Over Your Head

(Energy: 19-11=8)

Journeying across a bustling town wasn't necessarily all that easy for a Pumpkaboo to do.

After deliberating on where to go upon leaving her manor and heading deeper into the city, Taily Po had heard talk of a forest stuck in eternal autumn, a dungeon that was situated on the other side of a beautiful lake that was dotted with the fallen leaves that had come off of the trees. Didn't exactly sound exciting to her, but if it was a dungeon, it would likely be a good place for her to test her skills before she went and applied to the Grassveil Guild. Heck, maybe she would even find something super rare that she could present to the guild master to prove her worthiness...perhaps she would even be worthy enough to skip the initial few, boring ranks and shoot straight up to Platinum. Oh, she could hardly wait!

At least at first.

She hadn't exactly realized how far away the Fallen Leaf Copse was, but upon waddling up to the shore of the lake, the pumpkin was already quite winded. Her small bag had swayed with each step she took, smacking against her sides and tiring her out faster as she took a good look around the dungeon entrance. It certainly was pretty.

(Energy 19-11=8)

Gentzer heaved himself onto the lake shore across from Fallen Leaf Copse, a massive pile of gems being held in both his hands. Dropping the haul on the floor, Gentzer wiped his brow and panted heavily. A day of fine gem hunting got exhausting when there was so many things he wanted to keep. He sat down next to his pile and started to munch on lesser gems like candy, while examining some of the "best" gems, evaluating how amazing they absolutely had to be. A green emerald was clearly imbued with the power's of nature, and Gentzer was 100% certain taking it to the Copse would cause something cool to happen, and Gentzer KNEW this large ruby was an evolution stone, clearly Fire Stones were found at the bottom of ditches.

After snacking on only a few of the haul's gems (he couldn't bear to eat any others for fear of eating something rare), he hauled the only-slightly lighter load, and in a flash of true common sense, started to hop across the steeping stones into the Copse. As he went, he started to sing a  tune to himself.

"Half a pound of Water Stones
Half a pound of rubies
That's the way the gem hunting goes
Pop goes the Bui-AAAHHHHH!"

As he got about halfway to the Copse, he lost his footing and tumbled into the lake, his hoard following him in with a loud splash.

Deimos himself, considering his habit of actually living within the copse was already able to be found under the eternal autumn canopy, sat against a rather sizable tree. He had in truth only arrived shortly before hand from his last trip towards the forests near Grassveil. The Absol seemed to be searching through what could only be described as a makeshift sack, formed purely by an item known as a Reaper cloth.

Within the makeshift sack numerous items could be seen. For the most part the items within seemed to be simply the typical gear one might take on a journey, berry here, Revival seed there. What stood out the most, quite simply could be described as a large stone of curious colouration, quite easily mistakable for some kind of Gemstone.

Carefully taking the stone out of the sack, Deimos carefully examined it for chips and cracks. It was a gift from Niracamda and he would have hated to have accidentally damaged it, especially with the function being what she had described. Even without it's unique function he would have cared for it but an item of it's ilk was a special case.

His thoughts drifted to the Shiny Houndour as he examined the stone. His memories of her replaying softly through his mind... Time spent with a dear friend quite unlike that of what else had happened since his departure. He especially recalled how she had taken an interest in his line of work.

Though at first glance the Absol would just seem as a traveler, he himself served a different function. Being the inquisitive sort he was, he had taken it upon himself to investigate the wayward rumors and mysteries of the world, to further his own knowledge and to greater respect his brother's memory.

The Absol's period of thought however was interrupted by the sudden echo of a loud splash. His mind sharpened as he quickly put the object away, his sensory capacity spilling to life. Rapidly scanning the area around him, he quickly deduced it wasn't from a being inherently close by. A swift scan of the area with his sensory capacity confirmed this, causing him to deduce that the only presence seemed to be towards the edge.

Carefully rising from his position, the Absol carefully grasped the makeshift sack with his teeth, being careful not to rip the valuable cloth in the process. The copse was his home... If he had visitors, it was only natural that he would have to investigate.

For a while, observers would be able to gather little from the spot where Gentzer and his loot had fallen, apart from a couple of glinting gems on the surface and a bubble or two from the gem hoarder below. After a sickeningly long time, Gentzer emerged violently from the water, gasping for air, and hauled himself onto the stepping stone, the ruby the only gem he'd salvaged from the lake and been able to hold onto, so delirious was he after being submerged for too long. He lay there gasping on the rock, still grinning despite his hoard being lost to the lake, that wasn't really on his mind, as his head swam. He was so dizzy he could barely make out anything around him.

Clumsily he hauled himself up on top of the stone, blearily gazing at the ruby, before he realised just how many gems he'd just lost. His manic grin disappeared in a flash, and he sat there glumly.

...

"Pop goes the Buizel..." He muttered quietly, before laying down on the rock in a stupor, unwilling to move for the moment.

Having missed the Sableye's entrance at first, the batlike spirit had started her tour of the place by slowly trundling her way around the clearing, going at a much slower pace than she had adopted on her way here in order to let herself recuperate from the walk. Ears twitching actively at every little sound in the forest, the Pumpkaboo felt rather strangely at peace here. Perhaps it was just because her species had a slight preference to the season of autumn, or it was because the vivid reds and golds of the leaves reminded her of her parent's fireplace, or a bonfire in the yard. Whatever the case may be, she found that at the moment, she would rather settle under the shade of a large maple tree than continue into the dungeon. After all, wouldn't she be better off putting her amazing skills to use if she were better rested?

The Pumpkaboo curls up one of her stubby tendrils and slowly wiggles herself out from underneath her satchel, letting it fall to the side as the pumpkin rolls herself up against the rough bark of the maple tree. She then lets out a long sigh and closes her eyes...

Until a loud splash forces them wide open.

Startled, Taily Po immediately rolls back onto her peg legs and gasps, seeing someone in the middle of the lake thrashing around just below the surface. If she had an actual heart, it would likely be racing, and without really thinking about it the spirit hurries over to the shore of the lake, panting hard as she does her best to reassure the victim of this unfortunate situation. "HEY! HEY! Don't panic! I'm here to save you!" Po cries out, feeling the dry ground turn muddy beneath her gourd, then immediately give way to water that quickly began to envelop her body.

"I've got you! I'll save you!" She cries, in her panic not realizing that the Sableye had already saved himself. Suddenly, she lets out a yipe herself when cold, murky water began to flood the "eyes" of her pumpkin. A loud hiss emanated from the rind of the fruit as the flame in her body began to sputter, and it was only when she too had begun to sink under that she realized she couldn't swim either.

Despite hating being unhappy, Gentzer hated being waterlogged and half-drowned even more, not long after collapsing on the stone he put what little energy he had left and began to use Recover. As he healed, he could've sworn he heard a series of shouts nearby, but paid them no heed. That is, until halfway through his recovery, he heard a far more disturbing sound that put him on alert, his Recover stopping, as he jolted upright, still not quite right just yet, just in time to see a Pumpkaboo sink below the waters. Something about the morbid sight of a Pokemon sinking to the depths made Gentzer's blood run colder than the water.

Forgetting his ruby on the stone, he scrambled into the water like he wanted to drown again, and in a uncharacteristic show of selflessness, dove down and grabbed the little ghost type before she could sink far, and managed to haul her back to the rock which luckily was close by, aching as he went. He collapsed on the nearest rock, close to fainting for the second time in seconds, and began to Recover again, oblivious to the gem he'd drowned himself in the first place for, which in his flurry to save the Pumpkaboo, had been knocked off the rock, and was sinking towards the lakebed...

As Deimos approached the source of the original sound, his Reaper cloth sack still close at hand, he could hear a number of other audible splashes. From what he could audibly tell, it seemed there were two Pokemon now. Understanding from the voice danger was possible, Deimos moved swiftly, picking up the pace as he attempted to reach the edge of the treeline. He would need to act fast. Having people down in the moat wouldn't exactly prove appealing in the long run.

He arrived at the edge of the treeline soon enough, carefully overlooking the set of stepping stones he had grown so accustomed to during his stay amidst the eternal Autumn forest. Upon one of the stones, two beings were visible. A swift glance around was enough to inform him that they were indeed the beings he originally detected. He understood that, due to the prior situation the stones would not be reliable until they dried out.

The Disaster pokemon carefully observed the two, taking only a moment to identify their species. Understanding quite quickly it could be difficult to get across, Deimos forcefully slammed his front left paw into the earth. As if in reaction, a relatively blunt stone forced it's way up through the water from the lake bed, sending an occasional gemstone further down the body of water. It wasn't perfectly flat, but at least it provided an easier bridge across.

The Absol had to at least try and be courteous to his guests after all.

As she sank into the water, Taily Po flailed her stubby tendrils futilely, trying and failing to get to the surface as her fire went out and her rind filled with water. She didn't exactly need to breathe, but the feeling of her internal fire smothering was enough of a feeling of "breathlessness" to her.

Just as she felt she was doomed to sink to the bottom, suddenly a hand wrapped around her pumpkin and dragged her up and out of the water again, making her gasp and sputter as she felt lakewater begin to pour out of her body. Panting hard, her fire begins to slowly flicker back in as she whispers quietly "I-I...I'll save you..." She whispers between coughs, only to let out a squeak as rocks began to force themselves up from the lake bed. "...Huh...?"

Gentzer's Recover eventually finished, and Gentzer stood back up feeling like the events preceding hadn't happened. That is, except he was still 1 collection of gems short. Before he could lament the loss however, a tiny voice came from next to him.

"I-I...I'll save you...." said the Pumpkaboo. Gentzer smiled at seeing he'd got her out in time.

"Hee hee, Y'know, that wasn't really a Trick OR a Treat now was it? Hee ha ha!" Gentzer chortled mostly to himself, before a flurry of rocks connected the stone he was on and the nearby one. Looking around, he saw an Absol that must have been the source of the makeshift bridge. Sensing a good joke was at hand, and he called to it. "Hey! Little late pal! The disaster's been and gone! Hee HA HA HA!!" He started to break out into raucous laughter at his own humour, he was in no rush to get going after all that near-death stuff.