The wild, The outlaw, and The Outlandish

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Rouge saw the vixen use his bone to launch the orb at the tyranitar and suddenly he was in a strange place surrounded by buildings. He tried to move but he couldn't. He was vaguely aware of shouting and movement around him as his vision blurred from a bright flash in front of him. He wasn't sure if it was his body starting to give out or some Pokemon had bound his movements and blinded him, but he felt several Pokemon grasp his extremities and move him. He did everything he could to move, or even shout out to the Vixen that had saved him for help, but he couldn't even move his jaw. Blinded, Unable to move, and Separated from the one who had saved him, Rouge felt scared for the second time in his entire life. Was this the end for him? Would he be slain in strange place so far away from home before he even became a full fledged adult? His life flashed before his blurry eyes giving him a clear vision of the past and he savored every moment of it he could. He didn't want t die but knew the possibility was real.

Trials? Cubone family had trials? She hadn't been familiar with this bit of information. She wanted to question the cubone further, but figured it would be best not to. It wouldn't be wise to cause a bigger scene by making the cubone emotional and begin to bawl or something similarly loud.

Mirage stood up on the rock, "So, what do you plan to do now? Blackmist is a long ways away, and you don't seem to be too big of a fan of the life in Grassveil judging from how you acted. Not much of the social type i'm guessing, either that or just not used to all of the attention."

Mirage's tail flicked a bit, her ears giving a twitch, causing the earrings to jingle as they clinked against each other. The stolen earrings, she had no real reason to take them, other than having nothing of value herself. She had spotted them one day in Grassveil, and had simply swiped them away to a better home rather than just letting them rot on the sales counter of overly priced Jewelry.

Rouge thought about this for a moment, he had no home to go back to even if he went back the the mountain, he definably couldn't return to the tribe, and there was no way he'd survive in that town. He was stuck for the first time in his short life. He looked up at the Vixen, he knew if she ran he couldn't keep up with her, nor did he think he could persuade her to allow him to tag along with her.

"N-no-ow-wh-er-e t-to g-g-go-o..." Rouge looked back at the ground and kicked it, he was stuck up a creek with out a paddle, or even a boat for that matter. He was completely at the mercy of the creek at this point.

Well that was a problem. Mirage didn't have a place for the cubone to stay, there was her den in Shadowhue, but she didn't want anybody knowing where she lived, not even closest friends. Friends can be interrogated, betraying, and even just flat out idiots sometimes. If someone knows the location of a hunted outlaw, then she would be a fool to return there.

Mirage moved her shoulders in the manner of a shrug, "I don't have anyplace for you to go either, I'm a bigger wanderer than someone who stays in one place long"

Rouge nodded understand thing this, his first year on his own he was a nomad just moving from place to place when he needed to. He didn't want to do it again, but If he had to then that's the way it must be.

"T-tr-ra-v-ve-el t-t-oo g-get-th-her?" he didn't want to leave her side yet, he was just beginning to talk again and didn't want to lose the ability to talk again, especially not this soon. He also like her for the fact that she was friendly enough and she had saved him twice. With the saving he felt he owed her much and wanted to help her out.

"I-i F-fi-n-nd f-fo-oo-od."

Generally, Mirage preferred being alone. Safety in numbers wasn't as safe as they say in her case.
The zorua spoke, "If you're seen with me while others recognize me, you'll be wanted. Pokemon will hunt you down day and night, you wont be given mercy with some teams, and they wont let up until you're in their custody. They'll question you about me, wish to know what you know about me, and some may even go through painful methods to squeeze out some information."

She was both telling the truth, and attempting to scare the cubone. From what she had seen, he wouldn't last long in the life she lived. He probably had no experience in the art of theft, and battling experience must have gone as far as getting knocked out by the tyrannitar. She knew that he was likely to be a burden, but something kept her from outright yelling at the cubone to go away or even just leave herself. She was being "nice", the thought of her "kindness" began to gnaw on her. Memories of her life of starvation once again arising, and the yelling and threatening shopkeepers attacking her for stealing.

She had left that village in search of a more peaceful one, the shopkeepers around this area were too soft to attack very hard in order to defend their products, it was an outlaw's paradise.

Rouge shook his head, he knew what he was capable of. He actually had a plan, he wouldn't be out and about with her other than to move to a new location to rest, nor would he touch her stolen goods. All he wanted was her company so he could learn to speak. He would bassicly be the 'house wife' of the duo and just take care of the area and find them food, nothing more, nothing less.

"I-i s-st-ay o-ou-t o-of w-w-ay a-an-d s-si-ght. f-fi-nd f-fo-od, k-ke-ep b-bel-lies f-ful-l." speaking was defiantly becoming more natural to him now and he even was finding the energy to speak in nearly full sentences with proper grammar. He was content with this Idea, after all, what is a Pokemon to another than just another wild one with out communication?

The cubone didn't seem to be too keen on going out on its own, and Mirage couldn't think of anything to ditch the cubone without being plagued with the strange feeling known as guilt.

'You should just leave him! You're an outlaw, you shouldn't even be here, do you WANT to die!?' the reasonable side asked her.

Despite the concern of a chain of events occurring that could result in the end of her life, Mirage finally sighed and spoke, "Fine, but you are to say you know nothing of me and my status," she ordered more than asked, "This also cannot be permanent, I have things I need to tend to on my own, and I'm not the type to live with someone for the rest of my life."

Rouge nodded, this was agreeable to him, he didn't like the Idea of living with another Pokemon for too long himself, but he needed one to talk to. By the time he was good at talking again he might go searching for another Pokemon. Although he wouldn't attack her if he was with a Pokemon that hunted outlaws, he wouldn't let on that he knew her. he simply wouldn't attack another Pokemon unless provoked by that Pokemon.

"D-de-ea-al." Rouge spoke, and was happy to speak it.

The zorua leaped off of the rock she had taken a seat upon, "Now, I'm not quite hungry myself, but food is a main matter of concern when you don't know when your next meal is."

She landed gracefully on the ground below, her bundle of items around her neck shaking, reminding her of the technical machines she had found back at Blackmist. These were likely to sell quickly, she could then legally buy an item without any hassle. A few glares of distrust would certainly come her way, but she wouldn't be outright assaulted for robbery. The only problem was finding the right customer, but then again maybe it wouldn't be best to go about trying to sell the tms with the cubone in tow.

"Our best bet would be to head into someplace like Shadowhue Forest or Pecha Forest, they have a large supply of food within the undergrowth and trees."

Rouge nodded, although he knew not of these areas, he did know how to forage almost anywhere. he only hoped she stayed away from the mysterious grove, for that was where his tribe dwelled and he is never supposed to return to. Both of the forests sounded great and he knew each one should provide enough for them. He would let her decide as it was where she was wanting to hide out that made the final decision.

"B-bo-ot-th s-so-u-und g-goo-d." Rouge smiled inwardly, he would learn to talk, and not have to worry about leaving this vixen alone. all he had to do was feed her and keep the area safe, he did this on his own easily. scrounging for two wouldn't be any harder.

"Shadowhue is more dangerous, as it houses more powerful pokemon of the wild variety, but I know that habits of the place like the back of my paw. We're probably better off going there," Mirage suggested, as if still thinking about the decision.
Shadowhue was where Mirage had lived, her den was there, she wasn't going to be bringing the cubone to her den of course, but she would rather go somewhere familiar with somebody in tow than someplace that might pop a surprise into her face that might end her life. She almost asked the cubone whether he had any ideas, but then remembered that it was likely that he was foreign to the area. She may have been an outlaw, but she was also a local. She had been around this place so long that she was surprised more pokemon hadn't noticed her immediately when they were in town.

Rouge didn't know much about shadowhue, but figured it would be for the best if he went with her. One thing did bother him though, he was using his great grandmother's skull and a bone of some random Pokemon and he wasn't sure if she knew this. It wouldn't make a big difference, but it didn't exactly make him feel better about the situation. He froze in place as he heard two Pokemon coming up upon them unaware that he and the vixen were here, either one of them would have to hide or they would have to flea quickly. He wasn't sure if the vixen had heard but he shoved her behind a rock and shushed her not a minute too late.

He had acted as if he was wild as the poor Igglybluff and aaron turned the corner making the two hatchlings flea in terror from his wild swings.

Mirage was startled to find herself suddenly being shoved and shushed behind the rock she had been sitting atop of not too long ago. The cubone suddenly began making noises and swinging its thick club around, frightening an Igglybuff and Aron. Once the two were gone, the zorua leaped onto the rock, "If I were you I wouldn't do that too often," she spoke, "they'll begin to recognize you and associate you with bad things, making you like me."

She was certain the cubone wouldn't last a moment as an outlaw, just as she had thought before. He seemed to have an air of ignorance around him, or maybe it was just because of his inability to speak properly. She had to admit though, he was making progress. She was beginning to understand his words, and not need diagrams on the floor to be shown instead of spoken to.

"C-c-a-n't s-spe-e-ak w-w-el-l e-en-ou-gh f-f-o-or t-t-he-m y-y-et." rouge said in agreement, he shouldn't do it very much, but it was his only option at the time. for if he had tried to speak he might be labeled as insane and to be locked away immediately. This is the reason he favored scaring them. The only regret he had was seeing their terror filled faces, that simple thing would scar him for the rest of his life. He shook his head trying to clear it out and looked at the Vixen, he would do it only if need be from now on.

"True. Just keep practicing or something and maybe you'll get better at it, seems to have been working pretty well for you," Mirage spoke, leaping down from a rock for the third time that day before walking away from the village a few feet, "This way, Shadowhue has a bit of distance, but it's not as far as Black Mist."
Mixed feelings swelled from within the zorua, concern, confusion, and doubt. The feelings floated and bloated her mind, many thoughts of her recent decisions coming across her mind and leaving as she finally decided to give up on thinking about what she was doing for now. She felt as if she just wanted to crawl into her den and just go back to the normal ways with nobody questioning it. It was the situation with Crackers all over again, except the cubone was a more toned down and less loud version of the aipom. For now, the two would be traveling to Shadowhue in the search for not only food, but for the cubone's ability to speak.