foolishwren | 030. Action (locked to Kaito-- and his gang if he's still with them)

Current Mood: exhausted
Current Location: Goldenrod City

Entry tags:

*dcmk: kaito kuroba,
@kaito,
action,
claudy,
goldenrod city,
guess who just saw guardians of ga'hoole,
ic,
noctowl,
owlbag has evolved

030. Action (locked to Kaito-- and his gang if he's still with them)

_{[It's been a few days-- almost a week, in fact, since anybody has heard from Heather. The warrant still stands and overall, there's just been total, utter silence from Heather's 'Gear. Attempts to contact her have resulted in maybe a stream of thin static at best, an outright ERROR message at worst.]

[But hey, at least that awful fog's gone, right?]

[In fact, as Friday carries on, the sky over the sprawling streets of Goldenrod City is a bright robin's-egg blue, scudded with puffy little white clouds reminiscent of albino Mareep. In the wake of the nasty wind the previous day, the weather is just downright glorious.]

[It's the sort of day it'd be a downright sin not to be outdoors, enjoying.]

[... And speaking of the sky...]

[A dark, sort of raggedy shape is gliding way up there, although the glide is broken up frequently by flapping that looks incredibly uncomfortably, and for good reason.]

[Owls weren't meant to be long-distance fliers.]}

_{[Wings occasionally pinwheeling, the newly-evolved Noctowl went soaring downwards to the unfamiliar city, trailing a battered and filthy Trainer's pack behind her awkwardly. It couldn't have been too heavy a load if she was flying with it at all, but they weren't meant to be heavy-lifters, either.]

[Claudy wasn't sure just what had happened back there on that foggy day in Violet City-- but what she HAD known was that it was very, very wrong, and after a fairly harrowing escape, she had successfully gotten herself and Heather's team clear of Violet, the ghost Pokemon, and that accursed mist. That had been about three or four days ago.]

[Now? Civilization had appeared on the horizon for the first time since she'd taken off, and it was time to look for a familiar face... any familiar face... Her wings, tatty and ruffled from flight and battle alike, couldn't carry her much further.]

[It was a big scary world out there for an owl who had outgrown her bag.]}

_{[ooc: Locked to Kaito, but anyone is free to say they noticed a big ol' Noctowl carrying a bag around.]}

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[Kaito flashes the nurse an understanding smile, accompanied with a nod]

Don't worry, I'll let them rest.

_{[And lo and behold, a few minutes later, the Pokeballs were handed back over, along with another stern reminder to allow them plenty of rest. Claudy was looking better, having been given some fluids and general ~*~healing rays~*~ or whatever the hell's in those machines. But she looked a lot more bright-eyed in general as she made a beeline across the counter for Kaito's sleeve and climbed up it again. HIS HEAD WAS NICE TO LEAN ON OKAY. EVEN IF IT HAD A PURPLE MONKEY HAT.]}

[Biz lets out an indignant cry as the Noctowl does this. You are moving in on my territory man >| Kaito thanks the nurse and shoulders Heather's bag (but not before tucking the rest of her pokeballs inside), and makes a beeline for the door. Stage one of his mission, completed!

Stage two takes place outside... now that the Noctowl is healed, Kaito doesn't feel guilty asking her about her trainer]

D'you know where Heather is?

_{[Unlike, say, Heather's Furret, Claudy doesn't have enough of an attitude to be snippy back at Biz-- so instead she just sort of... raises all her feathers at once, suddenly making herself twice as big oh shit and just looks at him with an incredibly surprised expression. It is a shoulder, she is going to sit on it, okay.]

[Unfortunately, when Kaito asks his question, he gets a similar-looking response. This one with a sort of apologetic twinge to it, as well as some how whuffling noises.]}

[Biz raises his hackles in return, and though it's very difficult for a constantly smiling monkey to look... menacing, he still tries. He also happens to fail.

Kaito grumps and lifts his free hand to swat at Biz. At his heels, his Eevee lets out a confused 'vee' at the commotion]

C'mon you two, my shoulder isn't a battlefield! [And at Claudy's confused response, Kaito just... sighs]

Do you remember when you last saw her?

_{[~*~SHOULDER BATTLE~*~ except not because Claudy is pretty docile and would probably back down if Biz got really upset.]

[In fact, when Kaito asks the second question, she actually sort of shuffles around and stiffly edges back down his arm onto the nearest flat surface. Once there, she started.... kind of bobbling around in a somewhat meaningful manner. Or it would have been meaningful if Kaito was an owl.]

[It was frustrating to be able to understand humans but not speak their language. <8I]

[ARE MY ABSTRACT DANCE MOVES CONVEYING THAT HEATHER WAS GOING KIND OF CRAZY YET.]}

[... communicating with Pokemon was hard 8(

Nevertheless, when Claudy climbs off his shoulder, Kaito squats down in front of her, brows furrowed in intense concentration as he tries to make heads or tails of her movements. Biz leans forward on his head and does the same, his little paws curled around Kaito's wild locks.

Eeveen just kind of tilts his head and stares.

AND FINALLY, after a few moments of... not quite understanding, Kaito lets out a frustrated sigh and shakes his head]

_{[When Kaito sighs, Claudy just... deflates for a moment. WHAT IS SOCIALIZING SHE IS NOT GOOD AT THIS, WHERE IS HER BAG SO SHE CAN HIDE IN IT OUT OF SHAME.]

[... Then a sort of idea occurred to her, and suddenly she hunkered down, the feathers on her back bristling like hackles and her red eyes growing wide and staring in a completely different direction than at Kaito-- as though she was seeing something that wasn't there. Her beak opened as wide as it could and she let out a hideous, death-rattly hiss that held undercurrents of something that threatened to become a shriek.]

[YOU GUYS. YOU GUYS THIS IS HOW SCARY HEATHER WAS THE LAST TIME I SAW HER. THIS IS BASICALLY WHAT SHE WAS DOING. DO YOU GET IT Y/N?]}

Edited 2010-09-26 05:52 (UTC)

H-hey--! [for a moment, Kaito thought Claudy the Noctowl was going crazy on her own, before it occurred to him that... in the absence of speech, she was most likely trying to convey to him what had happened to Heather.

Taking into consideration the fog, the ghost Pokemon, the nightmares, the hallucinations, and the bits and pieces of what he saw Heather going through over the network... Kaito can kind of guess what Claudy is trying to say]

She had hallucinations too, didn't she. [it's more of a statement than a question; he already knows the answer]

_{[He's right on the money, and his response triggers some enthusiastic bobbling on Claudy's part. More or less the closest thing to 'yes' she could convey.]

[Hallucinations had been on the menu for everyone, it seemed, but whatever Heather had seen had apparently had the side effect of making her disappear. ... Or maybe that had just been because she'd deliberately stayed solo in Violet without a group of people to keep her grounded.]}

... I bet they were hallucinations of the monsters she told me about. [Again, another statement, not a question]

She ran off after the fog disappeared, didn't she?

_{[Claudy couldn't much confirm the first part-- Heather didn't do a whole lot of talking about that, not even to her Pokemon-- but he's right again. At least about part of them.]

[There was a hesitation to the question, but it was soon followed by more excited bobbing. Because she didn't quite know how to say that Heather had run for the hills while the fog was still making her see things...]}

[Kaito lifted a hand and brushed his fingers through his hair] Damn it... [that explained why no one had heard from Heather in days, though it sure didn't make him worry any less]

She has to have her gear with her, right? It's not in her bag.

_{[To that, Claudy just fluffed up again in the owl equivalent of a bewildered shrug. She didn't have much of a way of knowing-- she'd literally taken the bag and split after seeing Heather .... well, advancing on it with an IV pole in hand, looking as though it was some kind of living thing that she planned on beating to death.]}

[and here is where Kaito sighs]

Thanks... guess that's all the information we're getting, huh?

[He frowns and looks thoughtful for a moment]

You mind sticking with me until Heather shows up again?

_{[Y-you tried, Kaito. You tried.]

[If Claudy had known more, she'd certainly have tried to convey it... but those had been a scary few days even for the perfectly-clearminded-and-not-hallucinating Pokemon-- with all those ghosts around, and people going nuts in the streets...]

[In reply, she made her way over to his arm again and started to climb up it once more. If she couldn't fit in the bag anymore, a nice friendly shoulder would just have to do.]}

[It was a good enough reply for him, and in response he hoisted the bag on his shoulder again and stood up straight. Biz grumped at the Noctowl again somewhat indignantly, but made no attempts to push her away]

I guess I'd better tell Kay and Johan we'll be having company during our stay in Goldenrod.

_{[Uttering a steady stream of fairly content burbling noises, the Noctowl settled down and finally shut her eyes, ignoring Biz's disgruntled sounds. It was the middle of the day and WELL past her bedtime, after all. She was just happy she'd no longer have to worry about protecting that bag from every wild predator or minor natural disaster that happened to find it.]}

[thankfully, Kaito would be more than willing to do that for her. And deposit her in his in room too so he didn't have to carry her around Goldenrod all day.

Big owl was big, after all]

_{[And she'd be more than willing to give him his shoulder back in favor of, say, his pillow. .... Which may or may not be the best thing for the pillow, but hey. BETTER THAN THE SHOULDER, RIGHT?]}

[HE CAN ALWAYS GET A NEW PILLOW, ANYWAY]

_{[PILLOWS ARE DISPOSABLE BUT OWLS ARE FOREVER.]

[In truth, the Pokemon out of Heather's motley crew he should be most worried about would probably be the Furret, should he eventually make the mistake of letting her out of her Pokeball. All your snacks are belong to Arty. Forever.]}

[... Zuru the Arbok would probably have a fit if that were to happen.

He claimed those snacks.

On the day he was born.]

_{[~*~SNACK BATTLE~*~]}

[TO THE DEATH]

030. Action (locked to Kaito-- and his gang if he's still with them)

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