The Hunt is On!

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So this was the Fallen Leaf Copse....the thing Sova had failed to find first. It was certainly beautiful enough to be a treasure, but the real treasure was within....somewhere. Perhaps it wasn't too late for him to be the one to find the treasure. Of course, having someone as enthusiastic about treasure as Mirage with him was sure to help as well.

"This looks like a nice place to live...." He said.

Sova quickly moved to catch up with the zorua. "Alright, but if you feel like taking a break....the Sova express is here." He joked, though he did mean it. If Mirage wanted someone to lean on, or just wanted to be carried, he didn't exactly have anything better to do. Though he didn't really get any consideration when he had gotten his paw stuck in a similar trap....but that didn't matter. After all, that trap had feelings.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she insisted, unsure of what to make of this newly found knowledge, "Let's just find that stupid treasure and get out of here, this place is too bright. By the way where did that Gastly run off to? Ripping him into individual particles of gas rather than one big sections seems like a nice plan right about now," she huffed. When she walked her front leg gave a bit of a stomp, due to the weight of the front half of her body being pressured onto one foot, as the other was a bit occupied with almost being torn to pieces.

Sova chuckled at Mirage's comment. "He flew off. Dunno where to. Besides, I don't know if you're in the best position to be picking fights right now....especially since you don't want me helping you." He said, implying that she should let him help her walk. He didn't like seeing Mirage limping around when the problem could so easily be solved with just a little bit of assistance. But, of course, he couldn't FORCE her to lean on him. If she for whatever reason wanted to do it on her own, he'd just have to deal with that and be there if she fell.

"I'd be fine. The coward was too chicken to fight back anyways," she huffed. This was strange, she didn't know what to do other than keep walking and insisting she could do things on her own. She would have actually liked the help, but an outlaw must be independent, and be able to take care of themselves when injured. If they could not take care of themselves, then how would they survive? Simple as that. Right now, she had to be independent. She had to be strong and resist the pain.

Sova sighed. "Fine, fine, you'd win. But he didn't really have an intention to fight in the first place, so there wouldn't really be any fight to win. Kinda hard to chase a ghost type too." He said, then fell silent, doing his best not to bring up that he was available for assistance. If he couldn't help Mirage, then what use was he? It seemed like all of his previous purposes in life no longer mattered, and now he'd found a new one....he needed to actually be good at this one. Not fail like in the past. Besides, there was more at stake than pride with this particular goal....

"He was practically begging for one with the way he was acting," Mirage spoke, continuing forward through the forest of perpetual autumn. Mirage's tail flicked about, expressing her irritation while her ears faced directly forward as she listened for any sign of attack coming from ahead. She didn't know if she could actually be able to keep up her weight in a full on battle, if she had been on her own she would have found someplace to hide an stay there until she was healed up enough to travel well and defend herself.

"Maybe, but I wouldn't want you to get hurt any more. Even if only a little." Sova said as he moved a bit closer to the zorua. He was hoping to eventually convince her to accept his aid. "Shoulder's still open if you want it." He offered, hoping that reminding her of the same thing he'd previously said would help. Worst case scenario, she got annoyed and tried to lash out, failing because of her hurt paw and proving him right that she needed help. Best case, she willingly accepted the assistance.

"Hey...how come you don't care that I'm an outlaw?" she asked in response instead of accepting or denying the help, "I tried to trick you back in Mt. Frostmeer, you know i'm an outlaw. You know I cheat, trick, steal, and even attack other pokemon. So how come you don't care?" she turned and looked at the Glaceon. She thought for a second and quickly added on, "It's not like I'm against it, it's just that usually pokemon don't go off befriending outlaws."

Sova took a moment to think about his answer. Why didn't he care? Oh how to say it.... It wasn't that he had to think about what his reasoning was, just he didn't what the best way would be to tell Mirage. "Hmmm....Well, I like you. You're a friend to me....at the very least. I know what you do and I won't say I like it, but I know who you are too....and that, I like." He said, trying not to be too straightforwardly honest and make it awkward, but also avoiding lying about anything.

Mirage studied the Glaceon, but Sova had passed whatever test she had given to him.
"Oh...Ok," she said before turning back to the path, her tail gave a indecisive flick, signaling she still was not too sure about this.
"So you said you were an explorer right? How's life in the guild like?" she spoke, more for the sake of conversation and getting away from the topic she had brought up from earlier. She already guessed that Guild work was tedious, monotonous and not worth the effort. Sure they help pokemon, but they also stick their nose into other people's business. They were practically hit-men when it came to outlaws. She remembered the riolu that had sought after her, she had gone to the guild rather than the cops. What point were cops when pokemon just had the guild?

Sova shrugged. Where would he begin.... "After forming a team, I usually only slept there....most nights I was alone. I do missions, used to do them because I wanted to be "good"....but now I just wanna prove I can do something right. I don't even wanna sleep there any more. I'd much rather sleep outside in the cold...." He fell silent momentarily, falling into thought about how much his association to the guild had changed.

"Other than that, the guild's just a place to me. The guildmaster's nice but I barely know anyone there on a personal level and I never hang around there doing the day any more." He said "any more" since he used to spend some of his days in the guild when he was young.

"And how about you? How's life as an outlaw?" He spoke in a genuine and curious tone, showing he wasn't trying to be insulting or condescending. He was curious if Mirage was happy with her life. He definitely wasn't overly happy with most of his life choices, but maybe the zorua had had better luck.

"Its easy to find shelter in Shadowhue, just go in the tree or shake down some leaves for bedding. Winter and Autumn are the harshest times, but usually finding something to eat is rough. The folks in town are getting used to me and my tricks and finding ways to counter them," she spoke with a neutral tone, not really trying to extract sympathy or anything of the sort. The Grassveil Shops and Food Stalls were getting tougher and tougher every month, she was going to have to either find some different tricks or move on to another town, the only other alternative of starving not looking too fancy for her.

Sova listened intently and waited to speak. "You don't have to steal. If you don't wanna buy your own food, I could. It's not like I have much else to do with my money...." He offered. It wasn't like he was saving up for anything, nor did he ever buy anything other than food. What would he need? It wasn't like getting trinkets, clothing articles or more items than he needed would help him at all. It wouldn't make him happy. So that left him with money to spend and nothing to spend it on.

"Besides, I'd hate for you to end up getting caught. Not that I'm doubting your ability to not get caught or anything, just....the worry's still there." He admitted, attempting to not make Mirage feel insulted.

"No buying me food," she said automatically at the very offer, "If I can't get anything else out of the town I can just go to the next one, Rainfront I think it was called? If I get caught I get caught, i'd be a horrible outlaw and survival of the fittest is just taking effect is all," she repeated the teachings of her birth village. Though she was not told this stuff directly, all of what she was convinced was hinted and drilled into her mind. She was a dark type, therefore she must be an outlaw. That was the rule of the world. Unfair? Yes. Logical? No but that's how things worked.

Sova tilted his head. And gave a disappointed look. "Jeez, you won't let me help you walk or buy you anything.... What good am I as a friend if you won't let me help you out?" He said, moreso pleaded, to the zorua. Though he was being a hypocrite. He despised letting others help him fix his problems since that just gave them leeway to look down on him. But it was a totally different situation, he didn't have anyone willing to die for him....that he knew of, at least.