Looking to the Heavens

[ELLE WOLFRAM]

For the most part Elle and her inner Soulmate seemed to see eye-to-eye very well.

The blue-haired woman surveyed her surroundings, looking out into the expanse of wildflowers whose colorful heads stood about proudly against the bright green of the tall grass, a medley of sweet scents from the buds filling the air; this place was almost a paradise on Earth.

Elle humored the idea of Team Unifi having a base of operations in this field, or maybe their precious admins had a nice summer cottage somewhere beyond the horizon.

She laughed at the idea and re-adjusted the messenger bag on her shoulder, her Soulmate had nagged her to come here, but for what reason? Sure, it looked pretty and was far away from civilization, but since when did her Soulmate ever decide that hiding was an option? He (or she, it was hard to tell...) was as bull-headed as Elle was. Then again, Team Unifi had been pretty quiet as of late, maybe they had realized that what they were doing was stupid?

"Yeah. Right. And I'm a Sharpedo." Elle snorted - ignoring the fact that if her Soulmate wasn't a Blaziken it could have been a Sharpedo- as she plopped down on the grass, plucking a daisy from its bed and twirling it in between her fingers. She knew that this particular area was close to the Southern Sea, and near that was her home city, was her Soulmate trying to take her home? What would that accomplish?

Elle picked a snowy white petal from the head of the flower and let the wind carry it off.

While it was true Elle hadn't seen Virenya City in three years, and she would be lying if she said she wasn't a little homesick, but what became of that lush city by the sea? For all she knew, it would just be a lifeless place filled with souls who had their other halves ripped away from them.

She trembled at the thought and looked at the daisy she had picked naked over the course of her thoughts. Elle sighed and tossed it aside, picking another flower.

"Go home," she picked off a petal. "Don't go home." Another. "Go home," and another. "Don't go home..."

[SOPHIE ST. CLARE]

[atrb=style, width,110px;][atrb=style,padding: 0 10 0 15; background-image: none;][atrb=cellpadding,0][atrb=cellspacing,0] [style=background-color: #fff; padding: 3px;][/style] [style=background-color: #fff; padding: 3px;][/style] [style=background-color: #fff; padding: 3px;][/style]

[atrb=border,0,btable][atrb=style,width: 350px; padding: 0 5 20 10; background: url(http://i51.tinypic.com/2v3gcup.jpg);] [atrb=cellpadding,0][atrb=cellspacing,0] [style=background-color: #ffffff; opacity: 0.7; overflow: auto; width: 315px; height: 400px; padding: 15px; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; color: #222222; text-align: justify;]The day was pleasant, as it always seemed to be in this part of Aniferna. The flowers brushed against the hem of her long skirt as she stepped tenderly through the fields, her Soulmate bounding around behind her, barking at the Butterfrees and snapping at the Beautiflies should they draw too close. Sophie breathed in, savoring the scents of all of the flowers blooming around her and the Herdier, who was now tussling with a long blade of grass with a large tuft of fuzz on the end. "What are you doing, Leo?" she asked softly, sitting down in the grass, watching her Soulmate freeze, quickly roll over onto his stomach, and stand up as if nothing was wrong. Smiling, Sophie ran her hand over the Herdier's soft back, feeling the small dog Pokemon stretch, his small tail wagging. /I don't know, Sophie,/ the Herdier thought, rolling back over onto his back, the tall grass practically burying him, as he allowed the young researcher to begin rubbing his stomach. /It's something about this place that just makes me so...happy./ Giving a little growl, the Herdier was up again, dashing at one of the lower-flying Butterfree, leaping up and almost snapping at it. The clever bug Pokemon got up and out of the way just in time, however, leading to the Herdier landing on his feet, bouncing up, barking at the bug Pokemon that had just narrowly avoided him. "You're so silly, Leo," Sophie murmured softly, stepping over to her Soulmate and sweeping him up into her arms. "Now, let's get back to business. We were here to--" Sophie's voice trailed off when she noticed a woman standing in the middle of the field, pulling the petals off of one of the many flowers at her feet. /I don't see a Soulmate, Leo.../ Sophie thought frantically, knowing very well that if she was facing a member of Unifi, she didn't stand a chance. /Can you sense one?/ The Herdier bristled for a second, making Sophie panic, but then when the small Pokemon relaxed in her arms, Sophie felt like she was safe to relax as well. /A shifter,/ the Herdier replied softly. /Blaziken, if I'm not mistaken./ With that, he squirmed free from Sophie's grasp, running at the woman, barking. /I want to play with her!/ "No! Leo, stop it! Sit! Down! Stop!" Sophie knew very well she had to pursue. With that, she chased after her Soulmate, trying to catch the little one before he decided to jump on the young shifter woman or, even worse, bite her.[/style]

[style=font-size:9px; font-weight:bold;]© MIMI MUFFIN @ OTE[/style]

[ELLE WOLFRAM]

Elle tensed when she heard something running through the grass. Something coming right towards her. She barely had time to react before she was tacked to the ground by a very sturdy something, knocking the wind out of her and blurring her vision when her head hit the ground -thank Arceus the ground was soft here and there weren't any large rocks. She blinked the clear her vision, coming face to face with a happily panting Herdier, oval shaped brown eyes staring directly into hers, its little tail wagging back and forth rapidly.

“Oh... hello.” Elle said dazedly, grunting as she sat up and pushed the canine Pokemon off her chest. “Where'd you come from?” she wondered; where Herdier indigenous to this area? A flower field seemed to be more of a place plant and bug Pokemon would made their homes. Maybe this Pokemon was lost? The woman scratched behind the Herdier's ear lightly -hoping that he or she didn't decide to bite her- causing the canine to yip happily and leap up at Elle's face, knocking her back down to the ground and licking happily. She made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat when she felt something warm and wet touch her lips and shot up into a sitting position, holding the excited little Pokemon firmly while she turned her head and spit. “That was so nasty.” Elle groaned, although she doubted the Herdier really understood the sentence.

The Pokemon snapped its head to the left, Elle blinking as she followed the attentive movement and saw a girl rushing towards them. “Is he... she... this,” she pointed to the Pokemon. “Yours?” She called, although the Pokemon leaping out of her lap and rushing towards the other girl answered the question for her.

[SOPHIE ST. CLARE]

[atrb=style, width,110px;][atrb=style,padding: 0 10 0 15; background-image: none;][atrb=cellpadding,0][atrb=cellspacing,0] [style=background-color: #fff; padding: 3px;][/style] [style=background-color: #fff; padding: 3px;][/style] [style=background-color: #fff; padding: 3px;][/style]

[atrb=border,0,btable][atrb=style,width: 350px; padding: 0 5 20 10; background: url(http://i51.tinypic.com/2v3gcup.jpg);] [atrb=cellpadding,0][atrb=cellspacing,0] [style=background-color: #ffffff; opacity: 0.7; overflow: auto; width: 315px; height: 400px; padding: 15px; font-family: helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; color: #222222; text-align: justify;]Much to her chagrin, Sophie could just stand and watch as Leo charged the woman head-on, jumping on her and sending her to the ground, standing on her chest, his tail wagging. /She's really pretty, isn't she, Sophie?/ the Herdier asked, causing Sophie to freeze in her tracks, allowing Leo to begin showering the girl's face with wet puppy kisses. /Wh-why would you ask such a thing?!/ Sophie asked, obviously taken off-guard by the question her Soulmate asked. She heard Leo laughing in her head, obviously amused by his human's reaction to his question. With that, she lifted up her skirt slightly, allowing her to run all the quicker over to where her Soulmate had knocked the poor woman over. Knowing Sophie would come and grab him, and he wouldn't be able to run very far, the Herdier leaped off of the woman right as she asked her question to Sophie. /You need friends, Sophie. I'm just trying to help you get them!/ the Herdier said happily when he saw Sophie's expression--a blend of anger and exasperation. "I'm so sorry," she said softly, "Leo didn't hurt you, right?" she asked, putting the Herdier down and, after giving him a stern look that told him to stay put, held out a hand to the woman. "You'll have to forgive him. He's very...social, I guess is the best way to put it. He loves strangers." /Do not!/ the Herdier tried to protest, grabbing the hem of his human's skirt and tugging on it angrily, making little growling noises. /I just like trying to make friends for you! You know that's what you want, pretty friends!/ /Pretty? What--/ Sophie's gaze flicked over to the Herdier, obviously confused. /Oh, forget it,/ Leo replied, releasing the girl's skirt and sitting, scratching behind his ear. /Just make friends, okay?/[/style]

[style=font-size:9px; font-weight:bold;]© MIMI MUFFIN @ OTE[/style]

[ELLE WOLFRAM]

“No, no he didn't.” Elle replied, looking up to the girl who stood over her, a concerned expression on her face. She was two, maybe three years younger than Elle was going on appearance alone, a little on the pale side but all in all just a normal teenage girl. “Not exactly used to Herdiers tackling me out of no where.” She continued, rubbing the back of her head, searching for any bruises that could have formed under the locks of blue hair.

Elle laughed at the girl's comment, “'Social' is one way of putting it.” she said, looking towards the little Pokemon briefly before she took the hand outstretched to her and stood-this stranger had soft hands, hands that felt like they had never battled in her life; how odd... Elle took her band back and brushed herself off, rolling her neck with a faint pop before addressing the girl again. “So, any reason you're here? Sure, it looks pretty,” she swung a hand in gesture to the flower field around them. “But there's not much here.” The girl looked too... soft to brave the caves that wound and twisted through Aniferna's Girdle, and unless she flew over the jagged peaks there was no other way through.

Did she come from Virenya? Elle bit back the feeling that grew in her stomach at the idea of her home being back to the way it was and shuffled a bit. She might as well introduce herself to the other girl before asking any questions.

“Elle.” She held her hand out to her. “And you are...?”