Why Are These Trees Fabulous?

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This dungeon talked a lot of crap for being in Osiris' backyard.

A tiny, cerulean noodle slithered through the tall grass of Shadowhue Forest, eyes squinty and mistrusting. This dratini liked to think he'd been around the block a few times, but when running through his mental resume of being an awesome dude, he realized he hadn't quite explored the depths of Shadowhue yet. He hadn't really explored any of the dungeons close to Grassveil, and while Pecha was excusable because that was boring and for little kids, this place was supposed to be different.

So. It was on. As part of his new resolution to get his act together, get strong and powerful and skilled, and defend his friends and help them out of the awful situations they'd found themselves in, he was going to climb the ladder. He'd start with this dungeon and work his way up to the biggest and baddest of them, and then he'd swoop back into their lives like a superhero and fix everything.

For now, he merely pasted on a determined expression, fastened his satchel to himself, and slithered into the depths of the gloomy forest. The dragon-type's eyes were peeled for interesting matchups and discoveries.

43 - 10 (entry cost): 33 energy

"Oh."

Osiris was quiet in turn after his companion finished talking, laying there in the dirt digesting her words. He frowned absently as he listened to the snowstorm up above get louder, and as hunks of ice smacked him upside the head more frequently. This situation had gotten out of hand rather quickly in his opinion. Most of his adventures did, to be fair, but this time it happened in record time.

He wasn't absentminded enough to miss out on the change in Robin's mood, and her obvious guilt. He just wasn't immediately sure how to approach it. "It's alright, Robin. No biggie - I'm fine, you're fine, and we got a way out of this pit-trap and away from this stinky egg dude," Iris tried after a moment, scooching forward and raising himself up shakily. It was a struggle, and he cursed himself for that—if it was him in her place, he'd just want things to move on without any reminder of their collective mistakes. He sent her a shaky smile. "If anything, it's his fault, yannow? We wouldn't be down here if he wasn't such a creeper."

The dratini glanced at the unconscious grass-type, a wave of frustration and anger rushing through him. What kind of jerk dug holes in the ground to ambush unsuspecting travelers? He was upset with the gall of this creature and his own inability to dominate the situation. That's why he'd come here, to practice and gain strength so these situations would stop happening, but there really was no escaping the dangers of exploration, it seemed. "Let's get moving, yeah?" Osiris pitched, nodding sideways toward the tunnel entrance, his tone of voice light and soothing.

+1 energy (new page): 5 energy

the sunset hero carried out 5 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

, , , ,

Robin's Energy: 2
+ 1 (New Page)

Ha. She could almost laugh, in that moment. He was far too kind to her, giving her far more credit than she deserved. She laid down and buried her face in the backs of her paws for a moment, just one, to wipe away the tears that were blurring her vision. Hopefully he hadn't seen that. She inhaled deeply, shoving those thoughts to the back of her mind. "Alright." She echoed, her voice sounding a touch more hollow than she intended, just a bit too weak. "Okay."

Was he trying to spare her dignity? Bold to assume she had any left, but she did suppose that the thought was kind. His voice was reassuring, despite everything, a faint hum as if he was speaking to a wounded animal. Fitting. In that heartbeat, she felt like nothing more.

She nodded along with his suggestion to keep moving, all too eager to leave that incident in the dust. She bit back another apology, only motioning towards the tunnel. "Yeah. Okay. Let's see where it goes."

Venusian carried out 2 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

,

The dratini nodded, mostly relieved once Robin acquiesced to his suggestion. She was probably going to keep thinking that this little accident was her fault, but short of pursuing the topic further, there was nothing that he could do about that. And the quicker they moved on the better, he thought.

So he said nothing further, merely gritting his teeth and slithering forward, ignoring the aching pain that echoed through his whole body. He led the two of them into the tunnel proper, eyes wary and curious as they descended. In hindsight, it had to be some kind of exit; a pokemon as big as that exeggutor couldn't get out of its own trap otherwise. Osiris just hoped that there were no branching paths or other kinds of shenanigans down here.

One problem became evident rather quickly, though; there was no form of light down here. "I don't suppose you know how to make fire, do you?" he asked mostly rhetorically. "Or any kind of light?" For all that his ally looked like a vulpix, everything about her screamed "ice-type" for all the world to hear. He slowed down as the light that entered the tunnel from the pitfall began to fade before they truly waded into the darkness.

If she didn't, he had a workable solution he'd used before, but it was unwieldy at best, and liable to backfire at worst.

(Robin's Energy: 0)

"... No, I can't." Robin admitted, biting her tongue before yet another apology could escape her. That, at least, wasn't her fault. She couldn't change the kind of pokemon she was born as, though she would have if she could. Her stumble as she forced her way forward was proof enough that they really needed some kind of light to keep going forward. But what could they do? They were stuck down here, so they couldn't exactly leave and find a torch.

She fell quiet once more. Being a fire type certainly would have been more useful, she thought dryly. She would have double checked her bag, if she trusted herself not to lose her things, scrambling around in the dark. "Unless you have something, we're out of luck."

"Well... yeah, I've got something. You might wanna get in front of me though," Osiris advised, heaving a put-upon sigh at that. "It's not... unsafe, but it ain't safe, either." He wasn't disappointed in Robin, just with the fact that he had to do this whole act again. The dragon wyrm shook himself out and allowed the alolan vulpix a moment to move forward before he began.

After a moment of concentration, the dratini's tail lit up with a steady crickle-and-crackle of electricity, static streamlines dancing around it steadily. Osiris grimaced, the feeling of keeping it contained in his tail supremely uncomfortable, like a million ants crawling around his skin. It made him feel both jittery and on-edge, as the move thunder-wave probably wasn't made to be used this way.

Still, it worked in a pinch, and he doubted they had a lot of ground to cover regardless. "It's kind of a pain because it can slip out and paralyze someone if it tags them," Iris explained. The light flickered up all around them, in and out in sync with the dancing of static on Osiris' tail, giving them only flashes of clarity into the tunnel. "And it's not the most consistent flashlight. Better than nothing, though."

Not unsafe, but not safe? Whatever that meant, it wasn't exactly reassuring. She followed his directions with a slight tilt of her head, curious and anxious as to what he was planning. A faint yellow light sprung from Osiris' tail, leaving Robin to stare in surprise. What move was that, even? Whatever it was, it didn't seem to be meant for this purpose. It made a rather poor flashlight, truth be told, only giving them irregular flickers of the path ahead. It was better than the dark, doubtlessly, but the flashing strained her eyes. All the more reason to get out of here soon. She couldn't imagine that was pleasant for Iris, either.

She made a quick pace, occasionally punished with a stumble over a rock or lump of dirt for her hurrying. The path never grew tight, for the two. It was clearly meant for something much bigger than them, or so Robin suspected, as she lead the way forward into the dark. Still, it didn't take long for it to open up into a pit, of sorts. Roots snaked at the top of the cavern, converging at the central point in an odd knot. Robin gave a thoughtful hum as she stepped forward. She squinted, and in the flickering light-

"Iris! Over here. Look at the roots, I think this is what I was looking for!" She chimed, a glimpse of excitement clear in her tone. Enough to overshadow her previous guilt, at least for a moment. It was hard to tell in the flickering light, but she'd swear she could make out a flash of icy blue, a streak of leaf-green. If she could just get a bit of a closer look, she could make sure...

... Robin was, blissfully unaware, that she was mere feet from a sleeping Drampa, too focused on the curiosity above her head.

Dutifully, the dratini followed his companion, slithering after the alolan vulpix at a more sedate pace. He moved carefully with the taser-light in his tail, having to devote concentration and thought into keeping it into place. It was an unorthodox application of the move that he hadn't quite gotten the hang of yet, and probably wouldn't considering how awkward it felt to trap electricity under his scales for a long period of time.

Osiris felt the beginnings of a smile tug at his snout, some cheer bleeding into his mood when Robin found another clue. He wasn't sure what was so exciting about rainbow trees, but he came up behind her to study her findings. The dratini raised his tail up slightly to focus his flickering flashlight skyward. A myriad of ropy tree roots lined the tunnel's ceiling, and as the electricity flickered, he could make out quite a bit of color in them. He shifted his tail to the side, following their trail on the other side of the ceiling... next to a slumbering dragon pokemon, peaceful and terrifying as can be.

"Oh," he uttered, audible and echoey in the tunnels. Osiris cursed himself for a moment, but his voice didn't seem to wake the pokemon. "Ah... maybe we stay quiet." the dratini continued in a whisper, gesturing with his snout at the bigger dragon-type.

Oh. Oh, she should have seen that. Kicking herself for her lack of attention, she stepped back carefully from the dragon, her eyes wide. She didn't dare to speak in the moment, holding her breath as it stirred with a loud yawn... only to fall back into it's slumber, quiet snores echoing through the chamber. It looked downright peaceful. She only nodded and gave it a very wide berth as she found another tunnel leading further in, this one even larger in size than the last. They'd have no trouble fitting, at least. Her voice was still a whisper as they walked, even if they had now gained some distance, likely enough to stay safe.

"Thanks for catching that for me." She managed. 'Sorry's got annoying, but maybe 'thank you's would be more acceptable. "We're really close, I know it. If we can just keep track of where those roots were, and find the same place where that cavern was, but above ground... they should be right there, right?" The knowledge was exciting to her, at least, the idea that they were so close. They walked a while longer before a fresh breeze started to blow through the tunnel, ruffling Robin's fur.

Fresh air. They must be almost out.

"Probably, yeah," Osiris echoed in absent agreement, voice still hushed so as not to wake up the larger dragon-type they just passed. "If not, we can always ask around. Someone's bound to have seen some rainbow trees at some point." He didn't have his heart set on her plan - he was kind of bad with directions. No matter what though, they'd been directly underneath what Robin thought was the grand prize, so no matter where they came up at, they'd be close to the goal.

He trailed dutifully behind the alolan vulpix still, tail-light flickering with electricity. He felt the breeze as much as she did, wincing at the cold air brushing across his bruised scales. The dratini knew he was going to be sore in the morning after this little misadventure. "Either way, we're getting closer," he mumbled, following the ice-type around the corner and catching a ray of light coming their way. It wasn't strong or large, but it was enough - somewhere close, there was an entrance back to the surface.  

He followed the path outward, coming to what looked to be a hasty dead-end. The tunnel ended with a heap of soil piled-up against the wall, like someone had sealed off the tunnel entrance in a hurry with some kind of rock or ground-type move. Osiris raised an eyebrow at the sight, taking in the smatterings of light peeking through the big ol' dirt mound. The thunder-wave on his tail flickered out, and he shook himself out absently. "Gimmie a lil' space," he requested quietly, lining his face up with the center of the exit.

The dratini focused for a moment, gathering angry thoughts in his mind as he stared at the heap of soil that he really didn't want to have to dig through. Osiris sucked in a gasp of breath, held it for a moment, and then let it loose with a muted roar. A viridian shockwave burst from his open mouth and shot across the tunnel, crashing into the mound of dirt and blowing it outward, blasting the tunnel wide-open. The sight of the forest outside warmed him slightly, tall billowing trees and thick grass visible from behind the results of the small explosion. With a bit of a climb and a jump, they'd be free to head on out and renew their search distraction-free.

Now, that was odd. It looked... hastily sealed. Robin's expression flickered into a thoughtful frown. She followed Osiris' directions, tucking herself a bit farther away than was necessary. His makeshift flashlight flickered out, leaving her blind except for the flickers of sunlight that sneaked through the heap of soil. She didn't have a good feeling about this. Whatever had sealed up the tunnel might still be on the other side. Still, the path at least looked clear, from where they were standing...

"Nice!" She chimed, starting the somewhat awkward and graceless climb. It was far from her finest moment, but the path wasn't steep enough to give her any major trouble. With dirt lodged under her claws, and a somewhat shaky smile, she glanced back at Osiris to make sure he'd make it up alright. She would imagine that climbing would be harder without, you know, limbs.

She hadn't realized how much she'd missed being above ground under she felt the dapples of sunlight across her fur. It was a comforting warmth, if not enough so to completely brush her guilt away. She would need to make that up to him somehow, even if he'd insisted it hadn't been her fault... that was kind of him to say, but she couldn't imagine how it wasn't.

"Hanging in there? I think I have an oran berry or reviver seed in here somewhere, if we need it."

"Aw, that's... well, honestly, that sounds great right about now."

Osiris had started to wave her offer off out of habit and an urge to be polite, but mid-sentence it occurred to him that his everything was still in pain. He started the arduous climb up the dirt pile with that motivation in mind, eager to haul himself up to receive his grand prize of some freakin' healing. It was awkward and tedious, as he often slipped through the soil and had to really work to get a decent grip on climbing holds, but he hauled himself up soon enough. The dratini slithered out of the tunnel exit, coming to a stop next to the vulpix waiting for him.

Osiris stretched himself out like a limbless cat, relishing in the warmer temperature and fresh air. A moment later and he accepted his companion's offer, raising himself up and taking the offered reviver seed and chewing with gusto. "Mmm... that's more like it. I owe you one, Robin," he sighed after swallowing, closing his eyes as the seed worked its magic on him. An instant later and he visibly rebounded, hopping up on the spot as renewed energy and health spread through him. Osiris took a deep breath, exhaling powerfully as he looked around curiously. Now in his peak condition, he wasn't about to let him and his new friend caught off guard by anything silly like wild ambushing ducks or sneaky pitfall traps.

The two of them had been simply dumped out in another section of boring-looking forest, it appeared. It was a slightly more populous area than where they'd come from, though - at the base of a tree a ways away, he spotted a pair of slakoth lazily lounging in the sunlight. The flapping of wings alerted him to a noctowl flying overhead, swooping through the treetops with practiced ease, giving a pair of passing by ninjask a healthy berth. They all appeared nonhostile to him, merely going about their business. He glanced back at his ally. "So... which way did you reckon those roots led to?" he prompted.

+46 energy (Reviver seed from mine inventorio)

the sunset hero carried out 5 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

, , , ,

(side note I got like almost twenty of these things and I see you got like one, so if you wanna steal one of mine and keep yours, feel free)

(Ehe, sounds good. Thanks, Sun!)

Robin's expression lit up as her companion visibly rebounded. He'd taken quite a beating, one that Robin wasn't exactly blameless for... but maybe they could call it even now, even in her mind. "Nah, you really don't owe me anything. Let's call it even, and I'm happy." She chimed, glancing around the little clearing. It was certainly more lively here, wasn't it? She even saw a Heracross ramming a tree with his horn, looking quite satisfied when he managed to rattle it enough to knock some apples from it.

Now, which way had the root led? Her expression shifted in thought, trying to remember the direction they'd gone in the shifting tunnel. She frowned in quiet contemplation, pacing back and forth as she tried to mentally retrace her steps. "Let's see, we went forward, then it slanted a little bit right, so I think the trees were in... that direction?" She pointed vaguely to the southwest. She wasn't as confident or precise as she would have liked to be, but it was something.

She started moving in the direction she had pointed in, a genuine smile crossing her face. "The tunnel wasn't that long, so I'm sure we're close. Just let me know if you see anything weird!"

"It seems like everything's weird around here," Osiris replied distractedly, dutifully following the alolan vulpix.

It was probably a little bit sad that the assortment of randomly hostile pokemon was less weird than strangely colored trees, though. Every time he and Robin passed a thicket or a bush, he half expected something to pop out and attack them without warning. As far as mystery dungeons went, it wasn't uncommon, but unlike himself, he wasn't sure if Robin had signed up for such an endeavor, not that she was complaining. "I hope your friend's grateful for all the trouble you're going through for 'em," he said absently, speaking mostly just to fill up the silence. He wasn't suspicious so much as curious. "Winston, right? Is he some kind of nature researcher or something?"

He wanted to ask if that was her deal, but she'd said something about doing him a favor. For all Osiris knew, she was just a regular Grassveil citizen with a penchant for sniffing out irregularities in forests. It could've been a personal thing. Either way, he wanted to know. Maybe she was getting paid - if it was a job, he might be interested in seeing if this Winston guy had more work to be done.

"Yeah, true enough." Robin mused, walking along idly. This forest was quite odd, wasn't it? Designing a trap like that implied a level of intelligence that she rarely attributed to feral pokemon. Or had he simply taken it over? It was odd, either way, and definitely something to mention in her report later... ah, speak of the devil, and there he is. Of course her ties to Windrose would rear up again. She didn't exactly enjoy lying about it, but she hardly had the authority to be speaking about a secret organization, much less bring new members into it. She had only just been recruited, after all.

(And, unfortunately for Robin, it wasn't actually secret; but the poor fox didn't know that just yet.)

"Winston? Yes, in a way. He's a nature researcher, but not just that. He's trying to understand what makes mystery dungeons tick, investigate the oddities and rumors like these rainbow trees-" She hopped over a little brook, turning back to glance at Osiris. "And ultimately, make a map of the world." Such a thing... wasn't a personal interest of hers, so much as the respect and rewards that would come with participating in such a goal.

She left that part conveniently unspoken.

That sounded like something he could probably get behind.

Not that Osiris was anything of a cartographer or a researcher, but no one could deny the usefulness of maps and good directions. He did absolutely hate getting lost, though, so this Winston guy sounded like a good guy to him, trying to eliminate that little possibility from everyone's lives. "Pretty ambitious," he noted, a note of excitement trickling into his voice despite himself. "That's cool. D'you like this kinda stuff too, or did you just owe him a favor?" the dratini asked, tilting his head up at the alolan vulpix as he slithered along at her side.

He imagined it was the former. Robin seemed pretty invested in all of this; she sounded excited when they came across clues and despondent when they faced setbacks. It was hard for him not to get a little wrapped up in it now that he had a bit of context; as much as he wanted to be an explorer, taking the fight to mother nature and cracking the case on mystery dungeons sounded pretty cool too.