Storming the lighthouse [JasminexArcher]
irxnmaiden:
The shudder in her gut, that familiar feeling of panic, bubbles up to surface. Her worst of assumptions have now been confirmed: Team Rocket is, as she feared, responsible for this attack. Within seconds, the gaggle of grunts surround her, as if attempting to intimidate her by their sheer numbers. She eyes each and every one of them, before the mastermind himself parts the seas.
She recognizes his face from the papers, from years ago.
Jasmine only wishes those distant memories had stayed just that: distant.
“It’s not that I’m here to play ‘hero’,” she retorts back, a bit of worry lacing her rather forward tone. Timid, she isn’t: even when facing a horrible situation such as this, her resolve is as steely as ever. It’s always been the undoing of any foe to underestimate her, to mistake her kindness and generosity for weakness or fragility.
“And, just so you know,” she fights away the unpleasant feelings that plague her, her stance strengthening as she listens further to the man’s threats. “You picked the wrong place to begin your road to redemption, Archer. You and your gang of thugs are not welcome here.” The grunts, quieting their jeering long enough for her to summon Amphy, watch in anticipation at the stand still between their leader and the town’s resident protector.
Amphy, immediately, begins emitting a strong, electrical current: he’s never been fond of trespassers, and knows a lot more is at stake in this moment than simply his Lighthouse. Jasmine’s hand quells any immediate action. “If it’s a fight you were wanting, then allow me to oblige. But first, tell me,” her mind returns to the darkness that swathes over Olivine, the lack of people mingling about the marketplace, the docks. And, especially those fond of the Lighthouse. “What have you done with the civilians?”
Her recognition was almost tangible, and Archer allows himself to grin as Jasmine meets his stare.
The Grunts around Jasmine snicker and grin in reply to her speech. How brave of her, Archer remarks mentally. Mob mentality was something they used in great force, but her resolve seemed as strong as steel, even in a moment like this. She was not to be underestimated, and Archer would hold that mindset close. “Quite the rude host you are, Jasmine. I thought Olivine city was more welcoming than this..~” Archer shrugs, tilting his head to the side but keeping his pale eyes on her. Tingles of electricity touch Archer, and he can feel the hair on the back of his neck rise in anticipation. Ampharos was a veteran, and what the Pokemon lacked in endurance, was made up for in sheer strength. Even several of the grunts step back out of position, Houndoom glancing at them pointedly, reminding them to move back into formation. “Now we get to the fun part, Jasmine.” Lazily, as if forgetting the altercation entirely, Archer lays a hand on his Houndoom’s forehead, tracing where tough bone meets rigid fur. Houndoom seems uninterested.
