Kuro
A single step outside made me shiver through my now incomplete fur. Why was that? The ground was covered in a sheet of ice. Not snow, a straight up solid floor of frozen water. Upon taking another step, I dragged one of my paws on accident, slipping and falling on the side of my body right off the bat. The ice, while admittedly soothing to whatever parts of my body still burned, didn't feel too great when a blunt impact is a part of the equation. I let out a groan, looking around the area before pushing myself up again. I was just told not to overexert myself and I immediately trip… Way to go Kuro…
I sighed, tracing my one working eye around my surroundings, questioning where I really was. Despite less than optimal optical ability, it wasn't overly hard to realize what kind of area I was in. The walls were solid, light blue, and rocky, giving off a sleek shine and a slurred reflection. The ceiling above had stalactites hanging high up, not getting very close to the frozen floor below. Around me, multiple tent-like structures were present, nailed to the solid ground below, surrounded by very small cracks. The ice was visibly thick, not fragile in the slightest, which brought the slightest bit of relief into my mind. That's not important right now, I need to find that… map? Where would that be located…
I looked from one side of me to the other, two decisive directions to walk along the ice. They looked identical, though one was lit up, seemingly from the spikes along the roof of the cave. A dim glow emitted from each of them, and that same light was absent in the other direction. So it's unexplored..? Or does that just have missing lights..? My vision blurred for a few seconds, so I had to shake my head and recalibrate. Best not to hyper focus on that, go where there's light. I can already barely see…
Step by step, I carefully traversed down the cave, my muscles still feeling admittedly sluggish. There's only so much a shot of adrenaline can do for you, it helped me function, but it didn't solve all of my physical problems at the moment. After some trekking, there was nothing different from what I first laid my eyes on, just a mostly empty cavern with scattered tents and enough lighting to make out the area. My breath was ever so slightly visible in front of me, the cold air really bugging me. I was so used to wearing a scarf all the time, I was used to the light cloth warming me up, being without it and in a more cold than normal area was a little more than irritating. All of the shivers I felt weren't enough to drive me mad or anything, but I disliked it. I don't like this area… The temperature, and the vibe… It's so lonely…
"H-Hey!" A voice made me jump out of my thoughts, nearly making me fall over again. It came from one of the many tents, from out of my slightly impaired vision. I'll have to get used to the new depth perception…
"Hey hey!" I heard clicking against the ice, progressively growing in volume as each second passed. On instinct, my body tensed up, wondering if I was about to be attacked by some unknown pokemon that had to be closing in on me fast. The voice was unsteady, holding a distinct nervous tone, combined with excitement. I whipped my head around the surrounding area, looking for the source, but coming up blank. I spun in a small circle, looking all around, but finding nobody besides myself. While attempting to observe the area surrounding me, I stumbled, barely catching myself before I took another plummet into the icy ground below. Am I hearing things..? Have I still not regained my sanity..?
I shook my head harshly and sighed. Stay on track Kuro… Map… You're looking for a map…
Hello Readers, before you yell and scream at me for uploading something so short after a month of inactivity here, hear me out for just a second. Some… rather unpleasant events have taken place in my time of absence. It's kept me not only from writing, but from doing… well, just about anything. I'd much rather not go into detail here, it's not the time, nor the place to talk about this kind of thing. As usual, if you're at all concerned or curious, send me a PM, and I'll be willing to explain further, but for now, I needed to give something to inform you about why I've been so stagnant for so long. Consider the small portion before this note as a small teaser as to how the next chapter will actually play out, the entirety of the next chapter that is, not just another small portion. As for how long it'll take me to get on the complete version of this, I'm not entirely sure. I'm working on it, and trying to manage my time with everything else, but it's not exactly easy. It's just one thing after another, and keeping up with it all is just… exhausting. Writing is a stress reliever for me, something I can do to calm myself down, make progress, and make all of you happy. And yet, I've found it very difficult to sit down and get work done ever since these issues sprouted up. Not only when it comes to writing, but keeping up with everything in life as of late has just been that, tiring. I'm incredibly worn down at the moment, and the closest thing I've been able to construct since getting this small portion of the chapter done is a group of small excerpts from differents parts of the story, which are really just small details I wanted to write down.
I'm sorry for being inconsistent, and overall, not performing how I should be as an author on this site, but I promise that, slowly but surely, I'm getting through it, and I'll be back to steadily getting these chapters done for all of you. I hope you'll accept my apologies, and I hope you're not too angry for the obnoxious pause. I hope you're all having an amazing day, and will have more to come!
See you in an actual chapter!