Set in the original region of Arciel, Legends Rising is a route-inspired, but not strictly route-based, Pokemon roleplay. Pick a faction, pick a class, and strike out into the wild to take on the League, master Contest coordination, research the mysteries of Pokemon and Arciel, and much, much more. Will you be a classic trainer? A criminal? A farmer? Choose your destiny on Legends Rising.
There had been a massive farming convention in Birch over the weekend, one that was advertised to be perfect for gaining knowledge about crops and other farming things! And Gaki hearing both farming and convention in the same sentence had been quick to buy herself some tickets and get prepared for a convention that would really show how passionate she was about her harvest moon dreams- of course- this wasn't like an anime convention, or a gaming convention or... any convention, really. It was just a lot of old guys prattling on about weeding tips and things she'd already learned through the basic farming tutorials online- a complete waste of her time! And nobody at the convention even appreciated her adorable cosplay of the harvest goddess from animal parade.
So, in her annoyance she... may have snapped at a few sorry farmers who laughed at her and found herself kicked out of the convention, not even able to attend the second day and wear her second packed costume! But that was fine. Gaki didn't care- they were just stupid low level NPC's who she was going to beat when the inevitable farming war of Arciel broke out.
So here she found herself starting her trek home in her cosplay of of Antoinette from the Grand Bazaar release of Harvest Moon, a much easier outfit to wear and something that could even fly as her just being a fancy dressing individual- she brought it,, so she was going to wear it, damn it! Of course Gaki was met by a few stares, mainly because of how she stood out in her outfit, and it got the the point where she noticed a trainer eyeing her for a little too long that she snapped. "Oi!" She was quick to advance on the trainer, who seemed... startled. "You're so low level you don't even deserve to look my way- I have high skill points in martial arts and I won't refuse to use them if you don't move."
Annnnd... that seemed to get them moving! It didn't matter she didn't know martial arts and was lying, it seemed her deception stat was high enough to allow her to get away with the encounter! A soft outtake of breath was what followed and Gaki was back on her way, brushing off the skirts that were wayyy too heavy to be properly comfy. She hated people who didn't get it, it was just cosplay! It's not like she'd just been ejected from the boss room without landing a single blow or anything! Hmph maybe she needed some extra defense... and she knew just the pokemon to do the trick! A hand fumbled through her overnight bag and she quickly released her tiny Turtwig, who almost immediately was squeaking and running around her ready to play whatever game his trainer wanted! Attack the dragon?! Fetch?!
Gaki wished she'd packed his armour... a grin set on her lips then. "It might be hard to find... but how about we make you a flower helmet so when we get back to the farm you can lure away all the pesky combees!" Leaf tilted his head slightly at Gaki, and Gaki huffed, ahhhh.... ahh he was so cute but so not battle ready! "Thankfully, i'm on this mission with you, soo we just gotta find suitable flowers... around here... somewhere... and we'll be set!"
That seemed to help! Leaf squeaked again at her and was quick to run off, right into the thick of the route 1 forests. Gaki wasn't wearing proper running shoes but... well, this was probably fine. Picking up her skirt she was quick to run after the Turtwig. Hopefully there were flowers in here...
It hadn’t been foggy when Elise had started her trip that morning. Flying with Stella, she’d headed towards Birch to pick up a few things her father had put on backorder for some time. With a new shipment in, it was time to go grab it. And who better to do that than one Elise who happened to have a flight license for her Skarmory.
She’d made a heck of a distance going on passed Cedar Town with little problem. As they flew on, however, a fog had started to roll in off the sea. And Stella hated fog. The Skarmory had landed with a humph and refused to get going again. Elise had hesitated but returned her for the time being. She could walk the rest of the way! It wasn’t too bad, right? Right! Fishing out two Pokeballs, she released her synchronous Sylveon pair: Serenity and Rainbow. They’d be happy to be out, and Elise wouldn’t feel so lonely…. So on they went!
It just so happened that as they walked, they would come upon a rare sight: a field of soft flowers perking up through the frost. Spring was struggling to come into the world of cold and snow, but it was certainly getting there! “Oh pretty!” Elise breathed as she looked around at the field slowly. Serenity and Rainbow each pranced out into it picking a few flowers here and there. As they spread out, however, Rainbow would catch sight of another: a very cute Turtwig on the edge of the field now. Raising a fleshy ribbon, he waved it in the direction of it.
Last Edit: Mar 29, 2020 15:05:06 GMT by Elise Bell
Leaf was excited for his mission! His tiny form twisted and turned through bushes and trees, refusing to linger on the path for route one and instead going through as much shrubbery as possible- and for a brief moment Gaki assumed it was just to make her life as miserable as possible.Her sleeves were massive, and her dress was so poofy! She had to keep squashing it down to fit between a tiny gap between two trees, had to duck through another... it was almost as if she was on a stealth mission rather than a mission for crafting the perfect flower helmet for Leaf.
It wasn't long before Leaf let out an excited shrill giggle and all but waddling right into what must have been a field right out of some fairytale inspired game. It was... so cute?! How had she never seen this before?! Truly, Leaf knew what he was doing! A perfect guide for her mission.
Now... what flowers would look good for his helmet... as Gaki had flattened her skirt and bent down to shuffle through a path of flowers Leaf's attention was brought to a Sylveon across the way, waving a soft coloured ribbon at him- huuh?! That wasn't a flower! A squeak left him, altering Gaki to the Sylveon's presence and the girl spung up a bit... too quickly, The girl stumbled on her cosplay shoes for a few moments before regaining her balance, a mumbled, "What?" Leaving her as her gaze was brought to Leaf, who only squeaked and hopped forward slightly, his head nodding in the direction of the other pokemon... and... another one like them.... and...
...A girl. A girl of the flower field?! A plot NPC??? But- a side quest, maybe? Gaki's eyes widened and she swallowed down a lump in her throat. She wasn't prepared for encounters today, especially not with... cute....human females. Not that she was cute or anything, no, she was just- srenly chilling in a flower field like a bachelorette right out of a harvest moon game-
Wait- Gaki was dressed up like a bachelorette from a harvest moon game! This- this wasn't destined! This was to distract her from her quest! Before she could tell Leaf to ignore them and get back to helping her pick out the right flowers the baby pokemon was excitedly making his way over to the others, practically running on his tiny legs before raising a small leg in a wave, a loud squeak leaving him.
And... the white haired girl was forced to let out a sigh and follow, wading through the flowers and picking up her skirts. Great. Just great. "Oi- Leaf- this isn't the mission!" She was scared her defenses would lower being around this female for too long, so she did the best thing she could have done in the moment- and pretended she didn't exist in order to wrangle her tiny green terror.
The sounds of something much bigger coming through the underbrush had Elise jolting up from inspecting a tiny grass flower that had caught her eyes. “Huh???” Her eyes met those of the beautiful girl and her beautiful dress, and Elise stared for a moment in awe of it. It was so fluffy and pretty and reminded her a bit of one of her dance costumes! But why was someone wearing something like that out in the woods? The calls of a Turtwig had her eyes lowering, and right after, Elise smiled. “Well hi there!” she beamed opening her arms and getting ready to hug the Turtwig should he let her.
On seeing the trainer struggle through the flowers, Serenity pranced over and raised a ribbon tendril to assist in lifting her dress just a bit. Rainbow instead focused on the Turtwig and came to sit next to Elise. Raising his ribbon again, he pat the small Pokemon after. As the girl’s words caught her ears, Elise looked up again and smiled. “Sorry! I couldn’t help but wanna pet him!” she giggled towards the other girl. "Your outfit is so beautiful by the way! I love how it all comes together!"
Gaki's attempts to retrieve Leaf with minimal interfierance went unnoticed, as another Sylveon seemed to move and help her wade through the flowers by holding up her skirts- urghh... this... was going to be an encounter, wasn't it? Eyes drifted forward slightly towards the strange NPC and Leaf, who... had let out an excited squeak and all but took up the chance to snuggle right up to the strange blonde, and he closed his eyes, content with not one, but two creatures attention on him- head pats, body pats, hugs.... Leaf was living the life!
No! They had lowered Leaf's defenses! Gaki pushed her lips together, now within range of the target NPC and her adorable pokemon- not that she wasn't adorable or at least- she- female- nice. Gaki couldn't get her thoughts to line up properly and refused to let this girl get the better of her, so she crossed her arms over her chest and stared down at the sitting girl and her mons... and then she began talking.
An apology for stealing her tankiest pokemon. She... didn't sound like she was pulling tricks, but with how this encounter was mapped out Gaki couldn't be certain of intent, and this might quickly turn into a rescue battle if she wasn't careful. A, "...it's fine, he's cute..." left her and she fought the urge to huff. This in turn drew another coo from Leaf, who really just... couldn't be bothered moving right now, the spoilt Turtwig.
And- then she giggled and Gaki struggled to stay composed, it was like the girl was trying to put her under a spell. But a-ha! Gaki was strong, she could handle whatever attack was thrown at her! Or at least, that's... what Gaki thought until the girl spoke again.
There was a sudden big intake of air from Gaki's nose, shock inhale- she could feel her HP dropping by the second! A critical attack that left her stunned! Her outfit- her cosplay... A hand moved to poof her skirt slightly and Gaki shrugged her shoulders, stay composed, she wasn't calling you beautiful, it was the dress, the cosplay. "...i-it's antoinette from harvest moon, i got them online." the costumes Sid handmade werealways so much better.... but desperate times called for desperate measures-
Besdies, this flower girl NPC probably had no idea what the franchise was, and Gaki could only assume she was a normie- and on that assumption Gaki hung tight. She wouldn't fall prey to the fairy before her, she was strong!
Elise continued to absently pat the Turtwig as she talked to its trainer. He was so cute! She’d love to have one at some point in time! Serenity continued to pat the Turtwig but looked off towards Rainbow to find that he was already gathering up a few sparse flowers here and there. Hm, what was he up to? Well, no matter for now.
The sudden intake of air and color on the girl’s face had Elise smiling a little more shyly. She’d become a little more aware of what her words could do to people as of late, and this one was far from subtle. O-oh? So it was…. sort of a specific character or something? Distantly, Elise knew what Harvest Moon was, but she’d only ever “played” it when one of her older sisters handed her a controller that didn’t actually work and went back to playing themselves. Fun times.
“Hmmm… I don’t think I ever saw Antoinette?” she admitted. “My sister only played A Wonderful Life though… I think there’re more?” Elise shook her head and then smiled. “It reminds me of my idol costumes though! So pretty! Are you just out wearing it, then?”
The Turtwig went totally limp in Elise's lap, he's melted, he's content. Pats are the life! Gaki on the other hand was struggling to maintain her defenses, especially at the soft smile the girl offered up- that was- ugh! Gaki couldn't stand it- so she sat, arms still crossed but now not standing up and having to look down at her. Her head kinda hurt from looking down anyways, it's not like she wanted to get closer to the girl or anything.
And the girl spoke... she... she'd heard of the game?! Her sister played it?! Gaki's eyes shimmered, or maybe it was just the sun passing over her and getting in her eyes. Oh no, Elise, you've just set off the beast. "...a wonderful life is great, as long as you've heard of it then you're no normie." There was so few bachelorette choices and you couldn't be a girl unless you bought the female version, but it was a classic, the graphics were subpar at best in comparison to most recent games but...
Gaki paused in her mental ramblings, processing the next thing the girl had said- uhm- idol... idol... idol costumed?! Wait- shock graced the white haired girls features, oh she had hiiiigh defense. And that meant her attacks were powerful- but the real question is what sort of idol?! Gaki wasn't an idol stan, she just binged video games and anime and this girl was like straight out of an anime or some weird chance encounter with a fantasy creature... and the way she was handelling leaf....
"I didn't know Arciel had idols, aren't they more a kantonian thing?" Gaki was getting distracted from her mission, but damn it the girls charms were working. She'd have to use a shock potion soon or else she'd be completely lured in.
“Normie??” Elise blinked slowly and tilted her head to one side. “Uh???” What was that supposed to mean? She wouldn’t get an answer to her question, though, and had to let it go. The follow up had her giggling anyways. “Well! Arciel does have PNG!” she beamed warmly. “Have you heard of us yet? Pixie Nightmare Girls!” She clarified just in case. Her eyes were sparkling a little as she spoke now. "Some of our music has actually played on the radio recently if you happen to listen!"
Serenity slowly eased down onto the ground and rest her head on her paws. This was nice and comfy, and she could still use her ribbon to pat the Turtwig now and again as needed. Rainbow, however, had turned and gone back to picking flowers here and there finding only the best worth taking.
...PNG? Don't all regions have online images, like, the graphics type? But- but she said it like giggling like it was some secret just between them t- Gaki stop. Eyes narrowed ever so lightly and she absently moved to tuck some hair behind her ear. And the girl was smiling and Gaki could feel her defenses lowering as if a bomb had just been planted on her team of range attackers. As she spoke Gaki fought to keep her face as neutral as possible, eyebrows scrunching ever so slightly.
Obviously, she'd never heard of 'pixie nightmare girls' but it sounded like what teenage girls who only join games for their character creation and fashion design would name their guild before they stop playing after like 3 weeks. But it was... kinda cute, if Pixie's weren't evil little assholes. "Haven't heard of them..." it was said quiietly, as her gaze drew back to where the turtwig was. Stay together, Gaki! C'mon! Low defenses are for babies!
Eyes drew up from Leaf as the girl continued talking and- and- she... she looked so... so cute. Gaki's face reddened and she once more averted her gaze. Played on the radio- focus on the radio, on... on the radio... "I- I don't really listen to the radio- mainly online stuff from games... and yeah."
Turtwig looked so comfy with the girl... aah..... Gaki felt the need to snatch him up because his defences could be altered, or- gasp! his own cute stat! He... seemed to be so happy he was kinda nodding off in Elise's lap, cooing gently and snuggling right in, a soft hum leaving at the Sylveons pats...
Gaki had to do something.She forced herself to stand up then, turning on herheel to face the flower field. "I came here on a mission." It was said quickly, and she ensured she didn't look back at Elise as she saw this- there was only one reason a... really cute... NPC was here, it was to be an ally during her mission. Obviously. Not to be a cute bachelorette. "Leaf needs a flower helmet to defend him from attackers- and our meeting was programmed since I obviously-uh- can't do it just with myself."
Was she about to do this?! Was this how affection events worked?! Gaki could'nt see no other reason for her bumping into a girl in the forest alone other than somehow doing an event. "...Do you... have enough stamina to help- uh, not that I want you to or anything."
Oh, awe. Elise’s features fell just a little as the girl before her mentioned not having heard of them just yet. That was ok, though! They would get their name out there eventually! As the girl mentioned that she didn’t really listen to the radio, Elise perked up a little. Oh ok! “Well, we have a Chutube channel too!” she said quickly fishing out her phone to search for it. Maybe if the girl just gave a listen to a few songs, she would like them!
Elise started to flick through her phone only to pause at the comment. Mission? “Huh?” As the mission was detailed, a small giggle escaped from Elise. Purple eyes dropped down to the Turtwig and warmed right after. He would look so cute with a flower helmet on! Oh but… it wasn’t nearly spring yet. They didn’t have that many flowers did they? She looked about and found Rainbow had actually gathered up quite a few and started to string them together of his own accord.
She’d been about to call out to him when the girl went on. Programmed? “Like… like fate?” That was kind of a funny concept! Not like Fate had done her any good deeds recently, though. The offer, even if it was countered rather quickly by the girl’s own words, seemed… ok, though? “Sure! Oh! My name is Elise, by the way! Elise Bell!” she slowly set the Turtwig down again and started to stand up, reaching a hand out towards the girl. “What’s your name?”
…A chuutube channel too? Like Sid? Or… yeah it was like the norm for musicians to have video channels and stuff now, not that Gaki usually watched Chuutube for anything else other than game streams, theories and cute anime girls- oh, and just for Sid and moderating their comment section! The girl seemed to be looking to show her a channel and if Gaki was honest she didn’t know if she had time for a new fandom-
But the power of this cute girl before her was sucking her in deeper and deeper by the second and Gaki’s defences were probably non existant at this point- she wished she’d backed a defence potion or even a shield! And the girl kept giggling, it sounded like a voice actress in an MMO for like a fairy character and the more Gaki heard it the more she wanted to run from this obviously magical NPC. Gaki had no idea how to act, at all. Did she snap and tell the girl to stop it?! She hadn’t gone through a tutorial on how to properly interact with females, especially not in costume.
…fate? No, that was stupid! Gaki huffed, then repeated herself, “No, like a programmed encounter for the main character to stumble into to further the storyline.” Wasn’t that obvious enough? By the girls face… probably not, she was lucky she was cut- Gaki no. Back to your mission!
Aaaaah she was offering her name?! Elise… Bell- like tinker bell? Like, okay the more she spoke the more Gaki was becoming convinced the girl was some sort of fairy. Leaf was content resting in her lap- at least until she starting moving?! She was- nooo! The Turtwig peaked open an eye and let out a confused whimper, moving to shake himself up and butt his head into Elise’s ankle.
She was outstretching a hand, this was it. This was the moment all her years of gaming have prepared her for- what does she do?! A hand, offred towards her- in a shake? For assistance? To be kissed like a fair maiden? Gaki didn’t know.
So the hand was stared at for… more hand a few secnds before Gaki very awkwardly moved to grab it with both her hands, the pink tinting her cheeks becoming… fairly obvious. Ack- uhm- uh. “…G-Gaki. Not like the slime, like the kantonian demon.” Gaki felt the need to specify and immediately averted her gaze, moving towards the flower field and very quickly releasing Elise’s own hand. Damn it Gaki! You’ve lost affection points, you’ve mucked it up already!
She started towards the flower field quickly, refusing to look behind her. “Earth tones will give Leaf more power- so- we look for those- there… may not be many, but it’ll… uh- help him keep his defences up.”
A soft smile pulled onto Elise’s features as Leaf pushed against her ankle. “Serene, could you?” But the Sylveon was already on it, using her ribbons to gently pat the Turtwig back down again and shower him with affection in Elise’s steed.
As she waited with an oustretched hand, though, Elise was aware of the seconds ticking by. Her hand had been about to drop when it was taken. O-oh! Ok! Gaki— slime? Gack? Oh! Kantoian what not— Elise blinked listening to Gaki’s words not entirely sure she followed. Though she had been born in Hoenn, she’d lived there when she was young. She couldn’t be asked to remember any… demon lore? Oh well! “Nice to meet you, Gaki!”
Right after, Elise found her hand had dropped again, and Gaki had turned around. Earth tones, huh? Elise slowly looked around. “Raine!” she called to the other Sylveon who was quick to turn and prance back over towards them. “Did you find any earthy tones?” she asked. The Sylveon looked at the small boquet he had built and then just held it forward instead. It was mostly weeds but… could be weaved into something cute, maybe. “Any of these?” she asked looking back towards Gaki.
The Turtwig was lulled back into contentness due to the Sylveon's patting, and he flopped right back onto the ground, a purr-like, "Twiiiiiig~" leaving him. If he wasn't the most spoilt turtwig ever! Gaki was back to holding onto the skirts of her cosplay, stopping at the edge of the field as she surveyed the barely-gorwing buds. There had to be someething she could use to up Leaf's power! Gaki was focused, she was concentrated, there wasn't anything that was going to draw her out of her gamer-like focus-
Except the voice of a cute girl. She was talking to her mon, then she was...showing the flowers her Sylveon had colected. Flowers. Had a girl ever given Gaki flowers before?! No- no. Not even in a visual novel, this was- aaaaah- but! It was for the mission! And it was technically her pokemon, and not her! Gaki had to bite down a stupid grin, trying not to let it get to her head. This was for a mission, Gaki! Sometimes, people work with female NPCs for missions! Get your head in the game!
She knelt down slightly, careful of her skirt as she peered at them. A finger moved then to point out a few budding dandelions and yellow weed-flowers. "These would work nicely for power-sockets, when weathed even with just some grass, but... we need, uh, something large to source all the power- like a big flower!" And not a weed. She stood back up then, turning back to the flower patch...
"...This was a bad misson-assignment for winter, but if we look hard enough w-we're bound to get the loot!" Gaki was making an effort not to look Elise in the eye, she couldn't risk losing her composure now. She had high defenses, didn't she?! Just being around this girl was... making them... collapse.... aAAH Sid was going to tease the life out of her when she recounted her missions for the day.
Seeing Gaki’s lips twitch and pull back even a little, Elise grinned back. Looking down at the tiny little buds and flowers, she smiled a little softer. How long had it been since she’d made a flower crown? The thought was disregarded in favor of Gaki’s words. “Oh?” A big flower…. Elise looked around the field slowly. “It might be too early in the season…” she mumbled before looking down to Rainbow who was already searching about. Serenity…was too busy showing love and affection for this cute Turtwig to really notice anything, actually.
Slowly, Elise walked around, her eyes now searching out any signs of an actual flower. Would they really find something big like that during this kind of season? Chewing her lower lip, Elise hummed softly. “Maybe one of the bushes or trees has one?” she asked-stated looking upwards instead. “They tend to bloom at different times…” Compared to other things, anyways.
Too early in the season for a big flower? Gaki found her face deflating slightly, nuh-uh. It was never too early, especially not when she'd given herself this assignment, the last thing she wanted to do right now is lose infront of this cute girl! That would be like, double losing! And Gaki was a sore-sore loser. Eyes flicked back to the fairy as she spoke one more, ficking down a flush of her cheeks because.... how was it pssible to be so cute? How did she get so lucked out in the character creation depertment?
This was an NPC meant to test her, Gaki could see that now. Distract her from her new mission for upping Leaf's defense while lowering her own... ugh. Gaki didn't have a good enough counter for the lure the girl was emitting. She just had to keep moving, keep thinking. Gaki managed a scowl as trees and bushes were mentioned, hands going to cross over her chest as her gaze followed Elise's own, up to the skyline and into the trees. "...Well..." she took a few step forward, towards the trees that bprdered the field. She paused however, remembering leaf and turning on her heel-
Aaaaaah, he was so cute! The turtwig was just living his best life, chilling. Eyes flicked to Elise, "...Game plan. I take to the bushes because..." A hand moved to poof at her skirt, before glancing back at the girl, "And I believe my stats on foot are better than an NPCa, however, when we go looking what would we do for the- er- pokemon?"
Watching Gaki head towards the trees, Elise slowly looked from one to the next. Did she see any? No? Did that mean they weren’t there? Also no. As Gaki paused and swiveled around, however, Elise blinked. She’d… check the bushes and trees? Because??? “Huh??” Because stats? Oh? Ok?? It took Elise a moment to realize there was a follow up question to that. Looking back towards Rainbow and Serenity, she giggled softly. “I think they can take care of themselves alright, right guys?” she raised her voice a little.
Serenity perked up and raised a ribbon to wave. Rainbow didn’t give a passing glance but did the same in their general direction. He was still searching out new and interesting plants to gather for his own sake, after all. Elise giggled and turned back. “And if we find any Pokemon lurking about, I have other Pokemon with me!” she assured. A hand reached for her pocket and pulled out a bright red capped ball to show for it.
Actually— “Hey wait—" Tossing up the Pokeball, she released a pink Ribombee into the air. “Hi Shimmer! We’re looking for flowers, would you help us?” The Ribombee trilled a little and twirled about! She’d love to help! A giggle escaped from Elise again as she looked down to Gaki again. “Shimmer helps pollinate flowers in the springtime! So I’m sure she’ll be able to find something!” Little did she realize in some ways she was truncating Gaki’s mission. Ah well.
...They could take care of themselves? Well, Gaki hoped so but... Leaf was a troublemaker, last time she'd left the tiny turtwig alone he got into her manga draw and ripped the pages out of her latest Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete copy, and to say she was angry would be an understatement. It was limited edition and everything- but... but if the cute girl said otherwise, it'd risk an affection point pointing out the habits of her own mon... what could go wrong, anyway??
As she spoke one more, probably in an attempt to assure Gaki or something the girl only crossed her arms, like a noob with no game plan Gaki had only brought Leaf- ugh! Her one time to show off her absolute skill in being a berserker to a cute girl to get affection points up and she blew it, she was hopeless! Gaki only nodded at Elise, however pausing as another mon was released...
Of course, she'd have a Ribombee. Elise probably had a team of cute, aesthetic pokemon that fitted her perfectly or whatever, as expected of an idol. Eyes widened as the Ribombee was then asked to aid and Elise gave a little explanation, yeah, okay. That... that would cut down the time, having a pokemon familiar with flowers do everything... "If you believe your strategy of using your pokemon eill, uh, get us to full completion faster..." Gaki gestured into the forest then, "Then let's get to it and see who can fidn flowers the fastest or whatever."
A small giggle escaped from Elise as she watched Gaki’s eyes widen. Shimmer was great, wasn’t she! And so pretty too! Someday she would do absolutely amazing in a contest! Smiling upwards, Elise made a small hand gesture towards the forest as well. “Go for it, Shimmer!” she encouraged.
The Ribombee trilled a little at being acknowledged and spun about once before fluttering forward to find some flowers. Closing her eyes, she could sense the aura around them, most of it weakened by the cold of the area. Hmmmm… Fluttering this way and then the next, she sensed around carefully not finding anything just yet! Hmmmm this tree smelled so good, though.... On to the next one!
Elise, meanwhile, ran a few fingers through her hair and looked back towards Gaki again. “So what else do you do aside from chase flower crowns around?” she asked with a small smile.
Gaki's eyes followed as Shimmer took the position of head of the party, starting to trek forwards and track down the core part of the piece they were trying to craft! At least the logic behind using the fairy type was solid, a proper strategy that would help them reach the end goal quickly. Gaki was debting maybe going to look for herself to max search efficiency, even if the cold was starting to bite a little at the ankles and the breeze sent her hair slapping into her face every so often-
And then the fairy princess spoke. One blink, two, and then... Gaki was gone. The girl- Elise- was asking about her?! Why was she trying to gain more information on Gaki?! That was was Gaki's job, the NPC didn't neef to know about her- this wasn't how the game worked?! Gaki was fine, she was fine, this was bending her capabilities of understanding though, and she brought a hand to press agains her forehead.
Was it hot out here?! Was she overheating, like her harddrive after 48 hours of constant raiding? Was this it- was she going to die all because this girl broke her concept of understanding reality?! Were her affection points ticking down because Gaki was struggling to answer?? "U-Uhm..." She managed a word, or, like, sort of a word! Fuck, fuck. Fuck, Gaki was malfunctioning.
When winning over girls in visual novels she jhad options to pick when asked a question and because the MC was a self insert for the player there was almost never a specific backstory, and- and- uh- what were her interests?? What did Gaki do- why- why was she asking?! Gaki, Gaki c'mon. You got this. You're in the top 200 region wide in Waifu Battle Royale, you can do this! Ctrl+Send! "...Why do you care?"
Elise’s smile waivered some as Gaki seemed to…. uh….??? “Are… are you ok???” Was she feeling alright? She didn’t look good? The connection between her question and the reaction didn’t actually make it in Elise’s brain.
At least until Gaki snapped back. “W-…” Oh. Oh she had just been… been thinking? O-oh uh. “I… ??” It was just small talk, wasn’t it? That’s all she was trying to do?? Uh. “I just thought since….????” Since they were becoming friends? Since that was a normal thing you asked a stranger? “ Since we were walking we could talk???” Basically???
Shimmer continued on with her quest, sniffing from one tree to the next, sensing out which ones were awake and which were still in deep sleep. Nothing yet.
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