Frost & Found

This had better be worth the long hike and mean ol' icy Ninetales, Osiris thought to himself. The dratini had trudged all the way out to Icicle Woods in hopes of combating the local ice-types to gain experience and had done a little bit of that before finding something even better—a partner for a rescue team. Now he had put on the hat of the detective, trying his nonexistent hands at solving a long-standing rumor of strange scents in the frozen woods. Up 'til now, it had been a very cold (hue) trail, but the dramatic and theatrical appearance of a frosty (huehue) guide had changed those things.

He was still a little bit salty, though.

Or, rather, he tried to be. But that all fell apart as Osiris slithered through what was the mouth of the cave, having followed the light at the end of the tunnel and finding himself at the foot of... a beach? It seemed like a beach, but it also seemed unlike the beach back around Rainfront. The sand beneath his scales was obsidian black, painting a gorgeous contrast to the crystal blue water of the ocean down a ways, alongside the arrangement of emerging ice piercing the water. Osiris found himself transfixed by the sight, stopping as soon as he exited the mouth of the cave and staring listlessly at what they had discovered.

"Man," he uttered in awe a moment later, trusting Maxie had followed him. "Talk about pretty, huh?"

51 energy (no entry fee due to discovery)

Maxie: [Energy: 25 - 0 (Discovery Free Entry) = 25] [Defense Scarf]
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It was. However, Maxie only allowed herself to take in the sights for a brief moment before she got right back to work. She kneeled down and reached into her bag, withdrawing a folded sheet of paper, which she unfolded to reveal a map. She also pulled out her journal and pen. ”...This is new,” she whispered. She double checked her map. There was nothing matching this place on her map or in her notes. She was quite confident that they were likely the first outsiders to enter this area.

”Well, congratulations Osiris,” she declared as she marked the places relative location on her map. ”You’ll be joining the guild with the news that you were part of the group to discover a new dungeon.”

She started taking notes on the place, describing what it looked like, how it smelt, the sounds… Fortunately she was a pretty quick writer. Eventually, she paused, and scooped up a bit of the odd black sand. She let it sift through her digits. ”I’ve never seen sand like this before,” she commented.

Osiris smiled wide at Maxie's words. That was a big reason of why he had tagged along, wasn't it? Talk about a head-start. A reputation as an up-and-comer who had made a discovery or two before getting in the door would cause everyone else to take him much more seriously much quicker. Which was good; the sooner Osiris could start climbing the guild rankings and getting the good missions, the better.

"We should take some back with us," he replied, snaking out further into the black sand and running his tail through it. It felt like normal sand, more or less, though it was colder due to the environment. "You know, as proof and all that, in case no one believes that a couple o' rookies found a place this awesome. And we should look for other stuff to find!" he went on, excitement bubbling back up as he spoke. It took a moment for it to really register with him, but they were in uncharted territory right now. They could find anything on this beach.

It stood to reason they'd probably encounter some ice and water-type pokemon, but as far as everything else? Items, environment, plant life, and all that other boring stuff? It was suddenly a lot less boring now that he was the one who got to tell everyone else about it. "Come on, let's check this out!" he gushed, ducking his head as he slithered through the sand and across the sands.

[Energy: 25] [Defense Scarf]
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The mawile did as Osiris had suggested, collecting a sample of the sand onto a scrap piece of paper, wrapping and twisting the paper into a makeshift little packet. Then she put it along with her map and journal back into her bag, stood up, and followed after the dratini. Now she allowed herself to take in the scenery in full. It was quite beautiful. It was also her first personal experience with a sea coastal beach.

”I’m afraid this place has significantly hurt Rainfront’s Beach’s chance of impressing me,” she commented. The sea winds were frigid and carried with them the distinct scent of the ocean. She pulled her cloak tighter and adjusted her scarf. ”Although the temperature isn’t exactly ideal… Still thinking about taking a swim in that water?”

"Well, I mean, maybe," Osiris stammered in response, torn between sticking to his guns out of childish pride and doing the reasonable thing. He did love the water, as did most dratini, but Maxie was right in that a dip in these waters would probably freeze him in short order. There was also no telling what kind of pokemon were lurking in those waters. He wasn't trying to be breakfast for anything.

... though maybe he'd make good bait. Just his tail, though. "I at least wanna see what kind of pokemon are in there." he settled for saying, coming to a stop a yard away from where the ocean met the sand. He raised up, displaying most of his length as he surveyed their surroundings from coast-to-coast; for all intents and purposes, it was just... sand. Sand, ice, water, and some snow generously sprinkled in all around. Was nothing dangerous or cool going to jump out at them?

[Energy: 25] [Defense Scarf]
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”If something drags you in, I am not going in after you,” Maxie cautioned. It was a bluff, really. She didn’t even want to touch the frigid waters that lapped the sandy coast, but if she had to to help Osiris, she would. Still, she’d rather not have to.

The overcast sky made it difficult to tell how far into the day it was. When Maxie had left for the Icy Lands, she had prepared herself for a prolonged stay. She never decided if she was actually going to stay in the area for any great length of time. Now that they had discovered this place, though, she was beginning to think hanging around her for a day wouldn’t be a terrible idea—assuming nothing terrible came up between now and later.

The cave they had arrived from would make an easy shelter. ”I’m going to make a little shelter of sorts in the cave, start a little fire so we can warm up. Don’t get yourself eaten.” She turned back to the cave.
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Badger carried out 10 launched of one Glacial Beach :

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"Never fear, for I am he who is uneatable," Osiris mumbled in concentration as his much more mature partner went to go actually handle business. He stayed in the same spot, squinting into the distance as he spoke. The excitement of being an actual explorer who made a real discovery may have been getting to him a little. "Many have tried before, and they have all failed." Well, to put it more accurately, he was also just refusing to give up on scouting for cool stuff. His vigilance kinda sorta paid off a few minutes later, after Maxie went to do her thing and he spotted some movement far, far down the beach.

Two blue, blubbery figures emerged from the ocean and waddled onto the black beach. A walrein, and its little baby sealeo friend, but that was less interesting. He had seen these kinds of pokemon before, during his brief trip to the Frozen Stream, not far from where he was now. It was... a little disappointing to see them in this dungeon—a part of him had been hoping that everything they came across would be shiny and brand new, but there was more to be found, he was sure. Things that were exclusive to this dungeon that could serve as proof of their discovery.

... well, hey, he could always ask. The two walrus pokemon looked relatively friendly with each other, at least, waddling close to one another as they slowly made their way across the beach. Osiris took off at a hurried slither after them, leaving a visible trail in the sand of where he was going. If they looked spooky or anything, he could always just retreat to the safety of the cave.

the sunset hero carried out 10 launched of one Glacial Beach :

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[Energy: 25 - 5 (items) - 40 (Pokemon) = 0] [Defense Scarf]
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Back at the cave entrance, Maxie stumbled upon an object of interest. She had mistaken it for a hunk of ice at first, but upon closer inspection she found it far too clear for that. Picking it up, it became evident to her that it was not a piece of ice, but in fact some kind of crystal. She admired it for a good moment, wishing the sun was around so that she may observe the light’s passing through it.

She dropped it in her bag a moment later. This would be a keepsake to remind her of this trip. Now she got to work. She withdrew from her bag a folded piece of canvas—an invaluable piece of kit that could be used in many different ways to create or improve shelter. She also withdrew a couple of the silver spikes she had collected earlier in the woods.

A few careful swings of her powerful horns later and the canvas was mounted by the top two corners, one each on the cavern walls. She also prepared a makeshift fire pit. ”Now to find some fuel,” she declared to no one. She stepped back out of the cave, ducking under the bolt of fabric, to find Osiris had left his spot on the beach.

It didn’t take her very long to find him. She simply followed the trail the serpentine Pokemon had left with her eyes until she found him nearing a grouping of Water- and Ice-types. A walrein and a sealeo… And another sealeo sudden appeared from the sea, carrying on its nose a spheal. They noticed the dratini, but they didn’t seem at all bothered by his presence. Maxie started towards the group. ”Making new friends, Osiris?”

In the time that Maxie had been doing grownup things, Osiris had been doing cool kid things, like making new friends. "Yeah!" he chirped back, turning his back to the group of seal and walrus pokemon without a worry. "They said they didn't know that this place was a secret. It's just where they've always lived." he parroted.

"I guess the way in is kind of secret, but there's been folks in the woods that have always known the way. I'm kinda surprised that part held out this long, but we never tried to hole ourselves up or nothing." The walrein added from behind the dratini, its massive fuzzy whiskers twitching as she spoke easily and casually. "Your friend tells me y'all are from a guild, though. I'm pretty sure you're the first to make it out here officially, or at least the first I know about."

The dratini preened at this information. "So you were right about that part." he echoed. "S'kinda weird how none of the water-types have figured it out, though. You'd think they could just... swim here." he went on, nodding to the massive ocean at their side. The walrein simply shrugged.

(0 energy)

[Energy: 0] [Defense Scarf]
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”Well,” Maxie started now that she was within a more reasonable distance for conversation. ”It’s nice to run into some friendly folk upon our arrival.” It was definitely a nice change of pace from her last couple of dungeon excursions.

”I’m going to walk around the area, look for some fuel to start a fire. I’m not the quickest of Pokemon, so don’t wander too far without me and get yourself into trouble, k?” She didn’t really expect the dratini to cause her any such trouble, but it was better to be safe than sorry. With that bit of cautionary advice given, Maxie started searching around the area of the beach farther from the shore, in hopes of finding kindling and firewood that wouldn’t be utterly saturated in sea water.

"Yeah, I gotcha!" Osiris chirped back to his more mature exploration partner, his enthusiasm and eagerness not quite willing to be culled by her instructions. They sounded relatively absent, anyhow; like she was more letting him know where to find her rather than expecting him to find himself in a pinch.

In hindsight, maybe Maxie should have expected him to get into trouble.

Nodding a hasty farewell to the walrein and its family, Osiris bounded off in a similar but different direction than Maxie. He wanted to keep her relatively close by, as he was smart enough to realize that she was kind of his lifeline in this situation. Powerful he may be, he was also young, unevolved, and very much a dragon type surrounded by a lot of ice. No immediate danger really presented itself, however.

As if by magic, once Osiris spotted those first few pokemon, suddenly the beach had more pokemon on it. There were a few pokemon he spotted that were simply making their way to and from the water, like a bulky prinplup on its way to go hunting, but one stuck out to him as interesting. Gross, but interesting; a little snow-white and cool-blue bear cub pokemon, with a curious and very heavy-looking snot drop hanging from its nose.

The dratini couldn't really pinpoint the harm in saying hello, at least. It was a pokemon he'd never seen before—maybe it was never-before-discovered, like this beach. Osiris slithered his way over eagerly.

[Energy: 0] [Defense Scarf]
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Compared to the forest, this beach was relatively slim pickings when it came to sources of fuel. Sticks and broken up branches—damp at best, drenched at worst—was the majority of it. She could make it work, she was certain. She’d just need to find something that was dry and flammable to get the whole thing started. She had a flint and steel, and a bit of what was basically lint to help start a fire, but that wouldn’t be enough to get a fire going with damp wood.

But that was a problem for future Maxie. Present Maxie was just going to gather the wood and deliver it to the cave-made-shelter. It was like camping, except that their survival may actually very well depend on it. Neither of them were suited to this climate. But that was fine. She had the situation under control.

Spoiler alert: Maxie didn't have shit under control.

"Hello!" Osiris burst out as he slithered up behind the bear cub pokemon, raising his head up eagerly to look down on the pokemon. "I've never seen one o' you before—what are ya?!" the dratini half-asked and half-demanded, peering his head to inspect the little blue bear from a different angle. The cubchoo, for its part, bore the approach, request, and surprise inspection relatively well... for a few moments, anyway.

It turned, slightly startled by Osiris, automatically backing up a few steps before harmlessly tumbling backward onto its butt, falling with a soft whump onto the sand. Two wide eyes stared up at the dragon snake that was staring down at it. Its lower lip wobbled for a moment, eyes widening and shining as it was quickly overwhelmed... and started crying. It let loose a piercing wail that immediately caused Osiris to draw back and recoil, flinching from the creature. It may have been just him and his ears, but the voice was high—did he find a baby?

"Ah, n-no, no it's okay, you don't have to cry," he soothed clumsily, leaning down closer to the pokemon with no idea what to do or say. That was evidently the wrong move, because the wail turned into many more, and they did not stop. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I didn't meant to scare you, oh geez..." Osiris trailed off, turning his head away for a second as he scanned the horizon for any wayward parents. Of all the pokemon he could discover in a brand new dungeon, he found the one little kid.

[Energy: 0] [Defense Scarf]
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She was back near the cave now. She used her exterior jaws—which had no sense of taste—to carry the wood that she had collected, leaving her hands free to push the hanging canvas out of her way, granting her entry to the cave. She dropped the wood against one of the cavern walls.

The canvas sheet was square, but the mouth of the cave was not. This left a gap at the top, which was intended. It would serve as a vent for smoke. She decided on a place for a fire pit, and marked it with an encirclement of stones. She dropped her bag on the cave floor. After a few moments of searching, she found what she was looking for. A flint and steel, and an old scarf. The scarf, she hoped, would be enough material to burn to further dry the driest pieces of kindling she had collected.

Placing these items beside the soon-to-be firepit, she looked around the cave, once again inspecting what would be Osiris and her temporary shelter for the remainder of their time here. It was far from perfect or ideal, but she was happy with it. It was nice for things to be going well for once.

Wait, what was the sound?

Osiris wriggled distressfully. "O-oh, oh no, man, i-it's okay, really!" he blurted out, slithering circles around the crying bear cub in a frantic effort to discern how to fix it. "I'm friendly! I really didn't mean it, l-look, I'm super friendly!" The dratini then proceeded to make a variety of really stupid facial expressions, closing his eyes and covering his face with his tail each time he cycled between them. It served to marginally calm down the cubchoo—or maybe it just stopped long enough to suck in a shaky breath of air to cry out again.

Dratini and cubchoo went through this routine for almost a full minute, and each time the cubchoo grew quieter and quieter, until eventually, it was visibly holding back a smile. In accordance, the rising anxiety and helplessness inside Osiris died down as he exerted some manner of control over the situation. He'd really just been hoping to have a conversation with somebody, maybe ask for some directions and see if there was any cool local spots to check out, but it was just his luck that he'd startled a freaking baby.

When the bear cub was relaxed enough to start giggling, Osiris as well relaxed, pausing his foolish act long enough to sag down into the sand. An insant later, a chorus of angry, deep grumbles pierced his ears, and he shot up, alarmed. Following the sound, the dratini swiveled around to pinpoint it. Inside a large column of ice half-embedded into the black sand, only a short walk away from the watert, a trio of beartics were on the move. They squeezed through a sizeable gap in the ice one after the other, all of them laser-focused on the cubchoo he'd been teasing... and on him, the pokemon that had made it cry.

"Oh," he uttered as the reality of the situation dawned on him. "Shoot."