The Words we Weave (OPEN)

With a bag over her shoulder, a Joy Ribbon around her arm, and a hefty book in her paws, Diana padded to Pecha Forest on silent paws. Since she made no sound and didn't have a noticeable appearance, being an Espurr, she was able to traverse to the heart of the forest without hindrance. Here, in the depths of the woods, she hopefully wouldn't be disturbed. Sitting down under the shade of a giant tree, she opened her book to the chapter marked with a bookmark and began scanning the words, mouthing some of the sentences silently to herself.

Bob had given up on looking for his family about a week ago. It was, he decided, too much effort, and  the predators in the Pecha Forest always cut his searches short.

He didn't even know where to start looking! He knew his mom and sister were living in a tree, but trying to identify exactly which tree was like finding a specific needle in a pile of almost-identical needles - and he didn't even know what the needle he was looking for looked like! Not to mention, the stack kept on shuffling every time he took his eyes away from it for even a second. He could, he supposed, try calling out to the nests in a systematic order, but that was more of a suicide tactic than anything else. Especially for a physically weak bug like him.

So, why was he in the Pecha Forest right now, you might ask?

Well, Bob would reply in that smugly superior manner he liked to speak, he was in the Pecha Forest because if he was going to become powerful enough to search for his family with any expedience - be it by evolving or getting 'friends' to aid him, as painful as the idea was - he needed to join the Guild. And if he was going to do missions, he'd have to learn the lay of the land. Never mind that the surroundings changed whenever one entered. All that mattered was finding patterns, things that he could use to predict how future excursions might go.

He did not actually say any of this. There was nobody who asked him, after all.

What he did say, to a Pokemon sitting on a tree in the middle of the forest -one  he'd never seen before - was:

"Are you seriously reading in the middle of the Pecha Forest? Why don't you just save yourself the trouble and smear yourself in blood? That way, at least, you won't waste any time waiting for a predator to find you."

CURRENT ENERGY: 8

At the scathing voice, Diana looked up--or down, rather--at the Caterpie disapproving of her choice of position. In the deeper parts of Pecha Forest, there were less adventurers to bother her, though more feral Pokemon. That didn't mind the Espurr, though. Not only was she here to absorb her book, she was also waiting for some other Pokemon to attack her. She seemed like a sitting Ducklett, a perfect target for those prowling the woods and looking for someone to harass, but the truth was that she was the one lying in wait. This was training to her, a test to see how she could detect and react to sudden ambushes and attacks.

She said nothing of the kind, though. Diana had noticed the Caterpie approaching, but he hadn't seemed like a threat, so she kept reading. However, though not dangerous, he was bothersome. She looked down again at her book wordlessly. Hopefully, if she ignored him enough, he would get bored and inch away.

((keep forgetting to calculate energy, ugh. 19 - 5 = 14))

Bob raised an eyebrow (or the closest that he could achieve without eyebrows); she wasn’t disturbed. She didn’t get angry, or heed his advice, or really react in any way. She wasn’t trying to rationalize her actions or accept that they were wrong. Thus, she did have what she believed to be a good reason for being stuck in the forest, reading. “What, are you training? Trying to detect Pokemon as they past, aura-style? Or are you waiting for someone?”

He frowned. “Well, if you’re training, I still think you should smear yourself with blood. You’re not native to the forest, and wilds tend to be wary around non-natives. Sure, eventually they’ll get the jump on you if you’re just immobile like that, but wild Pokemon aren’t stupid. The only ones that will attack an unknown element - and eventually one will attack - are the ones confident that they can beat them. Even then, they can get as much meat with less effort just by killing sleeping caterpie and weedle. We’re numerous enough.” He should know. His mother was, after all, a predator. “Smearing yourself in blooda - or maybe holding an Oran Berry - will make it more likely that other wilds will attack, since you’d be providing them temptation.”

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