Thin Ice

Sosio: {41 - 18 (entrance) = 23}

After such a great gap in time, an evolution, and countless adventures, Sosio was back. Now with her newly-obtained fire-typing, hopefully this expedition wouldn't turn out as tragic as the last.

The cold was just as bad, if not worse, than how she remembered it. The snow that flurried down was like whipping shards of glass onto her skin, hurting each time the small crystallized water droplet hit her skin. The wind itself was buffeting enough to make her wince back at the strong squall that existed in the area as a seemingly everlasting storm. This was powerful to such a degree that the bird's lashing Joy Ribbon was prone to being swept right off of her or even leaving cuts on her, so she tied a thicker not that left no loose strands and continued on.

The snowstorm was so thick that the Fletchinder could hardly see anything beyond her beak but basic colors and shapes, squinting as so to prevent her eyes being damaged by the stinging frozen fragments, but the cold was surprisingly little of a problem. Her flame sac kept her nice and warm, and she was thankful for a useful ability that was Flame Body. Her greatest concern right now was traction; she could come across a sheet of ice, or even the river, at any time without notice, not to mention there were dangerous wandering Pokemon around. The Ember Pokemon decided to keep an open mind of these things, and continued on in hopes to finally complete her quest in reaching Aileron and its guild.

Energy: 22 - 18(entrance) = 4

Rouge wondered why he had come to this frozen wasteland, then he remembered. There was supposedly a cave here with some sort of special stick that couldn't be burned up. He doubted the claim, but decided to see it for himself. The fierce and snowy winds stung his reptilian skin, his helmet provided some protection and shielded his eyes from the worst of it. He was smart to think of making a torch to bring with him, though stupid as it didn't do much good as it blew out only seconds after entering the area.

Useless, Rouge thought, that torch was useless. Still, he had pressed the warm part of the torch to his body trying to keep as much of that heat near him as possible. The warmth wouldn't do him much good as it would soon dissipate, leaving him wondering a frozen wasteland alone, freezing. Why did he do such stupid things as this?

Sosio: {23}

Relentlessly attempting to push against the gales that blew not at a constant pace, but sometimes in stronger gusts, deemed nearly useless. Sosio's big body and feathers would always catch the wind, sometimes even opening her wings and pushing her back, her claws digging desperately into the icy ground. She was going to have to take a different approach if this were going to work...

But quickly, before she knew it, she was blown with a powerful rush of air that caused her to flip backwards by the tips of her wings, slamming into the ground head-first and upside down right back at the start of the dungeon right into the sight of any Pokemon. The force caused her feet to kick back, right into her face, which swung right back down to the ground as she stopped.
Great, she thought.
This is just like last time...

Rouge was hit by something right in the knee, causing him to fall to the ground, his bone catching the wind being blown away from him, the torch landing in the snow and ice, the last bits of warmth now gone. He staggered up as the wind dyed for a moment, then turned around to go get his bone, leaving the useless torch where it lay. The moment he started trudging towards where the thought his bone would be, the wind picked up hitting him in the back of the head with a large chunk of ice. Had it not been for his helmet the ice would have knocked him out, instead it only knocked him forward and onto a sheet of ice, the wind carrying him back nearly to the entrance, stopping just as his nose collided with his bone, his head and bone were in a semi-clear area. Rouge groaned as he stood up, continuing along his path, there was no way he'd make it with out some source of warmth, even if he could withstand a majority of the winds.

Sosio: {23}

The feathered Pokemon got up urgently, realizing the crash may have slid her valuable bow right off of her head, so she scrambled to find it buried in the snow in hopes it didn't blow away. Fortunately, it was right under her back, protected from the wind by her weight. She hurriedly knotted it into a ball high up on her left leg. It hardly got in the way of walking, and she slid it up so it was under the protection of her feathers where it was hardly visible. Uncomfortable or not, the numbing cold wouldn't allow her to feel it, so she had to check it was still there occasionally to ensure that the tie hadn't loosened.

Her attention was soon on a nearby Pokemon: a short, roundish fella who seemed to be having just as much trouble as she, if not more. Sosio's legs helped quite some so she wasn't buried under the snow, but the bird couldn't say the same for this one, not to mention the cold could possibly get to it. She scrambled over there as fast as she could, now trying a new method of traverse: she held a burning Ember attack in her beak and lowered her body to the snow, melting any in the way and making the sheets of frost thinner. Once she made it over, she realized it must have been a desert-Pokemon--one she had never seen, for she was really only familiar with tropical Pokemon--which was odd to see in such a place.

"Hey there, you-pal!" The recently-flightless Pokemon had to shout to the wingless stranger, on account of the storm's volume. "You alright?"
She continued to approach, hoping that this ground-type heard her. Her beak nearly shone in the dark, fleetly falling solids, and with her excited flame sac, Sosio's Flame Body began to melt the ice around her keeping most of her body warmer than usual, but she was losing heat fast and there was nowhere for it to go.

Rouge looked around, as he had heard some sort of chirping near by, but it didn't sound like frightened chirping, but more happy. He spotted the relatively small bird, not far from him, sinking into the snow, as if it were so hot it could melt the snow. Slowly, Rouge made his was closer to the small bird, calling out over the wind in hopes that it would hear him.

"H-hello, ver-ry col-ld, W-warmth n-near?" Rouge's words felt forced and clumsy, his teeth chattering at this point, he walked a little past the bird, just to try and get away from the wind to no avail. Rouge could only hope the bird heard him and understood him.

Sosio: {23}

Upon hearing the Pokemon's stuttered response, Sosio began to scramble towards him, putting her wing around him to gently nudge him towards her heat-emanating body.
"You should really be careful around here," the bird Pokemon stated with empathy. She had been here back when she was only a normal- and flying-type, and with ice being super effective, she had a really rough time.
"This is really no place for a Pokemon like you," she warned, trying not to sound too harsh. It was true, however. The other two Pokemon Sosio had adventured here with in the past had resistances to ice-types, or could even bear through with sheer willpower. The Fletchinder hoped her own will, as well as her fire typing, would be enough to get her through this untold odyssey, as she still had quite a long way to go.

"So, when you warm up a little, do you mind telling me what brought you here?" Sosio wouldn't mind a little conversation to warm her heart quite a bit, but she just hoped the other would be fine with that, too.

Rouge moved in closer to the bird, the warmth emanating from the bird felt amazing to him, though he'd never seen a bird quite like this one, nor quite as warm. Only a few moments passed before he stopped chattering and could respond more clearly. Although he had significantly improved his vocal abilities, making smooth sounding sentences wasn't quite so easy, and it wasn't for lack of trying.

"Heard of stick, never burns. Was from tribe, would have become fire keeper. Keep sacred fire going, know how burn things good. Doubtful of stick not burn, look here for stick, told stick was here." Rouge stated, it wasn't much to go on, but it was all he needed to try and find the cave where the stick was located. Rouge looked towards the storming area, Rouge was sure it was hidden somewhere in there, he just needed to find it and disprove the non-burnable stick once and for all.

Sosio: {23}

The fiery Pokemon got lost quickly in the other's ironically long sentence, trying to let the key words sink in so she could act like she knew what she meant.
"Well, there's trees lining the river. I'm sure you can find plenty of sticks there," she responded, her tone of voice slightly changed to account for the other's strange speech patterns. The bird has never encountered someone who talked quite like this, so she was hardly used to it, nor could she understand why.

"If you'd like, I can keep you warm in my company," she offered with true sincerity. Whether a Pokemon was loquacious or not, Sosio enjoyed having others around her. It made her more spontaneous and upbeat, and nothing made the bird more ecstatic than making a new friend. Hopefully, with him by her side, he would warm herself and her heart. It was nice to have a Pokemon who could catch her heat and her kindness, both of which kept her comfort in such a gelid place.

Rouge nodded, he was always happier traveling with another Pokemon. In this place a friend was a necessity for a ground type like himself. He started trudging into the storm, happy to know he would have a warm friend by his side. Rouge smiled to himself, perhaps this nonburnable stick would be easier to find now. The wind felt lessened on his body, though Rouge knew it hadn't let up. Just as he turned to look to his new friend a shard of ice smacked him in his face. Rouge didn't fall this time, but wiped off his skull helmet, he hoped that this wasn't going to be a reoccurring thing here, but had a suspicion that it would. Letting out a small sigh, he trudged on word, thinking about one thing. His new friend was small, and may have trouble keeping the warmth and walking onward, perhaps he should offer to carry his new friend? Rouge wasn't sure if he should, but would if the need arise.

Sosio: {23}

Sosio smiled with her eyes in return to the little one's nod, her feathers ruffling in the seemingly lighter breeze now that the lonesome Pokemon had company and a distraction from the hardships of travel. After all, the long-legged bird was having trouble keeping her legs from being buried in the snow, so she would shoot the occasional ember to the ground so her scaly limbs wouldn't catch frostbite. It was also difficult to keep a wing around the shorter companion, so she tried to bend lower, tucking in most of her legs to her warm belly feathers and continued to hop alongside the Cubone.

Now willing to spark up an easier conversation for Sosio to understand, she decided to ask a very simple question.
"So anyway, what's your name little guy? My names Sosio by the way!" She exclaimed, ruffling her feathers and perking her head up proudly. A name wasn't usually the subject of bragging for many, but the juvenile female was confident with many things about herself, and she really loved her name. Where she got it from, she actually couldn't remember. All the bird recalls is that she's been called that her whole life, at least by her Venusaur family. Why or where it came from, Sosio began to grow very curious for the first time.

"Rouge bone" Rouge spoke with a loudly, so the bird could hear him over the wind. He was happy to have the wing around him, as it seemed to block most of the wind, leaving rouge with one simple thought. How could she see through the storm? She had no eye protection, nor a helmet like him, but she carried on. The wind and snow howled around them as they trudged on, seemingly at random with a snowblind bird leading them. He looked up to her head, her head was relatively big, but maybe if he placed his helm on her right, she'd be able to see better? He motion for her to bring her head down, calling out. "Head down? see something,help maybe."

Sosio: {23}

The bird nodded silently, acknowledging the Cubone's name, but noting the high volume of the wind, deciding not to verbally respond. She trudged forward through the pelting snow, trying to make sure she wasn't altering the position of her head so the partially frozen crystals wouldn't scratch her skin from falling at such a high speed. Fortunately, facing the wind meant Sosio's beak could protect her from the icy barrage, her aerodynamic shape letting the sleet brush past her nearly harmlessly.

Upon the Lonely Pokemon's request, Sosio did her best to decipher what he could possibly mean by his statement.
"Um... No, I will not put my head down, thank you very much," she responded, somewhat bitterly. The snow was already agitating enough, and she was beginning to heat up, both emotionally and physically, melting bits of snow around her within an inch radius.

Kicking up snow as she walked, while her backwards-bending legs were convenient in flight, they were a burden with walking, but her style of locomotion was not an option in this situation. She wanted to go somewhere easier, safer, better for travel. Maybe they could wait out this storm in a cave? That seemed like a good idea, unless the storm could get worst. Plus, the two had no idea where the edge of the storm was, which direction it was heading, or even if there was a chance that the eye of the storm was nearby. The fire-type felt hopeless, already exhausted from traveling just a few feet per minute, but she was determined to make it through. This was just the small cost. She had to do this now, and she wasn't going to give up.

Rouge nodded, figuring his helmet wouldn't fit on his avian friend's head anyways. He wasn't able to see much though the wings, but there wasn't much to see anyways. How far would they need to go, and how long would it take he wondered silently. The biggest fear is they would be trapped out there no food, no shelter, and no hope to get out. He pushed this thought out of his head, now was not the time to ponder something to negative. Rouge trudged forward, just grateful that his feather companion was able to emit such warmth, it was odd to say the least though. How was a bird like this able to produce heat like this? Was it really part fire type? Did it really matter though? the warmth was nice, and the companionship appreciated. This frozen wasteland is yet to best him.

Sosio: {23}

The avian Pokemon continued at a steady pace, factoring in the ground type's speed and short legs to determine how fast he could go and keep up. She kept watch of him without displaying a trace of care, focused on the path ahead, but truthfully she wanted to ensure his safety. Her beak suddenly chattered, perhaps from a combination of the cold, her immense loss of heat from emanation, and her attempts to suppress her emotions she was used to receiving and displaying in full.

Her current attitude was odd; Sosio never felt so much apathy, let alone any at all. She always felt everything at all times, but now it was as if that was all swept away in the wind, or a river of darkness, leaving nothing but an empty gray shell of her heart. At least she hasn't had any crazed outbreaks since, which was a positive outcome of this bizarre turn of personality. Up ahead, the cave was continuously obstructed by the white out of a blizzard, its image burned in the back of Sosio's head. If it weren't for an occasional reveal of the gaping rock mouth, she might have been blown off course by now.

"This way, we're almost there," she shouted above the wind, trying to avoid how much she would've rather muttered. Now all she wanted was to get inside the cave, free from these winds that threatened to tear all of the Fletchinder's feathers from her body. Picking up her feet in a desperate manner, she began to trot towards her escape and haven.