" The voice came from behind the stall, a deep, scratchy voice. Looking up, Rally saw a Slowking bending over her, immediately causing her to blush and back away in terror. once a couple meters back, she knelt on the ground and bowed several times.
"Hoe~! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

The Slowking let out a hearty laugh. "You can relax, little girl. That crate was mostly empty. I'm just glad you're okay." The Slowking walked around his stall before helping her to her feet. "You should be a bit more careful; not everyone will be okay with you accidentally crashing through their property." The Slowking let out a hearty laugh before pushing Rally off on her way.

Going at a more cautious pace and focusing on controlling her sixth sense, Rally made sure to make a mental note to go back to that stall and try to pay for the damages. Arriving at the inn, Rally walked up to the front desk, where a Furret was managing a large number of Sentret as they shuffled about, making sure all of their customers were pleased. "Oh, hello again, Ms. Rally. Did you need something? Is there anything broken or torn in your room?" The Furret asked in a happy yet rather rushed tone.
"No, ma'am, everything seems alright. I actually wanted to ask if it would be alright for me to add two more people to the room."

"Two more people..." The Furret looked over a large book in front of her, at least as tall as she herself was from head to toe. "You are in room 3§, yes?"
"Yes, ma'am."

"Room 3§...Room 3§...There shouldn't be anything wrong with that" she replied, a joyful smile on her furry face.
"Really?" Rally asked with glee.
"Of course. Just tell me their names and I'll add them to the books."
"They are Oerba Yun Fang, a Charmander, and Sierra, a Shinx."

"A Charmander and a Shinx...Wonderful. I've added them in and will send them up when they arrive."
"Thank you very much, ma'am."

"No trouble at all, dearie." With that, Rally happily went down the hall to the ladder. She ascended the latter carefully; she knew it was same, but she thought it better to be careful. Hopping off at the third level, she walked along the hall to her room, a large room with a mossy floor and large straw-pile beds. She made sure to check her head. No bumps. She was lucky that she hadn't been hurt. She made sure all of her belongings were over to one side before heading back out to get a drink of water...

Fang walked along the path her eye's closed as she did so and arms at her side, she was just using her basic instincts to walk around through other's and around them like she normally did. She felt like she knew this town well after the fight she walked around and gathered some Intel on the dungeons near the town she also knew where everything was now so that was a plus.

She did take note of a broken crate but decided that is wasn't important enough for her to pay any attention to it and decided to keep walking till she came across a building. She looked at her arm band and took out one of the seeds she hid there seeing as there wasn't going to be a fight she put it into her new black bag and walked into the inn.

She walks into the inn and almost instantly notices a change of atmosphere it seemed calmed and nothing was going on, she was never one to sleep in a bed much less a town she normally found happiness sleeping outside the like she normally did with her clan but maybe something new would be ok for now.

She walks over and looks at the Pokemon who seemed to be the one taking the order from the ones who wanted to go in. "Excuse me my name is Oerba Yun Fang, I am looking for a riolu named Rally" fang says trying to be nice but failed in taking the cold tone and eye's away from the conversation

Sierra

It was a short while for Sierra to get her tasks over and done with. In the amount of time she was gone, she had: Gotten routed to the guild as the authorities, reported the incident, somehow got into an argument over the validity of the argument, almost got booted out of sight by the responding official, had her claims validated, and received a decent amount of Poké, which wouldn't be 'too' much when split against three ways. Still, an oath was an oath, and the young cub walked back into the town, bag of Poké in mouth.

Finding a specific tree was not hard for the Shinx, necessarily. The months in the jungle with pokémon telling her to go to 'a specific' tree in a FOREST of trees made her perception about bark-y leaf holders rather sharp. That, and there was only one giant tree that stated 'inn' on its front. Okay, perhaps perception would not be needed after all.

As Sierra entered, she noticed Fang in front of the counter, and stepped up to her. She made her presence known well in advance, just in case she was in a jumpy mood. She set the bag of Poké down, tilting her head to look at Fang. "Well, that's that... but I now remember why I don't like authorities. But, money is money, I suppose." She nodded, before looking around.

The Shinx looked around the lobby, giving a quick gaze to the host of Pokémon that were there. It felt a little unsettling to be around so many, but she assumed years of isolation did that to her. With a bit of a sigh, she shifted an eye to Fang, before asking. "How do you do it?" She inquired, before expanding her question. "You said you were wild before. How do you manage in a place like this?" Even if Sierra thought Fang was just as bad at handling situations herself, the Shinx figured to ask one who's more integrated in society then herself. Perhaps then, she could finally give up the paranoia that always seems to be itching her fur.

Or was that the singe marks on her fur? That could also be itching and unpleasant as well.... yet, it was probably that. She even smelled of burned fur, a scent not necessarily welcome in a common establishment.

"Ah, Ms. Fang. We've been expecting you," the furry pokémon exclaimed. "Ms. Rally has already checked you in. She asked us to let you know your room is 3§. I shall have a Sentret show you the way." The Furret looked over Fang's shoulder to see a Shinx approaching, a bag of money hanging from her mouth. "And may I presume the Shinx behind you is Ms. Sierra?"

Fang gives a small nod "thank you" she says as she looks over her shoulder and took note of Sierra behind her and nodded at that also "yes" Fang then thinks for a moment before telling Sierra what it was like. "Truth is I'm not I'm just better at hiding it" fang says as she waits for the Furret

The Furret responded with a small grin before burying her face in her large book...perhaps due to the oder of burned hair that had begun to pervade the lobby's air flow. "All righty then. You two are all set," she said with a smile. She then motioned over one of the Sentret.

"Yes boss?" the Sentret asked.

"Would you please take Ms. Fang and Ms. Sierra up to room 3§?"

"I'm on it," the Sentret replied. The sentret lead them down the hall to the ladder. Helping either of them as necessary up its spindly legs, the Sentret then lead them down the hall to the end. "Here you are, ladies," the Sentret happily anounced before wishing them a wonderful day and taking off to get back to the front desk.

Fang followed the sentret to the room but wasn't sure if Sierra did

Sierra

There was a cocky grin on the Shinx's face as she heard Fang's response, before chuckling. "Ah, well... it was worth a shot. Maybe I'll ask someone who's less clawed about the theories of town socialization." It was a joke, but she was actually serious. She had one lined up to ask, but she figured it was better to wait till she had more time and less company to start digging into social philosophies.

Sierra easily followed the two up to the door, and nodded as the Sentret left. After it did, she raised her leg to sniff it, scowling as she did. "Do I really smell that bad?" she questioned fang. She had noticed a few glances before, but she didn't really make much of it. But, it was difficult to recognize her own scent, as her nose was still filled with the smell of char. She didn't know how bad her singed fur was, but she had a feeling it was pretty odoriferous.

After listening for a possible answer, she shrugged, before knocking on the door. Hopefully Rally would be there, and they wouldn't have to wait for long. "Mmmph. Maybe once we're all settled in, I'll look about getting this stuff off of me."

Rally

Rally had picked up a couple of things from the staff on her way back up. Most of the items were simply for helping repay her feelings of debt, but she'd also grabbed herself a small bag of tea leaves as well as a couple of stone saucers. She made sure that she had all that she needed before returning to the room; not a moment too soon, as she barely had enough time to set everything down in its proper place before she heard a knocking on the wooden door. They're here, she thought to herself, quickly glancing to make sure everything was perfect before running to the door and opening it.

"Please, come on in," she said, a polite bow as she held open the door for the two.

Fang shrugs. "I don't smell anything" she replied but she didn't know that living in a volcano for her entire life had slightly altered the way she smells so the smell of fire was actually relaxing to the charmander she didn't even notice it though considering her mind was in at least three other places.

She wondered what that feeling was when they beat the three Pokemon she had never felt like that before. It felt like almost a eternity for the charmander as Rally opens the door and fang gives a small nod returning to the world and walks into the room.

Fang doesn't even look around the room for what reason she did know it was because she knew it wouldn't be like the things she was used to sleeping on, they were rocks

Sierra

Sierra smiled warmly, and returned the bow with a graceful nod of her own. "Many thanks, Rally." From there, she stepped into the room, eyes looking around as she did. Details were important to her...the size, the arrangements... the materials and quality of the furniture pieces... she... almost seemed into it, even taking the time to admire anything of quality, before quickly correcting herself once she was looked at.

"Oh, um... don't mind me." there was a bit of a tail twitch, darting her eyes between Fang and Rally. Hopefully neither of them called her out on it, before she remembered she had the bag of Poké! Chuckling in embarrassment, she set it down, and explained the results of her conversation. "Well, a bit of prodding, and a tiny discussion over what actually happened, they seemed to 'reluctantly' give us this. It's not too much, about two to three hundred or so each, but it's more then I could ever make." Or swindle~ she thought, but the mental image of a Skarmory hitting her over the head telling her she's a 'bad kitty' ended that idea.

Exhausted, she sprawled out on the floor, and it give the two a chance to look at her fully now that she was resting. She was thinner then most Shinx should be, and Fang could easily determine it was from having to forage often. Yet, despite her prior wild history, she was honestly well kept, her fur clean and smoothed. That was, of course, before the fire that had singed the tips of her fur, the smell now beginning to cluster and focus where she laid. She had the experience of a more dependent Shinx, even being a bit young, and even her resting posture determined that. She was underbelly down on the floor, forepaws crossed with her face resting on it, hindlegs propped back. It was a position that could become a standing one in a heartbeat.

For Fang, at least, one could discover this 'Shinx of the Jungle' had a little more going for her then one might expect. The combination of battle prowess and environmental awareness proved she was as good of an outdoor survivalist as she claimed to be... even if she claimed it with way too much flair.

Rally

Rally blushed as the two came in; apparently they liked the room, or were at least okay with it. "I think you will like the beds; they are rather soft and the straw is fresh." Looking down, Rally saw the Shinx lying on the mossy floor comfortably. I guess there are all sorts of pokémon in the world, she thought to herself before walking over to what she thought would be the Shinx's bed. Resting upon it were a small container of fresh, clean water as well as a few rags. "Let me help you with your fur; I am rather good at cleaning." Rally took one of the rags and soaked it in the water. It did not take long for it to become heavily drenched, the opposite of what Rally was after. Therefore, Rally gave the rag a few twists before bringing it over to the Shinx; though Rally had originally gotten warm water, the length of time it took to transport it to the room had rendered it lukewarm at best. Rally set the rag down on Sierra's fur. Slowly and carefully, Rally began to massage the fur through the rag such that she removed the char without discomforting her guest. First she did so on Sierra's back before slowly moving her way up to her head, changing the rag as she did so for a fresh one several times. After a few minutes, the Shinx was wet but clean, at which point Rally grabbed a dry rag and did the process all over again to dry her. Once finished, Rally moved the items out of the way. "There we go. All finished. Does that feel better?" After asking, Rally went over to the stone saucers. At least the water in them was still warm. Removing the tea leaves and apple skins, Rally brought one saucer to each of them. "Back home, my Auntie and I would always have a saucer of tea after cleaning up. This is my thanks to you. My Auntie calls it 'Pride Rock Tea'." Rally smiled, blushing still. The tea was an amber color, with a scent of apples and oran berry leaves.

Fang goes over to one of the corners and leans on it arms crossed as normal as she looks at the shinx. "Must of been hard" she mutters out quietly as she looks at the shinx she seemed slightly thin something fang knew all to well though she did seem rather clean so that was a plus for her other then the black charred spot fang had noticed right off the bat.

Seeing the Shinx reminded her of home and how hard it was growing up, she must of been beaten near death at least five times now from training but all it did was make her stronger then ever so fang was happy with it. She sits in silence as she decided to close her eye's like she normally did.

She then felt someone and opened them in time to see Rally handing her something, it was a drink tea she said. Fang had only ever had tea a few times when one of the elders would make some and invite her in to drink it. Then Fang got paralyzed because he put stun seed powder in it the last time and the elder told her never to trust anyone ever, but fang decided if she was giving it to a electric type it shouldn't have that . "Thanks" she mutters as she drinks some

Sierra

As Sierra began to relax, she began to see the Riolu approach, rag in hand. She almost leapt out of her fur, preparing to shout objections, before she saw Rally's expression... There was a lot to consider. On one paw, she really, 'really' didn't like anyone touching her... it was one of those instinctual things that kept her safe. On the other paw, Rally... it seemed Rally was trying to find ways to make it up to her, and it was extremely  hard to say no to. With a long, drawn-out sigh to express her discomfort, she allowed herself to be spot cleaned, muttering while doing so.

"I feel like such a cub right now..." She complained, looking to Fang for some support... or maybe some sympathy. Still, she bared it without so much as a twitch, focusing on her breathing until the Riolu was finished. When all of that was said and done, she thanked Rally for her work, before settling over her tea.

She sniffed the tea, letting the vapors clear her nose out. she could definitely recognize some of the flavors, and she smiled. "Pride Rock, mmm? Makes me think of prides... and family." She took a gentle sip, and immediately recognized some of the flavors. "Oran leaves... the secret behind any good recovery. Your aunt, and through that, you, know a bit about tea." Again, it was a little surprising a wild Shinx knew about the civil qualities of tea, but the jungle aspect is what could be interpreted as her reasoning. The jungle Pokémon can be big on tea sometimes, and even a scamp like Sierra could have a cup or two eventually.

Rally

"Apparently," Rally started, "my auntie got the recipe as a reward for an exploration. Pride Rock Tea was given to her for rescuing a Litleo in a place called 'Scorchfall Desert'; My parents and auntie were out there on a training run, when they came across a Pyroar. The Pyroar told them about how her son had been kidnapped by a group of Aggron and taken to a place called 'Sandstone Cave'. My parents immediately offered to rescue the cub, while my auntie took the Pyroar back to a safe place and helped nurse her back to health. My parents rescued the cub and brought him home safely to his mother. Out of gratitude, and since my parents refused to accept a pokétary reward, she told them the secret to the Pride Rock Tea. My auntie knows the whole list of ingredients, but only ever seems to use the apple skins and oran berries. I really do not know why..." Rally looked around at the two, realizing she'd been droning on.

Fang had shown Sierra some slight support during her little event but it was hard to tell mostly because her only facial expression was staring at nothing with cold eye's. Fang listened to Rally talk about her parents aunt and the way she got her tea with some interest mostly the desert part.

When Rally stopped fang just kept drinking her tea not really caring to talk back, unless the conversation was started or about her she wouldn't say a word it was just who she was. Her mind did wonder why she was like this but she mentally shrugged knowing she likes herself like this

Sierra

The Shinx listened to the story intently, seeming curious about the adventures of the explorers, looking at Rally as she talked. She did have that explorer touch in her, Sierra noticed, but it was definitely under the blanketing personality that she bared now.

There was another sip, and the Shinx giggled. "Well, now it wouldn't really be a secret if she made the traditional way. Besides... she may not have all the ingredients." A paw swirled her cup around. "Still... Oran leaves have great, albeit slow, recovery properties, and they're best used as pain relief and recovery. I bet you wake up refreshed every day if you drink this often." Her star tipped tail swished, before she looked down. "So, what now? While I appreciate the gesture of everything you two have done for me, I'm honestly not quite sure what I want to do in the long run." She frowned, before deciding to explain it.

"I got pushed into this by a Skarmory who said enough was enough. I was to go to Grassveil, make some friends, and be something other then... well, trouble." She didn't want to go over her list in front of Rally. "But... I don't have a clue as to what I actually should be doing, or where I should go. It's... bothersome." She concluded, ears folded. "I was wondering if any of you had suggestions?"

Rally

Rally thought about it for a moment before nodding in agreement. "You are correct on that," she said with a smile. "I guess now I know why she always had me drink tea after a hard day. And maybe there are some ingredients she doesn't have after all. The town I was raised in was small, and located on the outskirts of a desert."

Rally recalled one occasion where her aunt had seemed to be searching the kitchen for something, but stopped when Rally entered and ask, simply saying she was looking for "an old something," but not telling her what that something was. Perhaps it had been an ingredient that she normally kept in reserve.

Rally frowned. "Well, I came here to become a great explorer like my auntie and my parents, but when I tried to join the guild..." Rally cut herself off; clearly, she was not happy with what had transpired. Still blushing, she turned to face Sierra. "I guess I need to become stronger if I wish to become a great explorer, but that is just what I want to do." Rally took a sip of her tea, the soft flavors soothing her being from the inside out. "Sierra, Fang," she said, turning to face both. "If you could do anything, what would you want to do?"