The town's sheer distance from anywhere else must be a natural filter as there are nowhere near the number of explorers flooding these cold, dingy streets than Halfway Rock. Then again, Lapis Town is not a dedicated sanctuary, it is just another settlement caught in the crossfire of a quest bigger than this entire continent. This is just a nice little town out in the middle of these snowy wastes. There is an exploration society nearby, otherwise, it just a blip on the snowy wastes.
Travelling into Lapis Town on the back of a glowing steed makes for a good first impression. There are more ice-types here than Lucario can threaten with his bullet punches. Those outside at dark hour give them little more than curious cages, watching a trio of travellers journey into town like knights in hats instead of armor. Masters gives them each a kind wave, while the knight basks in the sea of ogling eyes.
Thank goodness Masters told Whiskey to keep it down or else he would be bellowing about his travels the whole way through town. Minutes of agonizing stares later they maneuver through the snow topped homes and log houses till something resembling an inn comes into clear view. Two stories tall, windows glowing with warmth, and the sign outside frozen over. This is where they will have to stay.
Masters slides off of Whiskey's back, dragging Lucario through the inn's front doors. A Croconaw working the desk perks up when he sees them, lifting his head up from a plate of berries he was gorging on.
"Erm…can I help you two?"
Whiskey squeezes through the door. The horse takes one look at the foyer, spotting the rug in front of the stone fireplace and seating himself right there, drying his giant lochs off in the fire. Somehow, the pastel glow on his hair is brighter than the flames behind him.
"Three, actually. Mind him back there." Masters nods at Whiskey. "He's a bit old fashioned, he doesn't like bedding, but I assure you he doesn't bite."
"May'st I stay in the foyer, water-kin?" The Rapidash asks from afar. "I shall pay a tavern fare if it should content thee."
The water-type stares at the three strangers, his eyes constantly looking back and forth. The plate of roasted berries at the desk gets colder by each moment he spends there ditzing in place. He stares at the fire, the stairs, the way they came and finally looks down under his desk.
"Yeah, we have a room. Welcome to The Bristly Beartic by the way." Something about the way this Croconaw talks seems out of order, as if he is reading from a script and failing to even do that.t. "Two Hundred poke, fifty for your friend if he wants to stay in the foyer, so two fifty together I think?"
Two hundred is pricey. It Mmst be the influx of explorers jacking up the price of every service under the sun. The Croconaw manning the desk does not seem like one to haggle, so Masters just shrugs, and pours out Honchkrow's coins from Lucario's damp purse.
It is at this point, the Croconaw finally catches on to what the deal with the Lucario Masters is carrying around. After counting the coins, quietly shuffles fifty back to them. He smiles for a split second.
"Your room's the one right next to the janitor's closet, it's one bed, if that's fine by you."
Again? Just his luck.
"Uh, yeah, it'll be okay." It is not, but a roof is a roof and Masters can't possibly complain. "Does the heat get up there fine?"
"What do you mean? Yeah, it does." The Croconaw slinks back into their chair, he pops an grilled Aspear berry into his mouth and throws a key onto the counter. "If it doesn't, then there's like, nothing I can really do about it. I can offer you a refund but-"
"No, that's fine." Masters says with a smile, snatching the key as well as the fifty he was 'discounted'. He looks over to the Rapidash. "Are you going to be okay, do you need anything?"
"I will be fine here, my friend. Let me slumber in peace so I may ride you to safety come morning."
Masters nods and drags Lucario upstairs to their room. He opens a door upstairs, drags Lucario's partly conscious body inside, dropping him dead onto the bed. This room was almost the same as the previous one, instead of fancy red sheets and lighting they now have the Luxury of a window looking outside to the snowy night.
Masters closes the curtains, then starts digging through Lucario's things, throwing everything other than the gear wrapped around his shoulder into the bottom drawer of the nearby dresser. He tucks Lucario's unconscious body into the sheets, throws himself down, holding a little blue doll named Dee snug in his arms.
He shuts his eyes, shoving every other foul thought away, thinking only of whatever little thing this doll would look cutest in.
There are two things Lucario instantly notices. One, he's no longer cold. Two, he is not jostled around on the back of a Rapidash. He is somewhere with a roof over his head and something big, round and ghostly sleeping next to him. It is not Halfway Rock, it has to be somewhere else. Wherever this somewhere is he is once again trapped in the same bed of who he can only assume his masters.
So there he is, lying like a sack of potatoes. He is no longer at threat of becoming an ice cube but still very much ill. Who would have guessed the very same metal bones which are so good at deflecting attacks are also prone to freezing over? They are, because they are essentially freezing him on the inside out.
That is probably what has happened, because it sure feels like he is being frozen inside out. It does not feel like something is stabbing him all over his body, instead there is this rigidity - like he has been aged by Honchkrow's gear all over again.
Oh right, Time Gears. Lucario reaches up to his shoulder. Thank Winter it's still there.
So where is he? Lapis Town? It is pretty cozy here, but no amount of blankets tucking him in are going to dry him out completely. He looks around for a source of warmth and finds nothing except the blankets and wherever the heat is coming from under the floorboards. Oh, and also there is this Fire-type trying to sleep right next to him. Fire types are a source, right?
Lucario wriggles in place. The blankets tucking him in feel like a straightjacket. He can't move an inch out of them; he is so weak. Like a fish in a water he jerks around, flailing with his pathetic frozen limbs till his head smacks into the side of Masters'.
"Hey!" Lucario shouts, his voice gravelly and hoarse. "Hey! I'm cold! Can you do something about it?"
"I'm trying to sleep, Lucario." Masters constricts around the blue doll in his hands even harder, looking away. "I'm tired, hurt, and I've had a long day. I don't need much sleep so please don't bothe- OW!"
Lucario throws his body forwards again, bashing his metal skull into the Typhlosion.
"I'm cold! I can't move my arms or legs, 'M!" Lucario growls through his metal teeth. "You didn't even bother to dry me off, didn't you? These blankets feel like red rags!"
"You're fine! You're next to me, you'll dry off, okay?"
"But I'm cold and damp right now!" He keeps on whining. "You're a walking torch, move over here so I don't freeze while I'm sleeping."
After much bickering over completely nothing Masters finally inches closer to him. The flames floating around his head warm Lucario's face, and he breathes a much needed sigh of relief. Finally, he does not feel like he is about to wither up here. But it is not enough, the flames of his are nowhere as warm as they look. In fact, he may have been better off simply soaking in this bed instead of teasing himself with the warmth of his friend's flames.
"Closer, Idiot!"
Masters worms closer. The fire, at this point, is warm like a summer breeze. Not good enough. It will take an hour before he thaws out! This sucks!
"That's not even close! I said closer."
Master whips around, his garnet eyes full of anger. He grips the blue thing in his hands like he is about to ram it into Lucario's face and smother him, but instead hee grabs Lucario by his dumb head, then buries him right into the three burning flames below his neck. It is warm, it feels nice, Lucario can feel the cold leaving him almost instantly and nothing about it screams intimacy whatsoever.
In fact, they both hate it. Masters especially. He sounds suitably bitter when he speaks.
"Anything else? Can I go back to sleep now?"
"My arms."
He grabs Lucario's frozen hands - which hurt by the way, and wraps them around his chest. Finally Masters turns over on his side, smothering his own face with the blue plush thing. The Typhlosion's fur puffs up in anger.
"Just let go when you're better, okay?" Masters growls, muffled. " I don't wanna babysit you - I'm a bad parent."
"You were a parent?"
The words leave Lucario's mouth before he realizes how bad of a question it is to ask. It is like putting oil on a fire, literally and figuratively. Masters nearly roars, and his flames flare as though he is actually about to implode.
"No - yes! That - that doesn't matter!" Masters bites down on his own tongue. "Are you done warming up your hands, Rei? I hate when people touch me! You know what happens when people hold my hand…"
"Yeah, the Scream, but don't you need to be holding a relevant object for that thing to work? Your stupid doll and this pillow don't have any relevance in the grand scheme of things, so what are you worried about?"
It's a miracle he had the ability to remember him mentioning the scream after falling unconscious for who knows how long? Point is, after this, Masters kinda admits defeat, curling up even further around his little doll. Masters shuts out the entire world around him, shutting his eyes, stuffing his head in the pillows.
Lucario's hands have warmed enough for him to move them. Call it pragmatism or just being too comfortable where he is, the fighting type doesn't pull away. He shuffles closer, wreaths his tired body around him, and rests his head on the explorer's worn shoulders. Masters doesn't fuss or fight, he simply sits there, trying his best to drift into sleep.
Right now, right here, he feels right. He feels warm; he feels safe.
Morning comes faster than expected. Well, not morning per say - it's still night out. Guess the dark season has come along because looking through the curtains of the room's only window he sees only darkness.
There are no longer damp blankets holding him down, and he can actually move of his own volition. He still feels like he has had the hangover of the century, his insides are cold, and stepping out of bed feels like stubbing a toe - otherwise, he is fine.
Masters stands by the door waiting, fully geared up just like last time when he woke up in the hotel. He seems to be the early riser of the two, ghost-types 'n all that. He must not need the same hours he does.
And before Lucario can say a thing, Masters grabs Lucario's stuff from a cupboard and throws the damp bundle towards him. Lucario catches the lump of things, nearly falling over.
"We're going on vacation." Masters says, watching Lucario hurriedly slap cowl back on. "We're leaving this Continent for a bit. If you have family here, you should maybe send a letter to them."
"Where, first of all?" Lucario adjusts the Murkow hat. "And second of all, since when were we going on vacation?"
"Since yesterday. I planned it while you were out cold. Your steed needs answers, I need a break, and we just need answers in general. You got anyone you want to say goodbye to before we leave?"
"What about the gears? The explorers? The bounties and stuff? What about people like Louisa-"
Lucario takes a step towards him, and his legs just crumble. Masters catches him in the knick of time, levying him back onto his as though he were an ancient statue. Point proven.
"I think nearly drowning and freezing has really done a number on you." Masters pushes him upright, and turns around, opening the door with his roomkey. "We have three gears out of however many, we're in the lead. We can afford to take a bit of a break." He looks over his shoulder. "Do I need to walk you outside or can you move on your own?"
"Don't expect me to start running."
Masters grins.
"That's why we have Whiskey."
Master leads the way for him, right down the stairs, past the foyer where he leaves the key on the desk. He leads them out into the land of eternal night, where not a second seems to have passed since Lucario was dragged here.. The streets are crowded as if it were broad daylight, and lanterns shine in the absence of the sun overhead.
Across the partly frozen lake, Lucario sees a large building of some kind, whose giant windows shine a beacon on the lake. That's the guild, or society or whatever. There's a fancy bridge right next to it, followed by a river leading all the way to where the sky meets the earth. Masters does not waste a second when they step outside, leaping onto Whiskey's back and extending a hand to Lucario.
If they are heading outside of the Dusk Continent then it will be Lucario's first time actually anywhere. Masters is not taking him to a distant dungeon or whatever, he's actually going somewhere across the sea, to a land far from this dreary little rock full of explorers.
The sky above is clear, a large moon hangs overhead, shining down upon them like a guiding hand. Where Masters is taking him, there will be no Krows, no gear hunters, just him, Masters and wherever they are going to. He is taking him elsewhere, to somewhere safe, but something about leaving so soon seems wrong.
"Luc? What's the matter?"
Lucario blinks, glancing over his shoulder. The Typhlosion's hand remains outstretched. He beckons him to their steed.
"Nothing. And don't worry about the letters, I don't have anyone to send them to." He reaches out, taking the Typhlosion's hand, and the ghost ifts him onto their steed's back. "Let's move on."
"And move on we shall!" Their steed answers proudly. "At the end of the river lies the nearest port towards the sea, though abandoned, I imagine it shall serve the well friend of my sire."
With a leap, the Rapidash gallops away, guiding them with his glowing mane through the never ending night. They reach out of town, then take a road leaving outwards towards the river. Wherever they are going, Masters has had this whole route planned out long before Lucario woke up.
And Masters, the pokemon with the ticket off of this continent and a touch-fearing explorer, still holds Lucario's hand tight.. He hasn't let go, and he's smiling from ear to ear as they leap across the frozen lands.
Maybe Masters trusts Lucario. At least enough to let him hold his hand.
Perhaps last night was no mere fluke?
/ Shorter chapter, lots of line breaks. Merry cringle.