Starting Line (Open)

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Lumina was stationed in front of a forest, her same old perpetual frown on her face. This Mystery Dungeon seemed nice enough; it was bright and sunny, with green leaves and seemingly weak Pokemon inside. But the Vulpix knew better than to let down her guard, lest she end up fainting and making herself look like a fool.

The reason she came here, to Pecha Forest, was twofold. On one hand, she had always been interested in Mystery Dungeons. This seemed like as good a time as ever to get a chance to explore one. If there was one positive to her new home in Grassveil, it was that there was a pair of Mystery Dungeons right at her doorstep.

On the other hand, she just needed a break from the hustle and bustle of the town. She was already in a better mood, now that she had some room to breathe.

Lumina had decided to tackle the easier of the two Mystery Dungeons first; it just seemed logical to her. And so here she was, ready as ever to get the job done. The Fox Pokemon padded into the forest, her eyes narrowed as she silently scanned for any sign of trouble.

(Energy: 11/16)

"I guess I am a fire fox." Lumina chuckled, in a half-joking manner. Instinctively stepping lightly, she continued to walk through Pecha Forest. The way out couldn't be far now, she was sure. This was supposed to be an easy Mystery Dungeon, right? How much longer could it go on? As she pondered this, she continued to think out loud. "I'll be honest, Varda. I've never been the best at coming up with ideas, creatively speaking."

Varda nodded with a smile, the fox indeed was, well, a fox and a Fire-type. His ideas indeed were all based on what he saw or combinations of them – like that earlier foxfire, clearly being exactly what he saw in front of him when he looked at Lumina.  Not all that much thought went into them before they already were blurted out of his beak.

"Oh, well... Me neither, honestly," the blue bird let out a giggle as he kept walking, his steps soft. Most likely, he didn't even have to say that he wasn't very good at creative thinking, it was probably established at this point with his name ideas.
"I haven't ever really done anything all that creative! Or had to name anything," the Swablu added, pondering about the issue they had at hand,
"It has to sound and feel good, right? What kind of a sound would you like a name to start with?"

"I... I'm not really sure." Being honest, Lumina hadn't thought of things like that before. She had never really considered what kind of sound each letter made, let alone which one she liked best. She frowned as she considered this, thinking. "... maybe we should stop trying to come up with names for now, Varda. I'm not completely sure if I'll sign up for the guild or not, and if we do find a good name, I'd feel bad putting it to waste." Though Team Comet does have kind of a nice ring to it... She mused.

Varda chirped with a smile as Lumina suggested that they should probably stop thinking about names already. They really weren't going anywhere there, as neither of the two Pokémon was excellent at naming things! That, and the fox wasn't entirely sure about joining the Guild yet anyways. She seemed to be afraid of wasting a good name... But in the bird's eyes, nothing would really be wasted!

"Sure, we do both live in the same town, so we can continue it any day we want!" The Swablu chimed in, knowing – or at least hoping – that this wasn't the only time the two were going to meet. They would have time to talk more about it if Lumina wanted to, he could be found at the Guild pretty easily!
"It would be pretty nice if we met again... You should tell me if you ever come visit the Guild."

They did live in the same town, didn't they? That was interesting. Lumina hadn't considered that until now. At least she knew someone else now, then. The only other Pokémon she had talked with yet was that Riolu, Noel. She mulled over this for a moment before her carelessness cost her, and the Vulpix tripped over a large, thick tree root that was in her path. She stumbled clumsily before regaining her footing, her gaze down at her paws. That wasn't her finest moment.

She spoke up, partially to draw attention away from her blunder. "We do both live in Grassveil. I plan on visiting the guild later, as well, so maybe I'll run into you then." She offered.

Varda jumped onto a thick, wooden root that was on their path, his gaze quite close to the ground thanks to his small stature. His claws dug into it a bit as he landed to get a good grip so he wouldn't stumble over and fall, though as he jumped off, it seemed like Lumina had failed to actually notice the root! Her paw caught on it and caused her to trip before she managed to get back on her feet without any more serious plunders.

"Oh, are you alright?" The bird asked, worried as he looked at the fox. She quickly changed the subject – or more like returned to their previous one, her offer making Varda forget all about what had just happened a moment ago as he smiled.
"Yes, maybe!" He nodded, agreeing to Lumina's terms. It sure would be great if he was there in the Guild when the fox Pokémon visited!

The Swablu's eyes glanced upwards, his gaze lingering for a while as he took note of the beautiful blue sky and the cottony clouds lazily sliding over them. The canopy didn't seem to be as thick anymore, though Pecha Forest's trees never were quite that close to each other that they would have completely blocked all the light, anyways.
"It's getting lighter."

"The forest is starting to thin out, yes." Lumina nodded. She peered ahead, noting that the trees were quickly starting to separate, the distances between the gradually growing shorter. Whether this was the way they came in, or if they had found another exit, she wasn't sure yet. But one way or another, they had more or less found their way out.

The Vulpix was content with this fact. Not that she hadn't enjoyed their little misadventure, even though it hadn't been the most fruitful, but she had done enough battling for the day. She was fine with going on her way, there was another place she needed to be today, after all. That being the guild. She eyed the ground as the golden light that shone through the trees grew brighter and brighter, with fewer shadows of the tall trees to intercept it.

Varda nodded happily as he continued to waddle forward, invigorated by their new discovery – which of course, was something as simple as the trees thinning and the sun managing to shine stronger without all the leaves blocking it. To him, it was quite amazing after a long day of exploring a forest, a beautiful sight for his eyes to enjoy. The bird didn't waste any time as he hopped alongside the fox, not wanting to rush ahead of his new friend. No, they should get there together.

Finally, they emerged. The sun was high up in the air and its rays were bright and warm, forcing the Swablu to squint a bit before his eyes got used to all the light and he could actually see around him. He saw... The sky and grass. The gentle breeze caused ripples to go through the seas of green as the blades of grass bent under the force of the wind, quickly straightening themselves again once it was all over.

Varda scanned his surroundings as he was a bit unsure where they had ended up. A more in detail look to the area to their left made him notice something that was a bit familiar... The path that he often took to get to Pecha Forest and back to Grassveil Town! Indeed, as he let his eyes follow the path, he could see the very town looming out there, not awfully far! The bird Pokémon was quite happy, looking at Lumina with a great big – and most of all, happy – smile. It seemed like they had mostly just made a big loop.

"Well, that makes finding our way back to town much more convenient." Lumina murmured, slightly nodding. She had been a little worried that they'd end up somewhere away from their starting point and end up lost, but it seemed that wasn't the case. She was grateful for that much. She glanced over at her side to see the Swablu beside her practically smiling ear to ear. She wasn't completely sure how to respond to that, so she paused.

"Er... That was fun." Perhaps 'fun' wasn't a word she went out of her way to use, thanks to how vague it could be. But it seemed to fix here well enough. The Vulpix's gaze traveled over towards the town, eyeing the buildings that poked up onto the horizon. ... she had to admit, she felt much more at home exploring the Mystery Dungeon. She almost dreaded going back to the crowded little town.

"Yes! Very fun!" Varda chirped happily, hopping from one foot to another in his excitement – quite clearly at least he found their little adventure quite fun despite all the dangerous turns it had taken. He was tired, yes, but the little bird was quite pumped! ...For now. Most likely he would fall asleep right away if he sat down somewhere soft and warm enough, but right now he was showing no signs of tiredness.

The Swablu was already making movement towards the road, wanting to just dash towards it and run back to town, knowing he couldn't get lost if he followed the beaten path. Of course, first he was actually waiting for Lumina to come along, not wanting to leave her alone now that they had come so far together. It would have just been rude. Still, Varda's feet were mostly just pawing at the ground as the looked like he was running in place.
"We should go back now, right?"

The Vulpix nodded. "Yes, that would probably be a good idea." She agreed quickly. The day was still young, where could she go next? Shadowhue, maybe? Or would it be better to head straight to the guild? Maybe it would be better to go to the other forest... she would be lying to say it hadn't caught her curiosity as to what might be inside. "I don't think I'll be heading back to Grassveil right away, actually. Do you want me to take that orb back?"

Varda was already ready to start walking back, nodding happily as Lumina agreed with his idea. He just waited a bit for the fox to start moving towards the town as well, his feet so ready to follow her, already hopping in excitement. As she spoke up, the Swablu turned around to face Grassveil Town, taking a step towards it almost like he had anticipated her to tell him to move... But suddenly, he stopped and turned around, tilting his head and making his feathers flop over.

Why would Lumina not go back? That was a strange thing to say, surely she was tired as well? There had been a lot of walking and fighting, he was starting to feel the soreness in his body... But Lumina wasn't? The bird supposed that he couldn't really tell her to not do it if she wanted to, but his eyes did tell her that he wasn't sure if it was the best idea – without any words.
"Hm, well," Varda chirped, realizing that dealing with the orb might have been a bit trickier now that he was the one carrying it and they were about to split up,
"You can decide! If you think you will need it right away, you should take it even if it's a bit difficult to carry. But if you think it would just be in the way, I could bring it back to town and you could get it later when you come back!"

Lumina, Lumina. Shouldn't you rest before going to Shadowhue? She scolded herself. The trip hadn't exactly been as easy one, what was she thinking, setting her sights on another Mystery Dungeon so soon? No... it's fine. I'll make it work. I'll take a nap on the way there, that would work. Then head back to Grassveil's Guild and get the orb back from Varda. It would probably just be a load, anyways, since I don't have a bag. She decided after a moment of inner conflict.

"... You could hang onto it, actually." The Vulpix said, after a moment or two of thinking. "How about I go to the guild tomorrow to pick it up?" That seemed like it would work well enough, in theory. It couldn't be too hard to find Varda, the guild wasn't that big. Worst come to worst, she could ask the Guildmaster for direction's to the Swablu's team's room. She was planning on talking to her anyways.

Varda gave the fox a moment to think about it. After all, it was a rather important decision to make. An item like the Wonder Orb could come in handy, especially if she was tired already... But it could also just get in the way, like Lumina had surely noticed herself earlier! And besides, it was her treasure she had chosen to fight for, maybe she just... Didn't want to part with it already. Or just didn't want to let someone she just met hold onto it for even longer.

But she finally agreed that it was a better idea to not carry the orb around and the Swablu nodded happily. It was a solid plan in his eyes.
"I'll make sure that I'm around tomorrow, then! I'll stay at the Guild all day so I can easily hand the orb over," the bird cooed, content with her suggestion and knowing that he could hold up his part of the deal for sure. For a moment, Varda just stood there with a smile on his face, looking at Lumina and not making a move. After a short while however, he seemed to snap out of it and actually speak up.
"Hm... This is it, isn't it? The goodbyes?"

The Vulpix tilted her head to the side, as if she was considering this. "Well... yes, I think it is." She began. "Although we'll see each other soon. I'll be back at the guild tomorrow, after all." So no need to get sappy about this. She added in her head. She was hoping that Varda wouldn't get sad about their temporary goodbye. The Fox Pokémon really wasn't the best with emotional moments.

(Hmm... you could post in that thread I made in the guildmaster's quarters a while back, if you wanted to, to give the orb back to Lumina there? Though I'm not really sure how that would work out, since she's talking with the guildmaster right now. Or maybe she could drop in Team Mystical's thread at their room? Your choice. xD)