5th Quest [Video, Evening]

[bladeofnymeia]

[The image that comes through the Grumpearls is...dirt. Dirt flying, tiny clawed paws pushing it back, the sound of it crumbling and tumbling rushing in your ears. The occasional scrape of claw against...metal? Steel? And that accompanying shiver as if you had run your nails down a chalkboard-]

Thal's unrelenting balls-

[And Firoza's voice! With a creative swear. Who is Thal and why are his balls so unrelenting? Might have to ask her about that later, because now...

Now, the edge of something shiny, even in the dark shadow of the forest, was just properly breaking through the dirt. Firoza pauses to gape at it, and you can just...you can feel the swell of emotions that comes through, she can't hold them back. Something bittersweet, something that twinges with pain, but something reassuring as well. Something wonderous.]

How...how in the world did you get here...?

[And then the urge to dig overwhelms her once again. Panting, sweating, exhausted, eventually Firoza pulls out an honest-to-gods kite shield with a red unicorn as part of is heraldry from the earth, and the Grumpearl fades off as she declares,]

IT'S MY FUCKING SHIELD!!

[...She's. Uh. This is. How? Why? Fuck it, it's her shield!!]

Comments

audio;

[shotinhead]

...Looks a lil big for you.

[ said teasingly. but there is confusion in his feelings. and an odd sense of worry. ]

[bladeofnymeia]

I can make it work! If I have it tied to my back...

[In fact hey is there some like, thin vines or something around that don't seem attached to a Pokemon? Yeah? Cool lets gnaw some of those to a nice length and get started so she can bring this back home.]

And, perhaps, if I eventually evolve as I am told can happen, I will be able to use it properly!

[shotinhead]

I wonder if evolution is even real.

[ --THANKFULLY HE'S TALKING ABOUT THE POKEMON CONCEPT. ]

[bladeofnymeia]

[I MEAN SHE DOESN'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE SCIENTIFIC CONCEPT???]

If those who've lived with Pokemon say it is, then I will count it as true. Surely there's just something different about us, since we're not from here...maybe our mindset and our bodies just don't...align at the moment, for it to happen? I'm not sure.

[Her guesses aren't rooted in anything smart or clever, it's just idle thought so they shouldn't be taken seriously.]

[loopsiedaisy]

[Siffrin is currently: looking for a distraction. And this sure is distracting!!]

Did you... lose it...?

[They feel like they would have remembered Firoza having something like th - wait no it's them. Maybe they wouldn't have actually.]

[Better question!!] Did someone bury it??

[Who is doing this. Who is going around burying other peoples' giant shields.]

[bladeofnymeia]

I haven't held or beheld it since arriving here! It's - I don't know why it was in the dirt in the forest of all places, but I just - I felt like I had to go and dig in that spot, and there it was!

[Weird? Yes. Does it matter? HELL NO DUDE IT'S HER SHIELD!]

[loopsiedaisy]

[Huh? Huh??]

[How did that happen? Did she make a wish for it or something, maybe?? <- a thought that they do not actually think "aloud," but they're still thinking with enough baffled intensity that Firoza can probably hear it anyway.]

[Regardless...]

Um!! I'm glad you have it back...?

[Yay??]

[bladeofnymeia]

[She'd never be so specific as to wish for it - to presume to have it back at all!]

Would you like to see it in person when I return to the Bay?

[HOW MANY PEOPLE CAN SHE SHOW IT TO...]

[loopsiedaisy]

Sure! [Why not? She seems so happy about it, it's kind of nice to feel!]

Do you need any help bringing it back? It looks pretty big...

[And Firoza is a little Nidoran. Though admittedly quite strong for her size, Siffrin can definitely testify to this.]

[bladeofnymeia]

Oh, no, I think I'll be tying it to my person. It should stay in place if I do it right...

[It's not nearly as heavy as one might think, physically. Emotionally and mentally, though, it weighs as it should - so some Dark Knight once said of their sword.]

[loopsiedaisy]

[Well, as long as she's sure! They don't mind helping, though...]

I'm sticking around town today, [while Odile is checking things out and getting her bearings,] so... let me know when you get back? [They guess??]

[Shield-viewing appointment...]

audio

[pyrodulia]

As opposed to your celibate shield, I take it?

[There's a wry amusement that colors the comment from Agnes.]

[bladeofnymeia]

[The sense of genuine confusion coming through is almost hilarious.]

Wh...the shield has nothing to do with copulating.

[I have to write that with a straight face...]

[pyrodulia]

You're the one who said it's your 'fucking shield'.

[bladeofnymeia]

Oh! I - no, I meant it as...not in function, it's...in the excited way? When you want to swear? Because you're so...excited.

[Why did she choose excited, she's not explaining this correctly...]

video;

[dunchies]

[ Oh, yes. The urge to dig. He knows it well. Seeing all that dirt fly around almost makes him want to get out there and join her. ]

Firoza, are you— [ Nope. Abruptly switching gears. ] —from home??

[ Where else, Laios. ]

[bladeofnymeia]

IT'S FROM HOME IT'S MY SHIELD! LAIOS, MY SHIELD!!!

[SHE'S SO HAPPY SHE COULD CRY, YOU CAN JUST. Now that it's not first person, he just gets an image of this little Nidoran spinning excitedly in place, toppling over from the weight of the real and actual shield she somehow affixed to her back.

Thankfully she turtles only for a moment before rolling back onto her feet to BEGIN SPINNING AGAIN...]

I haven't used any other since my time in Ishgard, I - this shield and I have seen so much together! It's protected me so well! And it's here with me again!!

[dunchies]

Wha—how?? Just — in the dirt? This whole time??

[ He's so confused, but Firoza's excitement easily puts that aside. She's happy! He's happy for her! The emotional feedback loop of joy between these two must be going wild!

She carries it so well too despite her size. It really is her shield. He could almost cry with her. ]

Firoza... it's just as cool as you said it was!!

[bladeofnymeia]

Yes! Apparently? I'm not sure!

[SHE'S JUST SO HAPPY]

I want to show it to you in person!!

video --> audio (kinda)

[dunchies]

[ HE'S SO HAPPY FOR HER! (But also the implications with this discovery...) ]

Just tell me where you are, Firoza! Or, wait— [ Some shuffling while he moves away from sight, only to come back wearing a satchel around his neck. He plops the pearl in it for now. ] You're a bit further into the forest, right? I can get there real fast!

[ And then maybe... maybe a treat from home for him there too? ]

Audio then!

[bladeofnymeia]

[Oh shit maybe??? She'll help look!!]

Somewhat-!

[She gives him some quick directions: namely, where she entered, and the fact that if he just goes straight on until he hits a mossy stump about his height with the center all gone, then goes left, he should reach her? These are actually correct directions.]

But reach out to me if you become lost, and I will find you. Somehow.

voice;

[outbounds]

Wait. You found something from where you come from?

[ Huh???? ]

How did you even know where to look?

[bladeofnymeia]

I, I just...

[How does she explain a compulsion, a tug, a sense in the mind to go and seek and dig]

...'Twas...something that occured to me? I'm not certain where it came from, I'm just - the result is worth it, is it not?

[outbounds]

Yes, yes! [ Of course! Her excitement is infectious? But also he's incredibly confused? ] But. I am wondering if that would work for others— if they followed the same tracks. Would they also find things from the places they knew?

[ Imagine how convenient that would be??? Or at least comforting, for anyone who is homesick? Of course, something has to take the wind out of his sails, and it's: ]

What you describe, though. It does not sound like it could be easily replicated.

[bladeofnymeia]

I do not know. But if it cannot be replicated...then, I suppose, following one's intuition would be the best bet for such results?

[If you get a Strong Urge to go looking, maybe you will like what you find at the end!]