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

[Azeria]

"Nappy come on,we gotta get outta here"Micheal said to his partner as he returned him to his pokeball."Does anyone know which direction would be best to hide from these Cultist nutjobs?""If not we might have to fight some of these Church Patrols...."He said as the group started to move again.

Edited December 9, 2014 by Can't Type

[Flux]

"Look Flux! Could it be them?"

Flux raised his hands in a shrug.

"Who knows?" he asked, giving a sly smile. "I suppose there's only one way to find out, though."

He grabbed Ogre's heavy ball from his coat pocket. It appeared that he might need to call on the big guy sooner than expected. He walked next to Fria as they approached the lights.

[M_Cowher]

Thoron being cautious, but also a bit stubborn concealed himself and rusgon in the forest using a combination of their cloaks and Rusgon's illusion, and nocked the flammable arrow to the longbow and slowly moved ahead in the forest using his years of experience in silent and unseen movement and followed the abomasnow at a safe distance interested to see how this plays out, and ready to help if need be.

[krim]

"Those of you coming with me, we need to move. Now." Nemir said as he began speedwalking back towards the way they had come. "It's not far off, but even once we reach safety we will need to keep moving. Vis will heal everyone once we get there." "I guess now would be a good time to see if ol' Mandarb is still alive....." he thought to Vis anxiously. "I doubt he is.....he wasn't in the best of health last we saw him." "I know, but the house and the tunnel should still be intact....he would've never let them find it. Even if he isn't, it's our only chance."

[DarkLight]

"R-Right." Miki quickly enlarged her Luxury Ball that was clipped onto her belt and directed it at Raito. "I'll let you out as soon as I can, boy. Return for now." After a compliant nod, Raito was beamed straight into the black capsule. She then ran after Nemir and Vis as fast as the snow would allow her. Miki turned to look back though before she sped off. 'Hang in there. Once Raito is healed, we will definitely come back.'

[SilverJakler]

"Right behind you." Seth recalled Gigawatt and hurried after Nemir, Vis and Miki. He didn't want to take the chance of getting caught with his partner in such bad condition. The snow crunched underneath as he tried to keep up with the trio.

As he took a look at Giga's Ultra Ball to make sure it was still there, he noticed one potential problem. "You reckon that this blizzard'll be enough to cover our tracks?" he said them as he gestured to their footprints in the snow.

Edited December 9, 2014 by SilverJakler

[Jory]

Jory looked from group to group, making a split second decision. "I'm going with Carissa. No one goes out alone," he said quickly, following Carissa and Lila's tracks into the woods as Shredder bounded along beside him. At least I'm dressed for stealth, he thought to himself as he began to make up lost ground.

[Tacos]

By the time Carissa had reached the Abomasnow, she was almost out of breath. She leaned over, gasping for air. She wasn't used to the thin, cold air, because she had always been in a warm, humid environment with thick, moist air. Her first instinct was to check her surroundings to make sure she wasn't in any immediate danger. She had made a 360 degree survey of the area when she turned back to Lila, seeing something unexpected. "Shredder? What are you doing here?" Carissa sidestepped to get a better view, since Lila was large and blocking most of her view. She saw Jory and her face immediately turned red. "Jory! What are you doing here?" This time, her voice was more harsh and quick. She didn't want anyone to follow her. "I don't have time to chat right now, I need to sedate this thing." Carissa spun around and issued a command to Lila. "Hypnosis!" Lila's eyes became the source of multiple swirls of a technicolor pattern that flew towards the Abomasnow. She hadn't even waited to see their effectiveness before turning around.

"I told you to go with everyone else to be safe! What the hell are you doing here?" Carissa's face was becoming heated. "I had a plan devised to keep myself alive if I was found here, but I had to be alone for it." Carissa began rubbing her elbow. "Unless..."

[krim]

Nemir was too busy thinking about Mandarb to notice that they wern't covering their tracks, and was surprised when Seth pointed it out."Good catch, Seth. Vis...try to use psychic to move snow back over our tracks if you can." he said. As Jory left, he told Miki and Seth of his plan. "There should be a house up ahead here soon. It's close enough to a large icy rock and the treeline that when looking straight at it, most people don't even notice that it's there. My....friend...Mandarb and I lived there many years ago, and there is a tunnel close by leading underground and to the icy ruins within Mt. Coronet. We made the tunnel very easily defensible for a situation such as this, so once we get there we can heal up and then do what we can to help the others."

[M_Cowher]

After seeing that Jory went to follow after Carissa Thoron hesitated and realized that he would probably be more needed with the rest of the party and rushed to catch up with Nemir and the others. "Damn, our curiosity got the best of us thus time Rusgon" Rusgon's expression said "I'm not the one who wasted time" and Thoron replied "Oh so it is nothing like that time that you..." Thoron had no time to reply because Rusgon gave a deep growl obviously meaning that "I don't want to talk about that anymore"

"Lets just hope that we can catch up before anything else happens" Thoron said before putting the arrow back in his quiver, and putting his bow back over his shoulder and increasing into a fast sprint, and raising his legs high in the snow between his long strides to try to avoid the thick snow. Thoron thought about having Rusgon use flamethrower to melt a path but realized it would be a dead giveaway to any pursuers. Looking for any sign of light, sound or movement along the path soon caught up with the group and overheard a mention of Mt.Coronet, something about tunnels and instantly recognizing Nemir's voice. Thoron called "Sorry i'm late, I hope that those two will be able to find us, but I didn't want to risk that failure" Rusgon's glare said that "not the first time you ever had a 'tactical retreat' " Thoron did his best to ignore the glare.

[krim]

"Ah, Thoron." Nemir said uneasily. He hadn't even heard the man approach until he called out! "Maybe I'm getting old....losing my senses" he thought and Vis responded with "Ha you barely had any in the first place. Who was it that had to find the house last time?" "Hey....shut up, it's not easy being half blind" Vis shut up at the mention of that, and Nemir felt a little bad about mentioning it. But only a little. "Did you hear the plan? Let me know as soon as a house or a very icy rock comes into view." he said and thought a second before adding "And I hope we can find them."

Edited December 10, 2014 by DragonMasterKrim

[SilverJakler]

"Alright, sounds like a plan." He was starting to grow worried about the others. They'd be fine, he kept telling himself... but this was the Church they were talking about. If they didn't make themselves scarce soon, things were gonna get ugly. There was also the matter of Flux and Fria, who were who knows where at this point. The blizzard seemed to be picking up even more, if it were possible. "Let's try to get there as fast as possible. The others might need our help soon."

He jumped a little bit when the man named Thoron called out to the, thinking at first he meant trouble. He clamed down a bit when he realized he was a friendly. "Alright, Thoron joins the party. Good to have ya with us." he said to him.

Edited December 10, 2014 by SilverJakler

[Jory]

Jory put a hand up, stopping Carissa from protesting. "We're Team Dusk. Not Carissa Dusk. No one goes out alone, not even you. If the worst happens you'll need backup. That's why we're here." He gave his teammate a concerned look, utterly confused as to why she was upset that he was coming to help. I guess she's used to operating as a lone wolf. But she should know that shit won't fly against Dawn and her flunkies. "We know how to stay low and stay quiet," Jory continued. "So you're just going to have to trust that we can handle ourselves in case the worst happens." With that said, Jory took a few steps closer and inspected the Abomasnow. "So what are we doing out here, Miss Master Tactician? And why the secrets all of a sudden?"

[Tacos]

"Yeah, and I'm doing this for the sake of the team. I wouldn't have wanted to go alone if I had confidence that anyone who went with me would also be able to make it out alive if we were found." Carissa sighed. "We're trying to sedate this Abomasnow to try and cover our tracks. If the Church stumbles upon the Abomasnow, it's better off asleep and quiet than awake and rowdy. That way it won't seem like it had any reason to cause such a commotion. As for the secrets? I've got none." Carissa stepped closer to Jory. "But, I guess I can let you in on my plan. Let's say while we're both here, the Church comes and finds us. Well, its obvious we're not too much for a threat with just the two of us. At least they'd think that. I was thinking we could pretend like we were a couple just trying to have some alone time in the woods, but we were suddenly attacked by this behemoth." Carissa pointed to the Abomasnow. "If they believe us, they'll send us back to the city, and we're in without causing a ruckus. If they don't believe us..." Carissa smirked. "Then a beatdown is in order. Kill them, take their uniforms, walk into the city no problem. You in, or not, Jory." Carissa spoke Jory's name passionately, getting into character for the plan. Well, it wasn't that hard, considering she'd been in that character the whole time, and was loving every minute of it.

[Rielly987]

Running to catch up with the group going to the cabin, Pine overheard the conversation. At the mention of ruins his face lit up"Ruins? Like the ones with the temple? Not that it matters but let's get there fast!" Pine needed to see this set of ruins for himself

Edited December 10, 2014 by Rielly987

[M_Cowher]

"Thanks" Thoron replied to the man who welcomed him to the party, and also replied to Nemir ​"I could scout ahead a bit, its kinda what i'm good at, and if I may add try not to over exert yourself, if you sweat in this weather you are a dead man... you'll freeze... it um, almost happened to me once." and with that Thoron took of at a brisk pace a good distance in front of the group and gaining.

[krim]

"Yeah, ruins. They definitely aren't as grand as the ones in the temple, but I heard a legendary ice type once slumbered there. It's gone now....probably captured...but the ruins remain." Nemir said, a bit sad about the fate of the legendary. He heard Thorons request to scout ahead and nodded simply while also thanking him for the advice. "Whether we get to see the ruins or not is a matter of necessity though. I'm not sure how far the tunnel goes, since I'm sure Mandarb has been working on it all these years... but last I saw it did pass through them once."

[Rielly987]

"Oh okay" depression settles on Pine's face. To him the myth of Regigas was spectacular. "Hopefully once we take the city we have some down time or maybe even a break before the gym" Albeit not the Regigas ruins, ruins were still ruins and Pine would be damned if he didn't get to check em out .

[Commander]

Instead of following the others, Drake stood his ground some distance away from the Abamasnow. He doubted the creature could see him, but he knew a girl and her follower were still up there at least. "I hope you idiots know what you're doing. If not, I think I have an idea how to take care of this oversized snowman for you."

[M_Cowher]

Thoron and Rusgon closed the gap to the next treeline rather quickly, and Rusgon seemed like he had about enough of this blizzard "I agree, if what Nemir said about these... ruins hopefully we will be out of this soon" Thoron said to Rusgon, who seemed to gave an agreeable gesture. Thoron scanned white shroud that blinded him seeing to far. The wind kicked up and blew hard against the pair and forced Thoron to cover his face with his arm, and Rusgon tried to wrap himself tighter in his cloak. "Oh so now you get the practicality of it" Rusgon grunted in the displeasure of being bested, but seemed glad enough to be wearing it.

Not after moving too long another treeline emerged from the blizzard and Thoron's trained eyes soon fell on a cabin. "That has to be it" Thoron considered going into the house but remembered how oftenly going in alone ended badly. Thoron and Rusgon turned back and soon returned to the rest of the group "The house that you described is not far ahead Nemir, but what should we expect? Is there something else that we should know?"

[krim]

"Mandarb isn't exactly the most friendly person, so Vis and I should go in first.....and the last time we saw him...he wasn't well. I'm hoping he's still alive but....I'm expecting the worst. At least it's still standing. If the church found it, it wouldn't be." Nemir said before going straight to the house and knocking three times in quick succession. "Great....not answering." He then opened the door and went in. Soon he came back out with a tear in his eye. "Dead. He left me...a letter.."
"Nemir, if you're reading this it means that I have passed on from this life..." "Snowpoint has been taken over....and my sickness has gotten the better of me. I tried my hardest to stop the church....but there was nothing I could do. I wanted to teach you and Vis...so much more....about your heritage and Sinnoh....If you attempt anything.....take whatever you need...They thought I was a powerless old man...I...extended the tunnels....it goes all the way to the temple now....do what you can...Nemir....Vis....I'll be watching...Take my swo--" the rest of the letter had been cut off as if Mandarb had hurriedly finished it....or was writing it in his last moments..."Vis and I....are going to bury him in the tunnel....you can all rest inside..." the tears were very noticeable now but he didn't care.
(Green is going to be used for when Nemir reads something aloud)

Edited December 10, 2014 by DragonMasterKrim

[Jory]

Jory grinned at Carissa, his mind nimbly at work making adjustments to the rookie's plan. "Nothing looks better on a woman than a brain, Carissa. I think your plan is brilliant, but there's just one thing I don't want. And that," he continued. "Is senseless killing. We shouldn't have any trouble convincing the Acolytes what we're doing out here since this beast is asleep," he said quietly. "If they should make us, we'll steal their uniforms and send them on their way south. We just have to hope we get lucky and find Acolytes that have been conscripted, not ones that volunteered. If they're zealots, well... Then we'll have no choice. We'll have to make sure we dispose of them properly though. I'll not have scavengers picking over any humans. It just seems wrong." He smiled at her again. "So, let's play the part," he said softly, taking Carissa's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

[DarkLight]

"Nemir..." Miki started quietly. She could that this Mandarb was important to him and Vis, perhaps he even a father-figure to the two of them. It reminded her of her missing father, who was also willing to fight until the end. She, hesitantly, raised her arm and put it on his shoulder, hoping it would comfort him in some way. "I-If you don't mind, do you want me to help you? It's the l-least I could do for what Mandarb has done for you... And ultimately us."

[SilverJakler]

"Oh... I, I'm so sorry, Nemir." Seth could see the tears streaming down the man's face. This Mandarb person seemed to mean a lot to him. He, and pretty much everyone else on this team probably knew the pain of losing someone, but not even knowing they were gone until much later? He couldn't think of which was worse. Miki offered to help Nemir... take care of the man.

"Yeah, me, Thoron and Pine can set up here while you two are out. We'll make sure not to mess with anything in there, I promise."

[M_Cowher]

"Give him a few minutes, i'm sure at this point that we all know what it is like to lose somebody and not want to be bothered, but if what Mandarb's note said is true... than this tunnel is our safe passage into snowpoint." Thoron sat down against the wall of the cabin reflecting on the many times that he lost a close friend. "Nemir I offer any help that I could give, but I well respect silence if it is what you want."