• Welcome to The Cave of Dragonflies forums, where the smallest bugs live alongside the strongest dragons.

    Guests are not able to post messages or even read certain areas of the forums. Now, that's boring, don't you think? Registration, on the other hand, is simple, completely free of charge, and does not require you to give out any personal information at all. As soon as you register, you can take part in some of the happy fun things at the forums such as posting messages, voting in polls, sending private messages to people and being told that this is where we drink tea and eat cod.

    Of course I'm not forcing you to do anything if you don't want to, but seriously, what have you got to lose? Five seconds of your life?

Sojaveña Wilds Totally Normal Bulletin Board

Reader mode
Felin raised her other paw and held three fingers. "If gods stay quiet in a time of crisis then there's a few possibilities: First, they're all dead which is a huge problem in of itself. Second, they have a lot of faith that mortals can handle the problem without their involvement. Third, they're alive but dormant or missing."

Her paw clenched as if to grab a ball in the air. "My world's gods aren't the most active either, but they do appear every now and then. I've met one myself actually, though I'd hardly speak of it."
 
Last edited:
Archie leaned back on his heels, returning his scalchop to his hip before sliding his paws in his coat pockets. His expression turned pensive again. "I think a lot of Forlas's Gods are dead."

He looked off towards the northwest, in the direction he was decently certain Timeless Oasis had once rested. That that mission had been a bust continued to cause the Dewott no small amount of heartache. "Recently, a group of us delved a Divine Dungeon in the hopes of meeting the spirit that lived within. But they were long gone by the time we got there, only left behind a Relic. And I think we accidentally destroyed that escaping the place."

He looked back at Felin, "And that's not all, I remember hearing about how Zapdos was dead, too. And Luz isn't exactly the picture of youth. What happens to a world when all its Legendaries die, do you think?"
 
"The world lives on just fine," answered Felin. She traced boot to form an arc on the sand. "Or it falls as the mon call upon guardians that can no longer protect them."

Felin clenched her paw and smiled. "All comes down to the willpower of the mortal spirit, won't you agree?"
 
The Dewott didn't seem convinced. "Guts and determination are important, but... Sometimes willpower isn't enough."

That was why Forlas summoned outside help, wasn't it? Because even with all the willpower its own denizens, Legendary and otherwise, could summon up, it simply wasn't enough, and could never be enough, to meet the crisis of the moment. His own world couldn't manage that, and now he was all that was left. Archie sighed, and shook his head. Best stop that thought process before he started down it.

"Uh, sorry, didn't mean to get existential," he said. "What do you think we were called here for? Cipher, or something else?"
 
"It's fine. All good talk. And Cipher?" Felin shook her head at once. "No, it couldn't just be them."

Felin walked over to Archie's left and held a finger. "Remember what Powehi told us the other time? Cipher's a small karp. There's probably a much bigger Gyarados we still need to find."
 
It was true Powehi had seemed rather blasé about the threat Cipher posed to Forlas. What could they possibly be here for, then? What could count as a bigger threat than an organization with the power to rip holes in the fabric of reality and step through? Especially since the living embodiment of all things Shadow had seemed fairly convinced that their little group of offworlders doing the exact same thing did count as a potential threat to the stability of spacetime!

… Were they here to stop the ones who made Betel, maybe? It would make sense, since Betel was the one that brought them all here, in a way. That sort of power summoning humans without even the slightest care of what it might do to reality could potentially count as a larger threat than Cipher with their one, stable, portal. Still, it wasn’t like they could treat Cipher as just a distraction, they were actively spreading pain and misery around the region! Archie just hoped that they weren’t missing the forest for the trees here. He folded his arms, and sighed.

“You’re probably right,” he conceded. “I just hope we find them before their plans get too far along. Still, it wouldn’t feel right not to finish Cipher before we switch focus. Getting to Terminal One is going to be a long and difficult expedition, though. I’m not sure if we’re ready.”
 
Felin drummed her paw on the fur sleeve of her other arm as she hummed. Every point Archie raised was good. However...

"All we can do is prepare." She closed her eyes and drew a breath. "Our enemies aren't going to wait for us to he ready should they choose to strike. If we can, I say we should hunt them down first. Cut off the head of the ekans while we're at it."
 
Archie nodded. Felin was right, they couldn't just sit on their paws and wait. Better they take the fight to Cipher before the remaining leaders could reorganize.

"Dakim, one of the admins we captured, gave up four additional names of people we'll need to capture," he said, "Gorigan, Ardos, Eldes, and the one in charge of operations on this world, Nascour. Capture them, and Cipher's more or less finished. Of course, shutting down their primary portal at Terminal One is also important."

The Dewott put his paws on his hips, and hummed to himself. "It might be smart to interrogate Dakim further once he's had the chance to stew in prison for a while, see if we can't pry more information about his cohorts from him."
 
Felin's whiskers wiggled as she laughed a little at that. A Cipher admin being that willing to cough up information was a good sign. Perhaps his loyalty to his cause wasn't an undying one.

Their conversation was starting to run its course, and Felin could sense that. She swiveled her tail and thumped the heel of her boot repeatedly. A breaking point burst open like a popped balloon.

"When two swords mon meet it usually goes in one way or another. We both know where this is going. " Felin drew her rapier out and grinned. The blade glinted in sunlight, its sharp blade pointing at the dewott. "I request a duel."
 
The Dewott blinked again, actually a bit taken aback by the suddenness of Felin's request. A duel, here, now? Not that he was actually opposed, or anything, this was just... Not what he'd expected to do today! And, well, he supposed it would be rude to turn down the challenge, and he could use the practice fighting with his new body and additional weapon...

"Well, alright, though I doubt I'll provide you much of a challenge," he mused. Still, he drew his scalchops all the same, crossing them in front of himself before swiping them out to either side, summoning up the twin blades of two Razor Shells. The one in his right paw was brought back up, tip pointed back towards the feline. The one in his left was spun around, so the blade traveled down the length of his arm to his elbow. One for offense, one for defense, seemed sensible enough to the Dewott. Time would tell how well it'd work in action.

"I believe this is where they call, 'en garde', in all the fancy fencing schools," the Dewott quipped.
 
Blue Otter said:
"Well, alright, though I doubt I'll provide you much of a challenge," he mused.
Click to expand...

"Being humble, are we now?" Felin swiped a claw over her bleed, ringing a metallic sound out. She drew a foot back and held her sword low and pointed forward in a fencing stance. Electricity sizzled up the length of the blade and Felin's eyes turned yellow.

"In my home, Pokemon could understand each others' hearts through battle." A dusty breeze swept over the two fighters. The sun shone down like spotlights upon them. Felin quirked a smile. "Let's cross our blades and perhaps learn a thing or two about one another."

Her eyes drew to slits. She pounced forward with a stab.
 
"Not humble, realistic!" Archie replied.

The Dewott pivoted - left shoulder forward, right shoulder back - bringing his right paw up to bat Felin's probing blade away with his own. First mistake, he realized a second too late that if he'd parried with his left instead of his right, he'd've been able to get inside the Floragato's guard with his right hand blade. Well, maybe he could still make this work.

"Recently evolved, Type disadvantage, less formal training," he listed, "In an honorable match, you'd have me beat every way. Good thing I fight dirty."

With his right hand blade positioned between Felin's sword and his own body, his left had some room to maneuver. He aimed his left paw for the feline's head, aiming to smack her with the hard Scalchop shell rather than cut her with the Water Type blade.
 
"That's a coward's way of speaking, Archie," Felin growled, a trace of venom laced in her words. "But I get it. No such thing as fairness in a fight to the death. Is that how you think?!"

Felin had mere moments to react. To bring a single sword against a dual wielding opponent put her in a disadvantage. But who said she only had one weapon?

In a deft motion, Felin planted her feet on the ground and vaulted backwards. She watched Archie's paw strike the air where her head had been. The floragato grinned. Swiftly, she plucked her yoyo off her scarf and flicked it at Archie's face, sparks licking its edges as a voltage climbed the yoyo string like a live wire.

At the same time, Felin prepared her next move, propping her sword and ready to rush into Archie's shoulder the moment he counters the yoyo.
 
Was this a friendly bout, or was Felin actually trying to seriously hurt him here? This was the second time now she was trying to electrocute him. But if the cat wanted to bring moves into the mix, he could oblige her. The slightest twinkle in one of his eyes was the only tell, then the Dewott’s head jerked to the side. An arc of electricity danced between his whiskers as the Floragato’s yoyo brushed past them.

“If you’re looking to get a rise out of me, you’ll have to try harder than that!” he taunted.

If this was going to be a serious fight, then Razor Shell wasn’t going to cut it. His best bet would’ve been Fury Cutter, but Aerial Ace or Avalanche would’ve also been helpful. But he doubted Felin was going to give him the time or space to focus on calling those moves to the front of his mind, so he had to work with what he had. He kept the Razor Shell up on his right paw blade, he still needed that one ready to counter the cat’s own sword. But the blue Water Type energy faded from his left, replaced with the glowing orange Fighting Type energy of his Sacred Sword.

The way Felin had contorted herself to dodge his previous attack risked putting the cat seriously off balance if he exploited it just right. He swiped his left hand blade upwards, and then stabbed down towards the cat. He’d make her back off yet!
 
"Get a rise out of you? Who said anything about that?" Felin drew her eyes to slits as she cackled. "I want to see the fervor of your soul!"

Just as planned, she lunged towards him a second time with a well aimed stab. She waited for a straightforward counter. It never came. Archie's swift slash knocked her sword off course.

Thump

Time slowed to a crawl. Archie's blade dove in for her, like a bullet or a harpoon. It was too late to swing her blade up and counter. She'd have to take the blow head on.

Thump

Felin's heart erupted with a fiery beat. She contorted around, a trail of light following her paw when she raised it to meet Archie's blade. Sparks rang from the clash of blades. A second sword appeared in Felin's paw, a Sacred Sword that countered Archie's blow, and yet...

"Let's call this a draw," Felin announced suddenly, all fire drained from her voice. One look at her second sword revealed why.

Earlier Felin had told Archie that Sacred Sword showed the strength of one's heart in what they believed in. What did it then say about Felin when her sword was dull and rusted like a blade left in the rain, its blade shattered and broken like floating pieces of glass bound together like they didn't belong? It was a blade ugly and hideous to look at.

Felin held that sword in her paw as she would any other sword, gaze neutral. It was a look bereft of surprise, disgust nor relief. "I guess I got you back."
 
He’d been expecting a dodge. It maybe wouldn’t have been the most graceful of moves – and he’d planned on teasing the cat for it – but never in his wildest dreams had Archie actually expected his blade to hit something. His Detect had certainly come through for him, allowed him to create an opening that Felin hadn’t been expecting. Her sword was deftly parried, his own blade plunged towards his target. So now she’d dodge, or maybe follow up with that yoyo of hers again, the Dewott didn’t really know what that thing was all capable of.

So when the sparks flew when his blade instead met another of hers, when his scalchop slipped from his grasp as a result of his poor grip coming into contact with something solid, its orange blade fading as the shell thudded to the ground, the Dewott could only blink in surprise. Felin had quite the opening, but the Floragato’s heart clearly wasn’t in it anymore, and she called the duel there and then. Actually, Archie wondered if the cat had ever actually been into the bout. He dismissed his remaining Razor Shell, and leaned over to scoop up his dropped scalchop before returning them both to his hips.

“Sure, yeah.” he said.

The sword Felin had conjured – dulled, rusted, broken even – reminded Archie of nothing so much as his own Sacred Sword when he fell deep into the grip of the Shadows. When he was reminded of the world he’d left behind. When he was at his most certain that he deserved to be dead like all the rest of them. The way the blade sputtered and flared, unable to maintain a clean profile; the way the bright orange color faded into the color of rust splotched with black shadows. He could understand why seeing that in her own blade might knock the wind out of Felin’s sails.

“Listen, uh…” He began, before hesitating. Archie never was particularly good at being comforting. He never really knew what to actually say. If this was Felin’s Sacred Sword, and in her world Sacred Sword reflected the strength of ones convictions, did that mean Felin saw herself as being weak in her beliefs? “I’m not going to think any less of you, just because you don’t know what to believe in. Plenty of people need to find that for themselves, and it doesn’t come easy. I know for me it doesn’t.”

He shrugged, unsure of where he was going with this, “So, don’t let it get you down.”
 
Felin raised her sword towards the sun. It cast a shadow over her eyes like it were a cloud adrift in the sky. She breathed a sigh and swung the eroded blade down in front of her.

"Does it seem that way to you? That I'm feeling down? No, Archie. I'm more than used to this." Felin released the handle and the blade dissipated as quickly as an oil doused paper exposed to flame. "I have never once stepped off the path I've walked from the day I left my home, yet my sword looks like that. Curious, isn't it?"
 
"I mean, it certainly doesn't seem like you're happy," the Dewott countered.

Still, it wasn't like he could comment on the inner workings of Felin's life, or those of her home world. He would only ever have an outsider's perspective on all that. It was up to the cat herself to do whatever self reflection she needed to fix whatever problem she was having with herself that was resulting in her Sacred Sword taking on such an appearance. He couldn't do that for her!

"Maybe... You should step off that path? See if it's actually the one you want to be on? Sometimes you can't really see things how they really are, when you're still in the thick of it," he suggested.
 
"Step off that path? As if." Felin waved her paw dismissively and sighed. Her gaze wandered, unfocused, like she was reliving a past memory where she stood. She snapped out of it and raised her shoulders in a shrug.

"No thanks, Archie. The path I'm on obviously isn't the problem. I'll figure it out someday, I dunno. If I can't even stick to what I believe in, then I wouldn't be able to call myself Felin Boots." Felin turned around, beginning to walk away as though she'd rather be anywhere else.

She paused momentarily, glancing over her shoulder. "By the way, you fight well. We should spar again sometime."

She was walking away again. This time she didn't turn back once.
 
Did she even really believe in it, though? Well, he wasn't going to be the one who would be able to convince her either way. The Dewott just hoped she'd give it some thought, at least. Archie stuck his paws in his coat pockets, and sighed. Was everyone here stubborn, or did he just keep attracting the most hard headed of his comrades?

"Thanks, promise to bring my A-game next time," he called after the Floragato. And a few super effective moves, since they apparently weren't off limits in sparring sessions with Felin. Then he looked back towards the bulletin board. He supposed he did have a job to do, still... But man, now he really wasn't feeling it.

"I wish Tarahn was here..."

<><><><><><><>​
 
Reader mode
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom