Rowan gasped for air as he suddenly awoke. The sky stretched across the treetops above him as he coughed, taking deep breaths as though he had been holding his own. He tried to move but his limbs refused to budge, having no strength to even so much as twitch. All around him, he could hear the crackle of flames as thick tendrils of smoke curled towards the sky. In contrast, snow fell from the heavens onto and around him.
"Hello!" He tried to call out weakly, his voice coming out little more than a hoarse whisper. "Anyone there?"
Thoughts of the crash swirled in his mind. The smell of smoke and ash filled his nose as he laid on the ground. How he survived, he had no idea but hopefully someone would come to his rescue. Eventually a small amount of strength returned, allowing him to get to his feet after a couple tries. His beaten and battered body began to kick into gear, protesting his movements with aches and pain.
Rowan took the time to get a good look at his surroundings. Trees in the immediate area were burnt, smoldering from their immolation. More than one were hissing as snow fell upon the embers. The majority of the trees around him in a wide radius were laid low by the blast. The ground beneath his feet was scorched. Ice and snow had been stripped away, exposing the dirt beneath it. No matter what direction he looked, the scenery was more or less the same but something seemed off.
"Where's the plane?" Rowan thought to himself, the realization suddenly striking him.
Merely surviving the crash would have been a miracle on its own and Rowan could have accepted that. However the fact there was not even scrap metal around him caused him to doubt whether or not any of this was real. Whether it was the cold or his own anxiety, he didn't know, but a chill crept up his spine. Regardless of the situation, he had to find shelter and fast if he wanted to survive the frigid environment he found himself in now. Through sheer force of will he stumbled into the forest in hopes of finding anything he could use, leaving the fire behind to burn.
"You do know it's winter…right?" Felix complained as he shivered. "I'm not even on active duty this season!"
The snake was poorly suited for the cold, the leaves on his back were beginning to curl in response. The Servine sneezed as he dragged his feet through the snow. Chloe sighed at the pitiful sight before turning back around to continue walking, the grass type trailing after her.
"Yes, I'm aware" She curtly replied. "You've made that very clear from the beginning. Now come on, the sooner we check on what happened the sooner we can get back and you can go back to sleep."
The arctic fox sniffed the air, concerned about the scent of burnt wood that carried itself along the breeze. The Glaceon felt right at home in winter weather, more than she could say than her companion. If only Felix had claws on his feet, she could have simply frozen the snow solid to keep him from sinking into the frozen powder but didn't want to risk him slipping and hurting himself. Chloe jumped over a fallen log in her path.
"Why are we even out here again?" Felix asked as he clambered over it, snow falling onto his tail afterwards. He scowled, shaking it off vigorously. "Son of bitch…" He muttered.
"Because of that" She replied, pausing and pointing a paw to the sky ahead of them. Twisting into the air was a large pillar of smoke from an unknown source. They were close enough that she could practically taste the smoke and ash carried by the wind. The fire had to have been old however, as the pillar was beginning to dissipate.
"I doubt the fire is gonna spread,'' Felix mumbled. "Too much snow layin around, besides it looks like its going out on its own anyway."
"Yeah well, it's not the fire that has me worried. It's everything else around the problem" Chloe said as they resumed their trek. "What if another pokemon is hurt and this is their way of trying to signal for help? What if another team fought a feral they couldn't beat?"
"Fine but why rope me into it? Couldn't you have gone alone all ninja like and investigated without me?" Felix asked, his vines striking poses before wrapping up his own face aside from his eyes. Chloe balked at his cringeworthy display.
" Because… If someone is hurt, I need someone to help me. I can't carry much or move anything. No real hands remember?" Hopping onto her hind legs for a moment she waved her paws, accentuating her point. The grass snake pokemon didn't offer a rebuttal, instead grumbling to himself some more.
"Can you just chill please?" she asked, wanting to brighten her friend's mood. "No one else was around. You're the only one I can count on for this."
"Okay okay, I get it" Felix conceded. "Let's just get this over with."
After checking to make sure their supply bag was secure on his back, Felix picked up the pace. His vines reaching from branch to branch, he swung himself forward not unlike a Mankey would travel in the jungle. Chloe snickered, glad he was willing to help without complaint now. The closer they got to the source of the fire, the stronger a particular scent became. The fires had all but gone out, leaving the air tasting of ashes and charcoal. However they couldn't completely mask the odd scent that lingered in the air. Felix scaled a tree to get a better view from above for a moment before dropping down to her side.
"Yeah uh… Chloe?" Felix asked. "There's no sign of what could've caused this."
"We'll split up then" Chloe nodded. "Look for anything you might have missed. Send out a signal if you find anything."
Felix didn't hesitate, following his friends instructions he quickly slithered off. Chloe headed off in the opposite direction, her eyes glued to the snow around her. If something was here, they had to have left tracks. The only thing she had to go on was the peculiar scent that permeated the air.
Entering a clearing, Chloe looked around. Judging by burns on the trees and how they were bent and broken, she was likely at the center of whatever happened. The ground beneath her feet was charred black, not even grass remained. A thin layer of snow had fallen onto the ground as if nature itself was trying to hide the ugly scar from the rest of the world.
High atop one of the surviving trees she noticed something. A bag swayed in the wind, somehow stuck on its higher limbs. A few feet away, she also noticed a set of footsteps. Chloe realized that they either belonged to a victim or the culprit; there was no way to tell.
"This is more than enough" Chloe thought to herself as she took in a deep breath. "Felix needs to see this!"
Chloe launched multiple salvos of Ice Shards high into the air. Just before they began to fall, she blasted them to powder with a Swift. The resulting ice explosion created a glistening and hard to miss cloud. It fell slowly, maintaining its shape briefly before being scattered away by the wind above the trees. The sound it gave off was akin to shattering glass.
"That should do it." Chloe said to herself, satisfied with her display. Returning her attention to the tracks, half covered in snow, she followed it briefly before returning to wait for Felix. Within a minute he was at her side firing a barrage of questions, the most of which were about her safety.
"Shush!" Chloe chided. "I found something! Well two somethings!" She pointed a paw to the tracks behind them. Felix fell silent and followed her gaze.
"I know there's two feet here but that hardly counts as two somethings you know." The snake said dryly as he met her gaze, a hint of a grin tugging at his serpentine lips. Chloe rolled her eyes.
"No shit sherlock," Chloe replied while pointing up. "But what about that up there?"
"I was just up these-" Felix replied before stopping mid sentence at the sight. "Oh…" he finished with a murmur.
Chloe chuckled a bit as he extended his vines to pluck it from the trees' limbs. As it got closer, it became increasingly obvious that it wasn't an ordinary bag. The material that it was made of was scorched and scuffed in many areas but it seemed sturdy.
"Be careful, there's no telling what's in it or who it even belongs to." Chloe warned.
"Look, if I'm going to be carrying this thing, I want to at least make sure it's safe." Felix argued lightly. After a few attempts Felix managed to open it. Cloth and an assortment of gizmos spilled out onto the ground between them.
"Oops." Felix muttered as he hastily began picking everything up before the snow had the chance to dampen them.
"Good job" Chloe groaned. "Pick it up before anything gets ruined." Her annoyance quickly drained away however when a small rectangular box caught her eye. The strange device had what appeared to be one of her species on its surface. The detail was incredible, sure to be the envy of any Smeargle that laid their eyes on it. For as small as it was, the device had incredible detail.
"What the hell is that?" Chloe asked, sniffing it curiously. Felix snatched it up, eyeing it just the same. His leafy appendages were beginning to become discolored. Chloe also noticed his yellow collar was beginning to lose its vibrant yellow sheen. She made a note to ask him about that.
"Not sure" Felix murmured as he tapped its hard surface. "But it does seem to be your species on it" Felix took a deep breath. "Regardless, now that I know that it's safe to carry, I need to talk to you about something."
"Does it have anything to do with your vines?" Chloe asked.
"I wonder what gave that away..." Felix nodded as he pointed to the sky. His green vines were beginning to lose their color, sporting splotches of yellow along their length. "It would seem that the temperature and the lack of proper sunlight is taking its toll on me. Plus there's that storm coming for me to worry about."
"Yeah I know" Chloe turned and looked in the direction the tracks led. She knew what he was going to say. Giving Felix a quick smile she continued. "But things have changed. If the blizzard hits while you're helping with the search, I won't be able to drag you and whoever we find back at the same time."
"Right…" Felix said quietly. "What do you want to do?"
"I'm going to keep going Felix. I need you to take this bag as proof that someone is missing out here and get me some help. Recruit from other teams if you have to. Whatever happened here is obviously the result of a very powerful feral and time isn't exactly on our side here." Chloe replied. The Servine nodded and strapped the mysterious bag to his back with his vines but plopped his own on the ground.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Chloe asked as Felix snapped hers off her shoulders and sat it next to his own.
"Making sure your foolhardy plan here succeeds." Felix replied. The snake, with his free vine, began moving items from his own bag into hers. "You're taking some of my supplies" Chloe tried to protest but was quickly cut off by her companion.
"Relax, I know the way back. I'll be fine without lunch for one day."
Slipping back the bag onto her back, Felix secured it. Chloe took a second to shift around the new weight, trying to get used to it. Felix held up his vine to her, looking at her expectantly.
"There's bound to be some ferals pissed off by the fire" Chloe warned as she bumped the vine with her paw. "So you better get back in one piece." Felix nodded and began slithering the way they had come.
"You better be bringing a third something back with you the next time I see you!" Felix called behind him. Chloe laughed at his jab, grateful to have such a good friend.
Once he was out of sight, Chloe returned her attention to the tracks left in the snow. There was no way of knowing whether or not what she was following was friendly. Keeping alert, she broke off into a sprint, following the tracks and scent alike deeper into the forest.