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.

It felt like a punch in the gut. The mawile held kind intentions with their lie, but Zadira only saw hopelessness. They wanted to help and it was an admirable effort, but he was a little too far gone. The mawile approached, reached out with a tiny hand and lured him away from the edge he'd entirely forgotten about. He went along with the deceiver pokemon slowly as he lacked the will and strength to resist. He was brought closer to the ferret. Their words were no longer tuned out, a little clearer to hear now that a task was set.

He didn't like what they had to say. There was so many things wrong with this situation that just couldn't be fixed. They needed to clean the wound. They needed to clean their hands. Infection was an uncomfortably high risk-for his standards. Anything above a zero was too high. He received words of encouragement, but he shook his head. The medkit was presented to him. There was a vial or two of combee honey, tweezers, a small knife, pins, the bandages, some soft pads, and even few berries and reviver seeds.

He pulled away. Fortunately when he back-peddled there was no concerning long fall of a cliff behind him. "No!" he objected with far more passion and ferocity, "I-It's gotta be you-A-Anything'll do. J-Just put the cotton down on top of it and wrap around the waist then-then the-pin-" His mind swarmed with all the things that should be done. He just wanted it to stop. Wrap it up, so he won't have to see it at the least. So he'd stop seeing it.

His claws unfolded again instinctively as his temper rose, even going as far as to stand back on his two feet. He couldn't stand the way it made him sick. He hated what it reminded him of. Even though it wasn't all that big of a deal, he certainly made it out to be. He avoided looking at Mocha, as he instead focused his sights on Maxie.

Mocha: [Energy: 17+1 (Page) = 18]
Maxie: [Energy: 10 + 1 (Page) = 11]
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Maxie’s fight-or-flight response began to kick in when she saw the zangoose’s claws come out, but she suppressed it. The last thing she needed to do was attack the poor zangoose—or leave Mocha with him, given the fact that he was suddenly becoming a tad too aggressive for comfort. She began to realise that she had no idea what she was dealing with.

Mocha’s claws came out a moment after Zadira’s—some sort of innate response she wasn’t even aware of until after it had happened. It surprised her, but after a moment, she calmed again, and retracted them. She glanced at Maxie, nodding silently.

The mawile wordlessly began to do as Zadira had instructed, being very gentle with Mocha, unnecessarily so. She was concerned for Zadira as much as she was concerned for Mocha’s—and her own—wellbeing. She was pretty sure he didn’t actually wanted to hurt either of them, but she was certain that he wasn’t thinking straight.

Mocha felt she should say something, but she didn’t know what. She didn’t know what could possibly help—if anything she could possibly say could help. She didn’t like how angry Zadira was getting. It wasn’t a normal anger, either. Not quite rage—something almost similar to fear. Some blend of the two. She didn’t like it. She stared off into the distance, at the other mountains in view, as if a solution to the problem at hand would be out there.

Maxie was finishing up, placing the pin to finish off the bandage, when a loud screech—the sound of the steelix, clearly in some serious pain—echoed through the mountains. A light tremour followed swiftly after. Maxie supposed a winner must have been decided. ”That’s that, then,” she said, voice just above a whisper. She looked at Zadira. She wasn’t sure what she was looking to him for. Approval? Improvement? A violent outburst?

His instinctive act of aggression, obviously, incurred some reactionary aggression from the other zangoose. He stood his ground and waited, but had difficulty in keeping his eye on the duo as Maxie bandaged Mocha up. He averted his eyes as he dropped back down onto his paws. His focus shifted to another suddenly very interesting looking pebble off to the side, but it didn't quite feel as if he looked at it. He hardly understood what was going on, but at the very least the blood was taken care of...or at least he had no choice but to presume.

The pain-fueled shriek of the steelix reached through the haze of his distractions and caught his attention. He turned around and faced in the direction, his body kept low with his ears pinned back. The crimson claws remained extended, but no real action was taken beyond keeping his focus in the direction of the new "threat." Once again, it felt as if his muscles refused to move. His breath huffed with exhaustion, both physical and mental.

Once he concluded there was nothing coming to kill him from that direction yet, he finally flicked back to the two. His eyes shifted between Mocha, to Maxie, and then to his medical kit. His form seemed to shrink as his fur settled down. He certainly felt a lot smaller as things began to settle in. He sat himself down again. His voice quivered as he finally spoke, "I-I'm sorry." He should say more. He felt as if he needed to say more, but that was a whole lot of stuff to get into with two total strangers he'd majorly inconvenienced that day.

He wanted to collect his kit, but didn't dare to take a step towards the two. He could hardly recall much of what just happened, but the way the mawile looked at him was telling. He avoided eye contact as he concluded, "Th-That's that..." He'd just have to live with whatever consequence became of it.

Mocha: [Energy: 18]
Maxie: [Energy: 11]
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Not much came from Zadira besides a stuttered apology. Maxie packed up the the first-aid kit and stepped forward to give it to its owner. She wanted to say something, but had no idea what to say. Things were calming down, at least. She set the kit down in front of Zadira before going to sit down herself beside and between the two zangoose.

Mocha stretched a bit to test her mobility with the new bandages. They weren’t too restrictive. ”Thanks, Maxie. And thank you, Zadira, for the kit and all,” it was a genuine thank you, with a chipper tone that seemed quite out of place given the situation. ”I’m going to be fine for sure, now,” she added, clearly directed at Zadira. Her tone suddenly shifted to something more like concern than cheeriness. ”But I wasn’t too worried about myself anyway. Zadira, are you gonna be alright?”

The concerned Mocha had for the other zangoose’s wellbeing was clear not only in her tone of voice, but in her expression. Her gaze had moved from the vista to Zadira and become fixed there, as if searching for answers to the question from his appearance alone. He was hurt, and she wanted to help him, but his damage wasn’t physical—it wasn’t something she could just bandage up.

The question caught Maxie off guard. She wasn’t sure it was the best idea to try and pry. Although she wanted an explanation of what just happened, Maxie felt as if Zadira was currently too volatile to be asking personal questions. She imagined that whatever was up with him was related to his past—possibly family related, given how he reacted to Mocha—another zangoose—getting hurt. She had to wonder if he would have reacted quite the same if it were herself who get clawed up by that bird.

Maxie kept her gaze off of Zadira. She didn’t want him to feel like he was being interrogated. It was her turn to stare off at some object like it was the most interesting thing in the world. She chose the peaks above them—or rather, what she could see before they disappear into the clouds.

This whole situation was uncomfortable. Mocha thanked him for the kit and Maxie returned it to him. She was as bright as she was throughout just about this whole situation. It would have been a little concerning to him if he weren't hyper-focused on the fact that she was "dying" throughout half of the whole incident. He wasn't so confident or assured with her words, but he couldn't bring himself to make eye contact out of shame. He picked up the kit. He examined it, desperate to keep his eyes off of the others in fear of how they looked at him.

Everything was here all right. Yep. Nothing forgotten. Just the right amount of bandages and cotton were used and he still had plenty left for any other "mishaps" he or the others may come across-if they didn't tell him to turn right around and go back home. He closed the little case with a light "clack" and stuffed it back into his bag.

"Zadira, are you gonna be alright?" the zangoose asked just as he dared to look up. Her soft and concerned expression was far different from what he expected. He thought he might receive something similar to the cautious glare when he first met her. His ears twitched as they failed to pin back even further than they already were.

"Don't you lie to me this time, Fuzzbutt." the words echoed in his thoughts, finishing the prompt.

He wanted to respond, but his throat swelled. All that he could manage was a pitiful whine followed by a burial of his face into his paws. He squeezed his eyes shut as he tried and failed to suppress the heavy sobs. He didn't give a verbal answer, but at the very least his action gave a clear and concise, "No."

Mocha: [Energy: 18]
Maxie: [Energy: 11]
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Mocha’s expression shifted from concern to surprise, then back rather quickly. Zadira’s reaction had caught her off guard briefly—though she wasn’t sure why. He was clearly emotional and overwhelmed, should should have expected this as a response, and yet she hadn’t. She didn’t need a vocal answer for her question, the answer was explicitly clear.

She felt silly for her initial reaction to the sight of the other zangoose—her cautiousness, her brief expectation of confrontation from him. Sure, he could probably put up a fight. And admittedly, she didn’t have a lot of experience with the guy, nor did she know him all particularly well—she knew his name and a single story from his past. He was a complete stranger, really. He had just bore his claws, as if he was going to attack. And yet, Mocha couldn’t see anything resembling danger in him. He just looked hurt.

With no warning, Mocha moved forward and captured Zadira in a hug. She couldn’t think of anything to say, so she didn’t. She just hoped that this gesture would help in some way. Coform him, at least a little, since words weren’t working.

The gesture definitely caught Maxie off guard. Somehow, she hadn’t expected Mocha to be the hugging sort. It pulled the mawile’s attention away from the peaks and back to the two zangoose. She still didn’t say anything. She wasn’t sure if there was anything she was supposed to do or say in this situation. So she just sat there, awkwardly. She wasn’t really the hugging sort. In fact, she wasn’t really that great with these sorts of emotional things; it made her feel completely out of her element. She was very glad Mocha was here with her—she was certain she would have made Zadira worse off if where only her.

He cried. It wasn't anything particularly dramatic or messy, but it wasn't a detail to just be ignored. Long furry arms wrapped around him. He didn't fight it, but instead embraced it. He would have been a little surprised by Mocha's gesture himself if he weren't busy trying to get himself to calm down. For a guy who's been in prison for a good while and was raised by a family of ferals, he sure didn't act like it. He was soft-too soft. He considered himself lucky that he got out of both situations when he did, otherwise he might not have been around at all.

It took him a good minute, before he remotely came close to getting a hold of himself again. They shouldn't stay here. He was not only delaying their hike, but the victor of whatever battle that occurred behind them could decide to come after them. He'd freeze up again and the process might just repeat itself all over again-though this time they might not make it out.

"I-I'm good," his voice cracked, "Thank you." He resisted the urge to apologize again. It would not do him much here. He hoped that nothing else would come along to ruin this day much more, but that was just a little too much to ask for, wasn't it?

Mocha: [Energy: 18]
Maxie: [Energy: 11]
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Maxie looked back in the direction the battle had taken place, then upward, toward the path further up. Was it I a good idea to keep going up at this point, with Zadira in the state he was in? If they went back down, would they run into the steelix again, or the tyranitar? Zadira said he was okay, but Maxie didn’t really believe him. If they kept hiking upwards, would that increase or decrease their likelihood of running into more hostile Pokemon? There were the absol, of course, but in a pinch they could probably be reasoned with. Right?

”Forwards and upward, then,” the mawile said after a long pause after Zadira’s thanks. She stood and started walking up the path—which was only just distinguishable in the terrain. ”I’m going to look ahead a bit, make sure it’s… Clear. I’ll give you a minute to get your bearings.” It wasn’t clear if she was using the royal “you” or if she was addressing one of the zangoose in particular.

Mocha didn’t let go of Zadira until Maxie started to walk away. While she agreed with the idea of checking the way forward, she didn’t like the idea of separating the group. Although, that may be due to the fact that the last time that happened she got ambushed. Mocha stood up, pretending that her back didn’t hurt as much as it did. She offered a paw to the other zangoose. ”We…” she started, uncertainty in her voice. ”We should probably talk about that stuff,” she tilted her head back slightly in the direction they had come from. ”At some point. When you want to…”

He couldn't help but interpret animosity from the mawile's words. Whether she truly did or not, Zadira certainly felt as if the mawile held a particular grudge against him for his actions. What made it worse was that it was perfectly understandable to him. He'd caused them a lot of trouble and Maxie was probably doing everything she could to keep from blowing up at him-which would surely make it worse.

His shoulders sagged as the fae left, as if a heavy weight forced them down. He looked back to Mocha only briefly before they diverted down towards the ground. He could hear her fine and clear, just like he could hear just about everything now. The tunneled attention span was no more, which meant that he could agonize over Mocha's apparent desire to talk about what happened. Truthfully, he didn't know whether he wanted to or not-though he supposed he owed them an explanation. He owed them a lot of things. Was "getting into debt" all he was good at?

He couldn't just stay quiet. That wasn't a polite answer. "Uh-" he started as he struggled to piece his words together, "I-I'll do it whenever you want to...there isn't ever really a "good" or "bad" time..." At the very least, he appreciated the option to have a choice.

----

Up ahead of the slope, where Maxie ventured off to investigate, a colorful bird with a large beak stared on into nothingness. Despite the ruckus earlier, it sat a top a large rock with its clawed talons splayed out-almost as if it were a clumsy doll than a proper bird. Upon Maxie's approach, the archen's head twisted to focus on large beady eye on the larger pokemon. It blinked twice as it surveyed the mawile, as if sizing up her strength or something of the sort.

The little archen's wings suddenly flew up and flailed about with no sense of true purpose other than to grab the mawile's attention, "TURN BACK!" it warbled, "Danger-DANGER! Turn back-go BACK! No fun-not fun~! Noooooope~! B A D!"

Mocha: [Energy: 18]
Maxie: [Energy: 11]
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”What happened?” Mocha asked with genuine concern. ”I mean, not just then, but before. I don’t want to pry or bring up any bad memories you don’t want to remember—well, I mean, I don’t want to but I guess I kinda am by asking—” The zangoose scratched the back of her head sheepishly. ”I mean, I’m not upset at you for any of it. It’s kinda, uh, appreciated, you were so concerned over me and all, but…” Mocha found it difficult to find the right words, or even exactly what point to pursue. She paused for a moment, breathing in deeply before releasing a long sigh.

”Who did you see?” She decided to just jump straight to the question first, and attempt to elaborate afterwards. ”You looked at me like I was someone else. Like you were seeing someone else in my place.” Admittedly, the question wasn’t particularly helpful in trying to help Zadira avoid another episode—if anything it might have been risking the complete opposite, but Mocha was letting her curiosity get the better of her for a moment. Still, her voice maintained the slightly low, gentle tone she had started with.

…

”What happened?” the mawile asked, a bit confused and surprised by the bird and it’s strange cadence and antics. ”You know, it’d be a lot more helpful if you actually just said what exactly was B A D.” Her tone was stern, clearly not interested in playing a guessing game with the messenger.

Maxie found herself growing a bit impatient. Despite her telling herself she wasn’t upset with Zadira, she sort of was. She wasn’t too upset, since she and Mocha ultimately managed to handle themselves well enough, but if things had gone differently—if the giant Pokemon had been less interested in each other and more interested in the tiny Pokemon around them, or if there had been more than just two mandibuzz—Zadira’s help might have actually been necessary.

She felt a bit guilty, though. It was obvious to her that the guy was having a bad go. Her distancing herself might not have been helping either; she realised that he might get the idea that she was genuinely mad at him. That wasn’t the case. She just wasn’t the best with dealing with the bluer side of emotions. She didn’t want to make anything worse, so she distanced herself.

Okay, whenever Mocha wanted was apparently right this moment. His ears perked right back up, but it his expression was far from anything eager or interested. His claws unfolded again, but it was not out of hostility. Instead they folded over one another and pulled his paws closer together, interlocking with one another.

"Uhh..." he started his tale gracefully. He had difficulty in deciding where to start, but fortunately Mocha provided a perfect spot. His eyes focused on the ground as he gathered his thoughts. "C-Caritas," he answered as if it explained all. He was quick to realize that wasn't the case and continue, "Sh-She was my uh, friend-well, more than just a friend technically, b-but we never came out and said it. Sh-She meant a lot to me and helped me out a really bad spot multiple times." This felt weird. It felt a lot stranger now that he said it than it did in his head. It wasn't every day that someone walked up to another pokemon and flipped out over them just because they looked like their girlfriend. He swallowed his fear and anxiety as he forced himself to continue.

"She died," he said a little more bluntly than he liked, "And I know it was painful, and long, and she begged for it to stop-a-and I couldn't get her image out of my head when I saw you hurt a-and I didn't want it to happen again." He spoke quickly in attempt to get it all out at once-so he could get it over with. His brilliant idea rewarded him with a need to stop and take a breath. He dared to look at Mocha's expression as he tried to judge just how much else he should say and how much Mocha even wanted to hear.

----------------

"Bad-bad-BAD. B! A! Triple! D!" the archen chimed as his wings went as far as to sign out the letters above his head as best as they could. He flapped them uselessly when he finished as he switched to the other eye to focus on Maxie.

"Go! Don't go back. Never go-never go back! Back. Becomes. Front! Front-go-back. Don't go. Don't go back! Never go back! Turn back! Go!" the flightless bird flailed his wings about uselessly once more with a cacophony of squawks and screeches followed by an odd croak and a coo before it looked back down to the mawile expectantly.

Mocha: [Energy: 18]
Maxie: [Energy: 11]
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Mocha repeated the name in her head. She had already figured out Zadira cared for her, but now the relationship was made clear. The conversation suddenly felt a lot heavier when Zadira blunted stated that Caritas was dead, and each added detail felt like another brick was being added to the pile, further increasing the weight.

She looked away from him as he explained. She suddenly felt out of her depth. If he had simply said that this Caritas had died; she could have handled that. A painful death, that was still manageable. But what he was saying… It painted a horrible picture that she didn’t want to see. She completely understood why his reactions were so severe. She returned to facing him when he looked at her, her expression was some mixture of sorrow and shock; the Zadira’s explanation far from what she had anticipated.

”I—I’m so sorry, Zadira I—” Mocha was almost overwhelmed with guilt over asking about it in the first place. She wasn’t sure if she was saying sorry for his loss or apologizing for asking. She pulled him into another hug—it was easier than trying to formulate full, coherent sentences. ”You don’t have to say any more, if you don’t want to,” she all but whispered it.

…

I’m going to kill this bird. Maxie let out a long, exaggerated sigh. ”Okay, listen. I am going to say this very slowly to make sure you catch every word, then you can take a moment to process it and answer sensibly.” After a short pause, she continued in a slow pace, with a notable pause between each word. ”What is the danger that you saw further up the path?”

Each word grated at the mawile’s patience. He horns began to twitch behind her, a clear indication of her growing irritability. She was glad her traveling companions had decided not to catch up so quickly, because if this archen didn’t give her an actual answer to her question, she didn’t want them to see her potentially lose her temper completely and Iron Head the poor, stupid thing off the side of the mountain.

Hello discomfort, his old friend. Mocha seemed very understanding of the situation. She brought him in for another hug, again he didn't fight. He unraveled his claws from their locked position and folded them back in to reciprocate the hug. To his surprise, it felt far more comforting to talk about it with someone than he originally thought. It brought back difficult and hard memories, but it was much lighter than when he faced them just moments ago.

He broke the hug only partially to wipe his eyes. Zadira felt as if he wanted to go home, but where was he supposed to go when there was no home to go back to? He found the strength to speak as they hugged, "Th-Thank you, b-but I do owe you and M-Maxie for what happened back there-a-and it's not like I'm trying to hide anything, so if you want to talk about it then I do." It was hard, but it was the truth. It wouldn't be pleasant or easy, but he was willing-even if it was right then and there that she wanted more details.

----

The colorful bird gazed upon the impatient one long and hard. The little engine that was its mind chugged along ever so powerfully as it put as much effort as its little brain cells could into thinking of a way to convey this information. Its eyes narrowed as it gave a confident and assuring nod. Yes. It had this now. It could do this. The little archen lifted his bright blue wings and opened his big red beak as he took in a big breath.

"Me-see-long-back-front. You no go back so no go front! Back! Back! Go Back! Don't go back-front front go back! Turn Back. Bad! Bad! No go back! No back! Go back. Back bad! Back bad! No come back, go back. Back! Back! BACK! No go back no go front. Go back. Go back. Turn back. Turn back no go back. Bad! Bad! Bad! Bad! BAD! BAD! BAD!" the archen's words devolved into simply repeating that particular word over and over agan. His wings flailed about as he shouted at the top of his voice in the loudest volume he could muster. The bird's now-wide eyes didn't even focus on the mawile any more as he continued his...warning.

Mocha: [Energy: 18]
Maxie: [Energy: 11]
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”No,” Mocha gently pulled out of the hug to look Zadira in the eyes. ”You don’t owe us anything—well maybe lunch,” she interrupted herself with the sudden thought, which just sort of came out. ”But you can’t blame yourself for what happened there. You didn’t choose this, it’s not your fault.” She tilted her head slightly and pointed a paw at him, her tone and expression suddenly more stern. ”And don’t go doing that thing where someone says ‘it’s not your fault’ and then you go blaming yourself in your head anyway, because it’s not.”

She sighed, expression softening again, along with his voice. ”I don’t think you’re trying to hide anything, but I’m not going to pry and nag you for your life story. If you feel like there’s something important you need to say, or you feel you need to share, I’m all ears.” She lightly flicked her left ear to emphisise the statement. ”I’ll listen to whatever you have to say—it’s what friends are for.” She said friends with zero hesitance, like they had known each other for ages.

…

Maxie was momentarily stunned as the little bird rattled off it’s nonsense. Her brain was overwhelmed with what seemed like nothing but static as it tried and failed to process what the archen just spat out at her. Based on the bits and pieces she actually managed to grasp, she was pretty sure the bird was technically contradicting himself. The archen’s output was so incomprehensible that the angry response she had been preparing in the back of her mind was lost in the word salad.

”A-are you okay…?” Her voice was strained, as if she had been injured by the conversation itself. ”No, wait, do not answer that. In fact, just stop. Please stop. Please stop talking. Do not continue to speak. Keep your beak closed. Do not open your beak.”

Not waiting to find out if the poor little guy even understood her commands, Maxie decided that she’d risk ignoring his warning to check ahead herself. She started walking further up the path, albeit a bit more guarded now. If the little flightless archen could avoid the alleged danger, so could she, right?

Don't blame himself? Then who's fault was this? His brow scrunched with confusion and uncertainty. Still, despite what she said, he couldn't help-oh god she can read his m i n d. His eyes widened with surprise at the sudden stern and shockingly accurate prediction. Mocha was full of twists and sharp turns it seemed. It was both jarring and pleasant to him-especially at the confirmation that the two were now friends. He'd barely known this zangoose for an hour and now they were friends. This went a lot better than he could have ever hoped to have achieved. So much so, that his ears flattened back again. A low pathetic whine escaped him as his eyes teared up yet again with a whole new wave of emotion.

He quickly wiped his eyes again and stopped himself from devolving into another sobbing mess. Instead, he switched his thoughts onto what could possibly be important for him to share. He paused as he thought about it. There was a lot of things he could possibly share...but he felt as if one was...very important to know. He didn't know how to even put this. The silence was quick to get to him as he became nervous all over again. Would this impact her opinion on him? Was saying it about to change things? One way to find out.

"...Well...I guess there is one thing you should know if y-you're my friend," he stuttered and struggled, "I-I uh...I was convicted and sent to jail for Caritas'-" he stopped himself. He couldn't bring himself to say it even though he'd said it so bluntly earlier. He found it easier to skip past that part, but the silence left a good moment to wonder, "I-I was innocent-a-and they found out later b-but...th-that happened...I guess that's important." He knew it was important. He just hoped it wasn't more important than he truly thought it was.

----

Despite the mawile's pleas and begging, the Archen only continued his cries, "BAD! BAD! BAD!" he sounded as if it were some sort of alarm. The moment the mawile rushed past him, he stood up on his little rock with his flailing wings. He ran in circles with a change in words to his chant, "NO GO BACK! NO GO BACK! GO BACK! GO BACK! GO BACK!"

Up the slope was...just about nothing. The stone mountainside seemed just as it was before. There was no real danger or threat in sight...unless she were to spot the bipedal pokemon that slept just in the cover of a nook in some larger rocks and consider it a threat. Its tail wrapped around a bag, one that carried the tell-tale badge of an explorer on it. The odd breloom slept soundly in the spot, seemingly unaware of whatever potential danger the archen babbled about.