Overconfidence

As she watched the crawling movement of a shadow without an apparent source, it occurred to Iji that this had been a bad idea.

She stomped the thought out of her mind as soon as it surfaced. She couldn't afford to wuss out on this, and the Hydro Pump curling through her claws was a comfort.

Her eyes darted through the dark undergrowth, her claws squelching through decaying plant matter as she moved between the trees. Sunlight scattered across her scales, filtered blue by the carpet of leaves somewhere far, far above.

She was going to get through this dungeon and back, and have something to show for it, or she'd be a lame golduck. It's forest, she thought, just like my old home. How bad could it be?

at that moment an arceus popped out from behind a rock and shouted "ITS THIS BAD" and used Judgement

The grass was rather harsh and dry to a creature's paws, as the lone houndour made his way through the forest. His head was low and his ears were flat against his head, he had wanted to get out of this forest, find someplace warmer and more appropriate for a pokemon such as himself, but no. He was stuck in this Arceus-forsaken forest, lost.

Zera lifted his nose at last to sniff his way around again, but sneezed as the wind tickled his nose. It was as if every force in the world was trying to prevent him from leaving this prison. He was not interested in the territory in this area, it was too cool in the cold way, and it would be too easy to set things on fire and burn his own territory and prey with it to the ground.

The houndour snorted in frustration, looking up to see a strange blue crocodile like creature darting in between trees as if it were following or looking out for something. The hound blinked, and only continued to stare at the pokemon's strange behavior.

cackles

Iji froze, nostrils twitching, at a distant shuffling. The Hydro Pump thrummed through her, she was ready to attack, this was going to be fine, this was going to be great--

It was to her credit that she managed not to yelp when she turned on her heel and came nearly face-to-face with a rough, sour-looking Houndour.

Instead she jumped, counted to three, and put on her brightest, least-insincere smile. "Excuse me, I didn't see you there," she said, her claws curled into white-knuckled fists.

The houndour blinked, the sour look still on his mug but still revealing a questioning look as the hound spoke, "Um...hi...what are you doing?" the hound lifted his head has he raised his eyes to be above the Totodile's eyes as he secretively tried to make himself seem bigger than the totodile, who stood at the same height as him at two feet.
He did not notice the fists and did not seem to think much of the frightened reaction and the strange smile. All this hound was here for...well he was not really here for anything. He had just simply wandered across this strange water type in search of a warmer climate.
His muscular black body was still as the hound prepared itself for any attacks that might come his way. Pokemon were usually hostile in this forest, and it would not be the first time if this was a feral or this pokemon thought the other was a feral or even both ways.

The strange houndour wasn't attacking just yet, which was good, but she would have to stay alert. "Just, uh, just walking," she said, doing her best to sound nonchalant. "Just like I always do. In these woods. I walk through here all the time, did I mention?" She cut off a nervous chuckle. She had no idea what level she was dealing with in this area, but betraying her fear couldn't be a good idea.

Great job you're doing, she hissed inwardly. Quit babbling!

She cleared her throat and stood up a little straighter, trying to project a little more aggression into her voice. "What about you? What are you doing here?"

"Trying to get OUT of here," Zera spoke, the actions of the totodile seemed a bit suspicious, "Since you walk around here all the time, how about YOU lead me out of here?" the houndour suggested.
This was a bit of an odd ball to the fire and dark type pokemon, he had never come across this type of pokemon, or any pokemon that acted like this, unless it was hiding something, but he did not want to pressure the totodile into telling him, it was too much work for something unimportant.
The totodile seemed to stand taller as it spoke, causing the houndour to puff out his chest in a deep breath as he tried to make himself even bigger. The sense of competition of who was bigger was irritating the houndour, making him want to strike down this totodile now and fry it with his thunder fang. The trouble of having to deal with the law of the civilized pokemon kept him from doing so.

((Zera Energy: 9))

Iji took a deep breath and let it out. The Houndour didn't seem inclined to attack right away, so she needed to calm the hell down.

"I, ah, it's..." She turned once or twice, and saw in the distance the oddly-shaped tree that had arched over the path down which she had come. "That way." She nodded. "Yeah. Just, uh, follow me and we'll be out of here in no time!"

She started walking. "So... you got a name?"

The houndour was a bit disappointed that he did not get to fight, but figured it was for the best since this strange pokemon looked like it would be a water type based on the blue color of its skin. The water pokemon had the hound follow her, saying she knew the way out. The hound rolled his eyes once the totodile was turned and his head lowered once more with his ears pinned to his head in the same grumpy body language he had before he met the strange water type.
Zera's ears perked back up, listening to the totodile ask him for a name, "Zera," he grumbled, "You?"
The fire type seemed to be keeping his sentences rather short, although he seemed to be uninviting towards conversation, the hound was at least thankful this odd pokemon had sense to keep a conversation going.

Kat carried out 1 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

"Iji," she replied, maneuvering past a gnarled root taller than herself. "So are you in the Guild, or are you just wandering-- oh, look, a Sitrus berry." She jerked her head toward the bright yellow fruit she'd spotted just behind the stranger (Zera, she reminded herself). "You take it, you're closer."

She almost slipped in a puddle, catching herself at the last second with gritted teeth. "Watch out, it's slippery," she said, rather unnecessarily. "Anyway, what was I saying?"

The hound picked up the berry, placing it in a ribbon that acted as a bag as well as a held item. When the totodile slipped in some mud and cautioned him of it, he merely shoved his paw into it and dug his claws into the ground to avoid sudden movements and slips. It got his paw a bit muddy, but he did not really care. It was his own display of strength, that he was not about to let some little puddle make him kneel and step around it or slip in it.
"Wandering, guild, both, I'm looking for someone that was supposed to partner with me, but I disappeared for a bit and seems to have chickened out and made himself scarce," the hound was beginning to open up a bit more towards conversation. He was still a bit cautious of the totodile, in case it was leading him to a trap.

Kat carried out 1 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

((Energy 8))

"Huh," said Iji, skirting around a prickly bush. "Wasn't very nice of him, I guess." Zera seemed to be warming up a bit, which was good. "Why'd you disappear?"

She winced, berating herself inwardly. Sure, Iji, go poking around in the business of the charming stranger you met in the woods, who could probably bite you in half.

The thought was interrupted by her foot thudding into something. She glanced down to see a smooth wooden box, weathered and worn but still quite solid.

"Weird," she remarked, a little uneasy at this sudden stroke of luck. "I wonder who left this here?"

Guest carried out 1 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

((Iji's energy=8))

((Wtf items xD We should probably lay off the dice for a bit and try again later, want to try a forest fire instead accidentally caused by Zera?))

The hound made his way to the box giving it a good sniff, it had an odd smell of another pokemon, but he figured that was just the totodile's scent.
"I'll carry it," the hound huffed, placing the small box in his ribbon with the sitris berry, he was pretty much taking the box for his though. The canine looked around, "are you sure you know your way around here?" he growled, thinking they made no progress in making their way out of the forest of shadows. The houndour eyed the totodile cautiously, was it taking him to a trap? Did it want to ambush him? Was he foolish for listening to the strange crocodile?

((lol indeed, i swear if i try rolling for items in the future and get nothing but attacks... XD forest fire sounds good to moi!))

Iji spotted a shining, pulsing seed in the hollow left by the box; swiftly, she picked it up and wiped it on her scales. That could definitely come in handy.

"Welllll," she said slowly, "I'm... pretty sure this is the way I came." She shrugged uncomfortably, aware of Zera's suspicious gaze. "I, erm, took a different route than usual today."

She glanced upward, trying to get her bearings by the sun, but the thick and distant canopy of leaves blocked her view. "Maybe one of us should climb a tree," she suggested. "Might be easier to see which direction we're headed. Just to, ah, be sure." Her tailtip flitted among the carpet of damp leaves as she waited for an answer.

"Well I certainly can't climb trees, I don't even have fingers to grip things on..." Zera huffed, a slight ember falling out of his mouth as he did so. He did not notice the slight ember, and walked more towards the totodile so he could sit beside it and stare up at a big tree they had come across.
"So I guess you better get to climbing," the hound spoke, looking to the totodile. He was a bit unhappy at the unintentional sting of not having fingers. Sure he could grip things in between his paws, but climbing was just something that would have taken him ages to do. The hound knew nothing of the slowly growing flame just behind him.

"I guess I'd better," she agreed, staring up the trunk with trepidation. She'd never been that afraid of heights, but climbing was not exactly her forte.

Being the only party member with opposable thumbs is not all it's cut out to be, she thought glumly, finding clawholds and hauling herself up with a grunt. Well, someone's gotta do it.

It wasn't until she was about ten feet off the ground that she noticed the smell of smoke. Nostrils twitching, she glanced down.

There was the forest floor, there was Zera, there was the fire crackling into existence behind him...

Her eyes widened. "Fire!" she yelped, her claws digging into the tree trunk. She started scrabbling her way back down the tree, panic in her voice. "Keep it away from the trees! Don't let it spread!"