Fanning Flames?

[makeitquick]

Log Deputy: Void (BeholdtheVoid)(?!)
Participating Characters: Melaka Fray, Jason Grace, and Rise Kujikawa
Plot Description: Melaka proposed a trip out to the Scorched Forest to both look for those soils that the Council wanted to look for and also as part of a mission she had to try to find the source of the forest's continued burned state. There were two takers. Can they accomplish both? Only one? Who knows, let's see.
Warnings/Notes: Nothing (yet)

[ So the plan was the meet up in the morning and set out there. Melaka has changed up her normal attunement on the warp band to replace Tiny with Shiram so that Shiram can see his homeland again. Other than that though, she's just eager and ready to set out, with none of her pokemon out initially and some juice in a bottle in her hand. They set out!! ]

Comments

[notthatjason]

[This seemed like a good way to be more helpful around Union and to continue to improve his standing among the Rangers. Not to mention Jason was just curious about the Scorched Forest area, a place he had only seen in passing and hadn't taken the time to really investigate...until now.

He arrives with Venti on his shoulder and his Warp Band set to summon two more from his bonded Pokemon, should he need them. Jason is likely the first to arrive and seems just as eager to set out.

He's also not very good at small talk, so someone else to strike up conversation would probably be a plus.]

[celebrity_commentator]

Good morning!

[Did someone say small talk? Because Ms. Parasol McPerky here is probably going to be doing all of it on this trip.]

Are you the other person here to meet Melaka?

[makeitquick]

Yeah, he's the one. The three of us are gonna be a trio here.

[ With a sage little nod. Good, the perky one is here. Melaka's never been great with small talk either and frankly she doesn't know either of these people super well. But hey, they'll probably bond doing this anyway... ]

[bravenewmods]

As the team is walking through the forest, they catch the faint scent of... rotten eggs?

sorry this took so long, was out of town for a few days

[notthatjason]

[Jason looks up, seeing a new person approaching. They're that closer to leaving, right?]

Morning. Yeah, I'm Jason.

[And it looks like they are heading into the forest. Jason scrunches up his nose when the smell first wafts past him.]

What is that?

it's cool, I'm sick too

[makeitquick]

A bad smell. [ And she looks to her warp band, and summons in Slugger the Donphan, with the idea that he could pinpoint where it originates! ]

I apologize for everything

[celebrity_commentator]

[Rise holds her nose in agreement. Should have brought a handkerchief, really.]

I woder if dat's a Pokémon...

[Either way, she summons Himiko with her other hand, both trainer and Pokémon keeping their extra senses alert for what they were smelling.]

[bravenewmods]

[The smell does not abate. Nor are there any other accompanying signs. If it's a Pokemon, it's not currently active.

Donphan will be able to ascertain that the smell is most distinct when its nose is to the ground.]

[notthatjason]

[As the two women bring forth their pokemon, Jason decides it might not be a bad idea to be prepared for some strange, smelly pokemon to appear. He activates his Warp Band as well and Piper joins them, flying higher to see anything from a different vantage point. His eyes follow her up and then he looks to the others and their pokemon.]

So which way now?

[celebrity_commentator]

I guess spread out and...ugh...loog for where dat smell is coming from.

[She thinks.]

Or go far away frob it.

[makeitquick]

Close in on it. If it's this bad already, we're closing in on it anyway, and I don't wanna be ambushed if it's a pokemon and step into a toxic field if it's not.

[ Wait, Slugger, what was that? She can't speak Pokemon, but despite being disgusted looking, he is trumpetting that...

She shoots her warp band at him and- oh okay ]

... He says it's coming from the ground. So maybe it's in the soil.

[bravenewmods]

[Indeed it is! If they're looking for the source, it seems they'll have to... delve deeper into this investigation.

The most obvious way to get underground would be to start digging but they can try looking for natural pathways or holes of some sort, too. There's a sharp dropoff about 200 feet to the right into a lower part of the Scorched Forest, but all that's visible from here are the tops of more dead trees. The left is acres of dead earth and behind them is Union. Continuing forward may also be promising as it slopes downward.]

[celebrity_commentator]

You know, there might be caves or something in the drop-off ahead of us, right? I'm just guessing here, I should have brought a Ground-type...

[Himiko looks mildly offended, but she knows what Rise means.]

[notthatjason]

[Jason nods at the woman's suggestion and watches as Piper circles back and keeps an eye on things. He frowns, however, when she suggests it's underground, his eyes flicking to his feet.]

I don't really have any Pokemon that can dig, either. But you're right, maybe we can find an easily accessible cave or something.

[He looks up to his Fletchinder as she comes over.]

Piper. Fly over and see if there's anything over that ridge.

[Jason points to his right and Piper lets out a sharp caw, letting him know she heard.]

[makeitquick]

I've got some who an dig, but yeah, it'll be faster to find some other entrance.

[ She watches the bird go.

... She could really use a pokemon who can fly ]

[bravenewmods]

[Piper will be privy to a thick mass of gnarled, dead trees. It will be difficult to spot anything from the air above them, but if she ventures a little lower, swinging back around towards the group, there is what seems to be a crack in the side of the cliff.]

[notthatjason]

[Piper's sharp eyes scan over everything. She wants to find something to bring back to Jason, but so far it's looking like this might be a dead end. All she can see are dead trees clinging to the cliff.

She flies on and is about to veer sharply to the right to turn around when she spots something. A trick of the light? Piper circles and scans the cliffside where she sees the dark patch of a crack.

Bingo.

She lets out a sharp cry of excitement and dives towards it. She needs to make sure its an actual entrance and not just a shallow crack. If it doesn't lead anywhere it won't be worth telling Jason and his group about.]

[bravenewmods]

((I'll just respond since the others probably won't have too much to add.))

[Piper can fit into the crack quite easily but it might be a bit of a squeeze for the humans. If she continues, she will find that it widens, sure enough, and seems to slant at a downward angle.]

[notthatjason]

[Piper doesn't want to explore too far on her own. She's seen enough and if the humans can manage to squeeze through the initial opening they should be fine. Jason might even be able to get down here by controlling the winds a bit.

With that, she flies back out and goes to report back to the traveling group of explorers. Jason looks up as Piper comes back into view, trilling with excitement.]

Really? Just over the cliff?

[Piper responds by circling the group and then signaling them to follow by flying back. Jason directs his attention to the others.]

Piper says she found something on the side of a cliff. It might be difficult to squeeze through but it widens once your inside.

[celebrity_commentator]

As long as the smell doesn't get any worse...

[Rise thinks about it.]

...well, at least I don't track stuff with my nose. Let's go, right?

[makeitquick]

Sorry, Slugs. Guess that's gonna be rough on you.

[ Which the elephant sighs at in some defeat, but Melaka rolls he shoulders to step on over to Jason and the bird so - ]

Lead on, Piper.

[bravenewmods]

((Won't have anything to add until you enter the opening! Feel free to continue threading.))

[celebrity_commentator]

Okay! Himiko, keep an...er, brain out for anyone else nearby.

[The Kirlia nods and gracefully floats in front of Rise, both of them following Piper and Jason.]

[makeitquick]

Thanks. Slugger's got good hearing and smell, but it's gonna be too much for him.

[ Melaka says this as calmly as she can, but then coughs as to try to rid the ambient smell from her nose. Ugh. ]

[notthatjason]

[Jason nods and Piper takes back to the air, flying low and slow so that the gang can keep up. The smell isn't much better in the air, but at least it's a little diffused and she can brush it away with a flap of her wing. She leads the back to the cliff.

Jason examines the area.]

It's steep...but I can probably glide down. [He studies the dead trees gnarled together.] But theses trees are clumped together so that we might be able to scale down to that entrance.