A Casual Stroll

Sierra

It was the day after her fateful encounter with Fang and Rally, and she became the second one to rise of the three. Fang seemed to have left, and Rally looked like she was asleep, which left the Shinx on her own to explore. With a leap from her bed, she stretched out, glad the oran leaves had helped her recover that night.

Within minutes, she was out of the inn and strolling across town, seeming to wander about carelessly as she got to her senses. She was never a morning pokémon, and days like these were par the usual. Yet, for once, she was glad the town wasn't out to get her... she was a commoner, a normal civilian... which made her feel... awkward.

It wasn't really like this, not back in the jungle. There were people yelling at her, most often times from the havoc she caused... at the thought of that, her mind went to Zigs, and the poké she owed him... that caused her to wince a bit. The mystery dungeons were the surefire way to find the money she needed, and she trusted her team, but... did she really want to put that burden on them? She frowned, looking up to get her bearings.

She walked a long way from town, to... a small pond? By Arceus, even the sign next to her said 'Small Pond'. "Well." She mused, seeming to chuckle. "That's what I get for wandering, huh?" She shrugged, and decided to take a look around. She planned to spend most of today wandering around Grassveil, and even if this was out of the way, it was still part of the town.

She kept her distance away from the water herself as she wandered around, looking over the variety of pokémon that played and rested. It was a relaxing scene for sure... and part of her mind went to how it would look like under a full moon... a dazzling image in her mind, she was ultimately distracted, blindly walking forward as her thoughts were filled with ideas of wonder.

((Aka, feel free to have her run into something or someone.))

As she had discovered during an earlier visit, the Small Pond was one of Avaria's favorite places to visit in the general vicinity around Grassveil, and the surrounding forests. With the fresh body of water waiting there, and the general calm of the area, it was like a little slice of home for the Oshawott. Maybe better, even, all things considered.

So, what better place to go and get some downtime after the trek in the desert? Ava stood up by the edge of the water, looking across the lake pensively as she tried to get some relaxation while she could. Yeah, the trip in the desert had taken its toll on her, and gave her an important reminder. Caution was important. She had almost passed out in the middle of the desert, maybe even worse, and if that Archeops hadn't found her she could still be there. Not to mention-

Something bumped into her back, knocking the Oshawott out of her thoughts as she jumped somewhat, and fell forward into the lake with a slight gasp. She quickly swam upward, reminding herself to keep her composure and poking her head out from underwater, looking at what had run into her. It seemed to be a Shinx, which while she didn't know much about them, she knew that they were electric types. No funny business with this one. Don't need any more injuries like the ones Zera gave me... She thought to herself, simply staring at the other pokemon from the water in silence, wading so she kept her head above the water.

Sierra

*bump*

"Ack!" she jolted upright as she realize what she had done. Putting an Oshawott into the water?... actually, that was kinda fitting given the circumstances. The Shinx had to do her best to stifle a giggle, before realizing it was looking at her. Folding her ears back, she shifted back and frowned.

"Oh, um.... sorry~" She smiled sheepishly, lowering her body posture to one of submissiveness. She took a few steps back, waiting to see if she was going to berated, seeming prepared to leave if needed.

The Oshawott watched Sierra with mainly curiosity, with a hint of amusement as she seemed to take a more apologetic stance. Well, at least she's got a bit of humility. She thought to herself before giving a small smile, pulling herself out of the water and stepping onto land.

"It's alright, I think I could use the cool-down. Besides, there are worse things you can fall into." Ava spoke coolly, grabbing the ends of her scarf with her paws and doing her best to try and wring it out, getting rid of the water it soaked up.
"So, do you always come around here to push unsuspecting pokemon into the lake, or is that just a new thing for you?" She asked wryly, feeling for the second shell she had on her back to make sure it was still there. Luckily, it was, so that was one less thing off her mind.

Sierra

The Shinx relaxed a little bit, and waited for the Oshawott to dry off, before addressing her. "Um, well... kinda a new thing, but I don't see myself making a habit of it anytime soon." She gave a bit of a smirk. "Or if I did, I'd have to start charging~" Money... a cloud darkened over her as she thought of her money problem once more, and she shook her head to dispel it.

"Anyways, I apologize for bumping into you. I guess I have a lot of things on my mind." As she spoke, she could see the familiar colorization of Fang off on the other side of the pond, drawing her curiosity for a bit. She didn't bother to look further into it though, and let the scratchy Charmander do whatever she was doing.

Sierra looked over the Oshawott, trying to find something to talk about... before she decided to just toss out her problem. "I have a question. If a young cub who ran away from her pride, fled into the jungle, and made a living swiping food for survival and causing enough havoc to be chased down with spears, suddenly showed up to you asking how she could make a living and pay back a rather intimidating threat, how would you respond?" She winced. Damn, that was kinda obvious, wasn't it?

"Right. Well, don't worry about it too much. I had a bit on my mind too. Though, then again, you don't see me walking into stationary pokemon." She mused, giving Sierra a smirk before turning around, checking to see what it was exactly that the Shinx was looking at. It seemed to be another pokemon, on the other side of the pond. Before Ava could ask if she knew the Charmander, the Oshawott turned around and listened to what Sierra had to ask her.

When the Shinx finished speaking, a rare expression flashed on Ava's face for a moment, before managing to compose herself a bit. Surprise. ...that...is just a bit too close for comfort. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but I shouldn't be too sure about that. I don't remember meeting a Shinx before...
"Well...there are a few options I suppose. You could join the guild, take some jobs, make the money that way and pay it off. Or, option two, you could steal it. Wait for some unsuspecting pokemon to pass by and take the money. But, personally, I don't like any of those options." She answered, almost as if thinking out loud. Once again, technically it was true. In the face of Sierra's situation, she didn't like the options since they resulted in paying back the threat, though in her own situation, option two was working pretty well for her. After all, she was profiting off of it. Luckily, she wasn't up on the Outlaw Board as of yet though, and so chances were nobody would recognize that she was one.

Sierra

Sierra chuckled, and nodded her head. "Well, I can agree with you on both of those parts really." she stated, star-tipped tail swishing about. "I formed a group with a few new... friends, of mine." It was still a bit odd saying that, but she smiled regardless. "But we agreed the guild wasn't the way to go through with it. For us, carving our own path is something we decided to do. As for stealing..."

She laid down on her stomach, overlooking the pond. The Oshawott would eventually notice the Shinx had nothing at all on her being, nothing to even consider looting, if she was brave enough. "I've spend years of my life getting the paw discount just to keep myself alive, pretty much. I never stole to make a profit, I stole because my life depended on it. I was a street urchin, pretty much. Kick a table leg to startle the shopkeep, spike a large piece of fruit with my tail, and make off with it. Well, half the time. The other half was me running for my life." She laughed heartily, before sighing. "One could say any jungle pokémon has heard my name before. The Shinx of the Jungle. The young cub who ran from the plains and lived a thief. Thief gone adventurer now, I hope." She looked to the person she was talking to.

There was a bit of a scowl. "If you wanna report me, go right ahead. I kinda made the dumb mistake of saying too much, didn't I?" There was a bit of a huff. "Although honestly, I'm sure Fang and Rally are gunna find out eventually... the latter I'm more concerned about." She watched Avaria slyly, keeping an eye for any sudden movement.

Another rare emotion crossed Ava's mind, though what exactly it was, she couldn't place. Pity? Compassion? Something like that, maybe. It sounded like she and Sierra had a bit in common as far as their pasts went. She herself had resorted to stealing when her mother couldn't support all of them, it was necessary. Still was, she reminded herself. And after her mother had...well, passed on, it just became a greater need. Maybe she could offer some advice, help the Shinx out a little...

Am I insane? Seriously, think, Ava, think. It was a stupid enough mistake for her to make, telling me about herself. She's probably going to get herself locked up, reforming or not. Besides, since when do I feel that way? It's her problem, not mine. Besides, it's perfect blackmail, should anything come up... The Oshawott faked her best surprised expression, looking down at the Shinx before she sobered, nodding her head.
"Well, you know, that is something I should probably report. But...you seem nice enough, I guess I can say that you never said anything if anybody asks." Ava spoke. Wow. I pulled off the naive optimist act way, way too well there. She thought to herself, mentally disgusted with herself for having to act that way.
"So, you say you're trying to repay a debt or something? At least, if that whole question wasn't strictly hypothetical." The Oshawott sat down beside Sierra, letting herself relax more now that she changed the subject.

Sierra

Problem was, Sierra can tell a fake expression, simply from all the years she had to put one up. Yet... it was a sign of understanding. Things were very often best left unsaid. So, acting naive herself, she let herself buy it, smiling. "Thank you. Running all this way here from the jungle has not gone in vain just yet."

There was a bit of a chuckle, tilting her head as the Oshawott asked the next question. "Yeaaah, well." She thought for a bit, before laughing. "It's kinda funny, really. I... have this friend, Zigs. Probably the only one that really stuck his coat out for me, even if I caused him nothing but trouble. See, one day... He was testing out this idea for a Blast Seed launcher, and I may have... well, performed indoor field testing. One thing led to another and I..." She grinned sheepishly. "Burned his store down." She winces and looks away. "And... yeah, one thing led to another, upset Zigzagoon, don't come back till you can pay me five grand in damages, etc, etc." She chuckled a bit. "Honestly, I don't think he meant to send me off like that, as a friend, but I think he simply did it to claim the insurance on it. One way or another, I had to leave, and... well" She sighed a bit.

"I never thought of actually paying him back until I got here to Grassveil, and formed a... well, unofficial exploration team here. I thought he may be useful to help us sell our findings, since we're going to be short on money from not being in the guild, so... yeah, here I am." She shrugged. Sucked to be her, she guessed.

"Maybe not just yet. But, if you want my advice on the subject, watch what you say to others. Don't throw things like that around to any random pokemon you see. Trying to reform or not, you never know what others will decide to do with that. The less pokemon that know a secret, the better kept it is. I suggest you keep it between the two of us." Avaria said after a few seconds of silence, thinking about her words carefully.

"Just another thought though, why pay off that debt? You can always just avoid him, not go back. Start a new life. It'd probably be a whole lot easier." The Oshawott questioned, trying to understand why the Shinx was set on paying off what seemed to her to be an optional debt. Ava inched closer to the water, looking down at it and considering taking another dip.

Sierra

She frowned, taking the forwarning rather seriously. "Yeah, I know... I guess I'm having issues on who to trust and who not to trust." She chuckles a bit. "I've had to learn to trust some people recently, but I guess I need to keep that in check as well. It seems like it's a balance... balance I've never been good at keeping."

There was a shake of her head. "Zigs... zigs is different. He did a lot for me when I first starting out, even when I started getting into the wrongdoings of my life. He's that crazy, weird, yet... dependable person you can come back to years after upsetting him, and he'd give you that goofy grin and warm hug..." She gave a little bit of a smile, before sighing... crestfallen, she decided to admit it. "I... miss him. He's like my brother I had long after I left my Luxray pride and my siblings. I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do." She nods at the Oshawott firmly, a proud grin on her face.

"The right thing to do, huh?" She chuckled, shaking her head. The Oshawott doubted she would ever understand that line of thought. In her mind, the right thing to do was a very different thing.
"It doesn't sound like the right thing to kick a friend out over something that was a mistake, and send them away telling them to not come back. If you think that's a friend, you should probably think a bit more about that. Enemies are there to kick you while you're down, not friends." Ava sat down by the edge of the water and lowered herself in, turning around and looking up at Sierra. If she didn't learn how to keep her mouth shut to the right pokemon, the shinx would probably end up jailed somewhere, the Oshawott thought. It was almost a sad thought. Almost.

Sierra

There was a small growl that arouse from the Shinx, and her eyes lit in disdain. "Listen here buddy..." She got up, being careful not to turn her gaze at the Oshawott into a Leer as she tried to puff herself up. "For the record, Zigs is someone I can trust, even if he asked me to leave. I owe him five grand, which is quite a bit. Rather then put me to the town court, or hunt me down and toss me in jail, he decided to wait and see if I came up with the Poké eventually, which I 'will' have. I don't need you to tell me who I should have as friends and who I shouldn't." Her tail lashed in mild annoyance. If Ava really wanted to tick off a Shinx today, she certainly did that job exceptionally well.

Looking up at the Shinx, Ava smirked, hiding her slight discomfort at the pokemon's move. To be honest, she had run into a pokemon or two before that used electricity for their attacks. It hadn't been fun to deal with at all. Seemed like she was still going with the innocent act. But still, she wanted to have a little fun after all...

"Alright, alright. No need to get all uppity on me. Can't just go around starting things with random pokemon when you've got a history behind you." The Oshawott spoke smugly, still in the water as she looked up at Sierra.
"But, if he was still interested in being a friend, why wouldn't he help you get the money back? It would probably be easier with two working together, and you wouldn't get sent away so harshly." She continued to ask, curious about the response she would get.

Sierra

The fur on Sierra's back started to flatten, and she regained a bit of her temper. "Sorry... it's an extremely touchy subject, that's all. Despite what he did, he's still a friend." She settled back down onto the ground, but her posture was... odd. Even in a sitting position, her body was raised, as if ready to jump into stance at any moment. Experienced wanderers would recognize this as a wild technique to be alert, and it comes almost habitual to anyone who's wandered for so long alone.

The Shinx began to continue, a bit of disdain in her expression as the Oshawott questioned her further. "He couldn't, really. It has to do with the whole merchant guild and bylaws and everything as such. He was able to get support, but to do that, he had to pin the loss on somebody, and not get directly involved with the process. And, seeing as how I had nothing to begin with anyway, we mutually agreed to put it on the one responsible. No sense having two Pokémon homeless instead of just one, right?" She shrugged. "I still talk to him via mail, and I meet up with him on occasion... but now that I'm planning to take on the Mystery Dungeons, I think I can pay him back the next time we meet... and maybe tell him of the new plan I have in setting up shop here." She nodded, seeming confident. This bugger of an Oshawott wasn't going to mess with her ideals... she had her plan, pure and simple.