20 Questions

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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)

Okay, the questions were starting to really get boring. Was this really worth not having to carry a bag?

....Yes. Yes it was.

Ivirar began to somewhat tune out the prying questions of the oshawott as they kept coming. It seemed like no matter what she said, more questions would just keep being asked, so she was about ready to stop giving her all in answering them. She didn't care if Ava thought of her as odd, but she really had no need to know much about the "neutral" side. At least, not in comparison to the other opposition. She knew the important stuff, she knew their goals. That was all that concerned her. Other than that, there wasn't much else to know; there was to be war, and she had to make sure Arceus won. The amount of knowledge she had on the other two sides wouldn't make much difference; all that was important was recruitment for her own.

Then the set of legs she'd acquired for her bag suddenly said something worth paying attention to. Ava promised to stop with the questions if she answered one more, and suddenly, cooperating seemed like a fantastic idea. She eagerly awaited the question, her ears perking up slightly, and she couldn't have been happier about what it was! Not only was it a question about Arceus, but it was an easy one! "Everyone dies. That's how the world has to be; it'd get crowded otherwise. That has to stay the same, and it would stay the same regardless of which side you're on, but I'm pretty sure world peace would cut down on unnatural deaths," she explained, making sure to point out that while her side wasn't going to remove the concept of death, the same held true for the others.

"Besides, Arceus' children are given the gift of eternal life after death. I'm okay with dying because I know what's waiting for me. If Arceus were to lose.... I wouldn't know what to expect if I died," she added on, shivering a bit at the thought of being blind to what would come after death.
Honestly, this bit wasn't pulled from her own logic or what she'd learned straight from Arceus, but rather, it was what she'd been taught by her father. She'd been told of everlasting life for followers of Arceus, and she wholeheartedly believed it.

Well, at least she wasn't some kind of fanatic that took the whole 'everlasting life' route too literally, and thought that Arceus would make it so nobody ever died. She was still a fanatic of course, even Ava couldn't lie about that one if her life depended on it without cracking up, but she was rational.

Okay, maybe rational was a strong word. She wasn't completely irrational with it.

"Right. Well. That's exactly the answer I was looking for." The Oshawott stopped for a moment and readjusted her grip on the bag she was holding, taking a second or two before continuing onward with Ivy. In all actuality, that was not the answer she was looking for. She had a whole point ready that she kind of wanted to make about life and death, in the case that Ivy had believed that she and everyone else would live forever. Though, since she already understood, there was no need to make that point. Which was a good thing in the long run, if a tad disappointing for the Oshawott.

Still, it told her some things about the Eevee. Ivy seemed to be kind of alright, actually. She made for interesting conversation, and she seemed nice enough. Of course, with just how obsessed she was with Arceus, to the point of ignoring the neutral side entirely, Ava had a lingering doubt about how far that obsession might go before it verged into crazy territory, if it hadn't already. It would definitely be something to keep an eye on.

"Are you afraid of that? The whole not knowing thing?" She continued to ask as Ivirar seemed to shiver a bit, amusing the other pokemon. She found the idea of being worried about what happened after death fairly amusing, considering her own lack of care on the subject.