Ironbeak Swiftclaw
Ironbeak was satisfied as the Staravia straightened.“The Azure Humans…they are different. The humans here on the land are normal. But the ones that live on the sky, at the top of the mountain, they are…different. They have power, stranger. They came here before we did, and have been for many times. At this time…when the humans capture us to make us fly to the Mountaintop, a few of their number comes down to the land humans, and brings with him what you seek. They will come today, but they leave quickly. They vanish.” The Staravia shook his head. “We do not enter their domain lightly.” The rest of the flock bobbed their heads with hard eyes.
Her jaw stiffening, Ironbeak nodded gravely. “I understand. They sound a strange bunch.”
“We keep our distance from them. Humans are not to be trusted in any case.” He cocked his head, examining the Skarmory. “It is strange that you fly with them.”
Then, a sudden sharp, piercing voice rang through her brain.
’Hello? You are the Skarmory from before, yes?’ By Ho-Oh’s tail, it was that stupid human wannabe!
Not now, you stupid fool! she screamed mostly to herself, though if he was a Psychic-type he likely heard and would shut his trap while she was making negotiations with wild Pokémon. She snapped back to the task at hand.
“Would that I did not have to fly with them, friend,” she croaked, digging her talons into the bark. “Fate is cruel and humans are foolish. Very. Foolish. We make the best of our circumstances. Thank you, Staravia. As I said, I shall speak with them; you shan’t be bothered by them again, on my word.” She spread her crimson wings and spoke the last words to the skies, earning further chattering from the flock.
As she tucked in her wings, a sudden, but not unusual thought occurred to the Skarmory then: she could easily persuade the flock to join her, or at least make use them later should they be needed. A flock like this could go far and prove most useful.
…but no. No. She shook her head. She swept her eyes across the perched flock across the trees, taking in and calculating their potential strengths. No.
No. She would lose them upon her return to the present anyhow, and in that time…well, who knew what affect it would have if her tales already flew in Sinnoh skies. No, best not to.
“Thank you, friends, once again; you have proved invaluable. You have welcomed me from foreign skies and I am no longer a stranger in your trees. Now I must take my leave. Fly fast and fly strong.” She spread her wings and bowed with her entire body.
The flock returned the sentiment and bowed back, satisfied. She took her leave, aware of some few dozen eyes on her retreating form as she made for the village, around which mist of the humans from the Entralink were located.
As she flew, the rest of the shamed Pokémon’s words filled her skull like the buzzing of a Beedrill.
’I know you may feel that I am some human wannabe...but that isn't really the case. I am simply trying to live alongside both human and Pokémon race, and I found that the hidden is easier to understand than the unknown...What I am saying is, I am not a simple Pokémon...In this land, Pokémon do not trust me due to my uniqueness, and humans only want to catch me for my power. I pretend to be a travelling human; both groups trust me more than they did as they saw me without my cloak. I hope you understand...good day.
Ironbeak shook her head. She would not acknowledge such a stupid, self-serving message with a response. The Skarmory could really not care any less about his pathetic little life and whatever excuse he used to live it without loathing himself, if he didn’t already. No, she would find him, and in whatever language that simpleton understood best, would tell him not to intrude upon the thoughts of others, especially during critical times, or she would claw out his eyes. If he wanted to speak to her, he would damn well do so to her face.
With her mind set on relaying what she had heard to the other Entralink humans, the village finally started to come into view (which was, with her eyesight, still quite far away). What caught her eye, however, were blue-robed humans with an azure instrument addressing the people, the last words of which she could barely make out – something about spreading a good word – and they disappeared.
The Azure Humans. So this is the vanishing act the Staravia spoke of. Damn, Hopefully the others will have learned something useful, she thought. Hopefully somebody would inform her.
By the time she had reached some of them, however, they were already discussing a journey, giving her no time to even try asking.
“Hey, will you join us? Or are you planning to fly to Sunyshore on your own?” the girl with the blond hair and dark eyes asked of the bird, who hadn’t even realized that her presence had been noticed. So they had to make a long journey, and they were splitting up to get there?
This hardly makes sense. An army is strongest when it remains together. Perhaps not always fastest, when it is not being led, but strongest. They won’t get far if they cannot work as a group. The girl gave the Skarmory an odd, calculating look. Good; the girl at least had some idea that she was no was no ordinary, peaceful Pokemon.
The Skarmory nodded silently and followed.
Fine. If they think they know what they’re doing, let them lead themselves, and see how far a bunch of directionless children get. Do any of them know where they or going? Have they any idea of how to battle as one force? We shall see…
She followed silently, observing the groups’ progress. Soon enough, a battle had erupted, and the likable blond rushed to help, the V one quickly following and asking her to jump in recklessly with them. The battle was purely against humans, however, hardly her specialty, so she hung back, watching the young trainers’ struggle to fight on their own without really making any form of group effort, minus one protective barrier that one of them mercifully put up. No, this was not the kind of coordinated battle that would help then defeat a god.
Unsurprisingly, one fell, the Ariados, but the children had been lucky, and emerged victorious. The girl, however, was grieving. The group had tasted their first piece of true battle, where soldiers fought and fell. Yes, the first time was always a shock. The Skarmory turned away. The girl would mourn. Her comrades would help her. Their spirit would be reinvigorate by the thirst for revenge – or justice or whatever it was in their case. They were still children, after all; they were innocent. She disliked them immensely, but luckily for them they had their innocence going for them. or unluckily, she noted as the girl left to bury her friend.
And she genuinely liked this one. A pity that her emotional barrier had been broken down so quickly, but she could still prove a worthwhile fighter. This one should not go to waste. She had a fighting spirit. Ironbeak liked that.
The human wannabe, however, she was not so sure about. He had shown signs of cracking at the mere idea of pain or injury, and now with the feeling of a death on his hands he had broken down completely. He too put up a cute, naïve front of the warrior for all good and so on, but eventually he would learn that not all situations in life would be win-win, and not all victories were without casualty. He was upset with his lot in life – someday he would come to appreciate having healthy wings – and clearly thought the world should be full of Sunflora and Beautifly from end to end. No, he would understand
true suffering soon enough, and learn that it was an inevitable part of life.
But for tonight, they had learned a lesson, and perhaps she would tell them so in the morning so that it might not be repeated. They were children fighting a war, after all. Only children - chicks. Chicks who were sure they were ready to face the world, but who would only fall from their roost if not watched carefully.
Ironbeak shook her head. the old Skarmory didn't have much of a motherly instinct within her, but she
did know from years of travelling with her hoards that a group without vigilant eyes was a group open to attack. She would act as sentry tonight, fly patrols over as many of the Entralink humans as she could hind, while the children, the small battalion, slept off the weary day.
So she settled in, made herself a roost, and kept watch over the slow, miserable rhythm of mourning.
OOC: Happy birthday to meeeee at 3am. Yeesh, hard to try and catch up so much when every time I try and update more has happened that Ironbeak had no part in. Anyhow, I will be at work nonstop for the next 2 days, so I won't be able to do anything. Part of Ironbeak wants to have a chat with the group, and part of her wants to just keep watching and observing them until they all come crawling to her for help. Also you can say she's a bit apprehensive to try addressing them, haha.
Either way, permission to the GM to bunny her for the next 40 or so hours so ensure she sticks with the group, or she can just go off on her own to find out where everyone is, and learn how to reach their destination. idk, it's 3am lol.
My own words. Davis hasn't found out about Musica yet. The "Is he even human?" part was more of a figure of speech, but Davis has begun to have some doubts about Musica. Hope you don't mind.