"(I... might need it. But thank... thank Maiden for me, I know you'd never think up something this altruistic on your own.)" Cassius grinned wickedly, feeling slightly giddy knowing that Sidney didn't hate his ghostly guts, and quite tempted to take Ginger up on the kicking offer. He didn't, though, and instead went off back to camp, hoping she was still there.

Maiden smiled, and fluttered a little higher. "(I don't think he could ever be angry you for very long, and this was all just a terrible misunderstanding. Explain how you feel, and I'm sure he'll return the emotions.)"

"(Are you trying to say you don't think I have a single sensitive bone in my body?)" Ginger said as she fell into step a few feet behind Cassius, confuzed as to what the heck 'altruistic' meant. "(For your information, talking to you was my idea. Maiden just suggested I be the one to do it.)" But the absol was happy Cassius wasn't angry anymore, otherwise she'd probably be sitting on a bag of ice right about now.

"I should go find him then. The sooner, the better," Sidney replied, pushing herself away from the tree. "I don't know if a 'thank you' would quite express my graditude, but I'm really appreciative that you were here to listen to me tonight." She smiled, then began to retrace her steps back in the direction of camp.

"(Good luck)" said Maiden quietly, as Sidney left, her own faint smile growing a little. Perhaps things would turn out alright after all.

"(An odd choice on her part, if that was the case, and I'm sure you were only worried about Sidney or me hurting you)" he replied, turning confidently off in the opposite direction from where camp was. With his usual lack of directional sense, he'd once again naturally oriented himself towards Lavender, which felt like the right way to be going.

Sidney hadn't traveled far when she noticed a familiar figure ahead, approaching her. Who is that? Could it be? Her eyesight was still weak in the dark, but she could definitely make out the person. It's him. "Cassius!"

Ginger was about to point out to Cassius that he was heading in the wrong direction when she heard Sidney's voice, immediately diving into the nearby bushes, hoping that her friend hadn't yet seen her.

"Cassius!" Sidney called again, sprinting up to the lonely man. But, like so many times before, she remembered her manners at the last minute and stopped just a few feet from colliding into him, bowing so low that her hair vieled her face like a dark curtain. "I-I'm so sorry I didn't believe what you told me about the curse," she stuttered, her body trembling as she spoke. "I'm such a bad person. I mistreated you, and after what you did...for me. I can understand if you're not willing, but I hope you can forgive me."

Cassius took a step back in residual fear, worried that Sidney might be coming to attack. His heart beat faster with the adrenaline, and certainly didn't slow down as she spoke. Were the curse and its ramifications not the subject of conversation, he likely would have forgotten himself and hugged her in an attempt to comfort, but he restrained himself to one hand on her shoulder.

"(Of course I can, I do, I mean... I could barely not forgive you, if that makes any sense. I--)" he was quite red, even more so in the light of his glowing eyes, which turned down to the ground. "(I wanted to make sure you knew that I meant what I said back with moltres, even if it means nothing now. You're... you're a very likeable person, Sidney. I mean... a lot of people care about you, even if they don't tell you so.)"

Sidney looked up slowly, tears of joy running down her pale cheeks. Cassius may have been restraining himself, but she wasn't, and she hugged him right then and there, throwing her arms around his neck and holding on tight, as if she would never let him go. "Thank you," she said, her head on his shoulder. "But I don't want this curse keeping us apart. Cassius, you're a very kindhearted person, and I know you're still upset after what happened before, but there is a way to beat it. There has to be, if it's been done before."

That was really too much for his faltering restrained, and Cassius returned her embrace, burying himself in her hair for a moment before he really remembered what he was supposed to be saying. "(But... it's completely unfair to you, dealing with the problems of the dead while you're very much alive. People have died from this curse, and there's no certain way to ward it off, to know you can beat the odds...)" He was shaking, though he tried to hide it, and stretched his arm out a little too much while trying to hold her closer, letting one disembodied hand slip out from its sleeve.

Sidney fell silent for a long moment, quietly listening to the low, rythmic beating of Cassius' heart beneath his chest. "I know that, but..." She nuzzled her face deeper inside his neck, trying to decide if she should continue or not. But she needed to speak from her heart. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life regretting letting you go, tormented by the thought of 'what if'. What if we had taken the chance? I think we can overcome it--if we trust in each other and if we believe in it hard enough, we will rise above the odds...because...I..." She faltered in her speech, and she took a deep, quavering breath. "I...love you..."

There, she had said it; the one feeling she had kept imprisoned inside of her for nearly as long as she'd known him. She had spoken from the deepest depths of her being. There was no turning back.

His hold on her release, somewhat, just enough so that he could look her in the eyes. One disembodied hand traced its way down her cheek, and he gave her a soft, gentle, ever-so-romantic lick on the nose. Love or no, there were always going to be a few differences between them due to species.

"I... I love you, too." He sounded almost dazed, quite lost in her golden eyes, and overcome by a profound sense of right-ness with the world, which he'd lost since his own death and only reclaimed briefly since. He had a bunch of other nice, rational arguments about why she shouldn't take the risk, but they'd all long since flown away.

((Ugh...after being grounded from the computer and swamped with homework, I finally have time to post more than once per day. Unfortunetly, I'm lost as to where we are and what's our current goal and stuff...))

((We're currently heading to... Viridian, I think, to get more info on where to find Zapdos. Cassius and Sidney are off in the forest outside of camp making up after a fight that caused minor injury and bloodshed, but that's not particularly important to the overall plot. Koga (who's coming along) and Pandora are back at camp with Mike, presumably hoping that the Pokemon' plan to get Sids and Cass back together, thus preventing future violence, has worked. Which it has, but they don't know that yet.))

((Close. Vermilion City, where Lt. Surge's gym is--which means that from here on out, Mike's character in the story is very important. But I'm worn out from Ren Fest, so I'll most likely post my bit after a full night's rest.))

((Edit: Never mind. I can't sleep, so might as well post now. ))

Sidney was taken aback by the odd display of affection--but she recovered almost instantly, a smile gradually spreading across her face. She returned the gesture, planting a small lick on the tip of Cassius' nose, before kissing him on the lips like before--and she ran her fingers through his vibrant, purple hair, unknowing that she was moving dangerously close to the tender spot on the back of his scalp.

Back at camp, Koga had tried to help pass time by keeping Mike, Lighthouse, Suzaku, and Pandora amused with more stories. "And then the vulpix princess said, 'Koga, for selflessly putting your life in danger to return our treasured fire stone to us, we will give you the ash remains of the Guardian of the Skies herself, Ho-oh.' And that's how I came into possession of the Sacred Ash...which Moltres has now. Easy come, easy go...I guess..."

The ninja heaved a heavy sigh, boredly drumming his fingers on his knee. After three stories, he was starting to get tired...and worried. "I sure hope all's well in the forest. The other half of our group haven't been back for almost an hour..."

"Very interesting story," Mike said, saying his first words in a while. He was worried about the ongoing conflict between Cassius and Sidney, even though he didn't completely know why they were fighting in the first place.

"(Yeah, intresting if I actually cared,)" Lighthouse backsassed.

Mike shoved Lighthouse a bit, "Don't disrespect a Gym Leader like that," he told him sternly.

"(Yea, Lighthouse, don't be mean to Koga, or he won't tell anymore cool stories about zombie ninja princesses!)" said Pandora, who'd heard the whole story in a rather, erm, unique light, and had somehow decided that it included some ninjas and zombies that Koga had just forgotten to mention. "(Cheer up, Koga, 'm sure they're fine. Maiden's the absolute best at that sort of thing.)"

"(Well, I'm sure I'm not the best at it)" Maiden had returned to camp, floating up silently behind Pandora and frightening him for a moment with her sudden voice. "(But I haven't heard Ginger screaming, so I suspect she has fulfilled her role, which means we've likely done well tonight.)"

Meanwhile, Cassius was still a little puzzled by this odd human display of affection, but his human instincts made it rather enjoyable. Perhaps if there was some way to make it a little more like a lick it wo- the thought was interrupted by a loud yelp, his own, and he jumped back, clutching the recent injury Sidney had just touched upon.

"(Or maybe she died before she could make a sound,)" Suzaku said optimistically, grinning. "(But I sure hope they haven't gotten lost again. The last thing we need is for our trainers to try and kill each other out in the forest.)"

"What is it?!" Sidney gasped, jumping back as well. So much for a tender moment. "Oh, my goodness! A-are you hurt?" She moved closer again, lightly placing her hand on the side of his head. "Wait. That's the spot where--" She cut herself off, frowning. "I didn't realize I could throw that hard. You should probably put something on it before it becomes infected. Here, camp's back that way. I should have some potions in my bag if you need some."

"Oh, it's not really that bad" he said quickly and untruthfully. He spent a moment trying to look like he wasn't wincing. "Well, maybe a potion is a good idea..." he said quietly, looking at the ground.

"Oh! I have the broach here, if you'd like it back now." He pulled out the broach, trying briefly to clean off the dried blood that, at the time, had seemed unimportant. "It, er, didn't break bone, so I think you must've been going easy on me."

"Ah, thank you," Sidney replied, rubbing her nose with one arm as she took the small trinket back. She was beginning to lose feeling in most of her face, but she thought nothing of it. "I'm really sorry about your head," she said as she pinned the broach back onto her scarf, taking a moment to admire it before continuing. "That was very childish of me. I'm so ashamed of myself."

During the entire scenario, Ginger had been peeking out of the bushes, grinning to herself. I'm such a genius, she thought, her smile broadening. Sidney and Mr. Ghost are back together and everyone's happy. I truly am a matchmaker. If I can hook up a ninja and a dead person, I can hook up anyone--starting with myself and Shade. She gave a dreamy sigh. Ah, Shade, my pretty, little, pointy-headed ninja. I hope his mission is successful so I can see him again soon.

((Awesome job with the sprites, Gryph. ))

"It... was a little frightening" he said, with 'frightening' being, in context, a synonym for 'attractive'. "I mean, very frightening at the time, since I sort of thought you might really hurt me, which you probably would have, but you didn't because you were too far away, which was good, though I normally prefer if you aren't that far if you're not trying to hurt me, and in retrospect it, er, well, I... was impressed."

He stopped while he was sort of ahead, seeing that he wasn't doing a great job at changing the upset look on her face. Actually, her face wasn't moving much at all. He gave her another playful lick-on-the-nose to try and cheer her up, and smiled warmly.

((Oooh, you hadn't seen that one before? I'll send you the full version over AIM sometime ))

Sidney would've returned the smile, but she couldn't seem to move her face. In fact, she couldn't feel Cassius' second kiss at all--the numbness had started to spread even more, and she wondered what was wrong with her. It was a strange sensation, but she knew it wasn't the first time she had felt it.

Fading memories of when they had entered the pokemon tower back in Lavender Town started coming back to her. A possessed haunter had licked her and rendered her immobile. But Cassius was human. Was it possible that, even in his human body, his saliva still had the same paralyzing properties. But it was too late to ask, because both her mind and body were completely numb. "...Paral...yzzz," Sidney managed to say, before her limbs gave out and she fell forward onto Cassius.

Paralyzz... paralysis? Cassius caught her as she fell, his mind racing. But how, what could have caused -- oh. Haunters were immune to small doses of their own species' paralyzing saliva, but of course humans wouldn't share that immunity. His eyes widened as he realized that he was the one responsible.

A long ramble about how sorry he was would have followed, but she didn't look to be particularly conscious. "I'm so sorry" he whispered, knowing she probably couldn't hear but meaning every syllable nonetheless. He shifted her in his arms so that he could support her by her knees and head, exactly as he had the last time she'd been paralyzed. There was nothing for it but to head back to camp, he thought, heading off in exactly the wrong direction.

Ginger was too busy daydreaming about being hand-fed berries from her true love to really notice what was going on. But when she decided to check up on the happy couple again, Cassius was already walking away, cradling her trainer in his arms. Naturally, she immediately jumped to unlikely conclusions--all of them far from the truth. "(Stop right there!)" the small pokemon shouted as she sprang from her hiding spot, darting over and stopping right in front of the ghost. "(What did you do to Sidney?!)" she demanded, staring accusingly at him. "(I thought you were going to talk to her, not kidnap her!)"

Lighthouse sighed, "Yeah, sure...whatever." He curled up on the ground and went to sleep, not wanting to listen to anymore boring stories.

"Don't worry about him," Mike told Koga. "He's always acting weird. I mean he's a vegetarian, claustrophobic, has terrible mood swings, and that's just the beginning..." Mike stopped, finally realized that Koga probably didn't care too much about his Pokemon's conditions.

"(Tch, some pokemon just don't appreciate fine art)" said Pandora, shaking his head at Lighthouse. But he didn't sound all that upset. After all, Maiden was back, and maybe she'd join them for another story.

"(What? Of course I'm not kidnapping her! I just accidentally paralyzed her, so I'm taking her back to camp to- wait, why are you here?!)" Apology turned to anger in a flash as Cassius realized that Ginger must have been spying (albeit ineffectively) the whole time, and had his hands not been full with something much more important than vengeance she probably would not have remained unscathed.

"(I was following you back to camp, duh,)" she replied brusquely. "(Or did you forget? I can't just teleport like an abra, y'know--although it'd be pretty sweet if I could.)" The absol's attention seemed to be fluttering elsewhere, and it took her a moment to collect her thoughts again. "(Oh, and camp's the other way, doofus. Your sense of direction really does suck. But Sidney should have some cheri berries in her bag. I dunno if it works on humans, but it's supposed to cure paralysis. Just give her a few and let her rest. That should take care of what your nasty ghost spit did.)"

"(How could you be 'following me back to camp' if you knew it was in the other direction?)" he growled, though the promise of a cure for Sidney softened his anger. "(Let's... just find the others, and get Sidney better)" he said quietly, looking at her frozen face with a worried frown.

Once they were set in the right direction, camp wasn't far off. Maiden, much to Pandora's dismay, got up from her seat next to him to greet the pair, then stopped short when she realized Sidney was barely breathing. "(Goodness! What happened? Is she alright?)"

"She's, er, paralyzed" said Cassius, looking embarrassed and guilty. Maiden had to smile a little, guessing what they'd been up to to cause that paralysis.

"(Set her down on your sleeping bag, then, and I'll find some berries for her. I'm sure she'll be alright in a moment, your human attacks have always been less potent than those while you're not so contained.)"