Alright, here's another chapter! Come on and review, guys!
Electrifry: No. No she doesn't.
RandomDragon: Will she?
LightningPunisher: Who says Darkrai is evil?
Voltron007f: Well, I had it pre-written.
Moemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
Chapter 50
"So what now?" I asked, looking around, frowning. As far as I could tell, there were no paths out of the cave.
"Alright, let's examine the shrine." Sven said, frowning. He walked up the steps to the top of the shrine, and looked into the indent.
"Hey, you guys, come here and look at this." Sven said, calling all of us over.
"What?" Petal asked, following him up the shrine, dragging me with her.
Once we all reached the top of the rock shrine, Sven pointed at the large indent in the wall.
"See?" Sven asked, pointing into the indent. "It looks like the hole at the back of this is just big enough for a person to slip through."
"Hey, you're right!" I said, surprised.
"Alright, I'll go first." Sven said, moving through the indent. "If it's all clear on the other side, I'll signal you guys to come through."
Sven moved through the crack in the rock wall, and slipped in to the other side.
After a few moments, his hand stuck back out through the rock wall and his muffled voice called "all clear."
"Okay, Petal, you go first." I said, helping her through the rock indent, easy because of her small body.
"Hah! Good thing that stupid Lulu didn't come with us." Petal sneered. "There's no way those big airbags could have made it through this crack. Petal emerged out the other side, and I helped Mary get through next, followed by myself. I emerged into a large rock cavern, shining with white-clear crystals. Vui made her way through next, followed by Keith, who stumbled and fell onto the rock floor, with Lucy bringing up the rear.
"So where do we go now?" Keith asked, standing up.
"Well, isn't that obvious?" Sven asked, smirking. "There's only one way to go, and that's up."
Sven pointed at a large ladder stretching up into a large hole in the stone ceiling, the only place light was shining down upon.
I guess so." Petal said, nodding. "Alright, Kelly, you go first, the Keith and Sven. I don't want any of you looking up the girls' skirts."
"Alright." I agreed, nodding. I grabbed onto the rungs of the ladder and began climbing. Even after reaching the top of the hole, it still seemed to go up a ways. I continued to climb the large rock tunnel, the shining crystals and circle of light at the top my only source of light. I continued to climb towards the circle of light, as though I was shooting for a target. After what felt like hours of climbing, I finally emerged from the hole in the ground, having to constantly blink my eyes to adapt to the sunlight shining through. After a few minutes, my eyes started to adjust, but then Keith pushed me off of the ladder and onto the grassy ground of the Chroma Ruins.
Keith climbed up after me, followed by Sven. I reached down and grabbed Petal's hand, helping her out, followed by Mary. When we all emerged from the cave, we looked around at our surroundings.
"What is this place?" I asked, surprised. We seemed to be standing on a rock ledge, that overlooked the valley of mist that was the Chroma Highlands. There were a few dead trees sticking out of the grass, but other than that, the only notable thing was the wood cabin pushed up against one of the ledges.
"Alright, let's see what's in that place." I said, knocking on the door.
"Don't bother knocking." Petal said, pushing the door open. "This place is obviously abandoned."
Petal walked inside and we followed her, and she was right. It seemed pretty abandoned. There were boxes and yellowed papers scattered all around the place. It looked like someone might have lived there once, considering there was an old, battered refrigerator and a door I prayed led to a bathroom, but now it seemed pretty uninhabitable. There was debris scattered everywhere, and all in all the room looked like a trash heap. However, there was an old table standing in the center of the room. I walked towards it and picked it up, blowing the dust off of it. I opened it and looked inside, but it was far to damaged to read. It seemed as though fire or something had burned parts of it, as all I could make out were random letters in places.
"Kelly, what'd you find?" Petal asked, walking up to me.
"I don't know…" I said, frowning. "I think it's a diary."
"Let me see." Sven said, taking the damaged book. "Well, it's to damaged to read… We might be able to analyze it back at the Union… Let's see if there's anything else around here…" We continued to search the cabin, but unfortunately we came up empty handed. However, all of our heads turned when the door creaked open.
"What are you doing in my home?" A voice asked, frowning. We all turned to see the owner of the voice as he walked in. He was a man, perhaps in his forties. He had shaggy brown hair and brown eyes, and looked kind of like a scarecrow. He had a tired face and wore a crumpled brown jacket over a black button up shirt, and wore faded brown pants.
"Who are you?" Sven asked, frowning.
"It doesn't matter." The man said, frowning. "I asked you a question… What are you doing in my house?"
"We're Moemon Rangers." Sven said, showing his badge. "We need to inspect this place for any material that might be able to help with our investigation."
"…Rangers, huh?" The man said, frowning. "Alright… Then go ahead… take whatever you want…"
"Um, thanks." Sven said, nodding. "Although I think we're just about done here…"
"Yeah, we'll be leaving." Petal said, nodding.
"Oh…" The man said, staring at Petal, surprised.
"Uh, what?" Petal asked, a little taken off guard by the man's stare.
"Oh, it's nothing." He said, smiling sadly. "You just reminded me of my daughter a little."
"Yeah, well, I'm not your daughter." Petal said, turning away. "My name is Petal Green."
"Green, huh?" The man said, smiling sadly once more. "How nostalgic…"
"Huh?" Petal asked, surprised. "Anyways, Kelly, let's go."
We left the cabin and the strange man, and walked out towards the edge of the cliff, overlooking the misty valley.
"So what now?" I asked, frowning.
"Let's head back to the ranger union!" Sven said, jumping down the rock ledge, Lucy following after. They skidded down the ledge, and disappeared into the mist.
"Let's go, Kelly!" Petal said, pushing me off the ledge as she jumped down as well.
As the group disappeared over the ledge, a young Charmander peeked out from behind a dead tree, staring after them.
"Just you wait…" Charmander said through gritted teeth, frowning. She jumped down the rock ledge after the group, an angry expression on her face.
So, how's that for a surprise? Charmander's following after them!