A first encounter

Niracamda had left her home not too long ago. She kind of missed her family already. As she passed a town she somehow reached what could only be what people would call a beach. The shiny houndour was impressed by the view. The sea was stretching endlessly, it was as if there was no end to the water. Niracamda sat down in the sand and stared at the distance. The breeze felt nice and she liked the smell that seemed to be coming from the sea.

It didn't take long before the sun started to set, coloring the sky in all kinds of colors. "It's so beautiful.... I never imagined it would look like this. It's much better than that Wartortle told me." The Houndour kept sitting there, mesmerized by the scene before her. She was feeling a bit lonely though. She wished there was someone to enjoy the scene with her.

Having moved from his temporary resting point at Pricklemist due to what cover he had there being mostly gone the to a trio of meddlers, Deimos was headed towards the coast. He had passed by a town not too long ago, having skipped it for the normal reason... Too noisy for him. The Absol soon caught sight of a vast stretch of what he could sense to be sand, and water next to it, the sea. Quickly understanding that this was the closest he'd get to the coast, Deimos approached the beach with caution.

He couldn't sense much through the sand at this point, having more so had experience with solid ground and soil than the sand underfoot. The Absol approached the waters edge, being wary kicking up the sand or causing a disturbance.

Niracamda her ears twitched a bit. Was she hearing something? The small Houndour looked around and noticed a white Pokemon walking a bit further. She immediately recognized the Pokemon to be an Absol. She was confused as to why there would be an Absol here. She thought they lived in the mountains. Curiously, Niracamda got up and walked towards the stranger. She had been a bit lonely and she was hoping to make friends with it.

"Um....Hello." Niracamda said after approaching the Absol. She had to look up at him. Nira was feeling so small next to it, she was hoping the Absol wouldn't be picking on her height. "My name is Niracamda. What is yours?"

Sitting down next to the waters edge just as he did back at the small pond, Deimos wasn't overly concerned about the tide unless it turned violent and even then he could move away fast enough. The Absol closed it's eyes in thought, trying to work out it's next plan of action. This was soon interrupted by a voice however.

turning his gaze to the side, Deimos was expecting it to be something od a decent height. Realizing that it must have been a small Pokemon rather quickly due to the airflow, Deimos looked down, noting the presence of a small Houndour of an odd colouration. Was it a Shiny?

Feeling that he might as well answer the question, Deimos shrugged. "Deimos" The Absol responded, not going into any further detail in any way. The two incisions were still clearly visible on his side,, get amongst the white of his fur despite having been cleaned recently.

Niracamda smiled at the Absol. "It's nice to meet you. Mind if I join you?" The Houndour asked. Her voice sounded calm and gentle. She hadn't noticed the wounds on the flank of the Absol yet, but it didn't take her long before she did.

Niracamda her smile wavered. "Oh, you're wounded. What happened to you?" The houndour asked in a bit of a worried tone. Niracamda leaned closer to be able to examine the wound on his side. She could tell the wound wasn't new but it never seemed to have gotten any proper treatment. "I wonder how bad the wound was...Probably pretty bad. It seems to be mostly healed now though. I don't think it is going to leave any scars so that is a good thing." The shiny Houndour was muttering to herself. She forgot to tell the Absol she was actually a medic. She had been too used to treating Pokemon in the hospital where they knew she was one.

Deimos listened to the Houndour in silence, trying to identify if it was really after anything, or if it's words were truthful. At first He didn't see anything wrong with it staying... It'd be safer in case of some kind of Altercation if anything happened after all. When it spoke up about it's wound though, he shook his head.

"If that is what you wish. And it came from a Seviper Bite... nothing overly serious" The Absol spoke, not really seeing the Seviper Bite as a huge problem, even if it did leave him with somewhat of a week point. He didn't question the Houndour, instead focusing more on listening and reacting as need be... If it wanted to stick around it must've had some reason for it.

The Houndour nodded. "Seviper have some pretty long teeth. I guess you got lucky. If it bit you in the wrong place or poisoned you, it could have ended pretty badly." Niracamda said to the Absol. She was thinking it might be a good idea to clean the wounds but she didn't have any water with her and she could not use the salty seawater, so she just sighed and sat down next to him.

"The view is really beautiful.... I could never have imagined it would look like this. This is the first time I see the sea." The small Houndour said as she looked over in the distance. "Say Deimos? Are you an explorer?" Niracamda asked. She didn't avert her gaze as she said that. "I started exploring recently. I want to see a lot of places and meet a lot of Pokemon." Niracamda spoke out her honest throughts and feelings. It's not like it was a secret.

Deimos nodded slightly as a response to the Houndour's words. It was true that Seviper's had long fangs, as he had learned from being bitten by them. He was honestly fortunate that he'd evaded a poisonous experience for certain. When it spoke up about the view, Deimos turned his view back to the sea.

"Yes... As one who hails from a more mountainous region, Seeing the Sea up close is a refreshing change" The Absol replied, pretty much agreeing with what the Shiny Houndour stated. When it asked if he was an explorer and started explaining about her little situation, Deimos simply bowed his head and let this one play out.

"If by that you mean a member of the Guild, no I am not. If you mean just as a traveler, then yes" The Absol stated.

Niracamda glanced at him as Deimos said he came from a mountainous region. She had been wondering if he came from the mountains and didn't know if she could ask or not. She knew there were a few Absol tribes and she had met a few of them. "So you come from the Black Spear Mountain Range, don't you?" Niracamda simply asked. She could be wrong but it seemed the most likely place Deimos would come from.

It made her think a bit about her family and her friends. She was hoping they would be ok. She actually kind of missed them. She made a mental note to go visit them in the future. Then she could tell about everything she has seen and about the Pokemon she has met.

The small Houndour looked up as Deimos answered that he was a traveler. "Well, you don't need to be in the guild to be able to travel. I'm not in a guild and I don't plan on joining any. Nobody can really forbid others to go explore."

Deimos simply shook his head. "Not from that range specifically... I come from an area that remains unnamed" The Absol responded. He'd visited the Black Spear Mountains before yes, but he wasn't raised there. At the second part, Deimos nodded somewhat. He himself was unaffiliated with the Guild and he still explored regardless.

"And yes... An affiliation is not required for exploring and travelling" The Absol spoke, strong in the conviction of staying unaffiliated for his travels.

Not from the mountains itself? That was interesting. That means he must not have been part of the tribes she has met. She knew there were more tribes around. "That's interesting. I have met a few Absol before that live there. It's rare for them to come down the mountains" Nira stated. Most of the absol she saw came down for medical attention or for supplies when times were tough. One time they actually came down because it was dangerous in the mountains because of it raining for a few weeks without clearing up. It was too dangerous to slip and fall and the water made the danger of rockfalls much higher too.

"What is it like? The place were you grew up?" The Houndour asked curiously. She wasn't expecting him to tell him about his life there. She was more interested about the area. She knew a part of the mountain she grew up at, but never got to exploring it as she was busy with her work. She was wondering in what ways it might be different.

Deimos continued looking to the ocean, a near emotionless look on his face as he did so, his mind on the past. When his focus was brought back to her via the Houndour's speech, Deimos bowed his head. "The norm... Quiet and solitary, not many beings there apart from my own family close to the peak" Deimos spoke, not going into much detail.

The Absol thought back to the old days before he set out... Fond memories of a family loved, then abandoned. He could still remember the family he knew so dearly, a family he missed. He could still remember how they were, the soft and gentle manner of his sister. The strict manner of his father at times... He remembered arguing at times with him, but it was never personal.

Niracamda nodded as Deimos answered. "It sounds like a rough but also nice place to live. I heard the view in the mountains is great. I never climbed high though. I was too busy with other things." Nira said. She was actually a bit scared of climbing high in the mountains. She still remembered the day she went to explore with Toby and how it ended for them. Even now she still felt guilty. "I should have tried harder to stop him..." The small Hounder murmered sadly to herself.

The conversation somehow had brought back the memories she had locked away in her heart. It  was not something she liked to get reminded off. Toby laying in the hospital like that, badly wounded and wrapped in bandages. The crushing guilt she had felt, it had been very difficult for her. Niracamda shook her head and tried to push away the memories. This was not a good time to be thinking about that. The shiny Houndour leaned a bit against the Absol, not really noticing what she was doing.

Deimos let off a faint sigh and stretched a little as the Houndour spoke. He personally didn't like talking about his past, something that he had to be very careful about bringing up. The Absol nodded as the Houndour mentioned the view you could get from up high in the mountains. It was clearly a decent place for such views.

As the Houndour began leaning against him, Deimos quickly looked back to it. He stared at her, confused as to what on earth she was doing. Why was a Houndour leaning up against him when she barely even knew him? What was going through the Pokémon's mind to make it do that?

Niracamda could feel something warm against her side. She was a bit confused. It took her a while to realize she was leaning against Deimos. She quickly jumped up and moved away a bit. "S-Sorry. I guess I must be a bit tired from traveling here." Niracamda said. It was a lie, maybe a bit of a poor lie too. She was not tired or anything. Ok, maybe a little, but not tired enough to lean against a Pokemon she had just met.

She was feeling a bit flustered. She actually knew why she did that. The memories of that accident had made her feel bad and she must have subconsciously wanted to get some comfort and that was why she had leaned against Deimos. Of course the Absol must have been confused. The small Houndour looked at the ocean, so he wouldn't see the embarrassed look on her face.