The Shade of Shadows

Mirage gave a pleased sigh of satisfaction as they reached Shadowhue Forest. They being a cubone she had agreed to drag along out of pity, or so she claims to herself. It must have been around noon, but it was impossible to tell the exact time with the sky of leaves that Shadowhue was famous for. The only hint to whether it was day or night, was the streams of light that managed to break through the apertures of the leaves, and strike the ground below.

The outlaw seated herself once they were a distance into the forest before finally speaking, "Well, here we are. Deep into Shadowhue. There's got to be some food around here somewhere, whether its plant life or something I can snatch from."

(energy 19 - 10 = 9)

Rouge was already searching for food before the vixen finished her sentence. He didn't have much of a nose for sniffing out berries like a poochana, but he does have quite the luck for finding food. He made sure he was always in the Vixen sight and with in earshot for any commands from her as he searched. He didn't like the Idea of getting lost in this place. It was nothing like the clear skys of the mountains he knew, nor was it like a cave he loved to live in. This place sat dark on his heart, but not dark enough to force him out, this is where he would be staying for a while, where he would learn to talk fluently again. This was his school.

The zorua saw that the cubone was already scittering about, searching for food. She wondered if he even had heard a word she said. She gave a huff, a bit irritated at being ignored, but continued on anyways, "Be careful around here though, the pokemon here aren't exactly friendly."
She looked around before sniffing the ground, hoping to catch scent of a pokemon. No luck was found, and the zorua came up empty on plans. The only thing she really knew to do was to wander until she found someone. She wasn't one for foraging, her style was forcefully scavenging something from a still-living pokemon, otherwise known as stealing.

He had heard the vixen's huff and warning while searching for food. He had no luck with any of the bushes with in the immediate area or a small radius about 5 feet. This fact bothered him, he would have to leave the safty of the camp site to try to find some berries, and even then he might not be able to find any. He wasn't even sure if all the berries in the area were all safe to eat for all pokemon. Another though crossed his mind, the berries in this forest might be different from the ones in the mountains, especially in shape, size, and color. He more than likely wouldn't know a berry in this forest any more than he would be able to Identify the name of species his companion is.

No response from the cubone once more it seemed. The vixen assumed that he hadn't heard the warning and simply rolled her eyes before disappearing up a tree. It was difficult to navigate in the trees, but it was easier to see the immediate area at once without bushes and various undergrowth blocking the area. She didn't spot anything of interest, just a bunch of sticks, stones, and the bone-headed cubone wandering about. Mirage's tail flicked just before she leaped to the next tree, nearly falling off. Her paws weren't built for climbing, but it was still a useful method of traveling.

Rouge had to make a decision. Stay with the camp, or try to find a berry he would recognize. He felt it would be better to stay with the camp, no unnecessary risks should be taken in a place you don't know. He figured that getting a fire going would be a better Idea at this point in time and started to gather the wood and twigs necessary. He didn't take much notice of anything around him as he collected the wood. He didn't notice he had strayed away from the camp farther than he had wanted to, nor did he now exactly what Pokemon lurked in these dark woods.

Rouge was carrying a large bundle of sticks back to the camp, unwittingly walking straight into a different clearing, which happened to be owned by a Pinsir. he looked at the Pinsir in front of him, clearly agitated, but it did not notice him. Rouge slowly and silently backed away towards where the real camp was. He hoped the Pinsir wouldn't notice him. He wished he had payed closer attention to his surrounding now, and would in the future. This situation wasn't a first nor would it be the last.

The smell of sap tickled her nose, it was mixed with the scent of pinsir, one of the more dangerous foes of the forest. She followed the scent, finding herself out of trees to leap onto, but a clearing to look into. Bone-head was slowly backing away from a rather large and agitated Pinsir, it held a defense scarf in its claws and seemed to be examining it, rather annoyed that it wasn't something edible. The zorua's eyes were focused on the scarf, a rather valuable product and what was considered rare. Something that this little zorua wouldn't mind having in her collection...

((Energy: 29[Mirage lives here and thus does not lose energy] - 4 = 25 ))

Gently, Rouge set down the branches, keeping his bone in hand. He watched the pinsir examine the scarf, he had no clue what it did, nor did he know how strong this one was. That scarf, he though, might be something he could bring to those hatch-lings he had scared as a way of saying sorry. He didn't think he could take the pinsir head on, but if he could ware it out and hit it with a few traps first, he may just have a chance. He was about to go to work.

Think...think....think...think...the cogs in the zorua's mind whirled in circles as she ran plans through her mind, each one having a flaw or a lack of a necessary item. Her tail flicked, perhaps outright attacking it would work. Just shoot attacks at it from the trees, and the-what? Her attention was drawn to the cubone. It seemed to be doing something. She sat down in the tree, looking down into the clearing, spying on the small bone-headed pokemon. What was he up to down there?

Rouge started gathering the sticks and sharpening them, hiding them under leave and in holes and other such places with a narrow passage just large enough for him to maneuver though with out getting stuck on them, leading to a rather large tree where several hard fruits, perhaps hard enough to knock out even a geodude after a few fell on it's head, hung by a thread waiting for one good bang into the tree to send them falling. he had used a similar method to protect a cave home in a jungle once against a group of mankies. he hoped that the sticks may be strong enough to pierce the pinsor's skin. He could only see a single flaw in it, if the sticks couldn't harm the pinsor, he'd be done for. It was a risk he'd be willing to take for those hatch-lings he had scared. Slowly he made his way though the path and called out to the pinsor.

"H-hey bug b-bre-ea-ath." he had hurdled his best insult he could muster.

The pinsir looked to the cubone, it seemed to be confused. It stared at Rouge, it seemed to be questioning why he had called it bug-breath. Mirage rolled her eyes and leaped down from the tree, she stood beside the cubone and spoke, "That's the size of your horns? Really? My friend here has better horns than you! Show him!" Mirage gestured her head to the cubone with a rather smug look to the pinsir. The bug type seemed to take greater offence to its horns being insulted, and in attempt to prove the smug brat wrong, he began charging towards the cubone.
"There you go," Mirage spoke before taking off herself, weaving around the sticks and traps with ease thanks to her small body natural agility. She arrived at the tree, and waited in the bushes, waiting for the cubone and pinsir to appear and perform the trap the Cubone had so cleverly set up.

Rouge ran for his life as the pinsir charged straight at him, he didn't expect that the hones were more touchy than it's breath. It mattered not anymore as he ran along the narrow path, he heard several sticks break behind him, but he dared not to look back. several minutes of running later though the entire course, brought him to the tree at the end. he didn't know that the pinsir looked similar to a pincushion now, or the fact that the pinsir had started slowing a bit due to a stick in it's foot paw, but rouge wouldn't stop running forward towards the tree. he didn't even see that the vixen was already there and waiting.

"There!" she whispered as the two appeared before her. The cubone was running for his life, and the pinsir seemed a bit irritated that he had been challenged only for the challenger to have backed down so quickly. It still held the scarf in his hands, except the scarf was a bit damaged now. Mirage growled in irritation, but it was something that could easily be fixed. She watched as the cubone neared the tree with the large hard fruit, and a strange dark energy began to surround her as she began to prepare a Dark Pulse just for the Pinsir in the case that it survived the fruit-fall.