Blinding Blizzards

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Mordred was shaking. No, he was not shaking from fear. He was shaking from the SHEER COLD. His arms were wrapped around him in attempts of lowering his freezing temperature. His eyes were reduced to mere squints due to the blizzard, causing him to see in blurs. His teeth chattered, feeling breathe escape his throat and appear as a visible fog as it disappeared into the violent evening.

The blizzard raged on, dropping countless bullets of snow upon the unlucky passers-by of Icicle Woods. No one had foreseen this harsh weather, but only few came to the Woods anyways, so it would be expected. The snowy ground grew and grew, inches by inches as it continued to bury the trees and whatever was left upon the unholy grounds. The spindly branches of the trees shook wildly, allowing its eerie rattling to accompany the unnerving roar of the blizzard. It was a picture of terror.

The lone Scraggy continued on, gripping his scarlet hood as it fought against him in order to go with the wind. He refused, tightening his grip on the fabric as he trudged through the thick layer of snow. He had to find shelter or he would be good as dead soon. He'd heard of many stories about the dangers of Icicle Woods, but he never imagined it to be as harsh as it was.

Willpower steeled, his squinting eyes attempted to find a makeshift shelter. A cave, or something similar. Anything to take cover from the weather. If it weren't for the fact he was part Dark Type, he would've been as good as blind right then and there.

"How about we try to keep using sand attack combined with Blaze Kick? That way it would be nearly impossible for it to hit us."

Mordred nodded, having no complaints on the plan. Sand began filling his hand as he approached the Snubbull, who immediately turned to him and used a Tackle to his abdomen. The Scraggy grit his teeth, nearly falling over with the force the Snubbull had used. He threw the sand in its face just in time; the odd dog pokemono now blind. The Scraggy went behind the Snubbull, using a Low Kick to send it flying towards the Riolu. He figured that it would be efficient if he coupled the Blaze Kick with a fighting move, seeing how normal types were weak to them. It would take only a few more minutes for them to get rid of the Snubbull if they continued this pattern.

Kira swung her leg in a roundhouse kick as it blazed with flames. Her kick made a ring of flames around her as she kicked, though the disappeared quickly. Her foot connected with the snubull and sent it crashing into the side of the cave. She launched herself at it again with a quick attack, but had to pull back as the snubull tried to attack her with a Thunder Fang. She thought she had escaped, but the snubull had taken a bite of her tail! She kicked at him again frantically as shocks were sent though her body. She finally managed to kick it away, but found that she could no longer move! She was paralyzed! She fell to the ground as sparks came off her. She would have to wait for the paralysis to end before doing anything, until then, she was vulnerable to any attacks.

Cry just acted without thinking. She completely ignored the other Sneasel, who ran out into the Blizzard to get away and avoid being struck down, and delivered a wicked scratch move from behind at the Snubbull. There was no defense, it fainted and fell to the cave floor. Cry looked out of the cave, the enemy Sneasel gone in the thick blizzard. "Looks like have your meal got away... at least he won't come back again. This one will have to be enough. I'll finish him off for you so you can get him ready to eat." Cry raised a claw, going to end the pokemon's life in one go as to not prolong its suffering. Even hunters had mercy after all.

Before the claw could hit the Snubbull, Mordred instinctively grabbed the other dark pokemon's arm. The Scraggy stood in front of the Sneasel, a stern look on his face. "I don't care if it's for survival. We don't kill them. You can go ahead and kill all you want, but I'm not letting you kill in front of our faces." He growled, not caring whether or not he'd be torn to shreds by the Sneasel for this act. They could go ahead and kill him on the spot, but he was not allowing the death of another pokemon to happen in front of his eyes again. Feral or not.

He walked over, picking up the unconscious predator. "I'll dispose this one somewhere it won't be able to come back here again, alright? Just keep an eye on the Riolu." He didn't wait for a reply, heading out of the cave and into the blizzard with the Snubbull slung on his shoulder.

Wait...he's leaving me, paralyzed, with a murderous sneasel? she thought. She grew annoyed at not being called her name and managed to shout, "I have a name!" she fell back to the ground as paralysis took effect once more. She groaned and wondered how long the paralysis would take, she was vulnerable and there was a cannibal sneasel in the same room as her. After all the sneasel had actually suggested EATING one of it's own kind! She didn't really like it that much. She prayed for either the paralysis to wear off or for Mordred to come back. She used her Aura to try and track where the scraggy was going, hoping he wasn't just ditching her. No...he wouldn't do that..she thought if he's against killing pokemon he wouldn't leave me. She was quiet in her mind for a moment, wow I sound REALLY selfish right about now...am I really that selfish?

Cry rolled her eyes, pulling Kira's foot to bring the Riolu closer to the fire. "Naive boy. He'd rather risk his life to save a Snubbull who will most likely die. All he changed was how slow it died and whether it had company in death. Waste of meat which you need to survive. Take some advice, don't let emotions cloud judgement. Those type of pokemon become meat, freeze, starve, get crushed by ice... just make sure you can take care of yourself before you care about others." Cry sat by the fire, maintaining the flames quietly.

It took quite a number of hours, but Mordred finally came to another cave. He put the unconscious pokemon down, before rummaging through his bag again. He took out a small amount of firewood he had nabbed from earlier, creating a fireplace. Although he doubted the Snubbull would survive without food, it could at least be spared from freezing to death. It would probably be able to rest enough that it could go scavenge food nearby. The Scraggy yawned, sitting nearby the fire. It was a miracle that the Snubbull wasn't awake yet, but he knew he shouldn't test his luck.

After a few minutes by the fire, the Scraggy stood up and made his way out. The blizzard was still happening, possibly just a smidge less harsh now, but still cold enough that it was dangerous to stay outside for too long. He continued on, luckily putting a few notable areas to memory to avoid getting lost. He stopped, noticing his foot step on something hidden in the snow.

This dice is not existing.

Kira relaxed a bit when it seemed that the sneasel wasn't going to hurt her. She tried to speak but the paralysis prevented her. She managed a huff of annoyance at the status, she was still on the ground and unable to move. She made a note to herself to never fight a pokemon with an electric move head on again. It only ended in paralysis and total vulnerability to attacks. She wondered why the sneasel was so bent on stuff like what she was talking about. Had something happened in her past? Or did all wild pokemon think like this and maybe this pokemon was a bit different than the rest?

Cry got up and went to the back of the cave, coming back with a portion of dried jerky meat. She tossed it onto Kira. "Hurry and eat this. Don't tell the Scraggy. He earned a little hunger for stopping me from feeding you two earlier." Cry sat by the fire, resuming her fire maintenance. She said nothing else, her thoughts and emotions impossible to find out.

Mordred raised a brow, digging the item out from the snow. It seemed to be a White Gummi. He had tasted these 'Gummis' before- They always gave him this odd tingly feeling in his head. But nonetheless, these were odd things that had helped him stay awake during times of need. He put the gummi in his bag, deciding to save it for when he needed it the most. He always stayed cautious when it came to items.

'Hmm... Maybe I could scavenge. Surely that Gummi wouldn't be the only thing around these parts.' He thought silently, deciding to wander around a little in the area. He stopped, seeing a figure moving from behind a few of the old, dead trees. He got into a ready position, already aware of how wild pokemon in such a blizzard would more or less be feral and hungry. He wasn't willing to die that way.

This dice is not existing.

Kira felt the paralysis wear off a bit and she managed to accept the jerky gratefully, "Thanks." she finally managed to say. She was still a bit paralyzed, but she could speak now, "Sure stinks to be paralyzed!" she chuckled a bit half heartily. She glanced at the sneasel, "Sorry if I'm being nosy, but what made you decide to help us? I'm grateful and all, but curious."
(Brain Block...)

Cry was silent for a bit after being asked, but eventually she did speak up. "It was just a whim really. I didn't feel like wasting energy attacking you and to be quite honest you were both weakened by the cold enough that I could have taken care of you both upon meeting. After you two didn't do anything and didn't run from a fight, you deserved a reward. The other can wait a bit for wasting time out in the blizzard with that Snubbull. The Sneasel froze to death by now..."

It was a Snorunt. One that was carrying a bag of sorts. It walked up to the Scraggy, a grin on its face. For a second, Mordred was trying to decide whether or not he should attack the ice pokemon due to the odd, shudder-inducing grin it gave him. He recalled the thought, finding it completely unreasonable to attack the pokemon all because of a creepy grin. What he didn't expect, however, was the jolly voice that contrasted with the Snorunt's unpleasant face.

"GREETINGS FELLOW WANDERER!" It boomed, voice clear even in the roaring blizzard. "It seems you've stumbled upon the RARE WHITE GUMMI!"

This was one really odd Snorunt. Mordred opened his mouth to reply, only to have his voice overwhelmed by the little ice type as it began rambling on and on about how it had searched for hours upon hours for the gummi, talking of how it was a merchant and had been collecting items in the Woods. To be honest, the Scraggy didn't seem to be buying it. Why was the Snorunt even scavenging in the blizzard? It seemed a bit suspicious, but the Scraggy decided not to dwell on it for long.

"... SO PLEASE HAND OVER THAT GUMMI!" Mordred snapped out of his thoughts at the last fragment of the Snorunt's ranting. It may have been just a gummi, but each and every item was important to the Scraggy, knowing how they could turn even the most dire situations around. The dark type was not liking how eager this ice pokemon was beginning to turn out. He shook his head, declining the Snorunt's offer. The ice pokemon was clearly unhappy with this, throwing a tantrum.

"THEN I WILL FORCE IT FROM YOU!" The Snorunt suddenly used Powder Snow, sending forth a chilling gust of wind towards the Scraggy.

Mordred's teeth chattered as he felt the freezing wind hit him. He shook it off, trying to ignore the extreme cold. He shot a Leer at the ice pokemon, before running and using a Low Kick at the Snorunt's feet, causing it to fall over. The Scraggy was met with another freezing gust of snow, giving the ice type enough time to get back on its feet and use a Leer in retaliation.

Defenses fallen, the Scraggy used a Sand-Attack, throwing a handful of sand in the Snorunt's face. The pokemon gave a cry as sand obscured its vision, unable to aim and causing its next Powder Snow to miss. Mordred used a Leer, his eyes just barely being notable from its faint glint in the Snorunt's sand-filled vision. The Snorunt was unable to react in time, being met with another Low Kick.

Well that's a nice thought...Kira thought sarcastically. "Ah..." she replied with, she was silent and unsure of what to say. She wondered if the sneasel had any friends, but thought it would be a rude question to ask. Her stomach growled again, which only annoyed her. She tried to pass the time by trying to identify the food by their smells, though she could see the food with her aura ripples. She gave up when she found herself thinking about apples the size of continents again. "So, have you been on your own like this your entire life? I was on my own for a long time too, I left my family as soon as I could. Although that resulted in nearly drowning in a river." she nervously laughed at the memory.

Cry narrowed her eyes, her past life and family an old wound that really hurt even to this day. "I used to live with a whole pack of my kind. I was taught to hunt, survive, and do anything to continue living this arctic land. I was helping fight off a rival clan of Weavile and Sneasel. We fight when food is scarce and we see he other has food to spare. I used the move Avalanche and buried not only them, but my family as well. I almost killed them, so I exiled myself as punishment. Happy you asked?" Needless to say, Cry was now in an irritable mood.