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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Apr 27, 2024 17:48:03 GMT
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Post by Robot on Nov 16, 2021 19:52:45 GMT
Preferring to keep to the perceived ground, and very likely with eyes tightly forward, Muku finds many variety of dirt eaters. The tiny fast but possibly disturbing if you ever saw all of them Diglett dirt eaters. The squinty-eyed, drill tailed dirt eaters, and the big shiny metal dirt eaters. Ahead, the wall of darkness grew nearer, the border from safety, and into the unknown.
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Post by birdy51 on Nov 16, 2021 23:07:03 GMT
Got it. Ground awful. Horizon? Awful. Those weren't creatures who belonged in the water dirt river spire. Nor were the birds supposed to be circling it like this. Was Muku supposed to be climbing it into the darkness? Probably not! But it wouldn't stop. Very little would stop her from doing something strange or inappropriate. And so, let us watch as Muku steps into the void, into the darkness where Muku is not supposed to go.
...Cause who's stopping, am I right? The distant narrator nods and Muku attempts to shut out the voice.
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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Apr 27, 2024 17:48:03 GMT
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Post by Robot on Nov 17, 2021 19:29:45 GMT
Pressing forward, the wall burned against the amalgamation that was Muku, for in her new life, Muku was one and once many. Memories came unbidden, and nothing would deny them.
She was falling, as she had done many times in the past. This time, Keka would not catch her, and the ground met her little body hard. The Staravia had begun to lose patience. How many times must one hatchling be pushed from the nest before she would fly? "... It is so easy Pidgey can manage it, but you go limp like fish! A starly must DO!"
Then, she sat perched beside a great elder with his sharply preened feathers, piercing eyes and menacing talons. A different memory. An older bird perhaps. "When you grow old enough, strong enough that your wings can carry you anywhere, you will miss your youth. In your youth, you will yearn for great strength and experience. Live in each moment, looking neither forward nor back. Those things are for moochbirds and blackbirds."
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Post by birdy51 on Nov 17, 2021 20:41:55 GMT
She hit the ground with a bounce amid a chorus of noise. But the important one was made out as a tiny bird gets up from the dirt. The Starly beeped loudly up in reply. Keka? Could you not see the effort? Look, see how hard it was too keep the wings spread. Her pinions were yet half formed. Her feathers, mottled and ugly across her head. This Starly had yet no comb to brandish, but a sad collection of bits and fluff. The Starly could only glare. A tiny bird resolves itself. It beats those half-formed wings with all it's might. She did not want just to fly. Muku wanted to soar.
Then she was there, atop the old tree at the center of the grove. A Starly grove. The curious hatchling is not so mottled now. Fine feathers replaced her fledgling youth. Her comb was orderly, crop ideally sized and functioning. Maybe a little dirty. She was yet so young at this point, only catching a quarter of the words that were said. But now she could hear, understand all of them. That was... Different. Why did she feel so different? The Starly begins to feel disquieted by the very notion of such a thought. If she was different, did that mean she was bad?
"I don't remember this." She says anxiously. "Why do I remember this? I was a Starly. I couldn't remember anything yet. I don't want to remember this..."
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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Apr 27, 2024 17:48:03 GMT
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Post by Robot on Nov 18, 2021 3:15:00 GMT
A low whining hum that made the smaller birds hackles rise picked up above. A look skyward and the pair was no longer in a tree, they sat on the floor of one of Magma's horrid machines. "Some pains, touch deeper than what you feel.". He declared ominously, closing his eyes. White hot light peeled away feather, skin, sinew, and muscle in sequence before the bone that remained disintegrated too, all of it slow enough for Muku to appreciate.
What will become of us, what will become of you?
Muku wakes in a cold sweat, muggy air making it hard to breathe. If the place she ventured from was an overcast day, this one a cloudless night. The sounds of predators and creatures dying in the dark periodically permeate a more jungle habitat. Blessedly, the warping of space and gravity is blotted out by the tree cover.
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Post by birdy51 on Nov 18, 2021 3:51:58 GMT
Immediately, hand went to blade, Talon prepared to take on any threat. But there were no threats. Just Muku and the open air. This, this must be what Umi meant about crossing boundaries. She was no longer in the land of listless. She was now in the land of hunters like herself. A place that she would need to fight.
Eager to get past the resonating nightmares that haunted her brain, Muku got up and shook her head. "I don't need to remember. Memories hurt. As long as I reach our destination, it's fine. You're with me, right?"
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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Post by Robot on Nov 18, 2021 19:20:39 GMT
Talon watched Muku passively as he often did, the tassel that hung gayly from his pommel cupped her cheek for a moment. The twilight caught the edge of the blade and sparkled silver along its lead edge. He felt comfortable in her hands as he always had, with no judgements or memories involving themselves in his union with his trainer.
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Post by birdy51 on Nov 19, 2021 3:11:10 GMT
"Thanks." Muku whispered, clutching the blade to her chest. It was good to have a friend who could listen without judging her. It also helped when that friend was a sword.
She snaps to attention briefly. Ok. So. These were woods and fierce ones at that. She still didn't trust Monolith to fly; not in this space anyways. Who knows when a random tree might just reach out and ensare him, clutching him as they both fall hurtling into the dark woods. No. That was dangerous. However. Maybe there was another way. Muku makes her way to the treeline, placing a palm across the old bark. She hadn't observed many creatures that weren't Starlys, but she did remember these weird furry things. The ones that climbed. They mostly seemed to like to hang out in clearings, but when they did climb, they would hop from tree to tree, never touching the ground.
Well. Muku was a bird and that meant the ground was dangerous and trees were safe. And if the trees here were all tightly packed together, then maybe she could be just like the squirrel and never touch the ground. She smirks. It would be quite the novel way of avoiding predators. That, or the perfect way of getting the drop on one. She kicks up the tree quickly, her hands wrapping around whatever places she could finds purchase as she tries to settle in. Well. This would be a novel experience at least. Hopefully she didn't get slapped by too many branches.
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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Apr 27, 2024 17:48:03 GMT
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Post by Robot on Nov 19, 2021 19:21:46 GMT
With Talon acting as a third limb and anchoring her whenever she needed it, Muku ran no risk of falling. It hadn't been the first time the sword had acted as an extension of her will. It was almost as though it appreciated her need of it. That there might be a mutual need in turn. She observed many things in passing. A blue, dog-like humanoid wrestling a large purple snake that was trying hard to swallow it. A long necked deer with two faces fighting off what omega was once, though she couldn't recall the name. This was a place of do or die. Of survival. There were also owls. Both the kind she knew, and kinds she did not know.
More than once, the deed was already done, the loser dead while the victor feasted.
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Post by birdy51 on Nov 20, 2021 12:33:04 GMT
Clutching the trees above, Muku watched with mute intent. A big part of her wanted to leap from the tree and join the fray. Which fray? Any fray. She was a born fighter and-
Wait. Did she really feel that? Muku stopped for a moment, looking for an emotion that wasn't there. No. No, she really didn't think she had any need to join these fights. First, they weren't her fights. Second, joining anyone of these frays could attract another predator either delaying or damning her mission. Being forced to fight off any number of opponents wasn't on the agenda. She would keep to the path.
Strange though. The lack of bloodlust. Was she always like that?
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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Post by Robot on Nov 23, 2021 16:35:14 GMT
In the distance, a familiar cry of 'kikikikikyah!'. Followed by the sound of shattering wood and some great beast wailing in pain, the sound abruptly cutting off with a second splintering sound, the forest itself rippling and shaking from the force of the blows.
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Post by birdy51 on Nov 23, 2021 20:09:49 GMT
Her lips purse bitterly at the sound of some pretender off in the dark corners of this wood. Did she care to see who this pretender was? Yes. Yes she did. However, she was nothing if not committed to her current, relatively safe approach.
She dashes forward, grappling another tree limb with an outstretched arm as she swings forward to cling to the trunk. If there was a battle going on, it meant she didn't have to work so hard to get past. Fights were blinding like that. You start missing details. Armed with that truth, Muku was comfortable with being a forgotten detail.
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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Post by Robot on Nov 24, 2021 5:40:38 GMT
Carnage greets Muku. Felled trees, and slaughtered creatures. Every battle she had witnessed, victory and death the Pokemon her prayed on each other. Like some kind of cycle. These had been cut, or torn in half by something heavy, which had not been slowed by the terrain, foliage, or the creatures themselves. Rents in the terrain made it clear whatever had been here was too strong for its own good.
The path of destruction meanders to and fro but in the same direction Muku desired to go.
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Post by birdy51 on Nov 25, 2021 22:55:57 GMT
This was unfortunate. The type of creature to held be responsible for this level of destruction must be something truly awful. It was a creature she was unwilling to meet.
Still. Her time in the trees had come to end.
Muku slides down from the tree. As she hits the ground, her eyes are alight with caution. Her head twitches and snaps with anticipation. If such an encounter were to occur, she wasn’t meeting it surprised.
No. Not after what happened last time…
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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Post by Robot on Nov 26, 2021 19:45:55 GMT
Talon actively considers the destruction, scarf wound around Muku's upper arm. He swivels his eye to and fro. Several creatures are giving consideration to the lack of cover, including a tall black and red striped cat with a flaming belt, a red and yellow bird with powerful legs, and a massive pig with a flaming beard.
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Post by birdy51 on Nov 27, 2021 3:29:09 GMT
"You. I've seen you before." Muku says curiously to the strange tiger creature. She had of course, not actually seen this particular creature before. But she had seen one similar, the mother to a certain simpering cub who didn't know better than to pick on innocent Starly and Staravia. The bird, flightless though they may be, also seemed rather strong. This then entirely ignoring the big pig. Really, any one of these Pokémon could be handy on her journey. Well. No time like the present.
She strides boldly into the blasted lands with a learned confidence. "I'm walking here because I am strong. If any of you think you are strong enough to walk beside me, feel free to join the plock." She says coyly, locking eyes with the tiger Pokémon. "I'm going to the edge of this circle and beyond. If you've valor enough to tear each other apart for sport, you're strong enough to join me."
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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Post by Robot on Nov 29, 2021 3:04:12 GMT
The tiger approaches Muku, rumbling deeply. Slitted eyes search the confident expression in hers. Hooking a thumb in its belt, it looks towards the wall of darkness. It can sense some familiarity with the girl though it doesn't know why. The pig retreats back into the woods, apparently far too wary of what made this swath the continue.
The bird approaches and eyes Muku's comb, then considers its own flattened crest that rests along its back and shoulders.
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Post by birdy51 on Nov 29, 2021 3:34:24 GMT
"Ok." Muku says confidently, drawing Talon to her hand. They were so close to the wall of darkness and last time, that was what led to the next ring. So she could afford a fight or two here, right? Right. Her coat unfurls majestically as she gestures broadly. "We're short on time, but it wouldn't feel right if you didn't test my strength and me yours. My goal will be to capture one or both you. And if you win... Well. I'm not going to die here. So don't get your hopes up."She motions down to draw Talon but instead passes over the blade for now. Why she wonders? Because she couldn't just rely on the strength of her sword arm. She had other partners she had to get used to too. Right. Right! Her fingers go further until they draw upon the Pokeball that contains the Mentor and with a sparkling flash the old Xatu is deposited onto the field. Wriggling free, Quip gently plops out from Muku's coat as he is so rudely awakened from his nap by the sudden and furious majestic coat flapping. All as well anyways. Did Quip understand what Pokemon battles were anymore? That was a question that only Quip could answer. Taking a wide, cross armed stance at a respectful distance, the young trainer smirks and observes the battlefield with obvious excitement. These two both seemed tough! It was going to be a struggle not getting directly involved in this one! Setting the field. Quip anchors in at 1. Xatu and Muku move at respectable 20, though I question whether or not he could beat a Blaziken for Speed.
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I'm not going to say it was damage, but it was damage.
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Post by Robot on Nov 29, 2021 19:46:47 GMT
The duo consider the water potato and the moochbird briefly, before sharing a 'what is this shit, seriously?' look. Then, the Blaziken knees the Incineroar in the face and the two begin brawling in earnest, completely ignoring Muku's challenge and her goofy Plock.
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Post by birdy51 on Nov 29, 2021 21:45:51 GMT
Muku’s eyes narrow as she side eyes Mentor during all of this. “You probably knew this was gonna happen, right? Right. Anyways. Quip, get their attention with some Toxic spray. Just like I showed you!” The tiny sea potato puffs proudly. Puffs dangerously. A spittle of toxic joy shoots out of his mouth at both opponents for daring to ignore the potato! Quip uses Toxic, targeting both characters with his Wily Ability! Muku gives him Focused Command and why not? An AP.
Xatu meanwhile, looks to hit Blaziken in the near future with Future Sight.
Toxic! AC 3 - [roll]1d20+3[/roll]
Result?
Future is prepared, after Probability Control, Quip rolled an 8 to hit both targets.
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