House of Hallways

Varda was quite exhausted! The trip through the odd house had been very taxing already, but when he had to make a quick trip back to the little town with a Glaceon on his back... Well, it certainly had been something, alright! Luckily he didn't have to carry his friend back, as they had been lucky and there was a Pokémon who could deal with their injuries for a small compensation, so they could just rush to the spooky weird house as soon as their legs – and wings – allowed them to! They had lost some valuable time doing this, but the bird believed he had done the right decision on his own, without Sova's help...

The house felt strange this time. They had been through such strange rooms on their first visit, but now the door they took sent them to an odd, extremely long hallway. It was rather narrow compared to many rooms they had seen before, but the hallway was wide enough to let a couple of Pokémon to walk side by side. There were no doors the bird could see, there hadn't been any doors for a while since the last one they took. As usual, there were various candles on the walls lighting up the gloomy house, some dark spots left behind by the dim lighting. The floorboards creaked under the pair of Pokémon and the old wallpaper was ripped in many places, revealing old wooden panels.


Current Energy: 38 (57 -19 from entering)

Perhaps Sova should have been grateful; his friend had been looking out for his well-being, his injuries had been tended to and what was more, the aforementioned friend had evolved! Everything pointed to this being a perfect occasion for celebration.... well, everything other than maybe the fact that there was still something happening that was causing random individuals to go insane, and the very real possibility that the two were walking into their own deaths. However, he was upset, and not for the reason of possible impending doom. No, he was upset because Varda had stalled out their mission and went to the GRIMA OUTPOST, the lawless criminal outpost, to get him help!

Sure, his leg had been treated, the paw being wrapped in a bandage to stop him from moving it too much, and he'd been offered medicine to dull the pain when he awoke - which he refused - but that didn't mean it'd been a good thing. Varda had put himself in the danger of being around criminals, some of which were potentially dangerous. The glaceon just couldn't get around how stupid it was, and what was more, it'd set them back! However, this wasn't all that was troubling him, not by far. Even worse was the fact that he had a gap in his memory.... one that he had neglected to bring up so far out of fear of what his instability may have caused.

He already knew what'd happened, at least the basics. They'd gotten into a fight, most of the enemies focused on disabling him and Varda evolved at some point. However, the rest was a blank.... and he knew why. He'd snapped, let the other one out, not that he really had a choice, but he still blamed himself. It wasn't even necessarily a bad thing, as it seemed S.S. had actually been fairly helpful, or at the very least hadn't been detrimental. Varda didn't have any severe injuries and he himself.... well, despite his body being beaten up, his severe injuries actually weren't in as bad a shape, specifically the paw. The "doctor" Varda had taken him to said it seemed the paw had been recently dislocated, yet it had been relocated at some point. That made no sense since it was hard enough to pop a paw back into place while actively trying, let alone on accident, so he figured S.S. had something to do with it.

By now, Sova had gotten the layout of this place, meaning he'd figured out how it worked to an extent. The very long pathway always lead to the Throne Room, or at least that was what he'd gathered. The pathway had the potential to change, sometimes to the point of being a tower instead of a hallway.... but he didn't think too much on how little sense this made. The point was that the way to the important part of the house was always marked by an extremely long and senseless, illogical pathway. Judging by the hallway they'd come across, they were probably close to the Throne Room.... but he wasn't going to bring that up, he was still mad after all.

Varda kept walking, his gaze wandering around the hallway. It didn't seem to be changing at all, it almost felt like they were walking through the same part over and over again. Would that even be possible? To have some kind of odd loop that never ended but never brought you anywhere, either? He had no idea if this was normal. It didn't feel normal – even for this place. The other rooms had felt like rooms, even when they were hallways or long stairs. They might have lasted for what seemed like an eternity, but it always felt like you were going somewhere. This... This felt like they were stuck.

And it wasn't helping how quiet Sova was about this all. Had he noticed? Was he just making it all up? Or maybe... They truly were stuck in the same loop, and because Sova hadn't said anything, he never would say anything in the future loops! How awful. But Varda hadn't said anything either! What if he was forced to continue walking in the same loop in total silence too?
"You're quiet," he chirped, his voice having a higher pitch to it than what it was before, though its tone was much cleaner and even... Stronger, in a way, as if he had much more powerful lungs.

"Are you hurt? Does it hurt?" He suddenly seemed to realize why his friend might have been so quiet, his expression turning into something rather worried as he turned his longer neck towards the Glaceon. He was happy when he realized that he could actually talk and wasn't stuck in silence that lasted forever... But when he broke the silence, it was as if he had broken the rest of the loop as well. This time instead of walking normally, the bird Pokémon ended up tripping on his longer legs and falling down on the floor with an oomph.

Sova merely continued to ignore his friend's words as he walked, still very upset and not feeling up to trying to explain something like the concept of being mad to Varda. It would have been simple to state that he wasn't hurt - even if it was a lie and his leg did hurt - but he was okay with making his friend wonder for just a bit instead. It was bound to hurt, anyway, as he was trying to put pressure on it.... One was supposed to put pressure on injuries if they could to speed up healing, right? Since it was just a dislocation, he could put some pressure on it and if he were to avoid such a thing just because it hurt, his leg would end up getting all stiff and he wouldn't be able to use it properly if he needed to!

The glaceon stopped as Varda fell to the floor and just looked down at the bird for a moment, before deciding to break his decision not to speak earlier than he'd previously intended to. "Be careful, we don't need two crippled explorers right now, one's more than enough," he stated as he waited for his friend to get back up.
It wasn't like they were getting anywhere fast, so he didn't bother to rush Varda up, not seeing any point in sparing a few extra seconds or so.

(Higher pitched? I now have no clue how to imagine Varda's voice, how does one make a Varda higher pitched?)

Varda raised his long neck off the ground and looked at his now talking friend, nodding in agreement. They really did have to be careful, falling over wasn't a good thing to do as he could break himself – or something else!
"Yeees," he chimed in happily and pulled his splayed wings closer to his body, pushing him back on his legs. It had taken him a long time to even realize that his legs were so... Long, now. It was quite hard to walk with them when he used to have very stubby ones that couldn't get tangled up in each other!

"This is strange... Do you think there are hidden doors in the walls?" The Altaria chirped once he got up, dusted his cloud-like plumage and started to continue walking, his head turning from side to side as he tried to find a door. It was quite odd to not have any doors to go through – and they were supposed to be looking for the one that led to the next room, right?


((Maybe you shouldn't imagine it, might make your brain explode or something.))

Sova fell silent once more as he was asked a question, though this time it wasn't with the intent of ignoring his friend.  He really didn't know how to answer, as he had no clue whether or not there could be doors hidden in such a manner.  It was possible, he supposed, considering the place they were in, but it seemed a bit far-fetched to assume there were doors in the walls and they certainly couldn't safely check if such a thing were true.  "Lets hope not," he simply responded.

"There's a thing that looks like a throne room in this place somewhere.  The times I've been here before, a really long path led up to it.  So we're probably on our way there," he continued, feeling like he should at least try to give what little input he could on the situation since he didn't have much of an answer for Varda's question.
The throne room.... seemed to be one of the few consistencies of this place.  It was always a throne room, from what he could tell, but more importantly, it was always extremely dangerous.  The things that lurked in that area were far more threatening than anything in the rest of the house.

(I imagined it. My brain exploded.)

Varda cooed as he heard about the existence of a throne room. He did wonder if every single room really did exist in the room and they just shifted around, so they would eventually see repeats... That did kind of make more sense than completely random rooms! That did mean they could expect to see this fabled throne. And if a long path did indeed lead there... This had to be it, right? This was the longest path he had seen ever! The bird grew excited in an instant.

"I have never been in a throne room!" He chirped happily as he continued to waddle along, keeping up with his friend much more easily now that his legs were much longer. Actually, right now... He was taller than Sova! That was a new experience, having been so small his entire life and now his neck was long and everything...


((I also have that Sky Powder for -1 energy from every other Pokémon encounter and I always forget about it.))

Bird carried out 5 launched of one Ruined Chateau :

, , , ,

"Ha," Sova laughed quietly in mock-amusement at Varda's apparent interest in the throne room, such naive interest.
The bird knew not what was within. The first time he'd come to this place, it'd been with fairly capable fighters and they'd all had trouble, himself included. Granted, he could never give it his all in a fight with things such as allies around, but still, he was unsure if he could have won that fight on his own. In the end, though, he had to choose to run in order to save one of his allies.... who then showed the opposite of appreciation. Why did he even bother trying to do nice things for others when he was treated badly regardless? Well, not everyone treated him badly, but still.

"Trust me, you don't want to go to this throne room..... and if the situation weren't so dire, I definitely wouldn't just let you come with me here. If you want to live through a trip to that room, we're gonna need a plan.... especially if I'm right and we're about to wake something really dangerous up," he responded, showing the reasoning behind his mock-laughter, albeit perhaps in a more dark manner than was needed.
He felt it was necessary, though, to get Varda to understand the gravity of the situation. There was no way anything in the Throne Room was going to want to be their friend and they would not have ANY leeway to check and see, not with how dangerous the things in that area were. Especially since he was still injured and Varda wasn't exactly the most experienced fighter.

(Energy - enough, too lazy to calculate.)

Lord E V carried out 5 launched of one Ruined Chateau :

, , , ,

Varda tilted his head with a smile as Sova seemed rather amused by his words, not really understanding and happily hearing more about it. However, what the Glaceon said didn't sound very... Fun, as his friend believed that he actually wouldn't want to go in the throne room. Because... Living through it would be difficult? He didn't quite understand and the bird did look rather confused as he tilted his head in the other direction, his long feathers flopping over as he looked at the Glaceon by his side.
"So... We can't sit in the throne?" He asked, worried and a bit disappointed. That first time he ever saw something like this and they couldn't even enjoy it...

"What... Kind of a plan?" The Altaria cooed shortly after, seemingly getting over his initial disappointment and perking up a bit, his posture straightening. He remembered that Sova said something about a plan – probably. Honestly he had concentrated a bit too much on the disappointment rather than what else his friend had told him, but he hopefully had gotten enough to not seem like he was intentionally ignoring what the Glaceon said.


Current energy: 8 (-2 from the items, -28 from the enemy encounters with Sky Powder]

Sova sighed in frustration as his friend seemed to completely miss the point of what he was trying to say. At this rate, they were both going to end up dying in the throne room due to such ignorance of the dangers it held! To his surprise, however, Varda then continued to ask about the plan, showing to have actually correctly processed what he'd said! Maybe they wouldn't die after all, then! "First off, you need to understand that nothing we're gonna see is gonna want to be our friend. The things in the throne room are very hostile and VERY dangerous, if you let your guard down to try befriending them, you might not even have time to regret it," he elaborated, choosing to first emphasize the fact that Varda was not going to be able to just use his imaginary friendly friend charm to get the enemies to stop attacking.

It always seemed Varda looked for the good in others, even when there was none, sometimes desperately so. The glaceon couldn't help but worry his friend would eventually get into great trouble because of this kind of view, but for now, the least he could do was try and prevent today from being the day the complications arose. He needed to make sure Varda was prepared to fight, not to sit there asking dangerous ferals if they wanted to be friends while they attacked.

(33 energy dear god why. I really thought the 100 ENERGY WOULD LAST LONGER.)

"Ohh," Varda chirped, sounding rather saddened by what he heard. Of course he wanted new friends, and meeting Pokémon that were friendly rather than hostile... Well, what explorer wouldn't like that? It was safer and it was always a lot more fun than to fight or escape! Hearing that it wasn't an option... Well, it made the already dreary-sounding throne room sound even worse! Was this hallway going to be the last enjoyable trek in this house? ...Well, not like it was particularly enjoyable, but it was better than the picture Sova was painting for what was their destination...

"Are we still looking for the music box pieces?" The bird asked, still holding onto the parts they had found earlier. He had made sure that he wouldn't accidentally drop them when he rushed at the town to get some help! Even though some very kind Pokémon tried to carry his bag for him or rearrange the contents of it without him looking, he had decided that everything was fine the way it was just in case someone thought those broken things were trash! He didn't want anyone to throw them away.


((The energy is never enough!))

Oh, right, the music box! They would probably need it, but how were they ever going to find what they needed in this hallway? They would need something more than just exploration skills here, and he had just the thing for the job. "Oh, right, we are," he responded before.... trying... to get into his bag.
He first tried using his injured paw, but found that the bandaging was stopping him from moving it enough to do such a thing. Then he tried the other paw, but quickly regretted switching the pressure of standing onto his injury and ended up wincing before ceasing his attempts. Great, he couldn't even get into his own bag right now, how was he ever going to beat whatever was causing the mass insanity without his items!?

Then he remembered that he didn't just have paws, he had a mouth too. Perhaps it was a bit embarrassing to have to continually grab things with his mouth, but it was better than having to ask for help, at least. He dug his head into the bag and carefully bit onto a little orb before spitting it at the ground, shattering it and creating a flash of light. "And now we wait," he commented.
The Trawl Orb would begin bringing random things to them any moment.... or at least, he hoped so. It would certainly make looking for the pieces of a music box easier. Maybe he'd even get something useful out of it, like some of those cloaking seeds that seemed to for some reason be scattered around this house.

(Who needs energy when you've got TRAWL ORBS?)

Lord E V carried out 10 launched of one Ruined Chateau :

, , , , , , , , ,

Varda nodded at Sova, turning to look at their surroundings after that. A music box... The pieces they had found this far were rather small, so they would be difficult to find if they didn't keep their eyes open! If this hallway even had more of them. What if all the pieces were actually sprinkled around the house and its numerous rooms? Had it been broken intentionally or by accident? It would have made sense to have all the pieces in the same place, but maybe they had been swept away. Or maybe... They had been hidden?

The Altaria had taken a couple of steps forward before he noticed that his friend had stopped, turning around himself to see what the problem was. He didn't understand what was happening at first, but then he noticed that Sova was trying to gain access to his bag, having some trouble with his injured paw... But before Varda could offer to help, the Glaceon had pulled a small orb out of the bag with his mouth, spitting it on the floor. It broke into small pieces, a flash enveloping the room... And then disappearing, letting the Pokémon to actually see something.

The bird removed the wing he had used to shield his eyes, cooing as he saw a pile of items having gathered nearby. He had seen this before! He hadn't found orbs like these himself, but some other Pokémon had gained access to them. They were really handy!


((Us. We do. :<))

Within moments, the orb had seemingly just teleported random things into a convenient pile near them, making the items much more easily accessible.  However, to Sova's dismay, only two more orbs and another of those spicy berries had been brought to them.  What a massive disappointment, junk he didn't need and suspected his friend didn't either, as opposed to something they could actually use.  He approached the pile and sighed before realizing he couldn't pick up any of the items and looking back up to Varda.

"I can't pick any of this up.  You want it?," he questioned, offering all of the useless things to the altaria since he himself didn't really care.
He didn't even care to figure out what the powers of the two orbs were, maybe they even could have been Trawl orbs, but he highly doubted that.  Even if they were BOTH Trawl orbs, so what?  The last one had barely given them anything, so what were the odds of more doing any different?

(Fck, was hoping for Piece D/Box Casing to be magicked up.  Also, this has got to be the most unlucky, uneventful set of rolls ever.  There are some really neat pokemon in this area and we got the most pathetic stuff available, then we barely got any items, even with the Trawl orb. Feel free to take those things.)

Varda stepped closer to the pile of items, lowering his head to look at them. There were more berries – the kind that Sova had proven to be extremely spicy – and some more orbs. They... Looked identical to pretty much every orb, as usual, so he had no idea what these ones did – for now, at least. They'd know if they used them. This far every single orb he had ever seen had been useful, so he wasn't too scared when it came to using them, even if he didn't know what they did. It hadn't gone badly for him yet!

The bird raised his neck as the Glaceon sighed, unable to pick anything up and offering them to him instead. Varda blinked and tilted his head.
"Oh, but I could just put them in your bag," he chirped, but his concerned look soon turned into a happy smile,
"But sure! I can hold onto them, if you want!" He added, flipping his bag open as he started to gently place the items in it. He could definitely just keep them for now, in case Sova would like to have them later or when they got back to Grassveil Town. But as he put all the items in his bag, he noticed a small seed on the floor as well, having been hidden by the rest of the items.
"Oh, Sova, look. I didn't know they had seeds here..."


((That's our luck. Bad rolls all the way. But hey, one Itemizer Orb at least?))


Got 2 Roseli Berries, a Decoy Orb, a Silence Orb and an Itemizer Orb.