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Sojaveña Wilds Totally Normal Bulletin Board

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Felin's eyes brightened as the stories came to her mind.

"Legends have it that they saved my world from three frightening calamities. The first hero stopped the world from being swallowed by natural disasters and a meteor from the heavens." Felin motioned her paw in a gliding motion as she said that, then snapped her paw shut. "The second hero... their tale is a bit more debatable. It is said that they saved the world from a terrible and bleak future, but no one knows much about it."

One of the papers slipped from her other paw as she spoke. She caught it in time and held it firmly under her pit. "As for the third hero. They fought a noble battle against a great monster called the bittercold. Together with their partner, they created a land called Paradise."

Felin had a wondrous look in her eyes as she reminisced on the story. "The last hero was the most recent of the three. It's been what? Two hundred years since their time?" She shook her head. "Anyway, we know a lot more about them than the others, that's for sure."
 
Silver listened attentively to Felin’s tales, mildly amused by her spikes of excitement whenever she described the accomplishments of those heroic humans. All the while, he noticed how their worlds weren’t really that much different.

Natural disasters and a meteor? That sounded very much like the crisis in Hoenn. Some time-related shenanigans? Sinnoh was full of those legends, including something about a hero who traveled back in time. And Bittercold… Hm, okay, he had no clue what that was, but there were many ice-based deities and stuff.

“Two hundred years is… a lot,” remarked Silver, nodding slowly. “So, humans have been summoned in times of need to stop catastrophes, it sounds like.” He narrowed his eyes. “I wonder if we all have been dragged here for a similar reason. Though, I haven’t heard about any great crisis yet. D’you have any better luck?”
 
"Nope. I'm just as clueless as we are," Felin replied with a an exxagerated shrug. "Between you and me, I don't think Cloudy has a clue what they really brought us here for. At least the specifics of it."

Felin pursed her lips and thought for a moment.

"Or maybe they're just holding onto the details for now," she added. Not wanting to delve too deeply into it, she decided to divert the subject somewhat.

"So, Silver. What was your life like?" Felin asked, quirking a grin. "I caught glimpses of you when we were fighting penguin senior last night. You seem like the heroic type to me."
 
Felin said:
"So, Silver. What was your life like?" Felin asked, quirking a grin. "I caught glimpses of you when we were fighting penguin senior last night. You seem like the heroic type to me."
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Silver’s head feather shot upright and his eyes widened. Papers slipped out of his claws and his gaze went to the floor, clearly flustered and dumbfounded.

“H-heroic type… me?” he murmured, feeling almost as if he was speaking a foreign language. Despite feeling a bizarre emotional rush, he had to admit that the ‘heroic’ title had a nice ring to it. “If… you say so. It’s just… not something I hear too often.”

The Sneasel knelt down to collect the papers, taking those extra seconds to collect his thoughts. Once he stood back up, he was ready to open himself a little.

“The truth is… That my life is quite turbulent. Three years ago, I… was far from a good guy.” Silver sighed and looked away. “I often pushed others away and treated them like trash, refusing to come across as weak or needy. I didn’t want to depend on anyone. It was just me, my partners, and the world.”

He paused to let the words sink in, before flashing a tiny smile. “But… I found some people. Many people who put their faith and trust in me. I guess they kinda rubbed their kindness on me, and I’ve learned about friendship and about using my power for a good purpose.” Determination burned in his eyes. “And that’s what I did back then. I couldn’t just let those idiots hurt innocent ‘mons! Nobody should use their power against people who can’t defend themselves!”

The flash on anger waned as quickly as it came, and Silver smirked. “So, yeah! I guess I’ve got a little heroic side in me.”
 
When Silver brought up his past of pushing others away and treating other's like trash, a worried frown replaced Felin's smile. However as he kept going, the smile returned. She seemed a bit proud in fact.

"You know, I was about to give you some pep talk about getting over the past and whatnot but it seems..." She walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "You've already figured it out. Good to see you're on the right track, Silver. Must've been some great companions you had for you to turn around so well."
 
If Silver was wrought by countless emotions already, he felt like melting the moment that Felin reached out to him and placed her paw on his shoulder. He froze, unsure how to take the new influx of emotions, before hesitantly raising his own paw. He held it in midair, the nervousness stopping him, before slowly placing his claws on her paw, mindful to not scratch her.

“T-thank you…” he murmured shyly, his gaze darting in random directions. “I… Y-yeah, I… had good riv—friends who helped me out…”

Silver took a deep breath, trying to keep his fluctuating emotions in check, before patting Felin’s paw. “Okay… That’s enough sickly sweet emotions already!” He flashed a cocky smirk. “We’ve got a dungeon to explore and bad guys’ butts to kick, no?”
 
Felin fluttered her ears as she laughed and raised her paws over her chest.

"Alright, alright. I have half a mind to tease you, but I'll that for another time," Felin said. She split aside the job posts that concerned dungeon delving and looked through them carefully.

"First thing's first, we're going to need to get some supplies." Felin raised her face and squinted at him. "If it's just you and me, we'd probably want to stick to the upper floors and pack enough to last a day or two."

She bit her lip and hummed, a thought crossing her mind that made her wonder. "Do the dungeons here have floors at all? The ones in my world don't always do. Especially the passage dungeons. We might have to ask the other guild mon here before our dive."
 
Silver shrugged nonchalantly. “No clue. That’d be my first dungeon exploration and everything I know is by hearsay. There’s no harm in asking around, though. After all, better safe than sorry.”

Feeling like they had spent enough time standing in front of that bizarre board, Silver began walking away, but stopped after a few steps to make sure that Felin got the cue.

“You seem to know plenty about this kinda business. So, tell me, how was your life in your world, and what did you do for a living?”
 
"What I did for a living?" Felin laughed lightly. She suddenly turned around, propped herself up and spread her arms wide in a wide fashion. "This is what I did for a living!"

She dropped back on all fours to walk alongside him. "I spent a good chunk of my time going into dungeons. When I'm not doing that I just take whatever job's on the surface."
 
Silver chuckled in delight. He had to admit that Felin’s excitement was infectious. Heck, he was starting to get more and more hyped at the idea of exploring a dungeon with her.

“It sounds like I’m in good paws for this dungeon exploration business, then,” he remarked, his smile widening slightly. “Since that’s basically what you do in your world, then what d’you say it’s your biggest accomplishment? The one thing you’re the most proud of?”

Silver sighed, thinking of his own achievements. “In my case, well, if we exclude the whole learn-how-to-be-good deal, I’d say that I’ve managed to be a strong leader.” He smirked. “One of the best in my region, actually! It’s not something that many folks of my age can claim!”
 
Felin's eyes widened by a hair, her fangs peeking through her growing smile. She had to stop again, paws on her hips as she looked on proudly at him.

"You're one of the best in your region? I don't know about anyone else, but..." Felin beat her fist over her chest almost like a salute. "I think you have the makings of a legend already."

Felin lowered her paw and returned to all fours again. Were they close to evolving any time soon? She'd much prefer to be bipedal more often than not. Stepping out of her thoughts, she pondered Silver's question over.

"My proudest accomplishment eh?" she chuckled and looked away. "That one's a bit of a long tale. Don't know if you have the time to hear it all."
 
Silver stared at Felin, his head tilting slightly. “Makings of a legend? Me?” He laughed heartily. “Well! I wanna hope so! That’d be a freaking cool accomplishment, no doubt!”

At the mention of a long tale, Silver waved his paw dismissively. “Tch! We’ve got some road to hit before reaching the marketplace, so let’s kill some time with that tale of yours.” He grinned. “Let’s see if I can guess. Perhaps you kicked the butt of some powerful criminals? Did you find a great treasure? Or maybe you found a new dungeon or whatnot?”
 
"Yes, that's exactly it, Silver! The three of us found a new dungeon. One that's never been seen before!" Felin's tail twitched upright as she brimmed with growing excitement. She brought a paw to her cheek, her gaze staring at the clouds ahead as she took a long trip down memory lane.

"So, it all started when I went looking for odd jobs for us. Out of pure luck, I picked up on a lead about a dungeon mon didn't think even existed!" She turned sharply towards Silver and flicked her fingers. "As soon as I heard that, I immediately brought it to the others. What could've been more exciting than if we found it by ourselves when many others tried and failed?"

Felin's smile widened even more. "And so, we began to chase its tail."
 
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At seeing the enthusiasm shining in Felin’s face, Silver couldn’t hold back a wide grin of his own. It was always great to mingle with folks who could get as fired up as he could, especially while talking about something they loved pursuing.

“That sounds fun, no doubt! There’s nothing better than being the first at something!” he exclaimed, idly wondering if his own experience in a dungeon was going to be as exciting. Then, he tapped his mouth, his attention focusing on one detail in particular.

“Ah, but hold on! You’ve said three of us. Does that mean you’ve got dungeon partners or whatnot at home?” His grin stretched further, while his gaze shone with sheer curiosity. “And! What d’you find in that dungeon?”
 
Silver the curious weasel said:
“Ah, but hold on! You’ve said three of us. Does that mean you’ve got dungeon partners or whatnot at home?” His grin stretched further, while his gaze shone with sheer curiosity. “And! What d’you find in that dungeon?”
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Felin pressed her lips together when asked about her team. She'd been so caught up in the moment that she'd let that slip. Not wanting to let the awkward pause last for any longer than a moment, Felin latched onto the last half of his words.

"I can't just skip all the way to what I found, It's about the journey, not the destination," Felin said, folding her arms with a small grin. "Didn't you say you wanted to hear the full story?"
 
Silver raised an eyebrow, surprised by Felin’s drastic change in behavior. ‘Hm? Is she… dodging my questions?’ he wondered, dumbfounded. ‘I thought she would’ve been glad to talk about her team, and yet… Why is that? Does she have some problems with them, or…?’

But despite wishing to know more, he could tell that pressing for answers wasn’t a good idea. Besides, he always wished for others to respect his privacy, so it was only fair to do the same. As such, he limited himself to making a mental note on that for the time being, and eventually wait for her to talk about that on her own.

“…Well, duh! Of course I wanna know about the journey!” he exclaimed in return, not skipping a beat. “Like, what kinda obstacles you found on the way. And, huh, if you had to compete to claim the discovery as your own, I guess.” He shrugged. “That kinda stuff. It’d help me in getting an idea of what to expect outta a dungeon, too.”
 
Felin paused and bit her lip. One part of her mind found gratitude that Silver didn't broach the subject of her team. The other part felt guilty for it, but it wasn't as if she could just tell him all about it. She didn't know him like that. What's more... there was no way he would understand. No one ever would.

A dry and hot gust of wind washed over their shoulders, and Felin momentarily glanced at a bramlin fellow riding its coattails to run down hill. She jerked her eyes back to Silver and clasped her paws together.

"Right, where was I? Oh that's right. So, the dungeons in my world sometimes have artifacts.. keys if you will," Felin explained. "The lead I found was a key I pawned off a mugger who didn't know the slightest clue about the value of the knife he'd been lugging around. What are the odds?"

She laughed at that and cleared her throat. A moment passed and she continued. This time she returned to speaking plurally, though didn't explain why she did or why she'd stopped in the first place.

"We knew exactly what it was, and an old tome one of us had read had a description that matched it and then..."

Felin continued her story on with much energy. She spoke off dealings with information brokers, a life and death encounter with a renegade of bandits no doubt hired by someone after the same dungeon. Her story mentioned a fight with a wildener gatekeeper placed at the basin of a valley by some bored legendary. Finally...

"We found the blasted dungeon. It took us three whole months to get there," Felin said, moving her paw as if to streak the sky. She closed her eyes and sighed. "What I wouldn't give to do all that again."
 
As Felin narrated her various adventures, Silver listened to the entire tale in a respectful silence, not bothering to interrupt her at any point as he didn’t wish to miss any detail. Whenever she got extremely excited and lost herself while wandering various memory lanes, he made sure to subtly lead her along the way to avoid collisions with obstacles or distracted passers-by.

Not even reaching the marketplace seemed to halt her enthusiasm. Luckily, Silver had learned plenty about survival skills during his time as a Trainer, so he took care of most of the supplies and battle stuff. He only hoped that Felin didn’t mind Meowth food.

While checking the directions for the dungeon’s entrance and before his lone ear threatened to fall off after countless minutes of retelling…

Felin said:
"We found the blasted dungeon. It took us three whole months to get there," Felin said, moving her paw as if to streak the sky. She closed her eyes and sighed. "What I wouldn't give to do all that again."
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When Silver registered the longer pause, he tore his gaze away from the signs and gazed at Felin, blinking rapidly. That was the end of the tale, right?

The young Sneasel whistled in amazement, taking the extra seconds to process and assimilate the sheer amount of new information.

“Well, wow! I’m… actually impressed. Three months to find a dungeon, without giving up once? Now that’s what I call resoluteness, and something I greatly appreciate and admire in others!” he commented at last, his eyes sparkling as he felt like he had found a kindred soul.

“You’ve got quite the resume there, huh! Whoever wished for an adventurous type would be an idiot for not considering you as a top pick! You’re, like, born for adventures!” He chuckled softly, before flashing a toothy smirk. “I sure hope I’ll be able to keep up with you in that dungeon. Lagging behind isn’t my style, y’know!”
 
Felin patted him Silver lightly on the and chuckled. Stopped for a moment and took off her boot, flipped it over and watched sand grains trickle out of the thing like dry crunchy snow.

"I don't think you'll be lagging behind much at all," Felin said as she put her boot back on. "This world is as new to me as it is to you. Already I've learned that dungeons here don't work the same as the ones I'm used to."

She shrugged slightly. "If anything we'll be starting off on somewhat even footing, don't you think?"
 
Silver tilted his head, his gaze contemplative. “Hmm. I guess there’s only one way to find out, then…”

With a slow motion of his paw, Silver gestured toward some kind of dark entrance. Only blackness greeted the duo, which only added to the mysterious nature of that dungeon. Probably something like that would be scary for many folks, but Silver wasn’t a coward! He was going to deal with whatever got in the way, alongside his new partner!

“So! Ready to go and show this dungeon who’s the boss?” he asked, adjusting the shoulder belt with the various supplies. He held out the letter with the request and flashed a confident and intrigued smirk. “We can’t let our client wait for too long, after all!”
 
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