MARCH UPDATE

6’2 hair down, 6’4 hair up height

nessuno vince.

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TAG WITH @lars

POSTED ON Jun 18, 2020 20:40:49 GMT

Honestly, today was one of the very rare days he had some time to himself.

So where was he spending it?

Back at his cozy little loft in Verdanturf. Much as he wanted to go to Sootopolis and stay at the family home there, well, it always gave him a sense of dread every time he looked over at what used to be his sister’s room whenever they would stay there away from the ‘other’ house.

Ugh, that sucked.

Anyway, he held his pipe in one hand and was spinning it absently, letting the aroma of vanilla permeate through the air around him. In his other hand was a pale orange mug that contained the blackest coffee that existed this side of the world. While there were other places that had even darker variants of coffee, this particular brand from Unova always caught his fancy.

Of course, he wasn’t expecting that anyone was going to come over today and make him question the reports he had finished a few days prior.

Questioned down to the very core.

boy is he gonna get the shitshow of a lifetime

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played by

Drakka

Bestial

She/Her

November 6

Slateport (Technically)

Demisexual

Ranger

Elite Ranger

392 height

You're the pulse in my veins, you're the war that I wage, can you change me?

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818 posts

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TAG WITH @kaida

POSTED ON Jun 18, 2020 21:17:59 GMT

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Showing up uninvited had to be one of the worst social acts one could take. It was a good thing Kaida didn't care about that right now. [break][break]

It was enough of an emergency that Kaida didn't mind intruding in another home. Muspel rumbled worryingly, and it took all Kaida had to mumble under her breath, "It's just fine, Muspel. We're just meeting the leader." That's all they were doing, sure. Still, it was going to be fine. There was just the little issue of her own death. The word hung over her like a cloud. Perhaps she was sent to verify her own state of living, or to confirm to the leader she was alive. It didn't really matter, except she was certain this was not going to be a short incident. [break][break]

Muspel thudded onto the ground nearby, rumbling and shaking her wings as Kaida slid off. The flying was getting better. Whether or not their landing was heard, Kaida boldly stepped forward and raised a fist to knock at the door. "Sir? It is Kaida." Her voice rung out, dull and normal and unmistakably Kaida.

[break][break]

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[attr="class","notes"]notes: Here we go!

[attr="class","tag"]Laurence Anderson

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played by

Ven

Lars

he / him / his

thirty-three

july 26

alto mare, johto

don’t know, don’t care

ranger & courier

ex-head ranger

6’2 hair down, 6’4 hair up height

nessuno vince.

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3,860 posts

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part of

TAG WITH @lars

POSTED ON Jun 18, 2020 21:43:05 GMT

He had taken a drink of coffee from the mug before he heard someone knocking on the door.

He then reached for his phone to check—wait, there was nobody who was scheduled to visit him today? As he was about to toss the phone back down onto the couch, he then heard a voice.

One he was pretty sure…

Wait, what the fuck?! He thought, standing up and almost splashing coffee all over himself. The pipe had almost fallen from his other hand had he not scrambled to catch it as soon as possible. Wait, why were his hands shaking? He didn’t understand.

Hoping that he hadn’t misheard things, he then left the coffee mug on the side table before heading over to the door and bracing himself. Surely he wasn’t hearing things now, was he…?

He then opened the door and turned pale at the sight.

Wait, aren’t you… he thought to himself, blinking a few times before he managed to regain his composure. How… how did that happen?! He continued in the back of his mind.

“So… so the rumors were true,” he managed to stammer before standing aside.

“W—well, c-come in,” he continued, blinking at the unbelievable sight that was right there in front of him.

oh dear

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played by

Drakka

Bestial

She/Her

November 6

Slateport (Technically)

Demisexual

Ranger

Elite Ranger

392 height

You're the pulse in my veins, you're the war that I wage, can you change me?

awards

818 posts

DOLLARS

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TAG WITH @kaida

POSTED ON Jun 18, 2020 22:35:25 GMT

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She stood stock still as Lars opened the door, attempting to keep herself calm, polite, unshaken. It was only natural, she tried to convince herself. Only natural that everyone around you is this shocked. It would only be for a little while longer. "Yes, I'm here, sir." She nodded her head respectfully, doing everything she could to keep this a normal meeting, as normal as she could make it. [break][break]

She paused a moment before entering, calling over her shoulder at her Charizard, "Muspel, I'll be back out in a second." And stepped inwards as the draconian promptly curled up. [break][break]

"The tree fell." She grumbled miserably once inside, "And I didn't even get one of the enemies." She talked as if the whole disaster didn't include her death, talked like she wasn't another aspect of a mystery. How could she? It was miserable to know you were killed and didn't even get anything out of the situation.

[break][break]

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[attr="class","notes"]notes: Here we go!

[attr="class","tag"]Laurence Anderson

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played by

Ven

Lars

he / him / his

thirty-three

july 26

alto mare, johto

don’t know, don’t care

ranger & courier

ex-head ranger

6’2 hair down, 6’4 hair up height

nessuno vince.

awards

3,860 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @lars

POSTED ON Jun 18, 2020 22:43:35 GMT

Thankfully, she knew the cue and he quickly closed the door once she was inside and had gotten settled in. There were a myriad of questions he wanted to ask, especially since he had an actual ‘source’ who had seen the woman in front him as a lifeless body just after the situation had gone to all shit.

“I only know as much as what she—he told me,” he began, correcting himself just in case she wondered who he was talking about. “That there was a lot of fire and he hadn’t noticed you had… you’d passed, until they’d gotten out of the area,” he went on, trying to string everything together.

Of course, ever since he’d had that meeting with one of the Councilmen he was even more wary than usual when it came to contacting said friend of his who had been there.

“Also, no need to be so uptight around here. We’re not at the Headquarters in Lilycove…” he trailed off as he scratched the back of his neck once more. “Would… would you mind filling me in on what… on what happened until that point?”

Here he was hoping that he wasn’t asking the wrong questions and shit.

now you got him curious

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played by

Drakka

Bestial

She/Her

November 6

Slateport (Technically)

Demisexual

Ranger

Elite Ranger

392 height

You're the pulse in my veins, you're the war that I wage, can you change me?

awards

818 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @kaida

POSTED ON Jun 18, 2020 23:07:43 GMT

[nospaces]

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Hadn't noticed you'd have passed. Kaida supposed that it was good, panic while escaping might have harmed her saviors or family. If her death happened as they were escaping, then it wouldn't have done anything to notice it anyway. [break][break]

"If I am being uptight, would you like me to call you, um, Laurence? Or something?" She stumbled, trying to find the appropriate wording for a situation she was sure nobody had ever discussed. Luckily, the subject turned to something she knew how to speak about. What happened until the death. [break][break]

"I never did get to see the tree roots, in the end," She admitted, lips briefly curling before she continued, "But I can say that whatever enemy that was there...was already there. On the first floor, me and my family-my Pokemon were sliced up and stuck with traps. We also got trapped on a floor by a barrier that kept out other Pokemon." Her eyes flashed with an anger, unbelieving that she couldn't have kept her family from being hurt, couldn't have gotten there faster. "...I might have made things worse...I tried to use my Pokemon's Sludge Wave to attack an enemy, there was something going down under where I was trapped, and then the place exploded, very badly." [break][break]

Now was the point she paused, holding her breath until the burn made itself known, forcing her hand to rub at her side in the phantom pain, "Somebody escaped from the explosion, so I tried to grab on, to escape, and failed. Then, I was saved, and then," She traced along the burning, as if to try and help point out what happened, "Flaming jaws came from under us, and bit me." She considered where she was tracing, and spoke up as if to try and ease any sort of guilt, "I must have died nearly instantly...no suffering." She tried to smile, as if to support the claim, but it showed with teeth, more a snarl than a smile, "I've started talking with my Pokemon, they're still rather scared with this happening."

[break][break]

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[attr="class","tag"]Laurence Anderson

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played by

Ven

Lars

he / him / his

thirty-three

july 26

alto mare, johto

don’t know, don’t care

ranger & courier

ex-head ranger

6’2 hair down, 6’4 hair up height

nessuno vince.

awards

3,860 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @lars

POSTED ON Jun 19, 2020 4:04:36 GMT

Cringing at the mention of his legal name, he waved it off. “Oh, please, call me Lars, no need to be that formal,” he began before listening to what she had to say about the entire thing.

Now that he had heard her side of the story, this was rather troubling on several fronts—what had made the Councilman paint her in such a bad light? Disregarding security? I’m sure there has to be a good reason for that… he thought as he dug around before pulling out the notes he had scribbled during the meeting with the other man.

“You—you know,” he began quietly. “He was asking about you. Councilman Silph, I mean.”

It’s at this point the disgust on his face became apparent.

“He outright asked me why you would have such a disregard for rules and all that—to which I answered to check your records. Your reports about your missions, and all that,” he said as he wrung his other hand. There was no way in Hell he was going to sell out someone—regardless if they were alive or dead; as long as they were Rangers, that was the important thing.

“I hope I didn’t do you an injustice. I really don’t like it when family is threatened.”

family is family, regardless if they’re not related

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played by

Drakka

Bestial

She/Her

November 6

Slateport (Technically)

Demisexual

Ranger

Elite Ranger

392 height

You're the pulse in my veins, you're the war that I wage, can you change me?

awards

818 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @kaida

POSTED ON Jun 19, 2020 4:39:12 GMT

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Lars. Kaida tested the name softly under her breath, and decided it was easy enough to use and, more importantly, remember. [break][break]

She leaned forward, eyes flicking to the notes briefly before looking back, "He was there. I didn't see him often, but he tried to help, I think." Some help it was. Unbidden, the thought darkened her eyes before she wrenched herself away. The enemy was already there, she doubted there was too much they could do about the tree. [break][break]

The disgust on Lars face was mirrored by Kaida's own taut face as she let out an unintelligible groan, "People were heading down the moment the guards tried to stop us, whatever they were there for, it didn't work." The guards had made her own journey slower while allowing the enemies to pass on. "I didn't even reach the tree roots, and it was destroyed." If she had stopped for the guards, it would have been destroyed too, she was certain. She didn't doubt Fernando was a leader for a reason, but she didn't think he understood. What beast would follow rules when the prey was right in front of them? Clearly not the destroyers. [break][break]

Her mood threatened to drop with those quickly spiralling thoughts, only to suddenly perk up upon a simple word. Eyes wide and cautious, she pointed towards herself, hoping she hadn't misunderstood. The little spark of happiness in her chest couldn't be wrong, could it? "Do you mean me?" Her voice was low, avoiding a mistake, a misheard remark. "Because...because I understand." She really hoped she wasn't wrong, "And if I'm family," Her smile was genuine, if restrained like most of her words, "I won't let injustice get to you either. Can't let someone hurt you, if you're protecting me. Didn't even know we're family." The words were both light and heavy on her. As gleeful the word "family" was to her, it only meant one thing to her. Family had protected her from injustice from another leader, and she expected herself tok return the favour.

[break][break]

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[attr="class","tag"]Laurence Anderson

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played by

Ven

Lars

he / him / his

thirty-three

july 26

alto mare, johto

don’t know, don’t care

ranger & courier

ex-head ranger

6’2 hair down, 6’4 hair up height

nessuno vince.

awards

3,860 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @lars

POSTED ON Jun 19, 2020 16:54:54 GMT

At the mention of the tree roots, he dug around in his pockets before pulling out a pen and quickly scribbling some more additional notes. Notes that… filled in the blanks as to what the Councilman had provided.

“What was your end goal, since you mentioned you weren’t able to reach the bottom of the tree? Is there something about the tree that I should know about?” he asked carefully. He was rather certain that the people higher up than himself in terms of position knew so much more about the entire incident.

And here he was, fishing for scraps. Who knew if it was safe to contact his other friend who had been at the site of the incident, since they had to lay low due to the videos spreading online.

“Have—have you seen the videos online?” he inquired from her a few moments later as he began to spin the pen between his fingers. “It’s such a mess…”

He noticed that her demeanor had changed when he had said the word ‘family’, which made his eyebrows rise ever so slightly. Clearing his throat, he continued.

“I’ve not had a family ever since I joined the Rangers at the age of twenty-one. I consider all the Rangers as the family I never had,” he explained briefly.

“Which is why I make an effort to get to know as many of you as possible. A family that stays together, fights together as one, right?”

there are enemies everywhere

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played by

Drakka

Bestial

She/Her

November 6

Slateport (Technically)

Demisexual

Ranger

Elite Ranger

392 height

You're the pulse in my veins, you're the war that I wage, can you change me?

awards

818 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @kaida

POSTED ON Jun 19, 2020 17:41:48 GMT

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Something he should know about? "Well, I thought whoever was also running in, and going to the roots, wanted something. I didn't think they'd take the tree down, but I did have ideas the tree would be harmed. It felt like a special thing, I thought it would be a good idea to protect it...a big tree like that could even be a habitat if it wasn't special, I'd imagine." She continued on, casually laying the oddity of the tree down on the ground, "It seemed special then, with the tree branches moving to attack everything around it...the tree grew spontaneously as well. More alive than I expected." She dared think it felt similar to a Pokemon in that way, but left it unsaid, there wasn't much of evidence for that besides moving. [break][break]

She shook her head at the mention of videos, already sighing as she imagined what normal people would easily think, "They make us look like we're...crazy, don't they?" She hissed, teeth grinding together.

Lars didn't have a family either, leaving Kaida feeling much less seperate in that moment, "My only family's been my team for forever." She replied, "But you're right, fighting together is always the better of options. Poochyena are better as a pack, right?" Never thought she'd see the day of someone declaring her family, rather than the other way around.

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played by

Ven

Lars

he / him / his

thirty-three

july 26

alto mare, johto

don’t know, don’t care

ranger & courier

ex-head ranger

6’2 hair down, 6’4 hair up height

nessuno vince.

awards

3,860 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @lars

POSTED ON Jun 19, 2020 18:16:06 GMT

While he hadn’t been in touch with anyone else higher than his position to ask around, the fact that she had mentioned that there were other people heading down in the same general direction she had intended to go to was more than enough for him to scribble down on the notes that he had compiled so far.

“You mentioned the tree started growing. It literally grew? Without being watered or fed anything?” he confirmed, spinning the pen in his hands while waiting for her to speak up and confirm his inquiry.

“What the other Rangers told me while they were cleaning up was that there was just a husk of a tree remaining. It was black and pretty much dead. What drew my interest is the status report of what happened in the building. There was no fire involved so what exactly attacked the tree to cause it to lash out the way it did, how you described it?” he thought out loud as he continued to spin the pen in his hands.

At the mention of the word ‘family’, he looked up and gave her a small smile. “That’s why Pyroar also stick together, they’re a pride of lions. Similar sentiments. That’s what I want to foster among the Rangers.”

gathering as much information as he can

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played by

Drakka

Bestial

She/Her

November 6

Slateport (Technically)

Demisexual

Ranger

Elite Ranger

392 height

You're the pulse in my veins, you're the war that I wage, can you change me?

awards

818 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @kaida

POSTED ON Jun 19, 2020 19:23:42 GMT

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[attr="class","team2"]

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"Yes, the tree grew rapidly. Several times without obvious reason." Her voice stayed low, however, doubting that there had been no trigger, "I didn't see it being fed or watered...but some Pokemon eat dreams, or emotions, so maybe all the people around it were feeding it something." She shrugged, nothing but her opinion, "I did notice after the Sludge Wave I used, some time passed, and then it grew and attacked. Maybe growing was a defense to it." [break][break]

She pointed down, as if to provide a better image, "It had to do with the roots, wouldn't it? The tree did not attack until they were at the roots, it didn't mind us or the contest until then." If the tree was violent, then there would be no way it would accept the presence of the contest, it felt only logical explanation that something at the roots made it feel threatened.

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[attr="class","tag"]Laurence Anderson

template by kay

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played by

Ven

Lars

he / him / his

thirty-three

july 26

alto mare, johto

don’t know, don’t care

ranger & courier

ex-head ranger

6’2 hair down, 6’4 hair up height

nessuno vince.

awards

3,860 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @lars

POSTED ON Jun 19, 2020 20:13:15 GMT

“If I had been there—mind, I would really have wanted to be there when shit went down—I would have seen this for myself. However, thing is, on the date this happened… I had to deal with funeral arrangements for someone,” he said as he wrote down the other observations that he was learning from her.

This is such a strange thing… he continued in the back of his mind. “I want to contact her—him and ask about the tree’s reaction, but yes, same problem. The video is making this turn into a shit show and it’s all out of control now…” he muttered as he stared hard at the table in front of him.

A few more moments of silence passed before he scribbled down the rest of what she had mentioned onto the notes he was compiling. Rudimentary it was at best, he wondered—did this have something to do with that strange cocoon he’d witnessed on Mount Pyre?

He hadn’t the slightest.

“Maybe… maybe the ‘tree’ was defending itself… had you made it down to the very bottom, I’m sure we would have much more information than what we have at this point. A tree growing out of nowhere, and then lashing out at people after it had grown in size? That’s definitely strange…”

some more observations are made

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played by

Drakka

Bestial

She/Her

November 6

Slateport (Technically)

Demisexual

Ranger

Elite Ranger

392 height

You're the pulse in my veins, you're the war that I wage, can you change me?

awards

818 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @kaida

POSTED ON Jun 19, 2020 22:09:33 GMT

[nospaces]

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[attr="class","team2"]

[attr="class","mthread"][attr="class","league"]

"I'm...I'm sorry." Kaida managed to speak, lowering her head, "You don't need to be anywhere, we'll do it instead." Coming back to life felt almost like a joke on her end. Yes, her team was traumatized, but that death would stick, and she already felt she had to ease a burden somehow. If she had to arrange a funeral, it would be for family. For the sake of empathy, she assumed the same. [break][break]

Out of control just because of a video? Without thinking, she provided her own opinion in one spilling of words, "What does it matter of the videos? Those people are also the same to think we can just tell when something will happen." Typically by "evil" looking Pokemon and the like, what was this, a story!? [break][break]

She deflated with a small, "I apologize...I didn't manage to find anything out about it, but I might say, there was an...ally, of mine there." She was loath to say friend or family without reason, "She saved me, but she might have managed to find out more than me." Kaida remembered she was a reporter, hopefully not on the side of the "shitshow" video. If she managed to get even a picture, they might be able to hunt more efficiently, for the secrets of the tree or otherwise

[break][break]

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[attr="class","tag"]Laurence Anderson

template by kay

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played by

Ven

Lars

he / him / his

thirty-three

july 26

alto mare, johto

don’t know, don’t care

ranger & courier

ex-head ranger

6’2 hair down, 6’4 hair up height

nessuno vince.

awards

3,860 posts

DOLLARS

part of

TAG WITH @lars

POSTED ON Jun 20, 2020 0:54:27 GMT

It was with the videos mentioned does he remember something—very important. Turning to face her, there was a serious look on his face as he did so.

“Whatever you do—and I’m telling you this now in confidence—make sure you’re not spotted by one of the Councilmen. In particular, Stormy’s brother,” he began, suddenly remembering something that was at the tip of his tongue.

“He was asking me weird questions about you. About your blatant disrespect of authority. If… if you do get spotted by him, send me a text as soon as you can,” he continued, flipping the compilation of paper to a blank sheet and scribbling down his personal, private number.

“Yes, it’s different from the one I use for work. If anything—and I mean anything comes up involving him, Councilman Silph… contact me right away. As soon as you can. Let me know what he’s up to. There are… there are people up higher than I am who cannot be trusted no matter what happens… my instinct is telling me that he’s bad news…” he added as his voice lowered to a whisper as he passed her the piece of paper.

“Keep that, and don’t lose it. Memorize it if you have to.”

After he had handed her the paper, he then settled back down on the couch opposite her.

“Is there a way I can get in touch with this associate of yours? The one who was also at the incident?” he inquired once he had repositioned himself across her.