Dappled Sunlight (Open!)

First topic message reminder :

It was early morning, the sun still rising in the sky, gracing the forest with it's rays despite it being famed for it's darkness. Russell crawled along the well worn pathway at the entrance of Shadowhue, a bag and notebook in hand. His attention was mostly focused on the tiny slivers of light that tentatively brushed past the leafy canopy, scattering upon reaching the ground, like liquid gold.

The dark forest, as was a popular name for Shadowhue, really wasn't as dark as you thought if you really looked around, and Russ couldn't help but find it oddly fascinating.

The Burmy paused where he was stood to make a small note in his little notebook, recording his musings to read later when he analysed today's exploration back at his home. When he was satisfied with his writings, he slipped the book and quill into the bag he wore and prepared to move onward.

Akuroma blinked as the Scyther suddenly dashed away, the Psychic type unable to keep an eye on the speedy bug type for long as it slipped through the trees. Akuroma growled, he was in no mood for an opponent to play games with him. The poisoned Pokemon was soon to change his tactics in order to stop what he thought was the Scyther coming after him from an angle.

However, the Burmy behind him suddenly yelling out distracted Akuroma. Attempting to stop an attack from behind, the Gallade swung his arm around, hoping to slam it into the Scyther, instead, he saw a Spearow flying straight towards the little Burmy. As soon as he saw his attack wasn't aimed for the Scyther, Akuroma knew he had just left himself open to it, if it was coming back for an attack at all. "Crap..."

Zorre
Energy: 26
Items in Use: Defense Scarf
Guard Gem

If Zorre was expecting to easily be able to slice through the gallade's body, he was soon proven wrong as he slammed into Akuroma with great force, his scythes leaving long lacerations against the gallade's sides. It would certainly hurt; but it had not been what the scyther had been expecting from his attack! This pokemon was certainly strong to be able to withstand his keen blades.

Nevertheless, Zorre pressed on with his advantage -the gallade taken by surprise due to his distraction at whatever was happening with the burmy behind them. Zorre was confident in his friend's ability to protect himself, though, and continued with his attack against the gallade. Emboldened by the success of his first attack, he quickly darted away again, this time aiming to come around from the other side and cripple the pokemon from both sides of his chest.


Kelina
Energy: 6
Items in Use: N/A

Kelina let out a loud caw of irritation as the burmy turned just in time to throw up a quick protective shield, throwing the spearow back as she slammed into the psychic barrier. She hated it when bug pokemon did that! It was so annoying; why couldn't they just accept their place at the bottom of the food chain?!

Then the burmy spoke -begging for her not to eat it. Kelina let out a huff of exasperation. Now she really couldn't eat the darn thing! It was sentient! Kelina then let out a shriek of pain as a fist rammed into her side, shocking her. She fell to the ground, throwing a glare in the direction of the gallade who'd punched her.

"Well geez! How was I supposed to know the little worm was sentient?!" Kelina grumbled, scrambling to her feet. "How am I ever supposed to fill my belly if all my food keeps talking back to me, anyway? I can't eat a creature that talks; it's just not right..."

The plant cloaked Burmy flashed Akuroma a quick glance of thanks, but the Gallade seemed to have his hands full fighting the Scyther. Russell couldn't help but frown however, at the Spearow's next words.
"Pretty much everyone talks if you give them the chance to," he replied, almost a little confused by the statement.

Most bird pokemon who still hunted bug types didn't care for the distinction between talking and not talking either way, so to hear that this Spearow seemed to even consider such an idea was a little odd to say the least. Able to talk or not, he'd always figured that certain pokemon individuals would view him as food whether he liked it or not, because of what he was.

Nevertheless, now that he figured the Spearow wasn't going to immediately eat him, his better nature seemed to re-arise and he found himself worrying for the Spearow's well-being.
"Are you okay?" he asked.

Akuroma coughed as the force of Zorre's attack sent him skidding sideways a few feet. Grabbing his side, the Gallade ignored the little Spearow as he looked around for the black Scyther. "Crap, crap, crap," Akuroma muttered to himself. The Gallade held up his free hand, a blue glow surrounding it. Huffing, Akuroma side stepped towards a group of small trees, hoping to lessen the angles the Scyther could come at him from.

(Sorry for short post, on phone and idk if I'll be able to get bank on my laptop today)

Zorre
Energy: 26
Items in Use: Defense Scarf
Guard Gem

Zorre narrowed his eyes as he noted the gallade's sidestep into the trees. So the pokemon wanted to play hide-and-seek, did he? Well, Zorre could do that for him! He buzzed towards the gallade, not noticing the blue glow in the gallade's hand.

Zorre aimed to flit past the gallade, not actually attacking the gallade. He wanted to startle the pokemon and then disappear into the trees, luring the gallade into making mistakes as it searched for him, flitting in and out of existence. Zorre was confident in himself and his ability to disappear into the darkness, especially with his black carapace.

But, were the gallade to perceive him coming and hit him with whatever the blue glow in his hand was, he was likely to get Zorre off-guard and send him sprawling, giving the gallade an opening for attack.


Kelina
Energy: 6
Items in Use: N/A

Kelina blinked up at the little worm in confusion. She got up, puffing out her wings in irritation from the dust all over them, and quickly went into preening mode, smoothing down her ruffled feathers and cleaning the dirt from them with her beak. In between doing this, she considered the bagworm pokemon who'd shown her compassion by asking if she was alright, immediately after she'd tried to eat it. What a strange pokemon.

After her short preening session, she looked back up at the burmy. "I'm alright, thank you. As for your previous statement; I do try not to eat sentient pokemon. Feral pokemon are wild and attack anything, so really its better to eat them, than say your next-door neighbor. At least, in my opinion. But curious that you seem so concerned over the bird that just tried to eat you."

Russell blinked at the Spearow's words, considering them for a moment. It was true that some pokemon seemed to attack without reason, especially if one found themselves within a mystery dungeon. Personally he'd always just classed them as antisocial and territorial, though he supposed he'd never had to hunt down his food before. He guessed he sort of admired the bird for at least trying to make a distinction between what she ate and didn't eat. After all it'd saved him from almost certainly becoming a meal.

The Burmy smiled at the Spearow's curiosity before answering with an almost amused tone of voice.
"Well if you apply your logic to it why not feel concerned for another pokemon if you know they are sentient and non feral?"

Kelina
Energy: 6
Items in Use: N/A

Kelina chirped in laughter at the burmy's smart words. "Well aren't you a smart one?" She chirruped. She ruffled her wings, puffing them out. "Well, I'm Kelina. What's your name, unless you'd like me to call you Mr. Yummy."

She laughed again at her own funny, despite the joke might have been in poor taste. Heh. Poor 'taste'. She had to laugh again at her own pun.

Although the joke may have been a little in bad taste, now that Russell knew there was no danger of being eaten he seemed to take it in his stride, actually chuckling at the small joke.
"As great a name as Mr. Yummy may be, I think I'll have to decline the honour of adopting it as my own," he replied with an amused glint in his eyes, "I'm Russell though. Pleased to meet you, despite nearly becoming your lunch."

Though the Burmy didn't realise it due to being engaged in conversation with the Spearow,the fight between Zorre and Akuroma had gotten further away from them, to the point where if Russell had taken a moment to glance around, he most certainly would not have spotted them nearby. The quick movements of both fighting Pokemon had taken them deeper into the dark forest, where less sunlight filtered through the canopy on a daily basis, but the today the odd clouds would have plunged into almost total darkness.

OOC//:

Kelina
Energy: 6
Items in Use: N/A

Kelina laughed again. "Well at least you have a sense of humor, Mr. Russel. My name is Kelina, like I said before. What brings you to Shadowhue Forest? It's kinda an unsafe place for a little bug like you, isn't it? Or are you an explorer or something?"

Kelina cocked her head to the side curiously, wondering if the burmy had been interested in joining the guild like she had once been.

Russell stood thoughtfully for a brief moment before replying to the Spearow.
"Explorer would be one word for it, and it pretty much hits the mark, yea," he replied, "Although if I were to give myself a formal title it would either be a Cartographer or Windrose Scout. Maybe both!" He added the last few words as an afterthought.

Looking to Kelina, Russell would normally have politely asked a similar question in return, however he was somewhat confident that the Spearow was here in search of her next meal and so wasn't too sure whether he should bring that back to their attention.

Kelina
Energy: 6
Items in Use: N/A

Kelina cocked her head to the side. "What's a cartopagher?" She asked, mispronouncing the words badly. "Is Windrose Scouts the name of your exploration team? For the guild?" She asked curiously.

She peered around the clearing, ruffling her feathers as a strange feeling crept down her spine, like she was being watched. She didn't see anything, but it was still a weird feeling, and she didn't like it.

"A cartographer is someone who makes maps," the Burmy explained simply, though he seemed to almost light up at the idea of talking about the things he was truly interested in, "I do my own research and drawings in order to make my maps, and my dream is to map the entire world," he revealed.

After a short pause, the Burmy moved on to the second question. He could understand where the idea that he might be a guild member might come from, as he had basically stated himself to be an explorer, but he was more than happy to clarify for Kelina.
"Actually the Windrose Scouts have nothing to do with the exploration guilds. They're an organisation I formed to help me in my dream that specialises in exploration and investigation of rumours. We keep detailed information about the places we go to or discover," he explained, trying to make the differences between WS and the region's guilds clear.

The Burmy was so concentrated on explaining to the Spearow that he didn't feel anything out of the ordinary, however he did notice Kelina peering around the clearing as if looking for something, and blinked curiously, glancing around himself as if to try and work out what she had seen or heard.

Kelina
Energy: 6
Items in Use: N/A

"Ohhhh," Kelina chirped. She ruffled her feathers. "That sounds really fun? Is it fun?" She asked happily.

She cocked her head to the side again when the burmy went on to explain that he wasn't part of the guild, but rather, had made his own organization. "Oh, oh, oh! That sounds extra fun! You know, I wanted to be a guild member, but when I found out that they were only in it for the money, I got discouraged. But this sounds much, much better! Ooooooh, can I join? Please please pleeeeaasssee????" She begged the little bug pokemon, flapping her wings restlessly.

Russell nodded eagerly to the question about map making being fun. One naturally would enjoy the thing they had chosen to dedicate their life to after all.

The Burmy seemed to bounce on the spot, his eyes shining as the Spearow showed such enthusiasm for the organisation he'd created. Normally he was the one asking others if they wanted to join, so it was nice to have Kelina ask him for a change. At the end of the day it just showed how enthusiastic she was about joining!

"Of course you can!" Russell grinned, "Although we have our own sort of entry test that you'll have to do before you can fully be considered a member. We call them entry challenges, and basically i'll assign you a challenge and you'll have to complete it and write a report on it. It sorta tests that you're able to keep an accurate record of your explorations, since that's the main point of our organisation," he explained, pausing to wait and see if Kelina had any questions.

Kelina
Energy: 6
Items in Use: N/A

"Oh boy oh boy oh boy!" Kelina hopped around the burmy, excited. "Yaaaaay! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I get to be part of something really, really cool! Oh, but I have to do your challenge first... But that's ok! I'll do it and I'll do it well, and then I'll join, and then we'll have lots of fun together!" She chirped happily.

It seemed that her loud happiness had brought trouble on the two pokemon though, as a pinsir and slakoth emerged from the forest, both growling at the companions meanly.

Kelina chirruped. This was what she had been feeling all along -the eyes of the feral pokemon on her! She flew up into the air and dove at the pinsir, pecking with her strong beak at the pinsir's outer carapace.