(ACE) The FORTREE Team

Chaotic colors and shapes grew to life around Lumiere as she flew through the Hoenn skies, her thoughts still thinking about death and destruction. Anger pulsed through her for the ones killed in this battle against good and evil and without wanting to, her body began to glow slightly as a storm cloud rolled into the sky around her. She wasn't quite sure about where she was but she had a strange sense of others below her so, not wasting any time, Lumiere began a spiral down through the storm clouds following the sound of voices.

Her blue body, pulsing with light, broke the cloud barrier in a shimmer of rain as it spiraled through the air around her leaving droplets against her skin. Pure red dotted the shapes ahead of her and she followed the lights she was shone to find a Persian and an Aerodactyl talking together. Abruptly, Lumiere landed on the ground as rain washed over her light encased body making a gorgeous rainbow form around her. Moving forward, she made her way over to the two Pokemon, taking note of her location. The storm clouds above her still didn't cease but it began to let up a bit as her anger towards the undead started to fade.

"Pardon me. My name is Lumiere and I was wondering just where I am. I am also terribly sorry about the storm. I tend to not be able to control my anger these days."

Lumiere's voice, like the gentle movement of wind chimes, echoed a bit in the air around them. Her eyes watched the two Pokemon and she hoped that maybe she could become friends with them at some point.

“Moriarty. You have a lovely name by the way,” Acht blinked. Lovely? "Oh, thank you. It means eight in German." she smiles. "A pleasure to meet you." Then the cat asked another question. "Hm? I'm just traveling around to see how far the infection has spread." Acht replied quietly, looking around.

Suddenly, she felt water pour over her as a storm suddenly rolled over. Acht flinched as the water pattered at her wounds, stinging. Suddenly, a serpentine figure slid down from the sky with a rainbow, and the storm began to quiet down a bit. "Pardon me. My name is Lumiere and I was wondering just where I am. I am also terribly sorry about the storm. I tend to not be able to control my anger these days."

Acht dipped her head in greeting. "You're in Fortree City of Hoenn. It's fine, at least it'll make sure the houses won't be set on fire." Acht shrugs. "My name's Acht."

After some sulking, and grieving for a queen he never actually knew, #3829 had finally retreated from the makeshift shrine he had made for his beloved vespiqueen. With the flowers all around her, and the sweet scent of honey masking the smell of blood and death, she almost seemed alive, except for the burnt and crispy body of course, but he wasn’t that insane, he knew there was no getting her back, she had been killed before his eyes without him ever getting to know her by that blasted flying beast. She will get her revenge, now that #3829 had a purpose once more, he set on completing it, he did not fear death, death had come and gone for him, it had no unknown mystic quality to anymore.

He flew out of the hut like building, not knowing if that would be the last time he would ever see his beloved queen again or not, towards the area where the fight had happened earlier. He was going to charge straight in to the flying purple beast and stab it so many times that it would seem more like a pin cushion than anything else. From what he had seen, that thing was better at long distances, so close range combat would have to be used. But he halted as soon as he saw it again. Since his absence, more pokmeon had arrived and banded together. He did not care for the others, it was just the purple flying one he wanted dead. The only problem was that if he charged in with so many present, he would not even get the chance to even touch the beast. He would have to wait, wait and watch till the purple one separated from the group, then he will have his chance. “Soon my queen, soon.”

"Oh, thank you. It means eight in German."

Moriarty nodded his head with a fake smile, hardly listening to the dragon’s response to his question. He knew it’d been German, and was slightly disappointed he’d passed up the opportunity to learn the language. The sudden feeling of water pattering against the earth and clinging onto his unstained, cream fur quickly altered the feline’s expression. He suppressed a hiss at the weather, his ears falling flat against his head in annoyance before glancing up to the air. Instinctually, his back arched threateningly at the sight of the rapidly descending dragonair before he mentally reminded himself that he was in company – he couldn’t portray his aggression or paranoia in such an important situation. Glaring at the newcomer, he returned to his original posture and brushed off any hostile behavior with a forced, but surprisingly convincing grin.

"Pardon me. My name is Lumiere and I was wondering just where I am. I am also terribly sorry about the storm. I tend to not be able to control my anger these days."

He nodded his slim head politely, bowing formally as the human’s had always taught him. His eyes flickered over to Acht as she spoke – claiming that the damn weather was a good thing. His lip curled slightly; he’d rather this city burn to the ground than endure any damage to his coat. Shaking his body lightly in a vain attempt to remove any droplets, he discreetly moved towards a more covered area – several large trees with thick, leafy canopies loomed above to limit the disgusting rainfall.
“Moriarty,” He replied bluntly after Acht’s introduction – making sure that he successfully disguised his boredom. He was growing weary of the repetitiveness of socialization and was beginning to fear that another creature may pop out and demand the whole process again. Swallowing his impatience, he smiled once more and focused on the safety that these two dragons would offer him in the future.

Smiling, Lumiere also bowed to the two Pokemon in front of her. The rain sent shimmers of droplets to the ground as it finally let up and filled the sky once again with bright clouds that looked out of place. Her anger slowly dissipating, she took note of the lights surrounding the two Pokemon. Acht, the other Dragon type, had a wise and knowing light surrounding her which made Lumiere almost at once feel a sort of kinship towards her. The Persian Moriarty however set her nerves flaming as she noticed the annoyed and angry light surrounding him. Something made her not trust him but she would let it go. After all, other survivors are hard to come by these days.

"It's nice to meet you two." Lumiere smiled softly to them and then realization hit her that she was back in Hoenn. "Fortree? I'm from Johto. I had just taking a trip to the Hoenn region when we were attacked so I thought I would make my way back here and see how things are. Unfortunately, they don't seem any better then Johto." Sadness crept into her voice but she tried to mask it.

"It's nice to meet you two." Acht nodded. "A pleasure to meet you too." She murmured. The Dragonair began to speak again. "Fortree? I'm from Johto. I had just taking a trip to the Hoenn region when we were attacked so I thought I would make my way back here and see how things are. Unfortunately, they don't seem any better then Johto." Acht frowned. "I see. I'm from Kanto. I had passed by Johto when I was coming here. I too was hoping that there would be less infected about. It seems that all the regions are filled with the undead now."

"Oh!" she perked up, looking to one of the tree huts. "I forgot something.... Wait just a moment." she murmurs, running to the tree and climbing up with the use of her talons. She entered the hut, grabbing her instrument then hopping out, her Kayagum carefully positioned in her mouth as she jumped down. She set the string instrument down and checked inside for papers filled with poems. She sighed in relief. They were safe.

"It's nice to meet you two."

Moriarty forced a smile, but he had caught the dragonair inspecting him early and was slightly wary of her intentions. The two dragons then began their life stories which the feline paid little to no attention to – instead considering the risks these two may bring with them if he permitted them to travel alongside him. Of course, they were both powerful dragon-types and had the advantage of flight – well at least one still had – and with some subtle persuasion, the feline was sure he could guilt-trip them into protecting him. On the other hand, he had clarified that the infected were drawn out by the scent of blood and from Acht’s appearance alone, Moriarty was fairly sure that they wouldn’t be alone for long – especially when a flock of flying types had recently passed overhead. And as for Lumiere... well, Moriarty was sure she had already built up distrust for him. Smirking slightly, he was brought out of his analysis by the sudden exclamation from the aerodactyl.

"I forgot something.... Wait just a moment."

Moriarty’s face remained blank as he watched the dragon disappear into one of the little huts littering the city of Fortree. Unsure whether he wanted to address the dragonair or not, he took a deep, but silent breath before turning to Lumiere with a smile – thankful to see the purple one returning with something in her mouth. As she set the object on the earth and rummaged through several sheets of paper within, Moriarty found himself genuinely curious of what this thing was.
“If you don’t mind my asking, Acht... what exactly is that?” The persian asked as pleasantly as he could whilst his eyes remained glued to the instrument.

The sun shined on the back of the fossil pokemon as she glided around the once beautiful Fortree City. You could tell she was a infected by the purple in her feathers. She cried out as she landed in a tree. Lucas! Lucas!

The ancient bird pokemon called out. She lept from the tree and the wind sent her into a house, where she had made her home. There in the dark of the house the bird layed down and a tear fell as she spoke softly. Oh Lucas. Where are you? The bird slowly closed her rocky eyes and drifted off into a deep sleep.

(OOC:Sorry short post. Just got home. So can't really think of anything for Acro to do.)

“If you don’t mind my asking, Acht... what exactly is that?” Acht gave a small smile, strumming the silk strings with her bloodied talons. The hollow, sad melody drawled through the city. It was like a song of mourning.

"It's called a Kayagum. It's an instrument that originated long ago..." she murmured a response, still plucking. "It was once my caretaker's, and he taught me how to pluck this one song. He passed away however, and he left the instrument to me."

"Lucas! Lucas!" Acht jolted off the Kayagum, looking to the source. She saw a little yellow bird thing hopping from the trees, before it dived into a house. The Aerodactyl hissed. "It looks like an infected."

[OOC: Sorry for late post, didn't realize Eve posted.]

Moriarty listened to Acht’s song with silent appreciation. Although he was a conniving, sly and generally unpleasant creature, Moriarty had always admired music and was pleased at the talents the aerodactyl possessed. A genuine smile crossed his lips as she went on to explain what exactly the string instrument was. The persian thrived on knowledge, regardless of how irrelevant or obscure it may be.

"It's called a Kayagum. It's an instrument that originated long ago... It was once my caretaker's, and he taught me how to pluck this one song. He passed away however, and he left the instrument to me."

He nodded, sincerely interested in the instrument’s origins as well as the creature’s history. A caretaker... Moriarty wouldn’t have thought the aerodactly to have been reared by a human but perhaps that meant she had even stronger attacks – TMs, HMs; he was suddenly eager to discover the female’s concealed power. Almost invitingly, the calling of a name from the trees sparked a certain concern in Acht who commented on the presence of an infected creature. He followed her gaze to the treetops to witness a bird-like creature that appeared almost prehistoric in appearance and cursed that his eyesight wasn’t better. He’d never seen such a pokémon before but was immediately curious of how it would fair against the two dragons beside him. He expected the dragonair, Lumiere, to be powerful but it was always fun to see whether his predictions were accurate.
“I suppose we should kill it,” Moriarty commented casually, still watching the infected. “Shouldn’t be too much of a problem for you two, right?” He concealed the challenge with a witty remark and added a quick chuckle to the end to emphasize the joke.

The fossil pokemon opened her rocky eyes and yawned. She got up and ruffled her feathers as she spoke under her breath. Must look for Lucas again. The ancient bird pokemon said as she jumped and started to glide though the tree's.

Something moved and she saw three pokemon. A Persian, a Aerodactyl and a Dragonair. She looked at them curiously. She had seen these kinds of pokemon before. But, something moved behind them. The fossil bird used her raptor vision and saw a undead Ninetails, staking the living in front of her. She growled and leaped onto the undead hissing.

The ancient bird attacked with multiple Rock Slides and Dragon Claws. The Ninetails counter attacked with Flamethrowers and Flame Charges. But, our fossil pokemon had the advantage and when the fire fox was trapped she bit down on the fox's neck, flinging it back into the forest screaming bloody murder. She huffed in the direction of the fire fox and then turned to the living.

“I suppose we should kill it, shouldn’t be too much of a problem for you two, right?” Acht huffed for a moment, before hiding her instrument safe in some bushes. She flexed her talons and hopped a few ways away before watching the Archen glide around and stare at them.

Suddenly, the Archen dived and began to fight a undead Ninetales that had been behind them. Eventually, the puny fossil bird thing actually won. The Fox Pokemon must've been extremely weak to have been defeated by a living fossil. She snorted as it turned to her direction.

Acht bared her teeth before unleashing a Stone Edge at the undead. She may only have a single attack that has an advantage, but she's pretty sure she was levels higher than the Archen.

Moriarty tensed slightly at the infected creature’s movement and dive in their general direction, but quickly eased himself. He knew in the back of his mind that Acht would probably protect him if the undead had decided to attack, but weeks of solitude had taught him that sometimes you had to rely on your own devices. He turned to watch the bird attack a nearby ninetales, presumably infected - and was surprised at the little creature’s strength. He hadn’t expected a pokémon of such stature capable of bringing down a ninetales, and he took an instinctual step back as the prehistoric creature slung the canine’s body into the forest. Moriarty’s eyes followed the limp, bloody form through the air before it was lost to the shadows of Fortree.

With a flick of his tail, his eyes darted across to Acht who had emitted a growl.
“Finally,” He muttered under his breath, a sadistic grin stretching across his face. His attention divided between Acht and the infected, Moriarty recognised the aerodactyl’s attack as one by the name of stone edge. He’d never seen the move in action but had heard of its power and was almost bristling with excitement at the idea of the damage it could cause. All manner of hideous scenarios flashed through his mind and he took a seat, preparing for what he hoped would be a spectacular demonstration of battling ability.

Lumiere smiled softly as the music made her vision an array of colors and vibrations. They danced around her and she began to hum softly along with the tune Acht was plucking. Her thoughts were immediately whisked back to her childhood when her lost love, Tenebre, was teaching her about the art he called music. To him, music was the key to everything. A sigh escaped Lumiere and she looked off towards the forest, her scales dulling a little in color. Before she could say anything to her new comrades, she noticed the Archen first by it's unbelievably pale white color. The color of death but also not of death. Alarms went off in her head as she watched the Archen call out for its "Lucas" and then disappear into a house.

Lumiere narrowed her eyes at the house and turned back towards Acht and Moriarty just as Acht made the comment that the Archen was infected. A sharp sound behind them made Lumiere turn and watch the decaying Ninetales stalk ever closer to the small group. She readied an aqua tail but the Archen was soon upon the creature and Lumiere watched as it attacked with vicious brutality. Acht wasted no time in aiming an attack at the undead so Lumiere as well aimed her aqua tail straight for the Ninetales' rotting corpse with a small grin.

Turning back to her counterparts she flicked her tail in the direction of the Archen. "What do you suppose with do with it?" Her voice was soft but underneath there was a hatred for all creatures infected or undead.

The fossil pokemon screeched, not in rage but in fear. She had no idea why these pokemon were attacking her. She jumped away from the Stone Edge and the Aqua Tail, jumping into a near by tree she huffed a question. Why you attack me? The Archen looked at the other pokemon, tilting her head she looked at the Dragonair.

The Dragonair said something but the fossil pokemon missed it. So she sat in the tree watching the other pokemon. But as she watched the other pokemon she thought it be best to tell these pokemon her name, be fore the try and kill her again. My name Acro. What's yours? The Archen said as she ruffled her feathers.

A low growl escaped from the house. It was raining, and he didn't like it. He hated any other weather other than harsh, searing sunlight. He roared. "Grr ... Es muy húmedo ... ¿Qué clase de infierno es este lugar? Pensé que esto iba a ser la ciudad Fortree, no está lloviendo-R-Us."
He stepped outside into the rain. Smoke began to spout from his mane- he couldn't stand things that were cold and wet, that's why he set his head on fire. He spotted Lumiere. "Aha... ahí estás. No crees que eres tan alto y poderoso sólo porque usted piensa que usted es el dios de la tormenta ... Se sentirá dolor. Sólo tiene que esperar ... El diablo su venganza." He shot his hand up and cast a fierce Sunny Day. Puddles on the ground began to smoke. He looked over to see the Archen and others attacking it. He flew over to investigate. Seeing as the Archen was infected, he frowned while flying over there. When arriving, he cleared his throat and said in plain English: "Do not harm this Archen. It means no harm to you, it is only looking for something. Why else would it hop around screeching 'Lucas'?"

(Actually, I'm not quite sure what language Pokemon speak. OH WELL.)

"Why you attack me? My name Acro. What's yours?" Acht blinked. 'Shouldn't it be obvious?' she thought. She turned to Lumiere who had whispered to her. "What do you suppose with do with it?" Acht sighed. She too, had a hatred for the undead. "An infected is an infected. And they are our enemy." she frowned. Suddenly, a Charizard popped out of nowhere and rambled in what Acht thought was Spanish, before casting a Sunny Day and flying over to them.

"Do not harm this Archen. It means no harm to you, it is only looking for something. Why else would it hop around screeching 'Lucas'?" The Aerodactyl snorted. "Well, there's plenty of other reasons. Besides, why should we believe you? You just decided to come in barge in without even introducing yourself!" she scowled. How rude! Just coming in without warning, casting a Sunny Day that could probably set the city on fire, then telling them what to do. Talk about self-absorbed and annoying. She hopped and retrieved her instrument from the bushes again, just in case the leaves decided to start burning all the sudden.

Lumiere was about to Acht about the infected but before she could Sunny Day lit the sky and Lumiere was temporarily blinded but the sheer force of the attack. An angry looking Charizard stood before her when she could finally open her eyes and the aura it emitted had Lumiere's scales standing on end. She herself was furious with the angry Pokemon and her anger dimmed the sky a bit as she had to control her anger to keep another storm from coming. She itched to say something to the childish Charizard but held her tongue as Acht said everything she had wanted to. Adding her words in, Lumiere's anger was almost tangible. "You better talk fast or that flame of yours will be easily extinguished." She narrowed her eyes at the Charizard.

(OOC: Short post is short, sorry guys just wrote a huge story so I ran out of my writing lol)

(OOC: Skip my turn please. Acro is just watching everyone.)

(OoC: Sorry if there's anything wrong, I've been sick and unable to think clearly.)
Fuego waited for a reply. The Aerodactyl snorted. "Well, there's plenty of other reasons. Besides, why should we believe you? You just decided to come in barge in without even introducing yourself!"
The Dragonair added to that. "You better talk fast or that flame of yours will be easily extinguished."
Fuego put on as smile. (the kind when you are scheming, that one) "Well, someone's cocky..." He muttered. "Don't think anything yet. And I don't believe it's fair to give my name out when you are all anonymous, hmm?" He turned to the Archen. "First, if I was a bloodthirsty zombie stalking prey bigger than me, I wouldn't be screaming 'Lucas, Lucas!' and flitting around so you could see me. No, I would stay hidden in the shadows. Second, I believe there was an infected Ninetales here earlier, hmm? If I were a zombie I'd thrust it into a bush with an attack or something. I wouldn't attack it in the open so you could see me and flee. Third, If I were a zombie I would not have stood there after finishing off that Ninetales- I'd strike then and there! The Archen clearly did not strike you then."
There was a pause.
"Now, you may have a billion other reasons as to why you must kill it. But, it's rather innocent. It hasn't yet become a victim of time, it is still capable of thoughts other than blood and killing."
Another pause. He gave a tired glare, as if to say, "Well? What else do you want from me?!"

"NnnnUUUUuuuTTTTTtttttHHHHHhhhhEEEEeeeeeRRRRRrrrr...!"
Hoofs clopped on a rock as he stepped on one; being blind he wasn't really too aware of his surroundings....
"NnnnUUUUuuuTTTTTtttttHHHHHhhhhEEEEeeeeeRRRRRrrrr...?"
The muscles on the little Deerlings face started to bleed as he went on; his ears dripping with blood. Once more he called, the forest making his voice echo and making that feeling of ice run down your spine.... The Deerling suddenly squealed like a deer would as he tripped over a rock. The bleat was echoed in the trees. The Deerling had trouble getting up as he only had three legs to stand on. He limped through the forest until he reached Fortree, and unknowingly rammed his head on one of the tall trees there from not being able to see. He sniffed. He knew that cold air of the city, and the sappy smell of the tree bark. But he also smelled another scent that had been different. Something in his mind made him want it. He did not know why, but he did.
"Nnnn. Otha okenan...." he thought, his lips disabling his letters that required them. He followed the scent further into the city....


-----


(OoC: If you don't know what he's saying, I can translate for you. He's calling "mother" in his first two quotes, and he tried to say "other pokemon" lastly.)

"First, if I was a bloodthirsty zombie stalking prey bigger than me, I wouldn't be screaming 'Lucas, Lucas!' and flitting around so you could see me. No, I would stay hidden in the shadows. Second, I believe there was an infected Ninetales here earlier, hmm? If I were a zombie I'd thrust it into a bush with an attack or something. I wouldn't attack it in the open so you could see me and flee. Third, If I were a zombie I would not have stood there after finishing off that Ninetales- I'd strike then and there! The Archen clearly did not strike you then." Acht scoffed. "Well guess the fuck what? You, Charizard, are not an infected. And if you haven't noticed, infected and undead are rather mindless. Perhaps they can think, but eventually they will lose their minds if you haven't seen it happen already. So why don't you shut your fucking trap before I Stone Edge you to the distortion world, which, I have an advantage against you with."

"Now, you may have a billion other reasons as to why you must kill it. But, it's rather innocent. It hasn't yet become a victim of time, it is still capable of thoughts other than blood and killing." Acht rose a brow, before beginning to stare holes into the Charizard. "You know what? You know fucking what? I'm pretty sick of you already." she scowled. "Fuck off, big shot." Without warning, began to consecutively Stone Edge the Charizard in annoyance.

Suddenly, bleats were heard as a undead Deerling stumbled into the city. "Nnnn. Otha okenan...." Acht blinked. "Great, more undead. No thanks to YOU." she turned to the Charizard, sneering. She looked back to the undead. It looked young... Like a kid. Her jaws crackled as fire erupted from it, a fire blast lighting the grass between them and the Deerling. "Stand back!" she hissed, lashing her tail. If Ibmab took one step closer...

“Why you attack me?”

It talked! It had a name! Moriarty’s eyes widened as he watched the bird-like infected that had introduced itself as ‘Acro’ and a small smile crossed his lips. That was certainly new. In all his months of researching and watching the diseased, he had never once witnessed one with a conscious – not since he’d ‘experimented’ on ol’ Darth. He smirked at the thought of his previous bodyguard, the hulking mightyena he’d tested his theories of controlling the undead with. Of course, the mutt had turned on him after his brother had been slaughtered but nevertheless, any titbits of knowledge were going to help towards achieving his goal. His thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of yet another dragon. Sighing, exasperated at the appearance of all these pokémon and expecting to introduce himself once again, Moriarty was pleasantly surprised at Acht and Lumiere’s disliking for the charizard. He himself had no opinions either way – the dragon had got rid of the rain, thus far he was good in Moriarty’s book. However, that arrogance would have to change. With a flick of his tail, he got to his feet, checking on the archen every now and then, smiling at it in hopes that maybe it’d be more likely to obey a creature it liked.

"Fuck off, big shot."

Moriarty suppressed a chuckle at Acht’s annoyance and watched silently as she bombarded the charizard with the same attack the feline had been so interested in, Stone Edge. Whilst it hadn’t hit the target yet, Moriarty had no doubts that when it did, it would certainly leave a mark. He only turned away when the aerodactyl abruptly stopped and followed her gaze to a most unwelcome arrival. It was hideous. Moriarty’s fur bristled at the sight of the deerling, feeling somewhat nauseous in its presence alone and he took a step closer to Lumiere for protection. Of course, he was capable of holding his own ground, but why waste his energy when there were two, if not three, or four others to do the work for him?

((I posted it [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] but I'll say it again, i am floating here, and am last in the cycle, do try not to skip me -.-))

(OOC: Skip Lumiere this turn. I am not quite sure what to say and I want to wait until Tryvex posts to add my two cents in so to speak. For now just say that Lumiere got angry and glared at Fuego.)