#askmune

Darkness falls. The wind speaks loudly, as it should be. One with a healthy mind wouldn't find themselves wandering outside. They must protect their kin, one another, and stay in the warmth of their dens.

Night is to be avoided. Not because of the absence of life, but because of the presence of something anomalous, strange, yet vague in their sight, sent them to the trenches of fear.

Those who are curious? Fools. Mere fools who exchange their own life for a tiny question in their head. They said curiosity killed the skitty, but it wasn't a saying. Not anymore for quite a while. Arceus knows how many the night has consumed these days. No one dared to find out. For them, it's best to stay ignorant.

It is not advised to go out on your own...

~ ~ ~

"Morons and their delusional haven of fear." The umbreon snarled at herself. If she could attack her own mind, she would send it to shambles for playing that train of memories. She has enough of such lectures. Tired of being told what to do.

Her ears twitched at the soft, yet subtle, rustling. She got into her defensive stance, gritting her teeth in an intimidating manner. She may go against the majority, but she won't play around for whatever's coming ahead. The umbreon knew very well how the night has its own tricky surprises.

"You know, being nocturnal is important to the environment, and any group you're with, its important to be able to watch over your herd, or party, watch and protect them from others that dwell in the night with intent to harm your friends."

Hearing how there was a prejudice against the night and dark types, she decided to give her some inspiration

"And being a dark type is important too, if any one type is missing, it leaves others unchecked."

A wave of hope filled Mune. Someone with actual common sense and knowledge, whereas she thought it was impossible to find one with that kind of mindset. She was glad. The umbreon became much less tense around the scolipede.

"I agree, and... our existence is also to balance out the life of day and night. At least.. That's what my mom told me..."

Mune lifted her gaze. The nights may be scary, but the sky never ceases to keep offering the beautiful light show of the stars. Some are dim, some are brighter than others. She remembered seeing the same scenery while still clinging close to her mother. The moment her eyes are locked on the twinkling light objects, awestruck hit like a continuous lightning. It was pretty, since then, until this very second.

Mune's smile grew wider. It was a smile full of warm memories that soothed her in harsh times. The same memories that made her miss the life she had years ago. She remembered how restless she had to wait for these magnificent nights to come. The night is hers, and she had a whole of it to herself. Mune stayed silent, eyes still locking on the stars above. Deep down in her conflicted heart, she knew that no matter what was happening around her, the night still had its own beauty, and she couldn't help but look up and just admire...

From the shadows of the forest, Uxie slowly revealed themselves, their red gems glowing brightly against the surroundings. They turned their head down to face the umbreon. "... You have a sibling, so I've heard." They floated down to meet Mune's height. "I also have siblings of my own," they continued, "I am curious, enlighten me about yours..."

She rolled her eyes. If i'm getting killed tonight, I'm blaming the uxie's stupid gem, she thought. At this point she doesn't bother anymore. Are legends that careless?

"My sibling. They're way older than me, so they took over my mom's role. You could say something about being a 'parental' figure, but I find it oddly weird to see them that way." Mune scoffed.

*Keldeo simply just revealed themselves to the Umbreon and gave them a simple nod. They had learned over the years not to assume that a Pokemon needed help, but it never hurt to offer it.*

Keldeo: Ah, no need to fear darkness-dwelling Umbreon. I’m just simply passing through. However, if you need help at any point, just call my name and I’ll be there to help as long as I’m around! You may call me Keldeo.

Keldeo. Surely Mune had heard that name somewhere. How stupid, she couldn't recall where. From the looks of it, perhaps this so called keldeo is a protector of certain place. Definitely not this forest. Those who are wouldn't have hopes this high anymore.

The longer she thought about it, the more pissed off she got. Those who called themselves legends. Where ARE they?! Pretty sure Ilex is also under their watchful eyes as guardians, right? They surely didn't abandon it out of the blue. Right?

The large scolipede would lay down in front of the umbreon gently

"Greetings, I apologize if I scared you, Mune, I believe you said your name was, I understand being nocturnal, I was too back as a whirlipede."

She decided to ease the mood with a bit of banter

"I do love umbreons, though sadly they are not native to my home region of Unova, ao i only get to see them when foreigners bring them in."

She would offer her a giant pecha berry for her time.

"A- ah!" Mune was taken back when coming across the large pokemon, but seeing their gentle demeanor calmed her down a bit. She's never seen a bug this big. Clearly it wasn't from this forest, nor this region. She eyed the pecha berry, but still hesitate to take it.

"Whirlipede? What kind of... its fine. You're probably from somewhere else."

However, when her thoughts were all about how to ditch off and leave, she stopped her intention the moment the scolipede admired umbreons like her. The words felt itchingly bizarre, yet comforting. No healthy mind in this cursed forest would think about it, let alone saying it as a form of admiration.

Mune has heard hateful statements about dark type pokemons. There is nothing to admire about becoming part of the night. She was ready to face fear, anger, and judgement coming out from anyone, yet, she heard the opposite. The umbreon couldn't help but putting a genuine smile.

Mune didn't expect to receive such question. It seemed to direct about the on going situation, but she had to admit, the asker might have a point looking at how dangerous this environment can be.

"I- I hunt for meat, sometimes berries.."

The umbreon paused as she tried to think to answer the last one. It's very absurd trying to think that the lost victims ended up becoming supper for whatever's out there.

"I'd assume they... have a similar diet, but with bigger and more sentient meats... I wouldn't be surprised it the victims are what they ate.."

She approaches the Umbreon with a sad face as she is too sad to greet her.

"This forest is definitely not great compare to ours... Sure it's dark, but it's much worse...

I see your grief in your face. Did...someone die here? There's no way..." she becomes teary.

"No way?" Mune furrowed her nonexistent brows. That statement was very bizarre and out of place for her. "Lady, are you delusional? Can't you tell from how deranged this place is?" Mune gritted her teeth for a second. The silence of that night felt a lot emptier. It wasn't supposed to feel this way, but it has to, for everyone's sake. "But.."

Mune didn't click entirely to their explanation. Were they just a mere ghost type who acted like real ghosts? That didn't matter much. However, her mood shifted worse when they continued to mention how much better it was to dwell around in this hell.

"Don't try indoctrinating your beliefs onto me. No matter how damn hard you tried. There is nothing good about my home. I said as one who born AND grew up here."

Mune didn't want to dive deep into the details. Painful memories. Burdenful regret. It brought nothing but sorrow. It made her imagine things that time can't even save. She had priorities. Emotions can not take over her, for now.

"You're just a mere visitor. You don't get to have a say about positive sides of a forest you just visited."