Fresh Timber

The sound of splintering wood rang out across the outskirts of the dim Shadowhue forest. The source being a panting Cranidos ramming into the thick trunks of the tall plants. His domed head bore several scuffs from his apparent training, and the handful of already fallen trees around him bore dented and split marks where they'd broken apart from his repeated bashing. With a loud huff, and one foot digging into the loose soil, the fossil Pokemon charged towards. He lowered his head as he approached, the dome atop his head gaining a silvery sheen just before it made contact with the already dented wood of the tree. Another loud bang echoed out, his head sinking further into the wood as the tree overhead groaned in retaliation, starting to lean backwards into the forest.

The Cranidos began to pull backwards, but the splintered wood clung to his skull's spikes, refusing to let go. With a growl, the rock type placed his clawed foot against the tree. He visibly strained as the muscles underneath his scales bulged out, this body jerking backwards repeatedly. The tree groaned out, it's backwards bend becoming much wider as the Cranidos struggled against its grip. With a cry like a wild animal, the Cranidos forced his head upwards, prying the tree apart as he freed his head from it. With a loud crash, the tree fell through several others before coming to lay on the ground.

The rock type panted for several seconds, looking at the newly fallen tree before letting out a loud sigh. "Ok... break time," he said, turning over to another fallen tree. Plopping down on a space mostly stripped of its bark and branches, the Cranidos set his bag in front of him and began rummaging through for something to quench his thirst and sate his hunger.

Boom.

There it was again. That loud sound that Alki had heard not too long ago. Darcy hadn't, or if she had, she didn't really care... She was still as happy as ever. The jigglypuff had pointed out the loud noise to her older sister earlier, not to mention the fact that   maybe they shouldn't be heading towards it, but the Skitty would have none of it. And besides, she... kinda had a point. Alki was feeling quite... well, she did need to get out more. With someone she trusted and knew and could confide in and there were so few of those people around. And even with the other few she could say she was "friends" with, she wasn't quite in the mood... They were all either very good thieves, or very blunt and rather... well, Cecil wasn't the best confidant for her. Not for this kinda thing. Maybe she should just tell Darcy? Or at least explain her feelings, but... that required bravery. Which was something she didn't have.

Maybe she shouldn't... She was nothing but a hindrance to Darcy anyways, so why make things more complicated? Just fake a smile and be done with it...

She didn't want to go into this stupid forest, or approach the loud noise they'd been hearing for a while now. But Darcy was oh-so intent to do so, and Alki was powerless to do anything except tag along...

~

Alki was worrying her so much... She'd gotten even quieter recently, and all the progress Darcy had thought she'd made with her little sister's sociability seemed to be slowly dissipating... None of her other siblings were like this! They were all so... Upbeat and Vibrant and Happy, and it's not like there was anything wrong with Alki, per se. She loved her just as much as ever! But... when she was always so quiet and reserved, it was hard to tell when she was just being herself, or when she was really upset. She knew the jigglypuff struggled with self-confidence issues, to say the least.

"Y-You doing ok, Alki?" She said, treading lightly with her words. Alki had been hesitant to come out, but... she couldn't just leave her be! Darcy had to show her that she still cared, somehow... and inviting her on a small little expedition seemed like just the solution! Just the two of them... Alki didn't seem to have the energy to explore much anymore. She was young... She shouldn't feel so sad all the time... someone as nice as her didn't deserve it...

"H-Huh? Y-Yeah, I'm -"

Boom.

It was louder now. Both siblings stopped their walking, and looked at each other with a mix of confusion, despair, and sadness, all for different reasons. "Y-Y'know, if you're not up for this..." She said, offering the jigglypuff an out. She felt bad, forcing her... maybe she should go back home and spend time doing... less stressful stuff? Like trying to teach her how to read... That hadn't turned out well either though. Alki had said the letters ran into each other...

"N-No, you're right. I-I mean... well. We haven't done this in a while, right?" Alki said. A small smile appeared on her face, but that was precisely the issue... How was she supposed to know if it was a real one?

"Yeah..."



She missed doing this when Alki was happier...

Both of them pressed forward, and after only a short while, they came face to face with a Cranidos. He was panting, and surrounded by fallen trees. Were the booms just... trees falling? But...

Darcy tilted her head, looking first back to Alki, to see her reaction. She seemed almost... bored? Or was that frustration, or... Well, she didn't seem upset, anyways. That was good enough for now.

The skitty turned back to the Cranidos, and smiled, flickering her tail as she greeted the larger pokemon. "Hi! What's.... What's all this for?" She asked, chasing straight to the point. She was curious. But at the same time, she didn't want to spend too much time here.

Kestro idly munched on a sitrus berry as he noticed the two pink Pokemon approach. The Cranidos tilted his head at the pair, noting the odd look the Jigglypuff gave him before he looked over at the skitty. "Mmm?" he asked, about to answer before he remembered he still had berry flesh and juices in his mouth. The rock type held up a clawed hand, quickly chewing the last bit of berry before swallowing. He let out a happy sigh before continuing, "Ah, sorry. I was training my Iron Head. It's a move I was born with, but I've barely used it until coming to Grassveil. I was planning on heading deeper into the forest to actually use it in battle, but..." He paused, his beak clicking a few times. He'd hate to admit that the forest's darkness unsettled him.

The rock type huffed and shook his head, "Well, I was supposed to have a partner, but they're pretty late. I was gonna head in after eating. Were y'all about to head in?" he lied. The taste in his mouth from the lie didn't sit quite right with him, but the Cranidos did his best to ignore it.

energy = 24

Darcy tilted her head as she looked up at the Cranidos. The berry juice on his lips seemed... well, he was a messy eater, that much was obvious. He didn't seem bad at all, though... Darcy would've been happy to come along with him on this little expedition, if it weren't for the fact that... well, she wasn't here for herself. She was here for Alki, and she was lucky that the little jigglypuff was willing to do this at all. She didn't want to push her luck getting both her and Alki involved with this Cranidos, but...

"Y-Yeah, sure. Why not."

Darcy's eyes widened as she turned to look at her sister. "A-Are you sure?" She hissed at her small sibling. The jigglypuff simply nodded in return. Darcy blinked a couple of times, pawing at the ground. Well, she couldn't turn the Cranidos down now...

"S-Sure! We'll tag along..." She said to the Cranidos, before turning to her little sibling. "If you change your mind, just let me know. Ok?" Alki nodded again. Alright, so they were tagging along... as for why? Darcy had no clue... she was gonna say no for Alki's sake, but... the Jigglypuff was full of surprises, it seemed.

Kestro grinned as the pair accepted him. "Great, I'll be sure to not burden you two," he said as he hopped off of his seat. The Rock type reached out to the Skitty with his claws, "My name's Kestro, by the way, good to meet ya." The Cranidos was curious about the two, as all he could really tell as that the Skitty seemed to be acting as a guardian or caretaker to the Jigglypuff.

Either way, he was still new to the area, so it was nice to actually have someone to travel with. Shadowhue was a different beast to his trips into Pecha Forest, and the Cranidos wasn't as confident as his usual self when it came to trying to explore the dungeon. Not to mention the fact that there were the ruins he'd heard about deep inside. Pecha forest had nothing like that, and the idea of ruins peaked the fossil Pokemon's interest greatly. Hopefully the Skitty and Jigglypuff would be equally interested, else Kestro would feel ill prepared to tackle the area alone.

Dracorexion carried out 4 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

, , ,

"Sounds good to me!" Darcy said, waving her tail lightly, as if it were a blade of grass in the wind. She was sure he wouldn't be a burden at all. If anything, he seemed more capable than the two of them... Who knew? Alki was always saying that she was a burden to everyone else too, but that wasn't true at all! Maybe this Cranidos was in a similar boat? "It's nice to meet you, Kestro! My name's Darcy!" It had occurred to the Skitty in the past that she was, perhaps, a bit too liberal with giving away her name to strangers. But it had also occurred to her that she didn't really care, either. If it meant she got to make friends of new Pokemon, then she was more than willing to continue to give it away!

Darcy waited for her sister to introduce herself as well, before padding forward slowly towards the Cranidos. The weather was rather pleasant; aside from the overcast sky, she could feel the sun beaming down from behind the clouds, and the air was windy and cool, but also carried a vague sense of wetness. She loved the rain! Especially a light drizzle! "Let's get going then!" She said cheerily, before leading the way into the Forest.

~

Alki kicked at the ground with her feet as the Skitty introduced herself to the Cranidos. She didn't want to introduce herself, but for the sake of pleasing Darcy, she had to, didn't she? The Jigglypuff stammered out a soft introduction after the Skitty, hardly audible even among the quiet forest. "H-Hi. I-I-I'm... Uh... A-Alki..." She managed, before clamming back up. And now that introductions were done, she'd have to go explore, huh? Why did anyone do stuff like this... It was scary, going into places like that. Places known to be dangerous. But... There went the Skitty, cheerily crying out that they should Get going, And... Wait, she was really
that far ahead? Alki's eyes widened as she looked at the Cranidos, then at the Skitty, before hastily teleporting ahead to her sister. She grabbed the Bulbous end of her tail lightly to steady herself, before walking forward, brushing against her fur. If she was going into a mystery dungeon like a forest , She wasn't going to go in alone!

Kestro nodded at Darcy's introduction, giving her a grin before looking over at the Jigglypuff. He tilted his head as she spoke, trying to catch her name, but finding it lost in the noise of the surrounding nature. He clicked his beak a couple of times. He didn't want to seem harsh, he'd just met the pair and didn't want to sour their meeting just seconds before they venture into the forest. He gave a glance over to Darcy, silently trying to convey his thoughts, but then again he wasn't a psychic type, and he didn't think Skitty were either. Not to mention Darcy seemed even more eager than Kestro to explore the forest, quickly taking the lead.

Kestro moved to fall in line next to the Skitty, gathering up his things before hefting his bag over his shoulder. Just as he did he jumped in surprise at the Jigglypuff suddenly popping into existence in front of him, grasping Darcy's tail. Kestro blinked silently a few times, the Jigglypuff surely wasn't there before hand, right? He was sure if it, but he knew he couldn't just stand around and think forever, so he quickly trotted up to fall beside the Skitty. "So, do you two live in Grassveil?" he asked, deciding to try and get a conversation going as they traveled.

energy = 11

"Sorry, Alki." Darcy mumbled sheepishly. slowering her pace as she watched the Jigglypuff slowly untangle herself from her tail. Her sister's usually rather rosy complexion seemed to have paled quite a bit, and it was rare that she use her ability so suddenly like that... Darcy used her tail to stroke the Jigglypuff's head, and at this, the girl seemed to finally relax, if only a bit. She caught a quiet apology from the younger Pokemon's mouth, and at this, the Skitty purred cheerfully, patting her sister's head again before turning eagerly to the forest. "Hey, no need to be so down!" She said loudly, seemingly at no one. "And nothing to apologize for!"

It was shortly after this that Darcy turned to the Cranidos to answer his question. It would seem as if she was going to be shouldering most of the social burden of the day. Not that the Skitty minded! She was rather well suited for such things. "Yep! We both live at the guild, but we know our way around town. I grew up on the outskirts, about... well, I dunno how many kilometers, exactly, up north. But quite a few!" She laughed at this, quite conscious of her having left out her sister. Even she didn't know much about her background. She didn't pry, and it wasn't something she particularly needed to know. The jigglypuff could talk about that whenever she felt ready. Until then, she wasn't going to corral her into talking about it; with her, or with anyone else.

"How about you? Where do you come from?" She asked, looking around to see where exactly they were.



~

Alki felt quite ashamed of her sudden teleportation. She'd looked back at the Cranidos as she grasped her sister's tail. He'd seemed quite confused, and honestly, there was a bit of that emotion in Alki as well. Why she'd reacted so suddenly... not that it mattered anymore, she'd screwed up, and now the Cranidos -- Kestro, was it? -- Probably thought she was an idiot, or crazy, or maybe both, or maybe something else that she was too stupid to think of at the moment, and...

Alki felt the soft brush of the Skitty's fur on her head. It was at this that she looked up, suddenly aware of her emotions. Darcy didn't like it when she acted like that. She should stop. The jigglypuff wilted ever so slightly at this thought. "S-S-Sorry..." She managed, her volume as low as possible, before being cheered up in short order at the Skitty's words.

Things would be alright, for now. Alki tuned out the two's conversation, opting instead to scout ahead and take a look around. She could maybe find something to impress Darcy! Or at least cheer her up. She didn't like exploring much, but she knew that her sister did. If it made her happy... besides, if she ran into a scary feral or something, she could always teleport and run away! That was something she was good at...

About the only thing she was good at...

The jigglypuff snuck away into the bushes, away from the disconcerting sounds of conversation and into the relative safety of the silence of the woods.

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

Mada carried out 1 launched of one Shadowhue Forest :

As Darcy comforted the young Jigglypuff, Kestro added his own form of comfort with a small, beaky smile. "Yeah, no need to apologize, just enjoy yourself as you want," he said. Even so, he couldn't help but be a bit concerned at the Jigglypuff's paleness after teleporting. Was that move or ability that taxing on the Jigglypuff? He felt that maybe he should offer her a berry, but Darcy's strokes seemed enough that he put the thought aside. Perhaps later, if they take a break, he can offer one then.

He turned his attention back to Darcy after giving the Jigglypuff another reassuring grin and nod, wanting to convey his own friendliness as best he could. "I'm from the deserts to the East. Specifically Scorchfall. After a drought made the oasis I lived at unsustainable, the town packed up into a caravan and we made the long journey to Grassveil. It was a pretty tough and long journey, but we all made it mostly intact."