On the Road to Ruins

Ares walked diligently and briskly as the woods continued to develop before him, his eyes piercing the thick darkness as it unfolded before him. It blossomed, like a dew-dropped gilded sakura, and continued to move with him through the woods. By the time that the edge of the woodland presented itself, all he could see was blinding white that outlined the contours of the undergrowth and the tree trunks. He would penetrate it willingly, his eyes narrowing as the piercing light splintered before him and revealed blue skies, white clouds, and a gorgeous waterfall. He was not one to be dramatic, and thus would prevent his hand from flying steadfastly to his eyes in order to shield them from the blinding, immaculate glow.

A rolling meadow, fresh and crisp with green blades of grass, sprawled out before him like a person suffering from heat. Mist and water vapor flung itself up from the base of the waterfall, and the magical sight was further enhanced by the splendid pink and light red flowers that sprouted up through the lackadaisical clearing. For a moment, the drake would take in this sight, and feel a great stir within him form. Such lushness was foreign to him, as the barren, rocky frontier had been his homeland for so long; it was a welcome sight.

Brian walked through the forest, analyzing the surroundings while making sure he stayed near Ares. He stared at the thick leaves of the high trees and the dark surrounding around him as the two looked for these ruins that would be the place that Brian started his training at. That was until he saw Ares move towards a clearing in the forest, to which Brian moved to the clearing behind him. Through the clearing, Brian could finally see the bright blue sky above him and feel the bright light of the sun shine down. Brian started looking at his new surroundings, seeing the meadow like area, mist floating around in the air, and the sheer lushness of the area around him. He almost couldn't believe that an area like this could even be in Shadowhue, since it completely contrasted with the area it resided in. Despite this thought, Brian still found this meadow area to be incredibly beautiful.

"Wow, this is amazing. I would have never guessed that a place like this was in Shadowhue, but that's what makes exploring interesting. You never know what to expect." Brian said as he began to analyze the new area, as he did with any other. Though Brian seemed more excited that usual now. Most likely because of the training that he was going to soon begin, but also because he was getting to be around such a powerful pokemon like Ares.

It was strange that such vibrancy was so close to a location shadowed by despairing, gnarled trees. Ares would allow his gaze to shift to a nearby tree, only to identify that such a different characteristic seemed to be common with the things that grew within the forest's reach. This waterfall was undoubtedly experiencing a good day as rumors told of how shadowy and remote this location was, and this made him feel as though their upcoming plight was to be blessed. Slowly, like a timid deer entering a clearing, he would take his first step in the removed location. Grass crunched beneath his feet, and he was soon tempted to attempt again. Soon, he was moving at a casual speed, and allowing his waist to become enveloped by the tall blades. He was certain to hold his tail up high in case his tail might cause the vegetation to ignite; he doubted that such an event would occur thanks to how damp the area was.

"It certainly is," the mentor would speak, allowing his hand to stretch out so that he might feel the grass tips in his open palm, "I'm impressed." He would go a ways before stopping, his head and body promptly rotating so that he might face Brain, "We need to look for the Ruins."

"Yeah, we do. The faster we find the ruins, the faster we can start training. So lets find them as fast as possible." Brian said as he started walking toward Ares, his new mentor. He was becoming very excited about the current situation that he was in. Not only was he going to get the chance to train with such a strong pokemon like Ares, but he was also going to get the chance to explore some cool sounding ruins. At the moment, Brian couldn't think of any real way that this could get any better.

"Hmm, I wonder what the ruins will look like, or what will be there." Brian said as he kept walking, thinking about the ruins while still analyzing the meadow area around him.

The Charmander would promptly lower himself to the ground, bending at the waist so that he might close examine the soil beneath his feet. To be perfectly honest, he had no idea what they were looking for; ruins could be a whole bunch of things. They might be underground, in the air, hidden by a concealment, or simply in plain sight. With so many possibilities, it was not difficult to see why those searching for them may disappear or never find them. As Ares was determined to be neither of these two options, he would pinch some dirt between his claws and investigate to see if they contained some sort of secret.

"They say they're hidden," he would confess, "but I'm sure it's painfully obvious. Why don't you go look around and holler if you see anything?"

"Alright then, I'm on it. Operation Search for the Ruins is a go!" Brian said as he grew a wide smile on his face before dashing off to search for the ruins. This was kind of like a first true exploration for him, searching for a new area that he hadn't seen before. Brian searched high and low for the ruins, though he had no real idea of what they would actually look like. He never heard of any ruins from his exploring parents or saw any pictures of them, so he was completely in the dark about them. Still, despite his lack of information about them, Brian kept searching the area as much as possible in order to find them. Brian also noticed that he was getting his speed and stamina back, indicating that he was recovering from his battle with Ares earlier, which would definitely help in the search.

If Ares had pockets, he most certainly would have inserted his hands into them and simply turned over things with his feet. As much as he enjoyed puzzles and figuring things out, he was not a fan of having to do them in order to obtain a desired result. While some may argue that victory was a desired result and that this argument was thus invalid, he would have simply disregarded it and proceed to continue his silent protest.

The Charmander, meticulous and methodical, would examine the dirt between his claws and find that it was a dark brown. It was muddy and had the same texture and smear effect of ash, and was undoubtedly quite fertile. No wonder why this forest grew so swiftly: the waterfall must be feeding the vegetation with various nutrients; but where could it obtain them? Ares would glance about, foolishly hoping that doing so might reveal some sort of secret to him. No dice.

"Come out come out ruins, wherever you are. Where are you?" Brian said jokingly as he continued to search for the ruins, chuckling at his silliness. He knew that if he kept a positive attitude, that the whole experience of finding and exploring the ruins would be that much more fun. As long as he had fun and got to become stronger while exploring a new area, then Brian would be completely satisfied. Though after searching for a while, Brian began wondering how long it was going to take to find the ruins. He was fine with it taking a while, but he hoped that he would be able to find it before he got bored.

"So, have you found anything yet Ares? Anything that could lead us to the ruins?" Brian shouted toward Ares, hoping that Ares was having better luck than he was.

With his fruitless, lazy searching concluded, Ares would once again examine the ash-like soil that was smeared between his fingers. He was curious as to what its origin might be, and was thus willing to enlist some assistance with determining its origin. As Brian seemed to be reaching some sort of conclusion, he would attempt to leash the ape back to him by calling out to him.

"Hey, Brian, come here!"

That would certainly get his attention. If there was one thing that the Charmander was good at, it was yelling loudly. Perhaps his acolyte could shed some insight into the identity of their mystery substance?

As he heard his mentor Ares shout towards him, Brian assumed that Ares must have found something about the ruins. Thinking this, Brian began running back over to Ares in order to see what he had found. He had a gleeful expression on his face as he ran over, thinking that the two of them were getting one step closer to finding the ruins and therefore, one step closer to starting their training. Eventually, Brian got to where Ares was and stopped his running before beginning to catch his breath, still not in peak condition.

"Okay Ares, I'm here. What did you find over here?" Brian said, curious to see what Ares had found, and to see how useful it would be in their search for finding the ruins.

As soon as Brian came near, Ares would allow his dirtied finger to extend towards his apprentice. It was time to begin their training, and it would be done in the fashion of observing the environment.

"Lesson one, Brian," he would say, allowing his face to turn towards his apprentice, "what do you notice about the ground? It's exceedingly fertile and has a texture similar to that of ash. I know for certain that it - or at least the nutrients in this soil - doesn't originate in this location because nothing else in this forest is like this. I want you to hypothesize where such a phenomena originates from. Can you do it?"

"Oh yes. Training's finally beginning!" Brian said after hearing Ares saying that this was his first lesson. His excitement levels went through the roof for a few seconds upon hearing this, but got his composure back when those seconds ended and began focusing on what Ares said afterward. Brian stared at the ground and noticed that the texture that Ares had talked about. He saw that it completely contrasted with the ground of the area surrounding it, much like the meadow are completely contrasted with the dark nature of Shadowhue Forest.

"Hmm, maybe this comes from those ruins? After all, they don't look like any of the other ground here, so maybe that's the case." Brian said, hoping that his hypothesis was right, both so that the two would be able to find the ruins faster and so he could pass the first lesson of his training.

"I agree," Ares would comment, retracting his finger so that it might fall into place with his other phalanges, "I definitely think that it came here from the ruins. There's something quite peculiar about this soil that would lend itself to such a hypothesis, and I dare say that it might be ancient." He would rub his dirtied finger on a nearby grass patch and would stop the motion as soon as he had successfully cleaned it of the filth. If only he could think about how this got here! Cyrus would certainly know!

He would speak, "What mode of transportation do you think it had?"

"Hmm, interesting. Very interesting." Brian said as he heard Ares give his own hypothesis, though it was much more detailed than his. He guessed that he shouldn't expect any less from his new mentor. Despite this, Ares seemed to be as confused as he was about how the texture was there and not where ever the ruins are. They both seemed equally confused about where the ruins were in general as well, or at least Brian thought that.

"Hmm, transportation. What do you mean by that? How would the ground itself be able to move here?" Brian said as he scratched the back of his head with a confused look appearing on his face, somewhat perplexed by what Ares had said.

"Transportation as in how it got here," he would confirm, meeting his comrade's gaze, "it obviously couldn't have just waltzed here. The soil's damp, too, and I highly doubt that the mist here is the only thing that caused it to get wet." Ares was perfectly perplexed. The clues had been presented to him, and it was his morale duty to figure out the mystery.

Then it hit him.

Water could carry particles, although not entirely quickly. It was a more reliable mode of transportation than the wind, which could only blow things a little bit at a time and in small amounts. Undoubtedly, their target was nearby, and it was, indeed, staring them right in the face. Ares would quickly turn about, his eyes focusing themselves upon the cascading waterfall that shattered its water particles into mist upon the sharp rocks at its base. A smile crawled across his face as he spoke, "It's behind the waterfall."