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There was still a lot of things to get used to, and since growing, those things felt almost as though they tripled overnight. He thought he had it hard just trying to stay alive out on his own, after being shunned by Gaian society, but that was only the tip of the iceberg for the small wurmple. Kenley still needed to secure his property, which took hours of scouring, intimidating, walking, shooting silk string... it was tiring. To top it all off, he had to get accustomed to his new form, and he never had been good at walking on stilts. It just seemed so unnatural to only have the four limbs at his disposal, when previously he had so many more! It's almost like someone had combined all his legs together to make four very long ones, all as a practical joke.

At the very least, it made securing the perimeter that much easier and faster than his tiny caterpillar body would have allowed: that is, it would have, if he could actually use his legs with such quick accuracy. As it was, walking was still slow-going for him, but he was determined enough not to let it preclude him from continuing on with life. There was no telling if he would have done the same thing had he still been doted on in the city, his previous life, or if he would have let it get the better of him in his vanity. However, that was once again thinking about his old life... one day, he would not have to look back on that illusion of security and debauchery of trust.

He had curled up into a ball after walking a ways from his favorite tree, arms wrapped around his legs and head rested on his knees. He didn't like thinking about things that couldn't be changed, things that only made him depressed and ruined his otherwise overbearing attitude. He still had a forest to secure, and he wanted to try to get it done before it got dark!

It was then that he found himself rattled and falling to his side, and the shiny wurmple boy flailed his arms to steady himself before that happened. "What in the world!?" he gasped in irritation once he was sure he wasn't going to topple over. Rising to his feet, Kenley was quick enough to shove past the bushes that were blocking his view from an otherwise unmissable spectacle: a giant, icy bird-of-paradise, standing right in the middle of his forest! "Hey, what do you think you're doing, you big oaf? This is trespassing! I'm gonna have t--" he screeched up at the articuno before he realized exactly what it was he was talking to: a bird. Kenley's face seemed to blanch in color and his body stiffened in fear, but he tried to hold his ground. That was one massive predator...

Well, the giant blue poké-bird seemed fairly friendly, much more than the violent tendencies of the pidgey Kenley had encountered before turning into his more human-like form. Unfortunately, this notion appeared to pass right over the minty-haired caterpillar-boy as he clung to his branch for dear life. "Ack!" he yelped as the majestic bird flew nearer, causing the shiny wurmple child to leap to his backside and scoot backwards as quickly as possible. He didn't seem to catch the words that emerged from the articuno, too busy making sure he wasn't going to make a threat on the insect's life like the last one.

Before, Kenley had been too determined to drive the pidgey out of his forest that he didn't realize he was in mortal danger. The pidgey had vowed to come back for him... was this oversized chicken the muscle that was sent? He flailed an arm toward the articuno as though it were capable of scaring him off, but the rest of his body was curled up as though for protection, "Go away! You don't belong here! Don't you dare try to eat me, vandal!" He tried to keep himself from shuddering out of fear.

Pulling the arm he was using as artillery back to his chest, still pinched into a ball, Kenley shivered slightly when he turned golden eyes to meet the rather large trespasser. He didn't move, but he finally caught Rime's tone of voice enough to give listening to the pokémon a chance. His spined ears were pinned back in caution after the articuno attempted to diffuse the situation. Despite himself, his vain contempt always seemed to get the better of him, and before he had the time to think about what he was saying, the words were hissed, "Who are you to tell me what I did and didn't hear? Don't call me deaf, vermin!" He was being purely defensive -- it was obvious that Rime was in the right. Even Kenley knew this, a fact with which he mentally admitted by remaining curled into a ball should Rime attack him because of his foul temper.

The wurmple-boy bit at a thumb nail in anxiety, denouncing himself for his lack of cool-headedness under pressure. Kenley attempted to relax, but the image of the bird in front of him was causing a bit of panic to well up and refuse to leave. "The only thing you need to know about me is that this is my territory, and you are trespassing on it," Kenley noted sharply, irritation in his voice caused by a desperate attempt to keep terror at bay, "That is precisely the reason you should be leaving, too! You don't just come in for a landing on someone's back yard! It's impolite!" Why should he believe a word this giant bluejay was saying, anyway?

He was taken off-guard by Rime's statement that it would have been disgusting to eat him. It was then that the boy realized something important, something that was an advantage to an insect pokémon as he was: he was now more human than caterpillar in the eyes of all flying pokémon. Did that mean... he was no longer ever in danger of being attacked purely out of a predator's instincts? With this added knowledge, Kenley's grip on himself seemed to loosen. The ball he was in was less tight, and he was able to turn to face the articuno better, "It's, um... my name's Kenley. Why would I want to join you on some random adventure anyway?" He hoped it was nowhere out of his forest, since it seemed that this large bird was capable of talking his way out of a paper bag -- a real diplomat, if there ever was one.

Friends... friends? Wasn't that just the term of a freeloader in someone else's house? Why would Kenley ever want to have a friend out of a portrayal of his self-deemed first mistake out on his own? The boy's scrunched nose in reaction to the request conveyed more than words that he really, really didn't understand what that meant to the average individual. "While I may decline a lot of what you offer... I can admit that you at least seem to be a decent guy. As long as you are not just trying to pull one over on me, I suppose... I suppose I can give you the benefit of the doubt," he stated, emphasizing the parts that he felt were the most important, "You're not off the hook yet, though! You're still trespassing, but... I suppose you can stay for a bit." He peered down to the ground from his perch in the tree, taking note just how large the articuno before him actually was, "But only for a bit! Then you need to promise to leave!" Kenley ruled his forest by autocracy, not democracy, but there was always room for the head honcho to change his mind.

"Who said there was any adventure here?" Kenley scoffed, "Nobody else is here, I've made sure of that. It's just me and this forest." His posture had loosened itself completely by this point, and he slid his vibrant body off of the tree branch and back onto the ground, showing a bit more trust than he had earlier in his makeshift tower of defense. The tiara on his head caught the light of the sun, causing the boy to think that maybe that was the reason why his acquaintance was itching to do something out of the ordinary. Or was this normal for the pokémon?

This was, well, kind of awkward for the wurmple-boy. He hadn't the need to be civil for so long, he wasn't actually sure he still could act that way very easily. Why else had he practically made enemies out of everyone else that had the misfortune of wandering into this patch of forest? He was silent for a bit, contemplating what he was to do, and what ended up sprouting from his mouth probably still wasn't considered all that friendly... but it was a start. He smirked, "Well, Rime, don't you have your head in the clouds?" He flaunted his know-how with a sigh and a defeated wave of the hand, "Oh alright already, I shall accompany you, but I can almost guarantee we won't find anything interesting." He really liked that Rime had bowed to him, considering that if the articuno knew how to show him this much proper respect, there was no way he could really be all that bad, bird or not.

Kenley snorted, his arms crossed on his chest, "Not a lot of humility, though." It was an observation that was more apt to fit the wurmple himself, however, the bossy little child needing to learn a thing or two for himself before throwing labels onto others. He scuffed a foot into the ground in a fidgety manner, unsure as to what he was suppose to do with the offered thanks. Thank you? Nobody really... ever said that to him. Clearing his throat, he attempted to grip back onto his blind confidence, "Well, um... we'll see, I suppose." How was one even suppose to go on an adventure? He knew these back woods already, but lacked proper imagination outside of his initial image of a green fortress.

Eyes narrowing, the boy watched Rime as he explained himself. Yup, deeeefinitely had his head up in those clouds pretty far, and was extremely optimistic to boot. Kenley wondered, offhandedly, how much of the articuno's cheery demeanor he could even handle before he threw him out of here. "You're really weird, you know that?" he stated bluntly, "All that syrupy language you've got going... do you get out in the world very much?" Kenley only saw it as a harsh and unforgiving world, what was so fun about that? Callousness had coated his own personality quite completely, but perhaps... it might be interesting to see a different point of view for once. "Okay, so... maybe you should lead the way. I'm not exactly sure what you want to try to find, but I'll... um, 'help,' I guess," he said with a shrug. He didn't particularly like giving up authority like that, but he still had his hands clutched around the reins of the situation. Rime may have been choosing direction, but Kenley was determined to be the puppeteer of the operation. He could give temporary power up if that was the case.

He hesitated a moment, "We're... not going by air, are we?"

It seemed that Rime was still pretty sure that the two of them could be fast friends under the circumstances of this little meeting of theirs, but Kenley was still skeptical. He wanted to keep the large bird at an arms length away at all times, at least as far as Kenley's inward emotion was concerned. Kenley always put up a front around others, he never let them in on who he was deep down. If he could help it, it would also stay that way, which paved the way for a lack of friendship in his future, but he was unconcerned about that aspect for now. For all he knew, everyone was a horrible person, and he didn't really try to change that view.

Well, except at the moment. Although a far-off view, he could see the edges of these flaws in himself. Perhaps it was instinct that drove him toward trying to see a new perspective, but more than likely it was an innate sense of loneliness that he was still vehement about ignoring. He shrugged single-handedly at the articuno before him in response to his question about being weird, "You just... don't sound like you've met many people. You're really optimistic, like you think nothing can go wrong." True, that was merely a mindset Rime preferred to use, but Kenley couldn't see it as anything but strange, what with the wurmple's own past misfortunes. He jabbed at the air with a pointed finger, "And that: the whole 'adventure' thing. Maybe I just don't get it, at least what you mean by that." Of course, when Kenley thought of adventure, he thought something a little more risky than what Rime was describing... like Tomb Raider or something. This definitely did not sound like an invasion of ancient Mayan ruins or anything.

The shiny wurmple-boy blinked, wide-eyed up at the smiling form of the articuno before hastily shaking his head, "No no no, walking is definitely preferred." He heaved a sigh of relief, kicking his feet forward. He at least had walking down now, having had difficulty learning the maneuvers on two long stilts when he had first transformed.

While Rime's ascent into the air caused a bit of jittery-ness to return for a moment, Kenley warily watched the bird for any alteration in motive that may be evident. Birds always liked to attack from the air, and he wanted to be sure that Rime was still just trying to get to a vantage point for his little quest, instead of turning that vicious beak on the child. It almost seemed as though his frown was incapable of being removed from his expression, walking in a slow circle as he watched the articuno, make for a harder-to-hit target. His arms were crossed, "So you're going to look from up there? Am I just suppose to follow you or something?"

He noted that Rime was scouring the area, and it made him feel a bit nervous in a way he couldn't really pinpoint. Was it possible that the giant bird could see all the weak points in his wooden fortress from that altitude? He bit at the bottom of his lip as he thought about that, but kept his eyes on the trespasser with temporary immunity. Kenley shrugged at his question, "Go ahead. I don't know where you really want to go, so that works for me." He flicked his attention very, very briefly to where the articuno indicated, but he had more pressing matters to keep vigil on at the moment. He replied silently with a quick nod before asking, hand hovering over his eyes to block the sunlight, "Are you going to travel all the way over from up there, or are you coming down?" Honestly, he didn't know how difficult it may prove to be to traverse on foot for a bird, but he wasn't very comfortable with the predator hovering above his head like that.