Stumbling Along

[fullmetalbro.livejournal.com]

Who: fullmetalbro, king_of_flames, usedwaterpulse, and used_aerial_ace
Where: Mt. Mortar
When: Uh, now and going for a few days.
Summary: The gang take a few wrong turns in the cave, and they have to find their way back out.
Rating: PG-13 because Ed needs to wash his mouth out with soap.
Log:

Edward opened his map of Johto, then went through his other papers and pamphlets. There was no map of Mt. Mortar. Sure, the map showed the path leading to the cave on either side, but there was no telling how long the path was inside the cave or how many paths deviated from the one that led to the exit near Mahogany Town. He hopped off of Armstrong, called him back to his Pokeball, and stared at the entrance to the cave.

He looks down at Aurum, who was busy digging in Ed's pack to find some apples to munch. He takes the bag away from his Pikachu. "We're trying to ration everything, Aurum. Besides, you're the one who's going to light the cave for us."

"Pikachuuuuuu."

"Quit complaining. You know Flash, and the people here were too stupid to invent flashlights."



NOTE: Due to LJ being used as a door mat for ddos attacker-people, tagging order is going to be pretty lenient. Just tag if/when you can.

Comments

[king-of-flames.livejournal.com]

Nearby, Roy was calling his Houndoom back into its Poké Ball. "More than that, this place has some arbitrary rules that only make travel harder." He was referring to the fact that he couldn't ride Knight across the body of water on Route 42, thus getting to Mahogany Town in a day, if that long. Since he had neither the Fog Badge nor HM 03, it was a no go.

[usedwaterpulse]

Once she and Aang were off Katara recalled her own Tauros, who had been out so that Jet could rest for a little while.

She agreed. It was more than a little ridiculous. She could ride Naila on land, but the minute they got in the water it was like the Gyarados forgot how. Then they could ride Pokemon like Jet and Tauros without any special moves, but not a Pokemon that knew how to swim and was big enough for four? Ridiculous.

"Not to mention that the people that are actually native to this place act more like puppets... it's creepy, but I guess none of it can be helped."

She looked up at the path ahead of them, then Aang with a bit of a nervous smile.

"... We don't exactly have the best track record with caves, huh? Let's get in and out as quickly as possible?"

[fullmetalbro.livejournal.com]

Ed glanced at Katara with a brow raised. He was pretty curious, but he had a feeling he shouldn't ask until they were out of the cave.

"Right. Let's go." Ed walked into the entrance of the cave, and it was only a few meters before he couldn't see. "Aurum, go ahead and use Flash." The Pikachu suddenly emitted a blinding light, and Ed had to shield his eyes from it until it dimmed down a bit. He blinked a few times to get rid of the sudden balls of light that obscured his vision until they vanished. He looked around the cave. Aurum lit the cave fairly well. "Let's just hope there aren't too many branches to choose from."

[used-aerial-ace.livejournal.com]

Aang blushed a bit at Katara's reference, but quickly refocused his attention on Aurum's Flash. "That's pretty cool. But yeah, I really don't want to get lost in here."

He released Char, allowing his Pokemon to walk beside him. The cave was slightly nerve-wracking, aside from bad past experiences. Even with Aurum's illumination, he couldn't shake the feeling that there something - or a lot of somethings - watching him.

[king-of-flames.livejournal.com]

Roy dug his hands into his pockets, brushing the gloves he'd stowed in them the day he'd arrived. He focused on his surroundings, making sure that there were no out-of-place sights or sounds.

[usedwaterpulse]

"I don't think I even want to know what kind of Pokemon are hiding out in here, after those ghosts in Sprout Tower..."

It was true that she'd caught one of them, but still, the idea of running into something like that in a CAVE was a lot creepier than in a well lit, swaying, man made building. She stuck to the middle of the group, Kishi's Pokeball gripped tight.

[fullmetalbro.livejournal.com]

It wasn't long until the group reached a fork in the path. Aurum looked up at his trainer, waiting for his decision while his ears twitched in response to all the sounds made by the hiding Pokemon within the cave.

Ed folded his arms and looked from one path to the other. One looked fairly smooth and easy to walk. The other went on for a meter or so and then took a deep dive into the ground. For all Ed knew, it could continue and be well maintained like the other one after that, but he couldn't see it. He turned back to everyone else.

"Which way?"

[king-of-flames.livejournal.com]

"Why not split up?" Roy suggested. "We've got the Gears, so staying in contact is a piece of cake."

[used-aerial-ace.livejournal.com]

"I don't know..." Aang submitted cautiously. "What if there's a cave-in and somebody gets trapped? Or it's too dark up ahead and we need Aurum, but he's with the other group?"

[usedwaterpulse]

Most of her Pokemon were water types, but given the world she hailed from Katara tried to keep a balance of other types on her team as well. She'd guessed it would be a good idea for at least one of her own Pokemon to know the move. They might have gotten split up accidentally at some point. Still, there was Aang's point too.

She twitched a little at the memory of exactly that. He must be thinking about the Cave of Oma and Shu too.

"Well... I did teach it to Jolteon, just in case, and if we split into teams of two then it would make finding the exit a lot easier... Maybe we can mark the paths we take, so if one team has to backtrack they can find the other team more easily?"

[fullmetalbro.livejournal.com]

Split up? Well, Roy and Katara's arguments for it outweighed his own misgivings for the idea, and they all had plenty of supplies should something happen and one group get lost for a few days. As long as no one destroyed their gears, such a catastrophe as a cave-in might not even be worse than an inconvenience, especially since Ed was sure everyone had good Pokemon to help dig people out.

It was obvious Ed and Katara couldn't be in the same team, as Roy and Aang didn't seem to have Pokemon that knew Flash. That meant...

Damnit.

"Yeah, sure. How are we going to mark where we went though? Even if we had flags or something of the sort, the Pokemon around the caves could tears them down or move them." Knowing how much Aurum seemed to enjoy making trouble sometimes, Ed had a feeling that wild Pokemon would jump at the opportunity to throw off travelers. "The only thing I can think of is to get a Pokemon to carve a sign in the walls."

[king-of-flames.livejournal.com]

"Not a problem for my team." Roy looked at the nearest wall. "Rook and King can both punch holes in the wall. And a cavern like this could take some dents."

[used-aerial-ace.livejournal.com]

Aang rummaged through his pack for a few moments. "I've got some chalk," he volunteered helpfully. "And Char could probably make scratches in things with his claws."

[usedwaterpulse]

"I've got Pokemon that can leave marks too. I think that's the best way to go." She glanced from Aang to Ed and Roy. "Why don't we all take some chalk just in case, though?"

It might come in handy if they needed to further indicate a trail.

[fullmetalbro.livejournal.com]

Ed sighed and took a piece of chalk from Aang and looked back at Katara. "Alright, I guess me and the General will take that path," he pointed down the rough trail that sloped downwards, "and you two can take the other. I guess we'll see you on the other side then."

Ed started down the path, but Aurum went back over to Katara to give her a good luck hug before running after him and taking the lead to light the way.