Echoes in the Dark

Mission Details:

Today was a nice day.  The sun was shining and it was warm.  What taunting weather....  Sova the glaceon stood at the entrance to a cave, peering inside.  Dark and cold awaited him.  Not that it made a difference to him.  He just wanted to do missions and gain ranking....  Eventually he would have the undeniably best team in the guild.  It wasn't really much of a "team" since he'd done most of the work, but that just made it even better for him.

"Well, this is definitely the spot.  Never been here before."  The glaceon spoke to himself, a bit bored and slightly lonely.  He took a step into the cave and sighed in boredom.  Hopefully something eventful would happen soon.  He didn't find the idea of being alone and bored for an extended period of time to be overly appealing at the moment.

(23 Energy)

Varda was never one to waste a beautiful, sunny day without leaving for some exploration and more training. Leaving the town early in the morning, the little bird hopped along with short bursts of flight to strengthen his wings even more. The areas close to Grassveil Town no longer worried him, feeling that he was tough enough to handle what angry Pokémon might lurk in the shades. In Pecha Forest, that probably was true – but what the Swablu ended up finding was something he hadn't seen before, something he just had to search.

The dark opening of a cave might have made many others turn around, but not him. Curious, he peeked inside, seeing no one. The air coming from the cave felt cool, very different from the warmth of the sun. Varda just couldn't help but step inside, his eyes wide with awe as he looked around dimly lit tunnels, quite amazed at how quiet it was and how alone he just felt inside it. Almost like there was no one else in the entire world but him...

Of course, the bird Pokémon ended up getting lost in the tunnels that looked the same to him, walking around in circles without really getting anywhere and actually still quite close to the entrance. Perhaps he had even been there for hours, it was hard to say – but he definitely had been in there longer than he had meant to! The Swablu was in a bit of a predicament, unable to find his way out to the exit. As his eyes were looking for a familiar sign, the little Pokémon ended up accidentally tripping on a small rock on the ground, falling on his belly with a soft oomph. The chirpy voice echoed through the tunnels, bouncing off the walls and disappearing in to the darkness.


Current Energy: 11 (31 -20 from entering)

A gruff and low hum echoed through the caverns, it was a rather upbeat tune that produced a melody with the sounds of the cavern. It was not any song in particular, it was just one that the hummer had made up whilst lost through the caves. He didn't have a single problem with this though, no need to stress, it was not like pokemon were being mean or the place was too frightening for the jolly green fellow.

Veriq the Tropius had been traversing the caverns for quite the while now, happily lost in the joys of adventure and not worrying about a thing it seemed. All he cared about, was that the hum of his voice gave a rather sweet note on the tones of the cave.

The time had come, unfortunately, for his tune to be interrupted. A sharp squawk pierced the cavern and distorted his song, he would have grieved the loss of the tune with a pout, but he was more concerned about how that disrupting noise came to be. His stroll moved to more of a hurried walk, not wanting to risk running in such an enclosed space, at least to him being a large pokemon to begin with.

He found that he had approached a small white and blue fluffy little bird on its belly. He blinked and lowered his head so that he didn't tower over the bird intimidatingly, "Hey there...you ok?"

Veriq seemed completely oblivious to the fact that this pokemon could possibly be feral, or even think he was feral. The large fruit pokemon thinking only about the pained squawk that had disrupted his miniature symphony between him and the cave.

After getting a few feet into the cave, it was evident to Sova that the temperature was a bit lower, but nothing that would bother him. He was an ice type after all, so freezing temperatures weren't even a bother. Though the cave was a bit dark for his tastes. It was kind of a mood killer to him. Hopefully he could finish his mission quickly and not have to stay here very long.

He stopped at a fork in the tunnel, unsure of which path to take. After a random selection with no basis behind it, he decided to take the path on the right, when he heard something from the direction of the left path. It sounded like humming.... He decided against his better judgement to investigate and turned down the left path, but kept silent and ready for a battle. He was aware it could be something dangerous. At first, he wondered if he was even going in the right direction, but the humming getting audibly louder ensured him he was.

Then an abrupt sound broke the hum, as if someone had been hurt. Against his better judgement yet again, the glaceon broke into a run in the direction the sound had originated from. Luckily, there were no side paths to throw him off along the way and he reached the place the sounds came from rather quickly, turning a corned without caution to see a tropius looming over a collapsed swablu. So it WAS someone being attacked....

"Hey!" He shouted in the hopes of taking the attention of the "attacker" away from the defenseless bird. He wondered it was going to try to defend its self or just attack as he marched over to it with a glare.

The cave floor felt awfully cold and dusty, though Varda stayed there for a moment just resting on his belly. He wasn't really hurt, but perhaps he felt that it was a good idea to take things easy for a moment. Or perhaps his short and stubby legs were having trouble reaching down to the ground, forced too high into the air by his round belly. Both really were possible reasons, but the bird wasn't too concerned until he started to feel the ground shaking ever so slightly as odd tremors traveled through the rocky floor – and the thing was, it was approaching!

The Swablu forced his upper body up a bit with the help of his wings, his beady little eyes looking towards the source of the sound. He couldn't help but blink in surprise, his eyes wide and the head feathers on top of his head flopped over his face. A large Pokémon with a long neck was looming over him, looking quite similar to the Guildmaster – and in fact, at first the bird Pokémon thought that it was her! But no, this one was different. And as the stranger spoke up, asking if Varda was fine with concern in his voice, the little bird couldn't help but smile happily.

But he wasn't given the chance to reply, not just yet. Suddenly, another voice could be heard from another direction, causing the bird to turn to look. Some kind of blue, four-legged Pokémon was standing there, looking awfully prepared. Of course, the kind of flew over the bird's head, his big, goofy smile returning to his face after a moment of confusion.
"Hello!" He replied very happily as he rolled over, finally getting back on his feet and dusting his belly feathers with his wings.

"I just tripped," the Swablu continued as he looked back at the larger Pokémon – though his cheerful face quickly turned into a much more concerned one as he looked down at the small bag he was wearing over his stomach, giving it a little pat to see if its contents were still in one piece. Luckily, it seemed like nothing had been broken. His light weight seemed to be a great perk...

As jolly as the grass giant was, he was not as easy to pass over as the small fluffy bird. He heard the intimidating and accusing tone and looked toward the source. He spotted an icy blue fox like creature with a head ornament of a glittering brilliant blue color, a Glaceon. He saw that the Glaceon seemed to be glaring at him, his long neck then began lifting itself from how close it had gotten to the Swablu to check itself back to its normal position.

"Hey! To you too," the tropius mocked the Glaceon's harsh tone on the first exclamation before letting his voice drop back to his calm and relaxing tone. He continued, "I can take a guess at what you're thinking, and I can tell you that if that is indeed what you're thinking, then it is untrue."

He looked back down to the merry swablu that had brought them all together by mere accident, "From the looks of it you don't sound hurt or look hurt anywhere, that's good!" he gave a grin, and paused before continuing, "What is it you two are doing in here?" his curiosity begged him into asking. Not many other pokemon seemed to enjoy being lost in the adventure like he did from what he had seen, and these were definitely not one of the nasty locals that just love to beat others who dare enter their turf.

Sova's march ceased as he was given more than enough signs that he had misjudged the situation. The fluffy bird seemed fine, both emotionally and physically, while the banana-bearded giant didn't really seem hostile in the slightest. He allowed him to relax, feeling assured neither of them were threatening and having it made quite clear that no one was in danger.

"Huh. And here I was thinking there was a fight. Well, I guess just having some company is just as enjoyable...." The glaceon said, muttering the last part. "My name's Sova, I'm here on a guild mission." He replied to the banana man, now seeing that he was friendly.

Varda gave the large, leafy Pokémon a couple of cheerful nods when he figured that the little bird wasn't hurt in any way. Of course he agreed with it himself, he felt just fine! In fact, it seemed like he had no worries in the world, his previous plight of being lost forgotten as easily as that. Looking quite excited, the Swablu hopped from one foot to another when the situation seemed to calm down without him even noticing how badly it could have ended had the misunderstanding continued.

The little bird looked up at the much taller Pokémon with a great big smile on his face, his little eyes staring at the new creature quite intently, unblinking and almost looking like they were sparkling in the dim light. In Varda's eyes, he looked like such an interesting Pokémon, so large and leafy and he even seemed to have some kind of fruit growing from his head! Were they edible, he could only wonder.
"Oh, I was exploring!" The Swablu chirped cheerfully right away when the dinosaur-like Pokémon asked for their reasons to be in the cave, his own reason quite simple and to the point.

It was the other Pokémon's answer that caught the bird's interest, however. He introduced himself as Sova and as a member for the Guild – even saying that he was on a mission. Immediately Varda seemed to focus on that, stopping his movements as he looked at the blue Pokémon with large ears.
"I'm in the Guild too," he explained, sounding awfully excited and pausing for a second before he realized he forgot something,
"Oh! And my name is Varda."

"I am Veriq, I was just looking around here a bit. I'm new to this area and looking for someone, haven't seen nor heard a sign of them though so i'm just moseying along waiting for something to pop up about her," the tropius introduced himself.

'The guild, huh?' he thought, he had known about the guild, it was practically the first thing he heard about when he entered Grassveil. Guild this, guild that, it was practically the talk of the town! From what he had gathered, the guild was a mission based organization that fights against crime and saves those incapable of helping themselves. Seems like a pretty nice bunch, he probably would have joined if he did not have prior and more important duties to attend to. He needed to find the princess, she would remember things he had forgotten. That and she had some explaining to do on why she upped and disappeared like that.

"Well, now that we're all acquainted, I've gotta do that mission. Either of you wanna tag along? If you guys are lost it isn't like you have anything better to do....unless you wanna look for the way out, which is that way....somewhere." He looked back where he'd come from in reference to it leading out. Though he actually wasn't sure what path he'd taken. How did he plan to get out, anyways? Really, he didn't plan at all.

He hoped at least one of these two would come with him. He wasn't worried about getting into any danger alone, he was just....lonely. Being in a cave seemed to amplify the loneliness for some odd reason. Perhaps it was the darkness. Maybe it was how noises echoed. Echoes of his own steps and voice had the opposite effect on him as hearing someone else.

"But if either of you are coming, you've gotta keep quiet. I'm looking for someone....sensitive to sounds." He continued as he'd remembered that little detail. His client must have been having a miserable time, what with sounds echoing off the cave walls and being amplified.

Varda's eyes were still staring quite intently at the taller Pokémon, now introduced as Veriq. He still found this Veriq to be very interesting to look at, so big with so many interesting little features that it felt like no matter where he looked, he'd find something new ever time! Unlike the bird however, this dinosaur-like Pokémon wasn't just wandering around aimlessly, no – he was looking for someone. While they were given to details, in the Swablu's eyes, there was just one option he could think of: the Guildmaster!
"You look a lot like the Guildmaster, though you're much... Leafier! She's more like a flower. Are you maybe related? Are you looking for her?" The little bird tilted his head as his dark little eyes kept looking up in their usual innocent fashion. After all, Veriq was looking for a girl and the Guildmaster was one...

Another issue at hand was Sova's mission, and the Pokémon in question wasn't wasting any time just talking about useless things. Skipping to the most important right away, both Varda and Veriq were asked if they wanted to join the mission. The bird Pokémon didn't waste any time nodding excitedly, either. He was in the Guild, of course he would have to help fellow members with their missions! He didn't even seem very worried when Sova seemed to be quite unsure of the way back to town, perhaps missing it in his excitement.

"Su–!" The Swablu started in a loud voice, though he quieted almost immediately after Sova told him that they would have to keep quiet, his cottony wings going over his beak. He didn't want to ruin the mission by being too loud!
"Sure," Varda corrected himself, his voice barely louder than a whisper now. Looking for someone sensitive to sounds? He didn't know anyone like that, were they going to be found in the cave? There were so many questions, so it was just better to ask Sova right away so they knew the details – details to the mission the bird had already agreed to join...
"What is the mission?"

Veriq listened to the description of the flowery giant that was similar to him, that was nothing like the princess. He shook his head to the Swablu, "No, She's smaller than me, about the same height as...Sova was it?" he spoke.

He listened once more as the Glaceon informed them of his mission, and being the kind pokemon he was, he nodded, "Sure, I'd love to help."

He spoke in his normal voice rather than dropping to a whisper like the Swablu had done. He figured that there was no need to drop to that low of a voice, so long as they weren't screaming at the top of their lungs. He had no clue why they would in the first place however.

Sova smiled, happy to see that the others were so willing to help. The swablu didn't look like he'd be much use in a fight, but the tropius seemed like he could probably hold his own. Not that that mattered, the glaceon just wanted company. "Yep, I'm Sova. Good to know I've got some company." He paused to recollect the details of his mission.

"A whismur got lost in this cave. They hate loud noises and I'm guessing they're easily upset and scared. I'm here to get them out." He explained. Though the main reason he'd taken this mission was the hope the Soothe Bell would be able to cheer him up.

Varda's expression grew into something more serious as he considered the grass giant's words. So Veriq wasn't looking for the Guildmaster after all... It was a bit puzzling, he was so certain that Faye was the correct Pokémon! The bird's gaze ended up turning towards Sova, sizing his fellow Guild member with his eyes. While having just the size would probably get him nowhere, it did seem like he took things seriously enough to try to get as much out of Veriq's words as possible. If comparing others to Sova's height would potentially help the friendly Pokémon to find who he was looking for, then the Swablu had to just learn it really well!

Even though Varda felt like he had to help other members, Veriq agreed to help without any such excuses – at least as far as he knew. Immediately the Swablu looked at the much larger Pokémon with awe in his eyes, clearly quite amazed at such kindness and selflessness. Right now, the little bird seemed to have gotten a new hero.

Turning back to Sova after a moment of admiration, the other two finally got to hear the details of the mission. A lost Pokémon, in these caves? It sounded awful, the bird's eyes looking quite worried after hearing the tale. Even though he himself was technically lost as well, such a fact had been long forgotten after he had met his new friends.
"That sounds bad," he chirped in an oddly defeated tone before he seemed to perk up and gain some confidence, remembering that he might have some information that could prove to be useful,
"But I've been here for a while. I can say that I haven't seen anyone in... That direction," Varda stretched one of his wings and pointed behind him in the direction he had been coming from before he tripped.

At least he was quite certain he hadn't seen someone. Maybe he could have missed a Pokémon that was hiding or looked very much like the cave walls or the rocks that one might find everywhere?
"...How does a Whismur look like?"

Veriq fell silent as the two began to converse he had to admit the Swablu had a fair question, it would be best for them to know just what a whismur even looked like before going around trying to save it, what if they left with the wrong pokemon? That wouldn't be too good now would it? The tropius waited for the answer, contemplating what he could possibly do to help. It was not like he could sniff it out like some dog, but perhaps he could stand as some kind of guard? Like keep watch? It would have been more useful had he been out in the open where any could attack, but it could be at least a little bit helpful here.