October Catch-All

[loopsiedaisy]

Who: Siffrin + Flowey, Henry, maybe more
What: Quests for now!
Where: Heavy Downmoor, Southern Forest
When: Early October (for now)
Warnings: Potentially Siffrin's warnings, the usual quest peril

Comments

[no_ufo_ending]

Hmm...

[That was honestly a good question. There had been a lot to get used to in this new body, and he assumed all the new smells he was smelling just came with the world, not any particular ability on his part. ]

[ He sniffs the air. He can smell damp soil, leaves...maybe the sweet tang of berries in the air. But none of those smells have names. They don't tell him anything besides: I Am In A Forest.]

Probably not as well as a cat...

[ He'd never heard any legends about dragons having a keen sense of smell. Or reptiles. He didn't know a lot about animals, really.]

[loopsiedaisy]

[Honestly, that's fair... even Siffrin can only tell so many scents apart, and they've been here a while! And yeah, whatever bug-dragon-creature Henry is doesn't seem like it would have as sensitive of a sniffer.]

[Still...] As long as you can tell apart your scent, or mine, if we get lost we can just backtrack!

[Speaking of which, they give the air another sniff. They can probably tell Henry's scent apart by now, but what does it smell like...]

[On Siffrin's part, they mostly smell like cat and ozone. But also a little bit of burning metal. Like a sparkler!]

[Meanwhile, the forest around them starts to slope downward toward the shore, and bits of broken stone and building material crop up more and more often in the undergrowth. It looks like despite the lack of reliable landmarks, they're on the right track to get to the ruins.]

[no_ufo_ending]

Oh, yeah...

[ Henry has not memorized anyone's scent yet. He hasn't thought he'd need to! He...looks at Siffrin, a farawayness in his lense-covered eyes. He is considering sniffing them. But...is socially aware enough to not be obvious about it. ]

[ Luckily, the sparkler smell is unique enough that it bakes itself into the back of his mind. Henry himself has a tangy, reptile-like smell to him. ]

[ He spreads his wings a little for balance as the ground slopes under his feet. ]

[loopsiedaisy]

[Honestly, at this point Siffrin wouldn't even blink! Plenty of the native Pokemon sniff each other all the time. But they get it, too. If they notice, they don't say anything.]

[Meanwhile, the trees start to thin out marginally, and the ruins get more and more obvious. Siffrin places their paws carefully, remembering that a lot of this spot likes to collapse out from under people, but doesn't remember to warn Henry - maybe because they just absently, unconsciously assume that he'll be following them?]

[But it's not much longer before they start to hear a distant... wet, flopping noise...? Their ear perks.]

Do you hear that...?

[no_ufo_ending]

[In turn, his antennae stand up. He stretches his neck up to get just a little more vantage point.]

I do...it sounds like someone's struggling.

[ He gives the Shinx a concerned look before setting off at a jog, his wings buzzing against his back.]

[loopsiedaisy]

[Siffrin speeds up into a run, keeping up astonishingly well despite their much shorter legs - possibly even outracing Henry. Either way, it's not long before the two of them end up above a steeper slope. Almost a cliff, really! Below, there's one more set of ruins and rubble, and just beyond it the sand of the beach begins, curving to the shore...]

[But that flopping, thrashing noise is only louder from here. Siffrin twitches their ear a few times, trying to triangulate it. Then they start hopping their way down the slope, testing for solid footing (with perhaps a bit of recklessness? or confidence that they'll be fine?). They don't seem to have even thought of asking Henry to go first, or getting him to hover down, just assumed he'll follow.]

[They pause a couple times and call out something like a, "Hang on!" when they decide something won't hold Henry's weight, backtracking. Towards the end they simply leap the rest of the way down, skidding over loose dirt and assuming that Henry will be okay doing the same.]