It started with a chance encounter in Eterna Forest.

Usually, people were minding their business in the forest, walking, enjoying the quiet sounds of the pokémon around them.

Instead, he followed the trailing shrieks of a woman leading to him. A green haired girl running towards him and screaming, as if her life was in danger. Her aura was basically shouting, 'RUN FASTER!' and 'ESCAPE ESCAPE ESCAPE!'

Seemingly in such a rush as to not notice him along the way (although, it was still a mystery to him how you could not see a person that was right in front of you while running frantically), as she crashed into him, her shoulder striking his chest. He should have seen it coming.

Nevertheless, he managed to shake off the temporary pain she caused in his chest with a shaky cough, and grabbed her shoulders, putting her on her feet. Her aura was bleeding with nervous energy, that all of a sudden seemed to fly out of thought as she looked up at his face. Odd.

"Whoa there," he laughed wryly, "did something happen, Miss?"

All of a sudden, she shook her head as if to shake away her thoughts and nodded vigorously, her anxiety becoming jittery energy for him too. Her chest was heaving out and in, and he noted she probably wasn't the best athlete. She simply pointed behind herself, a swarm of combees flying angrily towards them.

Without a second glance, his eyes widened as he grabbed the woman's hand tightly and started running, nearly dragging her along the entire way. As they ran by trees and bushes...and trees...what did he expect? He expected that he was probably running around in circles in the forest, he couldn't tell. But the woman behind him could. He could sense that she was already analyzing the trees and bushes that seemed to have no difference to him.

"Over there!" She shouted and pointed at a tall hedge between some trees.

She sprinted to the hedge and, this time, grabbing his hand, dragged him through a clearing that was unable to be seen through the front.

She, still clutching his hand, dragged him down to sit on the grass-y ground, and the woman took watch for the combees through a few clear spots in the hedge. And before she could announce she saw them leave, he had already sensed it.

She then announced that they had gone, and exhaled in relief as the buzzing passed the hedge. He noticed that it was nicely hidden, between two trees, it didn't seem much noticeable, and the trees behind it made it seem like nothing of importance, hiding it again. The trees behind the hedge also provided excellent shade for them, considering it was a hot summer day.

She instantly relaxed, her shoulders loosening, and her face turning into a dainty smile, rather than the tense and stressed look she took up only minutes before. As any pretty young lady like she was, she looked better smiling. And at her smile, he smiled. It was a contagious thing. Smiling. Happiness.

"Sorry about that." She said apologetically. "I dragged you into this, and you're a total stranger..." She gave him sincere eyes filled with remorse. Her aura wasn't portraying anything less.

How could he refuse to refute all her statements and instead prove her to believe that he was at fault? Right, he couldn't.

"Nonsense," he said and waved his hand dismissively at the subject. "I enjoyed the ride." And he flashed her an amused smile. He glanced down at their hands, she was still clutching it, and deciding to poke a little fun at her, he then leaned in closer and mumbled, "Though I usually like to start getting physical on the second date." And he winked playfully at her.

She didn't blush, but instead gave him a wry smirk and rolled her eyes. She slowly let go of his hand. "Oh please, you haven't met anyone from Eterna yet and you expect second dates?" At that, she laughed.

An airy laugh that was light and as beautiful to him as the sound of bells. He liked her wit. He liked the way she carried herself. She was a lot worth than the normal type of girl he had met so far. Especially from her aura, which when she was relaxed became a unique, headache of a thing to read. Her thoughts became swirled in so many other thoughts, that interchanged with her emotions and senses―really, he knew it was better off being unable to take the time to read it. He liked it that way, however, he rarely talked to someone without knowing how they felt or what they were about to say before they said it. She was so complex, yet so simple.

He sighed, still keeping an indifferent smile. "No, I haven't. Though I'm sad to think they won't be as beautiful as you, Miss." He said and tipped his hat to her.

"Enchanté." She said and gave a prim smile, one that was about to burst into a laugh. She fixed the strand of hair loose from her bangs and hanging freely between the middle of her eyes―though to no avail, it snapped back as if held there by the air itself. "You're a very interesting man." Honesty, he liked that too. And her eyes held an excitement or energy of some sort. No, she was the interesting one, and he had barely known her for three minutes. "I'm Cheryl." She said and smiled. "I think our hands have had enough contact for a lifetime." Which he guessed was an offered explanation for why she didn't proffer a hand to him.

"Cheryl..." He repeated, the 'ch' sound so soft and light on his tongue. He loved her name. "I think that now that we've reached a higher social standing together, we get a whole new chance at hand-touching. Though I beg you to consider your words, they're becoming awfully indecent." He said, sporting an amused grin. "I am Riley, and I hope I wouldn't be too different than the other men who met you to say you are truly one-of-a-kind, yet, would I?" He asked her and fixed a hand at the brim of his hat.

For some reason, though his nice walk was seemingly ruined, he didn't mind it anymore. He liked talking to Cheryl. He soaked in her cute smiles and drunk in her confusing and complex aura. He knew he could have spent hours with her.

"You only think them indecent." She said and shook her head disapprovingly, an action contrasted by the small grin on her lips. "And stop flattering me, Riley. All your fan girls will start to become suspicious." She warned sarcastically.

"If only you knew..." He muttered under his breath, knowing by her innocent Aura, that she didn't know of the fanbases anyone could come to have. She stared at him questioningly and tilted her head.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, nothing." He assured, shaking his head. "Well, Cheryl, however did you get a swarm of combees to attack you? Don't tell me you have a knack for getting in trouble?"

"I need honey." She answered simply and shrugged. "Arousing a swarm of combees is nothing new."

He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "So you are a trouble maker then?"

She sighed, "Oh yes, hopefully so. However do I stay on the right path?" She asked him with an exaggerated voice of helplessness, swaying her torso as if she were about to faint. She started giggling, attempting to stop herself from bursting into laughter at herself. He smiled, their banter was becoming much too fun for him.

"You'd only need a righteous companion to help you along the way." He said, smiling, giving his advice the way a fortune cookie was written. Now their banter was becoming ridiculous and cheesy, but he didn't care, he loved exchanging words with Cheryl as much as he liked breathing in oxygen. Though, he couldn't resist offering, "If you'd like, we could team up."

"May I please have your companionship, then, Riley?" She asked, smiling down at him as she stood up, holding an arm out to him. Riley stood up alongside her and hooked his arm around hers.

"For you? Of course."

Now, he was a patient man. He knew most people would have easily left her to fend for herself, after hours of walking in circles, her frantic assurances of finding an exit standing airily on easily disproved grounds. But he didn't. And he still didn't take back his thoughts on enjoying his talks with her.

Despite her obvious clumsiness, he still took a liking to her. She was bright and radiant, her smile never faltering, unless she thought she had spotted a swarm of combee. And she talked about just anything, she was well-versed in many topics. Including history, which tended to be something he dabbled in.

"Have you ever heard of Sir Aaron, the Aura Guardian?" He asked her once, out of curiosity. She stopped walking and turned around to face him, her eyes wide and she chewed down on her lip. Her aura was even more scrambled, as her mind fired contrasting thoughts around itself.

"Yes..." She said. "I um..."

"What caught your tongue?" He asked her, now interested in her strange reaction.

"I don't know, um shock?" She said and shrugged. "I thought you were him at first. If you hadn't grabbed my hand and started running with me, I would have probably stared at you the entire time. Wait..." She paused. "You're not him, right? Or am I being ridiculous?" She started laughing nervously.

"No, I'm only a student of Aura, hoping to master it like Sir Aaron had." He said, then laughed, realizing she must have mistaken his appearance for that of Sir Aaron's as him being too much of a fan of Sir Aaron. "And no, I'm not that crazy about Sir Aaron. It's not about becoming him, it's about studying the art he mastered."

He closed his eyes for a second, sensing the aura of every living organism, until he found his target. Then lifting it, he raised his hand.

Cheryl watched him do this curiously. Then voicing her questions, "Is this Aura―"

She then let out a loud gasp as she saw a red rose float to her and rest daintily in her outstretched hands. She looked up at him awed. He gave her a haughty grin.

"That was one of the most amazing things I had seen in my life!" She exclaimed.

"Surely, you've had another man hand a flower to you? Or at least seen a guy hand a bouquet of roses to his beloved on Valentine's Day." He said and smirked. She gave him an incredulous look and an all-knowing look, before she twirled the flower in her hands, touching below the flower, so as to not touch the thorns.

"Thank you, Riley. That was beautiful." She said. He knew she meant his mere display of what Aura could do.

"My pleasure." He said sincerely and bowed his head a little. "But I didn't think you'd like it so much."

"To be honest, I never thought it was real." She stated truthfully. And turned around, starting her brisk walk again. "Aura, that is, not about Sir Aaron. Although a lot of the things I believe in are thought not to be real either. I would never judge you."

"Thank you for that." He chuckled lightly. "Some people tend to call me 'freak' before asking. But what would you believe in that isn't real?"

"The Amber Castle." She said so quietly he had to ask her twice. He was slowly trailing behind her, but at this point caught up to her side. He wanted to ignore reading her Aura, which he barely could because of the way her mind worked, and try reading her face. She glanced up at him. "It's amazing how you're, at least, following the path for your talents." She said this so bitterly, that he had to ask her about it.

"What do you mean?" He asked her.

"I know this sounds...kind of stupid..." She said and wrung her hands nervously. At this point, he realized that she was only nervous because she was exchanging personal information and thoughts with him. Nothing fun like the banter they shared an hour ago. "...but I come from a long long line of explorers and treasure hunters." Finishing that, she cringed, as if he were cued to burst into laughter at that.

But he gave her the same calm face he always wore. "Aren't you already an explorer? Trying to find this Amber Castle, spending time in Eterna Forest, looking for honey, I feel like you've already been doing what your family line has been expecting, if not, unconsciously." He said, noticing her face dawned in on realization of what he said. Seeing that she had difficulty admitting a personal fact, he decided to make it even. "At first, I wasn't interested in the power of Aura."

She looked up at him, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. With a comfortable shock, she asked him, "Really?" At least he could read in her Aura, that she was a bit more comfortable at having the same experience.

He nodded. "Really. Being an Aura user takes on the responsibility of becoming the 'freak of nature's kid' or someone people just really love to hate." He said and shrugged, almost wincing himself at all the bad memories that resurfaced in his mind.

Her eyes widened. "But why?" She asked him with a child's innocent. Her aura was only angry, which almost made him smile at her different feelings towards him...than most people's. "You are such a nice man, and even then I think a lot more people would have been fascinated with your similarity to Sir Aaron's appearance. I am fascinated by you outside and within." She said and gave him an sympathetic smile.

"Did anyone ever tell you you're too kind?" He asked her like someone would tell a child to stop asking questions.

"No." She said and with a wry grin, she responded, "But people have called me an excellent nutcase to drag men deep into the forest and find out their darkest secrets." She said in a faux creepy voice.

He smiled happily again, delighted that their banter was back to play.

Though he realized that she switched topics too soon, her aura radiated discomfort. At the topic of him? Why? He was insanely curious. He wanted to know more about Cheryl, the way her mind worked, the things she thought of, more of her happy face and nice smiles...oh dear, you would think he was infatuated already.

Riley refused to trust his own thoughts and instead asked Cheryl as he walked along her, "Will you tell me about the forest? You know so much about it." He added a pleasant smile to the mix.

Her aura became joyous as she detailed everything in the forest from the types of trees to the places she thought the Amber Castle could be. While he nodded, making grunts of affirmation here or there, he bit down on his lower lip the majority of the time.

He was 100% sure he would end up asking Cheryl out on a date if he opened his mouth.

It ended with a slow, peaceful walk, even though both of them didn't know where they were going.

―Nian