Sirius' thoughts

Vali breathed out softly as she finished her cool downs and felt somewhat glad Sirius had pretty much cut in early. She wasn't even half as tired as normal though that wasn't saying much considering how often Blaine had taken to running them into the ground. She would probably be making up for it later on tonight, but for now would be going to meet up with Sirius. She felt Eevee jump onto her shoulder as she walked past where he'd been training with Flareon. Reaching up with a soft grin, she commented, "Sirius is here. Today's going to be interesting. While I doubt it'll be as interesting as when Zaria get's here, it should definitely be a fairly interesting day regardless."

Eevee let out a soft grunt of agreement as Vali continued to walk past the various training pokemon. Elrond joined them with Aragorn soon after. Elrond spoke as Aragorn yipped a soft greeting, "Everyone is rather surprised and wary of Sirius' rather sudden appearance. Granted, everyone is rather happy he finally showed up since he is your father figure and you've missed him greatly. But there is apprehension, it's no secret how he feels towards Surge and considering what happened, he might not feel so great towards Blaine now."

Vali grimaced in acknowledgement, "I know, but that's always been a risk we've had to take no matter what portion of my Apprenticeship I'm in. The dangers of being part of the League and on it's payroll are well known once you're high up enough."

Elrond's ear dipped a bit and he heaved a sighed, "True enough."

As Vali and her small group of pokemon slowly reached the two men, they noticed the tension and shared a look. Vali spoke as they got close enough, "I finished my cool downs."

"Good, Brat," Blaine said as he broke eye-contact with Sirius as Ninetales curled up by his side, "I'm giving you and your pokemon the day off until six. After that, we'll continue where we left off,"

"Got it," Vali nodded as Elrond shifted slightly beside her likely letting everyone know, "I'll make sure to be back by then,"

Once Vali's pokemon had been returned save for Aragorn, Eevee, and Elrond, Vali led Sirius out of the gym though she'd stopped by her room to change her clothes. They grabbed food from a vendor that Vali had gotten a recommendation for during her first weeks on Cinnabar at the gym and found she liked rather a lot. Sirius let her lead him to a surprisingly secluded spot on a set of cliff that overlooked the beach. She released her pokemon after getting their food out before plopping down on the soft grass prompting Sirius to do the same. He took a bite of the surprisingly delicious breakfast burrito that his goddaughter had managed to find while looking over the gathered pokemon. And to say he didn't like the obvious changes in his goddaughter's pokemon would be like saying a Meowth didn't like bathing.

Balto's chest fur had just started to come in where it'd been missing while the scars on his side would likely never regain their previous fur. Smaug's right arm had a slightly jagged scar across it. Elrond's shortened ear. Celina's pale chest feathers. Idril's missing quills. Arwen's scarred back leg. Terra's slightly cracked hide. Empress' cracked shell. Pippin's scarred right eye though thankfully it hadn't been damaged. Pele's scarred ear. Aragorn's torn ear. Houndour's slight limp. And Eevee's slightly shorter tail, they had all been touched in that horrible mission.

Vali let out a soft sigh from beside him, "Siri, I get your angry at Blaine and Surge for what happened. All I'm going to say is that it wasn't either of their faults."

"I know that, Pup," Sirius said with a slight growl, "I get that at the end of the day it was the Leagues fault and some higher up had you there for whatever reason. But I am not happy about it, you were hurt and damn it all if those two couldn't have protected you better,"

Vali shook her head lightly, "Siri, they can't protect me all the time and you know it. They were needed elsewhere and I was supposed to be safe away from the action. I was fine until that final poacher appeared and decided to play his game, Siri."

Sirius grit his teeth knowing that Vali was telling the truth, but that didn't make it any easier. Not when she'd been hurt, they weren't supposed to be hurt. He jerked a bit as Elrond's voice sounded in his head, "Vali was placed away from the main action and had little involvement with the Poachers at all time. None of the rangers or the two gym leaders planned on her being involved. In fact, it was planned for her to stay at the base until someone high up demanded she be involved."

"What?!" Sirius jerked his head towards Elrond before turning to Vali for confirmation.

Vali nodded as she peered down at the beach where some trainers were beginning to train with their pokemon, "Learned about it after the fact from Surge, they're still trying to hunt down who sent the order. With the red tape and rush after everything that happened, they still haven't found anything save for a couple dead ends."

Sirius felt a bolt of cold rage run through him. Who in the hell would dare do that to his goddaughter? But then he realized that it could happen over and over the longer she stayed within the League, it wasn't something that he could stop either. He spoke as the thought occurred to him, "Vali, this isn't going to stop."

"No, it isn't," Vali said with a wry look on her face, "I've had this conversation with Blaine since he didn't want me to make any stupid decisions," She looked at him, "I know my circumstances, Siri. Someone high up is bound to interfere for whatever reason when they feel like it as long as I'm Blaine's apprentice,"

"Then leave your apprenticeship!" Sirius almost shouted at her and felt a deep desire to shake her thoroughly, "Vali, this isn't a game. You could get hurt even worse next time or die!"

"You think I don't know that?" Vali's eyes practically glowed with an inner fire as her voice took on a growl, "I'm not a fucking idiot, Sirius," The glare reminded him scarily like Lily though everything about her was all Vali, "Blaine gave me the chance to leave, but I refused. I will not go back on my word especially over something like this. This is exactly what we need to grow strong enough for what's to come, I am not about to backdown and my pack isn't either,"

"But-" Sirius went to protest only to fall silent as Vali began to rise.

"You are going to shut the hell up and listen to me, Sirius Orion Black," Vali stood up and stared down at him with a fierce glare mimicked by her various pokemon, "I am not a child regardless of my bodies current age. The future is coming for us and we have to be ready," Sirius swallowed heavily, "Don't let your worry and anger over me cloud your mind when it comes to that, we have more important things to worry about," She waved a hand to her pokemon, "They won't let me die. I won't let them die. We will make it back home no matter what. We have people waiting for us,"

Sirius felt somewhat defeated at hearing her words though also a bit lighter. He ran a hand through his hair vaguely noting it needed cut. With a low sigh, he said, "I just..."

"Have faith in us?" Vali asked as her glare softened just a bit.

Sirius closed his eyes and nodded slowly, "I'll try, Pup. I just...I worry for you."

"I know," Vali sat down again and looked back at the beach, "Siri, I'm pretty scared about all this. I'm trying to keep myself distracted generally, but its difficult,"

Sirius wrapped an arm around her being careful about how much pressure he used, "It's okay, Pup. I'm here for you."