A Prankster in the Woods

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The sun was shining brightly overhead in the Pecha Forest as an unfamiliar nuisance swung through the trees, chittering away with laughter while an angry Patrat gave chase. Jumping acrobatically from branch to branch, the highly amused Aipom stayed just ahead of his pursuer, his arms full of the berries he’d swiped from the scouting Pokemon.

He hadn’t exactly stolen them, of course. Cracker had every intention of returning every last one of the little fruits. His hope was to befriend the squirrely rodent, although snatching the Pokemon’s hard-earned meal probably wasn’t the best way of going about it. The error of his way didn’t cross the Aipom’s mind even once, however. To him, it was a fun game of tag, and if the Patrat caught up, he’d gladly hand over the berries and offer to be friends. In fact, even if it failed to reach him, he’d still eventually give them back.

Of course, with the Patrat chasing him in his domain, it was a struggle just for it to keep Cracker in sight as the Aipom swung left and right, utilizing his tail against tree-trunks to double back and drop down a branch then back up. It was a miracle he didn’t make the Pokemon dizzy with his display of athletic prowess.

Quickly realizing his quarry was unable to keep up, Cracker had taken to dancing elaborate circles around the Pokemon, but in doing so he opened himself up for a very unpleasant attack. Clearly at the end of its tolerance for this rude behavior, the Patrat utilized its egg move Iron Tail and summarily struck every branch in the vicinity until eventually the branch the Aipom was landing on became the next victim.

Squealing in surprise, Cracker dumped his ill-gotten treasure in favor of saving himself from an unwanted trip to the forest floor. The berries flew up into the air as the Aipom’s tail whipped out to wrap around a nearby branch and swing him back onto a solid footing. Patting his chest, he waited for his heart to stop racing while overhead the Patrat snatched up what few berries hadn’t fallen to the ground and stuffed them into its mouth for safe keeping.

Once the Patrat had stuffed its face full, it turned to Cracker with a glare. Sitting on the branch, the long-tailed Pokemon waved in a friendly manner. Rather than attack or show a similar kindness, it huffed in irritation and leapt down into the bushes below, no doubt to reclaim the remaining berries it had lost.

Cracker frowned, watching it go. Oh well, he thought sullenly. It was worth a try.

Hopping back to his feet, the Aipom was just about to carry on his own way when a rustling nearby drew his attention. It came from the direction opposite of where the Patrat had disappeared. Maybe it’s a new friend! Cracker thought excitedly. Bouncing onto his tail, the Pokemon sprang from the branch to another, closer to the sounds of movement. This time he was going to do it right; this time he was going to make a new friend properly.

Immediately after having attempted to usher the Charmander into the water against his will, Cracker could sense a strong desire from the Pokemon to do exactly the opposite. The deep skid marks in the grass and Ares stiffening up harder than a tree trunk were pretty big give-aways too. He really should've given the idea more thought, or waited a little longer for a response before trying to drag the fire-type into the lake with him, but as always the Aipom's excitable nature and lack of fore-thought struck again. But at least this time he'd become aware of what he was doing, thanks to a fiery reminder, no less. Being a normal-type Pokemon he wasn't affected the same way those with particular elemental abilities were. Heck, much of his teachings when he was younger revolved around how to behave in the presence of others. These lessons of course had all been blatantly disregarded in favor of pulling pranks and playing games. Only now did he realize that maybe he'd have been a little better off socially if he'd taken what his Elders were trying to teach him to heart.

It must've been sheer luck that Ares didn't react violently to the idea of going for a swim. Cracker still didn't know the Charmander all that well, so he could only assume that him lacking a threatening nature was what saved his skin. It was either that, or the Pokemon had far more patience that he'd let on initially when their meeting went south in such a hurry. But then, he had been chucking nuts at him quite mercilessly. And looking back on that now, he felt bad about it. Normally his games were harmless, but for some reason this time he'd thought it a good idea to attack instead. The Aipom promptly shook his head sharply to the side, blinking his eyes several times to clear his mental slate of all these intruding thoughts. Ares was speaking, now that Cracker had ceased his insistent offer of going for a swim with his new friend. He was certainly right that it was better to be safe than sorry, though it was rarely a rule the monkey lived by. His nature of acting before thinking tended to come into direct conflict with his own safety on more than one occasion.

He nodded slowly as the Charmander explained he was better built to be swimming in lava. Just hearing that made the Aipom stare in awe at the red-scaled lizard. He couldn't imagine even being close to a pool of molten rock, let alone dipping a toe in. It would certainly be blasted off in the immense, fiery heat. But at least Ares forgave Cracker for his earlier transgression; he even offered for the Aipom to show off while he watched. He couldn't have thought of a better thing to do than display his aquatic prowess. Jumping into the air, Cracker landed on his tail and clapped his paws together excitedly.

"What a great idea!" he squealed with delight. "I'm a really good swimmer you know! It's almost like swinging through the trees, just wetter--oh! I know! I've got this really neat trick I used to do, you'll love it!"

Bubbling with joy, he bounced up and down on his tail, the ground impacting and beginning to crumble beneath his big beefy tail. The impression in the earth was spreading as it began to sink. Completely oblivious to what his antics had triggered though, the Aipom leapt back onto his feet and turned with the intent of leading the way closer to the shore.

"So can you really swim in lav--" he started to say.

In what seemed like an instant, the ground beneath him dropped away into blackness, with him following shortly after with a trailing screech of surprise. One moment he was standing in daylight and warmth, and the next he was surrounded by night, falling into the unknown. What seemed like a long, endless drop, actually hit bottom with a loud series of splashes only a few seconds after he disappeared into the dark pit. The monkey was thrust deep into a black pool of water, panicked and struggling to the surface, with out the thumping of his own heart to guide him. Meanwhile above ground the hole grew wider, swallowing lumps of grass and dirt, seemingly intent on gobbling up the Charmander as well.

It was excellent to see that Cracker had so admirably accepted his proposed compromise for the initial act. Though perhaps it might have been in Ares's disposition to react violently or become hostile and belligerent towards any denizen - friend or foe - to shove him rigidly into a pool of liquid death, he had resisted such urges primarily because he had desired to better himself. What good would have come if he had snapped at the purple monkey with claws and flame? Nothing: his attempt to make a friend of a different personality trait would have then been rendered vain and would have returned them both to step one of their bonding process. Such an encounter might have rendered their relationship void, and thus would have concluded their short, prompt journey together. This was why it correlated so nicely with a minute reform in his own behavior and mannerism: should he find himself able to withhold violence for more diplomatic and peaceful abilities, then it would allow him to further hone this and attempt to focus that newly released energy into other favorable arts. As it stood right now, such changes would require infinitesimal sized steps to progress.

Up and down Cracker bounced, sending his large, three-fingered paw directly onto the loose soil that congregated beneath his feet. It was beyond Ares's imagination as to what might occur upon such moveable dirt, for it had certainly appeared safe and sound to apply weight onto moments ago. He had merely stared on in amused merriment as the Aipom displayed his happiness in such a physical way, and had even allowed his arms bend at their elbows and his hands to connect with his sides as he watched.

Bounce, bounce, bounce.

How was he to know that under that layer of soil lie caked, hardened dirt that was as fragile as china? Dirt must have slithered through as the thumping persisted like shivers caused by the cold. There must have been quite the commotion beneath the surface as vibration after vibration opened a series of cracks that would eventually give way and yield a pit.

Ares was about to explain that yes, he could swim in lava and do so without climbing out onto a molten rock looking like a crispy bit of lizard when it happened. A gaping hole, bleak darkness: that was what consumed the purple-furred animal whole. There was little time for him to react as the tops of the creature's ears had disappeared into the abyss, and by the time that he had even taken a step forward to attempt a rescue, the ground had rumbled and growled with unsatisfied hunger. It turned its greedy eyes upon him and caused the earth to sink rapidly, pulling him down to its seemingly never ending gullet. In an instant, he felt his feet land upon air; in the next, he felt the sensation of falling envelop him. The Unknown had come to confront him, and now had devoured him - it was his worst nightmares come true.

What seemed like eternity to Ares was more likely a few seconds. The sounds of a heavy splash alerted him to his fate prior to himself penetrating the chilled surface. Though silence had initially been his terrified reaction to being dropped like a hot potato into nothingness, an agitated yelp was uttered mere milliseconds before his own warmth was submerged beneath the black surface of icy water. This was a terrible circumstance to be in, and he felt like he was ever sinking. Water did not have the same consistency of molten lava, and thus his heavy limbs flailed desperately about as he attempted swim upwards. Bubbles from his nostrils escaped rapidly, his eyes flickering about as he attempted to register how close to the surface he was from the dim light provided by his dwindling tail, and he felt the horrendous tear of dying in isolation.

The fall and the cold water weren't nearly as frightening as the darkness that accompanied it. Cracker knew how to swim and having been born in the trees even knew how to take a fall, but without a light to see by, he was spinning in an empty void, unable to tell which way was up. He was beginning to run out of air as he struggled to find the surface in this cold, inky black Hell he'd found himself in. His heartbeat pounded loudly in his ears as he struggled blindly. All he needed was a light, something to guide him, to give him a shred of hope.

He began to feel that it was over, that this was going to be his grave, when a small fiery glow appeared in the blackness, like a single star in the night sky. The Aipom halted his panicked flailing and stared at the small orb. It flickered and grew weaker, as though it was about to go out. Almost immediately, the panic returned. If this little light was the way out he had to get to it before it disappeared forever. Renewing his struggles, he began swimming frantically towards a fading little star that seemed to drift further away with every bit of effort he put into trying to reach it.

For a while he thought it was just taunting him with the promise of life, when finally and abruptly he was upon it. He reached out and grabbed it, receiving a terrific burn in return that nearly made him release the last bit of air in his lungs. It was hot, like fire... Cracker reached for it again, but instead of grabbing the flame, he found Ares' tail instead. Oh no! He didn't fall in too, did he? he thought in terror. The light he saw was the fire burning at the end of the Charmander's tail, and sure enough, it was growing weaker by the second.

In the dim glow of the Pokemon's tail, Cracker could see the rest of Ares sinking into the darkness below. He had to do something quick or they'd both perish in this hole. Without giving it another thought, the Aipom wrapped his tail around the Charmander's body and struggled to drag the both of them to the surface. It was difficult though, almost impossible. He had no idea how far it was to the world above. All he could do was kick his arms and legs and pray.

He wasn't sure how long he fought against the pull of gravity trying to drag them to the depth, but when his head finally breached the surface, it had felt like an eternity. The Aipom took a deep ragged breath, splashing helplessly as he whipped his head around in search of a rock or some spit of land to swim to, but in his panic, he nearly forgot about Ares still dangling from his tail beneath the surface. Ducking into the water for a moment, he hoisted the Charmander up with him, casting a glance up to the big white hole above that they had fallen into.

They'd clearly tumbled into a sink hole. A sizeable one at that. In the light cast from above, Cracker was eventually able to locate and begin swimming towards a smooth cavern floor. By the time he arrived, he was breathless and exhausted. After hoisting Ares out of the water, he dragged himself ashore as well. Flopping onto his back, he struggled to catch his breath, shivering in the cool air of the cavern.

"I'm... crossing lakes off my... list of places to... to visit," he wheezed.

He felt the oxygen slipping forth from his lungs in copious amounts. His movements did little to alleviate this, as each muscle consumed more of his precious air with each volatile thrash. For a moment, death seemed too close: his vision would darken, his limbs would grow unresponsive, and his mind began to drift into the aether-like fog that consumed all. He reflected as time moved slowly and he gazed on towards the abyssal darkness upon his life; however, such thoughts rendered him defiant. Ares would hate to go out as a cliche, in which all protagonists tend to see their life flash before their eyes. He was perturbed by the fact that it was actually occurring, and how he had very little control over it. He was all about control, at the end of the day, and the one thing that he was supposed to steer with faulty clairvoyance was now slipping from his clutches.

The Charmander's flame was a rugged and pioneering little spark that indicated his life's energy. It had dwindled considerably to the point of being but a tiny ember, but had resisted being extinguished in sheer defiance. The water attempted to consume and smother, to besiege and ransack the tiny fire, but remained rebuked for the interim. As it became more apparent that the chilling liquid had finally succeeded, something penetrated its red hue. It would falter momentarily, as if stunned and startled by something making contact with it, but would quickly quiver back into its resistance as the curious object retracted itself. Though quite near unconsciousness by this point, the sensation of being pulled as effectively as a sack of potatoes stirred within him hope. It resounded throughout his senses and consumed his heart, providing fuel for his flame to stay lit for but a little while longer. It was the sloshing sound of water separating that finally stirred his body into cooperation, along with the feeling of chilled air making contact with his skin.

His head had sliced through the water's rolling surface prior to the rest of his body, and this occurrence was salvation. Though at first his nostrils were tentative to draw in breath in fear of inhaling water, they would eventually relax and allow oxygen to flow into his deprived, water-filled lungs. Water dribbled forth from the corners of his mouth as his eyes remained shut, his diaphragm beginning to pump out the unwelcome liquid by squeezing tight upon his thoracic cavity to induce coughing. That was all that there was in that silence: hacking and wheezing as his body desperately began to recuperate. Only the sensation of cold rock against his orange-scaled flesh would fully rally his body to this cause.

The drake would remain coiled like a sleeping serpent upon the rocky terrain as the distant sound of water droplets streaming down the purple monkey's fur became audible. Both seemed to be in unison with their panting, and slowly Ares would trust his environment enough to hazard opening his eyes. It was a dull heat that throbbed in his body as he attempted to warm himself, and the tiny flame upon his tail had only become slightly stronger with exposure to oxygen. It was still but a whisper compared to the proud roaring of its previous conflagration, but remained aloof to such prior circumstances. As far as it was concerned, this was how it had always been: small, weak, and in jeopardy of being extinguished. The upward climb would begin again, but would ultimately result in it returning to its previous condition.

A murmur was audible as Ares lie there upon the cold, hard ground. Cracker, upbeat as ever, had mentioned his distaste for visiting lakes. A smile would crack along his lips, as he supported this claim with a breathy laugh.