Don't Play With Fire

Synd'r had quite taken to exploring the areas surrounding Grassveil in the recent past, but surprisingly had yet to visit the pleasant location that was Pecha Forest. As the residents of Grassveil had described, it was a light little wood where, during the day, it looked almost like a mini paradise, with food abundantly growing on the branches of the trees in the form of the berries that the forest was named for.

It didn't have the beauty of a winter wonderland, but it was still something that Synd'r could appreciate. However, the forest's aesthetics were not why she was here. She was here for two purposes. The first was her -so far- fruitless searching for Reisei. The second was less noble, but necessary if she was to get to know how the area's underworld worked. It was rumored that even in such a pleasant location, and so close to Grassveil and it's Guild, certain outlaws would roam.

The Vulpix couldn't help but wonder if it was foolish for them to choose such a location in which to base themselves, especially as she would never pick somewhere so close to the region's largest Exploration Guild. But nevertheless, it might be worth her time to investigate any fellow outlaw presences, and so here she was.

Damn, two hours and I've only gotten sixty meters down this path.  Well, it could have taken longer.  The Slakoth thought more about his slowness as he rested on a tree branch that was hanging over the path.  True, he had gotten faster than he was before from moving around so much more, but the action still tired him out greatly.  He continued breathe deeply and heavily, waiting for his heart to slow it's beating down.  He had almost no stamina for this stuff.

A few moments later, Capone heard movement coming from somewhere down the path.  A minute later, he saw something appear.  A Vulpix.  She was wearing three feathers behind one of her ears.  Just to be sure, he leaned over on the branch to get a better look.  He knew it, it was her.  He made the move to climb down the tree when it happened.  He heard a crack.  He stopped instantly, but it was too late.  The branch broke off the tree and the Slakoth fell to the ground right in front of Synd'r.

Energy: 16-5=11

Synd'r kept her ears and eyes open whilst she wandered through the forest, a gentle breeze tugging at her fur. It was all rather quite to begin with, and then a sudden snapping sound immediately drew her gaze upwards, her ears standing to attention at the unexpected noise.

The Vulpix's brown gaze followed the Slakoth as the branch snapped in it's entirety, dropping the Slacker Pokemon quite abruptly onto the dusty forest floor. Blinking for a moment, Synd'r's expression eased into one of withheld laughter as she realised just who had landed in front of her.

A few small chuckles escaped her parted jaws as she spoke, "Capone... right?" she snickered.

"Ugh...  Note to self, don't fall off trees."  The tan-furred Pokemon said to himself.  Capone started to pick himself off the ground when he heard a small chuck next to him.  When he got up, he looked over to the direction of the stifled laughter to see Synd'r.  "Yeah, it's Capone.  I believe I heard 'Synd'r' called out to me the last time we met.  And something about owing you one."

The Slakoth dusted off his shoulders and started to stretch his back some.  "So, what brings you to these woods?  Not much goes on around here, if I'm not mistaken."  He looked over his shoulder behind him, almost expecting to see tumbleweed.

"That's correct and yes, you do," the Vulpix replied, her grin spreading into one of mischievousness. Watching the Slakoth with a cautious eye, Synd'r opted to sit down, gently curling her six red tails around her legs.

"Something goes on everywhere," Synd'r replied. It wasn't entirely true, but most places, even seemingly harmless looking ones like this, always seemed to have at least something going on, positive or not.
"What are you doing here? I thought you'd be halfway to the eastern desert by now after enjoying Hoothoot's company so much," she replied with a teasing smirk.

Solilo carried out 12 launched of one Pecha Forest :

, , , , , , , , , , ,

"I can see why one could think that."  Capone said thoughtfully, looking off into the distance.  When he glanced at a bush, he thought he saw a glint or something along that line.  Though, when he looked back, it was gone, so he shrugged it off as his imagination.  Although, he became slightly wary inside.  "Didn't you say that your hypnosis would only last for a couple hours?  Going to a place that far away and back would have most likely taken more time.  And I wouldn't want to walk so far on the return trip on my own."

"I know I said it only lasted a few hours but a few hours is still long enough to make headway towards more interesting places," she replied with a resigned sigh and a small shake of her head. Sometimes it just felt like people were idiots. Then again maybe Capone had some actual reason to not want to go anywhere else... or maybe she was giving him too much credit to consider that option. Who knows.

"Nevertheless, I do believe we have some company, so perhaps it would be an idea to hold off on this conversation for a while," she replied quietly, her voice low enough that anything in the surrounding area wouldn't hear it unless they strained their ears.

ooc// Ignore the last two rolls it's 10 rolls max per page if i remember right. My bad |D At least they were only sticks.

So it wasn't my imagination, that glint. But the question is, are they dangerous? Capone looked back into the bush, where a Pineco and Murkrow walked out from their hiding. They didn't seem that dangerous, so maybe he could get something from them. But with Synd'r around, he thought it too risky, and held off on the prospect of getting some good items.

Note: Short post is short /sho(r)t

Synd'r watched Capone with adept curiosity as he glanced back at the bush, watching the Murkrow and Pineco appear with a calculated look in his eyes. Was he sizing them up to see if they were hostile? It was possible. Or was he sizing them up for some other purpose?

Unfortunately, Synd'r was not a mind reader and so with a large lack on information about the odd Slakoth to her name, the Vulpix instead turned her attention to the strangers that were actually native to the forest.

The Vulpix's brown gaze watched them cautiously for a moment. The Murkrow appeared to have some form of orb on a string around his neck, whereas the Pineco was carrying what seemed to be a blast seed. They weren't the most expensive or rare of items, but perhaps she could manage to steal the orb at least. It would definitely be a challenge with not just two marks to look out for, but the presence of Capone to consider. Neither of the strangers seemed to be hostile though, in fact they looked as if they'd just gone out for a pleasurable walk in the forest.

A small smile gracing her features, Synd'r wandered over to the duo of strangers, weaving a story in her mind as she went.
"Hello there! I hope we're not intruding here. You see my friend is hopelessly slow at moving anywhere and we often end up getting lost because of it. You wouldn't happen to be able to give us directions to Grassveil Town would you?" she asked, her voice taking on a rather polite air to it as she hoped that the duo wouldn't be too intimidated by strangers to react badly.

ooc// I have a plan. See if you can guess what it is :P
Also if you hover over Murkrow and Pineco in my encounter record thing then it'll tell you that they're holding items.

Capone hadn't noticed the items the two were carrying at first. He didn't want to stare too much, just in case someone caught on. It wasn't until Synd'r started to talk to them that he could get a good look at them. He saw an Orb of some kind and a seed. He didn't really care much for the seed, it seemed to be an ordinary Blast Seed, but the Orb could come in handy. Or it could be sold for some extra cash.

In his thoughts, he soon realized that Synd'r was lying to the two. They hadn't been trying to find their way to Grassveil, but he decided to go with it. It might lead to him getting his claws on that Orb. The Slakoth looked at the two Pokemon with a sorry look on his face. "I apologize for the trouble, but could you please aid us?"

The Murkrow couldn't help but chuckle in his harsh voice as Synd'r explained why they were there. Slakoths had a bit of a reputation, and the black bird couldn't imagine being tied down by something so slow.
"I feel for you, my friend," the Murkrow cawed with a light chuckle, directing his reply specifically toward Synd'r, "Pineco here is slow, but not that slow."

The Vulpix was a little surprised by the harsh reply. Normally the pokemon she ran into were all goody-two-shoes (if they didn't attack) who would like nothing more than to help you as long as it meant you were on your way out of their home.

Pineco however, seemed to disagree with the Murkrow's opinion and pointed a glare at him, to which the Murkrow rolled his eyes and returned to speaking.
"Grassveil is that way though," he pointed with one wing to where Synd'r knew very well Grassveil was.

With a small chuckle of amusement, Synd'r looked to the Murkrow with a small smile, "Thanks. You wouldn't happen to know anywhere we could get some Quick Seeds would you?" the Vulpix added, keeping the Murkrow's attention for a little longer as she tried to work out which buttons she'd have to press to get him to do what she wanted.

The Murkrow paused for a moment in consideration before the Pineco he was travelling spoke up in a surprisingly light and feminine voice.
"It's not a quick seed, but I actually know a place that most people go to help train their speed. Supposedly it has mystical qualities that allow you to get faster without much effort," she described the odd place, looking at Murkrow pointedly. The bird sighed. He could say all he wanted about Pineco but at the end of the day it was clear she was in charge of their little duo.

"We could probably take you there if you want," the Murkrow replied with his grating voice, "But you won't be able to get back there once you leave. It's one of the perks of living here that we can come and go," he pointed out.

As much as she hadn't been expecting it, Synd'r was actually rather enthused by the idea of this odd place. Perhaps there was something more valuable to be found there than on the person of these two strangers.
"That sounds awesome!" she grinned, uncharacteristically enthusiastic in her act towards these two strangers. She turned to Capone with a mischievous smile, "You up for an 'adventure'?"

Capone, as he had trained himself to be, stayed cool and collected at the Murkrow's jab at him. But he still wanted to use a few choice words aimed at the bird. Unfortunately, it seemed that the Slakoth might lose his chance at pocketing the seed and orb, but soon, the luck shined upon him once more. It seemed that there was a new chance to steal the goods, and maybe find a treasure of sorts.

His only problem was Synd'r. How would he be able to steal anything with her around. He couldn't make her an enemy, that would just be completely stupid. But he can't risk getting found out, either. He would have to figure out how to get her away. Soon, his thoughts were interrupted by a more enthused Vulpix than he had known. He glanced her way, and saw a smirk of sorts. Although, he had no idea what it meant. She was obviously hiding something, but the normal type couldn't figure it out.

"Yes, I'm ready for an adventure." Capone looked at the two guides, a plan starting to formulate in his head. But he still couldn't think of any way to get Synd'r out of the picture. Other than attacking her, of course. But she would probably defeat him, and it would be suspicious to the Murkrow and Pineco, anyways. He decided to wait until the opportunity permitted itself, and started to follow the Pokemon.

The Pineco nodded and turned to lead them off towards the place she had mentioned, her matter-of-fact way of doing things not requiring much of a response. The Murkrow looked from Pineco to the two strangers and with a pointed glance at Synd'r, shrugged lightly before hopping after her.

The Vulpix would have padded immediately after the duo of pokemon, but she realised that by lying, she'd landed herself in a situation where not caring about whether the Slakoth was left behind would likely raise some suspicion. And so she lingered back, hoping that Capone would find some way to move faster.

"So... you sure you can't move any faster at all?" she asked him in a hushed whisper that the Murkrow and Pineco wouldn't be able to hear from their few paces ahead. Surprisingly her tone wasn't one of annoyance or frustration, but rather bored resignation.

Capone started moving, and he realized that it was no use trying to keep up with the two Pokemon and Synd'r if they just went off without him. Unless he decided to use one of his seeds. He was going to save them for a later day, but it seemed that a rare opportunity has just knocked on his door. He figured that he would get a gain out of it whether there was treasure or not, given the mysterious powers of the place the rumor told of. He looked at the Vulpix as she spoke to him.

"As a matter of fact, I do. I was planning on saving them for a rainy day, but maybe this day is actually rainier than it may appear." The Slakoth slipped one of his hands into his small satchel, taking out a Quick seed. He popped it into his mouth, and with a satisfying crunch sound and a disgusting taste, he felt energy fill his body. Capone took off much quicker than before, about the speed of an average Pokemon walking. "Can't wait to get faster without the use of these horrid things."

The Vulpix blinked as Capone dug through his bags, eyes widening for a brief moment as he brought out a Quick seed before her expression curled into a surprisingly light chuckle.

"So you did come prepared this time!" she replied, amusement throughout her tone. She didn't envy the Slakoth at all for needing to use these seeds in order to get around at what others would consider a normal pace, but she was rather glad that he had in fact thought about his journey this time around. It wasn't something she'd expected from the Slakoth though, considering the conversation she'd had upon her first meeting with him. It seemed he had had chance to find some relevant speed enhancing objects since they'd last spoken.

Walking alongside the Slakoth, Synd'r followed the Murkrow and Pineco, watching the duo from behind. They didn't look hugely strong, nothing she couldn't handle. The Pineco was weak to her flames due to it's bug typing, so she wouldn't have any problems with that... the only problems would come with the Murkrow and it's wings, and Capone if he were to side with them. Although the Slakoth's seed should wear off at some point...