(ACE) The AMBRETTE Team

Keeping his eyes on Peregrine, Dirk's stance wasn't going to drop until she leaves or explains her actions fully. "Aye, yer a sight fer sore eyes Dirk. If it weren' for this boggin weather, I doubt I'd be stuck here. Too cold ta fly, and staying in this wet is gonnae make me boke." When she lifted her injured leg, Dirk could tell that she was struck by something. None the less it doesn't drop any suspicion of her currently. He'd still keep an eye on her for the fact she's still a threat "Dinnae expect tae see someone familiar, but hell if I'm complainin'. I ken, last time I saw ye it wasn' the best of greetin's, and I would never mean tae be tellin' havers. But with Noiz about, tha hackit bastard has it out fer me somethin' chronic." Noiz... he was quite immature but an act sometimes like kissing is just weird coming from a male noivern. Still, he'd be Noiz would have something to say if he was here."I had tae act somethin' fierce, else he'd skint me alive. Wee lass like meself gotta look out fer outselves, ya ken? Dinnae mean tae make ye think I'd be oot tae be an absolute weapon. These days a lass has gonnae do anythin' tae keep herself from bein' chow." That small bit was true since the undead are the biggest threat to them all. Dirk dropped his weary look but since it was late, he didn't want this conversation to drag on longer.

The Druddigon looked at Peregrine knowing full well that she was obviously trying to coax him but instead, he'll play along with it. It would be her own actions that would at this point yield whether she's a danger or not. "Alright but so you know, this is a coastal town and it does rain more often so next time, choose somewhere that isn't a coastal town. Now that he said it, he was waiting for her to leave so he can go rest somewhere. Even if it means sleeping between the hotel and the cliffside next to the stairs.

((OOC: Skip, I don't have enough to go off, and I'm not sure what to do with Peregrine.))

((OOC: Skip, waiting for Dazey to reply))

Yahto watched with delight as the pup romped about, swatting at the falling leaves playfully. How he envied a child’s ability to live so in the moment without the concern that bogged on the minds of most adults. Truly wonderful, and a quality of the utmost importance to protect.

"Wow! That was so cool, Yahto! I never knew that there were pretty moves like that! I've only ever seen Zuri's moves, and sometimes the moves of mean pokemon that try to attack us, but they aren't pretty like that!" Eirlys chimed, taking only a brief moment to giggle before continuing. "Well, the attacking pokemon's moves anyway. All of Zuri's moves that he uses are super pretty! Aren't they big bro?"

Yahto’s eyes moved to the canine in question, meanwhile Eirlys suddenly bounded over to Zuri with an expression not unlike surprise. "You should show Yahto that super pretty dark shadowy one!"
The pup hopped from paw to paw in a show of desperation to get her companion to concede to her wishes. The entire display warmed Yahto’s heart and for a moment he truly wished he’d been blessed with a younger sibling of his own. "Come ooonnnn Zuri! Yahto showed off his super pretty move, now it's your turn!"

Zuri exhaled in a way that told the Leafeon bending to the pup’s will was common between the duo. The elegant canine stood and paced away while Eirlys raced back to Yahto’s side and parked herself right next to him. He watched Zuri with as much captivation as the pup curiously awaiting what would happen.
"Watch, watch! Big bro's cool shadowy attack always looks so cool when he uses it!"

The darkness rose up from seemingly oblivion, twisting and contorting with almost sentient movements around Zuri, then forming a purple haze that obscured the canine’s ivory form. It expanded and swirled ominously, taking Yahto aback greatly as the simple move for show intimidated the Grass-type. He was protective and had the power to back up every claim he made, that much Yahto was sure of.
It then erupted into a fierce flurry of moon-reminiscent waves at the duo and briefly, despite knowing he wasn’t in danger, Yahto’s heart still raced even after the move faded harmlessly short of them.

"See, see! Wasn't that cool? Big brother's moves always look so pretty! I usually cant watch him when he's being serious because he says its dangerous, but I love watching him practice whenever we're moving from place to place." Eirlys beamed, now back beside the older canine and practically bouncing with shameless excitement.

Yahto paced forwards a few steps to ensure his gentle voice was audible. “That was incredible!” He praised, jaw still hanging slightly slack. “Eirlys is very blessed to have such a powerful guardian!”

Peregrine knew that she had to keep her wits about her with this one. Dirk was a fool, and Peregrine knew that in time she could have the dumbass wrapped around her little finger - well, claw in this case. She watched the other dragon closely from underneath her mask, taking in how he was moving and how he was watching her actions. The weary look was the first thing she noticed, so when it dropped, Peregrine chalked herself up another point. It would be harder to get the dumbass to drop his guard since they'd met once before... but if she played her cards right, she could make a mockery of this fool yet.

And that look of betrayal once she had what she wanted from this idiot would make this whole game of charades worth it. It was always the icing on the cake to see the wide eyes, the confusion that makes way to anger when they realize that she had simply been playing them all for fools this entire time. Though the way I might end up getting there may be difficult... it's all for that payday at the end, the look on their stupid fucking faces as I always get what I want in the end. She thought, slowly winding herself around Dirk again with a cooing purr. She just had to get him buttered up to drop his guard, once that happened, she would strike.

"Alright but so you know, this is a coastal town and it does rain more often so next time, choose somewhere that isn't a coastal town." To give herself massive amounts of credit, Peregrine resisted the urge to gut the fool right then and there for the fucking audacity to talk to her like that. Of course she knew rain happened more along a coast, but this weather was completely abnormal. It had been raining for weeks at this stage, with not a single break in the clouds to even hint at it ending anytime soon. She only let out a soft huff of breath that could be passed off as a bashful laugh.

Not now, girl. She could gut the fool for his insolence later.

"Aye, I hear ye lad. But e'en wi' this bogwater weather, it's been pissin' far more'n a town like this should be." She said, glancing around briefly. She wouldn't bring the fool back to the pokecenter, that was her fortress. But perhaps she could get this fool somewhere easier to attack later. After all, if she just left a corpse out in the open, it would make getting those white dogs she'd spotted a few days ago harder, clearly they knew what they were doing, so leaving a body out would only alert them further. That was fine, she'd figure out what to do later. For now...

"Say Dirk, there's a place up ah'ed that I reckon ye could shel'er from this boggin weather. Hows aboot ye and I hole up 'n there for th' night?" She said, nodding to the side towards where the husk of the fossil lab stood. It was empty at least, she already knew that. So it would give a good place to work on chipping away Dirk's defences further.

((Skip and I'll edit in the morning))

((Skip~ I need my darling Doomy to reply.))

Dirk didn't notice the weather being abnormal, then again he didn't know much of the events of this town so far. Not that an investigation would help much but time will tell if that would become a probability. Though noticing the noivern turning away and back to him, something kept his suspicions on her. For the time being, he'll play her game and judge her accordingly to her actions. "Aye, I hear ye lad. But e'en wi' this bogwater weather, it's been pissin' far more'n a town like this should be." What did she mean by that? Thinking back, there are a few cases that storms do space out to almost daily to bi-daily thing. Though tropical systems like tropical depressions, storms and hurricanes can move slowly if it's close to landfall. "Say Dirk, there's a place up ah'ed that I reckon ye could shel'er from this boggin weather. Hows aboot ye and I hole up 'n there for th' night?" Wait, what? Was she trying to get together with him? As much as he would take that offer, he'd rather sleep outside. Rain or not, it's something he was trained for. Then again, he still had something to do to show Zuri he's not a threat.

The Druddigon had to think of someway not to reject her offer but if he did go, he'd have to make sure she doesn't know he's came to take her in to face justice. "I'll check it out. Just to note, I sleep alone. Sorry, it's not you, its something I've done since coming to the mainlands." Though he had other ideas of where to sleep. Hopefully she understands his point.

Legends above, he was as dull as a stone. Peregrine could feel her mounting irritation with the Druddigon building. Beneath her mask, the noivern was letting her annoyance show, though she shook it off a quick roll of her head and shiver through her body to try and shake some water off the white fur at her chest. Fine, if Dirk wad going to be that much of a fool she wouldn't waste her time on something so stupid. She narrowed her eyes behind her mask, watching the other dragon with a frown.

It would be so easy to just remove him now... there wouldn't be anyone who misses this twat, especially since he doesn't seem affiliated with whoever those white fuckers were a few days ago. She thought, but kept her impulses in check for now. There was no use removing such a waste of space where no one would find his body, she had to make it a monumental occassion. Letting something so useless die would mean that he'd never be useful to anything in his life, and how sad that would be.

So for once in this poor fool's wretched life, Peregrine could make him the main event. But the curtains had yet to part, so she had to wait still. All in due time, and the pieces would fall into place. Until that time, she would wait, no matter how aggravating it was to let him continue wasting air with his daft ideas and words. It meant that the moment her claws and fangs ripped out his last breath would be all the more sweeter to taste. So she would bide her time until the final curtain call.

"I'll check it out. Just to note, I sleep alone. Sorry, it's not you, its something I've done since coming to the mainlands." Peregrine sighed loudly, playing up the act of being disappointed at the fact that Dirk had denied coming with her to the old fossil lab. She cooed softly and slid up beside him again, rubbing her back against Dirk's chest with a low sound almost akin to a sympathetic purr, stepping back after a moment to give the illusion that she was going to leave and head down the path to the fossil lab.

"Nae bother, lad. Yer alrigh' fer not wantin' tae share, I ge' it meself. I figured it'd be safer fer someone tae keep an eye on th' road, but yer more'n fine tae find elsewh're tae sleep." She said, jerking her head towards the fossil lab. "Am pure knackered though, so I'm gonnae call it fer th' night." She said, before carefully slinking her way down the path, favoring her leg as she walked to continue the story that it'd been injured.

Realistically, Zuri didn't have to put so much effort into the move, he was only showing it off because Eirlys asked him to. However there was some sense of pride he got at the look in Yahto's face when the leafeon looked at the direyena as he showed off the dark pulse. Though Eirlys wouldn't have noticed it, Zuri watched as Yahto's body tensed and seemingly fought the fear that came with coming face-to-face with such a fearsome attack. Zuri took note of the reaction, easily rising to his feet once the show was over, pacing his way back to the spot he'd been resting in prior.

“That was incredible!” Zuri's ear twitched at the praise, looking over at the grass type, noting with smug satisfaction that his jaw was still slack. Good, that meant Yahto knew he had the ability to back his threats up. “Eirlys is very blessed to have such a powerful guardian!” Zuri hummed, laying back down where he'd picked earlier, resting his head down on top of his paws. He kept his eyes on Yahto still, though his pose had at least relaxed enough that he was comfortable laying down with his back legs leaning sideways. He could still get up quickly if he needed to this way, but it was far more comfortable for the direyena than just laying like he had been before.

"I would agree with you there, Yahto. I've had many other 'mon think they can hurt her because she's young. They all very quickly regretted that choice." He murmured quietly, flicking his tail a little as Eirlys came over to bat at one of Zuri's horns. The direyena snorted at her, playfully swatting back with a lazy bat of his own paw. Eirlys gigled as she was pushed over by Zuri's paw, wiggling on her back briefly before rolling back up and scampering over to Yahto again, tail wagging happily.

It had been so long since she'd had someone else Zuri let stay around! She was excited to see just how much she could learn from Yahto while he was here. After all, the only stories she had were police ones, and Yahto said he wasn't that, so what else could he be? She pawed at him, before planting her rump on the ground in front of Yahto, back legs splayed out haphazardly as she looked up at him with a cocked head. No better time to ask than right now, right? It was safe, and Zuri would be getting grumpy at her to sleep soon, so why not get Yahto to tell her a bedtime story?

"Hey Yahto! You said you weren't a police officer like Zuri, so what did you do? I'm curious!" She asked joyfully, before settling down into a flop onto her side, looking up at Yahto with wide, pleading eyes. Even if Yahto didn't give her a story, she knew Zuri would always give her a bedtime story, and maybe Yahto would want to listen to that, too!

Tough crowd. Yahto mused to himself as the Direyena paced back to the space he’d occupied moments before.
Maybe so, but the fact he’s going to such lengths to protect a child is a good indicator of his character.
Yahto nodded in agreement, smiling faintly at the gruff canine’s stare.
Zuri, after a brief moment of fixating his ruby gaze on Yahto, finally broke the silence. "I would agree with you there, Yahto. I've had many other 'mon think they can hurt her because she's young. They all very quickly regretted that choice." During which Eirlys returned to the older canine’s side to once again playfully antagonize him, only to be toppled over by his paw with a loud giggle.

“Understandable,” Yahto responded after a moment of contemplation. “I do not condone senseless violence, but with that being said, I believe that euthanasia is an appropriate response to those who would harm a child.”
He winced slightly at his own words, reminded of the darling girl’s presence as she energetically returned to his space. “Pardon me. I shouldn’t say such things around her.”

His awkward frown ebbed away at Eirlys’ shenanigans continuation, turning his attention back to her as her batting paw demanded so. Yahto awaited to hear the child’s thoughts, as clearly something was brewing in her mind with her tilted gaze making her look somewhat akin to the picture perfect pups on the fronts of magazine covers all over the previously human-occupied lands.
"Hey Yahto! You said you weren't a police officer like Zuri, so what did you do? I'm curious!" She prodded happily, suddenly then collapsing onto her side comfortably while maintaining her pleading stare.

He settled into a position some humans had referred to as a loaf and hummed in thought. “Well, I don’t know if it would be considered a job but my human friend Bailey would get really scared a lot. I didn’t always understand why, somewhat silly things like crowds or talking to a ‘scary’ person. Maybe a certain street just gave her bad vibes. So it was my duty to always remind her that she was never alone and we could achieve any scary obstacle together. It was officially called emotional support.” Yahto explained. “Buuuuut, we did travel a lot! I have lots of stories— what would you like to hear about? Spooky, funny, action-packed? I probably have one for about every genre you could think of!”

OoC)) Skip, Dirk just waits for Peregrine to leave before continuing with his practice.

((skip and will edit tomorrow. Im being forced to vacate my house so Im focused on packing rn and im exhausted))

((skip again, sorry guys, I'm absolutely dying. I had to move into a 2 car garage and Im exhausted. If I get the time to I'll edit these. if not just skip to the next cycle and I'll get us a good few posts.))

((Skip.))

OoC)) Skip

Oh how she just wished how she could sinkher fangs into Dirk's stupid fucking throat. It would be so easy, too. Sure, his skin was rough and it'd hurt Peregrine herself, but having to deal with his stupid ass dragiing around her town was worse than dealing with a few chipped teeth that'd get fixed eventually anyway. She slunk her away back up the path towards the pokecenter, shaking out her injured leg once she drew closer and out of sight of Dirk. She'd walked on far worse injuries, this would be fine.

Holding her head high as she walked back up to her base of operations, Peregrine nosed her way inside with a loud clear of her throat. Time to get all these wretched fools moving, then. They had at least confirmed that someone was in this town, and that wasn't going to fly, not when Peregrine was in charge of shit here. Maybe they could even peel information on those two white dogs that had been spotted from Dirk as well. For as much of a fool as he was, Dirk had a way of inserting himself into dumb situations and being a treasure trove of knowledge unwittingly.

If he knows where they are... perhaps that dull brain of his is the reason why instead of being wherever those white fools are hiding he's out in the open. Which means that whoever they are, they're smart to know that he's a liability. Shet thought, frowning behind her mask. That was fine, though. She could still work with that. Even the most prepared people had a weakness somewhere, and she'd find that weakness and manipulate it until it choked them. Her frown slowly peeled up into a grin and she chuckled lowly, golden eyes locking onto her posse in the pokecenter that was watching the noivern closely from when she had arrived.

"Alright ye greasey twats!" She called, her voice easily covering the pokecenter to address the other pokemon within the building. "Rest yer sorry arses up, we're going on a hunt 'n tha morrow. There's a sad excuse fer a dragon roamin' abo't an' I want ye tae go and give'em somethin' tae remember us by. He's dull as a stone but strong, so yer gonnae need tae keep yer wits abo't ye. Rest up, I want ye o't by tha arsecrack 'f dawn." She said, before turning to climb herself into the rafters of the pokecenter to find a place to rest up.

She'd need it for once the hunt began later tomorrow. For now, Peregrine needed to rest up. She curled herself up into her chosen spot for the night, carefully pulling her mask off from her face and hiding it under a wing. Blinking a few times to clear her sight, Peregrine rest her head down to watch the posse of pokemon below getting ready for sleep and the next day's work, before closing her eyes to drift off to sleep.

The silence between them was rather comfrotable to Zuri. He didn't mind the quiet, it meant that nothing was wrong and that it was okay to relax. Over anything, the direyena would take silence over noise every time. The silence meant that he could hear any changes in the area better. “Understandable,” his ear twitched as Yahto responded to him, red eyes sliding instead to the window to watch outside.

“I do not condone senseless violence, but with that being said, I believe that euthanasia is an appropriate response to those who would harm a child.” Oh? What an interesting point of view. Zuri's eyes focused back on Yahto, appraising the leafeon with a new light to his eyes. Perhaps he wasn't such a pushover? He didn't seem to have the ability to bakc up some of his bravado... but looks were often rather deceiving, Zuri had found. “Pardon me. I shouldn’t say such things around her.” Zuri snorted, shaking his head.

Perhaps a few years ago he would have said the same, but for all her happy-go-lucky attempts to keep others cheerful... Eirlys had seen her fair share of deaths. The numerous nightmares she would get, and the ones Zuri would have to talk her out of proved that. She'd seen horrific things... Zuri was just glad that she was still so innocent in many other ways. No child should of had to go through the things she had... but as long as he drew breath, he'd protect her. No matter if his own throat was slit in the process.

Zuri sighed softly, before moving to stand up, trotting over to Yahto and Eirlys as the two settled down for Eirlys' beloved story time. The white direyena settled down to lay beside Eirlys, who quickly scurried over to lay in against the direyena's white fur and thick mane, her tail wagging happily. Zuri shifted to curl protectively around her, head resting on the ground and eyes closing. Still, his ears were held high and alert, listening intently to what was happening around them.

Eirlys snuggled happily into her guardian as the bigger canine curled around her, though her eyes were still locked on Yahto as the leafeon settled down into his own loaf to talk. “Well, I don’t know if it would be considered a job but my human friend Bailey would get really scared a lot. I didn’t always understand why, somewhat silly things like crowds or talking to a ‘scary’ person. Maybe a certain street just gave her bad vibes. So it was my duty to always remind her that she was never alone and we could achieve any scary obstacle together. It was officially called emotional support.” Eirlys nodded, her head tilting slowly to one side.

"Emotional support? That sounds so cool! So you helped your trainer with spooky things! That sounds super important!" Eirlys chirped, about to bounce her paws against Zuri's side in her excitement before a gruff huff from the direyena reminded her that she was supposed to be settling for bed. Right, right, it was late, she should be sleeping!

“Buuuuut, we did travel a lot! I have lots of stories— what would you like to hear about? Spooky, funny, action-packed? I probably have one for about every genre you could think of!” The houndrunt made a show of thinking about it, her head tilting one way, then the other, brows furrowing and little mouth held open as she hummed. "Hmm... oh, oh! What about a nice and calm story, but funny! Zuri will want me to go to sleep soon, so a story that's good for a bedtime story sounds good!" She said, nodding in approval of her own choice of story genre.

"Hmm... oh, oh! What about a nice and calm story, but funny! Zuri will want me to go to sleep soon, so a story that's good for a bedtime story sounds good!"

Yahto’s toe tapped against his chin in contemplation. So much life he’d lived alongside his cherished friend, both convoluted his thoughts but also swallowed him in a wave of inner peace. He smiled widely at his open toed paw and felt his eyes grow misty for reasons he felt he should be able to grasp but it just wasn’t there.

Quickly he blinked away the emotions and returned to his playful demeanor once more. “Well, let me tell you— Stunky make great friends but you NEVER nap with them. I knew one during a summer trip through Sinnoh. Bailey slept in a tent because bugs are sooooo icky,” he stressed mockingly,
“but I wanted to watch the stars with my friend. So we ended up falling asleep and they never told me about their little sleep-time inconveniences. Do you know what stunky are known for?” He inquired. “As their name implies, they are STINKY. So I’m sound asleep and I started smelling something soooo gross I literally started to dream I was swimming in a giant human toilet. So then I woke up and found out my friend had farted.” He spoke with horror as though it was yesterday. “Bailey bathed me, sprayed me with air freshener, even put a tiny tree shaped freshie on me. Nothing, and I repeat, nothing helped!! It eventually wore off but people avoided me like the PLAGUE until then. Me and that Stunky stayed friends the rest of summer but there was a strict no napping rule.” He laughed, which then morphed into a sleepy yawn. “All this nap talk has me tired!!”

It was cold.

The endless rain, the sound of it pelting down on the hard stones outside, the crash of the swollen ocean far below the cliff, it was all just a reminder of how goddamn cold it was. The ramshackle house the pair had taken shelter in was temporary at best, it's deplorable state hardly effective protection from the weather. Patchy walls and practically falling over, it was scarcely enough to keep the rain out and would only suffice for the tired Pokemon to dry off and recoup. That didn't make it any more enjoyable though, the crumbling walls getting a dejected glance from the Raichu as they did little to stop the chilling wind. They could search for other options to wait out the rain, but she was in no position to complain or make demands.

Each little breeze that made it in was enough to freeze Riley to the core, her soaking wet pelt doing nothing to keep her warm. "A fire would be so nice..." The rodent pouts, her paws working to push and press water out of the end of her tail. It pooled on the floor, adding to the small stream she had formed during her grooming. The massive canine beside her was licking his own fur, though his pelt did not hold onto water nearly as well as hers and was already starting to dry. "Yes, but you know wet wood doesn't burn." The words were gentle to temper the known disappointment, and he reached over to lick he back of her head. "Besides, we shouldn't start stripping this place in the dark." Abandoned, temporary, or otherwise, the large hound knew better than to add stress to a structure who's integrity was already questionable at best. Reaching across his back to grab a towel they had found within, one that was not completely filthy, he draped it across Riley's back to encourage its use.

Puffing out her cheeks in a massive pout the Raichu shook her head and sent a spray of water across both of them. The Delectroke hardly flinched; it wasn't the first time she had done that since they settled down and he knew better than to assume itd be the last. After a couple seconds she let out another sigh and started to work the water off of her ears. With her focus shifting B'doke let his own resume watch, though that was a generous description at best. Though he breathed deeply the ceaseless rain had smothered all scents aside from wet stones and ocean. The same driving force drowned out most sounds outside of the pelting rain, and even with the most primed ears B'doke knew he would not hear any delicate sounds in time. Even sight was diminished by the curtain of water and lack of moonlight within the dark sky. With a slow, deep inhale, the Delectroke knew bitterly well that they were exposed here, but he did not let the warm smile he gave his mate falter.

"....I'm sorry." The rodent admits suddenly on yet another pitiful sigh. With a quick turn of his perked ears B'doke rotated his head to follow. He knew what the apology was for- her slip up landed them in this town, in the dead of night during a storm no less- but he hadn't expected it at this point. He could see the small shakes of her body, a mix between freezing shivers and sobbing shudders, and knew it was genuine regret rather than buttering. With a warm, grumbling breath the Delectroke untucked a paw and reached out to pull her closer. "It's alright. We're both still in one piece." Drawing the Raichu in he let her snuggle against his side, and lightly pushed his paw down on the towel to draw out more water. Her shaking didn't stop, the sniffling unstoppable as she drew closer and closer for his warmth. "We'll deal with it in the morning."

((OOC: Skip Peregrine, I'll be swapping us to the morning next post with Eir and Zuri!))

((Skip, will edit in the morning. Post is half written up, but we'll be losing power tomorrow for installation of solar panels and I won't get it out in time))