[crow]

At his urging, she took a deep breath, then another. In truth, Acheron thought it would take some time for her to acclimate to the situation even slightly, but at least the threat of hyperventilation had passed. "Alright," she said, closing her eyes. "Okay. I'm... I'm a Pokemon."

Acheron wasn't sure whether he was supposed to respond to that. In their time together, his mistress had often spoken aloud to him, but up until now, his options for response had been much more limited.

[crow]

He was accustomed to merely listening as she aired out her thoughts, whatever they might have been. It wasn't, strictly speaking, a part of his duties, but he didn't mind it either. It was a lonely assignment for both of them, being at the temple. He would not have begrudged her his companionship.

However... now things were different. He supposed there was some adjustment necessary on his part as well. "There was an attack on the temple," he said slowly. "Are you able to recall it?"

[crow]

"Yes," Tomoe said. She looked, in fact, as though she were just now remembering. Her features twisted into a grimace, and she shook her head. "Yes, now I do. Are you saying they did this to me?"

"I... confess that I don't understand it very well myself," Acheron said. It felt woefully insufficient, but in this matter, he was just as lost as she was. "But I believe so. It appears that we've been transported somewhere, and you..." How did he put this delicately? He couldn't just say 'you've been turned into a Pokemon', could he?

[crow]

Fortunately he was saved the trouble of having to come up with an answer to that question, at least for the moment. "Do you have any idea where we are?" Tomoe said. The panic in her seemed to have subsided too; either that or she was keeping it under control. She must have been assessing the situation now.

In this, Acheron was happy to aid her as best he could. Unfortunately, he had only been awake marginally longer than she had. "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with our location," he said helplessly.

[crow]

There hadn't been enough time for him to familiarize himself with much of anything, and he'd been preoccupied with trying to figure out how to get back to his mistress, having thought himself separated from her.

The reality of things brought him both relief and new troubles. Certainly, it would be easier to protect Lady Tomoe if she was here with him, but... If she had become a Pokemon, then Acheron wasn't sure what he was going to have to protect her from, in these circumstances.

[Wild Pet Found]

[crow]

In his urgency to come up with a plan of action, however, Acheron had forgotten one crucial fact: he was merely Lady Tomoe's guardian, and not her commander. Lady Tomoe, as it turned out, had her own thoughts. As the worst of the shock left her, she sat primly with her tails arrayed around herself in a neat and pleasing fashion, having apparently--- whether consciously or not--- having adjusted somewhat to her newfound body.

"Our first order of business," she declared, "is seeking shelter for the night."

[crow]

For a moment, Acheron said nothing, simply staring at her as she spoke. He... Truth be told, he hadn't expected that from her at all. But he realized almost immediately that he had forgotten his own position, and moreover, had rather underestimated Tomoe, despite feeling in his heart that he had known her best.

Why should it be so surprising, indeed, that she had her wits about her in the current situation? It was not the first unexpected circumstance she had ever found herself in, to be sure.

[crow]

Acheron had somehow fallen into the same way of thinking that many of her enemies had, without realizing it. They saw a girl living cloistered away from outside influence, and thought her sheltered and naive.

Unfortunately, it would have been a luxury if this were the case. The reality was that her position offered more dangers than the seclusion could protect her from. When she had been younger, there were more resources dedicated to her protection, but as she aged, those safeguards lessened.

[crow]

Eventually she was left with almost nothing but the remote location of her residence itself, and Acheron. Even the others who lived and worked at the temple where she resided could no longer be trusted by that point, having been proven to be infiltrated by external forces on too many occasions already.

Growing up in a place like that, how could Tomoe fail to adapt to a setback? She had experienced them often enough. In fact, being turned into a Pokemon might not even be the worst of them.

[crow]

At least in this state, her life was in no immediate danger. And seeing as they were alone for the moment, she even had some time to catch her breath and marshal her thoughts. Not all the assassination attempts she'd lived through had been so charitable.

And thus, this was the plan she came up with: find shelter. As soon as Acheron thought about it for a moment, he could see that she was right. Before trying to figure out their location, they had to survive.

[crow]

Tomoe directed her gaze at Acheron. "Do you know anything of... camping?" she said. Only the slight pause before the word 'camping' betrayed her discomfort, which was commendable, if one took into account the magnitude of the change that had just taken place. Acheron would not have faulted her for a breakdown, really.

But it was also true that she had no experience living outside the temple. From an early point in her childhood, all her time had been spent there. Acheron would have to take the lead on practical issues here.

[crow]

"I confess I have not lived outdoors in many years," he said. He had been born and raised specifically to serve as a companion and guard for Tomoe. There had been little need to train him for such a purpose.

However, 'little' didn't mean 'none'. He did receive some training geared towards addressing the possibility of if they ever became stranded outside the temple for whatever reason. "I will do my best to recall what I know," said Acheron, beginning to scan their surroundings with new purpose.

[crow]

It took a little time, but eventually Acheron managed to locate a cave. He scoped it out first, waiting at the edge and peering in. There were scents of other Pokemon that had been there before, but they were old, stale; nothing had stayed here in quite some time. He listened for a moment, but no sounds of movement made themselves apparent either.

Acheron crept carefully in, but in the end, he needn't have been so cautious. There really was no one inside.

[crow]

As it was, the little cavern was actually quite a fortuitous find for the two of them. It was big enough to offer them comfortable shelter without crowding them, but not so large that it would have been awkward to guard.

The entrance, in particular, was just small enough for them to pass through, before widening out to a larger chamber within. Acheron figured if he placed himself at the entrance, then he would be able to stop any intruders that they might encounter.

[crow]

Having completed his inspection, he was satisfied with what he found, and went to report it to Tomoe before leading her to the cavern in question. If he noticed that she was somewhat awkward in the way that she walked, he didn't comment on it.

She peered at it, then gave a flick of her ears. "It will do," she said. She didn't seem pleased, but it couldn't be helped. This was, after all, a far cry from what she had been used to in her old life.

[Wild Pet Found]