Mace sat on his bed, staring at the crystal sphere around his neck. A pre-evolution gift that he was gifted for his challenge. But yet, it didn't seem to help him as they described. He sighed as he let go of the little marble, letting it hit him on the chest as it fell. His eyes started to dart around the room as he pondered how his life had changed.
Six days have passed since Mace was extracted into the camp, and most of the time, he spent inside the cave, slowly healing his sprained leg and bruises. He wasn't allowed to go outside until he had recovered enough. So he mostly spent the time with Aiden, telling stories or playing some made-up games as Colt and Castiel were out in the blizzard exploring the wasteland. Mace was still anxious for their safety as it always felt like an eternity before they would return, but he was always equally excited to hear the stories of their small voyage. He cherished the moments when everyone would sit around the fire and talk or tell stories.
But today, things would be different as he was finally given the green light to explore the outside with Colt and Castiel since his wound healed faster than anticipated.
He nervously pushed himself up from the bed, and with a slight stretch, he began to wander to the door.
It didn't take long for him to spot the orange-coated creature sitting near the fire, eating breakfast. He began to walk over to him with a growing warm feeling.
Colt looked up from the fire and noticed Mace's presence. "Good morning," Colt beamed with a friendly smile and with a little wave motion in his paw. Mace returned the gesture with a smile, "Good Morning Colt." Mace sat beside him, feeling the fire's warmth touch his fur as he leaned into the fire.
"Here, have some food," Colt said as he reached for a berry, giving it to the hungry glaceon. "Castiel adventured outside a while ago, so it will just be us. But that doesn't matter since I will only show you some special places to help you familiarise yourself with the surroundings."
Mace didn't mind that it would only be the two of them since he found that Colt was the one he enjoyed being with the most. And he was somewhat happy that it would only be Colt and himself since it wasn't often that Mace was alone with Colt.
Not that he disliked Castiel or Aiden; he enjoyed hanging out with them, either alone or as a group, but Mace's attention would always draw to furred flareon whenever he was close.
He couldn't explain the motivation why he relished Colt more, but he assumed that was something to do with both of them being from the Eevee tree.
"Are you ready to see the outside again?" Colt said, Making Mace flinch as he was brought out from his mental dialogue. "O-oh, yeah, I'm ready for it," He stuttered as he noticed that he had stared still for a while now. Feeling ashamed he pulled his gaze away to not weird out Colt.
"But before we go out, I got a gift for you. Come," Colt told as he stood up from the bench and began to walk towards his room. Mace wiped his mouth from the fruit residue before gradually sliding off the bench and following him.
"Wait outside here," Colt said as he entered his room. He went to a chest where he kept his stuff, and started looking for the gift to Mace. He had planned to give this to him later, but it would be most suitable to provide it now since his wounds healed quickly.
After some more searching, he finally found it. He fished it up from the bottom of the box and glanced at it. It wasn't anything special as it was simply a red scarf, but it would at least be something for Mace to cover himself in the cold.
After enough examination of the scarf, he closed the chest and walked towards the slightly ajar door and once again faced Mace. "Found it," Colt said as he presented the red fabric to Mace, who was surprised by the bright scarf.
Mace didn't think that he would give him something this much value since the scarf looked very clean and unused. After some more gazing, he soon fetched senses into his paws and gently grabbed fabric, feeling its soft texture rub against his fur.
"Since both Castiel and I have a scarf we use when we adventure outside in the cold, I thought it would be appropriate to give this one to you. I doubt it would warm you since you are an ice type, but it does make you stand out from the white and dark environment so that we can see you better if something happens." Mace chuckled a bit at the joke of his ice type, and he slowly put on the scarf around his neck. Of course, he couldn't directly see how he looked with no reflection nearby, but he suited the red look, in Colt's opinion.
"Wow, thanks," Mace said as he got it comfortable around his neck, appreciating the retained sensation of the scarf.
"You're welcome," Colt said with pride and slowly walked by Mace. "Now, are you ready to explore the outside?" He said with a grin as he turned his head back before resuming to walk towards the door.
A slight dread slowly filled Mace as he heard the words, making his breath heavy as the thought of going outside became more immediate. He knew he would be forced to adventure again someday, but he felt safe inside this house, or 'cave', as everyone called it. With walls surrounding him, with familiar feeling and with an acquainted smell.
But the outside was a mystery for him. An endless expanse where there are no walls, no matter what direction you look. Except upwards, but even that was strange as the roof seemed to be moving at all times. White powder covers the ground and falls from the top. Strong gusts of wind that could make someone lose balance.
It felt like an abyss.. on its side.
Mace concealed his worries and voiced his confirmation, following Colt to the door, who was grabbing his own red scarf and grasping a lantern. He initiated a small fire, bringing life into the lantern.
"Ready?"
With everything prepared and settled, Colt bit down the rope and tugged the door open.
Darkness revealed itself as the door was pushed to the side, feeling the warmth fade away as the cold took over with winds blowing at the duo, forcing Mace to shield his eyes. But he drew his paw to the side shortly after, which allowed him to see the wasteland again.
Mace grew uneasy and could feel his legs tremble, and he was beginning to have second thoughts about this operation. But seeing Colt smile as he took a deep breath and effortlessly wandered outside prompted Mace to regain his posture.
Mace carefully strolled out into the snow and glanced around the area, taking in as much as he could. The small zone closest to the cave was empty, with only a snow blanket covering the surface. A lifeless forest encircled the open area where they stood. The forest wasn't dense since Mace could see far between the trees, but the dark limited his sight so he couldn't see far.
Colt noticed Mace's tense posture and could tell he was uncertain about wandering into the harsh environment again. So he decided to show him the closest landmark to let him get used to the nearest surroundings.
"Our first destination is a few meters into the forest before us. It isn't far, but I would still advise you to stay within my range," Mace didn't need to be told twice before he quickly went over to Colt's side.
They began to trek, and Colt started talking about some of his intriguing adventures to ease Mace out of his nervous thoughts and distract him from the dangers.
Mace slowly loosened up, but not because of his stories. Instead, it comforted Mace every time he glanced at Colt by his side, as he felt safe under his protection. His concerns about their dangers quickly diminished, allowing him to enjoy the adventure with Colt.
The snow became thicker as they reached the marked tree. It was bigger than the rest of the trees near it, and it had a black ring around it with only one branch hanging. "This is one of many large trees that can help you in the forest. Castiel and I have marked these trees with a burned exterior around them, with only one branch hanging that points towards the cave. So if you are ever lost in the forest, search for a large tree with a burned ring." Colt carefully explained as he pointed at each detail.
Mace's eyes followed the branch angle, and sure enough, it led back to their footsteps, which they came from. "Did you mark these with fire?" Mace said as he dragged his claw over the scorched tree bark, feeling the frozen rough exterior.
"Yhea, I cast some fire onto it, but not enough for it to catch on. It's an old technique I have used many times." Colt demonstrates this by breathing a small flame and drawing a new wound in the tree.
"Wow, it must be beneficial for you to be a fire type," Mace said as he looked at the damage. It was deeply burned, with a few embers still glowing, but they soon diminished to the cold without their heat source.
"Yeah, it has made it easier for us to survive. Since then, we can avoid constantly trying to make fire from grinding wood. Having the ability to create a fire anywhere is good, like this," Colt said as he playfully breathed a small flame near Mace's face, making him flinch and lose his footing from the surprise.
"Hey!" Said the snow-covered glaceon to Colt, who was busy laughing at Mace's funny reaction. He shook off the excess snow on his body and stood up. "You should've seen your face," Colt said as he laughed, which earned him a stern gaze from Mace. But seeing that he was too occupied with amusement prompted Mace to perform his payback.
Colt's laugh slowly decreased as he calmed himself down, "alright.. phew, that was funn-" Colt said as he looked towards Mace, but was instead met with a snowball speeding towards him. With no time to react, his face got covered in snow, and this time it was Mace's turn to giggle.
"There, now we are even", Mace said while trying to contain his laughter. The dumbfounded flareon wasn't anticipating a snowball as a comeback but decided to fight fire with fire.
Or snow with snow.
He wiped his face clean and smirked at Mace. "Let us keep going to the next destination." He picked up some snow from the ground and moulded it into a ball. "But you better watch your back," He playfully declared, displaying his snowball. With a smirk of his own, Mace accepted the duel.
They continued their adventure to the next place, all while throwing snowballs at each other. Turning the usual dark and quiet wasteland into a battlefield filled with laughter as they dodged, ran and attacked with snowballs.
They would continue this all the way towards their following site, keeping a safe distance but still far enough for them to avoid attacks. They continued until they felt exhausted, and both called a truce to catch their breath and clean off the excess snow.
"So, where are we now?" Mace said as he shook his body. The snow was surprisingly flat for a few hundred meters in each direction, with no trees in view. Only further away, the ground became unbalanced again like everywhere else was.
"We are standing on top of a lake," Colt answered. "And don't worry, it's frozen solid, so we can rest here without it breaking."
"Are you sure it's safe?" Mace asked
"yeah, look," Colt said as he began jumping on the snow-covered ice.
"Okay, okay. You proved your point," Mace said while chuckling.
Colt calmed down his jumping and looked at Mace. "It's nice to see that you aren't scared of being outside anymore." Mace had slowly forgotten about his anxiety about roaming in the snow, and now the thought was nonexistent.
"Yeah, it feels better now." He was surprised that Colt had noticed his uncertainty, but it would take a fool not to see it.
This was the first time Mace could appreciate snow's beauty without being scared of it. He looked at Colt as he was blabbing on about something. He felt safe. He wasn't alone anymore.
With renewed energy, they wandered over to the last place in a more calm manner. They only tossing one or two snowballs at each other.
"This is the last one for today," Colt exclaimed as they reached three oddly positioned bulges in the snow. They were three times as tall as Mace and were shaped like rectangles. Each one pointed into the middle a few meters of distance from each other, creating a small invisible triangle in the middle.
"What are these?" Mace questioned as he walked into the centre of the formation.
"These are blocks that have been carved out of stone. No one knows who made these or where they came from, but they exist." Colt said as he brushed off some snow, revealing the rough texture of the stone.
"You know, This place is very special to me." Colt started as he looked at Mace, grabbing his attention. "Before the disaster happened, I used to investigate it, trying to uncover its secret story."
"Did you discover something?" Mace asked, feeling himself being intrigued by the unusual stones.
"Nope, nothing. I would spend days analysing the stones, examining the surroundings and asking other Pokémons if they knew anything about it. But there were no myths, legends, or any written background on it. So, with nothing to understand, I gave up and instead came to the conclusion 'that they exist',"
"Not the most exciting discovery, but the adventure under the investigation was exciting and made this place special for me," Colt said as he relived his memories. Reimaginating himself, running around the stones, trying to find clues. "But even after I came to the conclusion, I still came here since I kinda fell in love with the place."
"The green grass on the ground was always shining."
Mace looked down at the cold snow.
"And the bright blue sky was always gleaming with delight."
Mace looked up at the dull sky.
"And with the sun always beaming, it made this place feel magical," Colt sighed before uttering the last sentence. "I miss the sun." he sat in silence, relishing his memories with a smile.
"What is the sun?" Mace asked, trying to understand what he was talking about.
Colt was thrown out of his memory as he locked eyes with Mace. Confusion grew on him as he wondered if he had heard him correctly.
Mace grew tense as his question was responded with silence, feeling time slowly drag on as they awkwardly stared at each other. 'Did I say anything wrong?' Mace thought to himself.
"You don't remember?" Colt said suspiciously, unsure if he was joking, but Mace's expression made it apparent that he was genuine.
'Remember what?' Mace thought as he shook his head, seeing Colt's expression slowly change from a humble smile to a sincere concern.
Colt abruptly remembered that Mace was found unconscious in the snow and began to worry if he had any memory loss. He stepped closer to Mace and examined him, "May I?" Colt said as he lifted his paw close to his head, and before Mace could figure out what he meant, he began to touch around his head.
"Do you remember how you got unconscious in the snow before Castiel found you?" Colt said as he tried to find any sore spot on his skull. "I-I fell off a cliff," He said, enduring Colt's touch.
"Hmm," Colt expressed as he stopped his examination, "I can't find any bruises or injury on your skull. Do you still remember most of your memories, or does it feel like you have an empty period somewhere?"
Mace was still perplexed as he didn't feel like he had lost any memory, but then again, a person with memory loss would also be in denial since how would they know?
"I still remember my memories."
"But you don't remember the sun?"
'Again with the sun,' Mace thought as he shook his head.
Colt felt sympathetic for Mace as he concluded that he had probably forgotten some minor details of his life. But seeing how Mace was unbothered by it, and it didn't seem to affect his memories too much, it was nothing to worry about. "Hey, y'know what?" Colt said with a newfound smile as he pulled Mace into a hug.
"If we make it out alive of this disaster, I'll promise to show you all of the world's wonders to restore anything you have forgotten, and I'll stand beside you to experience the sunrise again." He let go of the flustered glaceon and locked eyes with him. "I promise."
His words dumbfounded Mace, and the hug alone made his mind go wild with emotions. It had been too long since he had felt any of this, having someone who cares.
Mace smiled back and said thanks to Colt.
"Now, let's get back," he said as he approached one of the stones and briefly explained that they would follow the way it pointed. They began their walk home, having a regular chat with each other. Even though Mace was comfortable walking outside, Colt felt compelled to walk beside him as close as possible.
Being protective over him.
"Ah, I see it," Mace happily exclaimed as he began to recognise the area near their camp and finally spotted the door. It had been a pleasant experience to explore, but right now, returning home to relax was the only thing he had on his mind.
Seeing him pick up his pace made Colt chuckle at his childlike behaviour, prompting him to do the same. The last 100 meters quickly went by as they jogged to the door. Colt pushed down on the handle and opened the door; the warmth in the cave engulfed them as the usual interior greeted them.
Castiel and Aiden sat in the middle, near the fire, talking to one another before hearing the front door open. Castiel breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Colt and Mace enter, smiling and chatting to each other.
"Welcome back," Castiel and Adien announced as they saw them, prompting them to say their regards back. "How did it go?" Castiel asked
Colt began to take off his scarf and put away his lantern while Mace rushed to the fire to warm himself. "I showed him around the area and displayed some landmarks without issues. If we do it more often, he will be fine to wander alone in no time." He shook off the excess snow on his legs and soon began to walk towards the fire too.
"Do you not want to take it off?" Colt said, alluding to the scarf around Mace's neck. He had forgotten that he still had it on him, but it was soothing to have it. "Nah, I'll keep it on," Mace said, liking the feeling of the fabric rubbing against his fur.
"Suit yourself," Colt chuckled as he sat down to warm himself before turning to Castiel. "How did it go for you?"
Castiel grinned as she had everyone here and finally decided to share her discovery. "Alright, everyone, I found something." She began, feeling the room become quiet as everyone's attention was fixated on her. "Today, when scouting in the snow, I uncovered a highly dense forest a bit south of here. There wasn't anything unusual about it, but I ventured deeper into the woods. And then I noticed a weird distance between two of the trees, and on the two trees further up and so on."
"So you found an empty area in a forest?" Colt said, feeling lost on what Castiel was trying to say.
"Hush, let me explain," Castiel said, enjoying the dramatic suspense she was creating. "I followed the narrow, empty space in between the trees, and it confused me as this couldn't have been a natural occurrence. But then it finally clicked for me: this was a path, which was made by other pokémons. I was determined to discover what was near the end, hoping it would lead me to something useful. I don't know how much time passed, but in the end, I encountered some decays of a small town."
Everyone was stunned by her discovery. This was their biggest find yet, as this town could have resources, items or even maybe food to help with their situation. This could be the breakthrough they have been searching for and be finally able to connect to other survivors to create a bigger gathering for survivors.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go there now," Adien said, optimistic as she jumped out of her seat.
"Not so fast; I am exhausted, and I'm pretty sure that Colt and Mace are also tired from exploring," Castiel justified, in which both of them sighed with relief as they didn't have the energy to go out once more.
"We will go early tomorrow and explore this town, so I advise that everyone goes to bed now so we all feel refreshed." She informed, standing up and stretching her limbs.
Mace, who was already tired, didn't oppose going to bed. He quickly said good night to the group before walking to his room, excited for their next adventure. But as he crawled into bed, he found it very hard to sleep. He felt empty as he was alone in his room. Exposed to danger.
He blankly stared at the wall, trying to sleep. Minutes slowly passed by as he couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched by the darkness. His eyes began to lie as they perceived silhouettes moving in the dark.
'Would Colt mind if I were to sleep near him?' He caught himself off guard by the intrusive thought.
He felt vulnerable, and his first resort was to be close to Colt...
But before he could dwell on it, his drowsiness finally succumbed him into a heavy sleep.
Castiel woke up from her sleep, stretching her body with a groan as her senses slowly regained consciousness. As she became more awake, excitement began to replenish her energy as she recalled this was the day that could change their life. With a determined state of mind, she leapt off the bed with a grin.
And immediately almost fell to the ground as she neglected her still sleepy muscles. She regained her posture and began to stagger to the door, pushing it aside.
'And of course, no one else is awake yet.' She said to herself as she entered the empty lobby. She was usually the first to wake up in the mornings, only sometimes seeing somebody else. She did her morning routine of checking their supply, laying up a batch of berries on a table and refuelling the fire before sitting down and beginning to plan her day.
'We will need food and water with us since we don't know how long we will stay and search. We will also need to bring our lanterns and some bags.' she thought to herself, trying to figure out how much they should pack. She knew if they packed too much, the journey would be heavy, and they would be unable to bring back many finds. And packing too low meant that they would be forced to leave earlier.
"Good morning," A tired voice rang through the room, accompanied by footsteps growing louder as they got closer. Castiel looked up from the fire and saw the familiar sight of the mightyena.
"Morning Aiden," Castiel said with a smile, watching her as she sat near the fire.
"Have you already thought of a plan?"
"Yeah, most of it," Castiel said before following up with her scheme. "We will all carry a bag each but only fill two bags with water and food, leaving the other bags to whatever we find. When we reached the village, we divided into two groups and then explore the houses. We will also need a meet-up spot later on and decide if we should go back once more."
"That's true. We don't need to stress too much because we can always come back there whenever we like,"
"Good morning." A third voice echoed through the room. This time being Mace's as he approached the fire. He looked sluggish and tired as he ate some berries to regain energy.
"Morning," said the duo simultaneously
"Great, almost everyone is here," Castiel said as she glanced at Colt's door. "Except for the slumberer". Colt has always been a deep sleeper and could hibernate an entire winter if no one bothered him.
"Hey, Mace, could you do me a favour and wake Colt? Then Adien and I will start packing and preparing everything."
Mace froze for a moment, staring with a blank stare into nothingness. "Y‐Yeah, sure," he eventually said, walking towards Colt's room.
With everything planned out, they wasted no time and began to pack. Filling two bags with resources, preparing two lanterns and putting on their red scarves. Soon, Mace emerged from Colt's room with a sleepy Flareon by his side.
Castiel idea was to let Aiden and Colt carry their resources while she guided the way. But Mace persisted in taking the load off Colt and taking it himself instead since Colt was still tired. It was a nice gesture, and Colt didn't complain.
Now, with everything set and ready, the operation has begun. They stepped out into the cold, vast darkness, with only their lanterns shining in the abyss. Winds were howling around with snow blowing about. But the harsh weather conditions didn't convince anyone to back down as they roared their determination with wide grins and thus began their journey to find new chances.
The walk went relatively uneventful as they traversed over the open snow area, with Castiel and Aiden in the front, walking beside each other with their lantern. Mace and Colt are beside each other, a small distance from the front.
"You know I could have taken the heavier bag," Colt said, his words slightly muffled as he held his lantern in his mouth.
"I know, but I didn't want you to push too hard at the start of the journey," Mace said. However, there were many motivations why he insisted that he took the bag, but the most significant is that he will always be grateful for everything they had done for him, taking him in and aiding him. And this was a small way to show his gratitude back to them for everything.
"Fine, but I will carry the heaviest bag on our way back."
"It isn't a competition," Mace jokingly mocked him, making him chuckle. They continued joking, laughing loudly as they teased one another.
The snow on the ground has slowly become less dense, making it harder for them to traverse it as it reaches their abdomen. But through effort, they overcame the struggle and eventually reached the forest.
Castiel guided everyone to the open stretch, which was a road once. And sure enough, as they got there, an invisible line was dividing the trees. The walk slowly dragged on for a long time, and Mace began to worry as they walked further away from their safe zone, but he trusted the absol. The area was complicated to tell apart from each other since the trees all looked alike. Mace moved closer to Colt for safety because if he lost sight of the group, it wouldn't be easy to find his way home.
"There it is", Castial blurted out, seeing silhouettes of buildings looming in the distance. Seeing their goal within eye-reach, Mace channelled his weary stamina and pushed through the last few meters.
An eerie surface lingered throughout the ghost town, tiny one-story houses mostly built out of wood and stone, being abandoned to decay over time. The group stayed close together as they pursued the shirked path between the houses, shining their lights at the cabins. Broken glass and vandalised exteriors covered on the walls might tell a story of what happened here at their last moment.
The group stayed silent as they walked past some debris and rubble, each having a reflection of what stood there before. A well? A memorial? A house..? The thought was unsettling to think about.
It was becoming evident to the group that there was no trace of survivors here. Everything is deserted and left to nature to decay. A creepy ambience as the wind howling was the only sound, accompanied by footsteps, and the lanterns creaked as they swung.
"Alright, gang, let's split up and scour the area," Castiel said as they reached what she presumed to be the centre of the place. She also felt the tense atmosphere but was determined to make this a nice adventure. She decided it was time to begin looting and skip scouring for other pokémon since it would probably be useless in this ghost town.
"Colt and I will look through that side, and Aiden and Mace will look through the other side," She said as she pointed to her left and right. The group decided to replenish their hunger before dividing into two.
"Which one should we take first?" Aiden said, her voice muffled as she held a lantern in her mouth.
"I guess we start with the closest one, then move further away with each passing house." It was a safe bet since then, they wouldn't go further away than necessary.
"Sounds good to me"
With their first house chosen, Mace approached the wooden door and tried to push it open, but it wouldn't budge. He attempted to tug it more forcefully, but it was useless. "Damn, this door," Mace muttered in defeat.
"Let me try," Aiden said as she put the lantern aside. She tried pushing and pulling, but yet again, it changed nothing. In a last effort, she took a few steps back before eventually ramming into the door. The door violently swung open from the impact, creating a dust cloud as it was knocked off its hinges with a loud blow.
They carefully walked inside the house, shining the lamp to illuminate the space. The first room would replicate a small kitchen with a table, three seats, and a living area.
"This place looks trashed". Aiden spoke as she cautiously looked around. Chairs were knocked down, cupboards randomly opened, and furniture vandalised.
Aiden placed the lantern on the table and searched through the old cupboards while Mace glanced around more, soon seeing an ajar door on the other side of the kitchen.
"I'll check behind the door," Mace informed
He walked across the room and pushed the creaking door open, finding that it was a bedroom. He was stuck in the dark because he didn't have the lantern. However, there was at least a window that allowed him to identify different shapes and shades.
He eyed the room, finding nothing of interest as the room only had one bed, closet, and nightstand. He checked the cabinets and found some fabrics and a rope, which could be beneficial.
He looked through the rest of the bedroom but couldn't find anything more. He grabbed his loot and walked out of the bedroom. "Did you find anything?" Mace asked as he saw the mightyena rummaging through the cabinets.
She quickly glanced at Mace before responding, "Only some utensils and bowls; otherwise, it's all expired food and mould." She closed the cabinet door with a sigh. "Did you find anything?"
"Found rope and some kind of fabric." Mace placed it in the bag, giving one last glance around the room. "Y'know, I thought more items would be in these houses, but it feels so empty here.
"I guess the homeowners took their stuff with them. I don't blame them, I would have taken my stuff with me too," Aiden said
"Yhea, but can they at least leave something interesting for us to discover? Like a treasure map or something exciting," Mace jokingly said, laughing with Aiden as they left their first house.
The cold winds returned as they traversed the snow again, but it didn't take long before they reached their next house. Mace typically tried to open the door, but as expected, it was the same story again. With a swift motion, he barged at the door.
A screech echoed as the door was cleared from its grip, letting Mace push it open further. 'Did they install a metal door here?' He thought to himself as he finally got it to open up. Aiden came through with the lantern, lighting up the place.
"huh, this looks like a replica of the last house," Aiden said as she placed the light on the table again. The difference was that this place looked more deserted, as if everything was left behind and untouched. Dust covered the room, with mould growing on the walls.
"I'll check the bedroom again," Mace announced as he walked towards the closed door while Aiden first explored through the living room. The bedroom was nearly identical, with some rearrangement. 'Is every house built the same? Everything looks similar from the outside, so this may be their standard.'
He went to the closet and opened it. There were many different things in there, but nothing that would aid them. Most of the items were personal belongings of the homeowners. "It wouldn't feel right to take something with no value to help us." He said to himself as he closed the closet
He checked the nightstand, and there were candles in there, which he decided to take. 'Extra light sources could help', he thought as he put it in his bag. He decided to take some of the fabric from the bed as well.
While he was shoving the textile into his bag, he caught a glimpse of something shimmering on the wall. He turned towards the wall and was able to barely see a painting, a painting of two ursaring standing together. Mace presumed that they were the owners of the cabin before the accident. An eerie feeling ran through Mace as he stared at the dead Pokémon, who in the painting seemed happy, but in real life, they were deteriorating somewhere.
He noticed the same glare again. He glanced under the picture and saw something hanging there. He walks towards it and notices it is a necklace with a rather big circle. He carefully ripped it out of the painting and began to examine it. It is a round but flat structure with glass on top, like a watch. And there is only one arrow in there with no numbers.
Mace began to grin as he stared at the glass on top and slowly turned his paw, seeing the needle move.
"Yeah!" He loudly said as his emotion took over from his find. It had been a while since he felt this excited, and now he couldn't wipe the smile away from his face.
"Did you find something?" Aiden called back from the kitchen, having heard him shout. Mace finally broke eye contact with the compass as he heard Adien's voice, and he walked out without scouring the room for more.
Aiden stopped what she was doing when she saw Mace emerge from the door. "You won't believe what I found," he said as he walked towards her. With high anticipation, she watched as he put something down on the counter.
She was speechless as she recognised what it was. A small 'wow' was all she could utter as she grasped the compass with hundreds of different thoughts running through her head.
"This unlocks so much more potential for survival. Imagine how far we could embark on a journey and still be able to find home. We could even make a map and be able to navigate it." The duo grew more eager as they shared their thoughts on how this would change their future, and the future was looking bright right now.
After calming down over the find, Mace put on the necklace, which was just a string close resemblance to his marble necklace and helped Aiden with putting some food that she found into a bag.
Mace had little to no hope of finding anything of value in these houses when Castiel first announced it, since the town would most likely have been pillaged as it was abandoned. And some houses supported that theory by being vandalised, indicating that a struggle was present in the town, not necessarily a fight, but a conflict occurred.
But now it doesn't matter if they don't uncover anything else since this compass is enough for this adventure.
"Nothing in there again," Mace said as he left the bedroom of another house.
"Nothing here either," Aiden said, scouring through the last few cabinets. Rotten food and mould covered the kitchen, making Aiden gag with every breath.
"Should we continue with more houses, or should we try and meet up with Castiel and Colt?" Mace said as he looked into their bags, seeing that they were soon filled to the brim with various items they had found while scouring.
Aiden closed the last cabinet with no luck and decided to get away from hazardous air as quickly as possible. "I'm feeling a bit exhausted now, and I would like some energy left for our journey home. So I wouldn't mind meeting up with them now to discuss if we should head home."
"Sure, but how do we find them? We never really said a time we should meet up or where." Mace questioned as he prepared himself with his bag. To make things worse, they have lost perception of how they divided up the houses so that they could be anywhere in the town.
"We just wander around until we find them or their tracks," Aiden nonchalantly said as she walked out of the house. With no other option, Mace shuffled his scarf tighter before following her outside.
The cold, brisk air was somewhat soothing to breathe after being inside the many houses where the air quality wasn't pleasant. Mace and Aiden followed their tracks in the snow to backtrack their steps while keeping an eye out for the others.
Their tracks soon became hidden in the falling snow, making them blindly wander the town for any sign. The time slowly dragged on for them, and Mace began to feel worried if something had happened to them. They haven't seen any light from their lantern or other tracks in the snow.
The uneasiness in his stomach grew heavier, slowly being filled with paranoia as it felt like something was watching him. Mace began to check over his shoulder, around every corner, having a gut feeling that someone was hiding from them.
And he wasn't far off. Near the shadows of their light lurked a creature watching their every move, plotting their attack on the two. With a devilish grin, they were able to advance closer to the partly unaware duo. Keeping a steady breath so as not to reveal their presence until they were able to reach the desired range.
It was too late for the duo to react fast enough as the attacker began to pounce.
"RAWR!" Colt roared as he grasped both Mace and Aiden.
Mace jumped out from his skin from Colt's jumpscare, and he lost his footing, falling into the snow. His heart rate was through the roof as he panicked, thinking that it was an actual assault, until he heard his laugh.
"Got both of you real good", Colt said as he laughed at their reaction, being the only one finding amusement in the action. "That was the best scare I've done in forever," Colt said as he tried to suppress his laughter but eventually fell into a fit of laughter again.
"Sorry...Sorry, I couldn't resis-." Colt was cut short as a snowball was thrown into his face.
"There's more where that came from", Mace threatened as he made another one, beginning to like throwing things at Colt.
"Yeah, I deserved that." He chuckled as he shook off the snow's remnants and barely dodged the next one.
"Heard a scream over here. Is everything okay?" Aiden glanced towards the light in the distance, seeing Castiel hurriedly walking towards them.
"Yeah, we are fine. Colt decided to scare us." Aiden said
Castiel let out a relieved sigh that nothing terrible had happened. She glanced at the eeveelutions, one of them throwing snowball after snowball while the other dodges while trying to apologise for their action repeatedly. It was funny to watch as they played like childish cubs.
"So, how did it go for you?" Aiden asked while they waited for them to finish
"Most of the houses were empty, but we did find food and some useful materials. You guys found anything?"
"Same here, primarily empty houses with nothing. But we did strike gold in one home," Aiden said with a smirk, knowing that Castiel would value the compass.
"What did you find?"
"Mace found it in the bedroom, and he has it around his neck."
Castiel curiosity peaked as to what would be so valuable.
"Hey, Mace", Castiel spoke as she walked towards him, saving Colt from his onslaught. "Hmm?" Mace mummed as he stopped his motion, happy to see Castiel again. "oh hey Castiel, how did it go for you?" He said with a smile as he disarmed himself, sparing Colt.
"Most houses were empty, but we did find some materials and food. How did it go for you? I heard that you found something." She said with interest.
"Sure did." Mace tugged at his scarf to the side, enough for him to grab the item that was concealed behind the fabric. He took it off his neck and held it before the curious absol. She grabbed the thing and inspected it. Mace could see the precise moment she recognised it, her eyes widening with a growing smile.
She was speechless by the moving arrow, having always dreamt of having a compass and finding a map to a shelter with other refugees. "So much potential is finally a possibility with this compass," Castiel said as she grew excited about the future.
Colt walked towards Castiel and glanced at the compass with wonder before she handed it back to Mace, who put it around his neck again to keep it secure.
With the group finally together, They showed their finding to each other: nothing impressive, mostly fabric, some food and a few personal items. Seeing that their bags had almost reached max capacity, Castiel suggested they search one more house and then call it a day.
They could always return if they wanted to achieve more.
They supplied themselves with food as they followed Castiel, who saw a unique building she didn't have time to get to. They would turn, then forward, twist, and turn before anchoring in front of a house.
'Wow, Castiel's path memory is impressive.' Mace thought to himself after seeing her retrace her steps with no doubt. Having traversed through the rough environment almost daily, Castiel has gained a great sense of direction.
"The sooner we are done, the sooner we get home," Castiel said with a smile as she pushed at the door, cracking the rust on the door hinge. The door slowly creaked loose, revealing a single open room. Dust flew with every motion as Castiel and Aiden shone their light through the room.
The house was double the length of any other place, with no indoor walls or windows. A table stretched in the middle, with many chairs attending it. A raised platform represents a small stage on the length of the wall. Mace watched as the group explored the place while talking. Seeing some intriguing drawers near the walls, he began to search through the wooden drawers in the room, mostly finding paper with a lot of text.
Paper sorted by different labels and years. Construction, medical, pictures, residents, economy and politics. Most of the papers were logs or journals of the town and the pokémon that lived there. It was daunting seeing the names of pokémons written down on paper before eventually vanishing, only leaving their name as a memorial.
"what do you think this house was for?" Aiden asked while she poked around the room.
"A conference room for the town's leaders.. probably", Castiel said as she looked through different shelves, trying to find something.
'That would make sense', Mace thought as he returned the papers. He glimpsed at Castiel as he heard her mumble something as she rummaged through the shelves. He found it unusual that she would ignore some shelves and push unopened boxes aside. He doubted that she would find anything searching like that.
But as he would go back to minding his own business, Castiel called out to the group. "Found something"
She pulled out a long rolled-up paper from the shelves and placed it in the middle of the table. Everyone gathered around the table with interest as she untied the knot and rolled out the paper. Castiel grinned as she saw everyone go wide-eyed as they recognised that this was a map of the landscape.
They put the lanterns on each side of the paper to hold it open and provide them with some light. The map could have been in better condition as it was faded, scratched, and even torn in some places. It was drawn with a pencil, showing forest, paths, mountains and the village in the middle.
"Look, another village," Colt said as he pointed at a drawing depicting a small town further away from this village. Mace took out the compass and laid it on the map to match the compass symbol on the paper. With these two puzzle pieces present, they can determine the town's location.
It was hard to tell how long the distance was between them as there wasn't any measurement on the paper. But that didn't discourage the group, as they grinned, talked and shared daydreams of their next adventure.
"Maybe we can find survivors there."
"or more supplies and food."
"A shelter for refugees"
"Another map to even more places"
The group felt confident in their future survival as they no longer felt confined to a small area being able to reach new lengths.
"Then that will be our next adventure," Castiel said with joy as she put her paw on the table. "Who's with me?" Everyone put their paws on top of each other as they voiced their confirmation.
"This day marks a revolution where we will find peace and adventure for a better tomorrow." She said as everyone cheered while they launched their paws in the air.
Mace felt happy.
They calmed down after a while and finally settled to return back to base. Castiel took the map, and Mace took the compass while the two others grabbed the bags. They walked out into the calm, snowy darkness.
The weather had improved drastically as there were no winds or fog—just a light snowfall, which was quite pleasant.
They split up in two, Mace and Castiel in the front of the lead. Castiel navigated back to the path they came from and tested the map with the help of Mace. They kept track of where they were on the map while they walked.
Mace mostly held the lantern and occasionally the compass while she did the rest of the work. But he didn't mind. He was happy to help her as much as he could.
Castiel was able to snatch a pen from the house before leaving, so when they reached the point where they first encountered the trail, Castiel began to draw on the map where she thought they were.
The group then proceeded forward over the snowy plain hills. All the while, Castiel was drawing a new path on the map for them to use in the future. They tried to retrace their steps, but the snow had already washed away their old footprints. But that didn't hinder Castiel, as she still walked confidently, and after a while, the group began to recognise the surroundings.
Comfort sank in as Mace saw the front door of their base. He happily picked up the pace as the only thing he yearned for now was his bed. 'Home sweet home', he thought as he went to pry the door open.
Mace's excitement slowly became confusion as it was completely dark in the room. "What happened with the fire?" he said as he walked inside with his small light, barely shining the walls of the expansive room.
Castiel followed suit and was stumped on why the fire died. "Huh, Maybe I forgot to refill it this morning," She said as she took off her bag and scarf.
"Hey, Colt. Can you ignite the fire?" Castiel asked as she saw him walk into the room with Aiden and shut the door.
"What happened?" He asked as he walked near the firepit, followed by Castiel, who held the lantern for him. They noticed that there were still some logs there that were burned but didn't have any embers left.
They looked at each other with confusion before Colt began a steady stream of fire. The wood caught on, and the fire slowly grew more prominent. Eventually illuminating the room and revealing the truth.
Everyone stayed silent as they noticed that their home had been vandalised. Confusion, dread and paranoia spread among the group as they stared in horror at the scene revealing itself. Broken items are scattered along the floor. Broken doors with some barely hanging on their hinges. Intimidating claw marks covered the walls.
Mace was terrified by the sight as this was the only place he felt safe within. "W-What happened?" He barely stammered out as he felt his body quiver.
"Who could have done this?" Aiden said.
Colt rummaged through the rubble, seeing things purposely shattered into pieces. "This doesn't feel like an act from a single pokémon,"
The group had their entire world thrown upside down as they soon began to accept the events. They remained on high alert in case the intruders were still near. Mace watched as everyone went into their rooms to check on their things.
Mace was able to restrain his dread-filled emotions and decided to check on his room as well, even though he had nothing inside of it.
He anxiously opened the door, expecting a broken bed, but was left horrified by the sight. "Guys, I think I know who it is."
On the wall were three words painted that he knew all too well. 'Get lost Glaceon'
