Arrived at Last

"Well, here we are."

Aislinn simply nodded in response to the Scraggy, somewhat surprised at how quickly it took for them to find the Guild. For some unknown reason, she was disappointed in this, though she couldn't quite explain why. The small vixen supposed it was anti-climatic that, after days of searching for Grassveil town, it took her and Mordred less than an hour or two to find it. On the flip side, she considered, it did speak well of the lizard's sense of direction.

Scents wafted over to her, and she softly named them, not realizing she was speaking out loud.

"Two Poochyena have been here recently, perhaps haven't even left. There's a been a Buizel, too, and a few species I don't know." Her eyes flicked up to the empty perch. "Definitely some kinda bird Pokemon used that last, but it's too stale to tell which."

Knowing there were many Pokemon here did make revive her anxiety, but she was oddly comforted by being able to name a few. It reminded her of a song her sister Ela used to sing about her nose being a part of her.

Glancing back at her companion, she awkwardly asked, "So, um, should we stick together or something? 'Cause, uh, I don't know about you, but um, I find it easier talking to strangers when I'm not on my own."

Aislinn flinched as she realized she'd asked that question out loud. 'Mordred only offered to stick together so we could find the Guild quicker, stupid! Why the heck would you expect he'd want to make a team with you?'

'Huh. Didn't expect her to ask first.' He thought, just a bit confused. "Sure. I'm fine with making a team. Besides, trying to complete a ton of quests alone seems like a pretty bad idea; knowing the places those explorers probably have to go through..." He said, turning back to the large building. "We should probably go and sign up now. Hopefully the Guildmaster isn't busy." And with that, the Scraggy walked into the Guild without a second thought.

He stood in a room containing a few seats and a number of portraits on the walls. He took a closer look at the portraits. 'All these pokemon look tough as nails... Well, a few look pretty silly but still...' The Scraggy took his attention off the portraits, taking the time to look around the small area. In the corner of the room, He saw what seemed to be stairs leading underground.

Aislinn followed close behind, gaze flickering around the room uncertainly. The portraits on the walls seemed to be watching them constantly, which the Vulpix found unnerving. 'Oh really, Ais, what don't you find unnerving? These are just portraits. Grow up.' She scolded herself mentally. Anyway, she wasn't going to let go of her happiness yet. After all, maybe she'd just made a friend, right? Brightening up, the fox sat down, and began cleaning her mucky fore-paws. Certainly, she didn't want to make a bad impression.

"So, um, do you have any ideas for a team name, Mordred?" She asked softly between licks. 'Andromeda. Please say Andromeda. Wait, why am I expecting that? I don't even know if he likes stargazing.' Pausing, she tipped her head to one side and asked hopefully, "How about Andromeda?"

He looked over his shoulder, seeing the Vulpix take a seat. 'Guess we can take the time to sit down and talk..' He thought, walking over and taking a seat near his new partner. He shifted a bit; not being used to sitting on tree stumps since he'd already gotten used to sitting on itchy grass and painful rocks during his journey.

"So, um, do you have any ideas for a team name, Mordred?" Aislinn asked as she continued what seemed to be 'cleaning' her paws.

He tilted his head in a thoughtful manner. 'Hm. That's a pretty good question. Team name... maybe something cool like Team Dusk or Nightfall or-'

"How about Andromeda?"

Mordred blinked after hearing the suggestion, his face clearly showing his confusion. "...And Andromeda is a...?" 'Great. Looking like an idiot. Again.'

Aislinn's head shot up the moment the question left Mordred's mouth. Eyes lighting up with excitement, the small Vulpix began to ramble.

"Andromeda is one of the 48 constellations noted by Ptolemy the Marowak in the 2nd century. It was named after the mythological character who was chained to a rock the at bottom of the sea after her mother offended Poseidon, the Lugia. It is most clear during the autumn evenings. It's also the location of the radiant for Andromedids, a meteor shower that occurs in November. The spiral galaxy also named Andromeda can be found in it, as it takes it's name from the constellation." Flushing, the fox's gaze dropped straight back to floor as she finished, clearly embarrassed. "As you can see, I have a lot to learn."

Well, now she felt like an idiot.

((And most of this post is dialogue as I couldn't think of anything better. And then Dodger eated Aislinn. The end! Happy ever after.))

Mordred's face was completely and utterly priceless. His jaw seemed to drop, his pupils seemed a bit smaller (As if they weren't small enough). All in all, it was obvious that he didn't expect the shy Vulpix to suddenly ramble unintelligible garble he'd hear from Psychic types and elders of his Clan. He barely understood a word she said.

"I didn't understand a word you just said." He said bluntly. 'Note to self: get dictionary before attempting to converse with partner. Arceus knows what other fancy-shmancy words she'll try to fire at me.'

'Note to self: buy partner a dictionary before conversing in future. Or maybe a thesaurus. Or both?

"Oh, um, well, you see a constellation is kinda like a picture made out of stars. Ptolemy thought it looked like Andromeda, so he named it after her." Aislinn explained, ears drooped. 'Now that doesn't sound convincing...' There was almost certainly no way she could convince him now. The fox found herself once again in envy of her confident siblings, with their inmuerable tricks to persuade. Kiletha only had to drag out the 'puppy dog eyes' to win her over.

Wait.

Would that work on Mordred?

It was worth a shot, at least.

Tilting her head back towards the Scraggy, Aislinn tried to recall how her cheeky little sister managed it. She was uncertain of the results, but she wasn't going to quit now.

"Please, Mordred?" She asked, quietly. "Pleeeease?"

Mordred flinched, suddenly realizing that oh-so-familiar trick being pulled on him. 'Oh come on, REALLY? The PUPPY DOG EYES of all things?! Well, she doesn't seem to be very good at it though. Kinda like her first time trying, it seems. But still, REALLY?'

Mordred facepaw'd. "F...fine. The team name will be Andromeda, okay? Just... stop doing that!" He muttered. He really couldn't believe that of all the pokemon in the world, he had to stay with one that could exploit one of his (most pathetic) weaknesses. He thought he didn't need to worry about that anymore since he left his unreasonable siblings.

((Sorry for the late reply! I was really behind on coursework. ^^" But anyway.))

Aislinn's brown eyes lit up, and the little fox gratefully licked the lizard on one of his hands. "Thanks, Mordred!" Jumping to her paws, the small fox padded back towards the stairs again, peering down towards the bottom. Uncertainly, she turned back to her partner, and twitched her left-tail awkwardly.

"So, um, do we wait here, or do we go down and find the guild master?" Questioned the rusty canine. She was surprised at how easily she was talking to the Scraggy, being as she met him less than a few hours ago, and normally it would take her months to talk so much to another Pokemon. Maybe their seemingly shared awkwardness helped. Who knew? All Aislinn knew was that she was getting impatient waiting for the guild master, when they didn't know if they were supposed to look for him or her or not.

Mordred immediately took back his paw at the sudden lick. He raised a brow at the Vulpix questioningly. 'What an odd turn of events. One moment she has the word 'timid' stamped on her forehead, next moment shes licking strangers...well, I guess I'm not one since I agreed to form a team with her... but still.'

He sighed, standing up from his seat. "Yeah, we should go and find the guildmaster ourselves. They probably have their own room, considering their rank. It shouldn't be hard to find them." He said, walking near his partner as he looked down the stairs. He stepped in, taking one step to another, testing to see if there were traps. After a step or two, he began descending normally. He stopped, not much of a number of steps ahead of Aislinn. "No traps. You coming, Aislinn?" He said, his voice echoing in the small stairway.

Aislinn was briefly confused about the Scraggy's response. Did reptile Pokemon not preen each other? Worse, did they not preen themselves? The idea disturbed the fox before she reminded herself that reptiles usually shed their skin, therefore Scraggys probably had little use for washing. It was an alien concept, but she guessed it made sense. She'd have to ask him later.

Glancing down the small, cramped-looking staircase, the fox frowned. The scents were musty, so she couldn't distinguish what Pokemon had been down there recently, and the dust everywhere made her want to sneeze. Coupled with how dark and tight the staircase was, the Vulpix found her ears flattening with the return of her ever-familiar anxiety. How could she tell if someone was coming up? What if she tripped, and knocked herself and her partner to the bottom of the stairs? What if one of them broke something? What if one of them got seriously hurt in the process?

'Uh, Aislinn? Firstly, you have ears, and they work pretty well; if some stranger is coming up, you'll be able to hear them. Secondly, Mordred is right in front of you, and his eyes seem to work well enough. It's just a flight of stairs, not a death trap.'

"Yeah, coming, Mordred." Cautiously padding up behind her partner, the canine dipped her nuzzle towards him, indicating for him to lead the way.

It took merely a minute before Mordred was out of the small flight of stairs. Surprisingly, it was only about 4 to 6 steps based on how he descended. Mordred's expression was a mix of confusion and annoyance. 'What are these pokemon thinking? Putting a dark staircase that only contains such few steps. They don't even have a security system to keep out thieves! Are they pulling a prank? I'll have to consult the Guildmaster about this later on...'

The Scraggy turned back towards the small, dark staircase. He was then greeted by two bulletin boards that were placed not far from the staircase's opening. One board was covered by hastily written notes, while the other was covered by pictures of pokemon. He raised a brow, 'I'm guessing those are where pokemon post the jobs for the explorers.' After some quick skimming, he looked around the 'First Floor'.

He spotted a door, slightly ajar, that was placed to the right of the boards. Behind the door, it was quite dark, but Mordred was just barely able to identify another staircase. 'Aaand again...' He frowned.

"How many tiny flights of stairs does one building need?" Questioned the irritable fox, stepping out from the second set. Her hazel eyes darted around the floor, noting that unlike the previous one, the room was fairly spacious, plenty of rooms on both sides. To the right she noted the room which she assumed would contain the guild master's office. Well, assuming guild master's had offices. Would they need them? Only one way to find out.

Padding over uncertainly, Aislinn picked up a strong, summer-warm scent, not very unlike that of the grass-types she'd known back home. "Don't suppose you know what kind of Pokemon the guild master is, do you?"

Mordred shook his head. "My guess would be that the Guildmaster is a Grass type. I heard the guild hasn't existed that long, and seeing that it's called 'Grassveil' in both the guild and the town, I'd suspect that Grass types are usually the ones who run the place. Buut, that's just me..." He said.

He walked to a random door to the left. "We mineaswell knock on a few. If the room doesn't have the Guildmaster, then we could ask whoever is in it to show us where." He raised his paw, which was now curled into a loose fist, and knocked. He took a step back, a bit nervous.

[Lol Writer's block. Welcome back, 'Lil!]

((Okay, this post is going to be crappy, but I'm going to write something anyway. >.< Here goes~))

Aislinn's ears twitched back in response to her partner's knocking, as if it was a mildly frightening noise. Well, there was no "as ifs" about it, really. It was mildly frightening, though she couldn't say whether it was the noise itself or the prospect of a stranger answering. So the next words to leave her mouth, and the following actions, were somewhat surprising to the little Vulpix.

"Should we just go in?"

The rusty fox Pokemon knew this doing thus would be considered rude, and normally that would earn herself a mental rebuke, but perhaps the lack of sleep she had been getting recently was getting to her, for she found she simply couldn't care. Nor did she really care that she hadn't waited for the Scraggy to reply, as she leaned in to bite down on the doorknob anyway, and padded straight in.

((Uh, time for a new thread in the Guildmaster's Quarters?))