Frontier Town Sun Stone Saloon

[Inkedust]

"On the very same night we expelled Alexander from Forlas, a dungeon off the coast of Tyrrier erupted with a beam of, what is undoubtedly, Radiance that was observed throughout many of the surrounding areas and could be spotted many more kilometres out," she explained. "Naturally, this has drawn a significant amount of attention from many parties and I have no doubt that the Covenant is one of them."

She sipped her drink and continued her staring contest with the papers. "But absurd as it is, I find this amount of activity to be concerning. They say that the best lies and rumours are those with a kernel of truth at its core, the problem is discerning where the truth ends and the rumours begin."

Bellatrix exhaled through her nostrils and shook her head. "I pride myself on being able to pinpoint exactly where the distinction lies, but I must admit that this is by far one of the most challenging examples I've faced." She eyed Koa. "What do you make of it?"

 

[Tetra]

Koa nodded as she spoke. "Yeah, I remember hearing about that," he murmured thoughtfully, tipping his head. He'd heard of it in passing, though he hadn't really had time to contemplate what it could mean. A surge of Radiance... Auriga crossed his mind briefly, but it wasn't like they could contact her anyway. Could Powehi know something? "Sounds like it could be important."

Truth to every rumor. He hummed in agreement to her words. That was a concept he was definitely familiar with. He was almost a little surprised Bellatrix wanted his opinion, but it also pleased him that she cared. "Well...." He reached out, sliding one of the papers closer. "Glyphs sound like they could be real. People get scared of stuff they don't understand, so the drawings might be real but its probably not aliens," he said with a snort. "And maybe someone did see a Beheeyem?" His brow furrowed as he considered what he could recall of the psychic pokemon.

"Although I don't think they even... eat like that. So I guess it could just be scary story about a Beheeyem." He stifled a laugh. "But I don't know what to make about vampires..." He shrugged and sat back. "We can't really know unless we could speak to someone who saw it themselves," he added emphatically. Like Amity Square, and all the confusion after.... "I think a firsthand account would be the best way to figure out what's real."

 

[Inkedust]

A couple nods followed. "Decent observations, it appears you still have your wits about you." If the zoroark had been the more touchy or mischievous type, she would have given Koa's forehead a couple of good pokes. She didn't, obviously, but the temptation was there.

"Firsthand account," Bellatrix then repeated with a hum. "I suppose there's no harm in trying to speak to any of the locals or someone we know is from there to have seen the oddities for themselves but haven't met many people from Tyrrier have we?" she asked.

 

[Tetra]

"That's because I don't hang around you too much," he snipped back on reflex, though more joking than mean. He glanced away awkwardly, realizing what he'd said. Well, she could handle it. Pushing ahead he added, "if anything we could try and check it out ourselves right? I has to mean something, since I guess Cipher isn't the only reason we were brought here."

He sat back, gazing upwards as he consideredd. "But there was that odd Ninetales we rescued from those idiots that the battle dome snagged. Seir. He was from there." His nose wrinkled and he couldn't hide the annoyance in his tone. 'Losing' Miror and his goons irritated him, even if they probably weren't a threat now that Cipher was gone. "Maybe we can find him?"

 

[Inkedust]

Bellatrix waved the comment off, taking no offence to it. "Ah yes, he was from Tyrrier, wasn't he?" she proceeded to ask. "He would of had to have returned there by now. Convenient, as I believe that a visit to the country is in order after the recent dungeon activity there."

She seemed to have been thinking of something else. "I also heard that he had been studying the murkrow himself. Perhaps he would be more willing to share his findings in more ideal circumstances." Her eyes narrowed. "I wonder if he has come to the same conclusion that I have about them..."

Taking note of Koa's annoyance at the fate of Team Miror, she shrugged. "Part of the job, unfortunately. Doesn't matter how deserving you think they are of punishment, the only persons' thoughts that matter is the judge and jury and nothing can change it unless you decide that you want to play vigilante."

 

[Tetra]

At Bellatrix's comment about playing vigilante, he snorted and glanced away, tapping his paw against the table. "And what happens if that judge and jurry are bad?" he muttered under his breath. What if they were corrupted? Or unfair, or somehow working for a villain, or paid off? If his time here had taught him anything, it was that apparently some birds could get away with their crimes for a long time because they pretended to be good.

Not that he thought that he wanted to play vigilante but... what if Sonora hadn't done anything?

Shaking his head to dislodge the thoughts, he tried to find something else to focus on. "What conclusion did you figure out about those Murkrow? Odette told me about them and I keep seeing them, but I haven't really figured anything out."

 

[Inkedust]

"There's only so much that can be done," Bellatrix replied mildly. She watched Koa, considering the question through the angle of thought experiment. "You could work to change the system but can do you do if those running the system refuse to change? You could refuse service to them if you have your suspicions but then someone else, more ignorant, more desperate, more corrupt, will come along and do the job for you. What can you do then?"

The zoroark took another sip of her drink. "Something rather simple in hindsight," she replied. "Tell, me, do you know much about murkrow as a species? And if you do, what do you know of them?"

 

[Tetra]

Koa's gaze hardened as his frustration solidified. As much as he wanted to answer Bellatrix's question, he wasn't sure he could. His mind conjured an image of a portal of darkness on a snowy mountaintop. Stopping Cipher and Alexander had been one thing, especially since there was somewhere to send them.

Her question about Murkrow went in one ear and out the other at first, as he fixated on the thought. He found himself staring at the far wall of the building. "You have to get rid of whoever is causing the problems with the system. Fight them, if there's no other way." Not his most well-formed thought, but he couldn't figure out a good answer.

"Anyway," he said, realizing he'd let himself get distracted, "I guess not a lot. Just that they travel in flocks. Some people back home think they're bad luck, but they just like messing with people and stealing shiny things."

 

[Inkedust]

Bellatrix watched Koa mull over her thoughts, a curious glint in her eye. The zoroark seemed to consider his answer carefully but she gave no further response. The electrike's hasty pivot seemed to have told her enough.

"All that is true, yes," she began regarding the murkrow, "however, there is also the way they interact with honchkrow." She leafed through the stack of papers on the table, pulling out articles discussing the birds' behaviour. "If one is around, it seems that any nearby murkrow - assuming they're wild - will swarm to it, allowing the honchkrow to command them. Ergo, I might've found the species of our main culprit, or someone who is at least colluding with said culprit closely. The motive however..."

Bellatrix shrugged and shook her head.

 

[Tetra]

"Maybe a Honchkrow working with the Covenant?" he said. "I suppose they might want to spy on us."

At least it wasn't Cipher or Alex. "Whatever it is I guess we can't know unless we find that Honchkrow and go there." Talking and thinking about the dark birds left him nostalgic for his own home.

He hesitated, not sure how to approach the topic. She'd been amiable back at the library about it, maybe she wouldn't mind... "Speaking of Honchkrow though... Have you remembered anything else about your past? Honchkrow are native to Sinnoh where I'm from."

 

[Inkedust]

"Anything's possible, really," Bellatrix replied with another shrug. She supposed the Covenant theory would make sense if the murkrow were being sent out to keep an eye out on the Wayfarers in a subtle way, although weren't the murkrow spread across the continent months before their arrival. Well, not much of a point speculating with hardly any evidence, Bellatrix was confident they could figure out something more definitive once they went to Tyrrier themselves.

At Koa's follow up question, Bellatrix broke her stare from the papers on the table to glance at the electrike. It then fell to the side, she was hesitating about something but what exactly? Tiny, shadowy wisps began to dance at the very tips of her mane.

"Bits and pieces," she admitted after a long moment. She rubbed her temples, trying to recall that dream she had before they'd left for Terminal One. "Arguments with my parents, waters of a rich, cobalt blue, a secret affair, and I think I was looking for someone in a few of them..." As she spoke, the wisps on her manetips began crawling towards her roots, darkening her appearance. "But it's not nearly enough to get a full picture."

 

[Tetra]

None of that sounded familiar, but then Koa didn't really expect it too. The likelihood she was somehow linked to anything or anyone he knew from Sinnoh was... miniscule. But the mystery was still curious. "Strange. I guess you don't remember anything about who you were looking for?"

He was briefly lost in thought as he considered the dream further, but the sight of the darkening wisps around Bellatrix drew him out. "Is that... normal for you?" he gestured to her mane. Was this like when she'd used those red chains, some kind of instinct? Or maybe it was a Zoroark thing.

 

[Inkedust]

"Not at all," Bellatrix admitted. "But whoever he was, he must've been important enough to warrant a whole search and rescue." The dark wisps began manifesting on her claws as she tapped her chin. "Declared dead after a week or two when the conditions became too harsh to continue searching in. The weather near the summit is dangerous and unpredictable during the cold seasons."

She began straightening the papers on the table to keep herself occupied as she got carried away by her memories. "I don't think I cared though," she admitted as Shadows began to tinge her voice. "It felt... more like an obligation than anything."

Koa's question snapped her out of her stupor. By now, the wisps, which were now clearly Shadows had covered her arms and the entirety of her mane. Bellatrix looked down at herself and exhaled out of her nose. They receded a bit as they did but some stubbornly clung to the zoroark. "Ever since our spirits became more compatible with Shadows, this is the way they've chosen to manifest for me. They help me remember things more clearly," she explained.