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(( Title will likely be changing later; brain did not want to be cooperative with its job in the creative department. It will be fired and replaced. B: Darn thing grew on me, and now it's quite fitting to the RP... whoot? xD ))


Over the course of time, the child of a darkrai was beginning to get more bold in his outings to investigate the spans of distance that surrounded his and his sister's mountainside dwelling. It was quickly dismissed as surveillance, to stay under the radar of those that would work to otherwise capture or drive off the dual manifestations of a waking nightmare. The twins were far enough away from civilization that such slip-ups in ability, the innate and automatic skill to unearth the fears of a being in their most vulnerable state of mind -- whether intended or not -- wouldn't come into play. There seemed to be a range with it, and so far, it hadn't instigated anyone into tempting the far-reaches of the forest to discover the cause.

Kyran, however, had steadily been growing more daring in such respect. There were a few factors that attributed to the habit ranging from staying out of Kiara's hair, to curiosity, to learning to steady himself on legs better... he could even claim cartography, but that was a bit of a stretch unless it was merely mental mapping, which was not exactly the same.

The first time the boy had encountered the edge of the forest, outcropping the meadow beyond, he considered ceasing further investigation altogether and instead turning sights to the east and west. The forest expanse was much more difficult to memorize, so Kyran found his inquisitiveness tipping towards the more open fields, for it wasn't every day that he gained the opportunity.

He had to wait for one of two things to happen before hazarding the more open domain, if not both at once: a new moon or an overcast night, where the night would be cloaked in the darkest sky. In either event, it would take a much more trained eye to spot him, even in an exposed field, and even greater effort to recognize who -- or what -- he was. It would give the child time to spot anyone else, too, and escape from view. Or incapacitate. Either worked, honestly.

It was almost a new moon, but the sliver of a crescent left in the sky was consistently hidden beneath cloud coverage. The darkrai-child wasn't entirely positive that it was still enough to hide him completely, for the sky wasn't completely obscured, but it was likely enough. It was just... a little intimidating to wander into an area closely deemed 'enemy territory' without knowledge of the place already tucked away. Especially going forth alone... Kiara would likely have had a better time with confrontation, if situation veered in such a direction.

Kyran shook his head. No, it could easily be more disastrous if she came along, just as easily as it could have made things better. A fifty-fifty chance was not one he would have wanted to risk unless she had insisted on it...

One could safely say that Kyran had not had a lot of contact with bodies of water any larger than a rain puddle, so when he caught the smell of water during the dry spell that the weather had been tossing about, his direction was set. There were not a lot of structures, or markers of any sort, so he had convinced himself that it was as good a place as any to start off. There was a momentary pause at one point, though -- water could have meant civilization, too. What was it they called it, irrigation? Best to take things slowly, and cautiously, so he attempted to use the barren fields to as much of his advantage as he could. Which unfortunately wasn't too well... but that's why the moon played such an important factor.

The air this evening carried very little with it; the loudest sound coming to Kyran's tuned ears was the soft rustling of the plains' overgrown grass. With such an all-encompassing darkness that befell this night, it was no wonder that there would be so little in the way of sentient life walking about the expanse of wilderness, for even the wild pokémon would have stayed closer to home unless nocturnal. The gradual realization, paired by taking in the example left by the empty area, worked to keep Kyran a little less on-edge, though not altogether unguarded.

The breeze was not strong, more of a draft, and the temperature told of the summer's effect on the night. The grass was thick, healthy, and made it possible to slow the darkrai's progress even more than his otherwise lack of experience when it came to walking. Shifting the staff, he sat down to take a bit of a break. He couldn't see the lake yet, but the sharp smell of the spring indicated that it was not much further of a trek.

With a jolt, he caught the hint of another, quite different sound, but couldn't quite make out what it was. His mind worked to correlate the water with people once more, but he hesitantly put the thought aside, so as not to jump to conclusions... even though he was fairly certain the assumptions were correct. It sounded like a voice, and from the strained sound of it, one that was quite angry at that. Kyran frowned, bristling from the thought. Half of him wanted to give up on the scouting detour right then and there, and just head home. Flexing his fingers, he considered it for a few moments longer before rising unsteadily to his feet, braced heavily on the staff, and continued forth. It had been enough of a rest, and the blocked path was not too much further. Check in quickly, then leave; it was as simple as that. Then he'd actually have a decent idea of what was out here, and what to expect later.

It took a bit of effort and some time, but Kyran's speed declined once his eye caught sight of the dark, glassy lake in the distance. There didn't seem to be much of any civilization stationed around the perimeter, so there was a lack of a need to be stealthy as far as that was concerned. There was a nagging instinct to try to stay ducked under the cover of the blades of grass, but the effort proved to halt progress more than it would have been worth it to try. It was still dark, and with a quick glance skyward, it looked as though the crescent moon was going to be stuck behind a hazy patch of clouds for a while yet. Kyran was shadowy enough on his own, so if he could just move quietly enough, there wouldn't be anything to worry about.

There were a few trees in the area, giving pause to the raised tension with momentary relief. The child focused his efforts on making as little noise and sudden movement as possible, curbing the risk of alerting others to his presence. However, despite the sparceness and spaced standing of the trees he moved through, they had just enough capability of soundproofing that Kyran hadn't realized how close he came to the two teens until they came back into immediate view. He froze for a second before easing behind a tree, mindful of the movements. He hadn't meant to get so near... but now that he was here, he had better make the best of a bad situation.

It was almost second-nature to launch a Hypnosis attack on first contact, to avoid actual contact. There were two of them, it looked like, so he was going to need to blindside one before either could react, and then hit the second. It was possible neither would even realize it was an attack in the first place... Of course, this was all under best-case scenarios. Kyran bit his lip as he attempted the double-attack, knowing he only had a sixty-percent likelihood of knocking either of them to sleep; even less with both.

There was a lapsed time of perhaps half a minute before Kyran released his unintentionally held breath. He had not heard a sound since attempting to pull the two bathers into their dreams -- or rather their nightmares, as his innate ability insisted -- which was a good enough indication that, against all odds, it may have actually worked.

Hesitantly, he peeked around the tree to observe whether the deductions were correct. Night vision came easily to him, but he still had to scan the perimeter to locate Urban's half-hidden body, off to one side of the boulder he had seated himself on. No sight of the second individual, though. Had he fallen into the water with that attack? He wouldn't be... drowning, would he?

Kyran carefully moved himself out more into the open, just past the tree he had been defending himself behind. His initial thought was to scour the edge of the lake to locate the missing target and pull him just out of the water so as not to be in any imminent danger, for it was never his intention to cause harm. Well... physical harm, or endanger with the threat of death. However, such half-baked plans were reconsidered when the missing individual popped back out of the water under the power of his own will, locking the darkrai in place. He's still awake!? the child restrained the fear of being detected within his own thoughts. Did he know the attack was going to take place, and shield himself from the effects?

His muscles remained tensed, offering Kyran the ability to still his body. He still didn't want to be spotted, but he was unsure of where he metaphorically stood now. Shutting his eyes, he tried to mask the glow they gave off as he listened, intently, to what occurred next. The darkrai was still encompassed in the shadows of the surrounding sparse array of trees, though that was all the cover he currently had. It seemed to be enough, though, as the more tactical target busied himself in an attempt to track down his partner. He was distracted... distracted just enough that another attempt just might work...

Securing it back to the forefront of his mind, Kyran opened his eye and launched another try. He had to move in order to do so, a quick gesture to send the Hypnosis strike out as swiftly as possible. If he missed, he'd likely give off not only his position, but the fact that he was trying to hit this teenager with--

Wait a minute... Kyran couldn't believe what he was seeing. That was... wasn't that the teddiursa from before? Was he actually the one that was angry a bit ago? This could very well turn bad... very, very bad. Kyran was nearly scowling by this point, but it was more out of an unconscious attempt to restrain trepidation without the concrete facts to back it up.

Though shocked at the fact that he actually knew the one that was still awake, there was a momentary flicker of hope that he hadn't actually caught Kyran's movements in the dark. If the teddiursa's attention had been pointed towards a separate direction in his futile search for his friend, then maybe such hope would have come to pass. Maybe if Jayme were also not tuned in to his otherwise-silent surroundings, too. It was, to say the least, asking a bit much.

He filed the spoken name in his head in the off-chance it could be of use later, but otherwise did not flinch when Jayme had asked if Kyran was his unconscious partner. It seemed he didn't need to answer, though the darkrai was cursing enough mentally for it to have been a challenge to respond nonetheless. The teen knew he was here, despite the apparent fact he didn't know who was there. It seemed Jayme's eyes had not yet adjusted to the darkness, which was good.

Granted, looking back on their previous meeting, Kyran also wasn't entirely surprised that that was the case. There was a bit of contradiction in knowing that fact, though, and Kyran wasn't exactly sure how he should feel. Normally he might feel more relaxed, for he had dealt with this same individual before, so there was that much past experience to draw on. On the other hand... he seemed agitated, more than Kyran really thought the teddiursa was capable of behaving; it had him on edge, for this was even more of an unexpected turn of events than his sudden appearance in the first place. Jayme could feel anger of the magnitude Kyran had heard earlier? He could actually stand up for himself, if he needed to? Then what of all those images that were witnessed when rifling through Jayme's nightmares, even before Kyran had locked the teen's ability to move amidst them?

Once again, his eyes fell on the unconscious form of the aggron that was with the teddiursa, likely this so-called 'Urban' he had been calling moments prior. Jayme was using his friend as a crutch, wasn't he..?

Kyran found the ability to shake free some of the tension that had managed to catch hold, especially once Jayme tripped and jolted his injured rib -- the very same one he had injured when he had fallen down the short embankment in the forest.. to escape Reese. Yes, Kyran remembered that name as well. The stumbling, all these connections, and the forced bravery the teen was putting forth to scare the darkrai off -- Kyran couldn't help but grin at that. Or maybe it was because he was trying to convince himself that he had nothing to fear out of all this. Regardless, he let Jayme catch his breath before he opted to say anything, letting the teen agonize in his silent insecurity a bit longer, "Jeez, you really are a klutz..."

He didn't really care if he was recognized or not. He didn't care that Jayme was a lot more exposed than he was used to seeing. However, he was concerned about getting out of there before Urban woke up -- different individuals fell under the conditional effects for separate spans of time, and since Kyran wasn't infiltrating any dreams this time, he couldn't prolong the status. Urban seemed to be more of the imminent threat, at the moment.

Jayme's reaction was... a few degrees of confusing. Kyran wasn't entirely sure if his voice had actually been recognized, or if it was just a reaction caused by someone other than his friend being here, speaking with him. Maybe there was a chilly breeze? It seemed it was more a cause of self-consciousness, which wasn't something Kyran had the best grasp on outside of occasionally being able to spot it, at least in others. Attempting to decipher the reaction, he waited for any other clarifying action to emerge.

He could pick up the slightly embarrassed irritation in the teen's voice as he offered a retort to justify his actions. Carefully, he tried to assess whether Jayme was getting angry again on top of it, but that didn't seem to be the case. After a moment, Kyran snorted, "I could say the same. Definitely wasn't expecting anyone to be out here, so late..." Let alone anyone that Kyran even knew. Jayme was only one of a handful of names he was really familiar with, and this was taking into account his entire lifespan. He wasn't exactly young... though sheltered from many norms, that was a different story entirely.

Briefly, Kyran wondered if he was putting the teen off a bit by being here. He didn't realize it was a little on the creepy side, considering the out-of-the-blue appearance of the darkrai was basically how they had first met anyway. Of course, he considered that Jayme was likely feeling some concern over his friend's well-being... which was understandable, if the child thought about it. However, the shifting in reaction to the teddiursa's voice was enough to kickstart Kyran into a more serious frame of mind. He had to get out of here soon, and at this rate, Jayme was only going to shorten what little time he had left to be here. "Quiet, you'll wake him up!" he hissed, a loud whisper.

There were sure to be questions cropping up in reaction to that statement... so before Jayme really had the time to register it and detract the conversation, Kyran swiftly asked a few as follow-up, "Where is this? What sort of place is it?" Get his answers quickly, the very ones he was trying to gather when he had seen the two teens here. Get in, and get out. As far as he knew, he was now in imminent danger. Urban didn't appear to be much of a pushover, and Kyran wasn't very experienced when it came to conscious battle.

It was not all that difficult to deviate attention and split it between the two teens now that Jayme had lowered himself back into the water. While seated (or faceplanted...), movement didn't need as close an eye kept on either one of them; any hasty movement could be detected easily enough. Despite that, Kyran was still well aware that his time was severely limited, and it was shortening at a speed that was currently indecipherable. The only ease on his mind at the moment was the fact that the sleeping aggron was a good distance away, and might not be able to see Kyran in the dark. Well, outside of the glowing blue eye, that is.

So, while his guard remained up to react to any sudden action, the rest of him was able to relax a little further. Even though he knew the anger he had heard earlier was from Jayme, one that Kyran had been under the impression couldn't even feel such emotion, his current tones incited something more towards the opposing end of the spectrum. It was still not the broken, terrified version Kyran had first been witness to, but the demeanor held a similar weight of danger: next to none. For a split second, Kyran wondered if this was the teddiursa's true personality, or if it was still burdened by fear and anger.

He was not one to idly talk, but in his curiosity, the darkrai nearly asked if Jayme went camping often. This seemed different than before, though, so maybe it was just more convenient to use the same terminology? And healing... he was still healing? "From the fall you took in the woods?" he blurted out. Maybe Jayme had injured himself more than Kyran had initially realized. Then again, the dark-type was pretty sure, from what he had cracked into in the teen's mind, that his area of work was probably not the most constructive of places to heal... He shook his head of the thought, "There aren't many people out and about at this time of night, that's all." Or was he displaying his ignorance on the matter with that statement? Who was he to say it wasn't normal at the hot spring itself? Ugh, maybe he should get out of here before he makes another foolish mistake...

Kyran readjusted his hold on his staff, beginning to pivot himself back in the direction of the forest from whence he appeared. He was attempting to mentally map out where this area was in comparison to the cave where he and his sister stayed, but there was one more piece of information he wanted to snag a hold of -- something that would be much easier to get now than it would have been to gather on his own. "How close is this to the city?" he asked, as though he were a passing traveler asking for directions. He didn't want to go anywhere near the place, but it would be beneficial to know how close he could travel before his mere presence caused problems with the citizens; he could steer clear that much adeptly.

He stiffened briefly as Jayme asked for his name. His mind was quick to bombard the darkrai with the conflictions, all the implications that could come with giving up his name. He had already run into Jayme once before, who was to say it wouldn't happen again? How dangerous would it be to both him and his sister if he were to offer it? Would it even do any harm to give it up? There were too many errors, too many warnings that came up with no definitive 'right' or 'wrong' for this sort of scenario, so he didn't want to risk it. "You can call me whatever you wish to, it's not important," the child stated. Was he... was Jayme trying to lighten the mood? It surprised Kyran to hear that sort of playfulness, especially considering he thought the last meeting ended quite badly... and this one started off on the same foot. The minor confusion managed to detract the darkrai's own attention off of Urban for the moment. For one that liked picking apart the fabrics of one's mind, Kyran seemed to be lost to how it worked when one wasn't functioning by fear instinct and impulse reaction.

That... hadn't been something Kyran remembered being an issue, last he went rifling through the recesses of Jayme's inner subconscious. It wasn't just Reese that handled the teen so roughly? So then the man held more power over Jayme than the average person did, that part made sense. The forceful nature of it all, though, that wasn't part of what Jayme really feared? Despite feeling as though he were thinking way too far into this, the darkrai's curiosity was never something that he could so easily put a lid on. It was unusual for him to have access to such mindset while in the presence of a conscious individual who wasn't his sister, but as such only proved to further the instinct that Jayme was absolutely no threat to him whatsoever. Even if the teddiursa were to speak of all this, with his life as chaotic as it seemed, would anyone really find it a point of interest or founded in fact?

That thought... was actually kind of depressing. It sounded like the situation was just how Kyran had deduced it might have worked out, but that didn't make him feel any better about it. Instead of voicing such thoughts, though, his mind pinpointed a different aspect to do so with instead, "Singing..." The singular word was quiet, musing over the idea for a moment. He still didn't understand song, only that it had been what caused him to hesitate before. Someone could do something like that for a living?

He took another brief glance around the area, as though doing so sporadically would render something new to his attention. Nothing changed since the last time he took it in, and nobody that wasn't there before was walking around. The ridges along the outskirts, in the distance and across the landscape, notified him of the softly rolling hills of the plains. The trees helped to block out much of the sight given in any direction where they stood, leading Kyran to agreeing with the sentiment that it was a rather secluded area. Judging from the lack of man-made structures on the way here from the forest-facing side gave foundation to the statement as well. However, it was only when he was told of that which he already suspected that he allowed himself to believe it more fully, and relax a bit more. He loosened his grip on his staff a little and released a sigh, "I hadn't seen anyone else along the way, so I wasn't entirely sure that was a normal occurrence or not." He wasn't going to argue that he was similarly relieved to find the lack of people here! The length of the drive from the city was taken note of; he should still be safe while he was here, from inflicting any offshoot nightmares from town residents' dreams by presence alone. While he still wasn't sure the exact range, a few hours' time sounded like it would have been plenty of a difference, he just wanted to play on the safe side as far as that was concerned.

In Kyran's indecisiveness, what little attention was given to the outside world was focused primarily on Jayme. He was still half-considering giving his name, even if it ended up being a fake name, but ultimately thought better of it. Shaking his head, he began maneuvering himself around to leave the area, "Well, um... thanks for that. I'll--"

He hadn't had the time to finish his sentence, let alone the thought that drove it on, stumbling at the sudden, loud call. His loosened handhold on the staff offered little support, and Kyran landed on the ground with a knee before he was given the opportunity to locate the source. The pounding of his heart managed to block out most other sound in the vicinity, eye locking onto the form of Urban. The aggron's movements were quick, and it took a second for Kyran to realize... he wasn't actually awake, was he? There was no way his direction should be pointed the way it was if he were.

Kyran had been afraid that any sort of sudden attack would have been aimed toward an intruder such as himself. To have such rapid, malicious behavior aimed at Jayme like that? There was no telling what an attack of that magnitude would do to someone who couldn't stand up for himself! Despite the hastiness at which Kyran tried to move, there was no way he would have been able to make it over in time to use the ability he would have preferred to; he had to stall a bit. His clawed fingers caught the side of a pebble at his feet. As he stood and moved forward, he conjured up a strong gust of Ominous Wind before launching the makeshift projectile forward with the heightened momentum, "Knock it off!"

What was he doing!? This was suicide!

Kyran hesitated slightly as Jayme professed his affection for his chosen profession, conflicting ideas on the subject matter at hand. Despite knowing otherwise, the child couldn't help but wonder if it was yet another nail in the coffin, keeping the teen stationed where he was at and enduring all the torment. It seemed... almost baffling, the reasoning behind singing. Yes, intentions were good, but he was still put into a difficult position because of it. Why not keep himself safe first, before pursuing the hobby? Because it keeps him happy... There wasn't much that could do that, was there? "You seem to be able to talk just fine, from what I've observed," Kyran pointed out; Jayme was certainly leagues a better conversationalist than the darkrai was, anyway.

He definitely didn't mind the lack of people in the vicinity -- welcomed it -- and wasn't entirely sure if the teen had misinterpreted such preference from the child in the shadows. Despite it, he had to agree that this seemed to be a better set of circumstances that they found themselves under from the first meeting. There didn't seem to be any backlash reaction to anything Kyran did this time... but the night was still young, and he had yet to make it out of the area. Urban's sleeping body seemed to be getting more restless, so it was only a matter of time. Interesting, though, that Jayme insinuated that he did not venture out camping very often... then how was it that Kyran had managed to meet him twice, on such rare occasions, and the teen be the sole holder of such a track record? It was baffling, but still strictly coincidence... which only made it more baffling.

The shadow-cloaked child barely registered the welcome, let alone the fact he had thanked Jayme in the first place, attention scattered at the sudden attack. Despite the fact that Kyran had been certain that he'd be the target of the charge, he could still feel that Urban's sleep-state was still in effect. He was not fully aware of what he was doing -- or rather, he was not fully aware of what the context was, exactly.

To say that this was bad news was a severe understatement. Ominous Wind was one of Kyran's only damaging attacks, made stronger with the added artillery, and it didn't cause Urban to react at all. In fact, the darkrai would have been convinced he might have missed if he was sure it was even possible to. He growled at his body to move faster, but his inexperience with simplistic movement was obvious, putting more pressure on the staff than he usually did. He couldn't break the sleep status without actually being within Urban's mind to snap it back, but it was too great a distance and the volatile aggron was not under the effects enough to accomplish the feat right now -- he had to be subdued. Reasoning with him wasn't a viable option.

He winced as the light from the Flash Cannon enveloped the area, taloned arm raising to block the light a bit too late as eyelid snapped tightly shut. The move was quickly followed by Earthquake, which worked to shake the irritated child painfully back to the ground, even if he hadn't been the one to receive the brunt of the damage. He's quick... Kyran observed. He could feel the panic begin to set in at the back of his mind, but the situation called for more of a survival instinct to take precedence. After all, 'flight' wasn't really an option for someone who didn't have the means of escape, so that left only one route...

There was absolutely nothing Kyran could do to help Jayme. The distance was too great, and he was still struggling to stand upright once more before Urban's relentless attacks ceased. Even with the acceptance of these terms, the child's aggravation was pulled in two entirely separate directions. How could delirium blind someone so completely to attack the one they sought to protect? But more importantly... this only happened because Kyran got distracted. How could he prove himself adept at his skills, oppose his thrust-upon title of 'useless,' if he kept distorting the results like this? People weren't supposed to be getting hurt!

Kyran was deaf to Jayme's plea, focused intent on finishing up what he had started. His stare was cold, but he remained in place despite Urban's advancement. He was no fighter... but that wasn't going to stop him, not so far into the game. He didn't have to do damage to incapacitate.

He couldn't pause long enough to give Urban a chance at attacking. As soon as the aggron was within functional distance, Kyran aimed to hit him with Disable, as successively as he could. The child didn't move from where he was rooted, partly out of fear he'd only stumble again and partly for fear it would cause the armored teen to give chase. Just have to Disable as many moves as I can, he coached himself, deducing how he'd knock him out afterwards and pull him out of his nightmare. Despite himself, Kyran flashed Urban a smirk; maybe he was just nervous, because he sure didn't feel like he was going to survive this...