Crystal Conundrum

Alki remembered the first time she'd been in the Grassveil market. Alone, terrified, and small, she'd been a run away, with no idea on what to do with her newfound freedom away from her parents. There she was again, although she had a pretty clear idea on what her purpose was now. At first she'd thought it was guild work, but a couple of missions had told her that wasn't true at all. The guild had allowed her to meet Darcy, though, so she couldn't harbor too many negative feelings towards the place. The guild master was rather nice as well, although Alki felt rather sure she wouldn't hesitate to kick her out of the guild if she knew what Alki was going to do.

But there in the market, Alki felt right . When she'd met Synd'r, she felt amazed at how she'd described her old band of thieves, of what she'd said, and Alki wanted to be like the Vulpix. She knew she had a lot to learn, sure, but she wanted to learn how to be a good thief, to be as worthy of the title as Synd'r’s old group members. That was a big difference between the guild and… this already. And then there was the fact she was in a much better position to help Darcy as a thief than as a Guild-Mon…

The Jigglypuff adjusted the straw hat nestled onto her head. A couple of small holes on either side of the brim allowed her ears to poke neatly through, so as to not mess up her sense of hearing. Her curl poked out from under her hat, and a band on the bulge of her hat secured her red identification feather.

Alki scanned the crowd, searching for another red feather amongst the swath of Pokemon. She was supposed to meet someone. What if she couldn't see them? Pretty much all of the Pokemon in the crowd were taller than her. What if they couldn't see her because she was so short? Alki felt embarrassed just thinking of the possibility. She lifted the hat up into the air, as if inspecting it, but all she wanted to do was to seem a bit taller. Every little inch counted… the sight of the blushing Jigglypuff that was standing on her toes as she lifted the hat as high it could go might've seemed strange, but given how crowded it was, and how small the child was, she felt like this action was justified. She could only hope that her contact would notice her; a pink ball that was hardly a foot and a half tall wasn't exactly noticeable in a crowd. Her mind began to wander as she held her hat up. Who would meet her? The only thing she knew was that it wasn't Synd'r, and while the prospect of meeting another thief was certainly exciting, it was certainly nerve wracking as well. But the only thing she could do now was wait for them to show up.

Pterra flapped his wings as he soared over Grassveil Town, circling the marketplace as he looked out for a red feather. One such red feather stuck out of the Joy Ribbon he kept tied around his neck, signaling to the other Phantom Thief that he was one of them. Pterra was on a heist for the Phantom Thieves, to search out where a certain scammer kept the gemstones that he gained from his said scam.

Pterra circled, and then he noticed a straw hat sticking out of the crowd, with a red feather sticking from the hat. He circled lower, and landed in front of the pokemon, a tiny pink balloon pokemon. He looked the jigglypuff up and down, his eyebrow raised.

"Your the partner I was told to keep an eye out for?" he said disbelievingly. "I suppose no one would suspect you of anything... Bet that's how you get them, right?" he said wryly.

Alki felt a shadow falling over her, and as she turned around to see what caused it, she felt the blush in her cheeks draining away, until all that was left was a pale pink. As she observed the Aerodactyl, a red feather sticking out of the ribbon tied around his neck, the Jigglypuff felt very, very, embarrassed about her height. She’d evolved and she was still three or four times shorter than this Pokemon in front of her. This feeling of height-related inferiority was starting to become a given in most scenarios, it would seem. “Y-Yeah, I’m your p-partner...” she managed to squeak, a combination of her usual shyness and her sudden feelings  of inferiority briefly making her return to her old speech patterns. The child cleared her throat, and took a few seconds off before she embarrassed herself further.

“Yeah, I guess… I guess that is how I get them... ” She said, choosing to leave it at that. The large, powerful Pokemon certainly didn’t seem to think highly of her as it was. Why would she tell him she’d never done something like this before? He didn’t have to know it was her first job. “Anyways, um, we’re… uh, we’re supposed to find out where the… where they are, right?” She said, holding her straw hat in front of her, so it blocked her mouth and parts of her eyes. She tilted her head up so she could make eye contact with the Aerodactyl, rather than staring at the top of his feet. This was humiliating ! It almost made her want to evolve again, the operative word being almost… She shuffled her feet shyly, trying to force her mind off of the fact that this giant flying type had to literally look down on her to speak to her.

“I’m… I’m Alki, by the way, I… figured we should get to know each other?” She said, trying to speak as clearly as possible. She fiddled with her hat a bit more, before placing it back on her head, inserting her ears into both of the holes. If she was gonna be a thief with him, and work with him, she might as well try and get to know him. She reached out her short, nub-like arm, almost directly up so as to reach the Aerodactyl’s… wing? She wasn’t sure what exactly a handshake would look like between the two, but it was worth trying, at least. “And… well, um, do you have any ideas?”

Pterra rose an eyebrow as the jigglypuff muttered an agreement to his statement. It was almost as if... but no, Synd'r wouldn't just accept anyone into the Phantom Thieves, surely. The jigglypuff before him had to be more than she seemed. He wouldn't let her get the jump on him, that was for sure. He'd keep up his guard, at least until he got a better grip of what the pink pokemon was capable of.

The pokemon before him seemed uncomfortable, at the very least. She was muttering something behind that straw hat of hers... something about... finding out where they were. Of course. The gems -the reason Pterra was here in the first place. He nodded, appreciating the jigglypuff's need to keep it vague, lest some of the pokemon around them overheard.

Then she introduced herself as Alki, and expressed the want to get to know him some. "Hmm. The name's Pterra. I suppose getting to know one another could help in the ... heist." he said, lowering his voice at the end. "I guess the most important thing you need to know about me is that I like mind games," he flashed her a smile full of teeth. "Riddles are my specialty."

Alki slowly lowered her hand, the bright red returning to her face. It was a feeling she’d gotten used to, by now, but it was one that was certainly still, and always would be unwelcome. She’d just gone and made a fool of herself. Thief or no thief, she didn’t think courteous gestures changed so much. A handshake was still a handshake, right? Or at least, she thought. Clearly, this wasn’t true, not with this Pokemon. The Jigglypuff wrapped her hands around each other. It seemed meeting other thieves was like meeting anyone else, for her.

“Pterra, it’s… n-nice to meet you, Pterra.” Alki said, acknowledging the Aerodactyl’s words with a miniscule, almost imperceptible nod. The Jigglypuff couldn’t help but shudder as the Aerodactyl flashed a large, bright, very toothy smile. The sharp, pointy, white things intimidating her further, even more than mere size could. The Jigglypuff scuffed her foot on the ground, preferring to watch the dust swirl up into little clouds before dissipating. Sure, it wasn’t very interesting, but it wasn’t unsettling either. Was that what Pterra wanted? To scare her? Because she couldn’t see the smile doing anything else. Why did some Pokemon have to eat meat? “Y-You’re… a bit scary...” She said under her breath. Part of her didn’t want the Aerodactyl to hear, but another part would feel much better if those words pissed him off, just a little. So what if it was a bit tactless? It was true. And the Aerodactyl hadn’t exactly behaved like a Gentlemon himself.

Alki looked up at the Pokemon, a mixture of fear, and defiance in her eyes. She wasn’t the pitiful, helpless, clueless Pokemon she’d been before. She’d evolved, in the literal sense as well as the figurative. Sure, this Pokemon still scared her a bit. A lot of things were scaring her. What if she was a bad thief? What if Synd’r decided she wasn’t a good investment? What if Darcy found out? What if Faye found out? Alki wasn’t stupid, she realized she was putting her whole life on the head of a pin, a tightrope, balancing, at risk of falling one way, irretrievable, and she’d lose someone . She knew that much. But for now, the only thing she was worried about doing was proving she wasn’t as bad a thief as she was a Guild-mon. “I actually sorta like riddles… I’m… well, I guess you were sorta right, I’m… good with distractions. And charming, people, nobody’s… well, I’m still a child, I guess. I’m… not as pitiful as I seem, though, trust me.” Alki said. She forced a small, seemingly confident smirk onto her face as she looked up at the Aerodactyl. What was that advice? Fake it ‘till you make it? Well, in her experience, she could be rather good at faking emotions she didn’t really feel. Confidence was one she had an unusual amount of practice in, too. She felt better just acting that way, like she had some control over the situation.

“Anyways… the… its a butterfree, right?” She said, preferring to keep her words as vague as possible. With so many Pokemon around them, the market being a busy place in a busy town, Alki wanted to risk nothing. If she screwed up her first job, she didn’t think she could forgive herself. She wondered if Synd’r would, but Alki preferred to keep that in the ‘Speculation’ category of her mind. She certainly didn’t want to find out. “And he works in one of the stalls, here? I… if I got him away, from his stall, err, somehow, maybe… I doubt he’d have em hidden there, y’know, but… maybe there’d be a clue? Just… throwin’ out ideas.” Alki mumbled these last words, barely audible to the Aerodactyl. At some point, she had to stop being vague, if she was going to help plan their job out. Excitement took root in the pit of her stomach, the butterflies bouncing around inside her. Sure, it was possible she’d screw something up, but she was a thief now, for better or worse.

Pterra noticed when the jigglypuff lowered its hand. He hadn't even noticed the pokemon had tried to shake hands with him. Now she would think he was rude... oh well. He could work with rude. He didn't much care for how the younger pokemon felt about him anyway. He cocked his head to the side as the pokemon mumbled something. Heh, nice to meet him, was it? Well, he could change that. His toothy grin grew, showing his teeth more.

The jigglypuff seemed to flinch at that, and she mumbled something again... Hah! Scary, was he? How delightful. "I scare you, do I?" he said, grinning. "Heh, well... we're on the same side for now, so I'd get over it pretty quick if I were you. We need to be able to work together, and being afraid of me won't help you work with me... If it helps, I promise not to hurt you... it would be bad form to harm my partner, now wouldn't it?" Pterra said nonchalantly.

He cast his eyes over the marketplace, listening to the jigglypuff mumble about the butterfree. "I'm pretty large. It'd be hard for me to go through his stuff while you're distracting him. How about I distract him, and you sneak in and look for stuff? You're smaller and less noticeable, in case you hadn't noticed..." he flashed her another toothy grin. "I can raise a commotion or some such distraction."

Alki forced the bile that had begun to accumulate in her throat down. Had his smile gotten larger? Alki lowered the brim of her hat down, over her eyes. That way he couldn't see the fear that she couldn't quite force away. He was right, was the real kicker for her. He was right and both of them knew it. He wouldn't hurt her, not unless he wanted to piss Synd'r off, and considering the fact that joining the phantom thieves wasn't necessary for that, Alki found that rather unlikely. But still. It wasn't any sort of logical, reasonable fear. She just wanted to run. But they were partners. Even if he was scary.

“Right… Um… Yeah.” She mumbled in agreement. He was talking to her like a child. She didn't need him to talk to her like that, like she was some sort of idiot. He promised not to hurt her. Of course he wouldn't! They were on the same side, any idiot could've told her that.

She'd be lying if she said that promise didn't bring her comfort, though.

She closed her large, round eyes, simply listening to the Aerodactyl and what he had to say. Naturally, it was exactly what she'd dreaded to hear. Of course it was logical, for him to want her to look through his stall. Yeah, she was smaller, and people were much less inclined to think the young, tiny fairy type was up to anything when compared to a huge, scary, flying type. But that was assuming she'd done anything like this before. She hadn't. It was easy to lead someone away. Looking through their stuff without getting caught, though? That was quite a bit harder, wasn't it? What if she got arrested?

She sighed with resignation, opening her eyes again as she looked up at the Aerodactyl, as he was flashing one of those damned smiles again. She couldn't help but shudder.

“Yeah, I guess that'd work out fine,” She mumbled, before adding a small, extra “I hope.” She couldn't do much else but hope, could she? “Um… if… well, if… there's nothing else to attend to, let's… let's go for it?” She said, gazing up at her much taller partner.

Alki began to feel uneasy, sick. This wasn't what Darcy would want. If she could see her, hear her, the Skitty would hate her. She'd despise her and want to arrest her and see her rot in jail or perhaps worse because there was no worse sin than being a traitor. But the same went for Synd'r. If she backed down now, the Vulpix would despise her too. And as minor a player as she was, Alki knew what she wanted too, if it were solely up to her. She wanted this.

She'd just have to do it without ever getting caught. That was the only way things could work out for her. She'd have to try to accomplish that. “I'm ready, I'll… let's, um, meet close to the guild, after this, and I'll tell you if I found anything. Unless y-you want to meet somewhere else. That's ok too. I just… don't want to be near here, after I take a look. Is all…” Alki mumbled, looking up at the Aerodactyl before they each began to work on their respective tasks.

Pterra looked down at the small balloon pokemon, seeing her hesitation. "Awww, come on now... Certainly you aren't scared, are you? It will be easy for you to sneak in and look around. I'll distract the butterfree, easily. There's no need to worry," he reassured the tiny pokemon.

"Come on, let's go..." he said, looking around. "Uh, but don't stick too close. Don't want to be seen together... Just in case something does go wrong."

He led the way through the marketplace of Grassveil and pretty soon, stopped in front of a small stall. A butterfree was floating in the air, its wings flapping every now and then to keep it in the air. It seemed to be busy with a customer at the moment; a totodile, holding out a small gemstone to the bug pokemon.

Pterra grinned. This was his chance. He sidled past the totodile, "accidentally" bumping into the smaller pokemon, then walking away with a murmured, "Excuse me..."

Then he stopped a few paces away, and turned back to the totodile. "Hey! You just stole my mysterious stone!" he cried, stomping over to the totodile. The totodile looked taken aback, but he frowned and protested immediately.

"I didn't take anything of yours! You bumped into me! Maybe you stole from me!" The totodile cried.

The butterfree looked back and forth between the two pokemon. "Surely we can reach some agreement here, boys..." he said, coming out of the stall and standing between the two glaring pokemon.

Alki looked up at the Aerodactyl. Was he babying her? Why was he speaking like that? He’d been grinning with those sharp teeth of his earlier, taunting her, and now he was comforting her, telling her not to be scared? That wasn’t fair! They were equals, if not in skill, then certainly, at least, as partners! She scoffed as she looked up at the much larger, much more intimidating flying type. “I-I’m not scared! Who ever said I was scared, I just… h-have a tendency to stutter.” She mumbled, kicking herself as she realized what a lame excuse that was. There was certainly reason to worry, all the butterfree had to do was turn around at the wrong time, see her, and this whole thing would be over for her before it even begun.

She adjusted her hat, and then adjusted it again and again. Best to get it over with, even if she was afraid, she wasn’t gonna give that Aerodactyl the satisfaction of seeing her hesitate any longer. She sighed, nodding as the Aerodactyl told her to not stick too close. A mounting pressure began to build up in the pit of the balloon Pokemon’s stomach, as if someone were pumping air into her. Her hands were shaking ever so slightly, and she could feel her heart beating out of her chest, like a drum, but she could feel something else. Her vision was sharper, and despite this fear, she realized she was wearing the tiniest of smiles. She was gonna be a thief . And for better or worse, she’d finally be able to find out if she was any good at it or not. Sure, things could go wrong, but it was possible they’d go right too!

The Jigglypuff glided through the crowd, hardly noticing the noise as she avoided bumping into all of the larger Pokemon. She followed the Aerodactyl, albeit at a distance, and when he began to approach the Butterfree, she gave it a wide berth, circling around, one ear perked up as she heard traces of conversation from both her partner and… some other Pokemon. It didn’t sound like a Butterfree, though. She emerged from the crowd, still looking at the Butterfree’s stand, the small little gems -- probably fake ones -- stood on display. She couldn’t make out many details, however. She made eye contact with her partner, searching for some measure of comfort in his confidence. It was such a rush! She could hardly think, but her head was clear enough to realize that as the Butterfree stepped out from behind the stand, it was her chance! She rushed towards the stand, still keeping her footfalls quiet. She could make out the conversation now: "Surely we can reach some agreement here, boys..."

The short Jigglypuff hid behind the stand as she looked through it, struggling to control her faster breathing. She was stealing! She was a thief, she was, for better or worse, becoming a thief right at that moment. It was one thing to have a feather and a hat and be able to claim to Pokemon that she was a thief, but now, she was making herself one. She was stealing! She scanned the objects the Butterfree kept in the small area under the table of the stall. It was organized in two, neat shelves, the top one holding a number of strongboxes that she soon realized were locked. The lower shelf hid a couple trinkets, a small, precious ring, coins of Poke scattered about, and… a small piece of paper, folded neatly in fourths. She could hear the sounds of what appeared to be a scuffle above her, only a couple meters away. She unfolded it and scanned the words, thankful again for the lessons Darcy had given her. It wasn’t difficult reading, a simple request to meet the Butterfree to see what the author called “A large, most likely valuable gemstone.”

This was good! If they followed him… they could listen in on the meeting. If it truly was valuable, he’d steal it from them, right? The author would lose his gemstone and be none the wiser, but the Butterfree wouldn’t be able to lug it around all day, he’d have to take it somewhere, and odds were he’d take it to wherever he was keeping the rest of the Gemstones! Alki grinned as she folded the piece of paper back up and placed it under her hat. Was it safe to come out? She perked her ears up, listening to see where the conversation was heading. She didn't want to pop out at an inopportune time, after all. She hoped the Aerodactyl could keep the Butterfree busy just a bit longer.

Pterra drew himself up, puffing out his chest in pseudo-anger. "What's there to talk about? He clearly stole from me, and I demand that he return my property to me!" he growled, showing his teeth to the smaller totodile.

The totodile wouldn't back down, however. It bared its teeth right back at him. "I told you, I don't have anything of yours! You better check yourself before you wreck yourself, sir!" it cried out, its masculine voice angry.

"Boys, boys!" the butterfree yelped. "There's an easy way to fix this. Mr. Omni, why don't you just check your bag to see if the stone somehow made its way into it! Perhaps it fell when you two bumped into each other!"

"Fine!" the totodile yelled. "Take a look yourself, mister aerodactyl!" he threw down his bag, causing several gems to roll out of the bag, along with a small spherical rock.

"Aha! You did take it!" Pterra said, picking up the small rock with his claws, sticking it into his bag.

"I didn't take it you-" the totodile was cut off by the butterfree.

"Now, Mr. Omni; let's all just calm down," the butterfree said carefully. "The stone is returned, so we're all good here, right, sir aerodactyl?"

Pterra harrumphed. "Fine," he spat. He cast a glance over at the stall to make sure Alki was no longer in sight before stalking away.

Alki felt the soft touch of the parchment against the fur on her head, and she couldn't help but smile. She'd stolen something, and nobody had seen her! Of course, she wasn't in the clear yet, but if nothing else, the paper gave her a small measure of confidence. She'd gotten this far. The worst of it was over! All that was left was to retreat into the crowd, and then meet up with Pterra! As scary as he was, he'd be pleased with what she'd done, right? Alki, at least, thought it was clever.

Alki heard the conversation above her escalate, the angered, masculine voice accusing Pterra of lying in a funny way. Check himself before he wrecked himself, huh? Oh! Don't forget the sir! Alki almost started laughing, before she remembered that a thief was supposed to be stealthy, and certainly not supposed to burst out in laughter at any little thing.

The Butterfree, again, began to propose a solution to the two, angry Pokemon. Now was as good a time as any to leave! Certainly, he'd be busy speaking with Pterra and his friend, and he wouldn't notice the small, little fairy running away, into the throng of people.

That's exactly what she did. She peaked out from her cover, before running towards another stall, in the opposite direction of the Butterfree. The stall owner gave her a curious look, but must've thought little of the innocent, childlike fairy running in front of him. The further and further away she ran, the lighter and lighter she felt. She was a thief! Hell, maybe she was even a decent one! She'd gotten away, hadn't she? She was successful!


Once she was sure she was away from the Butterfree, she removed her hat and took a look at the now-crumpled piece of paper. It was her prize! The first thing she'd stolen. She tucked it back underneath the crown of her hat as she placed it snugly on her head.


She didn't think she'd been seen. She certainly hoped that wasn't the case. But if her hopes proved true, the only thing left to do was find Pterra! For once, she felt thankful for the crowd of Pokemon that were always in the market. What better cover than an army of shoppers, traders, and merchants? She laughed as she lifted her hat in the air, holding the piece of paper in the other hand as she stood up on her toes, waiting for the Aerodactyl.

As Pterra stalked away from the butterfree's stall, he hid a smirk. It had been so easy to rile the totodile up and cause a scene! All it took was a well-placed plant of evidence and the accusation; everything falls into place after that! Pterra was a master of mind games, if he did say so himself, and could read other pokemon like they were books.

Hah, and pokemon thought he was all brawn and no brain! Just because he was a powerhouse of a pokemon didn't mean he didn't have a mind behind all that power. He was just as cunning as he was strong, and he enjoyed playing others like an instrument; their emotions and minds manipulated easily by his words and actions.

Pterra looked out over the crowd, looking for the small jigglypuff that was his current partner. And wasn't that a laugh? He supposed a jigglypuff had an easy time stealing from others. It was child's play for the jigglypuff to cause others to sleep and rob them blind once they were under her power. The innocent act Alki put up helped to present that of a pokemon who was above reproach; none would suspect anything from the young pokemon.

He spotted the straw hat the jigglypuff wore, and strode through the crowd towards it, weaving in and out of the other pokemon easily. He came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. Once her attention was on him, he would tilt his head towards the nearly empty road leading out of town. There they could talk in private, without other pokemon hearing.

The Jigglypuff found herself more preoccupied with the piece of paper held tightly in her left hand than on any of her immediate surroundings. It wasn’t anything special, it wasn’t even particularly nice parchment, but it was hers now, when it hadn’t been hers only minutes ago. She was a real, honest-to-Arceus thief! The paper in her hands were proof of that, and she was contributing to the heist. That was more than she had ever expected to do with Synd’r. Actually help out as a thief, and then there was the fact that she had never, ever done anything like this before, and she couldn’t help but feel a sliver of pride and accomplishment. She’d gotten away with it. She knew what Synd’r was talking about, then, that feeling of getting away with a crime like that, scot-free. It was addicting. She needed more!

   Her triumphant thoughts were interrupted by a claw tapping her on the shoulder. Not even a shoulder, just the general area where her arm connected to her body. She let out a small yelp of surprise as she turned around. Her hat began to move swiftly through the air, stopping just in time as she realized it was only her partner. His presence was just as intimidating as ever, it seemed, and what was originally going to be a proud, triumphant explanation turned into a nervous one.

“I… I got this! It… well, read it, I thought it'd be useful! Just… don't sneak up on me like that, it… there's no need to sneak up on me like that…” She said, as she handed him the slip of paper she'd been clutching so tightly. Her hands were shaking, partially from the surprise, but mostly from the sheer thrill of stealing. She wanted more of that! Despite her nervous, stuttering words, a small grin began to spread across her face. She was a real thief. And she could prove it to him! “I thought that maybe, um… maybe we could follow him, Y'know, after his meeting, and when he's taking the gemstone to… uh, wherever he keeps them, well, then he'll know! You… you don't think he saw me, right?”

Pterra chuckled at the jigglypuff's reaction. "I wasn't trying to sneak up on you," he said in amusement. He flashed his signature toothy grin at the smaller pokemon, expecting a reaction from her. He enjoyed the fear he inspired in others; it made him proud of his fearsome appearance and reputation.

"So, you found something, did you?" He continued, peering down at the paper she waved in front of his face. He read the note quickly, a genuine grin appearing on his face. "Looks like we have an opportunity here," he said.

"We'll have to be sneaky when following the butterfree; we don't want him to catch onto us," Pterra hummed.

Alki looked up at the much taller Pokemon and found it difficult to not tremble in fear. They were on the same side, sure, but that didn't mean that the look he kept flashing at her wasn't familiar. An almost sadistic pleasure in his face at watching the small, pink, weak Pokemon squirm. The toothy grin reminded her of the worst days she'd experienced at the pond. Bites hurt, and the sharp, white teeth seemed like they would be no exception. Sure, she knew he wouldn't bite, probably, but that didn't take away the nerves she'd developed throughout her childhood that she was only now starting to get over.

The Aerodactyl seemed to be expecting something from her. Some sort of reaction perhaps, for his enjoyment. Her fear was probably a barrel of laughs for him, wasn't it? That grin of his that got on her nerves and then made her into a twitchy, nervous idiot that tripped and stumbled over her words… he was probably getting a kick out if it, wasn't he? Well, she wouldn't give him that satisfaction any longer. Not if she could help it, she wouldn't be as fearful as he expected her to be anymore. Well, that wasn't true. She was certainly afraid, afraid of everything about the situation. Police were a thing. Hadn't she been the one to introduce Yigo to them? Then there was the fact that she was a weakling when it came to… just about anything. She’d never fought a feral. The extent of her combat knowledge was Singing. If she ever got caught, or seen, well, she'd be screwed, wouldn't she? Not to mention the Butterfree probably knew some sort of poison type move. Or multiple poison type moves. Her partner was just the icing on the cake. But despite all of that, she could still put on a good act. She was scared, but at the very least, she could pretend she wasn't.

“Yeah. You didn't mean to, but you did. I bet it wasn't entirely unintentional either, was it?” She said, flaring up as she looked up at the Aerodactyl with as much confidence as she could muster. She shrugged, focusing instead on the slip of paper. “Yeah, I guess we should be careful. It… um, I think it might be better if I followed him, I'm… well, he didn't see me, right? And… the meeting place is close to the guild, so… I'm still technically a Guild-Mon, so, maybe it'd be good if I, erm, tailed him closer… right? Maybe you could fly a bit behind? Flying types have good eyesight, right?”