[Nexus] Outside XXXII

[McBish]

[The Lost Wave]

The wood his boat is made out of is strong stuff. He trusts it to hold for awhile, but he needs to do something quick. He takes aim at the creatures head and fires before ducking away from the tentacle. He hopes to draw it up out of the water, hopefully to up near the bow.

[ThirdEmperor]

Woods

Conk!

The harpoon rebounds off the lizard's skull with an impressively hollow sound, leaving a deep cut in it's forehead and an even worse dent in the salamander's good temper. Hiding it's head with it's hands, the accosted serpent whines in pain, while it's mate turns angrily on the alien duo's hiding place.

"Ran!" Tripping over words and roots alike, Agirus dives for cover as the lizard belches out a spiraling tongue of white-hot flames towards the two.

[Gullara]

[Viridian Forest]

"Sure looks like they're talking to me." Becca says with a shrug. She sits down on the ground cross legged and pokes through her bag.

"<I don't know. He just does.>" Is Shroomy's simple reply. Mawile may get the impression that although Shroomy can speak to her, he doesn't seem to be quite as bright as her.

[Lost_Deep]

Viridian Forest

Shroomy just needs someone to talk to more. Anyway, Mawile will stand up and offer a handshake to Becca. "Mawile," She'll introduce herself. Of course Becca already knows that; Mawile is just being polite.

And maybe showing civility in front of Glamdring to mess with him.

[Rebonack]

[Viridian Forest]

Glamdring looks rather irritated at the tiny introduction.

Okay.

Maybe he's wrong.

Unless that's some sort of trick the creature was taught there's no way it would be introducing itself. But how could that gibberish possibly be a language? His translator can't make heads or tails of it! Unless...

"Alright... I'll admit, it sort of does... If they're speaking there must be something beyond those sounds they're making. Telepathic communication, maybe?"

He really has no idea. But this is going to bug him. The Eevee shakes his head.

"This would be like you saying 'Hu hu human!' over and over again and people understanding you. Or me saying 'Ee eevee, vee vee eev.' <There's no way this could possibly mean anything.>"

[Slii Arhem]

A Forest Near Watchtower

Bark is strolling, or marching, or whatever you'd call his constant-yet-flowing gait that he maintains whenever he's going no place in particular. He isn't walking overly quickly though, just walking tirelessly and letting Aeia set the pace, knowing that he'll catch up to her eventually.

Exploring forests was how he preferred to spend his time, and although Aeia no doubt wanted to be around other people more, Bark showed no signs of getting over his nervousness when he was around large crowds that demanded a lot of attention. So, this once, he put his foot down about something that was less than dire and demanded some time for his mind to recuperate in a forest.

[Gullara]

[A Forest Near Watchtower]

Aeia isn't all that far ahead, as she's lacking any direction. She's content to wander aimlessly for the time being. At least she' not still in that funk she was in for a while after Justinian had to leave. That was no fun at all, and she was even more impatient with Bark.

Now, though, she's in a perfectly good mood. Except for a bit of mild irritation directed at Bark for dragging her out into the middle of nowhere of course. "Come on, slowpoke. There's gotta be something to see around here, and we're never gonna get anywhere at this rate."

[Slii Arhem]

A Forest Near Watchtower

"Hrm. I am not going slow. If you were going at the same speed I am, you wouldn't wear yourself out so quickly." Bark protests, even his words coming out at a steady, measured pace. Despite what he says though, he begins taking longer strides to match her current pace. He doesn't have to pick up his speed, just move his legs a bit further. One of the advantages of being carved from a tall tree I suppose.

[Gullara]

[Viridian Forest]

Becca peers at the pokemon. "I never really thought about it before." The trainer takes the offered hand and gives it a little shake. "Becca." She giggles, finding it a bit funny.

[Lost_Deep]

Viridian Forest

Mawile shakes Becca's hand... and then snickers at the Eevee. That is funny. He doesn't even know...

A Forest Near Watchtower

"And if you never exert yourself, you're never going to find just how cool you really are!"

A spider grig, female, shapely, not wearing more than a scrap serving as a shirt, drops out of a tree and tries to land on Bark's head.

"Of course, not everyone is as cool as everyone else, so if you're fine with mediocrity I won't stop you."

[Rebonack]

[Viridian Forest]

NOPE!

He's totally clueless.

Poor Glamdring.

If he does start understanding pokemon talk he might start freaking out, though. What if that means he's turning into a dumb animal! No doubt something to do with the nefarious nature of this weird planet.

"Regardless, I believe we're losing sight of our goal between all these distractions," the Eevee says. "Finding apricorns. And a way through this despicable bug-filled forest. You do have another badge to win, do you not Master Becca?"

[Slii Arhem]

Viridian Forest

Mawile shakes Becca's hand... and then snickers at the Eevee. That is funny. He doesn't even know...

A Forest Near Watchtower

"And if you never exert yourself, you're never going to find just how cool you really are!"

A spider grig, female, shapely, not wearing more than a scrap serving as a shirt, drops out of a tree and tries to land on Bark's head.

"Of course, not everyone is as cool as everyone else, so if you're fine with mediocrity I won't stop you."

A Forest Near Watchtower

Bark stops, becoming unnaturally still (almost as if he were carved from wood!) as the grig lands among his short white hair.

"Please remove yourself, or I will swat you." That's downright polite for Bark, asking nicely and restraining himself before inflicting grievous bodily harm.

[Lex-Kat]

[The Lost Wave]

The wood his boat is made out of is strong stuff. He trusts it to hold for awhile, but he needs to do something quick. He takes aim at the creatures head and fires before ducking away from the tentacle. He hopes to draw it up out of the water, hopefully to up near the bow.

The crossbow bolt delves into the water, right on target, and hits the creature. It belows from below, not liking the sting. But it isn't irritated enough to come out from under.

[Gullara]

[Viridian Forest]

"Well yeah, if I could find another one. Gyms must be a lot harder to find around this place than back home." Becca shrugs, not overly concerned. "I'm just gonna worry about catching that Ariados right now, though."

[A Forest Near Watchtower]

Aeia stops and whirls around at the sound of people talking. Oh hey, it's a spider person? Sure, why not. "Who the heck are you?" She asks, giving the small woman a curious look over.

[Lost_Deep]

Viridian Forest

Apricots... is Becca planning to make those special pokeballs? Or maybe apricot juice?

Mawile hasn't seen any apricot trees, which is a pity because apricots can be tasty. The shells aren't as much as a deterrence for her as they are for most pokemon. She looks around a bit. When Seth (Her trainer) wanted to find apricots, what did he do?

He never wanted to find apricots. He just stumbled across trees on occasion.

Mawile shrugs at Becca. She doesn't know what to do.

A Forest Near Watchtower

"Ha, my name or who I really am?" The grig will jump off of Bark and try to land on Aeia's head. "No, really, one will be immediately helpful and one will only be helpful if you've heard the right rumors. I want to know which one you want right now."

[Rebonack]

[Viridian Forest]

Glamdring blinks at Becca.

And then closes his eyes and rubs his paws against the sides of his head. Be patient, Glamdring. Be patient.

"There's a town on the other side of this forest, remember?" he explains. "And there is supposed to be a Gym there. And I suppose it wouldn't hurt to catch a giant spider."

He shudders a bit.

"I must admit that I don't see the need. I've never been fond of bugs. Far too many legs for my taste."

...wait

Can't he evolve into a Bug-Type? He can turn into everything else.

[Slii Arhem]

A Forest Near Watchtower

Bark's eye twitches as Vriveka leaps from his head when he sees she's aiming to land on Aeia's instead. He would have honestly preferred she stayed put if that was her idea of another option.

He bites back a growl though, not seeing the point in being that expressive, "I don't care about either. Why are you here?" 'Why are you here bothering us?' is what he'd like to be asking, but that would be far too antagonistic.

[Gullara]

[Viridian Forest]

"Supposed to be." Becca makes finger quotes. "I wanna see it with my own two eyes before I go off what some random person says. Besides, what kinda gym is in a town without a road going to it anyway?" She's none too impressed by their little trek through the woods.

The pokemon train picks herself off the ground and brushes some dirt off the seat of her pants. "And of course catching a giant spider is a good idea. It's the best idea. You never even saw the thing. It's huuuge." She holds her arms way out to demonstrate. "What's you're problem with bugs anyway?"

[A Forest Near Watchtower]

Aeia eeps and ducks out of the way of the incoming grig. She takes a few steps tot he side and eyes her warily. "You can tell me whichever you want, just as long as you're not jumping at my head."

[Lady Serpentine]

[Wild Magic Zone]

Maeve, after a long while of walking, presumably still with Khair in her arms, arrives here, a strange section of forest, even for the Nexus, with barely a fiftieth of the gravity that weighs them down just outside its borders, though in these outskirts, at least, the plants seem normal enough.

[Beans]

[Wild Magic Zone]
Khair gets out of her arms to lean on her cane, looking around in amazement.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Wild Magic Zone]

While at first glance, the life is normal, and that does hold true for the major things, some of it is far less so, such as the faintly glowing blue mushroom hanging from a tree branch, which waves the tendrils growing up from its rim curiously at Khair.

[Beans]

[Wild Magic Zone]
She peers at it curiously, ears twitching in interest.

[Rebonack]

[Viridian Forest]

"I don't pretend to understand human sensibilities when it comes to planning city layouts," Glamdring replies with a roll of his eyes. "You live in little boxes sitting on top of the dirt for heaven's sake."

...

Where else would someone live?

"And I already told you. They have too many legs. And they have those dead eyes. And they're all crawly," the Eevee shudders. "It's unsettling."

As he sets off again a nearby bush jiggles!

Wuh oh! Who knows what could be in there?

[Lost_Deep]

Viridian Forest

Mawile looks over at the bush, standing up. If something is going to charge out of there, she wants to be able to move. It won't be fun, she's still pretty banged up, but she wants the option.

A Forest Near Watchtower

The Grig lands on the ground. "Allright. Name's Vriveka, I'm a grig, and it seemed to me that you were bored. And it just so happened that I was bored, too! What are the chances of that?"

[Gullara]

[Viridian Forest]

Becca bursts out laughing. "You're afraid of them, aren't you?" She finds that too funny. No doubt she'd comment on it more if she didn't notice the moving bush. "Hey, looks like somehting's in there. Check it out, Shroomy." The pokemon is quick to waddle over to it and poke about.

[Rebonack]

[Viridian Forest]

The Eevee is about to deny being afraid of bugs when suddenly!

OH GODS ITS A GIANT SPIDER!

Cue wild pokemon battle music!

Glamdring gives a yelp and back-peddles away before suddenly looking both embarrassed, angry, and terrified. All at once.

"I-I am not afraid of bugs!" he yells a bit too loudly, gritting his teeth. "I just have a healthy respect for them."

Riiiight.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Wild Magic Zone]
She peers at it curiously, ears twitching in interest.

It reaches out to feel her face, if she's gotten close enough.

[Slii Arhem]

A Forest Near Watchtower

The Grig lands on the ground. "Allright. Name's Vriveka, I'm a grig, and it seemed to me that you were bored. And it just so happened that I was bored, too! What are the chances of that?"

A Forest Near Watchtower

"You were mistaken, I was not bored before you came along. I was relaxing. There is a difference." Bark explains slowly and haltingly to the spider grig, face going back to its utterly stoic normal facade.

[Gullara]

[A Forest Near Watchtower]

"Not that unlikely. There's, like, no one else around here." Aeia says. Bark clearly picked the worst place to go for a walk. "I'm Aeia by the way. He's Bark."

[Lost_Deep]

Viridian Forest

Mawile steps aside, eager to see what Becca can do in this situation.

A Forest Near Watchtower

"That a good thing or a bad thing? If you're bored, I could keep you company. Hey, maybe I can help you? You have any problems, I mean. Of course, who doesn't?" She eyes bark, but it's not obvious whether she's wary of him or... analyzing him?