[CLOSED] Closing Festival

Nicole was startled by the announcement that suddenly filled the air telling the end of the festival had come. Was it really that late already? Looking down at the Vulpix in her arms, she guessed it was. Sure, he may have some energy left, but he was also starting to look tired. Turning her attention back to Maya, she gave a sort of half smile. "Guess that information will have to wait. Looks like we've been told to go to bed." She said in a light joking tone. "And if I want to get into my camp before things wake up, I had best get going."

Even though she had been told it was dangerous outside of the village, being in a building with a lot of people just did not appeal to her, and was probably not a good idea anyways due to her anti-social tendencies.

Sofa had had an amazing time with Sealeo; getting food, eating food, talking about their past and the future. They had laughed at the people dancing and walked around having fun, even playing some of the games. He was sad when he heard Eira say the festival was over. He turned to Sealeo with a frown. *So...we have to go back now?* He looked around for Marcus and was surprised to see Lex all alone while Marcus was off with that scary red lady. He rushed over and picked up the smiling pokemon.

Lex had left the second he was down on the ground, determined to enjoy as much of the cold white stuff as he could. He had Splashed all over that freakin' place; his glowing blue feet leaving tiny indents in the snow across the entire festival. He had met up with a Smoochum and they talked for a long while, he danced with her for a bit and she gave him a kiss on his cheek before skipping away. He was so surprised, he didn't know what to do afterwards. He had thought about going and talking to her again, but then he saw her get swallowed by a giant snowball and he decided otherwise. He went to a stall and called to the guy manning it until he looked down and saw him. He had never had such good food. After Lex had finished his meal, he decided he was going to go find Sofa, when right then Sofa came to him and picked him up.

Marcus turned to Akane and bowed to her. He liked being around her while not being in her kingdom; made it easier for him to act like himself. "Thank you for the dance, your majesty. I have to go ask Eira about my, zandrophin and Maya's trip; so I must ask your leave. Good luck on your trip home. Take care of Celosia until I get back, huh? Would hate for the kingdom to get invaded before then." He said it with the greatest amount of sarcasm he could muster; as if such a thought was the most ridiculous thing someone could say because...well, it was. Celosia was the most stable place to live in Asemon; and Marcus couldn't even imagine someone sacking Ignacia without Akane personally cutting off their head. After they parted ways, Marcus looked around for his pokemon when he realized, I forgot about Lex! Oh, dammit! I'm a horrible parent... Right then, Sofa showed up and smacked Marcus in the back of the head. "OW! Hey...oh, you have Lex. Thank goodness..." Sofa gave Marcus a look that would make grown men shuffle backwards in defense. "Okay, yeah I know; I messed up. I swear it won't happen again. Okay? I promise. Now let's go back to Eira and see about some advice, huh?" Sofa was still angry, but went anyway, Lex in arm and Marcus in tow, to Eira's hut.

Marcus hung his head slightly as he walked behind Sofa. He had done such a good job taking care of Lex up until this point. He had taught him how to inflate himself, how to use his Mirror Coat, he made sure he was fed and protected him like a father. He just thought since this was a party, it felt safe and he'd only put him down long enough to eat his food; it'd be fine. Then he took Akane for that dance; completely forgetting about him. He was okay and seemed really happy, but he couldn't risk that kind of thing on this trip. Lex was still a baby and had no battle experience. If this had happened elsewhere on their travels; it probably wouldn't have been fine. At least until Lex could take care of himself; he couldn't let something like that happen again.

"Wy? Wyyy...." Marcus looked up to see Lex popping his head around Sofa's shoulder and waving his arm as Marcus with a huge smile. Marcus smirked slightly as they approached Eira's hut, lifting his head. Sofa smiled at Eira as they approached, clearing a path through the people by gently pushing them aside with his free claw. Lex waved at Eira with a beaming smile, "Wynaut!" When Sofa got to Eira, he raised his claw up in a half-hearted "hi" motion. "Vigo."

"Hey Eira. This was a nice festival. Thank you for having us. I had fun." Marcus scratched the back of his head and looked at the ground for second. "So...we plan on traveling west across Eirlys and we need some...advice, I guess? Maybe supplies...it really depends on what our journey looks like. What do you know about what's out there?"

"It was part of the plan from the beginning when we came up here. Trust me, any other option for what I want to do would be stupid. Besides..." Marcus looked around at the people moving about, "there's something I need to see about out there." He didn't know what Maya and Akane's relationship was like, but he had been instructed not to represent Celosia on his travels, though he was technically in her employ for this trip. If Akane wanted or thought it important for Eira to know about it, she would have told her. For now, "because I want to" would have to do.

Marcus stepped in front of Sofa, closing the distance between him and Eira. "If we had known where your village was on a map, we would have had no problem getting here. All we have to do is head west until the mountain range to the south is easy enough to cross. That's simple. We have 4 days worth of food that we can stretch out for longer need be and Lex's Safeguard if things get bad. I'd just like to know as much as you can tell me to keep from running into as little surprises as we can, and ask if maybe you think we need better equipment for our trip. I'm sorry, but we're going whether we have your blessing or not; we'd would be thankful for any help you could give us."

"I'm always more prepared than is necessary; and I don't plan on coming back across Eirlys so we won't need to worry about keeping a path. Don't misunderstand; I don't take this land lightly, but I need to cross it and I believe that we have a pretty good chance of making it. I have my compass and that's all I'll need to give us bearing once we get away from this lake and its underwater current messing with the magnetism. Sofa's strength and Lex's Safeguard should keep us covered for most pokemon; at least long enough to get out of their territory." Marcus thought about the mountains and how much he wished he had brought proper climbing equipment instead of the tent. He shook his head lightly at that, because he knew his journey was going to be much more than Eirlys and he needed everything he brought. Besides, like he said to Akane; those mountains have no trails and untested cliff faces. It would take months just to cross them. Months he wasn't willing to sacrifice just yet, especially when he was supposed to bring back his maps to Akane in Ignacia.

"It makes sense you didn't go out into the wasteland, and I'd much prefer a dogsled, but I'm not going to use Pokemon that aren't a part of my team like that. Is there anything else you recommend, like snow shoes, for example?" Lex had been looking at Eira intently with large eyes this whole while. She looked so pretty in her dress\coat. He reached out to her from Sofa's arm and started calling. Marcus turned around and looked down at Lex, "Hmm? I guess he wants you to hold him." Sofa walked past Marcus, not letting him touch Lex just yet, and held him out to Eira. Marcus let out a slightly sad sigh.

"Wy!" Lex's body inflated to put pressure against her arms and body, a huge smile on his face. She was warm and soft and her coat smelled nice. Being a balloon, Lex wasn't as susceptible to the cold as much as other non-fire types, so he wasn't too bothered by being out in the snow. It was the extreme heat he had to worry about. Lex calmed down as she rocked him, closing his eyes and enjoying the swaying motion.

Marcus tried to not let the confusion show on his face at Eira's response. That....really didn't help much. She certainly knows how to live in this forest, no question, but other than that, I guess she just didn't see a need to learn much about what's out there. It makes sense, I guess, even if she has been here for some time. Either way, I could use some better equipment; and some more time to rest. "I was thinking we stay the night in your hut and head out first thing in the morning, if that's alright with you. I'd like to catch up with you; actually get to talk. We didn't really talk all that much about our pasts with each other; I feel like I barely know you."

As the crowd dispersed, Zandrophin decided it was time to head over to Eira's hut...no matter how much he wanted to keep moving. He saw Marcus was already there, talking with their host. He shook his head and kept moving. He stepped onto the porch, nodded to Eira and said,

"Good evening. Lovely party. I'm going to sit out here for a bit. I'll be on the roof if you need me."

Without another word, he climbed nimbly up onto the roof of the hut and sat down, observing the crowd as the people returned to their homes.

We need to get moving soon, old friend....we can't stay here too much longer.

Agreed, Sir...but we'll have to wait until tomorrow.