April Catch-all

[firealone]

Who: Firepaw and all his various friends (including an open prompt!)
What: Quests, training, feelings jams, etc etc etc
Where: All over the place!
When: April
Warnings: References to cat injury/death in the Exhaustion prompt

(This is a fake cut, there's prompts below!)

Comments

[outbounds]

There are a lot of them running themselves ragged these days, aren't there? Ren, that Cyndaquil that's taken to Ingo, Firepaw...

Emmet's had his fair share of sleepless nights here. Mostly previously, when they were all still only just settling in, the close quarters of the Oran Berries' housing structure helping to stave off— certain feelings, but not all of it. He knows restlessness too, the desire to keep doing, keep moving, until eventually you exhaust yourself enough to collapse into sleep until you have to get up and inevitably do it all over again.

But he leaves it be, at first, when he initially notes Firepaw's odd mood and overall state in passing, whether it's via projects like the Litten's ongoing catalogue of scents, brief run-ins while running errands for the Clinic, collecting mushrooms, or otherwise— perhaps it is only temporary. The Zoroark's seen the kitten in company with a good number of the others here, after all; surely they are closer to the Litten, surely they'll have helped, and this will pass?

The mood persists. That. ... That is a little concerning.

(They'd prioritized Emporio first, back then, because the Cubone hadn't been responding to their calls, and who knows what might have happened with such a sudden cave in, under those conditions. Still. ... Still. He might be neither conductor nor Subway Master here, and Ingo doesn't even remember it ... but Emmet does, and as such, he has a responsibility to their passengers.)

Thus, the next time their tracks cross, late night wandering meeting late night wandering:

"... It is verrrry late. You know. Most of the places in the city are closed by now."

[firealone]

Firepaw freezes in place, as though he was caught doing a crime. He's still not completely used to the freedom of movement he gets at night - both his owners and the older cats of ThunderClan expected him to be in his bed after sunset. But- no, it's fine, he's allowed to be out here.

He sits down, and as soon as he stops moving the aching of his paws catches up to him, rooting him to the spot.

"I just needed to get some fresh air."

Which isn't a complete lie, at least, although there's maybe too much fresh air in the Canopy. But he is, slowly, starting to work on his habit of brushing everyone off when they check on him.

"...Actually, funny that I would run into you, I was... just thinking about our last quest together."

He'd been shaking when he finally snapped out of his hallucinations, although he hadn't accepted any comfort at the time. It had felt too complicated to explain, and to some extent it still does, although talking to Shoka has made it a little easier to process.

[outbounds]

"That one, huh." The Zoroark's gaze lingers a bit at that, though in the end the corners of his mouth just tug upwards a little, faintly, as he drops to all fours and makes himself a smaller silhouette. "Makes sense. A lot happened then."

Emmet lets his weight resettle, biting back an absent yawn as he bows through a stretch and flicks an ear. The lights cast by the Tadbulb are a gentle glow across the cobblestone. It's relatively quiet, most of the shopkeepers having packed up shop for the night, though there's still nocturnal or otherwise restless Pokémon like themselves wandering the streets. Some of the Pokémon with night shift roles in the city are only just starting to begin their day, even ... oh, right.

"Little reason to stick around here after hours. Might even run into those responsible for garbage disposal. They do good work, but ... mmmmaybe not the most fun for sensitive noses like yours." Or even his own, these days. Garbodor at least can make themselves smell nice if healthy and treated well. Muk, though...

"Come with me? If it is fresh air you want. Some of the cliffs by the spire have good views. We can talk as we walk."

And by walk, he might just mean 'carrying Firepaw' ... that is, if the Litten will even allow it.

[firealone]

The yawn is contagious, and Firepaw similarly tries to hide it behind a paw before standing up and shaking himself off. The idea of getting carried doesn't occur to him, although he would appreciate it - he just does his best to hide how much his paws hurt.

"Sure."

He hesitates, but he guesses he should start talking. He's almost an adult, and adults talk about things.

"I... don't know if I've told you much about the cats I used to live with in the forest." He supposes everyone loses track of what they've told who, eventually. "But um... when I was separated from everyone, I thought I was back in their camp. It felt a lot like... the visions our medicine cat has. At least, the way my clanmates explained them to me."

[outbounds]

Agreement received, Emmet nods his head in acknowledgement of it before turning in the direction of the north, quickly charting a route in his head, and setting off. For now, the Zoroark keeps his pace manageable enough for Firepaw to follow along at his side. It's slow, for him, more limbs than bulk or anything else, but he's at least more adept at moving like this than he was when they'd first arrived.

Lightly, he responds, "You have not, yet. I have heard some things. Sort of. Mostly just the things that come over the pearls." The fun thing about a psychic connection to everyone bearing a Grumpearl, where only Psychic types can really specifically direct anything privately. "Not that I am trying to listen in, but. You know.

"Given how things went on that trip, I am guessing it was not a good vision."

... Hmm. If that is what is occupying the Litten's thoughts ... Emmet judges their current pace again, then compares it against how far away the northern end of the bay is still.

"... We will make better time if you ride along. I can handle a passenger, if you would rather get there and then back to the canopy in time to get a decent amount of sleep tonight."

[firealone]

His ears twitch - he's still very new to the idea of any communication not done in person, so it hadn't occurred to him that he could eavesdrop. But cats rarely worry about being heard talking about each other, so he doesn't feel any embarrassment at Emmet overhearing things.

"...Thank you. My paws feel like they're going to fall off."

He's a little awkward clambering onto Emmet's back, and has no issues using his tiny claws at full extension to get a proper grip.

"And... no, it wasn't a good vision. I saw ThunderClan's camp covered in blood, and heard cats screaming... and one of the older cats, Tigerclaw - I think he was the one that hurt everyone. He was coated in blood, but had no injuries." Firepaw hesitates - Shoka had made some solid points when he'd spoken to her about it, so he doesn't feel quite as strongly that there's no reason to worry. "Tigerclaw was... what's the word- an asshole. I was friends with his apprentice, and I've been hoping Ravenpaw would show up here, just so he wouldn't have to deal with Tigerclaw as a mentor."

[outbounds]

"I am not surprised. You have been pushing yourself very hard lately."

There are at least a few conveniences that come with these forms. His dense pelt, for one, means that those tiny claws hardly even register whereas they might have been at the very least a bit uncomfortable were he still human-shaped. Once the Litten is secure, Emmet picks his pace up a bit now that he's not having to adjust for Firepaw's much shorter legs.

The Zoroark's quiet for a moment as he continues along their path, sorting out how he wants to try to approach this. He's not really any good at this sort of thing, but... That's definitely quite the hallucination to deal with, huh. Fear of an— authority figure on a murderous break? Fear for a friend. Hard to reassure anyone about that when the worries wouldn't be lingering this long if there wasn't the possibility of at least some hint of truth in it. What ifs aren't that easy to shake.

He knows.

"Sorry," he says instead. "That sounds like a lot. I am sorry we did not find you sooner when that happened." They'd made the best decision they could with what they knew at the time, but still.

"You think it would be better for Ravenpaw if he showed up here?"

Hard thing to really properly address when they still don't know what makes people show up here, but, well.

[firealone]

He has to think on that for a while. Even though he's answered it a few times, to different people, he never feels completely sure about his answer and it keeps changing slightly.

"Maybe. I don't know if I just miss him, or if he'd really be better off here." Maybe it's a bit of both. "Our other friend, Graypaw... I miss Graypaw all the time, but I don't think he'd like it here. He likes being a cat, he likes being in ThunderClan, and... most of the cats like him, I think. Ravenpaw, though... he never seemed very comfortable."

He stews on this a little more. It makes him wonder if they're thinking about him this much, too.

"...Do you think time keeps passing while we're here? They're probably warriors by now... which means they have new names, and I don't know those names."

[outbounds]

"Hard to say. Might not matter. There are legendaries and mythicals who have power over time, space, wishes— things like that. Maybe they exist in this place too, or maybe they don't. Maybe this place has different but similar beings."

If their—the offworlders, that is—presence here is because of such beings, having been pulled here from across so many different spaces and times, maybe it's entirely possible they all might be put back exactly the same way if it comes to such.

What would he prefer? If time is passing, those back at home must be worried. That's no good. Are their Pokémon taking care of each other? Having a trainer go missing so abruptly cannot be any easier the second time around. That isn't even beginning to touch on everything, everyone else. There's nothing anyone can do about any of it, but still, it's not a fun thought, thinking about how time passing must be affecting those back where they came from. But if it isn't ...

"Wouldn't it be strange, though? If it were stuck so you didn't miss anything. And maybe you went back, and you were older than all of them.

"Nothing has changed, except for you."

[firealone]

Firepaw is quiet for a while, turning that idea over in his mind. He's already been here long enough that he feels apart from the cats of his world, full of knowledge that no one else would understand or care about. If he went back to the exact point in time he came from, he would be months older than his friends, probably quite a bit bigger than them, and that makes a big difference to a kitten.

"I think I'd rather if time kept passing." He decides finally. "Then when we finally get home, my friends will have all sorts of things to tell me, just like I have all sorts of stories for them."

Even though he's pretty sure the only thing they'll really be impressed by is his new ability to hunt things bigger than himself. Of which there is very little back home anyway.