Into the Depths

The Oshawott ignored the sounds of other pokemon giving chase as she snickered, running ahead and heading towards the cave looming up ahead. It would have to do as a place to take cover for a while, since there wasn't much else around to work with, and she figured the pokemon wouldn't bother heading inside to give chase. Hopefully they would just head home.

She had been watching a few of them from her favorite vantage point, that being the treetops. Her plan had been to wait for them to move away from where they were and take some of their things, but it had fallen apart fairly quickly once she found herself falling out of the tree from a cracked branch. And right into a pile of berries they had been stocking up on. They were down more than a few berries now. And with that, she found herself running off for someplace to hide out.

To say that the cool, moist cave linking the Grassveil and Rainfront areas was a refresher from the desert trip she had embarked on before was an understatement. Ava found herself by the mouth of the cave as she ran up to it, looking around to check if anything else, or anyone else, was around. One might think that she would have learned to not go off on her own after nearly passing out and quite possibly dying in the desert. Well, one might think wrongly.

Serene Cave shouldn't be as bad as the desert was, she figured. If anything it would be a nice change of pace. The elements wouldn't be against her, and frankly she didn't have much of a choice in the matter as far as hiding spots went. The Oshawott moved into the cave and began to slow to a walk, hearing the echoing of her steps in the confined area as she kept a paw over her shell, switching glancing back behind herself and looking ahead, not wanting to get caught by something she hadn't seen coming.

Ava's Energy: 4/24.

[Energy 12]

A small vixen made her way into the cave, wandering off in thought and hardly paying attention to where she was going. She had a bit of a limp in her step, her foot still slightly injured due to a trap she had tripped upon back in that strange golden place known as Fallen Leaf Copse. She had begun thinking about the recent events, reflecting on her behavior the past few days. Was the trap some kind of warning about her not doing what she was supposed to do? She heaved a sign, her head and ears rather low as she trudged forward, looking a bit glum. She had not seen the oshawott that was just ahead of her, being a bit too lost in thought to pay attention to what was ahead.

A new set of footsteps started to sound in the entrance of the cave from behind Avaria. The Oshawott twitched slightly before quickly spinning around, scalchop in her paw. She threw the weapon in the direction of the pokemon behind her, quickly pausing as the shell hit the ground a few inches away from a certain familiar Zorua she had encountered some time ago. Oh. Well then... Feeling somewhat embarrassed over the missed attack, she quickly recomposed herself, letting a somewhat smug expression come to her features. The Zorua seemed to be a bit downtrodden, strangely enough. Much different from the pokemon she had met in Shadowhue. Something must have upset her somehow, and whatever it was, it seemed like it was still on her mind.
"You know, I'd tell you to watch where you're going, but that just seems so, well, typical. Just doesn't have a lot of style to it." The Oshawott spoke, looking up thoughtfully as if she were musing to herself, starting to walk towards her shell that had clattered to the ground near Mirage.

Mirage had jumped to attention when she heard something clatter near her, she spotted a shell and heard a familiar voice. She looked up to the source and saw it was a rather familiar face standing before her, "Style?" she asked, "Since when did outlaws care about style?" she snorted. She couldn't remember the name of this water otter, or if the thing had even introduced itself to her. She had only met her...once? She thought she had only seen Ava once, "Last I checked they were all about either killin' and grillin' or stealth and invisibility, maybe something else that isn't coming to mind at the moment as well"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Still though, where's the fun in things if you can't be a bit creative with them?" She shrugged as she picked her scalchop up off of the ground, placing it back on her front before turning back to the Zorua. The Oshawott quickly glanced over at the cave entrance, before bringing her full attention back to the other pokemon.
"I don't know really. Maybe it's just me, but it just all seems so bland if you can't have fun with it. Nobody likes a boring game, after all." Ava continued to muse, before deciding to shift the subject off of her own thoughts on the matter.
"I don't suppose you saw anyone else out there on your way here, heading this way? As much as I'd love to catch up, I might have gotten a few pokemon upset, so it might be best to keep moving." She continued to say, starting to head further into the cave. Only a few steps away, the cave began to rumble. The Oshawott had to stop for a moment to keep her balance, looking around. Well, that was odd, to say the least...is it natural, or is something causing it? Can't say for sure... She thought, turning back and looking at Mirage with a silent, questioning look about her, as if wondering if the Zorua knew anything about it.

Ava:

Mirage blinked and looked up at the ceiling as the cave began to rumble, checking for any loose rocks that might fall from above and attempt to knock her out cold. When the rumbling stopped, she responded, "No, didn't see anything, just kinda walked in here and wandering around. I really hope that the rumble was not one of your little friends attempting to suffocate you...that would be a rather bad day for the both of us."
She could only imagine being suffocated in a cave like this, she had already had a close call with suffocation way back when Akuroma was just a ralts and they were exploring with some Aipom named Crackers, the ruins of Monochrome Falls collapsed, and they were locked in and nearly killed. It took forever just to get back out!

Kat carried out 3 launched of one Serene Cave :

, ,

Ava scoffed and shook her head. "Yes, yes it would be a bad day for us. But to answer your question, I highly doubt it's one of them. I hightailed it out here, there's no chance any of them got here first. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if it were somebody who was after you. You're not exactly subtle, are you?" She commented, turning back and looking at the Zorua. The Oshawott remembered seeing the fox's face on the request board, having been able to move around town all this time since she hadn't gotten herself on a poster yet. Of course, she also hadn't done much yet. In hindsight, she hadn't done any sort of actions against the law except for attempting to steal from a few random pokemon in the dungeons, and attacking Mirage in Shadowhue. The former didn't seem to get too much notice, and the latter, well, she figured Mirage wasn't going to waltz up to the Guild and report her.

...wow. What kind of outlaw am I? I haven't done shit. She thought to herself, just realizing the extent of what she hadn't done yet. Maybe she would have to make a bit of a name for herself soon, get herself some notice. Before she could do anymore thinking, the cave shook again. This time, it was more violent, and the shaking threw Avaria to the ground with a slight cry of surprise. A few smaller sized pebbles fell from the ceiling of the cave, and as she looked up the Oshawott could barely make out the figure of another pokemon somewhat deeper in the cave. A Graveler, maybe? She couldn't tell for sure, because just as she got a glimpse, everything went dark. A series of boulders fell down by the entrance and completely closed it off, sealing the two pokemon inside the entrance of the cave in darkness.
"I think we have a problem." Ava put rather bluntly, standing up as she turned around, trying to look but having a hard time in the darkness.
"I mean, other than the whole we're trapped in here thing. I don't think we're alone." She added, hearing the Graveler roll in the cave, only able to judge where the pokemon was by sound. It seemed to be getting closer.

Mirage looked in the direction the entrance had been after the quake and ended, luckily not falling like Avaria did due to being on four legs and having more balance. She groaned in irritation as she saw that the entrance was now a dead end. She could still see slightly well in the dark, due to being naturally nocturnal and a dark type. She looked in the direction of the rolling monster known as Graveler, and noticed that something was flying along with it. A small noibat seemed to be somehow guiding it in the darkness. Mirage quickly took to action, using Fury Swipes to give some kind of light for the Oshawott to help combat the two in from the power of the move, and firing a Shadow Ball at the Graveler, attempting to slow it down or throw it off the roll.

The small flash coming from the Fury Swipes made the Oshawott wince, grumbling slightly as she managed to make out the vague form of one, maybe two or three pokemon. She couldn't tell for sure, considering any amount of light flashing in a dark cave felt like the equivalent of staring at the sun on a bright day. The proceeding Shadow Ball had managed to hit the Graveler, and the pokemon seemed to wobble a bit in its roll, bouncing ever so slightly. Veering off from Mirage, the Rock-Ground type curved a bit and instead slammed into the temporarily dazed Ava. The impact knocked her back in the air, throwing her into one of the cave walls. She let out a small cry in surprise and slumped down on the ground, her eyes starting to adjust a bit more. Watching as the Graveler continued to roll, it seemed to spin around, heading towards her once more.
"Hey, how many of them are there? My eyes are still adjusting." The Oshawott asked, opening her mouth and emitting a blast of water shortly afterwards. The attack hit the Graveler and altered its course, making it bounce back towards Mirage as Ava got back up, trying to shake off the damage she had taken.

"Two," Mirage spoke, before jumping up out of instinct over the Graveler and landing on top of it. However the graveler was still rolling, and she was flung off as it continued on with its path and clashed with the Noibat within the air. She cried out and the bat gave a screech as it flailed to get rid of Mirage. She clung to the Noibat, out of fear of falling right back into the path of the Graveler and attempting to bring the noibat down with her if she were to. The two struggled in the air for a very short amount of time, before they both fell, Mirage on top of the noibat in victory as she pinned it to the ground. She used this opportunity to check on the Graveler...

"Really? Just two? I'd expect it to be worse than that, with these odds." Ava put fairly bluntly, squinting her eyes to get better sight in the darkness. She could see the shadowed figures of Mirage and the Graveler, which seemed to launch the vixen into the Noibat. There wasn't much time to pay attention to how Mirage was doing with that, though. Continuing on its course, the Graveler spun around and aimed back towards herself. Now that she could see somewhat better, the Oshawott had an idea. Stepping to the side somewhat and angling herself so that the Graveler would be between her and the other two pokemon and getting low to the ground, a jet of water blasted from her mouth as she used Water Gun at an angle, knocking the rolling pokemon into the air and causing it to head straight for the other two.
"Hey, Mirage. Move." The Oshawott suggested, maybe a bit too calmly and smugly for somebody who had sent a giant rock creature hurdling towards the two. She hadn't even really thought of how much damage that could do to either pokemon, but hey, she wasn't the one getting it sent at her. It wasn't her problem necessarily.

Mirage looked up to see a falling graveler coming right towards her, she gave a yelp before getting out of the way just in time to not be flattened by the bolder pokemon. The noibat was a different story, as it was unable to get up in time and was crushed under the Graveler. The Rock type stood up, looking to his unmoving friend and glaring back at the duo, giving a groan of anger before curling up and rolling towards them once more. Mirage fired a Dark Pulse at the Graveler once more, striking its side and spinning it off course from them.

Making her way over to Mirage, the water type watched the Graveler get knocked further back into the cave, bouncing off the walls a few times before disappearing into the darkness. The rumbling sound carried on for a time, growing lower and quieter as the pokemon presumably disappeared further back into the cave, before going completely silent. Ava stood still for a moment, taking the situation in.
"...well. What was it you said before about trying to suffocate us?" She asked, feeling the full force of the situation start to hit her. She was trapped in a cave with somebody she couldn't even rely on to have her back, should anything happen. Saying that she was dismayed about the whole thing would be putting it lightly.

Mirage sighed, "Greaat..." her tail gave a flick as she turned, "Now I'm going to have to find another way out of here..."
Her tail gave a swish and she took a seat, her ears flattened, she was not going to enjoy going through this cave...not one bit. The zorua looked to the Dewott, "You wouldn't happen to know of how to get out of here right?" she looked back to the dewott hopefully. She may have been an outlaw, but she wasn't about to reject a lead. The cave rumbled slightly as some more debris fell onto the mound that blocked their path, the cave echoing eerily as the rocks bounced off one another, making sharp cracks as they fell onto the ground.
[Good bye all of Mirage's energy!]

Kat carried out 4 launched of one Serene Cave :

, , ,

Technically, she didn't know the way out. Technically being the key word there. The Oshawott shrugged and stepped forward into the cave, keeping her still adjusting eyes focused ahead as she moved, keeping a confident stride about herself.
"Well, the cave connects the Rainfront area to the Grassveil area. The exit should be there if we keep moving ahead." She told the Zorua, not exactly confirming that she knew where the exit was specifically, but implying she knew something about it. She wasn't dumb, and since she didn't know exactly how Mirage was in these situations, she had no idea if the Zorua would be more of a 'you-have-outlived-your-usefulness' type of pokemon. It was best to at least look useful.
"Or, if you want, we can just sit around and wait for another cave in. I can only imagine..." Ava had turned around and started to continue a bit smugly, before pausing mid-sentence.

A few steps could be heard from further on in the cave, joined by the beating of wings and a few muffled voices.
"You have to be more careful! That Graveler could have killed us!"
"I'm sorry, I'm really trying to be quieter...maybe we could use it to knock down some walls or something though, it might help us find it?" Two new voices spoke out from the darkness. Keeping her eyes on Mirage, Ava blinked and silently pointed down the tunnel, shrugging a bit as if questioning if the Zorua had heard it too. It seemed like there were other pokemon there that hadn't seen them, and whoever they were, they were looking for something. Who knew? Maybe it could be something good. The steps and wing beating seemed to get louder, the group coming closer. Deferring to Mirage's opinion, the Oshawott waited to see what her thoughts on the subject might be. She couldn't figure out if it would be better to hide, attack, or play nice at the moment herself really. At least if the Zorua made the decision, she couldn't really blame herself on whatever happened because of it.