Last time on Explorers of Prehistory...
Venom, Aero, Cotton and Kiara, all survivors off the Tiny Island disaster, were lost as sea with their new ally, Officer Ace the Sceptile of the Dragonite Empire Police. However, the group managed to accidentally come across a frigid, frozen island in the middle of nowhere. While the land was a welcome sight, the bitter cold put Venom and Ace, both of whom are cold-blooded, into a coma, forcing their friends to drag them across the wasteland and up a mountain! Despite this daunting task, the girls managed to pull their weight, and the weight of the comatose reptiles across the tundra, moving towards the smoke that rose off in the distance, a promise of wonderful, wonderful civilization! Sadly, this trek was made all the harder by a run-in with one of the mischievous locals, a young Glalie, and an unfortunate encounter with an avalanche to boot! Thankfully, they were rescued by a kindly Froslass innkeeper named Yuki and her apprentice Crystal, a shiny Snorunt, who took them to their inn and mended their wounds, even preparing a boiling hot bath for Venom and Ace. Now, Aero is explaining to the two Ice-types why they are here, and what happened to Tiny Island.
What will happen next? Find out now!
And today's special thanks goes to... me!
Aero happily shoved the third honey-glazed roll of the day down her first throat, barely even bothering to chew before she swallowed a huge gulp of pecha berry laced hot chocolate. "More please!" she begged.
"Certainly," Yuki answered politely, placing a second tray of still steaming buns onto the table. "Eat well," she added.
"We will!" was the outcry of all who were there, save for Venom, as per usual, who simply nodded. All of the survivors were now up and awake, and they were all hungry after who knows how many days at sea and in the tundra with little or no food. When Yuki had offered them a meal, they jumped at the chance; it even got the exhausted Kiara out of her bed.
Yuki had promised food, and she didn't back down on her word. She piled trays in front of the Pokemon, filled with healthy foods. Still simmering hot cocoa, aspear berries, honey buns, and mushrooms: lots of mushrooms. In such a cold climate, it was hard to grow things outside; mushrooms preferred a dark, damp environment and the cellars beneath the inn fit that bill nicely, allowing Yuki and Crystal a large supply of tochukaso all year round. As such, dried mushrooms, stewed mushrooms, diced mushrooms and plain old mushrooms covered every inch of the table. While most of those assembled weren't huge fungi fans, they were way to famished to care.
They ate and ate, not bothering to talk with one another, unless they were asking Yuki or Crystal for more food and drink. Both Ice-types took every request with a polite nod, never refusing them a thing.
How nice of them... Right?
Well... We'll see...
It didn't take long for the table to be empty, and the crew of survivors to be fast asleep in their plates, the effects of the sleep seed dust in their drinks taking hold. "Hmm... Perfect," Yuki decided, looking over the sleeping forms of the Pokemon. "Help me take them back to their rooms, please," she told Crystal.
The shiny Snorunt groaned; hauling these guys around wasn't exactly easy...
Yuki's topaz eyes keenly scanned the room, eyeing each and every Pokemon that claimed to have survived a cataclysm. Of course, she had heard about what had happened to Tiny Island, and she had also heard about survivors to the disaster; however, Yuki had fallen victim to fast ones and tricks in the past, and she wasn't going to fall for another one. Besides that, a group of Pokemon wandering in the wilds of Icicle Island without a map? Only treasure hunters and explorers were so reckless.
She'd start with Venom, and then Kiara - they seemed the least trustworthy of the group. She'd move onto the "officer" (if that badge was real) and the Mawile next, before going to the Ratatta, who seemed the most trustworthy of the GROUP.
"Crystal, go outside and play," Yuki ordered calmly.
Crystal gave a yawn. "Actually, I think I'm gonna take a nap," she moaned quietly, walking off to her room. She shut the oaken door behind her as she left the room, leaving Yuki alone with the party.
"Dream Eater..."
"F-father...?"
Venom's eyes slowly cracked open. He regretted it almost at once. His poor head began throbbing and aching.
A skilled hand stroked his head, calming him down - and then filling him with a sense of apprehension. "Hush, now," the cold-sounding voice of Yuki said in his ear. "Go back to sleep. Everything is fine."
Venom gurgled something unintelligible, but obeyed. Sleep... Sleep was good...
His eyes closed again and he went limp, leaving Yuki to stare down at his prone form, sympathy and even a touch guilt written in her eyes.
Icicle Island was a small, barely noticeable island in the Dragonite Empire. To be frank, the fact that it was actually in the empire was rather amazing. Icicle Island was essentially just a frozen rock, sitting out there in the middle of the ocean. It had a trading post, and it had a town, but other than that there wasn't much to say about the Arceus-forsaken place.
Of course, even an island like this, so small and insignificant, had something that attracted a good deal of attention from the outside world. A legend, a piece of tattered lore passed down from generation to generation, from father to son, mother to daughter, and the like. The legend of the Cave of Dreams: a dungeon that had never been explored by the modern day explorers.
The legends said that ages ago there was a cave where your dreams, wild as they may be, came true. Anything was possible within those walls. Everyone has dreams, for good or for bad, and as such many Pokemon have sought out the legendary cave in hopes of their dreams being fulfilled. Sadly, no one had ever found the cave. Even the legendary Sylvia the Gardevoir, victor of over a thousand explorations, hadn't succeeded in pinpointing the cave's location (though it should be noted that she believes that the cave to be a waste of resources, and as such refuses to mount an all-out expedition for it, especially in these harsh times.)
However, there was always someone ready to try, and several of those someones landed on that island, at the port in the Dragonite Trading Post. Two exploration teams arrived, each on different ships, and each unaware of the other team. They would settle down in the inn in town tonight, but tomorrow, they'd head out into the tundra and find that legendary cave.
Neither team knew what dangers awaited them - nor what really lurked beneath that snowy land...
Morning came, and the party finally woke up, feeling oddly weak and lightheaded. Thankfully, Yuki was quick to remedy that, by providing a hearty breakfast in bed with Crystal's help. Before long, they were fed again, this time their meal free from any poisons or drugs - not that they knew it. Yuki wisely decided not to tell the Pokemon about what had happened; she knew now that they had been telling the truth about the disaster that had befallen them, and concluded that they were indeed a trustworthy bunch.
So, the group shook off their fatigue and hungriness, thanks to the excellent food and rest that Yuki had provided them. Those horrible timeless days at sea were now forgotten. Things were starting to finally look up for the first time since Tiny Island's tragic destruction.
The group currently sat in the lobby room of the inn, a massive rectangular room with a roaring fireplace. The room had a pair of round windows that allowed them to see the frozen landscape outside. The inn was built into the side of the Icicle Mountain, the center of Icicle Island and the barrier that stood between the local towns and trading post and the frozen, untamed tundra. A cobbled path led from the towns to the inn, with huge stone markers at each side of the path, just in case it was buried by snowfall, which it usually was.
Cotton curled up comfortably on the large plush sofa, still feeling a bit exhausted from the nightmarish journey to this island. The others were sitting down as well, around the round pine table. Yuki came out from behind the counter, two scarves in her arms. "Here," she said, handing the yellow scarves to Ace and Venom. "These scarves are made from the fibers of aspear berries. They'll keep you from freezing. Most cold-blooded Pokemon need them to survive in the cold."
"Thank you kindly," Ace said with a polite nod as he took the scarf, wrapping it around the red bandanna he already wore.
Venom gave a quiet thank you, wrapping the scarf around his body.
"So," Kiara asked. "What now?"
That question was naturally on everyone's minds, though it was difficult to think of an answer. "well," Ace said, "I don't know about you guys, but I need to report back to HQ. Tiny Island's destruction needs to be reported."
"Don't worry about that," Yuki said as she eyed the simmering tea-kettle in the fireplace. "A Ninjask messenger came the other day with the report that the island has sunk."
"Really?" Aero asked, surprised.
"Yes," Yuki answered, pulling the kettle off of the fire as it began to whistle. "The Gardevoir Guild has already scoured the ruins and found many survivors already."
"That's good to hear," Ace said with a relieved grin. "Still, duty is duty, and I haven't clocked out in a few weeks, now. I've gotta head home."
"I... I really don't have a home," Aero admitted. "I'm a wayfarer, you could say. I guess heading to the mainland is my best bet for anything."
"Me, too," Cotton agreed quietly. "I don't have anywhere to go, too..." she admitted, looking to Aero, who patted her on the head.
Kiara sighed. "I don't have anywhere to go, either, really," she said. "I guess I might as well go to the mainland, too. Nothing better to do, I guess."
Venom scowled. "Scale."
"What?" Aero asked.
"I'm going to Scale," Venom said; his tone of voice was strange, as if he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else.
"Ah, Scale?" Ace asked. "You mean that town in Arbok territory? I've been there before - it's pretty nice."
"Scale? Wow, original name..." Aero muttered, earning a glare from the Arbok. If that's the case, why are you going there, Gramps?" Aero asked. "You're anything but nice."
"My reasons are my own," Venom growled at the Mawile.
"Regardless of your final destinations," Yuki broke in, calmly sipping her tea, "you're all heading for the mainland. Fortunately for you, the local trading post has a pier, and there are regular ferries to there. You'll have to pay a hefty fee, but you'll get home."
"Perfect," Ace said. "We'd better get going, I guess. We hate to impose on you."
Yuki shook her head. "No, no, it's perfectly fine," she answered. "We haven't had any guests up here for such a long time." She sat down on her plush chair, Crystal joining her. "It's just the three of us, most of the time."
"Three of you?" Aero asked. "There's another?"
"Yes," Yuki said, "Storm. He and Crystal both live here with me, and apprentice under me." She paused. "Well, Crystal does, anyways... Storm is... a handful."
"He's a dream!" Crystal cooed, grinning widely.
Ace ignored Crystal's swooning. "All boys are a handful when they're young," he told Yuki with a sympathetic grin; he had a few younger brothers who were absolute terrors back home.
"Some never grow out of it," Aero said, looking blatantly at Venom.
"He's out and about right now," Yuki went on. "Probably playing one of his practical jokes... If he is, I'll be hearing about it later, I suppose," she said with a sigh.
Well, speak of the Devil...
The door to the inn opened, and then shut. "Yuki!" a young boy's voice hollered. "I'm home!"
Kiara's eyes flared as she recognized the voice. "You!" she shrieked angrily.
Sure enough, the Glalie from before had just waltzed into the inn, a shocked expression crossing his face as he saw the Persian. "Y-you?!" he stuttered.
Kiara snarled and leaped at the Glalie, screaming, "You little creep!"
Ace and Aero quickly grabbed the Normal-type, holding her back from the frightened Ice-type. "C-chill out!" Aero begged, pulling at Kiara's tail.
"Oh, you've met?" Yuki asked, hardly seeming concerned.
"This little creep clobbered with a snowball!" Kiara snarled.
"Did he?" Yuki gave an icy glare at the Glalie. "Storm..."
Storm chuckled sheepishly. "It... It was just a joke," he stuttered, grinning nervously.
"Of course it was," Yuki replied. "Just like all your others jokes. So, tell me, did you start an avalanche this time, too?"
"No, of course not!" Storm cried. "I mean, I'm not six anymore, show some faith in me! Yeesh..."
"Then why did I find these poor souls buried in a mound of snow at the foot of the mountain?" asked Yuki suspiciously.
Storm sweatdropped again. "Oh, no..."
"He didn't mean to, Yuki!" protested Crystal.
"He didn't mean to, but he did," Yuki replied, rising from her chair. "And he's going to be sweeping off the path - the whole path - for an entire week for it."
"A whole week!?" Storm shouted, horrified.
"It could be two."
Storm groaned. "I'll get the broom..." he moaned, walking off to the closet. "How I'm gonna use it is beyond me, though..."
Kiara cast a scathing glare at the Glalie as he left, muttering under her breath. Yuki sighed, shaking her hand. "Oh, dear," she muttered.
Venom sniffed. "I was never that bad," he muttered to himself.
The room became rather awkward after that; if you've even been to a friend's house and watch someone get disciplined, you know how they felt. It was completely quiet as Storm returned from the broom closet, a broom in his mouth, hopped to the door, cast a glare at the smug-looking Kiara, and hopped back outside.
Crystal broke the silence. "Wait! Storm, wait for meeee!" she cried, following the Glalie outside.
Kiara sniffed, and resumed grooming herself. "Serves him right," she murmured snidely.
Whatever am I going to do with that boy? Yuki thought, shaking her head. "Sorry about the outburst."
"It's okay," Ace replied. "It must be hard to raise your kids alone."
"They're not my kids. They're orphans."
And then, the atmosphere became even more awkward. "Oh..." Ace said quietly.
"It's okay," Yuki said. "I've never been blessed with a mate, but I have been blessed with children. That alone warms my frozen heart, and gives me the strength to rise up everyday. And believe me, it takes a lot of strength to get up some days."
Ace nodded with sympathy. "Lousy Mondays..."
Yuki chuckled. "Indeed."
None of the other Pokemon had jobs, so none of them got the joke.
"Yuki! Yuki!"
"Yuki! Yuki!"
The doors flew open, and Crystal and Storm rushed inside again. "Back already?" Yuki asked. "I know the walk isn't clean."
"Explorers!" exclaimed Crystal.
"There are explorers coming up the path! Up to the inn!" Storm said happily.
Author's Note:
Here's an early update for you all! I was going to update on Friday as per usual, but it's Holy Week, so my family's got a ton of stuff planned.
Well, it looks like our happy group is safe for the moment, but more questions have been raised! Why does Venom want to go to Scale? Why did Yuki feel the need to probe their minds? And who is this group of explorers coming to the inn?
Tune in next time to find out! Until then, peace out!