first channelling - action (Forest Shrine)

[mastermedium]

[Meditation in the forest shrine is always rather peaceful.

You know.

When it isn't cold as balls.

Of course, the cold-as-balls is good for resistance training, which is exactly why Maya is out there, her duskull, Shi, hovering above her head. She wears her usual furisode, crouched on the ground where she's cleared a space of snow.

After a good few hours worth of meditation, she decides that it'd be good to take a walk-- perhaps to encounter some pokémon (or perhaps just to regain feeling in her hands) or to see if anyone else is out walking along the forest path. As Shi slides into her hiding place in Maya's hair, Maya rubs her hands together and sets out to explore.]

Comments

[bravenewmods]

[The rest of Mother Nature seems to concur with Maya on the 'cold as balls' bit, as she'll find the forest is relatively quiet. The occasional chirp of a bird can be heard far off, but there doesn't appear to be any signs of movement.

The path branches out a bit from the Forest Shrine, splitting in two after a few hundred feet - to the right, Maya will spot something interesting: footprints in the snow. The prints are of some hooved animal and they seem to be fairly fresh.]

[mastermedium]

[Maya is not exactly a nature expert. She can't tell what hooves those are. This doesn't seem to deter her nosiness curiosity, as she finds herself following the footprints in the snow.

Shi raises her deathmask from Maya's hair, inspecting them as well. Whether the duskull has said anything or not, Maya gives an answer to a question that... really hasn't been asked.]

I dunno what it is. I just wanna see it.

[Rolling the light behind her mask, Shi shakes her head. Curiosity hasn't killed Maya yet, so she's not about to stop the medium.]

[bravenewmods]

((Is that fanart of Maya with a Bannette))

[The hoofprints lead onwards! If Maya has excellent hearing, she might note that some very faint rustling noises off in the distance will sound right after she finishes speaking aloud.

Continuing onwards will show that the hoofprints lead straight into a patch of berry bushes.]

[missleadingquestions]

((I have a friend who wants to play Hanna as a banette shifter eventually in the far future and I have drawn copious amounts of Maya with Hanna/Banette))

[It's not so much 'excellent' hearing as it is 'selective hearing', but details. For what she can't hear, anyway, Shi is paying plenty of attention.

Approaching the bushes, Maya can't help but poke through them a bit, looking for signs of the pokémon she's tailing.]

C'mon, I know you're out there! Heere, little pokemon...

[Floating forward out from Maya's locks (and proceeding to make a mess of it in the medium's face as she does so), Shi inspects further. After fixing her hair, Maya hoists up the length of her furisode to get out of the way of her feet and follows after the duskull.]

[bravenewmods]

((Oh gosh that is amazing haha.))

[There is unfortunately nothing in the bushes except a dark-brown sort of boulder thing.

A dark-brown sort of boulder thing with a head attached and an expression that belongs on someone who very much thinks that if they stay absolutely still nothing can see them this is just how reality works.

A wild unremarkable piece of rock Deerling has appeared!]

[missleadingquestions]

((I have no life but to draw these things I mean thanks :'D ))

[Oh God, that's the cutest thing.

Maya covers her mouth quickly to stifle a laugh, squatting down where she's held out her arm to push aside the branches.]

I wonder how that got there, Shi. Do you know any pokémon strong enough to put a rock in a bush?

[The duskull makes a ghastly warbling noise, apparently amused.]

Yeah, that's what I thought. It's too bad, huh? I thought we were gonna see something really cool.

[She stands, takes a few paces away, and starts to whisper to Shi. After all, spooking a little deerling might be a bit too mean-- but she's a bit interested in bonding with it, so if the deerling doesn't take the bait, a prank is the next best way to go.]

[bravenewmods]

[Just as keikaku the Deerling breathes a slight sigh of relief at this exchange between the human and its Pokemon. All it has to do is stay absolutely still until they go away and then time to snack on berries.

...Although it's kind of upset they don't think the camouflage is totally cool it thinks its camouflage is totally cool. Then again it probably wouldn't be that effective if it were much cooler.

But anyway. Absolutely still.]

[mastermedium]

[It'd probably be easier to stay still if Shi weren't slowly making her ghostly way up through the ground in front of the deerling, her single glowing eye rolling around between the sockets of her death mask. It's the oldest prank-trick in the book, but Maya's sure it'll at least get a rise out of the deerling-- what do you mean, she's not supposed to be playing with it?

As she slips up through the ground, she makes her haunting little Duskull noises-- as exaggeratedly as possible.]

[bravenewmods]

[Absolutely....

...

still..................

With an ejaculation of horror, the poor creature springs about ten feet into the air and lands with its front hooves hooked over a low-hanging tree branch. Its existence as a deer notwithstanding, it rapidly attempts to ascend the tree on its hooves.

This works about as well as one could expect it to.]

Action

[somnambulatory]

[And just as Maya's coming back with the Deerling, she'll find Jinxie and Dokuro doing some meditating of their own back at the Forest Shrine proper.]

Re: Action

[missleadingquestions]

[Oh good! Maya's got to wonder if she can spook Jinxie out of her meditation.

She hasn't done so in a while, after all. Whispering to Shi, Maya walks as quietly as she can, watching Shi float ~e'er so spookily~ toward Jinxie.]

Action

[somnambulatory]

[Dokuro floats on over to see what Maya's up to, tilting its head to the side. It's being quiet for the time being.]

[mastermedium]

Shhh, Dokuro.

[Speaking in whispers, she continues to tiptoe through the snow as Shi takes the place Dokuro left.]

[somnambulatory]

[It's sad, because if Jinxie were concentrating in the right way she'd be able to tell Maya and Shi were there. But as it is, she's thinking about other things and is completely oblivious. This trick is going to go off without a hitch.]

[mastermedium]

[And here it is, set in motion-- When Maya's close enough, Shi takes a spot behind Jinxie in case the girl turns around, and Maya reaches out her hands all ~spooky~, her voice dropping into something gritty and haunting.]

Jiiiiiinxiiiiiiie!

[somnambulatory]

Iyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

[Mission accomplished. Jinxie's scream rings out loud and clear through the crisp forest air. She spins around in place, backing up on her hands until she's leaning up against the altar, one hand desperately clutching at it while the other comes up to lay across her chest. There is a look of pure terror painted across her face, which has gone even whiter than usual.]

[missleadingquestions]

[Sorry, Jinxie-- Maya can't resist a good laugh at that one.

Even Shi, floating along in her usual dreary-ghost manner, can't help but lift her ghastly little sleeve arms to cover whatever weird invisible mouth duskulls have. She's making little laughing noises, too.]

You-- you should see your faaace!

[antiseptic]

[The forest is completely quiet as Jade goes about his patrolling, wearing a heavy cloak and scarf over his usual Ranger outfit. His Duskull is floating behind him, invisible as always especially with the bright light filtering through the trees.]

[The sound of footsteps catches Jade's attention immediately. It sounds like human footsteps, but he can't be sure, and he isn't about to take chances - he's already had one encounter with a pair of angry Rattata today. Carefully, he readies an illusion to be cast, one of a fearsome monster designed to frighten Pokemon into fleeing.]

[In the meantime, he continues walking forward, almost soundlessly now as he makes use of his Ghost-type abilities.]

[mastermedium]

[With Shi tucked safely away in Maya's hair, Maya does seem to be alone. Ghost or not, Maya doesn't see the benefit in sneaking around (not for now, anyway), and just seems to be content to hop about through the snow, which is less cold-as-balls now.

After a successful bonding, she's in a pretty good mood.

So good, in fact, that she begins humming some song from one of John's stage shows as she walks, not aware she isn't alone, nor that Jade is in her path.]

[antiseptic]

[Humming? He doesn't recognize the melody, and while it sounds like a human voice, it could also be a Pokemon capable of mimicry. Pinpointing the direction of the voice, Jade quietly circles around so that he's now treading behind whatever is singing.]

[Which would be a human girl, apparently, dressed in - ]

My my, I'm surprise you haven't frozen to death yet.

[missleadingquestions]

[Maya spins about, apparently not too surprised-- though she does manage to almost trip in the snow. Very grace, much serenity. If anything, she's just too happy to seem surprised.]

Yeah, it's cold as hell, isn't it? [Why are you grinning about it, Maya.]

I was just meditating!

[antiseptic]

[He raises an eyebrow at both her excitement and her words.]

The cold can't be very conducive to achieving the concentration needed for meditating.

[mastermedium]

That's why you meditate in the first place. Block out all the unnecessary stuff like cold, y'know?

So you can concentrate even if it's crazy hard.

[antiseptic]

Ah, a form of training? Well, so long as you don't get frostbite...

[Having to help her would be inconvenient.]

[mastermedium]

Aw, come on, I know better than that.

{Hands on her hips.]

Can't really afford to get sick. Are you a patrol officer or something?