The Forest of Flame

It was a bright morning, the sun already high in the sky as the day drew closer to midday. The cold freshness of early sunrise had long given way to the subtle warmth of the impending noon. Arietta flew gracefully across the open sky, following the directions she had been given from the travellers in Grassveil. The newly discovered dungeon, named Fallen Leaf Copse, had become quite the talking topic around town the past few days and after a while Arie had become curious enough to investigate it herself. The travellers who had come from the dungeon had told her to fly west until she saw a 'forest of flame' from the air.

As she flew, she wondered if the forest described as being in a state of perpetual autumn would truly look like it was aflame from the sky. It wasn't too long until she'd find out for herself, her quick flying speed making the journey a lot less effort than it would normally have been from the ground. Though her thoughts were occupied for a short duration whilst she was flying, Arietta soon became quite distracted by her boredom, flying in loops and upside down to amuse herself during her journey. She was having such a fun time amongst the clouds that she nearly missed the forest entirely, only noticing due to flying in a loop that caused her to look towards the ground.

It took her a moment to realise what she'd spotted, before she halted, hovering in the air to look at the forest properly. Still a few minutes fly away, she could see the hues of orange, yellow and red that the travellers had described. The small forest seemed to be on an island in the middle of a small lake, and from her view in the sky, Arie could spot what looked like stepping stones, travelling from the lakeside to the island that lay within it's centre. The brightness of the leaves against the dull of the water really did make it look like the forest was on fire from this distance away, the colours of the leaves melding into one another.

After admiring the forest from above for a short period, Arietta's curiosity about the new place overcame her once more and she began to descend towards the forest. She had no need to stop on the lake bank to cross via the stepping stones as she had her wings, though as she flew over each stone, she reached out with a tiny black foot to tap it before moving on, feeling as though it was some rite of passage into the new dungeon. Someone had spent all that effort putting the stones there after all, it would be a shame if no one used them.

Finally landing in the forest itself, Arietta took a moment to look up at the tall trees, with leaves of orange and red. Golden rays of sunlight filtered in through the trees' canopy, dappling the dusty ground that leaves softly danced across, fuelled by the gentle breeze. The forest was the epitome of autumn and it was hard to believe that the trees that grew here could maintain this beauty all year round.

The young Fletchling began to wander through the forest, using her legs so she could take in the wonder of the sights around her. It was not often that she was blown away by the appearance of somewhere, but if she were to pick a favourite place on this world at that moment, doubtless, it would be this forest of flame.

Sosio's Energy Level:

Arietta wandered deeper into the autumn forest, not making as much progress as she normally would have in such a span of time due to walking on the ground rather than flying. Nevertheless, she was enjoying herself, even if she wasn't accompanied by a friend this time around.

What she didn't realise was how quickly that would change. After a long period of walking through the forest, admiring the sights, Arie was startled by a sudden sound nearby in the forest. Thinking on it for a moment, it sounded as though someone, or something, was  running at a fast pace. She could just make out the hard sounds of each footstep between the sound of the gentle breeze.

Spreading her wings and taking to the sky once again, Arietta sought out the origin of the noise and was pleasantly surprised when she found her answer. With a cry of laughter, the young Fletchling dived down towards the Chimchar, gliding alongside him as he ran.
"Hey Brian, what's up!" she grinned casually, "I didn't expect to see you here."

Arietta
Energy: 5
16 - 11 for entry

Sosio's Energy Level:

"I'd say it's going pretty well!" she grinned, flapping her wings every now and then to keep her position stable, but otherwise gliding alongside the Chimchar as he ran.
"I kept hearing about how awesome this new place was so I figured i'd come check it out for myself," she continued, revealing her reasoning for coming here to Brian and simultaneously spinning around in her flight so that she was flying upside down for a few moments before reverting back to her normal way up. The young Fletchling smiled to herself, glancing around at her surroundings once more as she spoke, using a second spin to take a broader observation.
"The stories the travellers tell really don't do this place justice. It's beautiful," she revealed, perhaps being slightly too talkative after reuniting with the Chimchar she was acquainted with. Nevertheless, she was only trying to be friendly and saw nothing wrong with expressing her opinions.

"But anyhow. What brings you here? The tales or the treasure?" she asked, a mischievous glint in her eye. The Xatu and his riddle had kicked up quite the fuss in Grassveil Town over the past few months, and now that this new dungeon had been found as described within the riddle itself, Arie found that she was even more interested in the outcome of such interesting events.

Solilo carried out 2 launched of one Fallen Leaf Copse :

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Sosio's Energy Level:

She had to admit, though it hadn't been her main reason for coming here, the prospect of finding some lost treasure sounded quite frankly, awesome. If she were to make such a valuable discovery, she'd also be able to one up her parents and their wish for her to join the police force and make a career and name for herself there as they had done.

The Fletchling dodged a low hanging branch by tucking her wings in and was about to say something more when she too heard the noises coming from the undergrowth ahead of them. Nimbly taking advantage of her quick reaction time, Arietta switched from flying forwards to shooting upwards a few inches. The Tiny Robin then looped around, hovering mere centimetres from where she had headed upwards in what turned out to be an effective strategy for a quick stop whilst in the air.

"I hear it too," Arie replied, her brown eyes scanning her surroundings. All of a sudden, a string shot out of the undergrowth hitting the Fletchling dead on. The string tied her wings together and caused her to fall to the ground in surprise. Luckily the fall wasn't from too high and she quickly got to her feet, a Wurmple pushing it's way out of the undergrowth and aiming a second String Shot towards Brian.

Arietta
Energy: 1
5 - 4 from rolls

Sosio's Energy Level:

pokepikoo carried out 2 launched of one Fallen Leaf Copse :

,

Arietta attempted to manoeuvre her head so that she could peck away at the strings, but most were in an awkward position to try and get rid of. As Brian attacked the Wurmple with multiple scratches and a Fire Punch, Arie proceeded to attempting to rid herself of the string using her feet. She managed to loosen it enough for Brian to quickly help her remove the remaining string once he had knocked out their opponent.
"Thanks for the help," Arie smiled cheerfully to her friend, standing back on her feet ans stretching her newly freed wings. Now that she was able to fly again, she quickly took advantage of the ability and took off, doing a little spin as she flew upwards, glad to have her mobility back. Heading back down so that she hovered mere feet from the ground, she turned, curious as to the pokemon she'd spotted when she'd done her little aerial spin.

"Who are you?" she asked, initially cautious after they'd just ran into that Wurmple. The pokemon before her was, interstingly, a Fletchling, just like herself.