Smoke and Ash [Open]

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Mt. Chimney. It was a fitting name for any active volcano, especially this one where smoke continually poured out from the vent causing ash to fall everywhere in the area. However, the fact that it was a fitting name did not change the fact that Wallace was not at all fond of such conditions. He had only just arrived at the base of the mountain, and his clothes, were already stained with soot, and the fact that he dressed mostly in white only made the stains stand out more.

Wallace sighed as he tried to focus once again on why he had come here. The former champion was aware that Team Magma had dug their main base deep into the volcano, but had never seen it with his own eyes. He was curious about finding it, since digging cave into an active volcano that was large enough to house the majority of the members of a large crime syndicate was no small feat.

Of course, simply learning how Team Magma accomplished this was not at all reason enough for Wallace to come here. No, he planned on using whatever knowledge he found here to help design underground bomb shelters for many of Hoenn's major cities. Anyone who was under the impression that Lux would not try to reclaim the territory that they had lost were only fooling themselves. When that day came, the people of Hoenn would need to be ready, and bomb shelters would play a big role in saving many lives in this inevitable clash, and while simply finding and exploring the Team Magma hideout wouldn't provide Wallace all of the answers that he needed, it should at least have been able to give him a start.

As the former champion walked along a soot covered path at the base of the volcano, he suddenly felt a sharp pain, as something small, but hard hit his forehead. He winced in pain as he put a hand up to his forehead to rub it to try and make the pain go down. While doing this, he began looking around and noticed a small black rock on the ground which he hadn't seen there only seconds ago. Deducing that the rock was what had hit his forehead, he angrily kicked it away, letting out a slight growl as he did so.

[Aris]

She had never really gone out to see the sights of the world before. She had been far too...preoccupied to do something like that, but this was an exception. Mina had made sure to give her an earful about being careful, but at the same time, she had also told her to take a rest now and then and to not focus entirely on the war. And, while Aris didn't totally agree with the woman, she had to admit that she was a little bit right. It would be good to take a rest now and then; she couldn't even imagine how nice it would have been to go and rest after the battle of Lilycove. That was precisely what she was doing right then, taking a rest from the war, but mostly to prepare herself for it again. She had thought she'd left it behind, but she couldn't entirely forget it. She had to prepare herself for rushing right in once more, and that meant having a calm state of mind once she did begin rushing in.

Which meant doing quite a bit of thinking about just what it was she was going to do. A small pokemon was even accompanying her, a small little Whimsicott who seemed to not be faring too well in the heat, although she wasn't complaining. She actually looked rather sleepy, but again, that was probably just the heat. It was nice and quiet too...at least, for a little while. There she was, standing there and admiring the large Mt. Chimney, when she heard something.

It seemed like it was someone walking, so of course she investigated, her Whimsicott making sure to be as quiet as she was being. And of course she witnessed the source of the footsteps, a man with blue hair, right at the time that he just so happened to kick a rock...which headed straight for her location. Aris, of course, didn't notice it; she had been far too busy wondering what it was he had kicked to really think about the path it was taking. So of course it was no surprise when the small thing hit her straight on the forehead. "Ouch!" was, of course, her kneejerk reaction as she rubbed at her forehead with a hand. "What in the world was that...?" she questioned, frowning as she glanced towards this man.

Wait, wasn't that man Wallace?

Wallace had just, accidentally, kicked a rock at her forehead. Huh.

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Barely a second after he had kicked the rock. Wallace heard someone scream 'Ouch!' He stopped walking and quickly looked around towards where he had heard the voice coming from. His eyes immediately caught sight of a white haired girl who was rubbing her forehead, in the same way that Wallace had just been doing. The two emotions that the former champion immediately felt over what had just happened were shock an panic.

Wallace was shocked that there was even someone else wandering around out here. As far as he knew, the nearest town, Lavaridge, was a decent distance away from here. He hadn't even expected to see or hear anyone in his search for what he was looking for, let alone that they would get hit by a small rock that he had inadvertently kicked. The panic part was doubtlessly due to the fact that Wallace, in spite of the statistically long odds, has accidentally injured someone.

The former champion immediately ran over to where the girl was, noticing for the first time, that she had a Whimsicott with her, though he immediately shifted his focus on what he needed to do. Wallace said to her, as the vast amount of thoughts going through his head practically spilled out, "Oh man, I'm so sorry about that! I didn't think anyone else was out here. I just kicked that rock because I was frustrated about it falling on my head, it was pure instinct on my part. Are you okay?"

[Aris]

To think that she would just so happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time at the same time Wallace just so happened to kick a rock at the exact spot she was standing. And to hit her on the head too...it was such a low chance that it was rather absurd to think about, really. That was why she wasn't all that angry, to say the least. He clearly hadn't meant for it to happen, based on the frantic way he seemed to apologize, so the young lady smiled and shook her head, rubbing at her forehead a bit more.

It was definitely scuffed, she could tell that by the dirt she had wiped away, but it'd go away soon, she hoped. The Whimsicott, for her part, just watched this spectacle with wide eyes, before she began to laugh, apparently finding hilarity in the situation. Aris didn't mind it though, she simply reached over with one of her hands and patted the grass-type on the head; from the perch on her shoulder, she seemed rather content, although that might just be because she was sleepy from the heat.

"No worries...besides, you clearly didn't mean it. I very much doubt the champion...or, well, former champion of Hoenn would do something like that," she stated to him. Had he been the champion? She wasn't positive, but it sounded right...and even if he wasn't, it was an honest mistake. "Since I know your name, it's only fair that I tell you that I am Aris Venstron." she shared her true name freely; it was no secret Wallace was with Nox, given his status as a speaker.

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Well, that was a relief. Aris didn't really seem to be bothered in the least by what had just happened. Wallace doubted that most people would've been able to maintain such composure after being hit in the face of all places by as hard of an object as a rock. For that, the former champion was grateful. The fact that she knew who he was probably also played a factor in he willingness to be forgiving, which implied that had he not held the position of Hoenn Champion in the past, then it was possible that she might have been angrier about all of this. Regardless, Wallace would be able to ponder on all of this later.

He couldn't help but chuckle at this situation, even though he tried very hard not to. After all, he had just been hit in the head by that very same rock as it fell down from further up on the volcano, only for him to kick it which resulted in it hitting another person in the head He was able to stop for a moment to respond to her introduction, "It's certainly a pleasure to meet you Aris." Wallace then paused for a moment and then said, "It's funny, I got hit in the head by that same rock. It was probably falling down the mountain. I've never come this close to Mt. Chimney, so I'm not exactly familiar with falling rocks." Wallace supposed that this was his short and sweet explanation for what had happened.

[Aris]

Oh? Well that sure was interesting to know, now wasn't it? "Heh...how about that? It's unusual how things turn out sometimes," Aris said with a smile to him still on her face. She was still marveling at the fact that she just happened to come across this guy, of all people, randomly. And here, of all places! She was actually quite curious about what it was he was doing here, but first, she had to make a little more small talk before asking questions. She didn't want to appear too pushy to the older man, after all. "I've never really been here either, so...the rock hitting me was just as much a surprise to you as it was to me. Though, probably more in my case; it isn't every day that one gets a rock kicked at their forehead by a former Champion," she decided to crack a little joke as well.

It couldn't hurt, even if she felt a bit lame for saying that. Aris had never really been one for making good jokes, because it wasn't really...part of her social status to do something like that. To make lame jokes, that was; rich people didn't do things like that. Or did she? Aris wasn't quite sure. "By the way...might I ask what you are doing here? Er...well. Guess it's only fair to tell you why I'm here. I just wanted to see some sights."

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The sights? In a place like this? Wallace had trouble understanding what the appeal was of checking out the sights of an active volcano. Sure, it was one thing to come to the area to visit Lavaridge Town, and its legendary hot springs, but to walk around the base of Mt. Chimney, while ash and soot were raining down on your head? The former champion was somewhat baffled that some one would put up with that, just to 'see the sights.' Then again, Wallace had to remember that not everyone had to like the same things, and the fact that they didn't was probably a good thing, lest the world become an extremely boring place with little to no diversity.

The former champion immediately shifted his focus to what Aris had asked him about what his reason was for being here. Wallace had to think for a few seconds before putting his explanation into words, but eventually he began his answer, hoping that it wouldn't come out in an extremely confusing way, "Oh, I'm helping out with the rebuilding of Ever Grande City. The project that I'm working on now is helping to build bomb shelters, and I know that Team Magma used to have their main base of operations burrowed under this volcano. I'm hoping to find the base, and any layouts and diagrams of it which might have been left behind. I'd expect that any such findings would make my job at least somewhat easier."

[Aris]

"Bomb shelters huh?" Aris questioned, resisting the urge to shudder just a bit. Bomb shelters were typically only used when sheltering civilians, the people doing actual fighting would be outside. So it always troubled her when she was reminded that civilians could be dragged into the war so very easily; in fact, she hated it. But that was just the way of things, wasn't it? She knew for sure she would never resort to anything like that, no matter what.

Nor would she involve herself with any operation that targeted the civilians. "I suppose looking for the Magma base does make sense," Aris said with a nod of her head; she had heard that, once upon a time, Magma had been involved with Nox, so...why not just ask them? Although she could have heard wrong; many wild rumors flew around during a war, after all, including the resurgence of evil teams long thought dead. "In that case, would you mind terribly if I accompanied you in your search? I don't have anything better to do, and this way I can accomplish something while still seeing the sights," she asked him with a small smile.

She was willing to do anything as long as it ended up helping Nox, no matter what that might be, and that included a search in these mountains for..well, wherever this base was. There was no telling where in the world it might be, and this was a pretty large mountain, but with two of them, it'd be far easier.

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Try as he might, Wallace simply could not equate 'seeing the sights' with walking around the base of a volcano, with ash and soot raining down on ones head, and then proceeding to explore the former main base of operations of one of the Hoenn regions most notorious crime syndicates. To him, 'seeing the sights' meant visiting somewhere more pleasant, and peaceful. Even so, the former Champion knew better than to judge. What made sense to him was likely completely bewildering to someone else, and it simply wasn't he place to judge.

Besides, if Aris really wanted to help him in his mission, he'd be a fool to turn her down. Having some assistance would likely make the job go faster, and Wallace would prefer to be able to stick around here for as little as possible. It wouldn't be fair to warn her that this likely wouldn't be the most pleasant of jobs, all things considered. Ergo, he said to her, "I'd be happy to have some help. I should warn you though, this job probably won't be particularly pleasant." Wallace was referring to the fact that even after they had located to the entrance to the base, exploring it would be particularly unpleasant, considering the temperature that were likely to be found on the inside of an active volcano.

[Aris]

Aris gave him just the smallest of smiles when he cautioned her about the dangers of this place. He had to think her mad, didn't he? People didn't just go to a place like this to see the sights...or rather, ordinary people didn't, but then again, Aris was anything but ordinary. If one were to know everything about her, they would definitely know that bit. Of course, Wallace had no idea who she was, so it was no surprise that he didn't find her out of the ordinary, but then again, even her hair stood out from other people; not many could boast f having hair as white as hers. "Yes yes, I know. The heat, right? Trust me though. I've gone through so much that I don't think some heat is going to be able to beat me. Not completely," she said to him, her smile growing.

"Of course, this is all assuming that we actually manage to find the entrance to the base." she added a moment later. They were hardly going to have to suffer some heat if they failed in their attempts at even finding the base, right? With that said, the girl began to look around as well, looking at anything that might cause, say, a cave to just pop up. Magma had to have actually hidden it somehow, after all.