Destiny Village ~ Sundae Park

[Fusion]

"Ho ho, if all I gotta do to rile you up is talk then I better up my game! This ain't a vacation if we aren't goin' all out in our fights!" Kora yipped, a cheery look about him. "Aw man, just thinking about taking you all on makes me wanna fight again, why do I gotta wait for all the fun stuff..?"

Kora sighed, then shook his head and gave Koa a nod. "Oh well, maybe the colosseum can hold me over for long enough. I'll be cheerin' you on, if you happen to fight in it."

This went well! We only managed to piss him off enough to be our friend.

We hit that magic balance once again, wonder when our luck is gonna run out on that..?

Eh, definitely not anytime soon.

The fox started thinking again, furrowing his brow. "...I'm, actually kinda hungry. You wanna grab a bite to eat? I don't really need the company, but I'm pretty sure you gotta eat up to recover quicker." That felt mostly right, right?

 

[Flyg0n]

Koa clenched his jaw, ignoring Kora's comments. When the time came for a fight, Team Spectrum's capabilities would speak for themselves.

The last thing he wanted to do was get something to eat with him, but he was also starving. He weighed his options for a moment, then nodded. "Fine," he said, half-grumbling.

Besides, maybe he could glean something useful about the rest of Kora's teammates. Plus, food would help get him ready to hand Kora's tail to him quicker. "Are your restaurants the same as ours?"

 

[Fusion]

"Great!" Kora chirped, falling back to sink into the ground until just his head was still visible. "Let's see... I've only been to X-eye so far, and that place was the same as my X-eye, so I thinks they're the same still. Although I feel like things are moved around a bit... but that might just be me."

He swam through the floor slow enough for him and Koa to keep a casual conversation, the fox having a giddy smile on his face all the while. The thought to try and press Koa for information certainly crossed his mind, but Kora was way more excited to eat lunch with a new friend than to focus on that tactical stuff. Besides, they were gonna spar again anyway, he'd get to learn more about Koa through that.

<><><><><><>

 

[Cresselia92]

The limited time between sunset and night was a peculiar time to check out the Moon, but Icetales was in quite the hurry to check its overall damage.

Such a bizarre sight, with a massive crated that could be seen even from his bench. It was a wonder that there wasn’t even more destruction during that fateful battle.

“I wonder how they will go around fixing that. Will the two moon ‘mons be able to do something about that?” mused Icetales, his tails swaying gently save from one. As usual, he had a cup of tea in it, and he promptly sipped some of his cold drink. “Woe the romantic folks who wished a lovely sight by nighttime, too…”

Ah, yes, because that’s what really matters.

“What can I say? Even the seemingly irrelevant details have their importance.”

Hmph. Right.

He took another sip. “But yes, the change of the tides is a most disturbing detail. Which is a pity we cannot do more than we could…”

A casualty, I am afraid. We must get used to that before we return home. Alas, warfare hardly ever ends without repercussions…

“…I know.” Icetales shook his head. “But I do not desire to ponder about that for now. This is a time for relax, and I need all the serenity I can get before the final confrontation with the Blacklight.”

As thou sa—

The darkness quivered.

We aren’t alone.

“Hm?”

By sensing what his own shadow what sensing, Icetales pinpointed the location of the unknown individual. Soon enough, he spotted a Skarmory. The Ninetales waved his paw.

“Ah, good afternoon, good sir! Enjoying this pleasant weather?”

 

[RJR Basimilus]

Seyka looked at the Ninetails, thinking.

The other one, right.

"I'm enjoying something, but I'm not quite sure what it is," the Skarmory replied breezily, "Have you ever enjoyed something you don't know?"

Seyka paused. "On second thought, don't answer that. I suppose I'm enjoying everything to some extent, you know? If I hated the weather, that wouldn't mean I wasn't enjoying it- rather my enjoyment would be an infinitesimally small amount."

"Erm, so yes, I am enjoying the weather."

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales tilted his head, pondering about the words of that Skarmory. “Hmm… I wager that the lack of something thou dost not appreciate would equate to leaving behind a pleasant sensation inside thyself. As such, thou art enjoying the lack of unpleasant feelings, or something along those lines.”

…Oh great. Art thou going to spew some philosophical balderdash now?

Icetales wisely ignored his shadow’s remark.

“I believe thou would enjoy the weather far more if thou made thyself comfortable. Fancy a seat?” He motioned toward the bench under his body, before looking at the moon. “I was merely observing the sky, but I never say no to some company.”

 

[RJR Basimilus]

“The sky?” Seyka glanced up.

“I’ll be fine, but thanks for offering. For me at least, I think the best way to enjoy the weather would be to fly in it, but I’m not sure. I’ve only recently started to fly again and I’m not sure how to feel about it.”

The Skarmory craned his neck back to stare upwards. “If you could fly, why would you? I’m assuming that if you could fly, you would, because if you didn’t and you could, then what would be the point, right?”

 

[Cresselia92]

At the thought of flight, Icetales shuddered. “If I could fly, I would not. At all.”

He narrowed his eyes and swished his tails. Sure, he had managed to cram back his phobia in the heat of battles, but that was something he preferred to avoid if he could afford to.

“I had my fair share of unforgettable experiences with flight, and many of them were of the foul kind. Howbeit,” he waved his paw toward the sky, “if I were not burdened by such thoughts, I would fly because that is a faster way to move around. It would also be helpful to avoid obstacles on the way.

“Thou art lucky, in that regard, but it is swell if thou prefer to touch the raw earth, too.” He smiled. “That is as fair as any other option. Dost thou not think so?”

 

[RJR Basimilus]

“Ground, sky, water, the difference is negligible,” Seyka said, making a face. “You’re always somewhere, so there’s no need to make a big deal about it unless you’re nowhere.”

The Skarmory frowned. “It’s unfortunate that you don’t take well to heights. I’m sure you have lots of time to see about changing that if you want though. But if you don’t, that’s fine too.”

 

[Cresselia92]

“I shall get to working through mine own phobia, I suppose, just as I managed to get through my fear of water,” said Icetales, before shaking his head. “It is not my priority at this time, however.”

The Ninetales gazed intently at the Moon. “Well, what dost thou think about the destruction of this world’s satellite? Quite the unfortunate event, is it not?”

 

[RJR Basimilus]

Seyka followed the Ninetails' gaze. "I suppose it's something like that. Can't say I feel any particular way about it."

The Skarmory tilted his head. "I'm sure someone would argue that some good came out of this though. I wonder what it would be..."

"As it is, it's only kind of destroyed," Seyka continued thoughtfully. "I wonder what would happen if the whole thing was gone. Oh, that sounds exciting."

 

[Cresselia92]

“Exciting, huh. Well,” Icetales chuckled, a bit sheepishly, “I daresay that the waterbound folks would amptly be against such idea. No tides and no light by nighttime, among things. And a flat and immobile sea, coupled with a pitch-black night, well… It would be boring after a while, would it not?”

I mean, a pitch-black night sounds actually wonderful…

 

[RJR Basimilus]

"Boring? Mm, if you think about it that way."

Seyka's face was blank. "Tides are something that those pokemon live with, not for. Sure you might lose things like estuaries, but they'd adapt. The darkness, the stagnation- if you had to live with it, you would."

The Skarmory shrugged. "Reality is inherent. If such as it would be, then so shall it continue. But the moon is still here, so no worries."

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales couldn’t help but chuckle, albeit respectfully. There was a certain charm about the way Seyka saw things through.

“Yes, there is some merit in thy words, good sir. The beauty of adaptability is that we can learn to change ourselves so that we can be better suited to handle new circumstances. Mayhaps we could have survived well enough without a moon,” his tails lashed unconsciously, “or mayhaps not. Alas, this is the thing about what if scenarios — there is no way to tell what would have happened.”

Icetales paused to gather his thoughts, before smirking. “Unless we took a trip back in time and did things differently, but I wager folks would not be all too thrilled about that idea. Assuming it was possible to begin with, of course.”

 

[RJR Basimilus]

"We made our choices," Seyka replied simply. "It doesn't matter to me what could have been, I'm fine with it either way. All that really matters is that something happened."

"It is fun to imagine though," the Skarmory admitted. "Could anyone really hold it against us if we failed? Our intervention was auspicious, but unexpected. Maybe it was cruel of us to act with such goodwill. It is easier to accept inevitability then to keep getting your hopes up."

Seyka sighed. "Saving a world is really such a hassle. I don't know if I'd consider it worth it."

 

[Cresselia92]

“Ah, but is there such a concept as inevitability, however? Or can we carve out our own path through sheer will and the power of faith and hope?” asked Icetales, staring intently at Seyka. “I agree that saving a world is a task that not many are willing to accept, but if lending out help can tip the balance of the future, well… then why not lend a paw?”

Icetales brought out a box of cookies and placed them on the bench, keeping it between himself and Seyka. Just in case he wished for one or a dozen.

“I cannot say for sure how things would have gone if we failed. But I shall humor thee, and assume that we indeed failed and somehow nobody died after the entire planet blew up.” He munched on a cookie. “They probably would not loathe us. Not everyone, at least. There could be resentment at first, then recognition that we have done our best to save the world, and lastly… acceptance that there isn’t a world anymore.”

The Ninetales frowned for a brief moment, then flashed a small smile. “Perhaps it is for the best that we succeeded. It would have been a far more strenuous task to handle the weight of failure than to save a world…”

 

[RJR Basimilus]

Seyka blinked. "It's inevitable that you will or won't act. I don't know about you, but the balance of the future isn't something I'd feel obliged to."

"Anyway, if the world ended, but no one died, then I don't see the problem," the Skarmory said. "Nor do I see why millions perspectives I'll never hear might affect me. Although, I guess saving the world is more fun in the end."

"I've never really thought about this sort of wide ranging stuff that much," Seyka said, tilting his head to the side. "I should have spent a few centuries thinking about this. It's a lot more interesting."

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales blinked in surprise. "Oh? Thou hast centuries of life behind thee?" He leaned forward. "Are Skarmory long-lived in thy world, or thou art a peculiar case? I, myself, have a unique... disposition that makes me more long-lived than a commoner Ninetales. Even though, I wonder whether that is a blessing or a curse. Perhaps a bit of both."

There was a loud sigh as the Ninetales thought once more about his lineage. About his near-eternal father, who could hold the entire country under his velvety iron grip for who knows how many centuries. In that case, it definitely felt like a curse... for others.

"Not exactly a topic I discuss too often, I admit. Not exactly a most compelling topic, haha."

 

[RJR Basimilus]

Seyka paused. “I don’t know, I haven’t really met any other Skarmory. I’m just kind of old I guess. And I suppose I’ll get older for awhile. Maybe if I’m lucky I’ll just stop.”

“If you live a long time for no particular reason, then you might as well use it.” Seyka shrugged. “The circumstances are irrelevant.”

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales contemplated those words, wondering about his life and what would have entailed.

If he really fought his father, if he really managed to dethrone him and if he really ruled the empire for centuries… that sounded like it would have taken a mighty toll on himself.

He idly wondered if Father became power drunk and lost a huge chunk of his sanity after ruling the empire for so many years. However, he quickly dismissed that thought — he was born as a heartless daemon, he was going to perish as a heartless daemon.

“Hmm… Indeed. Must try to live life at thy fullest, huh. No matter how long or short it might be.”

Then, Icetales yawned and shook his head. Even though he was more attuned to the darkness, he still had a morning ‘mon biological clock.

Big mistake. Nighttime is our true time.

Oh, well. I defy our time.

“Well, I shall try what I can, and I sure hope thou will do thy best.” Icetales bowed with respect. “Many thanks for this lovely chat, good sir. It helped me see matters from another perspective.”