Lost Cause

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Each step was made with hesitance, but he was fairly certain that this path was the safest. The only problem was that it was a guaranteed safety. His eyes darted about to and fro with a growing sense of dread and anxiety. He was alone, out in the open, in the place he'd last seen Voix. For all he knew the damned Zoroark lived here and yet he was coming back. It made his skin crawl and fur stand. He honestly looked adorably fluffy more so than terrifying. He swallowed his fears as he stepped along, uncertainty kept him from making much progress.

He came with the intent of collecting some items, a sack strapped around his side. The light crystal blue necklace dangled from his neck as he walked on all four legs. It was much more comfortable this way. It kept his stomach less exposed, far easier to run from danger as well. Zadira needed more items though. Not only for his own protection, but to hopefully sell them to the local merchant back at Grassveil, maybe an explorer or two. The debt he needed to pay was big and the lawyer made it perfectly clear what would happen if he couldn't keep on his payments.

It was understandable, considering the pachirisu saved what was essentially the rest of his life, but the lawyer's expectations were brutal. He could either pay up or he was going right back to where he was found.

Mocha: [Energy: 2+1=3]
Maxie: [Energy: 1+1=2]
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”Maxie,” the mawile responded calmly—perhaps almost too calmly, like it was forced. She looked toward Mocha, her expression more curious than concerned. ”You okay?”

”Ask me later,” the zangoose responded as she walked over toward Zadira’s crumpled form.

”You’re seriously going to get near him again after he bit you?” Maxie was not hiding her condemnation of the blue zangoose.

”Maybe we’re both idiots,” she responded, exasperated. Mocha stopped in front of Zadira and looked down at him. In a lower voice, directly solely at him, she spoke. ”Are you done yet? Or are we gonna have to do this all over again? Zadira, I really want to help you, and I know you’re freaked out, and this doesn’t make any sense, but you need to get a grip and trust me.”

She was getting a better grip on everything herself. In the back of her mind the idea that a zoroark was still messing with her—with them all—still nagged at her, but she was more grounded now. She found a weird sort of comfort in the fact that she was beginning to understand what was going on with Roi and now Voix—even if she didn’t understand why it was going on. Getting Zadira to cooperate—or at least stop attacking everything he perceived as a potential threat—was her current priority. She’d worry about figuring out why Voix was later.

”Cool, great,” Maxie mumbled as Mocha seemed to disregard her warning. ”Can you believe the stuff I’ve got to deal with?” She wasn’t asking the zorua, but it would only be natural for him to assume she was. ”Is reason just lost on zangoose?”

Voix looked back to the two zangoose as he contemplated what the mawile "said to him." He gave a thoughtful hum before he piped up, "Yeah kinda. They're all dumb. Even Dad's really stupid. You'd be better off just leaving them and going out on your own." The fox didn't miss a beat in what he said, no amount of hesitation or second thoughts to it. Instead, his expression brightened right back up as he turned to face the mawile, "Hey! Wanna go together? There's probably a lot of cool places we could find around here!"

Zadira could hear Mocha's voice. It sounded just like her, but what if this was just some voice Voix curated specifically to trick him? His body ached, sharp pains ran up his left arm as it hurt to perform the simple act of moving. Breathing was even difficult, seeing as everything decided that his chest was a fitting target to harass that day. He was injured, he was weak, and he was hopeless. There was no way he'd be able to strike at the zorua. There was no way he could prove anything.

He avoided eye contact with "Mocha." What was his plan originally? Do nothing and hope Voix got bored? Maybe he should go back to that...Still, he couldn't help but utter something, even if all of this were an elaborate ruse, he felt it was necessary, "...M'sorry."

Mocha: [Energy: 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 2]
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Mocha sat down next to Zadira. ”Listen. I believe you when you say Voix is no good. I believe everything you’ve told me—I have reason not to trust you. So I need you to believe me when I say that the guy you just tried to attack isn’t that Voix. I don’t know how or why, really, I just know that he’s a younger version of him, just like Roi was from a year ago. You’re right that something is messing with you, but these aren’t illusions.”

She relayed everything she understood about the situation, hoping that by explaining it the best she understood it, Zadira might worry less about being tricked by illusions and focus more on the much more bizarre reality.

”Huh?” Maxie didn’t fully realise the zorua was talking to her. After a pause to process what exactly he had said, she replied. ”Oh, no. I have to babysit these two idiots and make sure they don’t get themselves killed.” She was being a bit harsh, all things considered. Still, she had the best intentions, even if she was growing increasingly stressed and irritable.

”So… You’re Zadira’s brother? …Where did you even come from?” Given Zadira’s reaction to the tricky fox, Maxie suspected this was another Roi situation. Given the fact that this one was a kid, she hoped it didn’t end the same way.

"Generic forest number three-thousand and twenty-two...but here specifically? Uh..honestly I have no idea how I ended up here. I didn't think I had too much of Dad's Special Stash, but I guess not," the zorua shrugged, "But yeah that's my wussy sister." The zorua dismissed the two questions immediately with answers before he veered the topic right back to what the mawile said before, "Why you gotta babysit them though? If they die, they die. Nobody important's gonna care. It'd be a lot more fun if we just went sight-seeing around here."

What Mocha said didn't make any sense. How could it not be an illusion? Zadira's ears fell back. He could hear the smarmy little kid's voice from here still. Everything felt so much like a mess. He felt like a mess. He couldn't decide if he wanted to run, fight, or watch it all play out. Nothing seemed like a good option-no matter how much he thoughts spun through all the different scenarios it could possibly be. There was no way to win. That's how it always was with Voix. There was always a downside to whatever decision there was to make. It was all a trap.

He didn't get up, both to let his body rest and because he lacked the willpower to. It was all so confusing and unreal. He would have thought it was a dream if not for the pain he felt with every strike and attack. "...Then make him go away," he mumbled, "...please," his voice wavered as he begged. Whether it was a younger version of his brother or not, he didn't want him around.

Mocha: [Energy: 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 2]
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Make him go away. She could probably do that. ”I’ll do my best,” she replied as she made her way back up to her feet—only struggling a little. She walked over to where Maxie and Voix were.

The zorua didn’t know how he had gotten here. He also seemed… Confused. Maxie concluded that he was, in fact, something like Roi. She also concluded that he was kind of an ass. ”I’d care,” she declared indignantly. Child or not, Maxie wasn’t sure she was keen on keeping him around in addition to the two zangoose she already had her hands full with. ”Why don’t you go sight-seeing on your own? You can clearly handle yourself.” She wasn’t entirely sure he could, but she also wasn't entirely sure it mattered.

Mocha heard the tail end of the conversation as she approached. Finally, everyone was in agreement on one thing: the brat had to go. ”Yeah, best you run off, we’re going to be doing pretty much the opposite of fun here.”

If this Voix was real, she’d feel bad about sending him off into the dangerous wilds of the mountains completely alone. But Mocha was certain he wasn’t—not an illusion, but not a real person, either. The real Voix was a murderous zoroark, according to Zadira and what she could gather. So whatever this Voix was, it wasn’t real. And neither was Roi. It occurred to her at that very moment that Roi wasn’t here. She’d have to ask Maxie about that, after the fox was out of sight.

The fox didn't want to leave. His ears fell as not one, but two of the three in this little group wanted him gone. He didn't quite understand what got under the mawile's skin, it confused him. The look was apparent on his face with a quirked brow and titled head. "Are you kiddin' me?" he questioned, "I'm not gonna roll around here alone. Not with those two big guys flyin around out there!" he pouted, "If I gotta go, then Z'dummy's gotta come with me!"

"No." Zadira's voice spoke out just loud enough for the zorua to catch.

"Well then I guess i'm stickin around, fun or not. It's better than dying." The kid was either entirely oblivious to the zangoose's hostility...or cared next to none about it. The cheeks of the zorua inflated as he stared back at the zangoose and the mawile defiantly, confident that he was going to be permitted to stay, but still salty.

Mocha: [Energy: 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 2]
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”Oh, someone dying is important when it’s you, huh?” Maxie responded. Mocha gave her a confused look, having missed the first part of the two’s previous conversation. Maxie turned her attention the the zangoose, now ignoring Voix entirely. ”When did he show up?”

”Just a bit ago. Literally just appeared out of nowhere far as I can tell.” She glanced around, as if looking for something. She was going to wait until the little pest was gone, but given the fact that he wasn’t interested in leaving, she decided to skip right to the question. ”So… Where’d Roi go?”

Maxie didn’t miss a beat, responding the instant the question was finished. ”Great question.” She didn’t elaborate further. ”I take it Zadira over there doesn’t want the kid hanging around?”

Mocha blinked, momentarily confused at the mawile’s response to her question. Maxie wasn’t usually one to deflect like that. ”Uh, yeah.”

”And you?”

Mocha didn’t answer with words, but she gave a look that screamed “Well yeah I don’t want him here, either, but he’s standing right there.”

Maxie nodded. ”Well, that makes four of us.” She turned to the zorua. ”Alright, here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to come with me, down the slope, to a cave we spotted earlier. We’re going to see if it’s safe shelter.” She turned toward Zadira next. ”Zadira, you’re going to stay here and keep Mocha safe, got it?”

Finally, she turned to Mocha, stepping closer so that the zangoose could hear her whisper. ”I know you trust him, and I know you’re not going to fight him; but just… Don’t let him hurt you, okay?”

”He won’t,” Mocha hissed back, clearly irritated by the mawile’s distrust. Maxie just shrugged in response.

”Alright, let’s move, Trouble.” She proceeded to turn on her heal, heading the direction the group had encountered the steelix, what felt like so long ago now.

"Well duh, I'm me," Voix snorted. The zorua went relatively ignored, however, as the mawile and the boring zangoose devised a plan of sorts. He tilted his head curiously at the bitterness in Mocha's tone, but said nothing. He then proceeded in his act of saying nothing as the mawile gave instructions and handed out orders before promptly beginning to leave.

The furball didn't follow. "Are you crazy?" he barked, "Huh-uh. I'm not goin' out there with just you. I'd rather sit here and not become a fossilized snack." He sat his hind legs down defiantly and turned his head away from the mawile. "Didn't you hear what I just said? There. Are. Two. Big. Guys. Flying. Around. Out. There. We're perfectly safe right here!" He put extra effort into spelling it out for the group, his cheeks puffed out in yet another pout.

Zadira couldn't hear what Maxie said to Mocha, but he could practically feel the distrust. Only issue with his feeling, was that it extended to Mocha too. Nobody trusted him. In all honesty, he didn't blame them. He remained where he was, motionless, as he waited for whatever fate had in store for him. There was a reason why he was kicked from the team and Mocha and Maxie were just learning why...if they were even Mocha and Maxie. There was a whole lot of "ifs" to this situation.

He didn't like it.

Mocha: [Energy: 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 2]
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Maxie turned on the spot. ”Sounds like somebody’s a coward.” She wasn’t sure if the kid was the type to be provoked by insults, but she figured it was worth a shot. ”You’re a zorua, do an illusion, make yourself look like something bigger that ‘big guys flying’ won’t want to mess with.” She had, admittedly, completely ignored his warnings that there was a potential threat, but her defence she didn’t want to listen to the brat at all.

Voix was now Maxie’s problem, as decided by Maxie. Mocha returned to Zadira, sitting beside him. ”Maxie’ll figure out how to get rid of him,” she whispered. ”I’m pretty sure she’s figured something out about them—Voix and Roi, I mean. Or she’s at least on the same page we are.” She said we, but she meant herself. She wasn’t sure Zadira was on the same page at all.

After a pause, she set a paw on his, as if to reassure him. ”She doesn’t trust you, that’s what she was whispering about.” She had no idea if Zadira had even seen the exchange, but she wanted to reestablish trust between herself and him, and this seemed like a good start. ”But I trust you. I know you wouldn’t hurt me.” Not on purpose, anyway. He technically had—twice now, but not intentionally. She didn’t feel the need to forgive him for it because she didn’t blame him to begin with.

While Mocha didn't blame him, he certainly did. It didn't really matter to him which part he blamed himself for, since there were just so many things wrong with this whole situation that was his fault. There was so much that confused him, scared him, and quite frankly made him wish he were back at Grassveil-even if it was just in some box he borrowed from an alleyway.

He looked down at her paw as she placed it on his. He was tempted to pull away, but the wrench in his gut only made him desperate to cling to something-even if it had the potential to be fake. His mind flipped and flopped between what he wanted and what he felt like he needed, it just confused him even more. He didn't know what he wanted. He curled into a ball as much as he could save for that one hand.

"You shouldn't," his voice croaked, "I did hurt you...twice."

"Call me coward all you like, you can have fun with them out there all by yourself!" the zorua huffed, "We're perfectly safe here anyways, why risk going out there?"

Mocha: [Energy: 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 2]
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The zorua was stubborn and a coward. Perhaps she could play on that. ”Actually, we’re not.” She stepped real close to Voix, and continued in a hushed tone. ”I just came back from another cave, up the way. Me and another Pokemon went up there; you’ll notice only i came back.” Her tone was deadly serious—she didn’t need to play it up, either.

”One of them is still in there, somewhere. I disabled it and ran. Who knows when it might catch up with us? That’s why we need to find a safer place to hide out now.” Her intent was to make the zorua more afraid of the unknown threat than the known one. Perhaps that would motivate him to move. She hoped so. She wasn’t sure how much longer her patience would hold out.

Mocha didn’t like seeing Zadira in his current state. She wanted nothing more than to be someplace else, no threat of being attacked, no feelings of distrust or hostility, no hauntings of past events. Just calm and quiet, where they could talk about something nice. She knew she couldn’t quite cheer him up right now, given the circumstances; and she knew anything she said couldn’t fully convince him to think differently, but she’d try nonetheless.

”Shh you. The first time wasn’t even remotely your fault. I can’t blame you for that and you shouldn’t blame yourself for it, either. And the bite?” Without warning, she lifted the zangoose’s paw up and put it between her teeth. She didn’t bite him, she only applied the tiniest bit of pressure before letting his paw go. ”There. We’re even.” There was the lightest bit of humour in her words. ”But speaking of bites, though, you still owe lunch.”

The zorua's ears perked right up at the mawile's reveal. A scary pokemon just up the way?? Well count him in on getting the hell outta here! The fear on the zorua's face was genuine, the defiant and arrogance melted into a childish uncertainty. The zorua's ears fell back again as he spoke, "Well, why didn't you say that sooner!?" he exclaimed loudly, "Let's go!"

The zorua's eyes squeezed shut. With a grunt of effort, a small puff of smoke shrouded the fox. Once the puff faded out...a very small looking Rhydon stood before the mawile. It was hardly taller than her with a big fluffy tail right behind it. The work of a terrible illusionist, to be sure, but he seemed to think this was good enough. "Let's go! Let's go!" he rushed before he'd bolt off in the opposite direction the mawile came, he stopped only to check and make sure the mawile genuinely was coming.

Mocha's actions came as a surprise to Zadira. For a moment, he genuinely thought she was about to bite him. He would have allowed it to happen too. The fact that she didn't...well, it made him feel worse. At the very least, she expected a lunch out of him. He hesitated as he processed what she said exactly, "...I'm pretty sure I owe you and Maxie a whole lot more than that."

Mocha: [Energy: 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 2]
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Maxie looked at the tiny rhydon with the fluffy tail with only the tiniest bit of confusion. Yes, of course. Why would you expect anything different? ”Great. Nailed it. No one’s going to mess with us now.” She followed behind, not nearly as quickly. ”Maybe we still keep out of sight best we can though. Just in case.”

She didn’t necessarily want Voix to get hurt, but she didn’t exactly feel a need to protect him, either. She was pretty sure he wasn’t real. She wasn’t sure what he was, but she was sure he wasn’t real. Definitely. She was certainly not just trying to convince herself of that so she wouldn’t have to feel guilty if anything did happen. Definitely.

Not too long after they were out of sight of the zangoose, Maxie realised what Voix meant by "big guys flying." ”Ah, I see. Aerodactyl. Yes, in that case, we definitely want to stay out of sight. And if they do notice us, maybe they won’t bother with us. And if they do bother with us, we try to get somewhere they can’t reach us. And if we do have to attack them, aim for the wings, watch for the teeth.” This was not going to be fun at all.

...

Mocha watched the mawile and the poorly disguised zorua set off. Now they were alone once more. ”Yeah, Maxie’s probably going to expect an apology or something out of ya. Don’t sweat it though, we’ll get it smoothed over. But right now? Calm down, get yourself together, k? You’re going to be alright. We’re going to be alright. We’re going to hang here a bit, then we’re going to leave this stupid rock pile. Then… I dunno we can do something fun.”

It was now her goal to distract Zadira from his self loathing and generally miserable attitude. ”Now allow me to distract you from this. Tell me, Blue, what do you do for fun?”

"If they come down and bother us, you're on your own and i'm getting outta here," the "rhydon" clarified for the mawile. The fox peaked out and up at the sky to see the two beasts circling about. He kept his voice down, as if the aerodactyl had the possibility of hearing them even from way up there.

The two prehistoric pokemon's shadows cast over the landscape as they searched for...well, whatever it was they were looking for. One of the creatures were significantly larger than the other, but what was most noteworthy about the duo was the way they flickered and seemed to fade out every now and then along with the strange blue tinge to their skin. Each time one opened their mouth, no sound came out. Silent screeches never reached the ears of anything or anyone, not even themselves.

"So you gonna lead the way or what? Cuz I have no idea where this cave of your's is."

----

"Fun...?" he echoed. It wasn't so much of a question, but filler as he thought about what he was going to say next. He had enough sense to know that scrambling for money didn't count as a hobby, seeing as it was a necessity, but he wasn't exactly sure what to respond with. He used to like playing board games, strategic ones especially, but he never exactly had anyone to play it with since Caritas died.

He pushed himself away from the thought. He'd just respond with what he used to do most in his spare time, before his life spiraled out of control, "Uh...I guess I used to read a lot. N-Not like-stories and stuff...but the uh-the stuff smart pokemon put out for others to read."

Mocha: [Energy: 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 2]
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”For a moment there I thought I was gonna have t’ teach you what fun was,” Mocha remarked. ”Actually, I’m not sure you do know what fun is. Stories are the fun books. But what do I know? I’m not the strongest reader. Reading wasn’t really part of the coricor—curricul—Stuff that taught where I’m from.”

She shifted to lay down on her stomach, moving carefully so as not to strain her wounded back. If they were going to be waiting here for a bit, might as well get comfortable—or at least as comfortable as you can get on hard stone and dirt. Keeping a lower profile probably wasn’t a terrible idea, either. ”But what about games? Know any fun games?”

…

”Right.” It was a response to both things the zorua had said. At least Zadira had a plausible excuse for his unreliability—Voix was just a jerk. She walked past the poorly disguised fox, keeping close to the rocky wall so that the aerodactyl only had one direction to attack from—if they attacked. She glanced back up at them, watching to see if they would notice the two odd Pokemon below them. That’s when she noticed the distortions. ”Something weird is going on,” she commented absentmindedly.