Frontier Town Nina's Place

[AdamArtDraws]

“The latter,” she said simply before taking another sip.

Felin quirked a brow at Odette and wore a neutral face. The jig was up so soon? A shame. If she'd known she might've made a hefty bet with Kimiko for how long it'd take to spill. The thought certainly amused her.

"Well dear, seems like the jig is up. Admittedly, it's hard to explain scores of mon arriving out of sky on a clear afternoon," Felin said. She chuckled and downed what remained of her drink in long gulps. "It's as Odette says. We're here to lend a helping paw."

Something Sonora had said piqued her interest. This Brisa girl rubbed off on her? It sounded like some of the tales she'd heard about humans in her own world. They were living catalysts of power and change.

"So, you still talk with this Brisa? She sounds like quite the gal," Felin said, her teeth exposed in her smile.

 

[Jackie Cat]

Sonora gave Odette a cheeky smirk and tilted her head. "I feel like I'm already flappin' my darn jaw an awful lot more'n you are, darlin'. But sure. I feel like I've outlined my thoughts on the matter well enough already, but if y'need me to spell it out: I believe what I been sayin'. Humans come here from somewhere else, and they do good while they're here. Does that make 'em angels? Who are you strange folks, really? Who's to say. I don't got those answers – I ain't never met a Saint or nothin' who could say fer certain. But if you folks are as well-intentioned as ya suggest, it'll become clear soon enough. I'm satisfied to trust y'all for now."

The Floragato winked at Felin. "Me an' Brisa? Well that'd be tellin', wouldn't it?" She snorted. "Nah. I'd pull yer leg about that some more, partner, but she's been outta town goin' on two or three seasons, now. And besides, imagine the scandal, a ranger like her fraternisin' with a highway bandit like m'self."

The cat's whiskers twitched strangely, and she glanced away.

"No hard feelings here. We had an understandin', while she were still around."

 

[Sinderella]

"I feel like I'm already flappin' my darn jaw an awful lot more'n you are, darlin'.

She shrugged. “It’s the steel type in me. Usually takes some oil to loosen mine up.”

Still, she had to give the credit where it was due. Sonora had been a good sport throughout the conversation and hadn’t really done much more to earn any sort of suspicion out of her. Granted, this was only one conversation, but Odette didn’t pick up on any hidden hostility or tells that Sonora had any nefarious intentions behind her words.

“Well, I certainly wouldn’t have agreed to come all this way just to wreck this world.” I can do that enough in my own world without even trying. “I mean it when I say I only have the best intentions at heart, as long nobody gives me a reason to…not. So far I haven’t been that unlucky, and it’s a streak I’d like to keep.”

"Nah. I'd pull yer leg about that some more, partner, but she's been outta town goin' on two or three seasons, now. And besides, imagine the scandal, a ranger like her fraternisin' with a highway bandit like m'self."

The cat's whiskers twitched strangely, and she glanced away.

"No hard feelings here. We had an understandin', while she were still around."

Sonora’s shift in demeanor wasn’t lost on her. Odette certainly wasn’t going to be the one to pry open those wounds, but there was clearly a layered history there.

“I don’t know, scandals can be fun. The headlines these fucking journalists come up with, you know?”

 

[AdamArtDraws]

"No hard feelings here. We had an understandin', while she were still around."

Felin bit the inside of her lip and stared with an almost dour expression at the bubbles still at the bottom of her glass. Friendships sometimes came at the cost of paths diverging. It was a sad truth.

She shook off the expression and wore her smile back on like a mask she couldn't live without.

"You've gotten something a bit wrong though, my dear Sonor," she began. "Not all of us are even humans. Me?"

She reclined on her chair and tried to raise her feet onto the table for the dramatic effect. Her legs were too short and the table too high, so she gave up the action and carried on as normal. "I'm just a mon. Was born a sprig and perhaps one day die as a Meowscarada in a blazing glory."

 

[Hap]

"Didja really come here by accident? Or are ya here to help folks?"

"Says a lot about you as a person that you're acting like those are mutually-exclusive," Ridley muttered. "Can't we do both?" He was familiar enough with his own motivations to be certain he'd answered the call for help out of curiosity, not compassion. Ridley might not ever fit into the standard heroic mould, but while he was here why shouldn't he do what he could to help?

The topic change of the conversation had thrown him a little. He'd assumed his companions had some reason for being circumspect about their status as heroes from another world, even if he didn't particularly understand why, but from what Sonora was saying it sounded as though their otherworldly nature was a lot more obvious than anyone might have liked.

...Ridley really needed to pin someone down and get a clear answer on whatever the fuck the deal with that was. Trying to pick things up based on eavesdropping and inference could only go so far; this was getting ridiculous.

Brisa

Whomst the fuck? Okay, cool, someone to try to look up in future.

"Some kids grow up hearin' stories 'bout humans," she drawled, casual as anything. "They were 'angels' who'd appear in the world lookin' like ordinary pokémon, but who'd been sent from above to rescue folks from danger, spare the land from some catastrophe, an' all that."

Humans come here from somewhere else, and they do good while they're here.

"You're making a lot of assumptions there," Ridley pointed out. "Not all of us were human to start with, and those -" of us, he avoided saying - "that were aren't necessarily good people. It's pretty naive to assume humans would do good by default."

 

[AdamArtDraws]

"You're making a lot of assumptions there," Ridley pointed out. "Not all of us were human to start with, and those -" of us, he avoided saying - "that were aren't necessarily good people. It's pretty naive to assume humans would do good by default."

Felin sat forward and shot the cleffa an incredulous look. She crinkled her nose at him and nearly frowned. "Aye, that's total rubbish. Humans are always heroes. Why else will they be called upon to save the world from monsters time and time again?"

 

[Hap]

"Aye, that's total rubbish. Humans are always heroes. Why else will they be called upon to save the world from monsters time and time again?"

Ridley snorted loudly in response to that and took another sip from his cheri brandy. "What, do you seriously think every member of a -" species? fuck shit, how did he word this? - "type of person is the same? You're a sprigatito; do you think Sonora has had the same experiences you've had, or that she shares your exact same goals? People are people, and if humans are people then humans have the same capacity for good or evil or mundane petty bullshit as anyone else here."

 

[AdamArtDraws]

Felin reclined on her chair again and rolled her eyes. "Sonora's not had the same experiences I've had, sure, but I know a mon of good taste when I see one. Aside from that, it would take an absolute moron of a god to call someone with a wicked heart to save a world."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Sonora glanced at her empty tumbler of brandy every so often, and followed the chatter with a more subdued energy than she'd had before. Although, she did still chuckle or smirk at 'fucking journalists' and 'blazing glory'. She started to make a reply to Ridley about her assumptions, then she frowned as it provoked a back-and-forth with Felin that clearly puzzled her.

"Hey hang fire a damn second," she drawled, putting her paws out for calm. "Maybe we ain't all talkin' about the same things, precisely? I've only had the one drink, but gimme a moment to catch up, here. I think this discussion could use a li'l more specificity."

She leveled a clawed digit at Felin.

"You're sayin' that y'ain't a human, even though ya admit you're from another world."

And one at Ridley.

"And you're tellin' me that humans are just a 'type of person', and that they can come to this world without bein' on a mission to save it."

The cat blew air out of her nose in a long sigh.

"This conversation sure took a fuckin' turn, huh. I mean, It ain't like I thought every human had to, what, have an unblemished character? Sheriff Stranger was a real sonofabitch to some! Fella had troubles. But he still averted disaster fer the whole Saints-forsaken region. The way I've heard it, folks comin' from some other world are human, and their reason fer bein' here is of a charitable nature. What part of that, if'n I may ask, is bullshit?"

 

[Hap]

The way I've heard it, folks comin' from some other world are human, and their reason fer bein' here is of a charitable nature.

"You're conflating several different ideas," Ridley explained eagerly. Was Sonora just using human as a generic term for hero-from-another-world? If so that was fascinating, and worth keeping in mind for future conversations about this topic. "There's - ah, hm, it's literally just occurred to me that you might not know the difference? Humans are a - a species, or a different sort of person, the same way I'm a mimikyu or you and Felin are both sprigatito line. Right? But here the world isn't compatible with whatever humans are, so -" we "- they get turned into whatever suits them best."

He gestured. "So Felin could have come here from another world, but she'd still be a sprigatito in her world and in this one, right? Not a human. And if sprigatitos are a type of person who can be both good and bad, then humans are also a type of person who can be both good and bad. Maybe the only ones who come to this world are the ones who want to help out, but you can't rely on the idea that the way they define helping will be the same way you define helpful."

 

[Sinderella]

Aye, that's total rubbish. Humans are always heroes. Why else will they be called upon to save the world from monsters time and time again?"

The look Odette sent Felin was a stark mix of startled and puzzled, the the urge to laugh outright bubbled up on her tongue. However, she was able to bite it back.

What kind of idealistic fantasy world had she come out of? Surely Felin would get a kick out of meeting Odette’s ex; talk about monsters. That’d really throw her for a loop.

"You're sayin' that y'ain't a human, even though ya admit you're from another world."

The way I've heard it, folks comin' from some other world are human, and their reason fer bein' here is of a charitable nature. What part of that, if'n I may ask, is bullshit?"

“‘Human’ and ‘from another world’ have never been mutually exclusive. There are plenty of worlds out there, probably some that are no different than this one.” As she was learning on her own.

Maybe the only ones who come to this world are the ones who want to help out, but you can't rely on the idea that the way they define helping will be the same way you define helpful."

She nodded along with what Ridley was saying, giving him a chance to finish before she riffed off of him.

“What you know is somewhat correct; humans are far from infalliable. There are very few who you could confidently classify as full-on angels. Some of them cannot be bothered at all,” she said, setting her cup down. “But for all you know, Jesse Stranger’s idea of ‘being a hero’ was picking up litter on the side of the railway, or helping old ‘mon cross the street, or even more so, just getting out of bed in the morning. Meanwhile, the ‘saving the region’ thing happened accidentally. Because you’d be surprised how often that happens too. Hypothetically.”

Adjusting her glasses, she leaned her elbows against the table. “Despite what I’ve said about myself, Ridley’s right. Because I am truly only speaking for myself. For all you know, anyone else dropping down here could be doing it solely because they want to see if it exists in the first place. Discovering a new world alone could be heroism for them, while it might not mean much to you all when they don’t seek to help with whatever your problem is. Or maybe there’s others here who are just looking to pick up litter or something equivalent.”

With a sigh, she shrugged again. “But I would be lying if I said I believed this world was opened to myself and everyone else who dropped in with me under the precedence that we’re picking up garbage. And I would like to hope that whoever was picked up was at least remotely screened in their ability to line up with whatever the morals of this world are. Even slightly. Because if not, well, you have bigger problems at hand.”

No species was infalliable, it couldn’t be. She was still holding her breath that everyone who had touched down—despite their surface level shortcomings—would help do whatever the fuck needed to be done when the time came.

 

[AdamArtDraws]

Felin propped up her chin on her paw as she listened to Odette and Ridley speak, their words doing a spectacular job at tearing her pre-conceived notions of humans.

By the time they were done, she'd already arrived at the conclusion that Ridley and Odette at least were human. At the very least they had intimate familiarity with them. No one would speak so boldly like that if they weren't. And yet...

"I should count myself lucky then. My world only gave us the best of your kind and spared us of your worst." The words surprised her as they left her lips. She closed her mouth and drew a breath.

"I hope that those of you that came alongside me here won't be the first to paint humans in a bad light for me." Felin shook her head, her ear flicking tensely. "What am I saying? That's pretty unfair."

She drummed her fingers on the table and sighed. "I just think quite highly of those with noble hearts, wherever they come from."

 

[JFought]

Isidora was surprised at the sudden turn the conversation started taking. She was about ready to jump in, to affirm she wasn't human either, to ask something about Jesse and his apparent daughter because Sonora clearly knew more than she herself did. And then Ridley started speaking and her mind blanked.

What was that term Ridley kept using? People? She remembered that she heard Dave say it once, back when he revealed he was human, but he didn't use it like this. She wasn't sure why, but it bothered her, everything about it. There was something in the implications there, in the way he used it, in the weight with which he threw it around, that needled at her mind, but she couldn't make sense of what. Was this all supposed to imply Ridley was human? Was it a human word? But didn't the voice say that everyone's words were being translated to each other? So what did it mean? It distracted her so much she couldn't even make sense of what he was saying anymore, a paw flexing its claws around her forehead gem as she felt what alcohol she consumed take its toll on her.

Isidora came back to her senses somewhere in the middle of Odette's explanation. She blinked a few times. G-Giratina. Am I just drunk?

She drummed her fingers on the table and sighed. "I just think quite highly of those with noble hearts, wherever they come from."

She watched Felin's spirits fall, then sighed deeply. "There's, uh, nothing wrong with that. It's... fair, honestly." She blinked again, harder. A moment to straighten up and take her hat off. It felt hot. "Stories just don't get told all the time. By nature, you'll only ever hear about the ones who had a legacy to leave behind. It's good, at least, that all the stories you've been told are about the good ones, cuz it means any truly bad ones probably weren't worth talkin' about. Maybe they, like, died in a ditch or something. I dunno." She shot the slightest of glares at the two humans in the group. "Sure, I think its naive to go believing they're all heroes." Any of them, really. "But some of them did save this world, that's the truth as far as I can tell. Don't think there's anything inherently wrong with believin' in that. As long you're not dumb about it, I guess..."

Isidora sighed again. She didn't know why she was trying to comfort these cats about humans of all things. "Sorry, I'm drunk."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Sonora glazed over a little as one, then two, then all four of the offworlders chimed in at more or less length about the issue. As it went on steadily without input from her, she turned at got herself another drink from Nina after all.

She was most of the the way through it by the time Isidora's rambling was starting to decohere.

"Okay, okay, I get the gist," she said at last, dully. "I should be thankin' the Saints that the humans we've had so far've fixed things up more'n they've fucked 'em up. Okay."

She took another long breath and gestured vaguely at the party.

"Y'ain't from the world, you've been stuck here unaccountably but you're gonna do what y'can to help out, and bein' human is... incidental, I fuckin' guess. Okay. Y'all are..."

She searched for a word to use.

"Y'all are way more ordinary than I expected. Like, just regular folks. Though I dunno what I was expectin'... Help, I s'pose."

 

[Sinderella]

"Y'all are way more ordinary than I expected. Like, just regular folks. Though I dunno what I was expectin'... Help, I s'pose."

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Now we've ruined her day.

If Odette had known she was going to wake up that morning just to shit on the dreams of an apparently well-meaning outlaw, she'd have stayed in bed. Damage control was certainly not her forte, but she felt like she needed to give it a shot.

"I mean..." Odette said tentatively. "It's not bad to hope for more. Better than wallowing in the doubt over the opposite. Optimism is a good thing." Not in excess, but a good regulated amount she could deal with. "I'm not here to rain on anybody's parade despite your disposition as a grass type."

Try again, you fucking moron.

She cleared her throat. "What I meant to say was...I think we're just trying to offer some perspective." Maybe too much of it. The poor cat looked exhausted now; a stark contrast from her bubbly exterior when she'd first sat down.

That was the moment Odette took to return Isidora's glare. Here, she thought they'd been on the same wavelength, but clearly, the sneasel had some hidden gripes she wasn't keen on letting be known. If she wanted to go around and mean-mug people, Odette was always down to play that game, even in the middle of what had turned into an apparent heart-to-heart.

"However you want to look at it, we all got a call to come help and answered it," she said, eyeing Sonora again. "So, the lot of us might be normal, everyday sentient beings who can't quite move mountains, but there's still merit to the fact that we showed up here at all despite not quite knowing what the hell we're looking at."

Gesturing to the floragato, she leaned back against her chair again. "If that fits your depiction of a hero, then...by all means, call it that. Don't let the likes of our arguing over the semantics of the word stop you. I think a lot of us still have world-hopping jetlag anyway..."

She cringed to herself, having to resist the urge to settle her face into her palm. Gods, I cannot...

 

[AdamArtDraws]

Felin continued to drum her fingers on the table, lost in thought. She felt troubled by the fact that the cloud had called both humans and pokemon alike for this job. It might have been purely arbitrary, though their words about receiving anyone willing to answer might've lent to that. Even so, that made things better. She came along not because she was already a hero, but so that she could become one.

"Ah what the hell. Since I've been brought her, I just have to pull my own weight," Felin quirked a smile at Sonora. "Whatever worldly trouble that brought us here, you have my word Felin Boots will stop at nothing to see it dealt with."

 

[Jackie Cat]

The old grin returned, with a little less forcible bravado than before.

"Well... alright. Angels y'all may not be, but you seem like decent folks to me," said Sonora. "We'll see about 'heroes' later, heh."

She took a final gulp from her second drink, steadied herself, and adjusted her hat.

"Here goes nothin', I guess. Been buildin' up to it for a whole darn day already."

The Floragato reached under her hat and retrieved a small sheaf of printed papers, glossy with expensive ink. When splayed out on the table, they were clearly invitations to the Frontier Town Gala.

"I got a proposition for y'all. I jus' hope you'll hear me out."

 

[Sinderella]

The Floragato reached under her hat and retrieved a small sheaf of printed papers, glossy with expensive ink. When splayed out on the table, they were clearly invitations to the Frontier Town Gala.

"I got a proposition for y'all. I jus' hope you'll hear me out."

Odette hadn’t been able to get the spirits back to what they were before, but she supposed she’d take whatever semblance of a grin Sonora had to give.

When they were presented with invitations, Odette felt a harsh mix of intrigue and panic start to swirl in her gut. The last couple times she’d been invited to galas by suspicious parties (granted Sonora wasn’t nearly as insufferable as Dorien was), things didn’t particularly pan out in a savory way. Of course, those were the definitions of outlier situations, and jumping to the worst possible conclusion after just giving an—albeit shitty—talk about optimism felt counterintuitive.

Still, she couldn’t help but squint as she picked up the invitation to get a better look at it, being sure to keep it visible enough for the others to see. Her gaze cut back to Sonora, her mind once again returning to the valley of doubt despite her best efforts. The outlaw approaching them about heroism and suddenly propositioning them for something that regarded a gala?

She huffed. “This should be good.”

 

[JFought]

She had been tapping at her glass, trying to clear the fog from her head, when the invitation slid in front of her. Isidora didn't get it at first, but with each word she read she grew more and more sober, her ears perking up as realization began to dawn on her. There was only one reason an outlaw would approach her with something like this.

Isidora looked up at Sonora, her gaze turned serious and professional. "What are you asking?"

 

[Hap]

The old grin returned, with a little less forcible bravado than before.

Ridley winced to himself. He hadn't meant to disillusion Sonora so badly, only to explain that humans were just people like anyone else rather than some inherently special class of being. He hadn't paused to think what those stories of heroism might have meant to someone who'd grown up with them.

"I got a proposition for y'all. I jus' hope you'll hear me out."

"Of course we'll hear you out," Ridley said easily. An outlaw with a proposition regarding a gala? Regardless of what she said next, this already sounded like fun.