The forest's secrets

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It was early in the afternoon as Darcy and Nightingale forged ahead into Shadowhue Forest.  Darcy gazed up at the trees surrounding her, the Skitty feeling a little awestruck even though this was her third time visiting this forest...  The air was pleasantly cool and shady thanks to the enormous trees, despite it being a sunny and warm day outside.  Perhaps it would have been relaxing, if the forest wasn't so vast and deep and labyrinthine...  But as things were, it was all too easy to imagine creatures lurking in the shadows, and getting lost seemed to be a real risk, even if they stuck to the numerous dirt footpaths that wound their way between the trees like tunnels, surrounded on all sides by dense greenery...  Even the sky overhead was covered by a dense canopy of leaves.  It almost felt like they were indoors, exploring a vast maze or dungeon...

Darcy kept her ears perked up as she led the way.  She was on alert for not only the sounds of any other Pokemon that may be in the woods, but also for the sound of rushing water...  They were searching for a waterfall, after all.  "So, um...  Finding that river is our first order of business," she said, taking a deep breath and coming to a halt as she examined their surroundings.  "When I was here last time, I heard it in...  The northern part of the forest.  ...I think.  I'll lead us there, so just stick close to me and help me listen, okay?"

She looked over her shoulder, giving Nightingale a cheerful smile as her tail swished back and forth energetically.  "Simple, right?  Do you have any questions before we start searching?"

Ah, so Yooka and Nightingale had met each other after all!  That was quite the coincidence.  Darcy's heart was still pounding a little after the surprise Yooka had given her, but she couldn't help but smile as Gale described the way that they had worked together during that event with the puzzles, and how Yooka had shared some of her cookies with him.

But while she would have loved to ask about how they did on the puzzles...  Nightingale was right.  There were more urgent things to worry about right now.  Yooka seemed eager get down to business as well...  Darcy's ears twitched while she listened, feeling apprehensive...  Would she have to convince Yooka to let them keep going?  Would that even be a good idea..?

But no, Yooka didn't seem too upset.  She even agreed to come with them, to Darcy's delight...  Her entire body seemed to relax, and she gave Yooka an appreciative nod while her tail began swishing back and forth again.  "Okay.  I'd feel more comfortable having you around, anyway," she said.  "And, umm...  Thank you for worrying about me.  And thank you for agreeing to help us out like this.  This was all really nice of you."

She slowly walked over to Yooka's side, looking up at the Kecleon and smiling...  Then she gave her teammate an affectionate little nuzzle, closing her eyes and happily brushing her cheek against Yooka's side.  The Kecleon wasn't so distant and cold after all, it seemed...  Or maybe she had just been driven by curiosity?  Either way, Darcy felt touched by her friend's concern, coming all the way out here on her day off...

"...I don't want to go in at night, though," she said while stepping away and leading the way along the path.  "I don't want us to have to walk home in the dark.  And, um...  Alki will be worried if we don't come back soon.  ...She's probably worried already, actually.  I don't think she's ever had to eat dinner at the guild on her own before.  Ahhh, what if she doesn't know what to do..?  What if someone picks on her..?"  Darcy sighed, and flattened her ears as she walked...  "...I really should have told her where we were going before we left.  I'll have to make it up to her when I get the chance...  For now, let's hurry, okay?  We need to be back home before nighttime."

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Nightingale nodded his head, agreeing they should hurry. The name Alki didn't ring any bells but he kept repeating it in his head, making a mental note of it. Whoever this Pokemon was, he would have to meet them too. If Darcy and Yooka knew them then they must be nice. Walking over to Darcy he nodded upstream. "Well, Darcy. You're the leader." He teased with a smile, trying to calm himself down but more importantly, sending his friend back into the Shadowhue forest first. That way he knew it was safe but also because she was the leader. He stood on the other side of Yooka and looked up at them, then back at Darcy. Is this what being in a guild was like? Sure, the adventures seem fun but the other parts of the guild work seem boring. Maybe he would register his name in the guild if they wanted to take him on adventures, just as a tag along for more help.

His grey eyes shifted nervously back to the river and his tail swished from side to side. His front left paw clutched onto his small bag. The seed and berry inside of it made him feel a little safer, and with friends by his side, he knew that he would be able to get through this. But something Yooka said seemed to confuse him. Was she training Darcy? The Kecleon did state that they were going to "Act like a client" Does that mean they wouldn't fight? Then again, the way Nightingale saw Yooka was more of a bookwork type of Pokemon, he never really seen them fight. But being able to come out to Shadowhue by themselves? he knew that Yooka was either strong enough to come out on her own...or smart enough to avoid every Pokemon that could potentially be in the forest. A hint of courage surged through the tiny Minccino, he seemed to enjoy the presence of the two guild members.

The Minccino was awfully quiet now. Maybe it was because they needed to go through a bit of the forest before they could get to, what Yooka described as, slightly more dangerous. The only thing keeping him from losing his cool is the purple Pokemon stating that "fewer reports of violent activity" Sure, that did mean there were some reports but compared to going in the morning, there is less and technically the numbers were on their side. Pawing the ground he looked at the little team next to him. With Darcy's happy smile and Yooka's natural smarts, he seemed to be able to relax more, this adventure becoming more of an excursion that they were taking.

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Yooka was curious as to what darcy was doing more than actually being worried. She wanted to know what Darcy was doing without her after being somewhat silent after the plusle/minun mission. Perhaps she was worried a bit but don't count on Yooka to save whoever it really is she was worried about, she'll practically think they were already dead when the feeling pops in her mind.

And anyway its a bit late for going in before night. It's practically nighttime now with the sun setting. Yooka shrugged to herself, not like these two had it in them to wait it out, besides Darcy had a point about Alki. "Im surprised you had it in you to leave her back at the guild. I wonder what she's doing right as of now, but... not really. She's bound to be alright if she's stayed at the guild." Putting her reviver seed back in the bag she followed behind Darcy, but she didn't like the feeling of being followed behind herself, so she stepped to the side of the group a bit.

"D-don't say it like that, Yooka.  I didn't mean to leave her alone.  I really didn't..." Darcy mumbled, shrinking into herself as she led the way.  "I didn't know I would be coming here when I left the guild.  And I didn't think this would all take so long.  We really should have stopped by the guild and told her where we were going, though..."

She sighed and shook her head, trying to force herself to cheer up.  She was worried about Alki, but she had dragged Nightingale all the way out here.  She owed it to him to explore these ruins together, at least a little bit.  Still, she hoped that she could at least get home before Alki decided to go to sleep.  She had never slept at the guild by herself, had she...  Darcy couldn't stop herself from imagining Alki huddled up in their room, lonely and worried and afraid as nighttime came and Darcy still wasn't home...  She sure hoped that the ruins weren't far away...

Thankfully, she was torn from those thoughts by the increasingly loud and forceful sound of rushing water as she turned a corner.  Her ears perked up as she bounded ahead, and after rounding another corner, she stood face to face with what must have been Monochrome Falls.

A large clearing stretched out in front of her, grassy and pleasant, but the far side was dominated by an enormous, towering cliff with water heavily cascading down it.  A pool surrounded the waterfall's base and fed into the river that their group had been traveling alongside.  There was a wooden bridge across the river here, too, linking one half of the clearing to the other.  "O-oh, wow, it's bigger than I expected," Darcy said, awestruck as she took in her new surroundings.  She leaned forward and tried to get a glimpse of anything hiding behind the waterfall, but it was pouring downward in such thick sheets that she couldn't see through it at all.  "...I wonder if the rumors are true.  And I wonder how we'll even get inside if they are.  The water looks really intense..."

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His walking came to a halt as he looked at the waterfall. He was hesitant, as any sane pokemon should be. Why would he believe a rumour that there is something behind this waterfall? But he did come all the way out here. And he didn't want the rumour to be a dead end and have nothing to show for it. "Well, there might be a path that you could sidle across...or we could risk it all and jump through it and hope that there isn't a wall on the other side.." He said with a roll of his front right paw. He didn't really like the second option but the first option was the only logical option at hand. His eyes scanned the waterfall, mostly the sides, hoping that he would be able to see a path they could take or crawl across, or at the very least slide across. But nothing seemed to turn up. But being knee high had a lot of drawbacks and he couldn't see as high as the other pokemon with him. Maybe there was something he was missing, Nightingale couldn't see it. He just wanted to get through this waterfall.

"Yooka? Have you any bright ideas? You're the thinking type." He asked, looking at the purple Pokemon with a look of hopefulness, his eyes almost gleaming, he knew if anyone could figure out how to get through this, Yooka could. But then he remembered she said that she would be treated like she was a client. So maybe Yooka wouldn't help them after all. The ashen grey chincilla avoided eye contact as his hopeful expression changed into one of minor disapointment. He was letting his negitive thoughts get the best of him but he felt in his stomach that Yooka may say something like that because Darcy did need some training. Letting out a sigh, Nightingale looked at Darcy. The same determination from back in Grassveil seemed to resurface. His face stone cold but his eyes telling more of a story than his expression alone. "Darcy, you're the leader. It's your call. Do you want to go through the waterfall and risk it, or look around first?"

His grey eyes looked at the Kecleon only for a second, he flashed a smile as if to say without speaking that he understood Darcy needed training and he didn't want to rely on Yooka all the time. It was a win win, sure, Yooka could give an answer if she wanted to but in the end, Darcy made the final call after she got everyones side of the story.

ooc, A little late now.:

Rolled eyes was Yooka's answer to Darcy's little mix-up. Not much to really do unless she wants to leave and Yooka wasn't really feeling the need to just 'go back'. Actually she wasn't really afraid to just step out of the shadow into the place the three arrived at. When the Minccino mentioned the Falls to her, asking if she knew a way in. Nope, but she always wanted to do things the fun way. Looking the Waterfall over there wasn't really any evidence of a clear path to the cave's entrance. Looking at the base of the falls she noted it was deep but the falls was heavy. Swimming under would be practical suicide without a professional swimmer. However, Yooka smirked as she had an idea.

"yep I do, but it requires things you two don't technically have. Time, skill, and strength. Darcy mind if I have your bag if I find something. I need to store my items for what I may do. Nightingale, if you wouldn't mind holding my bag. If it's there, I'll carry you two one at a time through the falls via, climbing the wall." Holding the wall while under the falls... It's a training technique for those building upper body. Yooka hasnt done the training part, but she knows how to climb walls if there are holds. Using a move called 'rockclimb' would make this far easier... but one doesnt need it to naturally climb walls. She spotted a path she could take but she couldnt see under the falls.

She completely ignored the two as she concentrated on the walls, for all she knew they found an easier way in, Yooka just wanted to have fun. She was already climbing the wall, not hard considering she tends to climb the guild's walls practically all the time. She reached the waterfall's stream extremely easily. she reached an arm out to feel the weight. Surprising, it was about as much as her. she shrugged to herself and went in, nearly losing her grip instantly, she found out it was practically all cave sense her hand felt no wall upon reaching for it. her shoulder was being yanked on by the falls as she had to grip the inner-wall at a ninety~ish degree.

She shoved her head under to view the inner-side just to note a platform she could land on just a few inches from the falls itself. She did and looked at the waterfall without looking at the cave itself, she'll have time for that later. The waterfall is just barely sealing the Cave's entrance perfectly... This will be a snap! easy. It took her mere seconds to exit as she just jump out, landing to the side of the falls where she started climbing. She was a little blind as she had to rub the extensive water away from her eyes. "It's actually safe enough to just jump into the falls, but its coming down hard, so you may need to put some 'oomph' into your jumps..."