A first adventure together

(Energy: 19-11=8)

Niracamda looked in awe at the forest in front of her. The leaves on the trees were a huge variation of colors, ranging from green to red and brown. I was such a beautiful sight. The forest was reflected in the lake surrounding it. Leaves were scattered across the water. It sure was worth the trip. It did take them a few days to reach the place.

The shiny Houndour looked at her companion. He was an Absol she met at the beach of Rainfront Town. They got talking and somehow it ended in her asking to explore with her. His name was Deimos. Niracamda was pretty happy he came along. She felt a lot more secure knowing he was going to protect her. On the other hand, she knew she was going to end up feeling really bad if Deimos got hurt protecting her. She just couldn't bring herself to hurt someone unless it was really necessary.

Deimos was stood next to the Houndour from the beach, his physical eyes closed as if he was in thought. The Absol had somehow found himself serving as a bodyguard after their talk back at the beach. The Absol didn't mind the work if his current travelling companion wasn't willing to fight, it was a nice change of pace. The Absol stretched somewhat and then waited patiently, being ready for Niracamda to lead on.

"Well... Here we are, the Fallen Leaf Copse " The Absol spoke. Being personally familiar with the locale, the Absol knew that Feral Pokemon did exist in the dungeon, aggressive ones at that. The Absol couldn't sense anything immediately through his minds eye, so he opened his eyes and took in the surroundings.

Niracamda smiled as the Absol spoke up and nodded. "It's really beautiful..." Her gaze was fixed on the island in front of them. It had a kind of peaceful feel to it, although she knew there were probably ferals around. The shiny Houndour was pretty excited about the idea of exploring this place, even more so now that she was in front of the stepping stones leading to the island.

Niracamda hesitated and carefully started crossing the stones, as to not fall in. Niracamda has used water before and didn't mind it all that much, but that didn't mean she wanted to fall in and get soaked. She couldn't exactly swim either so this was also not reassuring. Deimos would probably help her if she did fall in but still....

The small Houndour jumped off the last stone and landed on the edge of the island. She was relieved to feel grass under her feet now. Niracamda took a few steps further and looked around. It was a mystery how there could be a forest of eternal Autumn here. Still, it was also what made this forest so beautiful. Niracamda looked back at Deimos to see if he had followed her and reached the island yet.

The Absol calmly stood back and allowed Niracamda to cross over the stones, nodding and forming a slight smile in regards to her comment about the Copse. As a traveler himself he understood her first impression of the Locale quite well, even if he was less focused on the visual splendor of the location last time. "Just be careful not to slip... I can provide a platform if you do, but I'm not an aquatic species" The Absol commented before she crossed over all the way.

Once she had crossed over the stones in their entirety, the Absol himself began moving forwards. He moved from stone to stone swiftly and efficiently, clearly having practice from prior visits in regards to the stepping stones. Crossing over the last stone, Deimos stretched and looked back to Niracamda.

"I think we arrived at a relatively quiet time, not counting Ferals. I can't sense an overly large amount of activity" Deimos spoke, his head bowed in a respectful manner. She was relying on him here, he couldn't forget that.

Niracamda saw that the Absol crossed the stepping stones pretty fast. He seemed to have a bit of experience crossing them. She thought she remembered him telling her that he had been here a few times before.

The Houndour nodded as he spoke up.   " It sure seems that way. This forest seems to have a certain air of tranquility. I'm sure that is this place was no dungeon, a lot of Pokemon would be coming here  although it would kind of ruin the atmosphere it has now if that were the case. I wonder what we will find here..." Niracamda looked around. "So...Which way do we go?" She asked this as she never has been there before. Maybe Deimos had an idea?

The Absol stretched and glanced around, eyes scanning the surroundings nearby for signs of a recent presence. Be it just well hidden footprints or disturbances to the soil's formation, The Absol intended to spot it. He was being more cautious than he normally would when with another, clearly taking his role of guardian seriously. Though he couldn't sense any major source of non visible movement so far, the Absol remained alert.

As Niracamda spoke up about the area and what it'd be like it it was safe, Deimos nodded in agreement. "If this wasn't a dungeon, it'd likely lose it's sense of tranquillity. It's for the best this way." The Absol spoke, his tone a calm and collected. He liked the peaceful feel to the area, it helped put him at ease amongst a world of uncertainty and confusion.

As Nira asked where to go, the Absol bowed his head. "Honestly I've only been here two or three times before so I can't help as much in guiding you." The Absol spoke... He was a guard, not a guide.

Niracamda agreed with the Absol. It would be too bad if the forest lost its tranquility. She was a bit disappointed that Deimos couldn't help her with deciding were to go. She sighed and looked around. "Lets just go that way then." The houndour pointed at a small path between the trees. It was barely visible and countless leaves were covering it up. They had to take care to not get lost but it could be fun too. She was really looking forward to it. The small Houndour started to make her way through the forest.

Evana carried out 5 launched of one Fallen Leaf Copse :

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The Absol nodded and stretched a little once more as Niracamda replied. Having had the path be pointed out to him, the Absol waited for Niracamda to begin moving before he would himself. Following close behind as they set off, Deimos glanced around only on occasion, trusting his mind and hearing more so than his sight for the moment.

"Why is the terrain always in the style of Autumn here... A question just waiting to be answered i'd bet" Deimos muttered under his breath. Even with his role as a guard, Deimos was still always willing to learn more of the world when he could.

Niracamda overheard what he said. It was pretty interesting actually. Why was this forest in eternal Autumn? The shiny Houndour wondered if they could find the answer to that question somewhere in this forest. "Who knows if we will find the answer to that. This forest is really beautiful though. I hope we will find something interesting here." The small houndour seemed really cheerful. She was happy with the company and that they were exploring this mysterious forest. She didn't notice a group of bugs further ahead. They were feeding on a pile of leaves.

The Absol continued to follow close behind, eyes closed once more as he put an emphasis on his ability to sense shifts in the earth and air. He could sense some movement up ahead but nothing threatening in any way... He could sense the Pokemon eating. The Absol triggered his Shadow Claw for a moment as he walked, mentally preparing himself to fight immediately if needed.

Deforming the spectral claw, the Absol opened his eyes once more and nodded in relation of what she had to say. "An answer exists to every mystery, it's just a case of opening your eyes to the greater truth and seeking it out yourself, not quitting when the trail goes cold " The Absol spoke, before bowing his head once more.

Niracamda smiled at what Deimos said. "Yes, you are right. Some mysteries are more difficult to solve than others though. It seems interesting to unravel the mysteries of this world, don't you think? I would really love to see a lot of different places." The shiny houndour explained with a cheerful voice. It was easy to see she was happy to be exploring.

The bugs looked up at the strange Pokemon. They were not happy to be disrupted while they were eating. Two Cascoon and a Wurmple moved in their way. The Wurmple didn't hesitate and used Poison Sting at the Houndour. They wanted the intruders to leave.

Deimos was fast to reach to the sudden aggression from the Wurmple, slamming his front left law down on the ground. A large blade of stone swiftly emerged from the ground in front of her. The Posion projectile struck the stone, barely scratching it.

Deimos stepped forwards calmly, before flaring at the Wurmple. "I'd suggest going back to your meal... Now" The Absol spoke, there was a clear hint of anger in his tone. He was aiming to intimidate the for into backing down, only planning to outright take it down if it attacked.

Niracamda flinched as she saw the attack coming her way. She would have been hit if it wasn't for the stone appearing in front of her. The Houndour was confused for a minute but then realized that Deimos made it appear to shield her.

The bugs were surprised by that. They looked confused at the stone and then saw one of the strangers moving closer. It was saying something. The bugs could clearly hear the anger in its voice. The bugs looked at eachother. Maybe it was not a good idea to attack them after all? The Wurmple was the first to give in. It turned around and dissapeared between some bushes. The cascoon followed it soon after.

Niracamda was impressed by how Deimos handled it. He didn't resort to attacking them from the moment they attacked her. He intimidated them instead. "Thank you." She said. "I was not going to be able to dodge that attack."

The Absol let off a faint growl, watching as they moved away and out of sight. He was ready to trigger another Stone Edge the very moment it was needed, however he didn't want to waste energy. Deimos glanced to the stone blade, triggering Shadow Claw to break it down... It was undeniably an Eyesore in this terrain.

As Nira spoke up, he looked back to the Houndour and merely nodded. "Outright brute force isn't always the best option if you have a means to resolve it without someone coming to harm. I merely did what i thought was best for the time being" The Absol spoke, his tone a calm in nature. Deforming the Spectral claw, the Absol rested it's raised paw firmly back on the ground.

The Houndour was surprised when Deimos broke the rock again. She was wondering why he did that. She looked at his claws. It was the same as what he used on the beach. Niracamde had to respect Deimos for trying to solve it without violence. The bugs were gone now. That left her thinking for a minute.

Niracamda looked at the pile of leaves. "I guess we interrupted their meal. That was probably why they attacked." The shiny houndour walked over to the pile. In itself there was nothing interesting about it. There was something that had caught her eye though. The pile of leaves was like the forest, colors varying from yellow to red and brown. What she noticed was that on top of the pile, was a single green leaf. Niracamda stared at it for a while and then picked it up.

"Huh...? This leaf looks different from the rest. Is it just an ordinary leaf or is there something special about it?" Niracamda had said her thoughts out loud before she knew it. She was thinking about were the leaf could have come from.