Alright, here's another chapter, with the return of our old friend. Review!
TheLightningPunisher: Yup, I sure am!
RandomDragon: Thanks!
Moemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
Chapter 44
"So where do we go from here?" I asked, frowning. We stood in the darkness, having moved through the tight path to reach what felt like an open space, due to the amount of breathing room. However, we couldn't SEE a damn thing.
"Let me see…" Lulu's voice called out from the darkness, looking around. "I don't see any moemon here, but…"
"But what?" Petal asked, frowning.
"I can just barely make out life signs coming from two different paths in the walls." Lulu said, frowning. "But there's something I don't like about the path on the right…"
"What don't you like about it?" Keith asked. Lulu didn't respond.
"What don't you like about it?" I asked, frowning.
"I'm not sure…" Lulu admitted. "But I just sense something… something bad… down that path, and I don't like it…"
"So what are you gonna do now?" Petal asked, frowning.
"I'm gonna head down the path on the left." Lulu said, as we heard the sounds of footsteps walking away from us. "Maybe I can find another moemon with flash, and get us to where we can actually see where we're going next!"
"So what do we now?" Petal asked me. At least, I think it's me. She wouldn't even bother asking Keith.
"Dunno." I said, shrugging. No idea WHY I shrugged, since she can't see, but oh well.
Suddenly, however, we saw a small shining light from the opposite direction we heard Lulu heading off in.
The light moved closer to us, shining out from the pathway, and finally illuminated the entire cave with a bright light.
Once I opened my eyes from the bright light, I stared at the moemon who had just walked inside. She wore a black cleavage revealing gothic Lolita dress with lace, and a white corset. There were four strips of black cloth streaming down the dress, two on the front, two down the back. At the end of the black strips of cloth, orange flames sparked. She had orange hair that streamed down her back, and seemed to burn like flames as well, reflecting light off of her pale skin and red eyes.
"Whoa, I've never even SEEN that moemon before!" Petal exclaimed, surprised. "What is she? A fire type, maybe?"
"…" The moemon said, frowning. "What are you people doing here?"
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Petal asked, frowning. "Is there any reason why we shouldn't be here?"
"…" The moemon said, turning away, frowning.
"Hey, I'm speaking to you!" Petal exclaimed, irritated.
"…The ability to speak does not mean you have anything worthwhile to say." The moemon said, frowning.
"Come now Hina, be nice." A voice said. Stepping out of the dark pathway was a man with messy green hair and green eyes. He wore a leather duster and leather pants, with a black shirt and black Gatsby hat.
"Aurore!" Petal said, frowning. "What are you doing here?"
"Me? I'm just passing by." Aurore said, smiling. "Anyways, since we happen to have met up with each other, want me to show you the way out?"
"We don't want out!" Petal said, frowning. "We're trying to get deeper into the cave!"
"Really?" Aurore asked, seeming genuinely surprised. "Why would you want to go deeper?"
"Because we're looking for something!" Petal said. "We're looking for our friend Sven, and we think he might be down one of these paths!"
"Well don't go down that one." Aurore said, frowning. "There's something that you don't want to face down there."
"What?" Keith asked, frowning. "There's nothing I don't want to face! The stronger the opponent, the more enjoyable the fight, the more satisfying the victory, and the more experience I'll get from fighting it!"
"Don't think so." Aurore said, shaking his head. "You won't be getting any experience from fighting what's back there."
"Huh?" Keith asked, confused. Yeah, big shocker. "Wait, why not?"
"Because, defeating an opponent makes you stronger. Being defeated by an opponent is what gives you better experience in fighting." Aurore said, frowning. "The only experience one can get is when they've exhausted every option, used every strategy they can think of, fighting until they're backed into a corner."
"So you're saying because I'm so strong, I'll knock out whatever's back there?" Keith asked, smiling smugly. "Thanks!"
"Wrong." Aurore said, still frowning. "Because in a real battle, you won't gain any experience from your losses. When you lose a real battle, when you'll lose to the darkness back there, you'll lose your future."
"Wh-what?" Keith asked, shocked. "What are you talking about?"
"If you're in such a hurry to die, why don't you go back there and see what I'm talking about?" Aurore asked, glaring at Keith enough to make him go pale and start sweating profusely. Which is incredibly surprising, considering that Keith has way too much stupidity to even process fear, let alone know he's afraid.
Keith backed away, suddenly terrified of Aurore. I can't say I blame him, seeing as how Aurore was even freaking me out, and Mary was already shaking and hiding behind me. Even Vui seemed to be a little scared, and that's saying something. In fact, Petal was the only one who seemed to be completely unaffected him, glaring at him angrily.
"If you want to go, I won't stop you." Aurore said, he and Hina stepping out of the way. "Go on ahead."
"Well, let's go!" Keith said, suddenly in a hurry to get away from Aurore.
"Um, you do realize that we still need to wait for her to come back so we can light up the path before us?" Petal asked, frowning.
"Huh? Don't you have a moemon that can use flash?" Aurore asked, surprised.
"No, I can't." Mary said, finally getting the courage to speak, shaking her head.
"Not you." Aurore said, pointing at the path we'd come out of. "I see you back there. Come out."
We turned to the entrance of the chamber to see a figure slowly walk out. The Charmander from before.
"You!" I exclaimed, surprised.
"Shut up!" Charmander exclaimed, irritated. "I wasn't following you guys because I want to be closer to you guys, I was… I was… I was just going the same way as you guys, that's all!"
"Well, I'd better be going." Aurore said, smiling. "This is getting awkward, so… see you." Aurore turned to the other passageway, walking towards it. Suddenly, Lulu ran into the chamber from the path, colliding into him, the two falling onto the ground.
"Oh…" Lulu said, staring at Aurore.
"…Crap!" Aurore exclaimed.
So, Déjà vu much?