Last Lifeline

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The Life on the Line Mission Info:

The sun was high up in the sky, occasionally being covered by the clouds and causing the land below grow darker for a moment. The tall, black mountains of the mountain range didn't help in that, causing large shadows between the mighty peaks and on the land nearby. The ground was bare with only rocks, dirt and the occasional little shrub managing to force itself to grow in the harsh environment, at least protected by the wind by the nearby rocks and boulders shielding them. Mountain air never was very hot and humid, but the climate was pleasing enough and the breezy air of the higher altitudes surely would have been a welcome change of pace after a hot day. But when it came to the large canyon ripping the mountain range apart, the air was deathly still with no wind and the sunlight struggled to peek past all the sharp edges...

Varda huffed and puffed, pushing himself as hard as he could with determination sparkling in his eyes as he led the party forward. While he had pretty much flown for the rest of the journey, he had landed just because his partner could not fly himself, and the ground on the mountains could get quite tricky indeed. It was only fair for him to take a path he knew could be walked on, especially when the fall could be very... Bad. Him as a flying Pokémon had an advantage in an area like that. But Sova... He definitely did not want his friend to fall down into the depths!

Earlier that day, the Swablu had found an urgent request for a very important mission, one that would save a life. Of course he would believe a story like that and when he saw Sova in the Guild Hall nearby, he just had to explain it all and ask for help. Because it was urgent, Varda had done his best to get to the Obsidian Crevice as quickly as they could, quite fearlessly starting to descend the black-walled canyon as he hopped from one narrow ledge to another.
"Oh... Sova, are you doing well?" The bird remembered that he had a much-needed friend with him on this mission, understanding that his friend might not be able to climb down as fast as he could. He was lighter and smaller, with wings. Sova meanwhile could not risk falling...


Current Energy: 9 (39 -30 from entering)

"Um, I don't think those things should be called a weakness... They seem pretty sensible right now!" Varda chirped as his friend seemed to disagree with his plan about resting. It was a strange thing to say, but it did seem like Sova had more to tell him. He wasn't going to explain himself right away, so the bird didn't feel like he could just... Let the other Pokémon do whatever he wanted despite his condition because or some unknown reason.
"I don't think we can leave before she wakes up, though," the Swablu cooed as he looked at the unconscious Absol. There were dangerous Pokémon in the crevice, so they had to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. Hopefully nothing would go wrong so it would be a great excuse to make Sova sit still and rest for a while.

The two-headed dragon licked Sova happily and it wagged its tail. Of course, the head that hadn't licked the Glaceon ended up nibbling the other as they again started to snarl at each other in disagreement. Sova was understandably confused by this whole thing.
"Oh um, well, we found him... Her, um them, in a cave up there and got followed," the bird explained as well as he could while the dragon seemed to be arguing with itself,
"...Do you think they're related to um, that. They have been licking the ice," Varda nodded in the icy dragon statue's direction. Of course, the young dragon could just be thirsty.

"So, I never got a proper explanation," the Monferno chimed in after a while as he sat down next to the unconscious Absol, his supplies packed in his bag,
"You said something about a Gothitelle? What was this all about?"


((The best two-headed dog. And well technically we could end now but we have some Pokémon rolls we should get out of the way, so guess we should be going for another page? Right now I'm thinking there could be some talking and rest to give the characters some time to collect themselves, then we can bring in the magnificent Klefki.))

Sova simply ignored the swablu's comment on what was a weakness and what was not. If he couldn't take care of himself, he was weak. If he couldn't handle something, it was because he was too weak. This was pretty much how he'd decided to live his life, changing his view would never be as easy as stating otherwise. Of course, he wasn't solely to blame for this. The only reason he wanted so badly to not be "weak" was due to others.

Upon hearing the suggestion that perhaps this zweilous was related to the hydreigon, Sova shrugged. "Could be. Doesn't seem interested in attacking us though, so I don't care.", he responded, perhaps a bit inconsiderately.
It wasn't his fault that a hydreigon decided to go on a rampage. Even if it was dead, it wasn't his problem. If not it, then someone else, less deserving would have died....

He finally reached the absol and sat in front of her, as if to guard her until she woke up. It was the least he could do to make up for.... what ever he may have done, he figured. When the monferno spoke up and started asking questions, he decided he'd chime in a bit. "You were gonna die.", he replied. "Probably from trying to help fight that thing." He pointed to the ice shell encasing the behemoth dragon as he spoke, trying to show what he was referencing.

(Well, we don't need to stall out for a page. We could end this thread quick then start a thread in a less energy-heavy place so we can look for eggs, if you want. Klefki the god still needs to be a thing regardless though.)

Varda cooed as it seemed like Sova saw a possibility with the two dragons being related. This smaller, younger one clearly didn't want to harm them unlike the other dragon... So they clearly didn't have to worry about it so much! But because it was so, well, innocent and friendly, maybe that was a bad thing in the Obsidian Crevice.
"Hmm... Do you think the ice will thaw? I mean, if they are related and this is a baby Pokémon, then they could be in trouble if we leave them all alone," the bird chirped the issue he was seeing here. It would just be wrong to leave a baby alone, wasn't it?

The Swablu sat next to Sova as his friend sat down in front of the unconscious Absol, happy that they all were finally resting. Even if Sova didn't want to admit it, this was more of a rest than moving about, so the bird was fine with this! Hopefully by the time the Absol woke up and they could leave back home, they all would be properly rested and could make the journey without an issue. The monkey had a question to ask now that they had the time, and Sova answered. Varda himself, of course, ended up adding more to the story.
"She posted about her vision on the Guild bulletin board asking for help, too! We just had to come and help."

The Monferno ended up scratching the back of his head as he listened, a bit taken aback when he heard that he should have died today according to a friend of his. Not something one expected to hear everyday – or any day, for that matter.
"That's... Well, I mean, I don't know if she's ever predicted anything this big before, so I don't know if it really would have come true in the end," he started to talk as he sat on the ground, pulling up his legs so his thighs touched his chest,
"But... Thanks. It did get really hairy in here today..."



((Guess we should see where we end up post-wise, don't want to waste delicious posts if we're almost to the end of a page and everything. I think I'll be bringing up the Klefki next post, I think it would be nice if we could have Arka wake up at some point and have a little talk with her now that things are over. After that we could go egg hunt.))

"It's not a baby.", Sova replied.  "Dragon-Types don't evolve fast enough and this thing is already in its second evolution phase.", he elaborated.
It was probably just immature or.... less intelligent than normal.  Likely feral too.  He stayed almost perfectly still, like a statue, not even looking back as he talked to the others.  He had decided that it was his duty to guard the absol at the moment and nothing more.

He resisted the urge to reply too harshly as the monferno tried to argue that perhaps he would have lived.  The glaceon knew better.  That surf would have been a death sentence if he wasn't around, he was certain.  Even if the monferno managed to survive the Surf, there surely would have been more brutally powerful attacks to come.

The glaceon's ears perked up as the unconscious absol groaned, showing she was indeed alive.  Perhaps she was even close to waking up!

(Sounds like a plan.  Arka gon' cause drama. Also short post is short.)

"Ohh," Varda cooed as the fox was quite certain that the two-headed dragon wasn't a baby. His eyes looked over at the Pokémon in question, again licking the ice around the large three-headed dragon Pokémon. Any way he looked at it... Certainly acted like a very juvenile Pokémon, but perhaps it was feral. Many feral Pokémon seemed rather odd when it came to their behavior and this one certainly was a bit off! Still, the dragon was quite pleasant to be around when it wasn't jumping on anyone.

A groan from the Absol's direction caused the bird to turn his gaze again. He held his breath, expecting her to get up any second... But it seemed like she didn't. Perhaps it was too early still, but it seemed like she was starting to regain her consciousness, which was good! The Swablu seemed hopeful as he kept waiting, but another sound from another direction caught his interest. A couple of tiny rocks seemed to fall down the rocky wall as some kind of strange purple Pokémon with gems for eyes jumped down and landed gracefully, pulling out a horn of some kind it used to start playing music. From below, one of those strange cat Pokémon with a vacant stare scurried over with a basket, positioning itself opposite of the playing Pokémon. With an open mouth, it started to throw some shredded colorful paper into the air.

Some kind of very tiny Pokémon peeked from behind a boulder as it quickly dashed in the middle of the two strange Pokémon that had just appeared, doing its best to appear in the middle of the paper rain without being seen otherwise, as if it had just suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Obviously it did not exactly work, but it tried anyways, the keys stuck to it jingling as it moved. The gem-eyed Pokémon stopped playing the horn as the Pokémon of keys laughed its evil laugh – in a very high-pitched voice that made even Varda's voice sound like the epitome of masculinity.
"You FOOLS have just walked into the devious trap of the Magnificent Houdini!" It boasted in a similar voice, giving the cat by its side a glance as a signal to stop throwing the paper already as it was ruining its entrance.



((Not like you need much text to talk, hah. Also drama yes.))

Upon hearing the high-pitched annoying voice, Sova's fur began to bristle.  Not just because it was trying to threaten him.... but because.... wow, that voice was agitating.  After a moment of silence and stillness on his part, he took a deep breath, slowly got up and turned to face the.... klefki.  As if the voice wasn't intimidating enough, it was the most fearsome pokemon in the world!  A klefki, oh no!

Suddenly, the glaceon found himself unable to stay mad at this thing's adorable efforts at being scary.  He sat back down as began laughing uncontrollably, falling over on his side from laughter.  There was no way this thing was serious.  It was just a little klefki and it had a voice that made it seem like it had just inhaled pure helium.  When he finally managed to calm his laughter enough to speak, he looked up to the thing and spoke, "That's.... that's nice.  Now.... go away, we're busy.", pausing a few times to suppress laughter.

He glanced back at the absol for a moment, who was still unconscious.  If this annoying pest stuck around, it would risk disturbing the absol....  So, if it refused to comply and go away immediately, he would have to make it.  Maybe a good swat with his tail would be enough.  It seemed like this thing would be pretty easy to smack away, considering its size.

Varda stared at what was happening with wide eyes, blinking slowly. Some kind of strange little Pokémon was there trying to intimidate them and honestly... He had no idea how he was supposed to react to this all. He wasn't feeling very scared, for sure. Slowly, the bird turned to face the Monferno and Sova, noticing that he wasn't the only one feeling a bit confused by this whole thing. It was Sova who suddenly started laughing however, and the bird couldn't help but softly whisper that his friend should remember his wounds and not roll around too much...

"Silence!" The Klefki boomed – or tried – as it wasn't appreciating how it was being made fun of, seething with anger as its cheeks – if it had them – started to turn red. Most likely both from anger and embarrassment. The pair of Pokémon it had around it didn't exactly seem to know what they would do, looking at their boss for guidance as their eyes darted from the other group to it.
"I don't think you understand the situation you are in! I, the Magnificent Houdini, am the ruler of this here crevice and you are on my land!" It added as it cackled in what it tried to make sound menacing, but its little jingling laughter didn't exactly manage to inspire fear.

"BUT because I am such a benign leader, I will let you join my group as my servants for life! I won't just slaughter you where you stand!" The Klefki said its offer and looked awfully proud of itself for being in charge of the situation again, its cohorts giving it a round of applause as they clapped their hands together.

Sova sighed at this klefki's pathetic attempts at.... what ever it was attempting. Honestly, he would have been interested in messing with it a bit, but he was still worried about it waking up the injured absol. He heard another groan from said absol's direction and looked back to see her shift slightly in her sleep, a sign that she was waking up. He flattened his ears and slowly turned his head back to the klefki, giving a glare.

Slowly, the glaceon got up and began a paced march in the direction of the thing with the laughable voice and exterior. "Alright.... lets try this again. Shut the hell up and get out of here before you wake my hurt friend up.... Or else I'm going to make you, on the grounds of stalking.", he said, clearly ignoring the klefki's boasting, threats and "offer."
He didn't really NEED a reason like stalking to feel allowed to hit someone. He just felt that if the kelfki noticed he was a guild member, stating he had a guild-acceptable reason to attack would help in chasing it off.

He actually kind of didn't want to hit the klefki. It seemed.... unsportsmanlike. This thing didn't really seem like something that would bring much challenge to a fight. It was certainly no hydreigon, at least. Though, maybe because of this he could simply overpower it and intimidate it into leaving without having to hurt it too bad.

Varda watched as Sova got up and walked closer to the floating keyring, hopping up on his feet and waddling after his friend, not wanting to leave him face this strange Pokémon on his own. The thing was small, smaller than even the very small bird himself, so it certainly didn't look intimidating... But was this the right place to underestimate someone? At least the Swablu was a bit worried, especially because Sova was still injured and they hadn't managed to rest for very long.
"Um, I'm not even sure if we should be worried here," he chirped quietly to Sova.

The Monferno didn't get up, sitting by the Absol, though he did look like he was ready to jump up if something was actually going to happen. Varda meanwhile stopped once he managed to walk right next to Sova, showing the off boastful Pokémon that his friend wasn't alone in this. But the Klefki didn't seem to be intimidated by the Glaceon's words.
"No one tells the Magnificent Houdini to shut up! I am the law here! The leader!" It yelled in its soft voice as it tried to rattle the keys it had collected menacingly. It didn't really work.

"Either you will submit or... Or we will knock you down! Knock you all down! And throw you to the dungeon!" The Klefki laughed again in its high-pitched, ringing voice, certainly seeming very sure of itself as it boasted. It opened the loop that was holding its keys in place and positioned the metallic appendages as if they were arms, doing its best karate pose as it seemed to prepare for battle.

Sova rolled his eyes at the extremely unintimidating threats of the klefki. He considered just swatting it into the ground with his tail, but then he got a much better idea.... He snickered at his idea before looking over to Varda and waving a paw as if to dismiss the bird. "Back up, I've got this.", he said to his friend quietly before walking into the poor excuse for an enemy's face.
He simply stared at it for a moment with a smirk on his face.

"Alright, I'm gonna see how long it takes for you to run or drop without me even attacking you.", he said as the temperature in the air around him began to drop along with his body temperature.
This thing was part Steel-Type and he knew this, but he was confident it would eventually get too cold for the little thing to handle. He started out slow with the temperature drop to give Varda a chance to get a safe distance away before he REALLY turned the temperature down.

The glaceon was actually a bit excited to see this little living key chain struggle against the cold. Maybe it would fall over and beg for him to stop. Oh how embarrassing that would be, after the little thing talked so big and seemed so confident. He was certain he could attack now though, as the klefki was resorting to threats. Likely hollow threats, but still threats all the same.

Varda looked up at Sova and tilted his head a bit as he was being waved away, his friend claiming that he got the situation under control. The little beady eyes glanced in the floating Pokémon's direction, still trying to intimidate them all into submission. It was even looking like it was willing to attack, though again... The bird didn't feel very scared by such moves, he didn't feel like he was in danger at all. Those other two Pokémon next to the keyring seemed a bit more intimidating, but the way they were just oohing and aahing next to their leader made them look a bit... Well, not scary.

The Swablu gave Sova a small nod as he started to back off, his friend approaching the supposed ruler of this land. The Klefki attempted to look bigger and didn't back away, huffing at the Glaceon's threats as it jiggled its keys around. The temperature started stopping, something the lackeys seemed to notice after a little while, their eyes growing larger in confusion as they didn't know if they should leave for their own sake – but they hadn't been given permission!

"H-Hey! HEY! Stop that! It's an order!" The Klefki eventually chimed in as it started to feel how cold its metallic surface was getting, immediately realizing the source of the temperature drop. Its little eyes stared at Sova head on, its face almost looking pouty. One of the appendages stretched out as it went out to perform the mightiest of punches known to Pokémon kind... A small bop that could hardly be felt on the Glaceon's nose.

Sova simply allowed the little klefki to "hit" him, if its attempt at attacking could even be called that. Seeing that Varda was now a safe distance away, he sped up the temperature drop. In moments, the ground around him was glazing over with frost. Next, the water vapor in the air began to freeze into small ice crystals, some getting blown around by the wind and some falling to the ground. It wasn't a Blizzard.... this was just one of his latent abilities, he could make his body so cold that it did this to the area around him.

"Give up and get out of here while you can.", he suggested to the klefki as the temperature continued to drop.
Why was this silly thing even trying to be intimidating, anyways? More importantly, how could anything possibly be idiotic enough to FOLLOW it? This made no sense to the glaceon, but if others wanted to follow this klefki, they could follow it straight into an encasing of ice for all he cared. It wasn't his fault they were idiots.

Arka, the absol, finally opened her eyes as the persistent noise woke her up. She groaned once more as she tried to move, feeling the pain of her burns. She at least managed to look in the direction of the glaceon and see what he was doing. With no context.... she drew the conclusion he was threatening and attacking an innocent. Not that she could do anything about it, though. Her voice still hadn't quite come back to her.

Varda felt the cold, his feathers standing up as the air got quite chilly even though he had walked further away! The air around Sova started to freeze, the floating ice particles glistening in the few beams of light that managed to make it all the way down. The Klefki's metallic surface started to grow colder, frost appearing and eating up his metallic sheen as it started to take up more and more of his body. The Sableye and Espurr started to shiver as they tried to warm their bodies up, rubbing their hands all over as their teeth chattered.

The Zweilous raised its two heads as it noticed the ice that was appearing on the keyring Pokémon, snorting and sniffing the air. Excitedly, it started to run in the direction of Sova and the other three Pokémon, its small tail wagging. Before anyone managed to stop it, it had run into the extremely cold area, coated in frost just like the rest. It let out a pitiful little whine as it did not like it... But instead of giving up, it extended its tongue to lick the Klefki.

As the wet tongue touched the frozen metal, it froze to the Pokémon and got stuck. The Zweilous didn't mind as it had a new thing to lick and chew in its mouth, though the other head immediately started to snap at it as it tried to get a taste, too. The Klefki wailed as its lackeys panicked.
"Augh, there's drool...!"

Sova blinked in confusion as the zweilous decided to enter the cold area. It.... was a Dragon-Type, so surely, this temperature didn't feel good at all to it. Yet it endured. Why? Just to lick the klefki. He sighed at this and decided to let his body temperature rise back to its norm, shrugging at the sight of the zwelious using the klefki as a plaything. Actually, this was a far better punishment to the little thing than freezing it. Probably less painful, but far more embarrassing.

"You have fun.", he said to the zweilous as he turned around and began walking away.
The ice crystals in the air began to melt away quickly, though the frost on the ground was being a bit more stubborn. It was clearly melting, just.... a bit slower. The glaceon exited the cold area and allowed the zweilous to have its fun, looking over to Varda and the monferno. Then he noticed that the absol he'd been guarding was awake!

He ran over joyously to the absol, stopping in front of her. He took a moment to consider what to say, his mind racing a bit in relief that he hadn't killed an innocent, but before he could, Arka spoke up. "Go ahead.... finish me.", she said, clearly under the assumption he was intending to kill her.
This wasn't right at all though.... What had he done to make her assume this?? He figured maybe he'd inadvertently caused her to get hurt, but he never expected that it was him who'd done the hurting, especially since she was burned. Glaceons weren't exactly known for burns.

Varda tilted his head in confusion as he watched what was happening, unsure if this was a part of Sova's plan or if he should... Well, do something and help. The two-headed dragon held the keyring in its mouth with a wagging tail while the little Pokémon screamed for help and urged it to stop. The bird's eyes turned towards Sova as if to ask for further instructions, but his friend left the dragon and the boastful Pokémon alone to do whatever they wanted. The Zweilous started to run around happily with its new toy while the Klefki's lackeys panicked and ran after the dragon, trying to get it to stop and release their boss.
"Stooop! Let go of me, this is an order...!" The little Pokémon, now covered in drool, wailed and whined.

The Absol was stirring behind them. The Swablu turned around when he started to hear some sounds, noticing that the Pokémon was starting to wake up! He of course was overjoyed by this, a large happy smile forcing its way on his face. Even Sova had noticed and ran to the Absol, the trio now able to focus on just the injured Pokémon. She said strange things Varda didn't understand, but he just felt like she was probably feeling a bit off after everything that happened.

"Oh, you're awake. Hello! How are you feeling?" The blue Pokémon chirped in his usual innocent fashion as he looked at the Absol with large, dark eyes,
"You don't have to worry, the dragon thing it... Well it's not attacking..."