When the Anxious Collide

A young Scraggy trudged towards the small, bustling town of Grassveil. He stopped as a small crowd of pokemon rushed past him, scurrying towards to miscellaneous shops and buildings that dotted the town. The Scraggy's old, worn, red hood failed to mask his expression of fear and surprise before he dove behind one of the small shops as the wave of pokemon spread out.

He peeked from behind the small building, taking a look at the new environment. It didn't take long before a small smile appeared on his face. 'I'm finally here...' He thought as he continued to look around. 'No signs of weapons or fighting...' His smile widened, 'Just how I pictured it.'

The Scraggy wandered around the town for a bit, enjoying the change of scenery. He made sure to avoid the pokemon, though. There were quite few that seemed suspicious. After a while, he finally stopped, realization hitting him in the face.

'WHERE'S THE GUILD!?'

Aislinn's gaze flickered around the town nervously. On one paw, she desperately needed someone to show her around, or at least lend her a map, so she didn't get lost, well, again. On the other, how the heck was she supposed to ask anyone?!

Oh, this is hopeless! She sighed inwardly. How am I supposed to ask to join the guild -wherever it is- as an apprentice, when I can't even ask someone how to get there?

Her nuzzle lowered towards the ground, ears likewise drooping, as she miserably wondered if it was worth just going home. But then, her siblings would probably mock her for all her eccentric claims of how she was going to become a great explorer if she merely turned around and went home now! Surely it was better to be snapped at by a stranger, than to be laughed at by family?

The Vulpix flinched as she imagined their words. No, she couldn't go back now, couldn't face becoming a laughing stock again. Besides, she'd promised herself she'd overcome her fears, right?

This is just practice, right? Practice for when I find the guild and somehow manage to ask to join. Okay, I can do this; just walk up to someone, and ask the question.

The words did little to calm her nerves, but they were competing with determination now. Lifting her head back up, she spotted a Scraggy, who looked roughly her age, standing just a little way off. From what little she could see of his expression, he seemed to be having some kind of epiphany. Aislinn wondered for a moment what kind of dramatic realization one could have in the middle of the street, but shrugged it off. It was just one simple question, but she had to go ask it before she lost her nerve again.

Holding her head high, and taking a deep breathe in, to try and seem confident and happy, she padded over to the lizard-like pokemon.

"Um, excuse me?" She whispered. "Um, I was wondering if you um, knewthewaytotheguildthankyouplease?" Her head hung low as she realized that her words had rushed together, and were incomprehensible. When she tried to correct herself, all that came out was a muffled squeak, and so she found herself hoping that the stranger had somehow understood, well, assuming he'd noticed her at all. Her eyes seemed to have locked on the ground, fore-paws awkwardly scraping at the dirt.

((Ack. Sorry. I couldn't think of anything better than this. ^^"))

The Scraggy looked at the squeaking Vulpix in front of him; his shoulders elevated and a look of doubt and confusion plastered on his face. Silence filled the tiny area around them, causing a few passers-by to mutter amongst themselves, moving away from the two that stood on the street. Meanwhile, our little lizard was having an issue of his own.

'...Is this pokemon friendly? Is she trying to trick me? Is she saying some weird calls to summon a group of assassins? DID MY CLAN SEND HER TO KILL ME!?' He blinked, shaking his head. 'No, no way. This one looks a bit too meek... but... should I run? or maybe...'

The Scraggy let out a small sigh, deciding not to flee. "Sorry, but I didn't understand a word you just said..." He muttered. "Would you mind repeating that?... Maybe just a bit more clearly?"

[[Are you kidding me? That was a great post and you're an awesome roleplayer! I'm sorry about this one though. I haven't RPed for a while now. xD]]

((Your post was great! I haven't RPed in a while either, so this might help us both get back into the swing of things. =) ))

Embarrassed, the Vulpix took a few deep breathes, and at what was just about an audible level, slowly replied, "Oh, um, sorry. I was wondering if, um, you knew where the guild was? Um, very sorry to bother you."

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, or at least, she hoped. The Scraggy hadn't snapped at her thus far, which was progress. Still, the space between them and the other Pokemon made her uncomfortably aware that of the effect her anxiety was having on the environment. And the lizard seemed a little awkward himself; the fox wondered for a moment whether or not she had made him feel uncomfortable, what with her annoying squeaks and all. Or was she maybe too close, disrespecting his personal space or something? Uncertainly, she took a small step back.

Okay, so maybe this wasn't going as well as she thought. But, uh, at least the weather was decent?

The Scraggy seemed to be a bit taken back by the question.
'Oh great. If I say I don't know where it is this Vulpix'll laugh at me and think I'm some sort of idiot... but I can't just stand here, I'll look even more an idiot! I probably look like an idiot now just gawking and saying completely nothing and oh sweet Arceus Mordred just please do something this is completely and utterly awkward and you're not doing anything to help AT ALL.' His anxiety was going a bit over his head, but he somehow managed to prevent himself from completely freaking out.

"Uh, no not really. You're lost, too?" He said, trying to mask his embarrassment. He tugged at his hood a bit, making it droop low enough to cover a bit of his eyes."I just came to town so I don't know all that much. Sorry..."

Just then, a little idea tugged at his mind. If this pokemon was looking for the guild, that meant she was probably planning on signing up; or was planning on asking for help. Either way, the hooded Scraggy would prefer to get a not-so-threatening partner and he'd definitely prefer not to ignore a cry for help. 'Hope this works.'

"Wait. I hope you don't mind me asking but... are you planning on joining the guild?" He asked in a rather curious manner.

[[Sounds awesome!]]

Aislinn's head lifted hopefully as he asked her about joining the guild. Was he thinking the same thing? Well, it seemed like it would be a pretty popular reason for newcomers to visit the town.

Anxiety lifting just a little, she smiled. "Um, yeah," The small Vulpix whispered, nodding. "Why? Are you too?"

Maybe it was worth it after all. Whilst this whole experience had been inexplicably awkward, at least this Scraggy seemed a friendly, and maybe they could try and find it together? She didn't dare hope that she'd found a partner or friend, as that seemed far too much to ask for. Still, this was looking to be better than the fox had expected, and any glimmer of sunshine was one she needed to grab.

Seeing the meek Vulpix smile was quite heartwarming. The edge of the Scraggy's mouth hitched a little; a rather lopsided smirk. "Well, yeah! I didn't travel all the way out here for nothing." 'That and I didn't have much of a choice.' "Since we're both intending to join the guild, why don't we go look for it together? Two eyes are better than one, as they say." He said, a smidgen of confidence in his voice.

"My name's Mordred." He said, extending his arm for what seemed to be a paw-shake. It was tilted a bit downwards, most likely to make it more convenient for the 4-legged pokemon in front of him. He'd already learned his lesson about being sensitive towards pokemon who walk on fours thanks to the encounters he had on his journey, most of which ended with him getting trampled.

'Maybe it won't be so bad to join the guild.'

The small fox lifted a fore-paw in response, with slight confusion. Coming from a town with few Pokemon who were "hind-walkers", she was unfamiliar with the gesture, and so just held it in the air for a few moments. "I'm Aislinn." She responded, trying -and failing- to hide her confusion with a smile. "And that sounds like a great idea!"

Lifting her nose to the air, she took a deep breathe in, trying to get a good smell of the area. No use; there were too many Pokemon for her to make anything out. Shaking her head, she glanced at the Scraggy. "Um, where should we start?"

The Scraggy was mildly confused by the fact the Vulpix didn't know what a paw-shake was. He took back his arm, assuming that the Vulpix found the gesture unnecessary. He looked around first, trying to make out the best direction they would take.

"Hm. Well, the guild is probably somewhere a bit far from the town. If it's located here, then we should be seeing a ton of teams. I've only spotted a few, and they only stopped to buy supplies before rushing off. I saw one go north, so we should check there first... Or uh, wherever you want to go..." The last sentence was quickly added by Mordred, thinking that he sounded a bit bossy.

"Um, north sounds good." Replied Aislinn, not wanting to argue. Smiling, she turned to face the north, which to her relief, was a relatively clear road. The teams would probably be out at this time of day, she supposed, which would make her a lot calmer, at least. The little fox nodded towards the Scraggy, motioning with one tail for him to take the lead, and fell back.

"Let's go!"

Mordred took the lead and continued walking north. He occasionally took a quick glance behind him to make sure the Vulpix wasn't planning to attack him. The walk took a bit of a while, Mordred beginning to feel a bit of doubt on his guess. However, it didn't take long for him to lose that doubt.

Soon, they were standing in front of a massive building; The Guild. Mordred stared in awe as the feeling of nervousness began to build up inside him. He shook his head, turning to Aislinn.
"Well, here we are. Let's go in."

[We might wanna switch to the Guild and make a thread there now. Your turn to make the thread! ]