sunpendant | Two | Action/textish

Two | Action/textish

[Raven had hoped to make it to Violet City, the next major spot on her map, by yesterday. The weather and its increasing proclivity to ruin her day notwithstanding, she put Melody into her pokéball and soldiered on, pulling her coat tight against the wind.

Today? She thinks there's pretty much no hope left of reaching the city before nightfall. Can't tell when nightfall actually is, but she knows stopping would be more dangerous than pressing on. For someone who usually can't tell the difference between a slight chill and an icy river valley, this is unusually cold. She's too numbed and exhausted to care or think about why that's so wrong, at the moment.

There's also no chance in hell she's letting Melody out again while this weather continues. Tiny fragile precious bird. Of course, if the lights she might perhaps see in the distance aren't Violet City...she may lose that chance anyway.

Feeling as though she'll just keep slowing down if she doesn't do something, Raven pulls her gear from her coat pocket and fumbles with frigid, clumsy fingers to turn it on and get the words function going.]

going to viiolet city
too mucj snlow

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Are you sure? You can both snuggle up to them if you want.

[Not that any of the three look like they care whether or not it happens. They're busy settling down next to the fire.]

[Shaking her head again, Raven releases Melody from the ball. The Swablu is already shaking, immediately nestling herself between Raven's chin and chest in a little cottony ball. Raven brings up one hand to cover her, and...thinks really hard about it before lying on the stranger's dry coat instead. Even though she doesn't want to.

She really isn't in a mental position to know what's best for her now. The shivering hasn't stopped.]

[Well then, it looks like he'll have to take care of the warming up by himself. ...And he does that by draping his largest towel over both girl and Pokémon. At the same time, his Ambipom pretty lets herself drop in their vicinity, looking very warm and inviting. They can't really afford to be subtle.]

[One eye opens when she feels the towel drop around her. Spotting the Ambipom...she does nothing. It can do what it wants, she's going to pass out and not think about snow.

Once she's asleep, the shivering tapers off, especially as the fire and lack of exposure really warm her up. She's out for a while.]

[Less shivering is always good, but Ash won't just leave it to time. He convinces his furry critters to settle down next to her, before finally sitting down himself to face the cave entrance.

Even now, the snow keeps falling...]

[Who knows how long this terrible weather is going to last? When Raven finally wakes again, she has no sense at all of how much time might have gone by. She comes slowly to the realization that she's...well, nested in the middle of a small pile of monsters. Swablu is awake already, rubbing Raven's face with one downy wing.

This whole situation is embarrassing.]

Hello? [The sound of her own voice invites a scowl. She feels heavy and cotton-stuffed and exhausted.]

Hello.

[Says Ash from slightly further away, as he tries to cook some strange vegetables over the fire. He's using his umbrella as a shield against surprise draughts; its skull pattern is staring at the sleeping group.]

I hope you can still breathe in there.

[All she sees is a pattern of skulls.

The reaction is instant. She pushes away, in the other direction, before she can think about the sluggish sensation in her arms and legs. She doesn't get far.

Melody sees this, and Raven's barely-checked trembling, and decides to solve it herself by flitting over to Ash and chirping in his face. He is scaring her trainer, he should fix it.]

[That admittedly wasn't the reaction he'd been expecting. He looks at her, at the Swablu in his face, at the umbrella, before taking that last one and putting it away.]

Are you alright? I know not everyone likes the gothic style and black's not everyone's color, but it's really just an umbrella.

I don't...like those. [It's up to him whether he understands that to mean skulls, and not umbrellas. Regardless, when the shock wears off she settles down again, not feeling up to rising any higher than the half-sit she managed.]

...I guess it can look a little morbid. Sorry.

[At least it's out of sight now, safely hidden in his bag beneath a pair of pants.]

It's not...

[No she's just terrified. Doesn't feel like explaining it, either. Weaknesses like that make her vulnerable. Melody has gone back to nuzzling her face, and Raven drops back to the cave floor again, head on someone else's coat.]

You're cooking. [And it's warm and smells pretty good and...it's warm because she's still in a monster pile, isn't it. She tentatively reaches a hand to pat the nearest.]

[Ah a subject change. He can take it.]

I am, somewhat. It should be edible, but I can't promise it'll taste good.

[The nearest would be Scarf, who proceeds to show how she earned her name by trying to nuzzle Raven's neck.]

[Raven lets her. She cradles Melody in her hands instead, slowly sitting up again, trying to clear her throat enough to strengthen her voice.]

It'll be fine.

Thank goodness. I'm sure sure there'd be any food to find here.

[Not that his team didn't try. At least the vegetables don't smell too bad as they cook.]

[Vegetables are perfect. She doesn't eat a whole lot of meat.]

I have...food in my bag, too.

Good. Depending on how long this storm lasts, we might really need it.

[He shoots a look at the entrance. Yep, still snowy and windy.]

How long have I been here?

Only a few hours, I think. I haven't really been looking at the Gear.

It wasn't working for me in the snow.

[She reaches for her coat, now dry and warm from sitting near the fire, and pulls it back on. At least this weird numbness in her limbs isn't the kind that threatens to kill her.]

At all? That's strange. Maybe the humidity damaged it.

[Or maybe Ash should pay more attention to what the people on the network were saying.]

Not much. [And it still won't really work, the problem now compounded by being inside a cave.

Raven eyes the curious vegetables again.]

We won't run out of water.

[They barely even look burnt, which is as good as they'll get. He moves them from the fire.]

Definitely not. I still have a few bottles, and the local environment doesn't look polluted enough for the snow to be unsafe.

[Nothing feels polluted here, either. The air is fresh and, barring the bizarre weather, nature appears to thrive along the routes she'd traveled and the streets she'd walked.]

How long will a storm like this last?

I'm not certain. Normally storms die off after a few hours, but if anything this one is picking up as we speak.

[And he doesn't like that at all.]

Two | Action/textish

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