The biggest downside of working with Kaito among ancient ruins and the like was his excitement tended to get the better of him. With no real direction in regards of what they were looking for, Kaito proceeded to choose a completely random direction and begin there. Iris personally felt it would have been more productive to start from one end and comb their way to the opposite side, but any time she was about to suggest such an endeavor, Kaito would immediately get distracted by something else.
She was starting to get the feeling that this was why Kaito wasn't remotely involved with the Mt. Coronet hunts other than off-site research. At the time, it had seemed mildly odd that he chose to examine the Old Chateau instead of going with the rest of the group. Now, after a good hour of accomplishing literally nothing at the Ruins of Alph, Iris suspected that Lin had hit the jackpot of justified excuses by leaving Kaito out of the Coronet hunt. Cecilia had been for lighting, Force for aura tracking, and Lin for overall competence, with Iris on the side for teleportation.
This was worsened by the fact that Kaito's enthusiasm hadn't dampened a bit.
"Could we at LEAST try one of those caves the researchers keep going in and out of?" Iris sighed finally, seeing that Kaito was inspecting a bunch of hieroglypics for the umpteenth time. He seemed no closer to decoding them than when they started, and she was already debating the merits of trying to bury her head in the sand like a deranged Doduo.
Iris was all for pursuing one's interests and examining ancient civilizations and such, but she preferred something a LITTLE more methodical if she was going to be dragged along. Normally, she was given the freedom to Teleport somewhere else and do her own thing when she got bored out of her mind, but she wouldn't feel right leaving Kaito completely alone, despite the fact he probably wouldn't even notice her absence.
"What are you even looking at?" Iris asked in exasperation several minutes later. Seriously, Kaito hadn't even acknowledged half of her suggestions or questions, and his fixation on the hieroglyphics was driving her insane.
"Trying to find some sort of hints about their meaning. I'm not trying to outright translate them, but if I can get clues about the symbols and possible patterns or arrangements, I might be able to get a gist as to their significance if I encounter them elsewhere in the ruins," Kaito explained. It was at least close enough to an explanation for Iris to accept that maybe he wasn't completely wasting his and her time here.
"Wouldn't you also get more examples and clues from other areas?" Iris wondered. Kaito nodded.
"But I still have to examine these so that the patterns elsewhere would be more apparent," he said, but nevertheless lifted himself back to his usual hovering level. "All right, so what were you saying about the research caves?"
Finding the caves where most of the research seemed to be happening was the easy part, but both of them were disinclined to get too close to the humans working there, so they chose an entranceway on the far side of the ruins, furthest away from the gate they had come from.
While the exterior of the caves had seemed like the entrances to a natural cavern, much like Mt. Coronet and Johto's Union Cave, the reality of the matter was that the interior was surprisingly ornate, decorated with runes and symbols, many of them resembling alphabetic lettering, but others much more obscure and foreign. The walls each bore massive tablet-like inscriptions, and the center of the room was decorated with massive statues surrounding a slab of stone that bore a large, distorted image. It seemed uncannily familiar, yet unclear.
Kaito immediately busied himself examining the walls and writing, while Iris peered closer at the statues. The Kirlia immediately found herself wishing that Force was with them. There was an eerie vibe in the air, not quite as bad as the one found in the Chateau, but the presence of something unnatural was unmistakable. It had no emotion, no malice, yet seemed to be not one individual, but thousands of different ones, all mingling together and bombarding the area with a faint signal of its existence. It set her on edge, and Kaito's slight trembling as he absently touched the faded stone suggested that either he was ridiculously excited or he too was picking up on the feelings.
Losing interest in the statues, Iris circled the perimeter of the room, giving every surface a curious glance before moving on. It wasn't until she reached the rear of the room that she noticed the peculiar placement of more of the alphabetic sigils. She stared at them, silently willing for something to happen, or some thought to occur to her, but all she accomplished was crossing her eyes until her head hurt, and she reluctantly moved on.
"Find anything?" she asked Kaito finally, and the Togetic shook his head, not the least bit disheartened. "I'll be just outside, I need a little air," she said, forcing a bit of brightness into her tone, just to see if he'd notice the contrast of her words and tone. He didn't respond, which was not surprising.
Iris took a deep, cleansing breath once she was outside again. The odd vibes of the chamber had faded, even at such a short distance, and she was able to relax a little. The interior chamber had felt as claustrophobic as actual crowds, bustling and pushing against one another in an attempt to reach a destination, with her trapped in the center. The only thing keeping her from a panic attack had been the lack of emotion, positive or negative, but her conscious mind found this even more unnerving. It was like a hive of insects, each with their own thoughts, but all geared towards one central thought process.
Maybe she just wasn't suited to this type of work. She always picked up the weirder, ominious feelings from the objects around her. Force did as well, but his methods left a smaller impact upon himself. Once again, the Kirlia found herself longing for her mate's presence, and as she closed her eyes, she could almost feel the warmth of his thoughts towards her. Their bond was as strong as ever, and so long as he was well, she could draw comfort from that bond.
"Are you okay, Iris?" Kaito's voice asked, as the Togetic emerged from the cavern. Iris opened her eyes, feeling her face grow warm as she turned towards the fairy Pokemon.
"I'm okay," she said with a small smile. "I just felt a bit overwhelmed in there."
"I see. Maybe you should take it in bursts, then. Help me for a bit, then take a break, come back for a bit, take a break," Kaito suggested. Iris could tell he was being careful not to add any comments implying she wasn't necessary. Kaito had his moments where he was absent-mindedly insensitive, but she never let that bother her too much.
"Any luck?" Iris asked, genuine curiosity lighting up her face.
"Some hunches," Kaito said. "I want to see a few other chambers, and then maybe go down to the central room. Hm, we never did find Sorin, did we?"
"Nope," Iris confirmed. "When you talked to him, was he actually studying the Ruins at all, or did he just happen to hear the rumors?"
"I was studying the ones studying the Ruins," a vaguely familiar voice stated and Iris looked upwards in surprise, whereas Kaito flinched badly and shot a resentful look skywards. "Whoops, sorry Kaito...but really, I couldn't resist."
Perched above the chamber entrance was a blue, bird-like creature with fluffy wings. Its head had two matching plumes extending from it, and its tail was made of five separate feathers. Its face had a small beak, adding to its bird-like appearance, but it was the wings' fluff that really stood out. It was as if its entire body was cloaked by low-floating clouds.
"How long were you up there, Sorin?" Kaito grumbled, his good mood abruptly gone, and his paw massaged his chest.
"Not long after...Iris, right?" the Altaria wondered, and the Kirlia nodded and smiled. "Not long after she came outside. Don't worry, you're not THAT unobservant."
Kaito grumbled something in response, but Sorin either didn't hear him or chose to ignore it.
"How've you been?" Iris asked, hoping to break the awkward tension between the two males.
"Not too bad, I guess," Sorin mused. "Didn't really expect you guys to come rushing back to check this place out after my talk with Kaito, but I shouldn't be that shocked."
"Have you learned anything new since?" Kaito asked, regaining his composure and fixing the Altaria with a curious look. "Or any more details about what sort of activity has been going on here?"
"It's stumping all the humans, I can tell you that much," Sorin chuckled. "The usual mysterious workings of the Ruins, but cranked up a few notches. Weird lights, odd vibes, symbols and writing appearing on what used to be blank walls. They've been combing the whole place and comparing it to older pictures they had taken, but they seem to have gotten nowhere yet."
Kaito frowned to himself thoughtfully. "Are there areas where more activity has been noticed compared to others?"
Sorin made a shrugging motion with his wings. "I haven't gone inside the Ruins themselves. I guess the researchers have been focusing a lot on the northern chambers and the main section, but I'm honestly not that interested."
Iris giggled a little bit, drawing Sorin's attention. "Sorry," she said quickly, but the Altaria smiled, silently encouraging for her to elaborate. "It's more that Kaito's really engaged in this, so I just found it funny that you've been studying the area if you're not that into it yourself."
Sorin shrugged his wings again. "I've known Kaito for a long time. It's just what friends do for each other. Besides, a lot of people have been coming and going since stuff started happening, and that's been pretty interesting in itself."
Iris cocked her head curiously. "What do you mean?" Beside her, Kaito heaved a slightly annoyed sigh, but didn't interrupt.
Sorin paid the Togetic's impatience little attention. "People themselves are fascinating. I'll probably never know them, but I like to observe them. How they talk, how they act, what they do. I think about where they come from, how they live. Almost all of it is nothing more than fancy, but it's fun to do."
Iris considered this for a few seconds. While she had never really done anything like that, her ability to sense a person's emotions and bond with them in such a way did give her a little insight into them as an individual. A kind heart, but an irritable demeanor could just be the results of a hard day, or an unsatisfying event in their life. What she found interesting was that Sorin didn't have the ability she did, so he was working off his own perceptions and experiences to judge another. This wasn't a bad thing to do, it just wasn't what she was used to doing.
"Are the northern chambers high-traffic?" Kaito asked abruptly, shaking Iris from her thoughts.
"Extremely. That's why it was so easy to spot you guys," Sorin chuckled. "Only other person avoiding those areas is Adrian, and I sure hell am avoiding him."
There was a blank silence for a few seconds, as Iris and Kaito glanced at one another, trying to read whether the other understood the Altaria's comment.
"Who?" Iris asked finally.
"Adrian. He's uh...a human male, early twenties. Uh...extremely skilled trainer, deals with troubled Pokemon. He's almost a big name in Johto for that alone," Sorin said, sounding surprised that they didn't seem to comprehend what he was saying.
"So why are you avoiding him?" Kaito asked, shaking his head blankly.
"Actually, it's less him and more his Pokemon," Sorin admitted. "He rarely keeps them contained in Pokeballs, and I really don't want to run into Ember."
Iris glanced at Kaito, and was surprised to note that Kaito didn't seem confused by this statement. She, on the other hand, had nothing. "Okay, I don't know who that is, either," she pointed out helpfully.
"I do," Kaito sighed. "But forget it for now. If the northern chambers are occupied, we should check out the main area in the meantime. That's probably where the activity is originating from, and the other chambers are bits to a larger puzzle."
"I do have to wonder what kind of civilization built their society to revolve around riddles and mysteries," Sorin mused. "That seems kind of counter-productive. Can you imagine living in an area where you have to solve a sliding puzzle every time you want to go to the basement? Or carry three sacred artifacts just to open the door to your house?"
Kaito laughed softly. "You bring up an amusing point. Most ruins with that much mystery surrounding them aren't the remains of a city or village. If they were, you'd be right, it's absurd. That's why it's important to try to determine the purpose of the location."
"I suppose so," the Altaria mused, not sounding entirely convinced, but he soon stretched his wings. "Let's see if you have any more luck than the humans who've spent years researching this place."
"Challenge accepted," Kaito smirked.