As the door opens, I am hit by a burst of cool air from the inside of the building.

I look to see who I presume to be Snizzy, and I find myself greeted by the sight of dark blue fur. I notice a shiny golden patch of fur on their chest, and I look up to see the frowning face of a Sneasel looking down at me, complete with a long and flat-tipped ear-feather.

"Hey Snizzy, check it out, dude, I found our next member!" Cole exclaims happily.

I can feel Snizzy scrutinize me as I stand there. I clutch the ends of my scarf in my hands as I endure the Sneasel's inspection. My lips form a tight, thin line, and I become intimately familiar with my own discomfort.

Suddenly, I hear a slightly deep, intimidating voice. There's a very subtle rasp at the back end of it that gives the impression of frustration, though the tone remains neutral. From out of Snizzy's mouth, I hear simply, "Well?"

I'm not sure if he's talking to me or not, but judging from how I hear nothing from Cole, I can only presume that an answer is expected of me.

"W-well what?" I ask, nervously.

I see Snizzy shift slightly, before he says, "Well, do you want to join the Team or not?"

I nod as hard as I can. I don't have anywhere else to go, or anything else to do. I don't want to go somewhere without Cole either, as he's a far more capable battler than I am, and if I end up in a Mystery Dungeon on my own, I doubt my ability to navigate it safely.

"You're quiet," I hear Snizzy say.

I look up at his face anxiously, but to my surprise, I see him smirking down at me. "I like that," he says, before turning around and going inside the house.

"Get in here," he calls back.

I look over to my side at Cole, only to find him walking into the house. I follow, and the door closes behind me as I enter the house.

As I step onto dark blue floorboards, I notice that the air inside the house is cold, colder than the cool air outside. Glancing around the room, I see furniture. There's a small stone table with a couple of even smaller, red sitting cushions surrounding it. On the table is a lamp, which combined with the natural light of the setting sun, illuminates the single room.

In the back of the room is a banner, red and gold, with a genuinely fascinating pattern. I don't know the significance of the pattern, however, I do know that it is quite intricate. I move closer to inspect it, and find the lines and dots that make up the pattern quite satisfying.

Interlocking T shapes in columns, the negative space filled in with glittery points, and this all being surrounded by wave-like lines. As the pattern continues, I notice the depth of it, the way in which these details are slightly raised above the red background fabric.

I want to reach out and touch it, but I know that it would probably make me seem weirder than I would like to.

Suddenly, I realize that I'd walked all the way to the side of the room which holds the banner, and I turn around to see the rest of the room that I had missed. There are two straw beds to my left side, and a subdued blue shelf to my right.

"So where did you find this Snivy?" I hear Snizzy ask, presumably to Cole.

I look to where I hear the voice from, and realize that the two Pokemon had made their way to the table, and are sitting on the cushions. Deciding to not be rude, I sheepishly make my way over there and take a seat on the floor while putting my TM case on the floor next to me, as there is no cushion for me to sit on.

"Well, when I found them, they were just passed out in the forest. I was like 'hey, that's pretty odd and kinda dangerous. This is how Pokemon's stuff gets stolen!" he says. "So I woke him up."

I hear a subtle slurping sound to my left, and glancing over, I see that Snizzy is sipping on some sort of drink. I can't see the drink in question, as it's inside a wooden cup. Snizzy puts the drink down after taking his sip, and turns to me

"What were you doing there passed out?" he asks me with a serious tone.

I honestly don't know. I haven't been able to remember what I was doing there, or even what my life was like up to that point. All I have is my name and the vague impression that I'm supposed to be human, but quite frankly, I'm doubting that latter notion more and more as this day has progressed.

Ultimately, I don't say anything. I don't really have anything that I can say truthfully, and something about lying seems extremely unappealing to me. I keep quiet, and the moment drags on as I feel Snizzy's eyes bore deep into my soul.

"Yeah, he doesn't really talk at all when you meet him," I hear Cole say to my right. "You get used to it. He'll open up when he gets more comfortable with you, I guess."

I stare down at the table between the three of us as I hear Snizzy respond with, "Mhm. Is there anything *you* can tell me about him, Cole? What are his skills, how's he useful?"

I do have to admit that the craftsmanship involved with this table really is something. The cool grey stone is streaked with darker grey lines, and the whole thing is cut very precisely. It seems very sturdy, and while the texture is a bit rough, it's also very straight and streaked, which I find pleasant.

"Well, he's pretty observant, for one thing," Cole says, which makes my face warm up a bit. "He was able to spot a Mystery Dungeon all on his own while we were on the move."

Snizzy lets out a "hmm," before continuing. "Useful. That could be an asset, yes…" he says with a ponderous tone.

"He's also not too shabby in combat," Cole begins. "We had to go into a Mystery Dungeon to help out this Butterfree, and, y'know, some battles happened."

I blush harder than I had before, and drop my gaze to the floor while I hear Cole grossly overestimate my abilities. "He's not trained, but he's clever. He can think on his feet when he needs to, even if he's kind of a scaredy Meowth."

"I see…" Snizzy says in response.

I look up at the two Pokemon evaluating me, and find Snizzy to be looking at me curiously. His hand is holding his chin in a thinking gesture. I hear a quiet, "Hmm…" from him, before he opens his mouth once again.

"You have no training what so ever?" Snizzy asks as he turns to look at me once again. I look at him in kind, and find a small frown and a cocked brow.

I shake my head 'no'. I don't have any training, or at the very least, if I do, I can't remember it.

I hear Snizzy let out a "hmph," before gets up from his seat. He walks over to the shelf and pulls out an item - a small piece of wood, with straw tied to the end making up a cheap broom - before walking back to where we are.

"In that case, training will begin first thing in the morning. Until you are ready to go on real missions, you will perform menial tasks for the Team," he says, whilst handing me the broom. I take the rough wood in my hands, grasping it.

"You will sweep, you will clean, and you will train," he tells me seriously, punctuating each item of the list with a poke to my chest .

I nod my head in understanding. I do not want to intrude upon either Snizzy or Cole. I lack money, and with no associates to stay with, it's only fair that I earn my place here somehow.

Looking at Snizzy, I see him smirk. "Good," he says with crossed arms. "Welcome to Team Aurora."

I accept the welcome with a small smile. While Snizzy is certainly very intimidating, this meeting has gone much better than I had hoped. I feel a small amount of relief as I lay the broom down next to me on the floor, and realize that I also feel better in general.

Meeting Cole, going through a Dungeon, meeting Snizzy, it's all had me feeling so wound up today. I've been going through confusion, frustration, anxiety, and to finally reach what's effectively the end of the day having conquered these circumstances - it feels good.

Even if Snizzy still makes me nervous.

Snizzy turns to look at Cole, before saying, "It's getting late. Get a fire started so I can make us dinner. We've got a long day tomorrow."

"Yessir!" Cole says with enthusiasm, before running off outside to do as he was told.

"Now, as for you," Snizzy begins, glancing my way. "Sit here and stay quiet. You're good at that. I have to prepare my ingredients."

With that, Snizzy turns and walks over to the shelf from before. I hear him pick up an object, and glancing over, I see a blue box made from some type of stone.

Watching him curiously from the table, I see Snizzy place the box on the floor and open it. What looks like cold vapour rises from the edges of the box, and Snizzy reaches in and pulls out a handful of berries.

Of the three varieties he pulls out, I only recognize two. First, is the Chesto berry, which seems to have more in common with a nut than a berry. It clacks onto the lid of the box, which is what I'm assuming Snizzy is using as a preparation station.

The second berry I recognize as a strange variety of black berry. It's much larger than I feel it should be as a black berry, and much blue-r as well, but otherwise, black berry is the first word that comes to mind when I look at it.

Finally, the berry which I don't recognize at all. It's pink, it is big, and it has an extremely odd shape to me. It's almost triangular, in the way that it bulges towards the top before tapering off at the end. It's semi-sections all converge at a final point towards the butt of the fruit.

Without much delay, Snizzy begins preparing his berries. He unsheathes his claws and begins cutting the pink berries into even strips. He then stacks them neatly, before slicing them down the middle so as to cut their lengths in half.

Next, he walks back to the shelf and finds himself a small pot, before returning to his preparation station and placing the big black berries inside. He uses his claws to turn them to a pulpy mush, before turning to his final ingredient - the Chesto berry.

He picks one up and does something that, to me, is fairly amazing. Holding it with one hand, all I see is a blur of claws and Chesto bits as he shaves it quickly from a 'berry' to a pile of flakes. It happens in what feels like moments, and it is stunning to see.

With that, Snizzy takes the black berry mush in one hand, and the psuedo-tray of Chesto flakes and berry slices, and walks over to the door with them. I see him turn to look at me, and my gaze drops to the floor.

"Come open the door," he says with a little annoyance.

I quickly get up from my spot on the floor and scurry over to the door. I open it, and Snizzy walks out to the outside, where it's already dark out. I spot a fire pit a number of feet to the right, away from the house, and Snizzy makes his way over there.

I see Cole greet him, and I soon follow.

Wood.

I like wood, I guess. We've used it for thousands of years, or whatever. We've all got a little wood in our lives. It's useful, it's sturdy, it's a great euphemism - it's got a lot of good uses, y'know? You just can't knock wood.

Only one problem.

This stuff is damn heavy.

I mean, that's common knowledge, right? Wood, especially the log sections I have to carry right now, are famously kinda heavy. Common wisdom suggests that if a log is too heavy for you, you oughta just chop it up some, yeah?

Well, I guess that is good advice for most 'mon. I really shouldn't have an issue with that, I'm a strong dude. I can lift some pretty hefty stuff with my beak, y'know? I once hung over a raging pond by a branch with just my beak for an hour until someone got me.

So what's the problem?

Well, for one thing, the logs are a little taller than me. I'm a Torchic for crepe's sake, of course they're taller than me!

But that's not quite it. With my raw first-evo powah, I should be able to chop wood, right? You'd think that I wouldn't have any trouble lifting an axe. And you'd be right! Buuut…

The axe is also taller than I am, and I can't even lift the damn thing without falling on my side immediately.

Turns out, it's hard to pick up an axe with talons for feet, and really hard to pick up an axe with feathers for hands. These are not limbs meant for lifting things, no matter how much I train.

So… what to do…

I've got a fire pit, a stack of logs, and barely any sunlight. This is what we in the rescue team industry call, a bit of an aguav berry.

After a bit of pacing back and forth, I gotta admit, I'm kinda stumped. Usually I'd just go get a bunch of sticks from the woods, but with the sun going- Wait, that's what I was supposed to get for Snizzy! I was supposed to get sticks for later! Which is now!

Argh!

Damnit.

Whatever! I don't need any damn sticks anyways! They're just logs for losers! Do I look like a loser to you!?

Don't answer that.

…

Arcues, it's a good thing I live with Snizzy now. Too much time on the road's got me with a habit of thinking to myself like I'm another 'mon. I gotta kick that habit…

Anyways, I gotta figure out how to get this fire going.

So. I've got this big stack of logs here. And a pit. All that I've gotta do is get a log into the pit. Simple. Easy! Fun.

I take a good long look at the big stack of logs in front of me. Let's see, maybe if I… hm… um…

Oh!

… but would that work?

I hop up onto one of the logs. Then the next one, so on and so forth, until I reach the top of the pile. With sunlight dwindling pretty quickly, I gotta do this asap.

I find the top most log, and I mentally prepare myself.

C'mon. I'm a Torchic, mon. We are a proud, respected people, famed for our physical prowess. For generations, we have mastered our bodies and minds. I can feel my ancestor's blood flowing through my veins, and I know that they're giving me the strength to do what needs to be done.

I let loose a huff, and scruff my talon on the log beneath me.

One…

Two…

Three!

With that, I take a mighty leap, and using my talons, give a great big kick to the top most log. It kinda hurts, but I know I at least did something, because I hear the log roll down the mound of other logs and land somewhere with a 'tumb'.

I land, and turn around to find…

Yes!

It landed in the fire pit. It landed in the fire pit! Hah, take that, elders, I told you I'm strong!

…

Yeah, I really need to kick this habit.

I hop down the mound of logs, log by log, until I reach the ground. It stings as I land on my talon, but it's nothing I can't handle as I make my way over to the fire pit.

I inhale, and feel a warm pressure in my throat. I let it build, the warmth turning to heat, and then that heat turning to burning embers. I look, take aim, and with little fanfare, I fire my embers at the log.

It doesn't catch fire straight away, but with a little bit of effort, and a couple more tries, I get a nice fire going.

Being a fire type, the fire is very pleasant to me. The heat, the glow, the crackles and snaps - it reminds me of home, y'know? It's got this quality to it that makes me feel nice and comfortable. It brings to mind sights, sounds, and smells that make me think of how things used to be.

Nostalgic, that's the word. It's very nostalgic.

I take a seat right in front of the fire. The orange glow of the fire lights up the area around me as the sun sets all the way. I don't really pay attention to it all, but it really completes the atmosphere. Brings the scene together.

As I sit near the loving heat, I hear foot steps. I turn to look, and see Snizzy with two hands full of stuff. In one hand he's got a tray with chesto flakes and bits of persim berry, and the other hand has an iron pot full of… let's see… aw, heck yeah, bluk berry!

"Hey Snizzy! What we looking at, dude? Some bluk berry stew?" I ask, hype for some delicious food.

He puts the tray on the ground, and holds the pot out over the fire. "Yes," he says, while picking out the persim chunks and adding them to the stew, "Bluk berry stew with persim and chesto flakes."

"That sounds awesome!" I exclaim.

Snizzy smirks. "Indeed."

With Snizzy making the stew, I suddenly realize that a certain grassy snake-boi is missing from the equation.

Looking around, I try to see if he's just being quiet again, or if I have to go get him from the house. Let's see, grass… a few trees… rocks… hous- wait! There he is! A wild shy guy approaches!

Arthur walks up to us slowly and quietly. I see him more clearly as he gets closer to our fire, and he approaches Snizzy and I as shyly as ever. I put on as friendly a face as I can, and walk over to meet him.

"Hey 'mon, what's up? You ready for some deliciousness?" I ask him.

Arthur glances up at me, and responds, "Yes. It seems, um, good."

I sit again by the fire as Snizzy cooks the bluk berry stew. Leaning over, I give the ground beside me a little pat. "Come sit, dude, it's nice by the fire," I say warmly.

I see Arthur slowly make his way from the edge of the glow to near where I am. He stays back from where I had pat, but still takes a seat next to me. "The fire is hot. W-well, I mean, of course it is, it's just- um," he stammers.

"Don't worry, dude, it's fine. You're a grass type, I get it," I say so he calms down a little.

I let the sounds of cooking and fire wash over me as we sit together. "You've been all kinds of worked up, mon, just… relax, y'know?" I tell Arthur.

"Hey," I hear from the otherside of the fire pit. Looking over, I can see Snizzy looking right at me while he cooks. "The stew's almost ready. Go get some bowls," he says curtly.

I hop up from my spot quickly, and turn to go do just that. "You got it!" I call back as I walk over to the house.

Sitting by the fire is somewhat pleasant. While I'm not exactly one for the scent of smoke, I can't deny the satisfaction that comes when I hear the wood make a flame induced 'snap' or 'crack'. Plus, the little embers that spark up as a result of this phenomena are very pretty.

Of course, there's also the orange glow, the way the fire illuminates the area around us. The shadows cast from the pile of wood a few feet to our side, the earth beneath me, the sight of stars in the sky, it all comes together to make this wonderful atmosphere.

Honestly, I can say that for the first time since waking up, I feel… comfortable. Content. If this moment went on forever, then I would not complain.

Now, there is the caveat that Snizzy is here, and Snizzy is, as Cole described, intense. However, in this particular moment, it's hard to stay nervous around him.

Glancing over, he looks… serene. Relaxed. There's just something about his demeanor that tells me he's doing something he really enjoys doing. Maybe it's the way he's watching over his stew so carefully, or the smirk as he cooks, but he seems like he's in his element.

As I sit, scarf around my neck and fingers tapping on the ground beneath me, I hear the sound of talons behind me. Looking over, I see Cole walking over and carefully balancing three wooden bowls on his head.

"Hey Arthur, help me out here, dude!" I hear him say.

I get up from my spot on the ground and go to help him carry the bowls to Snizzy. I take two off of his head, holding one in each of my hands, and he looks at me.

"Thanks, mon, it's hard to balance that stuff," Cole says, his voice telling me that he's both grateful and relieved.

I give him a little smile and nod, before turning to Snizzy.

Snizzy has taken the pot off the fire and set it down on the ground. We walk up to him, and give him our bowls, which he takes.

He pours some stew into a bowl, which seems thick and dark, with chunks of that pink fruit floating here and there in the rich purple broth. He takes the Chesto flakes, and he sprinkles a pile unto the top as well, before handing it to Cole.

"Alright!" he says, looking excited to eat.

To say it looks appetizing is an understatement. Sure, the colours aren't one my brain typically associates with food, but the sheer vibrance of the purple stew, with pink chunks and a mix of brown and blue on top strong arms my mouth into salivating.

I await in eager anticipation as Snizzy hands me a bowl of the stuff for myself. It's warm to the touch, and the pleasently bizarre scent assures me once and for all that this, indeed, will be quite tasty.

I sit down near the fire once again, bowl in lap, before I realize something important.

"Uh, hey Cole," I begin, looking over to him.

He looks up at me from his own bowl, which he's placed on the ground. His beak and lower face are dyed a rich, dark purple as little blue flakes stick to his beak. He gives his beak a lick, before replying.

"Yeah?" he asks.

…

"I… nevermind," I respond. I'm honestly not entirely sure how to react. I was going to ask how we're going to eat this without a spoon, but I can see now that my avian associate has no compunctions about eating directly with his face.

I glance over at Snizzy, only to see him doing something very similar in pouring his stew directly into his face-hole like a barbarian.

I…

Welp.

When in Rome…