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Kenley flinched a bit at the articuno's apology, finding that the words together sounded almost alien to the boy. Others didn't usually apologize to him... rather, others tended to want him to apologize to them. It was actually kind of refreshing, especially when Kenley rarely thought that he did anything to warrant having to apologize to another, at least until he had ample time to think on the matter after the fact. He smirked at that, but quickly scuttled out of the landing zone that Rime utilized and leaned a hand against the nearest tree to keep his footing as the wind whipped around the clearing. Over the wind, he called to the giant blue bird, "Only thing I've seen around here that was 'strange' is you, pal." It was more of a jab this time than a venomous statement, and after a moment he decided to give a more direct answer, shaking his head, "No, this is just a forest. There aren't any ancient ruins or caves or anything like that." He sighed, and figured he should at least offer some constructive input. Placing an index finger to his forehead and frowning, he offered a single suggestion, "I've only really secured the area a mile in either direction, so... I don't know, maybe there's something further that way?" Waving an impatient hand in the direction Rime had been pointed in in midair, the shiny wurmple-boy shrugged. At least the giant bird wasn't irritated with the boy, even if he wasn't as enthusiastic about the little excursion as the... much more intimidating pokémon.

Kenley flinched slightly at Rime's offhanded comment, frowning as he tried to decipher the meaning behind the words. Of course he was quick to think of it as a jab, but he wasn't quite sure how... did he mean because of Kenley's own physique? "Hey now, I belong here," he stated with a jab of a thumb at his own chest in protest, "There's nothing wrong with me being here, no matter what way I decide to look." Not that he really... decided to look like some lost child, he wasn't really given that choice, but that was beside the point!

Sighing, the purple-skinned child slipped his hands into the pockets of his shorts, "I suppose so..." He had meant to check further into the territory, after all, so this was as good a time as any. Following the articuno, Kenley noticed that he had to work a tad harder to keep up with the longer strides of the giant bird, and every so often would break his pace to scamper more hastily ahead. "You're not going to get tired of this pace, are you?" he asked, keeping tabs on how slowly they were making their way over to the unexplored portion of the forest. Was Rime going to get annoyed and decide to take off alone? Part of him wanted that... but then, part of him thought that would be a bit disappointing, too. Though, even if Rime tried to lose the wurmple-boy, Kenley would have to try to keep an eye on him, make sure the icy bird didn't try anything shady while in his territory... No matter how he tried, he just still couldn't completely get rid of such judgmental thoughts; that was going to take a lot more time and effort to accomplish.

Kenley growled at Rime's insinuation that the boy couldn't keep up with the bird's strides, frown darkening as he tried to make it appear like little strain to gain ground on the legendary. Never mind that his steps were unusually quick to make up for the effort, or the fact that Rime was correct to assume... Kenley just didn't like to be wrong, or worse yet, look that weak. He ruled these woods, so he'd better act like the better pokémon! The definition of the term, however, was getting too mangled and misinterpreted in his arrogant bull-headedness. "If you slow down, this is going to take all week," he stated impatiently.

Pulling a hand up, Kenley studied his fingers, as though attempting to count off the time that had passed. "I'm... actually not sure how long I've been here," he softly admitted. He was certain he had lived in the city for much longer, but his memory of that time was already getting hazy with the abrupt and complete adaptation into his current living style. He huffed, as though forcing himself to remain angry, "Hmph, it's not like it really matters. I've been here long enough, and it's the only place I've got to go." He flinched after the words left his mouth, but hastily tried to shove past the memories, or the admittance. At least Rime offered a change of subject, "Well what's your island like, then?" Kenley had never actually been anywhere but for the few scene changes he'd happened across in the short span of time he walked the earth, least of all anywhere that had a wide expanse of water so nearby; the river was the only place to draw knowledge from, in that respect.

He jolted when Rime seemed to have caught sight of something in the distance, causing Kenley to bristle in a combination of apprehension and ruffled ego. Something was strange on one of the trees? In HIS forest!? "What sort of something? Was something left there? Is it someone else infiltrating the place?" he quickly barraged the large, icy bird with questions. He seemed not quite capable of grasping the idea of having fun, at least in his current, persistent frame of mind...

Kenley snorted a miffed grumble as Rime decided to contradict the wurmple boy's proposition. If the articuno was slowing down, that meant that he was going to have to stay in the forest for an even longer period of time! The bird wasn't too bad as far as birds went, true, but the boy was still having a difficult time grasping at the fact that having company every once in a while wasn't necessarily a bad thing. "Alright, but don't come crying to me if you can't keep up," he scoffed, as though walking at such an uncomfortably quick pace was normal for him to do.

Was it really all that strange that he couldn't recall how long he had stationed himself in his forest? Kenley wasn't sure, but the thought somehow seemed to discourage the boy. He attempted to counter abrasively, but his words sounded less harsh than he had urged them to be, "Well, it's not like I've got a calendar here. I'm working off of days, and I don't particularly want to carve notches in a tree to keep track like some prisoner awaiting parole!" It almost sounded like a joke, but Kenley really didn't like thinking of the time before he escaped to the forest; it was why he never left, after all. Peering up at Rime, Kenley looked quizzical, and daresay, curious, "So... what's snow like, then?" He wasn't really used to it, but was unsure if he should be looking forward to or dreading the winter; he was always safely inside when he had seen the snow before.

He almost growled in response to Rime's suggestion, agitated that something may have been left within the confines of his own self-perpetuated fortress. How dare they! he hissed to himself, jogging up ahead to get a better look. Stopping just below the largest branch of the tree that he was sure Rime had indicated, he turned around and pointed to it, frowning at the giant icy avian, "In this tree?" Rime could probably reach whatever-it-was in less time, but Kenley was broiling enough to scramble up the tree himself to find out if anyone attempted to sabotage the solitude of his home.

Kenley may have been bristling, intent on staying irritated with however this meeting managed to go, but Rime's actions were not completely lost on the boy. His irrational behavior was likely still locked onto a sense of self-preservation, sure as he was that he was going to be betrayed the moment he started loosening his grip on his own barriers. He never stopped to reconsider, to verify once more that he was now more human than caterpillar -- Rime still towered over Kenley, even more than a pidgey may had he still been a full-bodied wurmple. Rime was also, however, being entirely chivalrous, not put off by the child's brash and easily-ruffled behavior. Was it an act to get him to let his guard down, or was he normally] like this? His hearing was strained for the articuno's footsteps behind him, keeping his speed up to place a distance between the two of them. Just enough room to jump out of the way, should Rime attack... "Well you'd better stick with such declaration, then!" the boy called back impetuously; without his eyes on Rime, the swiftness of his heartbeat told him that he was, indeed, quite frightened now.

He winced slightly as Rime concluded that Kenley had been referring to the forest itself as a prison, when... well yes, in a way he had made the analogous judgment, but... but that wasn't his intent! "If I leave, someone else will take over. I won't have a home to go back to if that were to happen," the wurmple-boy stated flatly, attempting to repress the correlations, "It's not safe out there anyway. At least if I'm here, I've got all of this to protect me, and I can protect it in return." He also didn't see the point in traveling, but... but he'd already said too much. Ugh, now he felt even more vulnerable. So he switched gears and frowned in retaliation to Rime's explanation of winter snow, beneath the branch that may or may not have held a smuggled artifact, "So it's both cold and warm? I heard it was freezing, so I was kind of getting apprehensive about it. Or are you just slinging a bunch of poetic mumbo-jumbo at me?" Never mind that he was talking to an ice-type, so of course the cold wasn't going to bother Rime... but the notion hadn't burrowed far enough before the articuno had suggested flying him somewhere snowy. Kenley paled almost instantly at the thought, "N-No, no, I'll just... take your word on it. No need for something so drastic!" Being carried away by a bird... it was not something the child wanted to think about.

As soon as Rime began assessing with an affirmative, Kenley was quick to latch on and start climbing the tree. It was not one he had scaled in the past, but it wasn't unlike the others that he had. It had fewer branches toward the bottom, and less nobs to get a proper foothold, but the traction provided by the pilfered shoes were enough to make up for it, paired with the determination he felt in reaching the item. It took him a bit of effort, and he nearly slipped off once he reached the offending branch but managed to latch onto the base of it before tumbling completely. Kenley barely gave himself time to catch his breath, already seeing something sparkling in what light filtered from the canopy branches overhead. He made a face; he didn't want to touch it. It seemed man-made, and he wanted it out of here as soon as possible. "Heads up!" he called, kicking the item out of the branch where it was perched, "I don't know what it is, but you can keep it. It was probably a wingull or murkrow or something that carried it all this way. Probably dropped it and didn't go back for it, the messy litterbugs." Peering over the side, he gave himself pause to finally rest a little. He felt most comfortable with a height advantage, after all.

Kenley noted that Rime had paused in his footsteps, but the wurmple kept his pace up, his attention warily placed to his back. "I'm not sure how well that would work," the boy stated offhandedly, "You can't really see the sky very well through the trees in this forest. The canopy's pretty thick, you see?" He was almost anticipating the articuno to suggest they fly above the trees, or step foot outside the forest again, and he had to fight back a shiver that threatened down his spine. Maybe he should try to avoid that outcome by suggesting an out... "Though there might be a large enough clearing somewhere around here to do that sort of thing, I guess." Great, like he really wanted such a neutral, yet powerful, party hanging out around here... With an idle sigh, he asked, "And what motto of yours is that?"

The boy flinched at the suggestion. While his chest may have felt like it clenched at the thought, a terror sensation built upon separation anxiety, the sound that emerged a moment later was not indicative of it. He gave a wicked half-smile, as though trying desperately to mask a different emotion, "You have no idea how often this place is infiltrated. There's no way this place would still be under my control if someone else wandered through and saw it unoccupied like some abandoned castle..." At the thought of icy winds, the wurmple offered up a quick shake of the head, "I don't think I'm made for freezing weather. I get cold enough in regular rain. Are you sure you just see it that way because you're an ice-type?" Kenley didn't really want to have to deal with hypothermia or pneumonia on top of everything else, but at least the notion of flying him anywhere had ultimately been dropped.

Perched comfortably atop the branch, Kenley still ended up reeling up his legs quickly as Rime opened his wings. It was a reactionary response, and a reminder that, even though Kenley was usually rather safe when raised higher like this, flying-types could still easily trump that advantage. He leaned further forward, trying to get a better view of the item as his acquaintance looked it over. Leaning back a little again when he was requested to get closer, he asked hesitantly, "Can I just sit here for a bit? Just lift it up a little higher; I have decent enough eyesight." The boy waited a little until he tipped forward once more, "What is it, though?"

With a mild huff, Kenley physically waved the suggestion off, "No, I'd really rather not. I'm busy, and--" Cutting himself off, he flinched slightly as his frown deepened. Slowly, golden eyes turned to scrutinize the giant avian's motives, "You... you would go there regardless if I came along, wouldn't you?" A drawn out hiss of a sigh emerged out of the wurmple's frustration, a hand raised to comb through the mint green bangs above his tiara. He really didn't have a choice to accompany Rime's stargazing, if he wanted to be sure the articuno actually left the forest once he was done. Rime really did seem way too optimistic for his own good, and the observed motto seemed to justify that impression. There was a drawn out moment or two that Kenley chose to leave silent, but once he spoke again, it sounded as forced as ever, "...Fine. Fine, I'll go."

The child seemed to fidget more as Rime continued speaking. It was mild enough, but he just wasn't used to people playing along with his ego. Kenley was used to retaliating, having to insist on his own status, needing to fight for everything he more or less asserted as truth... but what was he supposed to do when the one he was talking to was so openly agreeing with him? He didn't know how to act congenial, so the words that stumbled out of his mouth continued to come out with a bit of a bite, grumbled, "Only on the inside..?" His attention diverted at that; it was becoming obvious, even to the child, that his main function consisted of argument and... not much else. Rime wasn't too bad, he really wasn't, but he didn't feel he could allow himself such friendship, and the subject was quickly tuned into what was easier to put up a fight with. The wurmple scoffed, "Yeah, if I could ever be sure this place was fully secure, maybe. I don't see that happening... but it's not impossible, I guess." The snow still didn't seem like a first choice to try out, though...

Leaning forward to get a better glimpse of the necklace, Kenley marveled at the craftsmanship. Despite craving to feel the opposite, there was no denying that it was created with exceptional skill, and it was very pretty. Who would allow themselves to lose something of so much value? It was then that he caught himself, twitching back to sit stiffly on the branch, "It's... okay. Strange it was abandoned, though." Pulling his legs back up, he peered over his knees curiously, "So then, you're going to keep it, aren't you?" It was a pretty good catch, something even Kenley would go so far as to call a 'treasure.' Who knew they'd find something like that out here?

Reluctantly, he edged himself off the branch and down the tree, hopping the last few feet to hit the ground floor. As secure as the trees tended to make him feel, Kenley knew he couldn't just stay up there. Perhaps when everything was said and done, but he had no opportunity to retreat into comfort when he felt that he should be perceiving this encounter as a threat of some kind. Should and was may have been two different things, but neither would be ignored. It was better to be safe than sorry, after all, and the bad end of an encounter with a bird for his kind was not something he wanted to risk, or think about. Rime may have been personable, but it was as though he had been offered something too good to be true -- it was often a disaster in disguise.

Thinking on the question of who to lead, the wurmple considered that Rime would likely have the best way to determine the larger clearing in which he could stargaze. However, what that entailed was less than satisfactory: who knew how far away the largest clearing was, or what else the articuno would be able to spot from such a vantage point? Keeping things under Kenley's own control was the only way he was going to have it, whether he was given the chance to or not, "I'm not exactly sure if it's the biggest, but I know of one pretty well, just over there, that you can try." He just had to tell himself it wouldn't be more than a few minutes. Breached defenses were bound to put him on-edge, but even with Rime's easy-going demeanor, Kenley still felt as though the ice bird could pull out a concealed weapon, so to speak. In a way, it was partly true if one were looking at base facts, but beyond the stings of instinct and paranoia it was obvious that Rime found little pleasure in harming anything. Regardless, the wurmple had hold of these reins and was not planning on letting go anytime soon. "Well you may come to find that some of that isn't just on the inside," he corrected with a light snort, adding after a moment of deliberation, "But we'll forgo the scuffle, there's no need for it." Battle was how things usually ended up, but maybe things were starting to sink in a little; it wasn't as though he wanted another electrified web shot at him, after all.

Kenley's eyes lingered on the trinket a bit longer before he snapped to a decision and pushed it away, "Then you should keep it. You're probably a lot more familiar with the world, so you'd probably be able to find whoever lost it better." It was a little less truthful on his part, his reasoning being chiefly stationed in the fact he didn't want to be able to run into whoever had lost it, or anyone else for that matter. He'd been to town before, and he wanted that experience to stay having been his last.

Taking a few steps forward, he glanced over a shoulder to make sure the articuno was following to the clearing. It was a walk that lasted no more than a handful of moments, but the canopies were already growing less dense in the first minute of travel. It was not an overly large clearing, but there was space enough to see a good section of the clear sky. The moon was not currently visible, and the sun had not fully receded yet, painting the sky in warm watercolors. Kenley grumbled at this turn of events -- how long were they going to have to wait for the stars to appear?