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.

The battle continued on amidst the freezing storm. With one final Low Kick, the Snorunt had finally had enough. It rolled back onto its feet, dodging the sand that was thrown at it. It stuck out its tongue before turning around and fleeing back into the blizzard, its bag dragging behind it.

The Scraggy watched as the ice pokemon finally fled the battle, gripping his frozen arm. The last Powder Snow had dealt a surprising amount of damage, leaving his arm encased in cold ice for the time being. The fact his arm was frozen was the least of his problems as unwanted memories began resurfacing. He looked at the ice, grimacing at the memory of his sister's face as she was hit by his attack. 'So this is what Valora felt...' He thought silently.

He shook his head, trying to take his mind off of it. He had to thaw this arm out before it would meet the same fate as his deceased sibling. He was about to turn and continue back to the Sneasel's cave, stopping as he noticed another item on the ground. He narrowed his eyes, trying to dig it out. Did it fall out of the Snorunt's bag? It was possible.

This dice is not existing.

"Oh...S-sorry." Kira wasn't sure how to respond, but she felt horrible now. She had annoyed the Sneasel when she didn't mean to. Kira grew depressed and shut herself up, once again watching the flames dance as she awaited for either the storm to settle or Mordred to return. She felt warm now, and a little bit sleepy. She kept herself awake, but not out of fear of the sneasel. She thought it would be rude to just fall asleep in the sneasel's den, when she wanted to be as polite as possible to the sneasel that possibly saved her life.

(I got nothin |D)

Cry sighed and calmed herself, something easy to do every since she grew apathetic to the world. She had no aspirations, no dreams, no goals. All she did was survive alone and nothing else. She wouldn't take the cowards way out. She had been trained too well to survive by any means to do that. So she'd probably stay out in these frigid lands til the day she finally died. For now, she was silent and acted like Kira wasn't there.

He picked up a Rawst Berry, holding it in his unfrozen hand. He narrowed his eyes at the berry. Was this some cruel ironic joke? It seemed so. He sighed, putting the berry in his bag. Well, at least he wouldn't have to worry about burns. Maybe he could explore a desert or something once he got back to Treasure Town. After this experience, he doubted he wanted to return to such cold climates.

He felt relief wash over him as he spotted a faint light in the distance. He dragged himself on the snow, having some slight difficulty due to his frozen arm. He paid no mind to it, the need to sleep practically drowning his mind as he fought the urge to just flop down onto the snow and rest. The trip and the battle had worn him out.

Kira's ears perked as she sensed the Scraggy's aura come within her range again, "He's returning." she spoke. There was something different about Mordred Aura though, it seemed dim and tired. Kira kept an eye on his aura in case she sensed him fall over, she would go and drag him into the cave if need be. She felt that it would just wound the Scraggy's pride if she went out and offered help. She didn't know if it was like the Sneasel in that way. Would the sneasel be offended if offered help? she wondered.

The sneasel had heard the footsteps of the Scraggy as they crushed the snow. She only looked up at him when he reached the cave. "Froze your arm? I'd say fifty fifty chance frostbite will set in and you'll have to lose it. The trauma itself could kill you. Lay your arm half a foot from the fire. It will thaw at the right speed from there. Pray you don't get frostbite." Cry just continued her maintenance of the fire, staying quiet.

Mordred didn't reply, not being in the mood to speak due to being too preoccupied by his thoughts and from his exhaustion. He did as told, sitting on the opposite side of the fire as he thawed his arm. The feeling of cold, immobility slowly vanished as it was replaced by the melting of the ice, dripping down from the Scraggy's arm and onto the floor with a plink! The fighting pokemon didn't seem to mind the uncomfortable sensation of the melting cold, prioritizing his inner conflictions over his senses at the moment. He remained unmoving and emotionless as his unfocused eyes continued to watch the fire.

Kira was confused, should she say something? Should she do something? Should she do nothing? She sighed, confused as ever, and stared at the fire. These pokemon aren't very talkative... she thought. She looked at the scraggy, he seemed to have been in a fight or two, "A-are you going to be ok?" she decided to ask. She was tired of the silence, it was agonizing to her. She wondered if the pokemon thought she was annoying.

As long as Kira didn't do anything to stupidly endanger her, Cry could always ignore the presence of her and Mordred. She was more focused on keeping herself alive. It was all she knew. To be honest... she had never left the woods. Icicle Woods was all she knew. She knew of other places, but never had a reason to leave and visit them at all.

"A-are you going to be ok?"

Mordred snapped out of his trance, finally acknowledging the presence of the other two pokemon. He looked over, seeing the Riolu. She seemed well, much to the Scraggy's relief. He'd though that leaving her with the psychotic Sneasel would've been a bad idea, but it seems his assumptions of the Sneasel's mercy were correct. But now he had to give an answer, and to be honest, he wasn't too sure if he was going to be fine. Physically, he'd be able to heal alright, seeing how his arm hadn't been stuck in the ice for too long and the Snorunt was awfully weak with its ice attacks. But mentally, he doubted he'd be able to fight another ice type due to the incident's reminder of his past mistake. He really didn't want that kind of burden to be placed upon him again.

"Well... I think I'll be alright. My arm hasn't been frozen for too long, and the ice is melting pretty quickly." He spoke, watching the ice dissolve into clear water. His eyes drifted to the two other pokemon, finding them to be so contrasting to each other that it was almost amusing. He wondered why the Sneasel was so cold ( seriously? ), but recalled the thought of asking her due to assuming that it was a common instinctual behavior. He decided to just keep the conversation with the Riolu; she seemed friendlier. "How about you, though? Are you doing well?"

"I'm ok" I guess, compared to everyone else here She was silent for a bit before continuing, "Geez seems like this snow storm just won't let up. First I get trapped in the desert, then a volcano, then a mountain, and now a snowstorm!" she chuckled a bit, "I guess I have really bad luck." She wrapped her arms around her legs, happy for the friendly conversation with the scraggy. She wouldn't mind if the sneasel joined in, but she was worried that she would end up insulting her.

Cry was as silent as ever, tending to the fire and looking out the mouth of the cave. Judging by the wind speed and density of the storm, I'd say it would let up soon. Once it does, they should have enough time to leave before dark. I can't leave because they might circle back to steal my things. I'll have to eat what I have here and look for a new home. Every time someone shows up. This is the fourth time in three weeks...

Mordred gave a chuckle as the Riolu told of her past wanderings. "Hey, it's not that bad. Having so many travels means getting stronger and having more experience. I haven't even explored half of the places you listed." He took a glance at his arm, watching it slowly be released from its frozen block. He let it lay on the ground, getting tired of holding it against the fire. He didn't seem to mind the water dribbling down onto the floor next to him, trying to get his mind off the earlier incident.

"So, are you from a Guild? If you went to that many places, I'd say you're an explorer." He said, turning his attention back to the Riolu. The sneasel didn't seem to want to join in their conversation, but he respected that.

[I have no idea anymore xD]

"No, I want to though. I met two pokemon on my adventures, a Ralts named Eve and a Scyther named Stryke. I want to make a team with them, but I don't know if they'll want to or not." Kira grew a bit depressed at the thought of them rejecting her offer. Her thoughts turned to what it would be like with all of them evolved, Eve was a ralts, and she had heard of ralts turning into something called gardevoirs. Kira didn't know what they looked like. Scythers evolved into scizors, she had seen one in a book before. She wondered if they would be cool like some teams of the past.

Cry had been watching the outside the whole time, listening as she did. Where were the rescue teams when blizzards killed all her cousins? Where were the rescue teams during the big fights between the groups out here? And where were the rescue teams when she buried half her group in cold life ending snow and ice. "Rescue Teams are merely mercenaries. They may act noble and right, but the reward and prestige is their real motivation most of the time."