Week 2.

[azumods]

WEEK 2. The new week begins with new surroundings. The city you've been growing accustomed to over the past week is now well behind you as you set out on your journey proper; the terrain still seems rocky and steep here as you move downhill and to the south, dotted here and there with small ponds to the east and rocky outcroppings that you can climb on to the west. There are also large expanses of tall grass here, and the entire route is flanked with tall trees leading off into the forest a short ways. You're more than welcome to explore; just don't stray too far from the group - you wouldn't want to be left behind out here, for any reason. Wild Pokémon are abundant here, as anyone venturing into the tall grass will discover; they aren't inclined to attack you, however, simply watching with dull, dead eyes as you stumble through the area they've come to call home. The trip is difficult, and it's a lot of walking, but it's not unmanageable; fortunately enough, the route you're on should lead you directly to Valor Lakefront, assuming there are no complications along the way. From Thursday and beyond, the route takes a sharp turn west; in front of you lies what's clearly the ocean, large rocks jutting out just offshore tempering the waves. It's safe to go in the water if you so choose - assuming you can swim, that is - and the forested terrain has given way to a large beach with patches of tall grass here and there. Interestingly, there's a house located on the beach; whether it's inhabited or not is difficult to tell. Of course, exploring slightly north of the beach will reveal a path. Maybe it leads somewhere important... CURRENT LOCATION: ROUTE 213 POKEMON AVAILABLE: NEAR WATER SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY [OOC: Welcome to week two of Azume; feel free to make as many top levels as you'd like and tag out to other characters! This post is for all of your interactions this week... at least until the weekend. Don't forget that a write-up is due next weekend!]

Comments

MEETING

[heritrix]

[Early Friday morning, when she's sure most of the group is all in one place, Rin is going to go around camp and make an effort of getting everyone together for a meeting, siting she has something important to share while they're all still together. Once it looks like almost everyone is present, she'll begin.]

So I have good news and bad news. [She folds her arms, looking in the direction of the path she explored yesterday.] For those of us wanting a bath and a hot meal, the good news is I found a resort just over yonder. It looks like a nice place where we could recover some energy before moving to the next town.

The bad news is there are goons from Team Galactic all over the place. They know we're here, too. When I went inside the receptionist was already waiting for me, with a letter from Saturn.

[Pulling said letter from her pocket, Rin will either read it out loud or pass it on to anyone who asks to see it for themselves. It seems to be an invitation to meet him at the resort on Saturday night, to discuss the incident at Lake Valor. Food will be provided, as will use of the resort's amenities.

While the letter is cordial, it's readily apparent that if they refuse the invitation, the chances of a peaceful resolution will go with it, and Team Galactic may take action against them.]

[semistableman]

[Ah.... that sure makes things... complicated.]

I can't say I'm a fan of negotiating with people like him.

[It's not like Bucky's outburst earlier in the week was particularly subtle; even if he's only told one person what HYDRA is, the comparison had clearly not been a positive one.]

But there's a lot more of them than there are of us.

[niceoppai]

Yeah. Talk about creepy. It's obviously a trap, but if he's gonna start hostilities right after if we ditch, what then?

[divinedescendant]

We must go.

While it would not be unwise to have contingencies in the event of an ambush, we cannot throw away an opportunity to settle this peacefully.

[niceoppai]

I guess so. The last thing I want to do is end up in a shootout again.

[greydients]

...it doesn't sound like we have much of a choice. If they know we're here anyway, we don't lose anything by attempting to avoid a fight.

[......]

I just doubt it's going to be that simple, though. We shouldn't let down our guard.

[She doesn't know anything about the man, but judging by his demeanor when they encountered him at Lake Valor, Rey is fairly confident that Saturn has something planned for them outside baths and snacks.]

[hyruglyphics]

We shan't. [ If anything, she's a little bit wary of people being too on edge. She sort of reads the room a moment, resting her hands together and... ] Though we must bear in mind that we cannot be the aggressors in this situation. Our position does not lend itself to that.

[takestheblame]

We should go. [Kiryu crosses his arns] It's likely it will be nowhere as peaceful as he's making it sound, and that there could be many grunts there, but not going would get them to pursue with intentions to catch us. We can't let that happen.

If we're going to get in trouble, then let's do it on our own terms.

[Even if 'our own terms' is just 'don't chase and defeat us in the middle of a route']

[ventulus]

[ ..... ]

So, pranks are definitely out?

[perfectselfie]

I don't think we have much of a choice, even though I have a really bad feeling about this. How do we know they won't just try and take us back to Veilstone and brainwash us again?

[takestheblame]

If those deities that escaped were who turned us back to normal, then that means they'd need those same deities to remove our spirits again.

[Or at least that's how he understood it]

They shouldn't be able to do that to us again if they don't have them. We can't let our guard down -- they could lock us somewhere until they have the deities again.

[divinedescendant]

Unfortunately, if that is a risk, it will be one no matter where we are. Kiryu is right when he says we should act on our own terms, rather than find ourselves taken by surprise. Best to keep our guards up, but still treat our meeting as if their intentions are genuine, so as not to lose the chance.

[bloodspent]

He already knows where we are, his guys outnumber us, and as far as this world's fighting goes he outclasses us. Nothing is stopping him from showing up now and kicking our asses, but he's decided to do whatever the fuck this is instead.

Who knows, maybe he really is here to talk and probably try to fuck Ignis. Most guys I know aren't the kind to leave it like that, but this one's acting weird and I want to see why. I say we should go.

[hyruglyphics]

[ Okay so for how worldly Zelda is she is not that worldly and the "fuck Ignis" part actually leaves her speechless and blushing and maybe a little pale. What. ]

[eudaimonikos]

Gross. That's gross.

[But he looks over at Ignis to see if he's into it.]

[fatalstrikes]

[trrrying not to laugh... this is a serious situation, he should not be nearly as amused by this as he is, but listen. it's funny.]

Agreed, that's pretty much what I was thinking.

[minus the fucking Ignis part, that is.]

[divinedescendant]

[niceoppai]

[TRYING NOT TO LAUGH]

[anythingforyou]

[JAKE, WHAT THE FUCK--]

Really?

[She's. She's less offended at the indecency of the statement but jesus christ what did Ignis do to deserve this]

[enjoymyatelier]

Why should we subject Ignis to this? He deserves far better.

[semistableman]

Dating rituals sure have changed in the last seventy years.

[discutio]

[. . .]

[he's definitely not repressing a laugh. no. picture of professionalism.]

[why is this his life]

So long as I was foolish enough to dispel the idea of being an average hunter I may as well come clean--I've spent my entire life in politics. So not only do I vote we attend as a courtesy extended to even our enemy as well as evaluating his intent, I'll volunteer to take the forefront of discussions with him if that's what the rest of you wish.

I've dealt with worse.

[radiantflame]

[SIGH.]

[ventulus]

[ He grimaces at the letter. ]

That guy is a big jerk.

[ Saturn reminds him of a certain big jerk too. Maybe they can all just gather around and form a lame, dumb big jerk club!!! ]

I wonder if there's another reason why he's doing this, though.

[ He knows the guy could probably do worse because he has bigger numbers, even if the invitation has 100% jerk written all over it. ]

[semistableman]

[A while after the whole.... conversation about Ignis' possible dating life is over, Bucky clears his throat. He's not a particularly loud man, so this is apparently how he chooses to get attention.]

We've been here for a long while now, so I figure this is a question worth asking: how many of you have found yourselves unable to do things you should be able to? That includes sudden dramatic changes in biology.

[His gaze falls on Michael for a moment before it turns to the group as a whole.]

My only guess is it has something to do with the deities.