"this is it."

the gogoat slowed to a steady trot once they neared their destination, the green-eyed woman and eevee that were presently mounted upon the length of his back peering curiously in the direction of the great peach tree. it was situated in an 'out of the way' location, and had required some navigation on the woman's part to successfully reach. 

'it's quite a sight.' 

she took in the rare plant with a hint of awe upon her face, the girl having been raised to appreciative all things related to nature and its vast bounty. 

'a shame it's so rare.' 

cait experienced a genuine twinge of sadness, though her mood was soon lifted as she was greeted with the sight of cadet nightingale and her ghost-type counterparts. they had already stationed themselves to effectively safeguard the tree, and the young officer was very much pleased by the woman's willingness to take initiative. 

"i hope i'm not too late," she'd say, her grass-type finally moving them within hearing distance of isra. "we got a bit turned around before getting here." 

her eevee slid down the gogoat's flanks before raising his little snout to take an investigative sniff of the air. cait joined him soon after, smoothly dismounting the gogoat before raising her gaze to eye the froslass and banette. 

"your team's grown a fair amount, haven't they? and in such a short time, too. that's amazing to see."  

she appeared to be both impressed by the fact that isra's shuppet had evolved and that the formerly wild froslass heeded her mistress's commands without a fuss. 

"nothing has happened yet, i hope?" 

there was no evidence of a scrap - but it didn't hurt to ask. 

---

[attr="class","isratalk"]

"Nothing yet, as far as I have seen no signs of anything." she smiled, the familiar voice earning a smile as she turned to its source. "At least not yet."

It took her a moment to process the praise, something she was still unaccustomed to. You didn't receive praise lightly in her childhood home. "Thank you, it helps that Eirlys responds well the cuddles and food, made training her easy." the froslass lost focus on their surroundings for a moment, perking up at her name and what she took as a promise for her favorite things. Isra gave her a smile and whistled command to keep her eyes out there. She'd get plenty of treats later. Her Banette snickered as he often did at the froslass, especially since evolving. He had not changed much but had become more vocal in the last few days.

She nodded at the gogoat, thoroughly fascinated by it. "I've never seen a gogoat up close before, it's an interesting pokemon." then again Isra new what could be found in books and fed to her about pokemon but she had not actually seen most face to face before. It made meeting so many trainers and being in so many places a little more enchanting during her time in the league. Exposure was the best teacher.

"If I may, do you know anything about these trees?" she may have looked stupid for asking but she wasn't an expert on such things and sometimes it was faster to ask someone than trying to hunt down the information herself.

cait alfric

[attr="class","isratalk"]

The information offered was more than enough to appease Isra. All she needed was enough to give her a frame of reference for what was going on here. "That's sad to hear, but explains why there was an assignment to protect it then." She looked up at the tree, no more certain of the ripeness of its fruits than the other woman was. "And that's too bad, there must be a way to plant more of them?" it was a question to no one in particular really. It simply perplexed her that there couldn't be more of them. Then again she only had basic knowledge of plants for the most part and generally those that could be used for healing or what was and wasn't okay to eat.

Her hands moved to her hips and she stared up at the tree with a perplexed look. Now she felt a different determination to be certain the tree was safe by the end of the night. She'd be damned if they let go of something so rare.

"If it's true that they tend to be attacked by ghosts then I suppose we should be well prepared." It was getting darker by the minute after all, it was only a matter of time before they'd be likely to start appearing

cait alfric

feel free to call for the spawn or let them keep chatting a bit if you'd like \ovo/

[attr="class","isratalk"]

When Isra thought about it, it made sense. A remedy for poisons versus something that only offered flavor in a world such as theirs was doomed to become scarce as the other became more sought after. It was a sad truth but a truth none the less.

The woman was caught in thoughts of what might be doable to fix something like this, if it was so flavorful it was most likely an increase in demand in the food industry. She couldn't help but think it was something present day could fix somehow, let other people experience it. People like her especially.

And then Cait asked her a question and Isra wasn't sure she wanted to answer. She was glaringly aware that she would not fit what the other woman was expecting to hear.

"Not in the slightest."

Pause.

"But I'm an unusual circumstance."

Isra turns to her, the look on her face likely said enough. Her life before had been far from ideal. "I plan on moving forward. I want to travel I think, I haven't quite gotten there yet to be honest." Perhaps she should elaborate, she was aware of the vague nature of her answer. It was a touchy subject however, one that technically she wasn't even supposed to talked about. If asked however, she would likely say more. She preferred to let people pry, it told her whether or not they actually wanted to know without them having to say so.

"I'm guessing you wish you could turn back time a bit?" an observation based on how she'd gone about asking. She sounded like the sort that wished she could go back. Even if not entirely she sounded like she wanted to go back to something.

cait alfric

cait alfric

[attr="class","isratalk"]

Cait's apology earned her a raised eyebrow. Isra didn't understand the social cue that she was missing here and as such thought the apology unneeded. "Nothing to apologize for. You asked a question that calls upon a subject I'm not supposed to talk about. Two fold." undeniably, Isra's secrets had secrets with an extra secret on the side. There was much about herself she was not to speak of and it annoyed her to no end. If anything had soured her mood it was that.

"It's noble of you to want the war to be ended sooner, but be careful, that's a road that can easily corrupt you." sometimes the fastest, most effective way to end something was the worst possible choice. Something told her Cait wasn't the sort to pick that option lightly but still. "And strong of you to see the silver lining in the situation rather than wanting to turn back time." it wasn't so much compliments but how Isra read between the lines of every comment Cait made, she often interpreted more than was being said to her in this manner but usually kept it to herself. Something about Cait made her feel comfortable however, and she found herself talking where she'd normally change the subject. "Even if it's silly It's better to think about something silly than to dwell on the worst case scenario."

At least that's how Isra saw it. This kind of mentality was the reason for her almost impervious calm. Things were the way they were and dwelling on them did nothing more than weigh you down. Deciding what you wanted from it and seeking it out was how you took care of it. Didn't matter if it was wishful thinking, meant you weren't dwelling on it nonetheless. It was a simplistic view on things but it worked for her.

"Why do you think all you can do is take orders and keep going?" She tilted her head to the side a little, her yellow eyes inquisitive. "If not for the foot soldier nothing happens, leaders are only a handful of people and at the end of the day they are often figure heads when they die. It is the foot soldier that lives their own life fighting for what they care about. Isn't it?"

Isra lacks an understanding of the social hierarchy, it is not that she thinks the higher ups are incapable of doing things its that she doesn't seem them making waves any more than anyone else does. What did they do when slateport fell? They did not stop it. What have they done since? Held a charity ball? Quaint but meant nothing in the long run of the actually threat looming from the city of slateport.

She didn't watch the news really, read the paper on occasion, but often found herself wondering what the league was really even doing other than placating the masses day by day.

cait alfric