2024-01-06: A Plan for Return
- Log: A Plan for Return
- Cast: Avril Vent Fleur, Kaguya
- Where: Central Kanto Plains
- Date: January 06, 2024
- Summary: Avril meets Kaguya after the revelations from Professor Oak and Nall (the other one) to fill her in, and between the two of them, they make plans for their next steps given what they've now learned. Avril fails to uncover the Secret of the Egg.
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
There had been tumult of a sort in the wake of the paired revelations, but then, how could there not have been? The revelations had been of a rather dire sort for the fate of their star, already weakened by the ravages of catastrophes recent and long ago.
Avril, having said her piece and pledged her part -- along with her friends -- had then begged her leave and rushed off to meet another.
Kaguya, of course, had her own reasons for not attending that meeting. Here, not far off from what she has gathered is a care facility for Pokemon, Avril finally makes her arrival as promised.
"Kaguya?" she calls out, stooping a moment to set down Nina.
Nina may be enjoying the pampering. Perhaps it makes getting knocked out with a blast of ice worth it...?
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Kaguya had her reasons. But she's here now. The small Veruni is still dressed in her Filgaian clothes for now, but she has a few Pokemon around, too. Right this moment, she's running a scanning device over her new Oddish. "So that's how you do that..."
There's a bunch of powders scattered about. "Don't step on those," Kaguya cautions Avril as she approaches. Then she says, "Just there--you can see it."
Pause. "Hey, Avril." She touches the pokeball to Oddish and it disappears in a flash of liht. "How'd it go?"
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"--Oh!"
Avril, as directed, takes care with where she steps precisely, skirting around the powders and moving to the side. "Here, Nina! Walk over this way!"
The Rattata gives the powder a tentative sniff then, with a grimace, hurries over to where Avril is. "Was I interrupting something?" she asks of Kaguya, eyeing the spot where the Oddish had been. "...It was cute," she offers, almost belatedly.
But, how did it go?
This seems to serve to jolt Avril back to reality, as it were. "...It isn't good," she tells Kaguya, clasping her hands before her. "I suppose, the good news is that we do have a way back home. ...But this is only because of the Ten Wise Men. They're... draining the Ley from Filgaia." She shakes her head, vehemently. "I had thought it wouldn't end with what happened on the Marduk. I had thought it best to stand against them before they could strike again, but it would seem that again, we are fighting for our own world." She smiles unhappily.
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"Nah," Kaguya answers Avril. "Or at least, nothing I can't do later. I was taking some readings on this Pokemon. It can emit various powders that inflict various ailments--sleep, a poison, paralysis--stuff like that. It defends itself that way. I think it's really interesting..."
Pause. "Guess it's cute, too."
How did it go? Well. "I see. That's..." Kaguya looks alarmed, but also intent. "Filgaia's Ley doesn't have that much energy to take," she says, though they both realize that. "I didn't think it was over either, but that's worse than I thought."
"Well, that tells us what we have to do, anyway. Can we get any more insight into how to take them out from these guys?"
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Really? Can that Pokemon do all that?" Avril muses, tilting her head to one side as she considers what Kaguya's explaining. "I can see that being useful against some enemies. Debilitating an opponent can give one an edge in battle. Besides, there are times when it would be better to disable an opponent rather than fight them." She can already see some applications for putting an enemy to sleep instead of having to fight or even kill them.
Perhaps she should also look into getting one of these creatures, if she can.
(Avril may be Avril, and she may be possessed of kindness in the gestalt, but that part of her thinking -- to claim any advantage possible -- has remained even from five thousand years prior.)
But she explains what she'd learned to Kaguya, and what she had learned is...
"No, it does not. Even one might serve to seriously wound the planet, but it isn't the only one," she explains to Kaguya, her expression grave. "But there are more of them. They are draining our world for some purpose, and given what we have witnessed of their behavior and motives, it cannot be for anything good."
She is silent.
"Presently, there is nothing. Our weapons and techniques cannot so much as scratch them. Yet, we are not without hope. ...Nall, from the Nedian government, had said that there were trials we might undertake to stand against the Ten Wise Men. Nede has lost most of its will to fight over the ages, it would seem... and thus, if they are survive, it is to us they must turn. But I do not think we can attempt to grow stronger immediately. They must first prepare the way, he had said. And..."
She unclasps her hands and turns towards Kaguya. "We must return to Filgaia first. Or, at least, I must."
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"Mm-hm. And it can drain energy, too. It's a powerful little plant. I'm going to raise it, I think. See what else it can do." She sees what Avril is doing, looking for advantage--
But then, Kaguya is a Veruni, too. She doesn't really blink at the concept.
"Yeah," Kaguya says. "That's not something I'm going to allow."
But how is she going to stop it? Avril has a way. Kaguya listens carefully. "Trials... Well, I'm fine with getting stronger," she says. "If they don't have the means to fight... Well, we've got that in spades. And if I can get a look at their technology, then I can improve my own to fight the Ten Wise Men. ...Better me than someone else; I know to make sure the tech doesn't disseminate."
She considers. "I have a lot I can study here," she admits. "But my efforts on Filgaia with our people don't mean much if I can't keep you safe. I'm going with you."
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"I see... a most versatile plant," Avril remarks, the wheels in her head clearly turning. Perhaps it is natural for them to look for any advantage they can get, as a people, given their sojourn through space. Though, it might also be the case that the root extends far further than even that, if Avril too displays such a trait--
Though it is hard to think she could have been the fearsome Ice Queen of eld without such ferocity.
"Nor shall I. If they think that we will permit them to do as they please..."
Avril is nicer than the Lolithia ever was. This is established fact. But the promise in her eyes, if yet only an echo of what had been, once, still promises pain for those who would desecrate her Filgaia.
"It seems that their millennia of peace have made methods such as ours distasteful to them," she explains, though she adds, "Yet, there may still be some among them willing to try," as she thinks of those such as Joy who appeared to feel at odds with the trends of Nedian society. "Still, they are unpracticed compared to us, and..." She shakes her head. "Almost certainly few in number. Without question they need our aid. ...I hear that already they have lost one of their few remaining defensive installations to the Ten Wise Men."
But before any of that, before anything else, she wanted to go back.
"...Kaguya," Avril says, as if taken by surprise. "Thank you," she says soon after. "I must see what has happened back home. And... I think we ought to speak to the Captain soon. He should know what is happening." She pauses. "Perhaps everyone should."
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
It's an odd thing, to feel a commonality with Avril over their people--but not so odd that Kaguya stops doing it, or comments on it for the moment. "Yeah!" she agrees instead.
They agree, too, on what will happen should the Ten Wise Men continue in this. On waht will happen, when they do. That promise...
It does not feel so strange, coming from Avril, at all.
"Hmm. Yeah, that makes sense," Kaguya considers, and that addition... "Yeah," she says. "They need our help either way. ...Especially if that's true."
But Avril does sound surprised. Kaguya looks to her seriously, and then nods. "Sounds good to me," she says. "The Captain, for sure..."
Maybe everyone. "And more than him, for sure."
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
There's much to do here. They have a lot to learn about the Nedian way of life, or about Pokemon, or about the Ten Wise Men. But there's time yet to do those things and continue to do other things, too. And of these, the state of Filgaia in the last while since they traveled to the Marduk spacestation and lept across worlds remains the most pressing with the revelations that Nall and Professor Oak discussed.
So long as they cannot proceed immediately forward to eliminating the threat, then, they might as well see it for themselves with their own eyes.
Because it's their world. It's everyone's world. If it's being threatened anew, then shouldn't they-- ought they not--
Perhaps, even, this might even reach their people in Elru. Against a common threat, disparate people can be united... can't they?
In theory, Avril knows and the bright core of herself echoes. In theory. It is not the only thing.
It is just one thing.
"We won't know until we return," is what she says to Kaguya. There will be time for planning once they know what now is. Still, she smiles, more brightly than before. "But we need not depart immediately for Filgaia and Lunar. I should not wish to leave anything important undone. And of course, we shall return to Nede."
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
Nede is a vast horizon stretching out before them... But 'known' issues are important, too. Their own Filgaia is important, too. To see it with their own eyes--
That's what Kaguya wants to see. She can't believe that their own people will unite as part of it, but she will see it for herself, even so.
"Right," Kaguya agrees. "It feels like it's been a while. We'll have to get there, and get a sense of how things are. How fast the drain is proceeding. I have instruments that can measure some of this, if I can get a chance to use them."
But...
"Cool. I'll gather up another couple of these Pokemon, I think. They might be useful. And we'll come back later."
"But Filgaia's my priority."
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.
"Yes. I think that will help us understand how much time we might have to avert a disaster." If the Trials that Nall mentioned aren't ready in time or if the situation suddenly gets worse... Avril has to be prepared for such things.
But neither can she let such possibilties dominate. They can't assume the worst before they've even gotten started.
And they can't do anything without more data.
"I am fortunate you are on our side, Kaguya. The Mayflower has some instruments of a similar sort, but..." Nothing as attuned to the state of the planet as Kaguya's are.
"Then, it is decided. We'll make preparations and finish anything we've already started... then return to Filgaia. Do you mind if we come with you?"
We being her other friends, of course.
"I should like to learn more about the Pokemon of Nede as well... and see what Nina and Chloe are capable of." She glances downwards at Nina, who has since made her way over to the fence outside the daycare center. ...How strange. Is that a little penguin in there, with a... pink blobby...
Avril realizes she's staring.
"Oh! Where did that egg come from?"
<Pose Tracker> Kaguya has posed.
"Right. Everything follows from seeing how bad it is for ourselves."
Avril calls it fortunate, and Kaguya glances to the side. "Well," she says, "Your side's the planet's side, so..." She is only a little embarrassed to be called out so directly. Moving on makes it simpler--since, "Eh, the others? Sure. Bring 'em along."
"I'm curious, too."
She pauses, glancing over there. "That's--"
Pause. "Huh. There is an egg. Do they lay eggs? It's the dam--" "PIJIIIIIII!" cries a passing bird.
Kaguya sighs.