The border of Phoenicis. Even if he had been born with the most vivid and intricate imagination known to man, it still wouldn't have prepared him for what he saw out there. On his left was a forest of fire, the canopies spreading out like broad plumes of flames where they rose over their heads to block out the rays of the sun; and on his right, were several golden fields rolling out into the horizon for as far as he could see. If Arihiko had to describe the views with one word, it would be 'breathtaking.'
The fields however, had little to no protection against the sun, and thus, the young Leonian was pulling at the opening of his armor, desperate to cool himself off when the group followed along the crystalline river in a mostly neat line. He felt like a bun baking in an oven and he was sure that he would lose his mind if he didn't find shade anytime soon. Hime, on the other hand, seemed perfectly content with the heat when she twisted and turned in a game of tag with Solace. Lucky avian... he bitterly thought when he shielded his eyes, watching the two show off their acrobatic skills to one another.
It took them a while until their group finally decided to set camp, and when they did, Arihiko felt nothing but exhaustion. Beads of sweat ran down his forehead, stinging his eyes when he climbed down from Talos and dismounted him. The instant he reached the ground, he was forced to steady himself against the Tyranitar when he was hit by a dizzy spell, and the feeling only intensified when bile threatened to rise up his throat. The young man doubled over, prompting Talos to rumble worriedly when he turned to watch him closely. With the rest of their group beginning to set up tents, Arihiko could do nothing else but hope that it would pass soon.
He wasn't sure how long he had remained like that, but he gradually grew aware of someone calling his name when a shadow entered his view, cooling his skin. He felt the hard leather of a water pouch shove its way into his hand.
"...Here, drink this," he heard Inigo say in a low voice.
Nodding in silent gratitude, Arihiko slowly but steadily straightened himself before he uncorked it and tipped the edge against his cracked lips. The liquid splashed over his tongue when he took large gulps, and nothing could ever describe the sense of rejuvenation that overcame the young man when it flooded down his gullet. Inigo had him sit down after that, and the young man could hardly argue against him when he spent the first hour to recover.
The open sky was beginning to mix into shades of reds and oranges by the time people began to cook their food, and Arihiko idly watched when Inigo told jokes to a circle of Leonians gathered around him. Laughter came from them, and a few walked off in high spirits to tend to their Pokemon. He rubbed his thumb against his chin when someone's Persian bolted across the camp, and he felt the hint of coarse hair against his touch. He needed to shave.
Standing up, the young Leonian approached the older man. "Inigo, have you got a razor I could borrow?"
Shifting slighlty on the rock he sat on, Inigo gave him a long look and didn't reply immediately when he sighed. He proceeded to dig into the bag on his belt. "You should invest in buying your own sometime," he replied, soon handing out a blade for the other to take.
"Yes, maybe I should," Arihiko returned, a crooked smile on his face before he left in the direction of the river. If he had the coin to afford the prices, then he would have bought one a long time ago. He got scowled at by the Aurosians when he passed their group, though the Leonian paid them no mind when he entered the edge of the forest and continued deeper into its shaded depths. Soon, he could spot the faint glimmer of water behind the sparsely grown trees, and he wasted no time in making a beeline towards it.
Upon arriving to the secluded area, Arihiko's gaze shifted up, and his eyes grew wide when they landed on Akane's bare back. "Crap!" he hissed, and he hustled back to a tree, pulling himself behind it to hide. He was sure that that she hadn't seen him, though he knew that he longer he stayed, the larger the risk was of him being spotted by her. Still, the Leonian found himself doing the unthinkable; he peeked past the edge to watch her. He did have the thought that he should leave and return later, and yet his legs didn't move and he remained where he was.
