quickattackjack | 59 days till Halloween [TallFellow Encounter 1]

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59 days till Halloween [TallFellow Encounter 1]

_{[An eerie wail cuts through the night.]}

Locations:
_{Johto National Park (Between Routes 35 and 36) - July 12-15
Route 34 - July 19-22
FORWARD-DATING MAGIC! OH BOY!}

- Original Tallfellow Information Post
- Calendar for Weather Reference
- Map

About Threads:
_{Please put the location/date as the subject header.
Let me know OOCly how many characters will be in the thread so I know to wait for my turn!
Every thread will be at least A/C length! You get A/C! And you get A/C!}

NATIONAL FOREST

_{[It is a dark and stormy night. Or at least rainy. Pachirisu and Metapod alike hide deep in their nests as the branches shake in the wind and rain. The path is little more than mud as it's been raining for days on end. Rain, rain, rain! The Pokemon are apathetic about coming out of their burrows to forage but there is one creature that the weather hasn't stopped...]}

ROUTE 34

_{[It's a nice enough evening. The Jigglypuff are settling in for the night and the sun is heavy and orange as it sinks behind the trees. The shoreline is peaceful and Buizel play in the gentle surf. Twigs snap and the tall grass rustles--but it's just the sound of scurrying Pokemon....isn't it?]}

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_{[If you do not have time to thread out an interaction or simply want your character to have a story they can tell, let me know what your character did while they were traveling and I'll give you a detailed encounter.]}

[Everything is raining. This sucks. Why why why.

She's got her yellow wax umbrella, but it's small and dainty, so the ends of her kimono still get drenched with rainwater. Not to mention mud splashes from walking. That umbrella is more for shielding the sun than keeping her dry, honestly, but she's too stubborn to give it up.

At least, she no longer bawls her eyes out like a baby at this kind of inconvenience- but Saionji is not happy with this. Her Vaporeon patrols to her right, contrastingly seeming quite content in this weather.]

Vapor! [I hear something! But Saionji pays no mind to the Vaporeon, because if somebody or something ambushes her, she'll just punch them in the face this time. 8| ]

_{[The Vaporeon does hear something. There is a steady crackling sound just off the path, up above in the branches. Something is keeping step with them as best it can.]}

[TRAINER... TRAINER, THERE'S SOMETHING, IT MIGHT NOT BE A POKÉMON...

Her Vaporeon tugs on her kimono, and it takes everything Saionji has to stop the reflex kick she was about to send in its direction. Being nice is so hard, guys, how do you do it?]

What is it? [Nevermind that she can't understand a single thing Vaporeon's saying! She stops in her tracks. Maybe now, she might be able to pick out crackling sounds...]

_{[When the duo stops, so do the sounds. Tallfellow crouches in the branches like a spider. The rain drips off the edges of his scarecrow hat in little rivers.]

[He can't help but feel excited. These two are the first ones--the very first people he'll have scared off season in years!]}

[Saionji listens around, with Vaporeon... and hears nothing.]

What is it? I'm going to get sick in this rain, you know! [Oh, how little you know, Saionji. The Pokémon just looks around, confused, trying to find the source of those strange noises. It doesn't move from its spot, though, only perking its ears up intently.]

_{[Jack watches the little water-type. He's got plenty of experience frightening humans but Pokemon are brand new territory.]

[He glances behind him and nods to Fester, one of his Gastly. The ghost grins and soars overhead to the other side of the path where he starts making noises of his own--a low ghostly chuckling.]

[Misdirection hopefully works on both people and their pokemon!]}

[Wow, the Vaporeon definitely hears that. He barks at the sound first, before Saionji catches notice of it.]

Hey, who's there?! If you're a Pokémon, shoo! Your cackling is ruining the atmosphere. [...As if the atmosphere isn't gloomy enough from the rain.]

_{[Sainoji, you can't tell Fester who to be.]

[The little Gastly keeps on chuckling and drifting through the bushes. While they are looking away, a Smoke Screen from Jack's Stunky rolls in, covering the path in a sudden eerie fog.]}

[SHE TOTALLY CAN, WHAT DO YOU MEAN

In any case, she's eying the fog suspiciously, because while she's used to the Pokémon move, this seems far too well-formulated.] And if you're a human, don't you think you can surprise me!

...Are you even listening? Do you know how stressful it is to talk to someone who's far too rude to listen?! [If her hollering doesn't lure it out, then she'll make do with trying to drive it away. Shoo, shoo!]

_{[Jack has a hard time not chuckling at her frustration but manages to keep a lid on it.

Until the scream. It's a loud, shrill, lonely sound that neither man nor 'mon has any business being able to make.]}

[?!?!?!?!?!?

That's the best way to sum out her thoughts right now, because she hasn't exactly heard loud incoherent screaming before while out in the wild. Some Pokémon cries and human yelling, sure, but not... this.]

Naoryuu! Use Ice Beam in that direction! [She points to the sound of the scream, because while it could be someone needing help, that screech was not exactly human-like. And she's not taking any chances- best to try freezing or scaring off whatever the hell that was, before turning around and bolting herself. Her Vaporeon obeys, opening its mouth to send an Ice Beam.]

_{[And that is Tallfellow's cue to take his leave least he wind up turned into a popsicle before his legend even begins. He springs away from his branch into the bows of a nearby oak while Fester continues gibbering on the other side of the path.]

[Should The trainer and her team brave the area the scream came from, they will find a couple of black feathers and a very long vertical gouge in the trunk of one of the trees.]}

Flynn had decided to stop traveling for the day and rest. His Pokemon were tired, and so was he - though he did not mind the latter, the former was quite important. Without them, he would be roadkill.

He settled down underneath a particularly large tree and began to pitch his tent. Beatrice floated around, trying her best to help, while Lupin tied up loose tent ropes. Alilat perched itself on top of the tent, and Fenrir tussled with Surt a few feet away.

Suddenly, Alice stiffened up and wailed. The Ralts started to run towards Flynn, but tripped over and landed on her face.

Something's coming!

Would you look at that! A right and proper campsite--the kind of campsite where trainers and their pokemon gather around a fire or a hotplate. The kind of camp where a few stories or friendly 'gear calls are traded. The kind of campsite that was ripe for the stalking.

The tall grass swayed as Tallfellow picked his way through it. He kept close to the trees as the sun sank. He was just another set of limbs in the distance. He couldn't allow himself to get too close.

Up above, Edgar the Murkrow perched and rustled her wings excitedly.

The scarecrow man lifted a dainty foot and purposefully brought it down hard on a fallen twig.

SNAP!

Alice screamed, causing a small telepathic shockwave to burst into existence around her. Surt keeled over immediately, and Beatrice lost a feet of height.

Fenrir immediately perked up, glancing around.

Flynn had noticed it too, and stood up as well.

Tallfellow remained perfectly still. Not even the wind stirred the edges of his costume. It was going to have to be a waiting game. He had to be part of the scenery.

Up above, Edgar cringed at the little shockwave that burst outward from the camp. She fluffed her feathers up and barked back an offended, "KROW!"

Alice didn't scream this time, and ended up falling over onto the ground.

Flynn returned the Ralts back to her Pokeball, and began walking towards the source of the noise. Fenrir quickly padded to his side, vigilant.

"... sounded like a Murkrow..."

Edited 2014-07-14 06:24 (UTC)

Edgar let out a few short, harsh, calls and took wing, fluttering overhead and away from Jack and his plain-sight hiding place. The man in costume can't help but note how curious these living people are!

Flynn didn't flinch, scanning the area intently. His eyes followed the Murkrow's flight path, then fell back to where Edgar was perched... and landed somewhat on Jack himself.

Sort of.

Because Flynn can't exactly tell that it's a human. Not yet, at least.

He takes a few steps towards the mysterious... thing.

The Mysterious Thing did not move.

What did happen was a sudden Smoke Screen rolling in from the far right and filling the space between Flynn and the figure with mist. Lily the Stunky lay hidden in the bushes. She took her trainer's cue silently but quietly wished that this would get her battle experience.

Fenrir walks in front of her trainer, more annoyed by the Smokescreen than anything else. No one in their team could cast Defog yet, so they didn't really have any way to combat it.

Flynn follows, taking a flashlight from inside his pocket and turning it on.

The complete lack of fear in this victim makes Jack reconsider his earliest plans.

The curiosity does give him an idea though! If people were going to start investigating he was going to have to start leaving something behind for them to find!

As the flashlight beam sweeps through the fog, Tallfellow takes his leave. He backs away into the trees before vanishing all together--a projection from one of his Pokemon.

Flynn reaches the place where the Mysterious Thing is.

Except it didn't seem to exist. Most curious...

He looks around a bit more, but whatever it was, it seems to have gone. Nothing else to see here, so he goes back to his campsite and files the event away for further investigation.

Traveling in the rain is miserable. But it hadn't seemed like it was going to clear up any time soon, and they all did have to get going if they were going to make it to Olivine in time.

That doesn't make Envy any happier about it, and he's wishing they'd made it to Ecruteak that night. At least they had a tent. But he still can't sleep in all this mess...he has an idea who else might be up, though, so he gives up on sleep and sits up, saying quietly.

"Hey. Hey Greed. Are you awake?"

Really, one of these days Greed will sleep well, but unfortunately tonight it's just not going to happen. He's cold and still very wet, even after spending time in the tent. He hadn't even been trying to sleep, not really. He knew himself too well. Though the Meowth next to him was curled up fast asleep.

"Yeah, I'm awake. What's up?"

At least he can travel alone with Envy without incident, even if the weather is horrible. That's something.

Sorry, boys. No tent talk tonight! There's something moving around outside.

The foot falls weren't exactly heavy or accompanied by deep raspy breathes, but the tell-tale sound of something bipedal walking through puddles wasn't hard to miss.

Envy doesn't get the chance to respond to Greed before he hears the...something walking around outside. He tenses warily, glancing around the tent to make sure that it's not just one of the others out for an inexplicable stroll in the rain.

Just who would be walking in the rain on a night like this? Unless it was some kind of bipedal Pokemon, maybe...

"You hear that, right?"

He doesn't wait for confirmation before he quietly shuffles to the tent opening, trying to peer through the rain and the dark. It better not be some dumbass native kid wanting a battle.

He slides next to Envy, blinking slightly. It's probably a kid, but you never know. Having been in the world full of happy colorful animals and not people who want to kill him for the last few months, it's remarkable how quickly he returns to being incredibly tense.

If it's just a kid, though, he'd feel a little guilty about spooking them, but it's also a little strange to wander around while it's pouring rain. "Anyone outside?"

Greed really doesn't want to battle in the middle of the rain. That's absolutely not his idea of a good time.

No one is there.

This is because, of course, the tall dark figure is behind the tents rather than in front of them where the flaps open. Jack has yet to get this close to the people he's been spooking so hearing the two of them talk about him makes it hard to keep his shit together.

He feels a good dozen years younger. They had no idea.

Envy doesn't like not being able to see anyone, not when he's sure there's got to be something out there. He scowls and grabs a raincoat out of the pile next to the tent opening, tugging it on and stepping outside. It's wet and miserable, but Envy is nothing if not persistent when he wants to be.

"Hey, who's out here?"

It's not a real yell, he doesn't want to wake up everyone else. But he hasn't thought to look behind himself yet.

Whoever it is must be sneaking about somewhere, right?

Though maybe it's not some native if they're able to actually sneak around without being obvious. The locals are pretty obvious, aren't they? Then again, Greed has never exactly been subtle with his methods. They don't have their powers anymore, but even then, there was a certain amount of training that came with being loyal to Dante that Greed had kept with him.

Unfortunately, it didn't make him capable of detecting anyone about in the dark and the rain.

"Might just be some punk," he suggests before stepping out into the rain himself. His coat doesn't have a hood and he's left wishing it did because it means he's going to spend hours dealing with his hair in the morning, but there's not much he can do about it.

Maybe it would help if he looked directly behind himself, but he looks just about everywhere else.

Quietly, slowly, Jack slipped backward away from their tent to stand motionless near one of the trees. All he had to do now was wait for them to go back inside. He judged it too rainy for them to investigate--at least not yet. Right now they just seemed annoyed.

He wanted them to be afraid.

It's hard to see much of anything right now, especially with human eyes. That doesn't stop Envy from squint-glaring around, but...no, he can't see any wayward trainers. Jack's right, he is more annoyed than scared right now.

But he's still feeling uneasy about all this.

"You think it was just some Pokemon? I don't want to stand around out here any longer if it was nothing."

Determinedly pretending it's nothing and things are fine and going back into the tent seems like a great idea. He would really, really like it to have been nothing. Because as nice and friendly as this world is, he's been here long enough and seen enough to know that when something bad happens, it really happens.

"Besides, your hair's a mess now."

Not worried at all. Denial is the way to go, and besides he doesn't want to look scared in front of Greed.

Edited 2014-07-19 05:09 (UTC)

"What else could it have been?" because he doesn't want to think about alternatives. He might not have much in the way of experience with things going to hell here, but he's certainly been told about the nasty things that happened in the past. Nothing has happened yet, unless you count the whole meeting the other Greed and triggering an identity crisis, but you know what, he's not going to talk about that.

"It was probably nothing." Because sometimes it's easiest to agree with Envy. He's older than Greed, anyway and that makes him trust Envy's judgement more than he would anyone else. Especially given the only other homunculus to be older than Greed was Gluttony and he had never been in any position to be helpful. "The others are probably going to laugh at us for getting worked up about nothing."

Jack cupped his elbow in a hand and traced his jaw with a finger. People were so interesting! He had done plenty of people watching in Goldenrod over the years but he'd never focused on uncomfortable people. He wondered just how on edge he could make them.

He stooped down, carefully picked up a large pinecone, and hurled it in the direction opposite him. Misdirection was the magician's best friend! It would allow him to move and it would allow Lily to start doing her thing.

"Then we won't wake them up."

Envy nearly jumps at the noise from the pinecone, and glares in the direction he's sure he heard the sound. Okay well that means there's something out here.

"Over there, you heard that right? Come on, I want to see what the hell's out here."

He's trying to sound confident at least, and he starts heading off towards the sound, looking over his shoulder to see if Greed will follow. There's no way he can't find out what it is now, he has to know. He's just hoping for it to be a Rattata or a Pidgey or something tiny and harmless.

There's an unasked question, something about what if this thing is an actual threat. At full strength, the only thing that could threaten Greed would be another homunculus. But he's not at full strength.

He's completely human here, and even if he's stronger than a normal human, it's not the sort of strength where he could punch a tree and turn it into a weapon.

"Yeah, I heard that," he says quietly, following Envy. He's trying to hide how tense he is. He's the younger one: he's the one who has been alone for too long, the one who habitually has to make noise because silence is maddening. But sudden noises? Still something that make him start.

Once they were far enough away that small movements wouldn't be heard, Jack stepped forward, picking his way carefully through the brush. In his hand he carried a bundle of twigs, tied with grass. They poked out in odd directions and didn't make any recognizable shape. He carefully placed it on top of the tent before moving back into the trees. His Stunky's smokescreen rolls a mist in around the campsite.

And then, because he couldn't help himself any longer, Jack screamed. It was a God-awful sound--a sound a creature makes when it's dying, when it's in pain, when it's in fear, when it's heartbroken and angry all at once and the wail is hard to classify as man or mon.

Envy doesn't really have an answer to that unspoken question beyond 'run away'. Because he left his Pokemon back in the tent. And suggesting turning around and going to get them is just unacceptable because that would mean admitting to being tense and nervous.

He might be the oldest, but that doesn't mean he's good at being in charge.

The smokescreen rolling through the camp not only makes it harder to see, but makes everything look just plain eerie. He doesn't like it at all. "What..."

Then that scream. Envy's so wound up by that point that he almost trips whirling around in the direction it came from. And he manages to spare a thought for hoping Greed can't see his face right now because he is not controlling his expression.

Greed and the mysterious scary thing probably did hear the shout of pure startled terror he let out, though, even if he will deny that he made that sound until the sun explodes.

This? This is a situation that Greed never wanted to be in. He doesn't know what to do. He's not sure what he would do even if he had his Shield because it's not like he can attack the air.

The smokescreen had been bad enough, but now he's in panic mode.

Fortunately for Envy, he doesn't see his face, but he does hear the noise. It's enough to get Greed to whirl around, to try and find whatever the hell it was that screamed because it doesn't sound like a Pokemon. What the hell could it be?

What the hell can he do? He lets out a breathy, nervous noise, clawing through his hair, trying to get his heart to stop pounding in his chest. Shit, shit, shit, he doesn't have any of his Pokemon on him. With his Ponyta, at least there would be a light source.

Jack's heart swelled.

That fear was downright delicious. He drifted back into the trees, silently motioning for his faithful Stunky to follow. That was all for this night--but not really. No, if the boys decided to investigate the area around their camp in the daylight they would find deep criss-crossing gouges in the mud. Some of the markings looked like stick men. Others were just abstract clusters of lines. A few black feathers were scattered around the markings but not a single footprint could be found.

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59 days till Halloween [TallFellow Encounter 1]

NATIONAL FOREST

ROUTE 34

[OOC Handwave Thread]

NATIONAL FOREST, 12 JULY just me lmao foreveralone Saionji

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13 July, Route 34

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National Forest, July 14th, Envy and Greed

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