Breaking the ice

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Nick wandered in the forest of mountains with a worried expression. He never did like dark and gloomy places. As if the ominous feeling that naturally occurs here wasn't enough, today had to be extra cloudy. Still, Nick had to brave the mountain range if he wanted to get that TM. A fighting type move would be great against rock Pokemon, and it can even break walls. That just sounds cool.

The Delibird wasn't so sure turning back was an option anyways. He flew over here, but this wasn't the ideal place for a take off with all the walls of rock and bad general vision in the area. Well, at least if he fell he could slow it down.

Mordred raised his fists in preparation. To his surprise, the canine shifted its focus from him to the Delibird. It seemed to no longer find distraction in the scraggy, and was now paying attention to the bird as it rose from the ground. "Focus on your opponent, mutt!" The reptile hissed, before lunging at the canine for another attack. His fist collided with air, missing by just a split second as the Mightyena suddenly moved out of the way. He fell onto the ground due to the mistake and a misstep, meeting with dirt once more. The scraggy gave a small 'oof' as he landed on the ground, hitting his elbow in the process. He winced, silently cursing at his horrible luck. He raised his head to meet with the sight of the canine already on top of Nick. He froze in place, eyes wide as he watched the scene unfold.

The canine opened its mouth, revealing its sharp meat-shredding teeth. Mordred shut his eyes, unable to bring himself to watch. Although he didn't like the bird all that much, seeing him die was just too much for him to bear. He waited with bated breath for the scream that would come next. But the scream never came, and was replaced by a loud, canine yelp. The scraggy's eyes instantly opened, seeing the Mightyena suddenly thrown from the bushes and into a tree. His jaw dropped, eyes wide with disbelief as he watched the canine fall onto the ground in a heap. The reptile remained like that for a minute or so, bewildered by what he had just seen. He blinked, followed by several more blinks as if there was something wrong with his single working eye.

Finally, Mordred stood up. He began to approach the unmoving canine, stopping just a few paces away. He was close enough to see the faint movement in its chest. It was still alive, but just barely. He considered finishing it off, but that would've made him just as cruel as the mutt. The unconscious Mightyena laid on its side, showing the large red mark on its chest. The scraggy furrowed his brows, taking a guess that it was caused by a powerful physical move. But how could that be? From his knowledge, Nick only knew Ice Shard and Present, and there wasn't a single sign of ice nearby.

The scraggy turned away from the Mightyena, moving towards the Delibird that laid on the ground. He towered over the bird, watching him with a serious, yet somewhat confused and curious look in his eyes. Nick didn't seem to be responding, but had a single wing raised. No, it wasn't possible. Mordred was aware that flying types could have powerful wings, but he doubted Nick had the raw strength to deal such damage. A small glint under the bird caught the scraggy's eyes.

Mordred knelt down beside the paralyzed ice type, taking a better look at the item. It wasn't very clear due to the mass of feathers, but the flat metallic surface was unmistakable. It was a TM. And by some stroke of luck, Nick had found it and learned what move it held. From his wing and the bruise of the Mightyena, it was obvious he had learned some sort of fighting move. The scraggy pitied him and his current state, but couldn't help chuckling at the sick twist fate had played. They were supposed to find the TM, but having to severely wound a sadistic wolf was not a consequence both expected. "Congrats, Nick. By some kind of miracle, you just learned Brick Break."

This dice is not existing.

Mordred's voice seemed to start up Nick's reboot process. The Delibird blinked after hearing the reptile's statement. He blinked another time or two before his wing slowly fell to the ground.

Nicholas slowly put himself into a sitting position. He was still in shock, but at least managed to make the trip back to earth. Nicholas turned his head to face Mordred. There was definitely emotion in his expression, but which one was hard to tell. Was he sad? Maybe he was remorseful again. At the same time, there was also a hint of some sort of joy in there. Maybe learning a new move excited him. Maybe it was something else although.

To his credit, the avian tried to speak, but all that was coming out was jibberish. Finally, Nicholas leaned towards Mordred to wrap his right wing around the lizard. He pulled himself closer to Modred, or perhaps he somehow managed to pull Mordred closer to him. Either way he then embraced Mordred in a warm, metaphorically speaking, hug. He knew what risk he was taking, but Nick felt a lot of emotions and needed to let some of them out before he exploded, even if his outlet was liable to hurt and/or scold him. Tears fell from the Delibird's eyes. Yep, he was crying. It wasn't dramatically accompanied by some loud moaning or anything like that, but it was still crying. The bird finally managed some coherent words. "Thank you." He spoke in his usual meekness.

Mordred raised a brow as he saw the bird's slow, careful movements. It seemed like he was still trying to snap awake, or was he just unable to move normally after the trauma? It seemed like the fowl had become a machine. The scraggy stared at the bird's face for a while, trying to make sense of what his companion was thinking. But alas, his efforts were met with no answers. The mix of conflicting emotions on his face made the reptile all the more confused. "Nick?" He said, trying to evoke some sort of response. To his relief, the bird responded, but his words were incomprehensible.

His bafflement only grew as Nick wrapped a wing around him- shock nearly causing him to jump out of his skin. At first the scraggy thought the bird wanted some assistance in standing, but as he reached out to pull him up, he was met with a sudden embrace. He froze, not knowing what to do. He didn't know what the bird was doing, and honestly felt threatened by the foreign gesture. He brought his arms up, about to pull Nick off him only to be stopped he saw tears. The ice type finally spoke, thanking the lizard.

"You're... welcome?" The reptile replied hesitantly. Was he thanking him about the congratulations? Mordred had never actually witnessed someone crying in happiness before, let alone know how to handle them.

[Blargh, 'scuse the short post. I am having writer's block at the moment.]

Nick held onto Mordred for a little while. This may be a little more difficult than normal for Red to handle with Nick's cold body. It wasn't his fault. It's just part of him being an ice type. It wasn't exactly freezer burn worthy either. In fact, if one gets used to it, it might become refreshing. Mordred wouldn't have to take it for too long though. Nicholas soon released the reptile and slowly but surly stood up. He wiped water from his eyes, two small trails of water still visible. Though it was small, for the first time since he got here, the Delibird was smiling. "S-sorry, I guess I just kinda lost it for a minute. It was just really scary. I thought... well, I thought he had me. A-anyways, I guess we should be going again." The avian marched past the lizard on the same path they were walking before the attack, expecting Red to follow.

(It's fine. Don't forget, you have an item to grab.)

Mordred could feel chills from Nick's cold temperature. The feeling was horrific to him, and he almost retaliated violently if it weren't for his conscience. The Delibird was experiencing some sort of inner turmoil at the moment, and after what had happened, the scraggy didn't have any reason or right to lash out on him. He unconsciously held his breath while the bird continued, wishing that he would let go soon. When he did, the dark type could finally breath again, but could still feel the cold put on him. He stood up, watching as his companion did so as well. He seemed surprised when he finally saw the Delibird smile, albeit it just being small. He felt somewhat gratified to have somehow contributed to it, but at the same time felt a pang of guilt once he remembered how he had acted earlier.

The reptile allowed the Delibird to walk ahead, speechless after what had occurred. He crossed his arms, attempting to rid himself from the cold feeling. He was about to walk after Nick, until he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He reached down, grabbing it. It was a small bundle of Silver Thorns. Deciding that he could make use of it in the future, the scraggy stuffed it in his bag and hoped the sharp thorns wouldn't end up destroying it. He then proceeded to follow Nick, catching up fairly easily. He walked in silence, not daring to say a word.

They were outside the Mountain Range's forest now. All around was the large collection of high mountains and other small forests, but thankfully it didn't seem like much of a trip to finally reach the entrance again. The moon and the stars hung above the dark sky, supplying the limited amount of light throughout the vast range. Howls, squawks and other spine-chilling noises continued to fill the air as the night continued on.