Children At Play

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If there was a king of dumb ideas...it would be Chance. Not only had he failed to learn his lesson last time of wandering away from home, but he was back at it again with an idea that had the potential to do far more harm than being eaten by a predator would. It was fortunate that he struggled so much to put it into action, that way the odds of him giving up was greater. Unfortunately, he had been at it for a solid five minutes. He tried all he could with various different ways of doing it.

What was he doing exactly? Moving a rock. It was much larger than he was, far too heavy for him to handle, but he hoped that the spherical nature of it would make it easier to roll. He tried straight up pushing it, running and jumping against it, and even the clever idea of using a stick as a lever-though he could not take credit for the idea as he simply heard about some nerd talking about this sort of thing before. Currently, he was trying to move it with the stick. The branch was properly wedged underneath it, but he didn't have the strength or weight to pull it down.

He simply hung off of the elevated end of the branch with his teeth stuck in the bark. His eyes glanced over to the rock with the hopes that it would move. No dice. Alright then. He would just have to try something else. He let go of the branch and dropped back to the ground. Hmm...what else could he try? Oh-why didn't he think of that sooner!

The little zorua paced closer to the rock before he stepped onto the branch. He struggled to keep balance on the stick, which made him doubt his plan at least a little. He didn't have the brainpower and common sense to stop himself from trying. He stood at the other end of the stick and proceeded to try to jump up and down. The stick bent and moved, but the rock simply would not budge. He decided that he would give it one last jump, as high as he could.

Up he went, and-SNAP- down went the branch. He yelped in terror as the weak piece of wood snapped into two from the weight. He failed to catch himself properly and fell over onto his side as the branch splintered around him. He lifted his head with a shake and shot a look towards the boulder.

No dice.

"uuuugggggggGGGGGGHHH!" he groaned loudly before he allowed his head to flop back onto the ground in defeat.

((22-20 = 2))

It was times like this that made Osiris glad that he didn't know his dad. Just the way Kiba—Chance, again?—looked when his mom pulled the 'father' card on him was pitiful enough, let alone the way he agreed to be silent until they actually got home. Iris didn't even think Kiba was biologically capable of being quiet for that long.

The dratini nodded along weakly and submissively when Kiba's mom turned her sights on him. He'd stuck up for Kiba a second ago, true, but it was mostly because the zorua really looked like he wanted it. Honestly, he agreed with the mom here; the b-word was kind of too far. Arguing in the first place might have been, but judging from the way they were talking it seemed like a common occurrence. "Yes ma'am, sorry ma'am," he mumbled again, taking the out she gracefully provided. With that, he deposited himself back into the mane of her hair, not even letting his head out to peek at their surroundings.

At least she didn't tell him he had to be quiet. He was going to wait a minute or two before speaking up, though, because... yeah, that entire conversation deserved some silence afterward.

The dragon had common sense. Good. She dropped her son back into her hair as he kept to his word of silence. The zoroark cast a challenging glare in the Furret's direction at last. She could see the shiver run up the normal type's spine before it sped away. She began her trek once more, still absolutely fuming that her son had the audacity to say such a thing to her. Ooh yes, Sova was definitely going to hear about this.

Chance, meanwhile, was absolutely mortified. He didn't dare risk a single peep as he instead curled up into a tight ball within the hair and waited for his day of execution to arrive. He already knew it was going to be a long long walk. It was going to be a long time to stay quiet, but if he behaved on the way back, perhaps his mother would reconsider telling his dad? The zorua didn't even want to think what kind of face Em was going to make. Was she going to taunt him? Smirk? Look disappointed? Or just...not care?

The zoroark kept her wits about her as she allowed the conversation to fall into silence. She was livid, but still, she seemed calm. So calm in fact, that when a brave little deerling decided to charge towards her to pick a fight, a quick smack of her paw sent the grass type back into the bushes without even a sound.

The bushes around the pokemon shifted as a Sawsbuck lifted their head, their mouth full of leaves as their child was just about smacked into them. The very sight of Mirage caused the buck to hesitate. Two little skiddo cowered at his feet. A parent of three, huh? God, she can't imagine how much of a pain that would be. Two was bad enough, though it was made easier that Emmelyn behaved. If only Chance would stop acting out enough for the both of them.

The intensity in the air was enough to keep Osiris silent even when Kiba was dropped back down next to him and his mom continued their journey. The jostling motions that he felt when she smacked the deerling aside reminded him just how angry the zoroark was, and how tightly in control she was of it. Iris had never called his mom the b-word before, but as he and Kiba were carried through the forest, he had to wonder how she'd react in contrast. She was always so calm and collected, so he couldn't imagine her getting loud or explosive, but on the other hand that was a seriously messed up word to say.

The little blue noodle sighed quietly to himself and extended his tail to wrap around Kiba's before gently squeezing. Embarrassing as it might have been, he understood. They were doing kind of okay before the bouffalant... maybe they could have made it out on their own. They'd never know now, and it truly was frustrating. Whether or not they had a right to be frustrated considering the danger they were in was up for debate, of course, but that argument didn't make the feelings go away.

Chance's tail was squeezed. He wasn't quite sure what that was supposed to mean, but it felt kind of...awkward. His expression reflected his uncertainty as he pulled his tail away and avoided eye contact. Comfort wasn't exactly something he was familiar with. Mirage and Sova did their best, but it kinda fell flat on him. The zorua focused on his paws as he kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to get in trouble again. He didn't want to make things worse for himself. He regretted what he said so much. He just wished he could take the words back straight from thin air.

The zoroark found a trail as she stepped away from the uncertain buck. The deerling was still fine it seemed, albeit a bit dizzy. She would just make her way out before the grass type decided to pick a fight. The dark type continued along, avoiding the path of a teddiursa, low key terrified that an Ursaring might be around with it. Motherly Rage VS Motherly Rage would not have ended well for either of them, and bears were especially known for their rage.

Instead, she went around the normal type and rounded back on the trail, the little bear none the wiser of her existence. The air shimmered around her as she started to put up a disguise. It would be easier if she looked unintimidating. To outsiders, it now appeared as if a lone skiddo was simply trotting along the path. She would have liked to make more copies of the skiddo, but it was difficult to do so. She had not yet practiced much with her illusion abilities and the power of the Z-Crystal that super charged her earlier was gone.

A forretress stood on the path farther down. Again, she would move to avoid it. The bug and steel type merely sat there...waiting. For what, she did not know...nor care.

Osiris' expression fell slightly when his attempt at sympathy fell through, though it wasn't visible in the confines of the zoroark's hair. It was a little sad, but maybe it was a good sign? The fact that Kiba turned away from it maybe meant that he thought he didn't deserve it, and thus regretted what he said. Iris still figured he deserved a semblance of comfort but if the zorua understood what he did wrong, and it was visible, then maybe his mom and dad would take it easy on him.

He wasn't sure how his mom was going to handle him, on the other hand. Osiris had snuck away a time or two before, sure, but never had he ever been hauled back in this manner. In the instances where she did catch him, either on his way out or on his way back home, she dragged him back home and did that thing where she pointed out every stupid thing he did in such a way that not only gave him huge doubts about his plan of mischief (and thus ideas to improve later) but also how he violated her trust and all that sappy crap. And it made him feel bad, and she grounded him, and everyone was so sad that he waited forever until he tried again.

This time, though... it was anyone's guess as to what was going to happen. His only saving grace was that he hadn't called his mom an awful word, but it wasn't like his punishment was going to be any less severe because of that. The dratini heaved one last sigh before settling in for the rest of the ride home, dreading his return significantly, but not nearly as much as the zorua nestled next to him.

The little zorua didn't know what to do. He could only sit there and fester in dread of just how much trouble he was in. The little dark type could only imagine what sort of thing his father would do about this. While he did hold the belief that everything will be alright in the end for everyone, this...this was an experience that was not going to be pleasant. The anticipation killed him more than anything. He was almost tempted to make a run for it, but not only would it delay the inevitable, but add onto it.

The zoroark kept along the rocky path. She was honestly fairly tired. She traveled all day with the concern and fear that something happened to Chance. She was thankful that she did, seeing as the zorua was nearly killed in one strike. One bad bone broken and it would have been the end of him. She took in a deep breath and sighed. Why did they think they could raise children? Neither of them knew what they were doing and they were both total screw ups. Emmelyn may have been fine, but that eevee was practically raising herself in Mirage's perspective. It's honestly a wonder.