An Outlaw's Shenanigans, an Explorer's Horror

(Energy - 5)

The Icy Lands were just as cold as Sova remembered them. Actually, it was colder since this time he was much farther in, nearing Mt. Frostmeer. Luckily, the snow wasn't obstructing vision, or he might have gotten lost trying to find it. Why was he even here? He thought about turning around, but the idea was quickly discarded as he was reminded of a voice echoing through his head.

His recent hallucinations brought on by the peak of Black Mist Mountain hadn't lasted with him for more than one day, yet he was still hearing the voice in his head, insulting him, calling him weak. Not because of any drug, but just because he couldn't forget it. The only thing he felt would ease his mind of the voice was to prove it wrong. What better way than risking death to climb a mountain for no sensible reason?

Even though he felt exhausted already just getting there, he didn't let up even for a break. He had to prove to himself that he wasn't weak. Though....proving something that isn't actually true in the first place usually isn't easy.

[Energy: 30 - 22 = 8]

Ew, it was freezing. Luckily this little fox had fur, but at her misfortune it wasn't a winter coat like some pokemon wore. Mirage was shivering as she trudged through the snow, Shadowhue was growing a bit used to her tricks, so she had decided to scam about elsewhere where her tricks were fresh and she could perhaps develop new ones. She looked about, not seeing a soul for her to swindle, before giving a sigh of despair. Where was she going to get something to eat? It wasn't like the vixen could just pic up a rock or leaf from the ground and eat it! She took shelter underneath a over-hanging rock in the mountain, deciding to rest her weary legs for a bit, who knew? Maybe someone else would come to this refuge in search of rest.

Eventually, Sova came upon the area the zorua happened to be in. At first, he didn't even notice her as he had no reason to look for shelter; he wasn't planning on stopping unless he couldn't walk any more. Then he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A pokemon he'd never seen before. Despite his mood, curiosity got the best of him and he began slowly approaching. "Hey, you friendly?" He asked to the mysterious black fox, a bit less perky than usual, but still trying to at least pretend to be happy.

"Hey, you friendly?"
Mirage's ears shot to attention as something spoke to her, she looked to the eevee and seemed to stare for a moment. During this stare, she was formulating what to do. This pokemon seemed to be carrying something valuable around his neck, perhaps it could fetch quite a price.

Her outlaw "instincts" kicked in as her eyes began to water and a false tear dripped down her cheek, "Please don't hurt me, I just want to go see mommie!" she wailed, coming up with a lie on the spot. She stood and backed away from the eevee as if in fear, "L-Look, i'll leave here, I didn't know this was your territory? Need something? Take it! Please don't hurt me..."

Sova tilted his head in confusion. I'm not intimidating....she's even bigger than me. What'd I even do wrong? He thought to himself, confused. "Uh....okay then. I'm just passing by, sorry if I scared you." He turned to walk away, but stopped after a step as he realized what the fox had just said. "Wait, you're lost? I can help find your mom if you want." He suggested.

He stayed back and sat down to try and show he had no intention of attacking. He'd never really found anyone to be scared of him before and thus was not sure how to handle it. Why would this fox be scared of him anyways? She had more menacing colors for sure and a size advantage. Regardless, he couldn't just turn away someone in need of help.

The "lost" zorua seemed to stop sniveling and shivering as much when the smaller Eevee offered to help. She sniffed and spoke, "M-My mommy said to w-wait a-around here somewhere. I w-waited b-but she never came back. I-I went looking for her, and now I can't find h-her.." Mirage wiped at her Fake Tears with her paw, trying to look as sniveling and pathetic as possible. She didn't sound too young herself, but this pokemon likely didn't know the biology and lifestyle of Zoroark and Zorua, just the common facts of illusion abilities were probably more likely for it to know.

Sova considered just leaving for a moment. He wasn't being given anything to go off of to search for this pokemon's mother and she probably wouldn't leave otherwise. But, the eevee's morality won and he decided to try and get more information. "Alright, can you tell me exactly what happened? Why'd she leave? Where did she go?" He spoke slowly and limited his questions. The last thing he wanted to do was confuse or overwhelm the fox.

He also wanted to know what this pokemon was, as he'd never seen a zorua before, but that question would have to wait. Now there was an issue that needed to be addressed.

"S-she said that she was going to go see daddy, and she was g-going to the top of the mountain...I think? I don't know-I'm scared!" The zorua allowed herself to be "calmed" a bit more by the Eevee's slow talking. If she kept it up constantly then it would be obvious that it was faked, she wouldn't want to have to lie her way around why she was faking. One always had to be careful with lies, fail to spin a strong enough web could lead to having to spin one so complex they would forget what they have and haven't already said.

Things were starting to click in Sova's head. This pokemon seemed to be perfectly content before she realized he was around, only then seeming scared. Even then, it was unreasonable to be scared, as the eevee was clearly not a threatening pokemon. That wasn't the only reason for him to be suspicious, however. Why would this pokemon's mother leave her alone in such a dangerous place, especially if she was as helpless as she was leading on?

Yet all of these things were thrown aside due to Sova's morality. The situation was too urgent for him to spend time picking at it. "Alright, you can come with me to find your parents if you want. I'm headed up the mountain already anyways so it's no trouble." He said as he began walking again, gesturing for the fox to follow but not trying to pressure her. He couldn't just leave someone so in need of help alone of course, but he saw no reason why the pokemon wouldn't follow him if she was serious.

Mirage smiled uneasily, her ears were low and her tail as well. If she had been more canine like, it likely would have been in between her legs in fear. She slowly and shakily took a step forward, following the eevee with one paw right after the other. The cold snow touched her paw-pads and sent a furious shiver down her body, 'OH THAT'S COLD!' she hissed under her breath, having been seated nice and warm, a little bit, for a while. She forced herself forward, wondering how long could she fool this eevee for...

Kat carried out 3 launched of one Mt. Frostmeer :

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Sova walked onward, approaching the mountain. He stopped at the base of the mountain and turned to the mysterious fox. He had a few questions that he figured now would be an appropriate time. "I'm Sova. What's your name ....and what are you? I've never seen anything like you." He questioned. If he would be traveling up the mountain with this pokemon, he wanted to get to know her. At least what the strange fox even was.

"I-I-I'm a Zorua...I don't really have a n-name...mom just c-called me Zorua..." Mirage spoke, looking a bit down, "She said names set you apart from others, and they were meaningless."
Of course Mirage was making all of this up, although this wasn't on the spot, she had developed the habit of generating lies while she was bored that she could one day use. She would think them through and test them out to see which kind of lies were most effective. Sob stories seemed to work best, after all, who would expect anything malicious from a lost and sad pokemon?

Zorua? Sova had heard of zorua, but never actually seen one. He'd heard they could transform, like a ditto....somewhat. But he fought off the urge to request a demonstration of this ability, as there was something he felt was more important to talk about. The zorua's mother didn't give her a name? "Is your mom nice?" He asked.

It was hard for him to believe anyone would dislike names and individuality. At least, anyone who was kind. What if this zorua's mother simply ditched her and ran off? He wanted to make sure he wasn't trying to help something that couldn't be helped. From what he had heard so far, it sounded like the zorua's mother didn't care enough about her to even give her individuality....

"Yeah!" she piped, cheering up a bit as if talking about her "mother", her ears perked up a bit and she began to talk, "She fed me, kept me from dying, and everything!"
Mirage wondered when she should attack the eevee, when was his guard going to be down the most? Should she wait for some other pokemon to attack? Perhaps wait for the eevee to finally realize he was being duped? She pondered for a moment, thinking up a plan of action that would best suit an outlaw such as herself. She eventually decided to drop some kind of heavy load onto the eevee, make it realize something she "didn't", like give some kind of clue that her "mother" wasn't coming back, and while the eevee was either going to tell her or try to dodge around the fact, she would attempt to strike.

"Oh....that's good. Lets go find her then." Sova said, sounding a bit surprised. He'd never heard of a tradition like not giving names, but if this mother really was a good mother, who was he to judge? He turned and began the journey up the mountain. Though he only got a few steps up before he was stopped by a noise. What if he would have to fight while protecting this apparently helpless zorua?

To his relief, it was just a couple of cubchoos passing through. They didn't seem interested in fighting, or talking, which relaxed the eevee a bit. As the two cubs passed by, he began walking again. Then he noticed the pace at which the cubchoos were walking. Actually, they were running. From what?

His question was answered by a sound coming from their left, like heavy footsteps. The source was concealed in the snow, but he knew it wasn't good. Thinking more about his companion than himself, he pushed the zorua back as hard as he could to get her away, not leaving himself any time to flee as a piloswine charged into view and right at him. He decided on attempting to avoid any serious damage, namely the tusks, since he knew he probably couldn't get out of the way by running now. Detecting the enemy's attack helped avoid a direct hit from the tusks which would have been painful, but before he could try to dodge again, he was smacked aside by the side of a tusk coming at him like a bat.