World Tree MUSH

 
 Kombat always left Frost feeling hungry. Which would be normal except until one realized that she was a cyborg and -should not- need any food to function. Back when Frost traded her soul and body to the great Time Lord being that granted her cyborg body, Frost had specifically requested that she left a lot of her 'mortal' needs intact. What good was being the best fighter in the Multiverse if she couldn't enjoy things like food and drink anymore? Technically, Frost doesn't need to eat, she can replenish her power through a lot of methods, but food is the easiest and its also the most delicious! And so, this cyborg was very much down to have a lunch date with the little Pokemon trainer that actually gave her a good fight at the beach that morning. Doubtlessly.. Suiren might have a lot of questions. 
 
 And oddly, Frost probably does too. Before she knew it she was walking around with a little girl in tow off to have a little lunch. That was hardly the sort of behaivor expected from someone who was by all intended purposes a psychopath serial killer. "Sooo...." Frost walked the streets of Alola, having changed to her usual blue tank top, jeans and running shoes. "Where's this place again? I'm new in town.." Gods.. it feels so weird having a normal conversation with anyone. Frost was so used to killing that just walking and talking felt like she was wholly out of her element. 

     Suiren also could hardly believe she held her own in a spar and was now about to have lunch, with a woman who hit a Blastoise so hard she cracked his shell. She was honestly worried Iona might get really seriously hurt in their spar after witnessing that, but she did incredibly well, and while she lost, after eating a couple berries and getting a spray from a super potion, she was almost good as new. At the question of what place they were going, Suiren looks up as if she was coming out of being lost in her own thoughts. "Place? Did you mention a place? I might have missed it if you did. What kind of food would you like, there are options if we go to Hau'oli City."

 
 "Did I? D'oh!!" Frost held the side of her head in distress. Honestly, after their sparring session it could actually be pretty difficult to think that this woman was a stone cold killer. Her wobbling around and distress made her look like some kind of ditzy, punk rock girl wannabe struggling to figure out life and generally just rebelling for the sake of rebelling, or because she liked the fashion. At a glance, there was nothing that really said 'crazy martial artist murderer cyborg' about Frost, except maybe her crazy hair do and the doll-like joints on her body. "Okay, maybe I don't know what I'm doing after all." She admitted and actually looked pretty nervous around Suiren, which was doubly weird because she was almost half her age. Perhaps she was worried that Suiren was going to see right through her and realize she was not the cool, badass fighter that she liked to pretend to be. "Uh.. what do I like..?" She mused, before frowning a bit. "No no no, what do -you- like? It's my treat, remember? You gotta tell me what you like so I can treat you and your Pokemon." 

     Suiren thinks for a few moments, and her stomach grumbles as she realizes she didn't really even have much of a breakfast either. "I know a place, it's a nice cafe that should still be open even though it's more of a breakfast spot than lunch and dinner, but I kinda didn't have breakfast and I'm in the mood for it." She offers as she leads the way, hurring on a bit now. Frost did certainly give off a less scary vibe now that they'd had a battle and been around each other for a bit. She was indeed still very curious about a lot of things though, and expected to get asked lots of Pokemon-related questions as well, as this was pretty much the norm anytime she met an off-worlder. 

     Soon they've made it to the cafe, and the host shows them to a seat and hands out menus. There was the usual french toast, waffles, pancakes, eggs, sausage and bacon, eggs benedict, etc but also some local stuff like Kalua Pig and Malasadas. "So uh, where are you from exactly? I don't think I've met anyone quite like you before, though I guess I haven't exactly been traveling the vines for that long." Suiren asks while she looks over the menu and lets Iona out of her Pokeball, who sits next to Suiren in the booth.

 
 One of Frost's thin blue eyebrows raised, and her equally blue lips pursed. It was difficult to tell if her lips were blue because she wore lipstick or because her body was so cold that she had frost bite- but blue they were. "Really? It's usually the other way around, ain't it? People only serve breakfast up to a certain point. But hey, works out for me jut fine, I love breakfast food!" Frost grinned in delight, she was rather enjoying herself in the company of this young girl, it was like having a little sister that she never had. In fact, as Suiren began to hurry along, Frost smiled in a somewhat devilish fashion and ran behind Suiren. "Oh! I guarantee that you've never met anyone quite like me, kiddo!!" The cyborg kunoichi cackled as she began skatting across the ground, her feet freezing a path for her so she was essentially ice skating rather than walking! Obviously, she was trying to show off some more in front of Suiren. That's one thing that was very obvious from this blunette- she loved to show off! 
 
 Frost skated her way around Suiren and even flipped over her head a couple of times until they finally reached the cafe. "Ah, I'm just.. from an alternative Earth, I guess? I don't really understand this whole vines, Multiverse sorta thing." She gave a helpless shrug, apparently not that fond of her world of origin to begin with. "Suffice to say, it's a violent place and people kill each other all the time. Not really a place I'd go for a vacation." Frost said as she sat on the booth with Suiren and pulled up her own menu. "Gotta say.. I kinna like this place a lot more. I don't have people breathing down my neck at all times telling me to go kill this guy, or kill this chick. I can finally be my own self. Ain't that right?" The older blunette grinned as Suiren brought out Iona, and Frost reached over to pet the water pokemon. Hopefully she wasn't scared of her after their fight! 

     Suiren grins as she watches Frost ice skate under her own frosty power down the street, with the warm tropical sun melting the trails of ice she was leaving behind before long so there wasn't much chance anyone was going to slip on her ice later. Once they've been seated, she winces a bit as Frost describes her Earth-like but decidedly more violent world of origin. "Sounds like a pretty brutal place. Here in Alola, things are pretty laid back, it really IS the sort of place many would go for a vacation." She says with a grin, and decides to order some Belgian Waffles and a side of the slow-cooked Kalua Pig. 

     As for Iona, it's oddly quite the opposite. Instead of being afraid, the normaly shy Popplio actually is warmed up to Frost after they're battle. She hops from Suiren's booth to the other side and leans into Frost's petting. Suiren smiles. "Well, I guess she actually enjoyed our battle this morning, even if she didn't win. If you give her some food she'll love you forever, just don't give her too much. She'll eat till she gets a tummy ache if you let her sometimes. Eyes bigger than her stomach."

"Oh yeah, pfft, you have no idea." Frost said a bit too relaxed as Suiren winced at her tale of how brutal her world was. Frost's tone, however, was annoyed at best rather horrified, it was as if she was complaining about bad weather back home rather than being horribly traumatized from having come from a place where brutal confrontations to the death were common. She was either totally numb about brutality of such magnitude or had no morals left that could haunt her. For all intended purposes, Frost should not be a person that could operate in civilized society, and yet there she was, about to having a pleasent meal with a girl and her pokemon that just met. Suiren was perhaps on to something though, Alola was a very relaxing place, and maybe it had a calming effect on someone even as vicious as Frost. Iona in particular seemed to have wormed her way into Frost's cold heart, and the blunette smiled her blue lips as the Popplio snuggled her. "Oh really? You're a little glutton aren't ya? Yes you are~." Grinned the kunoichi as she tickled Iona under her chin. "I guess she's like a Corgi then, I think they I heard they tend to over eat. Don't worry, I'll try to refrain myself- but it'll be hard, because she's so cute!!" She smiled again and squeezed Iona's cheeks, rubbing her nose with that of the seal Pokemon. 
 
 Eventually the waiter came to take the girls' orders, and not really knowing what to order for herself, Frost simply said to bring two of whatever Suiren ordered. Frost didn't seem like.. she had been in a restaurant before.. or had any sort of pleasent living. In fact, since she was starting to feel more comfortable around Suiren, she decided to fess up on that regard. "Hey, Suiren, listen, I didn't want to say it earlier because it's a little embarassing, but this is like.. my second time in a restaurant. I didn't get to go out much back in my world." 

     Suiren isn't sure she wants to visit Frost's world anytime soon, though it might be a real good test of her metal as a Pokemon Trainer one day. For now she is happy to be having this moment of a good meal and casual conversation with a new friend. She really enjoys watching Frost and Iona interact, finding it adorable and heartwarming. "Yeah, she's also normally pretty shy around people she doesn't know, most likely because of the treatment she suffered from Team Skull before I rescued her from them, with the help of some friends. I'm happy to see she's warming up to you." She says with a smile, watching as Iona lets out a happy cry at the attention Frost is giving her, and leans into the nose to nose boop. "Speaking of not being used to being in a restaurant, I somehow forgot to order anything to drink. What do you like? I think I'll go for some tea with honey."

 
 Frost would certainly not recommend it, and while certainly, visiting her world or any world attached to Frost's world of origin, such as; Outworld, the Netherrealm, Chaos Realm and such, would truly be places to Test Suiren's Might as a trainer- it would be sooo much more than that, and frankly Frost would not be too sure that the little girl was ready to handle that amount of ultra violence that her place offered. It would have to be something that Frost would have to say if Suiren ever made her intentions of going to her world known. As it stood, Frost already felt oddly protective about Suiren, it was an entirely new feeling for the cyborg who up until now had cared only, and exclusively about herself. One could argue that she cared for her Sifu at some point, but those feelings had quickly changed to hate and betrayal when it became clear that he didn't trust her. Suiren and Iona on the other hand.. they.. liked her? They were hanging out with her despite Frost mericlessly beating Ioana just moments ago. Frost had never experienced friendship after Kombat, and she would be remiss if she let Suiren go up and get killed by trying to go to her world. It would have to be food for thought if Suiren ever asked bout that.. 
 
 For the moment, Frost was wholly enjoying the moment with Iona. "Really? Maybe she can tell I'm a kindred spirit, I also did my time fighting in the streets and came out stronger because of it. We street urchins recognize each other, huh?" She said to Iona and booped her nose a few more times. "Hmm.." Frost rubbed her chin as Suiren asked if they should have anything to drink and suddenly Frost perked up with excitement in her icy blue eyes. "Oooh! Do they have bubble tea here!? I've freaking -killed- for bubble tea before!" Considering everything Frost had said about herself, it was likely that she was serious about having killed people just to have bubble tea. 

     Suiren smiles and nods at the assessment that both Iona and Frost have overcome their troubled origins and become stronger for it. "She's a trooper, and seems to have bonded very strongly with both me and Kaiko, my Lapras. It's like she feels like she owes us for saving her, and would go above and beyond to protect either of us. Anyway, bubble tea? I think they do, and now that you mention that, it does sound really good." She flags down the server and smiles. "We forgot to order drinks, I'll have a pecha berry bubble tea, please." She orders politely before turning back to Frost. "If you think Iona is cute now, you should see her when she evolves, though I guess the final stage is more beautiful than cute, at least in my opinion."

 
 "Hm..." That last part had hit Frost differently. Something about bonding after a great trial, and recognizing strength from each other. "I used to have someone like that.." Her eyes softened in thought at the memory of her Sifu, Sub-Zero. "But he betrayed me.. he thought that I was weak, he was never let me become beautiful like you would Iona.. I was nothing but a child to him..." Her blue eyebrows furrowed hard, but she kept her touch soft on Iona as she continued to pet her. "You're lucky, you know? You and Iona and Kaiko. I wished I had a group of friends, I wish I had a family." She exhaled cold breath from her nostrils and put on a hard face again when the server came back. As usual, she ordered the same as Suiren ordered, still not even sure what kind of options there were. "I bet Iona is gonna turn into a beautiful mermaid or whatever." Said Frost, though her words sounded dismissive, she really did mean it and she stretched her arms above her. 
 
 "Maaaan, I've known absolutely freaking nothing but Kombat all my life. I have to say it feels great having a vacation. Maybe I'll even live here and retire or something.." She set Iona more on her lap, treating her like some kind of lap dog. "Eh, but who am I kidding? I need to run around and find the toughest people in the universe and beat them up. That's my lot in life." 

     Iona seems quite content to sit in Frost's lap and be petted, and Suiren can't help but giggle as Frost mentions she'll probably turn into some sort of mermaid. "That was a very good guess I must say." She says with a grin and pulls out her phone and pulls up a picture of Popplio, Brionne, and Primarina together, and shows it to Frost. "Yeah, aren't you a little young to be retiring? Some time to relax is always nice, but especially with all these worlds connected through these vines, many needing help, or having some bad people to fight, we can't afford to be complacent, can we? The need you feel for finding the toughest people and beating them up sounds strangely similar to my need to go around finding the strongest Pokemon Trainers and beating them, it's a test of my strength as a trainer and the bond with my Pokemon. Ultimately I just want to be a researcher of marine Pokemon, but I want to be able to help when there's fighting to be done."

 
 "No way! I was right? What were the odds?" Frost chuckled with amusement as Suiren showed her the pictures. She whisteled as she viewed the Primarina picture in particular. "Now that's a pretty Pokemon. Are you gonna turn into that?" Frost asked Iona as she continued to pet her and baby talk to her, even pulling her up a bit to snuggle her. Suiren's words kind of stung, she wouldn't lie, but they did so in a funny way. "Heh, you're right.. I'm nowhere near the end of my journey. If anything.. I think I'm just getting started." Indeed, a brand new world, or universes rather, all full of fighters and ready for Kombat. It was an exciting prospect, and one that defeitly merited all the exploration that Frost could muster. It was strange that she'd find such a kindred spirit in this girl and her Pokemon. "I guess we have a lot more in common than I thought, huh?" Smirked Frost. Suiren had her beat though, she at least had a reason why she wanted to become strong, Frost on the other hand, she wanted to be strong simply for the sake of it. Eventually, the server came with their orders and Frost grinned, rubbing her palms and giving a few bites to eat to Iona first before digging in herself. 
 
 "So.. Suiren... waddaya say we like... hang out more? I could use a sparring buddy, and I bet I could teach Iona some moves." That was basically Frost's attempt at asking if Suiren wanted to be friends with her. 

     Suiren nods in agreement, she had to admit it was pretty neat that they were two very different people, from very different worlds, and yet they were sort of kindred spirits, even if they had their goals for different reasons. They both wished to get stronger and explore in pursuit of that, though Suiren had other reasons she liked to explore beyond battles. She enjoyed meeting new people and learning about the creatures that live on other worlds. "The middle evolution is called Brionne, and the final is Primarina, which actually works singing, and the use of song to control explosive water balloons, into their battle style." She explains while Frost feeds Iona some of her food. Suiren then takes a sip of her tea before digging into her waffle herself. 

     When Frost brought up hanging out more, she smiles. "Sure, I'd like that. Considering how things will likely be in off-world fights, it's probably a good idea to get Iona, maybe even Kaiko, used to battling opponents that aren't another Pokemon."

 
 Kindred souls perhaps, though as Frost knew, only to a certain extent. Suiren was an innocent, she was kinder, purer, all around nicer than anyone that Frost had ever met. Nice people tended not to survive very long in her world, and the way Suiren was treating her made Frost almost dizzy. She was so kind that it genuingly made Frost want to cry, to think that there was kindness like this in the universe and that she had never experienced. Frankly, Suiren was who she wished she could be, pure and gentle but still strong and full of conviction, and not afraid to stand up for herself. "Ahuh, ahuh..I see." Frost nodded as Suiren explained the various evolutions, and she was genuingly paying attention, but her mind and body were in bliss. She had never.. really had a friend she could hang out with. What was normal for so many people was completely foreign to someone as psychotic as Frost. She felt as if she were a demon escaping Hell for the first time. 
 
 She smiled though, one way or another, it would be her Kombat skills that would keep her in touch with Suiren. Yes.. maybe this could actually be a mutually beneficial partnership. With Frost's training, Iona and Kaiko would both be exceptionally powerful Pokemon, of that there was no doubt. "Absolutely!" She said sounding all of the sudden very enthusiastic. "I'll train Iona and Kaiko to be an unstoppable force! The likes that this world has never seen! You will be the warriors that the Lin Kuei never could be!! A HA HA HA HA!!!" She suddenly began laughing rather maniacally-- clearly someone was getting too carried away thinking she could make Suiren and her Pokemon into her personal ninja force. 

     Having eaten, and grown content after a long day with the earlier fight and all, Iona falls asleep in Frost's lap. If Suiren only knew how Frost's life had been it would make her very sad, but the strong front that the Kunoichi puts on keeps her from guessing the truth, though that maniacal laugh does get a brief raised eyebrow. "Well, I am very curious to see how you'll train them, since they're not really capable of following tradational human fighting techniques. I do also want to get some more Pokemon too. Maybe sometime you can come with me as I go trying to catch some." She says with a smile, working at her food some more, moving onto the pulled pork which she does add a little bit of syrup to, because why not?

 
 Frost leaned back on her chair after her cheer of triumph. It was surprising really, most people would have surely thought she was mad after cackling like that, but Suiren just carried on, actually eager to the training. Iona in fact was totally fast asleep on Frost's lap even. That actually spoke volumes how much the Pokemon trusted her, to sleep in front of someone meant that you utterly trusted them. It was all rather much for the hyper aggressive kunoichi, but this world was apparently full of surprises. "Oh, don't you worry about that, I can get very creative, and since Iona can manipulate water that already makes my job so much easier." Her eyes flahed with interest then as Suiren herself showed interest in bringing Frost along to her adventures, fascinating, already getting invited to some of Suiren's expiditions. "Yes.. I think we could have a lot of fun going on some adventures together...hehehe..."