Golden Grove

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[Energy: 17 - 11 (Entrance Fee) = 6]

Darcy continued her walk along the westmost road leading from Grassveil Town.  The Skitty had an excited spring in her step, and she hummed softly to herself as a gentle breeze ruffled her fur and sent the blue ribbon around her neck fluttering.  Today, she was hoping to fulfill a childhood dream of hers--she wanted to visit Fallen Leaf Copse.  Her father had taught her all about it when she was younger.  A secluded forest in the center of a lake, perpetually shrouded in autumn...  It sure sounded romantic.  Like something out of a fairy tale.   She shuddered with excitement just thinking about it.

Her parents had always forbidden her from venturing into Mystery Dungeons, but now that she was living on her own, there was nothing stopping her from exploring them at her leisure.  She knew firsthand that they could be  dangerous, but Fallen Leaf Copse was supposed to be about as tame as they could get.  It was  safe enough for many civilized Pokemon to call it home, in fact, so even if she did run into trouble she was sure that she'd be able to find help.  And besides, with how beautiful she had always imagined the place, how could she keep herself away?

As she crested a hill and the forest came into view, she certainly wasn't disappointed.  She was  tired from the long walk, and sore from her previous excursion into Pecha Forest, but all of that melted away as she took in the in the brilliant tapestry of gold and orange in front of her.  It was real after all...  She breathlessly loped down the last stretch of road and across the stepping stones that bridged the leaf-covered lake.

Darcy stared with wide eyes at the canopy above her as she hit dry ground, smiling giddily as she took a few steps forward.  Another breeze swept past her and she almost instantly became caught up in chasing after the orange leaves it sent swirling through the air.  She'd always had a weakness for chasing moving things, and with how enchanted she was by this forest, her inhibitions had all gone out the window.  The Skitty was completely oblivious to her surroundings as she gleefully frolicked around in the center of the copse's entrance, giggling as she jumped and pounced and crashed through piles of leaves.  It wasn't the most dignified activity for a member of the Grassveil Guild, but at the moment, she really couldn't care less.

(Energy: 1 + 1 = 2)

"Um..." Cirrus started, thinking hard and quickly as she looked at the two of them and the less than pleasant looking trail that Horo had left behind. He brought up a fair point but she wasn't convinced that doing nothing for now was the right thing to do.

She soon spoke up after Darcy did so. "The bleeding doesn't look too bad. Since it's now an open injury, I'd want to focus on keeping it from becoming infected while we're here." Cirrus told them. "A well back in town would be best but we need a temporary fix until then." If memory served her correctly, there was something she could use for this.

Quickly gathering some dried leaves from below a nearby oak tree, the Togepi dutifully got to work with crushing them all into a sort of paste. "A bit of this spread over the injury will keep infections from setting in, then we top it off with a bandage." she explained. "Hold still for me."

[Energy: 1 + 1(New Page) = 2]

Horochi decided to stop squeezing his wounds and just let Darcy carry him, which was quite difficult to do since every step he took felt like a colony of miniature durants were burrowing up his legs and into his head. After another great deal of pain, he had managed to plop himself head-up on Darcy's back. "A'right, I'll be still." He said with a bit of displeasure in his voice. This wasn't how he had hoped that the last bit of their trek to the shrine would go. He wanted to be there in case things went sideways, not be there to help things go sideways, but regardless, he knew next to nothing about anything..."medical", so he decided to at least try and get comfy while he watched Cirrus do her thing.

Sorry about not posting for a while, for some reason I didn't get a notification or something in my email like I usually do.

[Energy: 3 + 1 = 4]

Darcy was glad to see Cirrus propose a solution, and relieved that Horochi agreed to it.  She settled prone on the ground and offered her fluffy tail as a stepping stone, waiting patiently as he stumbled towards her and climbed aboard.  He wasn't too heavy, as she had expected of a bird Pokémon...  But he was surprisingly warm, like she was carrying a bottle of hot water on her back.  It was proof that Torchic were Fire-types, she supposed...  It would have made her smile if the circumstances were different.

But at least they had someone around who knew how to help.  "You'll be better soon, Horo.  Cirrus knows what she's doing," Darcy said, sweeping her tail aside to make room for Cirrus as she approached.  She wanted to watch the Togepi work...  But decided to keep an eye on their surroundings while her companions were busy instead.  They hadn't run into any ferals so far, save perhaps some of the Bug-types, but they would be in a bad spot if they were attacked now.

The forest remained as beautiful as ever, with ancient trees towering over the path and brightly colored leaves fluttering through the air, carried along by a gentle breeze that ruffled Darcy's fur...  But this time, what captivated the Skitty most was the little clearing she spotted in the distance.  It was as beautiful as everything else, but it seemed to be the end of the path...  And she could just barely make out some kind of structure lying at the center.  A grin spread across her face and relief flushed through her body as she turned to her companions.  "Hey, I think you can see the shrine from here!  We're really close now."

Eventine carried out 1 launched of one Fallen Leaf Copse :

((No worries, things happen.  Email notifications can be a little finicky.))

Holding her breath in an attempt to keep herself calm and steady as she worked, Cirrus eventually finished up with him. "...and that's that!" It wasn't the perfect solution but she'd pulled off her level best with what they had.

She joined Darcy on the defensive afterwards, ready to surround her and Horo with Double Team if any ferals did indeed jump them like the Skitty inwardly worried. Her lack of visible injuries meant that Cirrus felt a much greater need to protect their group of three than she usually would. Even if her only form of offense with moves came in the form of a fortunate Metronome... Darcy's call pulled the Togepi right out of her thoughts.

Seeing the same sight as her now, a similar sense of relief arrived. "I see it too! Yay!"

((Not a problem. So we're wrapping this one up soon after that Silcoon encounter is done?))

Horochi let out a sigh of relief, finally this little trek of theirs was just about over, although it'd be over as soon as Darcy managed to carry him to and from the shrine, or until Cirrus gave the OK for him to walk again. Although he couldn't see the shrine from the position he was lying in, he still decided to keep in eye out for anything behind them, and sure enough there was a Silcoon that Horochi saw following them. "Hey girls, ya might wanna look fer somethin' whi' n' prickly behind ya." he said.

Darcy stood up as soon as Cirrus finished, glad to finally have their goal in sight.  But just as she was about to continue onward, Horo spoke, and her heart sank as she turned around.  "Another one..?" she moaned as she spotted the Silcoon making its way towards them through the trees.  But she took a deep breath and tried to stay calm.  Maybe this one didn't want to fight them.

She gingerly stepped forward.  "Um...  Hello.  Sorry if we've been bothering you.  We're just passing through, and we'll--"

But it seemed to ignore Darcy's words entirely.  It cut the Skitty off with a Poison Sting spray that she barely managed to back away from.  She was worried that her sudden action would shake Horo off, but to her relief he still seemed to be onboard--if he couldn't walk, he would be a sitting Ducklett if he fell off.  She just hoped her own injury wouldn't deter her much.  "O-okay, this one's a feral.  What should we do?" she said, trying to not panic as she stared at the bug Pokémon and dug her claws into the ground.

((I guess so, unless either of you have anything you'd like to do at the shrine or on the way back.  I don't have much in mind.))

Cirrus shared Darcy's thoughts entirely as she was attempting to talk to the Silcoon that made its way in front of them, so the Poison Sting rattled her even more than it would usually do. The Togepi held a weakness to attacks of that type and she'd had two less than wonderful experiences with poisons of the powder variety in the past. Being the only one of their little trio who wasn't hobbled by an earlier Wurmple sting however, meant that she felt a certain obligation to do something.

"If it's a feral then there's only one thing we could do. Let's try this!" Cirrus exclaimed. She used Double Team to surround her two companions with numerous lightly shimmering copies of herself, attempting to create the appearance of calling for backup and protection towards the Silcoon. All the Togepi then started to wave their arms back and forth, but only the real Cirrus would loose the resultant move from her Metronome.

Gengarzilla carried out 2 launched of one Fallen Leaf Copse :

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"Ah goddammit." Horochi sighed. He definitely didn't want to see any more ferals for the time being, not because of how hostile they are, but because he had to stay on Darcy's back while Cirrus got all the fun to herself. Regardless, he had to avoid putting pressure on his feet, so that's what he was going to do. He fidgeted on Darcy's back trying to get in a comfy position to watch Cirrus from when he noticed a wurmple heading towards them as well, but Cirrus didn't seem to notice and just used double team to surround them, and using metronome after finishing. He had seen the move before, the user gained the ability to use any move in existence at complete random from something powerful like giga impact to something just flat out sad like splash, but something like that is always a double-edged sword, so he curled up, bracing for something bad on their end.

Darcy was startled to suddenly be surrounded by copies of her friend, but she quickly recognized the move as Double Team followed by... That strange thing she had seen Cirrus do with her hands. The Skitty nervously remained on-guard, ready to dodge in case the Silcoon decided to attack her and Horochi again, but instead it chose to spray a hail of Poison Stings at the small army of Togepi that Cirrus had summoned. None found their mark right away, much to Darcy's relief, passing right through a few of the illusory copies and leaving the real Cirrus unharmed... But it showed no signs of letting up as the Togepi readied Metronome.

...Anxiety welled up in Darcy's heart at the sight. Fairy-types didn't fare well against poison. She knew that Cirrus could protect herself, but she felt awful just sitting there and watching, even with her wounded paw. She wracked her brain for anything she could to to help, to keep her friend safe... If only Horo hadn't gotten hurt...

...Well... It was only his feet that were hurt. Maybe there was something she could do about that. "H-Horo, you can spit fire, right?" she said as she turned to look at the Torchic, her voice more than a little urgent and nervous. "If you need me to, I'll... I'll be your legs. So until then, hold on tight, okay?"