Welcome to Gaia! ::

After spending the morning bathing beneath the morning sun high in the tree tops, Kaiya had finally decided it was time to return to her work. Hoping with ease from branch to branch, the Grovyle girl made her way to the forest's floor. With acrobatic grace, she made a perfect 10 landing. She inhaled deeply taking in the scent of the blooming flowers around her before inhaling feeling her muscles relax. Treading carefully, she found the smallest saplings amongst those that she'd planted a months ago and gently pressed her fingers against it's thin stem. “Hello little one. Is it sun you're not getting enough of?” she cooed, bending down to kiss it's fragile leaf. “Or is it love that you need?”

With a motherly smile gracing her lips, she focused her inner power into the plant willing it to grow. Following her will and feeding off her energy, it stretched upwards towards the sun. This was a side of her that she'd hide from the world. It was a bit of her true personality. So when the sound of shuffling in the distance caught her ear, she jumped up and away from her darling plant. She whirled around and cried out, “Whose there? Show yourself!” Her cheeks were flushed as she looked about seeming rather flustered.

He'd startle her bad enough so that she to had fallen into a fighting position. Kaiya's focused power flowed over the leaves along her arms as she readied to use an ability that she had yet to master. She was hesitant to use force and it showed as she backed away from him. His words though seemed to calm her in a way, but not enough to drop her defenses.

“Go away then,” she yelled. “and leave me be!”

Kaiya turned then and ran, taking to the trees and hiding amongst the leaves and branches above. With her back against the rough bark, she felt like she could finally breath freely. She hadn't realize that she was holding her breath for this long. Seizing the chance in her moment of calm, Kaiya peeked around the corner to gaze back at the stranger. Of all the broiling emotions she had within her, the three struck out most was fear, distrust, and curiosity.

Kaiya ducked away as she heard the strange man call up to her. The teen peeped around once more when she was sure that he'd left. “So he's going to travel onwards.” she murmured.

Waiting a few heartbeats, the Grovyle girl proceeded to follow him from above. She was careful not to make any noise as she did so. Does he even know where he's going, thought Kaiya with a sense of worry. As much as she disliked people and pokemon alike, she really hate seeing anyone come to harm. If he wanders around aimlessly like that he could probably get bitten by a Ekans, or meet with poison ivy, or heaven forbid he bumps into a Teddiursa and meet with it's angry mother.

It was her responsibility to make sure he doesn't get himself hurt. To which the thought made her sigh heavily as she moved to the branch just above him. If only she'd paid attention to where she was stepping, she would've noticed sooner that the branch was too weak to hold her. As soon as her full weight was transferred to the branch it let out a loud creak before giving way altogether. She'd been caught off guard since falling from trees was not part of her repertoire. The only reaction she was capable of doing at this point in time was to close her eyes, curl into a ball, and prepare for a rough landing.

After cringing and embracing for an impact that never happened, Kaiya finally opened her eyes to look around. For a moment she was confused up until she realized that someone was talking to her and turned to in the direction of said voice. Lo and behold she discovered that she was in the arms of the very stranger she was tailing. Kaiya's eyes widen with a mix of fright, panic, and embarrassment after a heartbeat of blankly staring at him. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire.

“I-I'm fine!” she stammered, averting her gaze from his. “J-Just put me down!” It was hard for her to pretend to be cruel and angry when he was being so nice. The least she could do was distance herself from him. All to protect herself from other tragedies.

Turning on her heels, Kaiya had her mindset to leave. Though her mind was screaming for her to leave and be done with it, her better judgment told her to stay and watch over him. She turned and managed to take a few steps in the opposite direction. Not my problem, he can totally handle himself. thought Kaiya as she tried to reason with herself. But still... Her hands curled into fists and she took in a deep breaths, slowly gathering her thoughts before whirling back around.

“Do you even know where your sister is?” she yelled. The feeling of pure frustration washed over her. It stemmed from not only the need to keep her distance from others and her mistrusts, but also from her lack socializing. “It's dangerous to go traipsing to through the forest not knowing where you're going!” Taking large bold steps back to him, she caught him by the hand. “Tell me where you think she is and I will lead you there.”

“A suicune, eh?” Kaiya murmured in thought. She recalled a fuzzy memory of being carried by one, but she shook it off and dismissed it as a dream. “Ah, there’s a lake not far from here; though if you were heading towards it, you were heading in the wrong direction.”

The Grovyle teen had a firm grasp on his hand as she tugged him in the proper direction. “My name is Kaiya by the way. Kai-ya. Try not to forget it.” She sighed heavily. A part of her still regrets helping him or doing something other than helping her little plants grow. "And try not to fall behind."

Seeing the sweat drop was enough to put a smirk on her lips as she gazed back at him for a moment. He was an odd man, but nothing worse than what she had to put up with before. Kaiya nodded at his words, taking it in with almost a somber expression. “It seems your sister had quite the encounter then. Though it seems that you and I as well both had… interesting encounters.” She seemed to stress the word interesting, drenching it with as much disdain as possible. Her lips managed to twitch into a false smile. “Eilam. It’s a noble name.”

“It’s a good thing I decided to follow you. You would’ve walked straight into an Ursaring’s territory. She’s not a big fan of unexpected visitors or at least from my experience, she’s not.” muttered Kaiya, recalling her first encounter with the big she-bear. “Besides this way is an easier path. Less angry Pokemon, less poisonous plants, more berries and potent herbs for healing, and it’s more of a straight away.” The Grovyle girl had long since forgotten that she was holding onto his hands as well as that Eilam was a person. Her focus had once again return to her surroundings and what she knew around her. The falseness in her being that she had when talking about their transformation seemed to have melted away in to a sense of pride for her work.

The thought of her transformation always sent her into a downward spiral. One that for a long time felt like it was something she could not escape. Though the feeling of having people close to her that seem to accept her for who she gave her a glimmer of hope. Perhaps she could accept what she had become. In all her thinking, she gave his hand a tight squeeze of reassurance. “This forest is my home now. With all the work I've done here, it's hard not to be so familiar. Though the Ursaring was discovered in the most unfortunate of ways.” she giggled, cheeks reddening. “It's a good thing that my kind is fast within trees.”

Kaiya looked over Eilam for a moment. “What kind of Pokemon are you? I was once a Grovyle, though from all that I've seen, I can't quite place what you are?”