Truth or Dare Crossroads

[Namohysip]

Hailstones pelted Mhynt's body. She didn't seem to notice. She was about to take another sip of tea when a chunk of ice landed on it, and she frowned. "Perhaps some iced coffee is a better choice now," she hummed.

 

[lichhen]

Porygon buzzed and generated a thought to communicate through the Pillar. Porygon used sleep talk.

truth: what is something you refuse to be wrong about, even if you are wrong?

 

[Fusion]

"Intuition." Eco simply responded. "And I'd wager that you shouldn't be so worried about how old you look, either. To be frank, I don't care you, and neither should you."

"It is less that I care, and more that I am curious," Lee hummed. "I truly do not know what a Lycanroc is suppose to look like when they age."

Shiron muttered. "But you don't look old. Maybe, I dunno. There's this old Houndoom back home, but he does look old."

"For some reason I have the sneaking suspicion that I am quite different from a Houndoom," Lee chuckled. "But thank you anyway."

And it was about time for another prompt, no? Hm, what to pick...

Dare: Summon your aura around you, or try to, and try and change its shape or color.

 

[Chibi Pika]

"On that subject..." started Andre, then pointed a hoof to the zorua, the typhlosion and the lilligant. "You three look Hisuian. Are any of you from Hisui? In my world and my time, your kinds are next to extinct."

Alioth glanced at the bespectacled Deerling. "Hisui, mm? I've heard whispers of it amongst the spirits from a world of humans." He tapped a claw to his cup, a distant look in his eyes. "It's a curious thing to think about, extinction. Certainly more common in the worlds where all mon live by the rules of nature. In my home, well... I'd say there's more danger of cultures coming to ruin than species."

Hailstones pelted Mhynt's body. She didn't seem to notice. She was about to take another sip of tea when a chunk of ice landed on it, and she frowned. "Perhaps some iced coffee is a better choice now," she hummed.

Alioth had just finished pouring out the cinnamon-and-ginger for any visitors to partake in, if they liked.

"'Iced coffee,' now there's an idea. I must say, my home is cold enough that most folks would sooner reach for a warming brew, aha. I don't normally reach for coffee myself, but I do keep the grounds on hand, just in case."

He produced a copper vessel, filled it with finely powdered grounds from his satchel, and began warming it in a small patch of sand that had persisted around him, heated by his paws.

 

[Namohysip]

"I've been more of a tea person most of the time," Mhynt agreed. "Though, it doesn't help ward the cannibalism remarks now and then. People think it's a clever joke, not realizing you hear it every time." The Treecko rolled her eyes.

 

[Fusion]

"I do not believe I was ever a fan of either," Lee hummed, grimacing slightly. "The tea I was given was made either too sweet or too bitter, and coffee left a lingering taste I was never fond of."

 

[Navar]

"...I like hot chocolate with marshmallows on top. It's very sweet, but I'm kinda spoiled on that department."

Shiron tapped his stomach. "I have a big tab on the local bakery, hah..."

 

[lichhen]

Porygon was still sleeping. Their voice was transmitted through the Pillar.

dare: hug a Vikavolt!

 

[Inkedust]

Zorua had elected to ignore any further requests for her to keep singing, choosing to instead have some tea by the the typhlosion. She tended to just roll her eyes at the ongoing antics.

"On that subject..." started Andre, then pointed a hoof to the zorua, the typhlosion and the lilligant. "You three look Hisuian. Are any of you from Hisui? In my world and my time, your kinds are next to extinct."

That was until the deerling drew her attention. Hisui? yes the name sounded familiar but the observation only felt half-right. Staring into her tea, she answered with an uncertain shake of her head. "In a sense? I'm not sure. I came here from a world that doesn't have a Hisui but I swear I have heard the name before. I'm just not certain when or where..."

What sort of world do you live in?

Fittingly the pillar of now water had a prompt just for this. Mercifully easy, Zorua took another sip of her tea. "I came here from a world inhabited only by pokémon, not a human in sight. Kythra is its name," she began. "It's primitive, most technology is found by salvaging what was once lost and the pokémon very faithfully worship the moon and stars. They place more faith in that silly old legend than anything important," she added, rolling her eyes. "There's also a lot of Guilds to navigate around these things called 'Mystery Dungeons' where scientific laws are more a suggestion than anything else. I'm rather certain that this sounds fairly standard to a few of you here."

What scares you more: forever or finite?

"Forever," Zorua answered without skipping a beat. "If you had asked me this in any other stage of my life, I would've answered finite but recent events have..." She held out and stared at one of her paws. "Changed my perspective slightly."

So many truths and so little dares. While Zorua was happy that she didn't have to embarrass herself all that often, they were still playing a game of Truth or Dare, she had a sneaking suspicion that whatever spiritual purgatory she found herself wouldn't let her go if there weren't a comparable number of Dares being asked and acted upon. If she was stuck doing this for the next while, she may as well contribute to finish quicker.

Dare: Race to the pillar and back. Whoever is last must drink their hot tea cold.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Her ears perked up as the voice of an angel had filled her thoughts. The Luxray slowly turned and stepped towards the Espeon as her tail curled with intrigue. "Ain't that somethin'..." she remarked before clearing her throat. "Howdy. Wanted to give ya kudos for that nice song. Don't get too hear too much of that where I'm around."

Roya's piercing red and yellow eyes inspected the Espeon from head to twin-tipped tail. "'An art to life's distraction'. Meanin' like, jobs, right?" She hypothesized, hoping that the lyrical analysis could be an engaging topic. She placed a paw beneath her chin. "But what do you feel like it all means?"

Lurosa beamed at the luxray with the drawling voice. Why, that gave her a little deja vu!
"Life's distraction is love, dear luxray," she answered with a trill. "Of a kind. The song is about the seeking of love, and how each of us pursues something different, by different means."

Her voice rose again, in the song's refrain:

"I fall in love with every stranger
The stranger the better"

She grinned, wondering how this stranger would respond. Dismay? Or intrigue? And then it occurred to her that she had yet to dare anyone anything, nor had anyone dared something of this nature...

"I dare you to kiss a stranger, stranger," said Lurosa, with not an ounce of embarrassment.

 

[MintyMimix]

"Love?" Roya responded with a mmrph, "I mean, I guess I love my bro a lot, but I don't see what that has to do with—"

One would have thought she had swallowed sand from how violent Roya's coughing fit lashed. "What in the—?!" She mewled as her mane and tail stood on end. Bouts of electricity crawled along her fur, but her bug-eyed expression had yielded no true hostility. The Luxray stood straight up mouth agape as she stared at the Espeon. Her heartbeat rang in her ears — from sheer surprise, she told herself. Her eyes wandered over the luscious fur and lovely markings of the bizarre Espeon as she tried to get a read on the stranger.

A challenge. That all it was. An obstacle to try to taunt her with. Just like all the other ones she valiantly took on before she got recruited by the Association.

She let out a chuckle. It quickly evolved into a confident laugh as the lion's brows furrowed and a daring smirk rose onto her lips. "Oh, is that all?" She retorted as she tried put on as brave of a face as possible. "I'll take on any dare you can throw at me!" Her tucked in tail betrayed her bravado. Still, a challenge was a challenge, and if she was going to prove herself to everyone, she couldn't afford to fail even a single one.

Roya gulped. Her hesitation echoed in her shuffling paws as she approached the Espeon. One idly played with her necklace as she leaned in closer. Admittedly, she was kind of nice to look at. She gave a quick peck on the lips and immediately backed off. "I-I-I-I'm no coward!" She reiterated as her shifty eyes tried to see if anyone was watching the embarrassing situation. "'Cause if it doesn't count, then I'll do it for longer! But I'm not gonna let think I wasn't victorious here!"

 

[Fusion]

An uncharacteristically hearty laugh came from Lee, having watched and heard all of that. He could practically see Roya unravel from receiving the dare, let alone following through with it.

"And how courageous you are. Surely the redness in your face shows that your blood is boiling with bravado," he jested.

 

[Navar]

"Why is there always kissing in these kinds of games...?"

Shiron muttered.

"Well, I guess it is an embarrassing thing to do."

 

[Fusion]

"Are you nervous someone would dare the same of you?" Lee asked with a toothy grin. "I am sure you can simply decline it. Somehow I doubt you to be the prideful type like our courageous friend there," he said, nodding at Roya.

 

[UnknownUser55]

Dare: Hug a Vikavolt!

Eco's mandibles began to click rapidly in a reluctant manner, her eyes darting back and forth between whoever was currently close in proximity to her. Then, she went to lift herself into the air to create distance between herself and the others before she settled her eyes on Porygon-presumably the Pokemon responsible for the dare. "...Obligations to take these dares don't exist here, riiiiiiiiight?"

"I came here from a world inhabited only by pokémon, not a human in sight. Kythra is its name," she began. "It's primitive, most technology is found by salvaging what was once lost and the pokémon very faithfully worship the moon and stars. They place more faith in that silly old legend than anything important," she added, rolling her eyes. "There's also a lot of Guilds to navigate around these things called 'Mystery Dungeons' where scientific laws are more a suggestion than anything else. I'm rather certain that this sounds fairly standard to a few of you here."

Thankfully, though, whoever this was had made great work in shifting her attention to something more worth talking about than this. Eco settled her eyes on her, next, as she hummed curiously. "Sounds like the kind of world I live in, except that there, the legends they're all into are about this collection of stories talking about a human 'fated' to visit our world as a Pokemon themselves to save our world from a crisis, along with some human partner, too. I don't believe any of them, myself, of course."

...Then there was that dare, next. Eco stared at the two, wordless, with her mandibles spread apart as a part of how... astonished she was? Why did 'astonished' not feel the correct word, here? Was she amused? Was she confused? Whatever she could feel, this did not seem like the right sort of response that her, or any other Pokemon, would have to this.

"G-good job on the kiss? I-I mean the bravery! I respect the bravery!"

 

[Inkedust]

"Sounds like the kind of world I live in, except that there, the legends they're all into are about this collection of stories talking about a human 'fated' to visit our world as a Pokemon themselves to save our world from a crisis, along with some human partner, too. I don't believe any of them, myself, of course."

"I haven't heard many myself," Zorua stiffly replied. "Very few records  do exist but they're more attributed to cosmic accident than any greater purpose.

"Still, a definitive explanation would be nice."

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Lurosa laughed lightly, her tails swishing from side to side.

"Why be embarrassed? Am I embarrassing to kiss?"

She shook her head and gave Roya a knowing smile. "Dear luxray, do you think that counted? Was it your best effort, in all honesty?"

 

[UnknownUser55]

I haven't heard many myself," Zorua stiffly replied. "Very few records  do exist but they're more attributed to cosmic accident than any greater purpose.

"They're not worth reading," Eco dismissed, landing back onto her original spot. "Saves you a good amount of time to not drown yourself in fantasies."

"Still, a definitive explanation would be nice."

Eco's mandibles twitched a bit. "Excuse me? I had not heard you, there."

 

[lichhen]

Porygon stirred awake, pleasantly rising with the espeon's flowering song. Kiss a stranger, a stranger.

Porygon blinked sleepily up at Arctozolt.

"Stranger?" they projected.

@IFBench

 

[IFBench]

"No."