The Battle Frontier || Afternoon
Etincelle 216 || Melanie 216
Etincelle walked stiffly, his lips pressed tightly closed and eyes wide as he tried to stomach that possibility. That was far, further than the Battle Hall, the Battle Castle, the pond. Walking there, let alone on his own, would be no small task- if Arry went there he had intent to do so. Had the run in with the other Houndoom spurred the thought? Yet, it didn't make sense; Arry never knew Rosko, he had already passed at that point. He was at the burial, but he wouldn't have the longing and desire to visit a lost friend after bumping into their murder, let alone before knowing the outcome of said run in..
Violently shaking his head to and fro, Etincelle pushes the thought away. "We can check there after the pond and meeting up with the others." He finally says as they get ever closer to their new destination. He seemed like a stretch to say the least, but he could understand that Melanie would be grasping at straws. Though her ears were high and alert her head was tipped downward, eyes surely distant though unseen. He brushes gently against her side, but the fox says nothing more on the matter. "Arry could be at either place. It'll be a matter of time until we find him." Mathias tried to encourage them, but even that did not bring her to speak.
Though Mel had a vague sense of how far the pond should be, it was hard to tell how close they were getting. Breathing deeply the air yielded her no clues; ash and smoke still tainted it, and would for some time to come, but they were too close to the ocean to scent for moisture. The wet tinge and salty tang was everywhere outside, and this open space was no exception. Even the soft scent of plants and grass around them had that edge of salt, and the fox felt all the more useless in their search. "Flock of bird Pokemon. Must be their gathering time." Mathias comments, and though she strains her ears even Mel knew she could not hear something so far away.
Gathering time, weren't flocks always together? Tipping her nose to the sky Melanie lets the light touch her face. Was it getting late? The warmth of the sun was nice on her fur but her perception of daytime was.. not what it once was. "Evening draws out bugs before nesting." Etincelle informs them whimsically, though the Ninetales had her doubts it was that late already. A deep frown borrows even deeper into her face, was he just trying to ignore memories of their last bird sighting? Her own stomach knots at the thought. "I doubt Arry is in the air." She grunts, not allowing herself even to remain distracted.
