Mischief Makers

First topic message reminder :

Mission details:

[Energy: 21 - 10 (entrance fee) = 11]
[Item equipped: Trap Scarf (negates all trap rolls)]

It had been one or two hours since morning dawned over Grassveil Town, and while there were some puffy clouds drifting through the sky, they didn't stop the city and the vast grassy meadows around it from being bathed in warm sunlight.  The bright, cheery weather mirrored the emotions of a certain Skitty wearing a blue scarf as she trotted along one of the dirt trails leading east away from town, her tail held high and a smile firmly plastered on her face as she traveled with two of her friends.  Just up ahead was the edge of Shadowhue Forest, the ancient woods full of trees that stretched higher than even the tallest of Pokémon...  This was where their day's work had taken them, and the Skitty was glowing with excitement.

"Okay!  Before we go inside, we should take a look at this job one more time..." she said while turning around and settling on her haunches.  Her tail swished back and forth as she fished a slip of paper from her bag and spread it out on the ground.

"It says that Plusle and Minun are living in a tree house somewhere in Shadowhue Forest.  It shouldn't be too far from the entrance if they still spend so much time bothering people in town, so...  We just have to find them, and give them a good talking to.  Everyone understand?" Darcy asked, gazing up at her two friends with a smile...  Her eyes lingered on Alki in particular, the little Igglybuff who had joined her team at the guild just yesterday.  Darcy had chosen this mission particularly because it sounded safe and simple, the kind of thing that would be a perfect introduction to how the guild worked.  And, well...  Missions where she got to meet new Pokemon were always Darcy's favorite anyway, so that just left her more excited than ever!

Seeing Alki speak up surprised Darcy once again, especially since this Exeggutor was an awful lot bigger and scarier than Plusle and Minun...  Darcy didn't mind though.  She gave Alki an encouraging nod as she listened, ready to step in if her friend ever grew too nervous to continue...

But Alki managed to finish, even in spite of that intense gaze that was trained on her the whole time.  She was clearly nervous and embarrassed, though...  Darcy rested her tail against Alki's back and gave her a reassuring smile, unable to keep herself from feeling a little proud of her friend.  That couldn't have been an easy thing for her to do, but with the way Minun was huddling behind her, he really seemed to appreciate it...

Before any of them received a response from the serious-looking head, though, Yooka began stirring, as if she was finally about to wake up!  Darcy smiled and trotted forward, ready to greet her and to fill her in on what was going on...

But she stumbled backward with shock as Yooka collapsed and flushed a deep purple color.  "Y-Yooka!" she shouted as her fur stood on end.  She scarcely noticed the Exeggutor speak at all as she stepped closer to her trembling friend and listened to her words with a trace of panic and bewilderment in her eyes.

"H-hey, hey, are you sure?" Darcy said, pressing against Yooka's side to give her something to lean on as she sat back down.  "Uhh, what happened, Yooka?  Are you...  Allergic to sleep powder?  Did you have a nightmare?  T-take a moment to rest until you feel better, alright..?  It's fine if you don't want to stay here and play, but I can't let you go home alone like this..."

Meanwhile, Minun seemed...  Somewhere between relieved, and worried about Yooka.  He finally let go of Alki's arm, but his eyes looked troubled, and he stayed silent as he watched things unfold...

ooc:

There wasn't a response from the Exeggutor, and seeing the much larger Pokemon seemingly ignore Alki, no, not ignore... it was staring at her. Had she said something wrong? She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, waiting for the Exeggutor to say something, anything to acknowledge her.

Alki felt the softness of Darcy's tail on her back, and turned to see Darcy. She was smiling! She'd done something right! And... was that pride? Maybe Alki was just imagining it, but either way, her nervous face turned into one of glee, as she turned to smile at Minun. They liked her!

But her glee was short lived, as Yooka suddenly turned Purple. What happened? Alki gave a small cry of fear, had... had that happened before? Was Yooka going to be ok? "Y-Yooka?" She squeaked, fear and nervousness returning to her. Why was she purple? She'd never seen that before... she wasn't supposed to be purple! The Exeggutor seemed to be speaking to her? She looked up at it, her eyes wide and bewildered. "N-No, I didn't... I d-didn't prank anyone... b-but..." She looked over at Yooka. She was... She was conscious, at least as far as Alki could tell. "T-They won't... d-do it again. I'd bet on it." She turned to look at Minun, nodding at him. "D-Don't do it again, O-Ok?" She whispered. She turned around to look at the Exeggutors, but they seemed to be leaving...

But now, they could focus on Yooka. "W-What happened?" Alki asked meekly. Before Yooka, she'd never met a Kecleon, so how was she to know what was going on? All she knew was that Yooka had changed colors pretty abruptly, and... that couldn't be good, could it? She'd be fine, right? "Um... h-here, let me... err..." Alki looked up at Darcy, waiting for an order to use Heal Pulse. Was that what she was supposed to do? But nothing seemed to have hurt Yooka... Whatever. It was the thought that counted, wasn't it? Alki began to use Heal Pulse. She maintained it for a few seconds, and then stopped, before she began to feel too dizzy or weak. She needed to practice... "Um... I-I wasn't sure what to do, Y-Yooka... s-so. Um, I... hope you feel better? Are you sure you want to go?"

Alki began to feel a burning feeling in her cheeks. What was she doing? No one had told her to use it... she turned to look at Plusle and Minun. "D-Don't prank Torkoal again like that, you two, or else y-y-you'll be in more trouble." Alki felt a tad bit self-aware, lecturing two Pokemon that were quite a bit taller than her. Older too. She saw Plusle give a half-hearted nod. "Sure, thanks Alki." He said, with a mischievous smile on his face. Alki focused on Minun now, a hint of eagerness in her eyes. "Y-You said you had a tree-house?" She asked, excitement creeping into her quiet, nervous voice.

OOC:

ooc, uh... whoops, forgot to add which head was talking to who. for 'every' scene for that exeggutor... rip, my bad:

Energy ¦ 4:

It wasn't like the color was permanent, Yooka just had a massive flashback of an event she almost died from. She'll calm down and return to normal eventually, right? She kept questioning that to herself as she heard both Darcy and Alki go nuts. Matter aswell answer Darcy's questions, but before she could, she shot a gaze at the Plusle when it answered Alki... and continued to stare at it. "I think I just had a nervous breakdown... or something. Im not entirely sure. I'll be fine if I can just relax for a bit, being here wont do that... and I wasn't planning on taking any of the reward from this mission anyway... It 'was' mostly you who should be careful but I think I'm the one who's at fault."

Yooka managed to stand and whispered to Darcy, "but I also dont like how that plusle over there is looking. Be cautious about that one." Yooka turned around and pulled out her map to find the exit of the forest while she spoke. "What should I put for the mission report do you think? It would be wierd to go back and say the rest of the team is playing with the target." After finding the exit from where she is, she put the map away before turning back to Darcy. "I don't even know how to really word it. I might just end up waiting for you to return before doing so. Actually, I'll just do that. Wait... and probably let you do it in the long run."

She ran off before Darcy could do anything. Yooka didn't want to be near this forest, the sooner she got out the better. However, a thought occured. Would this be considered abandoning the mission or is waiting for the leader to return a fine thing... Deciding it's like abandoning the Mission, not receiving the reward or the guild exploration points might be a thing. However... she didn't want to stay with the group now that 'that' happened. What did happen? Yooka looked at herself, after a few seconds she tried to change color but found it very difficult. Only emotions can overpower Kecleon's will to change color, so whatever did happen, it was apparently emotionally scaring.

Yooka decided to follow the group in secret till she can pull her act together. Yooka didn't think it was even possible but this mission just became important. Climbing a tree she stayed in the branches as she made her way back to the group.

Yooka seemed to be alright, despite her sudden outburst and change of color.  Darcy calmed down a little and listened closely.  The Kecleon's words weren't too reassuring...  Why had she had a nervous breakdown?  Darcy still wasn't too sure that she should let Yooka go home by herself.  "Um...  Well...  Alright...  But--"

Before she could finish, though, Yooka had already taken off into the woods, in the direction of the exit.  "There she goes..." Darcy said while sighing.  If she could run like that, then at least her physical condition was okay.  Maybe she had Alki's Heal Pulse to thank for all of that energy.  ...Darcy still didn't feel good about letting Yooka leave by herself, but it seemed like she wanted to be alone for now, and at least they weren't too far from the forest's exit...  Besides, Yooka was strong enough to take care of herself.  Shaking her head, Darcy turned back to the cluster of small Pokémon standing in the clearing with her.

"Yeah...  Those big Pokemon sounded serious...  We won't do it again, Alki..." Minun said, sighing and sitting down next to Plusle...  He brightened up once Alki mentioned the tree house though.  "Yeah!  It's actually really close to here!  Just a little bit farther down the path.  We were on our way home when we bumped into all of you.  We'd love to let you come over and play for a while!"

"Umm...  Alright then," Darcy said, standing up and giving everyone a satisfied nod.  "I think we've done our job now.  We'd be really glad to spend some time with you!"  She glanced at Alki, giving the Igglybuff a big smile.  "Congratulations, Alki!  It looks like you've finished your first mission as a guildmember," she said with a small giggle, her eyes gleaming with happiness...  There had been some bumps and scrapes along the way, but it seemed that Alki's first mission had been a success after all.  "Umm...  You look tired, but I understand that.  Want to ride on my back until we get to their tree house?"

"Y-Yeah Darcy, a-actually I am... y-you know, I'm not great at using Heal Pulse, it makes me tired. I guess I need practice, you know, I bet Melanie is a lot better than me at it... but... erm... a-actually..." Alki looked up at Darcy. She was like a sister to her, the kind that she'd only wished Melanie had been. How could she offer Alki a ride like that? Sure, she was tired. But she'd also messed up a lot that day. She'd made Darcy cry! And Darcy had gotten hurt... and embarrassed. They'd both cried a lot.

Alki gazed at Darcy, at a loss for words. Even after everything that had happened that day, Darcy was still offering her this? Alki bounced forward and hugged Darcy as tightly as she could, and she felt tears of happiness in her eyes. "D-Darcy, y-you're a better sister than Melanie ever was... I love you. t-thank you! Thank you..." She cried out, a burst of emotion towards the Skitty prompting her to cry these words out.

After a few seconds, she turned back to look at Minun and Plusle, hoping they wouldn't judge her too harshly. "S-Sorry guys... I-I just f-felt..." Happy? That must've been weird. But it wasn't wrong. She heard a soft chuckle from Plusle, but it didn't sound mean. "No need to apologize, Alki. Honestly, it was a bit cute."

Alki smiled at that. It was nice to hear something like that. "That is to say, Darcy... yeah. I'd appreciate a ride." She finally said, smiling at her friend.

The group didn't leave just yet, thankfully, but it looked like they were about to. Keeping to the branches while watching the group without be heard was actually a lot easier than she though it would in this dungeon. The canopy of the forest was practically all intertwined, no wonder it was practically blocking the light into the forest. However, the paths were slightly harder to navigate than the paths below, so aslong as the group doesn't go too far Yooka could keep an eye on the group rather easily.

She should go through this dungeon more often in this fashion, probably get by more hostile pokemon like this. Looking down she didn't notice much other than Alki getting on Darcy for a ride and the plusle/minun leading the group. They were starting to move. welp, matter aswell get some practice in this fashion of travel. Just gotta be careful not to make too much noise.

ooc, Dont mind me.:

Darcy tilted her head and regarded Alki gently as she spoke.  She wished that the Igglybuff wouldn't compare herself to her sister, but Darcy supposed it was only natural...  She was just glad that Alki seemed okay.  It had been a long day, and a lot had happened...

But then Alki's voice died down, and she just stared at Darcy for a moment.  Was something wrong?  Was she even more tired than she'd thought?  Darcy was just about to speak up and ask, but...  Any words in her mind vanished as Alki bounced forward and gave her a hug.  A tight hug, like Alki had something to convey and words just wouldn't have been strong enough.  Darcy felt her fur grow warm with tears as she settled prone on the ground, surprised and confused...  But as Alki spoke up again...  Darcy felt tears creep into her own eyes as well, and she hugged Alki in return.  "I-I...  A-Alki..." she murmured.  "I-I'm not anything special.  I-I just..."

...She was just doing what felt right.   She liked Alki, and...  She wanted to treat her like anyone else she loved, like how she treated her brothers and sisters and mom and dad back home, and how they had always treated her...  Being affectionate had always been the norm for her while growing up.  ...But from what Darcy knew, things had been much different for Alki...

She sighed heavily, and hugged Alki tighter.  ...She was truly privileged to have the Igglybuff open up to her like this.  More tears crept into her eyes, her heart overflowing.  "I-I just love you too, Alki," she whispered.  "I'm...  I'm really, really glad that we met each other.  That's all..."

She let Alki pull away, giving her a bittersweet smile.  She loved Alki.  She really did.  But...  Throughout all of this, she felt a twinge of guilt towards Melanie.  Alki's real big sister loved her too...  Even if she hadn't realized it until recently.  Alki's words just now would have cut Melanie to the bone, Darcy was sure...  Though perhaps they were the truth.

Darcy sighed, swishing her tail up against her side to give Alki a stepping stone onto her back.  "Okay.  All aboard, then," she said, smiling and trying to push those more serious thoughts out of her head.  They were here to have fun with Plusle and Minun, right?  She wanted to talk more with Melanie...  But that couldn't be helped, not right now.

"Here, I'll help you up, Alki," Minun said, stepping over to the Igglybuff's side and smiling while offering her his hand.  "And, umm...  Thank you for talking to that big, scary Pokemon for me.  I don't think I would have been able to get the words out on my own.  I owe you for that one!"

"T-Thank you guys... I'm glad we met too, Darcy." She said, giggling. Darcy felt like a sister to her, and coming to the guild was the best thing that had ever happened in her life. She couldn't wait to get back home, despite everything that had happened that day, from the scary Ariados to getting stuck in a pit, and Alki's doubts about being a part of the guild... maybe she wasn't a perfect fit, but things had worked out. She'd do better in the future! Hopefully... no, she would. She had! And she had to be more confident too! If only to keep her promise to Darcy, to not be so mean to herself... her eyes began to stare off into space, focusing on the possibilities for the future. She could mess up. That was probable. She messed up a lot, that was just who Alki was. But she also had friends... and an actual sister! Someone who loved her... she could succeed in something, couldn't she?

Her eyes focused back on reality as she heard Plusle calling her name; he offered to help her up. Alki giggled, as she bounced up to Minun and accepted his offer. She allowed herself to be lifted onto Darcy's back, and laughed at Minun's final comment. he owed her? Sure, that Pokemon had been scary. Alki had felt like passing out talking to it. But... it was worth it. Darcy had been proud of her! Alki thought back to the Skitty's smile and the soft brush of her tail against Alki's back, and Minun's relieved words and nervous smile. "Y-You don't owe me anything, M-Minun... you're letting me visit your treehouse! I've never been in a tree-house before... do you have any games?"

Alki thought back to her first moments with Darcy. They'd been sweet, Alki rememberd being terrified and then her sister... No! It wasn't time to think about things like that... there'd been something Darcy had said to Alki that had caught her attention, but it hadn't been worth asking about at the time. "C-Card games, maybe?" Alki asked, laughing. She'd seen Melanie play with Puzzles before, and board games too, but card games? She couldn't recall ever having even heard of that sort of game before!

"W-Well... I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, aren't I?" She asked, her voice back to it's usual quietness. Her face began to blush, her cheeks a light shade of red as she met Minun's eye. "Either way, I really appreciate this, a lot more than you know, Minun. Thank you." She paused for a moment, searching for more words to say, but finding none. "I-I'm ready. Let's go!"

Yooka was ready to move but the group below seemed to just shift instead of head off... but at least it was apparent which direction they were going to go, she thought. The feeling that something was wrong kept coming to Yooka, but there couldn't be anything. They did their mission. There isn't anything more to do, except maybe return to the guild and report it's success or follow the two. It's just... why is the feeling still around. Perhaps its just the exeggutor's little speech towards herself. Maybe it was 'just' herself going insane over something so little.

Meh, maybe it is best if she went back to the guild and take a couple days to herself. Yooka shrugged to herself and decided that heading back and just ignore what happened here. Not like she can make things any better. Yooka found herself already heading back slightly satisfied that things were somewhat fine. She felt like there couldve been more to be had, but being around the group was not an idea she currently liked to do as lf this moment.

With Alki securely on her back, Darcy stood up once again.  Her forepaw still throbbed dully with pain but it was nothing that she couldn't shrug off.  She was just glad that their job was done and they could all relax and have fun for a while.  She had been so worked up earlier, and her eyes still felt dry after crying so much...  It was kind of embarrassing now that she had a chance to look back.  Maybe she had overreacted a little...  Or a lot.  She couldn't stand the thought of letting Alki down, but trying to push her onto another team wasn't the solution...

"I appreciate this too, guys," Darcy said, sighing as she followed the two electric Pokemon.  "Thanks for being so cooperative and nice.  We weren't having the best day before we found you both, you know.  You've been really great."

"Aww, it's nothing.  Really," Minun said, giggling as he bounded through the forest alongside Plusle.  "We're happy we could help.  And we're happy to have some playmates!  We do have games, you know.  Card games and board games and some others.  You'll see when we get there."

The group rounded a corner, onto a wide dirt path bordered by sturdy trees.  It didn't seem too different from any other part of the forest until Darcy noticed the sturdy-looking wooden tree house held loftily in the branches up ahead.  "There we go!" Minun said while rushing towards it.  "There's an entrance on the bottom.  You have to climb up one of the branches to get to it, so just follow me, okay?"

ooc:

Alki smiled as she heard Minun brush it off. It's nothing. Really, . They were awfully nice, and that wasn't nothing. After everything that had happened with the Ariados and Darcy, meeting Plusle and Minun had been a welcome relief. And now they were going to play with her! It was more than she deserved, but she wasn't about to say that... not when things were going so smoothly.

"Alright, Minun." Alki said, bounding off of Darcy's back, and beginning to follow him up the tree. What would it be like inside? The treehouse seemed so impressive and almost welcoming. It was nestled snugly in the branches, it looked sturdy and safe. Alki looked up at it, not saying a word. Even if she didn't quite deserve this, she sure felt happy that they'd invited her.

"Alki, hurry up!" She heard a voice laughing softly behind her. It was Plusle, and he was grinning at her. He didn't seem mean, just a tad bit impatient. Alki laughed, before continuing to climb up into the tree. "I-I'm going! Let's go, Darcy!" She giggled, before disappearing into the tree-house behind Minun.

OOC:

ooc, end-of-page:

Reaching the end of the darkest forest came quick. It wasn't exactly that hard with a map and being at the top of the canopy. Infact it was a weird experience, definitely trying that again some time. Question, outside the coming back from a mission... What should she do? Not much, perhaps she should start with locating the floating village the home of her oldest friend...? or finding a way to gain more power outside of pure skills...?

Yooka paused at the entrance of shadowhue to ponder the decision, ending with 'gaining power outside of pure skills'. She also looked back into the forest a remembered the mission. Should she fill out the mission report herself or actually wait for Darcy to return...? Yooka wasn't the one to accept this mission in the first place. Better to wait and once again headed off towards Grassveil Guild. Perhaps not enter the Guild but wait for Darcy's return. If anyone asks, she'll just say... 'Darcy likes to take her time, somewhat. I went ahead and she's the leader. I'd rather not spoil the ending. So I'm not going to fill out the mission report till she gets back herself.'

ooc, 1 more post for me:

"Alright, alright..." Darcy said, giggling as Alki hopped off of her back and climbed up into the treehouse alongside Plusle and Minun. With how outgoing and energetic those two electric Pokemon were, it was easy to imagine them getting into trouble... But at the same time, it certainly made them great at making friends. Darcy didn't think she'd ever seen Alki this cheerful and upbeat before.

The Skitty grinned happily as she hopped up onto a tree branch. She couldn't help but shudder with excitement herself. It had been far too long since she'd had a chance to just relax and play games! Happy they had made some new friends, and content that Alki's first mission had turned out alright after all, Darcy followed the others inside...

The tree house was a little messy, and not very big, but Darcy smiled wider at what she saw anyway. There was a rug laid out over the floor, and a small wooden table surrounded by little chairs, and other parts of the room were occupied by toys and playing cards and board games. "This is exactly what I was hoping for..." Darcy said with another giggle as she stepped inside and sat down. "You guys have really been too kind. If you ever need help with anything, come visit us at the guild, okay? I think we owe you after all of this."

ooc:

"Yeah! We'd be happy to!" Alki said, agreeing with Darcy despite not paying too much attention to what the Skitty had said. Alki was sure she'd said something nice, but she was much more impressed by the amount of games in front of her. There were so many of them! Board games and toys and a deck of cards. Alki felt thrilled, she'd never gotten to play with toys or games much. That was Melanie's right, not Alki's.

But now she could! She felt happy and lighter, happy. Darcy was with her, and Plusle and Minun were friends too. She felt safe. There wasn't anything that could go wrong anymore. No scary Pokemon, no crying or worrying or stressing or promises. She could play!

Alki found herself drawn to the deck of cards, observing them. They all had funny designs on them, and there were a lot. Alki laughed, observing the pictures on each of them, before wondering how to play with them.

She walked over towards the two electric Pokemon, holding up the deck of cards. "So... h-how do you use these? H-How do you play with them?" She said, managing a shy, nervous smile. She didn't want to seem too out of touch, but she'd never even played with cards before. They looked pretty, though. "Just wondering..."

ooc, über short post...:

Despite deciding to wait outside the guild for her to return, she went inside... Straight to her room. She lazily tossed her bag next to the bed and fell on said bed. Things didn't go the way she thought they would go. Sure they did something, but what did she do? Yooka didn't go any further on the thought for she just curled up and fell asleep. Perhaps this will come up another time.