Afternoon Snack

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It was dark and cramped. There were passages she could not fit through, but the main path still presented her with enough room to move comfortably. Victoria's footsteps echoed throughout the caverns, stealth was not an option. She didn't quite care particularly about that, however, as she felt that she was capable enough to defend herself in times of attack. The queen held her head high-or at least as high as she could- as she continued her stroll through the caverns. It started out as a simple walk, but curiosity about the recent events had brought her here.

A powerful pokemon was stated to have resided here at one point. Mewtwo, it was called. Explorers fought the creature-one of which she was vaguely familiar with. Sova. A glaceon that helped her get her heirloom back. The very necklace remained wrapped around her neck despite her drastic shift in size. She had to get it fixed after she evolved, but it still shined as bright as the day she got it.

The tyrantrum remained alert while she traversed. It was entirely possible that the monstrous pokemon was still around. While she considered herself powerful, she knew better than to think she would be able to face off against that kind of creature. The rest of the inhabitants of this cave, however, were simply...a snack.

Victoria Energy: 30

Darcy wilted, just now realizing how dumb her attempt at a rebellious statement had been. Of course she wouldn't be able to stand a chance, she was simply too small... And what did she stand to gain by proving that she could resist it? That she was cool? She definitely wasn't, and she knew that. She didn't even really care about it. She never had. So why had she bothered trying to retort? Who knew...

"Eeyup! That was stupid of me, huh?" Darcy commented softly, any bitterness that might have been present in her voice by now long gone. She stated it as a simple matter of fact, still wary as to how the Tyrantrum might act, but not so much so that she wasn't willing to put it behind her. Just... don't talk about the conflict, and things would be ok!

Look, Victoria was even willing to put it behind them. Darcy gained a newfound spring to her step as she heard the tyrantrum's acceptance of her apology. She wasn't going to apologize to her, but truthfully, that was quite alright! So long as nothing of that ilk happened again, that was apology enough for her.

"I mean... What's wrong with stuttering? I got my point across, didn't I? A bit of uncertainty never hurt anyone, anyways; if anything, I think a bit of doubt is healthy! I don't want opponents. I just want a nice discussion, really. I don't really care if I look like a fool or not, people can think of me how they want. I'm not very complicated, I just want people to be nice to each other. I guess." Darcy spoke more slowly, without really realizing it. Now that the queen had pointed out, she became painfully aware of how much she'd been stuttering earlier. Maybe Alki had been rubbing off on her...? "Besides, if you think I stutter a lot, you should meet my sister. She's always unsure of herself, but... I don't think it makes her a fool at all. Why should it? She's smart with or without the stutter, y'know?"

"Doubt is healthy, yes, but if you doubt your argument you shouldn't be so quick to to bring it to your grave. Appearance and impression are just as important to a discussion as how "right" you are, if not more important," the tyrantrum explained, "It won't matter how right you are, if you stutter, stumble, and quiver, you give no reason for others to believe you-especially the hard-headed and stubborn. I didn't say it makes you the fool, I said it makes you look like a fool-one who doesn't know what they're talking about. Only idiots would listen. Be confident if you believe yourself to be right, remain calm if you're in doubt, and be ready to fight for what you believe in."

The tyrantrum's voice still carried annoyance with it, but it was a lot quieter than the yelling match she was ready to instigate before. Her eyes focused on what was ahead of her, either oblivious or uncaring if she happened to be outpacing the significantly smaller kitten.

"Confidence is a key ingredient in discussion, especially when you're trying to persuade others to your side."

Darcy tilted her head, jogging to keep up with the Tyrantrum's space. She was so much smaller than her, that she almost had to run just to keep up... But that was ok! Excercise was good, and if it got to be too much, she could just ask politely for her to stop. It was no big deal either way! The Tyrantrum's words were loud, and still seemed slightly frustrated with her, but not nearly as bad as earlier. So long as they kept the conversation civil, that annoyance would melt away, and by the time they were out of the cave, and she was where she needed to be, there'd be no hard feelings left!

"I've never worried too much about what appearance or impression I give off, but... I mean, how do you stay so confident when you're talking? I'm... Well, I'm not the most veteran guild member, and... things are getting more complicated. With my family, and my work, and my teammate..." Darcy trailed off, slowing her pace ever so slightly. When she'd been new to town, she'd felt so confident in her abilities as a future guild member, and when she'd met Alki, she'd felt so sure she could improve the little girl's life... Had she done that? Was she a good guild member?

"It's just hard to be confident in how I talk when I'm so rarely confident in anything in my life. I just look'it sometimes, I guess." She paused awkwardly, smiling, before letting out a small, nervous chuckle. Had she gone overboard in what she'd said...? "But hey, I didn't stutter at all that time! Ya think I did better...?" She added lightly, hoping the rhetorical question might do something to lighten the mood a bit more.

The tyrantrum contemplated the annoying kitten's question. How did she stay so confident? Well, she didn't ever really have a reason to doubt herself in the first place. It was rare that she found any true reason to think little of herself. Even then, her reaction was to get angry at it rather than cripple herself under shame. In truth, it was practically a requirement of her life to be confident in her choices. Who would want to follow a leader who hadn't a clue what they were doing? Not her, that's certain.

"The lack of stutter was an improvement, but you hesitate. Think of what you're going to say before you say it, not while you say it. It's better to take your pauses before you speak than during-that way at the very least it comes off as you're carefully considering what the other said rather than tripping over your thoughts. Head high, chest out, back straight, and-"

"Eeep! B-b-blease! Leave us aloooone!" the cry ripped through the air. Her attention was completely derailed from the kitten and drawn off to the left of their path along the caverns. The tyrantrum's steps slowed to a stop near the entrance. Without even waiting a second to consult the skitty, she was quick to turn off of the main path and down towards the source.

Pokemon Left; Dugtrio, Noibat, Graveler, Dugtrio, Bidoof, Bidoof, Graveler

what's happening::

Darcy nodded along, mentally taking notes of the suggestions that the Tyrantrum was making to her. She made it a priority to put each point into practice immediately. She lifted her head, ears perking up, before she puffed out her chest. She was already feeling a sense of confidence coming into her body as she put into practice the Queen's advice. But just as she was going to remark on this, (after considering it in her head first, of course!), a loud, fearful cry echoed through the halls. Any thoughts of confidence or mannerisms began to flee the Skitty's mind, as she resumed her previous, unsure stance as she looked up at the Queen.

Victoria didn't even look in her direction. Already, she could feel the ground trembling under her, pebbles jumping up with every footfall as the Tyrantrum rushed towards the source of the cries, the Skitty sprinting to keep up with the much larger Pokemon. The cry had sounded desperate, and almost childlike... Or maybe she was just thinking about it too hard? The Skitty accompanied the Tyrantrum, hoping that their presence would be enough to deter whoever it was that was frightening the voice.

The guild member panted as they came to a stop, trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on, but Victoria was in front of her... It was so difficult to keep up with someone that big... "W...W-What s-seems to be the p-problem...?" Darcy managed, clearly winded after such a sprint.

She pulled up her bag, letting it hang in front of her neck. If there was trouble, she'd want access to at least a few items... But she'd have to make sure the letter didn't fall out...

Three pokemon cowered behind the forms of two much larger and more rotund shapes. Two bidoofs and a noibat that cradled its wing delicately sat in the presence of two graveler that had them cornered on each side. Their backs up against the wall, both pokemon were utterly terrified by the bullies.

Upon the approach of the tyrantrum's thunderous steps and the skitters of the skitty, the two pokemon turned to face the newcomers. Darcy's question rang out, but the Graveler were quick to shut them down, "Oi! Go mind your own business!" one of them cried.

Victoria already knew that this was a sticky situation. All three of the smaller and younger pokemon seemed terrified and the sinister gaze of the graveler were all she needed. Immediately it felt as if diplomacy wasn't really an option with these two...So moved her foot for the Skitty to get through. She said nothing, instead looking at the skitty expectantly-as if to say, "You're the explorer here...go do your thing."

Darcy's ears bent back as the reception to her question seemed less than stellar. Victoria widened the gap between her legs, letting her through. The Tyrantrum's advice began to creep back into the forefront of her mind. She followed the advice, once again to the letter. Think things through, Head High, back straight, chest out, then speak. The silence pervaded the rocky room as the Skitty decided on what to want to say. Everyone in the room seemed to be glaring at her. Well, this was awkward...

"Well." Darcy said after a while, glaring at each of the Graveler's in turn. "I'm a guild member, and you're bullying people without any real reason, so I would say that it is my business." Darcy said, managing to muster some confidence into her voice. She didn't like confrontation, but she liked bullies even less. Of course, if it weren't for the fact that she was one of the smallest Pokemon in the room, it would've been almost authoritative.

"So, are you two going to stop this? I'm asking nicely..." She said, her question hanging in the air, before she turned up to look at the Tyrantrum, her disapproving frown immediately giving way to a large smile. Had she done it right? She'd done her best! Darcy wagged her tail pleasantly, waiting for the Tyrantrum to chime in.

Oh...how cute, the skitty was looking to her for approval. It definitely was an improvement. The tyrantrum glanced to the graveler, who looked at each other as if to evaluate what the other thought. There was a silence in the air. The victims both looked to Darcy with a mix of fear and awe. What bravery this skitty had to confront the bullies like this!

The bullies looked back to Victoria and Darcy...before they burst into laughter. Tears in their eyes, they could hardly contain the joy they found in this confrontation. "Wh-what the hell is this??" one of the boulders guffawed.

"This has gotta be a joke!" the other responded. It took them a moment to collect themselves. The one that spoke last stepped closer to the skitty, towering above her threateningly with little fear for the tyrantrum behind her. "And just what the hell is a little pink thing like you gonna do hm? Your big-bad-dino friend doesn't scare us. She can't be all that good if the likes of you have to speak for-"

The was suddenly yanked from the spot. With a surprised and pained cry, the graveler disappeared from in front of the skitty and found its arm locked in Victoria's jaws. The four-armed pokemon was tossed in the air briefly before Victoria snatched him out of it with a far more comfortable grip. Icicles that formed on her teeth impaled the graveler's hard body. She crunched down with as much power as she could muster, just sitting there with a big jawbreaker in her mouth. The victim flailed its arms about and screamed in sudden terror. It tried to punch away at the rex's snout, but the dragon held her position.

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" the graveler cried in terror as its partner looked on in fear.

The reaction that her words received was not at all what she had been expecting, nor what she had hoped. The two bullies looked at each other, laughing their hearts out. At her? Was it just because she was small? One of them used a bad word, which didn't really sit well with her. There was no need for language like that... Darcy's ears folded backwards as one of the Graveler approached her. Everything that came out of his mouth was just stupid... Sure, she was small. And yes, she was very brightly colored, but they had no way of knowing what it was she was capable of. And the same went for Victoria behind her, who was even scarier, because she wasn't small, and she wasn't brightly colored.

Of course, she held her tongue. If you didn't have anything nice to say, better to not say anything at all, right? If she insulted them, then the chances that the situation would reach a resolution would take quite a dip... And besides. She didn't really want to insult anyone... Darcy opened her mouth to speak, before the target of her words was suddenly snatched up before her.

Was Victoria going to eat him? A yell of surprise rang throughout the cave, before the Graveller was lodged in Victoria's jaw, and was that... teeth? Sticking into him? Well, that wasn't the way she wanted the situation to go, but... She couldn't take back Victoria's actions, and now she had to say something. It's not like Victoria could talk, and she didn't want the situation to escalate any further... She wasn't very tough, and she'd rather not have to fight... She didn't want anyone to get hurt.

The Skitty approached the Graveler still on the ground, looking up at his friend in terror. Even if he was being a bully, she could understand the terror... She'd be pretty terrified too, if one of her friends was in that position...

"Hey." The kitten said, swishing her tail softly as she bounded up to the Rock type. "Y'know, neither of us really want to hurt you guys. But if you guys aren't co-operating..." She trailed off purposefully, letting the implication hang in the air, before she continued. She relished in the silence. She even sounded a bit scary! Of course, that was probably just her... "Well, you've seen what my friend can do, and trust me, you really don't want to test me." Of course, her fighting capabilities were certainly lesser than those of the Tyrantrum. What was she going to do, Sing? But he didn't know that, and he was already so spooked, she doubt he'd test her.

She smirked at the Graveler before her, before turning to look up at the Graveler still in Victoria's mouth. "It's not too late to apologize to your victims, y'know." Darcy offered, her tail softly gesturing towards the Pokemon in question. "Who knows? Maybe you'll even get put down if you apologize!"

The gravelers regretted their life choices. The living boulder that Darcy focused on flinched at her approach, all confidence and jerkiness out the window now that their friend was about to be reduced to tiny bits and pieces. Their wide fearful eyes flicked between Darcy and the dino. "Ah-Ah-I'm sorry-I'm sorry! FRED APOLOGIZE!" it demanded of its friend as well out of concern that they too might be punished for their friend's actions.

Victoria paused the pressure she applied on the victim. She gave them their opportunity. The graveler's desperate pleas rang through the area, "I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!" If these kids were one of her kingdom's civilians, this would not have been sufficient-especially with how the noibat's wing looked. However, they weren't, so she figured it best not to waste her energy. The tyrantrum dropped the graveler, who quickly tucked into a ball and rolled away, much closer to his friend, with large holes that marked where the teeth sunk into.

Victoria smirked as the weakling hid behind their healthier friend, who seemed just as afraid. "W-We'll go now! We're sorry! We'll never come back!" Their voices were quick and in unison. Without a second thought, they tucked into a ball. If something wasn't done, then they would roll away into the caverns-leaving the scene behind.

Darcy felt... a bit guilty, truth be told. She didn't like to handle things like this. Sure, there was nothing she could do about it anymore, and if she walked back on her threat, the situation would take longer to resolve, and it would have more opportunities to go even worse to boot. Playing along really was the best choice, for everyone involved, but... Between the terrified pleas of the Graveller, and the harsh, sudden sounds of rock caving in, she couldn't... Well, how was she supposed to feel proud of herself? She tried to push the rocky sounds out as she watched the two plead and apologize, over and over and over again.

Was it sincere? It was hard to tell, they were so terrified... But Victoria placed the Graveler down, and he rolled over to his unhurt friend. Now Darcy was in front of both of them. She was silent. Silent for a long time, she had no clue what to say. They were about to leave now, apologizing once more, saying they'd never come back...

"Wait... Before you go..." Darcy stammered, fishing an Oran berry out of her bag. She placed it on the ground before her, softly nudging it forward with her nose before she looked up at the pair. "For the wounds... I don't want you to die either." She watched the two, a pang of pity prompting her to take the supply out of her bag. Maybe she'd done it wrong...? It didn't feel right, solving a problem like this...

"Just, be nice to other people, ok...? And they'll be nice back to you..." She offered, forcing a smile onto her face, as the realization of what had just happened began to creep in. She didn't feel like smiling...

...She didn't do that much damage to them. They were rock types, they were sturdy to withstand that attack. Her pride in the skitty's accomplishments fell as the feline offered the bullies an Oran Berry, an act of kindness towards the enemy. It was sweet, but unnecessary. She frowned.

The younger pokemon quivered in fear off to the side, of the gravelers, not of their saviors. The gravelers looked down at the skitty's offering. It was tempting. The injured party looked up and over the skitty to the tyrantrum that had attacked it. The glare in her eyes told him everything he needed to know. He wasn't truly allowed to have that berry. "Y-You know what? I'm fiiiine I'll live. It'll heal off in the mornin after a good buffering you keep it okay bye!" The graveler curled up into a ball and rolled out with his friend. The berry was left in the dust along with Darcy, the gift rejected.

The children, meanwhile seemed absolutely thrilled to have been saved. "Woaaah," one of them chimed up, "That was so cool!!!"

They rejected her offer, and promptly left. That was unfortunate. It certainly would've given Darcy a lot more peace of mind if they had accepted her afar, but alas, the pair were already fleeing. The Skitty sighed, unsure of what to say, or what to do. The victims of the bullying were cheering them on, thrilled to have been saved. Darcy smiled. At least they were happy! And they had been helped, even if it hadn't been the best way. But clearly, they didn't care too much about Victoria's methodology...

"Cool, huh? I'm glad you think so..." The Skitty said, a crooked smile on her face.  Her tail swished to and fro before she finally took a seat opposite the children. "My name's Darcy, and my friend's name is Victoria. Her smile grew as she watched the two, their earlier fear giving way to excitement. It was encouraging, to see happiness like this... It made all the ugliness that came with guild work worth it! "What are your names?"

The bidoof were happy to introduce themselves. "I'm Ja and he's Jo" "I'm Jo and he's Ja" they said in unison as they introduced each other, making it a tad difficult to tell what exactly their names were as they overlapped one another. They didn't seem to see a problem with this as they turned to the injured Noibat, "And she's Nezi!" The noibat, albeit relieved to have been saved, still seemed a tad frightened. Her wing was still cradled, kept relatively out of sight.

Still, Victoria noticed, "The girl's wing," Victoria commented to Darcy without further elaboration. She expected the skitty to be able to piece together what she wanted out of her. As dumb as the kitten acted earlier, it seemed as if Darcy still had some amount of brain cells in her. She was too large to do much to the tiny bat, but Darcy? Darcy could do things. She figured. Guild Members should have had training with this sort of thing...right?

Pokemon Left; Dugtrio, Dugtrio

Yes, the girl's wing... Darcy smiled and nodded at the two over eager bidoof. "It's nice to meet you, Ja, and Jo, and Nezi," Darcy said, turning to each Pokemon respectively. Finally, her eyes settled on the injured Noibat, frowning as she watched her cradle her wing. She still seemed quite frightened, and Darcy hesitated in her approach. Victoria pointed out the injury, and Darcy nodded softly. It seemed broken. Now what was she supposed to do? She didn't know any healing moves, and it had been a while since she'd read the first aid book her father had given her when she'd left to be a guild member. But still, she had to try, the girl seemed so frightened, and she didn't want to leave it untreated...

"Nezi, may I see your wing...?" Darcy offered softly, taking a small step towards the flying type. It was definitely broken..  So she needed a cast. Those were usually made of cloth, weren't they? Gosh, it'd been so long... She wished she'd focused more while she was studying...

"I think it might be broken... Um... Oh! Here!" The Skitty nudged the Oran Berry towards the Noibat, smiling sheepishly. "This won't fix it, but it should make you feel better..." She left the berry there for Nezi to pick up by herself, before she got to work cutting strips of cloth so as to make a makeshift sling. She wasn't a healer, but at the very least, it would help keep her arm from getting worse...

"Where are you kids from...? Do you guys live here, or are you from one of the towns, or...? I'm from grassveil myself, y'know..." Darcy asked, hoping to keep them occupied as she busied herself. The flap from her bag was mostly gone now, and the few contents she had were now strewn across the floor. "Say, Victoria, or anyone, really, could someone hold my stuff for me? I'm... Well, I can't really use my bag anymore, yknow..." She said, before cutting off some more cloth with her teeth. She was lucky she asked her sister carry most of their supplies...