Under the Full Moon [open for hoomans]

[Stryker]

Listening to the quiet of the night, he turned his head to the direction of rustling leaves below him, as well as CHester's voice, calling out to him and saying that both Chester and Hikari have come to keep him company. He pondered on whether or not to tell Chester to go back and rest, or relent and let them keep company. "Are you really alright Chester? And what kind of humans are you? It's fine if you two don't want to answer, just a bit curious. Anyways, would you like to join me to watch the sunrise?" he asked, looking down towards them from his branch. 

[Chester Gabriel]

Chester walks under the tree that now holds Scyther, looking up at the transformed Pokemon. He begins to address Scyther's multiple questions.

"Well of course I'm okay! I'm a knight! I couldn't stay that way all night! The disgrace!" He says, not truly that worried about his reputation considering he is already held in pretty high esteem.

"And..about what we are..I'll let Hika tell you about that, but I'm sure watching the sunrise could be fun." Chester says, not mentioning that it was really the "fun" that he was interested in.

As Chester hops up the tree in just a bound or so, he "accidentally" knocks a branch off, which "just happens" to land somewhere in the vicinity of Hikari, if not directly on her..

[Hikari]

Hikari frowned as Chester commented about what she and he were. She hadn't spent enough time around Chester to know how loose he was with his deific bloodline, but she was usually much less open that she was, in fact, not fully human. Or in her case, any human. Then, when he put it up to her to decide whether or not to tell this random pokemon? She almost didn't notice the branch falling towards her head.

Instinct reacted faster than her thoughts, as Hikari threw a shard of holy fire, so pure it looked like a peice of light, into the falling branch, instantly turning it to a cloud of ash-which then rained on her head like black snow.

"Chester! You're lucky I didn't blow the whole tree up! At least give me a warning when you're going to put my reaction time to the test!" Hikari knew that her request didn't make sense, but suspected that throwing her own words back at her would distract him from throwing other objects at people. While he formulated a reply, Hikari jumped up to the lower-hanging branches, and began climbing up behind the other two. She wasn't really built for this sort of thing, but the viewpoint would be much better from the treetop.

"Well, Stryker, your question about our abilities is understandable, but I'm afraid that's a secret. I'd share it with you, but beyond your helping me pull this Meowth across the castle and to his bed, I don't know what kind of person you are. Remind me again when we've had time to really become friends, and maybe I'll tell you. Now, I suggest the two of you turn around, the sun will be rising in that direction." Hikari pointed behind the boys, who were mistakenly watching to the west, no doubt getting sunset and sunrise mixed up.

Not that she blamed them; one was an amnesiac, and the other was running on extra energy from a charm. Speaking of, she looked forward to tipping Chester off the limb he rested on when the charm wore off in a few moments. Unless he remembered to restore the spell using another charm; he certainly had plenty hanging on him...

[Stryker]

As Skyker watched Hikari burn the branch with a bolt of light, he scurried higher up the tree. "It's understandable." he said as he stood on the highest point on the tree. He shrugged and turned facing the east, feeling a familiar sense of contentment. I suppose I can't make Hikari answer my question. We only met a few hours ago. he thought as he shifted his weight a bit on the branch. He looked down towards his friends, wondering what could be the secret he can't know yet. He turned towards the slowly glowing sky, happy to see that a new day will start, with the possibilities of the things he would learn later. He was content to watch the sun rise with his friendds, happy that he wasn't completely alone. 
As the rising suns rays rose out of the ground, Stryker started to emit tiny globes of light, fading in the air. His eye lids became heavier as the sun slowly rose. "Thank you for helping me." he muttered as he shut his eyes, grateful for the company and oblivious to the glow emitting from his body that became stronger with every second until he was almost engulfed in the glow. With the feeling of leaving, he opened his eyes to see himself glowing, too tired to panic, he sighed. "We'll meet again some day." he exhaled as he disappeared in a cloud of light green light. The outline of a scyther appeared briefly as the light blew away in the direction of his tree home.
When he woke up in the morning, Stryker would have no memory of what happened last night...

[Chester Gabriel]

Chester watches as Hikari uses her abilities to stop the branch. He was about to say something witty, however, he notices something before he has the chance. One tiny globule of light. Is that..a Lightning bug? Here? Now? Chester thinks, as he turns around to look at the sunrise, watching as the unwarranted light fades as another grows in the distance. Slowly, as Hikari made her way up on her own, he realizes exactly from where the light had come: Scyther.

"Scyther, your body!" Chester says, looking on the creature with awe as his entire body begins to glow. So..it must have been..the moon..Hmm.. Chester watches as Scyther takes the happening with strange unconcern. The Pokemon before him believe that he will return..and..somehow, Chester believes that he will too..

"Scyther..if it really is time for you..time for you to return..Take this, and never forget us. Not once. Otherwise, the next time I see you, it won't be the rascal of the castle that will douse you with water, it will be me!" Chester says, grabbing a special charm from his scarf and placing it in Scyther's hand before the light increases yet again.

Chester remains silent as Scyther's body begins to glow at its brightest, allowing some time for Hikari to say something as well, but as the light turns green and Scyther's sillouette is seen before blowing off in the wind, Chester can't help but wonder why anyone would curse someone like him..

After the light fades completely, Chester looks to Hikari. "That curse..it was the doing of your Mother's opposite right? I don't see why anyone would do such a thing to him, he seems so undeserving of it." Chester says, now watching the sun slowly rise..

[Hikari]

Hikari stared in amazement as Stryker began to glow as the sun rose, and Chester spoke of one of the charms he gave the pokemon a charm from his clothes. Then he stepped back, the starlight flowing over the pokemon, his true form showing through the light.

"Stryker...I don't know if we will see each other again...but I promise, I'll never forget you, for all the days I walk this earth. Goodbye." Hikari reached out, as though to grab Stryker before he vanished, but as her hand reached him, he disappeared into the early morning sunrise. As the early morning light filtered through the leaves of the upper boughs of the tree, Chester voiced his concerns.

"Yes, I believe his curse came from Lugia. But that makes no sense; If I remember my history correct, he will still be sleeping at the bottom of the ocean for another hundred years...perhaps time is not so immutable as Uncle made it seem..." Hikari wondered what might have caused such a change in the timeline...it couldn't have been her, could it? She was not nearly so powerful as to have awoken a sleeping God, had she? But if not her...then someone else had been altering time...who would have such a power?

[Chester Gabriel]

Chester looks at Hikari as she speaks, her words reminding him of prophecies that he never truly paid attention to. When Hikari mentions their Uncle, the great God of Time, Chester chuckles.

"Well, whose to say Lugia really ever fell asleep anyway? Didn't someone say something about him blessing one of those islanders? Besides..Uncle Dialga isn't the only one who can change the course of time..Maybe one of these days, we'll come face to face with Uncle 'D' and we can ask him about it." Chester says, not thinking of the irreverance he gave to the God of Time.

Chester jumps, or floats more specifically, down to the ground as he waits for his Demigod companion to follow. After listening to what Hikari has or doesn't have to say, he begins walking back to the castle, ever thinking about that green sillouette that was blown away by the wind..

[Hikari]

As Chester comments about Lugia being never asleep in the first place, Hikari considers that idea, but doesn't give it much weight. Then he suggests meeting Dialga, asking the god of time himself what might have happened. Hikari shivered visibly, and she quickly hopped down from the tree, her mind overtaken by panic for a moment, before she regained her senses.

"If...if we ever meet Dialga in person...you can ask him if you like...I...I just hope such a day never comes..." Hikari's expression, which had been lighter, happier than usual throughout the night, is once again somber, bittersweet at best, as the demigod follows Chester back into the castle, to prepare for the day ahead, her mind mostly focused on the far past, and distant future, but also treasuring the memory of a green pokemon who liked to watch the sun rise...

[Chester Gabriel]

Chester quickly turns to Hikari when he notices her tone; if she doesn't notice his turn, she will bump into Chester, but regardless, Chester begins to speak.

"Hika, what's wrong? Did I push one of your buttons the wrong way?" he says, poking Hikari on the side playfully. Noticing that this doesn't overly amuse her, Chester changes his own tone, seeming more serious; well, in comparison to his usual speech patterns that is.

"Is it Uncle D? I've noticed he's not the greatest topic to bring up. Was it an affair? A conspiracy? A hoax?" Chester says before once again toning down his speech. "You wanna talk about it?" Chester says, trying his best not to smile. Chester slowly begins walking backwards, looking at Hikari as he walks, listening to what she has or hasn't to say.

[Hikari]

"No, I don't want to talk about it." Hikari turned away, her eyes seeing far away events from a long-gone future. She didn't want to even think about it, let alone talk about it. But even as she thought that, she realized that she was being unkind to her cousin, who was doing his best to be serious, a rare expression for him. He deserved better from her.

"...but I suppose I owe you an explanation." Hikari walked behind Chester, as he walked backwards, and explained her past. How her mother had asked her to keep an eye on Dialga, and how she had, in her youth, foolishly believed she was to spy on him, and how his reaction had been so overzealous. Her timeless experience in Limbo, not sure if she was headed towards home or away from all that she held dear. Everything. It made her feel better to let it all out for once, but even then, she was still somber, scared of the thought of meeting her uncle again...

[Chester Gabriel]

Chester remains silent as Hikari lets her heart and memories flow from her mouth, and he realizes why she wouldn't want to speak about her past. He looks at Hikari in a new light; one that makes him feel true compassion for the girl he used as a prank subject. He holds the door open for her as they arrive at the castle entrance as he tries to think of what to say, not exactly used to handling such situations well.

He looks at Hikari with a different set of eyes, in a different kind of light. He looks on her as if the moonlight has transformed exactly what the poor girl is made of. As he begins so speak, he feels no urge to joke with her, at least not now, not here, not like this, not with her like this.

"Hika..I'm sorry..your past or..your old past..it..it sounds so horrible..I know it must be horribly painful..and frightening to exist..I'm..Please..if I can help you..in any way at all; just ask and I'll be there for you. I'll never abandon you; I'll always be here to help you, no matter what, I swear it. And promise me you'll come to me if there is anything you want help with.." he says as he reaches his door, looking to Hikari with eyes that hold no emotion despite his voice.

He looks down on Hikari who is slightly shorter than he, and kisses her lightly on the forehead, this time not as a joke, or as a wish to creep her out, or as any sort of advance, but as a wish to help her exist as well as she can, and as a hopeful way of telling her "everything will be alright", even if it might not be, just as a father would to a child--What a father Chester would be.

He stands at his door, waiting to see if Hikari will make it to her room okay, if that is what she plans to do, or welcome her in if she wishes to talk more..

[Ginger]

-All rpiers have agreed this thread is completed-