Apple Hunting

Mordred entered Shadowhue Forest. In his hand was a sheet of paper. He brought it to his face, reading it for the 3rd time.

Spoiler:

"Just have to find a Big Apple..." He muttered to himself, before putting the sheet back inside his Treasure Bag. Looking around, he was greeted by the same tall trees, the same minimal sunlight, and the same eerie atmosphere.

"...Better make this quick." He proceeded to walk, paying close mind to his surroundings. Even the slightest sound of rustling caused him to react, ready to beat the sense out of whoever would dare to ambush him during his first mission.

Come on Nate, you should really be doing some jobs. I mean that is the point of joining the guild after all. Nate mentally scolded himself as he wandered around Shadowhue yet again, with no real purpose. He noticed the familiar sounds of another Pokemon nearby, and decided to do what he did best and grab onto the nearest tree, climbing up it. Once at the top, he noticed that the Pokemon was a scraggy, one that looked a bit familiar to Nate.
"Hey, have I seen them in the guild befo-" He started to murmur, when the branch he was currently situated on snapped. He let out a small yell as he fell into a bush nearby to the scraggy.

Starr shivered in fright as she tip-toed though the forest. Why did I come here? This forest is way too dark and scary...I better turn back. She looked around for a possible way out of here. Instead, she saw two pokemon she never seen before- one falling out of a tree and another one nearby. They didn't look dangerous, and her curiousity made her start to approach them.

Mordred flinched, seeing something fall into the bushes. Preparing his hand for a Sand-attack, he cautiously walked over. He was greeted by the sight of a Pikachu, a pokemon he'd seen a few times during his travels. They weren't particularly feral or dangerous, as long as you don't provoke them to use their electric attacks. Either way, they weren't an alarming threat to the Scraggy, let alone one that wasn't with a pack.

"Uh... Are you alright?" Mordred asked, looking down at the fallen Pikachu with a perplexed look on his face. He considered extending a hand and helping the fellow pokemon up to his feet, but reconsidered at the possibility of being shocked.

The Scraggy could hear another pokemon approaching. He turned his head, seeing a lone Shinx walking towards them. 'Two electric pokemon? What is this, an ambush?' He turned his attention to the fallen Pikachu. 'More like a failed one.'

Mordred walked away, a short distance from the two other pokemon. "I gotta say. This is a pretty pathetic excuse of an ambush." He said.

Nate blinked as the Scraggy came over and took a look in the bush, and started to become worried until he realized that he wasn't being seen as an immediate threat.
"Well, good thing it isn't an ambush. And thanks by the way." Nate remarked, a bit annoyed at the fact that the pokemon's first reaction was to assume it was an ambush. Then again, I just fell in from a tree. Maybe he's been ambushed by one Pokemon before- he started to think as he got up, and noticed the Shinx nearby. Oh. That explains it. He realized, it looked like an ambush from two Pokemon of the same type.
"I don't know them." He quickly explained, pointing at the Shinx. "As a matter of fact, I don't know you. That can be easily remedied though, I'm Nate. who are you two?" He asked the other Pokemon, calm and relaxed figuring that they weren't a threat.

Starr looked back and forth at each pokemon as they spoke, not processing half of what they were saying. Ambush? Why would he- As her eyes fell to the electric type nearby, she finally understood. "Yeah, I don't know him, we weren't trying to ambush you, I was just..." Her words trailed off, not knowing how to finish that sentence.
She examined the two of them more closely. They don't look much of a threat- that pikachu, who had called himself Nate, seemed friendly enough, but she was unsure about the other one. However, it won't hurt to talk to them, for at least a little while.
The best thing to do was to try to be friendly. "Well, I'm Starr. I somehow ended up in this forest... I'm pretty unfamilar with this area, so yeah." She noticed before that the other pokemon seemed to be looking for something. "So, why are you here?," starting to regain her confidence.

Mordred stayed silent as the two pokemon introduced themselves. He looked back and forth, silently judging them. The Pikachu seemed friendly, same for the Shinx. They seemed sincere when they admitted that they didn't know each other, so the possibility of them lying seemed low. But the Scraggy still had his doubts. Besides, he didn’t come here to talk with strange pokemon appearing out of nowhere.

"I'm Mordred, an explorer for Grassveil's Guild." The Scraggy said, "It was nice meeting you both, but I'm currently on a mission. I have to obtain a Big Apple for a client." And with that, he turned back to the path and continued to walk. 'No time to waste. If I take too long to retrieve some stupid apple, I'll look like a complete idiot!'

I was right then, maybe I have seen him around the guild before. Of course maybe it's a coincidence too, I don't know. Nate figured as Mordred and Starr introduced themselves, although Mordred definitely seemed a bit preoccupied at the moment.
"Well, I'm just here to wander around a bit. I could help you out with your mission though, I mean I am a part of an exploration team too." He suggested to the scraggy, genuinely wanting to help out. Not wanting to lose his potential temporary acquaintance, he started to take a couple steps after him, following behind him a couple of feet down the path.

At first, Starr planned on insisting to help the Scraggy with his mission. However, although she sincerely wanted to help him, she changed her mind when she heard Nate speak. The Pikachu had revealed himself as a part of an exploration team. Both of them are already experienced... I never even been in this forest before. Mordred looks really busy, I would probably not even be not much help anyway.
Starr started to say goodbye and turn around, maybe try to find a way out of the forest. However, she decided to quietly follow Nate and Mordred for at least a while, just to hear what they were saying.

'Well, that's a convenient coincidence. Another explorer to accompany me. Then again, there are a lot of explorations in Shadowhue...' Mordred thought as he continued down the path. He didn't stop or slow down, but he had the courtesy to at least respond to the pokemon following him.

"Well, thanks for coming with me, Nate. But I don't really need help..." The Scraggy shook his head, finding the comment rude. After all, the pokemon offered him, someone who's not even on the same team, assistance on finishing his first mission. "Uh, but you're free to come along I guess." He added quickly.

And then, by some ironic fate, the Scraggy went and slipped on an item, falling face-first on the dirt. Seems like someone should pay more attention to their feet. Mordred spat out some dirt, shuddering at the taste as he scrambled back onto his feet.

This dice is not existing.

"No worries, and not to seem selfish or anything but I don't have much else to do right now so I might as well go with you." Nate commented, noticing that he was falling behind a little bit and started to quicken his pace to catch up to Mordred just as he tripped on something, causing him to land in the dirt. Blinking, Nate looked down to see what he tripped over and picked it up, noticing the scraggy getting up on his own.
"Huh. It's an apple, too bad it isn't a big apple. I thought you were going to end up with an easy mission for a second." He joked, holding out the apple to Mordred. "Here, you can take it. Get the taste of the dirt out of your mouth." Nate continued, tossing the apple up in the air and catching it a couple times.

star-bursts has been skipped due to inactivity in this thread. I've already sent her a PM long ago reminding her to post, yet she hasn't. She can rejoin, if she wishes. Sorry, but I really want to finish this mission and I refuse to let all this posting work die because of a simple inactivity without even the slightest reason why.

The Scraggy continued sputtering out dirt, paying no mind to the Pikachu's words. He'd landed face-first frequently, especially during his travels, but whatever had gotten in his mouth was tasted far worse than dirt. He looked down, seeing the dirt he'd just spat out to be a little darker than the others, possibly because of spit. But if there's one thing he was sure of, the dirt around here was far less reddish than it was.

Mordred stopped, running his tongue around in his mouth in search of an injury. It couldn't be that he had a dental injury. He didn't have any dental issues when he left the town, and for certain his teeth were strong enough for such a small fall. Nope, definitely no issues in there. He shook his head, thinking it was just some issues with the soil.

He finally looked at Nate, staring at the Apple with slight disappointment. "Well, it would've been pretty anti-climactic if that happened. Thanks." He held up a hand, accepting the apple and putting it in his bag. "I'll just keep it for now. Emergencies, you know?" And with that, he continued on his way, attempting to forget about the reddish substance he'd just spat out.

"Anti-climactic, but easier. I mean come on, does everything have to be difficult and flashy?" Nate commented, smirking and shaking his head at the thought. He seemed to encounter plenty of pokemon who talked about things like they were some kind of game or staged performance. It really couldn't hurt to have things be more simple then they have to be every once in a while.

Looking back up, he noticed the dirt Mordred had spit out, and it seemed a bit redder then the dirt around it. That's strange. Wonder what that's all about? He thought to himself as he noticed the Scraggy moving on, and ran over to him to catch up. "So, do you have any partners on your team?" He asked, deciding to try and make conversation as they walked through the forest.

"Anti-climactic, but easier. I mean come on, does everything have to be difficult and flashy?"

Mordred raised a brow, amused at the comment. "Hey, I'm sure you wanted your first mission to be memorable. Heck, I would've chosen a higher mission if it weren't for the fact my team is still new." This pokemon seemed awfully laid back, but the Scraggy didn't mind. It meant less humiliating and irritating moments, and would be a way more tolerable partner compared to an obnoxious, bullying explorer. Luck seemed to be on his side today, at least, even for a little bit.

"So, do you have any partners on your team?"

The comment reminded the Scraggy about his first attempt at the Guild. The memory of the fiasco made him frown slightly, still feeling the burn of humiliation from the event. He embarrassed and abandoned his partner, or who would've been his partner. "No. I'm on my own in my team." He replied, just barely at hearing range. "How about you? You don't seem to have any team members around." He asked, noticing how the Pikachu did not seem to have any companions nearby.

Nate chuckled a bit, hearing Mordred's comment about Nate's first mission, not knowing that this actually was it. "Actually, about that, this is kind of my first official mission. And even then, it's not exactly official, since it's yours." He responded. He wasn't lying, it was his first real mission, but he did have a bit of experience before joining the guild, not much but enough to at least have an arguably decent sense of how things go and how to do various tasks.

Glancing over at the Scraggy as he explained about being on his own team, Nate couldn't help but notice a hint of maybe being upset, or shame maybe. I'll let him deal with that problem himself, it's not like I'm everyone's local therapist. He thought to himself as he began to think of how to respond. "Well, no, not yet at least. I'm on my own too, but I'm guessing I'll find someone around who ends up interested a bit later on." He told Mordred, not seeming too upset at it. Continuing to walk, he started to slow down as he heard some noises coming from the bushes. "Hey, do you hear that?" He asked, wondering what it was.

This dice is not existing.

This dice is not existing.