The SLATEPORT Team

"Joey here found me, in fact. I found myself confronted by your, well, less than sociable companion from before. He helped me by distracting her."

The rapidash frowned, confused, at Nalin’s reply. Less than sociable companion? The frosslass? His sapphire eyes flickered to the serpent’s face, suddenly alarmed that he’d made a poor judge of character in what had appeared to be an emotional, young woman. Perhaps there had been more to the female after all.
“I-I-I didn’t meant to,” Joey chipped in, a sudden guilt washing over him at the prospect he had unknowingly triggered the ghost’s departure. He regarded Darron a moment, shuffling awkwardly on the spot. That was no way to join a group – essentially kicking out one of the current member’s companions. “Sorry,” He addressed the serperior, genuinely apologetic.

"Hello there fellow buddies! How are you this fine morning?"

Joey turned to the newcomers, his expression cheery once more as his blue gaze fell onto the meowth and umbreon duo. Whilst the latter looked far cheerier than the female, the equine nodded his head politely in greeting, convinced that maybe the meowth was just shy. The milotic soon spoke in response, quiet and almost hesitant in his welcoming. Smiling softly at the water-type, the rapidash was soon enlightened to the creature’s newfound timidity as Darron provided a louder, authoritative introduction complete with its own jab at ‘Nally’. Joey’s nostrils flared slightly, a rare frustration boiling beneath the surface as he prepared to speak – surprisingly, the bird beat him to it.

"D-Darron!! That is no way to speak to someone! Do not treat your fellow survivors so rudely. My apologies. I am called Sem."

Sem, as he called himself, quickly helped retrieve his smile. The rather bedraggled avian instantly fell into the rapidash’s good books; his valiant decision to move to the milotic’s defence was something the equine admired above all else. Flashing the bird a powerful smile screaming his appreciation, Joey glanced to the mightyena as he offered the newcomers his name. Apparently it was time to follow suit, fall in line.
“Joey,” His smile was unwavering, determinedly shining on as he lowered his head, unwilling to forfeit formalities out of repetitiveness. He had met hundreds in his lifetime and had rarely been too busy to sacrifice good manners – today, was no exception. “It’s a pleasure, I’m sure,”

"We seem to be fine," The Milotic responded, Elizabeth blinking, she was quite surprised that the beautiful water-type was a male. It was rude of her to think like that, but she honestly thought all Milotics were females due to their calm nature (How sexist of her!), "At least, I don't think anyone is hurt or dead." After a short pause, the Grass-snake cuts into the not-so-really-good conversation; "Hey there, guys. Name's Darron. Nally's too much of a wuss to introduce himself, but glad to see more survivors. What're your names?"
"D-Darron!! That is no way to speak to someone!" The skinny Murkrow said fluttering his wings in anger, "Do not treat your fellow survivors so rudely." Bandit snickered, it was nice seeing how bonded they were, it reminded him a lot of how the Meowth and he fought, "My apologies. I am called Sem."

The Moonlight Pokemon pouted as the Rapidash and Mightyena just simply spoke their names, it would have been nice if they began commenting on each other. Definitely it would show how close they were... Unless they just met? He gave a smile (which reminded Elizabeth of those host club smiles) at the group, clearing his throat before speaking; "I'm Bandit," He began, he used his tail to point at the Albino Scratch Cat Pokemon, "And this young Meowth's name is--"
"Elizabeth." Elizabeth spoke aloud, cutting Bandit's sentence off like a scissor cutting a thin ribbon, "Don't you dare speak for me!" She hissed quietly at the Umbreon, giving her usual Do-that-again-and-I-will-murder-you glare. His eyes were wide in surprise, but then it immediately changed to a toothy grin, of course, he will do it again anyways. Those threats were always empty, as he knew quite well that the cat treasured him.

"Anyways, what are you doing here?" She asked the group members, her expression still sullen, the Meowth lashed her tail impatiently, "Is there some sort of safe place we could hang around or something? What's our goal?" The Umbreon wrinkled his nose, a quick disgusted face came on, but he immediately dismissed that with a nervous expression, "Now, now Elizabeth... Let's be polite..." Arceus how much he hated dealing with Elizabeth when she talks to newcomers.

"Hey there, guys. Name's Darron. Nally's too much of a wuss to introduce himself, but glad to see more survivors. What're your names?" Nalin's anger suddenly flared at the insults just pouring out of Darron's mouth, and he was about two seconds from telling the jerk off when the bird suddenly beat him to it. "D-Darron!! That is no way to speak to someone! Do not treat your fellow survivors so rudely." Nalin's mouth just hung agape at the gesture, not really sure what to do about that. No one had ever defended him to Darron's behavior before, not so openly anyway. Joey had been a silent support but the bird he didn't even know was actively telling the Serperior off.

Fantastic.

"My apologies. I am called Sem." Nalin smiled warmly at the bird and gave a silent nod of thanks, passing a shooting glare to Darron. Everyone began to introduce themselves, the hound was apparently called Shadow, the cat and fox were Bandit and Elizabeth. Elizabeth seemed like a little bit of a priss, what with the way she was suddenly barking orders at the Umbreon, so Darron would probably get along swimmingly with her. "Anyways, what are you doing here? Is there some sort of safe place we could hang around or something? What's our goal?"

Nalin cleared his throat, mostly to stop Darron from suddenly cutting in like he usually did, and curled his tail around to rest in front of him. "Well, I know a few of us just came from the Contest Hall, I was living their fairly safe for several days. I only ventured out to get away from some unwelcome company." At the word 'company' Nalin shot another glare at Darron, and silently dared him to say anything about it. "And contrary to said company, my name is not Nally, it's Nalin." The nickname was hissed with disgust as he felt it roll off of his tongue, making it clear his opinion of the horrid name. At least Joey liked his real name.

((OOC: Sorry for the late reply guys, I am still sick and hadn't felt up to posting today. But I hate skipping so I forced myself online for you guys.))

"D-Darron!! That is no way to speak to someone!" The stated serperior looked to the bird, genuine confusion on his face. "Do not treat your fellow survivors so rudely."

"...What?" Darran asked, his eyes looking over Sem and the others. What had he said? The truth? Nally was obviously irritated, but then again, he was always like that, Sem was flapping around like some old bird, and the horse even, Joey, was flaring his nostrils. He knew enough equine habits in his contest time to knew what that meant. So, how had his comment made nearly half the group so pissy? He frowned as his eyes fell upon Nally. The hell was going on?

The umbreon and meowth were going on, Bandit and Elizabeth respectively. The meowth seemed a little prissy, but it looked like she just suffered from Big Brother Syndrome; the umbreon seemed a little protective of her. He nodded to them and shot a smile in their direction; he would have no problem if they joined. The meowth asked where they were going, what they were doing, and Darron was about to tell them "absolutely nothing" when Nally cleared his throat, taking the reply. Phew. Took the weight off him.

"Well, I know a few of us just came from the Contest Hall, I was living their fairly safe for several days. I only ventured out to get away from some unwelcome company." At the word 'company' Nally shot another glare at Darron, as he began to continue. "And contrary to said company, my name is not Nally, it's Nalin."

Whoa. Darron flinched back a bit, his scarlet eyes looking the fellow snake over. He just had the gall to openly attack him like that, in front of all these people? Well. That was not happening. "Since when did you grow a pair?" Darron growled, low enough for only Nally to hear. "Now look, Bucko, you can go and have at me any other time, but not in front of new arrivals. We don't all need to get caught up in your inferiority complex. And besides, it's not MY fault you went and insulted a sensitive girl in front of her face. Sorry I was trying to save your scales. I guess I'll restrain myself next time." The last sentence was said with a low growl, his eyes narrowing toward Nally. No one got away with a low punch like that.

No one.

He turned back to the duo, sighing as he regained his composure. "Nally's right. The contest hall's a bit worse for wear, but we were there quite a while without much distruption. There's no food there... Anyone have an idea?" He looked to the beach and frowned. "Think the fish is good?"

((Sorry guys. I got nothing. Skip :c))

Shadow quickly got bored of all the bickering and simply sat and licked his paw while listening with vague interest. Apparently Nalin and Darron weren't exactly the best of friends, and while the Mightyena usually found entertainment in listening to arguments that didn't involve him, this one rapidly started to grate on his nerves. As if bickering to one another was the most important thing right now! Shadow stood up and was about to tell the two serpents to shut the hell up when Elizabeth, the sweet little Meowth, brought up the issue of 'a place to hang around'. This soon snapped Darron out of ego-mode and he then asked whether there was any decent food around.

Shadow let out a low groan and turned his head in the direction of his food shed. He'd told himself several times that he would never share any of it with these idiots after he'd spent so much time gathering it all. But he had to at least try to break out of his old nature soon enough, right? After all, if he had any chance of staying in this odd little group he'd have to let them all know that they could trust him. He wasn't a bastard anymore ... Sakura had worked hard to make sure that he strayed away from that path and never returned.

"I ... know where there's some food," he addressed the group before gesturing over his shoulder. "I've been here for a while and during that time I managed to collect quite a big collection of meat and berries. If you follow me, I'll direct you there and let you share some of it." The instincts that still remained from his previously twisted, selfish mind screamed at him to shut up, but somehow Shadow felt quite proud that he could help these guys. Looked like Sakura's work and kindness hadn't been for nothing after all.

The newcomers, Elizabeth and Bandit, were in Joey’s eyes, more than pleasant company. Their bickering amused him to no-ends, their relationship alike to a duo he’d known long ago. His expression was warm, a bright smile stretched across his scarred face as the feline and vulpine pair queried about a place to rest. He was somewhat curious to the answer too. It was his first time in the city, the whole region for that matter; so understandably, Joey was utterly lost in this foreign world. All cities seemed to have the same industrial, structural air, but the beach, probably a tourist attraction to the humans only continued to haunt him. There was no escape. His attempts at returning to his Tom were shredded at the sight of that monstrous mass of water. His expression fell at the reminder; heart aching as he abruptly looked away.

"Now look, Bucko, you can go and have at me any other time, but not in front of new arrivals. We don't all need to get caught up in your inferiority complex. And besides, it's not MY fault you went and insulted a sensitive girl in front of her face. Sorry I was trying to save your scales. I guess I'll restrain myself next time."

Joey, lost to his inner turmoil had subconsciously blanked Nalin’s words, turning back in time to catch a venomous retort from serpent. Disapproving at first, a frown started to emerge over Joey’s expressive, blue eyes – but his anger was soon lost at the accusation of insulting a woman. Shocked, he looked to Nalin.
“That frosslass?” The fire-horse questioned, the surprise ringing loud in his words. “What reason could you have to insult a lady?” In Joey’s chivalrous mind, the rapidash classified all females into the category of beautiful, innocent beings that were to be protected by the strong. Sexist in some respects, but he could fathom no reason why anybody could condemn them as anything less than perfect. He stared at the milotic hard, regretting leaping to the water-type’s defence earlier on. Eventually looking away, a look of disappointment replacing the disgust at this revelation, Joey remained intent on being fair. There were always two-sides to a story – he liked to think that Nalin had a particularly good explanation.

“Nally's right. The contest hall's a bit worse for wear, but we were there quite a while without much disruption. There's no food there... Anyone have an idea? Think the fish is good?"

Clueless to what a ‘contest hall’ was, Joey’s face remained blank. Apparently that snake was hell-bent on annoying the milotic with the nickname, but now, the rapidash had lost the heart to assist the water-type. From what he’d heard, Nalin wasn’t as innocent as he’d first thought. Were he truly capable of insulting a female, a sensitive girl, then he should be able to accept his own share of abuse.
“I can’t say I enjoy meat,” The equine commented softly as Darron gestured to the ocean. Whilst it was true – he was completely satisfied with a diet of berries, grass and the occasional treat of some hay – Joey was more concerned with being so close to the waves. Water sapped his energy for one, but returning to such close proximity of his greatest obstacle was likely to overwhelm him. “Of course, you go ahead though,” He smiled pleasantly, disguising the growing emotional pain as realization of his hopeless situation continued to weigh on his mind. However, Shadow soon spoke up, revealing that he was in possession of a large collection of food. Pleasantly surprised at the canine’s offer to share his collection, plus his strategic method of ensuring he would never go hungry, Joey’s smile made the apparent transition from strained to sincere. ”That’s most noble of you,” Shuffling on the spot, his long, scarred legs desperate to move, Joey lowered his head politely at the mightyena. ”You're a true comrade, sir,”

"Well, I know a few of us just came from the Contest Hall, I was living their fairly safe for several days. I only ventured out to get away from some unwelcome company." Immediately did the Water Snake throw a glare at the Grass Snake, Bandit felt a funny feeling going on inside of him, but it was familiar. Deja vu much? "And contrary to said company, my name is not Nally, it's Nalin." The Umbreon gave a nod in acknowledgement, whilst Elizabeth just seemed to throw glares at all the visitors. Of course, she was never around so many Pokemon before other than Bandit. It was understandable, but he did somewhat wonder whether she felt lonely in her earlier years... He shook that thought away, catching the Serperior retaliate at the Milotic with growls. It was low enough for only them to hear, but it seems that the Rapidash caught some part of it, questioning them upon a 'Froslass'.

The Meowth gave a huff as finally did the snakes release themselves from their bickering, turning towards her and Bandit's direction, "Nally's right. The contest hall's a bit worse for wear, but we were there quite a while without much distruption. There's no food there... Anyone have an idea? Think the fish is good?" Now fish is what caught her mind, Elizabeth immediately glanced up at the Serperior, her eyes flickering in delight. It was like a dream come true to hear that fish was arou-! "Thanks... But no thanks, there's a probability the water's contaminated and the fish are as well. I ain't takin' those chances," Bandit said, dipping his head in apologies at Darron. Elizabeth felt her heart drop, she knew the Umbreon wasn't referring to just himself, it was towards her as well. Well fuck. What a party pooper, dream-ruiner, cocky, laid-back Pokemon.

"I ... know where there's some food," The Mightyena began, "I've been here for a while and during that time I managed to collect quite a big collection of meat and berries. If you follow me, I'll direct you there and let you share some of it." The Moonlight Pokemon felt the edge of his lips curl into a smile, "That sounds spectacular!", he said enthusiastically, Bandit glanced over his shoulder at Elizabeth with his signature goofy grin, "What about you Elizabeth?"

She felt her nose scrunch up in irritation as her partner gave that stupid grin, "As long as it doesn't kill me." She mumbled, inching closer to Bandit. It seemed obvious if they wanted to threaten her by using their territory as their advantage! Bandit would protect her, she knows damn well the servant wouldn't dare leave her defenseless.

”You're a true comrade, sir,” Joey said to Shadow, Bandit following up, "I salute you my dear sir for being such a kindred spirit!" He even exaggerated that congratulations with his paw up on his head.

"Now look, Bucko, you can go and have at me any other time, but not in front of new arrivals. We don't all need to get caught up in your inferiority complex. And besides, it's not MY fault you went and insulted a sensitive girl in front of her face. Sorry I was trying to save your scales. I guess I'll restrain myself next time." WHAT?! Darron was getting on to him?! Simply for defending himself against his greatest bully? Before he could even defend himself he saw the looks on everyone's faces and was stunned in silence. Everyone looked at him like he was a monster, but the one that hurt the most was Joey's. The look of repulsion was burned into his mind as the equine regarded him, and the expression brought Nalin to the point of tears. “That frosslass? What reason could you have to insult a lady?”

Nalin's mouth opened to reply but nothing came out. He stood there, fumbling over something to say, when he realized Darron's true intention for the comment. It wasn't to hurt him, it was to turn everyone against him. Darron always had to be the center of attention, the popular one. Anything else anyone said faded into background noise, sounding merely like distant static, as he pondered over the sudden shift. For the first time since he made his promise to his boy, Nalin wished he hadn't survived. He wished the infected hounds that stormed the Contest Hall had taken him down, then he wouldn't be forced to suffer the penetrating gaze of the beautiful stallion next to him.

"I'm sorry..." he began, voice barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry..." as he spoke his voice began to grow in strength, but the tears began to fall freely down his cheeks. "I'm sorry Darron, that I was terrified by a female who openly admitted to slaughtering an entire room full of people with no explanation. I'm sorry that my very existence is so insulting to you, that you feel the need to insult me at every turn and make sure that my life is a living hell. I'm sorry that you feel so inadequate that you feel the need to make everyone else around you feel like shit. BUT MOST OF ALL-" His words had been even up until the last part, sorrow replaced by anger and his tears turning bitter, suddenly reaching a precipice before dropping into silence. Once again, barely at a whisper, all he could add was, "I'm sorry I'm not you..."

With the last of it uttered he slithered away, too afraid to look back at how the other must be looking at him. Utter loneliness was crushing him mentally and physically as he returned to the only creature who had ever loved him. His boy. Creeping back into the Contest Hall he went back to the room where he had entombed his only friend to curl up and weep, not knowing what to do now that there was no one in the world to love him.

The conversation had moved on. It was nice, amiable, and geared towards food. Even the grumpy Mightyena had offered his food stash, which in the short time of knowing him, had to have been something momentous. It was good. Pokemon were getting along and the group was coming together.

Nally, though, of course, had to ruin it.

"I'm sorry..." he whimpered, almost so softly that the serperior didn't catch it. "I'm sorry..." His voice was a little stronger the next time, and Darron had to suppress a groan. No... not this... "I'm sorry, Darron, that I was terrified by a female who openly admitted to slaughtering an entire room full of people with no explanation. I'm sorry that my very existence is so insulting to you, that you feel the need to insult me at every turn and make sure that my life is a living hell. I'm sorry that you feel so inadequate that you feel the need to make everyone else around you feel like shit. BUT MOST OF ALL-" Steadily, with Nally's words, Darron's growl had built, his form slowly coiling in anger. The impudent little-- "I'm sorry I'm not you..."

...What?

Before anyone could ask anything, Nally slithered away, back to the contest hall. Almost immediately, he sprang after him, only holding himself back to address the others. Of course after pouring his heart out, attacking him, Nally would just leave him for the others to question and judge. Little tricky... Still, Darron was not one to just let the last word in an argument slip from him, and was determined to finish this fight right. With him on top. He shot a look to the others. "...I guess we'll meet you later... Gotta get him before he does anything dramatic and stupid like he usually does."

With that, he slithered away, determined to get to the contest hall before Nally could do anything stupid. He wasn't the bad guy... and hell if he was going to let some drama queen paint him that way. He worked his way quickly back to the contest hall, following the sounds of sobbing. There Nally was, right there, where they'd first reunited a few hours ago, sobbing his eyes out. He sighed, slowly coming out. "...That's not going to do anything but make him melt faster," he said softly, unsure of how else to approach the situation.

[ooc: Really sorry for the late reply xisbd :< But please skip. Having trouble getting into character.]

"That’s most noble of you," Joey replied to Shadow's offer of (reluctantly) sharing his food. "You're a true comrade, sir," he added, bowing his head slightly. Shadow simply blinked at him, a little confused and unsure how to react. It wasn't exactly every day he got bowed to.

As if that wasn't enough flattery for one day, Bandit expressed his thanks and then asked Elizabeth if she agreed. "As long as it doesn't kill me," the small feline replied. Shadow felt a faint grin tug at the edges of his lips. "Miss, I will make sure that you have first pickings," he said, lowering his head with respect to the Meowth and then--Huh? What the fuck are you doing?!--shaking it a little and regaining his usual cold glare. Bandit was even polite (or weird?) enough to salute him! Trying to surpress a snort of embarrassed laughter, he looked around at everyone who was still there. "This way then."

He stole a glance over his shoulder at Nalin and Darron as the two serpents slithered off back to where they'd come from. Well, they'd better hurry up or else there'll be no food left, Shadow thought with a smirk as he led the group through the deserted streets. Within a few minutes his rickety old shed was in sights again. He was surprised that the moldy old thing hadn't just collapsed. It was near to the Shipyard so he guessed that the humans had once used it for storage, meaning that there was plenty of room inside for everyone because it was larger than it looked inside.

"Here." Shadow nudged the door open with his paw and walked in. He wasn't sure what they all preferred to eat, so decided to let them choose. "There are a lot of berries in that sack against the wall, and ... there are some birds over there." He gestured to the small pile of dead bird Pokemon near the centre of the room. He gave Sem an apologetic look and then padded over to the sack of berries and tipped it over, and many different kinds of berries rolled out. Some had gone a little rotten but the rest looked all right to eat. "Elizabeth." Shadow nodded to the small cat and then gestured to the berries and then to the birds. "Like I said, ladies first."

"I'm sorry...”

Joey’s attention shifted back to Nalin, his blank expression grdually collapsing at the serpent’s quiet apology. As the creature went on to near-enough break down completely, apparently sick of the constant pressure of living up to Darron’s expectations, Joey felt that familiar sense of guilt wash over him. The frosslass had been a murderer? He felt physically sick at the concept of killing for fun, more horrified at the fact he had instantly leapt to the ghost’s defence due to a misleading appearance. He averted his brilliant sapphire eyes to the ground, ashamed of his condemnation of Nalin. Struggling to grasp hold of what was the truth, Joey listened intently, pained, to the remainder of the milotic’s heartfelt speech. Feeling quite frankly terrible, the rapidash took a step forward, eyes hurt as the water-type turned to slither away. Whilst he had fully intended to pursue him, Darron had beaten him to it.

"...I guess we'll meet you later... Gotta get him before he does anything dramatic and stupid like he usually does."

Untrusting of his feelings, Joey stared hard at the serperior a moment, his expression utterly oozing the guilt at his part in upsetting the sensitive water-snake further. He exhaled deeply, moving closer to the grass-type just before he took his leave.
“Darron,” The war-horse spoke quietly, the distress in his voice apparent, though he quickly moved to suppress it. He had been taught to disguise his feelings, though even now, the rapidash struggled to uphold the typical ideals of a soldier. “Fix this,” It was an order, the scarred face suddenly serious as his eyes flicked to the building in which Nalin’s form had disappeared. Desperate to regain the peace and make amends, Joey watched the serperior slither away, clinging to the hope that the rivals could form some kind of truce.

"This way then.”

The equine only averted his gaze at Shadow’s words, the canine ready to lead them to his source of food. Joey’s smile did not return. Too wrapped up in the dramas of the serpent and the damage he may have unintentionally caused, the rapidash reluctantly followed the small group to a rather run-down shed. Eyeing the building cautiously, Joey peered through the doorway to catch sight of the bounty Shadow was willing to share. The mightyena’s kindness touched him, a faint grin touching his features as he nodded appreciatively in the canine’s direction. Although a relatively spacious building, the equine refused to enter, a powerful case of claustrophobia restricting him to nought but open spaces. He was more than content with his current position in the street, simply watching the others feast within. Besides, he could keep watch for the undead. He hadn’t’ spotted many of the monsters in awhile, though life in the war had taught him well that it was unwise to ever let your guard down.

“Would you mind tossing over a couple of berries? I’m not fussy,” Joey enquired politely, awaiting the feline’s choice of food before choosing to speak. The canine’s manners had only impressed him further, though the offering of dead birds was quick to flip the equine’s stomach. It seemed so barbaric that some pokémon were forced to kill to sustain themselves. He flashed a soft smile regardless, the clicking of hooves against the pavement betraying his shuffling as he glanced uneasily over his shoulder. “S-Sorry, I would come in, but… I…” He was unsure how to phrase it. Joey was unafraid to admit his fear to the recently formed group, yet couldn’t disguise a slight embarrassment of the fact. It wasn’t like a small room could hurt him in anyway. He’d seen far ‘scarier’ things in his lifetime, yet the restriction, the confinement, was something the equine’s fragile mind simply couldn’t tolerate. He forced a laugh, attempting to make light of his crippling fear. “I’m not good with… small spaces,”

Elizabeth felt her eye twitch as the Umbreon saluted the Mightyena, what's his problem? "Miss, I will make sure that you have first pickings," the Dark-type said lowering his head in respect towards the Meowth. Okay that was very fucking fishy, no way is she going to fall for such cheap bribary and by the looks of it, that Shadow doesn't show kind affection towards the Albino Scratch-Cat Pokemon. Their relationship, was obvious a silent competition. It was obvious he was giving her challenges, Elizabeth scoffed at the idea that he thought she could not be up to it. Well fine! She can eat those first berries, they won't kill her... hopefully. So fuck him!

"I'm sorry..." Elizabeth confused at the Milotic's sudden apology, it was strangely quieter than earlier, she stopped himself from getting ready to follow the Mightyena as he listened. Well fuck, it's actually terrifying to be afraid of someone that killed a fucking entire room filled with people. If it was Undead, that's a different story, but for no reason? Obviously the water serpent needed a check-up on reality, as he slithered away to some abandoned building. If Elizabeth were to follow, she would obvious smack some sense into him, telling the bastard that wishing to be someone else is cruel. Indeed, it was true. As a saying in one story that her little family would read to her; 'Don't be afraid to be yourself, because you are you, and I am I. No one could be better than you besides you.' Wanting to be someone is like saying you don't want to be yourself...

Bandit felt his heart somewhat tighten as the Milotic slithered away, he once felt the same, but that was until Elizabeth smacked some sense to him. It was grateful to have the brat around, relieves most of his stress. "...I guess we'll meet you later... Gotta get him before he does anything dramatic and stupid like he usually does." The Serprior said, slithering off after Nalin. Somewhat deja vu-ish these snakes were, they remind Bandit of when Elizabeth and he first met. He shook that thought away, then again, he wanted to suicide, that was the one thing that was different.

The group followed Shadow fairly silently, the odd uneasiness probably coming from earlier's incident with the two serpents. "Here." The Mightyena said, it was an old shack rather a moldy one at that too, but hey better than out in the open. He nudge the door open with his paw, revealing... a dead stack of birds. Okay not Bandit's type of food, and probably not Sem's either. "There are a lot of berries in that sack against the wall, and ... there are some birds over there." It was all honesty that the Umbreon didn't see the sack, despite being a Moonlight Pokemon and a Dark-type, he fucking didn't see the sack due to the darkness. Pathetic. He wanted to snort and laugh at himself for not being able to see it.

The Albino Meowth felt something cold up along her spine, this her her time of moment. Where hse has to prove to that dog his rightful spot..."Elizabeth." The Mightyena said, it spooked Elizabeth for a moment, her suddenly jumping as he said her name, "Like I said, ladies first." She felt her nose scrunch up in disgust, she will take this challenge, she will take that Shadow's pride and throw it on the grounddddddddddd! With dignity, she rose her chin, the Meowth must hold onto her pride! "Alright, fine." She sneered, padding over to the berries that were rolled on the floor, 'At least have the sense of organizing...' She thought silently, going through the berries. Elizabeth picked up a nice ripe-looking Pecha berry from there, staring right at Shadow and Bandit, she ate it. As the Pecha berry broke under her teeth, the juice it had released was sweet and pleasing. Thankfully not poisoned. "Seems safe," She said, closing her eyes as she swallowed it, "High class berries, good enough in the situation of the apocalypse."

A snort of laughter came from the Umbreon, whenever Elizabeth was like this, it was obvious she's having a competition with someone. Nonetheless, he smiled, "Now that we have the Queen's approval, [She got rather agitated with the nickname as he spotted a vein pop onto her head, but she said nothing as she gritted her teeth] "Let's eat!"

“S-Sorry, I would come in, but… I…” Joey began, forcing a laugh shortly afterwards, “I’m not good with… small spaces,” Bandit blinked, it wasn't the surprising for Equines, mostly because most of the horses he knew were rather frightful of everything [yet they have guts to jump over fences what the fuckkkkk?]. He nodded, grabbing an Sitrus berry between his teeth and placing it right out the door for the Rapidash to reach, "I'll hand you more, but I prefer that you would tell me what kind of berries you like haha!" Bandit never liked making someone irritated just because of his berry choice. It was better that Joey makes his choice of what kind of berries, it would be nice to be picky every once in a while, especially since they actually found a bundle of food. Well it was actually Shadow's, but boy was he glad to meet such a nice fellow!

((Skip, as my post is reliant on Phoe))

Elizabeth had a rather strange attitude about her as she took one of the berries off the floor and ate it. He blinked at her as she swallowed while announcing that they were, "high class berries, good enough in the situation of the apocalypse." Bandit then let out a snort of laughter and Shadow simply looked at them both, slightly confused. Nonetheless, he was convinced that the rather prim young cat would continue to eat her fill, and slowly wandered over to the pile of dead birds and picked one up in his mouth.

While carrying it over to one of the corners, he happened to glance at Joey and couldn't help but notice that the Rapidash looked nervous about something. "Would you mind tossing over a couple of berries? I’m not fussy," he asked politely. Shadow stood and looked at him with the dead Taillow hanging limply from his mouth, waiting for him to go on. "S-Sorry, I would come in, but... I... I’m not good with... small spaces."

Claustrophobia ... Shadow had heard that was quite a common fear these days, but seeing the tall, proud horse shuffle nervously on his feet and chuckle in self-pity made the Mightyena feel rather sorry for him. It was perhaps just another hint that this Rapidash had endured a lot in life and was a lot more than he looked. He already had a lot of respect for the guy; he just wasn't sure why yet...

Bandit took one of the berries out to him, asking him to state what kind of berries he liked. To alleviate that problem, Shadow put the Taillow down and nudged a few of the berries outside towards Joey's feet. He made sure to include as many varieties as possible so that the horse was satisfied. "Let me know if you want anymore," he mumbled when he was sure that there were more than enough berries rolling around outside. Without another word he retrieved his Taillow, retreated to a corner, lay down and began to eat.

"I'll hand you more, but I prefer that you would tell me what kindof berries you like haha!”

Joey’s grin soon returned at the umbreon’s response, his head lowered in a nod of thank as the sitrus berry was dropped at his hooves. Although the feline had seemed a little confused at first, the rapidash was mainly relieved that the group hadn’t made a mockery of his phobia. It was always nice to know he was in good company. He managed a soft laugh, opening his mouth to assure the dark-type that his selection was more than appropriate when more of the fruit began to roll towards him. The equine’s eyes followed the movements back into the building, a smile brightening his face at Shadow’s hospitality.
“Thank you,” The appreciation oozed from his tone, a genuine pleasure at being shown such kindness tugging at his heart. “I-I’m sure that’ll be plenty,” Of all the creatures he’d met, good and bad alike, it was unusual that he should stumble across a group that were proving themselves so selfless. It only further instilled his belief that there was still hope for this corrupted world. Despite those horrific wars, the inequality of rich and poor and now, the appearance of the bloodthirsty offspring of the epidemic, there was always some good hidden away in the darkness. Joey was thankful that he had struck gold.

Lowering his head to tentatively sniff the berries, Joey soon snatched one from the ground having deemed them safe. Whilst he had no suspicions about the quality of the hound’s food, the equine had simply learnt to be careful with what he ate. Back during his days of training in the English countryside, even before the bloodbaths commenced, many a pokémon had fallen ill from eating tainted food. There was always a rattata problem, poisoned foods left out in a bid to kill the blighters – instead, a handful of acquaintances had found an unpleasant end from the smallest dose of death. Joey’s sighed, forcing his mind away from old times as he focused his attention on absorbing the energy the sitrus berry was providing. Whilst it was slightly awkward to eat with a bit still firmly lodged in his mouth, the equine had learnt to persevere. He’d been wearing the bridle for nearly four months now –whilst grubby and somewhat unpleasant, Joey knew things could be a lot worse.
“I take it you’ve been here awhile?” Joey addressed Shadow once he’d finished his second berry, gesturing to the building with a quick flick of his head. The nagging curiosity to discover his location had returned to the front of his mind, again; yet fear remained close at hand, a reminder of how damaging such a revelation could be. The fire-horse smiled kindly, moving to lean his weight against the building whilst his head peered into the doorway to follow any conversation. “This food shed's a pretty good idea,”

The equine responded with a grateful bow as Bandit silently waltzes over next to Elizabeth as he grabbed a Cheri Berry between his teeth, munching on it as he grinned stupidly at the Meowth. She was so delicate and petite on many things she does, the Umbreon is quite amazed of her little habit of being clean and such. He remembered when they first met and she would always nag him to clean his fur... He glanced over at Shadow, watching the Mightyena a more variety of berries at the Rapidash, okay, that saves Bandit the time of finding a certain berry then.

Elizabeth rose an eye at her companion whom just sat next to her with a stupid grin, 'What the hell are you smiling at?' the Meowth thought bitterly, gazing at Joey and Shadow as they began to converse upon how long they've been here. Now that she thought about it, what were they going to do now? "Hey you guys," the Scratch Cat Pokemon began, her attention focused at the Mightyena and the Rapidash, "What do you plan on doing after we eat?" It was an honest question, no challenging tones in her voice. What were they going to do? Continue running from the Epidemic? Try to wipe out as many Undead as possible? Or just live life as if nothing happened?

The Moonlight Pokemon stared at Elizabeth, astounded. Now that he thought about it, what were they going to do now?... Bandit gave a thought, already deciding for the group, "Should we look around for more survivors?" He shook his head, waving his paw wildly, "Not that I'm saying we should gather more Pokemon into our group, but it would be best to get ahold of the situation. Like some pokemon could know what's actually going on other than the dead rising back up to and such..."

"...That's not going to do anything but make him melt faster." Nalin didn't move to respond, didn't pause in his crying, he simply stay there weeping. He couldn't understand what the hell the Serperior was playing at. What did Darron care what he did? Why did the narcissist bother following him? Was it not enough that he had effectively quashed Nalin's only chance at friendship now that his Coordinator was dead, did he have to watch Nalin die too?

When his tears finally ran dry he curled up in front of the ice tomb and lay his head upon his colorful scales. Eyes barely glancing up to acknowledge the green serpent at the door Nalin sighed in defeat. He was still there. "Just...go away Darron..." he whispered, voice flat and emotionless. "There is no point when you've already won. Just go back to your friends and leave." Curling his head back around so it wasn't facing his rival anymore, he placed the fan of his tail in front to block Darron from seeing the last few tears glistening in his eyes. "It's over."

Nally was, as Darron expected, depressed, soft-spoken and just lost of all drive. The serperior wasn't surprised, but it still bugged him that Nally was still so broken up about... everything, really. In Darron's mind, what was lost was lost, and there was little you could do about it other than move on. He'd tried earlier lifting Nally out of his morose and melancholy, but that had spectacularly failed.

He slithered closer, despite Nally's monotone suggestion to leave. Making his way a mere couple of feet from the milotic, Darron's scarlet eyes wandered over the entombed form of the boy Nally clung to, when Nally spoke again. "There is no point when you've already won. Just go back to your friends and leave. It's over."

Darron tilted his head at Nally's words. It wasn't over. They were still alive and proverbially kicking, what was over? Darron gave a small grunt of confusion; he just couldn't wrap his head around this. Why would Nally just give up, just throw his life away because his human was dead? Wouldn't it be a greater sin to just allow that gift he'd been given to just be tossed aside and make the human's sacrifice in vain? To just let the Apocalypse win? Even with his anger and frustration rising, he stayed his voice, knowing he'd probably only succeed in making it worse.

Instead, he decided to veer the topic away, and commented on something that wouldn't have them both screaming at each other. "...You... really cared for him, huh?" he muttered, his voice uncommonly soft and unsure. "...With mine... it was all business. You're... lucky..." His face dropped a little, his mind sorting through the memories of his partner. She was enthusiastic, yes, but she only loved him because he was the best, and got her the most money and fame. He'd seen her toss away other pokemon who didn't win, locking them into the PC for the rest of their lives. A frown crossed his features, his life replaying in his mind.

Shadow lay in the corner and continued to feast on the Taillow's wing, occasionally pausing to have a look at what the others were doing. Sem still seemed a little indecisive of what to eat, Joey was happily tucking into the berries they'd given to him and Bandit and Elizabeth were also eating their share. Shadow stopped eating for a moment to lick his lips and watched as the food he'd spent weeks hording disappeared down the throats of Pokemon that he barely knew. He really was going soft, and thus far he was disliking every second of it. It felt so ... unnatural, so alien, to actually be helping others instead of just himself. He wasn't sure if he could keep it up. If he had decided to remain as his old self he knew that all of the Pokemon around him would be dead by now for getting so close to his shed.

"I take it you’ve been here awhile?" Joey's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked to see that the Rapidash had lifted his head to him. He smiled. "This food shed's a pretty good idea."

"You could say that," Shadow muttered his reply as he tore off another strip of flesh from his meal and began to chew it. "It was nice and quiet when I got here, you see. Only the occasionally undead disturbed the peace. Then you lot came along," he chuckled somewhat bitterly as he swallowed, and gave the Rapidash no further attention as he continued to eat.

"Hey you guys," Elizabeth's little voice then rang out. Shadow quickly licked the blood off his lips as he looked at her. "What do you plan on doing after we eat?" Before Shadow could reply Bandit decided to butt in. "Should we look around for more survivors? "Not that I'm saying we should gather more Pokemon into our group, but it would be best to get ahold of the situation. Like some pokemon could know what's actually going on other than the dead rising back up to and such..."

The Mightyena flicked his tail and scowled, immediately disliking the idea. Finding more Pokemon to hang around him, to annoy him and to eat his food? No chance. "I don't think there's anyone else around here," he said, turning back to his meal. "I've been here for ages and you guys are the only sane ones I've met." He swallowed a chunk of Taillow meat whole and then looked at Bandit, his eyes narrowing. "Who the hell is going to know more about this than we do? Exactly what we're seeing - that's what's happening! It doesn't take a genius to figure it out."

"You could say that. It was nice and quiet when I got here, you see. Only the occasionally undead disturbed the peace. Then you lot came along,"

Joey chuckled lightly at the Shadow’s response, utterly oblivious to the bitter pang that accompanied the canine’s own laugh. His expression spritely as ever, he consumed another berry in the meantime – convinced that the hound at least was definitely a creature of few words. Whilst the equine was very much adverse to dead silence, instinctively unnerved if it were to drone on too long, he respected the mightyena’s own desires for peace. The silence could be a subtle thank you for his hospitality.

"What do you plan on doing after we eat?"

The rapidash turned to regard the feline that had spoken, his eyes gentle, almost tired. He too was curious to the answer, habitually looking to Shadow for guidance, considering him a higher authority the moment he presented his food. He was caring for the group – it was only natural that Joey saw him as a leader.
“Well, we should probably wait for Nalin and Darron first,” Joey chipped in with a chuckle. Keeping his tone light-hearted, he risked a glance over his shoulder, a genuine concern for both serpents’ rising in the back of his mind. Adamant that they would not be left behind, the fire-horse listened half-distracted as the others continued to discuss a plan of action.

The umbreon, expressing an interest in seeking out fellow survivors, was almost immediately cut down by Shadow’s sharp response. Turning his slender, scarred head back to the sight within the ‘food shed’, Joey mouth curved slightly as he mentally debated the topic. The canine had a point in the lack of life – it seemed unlikely that they would stumble upon anybody else, and yet Joey felt it his duty to assist. He’d been fighting all those years to protect – his country, his various riders, his friends – it was unsurprising that his determination to defend others hadn’t died away. Managing a weak smile, he took a deep breath as he processed the remainder of the canine’s words.

"Who the hell is going to know more about this than we do? Exactly what we're seeing – that's what's happening! It doesn't take a genius to figure it out."

As much as he didn’t want to hear it, Joey knew that the dark-type was right. These monsters, victims of the epidemic, were bloodthirsty and growing in numbers – essentially, they needn’t know anymore. There was no cure to the infection and even if there was, it wouldn’t be accessible to their kind. It was a bleak reality that sent an unpleasant shiver down the equine’s spine.
“But it’ll take one to stop it,” The rapidash added sadly, averting his attention to the ground as that painful pang of hopelessness again exploded in his chest. It was hard to remain positive in such dark times. Even the war, the battles that ended the lives of hundreds, thousands – there was still a glimmer of mercy. Joey’s life had been spared on three separate occasions. And, despite those dreadful years, peace had eventually reigned supreme. The undead knew not such a world. Heaving a sigh, he raised his head, smile gone. “Perhaps it’d be better to move on. I don’t know if those creatures can sense the living, but a group of seven won’t go unnoticed… I can carry supplies,”

“Well, we should probably wait for Nalin and Darron first,” Joey said with a chuckle, Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, so they did have to wait for those drama serpents. They known each other in the past, probably making up with some love confession or something. Nonetheless the Albino Meowth shrugged, "Is it alright to grab some seconds?" Referring to the food as she pointed at it with her claws, a flicker of annoyance came across her as Bandit asked his question.

As the Spicy delicacy's juice exploded in Bandit's mouth he chewed on the skin and the insides as he listened intently to the group; "I don't think there's anyone else around here," Shadow began, "I've been here for ages and you guys are the only sane ones I've met." Is that so...? Bandit felt disappointment wash over him, even though more Pokemon means more mouths to feed, they could at least try to rebuild society right? "Who the hell is going to know more about this than we do? Exactly what we're seeing - that's what's happening! It doesn't take a genius to figure it out." He blinked at this, clearing his throat before speaking, "Well this doesn't just come from nowhere you know, first time for zombie apocalypse," It wasn't like those movies either, these Undead bastards have some sort of intelligence as some could even speak!... Hopefully the Murkrow didn't take this to heart.

Elizabeth rose a brow, she felt the need to yell at the Umbreon to shut up, but the Rapidash simply cuts in, “But it’ll take one to stop it,” The Scratch Cat Pokemon turned around, only to see the equine's head lowered. Was something wrong with him? The guy she had a respect for (unlike Shadow) that wasn't Bandit looked down, she felt her chest tightened, but she said nothing as the Fire Horse rose his head, “Perhaps it’d be better to move on. I don’t know if those creatures can sense the living, but a group of seven won’t go unnoticed… I can carry supplies,”

"Hold your horses," Elizabeth began, awestruck. The Moonlight Pokemon stared at her, was that pun on purpose?... He shook it off, the Meowth continuing on with an irritated huff, "Who said we were going anywhere? Let's wait for the snakes to come in first." She flicked her tail, padding out the door by squeezing past Joey. Was the Umbreon suppose to do something? "Also, fix up that long face of your's, nothing bad is going to happen if you smile honestly." Mildly surprised that Elizabeth, out of all Pokemon, would hand advice to the timid Equine, Bandit gave an awkward grin, he felt an odd pain was over him. This is what they mean by jealousy isn't it? Despite the lame puns in her words of wisdom, it was true. Nothing bad would come out from smiling, but why smile in the apocalypse?... Must be the only light of hope around then.

He wasn't going away, wasn't even making the attempt. In fact, through sheer utter defiance he came even further into the room. Couldn't the narcissistic son of a bitch just leave him alone? "...You... really cared for him, huh?" Of all the stupid questions, that's the one that Darron came out with? Nalin let out a deep, pained sigh as he looked at the small human, the only creature in the world who had ever loved him. Even his own parents had abandoned him, all he'd ever had was his boy. Of course he cared about him.


"...With mine... it was all business. You're... lucky..." Nalin soon found himself full of a pained rage that had him seeing red. He rose up from his pitiful, curled position and got right in Darron's face before he started yelling. "Lucky? LUCKY?! The only lucky moment in my entire life was being taken in by that angel laying there, and even then my life was still hell!" Nalin's teeth were gnashing as he hissed out his words, scales rising into points as his anger made every muscle in his body taut.

"You think I'm lucky when you were the one getting praised and pampered simply for existing? Try my life. Picked on since birth for being the ugliest in a school of Feebas to the point my own parents abandoned me. Caught in a trolly net and sold off as a booby prize at a rigged carnival booth, where I was still never wanted because I wasn't as cute as the Magikarps. Then to be taken in and finally loved, for the first time in my life, to be pampered until I evolved, and then made fun of because I was too pretty!" There was no way Darron could ever understand what it was like to be hated simply for existing, everyone hating you and picking on you no matter what you did or what you looked like. "It was torture, or so I thought. I actually consider that part of my life fairly decent, because the worst moment in my life was actually when I met you."

"You have no idea what you have done to me over the years, do you? The way you teased me, called me names, hurt me for fun both physically and mentally. At least the others just picked on me from afar and basically ignored me, but not you. That wasn't good enough for you. You had to see the way you broke me time and time again, to watch every time the little pieces of my soul you broke off died. And when for the first time someone other than my beloved coordinator might care about me you had to go and ruin that too. Congratulations, Darron, because thanks to you there is nothing left."

((OOC: Wow...lol. Shy little Nalin really only opens up around Darron, though never in a good way.))

Yeah, Darron sucked at the whole "consoling" thing.

At even the most innocent of comments, Nally exploded in anger, showing the serperior a side of the milotic that he'd never witnessed before. Sure, Darron had seen him pissy and bitchy, but this? While he was taken aback by the ferocity of Nally's reply, he still paid attention to the words said, and while he wasn't surprised Nally was damaged goods, it still shocked Darron what the milotic thought of him. Sadistic, malicious, wanting to watch pieces of his very soul die? What?! To think that someone actually thought that of him stung in a way he didn't know how to deal with. Anger and frustration grew once more as his pride sought to defend itself, but, once more, he bedded it back down. Shouting wasn't going to make this better. Obviously, he'd done far more damage than he ever thought he had, even if Nally was kind of being a little bitch about it...

"...I didn't mean it like that, Nall-- Nalin," he answered softly, his coils bunching around him as his discomfort grew. "...I teased everyone like that. I... just... It was just fun and games. I never... thought it was actually..." He shook his head, the apology running sour in his mouth. He sounded like a damn kid, apologizing to a parent. He floundered more, trying to get words out of him to make it better, to fix the situation, but his verbal niche was in causing problems, not remedying them. Frustrated, he snorted out a sigh and looked at Nally directly.

"Look, I suck at this. But I didn't follow you here away from food and allies to watch you die. I'm sorry for everything I've said or done -- it wasn't out of malice, Buddy. But that's not the point. The point is, is that that boy right there died saving you, right?" He nodded at the human, his fierce gaze stuck on Nally. "You can't tell me you cared about him and still just let his sacrifice be in vain. You've had a shit life. I get it. But you're still here, and maybe it can get better. I don't like seeing people give up, Nalin. Especially when you're young, healthy, and can actually make it." He kept his gaze on the milotic, hoping that he hadn't screwed himself further into the ground with his little speech.