Pokémon: Aftermath #3a - In the Thin Ice [IC]

[Rielly987]

"Skarmory the tunnel!" The bird and boy glided there. With both feet planted on solid ground. "Skarmory start grabbing people we need to get everyone safe!"

[Jory]

{Carissa and Jory}

Jory paused for a moment, taken off guard by the question about his blushing and turning an even deeper shade of red. "Well... I... uh... the... the cold!" he stammered out, somehow managing to turn so red that someone might accidentally mistake him for a stop sign. He quickly looked away and moved to take a step back, but instead only managed to trip over his own foot and fell backward into the snow. He landed flat on his back, his weight putting a Jory-sized and shaped hole in the otherwise untouched snow of the rarely-used alleyway. He stayed down and contemplated his own jackassery as he looked up at the night sky, his mind stuck between Carissa and the plan. Maybe we could get a hotel room? he thought to himself. We wouldn't have to pay until checkout, but we'd be taking the city anyway. I'm sure Lucas wouldn't mind so long as it wasn't a five-star resort, as he continued to lay in the snow. His water-resistant clothing was keeping him warm, but it was certainly going to create a snowy mess wherever they ended up staying.

[Tacos]

"Well that doesn't sound like much of an answer does it." Carissa bent over to tie a loose string on her boot before shuffling over to Jory and grabbing his hands in an attempt to pull him out of the snow. However, he was just too heavy and she ended up slipping and falling right on top of him. A quick gasp flew out of her mouth as her face turned far brighter than Jory's had.

[Jory]

Jory lay speechless as Carissa fell on top of him, pushing him slightly deeper into the snow. He remained extremely red, trying to piece together what had just happened. He then looked up at her and couldn't help but chuckle. That soon turned into laughter as he realized just how ridiculous their situation was. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, then burst into laughter again. Once he finally settled down, he wiped a tear from his eye and looked back at Carissa. "Sorry. I just haven't laughed like that in a long time."

[SilverJakler]

Seth, now that the tunnel was done and the others were headed for the tunnel, ran over to the entrance of the newly made route around the knocked out Steelix. He met up with the other members that had already entered the tunnel. He peered outside the entrance and shouted, "Let's go people! You may have slowed the collapse down, but it's still gonna happen!"

[Notus]

Tunnel Crew

"Kyte, come back!" Jon yelled as he opened his Dive Ball to retrieve the Swampert. It would be easier and faster to move to the new tunnel that way.

When they all had arrived on the other side, he looked back. Now the only thing they could see beyond the huge knocked out Steelix was a pile of rocks and broken ice. So much for the pretty ruins.

Jon released Kyte again in the new room. It seemed they were quite close now... But something was amiss. A shiver went up his spine. "Is it just me, or this place is getting colder?" He asked everyone as the temperature dropped and a blue mist started to cover the ground.

[krim]

Getting up from his place by the wall Nemir said "It is. And I have a bad feeling about this. Vis?" "There's....something...in there. I sense it." "Can someone send a flamethrower in or something? We might freeze trying to get in without it."

[M_Cowher]

Thoron replied almost instantly to Nemir's request "Rusgon..." Thoron got no further as Rusgon let forth a bellowing storm of fire into the room. "Nice and toasty for you Nemir." Thoron replied.

Edited December 19, 2014 by M_Cowher

[Rielly987]

As Pine looked back into the ruins as he stepped out of the tunnel, he sighed "A waste... one big damn waste..." Chill more or less froze the man's shins... worry began to grow on Pine's face. Skarmory was still helping out some last few people so without he was also without a pokemon "Out of the frying pan.."

[Notus]

Temple Crew

... And into the fridge.

The Flamethrower did surprisingly little to raise the temperature, but it had the side effect of lighting up the room better... And show something new.

In the far end of it, right before the temple, stood a pokémon unlike any they had seen before: it looked like it was made of icicles, with an sturdy cristal-like body and short legs and arms. It had seven eyes, spread on it's face in a cross pattern, and just stood there looking at the group. A moment of silence passed, but just before the flames got out, the legendary pokémon Regice turned around and walked into the temple calmly.

[SilverJakler]

"Uh... was that what I think it was?" Seth was in total shock. A Regice? A fucking Regice of all things? And it wasn't even attacking them!? This was too cool to be true. "I-I think it wants us to follow it, might actually be friendly. Emphasis on might." Seth looked toward the rest of the squad and started following behind the Regice, Gigawatt close behind. He was really excited about meeting a Legendary that didn't seem brainwashed by the miniskirt regime, but he knew they'd have to be careful. For all we know this Regice was leading them to an icy prison so it could steal the rest of their soup and cookies.

[Tacos]

Carissa suddenly reverted back to her normal sheepish attitude and rolled off of Jory as he began to laugh. She was blushing profusely and she laid in the snow with her back Jory. She slipped her hood over her head and felt worse about it since Jory started to laugh. She huddled up in a ball of disappointment and regret.

[krim]

Nemir gasped as he realized just what he was looking at "It....it wasn't...they didn't get it...this....is the legendary...." he muttered and pulled out the book of Tales he had taken from the cabin. Flipping through it he said "Regice. One of the keys to the temple....and ultimately the king that lies within. The reason it's here could be one of three.....it was the one from the ruins and it hasn't been captured, it came to defend the king...or....Candice sent it....and it's here to defend the temple." he paused and then said "Seth is right...it didn't attack. If it was owned it would have...so I'm leaning towards one of the first two reasons." "We're going to have to follow to get in...so might as well start now" he thought before putting the book away and following after Seth.

[DarkLight]

{Tunnel/Regice crew}

As Miki and Raito scrambled out of the tunnel to meet up with the others, they both began to shiver as Regice made its appearance. Miki could only stare at the legendary Ice type Pokemon, taking in its splendid, shiny form... And the frosty chill as she and Raito followed the rest of Team Dusk into the temple. At this point, she could care less if this amazing creature was under Candice's control; a legendary is a legendary no matter what! 'This... Is... So... Amazing! I have read so much on these legendaries while I was in hiding. I never thought I would actually get to see one!' Miki continued to follow silently, she was too giddy to even suspect that the pure Ice type could be leading them into a trap.

Raito could only sigh as Miki skipped happily into the temple. For him, he was just glad that they were finally out of that blasted tunnel. And talking about a tunnel, he looked back at the ruined mess and tilted his head. Did he actually went through all of that without dying? Why was he so scared of them in the first place? The Jolteon chuckled to himself and shook his head at his silliness before following his trainer. Perhaps the underground isn't too all too bad after all.

[Jory]

Jory turned to Carissa and tapped her on the shoulder, sliding closer to her as he peered over her back to see her face. "Hey, Carissa, you know I wasn't laughing at you, right?" he asked softly. "It's just... It's been so long since I've had any kind of time to do something like lay in the snow with a girl my age, you know?" He sighed and put his hand on her shoulder, pulling her over so she was facing him. "I was laughing because for the first time that I can remember, I got to have fun with a person who I really like being around. I know we just met but when I'm with you it feels like the world is normal, if only for a little bit." He paused, his thoughts racing as he tried to put unfamiliar feelings into words that Carissa would be able to understand. "I... I really don't know what to say or do in this kind of situation, but I need you to know that you're special to me and I care for you more than I ever thought I'd be able to care for a person while Dawn was still alive." He stopped again, gulping and collecting his thoughts. "I never want to leave you, Carissa, and damn it all if I don't want you to feel the same way about me."

[Rielly987]

Pine scrambled for some charcoal and paper. "We're following right? Even if its Candice's we need to find it... I need to get a sketch of it!" As Skarmory waddled through the tunnel with the rest of the Slyveon unit. Pine returned it to its pokeball and quickly chased after the legendary ice pokemon. "Just imagine if the other two were here!" The man exclaimed to no one in general as he took off towards the legendary.

[Tacos]

Carissa's face contorted to feign sadness even though her heart was screaming "YES!" She even forced a tear down her cheek. As Jory was finishing his confession, Carissa sighed. "I know you weren't laughing at me. It's just..." Carissa swallowed. Her heart leaping out of her chest ready to scream her feelings for her. What is this feeling? The words are caught in my mouth when there's only one thing to say. The frog in her throat suddenly leaped out and her words began pouring out. "I feel just the same. I just felt ashamed because I had fallen on top of you, and for two people that haven't even confessed love for each other, it's just awkward. I didn't want to scare you or anything. The last thing I'd want is to scare away the one person I want to win this war for. Your presence is just compelling. There's just something about you that keeps me wanting more." Carissa's eyes were welling with tears. "And I just want you to know that I feel the same way."

[Jory]

Jory smiled and lifted his hand to Carissa's face, wiping the tear away and smiling lightly. "Hey, no need for that. We're going to be okay for now. And we're not alone. We have each other." He gently took her hand again and brushed her windswept hair over her ear. "What do you say we try to find shelter for the night?"

[Tacos]

"Yeah, but where?" Carissa whined. She was happy, she just had her doubts that anyone would take a random couple into their home.

[Jory]

Jory shrugged. "How about an abandoned building or a hotel or something? I'm sure there's gotta be one around here," he said softly. He looked at Carissa and sighed, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'm sure we'll find somewhere. Don't worry about that. We should be more worried about other things." He slid closer to Carissa, leaning his forehead against hers. "I wish we didn't have to move from here. Once we do, everything is real again. The war, the fighting. The danger," he said quietly. "I don't want to lose you."

[Commander]

{Flux & Drake}

"It's Drake," responded the Crobat's trainer. "Not that it's important or anything. Now's not the time for small talk. We should find a way in otherwise our guide's sacrifice will be for naught. The two of us may have been split up from the others, but at least we know where they're going. The two of us might be able to take a conclave down together, but neither of us can do it by ourselves. If you really feel that Fria will come, then I have no choice but to wait as well."

Drake stood there looking at the professor. He knew there was little chance of anyone surviving a few acolytes at a time, let alone 20 so he figured she used it as an excuse to drive Flux forward. Hopefully, the man would come to his senses and try finding a way in the city. They could only stay out here so long before freezing to death, but going into the city by himself was absolute suicide.

[Chevaleresse]

Sarcus had noticed the group and followed Carissa and Jory through the city, returning Absolution to his ball as he did so. It was slow going, though, dodging Church patrols left and right. He finally drew up on the pair and was about to call out and greet them when he noticed they were having a somewhat intimate moment. His cheeks flushed red slightly and he slid around a nearby corner, hoping he hadn't interrupted anything in a bad way.

[Tacos]

"Excuse you, mister. I think I'll be able to handle myself. I was the one taking on two acolytes back there." Carissa chuckled when a figure caught her eye. She quickly pushed herself up off of the ground and stood in a guard stance. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

[Notus]

Temple Crew

And now this. Jon's eyes were as wide open as anyone else's, as he had heard the legend of Regice when he was little. Seeing it now was almost like getting dragged into some kind of fairy tale. Still, it was higly unlikely that Dawn and her followers had simply let it free. Suspicion was all over him, but as the group advanced there was nothing he could do but follow, battle ready. Their only path to Snowpoint was through the temple anyway. Soon he was beside Miki, who seemed a little too much excited about the legendary.

"Hey, Miki. Take care ok? It might be an enemy." He said, not taking his eyes from the cristaline pokémon for a second and still holding Kyte's Dive Ball in his hand.

Despite his warning though, Regice didn't seem interested in engaging them just yet. On the contrary, it proceeded ahead through the temple cleaning the path for them. Rocks and rubble that would be in their way froze before the legendary golem and broke to pieces right after. It led the group keeping a safe distance until they arrived on the ground floor, where the entrance to the temple was sealed by a stone gate.

Extending it's right arm, the icy pokemon touched the gate and it started opening by itsef. Then it turned back to the group and stared at them for a moment before disappearing in a gust of wind and snow.

***

Adam

Karen looked nervously to Jory and Carissa while they slipped away, but as Adam was still carrying Claire she didn't say a thing. The older acolyte only realized what happened when they were about to enter the Center. "Oh, seems your partners got ahead already. I don't want to old you any longer, so you can just give me Claire and go after them. Thanks for your assistance special agent and don't worry, I already checked your ID with the higher ups."

Karen's look was of utter confusion after that little talk. "Special Agents? What?" The older acolyte looked back at her and explained. "Oh, after your transmition we were told these travellers are actually reiforcements that managed to get past Eterna. You were lucky to have bumped into them back there."

One of the younger acolytes opened her mouth to speak after that, but Karen interrupted her. "Oooh, so that's how it is! Thanks a lot mister! Now you'd better hurry to find your friends right?" She said that with a frightening look to her younger colleague, and it was obvious she was buying time for Adam to get away.

***

Flux & Drake

They didn't need even half an hour before a small sillouete in ski clothes appeared in the treeline. "Hey guuuuys, did you miss me?~" Fria asked, apparently unharmed and happy as always. "Nice to see we're starting to regroup eh? Those acolytes though... They'll be having a hard time figuring their directions after that chase." She chuckled a bit, and then pointed gracefully towards the lights. "Now, shall we go into the city? I'm sure you'll love it, Snowpoint is very beautiful at dawn...~"

[krim]

{Regice Group}

Watching the regice destroy any obstructions and seeing it turn as it walked out of the temple Nemir said "Vis?" "Its aura was never hostile towards us....but why?" "I'm not entirely sure...it guided us all the way through. This is the exit....or true entrance." He turned to the rest of the party "Well...looks like our trek is over....if anyone is hurt Vis can heal you." he took a deep breath and waited, wondering what the enemy had done in preparation for this moment, and what he would see when he stepped out.

Edited December 19, 2014 by DragonMasterKrim