Once home to the Crystal Cities of the Hunter clans, Craiss Caverns is now a hollow empty shell of its former glory due to a strange misfortune in the past. Man-made tunnels now lead to this place, but tales tell of some never returning. (+3 Defense, +2 Offense)

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Nico and Joli's Big Adventure [self] [HUNT]

Postby crow » 01/08/2016 1:34 AM

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"Ugh..." A small Pokemon groaned as he drifted back into consciousness. His head hurt something terrible, and his back was all stiff from sleeping on the cold hard ground. Why had he slept there in the first place? Usually they camped out under the stars, and there would be a warm bedroll for him to curl up in. And why was it so dark?

Wait. That wasn't right. He sat up and looked around, not that he could make out anything much. The ground beneath him felt distinctly like rocks though, and the sun was nowhere to be seen. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear the sound of water dripping.
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Re: Nico and Joli's Big Adventure [self] [HUNT]

Postby crow » 01/08/2016 1:36 AM

He was in a cave. The thought came to him unbidden, but he knew as soon as he had thought it that he must have been right. The conditions here made plenty of sense if he was in a cave. The real question was still why he was there. The last thing he remembered was... was... Why couldn't he remember? There were vague notions in his head, flashes of images, of voices, concepts and things. He couldn't quite make enough sense of them though, and all it was doing was making his headache worse. Whatever had happened, he was here now, and he had to do something about that. Something told him that staying here wasn't going to be a good idea.
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Re: Nico and Joli's Big Adventure [self] [HUNT]

Postby crow » 01/08/2016 1:38 AM

He couldn't really say how he knew that either, but being stuck in a dark cave anywhere usually didn't mean anything good anyway. Urged on by that sense of dread, he got to his feet, took a step and... wobbled. It wasn't so much that his body was weak, but the motion had revealed something to him. His body wasn't the way he remembered it either. Since when had his legs been so stubby? And why was his head so heavy when he tried to move it around? He reached up a hand to feel it--- his arms were too short too. Well, it was probably better that they were proportional to his legs, he supposed. It would be sort of bleak if he turned into a Mankey, all arms and no legs to speak of.
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Re: Nico and Joli's Big Adventure [self] [HUNT]

Postby crow » 01/08/2016 1:40 AM

What he felt when he probed his face was a... hard shell of some sort. He bumped it again, and felt it move. Whatever it was, it wasn't attached to his flesh. Further exploration told him it could probably come off. He guessed that it must have been some sort of helmet, and opted to keep it on for the moment. He was in danger, right? Sort of? He'd need all the protective headgear he could get. Besides, weren't you supposed to wear a helmet when spelunking anyway?

He kept walking, in spite of his stumpy legs. It wasn't as hard as he thought it would be. On some level, his body knew what it was doing, even if he was new to it. Funny how that worked.
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Re: Nico and Joli's Big Adventure [self] [HUNT]

Postby crow » 01/08/2016 1:45 AM

He had to keep his hands in front of him as he walked, to feel for obstacles. He could see a little, but not very well. He hoped he hit the wall soon. The more he walked, the more foreboding he felt. How big was this cavern that he was in, anyway? ... How big was he? If his limbs had gotten shorter, maybe he had gotten shorter too. He experimentally tried to touch his feet, and found that he could, even though he also nearly overbalanced as he leaned down because of the weight of his strange oblong helmet. Okay, toe-touching was a bad idea. But it had verified that he could, and that... probably meant he was pretty short. Also not encouraging. Wouldn't being small be a bad thing in a cave full of predators?
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Re: Nico and Joli's Big Adventure [self] [HUNT]

Postby crow » 01/08/2016 1:47 AM

Not that he necessarily knew that the cave was full of predators, but it was as good a bet as any. Being small in a dangerous situation was almost never a good thing. He quickened his pace. Being near a wall wouldn't be a huge asset, but he'd certainly feel safer. He needed all the security he could get right about now.

Eventually he did hit the wall--- or, to be more precise, his helmet did. His hands, as it turned out, could only go slightly further out than said helmet, and he hadn't been holding them all the way out. He fell back on his rump with a startled, "Ack!"
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Re: Nico and Joli's Big Adventure [self] [HUNT]

Postby crow » 01/10/2016 11:00 PM

The noise that he made must have drawn some attention. He could hear something skittering along behind him, though he couldn't tell how far away it was. The resonance in this helmet was a little weird when it came to sound. He quickly scrambled to his feet and pressed himself against the wall, huddling and trying not to shake. He had never been a particularly brave soul, and the new body hadn't changed that.

"Wh-Who's there?" he said. His voice came out high, nearly a squeak, but nothing answered. Eventually the sound died down and he was able to breathe again, though he didn't want to take any more chances.
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Re: Nico and Joli's Big Adventure [self] [HUNT]

Postby crow » 01/10/2016 11:02 PM

What he needed to do was get out of here, pronto. At least he ought to get moving, because a moving target was harder to catch, right...? He kept one hand along the wall and walked as fast as he could bring himself to in one direction.

This plan wasn't, strictly speaking, the best one, because it meant he couldn't feel his way along in front of him. He bumped into a lot more rocks as he went on his way. Still, a few bruises were nothing compared to the threat of some horrible cave monster coming to eat him. He was utterly convinced that this was what awaited him if he stopped to rest, or went along too slowly.
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Re: Nico and Joli's Big Adventure [self] [HUNT]

Postby crow » 01/10/2016 11:12 PM

There were a few more incidents like that where he heard some noises, some close and others far away. He never knew what to do in those situations; sometimes he froze and sometimes he broke into a run. Eventually, he was offered a glimmer of hope, literally--- he could see a light off in the distance. He broke into a relieved smile and started towards it, but something about it gave him pause. He stopped, squinting at it. Was it... moving?

It was. The light was moving. The hope died in the pit of his stomach, replaced again by dread. Weren't there creatures who used bright lures in dark places to entice their prey?
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Re: Nico and Joli's Big Adventure [self] [HUNT]

Postby crow » 01/20/2016 7:23 PM

He ought to have run away, but he was exhausted from having travelled so far. He could only maintain a level of nervousness for so long, after all. It occurred to him that he didn't remember the last time he ate, and he was starting to feel a little bit shaky. He didn't want to die, of course not, but it was getting to be such an effort to turn tail and run away.

He could only hold as still as possible and hope the thing, whatever it was, passed him by. He hardly dared to breathe. Hopefully it didn't have a great sense of smell on top of the lure, or anything like that.
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Re: Nico and Joli's Big Adventure [self] [HUNT]

Postby crow » 01/20/2016 7:27 PM

He wanted to close his eyes to spare himself the sight of whatever was coming to eat him, but he couldn't quite bring himself to do it. Great, Nico, that's just what you need--- to see your doom coming. He swallowed, but his mouth had gone completely dry. Was it too late to run after all? His legs trembled, and he forced himself to still them, afraid that even this much motion would make some soft noise.

But... as the figure attached to the light drew nearer, their silhouette became visible, and Nico found that they were much smaller than he had imagined. He squinted again. That couldn't be right, could it?
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Re: Nico and Joli's Big Adventure [self] [HUNT]

Postby crow » 01/20/2016 7:30 PM

As a matter of fact, the approaching figure seemed to be about his size, but its shape was... odd. It was definitely not a human. It was too round, its legs comically short, and it would have had to wear some sort of headdress...? Or maybe those were just pigtails. But those details, all taken together, prompted the conclusion that they probably weren't human. He couldn't quite rule out 'monster' yet, though it would be a bit more implausible now for them to eat him.

"Oh, there you are!" said the creature--- apparently it could speak. Nico blinked, fighting the urge to look around. Was it... was it addressing him? It had to be; there wasn't anyone else with him, was there?
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Re: Nico and Joli's Big Adventure [self] [HUNT]

Postby crow » 01/20/2016 7:35 PM

The creature giggled. It had drawn close enough now for Nico to make it out, more or less. It... looked sort of like a Pokemon, actually, just not one he knew. At first he had thought maybe it was a Chansey, but it wasn't quite round enough. This creature clearly had a head, and it was hard to tell where the head ended and the body began on a Chansey.

"Yes, I'm talking to you! ... Do you not understand, maybe?" said the strange Pokemon.

At that, Nico hurried to answer. "I can understand," he said quickly. As soon as he said it though, the thought stuck with him: he did understand what it was saying. That wasn't right either, was it? Humans and Pokemon could learn to communicate, but they couldn't talk to each other.
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Re: Nico and Joli's Big Adventure [self] [HUNT]

Postby crow » 01/20/2016 7:51 PM

The strange Pokemon brightened. "Oh, good! I'm not very good at charades, so I was worried for a second there!" Nico tentatively allowed himself to be relieved. This pink Pokemon, whatever it was, didn't seem like it was going to eat him. "I'm Joli," it offered. "There was a report of a Pokemon wandering around lost in these caves, and I thought I'd try to help."

Nico had to wonder at that. It was true that he was lost, but who could possibly have reported that? Had he really been there for so long? And it was pitch black here; he was surprised that anyone had noticed him. He had thought he was being stealthy.
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Re: Nico and Joli's Big Adventure [self] [HUNT]

Postby crow » 01/20/2016 7:54 PM

Well, at any rate, Joli was right about him being lost. He wasn't about to turn down help if it was being offered. "Thanks," he said. "Do you know the way out of here?"

"Yep!" said Joli, pulling something from the pack he carried slung over one shoulder. "I've got a map right here! ... It'd be easier if I had an explorer's badge, but I'd need to register as a rescue team for one of those, and you can't start one with just one member." He smiled sheepishly. "Honestly it would probably be better if a real rescue team came to find you, but the cave isn't very deep, and I thought it would be good practice."
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