Determined to Help, Determined to Fall

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Mission Details:

The Frozen Stream, a rather dull area of the Icy Lands named for the continuously frozen stream that ran through it.  Of course, it wasn't JUST a stream, since streams weren't very big.  The stream flowed into the Descant River, though, so of course it was the most noteworthy feature of the area.  It also happened to be the most fun part of the area.... if one was an Ice-Type, that is.

Sova was a bit excited to be back here, since the only other time he'd ever been to the Frozen Stream was when he was an eevee and it was.... less than fun.  Now, though, he was an Ice-Type with a body so well-adjusted to the cold that he could probably swim in the water under the sheet of ice covering the stream.  The swablu with him probably didn't enjoy the cold nearly as much, but at least a bird could fly over the stream and not risk breaking the ice and falling in.  Though, honestly, he doubted someone as small as Varda could even break the ice with weight alone.

The little bird probably wasn't enjoying being in such a cold place and the glaceon knew it, but he never asked for help.  Varda had offered.  Actually, Varda had insisted.  It wasn't like he was bad company either, the swablu was fairly nice and not annoying.  He even liked to give out compliments, so the glaceon wasn't going to complain.  Sova was just glad he didn't have to put up with someone like William following him.  That gengar agitated him to no end.

"So, how're you feeling?", he asked, rather rhetorically since he knew Varda was probably not enjoying himself.
He looked around for any sign of the stream, but it was currently snowing, which obscured vision a bit.  If the stream was nearby, he couldn't see it.  He could see a few trees though.  He was content with just staying here, but he wanted to get to the stream to practice skating on ice.... and they had a mission to do there, that was important too.

(Ninja Edit - 38 energy)

Varda looked a bit worried still even though Sova had claimed to be fine. He had that nagging suspicion... But last time he had been just as worried and the other Pokémon had said much the same thing, proving his words by not really minding his injuries in the end. The bird had more than enough proof to trust Sova's words, so he ended up just nodding in acceptance and tried to let his worries wash away. It was a bit difficult, it had sounded very painful and he couldn't see how much damage the little spike had done to his friend's paw, but he knew that Sova wouldn't lie to him.

The Ice-type Pokémon grabbed the thing that had stabbed him, holding it between his teeth. The Swablu's expression turned into curiosity as he watched, finally seeing the pose his friend struck and asked if he looked cool. Varda immediately grew brighter and laughed with his chirpy voice, clearly enjoying what he was seeing.
"Yes!" He laughed and hopped up and down, agreeing that the other Pokémon did in fact look cool posing like that. Very mysterious. Suddenly the little bird's excitement – and movement – seemed to stop as his eyes grew wide, as if in shock. The dark eyes kept staring at Sova's face.

"Or... Or do you mean cool as in cold? Was it a pun? I was told of puns!" Varda fought to try to understand what exactly the conversation was about. He had always been quite... Slow when it came to many things, wordplays difficult in his simple mind.
"Because... I'm not good with those and it is cold," he cooed quietly, almost apologetic if he missed some funny joke Sova was trying to set up.

Now that he started to think, it was difficult to stop. He remembered that they were on a mission, a mission that was quite sensitive when it came to time! They had to catch the thief before something happened to the item he had stolen – unless it already had happened! Worrying about teaching him how TMs worked probably wasn't the best use of their time.
"A-Ah! Hold on, the Sneasel and the Moon Rock! We had to find them, right?"

(26 energy)

Sova smiled in happiness as he was assured that the spike did indeed look good. Then his mood turned from happy and excited to.... a bit awkward. He allowed the spike to slide in a circular fashion until it was pointing in the opposite direction and barely held in his mouth, more like a big toothpick. He then tilted his head slightly and opened his bag with his injured paw, dropping the spike in. He'd also unintentionally revealed a red stain in the snow from the bleeding in the process.

"Yeeah, we were supposed to be doing that. Speaking of getting distracted.... out of curiosity, do you want that Blizzard TM?", he questioned, still wanting to get his paws on Blizzard.
"....And no, you didn't miss a joke.", he continued, feeling the need to point out that he hadn't intended for any joke.

He then began walking once more in the direction they'd previously been walking, completely missing the blood stain in the snow in the process. He just.... really wanted to find the stream so he could practice skating. Though, he wondered if he would even be able to if the stream was covered with snow. Would he even be able to slide on it with the resistance of snow? He had to wonder.

He looked back as he awaited Varda's answer to the Blizzard question.... and to make sure the swablu was still following. It was only then that he noticed the red mark in the snow. He kind of hoped Varda wouldn't notice. He didn't want to worry the bird.... His paw was bleeding, sure, but it really wasn't a big deal. He'd taken far worse than a prick from a spike before and kept walking, after all.

Varda tilted his head to the side, the feathers on top flopping to the side. While Sova agreed that the two of them should be doing something else, he also wanted to know... If he wanted one of the TMs. Earlier, the other Pokémon had asked about the Blizzard TM, but he had said that he was just kidding. Maybe he actually wasn't kidding? Maybe Sova wanted it?
"Oh, do you want it?" The bird asked, looking at the direction of his current partner's face. With a smile, he continued.
"I don't think I need it! It's probably too cold for me. Or... Cool," he laughed with a chirp and turned to look at the discs on the ground again. After a moment of pondering, he opened his bag and put the one that had been identified as Light Screen in his bag and then taking the other one with the slight blue-ish tint to it as he started to waddle after his partner.

"It was this one, right?" The Swablu had used his wings to cup the TM gently and lift it off the ground with a bit of snow, offering it in Sova's direction. The snow under his feet felt cold and he was already hoping to quickly get back on his wings, this long tail feathers drawing a line behind him as he walked. And as he followed the other Pokémon, he couldn't help but notice the small puddles of red that had appeared on Sova's paw prints in the middle of the white snow...

"Um... Maybe we should wrap something around your paw?" Varda offered carefully. The other Pokémon had said that he was fine and maybe he would be annoyed if the bird kept insisting that he wasn't, but... It would make sense to do something about the wound instead of just letting it be, if you asked him.


(Got TM Light Screen)

Sova nodded his head at the swablu and happily accepted the TM, chuckling slightly at the pun. He carefully swept his paw between the disc and Varda's wing to take it, making sure not to accidentally drop it.  Then he heard the bird mention his paw and sighed.  He really didn't want Varda to worry about such a small wound.  "Don't worry, I've taken Hyper Beams and gotten back up, this is nothing.  It's not bleeding enough to weaken me and the pain isn't enough to distract or inhibit me.", he insisted.

After a moment of pause, he added on, "....And thanks, for the Blizzard.  If I find something I don't need I'll give it to you."  He then carefully slid the TM into his bag to ensure it didn't break.  He didn't want to use it just yet, as he didn't know if he would need any of his other moves later.
He then continued walking, figuring they could talk and walk at the same time.  The slight red marks in the snow persisted, but they were slowly getting smaller and smaller as the bleeding calmed down.

Then his paw touched something that felt colder than the snow and more.... solid than the ground.  Ice?  He lifted his paw up and planted it down firmly to check....  It definitely felt like ice.  He wiped his paw over the ground to move some of the snow away, revealing a reflective surface.  Ice, the stream!

Varda closed his eyes for a moment and let out a thoughtful hmm as the other Pokémon kept insisting that nothing had to be done about his wound. He had been so similar back in the cave when he had gotten injured, only covering his wound when it had caused problems for Veriq's sensitive state of mind. The bird's eyes opened and he gave Sova a small nod. He was just going to have to trust his friend and believe that he knew his own limits!

"No problem!" The little bird chirped happily with a great big smile on his face as he was thanked for the TM he gave, letting out a soft coo as he was being offered something as well – in the future, maybe. Varda spread his cottony wings and flapped a few times to rise back into the air, his little feet already wanting some rest from the constant cold.
"I do have a big bag," the Swablu giggled, seemingly taking Sova's offer more as an invitation for him to carry more items. That's how he often felt many Pokémon with him did when they offered him items, he wasn't one to turn down what one considered junk!

Their journey continued through the land of snow and it seemed like the snowfall was starting to grow a bit lighter. Sova's paw prints were still eaten up by the new blanket of fresh white, but at a much slower rate. The bird Pokémon's eyes were peering into the distance quite intensely as he flew by his friend's side, trying to catch a glimpse of something dark blue or red... He almost missed that Sova had stopped, flying a bit further away before he realized and flew back.
"Oh, what is it? Did you find something?"


Current Energy: 18 (17 +1 from a new page)

Sova remained silent for a moment as he checked to make sure he was correct.  He hit his paw against the surface a few more times to confirm it was ice, before moving forward, brushing his front paws around to move snow out of the way and make sure it wasn't just some frozen puddle or something.  It was definitely the Frozen Stream!  "Yep.", he replied as he ran forward before abruptly stopping, sliding a bit.  It wasn't quite as much of a skating rink as he'd hoped, which was disappointing, but it probably at least made it obvious that there was ice under them.  "Guess what I'm standing on.", he requested of the little bird, hopping and sliding around on the icy surface.

After a few moments of hopping around, he jumped a bit higher than the previous times, before landing especially hard, resulting in cracking sounds.  He stood still for a moment, seem unfazed by this occurrence, before shrugging and walking away.  Or at least trying to.  However, he only managed to take one step before his paw broke through the ice, followed by the ice in a small area around him breaking apart.  This resulted in him sinking into the water, of course, considering he couldn't fly away.

He stayed under for a moment, drifting downward as he looked around.  The water was surprisingly clear, probably due to the layer of ice constantly on top of the water.  That probably served to keep most debris out of the stream and keep the water clear.  He spotted a seel and a few sealeos swimming around under the water, one of the sealeos noticing him and taking off in his direction.  He paddled away under the water, figuring he was about to be attacked and trying to gain some ground. He didn't exactly have the environment to his advantage.

Varda flew in place with strong flaps as he looked at his friend, who seemed so focused on... Well, whatever it was that he was doing. He couldn't help but tilt his head in his usual questioning manner with an oblivious little smile. The fox-like Pokémon's paw was moving about, poking the ground and wiping off snow. Clearly, he had found something – and with a quick 'yep', such a suspicion was confirmed. Immediately the Swablu looked very curious as he watched Sova, seeing how the other Pokémon took a running start and slid around for a moment before he stopped.
"Oh, oh, is it ice?" Varda offered his excited answer to his friend's question of his find, letting himself land on the powdery snow.

Using his wings, he wiped off the layer of snow to reveal some more smooth ice. Letting out a coo, he placed a little foot very carefully on the ice before pulling it back and shuddering. It was very cold – and slightly wet! It took the bird Pokémon a moment to gain enough courage to actually stand on the ice, his talons shaking before the slippery ice forced them to go in different directions and the Swablu fell on his soft bottom. He didn't seem too fazed by that, getting back on his feet as soon as he could as he kept testing the ice underneath.

A loud crack forced him to look up, surprised. A couple more similar sounds sounded from Sova's direction, but Varda didn't understand what was happening until the ice broke under his friend's weight and sent the Pokémon into the icy waters below with a splash.
"Sova!" He cried out in his worry and quickly waddled closer, his feet slipping everywhere as he made his way to the Sova-sized hole in the ice. He peered down below into the clear waters, reaching into it with his wing... But he was forced to pull back quickly. The water was freezing – and he wasn't even strong enough to pull Sova out, so that plan was a bust!

Sova watched as the sealeo swam up to him, preparing to send a Shadow Ball its way the second it tried to attack. But to his surprise, it just stopped a few feet away from him. "Need some help?", it asked.
Surprised, the glaceon simply floated in place under the water for a moment, staring at the sealeo. He'd expected a fight, not assistance. Finally, he shook his head and gave a smile. He then began swimming upwards and swished one of his paws up in the water a few times to gesture the Water-Type to follow him to the surface.

The glaceon breached the surface of the water with a smile on his face, seeming to enjoy the water. Of course he was, he was an Ice-Type after all. One with quite a cold tolerance, at that. He could drop his own body's temperature to colder than that water if he wanted to, cold enough to freeze the water in the air around him in seconds. So it was no surprise to him that the freezing water was fairly comfortable from his perspective. "Hi there!", he said to the swablu with a happy smile before pulling himself out of the water.

As soon as the hole in the ice was no longer being blocked by a glaceon, the sealeo breached the surface. "Hiiiiiiiiiii!", it exclaimed, waving a fin. Judging by the voice, it was male.
It seemed friendly enough, it'd offered to help him and greeted them rather nicely, so he didn't see any reason to shoo it away. Maybe the sealeo could even point them in the direction of their mission goal!
"He's cool.", Sova said, aiming to let Varda know the semi-aquatic newcomer was friendly.

Varda was starting to panic when Sova didn't return to the surface. Was his friend perhaps stuck or frozen? Did he have to go down there and try to help him? He looked at the little scarf he had with him, maybe he could untie it and use it to fish Sova out? But... He couldn't pull the Pokémon out, he was much too big for that! The bird's feet would slip and slide, probably then falling into the icy depths below himself. Flying... He didn't think he was strong enough to do that, either!

The Swablu's heart skipped a beat as he noticed a familiar head swim closer to the hole. He peered over the ice and into the waters, seeing that Sova was once again on the move and about to breach the surface. While the bird still didn't know what to do, he took a couple of steps backwards to give his friend enough room to jump back on the ice... But stayed close enough to try to help if it seemed like Sova was unable to climb on top on his own. Of course, there wasn't much he could do there, but he would at least try!

Instead of coughing and spluttering or looking like he was afraid, Sova just smiled and greeted the bird Pokémon. Varda blinked a few times in confusion before smiling himself as well, the relaxed atmosphere seemingly wiping all his worries away in a second.
"Um, hi!" He chirped at Sova as the other Pokémon climbed on the ice easily, not even looking a little cold. In fact, it even seemed like Sova had enjoyed the little swim, despite how cold the water was.
"Don't you think it's cold?" The bird tilted his head as he asked.

Somehow the Swablu had managed the miss the much bigger shape under Sova's body, his attention grabbed by the sound of water being sloshed around. A large, spherical head with a magnificent set of whiskers poked from the water, greeting them with a wave of a flipper. Sova didn't even have to say that the Pokémon was friendly: Varda already was smiling and treating the newcomer as such.
"Hello! How are you?" He chirped in response and quickly glanced at Sova and lowered his voice,
"Do you mean cool or cold?" The little Pokémon asked in a hushed tone, wanting to make sure. You never knew, in this place...
"Do you... Live here?" Varda turned to look back at the Pokémon in the water, smiling.

Sova wanted to facepaw at the swablu's questions. Did he think the water was cold? He was probably COLDER than the water. He'd already explained once that he hadn't made a "cool/cold" pun too, so he felt it would have been a bit obvious the second time around.... but nope. "I'm a glaceon, the water probably thinks I'M cold. And yes, I mean he's cool, as in not a threat.", he explained.
Hopefully his reply would be enough to satiate the bird's questions for now.

The sealeo politely waited for the glaceon to finish before replying. "Yep, I'm "cool", and I live here. I spend a lot of time under the water though, so it's okay if you've never seen me.", it said as it leaned its flippers against the ice so it didn't have to keep itself afloat.

"Oh, no, we aren't from around here. If we've never seen you, that's why.", Sova replied before turning to his side to show his bag, which his guild badge was pinned to. "We're from Grassveil Guild, we're here doing a mission."
He turned to Varda, curious if perhaps the bird wanted to add anything on. Knowing the swablu, probably his whole life's story.

There he went, getting distracted again. He'd wanted to ask the sealeo if it'd by any chance seen any sneasels recently, but instead he'd gotten distracted by idle chatter. Varda seemed talented as a distraction. At least he was a pleasant distraction, though.

Lord E V carried out 5 launched of one Frozen Stream :

, , , ,

"Ohh," Varda cooed when Sova declared that he was probably colder than the water. Could something be colder than the water? He had tried it and it was really cold! His wings, luckily, hadn't absorbed any of it, instead having fallen down as tiny little beads on the ice. Turning to look at the water instead of Sova or the large Pokémon in the water, he called out.
"I'm sorry if you got cold, Mr. water!" He chirped his apologies, as if the water cared. Or as if it could even feel or think in the first place.

With that, the bird could once again look at the new Pokémon poking its head from the water, now leaning against the ice. It was a surprise it could stand the weight, as the Pokémon in the water looked very heavy! He did say that he lived there, and it made sense: the aquatic Pokémon certainly looked like it fit in this cold climate! Sova quickly explained that they weren't around this area and actually were Guild members on a mission, to which the Swablu nodded.

"That's right! It was a loooong trip here. Oh, my name is Varda, what is yours?" The little bird chirped and tilted his head as he smiled, so happy to be making new friends. But again, he was reminded of their mission. The fluffy Pokémon quickly straightened himself up as he realized.
"Oh, right!" Varda tweeted and looked at Sova first before turning his gaze towards the third Pokémon,
"We were... Looking for someone. I'm not sure if you have seen anyone from the water, but have you seen this uh, 'Sneasel'? It's like, dark blue with red feathers and big claws..."

Sova watched as the swablu looked down to the water, curious as to what the little bird was doing. Then he realized Varda was attempting to.... communicate with it. Not him, not the sealeo, but the water. At that, the swablu was apologizing for something that wouldn't have even been his fault. Sova didn't mention any of this though. Why ruin Varda's fun? If he wanted to apologize to the inanimate water for something he didn't even do, so be it.

The sealeo watched as the bird looked at the water and began speaking. At first, he thought perhaps the bird was talking to him, but nope.... The water apparently needed to be apologized to. But that didn't last long, as it was his turn to be talked to soon after! "Name's Wally. And yeah, I know what a sneasel is. There's lots of 'em around here. Only seen one today though. He weeeeeent....", he paused for a moment as he looked back and forth, trying to find his sense of direction. "That way.", he finished, pointing his left flipper.

"Wait, how do you know for sure where he went? Haven't you been under the water?", Sova questioned.

"Yep, exactly! I saw him go by when I was takin' a break from swimming at an opening in the ice and since I was in the water, I could tell he was going up-stream. That way's up-stream.", the sealeo elaborated.

Sova thought for a moment and decided this explanation made sense. However, he wanted to wait for Varda's opinion on it before deciding to head this way. He figured the swablu would believe nearly anything if someone acted nice while saying it, but he still wanted to make sure. Just in case Varda decided to suddenly be a rebel and not take directions.

"Hello, Wally! It's nice to meet you," Varda chirped as happily as he could, almost as if he forgot once more that the two of them were on a very important, serious mission. Luckily they didn't manage to get too off-topic, as this newly introduced Wally did, in fact, claim to have seen a Sneasel nearby. The Swablu's eyes lit up as he held his breath in awe, if this Pokémon had only seen one of them today... It was very possible that it was the one they were looking for! The little Pokémon looked at Sova with large eyes, already silently telling that he was so certain that they were on the right track!

"Did, um... Did you happen to see if he was carrying something?" The bird asked for more. If the answer was yes and Wally's response fit their description, the chances of it being the right Sneasel were even better than before! If he hadn't seen, perhaps the Sneasel no longer carried the Moon Stone or perhaps he had hidden it somewhere... Knowing was half the battle as they said, so at least the Swablu thought they might have to know the answer to this.

Varda turned to look in the direction the Pokémon had pointed, already itching to dash into the direction to catch the Sneasel. But for now he could just watch, holding back his need to fly. He couldn't see anyone. There was just white, but if Wally said that the potential target was going up-stream... They just had to follow the river, right? But it was currently covered in snow and they couldn't see it... And he certainly didn't know any move that could have melted the snow and ice for an easy river to follow!

(10 energy)

Sova fell silent, not having anything to add to the conversation at the moment.  Varda was doing a decent job so far, so he figured he'd just let the little conversationalist handle this from here.  It was amazing how much this bird could talk without getting bored, or at the very least straining himself.  Actually, it seemed like talking only excited him more.  Even if he was talking to inanimate substances.  For instance, water.

Wally put a flipper to his chin as he thought for a moment.  "Mmmm....  Nope.  That doesn't mean he didn't have a stone, just that I didn't see it.  I didn't really get a good look at him.  A lot of pokemon wander around near the stream, so I don't really take in every detail about all of 'em, ya know?", he replied, a bit disappointed that he couldn't be any more help than that.

Sova decided to chime in and give his view, in an effort to avoid demoralizing the swablu.  "Well, it's still the best lead we've got.  Besides, the odds he'd just be flaunting it around aren't very high.  Actually, he's probably trying to hide it from view."
He really hoped he was right, as they were about to go in the direction of the sneasel mentioned by this sealeo.  If they were chasing someone innocent, that would just be something to distract them from their target.

"Well what're you looking for?", the sealeo asked.

Perhaps they already had been extremely lucky to have found someone who had seen a Sneasel. Perhaps asking for proof that the Sneasel had carried something with them would have been too good to be true. Varda was a bit defeated that they didn't have the decisive evidence, but he kept the smile on his face so he wouldn't disappoint Wally any more than he already seemed to be.
"Um, yes!" The bird chirped as Sova tried to reassure their new friend that it was fine. They had gotten a lot from the Water-type Pokémon already, they would be so completely lost without his testimony.

"What if... He's holding it inside his mouth!" Detective Varda suggested his newest master deduction to the two other Pokémon before chirping happily with a nod,
"Thank you, Wally! You were a big help!" He continued and turned to look in the direction of the suspect's whereabouts. There was still a possibility that it wasn't going to be the right Pokémon, even if the species matched.
"Oh, Wally, if it wouldn't be too much of a bother," the Swablu started to speak after a moment of thinking, turning to face the Pokémon in the water again,
"Maybe you could keep an eye on the land in case you see another Sneasel walk past? Especially if they're carrying something! Just in case we're going after the wrong Pokémon."

The bird Pokémon looked at Sova with determined eyes. They were going to have to move soon, before they lost the trail completely. They couldn't follow any footsteps, as the snowfall had surely covered them all up a long time ago. There was still a little problem.
"We should be following the river, right? But I can't even see the river now with all this snow..."