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: 22 + 1 (Page) = 23]
Maxie: [Energy: 20 + 1 (Page) = 21]
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Maxie tilted her head in the direction that Mocha had darted and turned to follow the red-striped zangoose. ”Come on, then,” she said, a slight giggle in her voice and a slight smirk on her face. Zadira’s eagerness to join them had caught her a little off guard, but she was happy he had become so comfortable with them as to blurt out such a plea to stick with them.

”Sweet, let’s get moving!” Mocha called out as she dropped to all fours and scampered forward, around the bend in the path, at which point it turned into a wide, more-or-less straight incline, with slopes of varying steepness on either side. If it were covered in snow and didn’t end in cliff, it’d be great for skiing.

Up ahead a few dozen yards, the entrance to a cave could be seen to the left. ”Hey! There’s a cave ahead!” The zangoose stood on her hind legs and pointed it out so that her traveling companions would see it. ”Wonder if it belongs to one of the absol? Or maybe it’s full of secrets or treasure, or secret treasure!

As she too made her way around the bend, Maxie looked up the sloping terrain in search of the cave. Upon finding it, she looked  further along the mountain wall in search of any other caves nearby. ”Looks like the only one—at least from this vantage point.” In her search for any more points of interest, she caught a glimpse of something reflective for just a moment. It disappeared behind a boulder right after. ”Hey, did anyone else see—”

The reflective thing reappeared a moment later, tumbling and sliding down the slope ahead of them until it almost collided with Mocha—who was in front of the others. Mocha hopped out of the way as it—what Maxie now recognized as an aron—regained its footing. It only bothered to glance around at the three other Pokemon for a second before returning to its sprint, running past Maxie and then Zadira, then beyond sight as it rounded the bend that they had just come around.

”Huh. Wonder what’s where they’re going?” Mocha asked openly, tilting her head slightly in bewilderment.

”I’m more concerned with where they came from,” Maxie said, eyes returning to where she had first noticed the aron. She didn’t see anything else coming from the same place—at least, not yet, anyway.

He too dropped onto all four of his legs, however, he had far less excitement and energy than his red-colored friend. The zangoose followed along quietly and kept up pace with them easily. His eyes continued to glance to and fro nervously despite his company, far more aware of the fact that they were in a dungeon than he was when he lost himself in their earlier conversation. He took deep breaths as he moved along, but the sudden appearance of the Aron gave him quite the spook. He instinctively gave a little jump as his fur fluffed out again.

His eyes were locked on the little aron. As it approached, he lifted a paw in a non-verbal threat to wack it as he backed away from it. It continued on without a single reaction to anyone here, though Zadira was not quick to quell his fears. Maxie was right, he felt as if they should be concerned with where the aron came from.

He opened his mouth to add his own input to the conversation, but that was when it seemed as if the whole mountain began to shake. Zadira's ears shot forward as a surge of panic put him on edge. Bits and pieces of rocks and pebbles began to roll and fall down the mountain, this time without the assistance of an stray Aron. A lump formulated in his throat as he froze to the spot, small pebbles flying into and past him as the quakes began to grow stronger.

What did an Aron have to fear in an environment like this? He asked himself. He was quick to remember his own question, however: Something that could eat iron. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He could only shiver and shake at the very idea of what was potentially coming their way, but alas, he was paralyzed with his own fear.

Mocha: [Energy: 22]
Maxie: [Energy: 20]
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Maxie was quickly coming to the same conclusion that Zadira had come to. While she was pretty sure she could handle her own in a fight against some of the Pokemon around here, she wasn’t sure she could get an advantage on something big and powerful enough to shake the very mountain. ”Hey, maybe we should get out of sight for a quick minute…”

She turned around to see Zadira, fur standing on end, shaking, stunned—it would have been kinda cute, if it weren’t for the circumstances that causes it. ”Zadira? Are you gonna be—” The quaking had suddenly stopped. Maxie remained completely motionless and silent, listening and feeling for any further changes.

Mocha had been searching around for a source the entire time. When the quaking stopped she turned back to her traveling companions, eyes wide. After a long, tense pause, she finally spoke. ”Why’d it sto—”

The rumbling had suddenly started again, subtly but quickly growing stronger, louder. Closer. With little warning, the ground burst open between the group, a cloud of dust and debris separating Maxie and Zadira from Mocha. The silhouette of some massive, serpentine Pokemon was just barely visible through the curtain of dirt.

Maxie, being short in stature, found her balance fairly easy to maintain given the unsteady floor beneath her. Mocha reflexively dropped to all fours, sprinting higher up the slope to get away from the thing that had just torn up the terrain.

As the dust began to settle, the reflective body of the beast between them began to come into view. The thing—what Maxie was quick to realise was a steelix—roared angrily, the sound echoing over and over throughout the mountain. It leaned its head forward, through the dust and into full view of Maxie and Zadira, before roaring again and diving back into the rock floor—breaking through it like it was plaster.

”We gotta move, Zadira!” Maxie shouted—in part to be heard over the sound of the rumbling, in part because the second roar was so defining. She gestured toward the mountain wall to the left, where the floor beside it had been as of yet mostly undisturbed by the steelix’s digging. If they could move quick enough, they could get to Mocha. She wasn’t sure what they could do once they were together, but at least she’d feel a little better not being separated.
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Mocha Rolls:

Badger carried out 10 launched of one Black Mist Mountain :

, , , , , , , , ,

Maxie Rolls:

Badger carried out 10 launched of one Black Mist Mountain :

, , , , , , , , ,

The ground before him burst open with a plume of dust and an attack on his senses. The flying pebbles and dirt threatened his eyes, which made him reflexively lift an arm to protect his eyes. Tiny little rocks pelted him as he stood his ground. The quakes of the ground prevented him from being able to stand on two legs. If it weren't for shock waves created by the beast's appearance, he could have sworn the creature's very voice would have been able to shake the ground.

Once the air was clear enough for him to safely lower his arm, he could see the stone giant lean forward with another merciless bellow. The monster cut through the ground with such ease. Zadira couldn't break his eyes away from the steelix's exit point. He could hear a voice shout above the overwhelming volume of the destruction the Steelix caused under the ground, but his attention wasn't caught by it until he heard his name.

Wide fearful eyes turned in Maxie's direction. He could see that she pointed towards something- a wall. A place where the steelix hadn't disturbed. He stayed in his spot for a few precious seconds, merely staring at the mawile as if she were a stranger. Well, a total stranger. His mind finally snapped to it as his muscles finally kicked into action. His movements were littered with hesitance, but it was just enough to avoid the surge of a stone spine that ripped through the ground from below. It sank back into the ground just after it lingered a few more feet.

His movement suddenly picked up, a faint white light left in his trail as he moved significantly faster than he was before. He bolted towards the spot Maxie pointed out to him without a second thought, merely doing what he was told. There was no telling what could could from above the hard wall, seeing it was a prime suspect for a potential rock fall with the magnitude of the quakes this side of the mountain suffered.

He stopped at the spot ahead of Maxie. He looked back to his right in search of the mawile, desperate to be told what else to do.

----

The vultures that circled above frowned upon the appearance of the steelix. This wasn't what they intended to attract. The bone-pickers glanced over at one another in their silent conversation, both uneasy about this.

One, however, decided that perhaps this chaos was an opportunity. They may have been natural scavengers, but that didn't mean they weren't against taking a bit of initiative with their meals. The larger mandibuzz gestured down at the scene with a nod of their head. The other was confused, but followed. With a tilt of their wings, they began to descend in their circular path in a spiral downwards.

Once they were close enough, the leader folded their wings and dove towards the red-colored zangoose that had the misfortune of being separated from the other two. The other followed behind with their wings spread wide in preparation to try to Block any attempts to flee or return to her friends.

Zadira > Reviver Seed
Zadira > 22-5(Echo World Entry)= 17

Kat carried out 5 launched of one Black Mist Mountain :

, , , ,

Kat carried out 5 launched of one Echo World :

, , , ,

Mocha: [Energy: 22 - 37 = 0 + Reviver Seed = 22]
Maxie: [Energy: 20 - 21 = 0 + 5 (Trap) = 5]
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Maxie paused momentarily, making sure that the zangoose with her was actually moving before she herself did. She watched that, once he finally did start moving, he came close to getting caught by one of the steelix’s spines ripping through the ground. It was then that she followed after Zadira. She was nearly right behind him until the tip of the iron snake’s tail broke through the surface directly beneath her, tripping her up and causing her to slide across the ground briefly.

A bit shaken but otherwise alright, the mawile picked herself up, and sprinted the last little distance to the wall to be beside Zadira. Admittedly, the wall came with it’s own risks—with the steelix thrashing about, the likelihood of a landslide was uncomfortably far from zero.

---

On the other side of the pit the steelix had made, Mocha was searching for her friends through the now settling cloud of debris. She was completely unaware of the mandibuzz plummeting toward her, until it was close enough to be heard cutting through the air. She did her best to dodge the incoming attack, turning it from a direct hit into a glancing blow—a still very painful glancing blow. She immediately retaliated, scratching and kicking at the bird in a bit of a panic. The bone vulture responded by breaking away and fluttering in the air above, out of the reach of the zangoose.

--

”Head up the slope, keep your eyes open for Mocha!” Maxie commanded as she stepped past the blue-striped Zangoose. She had fallen into the role of leader, which she felt necessary, given the state Zadira was in. The steelix, still below them underground, ripped past the two of them, off to their right, heading up the slope. Maxie was beginning to thing the thing was actively trying to cut them off from Mocha. The trail of broken earth and airborne dust and debris the onix left behind made crossing over it’s path difficult, but Maxie knew that Mocha was somewhere on the other side of it.

”Alright, slight change of plans, try to keep up!” The mawile shouted over the steel serpent rumbling past. She sprinted a short ways forward, up the slope, before leaping best she could over the furrow and through the dust cloud, disappearing from Zadira’s sight.

…

Mocha saw the smaller bird playing gatekeeper between her and where she assumed her friends must have been—the birds had a better view of the situation from the air after all, and were likely taking advantage of the situation caused by the steelix. Quickly glancing around for something to aid her, the zangoose spotted something wedged between some rocks against the rock wall nearest her. She darted over to it with a near-blinding speed. Then mandibuzz, caught off guard by the sudden burst of speed, hesitated before darting after her.

Reaching the thing, she yanked it free from the rocks. ”Wonderful time to find the treasure,” she murmured to herself. It was a very worn bag, likely dropped some time ago from a higher elevation and presumed lost. As she dug through it for something useful, the larger of the two vultures tacked her and clawed at her back, inciting a pained scream from the zangoose.

…

Maxie appeared on the other side of the dust cloud just in time to see the mandibuzz strike. She darted forward to help her friend but was cut off by the second, smaller one. She turned away from it, assuming her species unique fighting stance, her metallic jaws lurching forward and snapping at her opponent in a threatening and intimidating fashion that caused the bird to start. Maxie glanced back and forth between the scene behind her and the dust in front of her, hoping that Zadira will break through it any moment and help her help Mocha.

Up the slope. Keep an eye out for Mocha. The instructions were simple, he could do that. He was just about to bolt up with another use of Quick Attack, but he was brought to skidding halt as the ground between him and up the way was ripped apart and obscured by a large cloud of dust. He backed up from the sudden interference, unwilling to pursue the objective with that sort of display presented to him.

Despite that, the mawile only slightly altered the instructions. The mawile's small form was consumed by the cloud and he was meant to follow. It would have been at this point where he was supposed to give himself a burst with Quick Attack and clear the obstacle with ease, but he stepped back. One foot at a time, his instincts told him to run the opposite way. He twisted his body to turn and do just that, but the scream that sounded from just on the other side flipped his decision to flee right over.

His legs shuffled nervously, as if they received mixed messages on which way he wanted to go. In the end, a burst of speed sent him over the trail, through the particles and to the other side. He landed clumsily and disgracefully, a tumble to his step as he tripped and stumbled. Zadira brought himself back onto all four paws before he propped himself up onto two legs. Long red claws unfolded from his paws threateningly, but the rest of his posture and expression failed to match the act of potential aggression and readiness to fight.

He saw Maxie, the birds, Mocha, and then Mocha's back. He didn't move to help anyone. Instead, he started back away again. His eyes were locked on Mocha, he could see the danger she was in, he could see Maxie trying to get in to help, but he didn't move forward. Each step back was slow as his body lowered back down onto all four legs. It felt as if he was ready to turn tail and run right in front of Maxie, but instead his legs locked up and planted himself to the spot-using every bit of will to avoid doing such a thing.

----

The smaller mandibuzz was cautious of the little twerp's giant maw. It honestly surprised them and made it difficult to get at the tiny body of the fae without a risk of injury from the hideous gaping maw on its head. The smaller bird landed just before the mawile with her wings spread out as wide as they could go.

The bird gave a hideous screech that took on a strange metallic tone as a silver sheen crossed the bird. It just needed to make sure that it didn't suffer a grievous injury from this thing, like a broken wing. Perhaps Iron Defense could fix that.

The other Mandibuzz, on the other hand, was thrilled to hear the ferret's cries. It continued its attempts to assault the Zangoose, each attack aimed for someplace a little more critical to Mocha's health. The mandibuzz refused to ground itself, however, which made its movements far more clumsy and difficult as its wings struggled to keep lift. Feathers scattered everywhere in a flurry while the cacophony of its cries filled the air.

Mocha: [Energy: 22 - 5 (Echo World Entry) = 17]
Maxie: [Energy: 5 + 10 (Oran Berry) - 5 (Echo World Entry) = 10]
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Seeing the zangoose burst through the dirt cloud brought some amount of relief to the mawile, but that was quickly lost when she saw him go start still. She got the idea that something must have happened to Zadira if he was reacting this poorly to a confrontation such as this. Accepting that he wouldn’t be the most reliable aid in this fight, Maxie turned her full attention to her adversary.

The smaller mandibuzz may have boosted its defences, but she didn’t need to hurt it so badly to subdue it—at least temporarily. Maxie lashed out with her steel jaws, catching the tip of one of the mandibuzz’s wings just before it could flap way. A low, cool white light emanated from within the jaws, and ice crept out and the ensnared wing. A moment later, Maxie swung her horns behind her as she jumped forward, effectively swapping places with the mandibuzz. She released the bird at the same time, letting the moment carry it off into the ditch dug by the steelix. The way now clear, Maxie made her way toward her friend.

Mocha was effectively being pinned down by the larger mandibuzz. The vulture fluttered above her, strike out with its talons any time the zangoose tried to move away from it. As a last-ditch effort to get the bird away from her, Mocha lifted herself onto her forepaws, kicking fiercely at her airborne attacker. The mandibuzz backpedaled in the air, avoiding the attack but leaving an opening for Mocha to move.

Standing on her hind legs now, she pulled something from the bag—a scarf—and turned around to see Maxie approaching the bird from behind. Seeing an opportunity, Mocha waved at the mawile. The mandibuzz, confused, turned to see what exactly it’s prey was waving at, and at that moment Mocha charged it with a Quick Attack, jumping at the bird and wrapping the scarf around its front in an attempt to pull it to the ground with her weight.

This panicked the predator, who flailed it’s talons and squaked aggressively. After a short tustle, it knocked the zangoose off its back and tried to take off out of the normal-type’s reach—only to get battered with an Iron Head from the approaching mawile’s steel horns. It fell to the ground, momentarily stunned.

Both birds now temporarily disabled, Mocha grabbed the tattered bag she found and dumped it’s remaining contents into her own. Maxie took stock of the situation: the smaller mandibuzz would break free of the ice soon enough, the larger one was already recovering, and the steelix was—

The steelix burst through the ground directly beneath the larger of the mandibuzz. Neither Maxie nor Mocha saw where the bird went, but when the steelix turned back and dived back into the ground, the bone vulture was nowhere to be seen. Maxie wasn’t sure if it flew away after being hurtled into the air or if it was taken by the steelix, and she really didn’t want to think about it too much.

”Zadira’s—I don’t know. He’s not doing well. Are you alright?” Maxie asked her companion, with obvious concern.

The red-striped zangoose shrugged, then winced. ”It’s just a scratch—a lot of scratches. Nothing life-threatening, anyway.” The talon marks on her back were clearly defined by the unnatural red stripes running through her fur; she was bleeding, but not dramatically.

Maxie looked between Mocha, Zadira, and the moving spot on the ground where she guessed the steelix was. There was no clear pattern or course the serpent was taking, but it seemed averse to going near the cliffs and rock walls—although that may just be because there were no Pokemon to harass there. Maxie turned to face Mocha. ”I’m not sure what to do now. Can’t exactly run from the steelix, definitely can’t fight it…”

”Let’s just get Zadira out of the thing’s way!” Mocha declared before darting toward the other zangoose—she stopped suddenly, almost overwhelmed by her injuries. Maxie came up behind her to help her, but she waved the mawile on. ”Help him, I’m fine!” Maxie hesitated for a moment, before rushing over to the blue-striped zangoose.

”Come on, Zadira, you’re alright,” Maxie said as she approached. It was meant to comfort him, but she wasn’t certain it was true.

He was proven wrong about his earlier thought that Mocha was in over her head, she seemed to handle herself quite well against the Mandibuzz-better than he would have. That was easy to say, however, as a child probably would have handled themselves better in this situation. His eyes were focused on the redness of Mocha's back. Nothing lethal, yes, but that didn't make his reaction any less severe. He couldn't look away, even when the body of the smaller mandibuzz rolled past him.

A light feeling clouded his head. His heart raced. Mocha was all he could see in that moment. His stomach turned when she fell, a paw instinctively raised over his mouth to cover it as it heaved. He resisted the urge. A voice spoke closer to him, again, he didn't pay it any attention to it until he heard his name. Ever so slightly the tunneled vision faded out as his head slowly turned to look at the mawile that approached him. The fae felt it necessary to inform him that he was alright. It wasn't necessarily true, but he still agreed with her. He was "fine."

It was Mocha that wasn't alright and he felt it absolutely imperative to inform Maxie. His voice wavered and trembled. He couldn't raise his voice any higher than a normal volume, "G-Get her," his paw pulled away from his mouth to point at Mocha with a crimson claw, "Sh-she's going to die..." He was wrong, presumably, but from his perspective, the marks were far worse than they seemed. A particular image wove its way into his thoughts, an image he hated. It made the feeling in his stomach work its way up to drag his heart down. It seemed to overlap almost perfectly with the other zangoose, even despite how differently Mocha acted from the subject of comparison just earlier.

He didn't move, focused on trying to tell the mawile to help her friend. His limbs were firmly locked into the spot with only one raised to point at the other zangoose. She was far more important than he was in that moment.

Mocha: [Energy: 17]
Maxie: [Energy: 10]
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Mocha approached the two—slower than she’d like, but most movements, especially quick ones, turned the dull burning sensation on her back into a firestorm of pain. She wasn’t dying, though. At least not yet—a certain steelix might intend otherwise. ”What’s up?” Mocha asked in a casual tone that seemed all too out of place given the situation.

”He seems to think you’re dying,” Maxie returned. ”I think he’s having some sort of panic attack. Maybe if you tell him you’re alright he’ll calm down a bit?” Maxie herself was trying to maintain a calm tone of voice; she wasn’t sure if it was for Zadira’s sake, Mocha’s, or her own.

Mocha dropped to all fours and met Zadira’s gaze. Her expression was calm—almost cheery. She placed one paw on the other zangoose’s shoulder, in an effort to comfort him. ”I’m okay, Zadira. Really, I’ve been in far worse scraps.” She hadn’t. ”I’m fine. We’re fine. But we kinda need to get away from this steelix before it brings the mountain down under us.”

As if to emphasise her point, the steelix mentioned burst out of the ground only a few yards away from the three Pokemon. Maxie and Mocha both tensed, ready to move out of the way if the iron snake decided to come down on them, but both hesitant to move away from their new friend, knowing he likely wouldn’t move quick enough.

Fortunately for the lot of them, the steelix didn’t get the opportunity. From somewhere high above them, a blast of energy shot from a cliff and impacted directly into the steelix’s head, toppling it over. The impact of the steelix hitting the floor not far beside the trio shook the ground immensely. Had they been on a ledge, it would have broken free for sure. A second rumbling came when whatever it was that blasted the steelix leaped from it’s cliff to the rocky floor below.

As the dust settled, a green-armored Pokemon stepped from the dust toward the steelix, seeming to completely ignore the smaller Pokemon. ”Actually, maybe we’re okay.”

The Pokemon—a tyranitar, Maxie recognized—stepped up to the steelix, reached down, and began to lift the massive metal serpent by its tail. It began to drag it around in a circular motion, as if it were trying to lift it like a throwing hammer. It wriggled as if it didn’t want to be thrown like a throwing hammer. It was becoming very clear that these two titans were about to throw down, and the three relatively tiny Pokemon were right in the middle of the arena.

”Actually, maybe we really should start moving away from here, like right away!” Mocha’s calm tone wavered as she realised the imminent threat that the steelix had presented had just doubled.

What a good first impression he left. Not only did he interrupt their lunch, but now he froze up in the face of danger directly after telling them he used to be an explorer. At the very least, these two might understand just why he couldn't keep up. Granted, he didn't used to be this terrible-but it was debatable whether he would have done more harm trying to do anything at all than good. His mind wasn't exactly focused on that in the heat of the moment, but the passing thought did occur. It was quickly overwritten by the feeling of a corpse touching his shoulder.

No, she wasn't a corpse. Not yet. Still, he couldn't help but recoil from the touch. More rumbles and quakes followed by grey and green blurred movements in the corner of his vision caught his attention. His view caught the motions of the gargantuan pokemon in combat for. some unknown reason. Perhaps the steelix made too much noise in the tyrannitar's territory? Maybe they had some sort of feud with each other? Either way, his instincts took back the wheel.

The immediate terror of the sight was enough to push the image out of his mind and kick him into gear. He said nothing to the two, but he at least started to move. His claws folded back inwards, all prior will to fight gone without a trace. The ferret suddenly turned and bolted in the opposite direction of the battle. He waited for neither of the two as his paws scrambled to kick up dirt and dust to get him on the move. A white trail lingered behind his form as he sped off further up the path, but the traces of the Quick Attack quickly dissipated behind him with just enough time to follow.

He continued along with no real attention to where he was going. The rumbles of the fight faded behind him, but he could still here the steelix's screeching. His lack of awareness would lead to a close call, as he stopped just before he vaulted himself right over the edge of a sheer drop like some kind of lemming. His gaze was no fixated on the drop below with a frightened whimper. Slowly and surely, he started to step back and away from the ledge.

Mocha: [Energy: 17]
Maxie: [Energy: 10]
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Zadira’s sudden bolting startled Mocha somewhat. His use of Quick Attack got him so far so quickly that neither she nor Maxie had the chance to say anything to him. ”Well, at least he’s going now.”

”He’s going somewhere,” Maxie responded. ”Come on, let’s get following before he gets himself lost—I’m not certain he even heard a word you said.” The mawile turned to follow the blue-striped zangoose.

Mocha hesitated for only a moment. She watched as the smaller mandibuzz that Maxie had disabled earlier pop up out of the ditch, take in its surroundings, then immediately and frantically take off as quickly as it could from battlefield of the two behemoths. After the steelix knocked the tyranitar backward and toward her with an Iron Tail, Mocha decided she’d overstayed her welcome and sprinted away with her own Quick Attack.

The zangoose caught up with Maxie with ease. She saw ahead the other zangoose, backing away from the ledge in front of him. The way he moved, she suspected he had only noticed it just in time. Mocha took the initiative to catch up to Zadira by using another Quick Attack to clear the distance that it would take Maxie notably longer to cross. She winced and muffed a pained sound when she came to a stop, and was glad Zadira was looking the opposite direction, since he clearly had a problem with seeing her in this state.

”Hey,” she breathed, trying to mask her recovery from the sudden jolt of pain with pretend exhaustion. You gonna be alright?” She sat down behind him. She wasn’t sure what was going on with him, and she definitely didn’t know how to help, so she was simply trying to act calm and unhurt. In truth she was concerned, and injured—though it wasn’t unbearable. Granted, she was kinda pumped full of adrenalin at the moment, so that was probably helping a bit.

Maxie walked backward toward the two zangoose, keeping most of her attention in the direction of the steelix and tyranitar. The massive size of the two creatures made her have to wonder what exactly a safe distance would be from the two. She was pretty sure they weren’t at that distance yet. She watched a stray Hyper Beam burst into the air over the low peaks of the mountain. Terrifying as they may be, she had to admire that kind of power.

His mind was fixed on one track at a time. First it was Mocha's back, the steelix fight, the edge of the cliff, and now it was back on Mocha. The booms and rumbles of the fight faded into the background until it felt as if he couldn't hear it at all. That was Mocha. Mocha equals bleeding. Bleeding equals bad. The fact that he just bolted out of the scene and essentially left the two behind to potentially get mauled more flew right over his head. Instead, the knowledge that Mocha was hurt resurfaced.

The ferret spoke to him, but he didn't answer the question. His response was to instead be concerned with Ca-Mocha. He turned around to face her, "N-No," he stuttered, "No-No-No, y-you're red. You're bleeding." It might have seemed like it was an answer and still technically lined up as a truthful one, but he certainly didn't mean for it. He backed up a step, as if he didn't want anything to do with her. A small pebble was kicked back from the sudden movement and sent over the edge with a click and a clack against some rocks on the way down.

He needed to stop it. Whether it was severe or not, it needed to be stopped. "I-It needs to stop, before-before-" he broke eye contact and searched the ground, as if it would somehow provide the answers he sought. Something must have helped, because he looked back up with a sudden epiphany. "Bandages!" he exclaimed. He sat himself down, pulled his bag around in front of him, and began to rummage through it desperately. "I have-bandages." He struggled to find them despite the organized structure, his mind drew a complete blank on where exactly he'd left them in the satchel.

Whether or not it was a good idea to do so here-next to a sheer drop with the violent turmoil off where they came from-was a different story he didn't exactly think of.

Mocha: [Energy: 17]
Maxie: [Energy: 10]
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Mocha wasn’t certain now was the best time or place for it, but she wasn’t going to refuse Zadira’s help—especially not when he was in this state. The red zangoose laced the digits of her forepaws together and placed them behind her head. She didn’t turn her back towards Zadira, though. She wasn’t sure how well he’d handle the sight of the real wounds, and she wanted to get him away from the cliff ledge. She could feel the slow trickle of blood running down her back—some of the cuts had already stopped; the deepest ones weren't bleeding profusely. Still, bandages would keep them clean, she supposed.

”By all means, have at it. I wouldn’t mind some doctoring,” she responded casually, as if the whole situation was totally normal. The fact that they had possibly almost died a moment ago, or that the tyranitar and steelix were still well within earshot, wasn’t really what bothered her—those things were exciting, thrilling even. It was the state of the other zangoose that was bothering her. She was glad he was concerned for her, and happy that he wanted to help her, but something about the way he talked and the way he looked at her… She wasn’t sure if he was even seeing her It was as if he was seeing someone else.

Maxie kept an eye on the group’s flank. The fighting Pokemon didn’t seem to be getting any closer, but they weren’t getting any father away, either. The sounds of the clash were growing sparser, however, as if one or both competitors were wearing out. She had to wonder if one winner was better than the other, or if regardless of which one was victorious, that one would simply seek out the witnesses afterwards.

The mawile listened almost absently to the conversation between the two zangoose. Mocha seemed to be handling Zadira well enough. She wondered how much experience the blue zangoose had with treating injuries. Given that he was once a guild member, she assumed he had to be adequate enough. ”Good to see you’re prepared, Zadira.” She commented absently. He’d barely taken notice of her since he’d seen Mocha get attacked, so she wasn’t sure if he had even heard her now.

He certainly had experience-plenty of it. It was a useful skill to have when he himself got beaten up all the time back with Roi's team. His desperate search through the pack proved fruitful as he pulled out a gauze and a small medical kit with very basic and rudimentary tools. He fumbled and fiddled with it the bandages, the way his paws quivered and shook made it difficult to work with it. Frustration brewed as his vision blurred.

At the very least, he could conclude he couldn't do this. He couldn't stand to look at that wound again. The mere thought of it put a pressure on his chest and suffocated him. There had to be something though. He couldn't just do it with closed eyes!

That was when he heard someone else say his name. Max. That was Maxie. Wait-she could do it. Couldn't she? It took a few deep and gradual breaths to build up the capacity to speak, "M-Maxie," he spoke up, "Y-You have to-I-I can't-" He couldn't finish the sentence. He held the small kit in front of him with a long stare. What a useful little "Hero" he was.

Mocha: [Energy: 17]
Maxie: [Energy: 10]
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Maxie turned to see Zadira placing kit down in front of him. He wanted her to do it. She probably could; she had the basic first aid knowledge down, though she never had to actually use it before. She gave one last glance back in the direction they had come from before approaching the pair of zangoose.

”No,” she said in a soft but stern tone. She reached out and grabbed the zangoose’s paw and gently pulled him toward her—away from the edge of the cliff. ”I don’t know how to,” she lied. ”You’ll have to do it, Zadira, or at least show me how.” If Mocha’s wounds were more serious—if she were really bleeding—Maxie would have done it without a word or any hesitation. But Mocha was fine, relatively speaking. Maxie didn’t know how to help Zadira, but she didn’t want to take over for him, she wanted him to gain some of his lost confidence.

Maxie moved to stand beside Maxie, letting go of Zadira after her subtle pull and picking up the kit, opening it and presenting its contents to him. ”Come on, Zadira,” Mocha said, a small smile—weak but genuine—spread on her face. ”You’ve got this, no problem. You’ll help me, and we’ll both be okay.”