Devolution

Hail crashed down in angry swaths, battering the world below. Rainfront was known for it's temperate weather, cool summers and warm winters. Not hailstorms. Everywhere she went, she just had to make a mess, didn't she? What, had she tried to outrun it? That was impossible. The problem was under her skin, deep in the rotten lump of flesh that should have been her heart. Everywhere she went, she caused destruction, wrecked damage, battered people and homes. It had been an accident, when the unsuspecting explorer slipped and one of his gravelerocks grazed her. That was all it took to set her off.

She was pathetic. Why did she even think it was a good idea to step into town when she was like this? She should have kept herself far away, where she couldn't hurt anyone, where no one could hurt her. The little fox shoved her way past the crowd, muttering frantic apologies, her head down to hide her watering eyes, her shaky paws. She didn't even know where she was running, but she only knew that she didn't let herself stop until her legs burned, and her paws gave out and sent her crashing to the ground.

She laughed. It was a weak, broken thing, crying in earnest now as she rubbed the tears from her eyes. Had she traveled far enough to keep the hailstorm out of Rainfront? She hoped so. She could catch herself, most every time, hold back her emotions until she was somewhere far enough where she, and the hailstorm she wrought, couldn't hurt anyone else. But this time her control had slipped, her legs shaking as she finally found the strength to walk again. She needed to keep moving. That was the only thought that pierced her hazy mind.

There was a house on the top of a hill. It was a rickety, abandoned-looking thing that she couldn't imagine anyone living in. That would do. That should be far enough, right? She could only hope so, even as her feet dragged like lead as she hauled herself upwards, forcing herself to keep her head down. Try not to think. Try not to think, just walk, just move, just get someplace where she couldn't hurt anyone else.

(She wondered, ever so faintly, if she might be losing her mind. Pokemon weren't supposed to live like this. It was just her, a puppet with it's strings cut, still playing at the idea that it had muscles to move, and bones to hold itself together, and a mind, and a heart.)

(Her thoughts were getting away from her. She couldn't afford that. She just had to keep walking. Keep walking. Keep walking.)

Robin's Energy: 8
(-10 from entering.)

It was a lovely day in Rainfront, at least as much as one could hope for with the seemingly eternal cloud cover in recent times. Then, suddenly, it wasn't such a lovely day. Krikka had been perusing the town, contemplating her future and her plans, when the weather had the audacity to abruptly shift to a hailstorm. The clouds in the sky darkened further and pellets of ice began to rain down, prompting many pokémon in the streets to flee under whatever shelter they could find. Between the sudden storm and the fuss it caused, the umbreon's day had effectively been ruined.

Then she saw a peculiar, white little figure running against the crowds, not looking like it was trying to get out of the storm. It looked like an ice-type, so maybe it didn't mind the hail, Krikka figured... but then what was it running from in such a hurry? Since her aspiration of wandering the streets for the day had already been ruined, she decided to follow the curious critter. This was easier said than done, but she was no stranger to a busy environment and managed to get past all the people. Fortunately, the roads were beginning to clear up since there weren't many who wanted to stay out in the hailstorm, and she was able to follow the fox all the way...

Out of town?

It seemed to be headed toward Pricklemist Hill; and Krikka, taking a look up at the sky, noticed the storm seemed to be following it. She knew that some pokémon could control the weather, so maybe that was what this was? Her interest continued to rise as she continued after the small thing, able to keep up with ease now. They were out of town and the unwitting little traveler seemed to be slowing down, making it easy to keep up, but Krikka still chose to keep her distance. After all, she was wondering what the fluffy thing was planning to do out here that required bringing a hailstorm.

She couldn't help but think about the last time she was in this place, though, and wonder if what she was doing was smart. Last time, she had picked a very bad fight with the wrong person and maybe sort of almost died. She wasn't exactly looking for a fight this time, but was it wise to stalk someone who was actively creating a destructive storm around them?

The thought passed harmlessly through her mind, doing little to faze her, but it was an interesting little hypothetical.

Energy - 36 too bad it's unusable

It wasn't going away. Why wasn't it going away? Normally the storm would have passed by now. Or... at least she thought. It was harder to keep track of time past the fevered pitch in her mind, and so all she could think to do was keep moving, focusing on that mantra. She had to get far enough away that the storm wouldn't touch Rainfront, somewhere she couldn't hurt anyone else. Focus on breathing, in and out, in and out, pay no mind to how cold the air is, how it burns and chills her lungs. She wrenched her eyes shut and forced herself to keep walking, even though her legs protested to running and marching this far.

She didn't realize where she was until the sparse trees had thickened into a forest, a thick fog obscuring everything around her. Oh. She'd found her way into a mystery dungeon. No, that wasn't good. She didn't want to hurt anything right now, not like last time. She still felt guilty for the utter lack of guilt for what she had done in Pecha Forest. She craned her head around wildly, hoping that the feral pokemon might be wise, just this once, might listen, might run from the unwilling beacon of destruction in their midst.

"If- if there's anyone there, you have to stay away. I don't want to fight. I don't want to hurt you." She murmured, her voice slowly losing volume as she received no answer, feeling rather silly as she spoke to nothing but air. Content that she was alone, she fell to her knees, hot tears still burning her eyes. Had she gone far enough? The distortions from a mystery dungeon should protect Rainfront, right? (Protect it from her?)

... she didn't know that. She had to go as far as she could. But, wait. If she went too far, would she end up circling back? There was a house here, in the middle of the dungeon. She could find that. Maybe that would be enough. Her tired mind settled on that conclusion, forcing herself to her feet, moving forward at a steadier pace than before, her head dipped and her breathing ragged.

She wondered, just for a moment, if she was losing her mind.

Stalking without being spotted was proving fairly easy thanks to the environment; between the fog and trees, it was no trouble to stay hidden. When the curious little critter she'd taken to following stopped moving, she grew impatient and couldn't help but move closer to get a better look. It looked like a vulpix. She wasn't fond of vulpix or ninetales, but this one looked a bit... different from what she knew. It was white, mostly, and seemed to be controlling cold rather than heat. So, not the same kind of vulpix that she was used to... but still a vulpix.

But this immediate and heavily biased distaste for the creature was far outweighed by what she felt when she heard it speak. The words... at a glance, it almost sounded as if the vulpix had spotted her and was pleading... but that wasn't it at all. This was a warning, and one she had received before. On this very same hill, someone else had given her practically the same exact words, in the same exact way, practically crying all over herself. To Krikka's eternal displeasure, this apparent helpless and terrified victim had actually managed to nearly kill her, and wounded her pride even worse.

This situation was just feeling so... so similar. The fur along Krikka's back bristled; the blue rings adorning her body began to glow vibrantly. Suddenly, she wasn't so interested in hiding herself, instead stepping out from behind the tree cover and toward the vulpix. "You should be more worried about yourself," she issued a little warning of her own, her voice very cold and matter-of-fact.

All she could think about now was maiming this little thing who'd done nothing to her, as if it would somehow be revenge against someone else. She felt almost forced to, if only for her pride. She needed to protect her fragile ego from the recent and very sore memories this vulpix was bringing back. Its existence needed to be... corrected.

Those words could be mistaken as well-intentioned, if they were spoken in any other way. Yet they lacked any trace of softness nor warmth, made only of icy cold daggers that sunk into her flesh. Robin took an instinctive step back, before plastering her tear-stained face with a smile, her tone almost harmonious. "Hi. Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." Who was this? What did she want? In her current state, Robin didn't have much patience for her.

Leave me alone. Leave me alone, leave me alone, leave me alone leave me alone leave me leave me leave leave leave leave

And suddenly her posture was airy and light, the tinge of red in her eyes betraying that she had been crying. It was very, very far from her finest masquerade. She wanted nothing more than to be alone, somewhere she could wait for the hail to pass without causing any more inconvenience.  She knew the stranger's words weren't entirely off-base. She was holding herself together by a thread, a thread that was fraying by the moment-

But she couldn't break down in front of someone else. That just wouldn't do. So she found a smile despite the cyclone whirling inside her. "Funny to see someone else here." I wanted to be alone. Go away. Go away. Go away before I hurt you. As casual as her words seemed, she had an odd, sinking feeling about this. Was she about to get robbed? She may as well. Wasn't like she didn't have it coming. Maybe if she got to fall unconscious, she'd feel better when she woke up.

(Maybe if she never woke up, she wouldn't be able to hurt or get hurt anymore. She was beginning to wonder why that was such a bad thing.)

What would work? Flattery, maybe? But it was far too early to tell what this stranger prided herself on, and she didn't exactly seem the type to want praise on her shininess, at least from what Robin could tell. She wasn't sure she had it in her to fight. She just wanted to collapse and curl up on the ground for hours. If she was after Robin's supplies, she could have them. There wasn't much worth stealing, but maybe a few useful things in there would satisfy her enough. If that was even what this Umbreon was after.

Maybe Robin was being too cynical. This stranger hadn't hurt her yet. Maybe she was nice.

Probably not.

"My name's Viola. Who're you?"

The umbreon cocked her head at the vulpix suddenly trying very hard to pretend it hadn't just been crying. The desperation to put up this facade was almost adorable, but it still reminded Krikka too much of the one she wanted to forget. It was like standing in front of her again; someone pretending to be a sweet, innocent little victim. She wondered if this one could fight too, or if it was as... vicious. She almost hoped so, as she would then have a second chance to prove she could handle such a vermin. Who did she have to prove such a thing to? Herself, mostly.

She listened to the fox speak, but the words meant little to her. Generic pleasantries with little meaning but to appease someone who had demonstrated hostility. It was a bit disappointing after the vaguely threatening things the vulpix had said previously, when it thought no one would challenge its words. Now it was trying to backpedal, and that annoyed her. She started forward without invitation, showing no consideration for personal space as she looked the little thing up and down. The visible aggression in her subsided as she began to contemplate the most fun way to handle this.

"I'm Lux," she responded absently as she examined the vulpix. "So, what was that big talk about hurting someone?" she continued with a condescending tone and an uncanny smoothness to her voice. An almost playful smirk crossed her face as she spoke, veiling the urge to maim.

She wondered if this little vixen could be pushed to play her game like the other one. She wondered if it was strong like the other one. Well, it hadn't attacked yet, so she was contemplating toying with it a bit. She did like to play with her food...

Not that she was going to eat it. Maybe just torment the poor thing a little and see what kinds of fun reactions she could get. It had been a while since she had last gotten to just play with someone a bit, since meeting Solus specifically.

What was that expression on the Umbreon's face? Confusion? Disappointment? The outright aggression had subsided, so Robin supposed she'd been wrong about getting robbed. Pity. At least that would have been over quickly. Now she needed a new way to get her away without offending her. Luckily, Lux seemed to give her an opening. Robin ignored the hint of derision she caught, deciding to focus on the words themselves instead of the spirit she suspected they were meant in.

"... it's the hail." She half-lied. She knew she could be volatile, when she was like this; she didn't want a repeat of the incident in Pecha Forest. If she lashed out at someone who didn't mean her harm, she wasn't sure she'd be able to forgive herself. Nor would she deserve it, honestly. It was hard to get a bead on just what Lux was after, truth be told. Maybe she was trying to help, in this demeaning, infuriating way.

Robin would still much rather be left alone. She took a few steps forward, not waiting for a reaction. She could try to put her to sleep and run... but leaving someone unaware in the middle of a mystery dungeon? No, that was even worse than leaving her in the hail, and risking Robin's wrath. At least if she snapped, she was probably weak enough that she could defend herself against the Vulpix quite easily.

"I can't control it very well." When I'm upset. She added internally. "You're going to get battered by it if you stick around here, and I don't want to hurt you. Let's see, I think- If you don't want to turn back to Rainfront, I think there's a house at the top of a hill somewhere you could take shelter in."

Robin's life would be much easier if this Lux character would just turn on back to Rainfront and leave her be. Whether her intentions were good or bad, Robin didn't particularly care. She didn't have the energy to mask herself as well as she usually did, and that frightened her.

Venusian carried out 8 launched of one Pricklemist Hill :

, , , , , , ,

The smile faded from Krikka's face as she listened to Viola's continuously passive words. Just another coward who didn't want to fight... All this did was remind her of how badly she had lost to one of those, and how much that made her want to maim this one. But, she restrained herself... for the time being. She gave a disinterested glance upward in acknowledgement of the hailstorm, then shrugged. In truth it wasn't very comfortable, but the tree cover helped block out some of it, and she wasn't going to be done in by a little bad weather.

"It's a bit rude to be telling a stranger what to do," she mused, showing no signs of aggression. She began circling around the vulpix as she spoke, continuing to look over her. Disappointment from the fox's words aside, she was determined to have some fun with this. "I don't like being told what to do," she added on, speaking very matter-of-factly but remaining outwardly indifferent.

Then an idea struck her. The pouty little vulpix seemed eager to end this interaction, and she was trying hard to pretend she totally wasn't crying a minute prior. Krikka wondered how hard it would be to start peeling away layers of the facade. She wanted to see those tears in a more... personal manner. "You should make it up to me," she stated, still with the same indifferent tone, "How about we both go?"

She was making no effort not to seem uncanny and fake, subtly threatening or mocking her new playmate at every opportunity. She wasn't trying to be convincing right now, unlike her company; she wanted it to be clear just how hostile she was, and then she wanted to see if she could make poor, scared little Viola follow her into an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. She reached a paw out to pat her friend on the head in a show of pretend-comfort, but in reality it was more to assert dominance, just to see if she could get away with it.

That, and to touch her so she could poison her.

... she didn't like this.

She was a coward in a few respects, that much she knew. The thought of handing over her things was a mild inconvenience, but in truth? She didn't want to get hurt. That was what scared her. She didn't like any of this, the way Lux circled her like a predator, the underlying threat behind her words. As if Robin was suddenly in debt to her, just for existing in the wrong place, perhaps saying the wrong thing. She flinched, though forced herself not to draw back, as she felt a paw on her forward, patting her fur in a rather demeaning gesture. As one might a child or a plush toy.

She didn't complain, though a perceptive eye might notice that the hail rained down in a fresh burst, rattling the trees. There was something off, but she couldn't articulate it, couldn't quite put it into words. Was it just her agitated mind playing tricks on her, her fight-or-flight reflex taking over to see every innocuous thing as a threat? Was she just annoyed because she wanted to be alone, and she couldn't be? Or was this actually something darker?

She couldn't tell quite yet, but there was a noticeable hesitance as she stepped forward, even though her tone was light and airy enough. "Sure. I suppose I do owe you one, getting you caught in a storm."

Just... get to the house, and then she could be left alone. Hopefully. She ardently wished as much, at least. She wasn't sure how much pressure it would take before she couldn't hold herself together anymore, and nobody needed to see that. Most likely was that Lux was trying to get her somewhere private so she could rob her, and that thought didn't scare Robin as much as it should have.

Just get through this. She just had to get through this. Surely even she wasn't that weak. She followed along a half-step behind Lux, only letting her expression fall from a demure smile to a neutral, hollow frown when she thought the Umbreon's back was turned. Perhaps most pokemon would run away or fight, when they suspected something was trying to mug them. But honestly... what was the point? She couldn't go back to Rainfront, and if she found Robin again, that was just more inclination to beat her up.

She realized, quietly, that her hands were tied, and just how much danger she could potentially be in. There were worse things than robbers in the world.

Robin's Energy: 0

True to the friendly - and spineless - behavior she had displayed, the vulpix agreed to come along to the house without a fuss. She didn't seem too confident, but then again she had been lacking in confidence this entire time. Just another thing that reminded Krikka of her last time here. Just another reason why she wanted to see the sad, pathetic little ball of fluff from before. What had this vulpix even been so upset over? Just the hail? Sure, it was inconvenient and Krikka was admittedly looking forward to getting out of it, but that hardly seemed worth crying over. With all the worry about hurting others, maybe this Viola person had killed someone. With how she acted, this hypothetical killing was probably an accident, but a killer was still a killer. Krikka had become familiarized with such individuals by now, and the attitude she was seeing was awful similar to the other umbreon she had encountered here.

So, maybe her new toy was a killer... or maybe just a spineless crybaby. She would find out soon enough; she knew the most reliable way to get a glimpse into someone's soul, and she would find a way to have fun with whatever she saw. However, she had no idea exactly how long this would take, which meant they would need some way to pass the time until they could stop with this little charade. As the umbreon walked, she contemplated conversation topics, looking for something that might push the little thing's buttons. "Great, this'll be fun," she spoke with an obviously fake cheer to her voice, wondering what she could say to scare the vulpix more.

Finally, she decided on something of more substance to say. "Honestly though, I was chasing the storm. Wanted to see what was making such a fuss in my town..." she started up, turning back toward the smaller vixen and giving her another look up and down. She wondered what kind of reaction her being honest would get. That wasn't enough, though... "I'll admit, I was expecting someone a little more... intimidating," she added on as her attention fell back to the path in front of her.

"But you're not very scary at all, are you?" she gave what could have been interpreted as a compliment if not for the disappointment in her voice. She liked the more violent types; they were fun to interact with. Not that cowards weren't fun, but with them it was much more short-term. She didn't have much use for such a presence in the long run, but at least she could get some entertainment out of this, she supposed.

Too bad. This brand of vulpix looked a lot more adorable than the brown ones.

Robin swallowed hard, tilting her head as she tried to pin down just what this Umbreon's game was. So far she was just... demeaning. Not to mention vaguely threatening, with the way she described Rainfront as her town. Suddenly, Robin couldn't help but feel as though she had measured up short. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but her instincts leaned towards the latter. She squeezed her eyes shut, a broken, hollow snicker escaping her. So she was going to get mugged. Or worse, quite possibly. At the very least, she couldn't imagine these mindgames were an accident.

She trudged forward quietly into the woods. "What can I say? I never seem to meet expectations." She chimed in a blithe tone, the mask crumbling and flaking away by the moment. If this pokemon was so clearly intending to hurt her, what did she care about keeping up appearances? Something deep inside her nagged that it was still important, but she couldn't place why, she could only focus on the trembling of her legs as she tried to hold herself together.

Her stomach was starting to hurt, too. On top of everything else, was she getting physically ill, too? It almost felt like a cruel joke when she realized, shoving away the dull aches of pain that seeped through her veins. Was it a stress reaction? If so, she'd never had one quite like this.

Hold herself together. Just endure until this, whatever it was, was over. She was too wrapped up in her thoughts to realize how her shadow stretched behind her, a pair of dull red eyes blinking open. Robin's own shadow weaved before her eyes, materializing into the shape of a Gengar before her eyes. She barely had time to blink before her gaze was drawn deep into those eyes, deep enough to drown in, and... oh.

This was Hypnosis. This was her own moved used against her. She laughed, then, humorless and dry, dying as soon as it left her tongue. She had enough awareness to blink her eyes shut, snap her head away, but... why? What was the point, when she could be asleep for whatever came next?

(And if nothing came next... was that really so bad? Just drift off to sleep, and no more pain. She couldn't remember why that was such a bad thing.) Her legs buckled from underneath her, and Robin half-willingly drifted off to sleep, the ghost of a smile playing at her lips.

Krikka frowned at Viola's response, but didn't bother turning around to show it. She was fairly certain she wasn't being subtle, and the vulpix seemed intimidated by her, yet she was just... accepting everything. Following her, agreeing with every demeaning thing she said; Krikka couldn't tell if this was a survival tactic or if she was just dealing with some kind of masochist. She briefly wondered if a masochist would be fun, seeing as how she had never had the pleasure of any extended interaction with one. She wasn't sure if she liked how little fight she was being given; it was actually starting to kill her mood a bit. But, surely the attitude of the vulpix would change once things... progressed a bit more.

"Well you're right about that," she remarked insensitively, though she wasn't trying to be hurtful this time so much as just venting. At this point she only half expected a response, let alone one of any substance, but she still felt compelled to further antagonize when she received none. "Not much of a talker, are-" she began, turning back to berate the vulpix for the lack of conversation... and that was when she saw it.

A gengar. It was looming over Viola, who was collapsed on the ground some paces away. Perhaps the little vulpix didn't seem like the most promising mark in the world, but that didn't mean Krikka was willing to give away her toy to someone else. "Excuse me," she spoke aloud, all sense of indifference in her tone replaced with a much more open air of hostility.

The gengar seemed to be awful busy doing something to the unconscious vulpix, putting its hands out and fostering a dark aura around her. Krikka could only assume it was doing doing something that required first putting a target to sleep, but the details didn't matter to her. An inky blackness began to rise up around her, seemingly from the very ground, dancing like fire around her. "That's mine," she spoke once more, loosing a blast of darkly energy at the gengar's back.

Too distracted by its own business, the ghost toppled over and fell atop its victim. Krikka marched forward with no intent of letting it off with just one, but she stopped as she noticed the creature's body fading into the ground. The umbreon's eyes narrowed; she had a pretty good idea of what would happen next from her time in the Ruined Chateau. She took a few steps back and let her attention fall to the ground around her, shifting her gaze around in search for any signs of movement. She knew painfully well how mobile ghosts were with their ability to phase through things, and she wasn't about to let another one catch her by surprise.

Sure enough, mere moments later a shadow ball emerged from the ground in front of her, exploding against her chest and sending her reeling back. She hadn't expected the ranged attack from below, but the gengar quickly followed it up by emerging in person with a hand drawn back for a punch. Krikka reacted quickly, her tail taking on a metallic gream as she spun and slammed it into the ghost's face, batting it away before it could touch her. Its little shadow ball had been strong and unexpected, but not nearly enough to break the umbreon's guard. All it served to do was further agitate her, shown in the fur on her spine bristling and her rings glowing vibrantly.

Giving up on its stealth tactics after failing once, the gengar pulled itself up off the ground and stepped - stumbled, rather - away. The combatants locked eyes and stared in silence at each other, an action that Krikka quickly realized was a mistake as her began to feel heavy. She tried to turn away, but couldn't bring herself to move. Her head quickly began to spin as she stared deeper deeper into the seemingly endless depth of the gengar's red eyes. She felt tired, weak, like she was about to collapse.

But, if there was one thing Krikka was, that was defiant. Rather than give in and let herself drop, she resisted, fighting to keep her eyes open even as her vision blurred. The glow of her rings slowly dimmed and dimmed, and it seemed like all she could do just to keep her eyes open.

Then a flash of painfully bright, disorientating blue light erupted from her. The gengar's eyes were forced shut as it stumbled and fell to the ground ungracefully, releasing Krikka from its hypnosis. She nearly fell as well from the uneasy feeling of suddenly being launched back into lucidity, but she recovered quickly. The state of blindness and confusion her ghostly foe had been left in was not so easily shrugged off, and she immediately sprinted forward, swinging her tail and slamming it into the gengar's belly as it struggled in vain to stand and taking its breath away. In a flash, another wave of black surged forth from the umbreon's form and into the gengar in front of her, the force of the impact hurling it back and sending it tumbling into a heap on the ground.

This may have been enough... but not for Krikka. Without so much as trying to check if the gengar was still conscious, she rushed toward it and slammed her tail down on it once more. Something between a huff and a growl escaped her as she swung her metallic tail into the defeated gengar again, and again... and again... and again... She continued beating it long after it had stopped moving, her mind filled with nothing but the fact that it had tried to take her vulpix.

Then, suddenly, as she was reeling back for another blow... she stopped. Her eyes blinked idly as she stared down at the gengar, feeling almost confused at the sight. She panted and shook as the tension melted away from her body, leaving only a tingling static in her head. Finally, she realized the fight was over; for a moment, it had been as if there was nothing in the world save for herself and some... unspecified thing that she just... needed to hit.

Her eyes darted around the environment as she regained her bearings, and only then did she remember the world also contained a vulpix.

Snow, and poison, and blizzards, and teeth. So many teeth.

For better or worse, Robin woke up again, the last flickers of her dream fleeing from her waking mind. She was mostly relieved, but some part of her was oddly disappointed. Wasn't that anticlimactic? And now she had the same problem to deal with. She hadn't missed the Umbreon's obvious irritation, but how did she deal with it? Was it a good thing or a bad one, to be losing her interest? She couldn't tell. All she could do was try to pick up on context clues, make a guess, pick a route and pray. As if praying had ever done her any good before.

She stumbled up to her feet as a swirl of negative energy grazed her, her fur whooshing at the sudden burst of wind. The Gengar was down, but that didn't stop the Umbreon, and Robin could only watch in mute horror as it fell into unconsciousness, and quite possibly a darker, deeper kind of sleep afterwards. Wasn't that poetic? Better than saying that it might have been beaten to death before her eyes, and she was too nervous to look closely enough for confirmation?

This Umbreon wasn't just a thief, she realized with a cold rush of blood in her veins. She was a murderer. Robin didn't care about her things, sure- but she didn't want to suffer, as cowardly as it was. Especially not like this. That shock was enough to shatter the porcelain mask she wore, stepping backwards ever so quietly as the criminal seemed lost in a world of her own.

The mist was heavy. Maybe if she was quick, and quiet- dear Arceus, which way was out? Splotches of black crossed her vision, and perhaps that was some mercy of her fevered mind. With the sobering realization dawning on her of just how doomed she was, Robin took a calculated risk, prayed that the criminal would stay lost for just long enough, and she ran into the mist for her life.

Why were her limbs so heavy? Why was nausea starting to rise deep in the pit of her stomach, why did the spot where she had been touched on her forehead feel so hot...? She knew this feeling from somewhere, but where? It was the Echo World, stress from watching violence, maybe-? No. No, that wasn't right, but what was this? Where had she felt sick in this way before?

Poison. When the Skrelp had nicked her paw. That was it. The revelation made her heart leap, with realization and fear alike. Her mind whirling at a frantic pace, Robin dug into her bag, chomping into her last Pecha Berry and stuffing the messy remnants into her bag. If the Umbreon hadn't noticed which way she'd gone, she couldn't risk leaving a trail.

She downed an Oran Berry, too, for energy and good measure. She froze, listening to the sounds of the forest around her and scanning for eyes or rings in the mist. Watch, listen, don't make a sound, and stand perfectly, perfectly still.

Maybe then she wouldn't be found.

Robin's Energy: 10
(Oran Berry + Pecha Berry)

The first thing on Krikka's mind when her senses returned was the well-being of her plaything. She was actually relieved when she turned to find the vulpix gone, as it showed she was well enough to move and the gengar hadn't done anything to seriously jeopardize the game. Krikka's ears flicked at the sounds of rustling, pulling her attention in the direction her little friend was running off in. With ears as big as hers, line of sight wasn't strictly needed to keep track of someone... as long as she didn't let too much distance build between them.

Calmly, the umbreon set off to go collect her rogue toy, not at all worried about losing track of her. Trying to sprint through this fog sounded like an idiotic idea, and she wasn't too worried about the confused and injured little thing getting far. In fact...

"Where aaaare you?" she called out softly, her voice lacking the judgmental tone she'd held previously. Considering how much of a coward the vulpix seemed to be, it was no surprise when the sounds of her steps went silent. She was trying to hide rather than continuing to run through the mist; not a bad idea since she probably wasn't in top form to be trying to win a partially blind race, but Krikka wasn't at all worried.

Surveying the area the best she could through the fog, the umbreon sat calmly down, confident she would hear if her toy tried to move. "I guess I scared you," she spoke up nonchalantly, assuming the vulpix wasn't going to come out unprompted. "There's no reason to be scared. I'm only interested in getting to know you. If you come out now and do what I say, I won't hurt you, that much I can promise," she continued. Technically it wasn't a lie, bar the part about there being "no reason" to be scared. She really was interested in the vulpix, and while her plans may have originally involved some circumstantial maiming, she was getting a better idea.

Still with the unthreatening and friendly tone, she continued, "Or you can make me have to look for you... but if I fiiiind you, that deal's off the table. Your choice." Her words betrayed her attitude once more, and she wasn't trying to hide the implied threat tied to her little reassuring speech. She really did plan to be true to her word if Viola obeyed and came out of hiding... and, of course, the same could be said for the other potential outcome.

Regardless, Krikka was determined to make some fun out of this. Assuming the vulpix was willing to play along and come out to face her, she was still full of great ideas for entertainment.

Her singsong voice made Robin freeze in place, squeezing her eyes shut out of instinct, trying to not even breathe. As if shutting her eyes and pretending that she wasn't there would let her mind run someplace else, leave her present only in body. Her blood ran cold, glancing around for any potential hiding spots. But if she moved to any of them, Lux - or, at least, the Umbreon who had called herself Lux - would hear her. Could she outrun her? Maybe use hypnosis and flee? But if she managed to resist falling asleep, then Robin was dead, with no questions asked.

As much as she despised it, the best way to stay safe seemed to just be... doing what she said, and hope she would keep her word. Like that would happen. She was dead, wasn't she? She still had a corsola spike in her bag, maybe she could at least make it quick, if Lux decided she'd have more fun drawing things out. No... no, Robin knew she wouldn't have the courage for that. She tried, for a long moment, to work up her willpower to either step forward or run, anything instead of just standing in place.

She couldn't stay in the hail forever, right? Maybe if Robin just let it wear her down...?

No. Robin already knew the only answer. She swallowed hard and stepped forward, her legs shaking, her gait reluctant and slow. The Umbreon looked all too much like a carnivore as Robin began to make out her shape through the mist, blue rings gleaming like a beacon through the fog. No, not like a beacon. Like the light of an angler fish, waiting for prey to step into it's jaws.

"Okay." Her voice was feather-soft, wry and defeated all at once. Running only made things worse, if - when - they found you again, and this wasn't the kind of pokemon she could afford to make angry. The Gengar had learned that lesson already. She scraped together all her courage, a clear reluctance written all across her body as Lux's shape became visible through the fog.

She stepped no closer than she needed to. She had iron tail, and a hit from that would sting. She wanted to get to know her? What a joke. She already wouldn't like what she found - or, in this case, maybe she would love it. It was hard to say. She didn't want to say anything. She didn't want to move. But the Umbreon hadn't cared for her lack of talkativeness, and maybe she'd be a bit more merciful if Robin could figure out how to keep her happy.

Maybe. Probably not.

"I'm here." She chimed, not without a hint of dry, defeated amusement. "If you want my things, take them. I don't care. If you want ransom, I'm afraid there isn't anyone who'd be willing to pay." That much, at least, was the full truth. She had, for better or worse, been forced to consider a similar scenario once before.

There was no way that she simply wanted to get to know her. But what she was actually after, Robin didn't know. All she could do was take a blind shot and hope for the best.