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As the dinosaur pokemon descended deeper into the cavern, curiosity won out in Osiris. He butted his head against the side of her mouth until he was granted a small reprieve, sticking his face out in a manner not unlike a dog in a car. From there, he was free to revel in all of their amazing surroundings. They'd come to a place that looked like a holy arena belonging to a long-dead warrior society, rife with history and storied gladiators, and ruined by time. The howl of the lycanroc caused him to jump out of fear, and her voice roused both powerful curiosity and rising dread in Osiris.

"A prize," he echoed, his head hanging out the side of Victoria's jaw loosely. The dratini wriggled in an attempt to get free, looking up at the tyrantrum. "It would be nice if we had something to show for all of our trouble in this rotten cave."

Fighting right now wasn't appealing to Osiris. Whether or not he was a "warrior at heart" was something he didn't have an answer to—he enjoyed sparring with pokemon relative to his strength level, but mortal combat was not at all a pleasant experience to him. Perhaps in the aftermath of it, when the fear was gone and he was left only with the memories of pitting himself against an opponent and seeing which of them was superior, he might have called himself a fighter... but this wasn't such a moment.

He and Victoria had been put through the wringer. It wasn't long ago that they had been thrashed by a raging giant, and their path to this arena had been rife with conflict as well. But... well, she'd mentioned a reward, and aside from that, she wasn't hostile so much as she was simply inviting them to a seemingly non-fatal (but very serious) battle. On top of that, Osiris still had a myriad of medicine in his bag, even if it was crushed to a point where its effectiveness dwindled. It wasn't the worst idea.

The dratini glanced at the rock-type canine, who was still perched up on her podium. It seemed like the battle wouldn't start until they verbally consented, which was a great change of pace. "What do you think? I kinda wanna give it a shot." he asked his companion, offering her a tremulous smile.

Wearily, Osiris followed the direction of Victoria's wrathful gaze. He was actually surprised to see Achilla looking so... defeated. Maybe they did have this. Victoria and him were in awful shape, but so was their enemy, and Victoria was closing in on her slowly but surely. 

Deep underneath the pain and soreness, Osiris felt a weak thrum of triumph. "D-don't kill her," he wheezed out, not liking the look in Victoria's eye. Achilla showed surprise and panic at the injury she gave Victoria, which meant it hadn't been on purpose. Even if it had been, she didn't deserve death.

All the same though, he couldn't urge Victoria not to keep going. As worn out as Achilla looked, he didn't trust her to lose so easily one bit. She had to have something else...

the sunset hero carried out 1 launched of one Damage :

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A voice called out, but she could hardly hear. All she could focus on was the lycanroc. She could see the mutt struggle and squirm. Quite frankly, she enjoyed the view. She took her dear sweet time in her approach, allowing the canine to take in just how much trouble she was about to be in. Victoria might not have been able to bite down on it anymore, but she still had less-than-graceful means of attacking the lycanroc.

Achillia could hardly stand. She struggled, but the electricity of the thunder wave wavered and paralyzed her. The tyrantrum's odd glow intensified as she prepared the final strike, but Achillia truly did have something up her sleeve, "I'M OUT!" she cried. Victoria stopped.

The wolf huffed and puffed as she struggled to her paws, "I'm out," she repeated, "This has been going on long enough. You've proven yourselves." Proven just how suicidal over this treasure these two were.

Achilla's words were music to Osiris' ears. He had kind of been hoping to be the one to drop the "you're out" line on the lycanroc, but at this point, he was willing to take anything. What little breath he was holding as he watched Victoria make her way over to the gladiator fled him, the dragonair seeming to deflate. It was finally over. They'd done it - he and Victoria had worked as a team to seize victory in the most challenging fight of his life. 

Weak, strained laughter bubbled up from him from where he lay. "What'd we win?" he giggled precariously, voice tremulous. His eyes flickered constantly between the defeated Achilla and his friend, who stood over her triumphantly. It was a very, very good view. This was more natural - this is what Victoria should be like all the time, he reflected. 

He still wanted that apology, though. 

the sunset hero carried out 1 launched of one Achillia :

The tyrantrum wasn't satisfied. She glared down at the lycanroc that gave in. The form of the mutt shrank, literally. Not out of cowardice, but because whatever it was that made her larger began to disperse. She allowed the wolf to limp out of her way, an eye kept on the gladiator for any sign of going back on her word.

Achillia's breath was labored and heavy, but she spoke, "Return to the ring...I'll bring you your prizes there...then, you can rest as long as you like...and leave." Victoria wasn't sure how to feel about this. This didn't quite feel like proper revenge for her jaw, but she supposed she didn't have much of a choice but to accept the pup's forfeit. She had to figure out what to do about her jaw, in case whatever it was became permanent.

The wolf looked back to Victoria before she left entirely, "Uh...I'm...sorry about your jaw. I can't control how much that particular move deals back and I very much underestimated your strength..." The queen didn't respond, instead opting to glare at the wolf in silence.

Kat carried out 1 launched of one Achillia :

"We'll get her taken care of," Osiris said. "Thanks for being cool, Achillia." he went on, satisfied that she listened to him and apologized for going overboard. First thing, he was going to get Victoria to a doctor. Maybe his mom - no, that was too far out. The furret in Everspring was too much of a gamble... he doubted Victoria had one back in her territory with the way she described her kingdom. Maybe he'd have to do it. It was a scary thought. 

They had to move, in any case. Time wasn't going to be kind to that injury. The dragonair struggled upward, fighting to get up off the ground and into a coiled position. As he did so, he blinked a few times as he got a look at himself. Was it just him, or had all the dust... darkened his scales? He needed a shower.

"You ready?" he asked the tyrantrum, blinking the leftover spots out of his vision.

A voice brought her back from the thousand-yard-stare she placed herself into. Her mind was in the midst of trying to think of how to get her jaw fixed. She did indeed have a doctor at her kingdom, Julius-the Meganium. He was an odd and sinister guy, but he'd know what to do about this...she hoped. It would just be a matter of getting to him without being seen by the populace. It would be bad for them to see their queen in this sort of state...right?

The voice was Osiris. He looked different. He struggled to move, just to get into a coiled position. It was pitiful, really. What interested her the most, however, was the fact that the little boy wasn't so little any more. He was much longer than before, bigger even. There was no way he'd fit in her jaws now or even just behind her head like he did before.

Instead of a vocal response, she simply grumbled and approached him. She didn't mind that he was bigger now, however, she still had a way to carry him. Despite the pain from her jaws and the potential pain she might cause him from the movement, she dipped her head and nudged her snout under him. If he allowed it, she'd wear him like a scarf in order to carry him.

"Whoa, hey, how ya doin'," Osiris absently muttered in response to getting hauled up by Victoria. It was a very automatic thing at this point; Noodle gets hurt, Dinosaur queen scoops him up and carries him away to someplace safe, rinse and repeat. Except... now the dinosaur queen was kind of smaller. Instead of being nestled behind her crown or enveloped in her jaws, Osiris was hanging around her neck like some kind of fashion accessory.

He puzzled over this for a few moments before working up the courage and strength to voice his concerns. "Is... are you smaller?" he asked, concerned. One of the coolest things about Victoria was that she was huge and intimidating. A tyrantrum small enough for him to wrap around wasn't nearly as impressive of a figure. "Did Achillia steal, like, size from you, when she got all huge?" he went on, careening his head to stare at the side of her face. He tried very hard not to stare at her dislocated jaw.

Then he realized that asking her questions while her jaw was broken was a huge jerk move. Osiris flushed with embarrassment quickly and hushed himself. "S-sorry, you don't uh, nevermind." he muttered.

It was obvious to her that Osiris evolved, but apparently the dragonair hadn't noticed it. She wasn't all that willing to talk like this either, so it was a little difficult to do much of anything in response beyond give him an annoyed glance. Her muscles were tired. It was going to be a long way back out.

She moved along without response, back out of the hall, through the crowded corridor, and into the arena. Despite the troubles she faced out here before, it felt more comforting to be in such a wide open area. Her jaw hung limply, a dribble of blood falling to the floor as she moved along, unaware of it.

Achillia was back on her perch, two items by her paws. Victoria took her spot in where they originally met the lycanroc. The canine picked up the items and leaped back to the center of the field, moving far more swiftly and efficiently than she had moments ago, her original agility restored. Two golden masks were dropped at Victoria and Osiris' feet. "Your prize," she declared.

Osiris blinked at the treasures Achillia laid in front of them, looking down and studying them for a few moments. "Do they... do anything?" he asked afterward, actually trying not to sound ungrateful. But, well, they looked like a couple of weird masks. Osiris didn't even have hands to fasten it around his face, and he didn't know how it was supposed to fit the giant regal face that was Victoria's freakin' head. Especially after Achilla broke some of it.

Still, he lowered his now much longer tail down and wrapped it around one of them, picking it up and studying it from various angles. The color was nice, and it was surprisingly heavy for something so small. Was it made out of some kind of metal? Maybe it would fetch a pretty penny back home if nothing else. Although he wasn't sure if he wanted to just discard an actual trophy of combat that he got from fighting Achillia, of all people. A visible reminder of his prowess and proof that he beat her would be a nice thing to have no matter what form it came in.

"They are treasures," came Achillia's response, "What they do and are useful for is for you to discover." The lycanroc turned around and hopped back up onto the massive debris that littered the arena. "Congratulations on your victory," she added on, "Should you ever want a rematch, my door is always open. Goodbye." She didn't exactly leave any room for response. Instead, she jumped off to the next platform, then the next, and then the next, until she reached the audience stands. From there, she disappeared behind a wall.

Victoria had to wonder if she was a little salty with the victory with how she left, but the thought didn't last long. She had much more to worry about. While a mask of pure gold was nice and all...IT ABSOLUTELY DID NOT MAKE UP FOR WHATEVER WAS HAPPENING WITH HER JAW! How was she going to eat? How was she going to drink? Was she just going to have to be spoon-fed for the rest of her life? How humiliating! Nobody was going to follow a queen that couldn't e a t on her own! Not to mention the inevitable drool that'd drop out! G O D she hoped Julius had something for this, the consequences of this wound were far more terrifying and agonizing than the pain that currently came with it!

She looked to Osiris, waiting for him to say something...and perhaps help her with the whole carrying masks thing. She had very tiny arms and her usual means for picking things up left her hanging.

Sourly, Osiris watched Achillia leave the scene. He didn't think he was going to be coming back here for a long time. That last performance he put up against her was his best to date, and for that, he pulled out speed and strength that he didn't even know he had in himself. The gladiator had batted his best efforts aside, chewed him up, and spit him out. Victoria was the reason they won these... treasures, if they could be called that.

The oblivious dragonair sighed. He looked over to the tyrantrum next to him and winced at the look she gave him. Then he connected the dots; tiny arms, two treasures, and a distinct lack of ability to speak at the moment. "I'll just, um... hold onto these for now." he offered, reaching out with his tail once more and scooping up both masks. It was easy to deposit them into his satchel, which had also shrunk, the strap around his neck tightening very uncomfortably. He frowned and resolved not to think about it—probably a side effect of whatever Achillia did, growing so huge in that battle.

"Let's get out of here before we run into any more trouble, okay?" he pitched. "The sandstorm's probably stopped by now, or at least died off enough for us to power through it. We need to get you looked at as soon as possible." Hopefully, she had a guy back in her kingdom or something. He knew it was somewhere in the mountains, so it stood to reason that they were closer to her house than they were his, so to speak. He was a long, long way from Grassveil.

She sure as hell hoped the sandstorm stopped. At the very least, she would prefer no trouble at all encountered over having to power through the sandstorm. At the very least a sandstorm might deter other pokemon from attacking or even prevent them from seeing the duo all together. Her response came in the form of turning around and leaving.

She couldn't speak...well, she could, but rather she shouldn't. Who knew what kind of damage she'd cause by attempting to do so? The tyrantrum would walk in silence unless Osiris decided to take up the mantle of filling it. She had both a long way home...and a long way to recovery.

This was not fine.