Fire Doesn't Have to Ruin the Snowscape

A Vulpix padded gently through the fresh layer of snow that covered the icy forest floor, her dusky red fur standing out against the white of her environment. She didn't seem to care though, feeling right at home in the area despite her type. She looked up at the grey sky, watching as gentle snowflakes drifted down from the clouds. Her tawny gaze followed one such snowflake as it drifted to land neatly on her nose, staying there for half a second before it began to melt due to the heat of her body.

It was a little sad really, how something so small and beautiful could be erased so quickly and easily. But despite this, the snowfall seemed to relax her in a way that not much else could nowadays. Perhaps she should journey here more often.

Deciding to enjoy the sight for a little longer before moving on, the Vulpix sat down gently in the snow, curling her six tails around her legs and just staring up at the pale sky, a small sliver of a smile making it's way onto her features.

Hop, hop, hop, hop, hop.

A tiny Fennekin, hardly spottable among the mounds of snow, hopped around in a panic, trying to avoid the larger mounds of snow that surrounded her. She seemed to be dodging in a frenzy, taking care to spastically avoid the snow that went over her head. The small fox had found that when she dove into the white, fluffy mess, water appeared and tried to attack her. When it got into her ears, it made her feel woozy and gross. She didn't like feeling gross.

Upon reaching a bit of a clearing in the mounds of snow, however, Mercury the Fennekin was brought to a wide-eyed halt. Her eyes glistened with excitement, and her jaw hung slightly open as a furry grin stretched from one bat-ear to another.

A friend?

A red, many-tailed friend?

Were the tails friends, too?!?

AMAAAAAZING!!!!

Mercury's small mind became even more blownerestererest. Mercury found she was running out of viable ways to say the word blown. She would have to continue to seek new renditions.

After sorting that out in her mind, Mercury resumed her regularly-scheduled Mercuryness by bounding joyfully over to her new fluffy fur butt friend, running a circle around them joyfully before plopping down in front of them.

"Hello, fellow furry-butt friend!" Mercury announced gleefully. She leaned over to the other furry butt tail friends. "Hello, furry butt tail friend number one! Hello, furry butt tail friend number two!"

She continued in this fashion until she had greeted all of the tails.

Mercury: 27 - 20 = 7 Energy

(Energy: 25-20=5)
(Equipped: Trap scarf, activated: fire dust)

Cana was trudging through the snow between the trees.It was cold and the snow was making her coat wet. The Fennekin didn't really mind the water in her fur and she might not be able to withstand the cold as much as an ice type, she managed somehow. This was the first time Cana had gone to these snowy lands but she was going to come back here for sure. To her, the snow was really beautiful and she would love to see it again. The icicles hanging from the branches of the trees almost seemed like crystal. Cana didn't think she would encounter a forest as beautiful as the Fallen Leaf Copse.

Cana could see what seemed to be a clearing further ahead. That seemed like it might be a good place to rest. Cana tried to move faster through the snow. It was difficult considering how deep it was sometimes. When she finally reached the clearing, she saw what seemed to be a Vulpix. Cana wondered who that Pokemon could be. Then she noticed something else moving through the snow towards the other fire type. Cana was surprised to see it was a Fennekin. It did seem to have an interesting color. The yellow fire type hesitated and slowly made her way closer, still unsure if she could trust them or not.

As the sounds of an individual getting closer reached Synd'r, her ears swivelled around to pinpoint the direction of the noise, although she did not move from her position. She remained like this, watching the sky and detecting her surroundings only by her hearing until a silver furred Fennekin bounded over to her.

Oddly enough, the uniquely coloured pokemon began talking to each of her tails, greeting them one by one by the name 'furry butt tail friend'. A little taken aback by the weirdness of the situation, Synd'r stared at the Fennekin as she finished greeting her tails. After a small pause, Synd'r flicked all six of her tails in unison, trying to keep the small smile of amusement off of her face.

Obviously not dangerous, this Fennekin seemed to have a childlike mindset, although it didn't look to be quite as young as it behaved. Nevertheless, there seemed to be no harm in playing along for the moment.
"I'm sure the furry butt tail friends would like to know who is greeting them," she commented lightly, wondering if the Fennekin really was just someone's lost child. Luckily the Vulpix wasn't in the business of kidnapping and ransoming, and so the child held no interest to her when it came to furthering her not so savoury career.

Mercury wagged her fluffy fluff tail back at the flicking of furry butt tail friend, giggling at the communication that they were sharing. Merc was more than ecstatic about receiving a full six responses from the six butt friends, but then the set was even FURTHER completed by Red the fluffy butt with a seventh and final response. Mercury grew wide-eyed and gasped like this was something that HARDLY EVER happened to her. Which it was.

"Oh, WOW! You answered me!!!!" Mercury exclaimed, delighted, "You must be a super good awesome friend then! Like my friend Kye! Kye always asks me not to talk to random people, but I do anyways. That's the only good way to make good friends! Games are a good way too, but the pokemon who I don't talk to usually don't play with me again!!!" Mercury exclaimed, rambling on a bit of a tangent like she normally did. "But I've been talking to lots and lots of mons, and - Oh, you asked my name! That's more important! My name is Mercury! I got taken by some weird mon and dyed, so I've been different now! But I'm also still Mercury!" Mercury had very good lung capacity from just the sheer amount of talking she did on a daily basis. It was almost like her body was 90% lung.

Mercury waited patiently for Red friend to say something, as she did when she talked to her best friend Kye. While she was waiting however, she happened to catch a scent on the breeze. Her nose wriggled around on her face as she tried to identify the scent.

"Huh... I smell another friend!" Mercury announced suddenly.

Energy: 7

FoxFireAlchemist carried out 7 launched of one Icicle Woods :

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Cana stopped and looked unsure at the two other fire types. She was mostly curious about the other Fennekin. She could hear a few things from were she was but it was still unclear what they were saying. The Fennekin seemed very energetic from what she could tell. Was it a child? It was hard to say. It did seem that way.

Cana looked at the Vulpix. It seemed to be playing along with the other Fennekin. Cana could tell the vulpix was amused by the behavior of the strange colored Pokemon. Was it really such a good idea to go talk to them? Cana shook her head. She already was within view of them, she might as well already go to them. The Fennekin nervously moved a bit closer to the two strangers, still hesitating a bit.

Synd'r listened to the Fennekin's stream of words with mild interest. She really did seem like some sort of child, but it seemed she'd managed to get a name; Mercury, along with a reason for the normally yellow fox's odd coloured fur. She wondered why anyone would waste time dyeing their fur to such an extent, but then mentally shrugged. Whatever floats their boats, she supposed.

Such outwardly honest interaction wasn't what she was used to at all, and she was a little unsure of how she should act around Mercury as a child was likely to be unpredictable. In a way though, it was almost a relief, being around someone with such a childlike mindset. She wouldn't really have to worry about the consequences of being outed as a criminal either, since she doubted the Fennekin would be able to tell the difference.

That was of course ruined when she caught another scent on the wind, Mercury further confirming it's presence by mentioning it. Synd'r's entire form seemed to stiffen for a moment before she angled her ears towards the other pokemon, jostling the striped feathers that lay behind the left one. Almost immediately becoming cautious again, Synd'r got to her feet and turned to look over to the yellow Fennekin.

"I didn't realise this area was so popular with foxes," she commented.

Solilo carried out 1 launched of one Icicle Woods :

WOW!!! Suddenly there were two friends around to play with, but one was still so far away!!! And WOW, one of the friends looked EXACTLY like her!!! That wasn't entirely true though, the other, more Fennekin-y Mercury was being more shyer and farther away from she and fluffy butt friend. Mercury wanted to go over to the other friend and give her some "encouragement," but she also didn't want to be rude to Red Fluffy friend and abandon er completely. She did stand up and beam over at the Fennekin though, bouncing around in place a bit as the uncontrollable excitement still burned brightly within her.

"Hey, Similar-but-not-the-Same friend!!!" Mercury called, "Don't be so far away!!! It's no fun being the loner Gummi that fell under the table!!! That's like being a downer, and being a downer is no fun!!! It's lonely!!!" Her ears twitched as snow fell on them, but Mercury was feeling snuggly warm with her new company around. She usually wasn't a fan of the cold, but around friendly friends anything was tolerable!

All the hopping that Mercury was doing was creating a crater in the snow where she was standing. Mercury's actions wore away layer after layer of snow, until suddenly a seed was visible in the snow below her, just peeking out of the crater wall. Mercury noticed it and stopped, yanking it out of the snow with her teeth and displaying it proudly. Mercury found that she couldn't talk while displaying it in such a way, however, so she quickly snapped it up into her mouth and chewed it up before swallowing it and clearing up her bark hole.

"Wow, hidden items! Lots of treats!!! We should all play treasure hunt!!!" Mercury exclaimed joyfully, resuming her giddy bouncing twofold now.

Mercury - 0 energy + Reviver Seed = 27 Energy

Cana kept her eyes on the other fire types as she moved towards them. It seemed they had noticed her. She wasn't sure what she was going to do. The yellow Fennekin was still a bit nervous. That was, until the other Fennekin called out to her. She wasn't exactly sure how to react to it but she was feeling more at ease.

Cana smiled a bit and moved closer to the other Fennekin. She had to admit the child seemed fun to be around. She was still unsure about how the Vulpix was like. She thought it might be a good idea to introduce herself at least. "Um....Hello. I..uh...My name is Cana." Her voice was barely audible. She glanced at the Vulpix and the strange colored Fennekin before looking down. She was not used to this at all.

Synd'r watched the interaction between the two Fennekin cautiously. Mercury, as predicted, acted just as childlike towards this new stranger as she had to her. But it wasn't Mercury that the Vulpix was concerned about. Her tawny eyes scanned the normal coloured Fennekin up and down, watching how she reacted to Mercury's child-like nature.

Cana, as she introduced herself as a moment later, seemed to have a rather nervous demeanor about her, at least until Mercury called out to her. For some reason, being acknowledged by the child seemed to cause her to relax a little, although her tone upon introducing herself portrayed her as still just as apprehensive.

Was she a danger? No, it didn't seem like it. This pokemon didn't seem to have the confidence that came with being an explorer or bounty hunter either. Synd'r deemed it safe enough for now and forced herself to relax a little, almost giving her presence a warmer air to it, converse to the stiff caution of before. Although she wasn't technically a wanted outlaw yet, she was more than used to steering away from the types that might figure her out.

Rather than introducing herself in return, Synd'r nodded once to the newly arrived Fennekin, acknowledging the other's introduction. She preferred to keep her identity to herself for now, and she hadn't been asked outright to introduce herself after all. The Vulpix then turned her attention back to Mercury.
"I wouldn't be opposed to a treasure hunt," she replied. Perhaps they might even find something valuable if they undertook such an endeavor, even if it was only a game to the younger fox.

ooc//:

"Hello, Cana looks-alike friend!" Mercury called cheerily, rather oblivious to the fact that the Fennekin was clearly out of it's element. There were just so many good things going on that made up for the chill in the atmosphere!!! Mercury had two new friends, two very good friends, and now they were all going to play Mercury's forth favorite game together!! Treasure hunt!!! Mercury always loved a good game of discovery and exploration; the thrill of the hunt and of the discoveries were enthralling to her childish little mind!!!

"YYYYYEEESSS!!!! We're going on a treasure hunt!!!" Mercury exclaimed gleefully, jumping twice as high into the air. "All right, treasure hunt with friends!! This is going to be great!!! Whoever finds the most treasure wins!!!" Mercury began digging a trench into the snow excitedly. "Don't worry, I won't cheat!! Fair games should be fair!!!" Mercury continued to dig while she spoke, although a thought abruptly made her stop. "Uhm... although..." she mused, "sometimes I cheat without trying to, but it's more like the items are cheating and finding me! That happens sometimes, it's a something that happens whether I want it to or not. I'll only count the items I found by myself in the end though!!!" It was kind of a questionable promise, as Mercury had the memory of a damaged fruit fly. Mercury went back to digging trenches throughout the snow. This shallower plain was proving to be rather item sparse, however.

FoxFireAlchemist carried out 3 launched of one Icicle Woods :

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Cana looked at the other Fennekin as she greeted her. She was notable smaller than Cana. It made Cana wonder why this child was in this forest all alone. Didn't she have any family? Surely, if her parents cared, they weren't going to let her travel alone here, right? The child didn't seem scared at all either. She was mostly excited about the idea of treasure hunting. The yellow Fennekin watched as the other one started digging. It seemed unlikely they would be able to find something so easily. Still....The idea did seem fun.

Cana glanced at the Vulpix. She was still rather uneasy as she had no clue who she was. The Vulpix had barely spoken up so far. She didn't introduce herself either. The only thing Cana knew was that the Vulpix seemed up to treasure hunting as well.

It was pretty cold out there. The bigger Fennekin was a bit worried about the smaller one. She put down her bag and took a scarf out of it. She got that defense scarf from Niracamda the shiny Houndour as a thanks for exploring Pecha forest with her. She thought it would be better if the other Fennekin had something to keep her warm. She kind of wished she had another one to give to the Vulpix."Hey...um...It's kind of cold. I have this scarf you could wear, if you want. Cana held the scarf out towards the strange colored Fennekin. She was hoping she would take it.

Synd'r was a little confused at Mercury's words, wondering how someone could accidentally cheat and have objects find her? It was a little confusing.
"That sounds like an interesting phenomenon," she chuckled lightly. Perhaps she'd find out more about it later, but for now she had a treasure hunting game to participate in.

The Vulpix watched as Mercury began to dig in a similar area to where she'd already found the seed she'd eaten earlier. Chances were there wouldn't be anything else nearby and so as Cana offered Mercury her scarf, Synd'r moved a little further away. There might not be any real treasure here, but it was possible for items to become lost and hidden under the layers of fresh snow.

Synd'r padded through the snow, looking for areas that were oddly shaped, but she didn't have chance to find anything before she seemed to sense something. Her ears pricked up as far as they could go and her entire body froze in place. She could feel something through the ground, and her senses, honed over years of being a thief with her adoptive family, were screaming danger. It almost felt like some sort of footsteps. Her ears swiveled for a moment and she raised her nose to the air, before she seemed to pinpoint something.

She could hear it, she just couldn't smell it because it was downwind. And downwind from her, were the two Fennekin she'd just met.

Tawny eyes widening, she darted back towards the two Fennekin. Synd'r knew they weren't the ones causing her senses to go wild, and it was only further confirmed as the huge form of a Mamoswine appeared from behind a number of trees, charging closer towards them.

"Watch out!" she yelled, and without really stopping to think about it, Synd'r leaped at the two Fennekin, using the speed gained from her dash to collide with the two of them and push both herself and the other two foxes out of the way. Seconds later, the Mamoswine crashed through the trees, toppling them with frightening ease and coming to a skidding halt where the two Fennekin had been moments before.

Despite her questionable morals, Synd'r wasn't willing to let a child get severely injured by some angered and territorial pokemon. Though she'd probably argue till the end of her days that Cana was just lucky that Mercury was there.

Scrambling forward a few extra steps, Synd'r pulled one of her tails out from underneath the trunk of the toppled tree nearest to them. Arceus, that had been close.

Solilo carried out 5 launched of one Icicle Woods :

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While nosing through the snow near Cana, Mercury came nose-to-nose with another small creature that was hiding deep below the snow. The Fennekin grinned the creature, a small brown orb that looked on at her with a terrified expression. "Hello, small dirt friend!" Mercury exclaimed, sending the small brown creature into a panic and causing it to burrow underground. Mercury stuck her head into the hole to try and see where the friend was going, but to no avail. Her ears didn't fit into the hole, so she didnt have the light of their glowing embers to cut through the darkness. Merc heard crunching snow coming towards her, but struggled to yank her head out of the hole. Eventually, she succeeded, and was met with Carrot look-alike friend.

"Hey, I found a friend! They went down this whole! Bonus points for me!" Mercury pronounced proudly. She had been the only one to find the hidden creature after all. She cocked her head and looked at the scarf she was offered, then gave a toothy grin.

"Wow, that's a pretty- WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, MON PILE!!!!" Mercury squealed with delight as she was suddenly tackled away from danger unknown to her. She laughed and laughed as they tumbled through he snow, and when the ordeal was finally over with Mercury looked up at Red friend with a new glimmer of respect in her eyes. "Wow, that was fun!!! You're strong! Let's do it again!!!" Only after she had said this did she notice the riled-up friend beside them, which she stared at with wide eyes and a gaping jaw. "WwwwWWWOOOOOOWWW!!!! What a big friend? Do they want to play, too?" Mercury gasped. "But we're playing treasure hunt, really really really really big friend! We can't just quit and play Play Fight now!!!"

Mercury - 27 - 7 = 20 Energy

Cana smiled at the smaller Fennekin. It seemed she had found something. She was a bit worried when the child said she found a friend. Did that mean she had found a Pokemon? What kind of Pokemon did she find? Cana hoped it wasn't dangerous. The child mentioned it went down the hole so it probably was scared. She didn't think she had to worry after all about hearing that. What was she wrong.

Cana could hear something coming closer. As she looked at her side, she noticed a large Pokemon crashing through the trees right towards her. The Fennekin would not have been able to get away if it wasn't for the Vulpix to push them aside.

Cana quickly scrambled up her feet. The Pokemon was really big and it seemed dangerous to her. She was hoping it wasn't going to attack them. Of course, she could have expected the smaller Fennekin to not be afraid at all. "I don't think that Pokemon wants to play with us..." Cana said. The Fennekin prepared to defend herself and the smaller Fennekin if it was needed.