Save the Happy Tree Friends!!!

With his new accessory, gotten from some stranger that had been mumbling about how useless it was, Astir felt like he could do anything. His movements felt so much more nimble, and his mind felt fresher. Earlier today, he had avoided some rocks thrown at him by some children who had called him delusional, as well as names the he didn't quite understand, as easily as if they weren't even there! With gentle sun from the clear blue sky smiling down on him, he just felt so good! His sash even seemed to be smiling; it seemed to have an otherworldly joy in the fine weather of today. The cloth seemed to twinkle, almost. Astir felt magnificently strange and empowered all at the same time while wearing it! There couldn't have been a better day to resume his quest to vanquish the monster called "Danger!"

He set out on a road that he had learned led out of town, and he charged down it enthusiastically despite having absolutely no idea where the road actually led. In his vigorous journey down the path, he began to notice more and more and more trees, and these trees were growing denser and denser. He stopped as he happened upon a large, dense, and particularly dark forest. His eyes widened. This was it! It had to be!!! This was the place where he and Danger would finally settle the score! Astir could feel his inner fire raging. He was ready for this!

But what was he looking for? Astir still didn't have any answers to this particular question. He did know that it WASN'T a particular leafy behemoth, but that was the extent of everything that he knew. He would have to investigate further if he was going to be the hero that conquered danger. Astir started to prowl the forest's edge first, being very thorough. He rustled through bushes and crawled through abandoned dens. He even called out Danger's name and explored holes in trees!!! As he was experimenting with how quickly and agile-y he could climb a tree, he found himself in one of the trees he had been trying to search. His head and part of his body had managed to pass through the knothole, but as he tried to escape, his head fins made it impossible to do so. He sat there for a minute, unsure of what to do.

Then, he smirked.

Of course!!! It was a test from Danger; it was trying to prove Astir's worth! There was no way that Astir could fail now; if he did he would never get a second chance to fight Danger! Well, that was how Astir imagined it worked anyways. Whatever the terms were, the tiny snake would not be jaded!!

"I can play your game, Danger!! We wiwl meet on the battlefield!!" Astir exclaimed with pride. And so, he waited.

Astir - 4 energy
Exclusive Items - Dragon Sash - Evasiveness +2 if weather is Clear ***
(Note: Astir still has a slight lisp from his injury, but the majority of it has worn off at this point. He mostly just has trouble with l's.)

It was a nice day.

Well, it was a nice day taking everything into account – honestly, it was as nice as it could get! But nice or not, it did not matter much in Shadowhue Forest. The thick canopy kept everything out, be it the sun or the weather. Rain barely managed to drizzle down on those days when it was raining, the wind was only a slight rustle far above. As the forest was bathed in shadows and no sunlight managed to get down to warm the air, it always was a bit chillier in Shadowhue Forest than in the surrounding areas. That coupled with the darkness and the occasional sound of something making its way through the forest made it a rather gloomy place…

But to someone like Varda, it was no issue. The bird rarely seemed to be afraid of anything, though usually that was because he didn't really know he should be afraid – and the dark was no exception. Because of that, the shadowy forest with its tall trees and odd inhabitants never had been an issue – at least, not in his eyes.

The Altaria was on a mission. Not on a real real Guild mission, but a pretty real one! Perhaps, if it had been an actual mission posted on the board, he would have brought someone with him. But because it wasn't, he felt like he could handle it just find himself. He just needed to check some things! Something, something, hm. What was it again…? A group of Pokémon…

While Varda was pondering that, a voice calling from the shadows caught his interest. The bird stopped and tilted his head, unable to see what had made the sound, unless… His gaze trailed upwards, following the twisting branches.
"Hello, tree!" He chirped.



Current Energy: 55 [65 -10 from entering. Sky Powder in use.)

"Hello, tree!"

Astir's heart jumped excitedly. His... "snake brow" furrowed. Aha!! This was it! A voice outside the tree heralded the coming of a stranger, a voice he had never heard before. It had to be Danger, it just had to be! He wriggled in excitement a bit, though he was trying his best to keep the excitement under control. He didn't want to give his rival any unnecessary extra "edge" against him!

"Aha! You've finawly come!" Astir called back, a smirk ever growing on his face. "Tewl me, what took you so long? This test was nothing to me!" He waited for something to happen, but nothing did. In this moment, something rare had happened. Astir settled down just a bit, and took a short moment to think.

Had Danger just called him.... "tree?" The little blue snake was more than confused by this. Surely, Danger had had to have heard the rumors that Astir just knew were spreading like wildfire. A great dragon coming to vanquish Danger itself? How had the name of this hero never reached Danger? Did his rival really think his name was... "tree?"

"...Hey, my name isn't 'tree!' It's Astir!! Are you trying to mock me or something?" Astir called, befuddled by this strange breach of etiquette. "That is Danger out there, right? Just let me down! I don't know what we're achieving by keeping me up here; I can't see you with my head in this tree!!!"

The tree replied. Varda kept smiling and staring up, trying to figure out which tree was actually speaking to him, but unfortunately… The voice came from far up and by the time it reached him, it was impossible to pinpoint! One thing did become clear, however: the tree had been waiting for him. That part was slightly confusing, as the Altaria had never gotten an invitation from a tree to this forest! But trees were mysterious. He was certain they knew something he did not.

A tree apparently objected to being called a tree. Varda did understand that, as he would much rather be called with his name, too! Now that the tree gave him its name, that wouldn't have to happen again.
"Oh, sorry!" The bird chirped, apologizing his earlier mess-up to this Astir-tree. He certainly wasn't trying to mock anyone.

Talking about danger caused the Altaria to look around. He didn't see any. Then again, he couldn't see much, as it was rather dark. But then, a realization. Let a tree down, wait, no. A head in a tree?
"Um, I don't see any danger, so I'll just come up there," Varda chirped to the mysterious Astir and spread his wings. With a couple of flaps he was able to lift himself into the air and start working his way up, keeping his eyes peeled for anything that was out of place. If it wasn't for an odd wriggling piece that was very light compared to the dark bark of the trees, he probably never would have found what he was looking for!

Landing to a nearby branch, the bird tilted his head and folded his cloud-like wings against his body. Was it maybe a vine of some kind, or a snake…?
"Are you going to be one with the tree? I was almost a bush once."

Wait, who didn't see any Danger? Was Danger not here? Astir's little heart sank a little bit, and his mind became clouded with great confusion. If Danger wasn't here, then who was he speaking to? Was Danger just trying to play a trick on him, or was this stranger one of Danger's friends? Or perhaps... they weren't involved at all? Astir's head swam in the darkness of the hole, which almost seemed larger than before... The little dragon was beginning to feel a bit lonely.

But wait... what if, perhaps, the stranger was a fan of Astir's? The dragon perked back up at this thought. Of course!! Someone had heard the rumors, and had come to see him along on his journey to find Danger! Of course!!! Perhaps his name had gotten mistranslated, and that's why the stranger had thought his name was Tree!! Or maybe "Astir" meant tree? Astir didn't really know much about his own name, so, wow, this fan must have been really serious!! And wow, was this fan stranger smart!? Merging with the tree to inherit it's strength was pure genius! Trees were partially responsible for keeping the world alive, though, and while that was totally something Astir was more than capable of, he didn't want it getting in the way of his vanquishing of Danger.

"So, wait, who are you if you're not danger?" Astir asked eagerly. His enthusiasm was fully re-kindled, and he began to wriggle around again in hopes of freeing himself. He wouldn't be able to sign an autograph while stuck in a tree, after all, and he certainly didn't want to disappoint a devoted fan when they had clearly gone to so much trouble to find him! How had they found him, anyways?

"...Also, yeah, becoming one with a tree isn't a bad idea in theory, but I need some to think it over. Becoming a tree comes with a lot of resposibiwlity, too, and I don't know if I'm at a point in my life where I can accept that resposibiwlity on top of my life's purpose. Maybe after I take care of that, I could make a commitment to it."

If he wasn't dangerous? Varda tilted his head, perhaps thinking of this question for a bit too long. In the end, the answer was pretty obvious!
"Well… I guess I would be not-danger, then!" He chirped happily, feeling like his response was so smart. It made sense at least, and the bird nodded to himself as if to agree. He wasn't dangerous at all – especially to Pokémon who weren't like, outlaws or meanies and such! It wasn't fit for a Guild member to harass good Pokémon, right?
"And, um, my name is Varda!"

To be a tree… Perhaps it wasn't Astir's idea in the first place, though he did like the sound of it. And to be honest, it wasn't such a bad idea in Varda's eyes either. It wasn't the worst fate there was, though not being able to move sounded like it could be difficult at times. It seemed like neither of the Pokémon were quite ready for something like that yet.

"Oh, right," the Altaria cooed and tilted his head. Responsibility. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of responsibilities trees had, as he couldn't speak tree to be able to talk to them! Or understand them, if they understood him already. Varda just stood on the branch with an oblivious smile on his face, staring at the wriggling snake tail as if everything was completely fine and they had said everything that had to be said already.

But there was something else too. With a blink, the bird seemed to realize it.
"Oh! Are you stuck?"

Varda, the not-danger, huh? Well, perhaps it was better that Astir had not discovered his nemesis while he was in such a strange an precarious situation, anyways. Yes, even if this had been a test, Astir looked nowhere near dignified enough to be facing his greatest foe! He had to look elegant, and powerful as well! He would be a magestic dragon facing off with a great threat to life, and he would be a hero to be exalted by mons all across the world, not by a.... tree!!! Yes, this had not been the proper time. Another time would definitely be best. Maybe in a place, surrounded by lava! Or on a freezing cold precipice!

...On second thought, maybe not in the cold. Astir got hives from the cold.

"Well hello, Varda! I appreciate you coming all the way out here to meet me!! You're a good fan," Astir announced, trying to sound both amiable and proud. He found it was not poss "I'm sorry you had to catch me in such a pickle, but it's really nothing..." Astir took a moment to reflect on how futile his previous squirms and escape attempts had been. "...Well, I'd like to say nothing, but actually, maybe I got stuck here in order to meet you!!! If that's the case, than I definitely should get help from you! It's meant to be!!!" The snake nerd proudly deduced.

Astir - 4 Energy

FoxFireAlchemist carried out 4 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

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"Oh, um, thanks!" Varda chirped, a bit confused but happy nonetheless. For some reason, Astir appreciated him having come there to meet him… Were they supposed to meet? The bird couldn't remember ever having arranged a meeting, and the name he had been given earlier was foreign as well. Astir didn't ring any bells whatsoever. Maybe… This Pokémon was somehow connected to his mission?

But there was something more important on his mind right now. Indeed, the snake-like Pokémon was stuck and didn't seem to be able to free himself without outside help! Was it truly meant to be? Varda didn't really know, but his amazed coo meant he was at least considering it.
"Really?" The Altaria couldn't help but chirp in awe,
"Um, okay, let's try!"

He had been freed once himself, too, so he had some experience! But as the bird took a few steps closer to inspect the situation, it turned out this was an entirely different dilemma. There were no branches to pull that would instantly free the Pokémon. The snake's plump body was stuck in a hole. There wasn't really anything to grab other than said body, either. Was pulling going to do it?

...Well, only one way to find out!

Varda spread his wings and jumped off the branch, taking flight but not going far. His talons wrapped around the snake-like Pokémon's tail, where he hoped to get the best possible grip without actually trying to dig his claws into Astir's flesh! With the help of his ability to fly, the Altaria got to work. Every beat of his wings generated a new forceful pull as the bird tried to fly backwards while holding onto an immovable target: the trapped Pokémon.

"Awlright! Lets do this!" Astir exclaimed, though he really wasn't sure what to do or how to do it. Drats, this wasn't any good! How was Astir supposed to be a great, revered hero if he didn't have a plan? If he couldn't lead any mons into a glorious victory in whatever they did?!? Astir was beginning to feel disheartened, but then... he felt someone grabbing him and pulling him upwards... and while this raised many questions in Astir's head about who was grabbing him and how they were pulling in this manner when there was no dirt for them to stand on, the important thing was that they were trying! This filled Astir with a brand new sense of determination! But what could he do...?

...

OF COURSE!!! Water is slippery! If he could fill enough of the hole with it, then he should easily slide out, right?! Astir couldn't believe how smart he was! While Varda pulled on him from behind, Astir began using Water Pulse inside of the tree, causing the hole he was stuck in to fill up with water. Soon, the water was up over his head! Why hadn't he slipped out yet, then? Was it because there wasn't enough water?

Astir kept using the Water Pulse move in order to try and get enough water inthe hole to free himself. As he did, the pressure in the small space grew and grew, giving Astir a it of a headache. He persisted, however, and the combined actions of Astir and Varda soon dislodged the small snake with great force! Perhaps even greater force than expected.

The snake indeed was rather well stuck. Varda had hoped that maybe, in case Astir did lack limbs altogether – he couldn't be entirely sure of that when he hadn't seen what was inside the tree – then he just hadn't been able to try to push himself free. That the Pokémon wouldn't even really be stuck. But perhaps that was foolish thinking. Surely a snake could slither out of any hole without any limbs, so only being really, really stuck would stop one.

The bird failed to notice the droplets of water that managed to squeeze through out of the now waterlogged tree as he kept pulling. It was rather difficult to try to free his new friend, considering how Astir had managed to get stuck real good, but he never gave up. He didn't know if the snake was stretching or if it was working, but slowly it indeed it feel like he was making some progress…

And with a great plop, the snake-like Pokémon was pulled free, followed by a gush of water that rained down from the hole.

Not having expected that, Varda soon found his body thrust backwards by the force of his own wings that had worked so hard to generate enough force to pull out Astir. He quickly managed to straighten himself, but then he realized… That he wasn't holding onto anything anymore! Considering that it was a rather nasty fall down, that… Wasn't good!

The Altaria frantically looked around before spotting the falling snake, and swooped down as fast as he could to grab the Pokémon before… Something bad happened!

Astir broke free from his tree captivity, and suddenly he could see everything. "Everything" translated to shady tree canopy, shadows, and lots and lots of branches, but it was still boggled Astir's mind to see them from such a strange perspective. He was flying, it seemed! Astir always knew he had had it in him. Amazing could only be expected from an amazing hero like himself!!

Astir then began to realize that he had stopped flying and had started plummeting. That had certainly been short lived. The small snake began to panic a bit, but only for a moment. In the midst of his adrenaline-fueled panic mode, Astir repeated the action he had taken before and promptly shot a Water Pulse at a large branch just below him. The kickback of the move slowed his fall, putting him within the larger dragon's reach and maybe out of harm's way?

Meanwhile, down below, a corpse-ish pokemon hovered through the air, patrolling quietly through the underbrush. It moved slowly and methodically, taking time to examine each of the trees it came into contact with. A hollow sound blew through it as it made its eerie way through the eerie underbrush. As it came across a certain particular tree, it stopped. It examined the base of the tree, and the tree's roots. It climbed up further, tapping on the tree. It listened to the sound the tree made, growing more and more suspicious. It reared back, then prepared to call for it's brethren-

-and then a sudden gush of water sent it crashing to the ground. The husk was completely stunned. It pulled itself off of the ground with some effort, the water sloshing around in it's hollow body. It looked up to find the source of the disturbance that it was now acutely aware of, only to be met with more water. And more ground. The entirely waterlogged Shedinja struggled to rise into the air once more, seeking out the perpetrators of the impromptu wash cycle that it had just endured.

Varda rushed after the falling snake, though he wasn't exactly the best at trying to fly faster after a falling target, unlike some other birds he had seen swooping in and out like nothing! Perhaps he might have caught Astir even without the Pokémon's help, but the burst of water the snake shot out of his mouth gave a bit of an oomph that pushed him backwards… Right into Varda's claws! It was a bit sudden, but the bird just about managed to clamp his toes down to catch Astir's tail before it was too late. Due to the rather awkward shape, however, he really had to squeeze as hard as possible…

Luckily Astir wasn't very heavy. Had the bird still been in his smaller form, surely this would have been impossible! But now… Now his wings could actually support the extra weight. But as his grip was feeling like it was slipping with no easy way to recover, the Altaria kept descending as fast as he could – softly. He didn't want to just slam Astir against the ground when they landed, after all!

Finally, the snake touched ground and was let go when the rest of him wouldn't follow in a painful manner. Varda flapped his wings to get some extra air as he wanted to float down next to the other Pokémon instead of, well, right on top of him. The blue bird's feet landed softly and with a smile, he looked at Astir.
"Oh, um, all good, right?" He chirped with a slight tilt of his head, the long feathers on top of his head flopping over. Now that the Altaria had a bit more time to look around, he managed to see the floating husk dripping with water behind his new friend as well and quickly made sure that the Pokémon wouldn't be left out.
"And hello to you too!"

Astir felt himself get grabbed haphazardly, and then he was being slooooowly and caaarefully floated to the ground. He was not afraid, of course; there was no - eep - fear in the, um, great - aack - snake, not even when the ground was approaching veeery slooowly and he slipped once or twice or maybe even a little more through the pinching embrace of talons. But no help was bad help! Just sometimes it was a bit... tense! Not from fear or anything, just from... things.

When the ground was finally within his reach, Astir gratefully slithered down onto it. "Great job, Varda! That was some quick thinking you did there!" Astir announced, trying not to sound too upset or panicky. He needed to keep cool under pressure, of course, especially now that he was being an example! Then Varda was... greeting the air behind Astir for some reason? Astir turned around and then - OH GOOD LORD THAT'S NOT AIR. Astir was greeted by a very cold, very dead stare, making him flinch back in surprise. In response to the staring, Astir could only stare. The pokemon said nothing, it only stared.

The husk pokemon, who could not speak, continued to wait for an explanation from the two trouble pokemon who were making all the ruckus. He stared, and at least one of them stared back. Nothing really happened, they just stared. The Shedinja got fed up with waiting, and decided he had no other choice but to shoot a warning shot at the duo to get them talking.

Suddenly, the thing with the dead stare lobbed a shadowy orb at Astir's feet, making him jump in surprise. He looked at the thing, then at the ground where the attack landed, then at the thing. The thing waited expectantly for... something. Was it challenging them to a fight Astir leaned over to Varda and whispered, "Hey... I think it's chawlenging me? Or maybe it's chawlenging us. I'm not sure, and I don't want to risk messing up it's.... customs. What do we do?"

"Noooo problem!" Varda chirped happily with a big smile on his face as he was thanked. Of course he was happy! Who wouldn't be happy when they did a job well! No one was hurt, everything was fine, it had gone better than expected. There were no problems in the world! Well, maybe there were, but right now they didn't matter. A Pokémon had to know how to be happy with the small things – even if that meant they might forget about the bigger issues temporarily…

The Altaria wasn't afraid of the odd floating bug Pokémon – he had seen one of these before, and while it hadn't talked or really… Done much, it hadn't been aggressive at all! And he certainly was someone who wouldn't let appearances spook him, no sir! With his usual happy smile, the bird just watched as Astir and this unnamed Pokémon stared at each other, certain that it was some kind of important bonding experience that would end in an everlasting experience or something.

But then the bug ended up shooting some kind of shadowy orb at the snake, which Astir luckily managed to avoid! For being a Pokémon without limbs, he certainly could jump out of the way fast. But Varda wasn't fine with this. He didn't want anyone to fight, and as this bug didn't seem awfully aggressive otherwise… He felt like words might get through to it.

"Hey!" The blue bird chirped and walked closer, getting between the snake and the bug so there wouldn't be any further attacking. Well, at least the thing couldn't attack Astir…
"No fighting! That's not nice!"

Bird carried out 5 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

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Varda got in front of Astir after the creature launched the shadowy blob, and... well, Astir appreciated the effort, but there was no need for one of his fans to step in on his behalf! It was a flattering gesture and all, but Astir could totally handle himself. He was going to be the greatest adventurer in the world, after all! Astir started to slither back up in front of Varda, then he had a thought. What if this was a part of Varda's culture? Astir stopped at the bird's side, not wanting to cause any offense. After all, he was supposed to be a NOBLE hero!!! The kind of fighter people looked up to! How could he do that if he was infringing on their comfort zones?! He decided to let this one slide.

The Shedinja looked at the bird, expecting an explanation. The bird yelled at it, something about attacking and not doing it, but there was no way for it to answer the bird because, well, it couldn't talk, it could only stand there and stare at the other two pokemon. It couldn't really tell them about the state of martial law going on, or that they weren't welcome if they didn't have business. Well... it couldn't tell them with words. There were other ways to get a message across though.

The Shedinja gave them a few more moments to try and explain themselves, and then he was done. He shot a blob at the snake, who was still staring at him, and hit him dead in the face. That should have been enough of a message to them to get them to leave the place. To tell them they weren't welcome. He stuck around long enough to see that they were going to make their way out of the forest.