House of Hallways

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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)

Varda tilted his head as his friend claimed to not want him to join this trip, looking a bit confused. But... He was here. It wasn't like Sova had really objected to it much when the two of them made their way here, together. He hadn't really talked about how he felt, either. Just... Warned him about the house when they got there. This was probably the most the Glaceon had talked about something like this, so the bird listened. He didn't quite understand everything, but in the end it seemed like Sova wasn't leaving after all, stopping to wait for him – no, to wait at them.

"But... You still took me with you," the Altaria chirped, seeing a slight contradiction in what the Glaceon thought and what he did. If Sova really felt like the bird shouldn't be here, would he really have let him come along just like that? So... Easily? Without any complaints?
"I'm not a baby," he added, spreading his wings a little. Indeed, at this point... Well, he was taller than the Glaceon. Perhaps he had looked childish and vulnerable as a small, fluffy Swablu, but he hadn't been a baby back then, either! And now, he was bigger.

Though once Nevi spoke up, he was reminded of the exact choice of words the Glaceon had used. She had the right to be upset, she had given them their name so calling someone a thing after that wasn't very polite. But Varda knew that Sova could sometimes be a bit rude, as if he didn't quite understand good manners.
"Oh... Oh, that's right," he agreed with a chirp and a nod, looking at Sova,
"You shouldn't be rude to Pokémon you meet..."


((I'm actually a Varda and it all flew over my head. Like a bird.))

Sova merely stared with a rather bored expression as the other two argued back. He clearly didn't care what either of them said, which was probably a good thing, because it meant he didn't care about responding. If he really wanted to continue arguing, he could think of counterarguments to everything said.... by Varda, at least. The froslass, he needed no counterargument for, he'd just call her a thing again if he really wanted to keep that up. Varda acted like a child most of the time in his eyes, so naive and pacifistic, thinking of something as a friend more than an enemy. That was the main reason he didn't like bringing Varda with him to dangerous places. However, he didn't have the heart to turn his friend down, though, and figured it would be quite difficult it even possible to get Varda to not follow him for something so important, so he hadn't even bothered, figuring he could just protect them both.

Oh, what to do. He could respond and fuel the argument, pointlessly stalling the situation and wasting time. Maybe he'd get the froslass to leave, but.... well, he still didn't really want to upset Varda, at least not too much. Then there was the option of just ignoring everything that'd been said and continuing like normal. While he knew at least Varda would probably follow him, he figured this kind of intentional ignorance would just fuel the argumentative state of things even more. However, he most certainly wasn't going to admit defeat. He took a moment to think of something to say before finally speaking up.

The glaceon pointed his bandaged paw at his altaria friend before listing his responses to everything said, "True, debatable, and true - but I don't really care about that last one," he paused and turned his paw toward the froslass, "And you.... are a thing. Don't wanna be called a thing? Don't try to talk to me."
He knew it was "wrong" to be rude, but he wasn't lying, he really didn't care. At least, not in this particular situation, though there had been many other situations in which he'd been rude and hadn't cared.

Nevi felt a bit comforted as the one who didn't seem to randomly hate her defended her a bit, though this was short-lived as the glaceon jumped right to putting her down once more. It was made very clear very fast that if she wanted to stay with this group, the way to do so would be to avoid talking to the bitter glaceon. It was disappointing, but if there was some reasonable explanation for him being so mean.... well, she couldn't complain. Even being allowed to travel with the two was a kindness on Sova's part for all she knew. At least, that was what she needed to convince herself to not be upset about the harsh treatment. Instead of speaking up, she took the glaceon's advice and remained quiet for now, wondering if the nicer altaria would have anything to say in return.

(Or a plane?)

Varda seemed to perk up a little when it became apparent that the Glaceon was actually responding and talking about these things. That was a good thing. Okay, what Sova said wasn't exactly a good thing and it surely would make their new friend feel bad, but it was a step in the right direction. Being open and honest. They would never get anywhere if they didn't talk about these things! Even if everything seemed to be going fine, one never knew when someone was just keeping their thoughts to themselves, actually bothered by what was happening...

"Um... What kind of a thing?" The bird asked. He wasn't even sure if a thing was a bad thing right now. He didn't always understand Sova, but maybe in his eyes, everyone was a thing so... So he was right? It wasn't a very nice thing to say of course, especially when others felt bad being referred to as such, but maybe the message actually wasn't very mean – or at least meant to be that.


((Birdplane.))

Bird carried out 1 launched of one Ruined Passageway :

Sova just stared for a moment rather than giving an answer to the proposed question.  He then turned around, still avoiding giving an answer.  It was only when he began walking once more that he spoke, and even then it was not in any way an answer to the question, which clearly showed he was choosing to ignore what'd been asked.  "If you're coming, move it."
He just wanted to get this over with and leave, as that would be an excuse to get away from the froslass.  Why'd it have to be a froslass?  Why?  Of all the things in this house.... the ONE who wanted to attach itself to them just had to be a froslass.

Seeing that the glaceon wasn't responding to his friend's question, Nevi decided to speak up.  "He means to objectify me, to imply I'm not worth gender-identification.... because.... I guess he doesn't like me?," she explained, though clearly a bit confused herself about it.
Her hope was that Varda perhaps had something more to add on this, maybe he knew why the glaceon disliked her so much?  Surely there was a reason, she just wanted to know what it was.  However, she'd gathered so far that this altaria.... well, he was certainly nice, but he seemed a bit.... lacking in some other areas, so she wasn't expecting much.

(Energy - 1. Oh boy.)

Varda didn't get an answer, all he really got was an order. And considering who he was, of course he started to move right away, walking after his friend – but not before he turned to look at Nevi to invite her along with them, too! He wasn't just going to leave her behind like that, and perhaps he believed that even Sova wouldn't want to do it! He was a little rough around the edges, that friend of his... But he was a very nice and kind Pokémon deep down.

The bird's neck twisted to look behind at Nevi as she started to speak, there being a sign of some confusion in those beady eyes of his. Something was up with the Glaceon, but why would he hate someone he hadn't seen before? He hadn't seen this Pokémon before, right?
"Oh, um. But that in itself isn't a bad thing, probably! Some Pokémon don't really have one either, because they are more like... Objects?" The Altaria tilted his head, starting to go a bit off-topic now...

Nevi gave a slight smile at her friend's reassurance as she followed along, though it was forced and didn't completely reflect her mood. She was a bit happier now, but it wasn't because she believed the altaria's input. Rather, she knew it wasn't true, that this glaceon just didn't like her for whatever reason, but.... it was nice that Varda was trying to cheer her up, even though she'd only known him for like.... a few minutes. It really was a wonder to her why these two were together, which such opposing personalities from what she could tell. Maybe they balanced each other out? Oh, if they were in a guild, maybe they were just traveling together for the same mission? Or maybe one of them was in a different mood from normal and they weren't actually very different! If the last were the case, she very much hoped the glaceon - Sova - was the one in an abnormal mood.

"Heh.... thanks," the froslass responded, and it wasn't technically a lie as she was grateful.
Even if she didn't think Varda's words were true, it was the thought that counted.... he wanted to cheer her up, clearly. Still, she didn't really want to stay on the topic and immediately started trying to think of a way to change the topic. "So.... you said something about being here for a mission? Are you with a guild?," she questioned, hoping the less friendly of the two had calmed down enough to allow her to ask questions.

Sova chose to ignore his friend's attempt at explaining away his mean comment, despite it being wrong. He most certainly had ill intent, meaning for it to be an insult to belittle the froslass, but if Varda wanted to believe otherwise that was fine with him. He didn't want to upset Varda anyway, just the froslass, and he was pretty sure from the sounds of things that he'd succeeded in doing so. Sure, the froslass seemed to imply otherwise through its words, but the tone made it clear to him that it knew what his intentions were.

He gritted his teeth at the froslass once more asking questions, though this couldn't have been evident to the others since he was leading the way and wasn't bothering to turn around and show his face at all. He couldn't stand the thought of that thing getting to know him through Varda, but he just remained silent for the time-being. Maybe Varda wouldn't answer, or at least woudln't say much about him. How had the froslass even guessed they were from a guild? They hadn't said that and it hadn't seemed to have been using their badges as identification. Something one of them had said? He was pretty sure neither himself nor Varda acted like typical Guild members, one being far too mean and the other being far too nice, so it couldn't have just being their behavior....

(Well I'd better get to using that whopping 1 energy.)

Lord E V carried out 1 launched of one Ruined Chateau :

Varda was happy to get a new friend, even if this first meeting hadn't gone exceptionally well. It seemed like the Pokémon that had just joined their little group was feeling a bit better – and as Sova didn't say anything, it certainly wasn't making the situation any worse! He continued to walk, occasionally glancing over his shoulder to see if Nevi was still keeping up with them. When she thanked him, the bird just nodded happily, all smiles like there were no problems in the world.

Ah, but that was right. When Nevi asked about the mission again, he remembered how she had done that before, but he wasn't able to answer. No, back then, Sova had stopped him and this whole conversation had been pushed away from their mission. Maybe now was a good time to return to it.
"That's right!" He chirped happily, spreading his large, cloud-like wings in his excitement. Well, his happiness seemed to be subdued a little as he considered how this wasn't a really happy mission, but a very serious one that could go either way and...

"There's... Something bad going on and something is happening to Pokémon everywhere," Varda started, of course not having the best knowledge of these kinds of things. He didn't really understand and he didn't really know how to explain it, but then again, he didn't know how much this Nevi knew about this. Had she seen it too, or did it only happen outside the dungeons...?
"And um, we were told that there's something in this house that might solve the problem, so we're here now! We're looking for music box pieces now!"

Nevi nodded and listened to her new friend intently, though she sadly didn't have any idea as to how to help other than to just help search for the music box pieces.  She never paid much attention to junk scattered around the house because it usually was of no interest to her, nor did she pay any attention to most of the residents of the house as they were generally very unpleasant to be around.  Thus, she hadn't much to contribute in the form of knowledge.  "Well, I know this place, so I can probably help you look!," she responded with the hope of being useful.
She looked to the glaceon, hoping to get some kind of approval from him, but to no avail.  It was disappointing, but not unexpected.

Sova listened quietly in disappointment as his friend told the froslass all about why they were there.  What if it were a spy?  Wild things simply were not supposed to be trusted so much, even if they seemed nice.  However, he said nothing, figuring that if the froslass was indeed trying to spy on them or had any other ill intent, that would just be an excuse for him to.... get rid of it, so to speak.  Perhaps it was a bit low to do something like that, not to mention that plan involved essentially using Varda as social bait, but it wasn't like the altaria would be hurt.  If anything, Varda would get to have a nice time socializing with someone.... and worst case.... well, one of the two would be happy, either way.

Despite his obvious dislike of the froslass, he was actually okay with having someone else around to help with finding pieces to the dumb music box.  Sure, he hated having a froslass around him, but if it was going to be there, may as well make some use of it.  Because if there was one thing he disliked more than having to put up with a froslass, it would have to be having to put up with a froslass who wasn't even benefiting him in any way.

(So many errors in my last post and I can't fix them.  It hurts my soul.  Also wow dialogue coloring is hard to keep up with.  I must seem bipolar with the off-and-on text color.)

Varda was immediately down with the plan of having Nevi help them with this task. Like she said, she knew her way in the house... That well, seemed to be constantly shifting so that might have not meant much, but maybe it was better than what he and Sova had helping them. At least it was fun to have a new temporary member in their little team – and another pair of eyes to keep a look on what was happening around them wasn't a bad thing, right? Together they could look everywhere and find those pieces!

"That's a great idea! We found a couple of pieces earlier: it seems like it has been broken into very small pieces, so they are pretty hard to find. Music boxes already are pretty small, right?" The bird chirped, happily chatting away and explaining – and even finding time to ask questions. All they had seen were small pieces of machinery that did indeed seem to belong to the same thing – if you asked Varda – but they still lacked parts to really make them stick together...
"So we have to be extra careful! Any small piece could be something we need, so we can't think it's just trash and leave it behind..."


((I have autocorrect eyes. That is also bad when I miss my own typos because my eyes correct it.))

Nevi listened to the response, happy that Varda agreed with her helping.  She nodded in agreement when questioned on whether or not music boxes were small, though she was unsure if it'd been a rhetorical question or not.  It certainly sounded difficult to find a music box, let alone one that was broken into pieces - especially in this place - but she was determined to prove her worth!  Specifically, she had hopes that if she helped enough, the glaceon would warm up to her a bit.  However, he still seemed to be ignoring her.  "Alright," she simply responded, not having anything to add as she hadn't seen anything fitting the description of a piece to the box.... or at least if she had, she'd just considered it trash.

She then decided to take her turn to talk again, still having so much more that she was curious about.  Specifically, she wanted to know why.... uh.... Sova didn't like her.  Plus, she wanted to see just how far the whole rule about not talking directly to each other would go.... and get in a little payback for being called a thing earlier.  Harmless payback though, nothing violent.  "What's wrong with him?  Is he having mommy issues or something?," she questioned nonchalantly, not really expecting her comment to do anything other than maybe annoy the glaceon a bit.
After all, it wasn't like she'd said something horrible or extremely insulting, just mildly annoying.  However, the glaceon then stopped, which made her stop as well in worry that he was going to lash out.  But.... instead of responding in any way.... he just started moving again a moment later.

Sova just walked along, ignoring the entire conversation as he really didn't care to take part in it.  That was, of course, until he was brought into it.... and normally, he wouldn't have cared too much about such a poor excuse for an insult, in fact he doubted most would care much about such an insult?  But considering the topic of the insult, it certainly managed to get to him.  He stopped, considering turning around and attacking the froslass, wondering if he should just.... stop restraining himself.  He began to feel lightheaded, which he knew to be a very bad sign, but he managed to calm himself down a bit before anything came of it and just keep walking.

(To fix that problem, all you need is your brand.)

Varda nodded a couple of times, happy that everyone seemed to know – and accept – their plan. He definitely did feel like with this new member in their team, they would get things done faster and better! And that was a good thing, considering that they were already behind the schedule if they even had one, and time was of utmost importance... Yes, this was it. The bird was full of confidence and determination, his steps reflecting his feelings as he walked down the hallway.

And Nevi had another thing to ask, causing the Altaria to look over his shoulder at her again, blinking. Sova stopped for a moment, but didn't say anything, just confusing the bird even further. He didn't really know what the Glaceon wanted to say, but it was obvious that he did want to say something...
"Oh, um, well, I don't know," Varda chirped, his eyes turning to look at Sova. His friend didn't seem to be in a talkative mood, but it wasn't like he wanted to put words into the Glaceon's mouth, either...

"Um, I don't know his mother," he continued, his eyes flicking to look at the floating, kind of ghost-like Pokémon that continued to walk – or float – with them,
"But he was just injured, so maybe he's hurting..."


((What kind of a brand?))

Nevi tilted her head and continued following along as she was given a.... less than satisfactory explanation. Varda had no clue why his own friend was upset? What kind of friends were they, exactly? The two were seeming like more and more of an odd pair the more she got to know about them, and it confused her. "Well, family issues would explain that kind of hostility, to me at least. Or maybe just with frie-," she began to respond, but was apruptly cut off by a paw suddenly pressing into her neck before she could react and dragging her down to the ground.
She tried to gasp, but it was cut off. The glaceon had suddenly turned and decided to get physical with her, which had not only been unexpected to her, but also.... he'd been surprisingly fast about it.

Sova did his best to ignore the conversation being had about him as if he wasn't right there, and he had enough restraint to do so.... for a limited time. However, that time was quickly used up as his family was continuously brought up, he just couldn't help himself anymore and turned to shut the froslass up, immediately pinning it to the ground. It'd been no accident that he'd pinned it by the neck, which was for the purpose of stopping it from speaking. He also sadly had to avoid using his injured paw, but that was of no matter, the other one worked just as well as it would have. He glared down at the creature for a moment, surprised to see it not cowering in fear. "Breathe another word about my family and I will kill you," he stated, a clear serious tone too evident in his voice to possibly be missed by the froslass.

At first, the froslass was a bit surprised, and yes, she looked shocked. However, the shock quickly faded into an agitated glare to match the glaceon's as she gathered what was happening. She was confident he wouldn't actually kill her, as he was a Guild member and she was doing nothing to warrent such an action, thus he couldn't. Plus, despite her rather easily exploited emotions, physical hostility was taken very differently from verbal hostility by her.... and she was not afraid of it. She knew how to fight - quite well, actually - and she was not afraid of this guy if it came to that. "You aren't very intimidating with a gift-wrapped paw," she responded with a strained voice due to the paw currently on her throat.

(This kind.)

Varda just let out a quiet coo as Nevi tried to figure out Sova's problem, still pushing that it was a family issue. To that, he really didn't have a response. He had no idea, they never talked about that... And that could really be a sign of either there actually being issues so the topic was ignored, or there being no issues so there was nothing to talk about! Normally he was a very talkative bird, but it was difficult to say anything when he didn't even know where to start. They'd have to ask Sova about it, but his friend wasn't seeming like he was in the most talkative mood–

And then, his thoughts were forced to stop just as abruptly as the ghost-like Pokémon's voice, the Altaria's head snapping in the direction to see what was going on. He had not expected to see Sova lunge at the Pokémon like that, surprised by it all and even letting out a high-pitched chirp in panic. This wasn't how things should be going! And... And the two really shouldn't be fighting or pushing each other to fight like that! In his surprise, Varda spread his wings open and took a few steps open.
"No, stop!" He cried out, demanding that the two of them stopped this. Both physical and verbal fighting!
"You... You shouldn't be fighting!"


((noo))

Sova just glared at the froslass as it spoke back to him and his friend pushed for him to stop.  He wasn't quite sure if he'd gotten his message across.  Still, he didn't want to upset Varda, even if this thing was annoying, and he figured it would hopefully avoid talking about his family after this.  If not, well, he could argue it was purposely provoking him.... that'd be its own fault.

"Yeah, we shouldn't be fighting," Nevi agreed, though she was clearly still bitter about what was going on and mostly just wanted to please her new friend.
However, she wasn't exactly in the best position to do the pleasing right now, as she was the one being pinned.  She wasn't fighting back, so what more could she do?  The rest was up to the glaceon to let her go.

As the froslass spoke to him, Sova glanced over to his friend and back to the thing he felt was currently at his mercy.  It didn't seem afraid of him, which bothered him, but he couldn't really change that without getting more violent.  Even then, it wasn't guaranteed, considering not everyone would be guaranteed to be afraid of something like that.  Some felt no fear at all, actually.  After a moment of consideration, he slowly lifted his paw off the creature, turned and continued walking.  "That wasn't even fighting, Varda.  You know me well enough to know the difference," he stated, seemingly much more calm now that he'd gotten that out of the way, speaking as if it was no big deal.
In reality, he was still quite agitated, just not as much as before.

Nevi floated back up off the ground as she was released and rubbed her neck with one of her hands, glaring at the glaceon whose back was turned to her for a moment before sighing and just shrugging the situation off.  Well, maybe that meant there were some kind of family issues after all.  Honestly, she'd just been poking fun at him, but it seemed perhaps there was some truth to it.  Either that or he'd just been looking for a reason to get more hostile.

(Yees)

Varda relaxed a bit when he saw Sova took his paw off the Pokémon – a bit slowly yes, but he was doing it and that was all that mattered. The concerned expression still was concerned, but it eased up and the tension in the bird's body left as he folded his wings neatly against his sides. The Glaceon didn't waste any time before he turned around and continued walking, but obviously the other two couldn't just do the same. Nevi might have been hurt, so Varda had to make sure she could actually walk! Or float. Or whatever it would be called.

"It is fighting when Pokémon are like... Yelling and hurting each other, Sova," the bird cooed at his friend who apparently wasn't willing to call this a fight yet – but he disagreed! It didn't mean how little it was, the moment two Pokémon clashed and weren't happy about it, it was a fight and that was bad. At least when they all were supposed to be friendly with each other. The Altaria turned to look at Nevi, who had managed to get up and off the ground, glaring daggers at the Glaceon's back. One of her hands was rubbing her neck where the paw had been, so she probably was feeling like it hurt.
"Are you alright, Nevi...?"


((Alright, but there better not be needles involved.))