A Midday's Meal

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(OOC: A continuation of Slushy Water)

Unlike the environments of the Small Pond, or other areas around the town, Grassveil itself was comparatively lacking in obvious effects of the winter weather. Snow could still be seen, but diligent public servants left and right were making zealous efforts to clear it away. Fire types de-iced roads with ruthless efficiency, all the while other pokémon went on with their busy lives just like every other day. A couple of the less industrious shopkeepers had decided to close up shop as a result of the weather, while others took advantage of the cold by advertising their stalls, shops and eateries with signs painted up with images of warm beverages and cozy fires.

Clovis, travelling back from the small pond not too far away, walked, or rather, strutted his way through the entrance to the shopping district, travelling over to find a restaurant or inn where he could sit down for a meal, oh so generously paid for by someone he was recently acquainted with, a kecleon named Yooka. He had been entrusted with choosing where to eat, and, truthfully did not very much enjoy being put on the spot...! Still, however, he had to stick to his word and make up his mind. Before he would head any further towards where he thought the good restaurants were, however, he turned to check on his companion, as well as get a good look at where he was. Urban areas were, admittedly, a bit depressing when the snow was actively being cleared. It seemed as though the citizens of Grassveil didn't quite share the same romantic view of winter that he did.

He pressed... But besides that he lived in Grassveil this entire time? That's something Yooka didn't expect. She was expecting more of an icy landscape or frozen seaway. compaired to here... She almost questioned that thought but alas. he pressed.

How to word something she had not seen fully... She never really left her father's place except to meet a friend near pricklemist hill or just outside the building. The only time she was ever inside Rainfront was with a skitty who was on duty for the guild but that was strictly because an unfortunate event happened during the skitty's mission that Yooka herself sent to the grassveil guild.

She got away from her father for awhile staying on the border of pricklemist hill, where she and her friend used to meet. She sent a message to the Grassveil guild on getting away and after about a week and a half, 2 members of the guild arrived and attempted to escort her to grassveil through Pricklemist Hill. The group ended up ambushed with Yooka assuming was her father's doing. The group was split because of an accidental warp orb. With the skitty being the one guldmember to find Yooka again. The two spent a good 3 days in Rainfront preping to finish the escort. The second Guildmember seemed to vanish during that time.

Yooka snuck back into her fathers place to grab a few things on the way but it was at this time that a few extremely unfortunate events occured that changed Yooka's perspective of viewing others. in and out, a few things did she grab, and onto grassveil they went. Yooka cant get those events out of her head. alot happened in just those 3 days than the entire time she's been here in grassveil.

It's now been about a year since then and Yooka never made a trip back and she hasn't actually looked around either towns due to not caring to do so... To her there really isn't that much to talk about without sounding like a fool, and would rather skip all conversations that has anything to do with Rainfront Town to begin with. However, quite a few have already questioned her in a more pressured approach. She put her fork down and gave an obvious uncomfortable moan. "Doubt it... It's on the outskirts of Rainfront. The business itself is more of a pawnshop and the shop is more of his house... One could say it's a mansion... and I was a the only butler... It was family run and it was just the two of us. It wasn't that active so it wasn't exactly busy.

"Mmm hmm. Must have been a big pawn shop, then." Said Clovis, rather facetiously. Yooka made it clear that she didn't very much enjoy talking about Rainfront, or her father. I suppose she doesn't think it's my business, then. Fair enough. The piplup stirred his fork around, and tried to think of something to say. "Did you plan on staying here after you complete your apprenticeship? I can't imagine they'll let you stay with the guild forever." Hopefully this topic wouldn't be the cause of more... stress in the pokémon sitting across from him. "Is 'explorer' considered a permanent profession in guild circles?" That was a little thing that bothered him about the guild. It attracted so many young 'mons, but what good did it do to prepare the youth for finding more stable, and less dangerous sources of income? Granted, it was certainly more flashy and lucrative than tilling fields or laboring in a mine. Kind of strange for me to be so young and yet so concerned about this sort of thing. Yooka looks a few years older than me, surely she's given this some thought. I wouldn't want to be some dirty old peasant either, but it's not like everyone that goes through the Explorers' Guild becomes a renowned treasure hunter, or a powerful 'mon-at-arms.

Clovis made the thought seem like a pretty small deal. He had no idea and Yooka didn't think he'd be ready for such an ordeal as he is. She cringed as he joked but she relaxed as he changed the subject. Plans with the guild. Honestly she doesnt care about the jobs, the status, or the aspect of being an explorer. She's using the guild as a means for information, easier movement, and a source of income when needed.

She went from being cringed to confused back to mildly angered to laughing... The guild was weird and much easier than it looks, despite the missions being far harder than the difficulty implies. She somewhat explained the guild before back at the pond. "Your really considering that place? Honestly, it's decently interesting as an occupation, but it isn't good if you want constant 'poke'. I'm not in it for the fame or legends... and as for apprenticeship... I'm not-- I'm more of a free hand. a mercenary. I think I said that before. My... 'team' isn't exactly a thing. I don't have one, But I think I would need one... The badge..." She looked down at the table looking for the badge. She got confused for a moment and almost panicked but noticed it was on her backpack. She assumed the Piplup put it there at some point and sighed. "There it is... please dont move it without me knowing. I do need it to accept missions--" she pointed out the grey sphere in the middle but quickly put it back on the head of the backpack when it became obvious. "--just signifies that I'm a part of the guild. the color tells what rank the member is in the guild, but that's practically obvious by now. I'm grey, which is the lowest. I dont mind being that rank, but If I had to guess... I'd say I could probably be Silver if I actually tried."

She perked up and shook her head. "Enough about that. I'm actually using the guild for a source of information rather than a job. One of the things im looking into is that I have a friend who is 'probably' a part of the Aileron guild by now and I'd like to go meet him in the town of Aileron. However, I'd like to get there on my own. heheheh" She pulled out her map and set her empty plate aside and pointed towards a couple of 'x' symbols each represents a possible location of where Aileron town is. "However, It's not stated where it is... there's no ground map depicting a town in the sky now is there? but yet flying there is extremely easy. The town floats but it doesn't linger in a single spot. I've seen reports of it above different locations and that's just one of a few things I'd like to do."

Well, being an explorer helps in this aspect but Yooka just wanted to get that out of her system. She's not actually looking to get there currently. she's currently looking for the three outlaws who stole her father's TM... that she was gonna take on her way out of rainfront town.

She looked back towards the piplup... She didn't know if the piplup really cared all that much, but she continued with one last set of questions. "Is there any particular reason you question the guild? Are you thinking of joining?"

Clovis stuck little dumplings into his mouth one-by-one as Yooka spoke. A couple of the things she said sounded, well, not strange, but, unexpected. Clovis was a bit surprised to learn that Yooka lacked an exploration team, for one. While he had no first-person experience with the guild, he did recall learning at some point that the guild made heavy use of the buddy system during its explorations and contracts. And when she instructed him not to touch her badge without permission, he was right and truly offended by her implication that he had messed with it! Even though he had. But it was the accusation that was so bothersome! Regardless, he kept listening. Yooka went on to discuss her badge, and at one point claimed to be capable of achieving 'silver' rank. Clovis lacked much knowledge of the guild's badge hierarchy, but silver was a rather valuable metal, so surely it must be a high rank. Bragging, I see. If you're so worthy, then why are you still but a lowly grey? Of course, the piplup dared not to speak his thoughts aloud. Afterall, that would be rude, and to speak such a blatant insult directly to someone's face would be downright uncivilized.

So still he sat and listened. Now, Yooka discussed Aileron. She had mentioned this town before, if he remembered correctly, and indeed Clovis had heard of the floating town many times before. He had never been there, and as far as he could tell, no one that couldn't fly had ever been there either. And then... the kecleon placed a map on their table, and began pointing all over the map at little drawn 'X's. But these 'X's didn't mark buried treasure, but rather places the kecleon believed to be possible locations of the mysterious flying village. She relayed a bit more information about Aileron to him, and Clovis thought about putting in some input of his own... but then Yooka asked him why he was so curious about the guild. The piplup gave a swift and dismissive answer, "I'm just making conversation." and then began to speak of Aileron, the topic most to his interest for the time being. "Anyways, Aileron isn't a very big place, I don't think. But if it's important enough that someone with as little connection to it as I have heard of it, then surely your guildmaster, or a local librarian can help you out here. Aileron probably trades for its supplies with us down here on the surface, so I'm sure that the place's location isn't quite so hard to find as you may have thought. Frankly, Yooka, you may have been overthinking this. Just find yourself a winged merchant and ask for directions, 'tis truly that simple." This solution made sense to him, and was probably the course of action he would have took in her situation.

Yooka ignored the idea that the piplup just said 'just making conversation' and laughed when the Piplup started giving advice but the laughing was more muffled and confused than rude and pointing. ofcourse just asking the Guildmaster or someone of knowledge to say where it is. That's what this info is! It's how to get there is what I need but how should I say that without being rude. er... maybe im too late on that.

Yooka pointed to the little 'x's on the map once again. "Yes, I know they would just show me where it is and all that. I actually got that information sense the past couple weeks, those reports I used were from them... These 'x's are the location of village, the said reports had different timestamps but when there were two reports that had the same time. So was the location. I believe, the village follows a set path to keep up with the seasons! Those Flying pokemon... are more genius... than I had first thought!" She was laughing again, but this time she had to get up half-way, semi-embarrassed that she laughed about the aspect of some birds and other critters could be so lazy. The pokemon she was talking to... Clovis the 'piplup' was a type of bird. She may not care for calling that status out on them but she doesn't want to be flat out rude about it either, unless ofcourse she hated the pokemon's behavior.

She also knows full well that she could be wrong about this but this would make the only sense considering the evidence she has collected. When she calmed down, which was practically as she was getting up. She instantly said towards the piplup from the side of the table, "Sorry, that was a bit rude. I forgot to mention that bit... I shouldn't have laughed... but most, er... 'flying' types tend to migrate because of the seasons. HOWEVER, this village happens to do it for them. Can't tell if they made it, found it, or are doing it. or if they are actually lazy because of it or flat out genius for noticing it.

and for all I know I wrong. I havent exactly seen the village first hand yet. just through the reports. Infact, I was planning on trying to see it... uh, around here, just before spring arrives." Yooka was pointing towards the 'x' just a few inches away from Grassveil Town itself. meaning a few miles out. Yooka didn't even know it passed last year for she never really knew about this seasonal thing.

Yooka cracked another smile but she held back another laugh. "I should've said, I'm looking into how to get there than I'm trying to find it. I definitely found it... oh ya, actually, I'm trying to impress my friend really. I'm trying to get there, 'without someone elses help'... by myself. I have a few ideas for some locations. It's just I dont know its height and the timings would just be beyond my current gear as of this moment."

ooc, whats canon... whats non-canon... and something I noticed that would break Aileron villages 'logic' (please keep in mind this is just for my characters and doesnt apply when your characters actually show up there... so dont take it too seriously... ^-^;):

Clovis showed his 'agitated bird' face when he heard Yooka laughing, even just to herself. He couldn't help but get the impression that she was laughing at him for whatever ridiculous reason. He was right about to ask just what in the world was so funny, when Yooka started to talk about the map again. She had constructed her own theories about the floating aisles. Clovis couldn't help but feel as though her theory was a bit flimsy, what with being based primarily on rumours, but she had put more time than him into this particular subject, so perhaps she was on to something... and then, she starting laughing about something else. About, what? The residents of Aileron being smart or something? But one thing was certain, and that was that Yooka was very, very excited about this village.

A lot of the information Yooka was relaying just seemed dubious to him. While he couldn't disprove anything she had said, he couldn't think of anything to back up her statements either. Another thing she mentioned, the practice of flying birds to migrate, was certainly a real concept, but an obsolete one, ever since the advent of agriculture, controlled fire, and brickmasonry- all technologies much older than either him or Yooka. Granted, if the floating islands did indeed do the migration automatically, then all the better for them.  But regardless, an island moving perfectly in time with bird migration paths seemed far too perfect to exist purely as coincidence. But the the idea that pokémon somehow controlled the island's movement was even more ridiculous. How could anyone push something so big?

Ah, but Yooka wasn't satisfied with just knowing about where the village was. She actually wanted to get there. Alone. "That's ridiculous." Said Clovis. "You're not getting up there without saddling yourself to the back of a charizard, unless you plan on throwing yourself from the top of Black Mist Mountain." Judging by the way she talked about height, gear and timing, she probably was. How absurd!

Another pokemon calling her crazy. Was it really that absurd. that impossible. Yooka looked down on the map in silence for a few moments. Meeting her friend was one thing she looked forward to but she was more interested in how the village worked. was she over-thinking things? was it really that high of a risk...

She sighed and grabbed her things. "guess your right... I am insane." yooka growled to herself rather loudly. "but if you think thats absurd... then everything else I had planned is of equal value or just plain suicide." she didnt explain she just sat down and fell silent. She never actually looked into getting to aileron village any time soon she had more pressing matters to attend to. An outlaw group for reasons being personal and getting equipment that would give her a better chance against them. Both aspects were of extreme danger to her health. Considering one was a fight, probably to the death, and the other was rumored to be a curse that could potentially hurt her personality.

She contiued to stare at the table in silence thinking over the three things. Perhaps only the Aileron one was just a bit too much. She slammed her fist on the table, this time pretty loudly, "grrr, your maybe right... It is absurd. I made a deal to a friend that I would get to him on my own or else I'm an idiot. Granted he is four years older and finding out he lives in Aileron was a surprise. Gah... Im not an idiot but..." Yooka turned Purple and held her frills like she's pulling hair. "It was such a long time ago... how was I suppose to know it would be so impossible."

ooc:

There it was- the legendary kecleon color change. It clearly wasn't camouflage, no, she had changed to purple as the result of some rather strong emotions. Yooka's growing frustration was made rather clear when she slammed her fist into the table. Or perhaps she was having a realization? Certainly she had realized the impossibility of reaching a floating island without wings before, right? Either way, Clovis began to speak his mind about all this. "I suppose it's worth mentioning that, even such a mighty bird as an empoleon could not take to the skies if it tried. This seems fair; if we had been created with wings good for flying just as much as for swimming, our species could very well become too glorious." He took a long, prideful breath before continuing. "It may be difficult for you to admit defeat in this case, but if you hope to visit this friend of yours, I'd suggest giving up on getting there alone and having someone else ferry you up there." Then he sat back, satisfied both with the wisdom he had just imparted, and with the meal he had just finished.

She calmed down rather quickly. She even released her frills with a sortof shock like, 'what did I just say?' She turned blue for that split second before going back to normal. "Yeah, I guess... Im not 'that' smart just to invent a way to get there. Not without being carried there anyway. I guess my mind was just too focused on surprising my friend than to realize what I was 'really' thinking of doing."

This Piplup was something. She never considered it to be... intelligent enough to-- No, strike that. He 'is' smart. Smarter than the average Piplup. Perhaps he's on the verge of an evolution? Pff, being smart doesn't do that and being strong doesn't do that either. Yooka doesn't know what exactly causes evolution for she can't evolve herself. However, she has alot of evidence pointing to life experience being the cause. Age doesn't necessarily determine when you'll evolve either, it's rather similar to puberty. It just... happens, but even that doesnt really explain it correctly, it's just... ...evolution.

She smirked once again her mind flooded with questions on the topic of evolution. Perhaps a Question or a few, to alleviate some thought. "Say... You seem to be quite the Piplup. How is it your not a Prinny? or what it is you call the first stage... I can't experience evolution myself and am wondering what the feeling is. If you ever do... uh, it... is it possible we could meet up again? You seem pretty close to doing it as you are."

ooc:

Clovis chuckled when he heard the kecleon's... compliments? He did certainly consider himself to be 'quite' the piplup, regardless of whatever else had been said. Yooka seemed to believe that his wisdom was more befitting of a mature prinplup, or, "prinny", as she had pronounced it. He couldn't disagree- but, erm, he couldn't recall saying anything in particular that would cause her to believe this either. All he had done was tell Yooka that she couldn't fly, a fact which she (hopefully) was already well aware of.

Regardless, Clovis did like to be praised. And talked about. And here Yooka was, asking if she could see him again after he had evolved. Presumably, this was out of curiosity regarding the effects of pokémon evolution; but Clovis did not think it was too much of a stretch to assume that she would want to see him again on account of his ever-so amiable and suave personality. He laughed just twice quickly, and told his reply. "Well heh heh, Yooka, when I do evolve into a prinplup, I might just find the time to give your door a knock. What makes you ask, anyway?" He kept his ears open and attentive while he awaited an answer, but in the meantime, his eyes began to focus on the desert menu sitting on the side of the table.

ooc:

Yooka noticed a few eyes where looking over at the two from the back. The waiter was also on the way over. Perhaps she's been a little loud. Even though they were the only ones inside, besides staff. "I forgot this isn't the guild... I hope their not too mad that I did all that. I'm a little... I don't know... but it'll probably be just to check up on us or something. I should probably get going..." She stood up and reorganized her things back into place. "As for why I asked. One could say I'm a lover of learning. A Philomath, learning the hard way is the easiest way I tend to do things... heh, the risky Trial and Error but that's not how I 'like' to do things, really... To meet someone who experienced something I cannot is a big deal to me.-"

The waiter arrived as she was speaking and was patiently waiting for her, but in the mean time was cleaning whatever was on the table that was obviously was no longer needed or in use. "-I cannot evolve. If someone was able to experience that and explain how it felt... well, the more I'll know. however, I can see how it could be difficult to explain, so im not asking for you to find time to actually explain it. I'll find out eventually." Yooka then faced the waiter and apologized for taking so long and asked for the price.

Clovis had learned the meanings of many words, but 'philomath' was not one of them. From context, he could pick up that it was a noun or title used to refer to someone that enjoyed learning. Whether this was purely a hobby for Yooka, or if she incorporated her educational pursuits into her job, Clovis didn't know. The pursuit of knowledge is admirable, I guess. Good on her. Evolution was a subject that Clovis wondered on, too. It was something that he was sure to experience, but his parents had never told him anything about it, and Clovis had never asked anyone else about it either. It was a bit of an awkward subject to discuss too deeply. The thought of some of the changes he could wind up going through sent shivers down his spine.

Ick. Clovis turned his mind away from his... imagination... and back towards what was going on around him. He heard a waiter mention the price of their meals, which sounded reasonable, if slightly padded by the prices of their drinks. Clovis let Yooka say whatever she would say to the waiter and picked a few coins out of his wallet, to leave on the table as a tip. The value of the tip was roughly 20% of the price of the entire meal, but Clovis didn't bother with the exact mathematics. Clovis sat and waited with a slightly lighter wallet, and a number of nervous thoughts about evolution racing through his mind.

ooc:

Staying silent she nodded to the waiter and noticed Clovis was starting to pay. Yooka stopped the waiter, "no no... I stated I would be doing that..." she pulled out her bag of poke. She always carried her poke with her. Even if it's dangerous to do so outside in a dungeon. Better to keep a close eye than to keep it behind where you cant see it.

It didn't catch on to her but the bag was rather large and could be stated as an actual bag, except this one could fit inside her current bag without taking up much space. She was use to the sound it made when outside her guild bag. inside it just sounded like normal items. however, when she opened the 'bag o poke' she realized her foolishness of pulling it out so willy-nilly. "I swear 'this' is everything I have... uh-heh, I do not have anything stashed back at the guild." She quickly pulled out the same amount, and re-stashed the poke back in the main bag.

She growled to herself. Why did she do that? She couldve just pulled the poke straight out of the guild bag... She turned towards the door and her color tinted as if blushing but it wasnt pink or red, it was blue. The change was ever so slight, but it was because she was a bit ashamed that she practically showed off her current wealth. "If that sight was a bit much, it's more on my habits. Remember that I said I was a merchant before this? I dont trust banks all to well." with that said she walked off.

ooc:

(Yep yep, time to wrap up.)

Regardless of what Yooka said, Clovis still left some money on the table as a gratuity to the waiter. He did, however allow Yooka to cover the costs of the meal itself. What did bother Clovis was the fact that Yooka supposedly kept 'all' of her money with her 24/7. He had enough sense to know that carrying all of your money at once was a good way to get robbed. What was the old saying about that? 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket?' Goodness, he hoped his egg wasn't kept in a basket. Even if it was natural to be suspicious of the banks, keeping more poké with you than you could afford to lose just sounded like a bad idea.

Ahhh, not my business anyway... Clovis stood up from his seat and followed Yooka as she walked away. He asked but a single, simple question. "Don't you worry about losing that, what with keeping all your money in a little bag?" He would let her deal with opening the door on their way out, as she was much larger and could probably handle it better.

ooc:

As Yooka was exiting, she heard a Question. Wouldn't she worry about losing all her poke that she's keeping on her in her smaller bag? Pff, If a thief even dared try to steal from her in general... They'd better be expecting alot of trouble. She turned her head around enough to see the Piplup and smirked. "Heh, no... not really. Not unless whoever tried had actually managed to knock me out permanently." She tapped the guild badge located on the top of the Guild Bag's head. A little reminder that she could just grab the guild personally.

She headed towards said guild and called back without looking and without paying attention to if he even heard. "See you later... or, at the guild if you decide to look around. I'll be there if you need anything."

[ooc: done on my end.
ps: If it ever did occur... she'll just put up a quest with 10% of the 'bag' as reward... time isn't really a problem if it was an npc, but if it was a user who did it. well, then its another story.
She technically doesn't care about the poke... However, she cares for the 'guild bag' and its contents.]