||The Battle Tower [7th Floor] | Midday||
||10|| Despite the tense atmosphere currently surrounding the group, Xiao noted that Arry was still acting blissfully unaware and more interested in his own line of questioning. It was
almost endearing, though the nagging thought of when such innocence would be broken quickly sobered Xiao before the thought could reach any sort of fruition.
"Mel, he likes the stars too! Can we see the stars tonight if we stay close?" Perhaps, many, many years later, such childlike wonder would have been seen as cute to the togeren. Now, all he could do was smile sadly at Arry, though it never reached his eyes. It was a shame, that their peace had to disturbed by the paranoid idea that there was something stalking the group.
His eyes slid over to Mathias at that thought, narrowing a hair. He had no place to judge this group; he was the outsider here. However Xiao was already starting to draw his own conclusions on each different member of this gathering. So far, the charizard had not earned any points in his favor. He was impulsive, and said things far too flippantly, risking the group and setting in unease that could be a death trap these days.
Stirring unrest could leads to mistakes further down the line... and that can lead to death. Xiao thought bitterly, reminded of the time he failed his own village. He was supposed to
protect them, and instead they all died because of his shortcomings.
He vowed to never fail anyone like that again.
His attention went to Faux as the two he assumed were the leads of their group processed Mathias's words.
"We already knew we are not alone; Xiao is with us now afterall, and it would but foolish to assume he is the only one." She was calm, more level headed than Cinder, he noted. Cinder was more brash in the way she spoke, but not without thought like a
certain dragon that travelled with them. Xiao huffed a soft breath, his golden eyes briefly glancing at the others of their group.
His eyes fell immediately on Etincelle, catching the nervousness in the shiny's stance, the tense way he was standing... there was fear building, something that had Xiao's feathers prickling up a little and his eyes narrowed briefly.
"I didn't notice that." Once more, another pokemon who hadn't noticed Mathias's claims earlier. The togeren kept tuned into Etincelle, though his eyes this time went back over to mathias, watching the starter closely.
"You really think so?" He could hear the tension in the electric type's voice, and it started to set Xiao on edge.
"We didn't see anything but something has been eating in here." Cinder's stern voice seemed to cut through the tension thick in the air briefly, giving Xiao a moment to breathe from the mounting feelings of tenseness.
"We're literally scouring the place, why wouldn't we find it if the things still here?" Bitterness in Cinder's tone told Xiao that even she was on edge at the charizard's words, and Xiao lifted his head, raising onto his hild legs as he peered down the hallway on all sides to them, trying to see if there was
anything. He even raised his nose to the ceiling and tried to see if there were any scents,
anything he could use to confirm or deny anything.
"Theres always a chance," fear was beginning to mount in the less astute and more flighty members of their posse, once more pulling on that prickling feeling that was starting to build in Xiao's body, like a live wire slowly being imbued with more charge.
"Just a moments enough to-" His eyes flicked over to the electrike as his words were cut off, noting with a soft sigh as Melanie's tails were placed over his mouth to silence the spiralling electric type. Good, at least he had someone to keep him calmer... they didn't need someone panicking right now.
"Yes," Cinder's affirmation to Xiao's words got a nod from the togeren, and his lower set of wings flared out ever so slightly to show his affimation.
"Whatever it is we should be ready. This isn't a great place for a fight." Now his eyes went to the walls, scrutinizing them as possible issues when fighting. If he were forced to fight in this place, it would be difficult. He was large in stature and although he was no stranger to fighting, even he would have some trouble trying to keep himself from getting struck with any other kind of attack or even friendly fire.
His best bet would be to teleport to better ground for a fight... but what about the others? His head craned back to the rest of the group, and he breathed a low sigh. He wouldn't leave this group undefended. If they were forced to fight in these abysmal halls, he could see about teleporting them
all out instead. He would be terribly drained afterwards and would be forced to rest... but he would fulfill his duty to keep others safe by doing so.
It does not matter what happens to the weapon during a fight, as long as the user is protected. He thought, raising his head with a low huff. A little fatigue was nothing; he'd had far worse.
"Theres been a bad spell of luck regarding Houndooms around here. Safe to say its not a welcome thought that one could be lurking these floors." Now that got Xiao's attention. They'd had problems with houndooms before? That explained the fear and tension that cut through the group like a knife. Fear of previous traumas always seemed to hit more than a fear of an unknown enemy. Houndooms themselves were no joke to begin with; and having prior bad experiences with them only made the worry that dug into the group more understandable.
"We need to stay together. Always." Etincelle's urgent words got a soft hum from Xiao, and the togeren flicked his eyes over to Mathias, watching his reaction to the unrest he'd seemingly stirred within the group. Though he was only new to this place, he hadn not seen or heard this mystery canine, how could he so accurately guess who or what it was just by some bites and a pawprint?
"No one wander off alone." He nodded in agreement to Etincelle's statement, though his eyes never left Mathias now, his thoughts starting to wander.
He seemed so sure it was a houndoom, too. Is he affiliated with the antagonists of this group? A spy perhaps? No... he doesn't seem smart enough for that. More of a brute than brain. His Espeon companion though... she lacks tact, but may be the intelligence here. Mathias clearly has a link with her; he said he was talking to her earlier before they joined us. They could be plotting mentally, something we wouldn't be able to tell. His thoughts got a furrowed brow from Xiao, but he stubbornly kept his mouth shut for the moment. He was still new here, he didn't have the right to be pointing fingers. But the longer it went on, the more his suspicions grew. His eyes bore holes into the charizard's face as he watched him, taking in each movement and how he talked. If he was lying... Xiao would try to catch him out in it. Everyone slipped up eventually.
Still, that could be determined later.
"I agree with staying together. If a fight does break out, I can also see about teleporting us all out of here. It won't work long distance with many others... but it is a quick escape if we need to get out of this tower and back outside in an emergency." Xiao offered, finally pulling his eyes away from Mathias to look back at the group, hoping to offer some comfort in the tense moment.