The Heights of Londo [IC 2: Bolted]

[Merilan]

Linne tilted her head as she followed, saying, "Oh, Linne did get punched by a Pangoro in the face once when she was smaller. But, we made friends later," though the message was well-received, and she followed suit to Lady Thundercrag's room and... followed Leah's suit, doing a kind of awkward-looki

[Hazuki]

Lady Thundercrag gets to her feet once Leah has bowed and starts to walk towards the group. Her clothing would best be described as simple, consisting of a thick skirt with what seems to be a leather bodice holding a tunic in place. Her face has been weathered by the years, rendering her not far off from Leah's mother, although she's never had such a hard-set face. As she approaches, the Pokemon coiled around her throne hovers off and slithers through the air, just over her shoulder.

She walks until she's right in front of the group, looks them all over, and folds her arms over her chest. "You all look terrible." She says, her voice husky.

[Comissar]

Leah straightens up hesitantly, blinking in confusion at the unexpected greeting. Glancing briefly toward Alyssa, then back to Lady Thundercrag, she replied "U-umm... We, uh, we came straight here from, uh, from Licia." She hesitates, not sure if the noble needed more of an explanation or not, "Umm, we, uh, we thought you might not want to, uh, to be kept waiting..?"

[Ceralune]

Only years of etiquette training under the Kimono Sisters' guidance keeps Genevieve from glaring daggers at the esteemed lady of this town, Lady Thundercrag. Seriously? I'd like to see how she looks after trekking so far. And what's with her, anyways? I guess the rulers here really haven't figured out how to address their people yet.

[Merilan]

Linne didn't seem to mind the comment, tilting her head with a little wave after their bow. "My name is Linne Herschel, hello!"

[Hazuki]

"I wouldn't. Good guess." Lady Thundercrag nods to Leah. She holds her hand out to her side, and a bag falls out of the gaping mouth of the Pokemon floating beside her. She catches it, perfectly clean,and seems about to hand it over when Linne speaks. "Hirschell?" She arches an eyebrow. "Surely not."

[tgva8889]

Alyssa curtsies politely as she approaches Lady Thundercrag. She doesn't speak at first, taking in everything around them before offering. Something struck her about the situation and she didn't want to say something she might regret later.

At her comment, Alyssa speaks up. "We met Ms. Herschel in Bastille and invited her to come along. She'd heard something about her parents being here." Then noting a bit of her rudeness, she gives a small bow of her head. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Alyssa. But I would guess you knew that already."

[Merilan]

Linne looked a little taken aback at that, but nodded at Alyssa when she came to support her with an explanation. "Yes, um, Linne-- I am here to look for my mother..."

[Hazuki]

Lady Thundercrag nods slowly, looking Linne up and down. "Show me your bow."

[Merilan]

Linne just looks a wee-bit nervous, but eventually unslings the precious bow she's had with her since childhood to offer it to Lady Thundercrag. "Mommy gave it to me a long time ago..."

[Hazuki]

Lady Thundercrag takes a few moments to examine the bow, without actually touching it, and ends up nodding. "Did your know your name before you got the bow, child?"

[Comissar]

Leah hesitates as the bag is produced, raising her arms slightly in anticipation of receiving it, just as the Lady's attention is grabbed by Linne. Her arms fell back down, and she found herself rubbing at her arm as she glanced over at Alyssa. When the older girl introduces herself, she feels her stomach churn as she realised she'd forgotten to do the same. The moment seemed to be long past, though, as Lady Thundercrag queried Linne about her bow's origin. Shuffling her feet, Leah simply waited for the noble's curiosity to be sated.

[Merilan]

"I--I was really young, but... yes," Linne nods gently. "It was a really long time ago, but... I was supposed to go to another town to study..." She tilts her head, looking a bit sad at the memory.

[Hazuki]

"Why do you want to find your mother?" Lady Thundercrag asks.

[Merilan]

Linne looked confused, and then pumped her hands again in excitement. "T-to let her know that Linne, that I'm okay! I haven't seen mother in a really long time!"

[Hazuki]

"Would that all children were so devoted." Lady Thundercrag meets Linne's eyes for a moment. "I met with representatives of Hirschell earlier. They're at the Health Hole. If you find them, try to be tactful." Her eyes flick to Leah. "Lord Bastille sent a package for you. How did his event go?"

[Comissar]

Leah abruptly stops fidgeting as Lady Thundercrag's attention turns back to her, though her heart sinks as she asks how Lord Bastille's planned event went, "Oh, umm, thankyou... And, uh... Not... Not very well." Her gaze lowered a little as she replayed the memory, "Macha... Macha got really badly hurt by, uh..." She hesitates, realising she wasn't sure if she should tell Lady Thundercrag the full truth, they never did work out who'd sent the shadowy Kirlia. Her gaze briefly flickered over to Alyssa before she finished lamely with "A, uh, a malfunction..."

[Hazuki]

"That's a shame." Lady Thundercrag says. "What's in the package?" She asks, as she runs her fingers along the straps of the pack.

[tgva8889]

Alyssa is quiet as Lady Thundercrag interrogates Linne, curious as to her purpose. Glad that things seem to have resolved, Alyssa smiles kindly to Linne. As Leah speaks, Alyssa quietly sends her a supportive look. The memories of events in Bastille still stick in her mind and she's glad Leah has to answer rather than her.

[Merilan]

Linne lowered her head, though she smiled back at Alyssa, looking hopeful. She only hoped that her mother would remember her... that she would be happy to see her.

[Comissar]

Leah gave a slight nod at Alyssa's encouragement, swallowing back at least some of her anxiety. The sudden change in conversation direction surprises her, but she keeps her focus, "Ummm, if, uh, if it's what I think it is, then... Then it's some tools to, uh, to make it easier to, uh, to extract a, uh, a fossil for Lord Bastille."

[Hazuki]

"What for?" Lady Thundercrag asks.

Initiate Panke has been standing still and silent through the conversation.

[Ceralune]

Genevieve relaxes somewhat as Lady Thundercrag confirms the location of Linne's mother. The distance between her and these girls might still be wide, but regardless, it is ridiculous that Linne had to grow up without her mother and she's glad that Linne truly seems to have found her. She holds back a scoff at Lady Thundercrag's question - Why wouldn't Linne want to find her mother? - and listens on passively at the exchange regarding the fossil. It doesn't really concern her, of course, and she'd like to go and find Linne's mom and then maybe start exploring the place. Something that, she reminds herself, she did promise to do and would at least be more exciting than standing in front of some city ruler who doesn't care that she's here.

[Comissar]

It takes Leah a few confused moments to parse what Lady Thundercrag was asking, the question seeming to her to be effectively the same asking what the tools were. Uncertain she was giving the right answer, she replied "Umm... Lord Bastille wanted me, or, uh, I guess Professor Hawthorne, to, uh, to look at the fossil. Umm... There's, uh, there's not really been any studies on, uh, on Londo's fossils so, umm, so it could be really important."

[Hazuki]

Lady Thundercrag hands the pack to Leah. "I've no further business with you." She says, and Initiate Panke shifts her stance for an easy turn.

[tgva8889]

At Lady Thundercrag's dismissal, Alyssa gives a polite bow. "Thank you for seeing us, m'lady." She keeps her face rather clear, hiding at some effort her curiosity.

[Comissar]

Leah accepts the bag with an "O-oh... Umm, ok." she offered the Noble an uncertain bow, "Umm, thankyou for, uh, for your time." She hesitates as she stands up straight again, glancing briefly at the other three before turning to follow Initiate Panke.

[Hazuki]

Lady Thundercrag turns swiftly on her heel and strides back to her throne, with the frilled Pokemon following just over her shoulder. Initiate Panke makes certain that everybody is walking ahead of her and guides them to the doors out, right up until they're outside again. The weather isn't any better than it was before.

"I smashed it!" Initiate Panke proclaims loudly to the other Knight at the door. "Lady Thundercrag was thrilled." She informs her.

"I'm sure. Back to guard duty." The Knight informs Panke, who just barely avoids making a face before standing on the opposite side of the doors.

[Comissar]

Once the group is back outside, Leah turns to give Initiate Panke an awkward half-bow, "Umm, thankyou for, uh, for taking us in. I hope you have a good day."

She turns away, fiddling one handed with her bag as she held the package from Lady Thundercrag carefully in her other. Managing to get her bag open, she placed the package carefully within, pulling out Saura's pokéball as she did. Releasing her Bulbasaur into the open air again, she looked to the others, "So... I guess we try and find Linne's mum next..?"

[tgva8889]

Alyssa stifles a laugh as Initiate Panke shows her excitement, following Leah's lead with a bow. "Thank you from me, too."

Once they've moved on, Alyssa shrugs at Leah. "Yeah, I guess? It seemed like something might have been going on with Lady Thundercrag. But no reason for us not to go to the Health Hole and see if we can find them." She seems to think about something for a moment, then points off based on her understanding of directions. "I think it's that way?"