20 Questions

The top of one of the many trees the copse had to offer shook for a moment as a perfectly shaped shell embedded itself into the wood of a tree branch, causing several of the brightly colored leaves to break free from their spots and start to fall down. The leaves hit the ground atop the others that had fallen already, and some landed on the Oshawott climbing the red scarf tied to the thrown shell. Her nose twitched as she stifled a sneeze from the leaves tickling her, finishing her climb up to the branch. Standing there for a moment, and taking the chance to catch her breath, she gazed out on the rest of the copse from her newfound vantage point, feeling the breeze blow by as she admired the foliage.

"A sea of flame...well played, Xatu, you old coot. Well played." She sighed with a smile on her face, remembering the word spreading that this had been the place the Xatu spoke of, back when he'd given that first prediction. She hadn't managed to find the Copse herself, so she'd lost that game. But, that said, it was a game well played. She could respect the pokemon.

Of course, these days he seemed to be more of a doom bringer. His words during that matter with the dark clouds, and now there were prophets, legends, and all sorts of messy variables getting involved in her world. Which meant, of course, she would have to start investigating all sides. Like she was ever going to be one to pick one side in the whole conflict, at least at first.

Ava untied her scarf from the scalchop she had thrown and twirled it around her neck, before retrieving the shell and resting it atop her head. Ever since she'd gained a third, finding a spot to place it had been difficult, but settling it on her head like a hat felt better than leaving one shell behind. What would she have given up? Her own scalchop, her late brother's, or the one with the radiant energy she'd found in the caves? Sentimental, definitely, but she was going to hold onto all of them.

Settling down into the crook of the tree branch, where it met the trunk, she leaned back and plucked her new scalchop off of her front, absentmindedly tossing it up and down as she thought about it. The shell had some kind of holy energy to it, that was for sure. What exactly it meant, she had no idea, but she was sure she could figure it out. With recent events in mind, though, she had to ask herself some questions. With these prophets going around, could Arceus have been the one to bless it? That was the only pokemon she could think of that might do something like that. Why had she ended up with it, of all pokemon? Did it have some kind of purpose? Was it a sign?

The shell brushed past her paw on one of her tosses, and gravity did the rest of the work, sending it to the ground and embedding it in the dirt underneath the tree. Ava blinked and glanced over the side of the branch, looking down at the shell she had just been asking so many questions about just sitting there in the dirt.

"...maybe I should get that back. Probably." The Oshawott simply remarked, her tone calm as she took her own scalchop back off of her head, stabbing it into the branch and tying her scarf to it, removing it from herself before dropping it. With a slight sigh, she began to slide back down the scarf, knowing that if she wanted to keep resting she'd have to climb all the way back up again. Not a problem, but a hassle.

Energy: 13/24 (-11 for entering)

(8 energy)

Walking along through the beautiful scenery was a lone eevee, and she was just thrilled at the sights. "Of course Arceus would pick a place as pretty as this," she thought to herself as she wandered through the perpetual autumn of Fallen Leaf Copse.
She didn't have anyone with her to back her up if things went bad, but there were multiple reasons that didn't bother her. First: Arceus would protect her, she needed no guard! Second: she'd heard this place was usually pretty peaceful, and since she hadn't been attacked yet, that was looking to be true so far.

There was a war brewing, and it was one she doubted any mortal could take part in. However, they'd all been given a chance to help.... and of course, she'd chosen her side. Actually, a side had chosen her, but it was the one she would have picked regardless. As a zealous follower of Arceus, she wouldn't have gone to the other sides even if it'd been one of them who'd contacted her. However, since the great Arceus had spoken directly to her, she was only all the more determined to help in any way she could!

More importantly, Arceus' guidance had been pretty clear; gather edible things and burn them. After a bit of asking around, she found that there was a place in Fallen Leaf Copse used for burning things in ritual-fashion, and that coincided with the mention of "falling" in the message. So, this was the place she was going to try.... assuming she could actually find this "shrine." In truth, she had absolutely no clue where she was going as she had never been here before. Then again, she wasn't exactly familiar with anything in these parts, so that wasn't really saying a lot.

On the bright side, the little eevee had received some help with her goal from someone she could only assume agreed with her cause! Some guy had given her enough random berries to do what she'd come to do the second she found the shrine. A member of Grassveil Guild, and a glaceon at that! Of course someone in her species line would agree with her, it was only natural! ....Actually that logic made no sense, but she was just gonna pretend it did. One thing that struck her odd was the guy's behavior, though; he acted really upset about something. That seemed weird to her, since there was only reason to be happy! He'd helped bring eternal peace to the world. Who wouldn't be happy about that?

As Ivirar wandered along, she heard something fall to the ground and her curiosity got to her. The foliage was blocking her view, but she could also hear a voice. It wasn't a loud voice; it was just enough to make her push her way through the bushes to see who it was. The first thing she noticed was that there was no one on the ground, which confused her for just a moment before she looked up and saw someone climbing down a tree from a.... piece of fabric? "Oh, hi!" she greeted, hoping the blue thing was friendly.
While she wasn't expecting to need help, it certainly seemed nice to have a bit of company.... maybe to carry the bag full of offerings for her.

A sudden voice seemed to add itself to the sound of rustling leaves, catching Ava's attention as she glanced over at the Eevee. She definitely seemed friendly for the moment, considering she started with an "Oh, hi!" as opposed to attacking her. Of course, it was always possible she was just waiting for the right moment, but she could deal with that as it came. Something else struck the Oshawott about this pokemon, though. She had some kind of necklace on around her neck, with a strange symbol. It was weird, she felt like she was vaguely familiar with it, like she'd run across it at least once in her lifetime, but she couldn't exactly place what it was.

Stepping back onto the ground, she left her scarf tied to the scalchop embedded in the branch, figuring she'd just be climbing back up there soon after.
"Well, fancy meeting you here." She remarked with a grin, stepping over to the blessed scalchop she'd dropped and picking it up, placing it on her chest before looking back to the Eevee. For a moment, she wondered what the Eevee was doing there. Maybe she was just stopping by to look around the area? Investigating it, maybe? Or she could always have been living there, that was a possibility.

"I don't suppose you're just here to have a look at the foliage, are you?" The Oshawott questioned, still keeping a grin up as she started to step back towards her dangling scarf. As she thought more about it, some of the rumors had seemed to point to the Copse as a place of interest. She couldn't quite recall which side it was for, though, she thought she remembered hearing that one of the prophets was an Eevee. Or was it a Vulpix? Or both? Well, she wasn't completely sure, but she figured it was possible this Eevee had some information of interest. Maybe she would stick around a little longer, see what she could find out.

Ivirar gave a friendly smile and stepped closer to the blue thing the species name of which she was having trouble remember. Good, someone friendly; this place really was peaceful. She looked around at the nice scenery, thinking about how nice it would have been to know about this beautiful place sooner. It seemed like an absolutely wonderful place to relax and do nothing, which was one of her favorite things to do. But sadly, she was currently here on a mission from God, so she had no time to sit around and enjoy the scenery.

"I wish, but no: I am here on behalf of Lord Arceus," she explained, lifting the charm on her necklace up with a paw as if it were a form of identification.
Perhaps this blue thing was a follower of Arceus? If not, then maybe she'd be interested in helping regardless, just for the sake of the world? The eevee couldn't help but think that even someone who did not follow Arceus would probably be enticed by the idea of world peace. It wasn't like the other two options were good; from what she knew, they were letting the world continue to decay as it had been, and sending the world back to normal.

Well, "normal" wasn't too bad, she supposed, but it still seemed inferior to everlasting peace and harmony. With this in mind, she decided to just go ahead and see if perhaps she was going to get a new companion on this little trip. "Are you interested in joining me?" she questioned.
She allowed the charm on her necklace to fall back into its place and put her paw back on the ground before walking a bit closer to the other creature, still smiling. She still wanted to see if she could get someone else to carry her bag, as it was just a biiiiiiiit heavy.

Grabbing onto her scarf and getting ready to climb back up, she hesitated as the Eevee explained that she was there on behalf of "Lord Arceus". Well, that answers that. Must be coming around here, looking for world peace or something like that. Cute, but I'm not buying into it. But, I could do with a little snooping... She thought to herself, as she tugged on her scarf. The scalchop at the top was pried from its spot on the branch and fell back down, where she caught it.

"Here for Lord Arceus, huh? Sounds important. You must be here because of those rumors, then?" She spoke with a casual tone, almost as if the whole matter was trivial as she untied her own scarf from her scalchop. Resting the shell back on top of her head, she tossed the scarf back around her neck and took a few steps closer to Ivirar.

"I suppose I don't really have anything better to do. I guess I could stick around and see what happens. What's your name?" Ava continued, taking a quick glance around the area around them, trying to keep an eye and ear out for anything that might prove to be an issue. As she did so, she thought about the whole situation again and realized something. This Eevee seemed to be pretty devoted to Arceus. Maybe she might now something, like if he'd ever blessed anything or something? Maybe she might have a few answers to some of the Oshawott's questions...

Rumors? RUMORS!? How.... HOW could someone possibly be so ignorant as to not know the world was on the verge of ending?? Even someone with no religious stance could surely see that what was happening was above the capabilities of mortals! But more importantly, she'd been the one to start one of these "rumors" her new.... friend was talking about, and she didn't take too kindly to essentially being called a liar. Still, she had to consider that the blue thing probably didn't know who she was... no, in fact, they clearly did not know.

Ivirar approached her new "friend" as if she was about to make a proper greeting, perhaps offer her paw for a shake, but she wasn't planning that at all. As she neared the creature who'd insulted her, she spoke: "Ivirar Wolf, Prophet of Arceus...."
She then sudenly changed her direction a bit to walk past the creature before continuing. "Or as you called me, rumor starter."
She didn't even look at the blue thing as she walked by, making it very clear she was in fact mad. Not just that, but she was confused as well. Confused as to how someone could possibly think any of this was fake.

While the thought of having someone to keep her company and, more importantly, carry her bag seemed appealing, it didn't seem worth putting up with any more of that. She had something very important that she needed to do, and she didn't need to end up all flustered over some random blind non-believer. If her new "friend" didn't want to believe her, she wasn't going to force it. Not that she'd normally force anyone to share her views, but right now was a special occasion since she didn't have the time to sit around trying to convince pedestrians to follow her path. She had to get to the "Shrine of the Fallen," as it was called.... even though she didn't really know the way there.

Oooohh, boy. She'd hit a raw spot. The Oshawott stayed put as she watched Ivirar approach and introduce herself, before continuing past, quiet clearly upset and unfriendly. The water type didn't take any of it to heart though, simply turning around to watch the Eevee continue on with a sly grin. The thought occurred to her, though, that maybe it wasn't a good idea to make an enemy out of this "prophet", at least not yet. What better source of information about things than the pokemon supposedly directly in contact with one of the legendary pokemon involved?

"Nothing personal, I like to treat word of mouth as a rumor until I've got someone who can vouch for it personally. I figure if anyone can do that for me, it'd be you." She commented, starting to follow the Eevee and lifting her paws up as a sort of mock-surrender position. Ava had decided that if she wanted information, she might have to kiss up a bit, maybe even humor the other pokemon for the time being until she had everything she needed.

"I'm Avaria. You can stick with Ava. I'm just looking for some answers about this whole thing for myself, I've got a lot of questions. So, if you can help me out here, maybe I can help you out a bit. Sound fair?" The Oshawott suggested, keeping her tone calm and casual, not wanting to set Ivirar off again. She seemed awfully devoted to moving onward and helping out her cause, maybe the thought of a compromise between the two of them for mutual gain would catch her attention? It was worth a shot, anyways. It was usually a good offer to make.

Ivirar stopped as the creature, Avaria, spoke once more. She was.... apologizing? Kind of? Well, maybe not; it seemed more like an explanation for the doubts, rather than an apology. But more importantly, now this "Ava" was making an offer, if the eevee wasn't mistaken. A request that seemed fairly easy to accommodate, in return for help. She already knew exactly what she wanted, and even if her first impression of her new companion wasn't the greatest one, she had no reason to decline this offer.

She tipped her head downward and allowed her bag to slide down her neck and onto the ground before stepping away from it. "Call me Ivy. Carry this for me and I'll tell you whatever I can, Ava," she proposed, looking to the thing with a more friendly demeanor than a few moments ago.
She'd really just acted openly hostile out of spite; it wasn't like she was so mad she couldn't get over it. She'd been over it almost instantly, but she'd still wanted to at least try to make it clear she was the one being called a liar. Now that that was out of the way, it was water under the bridge. Plus, she REALLY didn't like having to carry the bag herself.

The little eevee wasn't quite sure what type of questions she'd be answering, but she assumed it'd be things about what was currently happening in the world, and maybe things about Arceus or about herself. She wasn't quite sure how much she could answer, but she would certainly try as long as the creature was willing to do the heavy lifting for her. Actually, the bag wasn't really that heavy. She was just really lazy. But she wondered if it would perhaps be heavier to.... whatever Ava was. She felt like she knew the species; maybe she'd seen one around somewhere or something, but she couldn't quite remember. Either way, she didn't know whether or not it was a physically strong species. Then again, it was hard to get much weaker than an eevee, especially herself.

Seemed like everything was easily taken care of, now that the Oshawott had "explained herself" just a bit. Whether the Eevee really got over it so easily, or if she just had more important things to do and wanted help, she couldn't pinpoint which reason it was. Maybe a little bit of both? That was always possible. Ivy was, after all, on a mission from "god". But then again, she also seemed pretty into the whole Arceus thing. Avaria couldn't really remember exactly what Aceus was all about, but she was fairly certain it was all good vibes and feelings and a perfect little world.

The Eevee dropped the bag she had been carrying on the ground, before prompting the Oshawott to pick it up and carry it for her. With a shrug, she stepped forward and picked up Ivy's bag, carrying it with both paws and holding the bag in front of her. It wasn't...well. It wasn't exactly very heavy, even given the fact that she was physically fit herself. Was carrying this bag really all the Eevee was going to ask of her? Was it that heavy for her?

...is she all that strong? Oh. Oh, come on. If anything's around, I'm going to have to do the hard work for the both of us, right? Ah, well. Whether I'm right or not, this is still my best opportunity for answers. She thought to herself, coming to the decision to stick it out, a grin never leaving her facial features as she thought.
"Alright then, Ivy. I think I've got a handle on this. So, how about you tell me a bit about Arceus? I never really knew anyone who knew about it, so I haven't heard much until recently, with what's going on." She decided to ask, waiting for the Eevee to start moving and give her an answer.

What an easy question. Ivirar started up walking once more as she thought over her answer, expecting Ava to follow her. Was that really all she'd have to do to get some help? Just talk about Arceus for a while? Well, what was she going to talk about in specific? The request was very vague, so she figured she could say pretty much anything relating to arceus and her new companion would be satisfied. However, she wanted to explain as much as possible; maybe she'd bring a new follower to her cause. Or at least, she could hope so.

"Well, Arceus created the world. It doesn't exactly rule the world; beings were created for that as well. Their jobs are to govern certain things, liiiike.... time and space, for instance," she began to explain, immediately getting side-tracked like the true professional she was.
"Anyway, Arceus' job is to govern the governors. One of them is trying to claim absolute control over the world, and they're the one causing the bad things happening. Arceus wants to stop that," she continued explaining, figuring she'd start this off by letting Ava know what was really happening in the world.

Then, she considered one thing it would probably be a good idea to elaborate a bit on. She'd explained what the main opposition was, but one thing she hadn't elaborated on was what her side wanted. What Arceus' side wanted! "Oh, and if you're curious, Arceus has some goals other than stopping that. World peace," she added on.
Normally, if someone said they were going to bring about world peace, it would probably be laughed off.... but considering Arceus was a literal deity and the creator of the universe, she figured it wouldn't seem quite so far-fetched.

Pokemon that rule time and space, huh? Sounds like a heavy order. Can't help but wonder what they're up to in the middle of all of this. Maybe I just don't know much about religion, but I'd think pokemon like that would have some kind of input on this situation... The Oshawott collected her thoughts as she meandered along behind Ivy, following the Eevee through the wooded area. She certainly did a good job of explaining things about Arceus' side in all this, but there was something that bothered her about it. Besides the fact that she didn't think thieves or anyone fun would be considered a part of "World Peace".

"So, Arceus is planning on bringing about world peace? How's that going to happen? I mean, that's a sort of big deal right there. And I don't mean to sound skeptical about all of this, but why now? If Arceus can really bring about world peace, why hasn't he? Or...she, or it?" The water type continued to question curiously, tilting her head slightly to look over at Ivy from behind the bag she was holding in front of her. She wondered if the prophet would have an answer for her on that subject, because frankly, it seemed like too big of a loophole in things for Ava to trust. Besides, pokemon with the amount of power one of these "governors" must have had couldn't just up and decide one day to go against their leader, she thought. There had to be some kind of reason behind it, a motivation.

Ivirar was given a new set of questions to answer, and these ones were a bit more tricky.  She was a messenger, after all.... not an avatar.  She didn't know Arceus' every reason for everything, nor whatever plan Arceus had for securing world peace.  However, she could give her own opinion on it; a guess of sorts, albeit a fairly educated guess.  Given her position, she was likely in the best place of anyone to theorize on such things.  Lying was also an option, but.... well, any lie that could significantly help her case would also likely be a pretty obvious lie, plus lying was wrong.

"Ah....  Well, I guess Arceus didn't think the world needed "saving" before.  And I mean.... things weren't too bad; I actually liked the world how it was before all the darkness.  Arceus will probably have to use some kind of force to make such big changes, so.... why do that if it isn't necessary?" she spoke up, a bit less confidence in her voice than before.
Not only was she not completely sure about what she was saying, but "force" wasn't exactly the nicest word in the world.  However, even if Arceus wasn't going to just magic everything into being all happily-ever-after, she was pretty sure Giratina would do something worse in every way.

She took a moment to regather her confidence before speaking again.  Arceus had chosen her, trusted her, put faith in her.... so she surely had the correct view on Arceus' plans if anyone did.  "I can't say for sure what Arceus will do, but I have faith it will be right.  I'm sure those who do wrong will be punished.  Criminals, for instance.  Criminals with good reasons for their actions will be given a chance at redemption, and a sort of.... equality will be enforced, so no one will be better or worse off than others and no one gets discriminated against or bullied; no unfair treatment. At least, this is what I assume.  It's not perfect, but nothing is, and...." she paused, with one very important detail in mind that she assumed would drive a lot to her side where they would otherwise oppose it.

"Giratina wants "freedom."  It's a pretty word, so I guess some are attracted to that thought, but to do that, Giratina wants to rid the world of rules.... laws....  And it doesn't just want freedom; it wants revenge, it wants spite.  It wants to get rid of anyone who makes rules in the world.  I'm pretty sure guilds, police, and Arceus count there."

She paused.

"Plus, Giratina winning would keep the world all dark, and I assume that means everyone going crazy would keep happening.  I'd say Arceus is a better choice than that, even if you doubt my lord's promises."

Ava simply nodded her head as the Eevee went on explaining, listening and trying to show that she was at least treating the thoughts with a bit of seriousness. Once the other pokemon finished speaking, the Oshawott began to formulate everything. The world didn't need saving before? She agreed, but she wasn't sure if Arceus would. Arceus apparently wanted to make the world perfect from what Ivy was saying, the the world sure as hell wasn't perfect before. What it would be doing wasn't restoring the world as they knew it, it would be making a 'better' one. So in Arceus' eyes, the world couldn't have been perfect before. Therefore, wouldn't it have occurred to it to save it? Unless the Eevee's point about needing some force was right, and they just so happened to be at a point where it finally had close to enough power to do something.

Still, even if it could something, she knew for certain she didn't want to be on that kind of side. She somehow didn't think she would be viewed kindly in that kind of world, all things considered, and it would take away her ability to steal and do all those fun things she enjoyed. It ruined the whole game she had been playing in life.

That didn't mean she wanted to side with Giratina either, at least, based off of what Ivy was saying. She took it with a grain of salt, considering obviously one side would have a bias over the other, but if she were to consider it, that still ruined the life she enjoyed so much. It gave her personal freedom, and she was all for that, but while she always valued her own freedom, she didn't necessarily value it for everyone else. On top of that, what fun was Cops and Robbers if there were no cops to chase her? That just wasn't fun. Neither life sounded exciting to her. It just didn't have that balance.

"Right...well, I can't imagine what kind of 'mon would want to side with Giratina," She remarked, as she thought about how she would get onto Giratina's side temporarily to check things out. "but what about the third one in all of this? There is a third faction out there, after all." The Oshawott shifted her grip on the bag a bit, making sure to avoid dropping it as she walked with the Eevee. Something told her Ivy wouldn't take it kindly if she dropped it.

So. Many. Questions. Was Ava ever going to run out of questions to ask? As much as the little eevee appreciated someone showing interest in her belies, she wasn't one for having to do work, and she considered explaining things to be work. She'd thought at first that this would just be a few questions, but it was turning out to be a frickin' interrogation. Still, as a loyal servent of Arceus, it was her duty to do this, whether she wanted to or not. And that was saying a lot since she was rarely even willing to do things for herself, let alone for anyone else.

At least they seemed to be in agreement that the "dark side" wasn't appealing. However, when the third side was brought up, Ivirar fell silent for a moment. She personally didn't like this.... other side, but it wasn't evil. She couldn't argue that it was indisputably "bad," like Giratina's side. "They want the world to go back to how it was; they wanna stop the fighting. I don't know if that's possible, or how they plan to do it, but.... like I said, I liked the world how it was. I don't think that.... uh, faction is bad. But.... I'm still loyal to Arceus."
She paused as she tried to think more on this topic. She didn't really know all that much about this third faction, though she wasn't sure there was much to know in the first place. Their goals seemed relatively simple.

She knew there was a driving force behind this stance, just like her own and the.... other one, but she wasn't sure who, or what. "They have a leader too, I think, but I don't remember who. I.... don't really know much about them other than that," she admitted.
This wasn't about Arceus, so she had no problem admitting she didn't know everything there was to know about it. Perhaps the blue thing- oshawott! Oshawott, that's what Ava was! Pehaps the oshawott would find the neutral side more appealing, and she didn't really care if that turned out to be the case, but she really hoped she would at least still get help with carrying the bag.

Ivy didn't want to carry the bag.

"Doesn't sound like you've done your research on a crucial part of this whole mess." The Oshawott stifled a snicker as she mused aloud, considering everything for a moment. The poor Eevee seemed to be struggling a bit with her questions, most likely from the amount of them that were getting thrown at her, though for a moment Ava wondered if she was picking up just a bit of doubt, or if that was just her imagination.
"Don't get me wrong, I don't want to tell you how to go about fixing the world's problem here, and I can understand loyalty to a credible source. But in my experience, I've found that knowledge really can be power. It strikes me as odd that you wouldn't even be the slightest bit curious to see what they're up to." She continued on. The water type stopped talking for a few seconds, letting the silence hang in the air, only disturbed by the rustling of leaves on the branches.

So...what's next? I'm not exactly trying to recruit anyone to a side, or deter someone. That said, things could certainly get interesting if a prophet of all 'mons started to face a bit of opposition. Doesn't seem like she's had much, considering she didn't really seem to know much about how to answer questions about the neutral side. I won't try anything specific, but a little discourse of challenging views could always help...

"I don't want to pester you with too many questions, so I'll just ask one more, and then I'll talk for a little bit. It'll give you a break, y'know? I'm not done, of course, but I'll let you rest a bit." The Oshawott wore a smile on her features as she looked up to the foliage around them, glancing around at the brightly colored leaves, before glancing back down to the scalchop adorning her torso, and finally looking back to the Eevee, having put together her next line of questioning.

"So. What do you think about life and death? Arceus have anything to say, or fix, about that? This question is important to me, so I don't need an answer now if you don't want to say anything." She questioned, curiously awaiting a response, or lack thereof.