Red and Gold

On the western side of a tiny continent, a little canine Pokemon was crossing over a path of stepping stones, slick from the lapping water. He was singing under his breath - quietly, at first - but it rose in volume slowly as he realized there wasn't anyone else around to judge him for it. He walked from stone to stone slowly so he didn't lose his traction on the rocks, drawing closer to his destination bit by bit. He wasn't in any hurry. There was plenty of daylight left.

"... and when the skies fill with ash, and the sun's turned his last, I'll guide you all safely back home."

Cinmere finished his song, punctuated by a final leap onto the shore of the island. He smiled in triumph, taking in the small victory alongside the sights and sounds of the landscape. He felt a flicker of wonder as he saw the island up close for the first time, looking up at the trees and the fiery hue of their leaves. Each step forward was marked by a satisfying 'crunch' of the fallen leaves under his paws. He walked forward slowly with his gaze set on the sky. It was beautiful, the flashes of blue in between the bold canopy of red and orange. He stopped and stared for a moment longer before nodding to himself and trotting towards the interior of the forest.

Right. He had a job to do. The island was beautiful, and the trip had already been worth it to see it in person, but he wasn't just here to sightsee. One of the locals back in Rainfront told him a little bit about the history of this place, stories about explorers flocking to this island in search of treasure and glory. Well, Cinmere didn't think there was much of either left here, but there had been something about the story of this island that caught his attention. Apparently there was a shrine here, and he had a hunch it was just collecting dust. Somehow he didn't think a group of ruffians demanding cash were the type to show a sacred place the respect it was owed. It wasn't that important to Cinmere, but it hadn't been that far out of his way, either. May as well clean it up a bit if no one else was going to. And if someone was taking care of the place, it would be a pleasant surprise. It was a win-win, in his eyes.

He took a deep breath and entered the forest, going out of his way to step in the patches where the dried leaves had piled up, crackling as he smashed them under his paws.

Cinmere's Energy: 5

(Energy 22-11=11)
Being cold was the worst. Especially when the reason for being cold was entirely avoidable. Ket was sat at beach of Fallen Leaf Copse on the sand staring out at the lake shivering. It was a very sunny day, the golden rays of light providing heat to dry off his fur however the wind was particularly strong that day. Which may of contributed to Ket falling into the lake while crossing the series of stones which connected the autumn island to the mainland. As the wind continued to blow around him a golden leaf was separated from the sea of colors in the forest behind him. The leaf fluttered in the wind for a time before coming to a rest on Ket’s head.

Grumbling loudly and cursing to himself Ket stood up and grabbed the leaf off his head. He chucked the leaf towards the lake and watched as it drifted down into the lake. The leaf blended in with the reflection projected from the colorful forest behind him becoming almost invisible in the endless hues of colors. Turning away from the lake he looked into the forest he had come to see. When he was in the area in past he had always been curious of the island which was eternally autumn with its weird stone bridge, if it could be called a bridge.

He strolled over towards the forest and grabbed a red scarf off of a branch. He had left it there to dry off after his involuntary venture into the lake. Satisfied it was dry enough he tied the scarf around his neck. When it was snug against him he began to walk into the forest, the trees now helping to cover him from the buffeting winds from earlier. As he trudged through the layers of leaves which had built over the ages he was tempted to make a leaf pile and jump into it. Yes he knew it was an immature thing to do but he never had done it as a child. Honestly he really wanted to do it as well and he was about to before the distinctive sound of leaves being crushed underfoot echoed throughout the forest.

His mind automatically kicked into action as he lowered himself down pinning the location of the sound. His legs subconsciously propelled themselves to the nearest cover. It took alot not to have whoever entered the forest pinpoint him by the same method he had done. But he thought he did a good job. Ironically the cover he decided to move to was a pile of leaves. Slowly he made his way up the pile of leaves to get to the top. When his vision had crested the top of the pile he found out who had disturbed him. On the path was a young rock ruff seemingly wandering the forest like him. Ket lowered his guard and relaxed on account of the age. He was curious as to why they were out here alone but there was one way to figure that out.

Ket sat up on top of the leaf pile he had scaled before whistling towards the rock ruff. “Hey there, how's it going.”

Cinmere hadn't been expecting much trouble. This island was apparently peaceful, or so that local back in Rainfront had said, with many of the Pokemon here leading quiet lives. It's appearance certainly suited such a place, and the atmosphere of this copse was both bright and calming. It was a little hypnotic, just watching the leaves drift down from the branches, backed by the pastel blue sky. Truthfully, he hadn't been expecting much company, either - he'd come here alone, and while normally he would have preferred company, he could make his peace with it this time. This mission was a little bit personal. It felt right to do it on his own.

That was exactly why Ket caught him by surprise. Cinmere was fairly observant, but he didn't have his guard up. A sharp whistle pierced the air, and just like that, some fierce looking Pokemon with sharp red streaks and giant claws was sitting on a pile of leaves. He took two steps back, his blue eyes wide, reeling in surprise. He didn't cry out, but it was obvious just from the way his fur was bristling this stranger had startled him. He cleared his throat to try and shook his fur, smiling a little bit sheepishly back at the... what kind of Pokemon even was this? He'd never even heard of one like this before, and it's - his, judging from the voice - pink, beady eyes were kind of unnerving...

He stepped forward, hoping he hadn't accidentally offended the stranger. He'd caught him by surprise, but that wasn't any reason to be rude. He was polite enough so far. The Rockruff looked up slightly to meet his gaze from the leaf pile. He sat down with his tail curled beside him, hoping his fur wasn't bristling quite as much. "Oh, hello there. Sorry, you startled me. I wasn't expecting to run into anyone." He laughed weakly, hoping to lighten the mood a little. It wasn't this guy's fault that Cinmere wasn't expecting to see anyone. He'd even asked a question, one that Cinmere should probably answer. His ears perked and he nodded a little bit.

"I've been doing well! This island's really beautiful, isn't it? I thought I'd drop by, since it wasn't too far out of my way, and there were some neat rumors about this copse back in the day. I don't think there's any treasure left, but I still wanted to see the shrine for myself." He explained briefly, absentmindedly stomping a leaf under his paw. It crushed under his foot with a satisfying crackle. He smiled a little less nervously, now, tilting his head in curiosity as he looked at the stranger. "Have you been doing well? What brings you here?"

Nervous laughter, not the best start to a conversation. In his defense Ket wasn’t really the best at greetings, or conversations for the matter. Oh well, he’d already started it so he might as well go through with it. He hoped he hadn’t scared the Rockruff to much, he’d probably should apologize.

“Apologies about that. Bad tendency of mine to startle people.” He noticed the nodding of the Rockruff. Hopefully that was a good sign. He sat as the they answered his original question with the default ‘I’ve been doing well’ or some variation of that. Honestly in what situation would you answer a stranger with another response? Although in this case it seemed pretty genuine. Of course what perked his interest was the topic of treasure. Greed always perked his interest. Yeah sure he said it was probably gone whatever the treasure might be, and he really wasn’t expecting anything to be out here, If there was it would probably be long gone but who knows. Maybe lady luck might shine on him once. He was caught off guard when he was asked how well he was.

“Good enough. Curiosity drove me out here pretty much. Anyways the names Ket.” Ket shivered again as a gust of wind managed to snake its way through the forest causing him to unconsciously growl in annoyance. Ket watched as leaves trickled down from the trees above creating a light show of colors. He reached out and grabbed a leaf as he twirled it around in his claws before continuing. “Hey if you don’t mind me asking where are you from? You don’t see many Rockruffs out here."  

Cinmere felt a little embarrassed about losing his nerve so easily, but he was glad this stranger hadn’t taken it personally. Apparently this wasn’t uncommon for him. He looked intimidating to Cinmere, but he was polite enough so far. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of him, but it didn’t seem like this newcomer meant ill. That was enough for him. Feeling a bit more confident, he stood up with a small smile. “Don’t worry about it, that one’s on me. My home’s pretty far away, and I’ve never seen a Pokemon like you before! Caught me off guard for a minute.” That much was true. He knew most dragon types, the species of feral Pokemon that lived in the local mystery dungeons, and… that was about it, really.

He wasn’t really in the mood to reminisce, and talking about home tended to get uncomfortable. He loved everyone back home (well, almost everyone), but talking about it with strangers got awkward. Or at the very least, a little too personal for his liking. With any luck, Ket either wouldn’t notice or wouldn’t care that he’d just said his homeland was ‘far away’ with no further details. That had been on purpose. He jumped to the next topic as quickly as he could in hopes of leaving that one behind, instead beaming at the bright, colorful treetops. It would be nice if he could find someplace to buy ink that matched the color of the leaves, he thought absentmindedly. He already wasn’t a great artist, so he didn’t stand a chance at catching the atmosphere of this place in black and white.

”Wonder what makes the trees stay like this all year round. Maybe it has something to do with the mystery dungeons, and how they don’t really follow the same rules the rest of the world does? It’s like this tiny part of the world’s stuck in time.” Then again, he didn’t know how mystery dungeons worked, come to think of it. Did anyone? Someone, somewhere, must have studied them, but Cinmere had never heard their name. He just had his best guesses and the theories he’d been taught with every other pup when he was younger.

He turned back to the Zangoose with another nod. “Aha, sorry if that was sort of pretentious! I'll cut it out, promise.” He piped. Ha, he sounded like old White-eye just then. ”If you came here out of curiosity, would you like to go together? We can both check out the shrine, if you’d like.” It was a shot in the dark, really. He didn’t have a good enough read on Ket to tell whether he’d like to come along or not, but he figured it was worth it to ask. He was fine going on his own this time, but Ket seemed decent. Besides, Cinmere owed him a favor for jumping like that - he didn’t seem to take offense, but acting like someone was scary was still a little rude, he thought. It would be nice to make it up to him somehow. Maybe he'd find a chance to help if Ket agreed to come along.

Ket was still situated on his leaf pile listened as the Rockruff described his home, or well glanced over it. He grew suspicious of the origins of the Rockruff below him but he knew from experience when someone tries to skip their history like that it's best you drop it. Instead of pressing the matter he decided to change the subject.

“Never seen a Pokemon like me before? Well my species is known as Zangoose. As far as everything goes us Zangoose are pretty normal.” He didn’t know why he slipped the typing joke in, if he didn’t know what a Zangoose was he definitely didn’t know their typing. But why not right? Not liked it matter it seemed like the Rockruff was more interested in watching the diorama of colors sailing above them. He couldn’t blame him, he’d done similar in conversations before, and the scene before them was beautiful. Nature, no matter how ambitious a Pokemon can get they will never make anything that comes close to comparing to what was already there.

The Rockruff went on about mystery dungeons and how they worked. Now that he was thinking about it of all the times he’d went through those things he’d never wondered how they worked. How did they work anyways? Could they even be scientifically explained or where they just the work of the supernatural? Eh maybe Arceus just got lazy, Ket just settled with that answer. His attention was brought back as the Rockruff moved along the conversation. What surprised him was when they asked him to tag along with them to the shrine.

Ket was confused as to why they wanted him to tag along considering how this conversation had started. Not to mention if he was in the Rockruff’s situation he wouldn’t dare trust him behind his back. Of course that judgement call was only possible with knowledge of his past and he sure wasn’t going to offer that information on a silver plate. He was about to decline before glancing back down at the Rockruff. He sighed out loud as he thought back to his own childhood. May as well try to balance out some of that bad karma right? He jumped off the leaf pile patting off some leaves that had stuck to his fur.

“Yeah sure I’ll tag along. I’ve got jack all to do right now.” He motioned down the path. “You can lead if you want. I don’t know where we're going.” He was about to start leaving his faithful leaf pile behind before he realized he’d gotten so far in the conversation and hadn’t even gotten the Rockruff’s name. Laughing aloud at the act only he could pull off, “Hey what’s your name anyways I didn’t catch it.”

Okay, so it wasn't weird to see a Zango- wait, was that a pun? It was "Normal" to find them? He squinted suspiciously for a moment, as if there was some sort of visible hint he could find if he looked hard enough. It might have been a pun? This Zangoose Pokemon didn't have any obvious elemental powers, so it could have been a normal type. Then again, Ket didn't really strike Cinmere as the pun-making type... yeah, probably not, he was just overthinking things again. He really needed to break that habit someday, he chided himself gently. Life was easier when you didn't think too hard about things that didn't matter. Would be nice if he could take his own advice.

Still, he walked forward cheerfully, a relaxed and sunny tone to his words. So he could lead the way? Worked for him. That shrine should be at the innermost part of the island, so Cinmere didn't think he'd have much trouble navigating. If the way the locals told the story was true, anyways. ... and the explorers found a dusty shrine, standing stalwart at the heart of the island, marked with strange words written in a language none could understand. Or something along those lines, anyways. Perhaps he'd just said it was at the 'heart' of the island for dramatic license, but he'd take what clues he could get.

He glanced back at Ket with a flick of an ear. Oops, had he not introduced himself yet? That was a little rude. He hadn't even noticed. "Cinmere." He chimed, looking forward again, slowing his pace a little bit so the larger Pokemon could walk beside him if he wanted to. "Nice to have you along. I appreciate the help. I can take care of myself, but I'm not that great at fighting yet, so it's good to have backup." It felt a little silly, saying it out loud. A Pokemon that couldn't fight was like a bird that couldn't fly. But he'd get better steadily, bit by bit, he was sure of it.

Cinmere walked towards the side of the path, still going out of his way to crush the leaves as he walked. Hmm. What now? Try to add more fuel to the conversation, maybe? This island wasn't huge, but he had a hunch they'd be walking for quite a while. It didn't take long for a spark of inspiration to hit him as he ducked out of the way of an orange leaf, drifting gently towards him on a chilly breeze. "Do you have a favorite season, Ket? I prefer spring, but autumn's also nice." He always found summer too hot and everyone else seemed to find winter too cold, but he did love making things out of snow. Spring was his favorite, though. He liked seeing everything grow back after winter. It lifted his spirits, somehow, seeing everything stir back to life.

Cinmere's Energy: 5

Dratini Captain carried out 5 launched of one Fallen Leaf Copse :

, , , ,

Cinmere, interesting name not one he had heard before but that was true with many names. Good thing he had a name to go on now. It would be a pretty awkward venture if he had to refer to him non stop as Rockruff. He watched as Cinmere thanked him for the help. Ket simply nodded in return. It was interesting to hear the Rockruff comment on his fighting capacity. It reminded him of when he had first left home. He had grown a bit in terms of fighting and he liked to consider himself competent enough. He still wasn’t that good though, a fact which he felt sorely about. He kept that knowledge under wraps, why let others know your weaknesses?

Ket dismissed the thought as he began to follow Cinmere down the leaf filled path. Looking up at the sun he was trying to figure out what time of the day it was until his attention was redirected to Cinmere. He watched as Cinmere went out of his way to crush the leaves strewn about the path. Ket quickly scanned the area checking every direction in case anyone had picked up the noise. He was going to tell him to stop crushing the leaves before he stopped himself. The carefree nature of Cinmere made him wish he could have a retry on his own childhood. He didn’t have the heart to order him to stop nor did he think he have the authority. Taking his mind off of the topic of his earlier years he decided to double down on his attention to his surroundings to compensate for the extra noise. Out of the blue Cinmere suddenly decided to ask him his favorite season. That was an easy one.

“Summer paws down. Believe when you spend even one winter truly outside the sight of snow makes you sick.” Oh and travel picks up on certain roads but Ket kept that to himself. “I guess spring isn’t too bad, nice temperature. I’ll admit the heat of summer is horrid at times but the amount of rain in spring is insufferable.” Ket keeping to his commitment quickly scanned around again. After checking the area he went back to the conversation with Cinmere thinking how to continue it. He decided to subtly attempt to figure out were the Rockruff was from. He knew he told himself he’d not press the topic but he still was curious. He’d stop questioning him if he asked or some other facial indicator told him to stop. Until then he figured it wouldn’t harm anyone if he tried. “It snow where you from? How’s the weather there?” He just hoped he had a good enough grasp on geography to use the information he got, if he got any that is.

So he was the summer type? Made sense, the way he put it. Really, Cinmere didn't like summer too much - he hated how miserably, sweltering hot it was. He was fine with the snow, making things out of it was fun, but something about winter always seemed to put everyone in poor spirits. It had soured the season for him, truthfully. Snowball fights and snow forts were fun, but they didn't count for much if everyone else was miserable. It tended to bring him down, too. Maybe it was just his personality or maybe it was the emotional intuition every Rockruff had. It didn't matter much. He was fairly certain spring would be his favorite either way. But it weighed down winter and stuck it in a solid third place, whatever factor was to blame.

Still, the way he spoke about the seasons, Cinmere could understand, it made sense for this Zangoose to hate winter. "Wow - you spent a winter outside?" He nearly balked at the idea. It seemed near-impossible not to freeze to death. Had he slipped that in just to make himself look more impressive...? No, that didn't seem right, Cinmere hadn't established himself as anyone worth impressing. He'd even admitted already he wasn't very strong. He tilted his head, looking towards Ket with something between respect and awe. "That's really impressive. How'd you do it?" Cinmere wanted to get to the heart of how he'd done something like that, it was a little bit amazing to him. It didn't hit him until the words were already out of his mouth that it couldn't have been easy, and asking about it might be in bad taste. Well, too late now. Just had to see how he'd respond and drop it if he reacted poorly.

He set his gaze back to the path, looking up at the technicolor trees backing the blue sky. "My winters were pretty much the same as anyone else's, I'd think. I mean, you could find patches that were snowy all year round, if you knew where to look. But it snowed very intensely in winter. Weather changed real abruptly, too - one second Solgaleo's beaming down on you, and then you've got a snowstorm within the hour." He paused for a moment, feeling mildly uncomfortable for a reason he couldn't exactly place. Still, he hid it as best he could, even shooting a little smile at Ket. "I don't think anyone could've survived a winter there." It was meant to be something like a joke, but it came out a little too personal and a little more grim than he intended.

Cinmere's Energy: 0

Impressive? Ket had never really thought of surviving the winter as impressive. Maybe since it was life or death out there the feat of weathering out the winter was overshadowed by survival. Regardless he didn’t really see it as impressive. To be honest he got really lucky, if anyone asked him how he had made it all these years he’d tell them he’d started a lucky streak and it had never really died off. He made a mental note to knock on a tree later to avoid the cruel ironies of fate.

On the topic of figuring out where Cinmere had come from his response didn’t reveal much either. Patches of snow year round? He guessed it ruled out deserts, maybe he lived in a tundra? What was he kidding he had no clue where he lived, he would of probably gotten a better guess throwing a pin at random onto a map. Maybe he’d try again later if the opportunity presented itself, better resume the chat and see where it got him.

“Honestly surviving the winter outside boils down to luck and whether on not you can make a fire. You can’t make a fire your done for. After that you just find food and sit in one place for the rest of winter. If you have a source of fire for the winter as well as a nice stockpile of food the biggest challenge is figuring out a way to not die from boredom. At best you’ll have some feral walk in by accident and that might be the most interesting thing that’ll happen to you all week. Of course you could roam around but you’d probably die, so I wouldn’t recommend that.” Ket looked back up to the autumn trees as the wind howled through them. The scene reminded him of the weeks before winter past and the sinking feeling in his stomach that it wasn’t going to be an easy winter. “Yeah all it takes is one accident out there when your alone and it’s over for you. Feral attack, slipping off a cliff you name it.” Ket felt his stomach tying itself into knots as he recalled his winters. Not wanting to relive those experiences he quickly changed the subject.

“Well at least here you know what the weather is going to be for the season, that is non stop snow. I don’t think I could stand the sun popping up out of nowhere in between being buried by snow. So how did you spend your winters? You say no one can survive a winter where your from but clearly your here right now, unless we’ve died and moved on to the after life but if we have I haven’t got the memo.” He didn’t mean to let that last sentence slip, it made the ending pretty depressing but it was out now. he hoped he didn't come out as a too much of a pessimist through that rant.

"Didn't think I'd have to be the one to break it to you, but yeah, we were dead all along~. We get to be all spooky and drift through walls now, haunt whoever deserves it. It's not so bad." He flashed a smile, then shook his head with a grin. "Nah, that came out wrong. No one could've survived a winter on their own, is what I meant. The weather was way too volatile." That sinking, whirling feeling in his stomach was back, worse now, and he couldn't place why but he didn't want to go any farther down that line of thought. Maybe the ghost jokes were getting a little too morbid. That was probably it.

He mulled it over for a moment. His environment was more severe than Ket's, from the sound of it, but at least Cinmere hadn't been alone. He had a new level of respect for the Zangoose after learning that, but it would do both of them good to try and talk about something more lighthearted, he thought. "Boredom was our biggest problem, too. But we had games and stories to pass the time, so it wasn't that bad. That reminds me, did you ever play a game called Heir of the Huntress? That one was always my favorite. I don't think many people know about it, but it was really fun. Sort of like hide and seek, but with, like, mind games and traps?" He pushed, wondering if anything like that rang a bell for Ket.

He'd have to talk everyone back home into playing that game again next time he saw them. It was mostly for kids, but it was still fun. There's no age limit on messing with your friends, after all, and that entire game was about tricking everyone, it was great. He glanced back at Ket, smiling brightly. "I was really good at that game, I think. You could play it whenever, but it was best during winter, there were so many good hiding spots in the snow. Have you heard of it? Or did you have any other games like that if you haven't?" Maybe he knew it under another name, or maybe it was something his pack made up? Cinmere was sure that game was associated with some old legend, but he couldn't remember it now for the life of him.

Lucky break it seemed. Cinmere didn’t think he was depressed, hopefully anyways. Nice to have the surviving winter part clarified for him. Good thing the winters where he grew up weren’t nearly as volatile as Cinmere’s winter. Like his mother said always look to the positives of things. Ket quickly regretted thinking back to his mother as it always led into thoughts of his home. Pangs of homesickness spread across him as they had once did in the past. He dismissed these thoughts as fast as he could. He knew there was no way he could ever show his face there again regardless of how much he wanted to.

Fortunately for the distressed Zangoose Cinmere began to speak about something else. He mentally thanked the Rockruff for diverting his attention from his home. He listened to Cinmere as he talked about a game that he used to play, Heir of the Huntress, until he asked him about what he played for games. He began to struggle for a response not having played many games. “I can’t say I’ve heard of Heir of the Huntress, I spent most of my time out there alone. I didn’t have anyone to really play games with. But the few times I had other company I played some card games here and there. Don’t ask me the name of the games I can’t remember for the life of me. Don’t know if you can tell but I’m not exactly rolling in poke. But if there’s one thing I’ve always been wealthy in it’s boredom.”

Yep, it was kind of sad now that he was thinking about and he couldn’t help but crack a visible smile thinking about the pity of his situation. It was one of those cases were it was so sad it was comical. Grimness is always humorous to others. He caught himself before he went on another spree of self deprivation. He continued walking down the path they were following thinking of something to occupy him before a thought crossed his mind. Turning to Cinmere and grinning he asked him, “Say would you mind showing me this game, Heir of the Huntress? We’ve got plenty of time to kill. Sure it’s not winter but I’m sure it’ll be fine right?” He hoped this game would occupy his mind and make him sound less sad to Cinmere.

CrocketChowder carried out 4 launched of one Fallen Leaf Copse :

, , ,

Cinmere liked to think he had a decent tolerance for grimness, moreso than someone would think by first impressions, and he liked that about himself. He wasn't some kind of sadist, but it was pretty difficult to make him flinch, generally speaking. But wow, that mental image was depressing. Almost comically so. "Huh." He mused near-silently, deep in thought and unsure of how to answer. Something about how he was also broke as all hell, maybe? The gears in his mind spun as he tried to figure out how to word that in a way that was self-deprecating without being too serious and wouldn't come off as passive aggressive. For better or worse - scratch that, definitely for the better - Ket had something else to ask about before Cinmere could figure out how to word it.

The Rockruff sported a matching grin, nodding happily. Great! It would be a lot easier to sort out how to describe that childhood game where they quite literally hunted each other without making them sound like psychopaths than it would be to dodge that conversational bullet. That sounded like sarcasm, but he hadn't been that genuine for a while. "Alright! I can tell you about it and if you'd still like to play a round, that would be fine by me." He glanced around, taking in the surroundings in a different way than before. The first time, he'd been appreciating how pretty the fiery island looked up close. This time he was scanning it for places to hide and places to set up traps. He tested a stick under his paw, bending it and testing how much weight it could carry. "Hmm." He hummed aloud, nodding a moment later with a spark in his eyes. "We can play here, this'll do just fine."

"Right! So Heir of the Huntress - also known as Prince or Princess of the Hunt, depending on who's playing the hunter - is a bit like hide and seek with a dash of tag thrown in. One player's the Hunter, and they have to catch the hunted." He chimed, smiling a little bit mischievously. "The hunted is trying to escape the Hunter, or the Heir. Uh, use whatever term you want, it doesn't matter. They can't attack the Hunter directly, but it's perfectly legal to set up traps the Hunter might fall into, or otherwise try to throw them off your trail. Well, it's not just 'legal', it's encouraged. Whole point of the game, really. The Hunter can also set up traps or otherwise mess with the hunted, of course." Hopefully he'd explained it well, and skillfully weaved around how crazy and violent that game could get sometimes. They weren't supposed to play it, technically, after one too many skinned knees and twisted ankles, but that never stopped them before. "Rule of thumb, if you aren't sure if something's allowed, it probably is, so get creative."

Oh yeah, he almost forgot the most important part. "The Hunter wins when they tag all the hunted, and the hunted win if they haven't been tagged by the time the sun sets." He explained quickly, his expression flickering into a frown. "Well, that's how I used to play, but we might have to modify the rules if it's just the two of us. Let's say the hunted has an hour or so?" Wait. He realized he'd gotten a little bit ahead of himself. "It's perfectly fine otherwise, but if you would like to play a round... Hunter or hunted?" He chimed, beaming at the Zangoose. There were a few more minor rules, technically, but he'd rather not get into it now. Those were the most important ones. He had a hunch on which side he'd pick, and Cinmere thought his intuition was normally on point, but perhaps he'd be surprised.

(Energy 11-11=0)
The grin given by the rockruff as a response was the result he was looking for. He listened carefully as Cinmere explained the rules to the game. He was intrigued about the trap element to the game. It seemed a bit dangerous especially for younger pokémon that might play the game. Knowing how the world worked someone in some place probably died doing this. Although Ket really didn’t care too much as long as neither Cinmere or he were harmed. After all nothing is ever completely safe. He looked around to places that were close for good traps or hiding spots. Due to the foliage that littered the island traps would be easily hidden. As for hiding whoever was doing that role might have to get creative. Sure there were the usual spots to hide scattered about in a forest but they aren’t really the hardest to search through if whoever is hunting knows the usual spots. Which kind of defeated the purpose of a hiding spot.

When Cinmere suggested a hour time limit Ket gauged the time of day. It slightly past noon, they’d have plenty of time afterwards to reach the shrine. Even if it was unlikely, given that the island wasn’t too large in size, they would also have enough time to find a place to camp the night away. They should probably agree on a rendezvous point in an hour in case any of them got lost. Ket looked around thinking of any place they could meet and not thinking of anything else he asked Cinmere. “Say we meet here in an hour if the hunter has found the hunted?” Anyways it was time to delegate roles in this game of Heir of the Huntress. Ket already knew what role he would take.

“And mind if I take hunter?” He already knew his own competence at stealth. Ket liked to get an estimate on the skill of others just in case he ever needed the information. That's what he told himself anyways it was probably because of his low ego but he veered away from that topic. He also wanted to be hunter because he was slightly sick of being hunted from all those years past. A change of pace here and there wouldn’t hurt.

"Aha, everyone wants to be the Hunter. Had a feeling you would, too." Cinmere laughed lightheartedly, rather pleased that his gut feeling had been right. Hunted wasn't so bad, really. He would have been bitter about his role if he was younger, but since you still got to do all the fun things the Hunter did, he didn't care nowadays. He liked to think his ego wasn't that fragile. Besides, he hadn't played this game for so long that he was too eager to play it again to be bitter about his role. "Works perfectly for me." He said in a near sing-song tone, walking with a slight skip in his step. Perhaps Ket would notice he was already backing away from the Zangoose, eyes practically shining. "Okay - I get two minutes, and then you can come find me. Bye Ket, good luck!"

Okay, it was actually supposed to be more like five minutes, but waiting around like that always got boring and Cinmere didn't want to turn Ket off from the game before he'd even started playing. Cinmere knew this game better, anyways, so it would all even out. He just had to work quickly. He dashed into the autumn forest, spraying leaves in his wake, purposefully making an obvious trail and doubling back on it shortly afterwards. Hmm. Cinmere didn't have the time to make any complex traps. Unless he could lose Ket for long enough, at least. There weren't any leftover traps from previous rounds, either, like there always was when he was younger - you needed to watch your step so you didn't fall into someone's pitfall.

But something else did catch his eye. He noticed the corner of a metal trap, one of the many you could find in mystery dungeons. Careful not to push down on the pressure plate, he brushed away the leaves to reveal a spin trap. Huh. He could work with that. The gears in his mind turning, he brushed the leaves back over the spin trap, careful to cover it completely this time, and faking a step over it. It wasn't completely inconspicuous, but it would do - Ket had probably started by now, and that meant Cinmere had to be on his way. He made a brisk pace forward, his ears perked. If only he could find a stream to swim through, that would make it a lot easier to gain some ground. He used that trick all the time. You couldn't leave footprints in the water, after all. He glanced around as he walked, listening for the sound of running water.

Wait - he didn't need to find a lake or stream, he could head for the edge of the island! He couldn't help but smile, even as he looked around himself warily. Of course, it was nice just to play Heir again, but it would also be very nice to win. He hummed a single, soft note under his breath before catching himself. Whoops. Pay attention, Cinmere! He walked a little bit faster towards the lake that surrounded the island, listening as carefully as he could in the meanwhile.