Mystery Continent ~ Southern Beach

[Cresselia92]

"...My, of course!" Icetales smiled warmly. The stars paled when compared to his radiant grin and his bright eyes. "The entire cortege needs us, indeed. And so do the inhabitants of this brave world. We cannot leave anyone out, can we? That would be... so ungracious of us."

A shooting star raced across the sky, getting Icetales's attention. And then, many more followed, in a beautiful meteor shower. The Ninetales gasped and hopped closer to the sea, uncaring of the sand sticking to his fur. His tails started wagging in delight, and he began... twirling. He twirled on the sand, waving his paws as if he directed the stars themselves. The white tips of his tails seemed to be glowing with Radiance sparkles, making his tails look like shining comets.

"Beautiful, so beautiful!" yapped Icetales in childish delight, his paws cloaked in a faint golden mist. "This is a good sign, Sir Celeste! This is," he froze in place when he realized what he was doing, "so... undecorous of me." He shook his head and tails, dispelling his Radiance. Then he turned around and laughed. "Apologies for that, my good fellow! It's just... that I love meteor showers, thou see. Ha ha!"

Icetales walked toward the Absol and smiled sheepishly. "Meteor showers... always bring me joy. They are a symbol of hope in my world." He looked again at the sky, but only regular stars were there. "Perhaps... this is a sign. The future might shine for us, despite the dark times lurking ahead of us and the grim perspective. However," he puffed up his chest and flaunted his tails, "I shall help everyone not lose track of that light. That is... my primary goal."

Then, a small growl, and Icetales laughed even harder. "Golly! I could really use some night snack. Dost thou desire to join me after some more gazing at the stars?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"Beautiful, so beautiful!" yapped Icetales in childish delight, his paws cloaked in a faint golden mist. "This is a good sign, Sir Celeste! This is," he froze in place when he realized what he was doing, "so... undecorous of me." He quickly shook his head and tails, dispelling his Radiance. Then he turned around and laughed. "Apologies about that, my good fellow! It's just... that I love meteor showers, thou see. Ha ha!"

Celeste grinned, for he couldn't help but find Icetales' mood contagious. "Feel free to be as... undecorous as you please with me. I've never heard the word before, but whatever it is... you've been nothing but a pleasure to spend time with tonight, so it cannot be a problem."

Icetales walked toward the Absol and smiled sheepishly. "Meteor showers... always bring me joy. They are a symbol of hope in my world." He looked again at the sky, but only regular stars were there. "Perhaps... this is a sign. The future might shine for us, despite the dark times lurking ahead of us and the grim perspective. However," he puffed up his chest and flaunted his tails, "I shall help everyone not lose track of that light. That is... my main goal."

"I haven't heard such a thing about meteor showers, but I can't help but feel the same. You're quite the ray of light for the rest of us, and so we shall not lose track of light with you here. And yes, I think something to eat once we're done sounds quite splendid."

Celeste wished he could get Cepa to let that night of calm last as long as he wished, but tomorrow would arrive wether he liked it or not, and so they'd have stop eventually.

<><><><><>

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa found herself at the beach while hardly realising. What was she even doing here? She'd... been walking for some time, in the dark of the early morning, weighing the thousand things already in her head with the latest additional bullshit Cibus had to offer her. She should be talking to someone. She should be doing something useful. She should–

She wasn't alone.

She turned, and saw the chikorita approaching. ...Saltriv. They'd been one of the loudest voices in the fight to save Sword. She'd barely said a word to them since they arrived. She gave the newcomer a nod of assent to their company, sat uneasily on her haunches and waited for them to approach.

 

[IFBench]

"Hi!" Saltriv said as they walked up to Brisa, cheerfully waving their leaf with a smile. Their expression quickly turned to one of worry, though, as their leaf drooped onto their back.

"Is everything ok?" they asked. "You seemed really stressed back there."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa jerked her gaze away, towards the dark sea.

"Howdy," she said, automatically. "Saltriv, right? Can't say as everythin' is alright, but I'm not so stressed. Really. I'm fine."

How different this beach was to the perpetually idyllic one by Treasure Town. It seemed half a lifetime ago that she was sparring there with friends. She hadn't seen Cynthian since then. The mission was changing, so far from everything she'd imagined.

"Just fine."

 

[IFBench]

"Are you sure?" Saltriv asked. "You don't sound fine."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

She was fine.

"How 'bout yerself?" she asked, a little more sharply than usual. "You're pretty new to Team Spectrum, the way I hear it. Sure handled yerself well in that last fight, though. I take it you're adjustin' okay?"

She took an appraising look at Saltriv. They sounded pretty young. Brisa wondered what their world was like, and if it was so complicated as this one.

 

[IFBench]

"It's been pretty great! Everyone on the team except Bahamut has been so nice, and it's been great meeting everyone!" Saltriv said with a smile, though it didn't last for long.

"There's a few things that happened that I've been worried about, like if Darkwhite is ok, and I've been missing my family and friends back home a lot, but it's ok!" they said, their smile reappearing.

Their badge dinged, signaling a message in the group comms, but they ignored it for now. Making sure one of their new friends was ok was more important.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa gave a scoffing bark of a laugh at the comment on Bahamut. Yeah, he wasn't exactly nice, was he?

"That's a good attitude, Chikorita Saltriv. You keep that up, now, y'hear?"

She sighed. "I'm worried about Sword too. Thanks for yer help gettin' through to her. I'm dead certain y'made a difference. Well done."

She couldn't exactly say she was worried about friends and family, and didn't know what to say about that, but they all had the current events of Cibus as common concern, at least.

 

[IFBench]

"That's a good attitude, Chikorita Saltriv. You keep that up, now, y'hear?"

"I will!" the Chikorita answered, before their smile faded once more.

"I'm still mad at Bahamut for not even trying to help save Sword," they said.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa grimaced. Bahamut. That ancient fucking psychic tyrant who thought he knew better than everyone. Like an absurdly aged, emotionally dulled counterpart to Jesse. What an insufferable sonofabitch.

"Bahamut has his reasons for wanting to dust anyone who could threaten the peace, but I'll never sympathise with that kinda callousness," she growled. "If he let go of his pride and put his considerable power behind the rest of the team's ideals, we'd be a damn sight more successful at such ventures than we are. All he does by makin' his fatalistic arguments is dampen team morale and slow the decisionmakin' process. Goddamnit."

She shook her head. She was just venting, this wasn't productive.

"Gettin' mad about it won't change the fucker's mind, though," she added. "We just gotta hurry the hell up with our rescue plans."

 

[IFBench]

"Sometimes it's best to let it all out," Saltriv said. "Bottling up your feelings almost never ends well."

Advice that they had heard before, but had trouble following themself.

Still, maybe it could help Brisa.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa huffed. For someone who'd spent four years as a near-total hermit, she talked about her feelings plenty.

"If anythin', I'm already too earnest about my feelings," she replied. "I embarrassed myself when we were comin' up with a plan t'keep Sword safe. I lashed out at Soda the minute we lost her. I need to get a grip, keep my shit together, set a good example. Especially if our mission to recover Diyem don't bear any fruit."

She rubbed her face with one paw and let a frustrated shower of sparks flow down her spine.

"With Diyem missin', we've been lookin' to Maple fer leadership. She don't trust or appreciate us, she's just got that air of authority. Team Spectrum needs leaders who can make plans, show courage and keep their heads through it all. The best among us fer that's probably Owen's shadow of all fellas. 'Wishkeeper.' I can't ask Owen to give hisself over to his shadow all the time just so the posse has someone to look to. I gotta... I gotta be stronger than this."

 

[IFBench]

Saltriv frowned. She really seemed to be putting a lot of high expectations and responsibilities on herself.

They extended a vine, and wrapped it around Brisa in an approximation of a hug.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa froze at the unexpected touch, then shuddered with emotional tension, then, gradually, relaxed and let out a long, juddery sigh of catharsis. She gave the vine a sort of light pat with one paw.

"Thanks for yer support, partner. But really, I'll be fine and there's folks in the posse what need more comfort than I do. If'n ya have the nerve to give it, give it to them as needs it most."

But she didn't pull away.

 

[IFBench]

"Just because someone else might need comfort more than you do doesn't mean you don't need it at all! I'll hug the entire team at once if I have to! I care about you all!" Saltriv said.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

I'll hug the entire team at once if I have to!

There was something in Saltriv's words and passion that made Brisa think of herself.

"I'd care t'see that, partner. I can tell you've got a good heart. Keep it safe, even when things get tough, y'hear?"

 

[IFBench]

"Thank you! And I will!" Saltriv replied.

With another vine, Saltriv dug around in their bag, and pulled out a yellow gummi. They had been planning to give it to Skara to cheer her up, but they could buy another one.

They moved the gummi towards Brisa. "Here! As a token of friendship!" they said with a bright smile.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Brisa smiled as she accepted the gummi and pocketed it in her satchel.

"I'd be glad t'call ya my friend, partner. Til the day we leave Cibus, may we have each other's backs."

like Astrid and I have each other's backs?

"Say, why don't we have a battle sometime? That's the best way to get t'know someone. 'Course, the second-best is t'fight alongside 'em, and we've sure done that, ain't we? Learnt you were one to count on, in that last throwdown."

everything reminds me of Astrid

A quick glance at her badge told her she had several unread messages from the ninetales.

"But, ah, I got someone t'see afore I'll be ready fer that. You take care now, Saltriv."

Brisa hesistated to give the hug she wanted, but she managed to give the chikorita a pat of camaraderie on their shoulder before she left.

If only all her social interactions could go this well.

 

[IFBench]

"A...battle? Uh, sure!" Saltriv said. They never heard about it being a good way to know someone, but maybe that was the case? It might be fun, anyways.

"See ya!" the Chikorita said with a bright smile, as Brisa gave them a pat on the shoulder. Now they were really friends with Brisa!