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[theultrasquad]

 To call Pluck’s dislike of the peppy Penguin mere hatred could either be a gross understatement, or entirely correct, but since nobody in their party can read minds no matter how hard they would like to believe they could, Ifi hadn’t much to say about this. From the grass-type’s perspective there was no way Pluck could be so angry about everything as that was Nine’s job, rather she’d like to think poor Piplup just lacked the vocabulary to word their little differences in anything other than monochrome morality in much the same way Ifi always had a bad time attempting explaining the wonderful world of the paranormal. People just had a hard time wrapping their head around the fact anyone can become a ghost and that anyone can become secretly possessed to do uncharacteristic things like hating an innocent child out of seemingly nowhere.

 Maybe, just maybe there were dubious things at play. Nah that’s ridiculous, she thought, it’d at least help if Pluck wasn’t so blatant about his distaste towards the water-type. Maybe she could hear him out once he’s stopped sulking around. Now wasn’t the time. They were on an adventure - an awfully boring adventure at that.

 Going through some dark world was one thing, dealing with the cold underbelly of a glacier while two kids were bickering was another, but wading through a small river was just as terrible. Nevermind being swept away by the current. It wasn’t big enough to hurt anyone, but the fact it was three inches of cold, cold water crashing against their feet was plenty more dangerous. It was like being dunked in a cold shower over and over again, and they had no choice than to take it slow lest they wanted to slide all the way back to the start..

 She wondered when it was going to be over, a thought which was shared among the disgruntled party clogging up the cavernous pipe. It was only then did their neon-pink light at the end of the tunnel wriggled to a sudden stop.

 “Hark! What is it?” Ekur pouted, “Have I told you stop moving?”

 “Nope, but you’re definitely not the boss of the lightbulb, nor me.” the avian hissed up ahead, the entire band but shadows in the hallway, “Maybe making your only guide to this cesspit angry isn’t a bright idea, you stupid weed!”

 The second or was it third trade of blows was on the horizon and nobody wanted anything to do with it, especially if they were crammed at the front of the tunnel with those two. Before the two barking pokemon would come to trade blows, Forrest had to call off their tussle.

 “Idunno idiots, come take a look for yourselves.”

[theultrasquad]

 To call Pluck's dislike of the peppy Penguin mere hatred could either be a gross understatement, or entirely correct, but since nobody in their party can read minds no matter how hard they would like to believe they could, Ifi hadn't much to say about this. From the grass-type's perspective there was no way Pluck could be so angry about everything as that was Nine's job, rather she'd like to think poor Piplup just lacked the vocabulary to word their little differences in anything other than monochrome morality in much the same way Ifi always had a bad time attempting explaining the wonderful world of the paranormal. People just had a hard time wrapping their head around the fact anyone can become a ghost and that anyone can become secretly possessed to do uncharacteristic things like hating an innocent child out of seemingly nowhere.

 Maybe, just maybe there were dubious things at play. Nah that's ridiculous, she thought, it'd at least help if Pluck wasn't so blatant about his distaste towards the water-type. Maybe she could hear him out once he's stopped sulking around. Now wasn't the time. They were on an adventure - an awfully boring adventure at that.

 Going through some dark world was one thing, dealing with the cold underbelly of a glacier while two kids were bickering was another, but wading through a small river was just as terrible. Nevermind being swept away by the current. It wasn't big enough to hurt anyone, but the fact it was three inches of cold, cold water crashing against their feet was plenty more dangerous. It was like being dunked in a cold shower over and over again, and they had no choice than to take it slow lest they wanted to slide all the way back to the start..

 She wondered when it was going to be over, a thought which was shared among the disgruntled party clogging up the cavernous pipe. It was only then did their neon-pink light at the end of the tunnel wriggled to a sudden stop.

 “Hark! What is it?” Ekur pouted, “Have I told you stop moving?”

 “Nope, but you're definitely not the boss of the lightbulb, nor me.” the avian hissed up ahead, the entire band but shadows in the hallway, “Maybe making your only guide to this cesspit angry isn't a bright idea, you stupid weed!”

 The second or was it third trade of blows was on the horizon and nobody wanted anything to do with it, especially if they were crammed at the front of the tunnel with those two. Before the two barking pokemon would come to trade blows, Forrest had to call off their tussle.

 “Idunno idiots, come take a look for yourselves.”

[theultrasquad]

 Water, water everywhere. It wasn't slick and slippery like the tunnels beforehand, but it was humid without it being thirty-some degrees. Kinda like being a beach without all the sun-related niceties; in other words, it didn't feel good to breathe in air heavy as a brick. Unless somehow someone's plan of getting through the tight passageways was dunking their face into the three inches of water running below their feet; the one thing the party didn't need to worry about was drowning.  

 The stuffy air still hadn't helped. If Ifi's knowledge of types held up, she was a obviously grass type, so was Ekur, “Piplup” was a watery-looking penguin and she's going to guess the big turkey to be a dragon-type despite never looking like one. So that meant most of their group could handle these increasingly damp conditions – everyone except Pluck. She thought he stuck by the lamp post just in case he short-circuited or whatever electric-types do, but it likely was him trying his best to warm himself with the fellow's neon hum. She wished she'd gotten to talk to him before he stomped off to the front of the pack; however, now didn't seem like a good time to speak with him. He hasn't been much better since he found a paper-thin grass-type sleeping on the ground.

 Barring the fact they had to send their guide ahead and a paranoid Ekur to keep up with them, the marching order seemed pretty set. Ifi and Piplup were a fair distance from the rest of the ruckus. Other than the Sceptile babbling on about adventures, honor or whatever happens to cross his mind when someone provokes the stoic idiot into conversation, everyone seemed occupied – ifi especially. She was off worrying about everyone again. It didn't help that Piplup - the otherwise peppy little bird - was as quiet as a mouse.

 She didn't really want to bother him, but if he was acting funny then who knows what was up? Maybe the talk of ghosts really did give him a scare. Ifi bit her tongue.

 “You okay?”

 He stopped some ways in the tight corridor to awkwardly squeeze his stubby hand between the stones and onto his head, scratching the big dome in confusion.

 “Yeah.”

 “You sure?”

 Piplup went slump.

 “No, not really.” the bird paused, “I have to ask, don't you think I'm a bit of a.... y'know?”

 “A what?”

 “A jerk. Even if adventuring is kinda the thing back home, and scary things like what happened to Pluck are supposed to be - um.” he put his wee brain to its absolute limit, “Good, but not good?”

 “I have a feeling falling off a cliff isn't going for your health,” ifi added, “but I'm open to new prospects.”

 “Well ye-” he thrashed his head no, “You know, I think the big guy would know a lot better than me, but scary things are supposed to help you grow and learn, and all that. I got a bit too excited back there. Like maybe Pluck's different, maybe he doesn't want to do the things I wanna do. I can't say why anyone wouldn't want to be an adventurer, but...”

 Piplup turned his head. He peered between the narrow walls, past the giant warrior, and under the purple lamp he could see the shambling figure of the ground type slogging through the dimly-lit corridors. He didn't say much for a second. More and more thoughts flashed in his wee brain then across his beady eyes until he scrambled enough of them together to mumble the following to Ifi:

 “I kinda think he hates me now.”

[theultrasquad]

 This had to be the worst. The two back there bickered worse than children, and Ekur's blatant inability to tell two kids to stop fighting was the metaphorical cherry on the top of this rotten sundae. Ekur didn't even pose a chance. He threw up his arms in surrender and returned to the remaining group while of course, playing it off as if he dd his best. Ifi couldn't say one way or the other, but she did think he looked pretty silly when he stomped away with a puffed up chest. When Ekur stormed past Ifi she absolutely had to stop him.

 “Hey!” it didn't stop him the first time, so the Bayleef tried again “Hey!”

 When Ekur looked over is eyes were sunken, his claws pressed against his temples. It was as if though he had doubled his age in a matter of moments. She'd ask what's gotten him down, but there's a good chance she knew  already.

 “Uh...” the grass-type asked, “Are they sti-”

 “You'd be right.”

 “Can't you just-”

 “This-This is beyond my league.” he stuttered, “If you are so inclined then go speak to them. Just don't quarrel with them or wind up being the person throwing others off ledges.”

 Not as if Ifi could hurt a thing with her pixelated hands. Ekur couldn't be bothered to hold up conversation after that. He just stomped away on his big claws to the rest of the group. Now it was up to Ifi to settle whatever on earth has gotten Piplup and Pluck in a bind. The disparaging bayleef had assumed the worst before taking a foot near them, and she was right to have done so. When she was close enough to hear them babbling on the clifftop she heard every horrible, horrible thing rambling out of the cubone's mouth while a seemingly defenseless Piplup doing the best a kid could do to reason with mister spiteful.

 It was safe to assume pluck was the problem here. Piplup's beady eyes were on the verge of becoming tearful faucets, so she was fairly sure it was pluck's fault. Ifi knew just from hearing Pluck what she'd say to him. She sighed, and patted the squirt's disproportionately big head with her leaf as the paper-thin Bayleef swiveled to face a belligerent Cubone.

 “You know what would've happened if you pushed him off, right?”

 “He'd hit the ground and-”

 “Not just that!” Ifi corrected, “He'd turn into a ghost!”

“Yeah, like ghosts exist..”

“You don't know that! Have you tried looking for a ghost, have you seen one? They say if you really bother someone before they pass away they'll turn into something really, really strong and haunt you for like -a very long time..” she fwipped back at Piplup who shared the bewilderment of Pluck, “I mean,  who wouldn't wanna listen to him forever?”

She caught herself going off again and nearly bit at her tongue trying to think of something more reasonable until she sputtered.

“We aren't going to leave less we're all friends, okay?”

 Whether the words of an amateur psychic had evoked a revelation from within the masked creature, or a sense of self preservation had whipped him into shape; nonetheless, there was a deep shudder that rattled throughout the ground type. He stood up, defeated. It was true. There was no way he was going to get anywhere if he had continued to argue. He'd rather make it out of here than shut someone up for good. Pluck gave himself up with sigh. Using his club to pick himself off the cold floor he surrendered back to the group proper wearing a scowl and slagging his tail.

[theultrasquad]

Preview for next update.

[theultrasquad]

 The thwack he made once Ekur put Pluck down on solid ground seemed to go on for miles. Good news was that there wasn't any worry about falling off anymore, they had finished their run and everybody – including the blasted Alteria, was safe and relatively sound. Bad news was now he had to listen to whatever Ekur had to say. While it may seem there were worse things to be had, suffering through Ekur's badgering alone would've been preferable sitting it through with Piplup. The water-type just didn't know when to give Pluck any space. Piplup just stuck to him like a tumor and sat next to him, gleaming at Ekur as poor little him hadn't done anything wrong.

 He's got a good alibi to start. He didn't try to kick him down or anything, he merely chose to watch it happen. While whether the kid was a killer in the first place didn't matter, he was an idiot, and a child and Pluck would be doing everyone here favor by ratting him out. That way, the kid wouldn't hear the end of it. He'd have to shut up for the rest of the journey, and he wouldn't be able to do a single thing about it. Maybe they could drop him off somewhere; however, silence may be the closest thing he'd get.

 “Let's start this slow.” Ekur had his back to a wall, his eyes constantly bouncing between the children and the other band of dolts, “What happened between you two?”

 “Well, Mister!” Piplup was still as giddy as a fiddle, “I was just walking on the ledge, and Pluck was going a bit far ahead. You knows my arms aren't that big, but still, I thought I may have been close enough to grab him. I found out I was wrong real quick. I didn't wanna try because I didn't wanna fall down, so I did nothin! It's a good thing you came along, Pluck nearly died!”

 “Yeah, what he said,” Pluck droned, “just less insufferable.”

 “That nearly as bad as I thought it was,” Ekur added, “You had me worried we may have another problem on our hands.”

 “Really? He didn't do anything!”

 “A cowardly move indeed, but it was no mistake. I'm strong enough to carry the both of you on my shoulders, some 'insufferable' children are no match for me.” he gestured towards the peppy little brat, “I ask you put yourself into his shoes for a moment, what would you have done, honestly?”

 “In hindsight I would've just shoved him down instead.”

 “That's um,” the titan stuttered, “Not what I was hoping to hear.”

 “What were you expecting, then? Are you even listening to him?” Pluck pointed the broken end of his club at the beady-eyed water-type behind him, “He's really exited about all of this and it's staring to bother me in more ways than one. I think he's worse than turkey over there, at least she'd admit to wanting to kill us!”

“Why would I do that?” the piplup exclaimed, “Do I look like I’m evil?”

 The sceptile's green face began to grow a shade of beet-red. Ekur was flustered. His fatherly instincts were failing him by the minute, and comparing a kid to what he, in his vast experiences, perceived to be an actual demon should have been the point where Pluck should have crossed the parental line. He needed to think this thought; more importantly, he wasn't going to let anyone leave until these two were finished gunning for the other's head.

 Just because the Sceptile looked the part, it didn't make him anywhere close to being a good role model.

[theultrasquad]

 Pluck's life had flashed before his eyes. No less than a second later he was on his way to joining all the stone and gnarl things in the underworld, but he held on by a branch - an especially massive one. Ekur hoisted up the cubone effortlessly and without so much as batting the ground type an eye. Nearly jumping across a whole cavern to save a poor mon hadn't seemed like it were the exception, rather the norm for Ekur. The only other possibility Pluck could think of as he was being hauled on the warrior's shoulders was that the grass-type had such a level head to where none of this seemed to phase him. Given what Pluck knew of the sceptile, the latter seemed somehow less plausible than Ekur having a life of constant adventure. It begs the same question he's still yet to ask him: where does this guy even come from?

 In the meantime Pluck didn't mind being carried like a sack of potatoes, it was a better means of travel compared to sliding along a ledge for what felt to be an eternity. Their current trot couldn't have possibly gone on for longer than maybe four or five minutes, but still, he frankly liked it better when he had someone else to blame for his potential demise. Unlikely as it was for Ekur to ever let go of his vice grip. Pluck was in good hands, or so he hoped. His only wish as of now was for Ekur to carry him anything like a an absolute idiot, so it was up until he heard Piplup calling from behind.

 It was hard to move his head when he was dangling off a set of meaty claws by his scruff yet he could tell just by the water-type's squeaky, grating voice the kid was smiling on from afar. The Sceptile hadn't seemed to mind, but Pluck of course was fuming.

 “Wow! I wouldn't have guessed.” pluck spat, “Where were you when I was about to fall off, huh? Looking for apples in a freaking ice cave?”

 “I was just keeping an eye out!” Piplup responded, his voice warbling in fear and worry as he peered briefly at the sheer drop below, “You know, to be safe? I didn't want to fall off either, it really looks dangerous – I should know.”

 “A warning would've been nice!”

 “But you’re okay now!”

 A sudden sigh from the giant of a grass-type put the squabbling pokemon back in their seats

“Now” Ekur finally butt his ugly head into the conversation, his heavy voice came close to rocking the earth, “If anyone knows the merits of putting one's life into danger for the sake others, it is I. I have many stories to tell, one might say too many, and you two are more than welcome to listen when we are finished treading treacherous ground.”

 His grasp tightened as his head lowered, and his voice became a whisper only Pluck could hear.

 “You'd have best listen as well.”

[theultrasquad]

 The road between one cave entrance to another was slippery at best, and a nightmare at its worst. The Piplup’s feet were used to sliding around icy places like this, assuming his home wasn't much different than whatever he wanted to call this strange world. Pluck could always ask, but Piplup seemed so stupid there was a good chance he probably couldn't remember what home looked like Typical. Nobody around here was as smart as he. His new friends were all elementary at best – even the Sceptile didn’t seem particularly educated. He was truly beginning to think he was surrounded by Idiots, which from his academic perspective he may just be right. Piplup has probably been to school probably about three or four times, with the Bayleef he wasn’t too sure, and Ekur was borderline out of the question. Someone like him could only function in a society built on punching everyone in their faces. Which if that were so, and he’s been met with a warrior from one such place, then this whole otherworldly affair may all just be the culture-shock of the century.

 He should save the thinking for when he wasn’t teetering on a hundred or so foot drop, but at least what was going up there was a wee bit better than all the anxiety around him. His lack of focus was a mistake Pluck would come to learn the hard way, because amid tooting his own horn he didn't pay the two-dimensional grass type or the kid any heed, nor did he ever tell that brain of his to think he was going. Still he didn't want to bump them, especially the big orange grass-type for fear he might come down with a case of the pixels. Shimmying between two weirdos in a dense, icy place was bound to spell disaster, and it did when one misplaced step towards the anomaly made him recoil in fear, and subsequently sign him up to a one way ticket to the underworld.

 First went his left foot, skidding off the edge like a bowling ball, and then the rest of ground type with it. Unless he was somehow an ariados trapped in the body of a cubone, there wasn't anything in sight for his stubby hands to grasp. The two other folks gawked on in horror, their yells becoming a blur once the moment he began to spin off the cliffside. He could only hope his club wasn't fresh on it's way to landing on his head when he was about to go smack.

 But like his arms had extended twice fold, or just being so massive the Sceptile could actually reach over to him, Ekur had come to his aid faster than an arrow. The massive crunch he heard wasn't all of pluck's bones breaking preemptively, but the hold Ekur made for himself by merely punching right through the solid ice. Pluck's heart was racing so fast he couldn't think of a word to say, nor could he face his brutish savior. All he could hear instead was the gleeful voice of Piplup, cheering with the fanfare of a schoolkid who earned his first gold star.

 And oh boy, did it get on his nerves.

[theultrasquad]

 When all they could see was ice and the occasional patches of slush, it wasn't at all hard to become lost. None of them knew the direction they were headed. Whether it was up, down, east or west, it all felt the same. When they did hit a bump in the road it was usually because one of them was teetering on the edge of becoming an ice cube, or somebody feeling the need to kick up a fuss. One time the alteria – goodness knows why they're still keeping her around – got particularly peckish. She tried and then failed to chomp at the Sceptile only to get driven into the ground like a sack of potatoes. Fortunately she was made out of sturdier things than just feathers, and Ekur only had to wait a good hour until she was up on her feet miserable as ever.

 All things considered it was a miserable journey with no sign they were even close to getting anywhere. It seemed like this was going to the case for another full hour until suddenly the partu stopped when the tunnels had ended and a ravine had cleaved right through the ice. A wound in the earth went as high as they could see and so deeply below they could see that old purple glow leaking through. It was a breath of fresh air honestly, even if it did send a shiver down the spine.

 From their icy outcropping they could see just how far this ravine ran, and at the other end of it was tunnel just like theirs. Between them and over there was a slick, icy ledge which connected the two points by a sliver of ice. By the looks of it they went the wrong way; however, now was about time their guide finally said something.

 “You can see the other side, right?” the tree asked, pointing with their spindly fingers.

 Pluck gulped, the rest of them were shivering, but starry-eyed Piplup answered with glee

 “Yeah! We just gotta walk over there!”

 Were it that easy they'd be on the other side now.. It may have been smart to send somebody small first, but they seemed to have forgotten about their winged captive. She could care less how long they were going to take being a bunch of indecisive idiots because a hop, skip, and a jump away from Ekur later and she was a quarter of the way there before the warrior could do anything about it. The sceptile didn't have anything to say for himself after letting her run off for the third time, choosing to silently offer himself up first for the walk. Then went Ifi, then Pluck, and Piplup plodding behind everyone.

 In hindsight there was plenty of footing, enough to fit Ekur's lumbering figure. The problem was it all being slick. One wrong step on a especially shiny surface and it was goodbye. Out of all of them, though, Ifi had the least trouble.

 The impossible, waddling shape ahead of Pluck twisted at an odd angle, enough that its eyes and head could be seen in the dull light as it paced forward. Ifi bid her friends a puzzled smile as she glanced at her companions.

 “What's up with you? There's plenty of space!”

[theultrasquad]

 “So it's like a dungeon, right?”

 The order was the sceptile first with his ravenous bird-friend, Ifi right next to them, and the rest slugging around in any order they pleased. Generally they would've wanted to walk next to the neon sign, but the way they sprawled around on their wiry limbs made everybody barring Pluck uncomfortable, and two, caused the walking torch to take up thrice the space in these cramped corridors. So the brisk walk through the icy caverns hadn't felt like the marching order Ekur had wanted it to be, but more so being stuck behind a massive slow-moving truck in the middle of a fast lane. Not like anyone here understood what a truck was save for old nosy Pluck and perhaps the 2d image waddling around. How on earth was someone supposed to drive on a flat plane was a question most of them were too young to ask. Cars were for humans anyways.

 Now back to where a shivering Cubone and a bothersome penguin were separated from the fold by a thorny wall. Without an audience of grass-types to entertain him, he tried stirring up conversation with the only mon his tiny eyes could see. Pluck tried his best.

 “We're in not in anybody's basement, and there aren't any gallows I can see.”

 “Wut's a gallows?” the kid didn't know, and frankly pluck wasn't up to telling him. “Sounds like something important I'm sure, but if this is a real dungeon like I think it is then we should be fine, just fine!”

 “What do you mean fine?” the cubone shivered “We're freezing down here! I'm starting to think down below was better than these caves because now it's both damp, and cold!”

 “You could always step closer.” the wall of brambles offered their solution “Electrical currents have a propensity to produce heat-”

 “Yeah, and get covered in thorns? Sorry, nottouching you with a ten-foot pole.”

 “I don't have thorns, I think. Besides, touching an electric type with a metal pole isn't something anyone should do. I'm not even a t-”

 Pluck rolled his eyes,  and shoved aside anything else the Tree had to say. The electric Guide wasn't even that trustworthy, they were still unknown to the group altogether. It didn't matter what sort of person this Tree was, who their name was or anything. The group's been using them as a guide to find their way out of here, whatever comes after that not even Pluck knows. Nobody had any intention of staying here anyways, certainly not him.

 “Anyways” Piplup stammered to the occasion. “If we keep going we'll find all sortsa things. Like, um: those fancy orbs, those teachy-discs and lotsa food if we're lucky! Lots and lots of food – apples!”

 “Okay, okay, reason with me then.” he humored the lad “so there's simply food lying everywhere in these dungeons?”

 “Yeup.”

 “And there's just apples, nothing else, and they've been there for who knows how long.”

 “Yeup.”

 “And I'm assuming once you find one you pick up the dirty thing, dust off all the grime and eat it?”

 “Yeup.”

 “Wow” Pluck scoffed “you're hopeless.”

[theultrasquad]

// No post this week or the next week, have a sketch from a couple posts back which we didn’t use. 

 Also we’ve hit 100 followers! Haven’t decided whether we want to do something or not, but thanks nonetheless!

[theultrasquad]

The decision was made to keep the Alteria around. Not for any decent reason, her persevered kindness paper thin and if she had wanted to help she'd make a fire as supposed to burning someone alive. She wasn't going to pull anything like that for a while, not while Ekur was around.  Ekur delegated himself to a corner of the icy room all the while vengeful eyes never left the smug-looking beast adjacent to him. She hadn't looked too good either, nobody did. The whole posse was in a mess. If nobody was freezing they were either burned, gasping for air, or trying to warm themselves by wriggling in place. If one things for sure the cold didn't seem as if were getting any better.

 There was one thing good about being trapped in a glacial fridge was that it sure looked pretty. The neon-pink glow of their friendly guide gleamed off the icy, damp walls in a glistening furnish. As nice as it was to marvel at, unless that head of theirs could burst into flames the pretty colors did nobody good. Except for Piplup, who either due to typing or being the closest thing they had to a deliberd in the party – sack and all, quite enjoyed themselves. While everyone was in their respective corners he was smack in the middle of the chamber wondering when his friends would crawl out from their holes with a plan to show for them. Unluckily, nobody had a plan. Not even the turkey who craved the taste of idiot.

 This all changed once Ekur turned his gaze from the creep across from him to the fellow sat on his rear out in the open. He had a frown over his face, as anyone would after what he was through, but it wasn't the kid he stared down it was the little bag he carried around.

 “Do you have something in there we might use?” he spoke, trying his best to stave from shivering “Unless you've got nothing, it would very selfish to hog all to yourself.”

 “Well, I have apples!” Piplup answered “and seeds, and a stick – and”

 “Excellent! Tear it apart and we make a torch”

 Of course the little guy wasn't keen on letting his favorite and only bag go, moreover; nobody wanted the only person who could start a fire handle any flames. The Alteria back there couldn't necessarily be trusted with swinging a torch around. Rather than answer for himself Ifi had taken the liberty.

 “Couldn't you just use something else? I mean, he really likes his bag and all.” she shuffled over to the little squirt, putting herself between the tinder and the warrior. “We should really get going anyways.”

 “Well if he had wanted to make a torch he'd be better off using anything other than a stick.” nobody asked him, but pluck had to say something..

 “I don't think he's got anything else to use, he was just-”

“We're marching then. Since you have no problems lying there, I say you go first child.” he caught a quick look across the room to see the beast already beginning to scheme. “You'll be right next to me, Demon, and the rest of you can order yourselves as you please. Are we clear?”

 Judging by quickly the birds' smiles vanished, he must be very clear.

[theultrasquad]

[theultrasquad]

 It wasn’t that nobody wanted to stop her, simply no one could. What would Ifi do against a flying type, headbutt them? Good luck with that because they’re already in the air, and skull-face wasn’t fast enough to throw it so far. The only chances they would’ve had were the electric tree, and the penguin who whether he had an ice move up his sleeves or not, was a kid. No one in their right minds was about to ask the child if he felt like flinging an ice-beam at someone mid flight, even if the person whizzing about was on route to scorching someone alive. Though if they weren't about to do anything now, who knows how dire things have to be for them to actually do something.

 Someone had their priorities straight as the blue boy’s eyes lit up like fireworks, and his breath raced like a whirling. He ran forward as if he had any chance of catching up, his plodding as fast as they could go before suddenly his webbed toes became tangled. He tumbled into a fall about three meters shy of his destination in. Not wanting him to lie there, Ifi rushed in to pick him off the cold floor of defeat by the scruff of his neck. With the two who did bother to try having more or less failed, all they cold do was watch on in horror was Ifi let loose a dreaded albeit muffled phrase:

 “Dangit.”

 Nobody stood in the alteria’s way now. Hearing those two bumble behind her was a delight to her ears. Those oafs weren’t wise enough to stop her, she would've been too swift for them anyways. They were about to get what they deserve for standing idly by: a nice roast serving of idiot to compliment this cold, cold world. She saw the wretch. Frozen and immobile, he was practically asking for vengeance. She reeled her head back and drew on all the fury she could muster, as a well of flames spewed from her in a chaotic squaw.

The fires roared viciously, their embers flickering in the aftermath. The icy floor became water, then the stone previously hidden beneath it. Hot steam rose in the place of smoke, and it became abundantly clear there wasn’t enough tinder around for her to make due with just one puff. She quickly assessed her situation, giving the fellow one look to see how far he was on his way to roasting. Miraculously, or perhaps due to the water dousing a good portion of it, he wasn’t all that crisp. The icy veneer which was all over his skin but moments ago was no longer, as Ekur appeared to be relatively fine, barring the whole freezing and then thawing out thing. Not for long.

 There was no way she was gonna let him get up and lecture her. Hearing him once was enough of him for her lifetime. Her gleeful savagery quickly turned to a scowl, as the alteria’s feathers rustled up like a blanket in a dryer. Landing on her feet she caught her breath as fast as possible all the whilst every curse she knew trying to find one more reason she loathed the warrior. Try as she may the flames were taking a while to brew. By the time she’d gotten to the fifteenth unrepeatable word she felt the warmth dancing at the tip her tongue.

 She cocked her head back only to come careening right into a well-worn hand. Ekur was back up, his eyes beaming with sincere thanks and general disdain. She may have thawed him out, but his fury was of a father who wasn't liking what she said around his fostered fools.

[ask-retiredfoolfighter]

Ekur@Blaziken "Why have you retired anyhow? If it is a simple injury, surely you can't recover from it."

[theultrasquad]

 “What do I look like to you?”

 “An eyesore for one, “ pluck answered the furious Ifi “and two, the orange you're wearing's supposed to be fall leaves, right?” If anyone was to wrap their heads around what was supposedly wrong with her, it wasn't going to be Pluck. While seemed the smartest out of their troop, it wasn't accounting for much when his competition ranged from idiot to an actual child. It would take someone stranger than their tree-friend to figure that out. He'd ought to make do with his assumptions for now.

 “I mean, they look fine to me.” the buds around her scruff reminded her more of weeds and calling them crinkly old leaves for once came as surprising confidence boost. “we'll go with leaves, then.

 “How fast do they grow back?”

 “Um.” she'd been asked this question before, so it didn't seem nearly as intrusive as she was letting it out to be. That's not to say she wasn't liking where this was heading, she couldn't imagine a four-legged plant person making for good tinder even if they were a plant in the first place. Nevertheless, she had already had an excuse up her non-sleeves.

 “Not when I'm here! “ aside from hitting his head and freezing over cause of it, she'd gotten in her head that Ekur might've shriveled up as well “You know we grass-types need water, sun, um.. food – a lot of things. I'm not pulling out all my leaves just so we can make a fire, there's gotta be something else we can burn somewhere.”

 “What are we to do then?” he took up his club and dramatically pointed the femur towards everyone starting at worrisome Piplup “You're a water type, I don't expect you to start making fires. You're a grass-type, you're probably gonna join Ekur in la-la land pretty soon. And Lightbulb back there?”  he glanced at the silent creature, who waved back and continued to keep the place gleaming with neon “Never mind you.”

 “So I said earlier, and I'm gonna say it again before we set about making a sleigh for Ekur here” he crossed his arms, that club of his rapping against his shoulder “Can any one of us make a fire?”

 Pluck hadn't thought of why 'Lightbulb' back there was so quiet, nor did any fellow from the trio ever wondered he stayed so far from the slip n slide when there sure wasn't anyone coming after them. Well they only forgot about their sixth because they wanted to forget. As if the bird couldn't be anymore uninviting, where there was only Forrest seconds ago there was suddenly this grinning beast right next to him. She'd somehow slipped her way through without so much as a sound other than a whimper bird.

 Ifi stood a safe distance, letting the kid shadow behind her while Pluck stood his ground,gripping his baton dearly. Forrest - who had been content to stay quiet seconds earlier - wasn't so quiet anymore.

 “Yeah, yeah.” spoke the tree in their warbling tongue “She said she knows how to burn things, so I let her in. I don't think I've met her, but she's one of your friends right?”

 Her eyes weren't on the cubone, the Piplup who'd look pretty decent on a platter, or the flat-faced weed over there. She was set on the real prze here: Ekur, who was just waiting on somebody to stroll along and set a torch to him. Not in the way the party would've wanted. Her idea of thawing him out involved turning Ekur into an inferno for putting a finger on her. If anything he'll get what's coming to him just for acting himself: an annoying egotist.

 Before anyone could warn Forrest he'd have ought to zap her she had raced past the bewildered trio leaving slush spewing in her wake. She was ready for this. They were about to regret not having swattered her down a second sooner.

[theultrasquad]

 “No!” Ifi answered, seeing the displeasure over Piplup’s inverted face and quickly backing around to correct herself. “Not while I’m stuck, can you like maybe help?”

 The fact she had her head face into a foot of snow hadn’t occurred to the adventurer until it became a problem for him. Foresight seemed to be alien to the boy, and worst of all he was oblivious both in perception and in conversation. By all right he should have gotten gobbled up by the thunder-turkey, but as fate would have it Ekur had come to his aide. Rather than the kid needing saving, it was Ekur who was in a pickle. Roughed up, or just out cold, they just considered him of the picture for the time being. Competence notwithstanding, Piplup was  willing to lend a hand.

 He had to get a start, but the piplup dashed over the slush effortlessly and knocked the grass-type back onto her feet with the equivalent of a toy car hitting her shins. After some dusting off then being presented an apple she had kindly refused (which she still has no idea where he found it or if ever he was carrying the thing on him to begin with), it wouldn’t be too long until they heard two more bumps of pokemon hitting their heads against the cavern. Following them were the eventual tumbling footsteps as they lumbered down the slick and slippery passageways.

 “I can make you medicine too, if you’d like” with worry in his beady eyes he begun to badger  “Well I have other people to do it, but I know what they use – unlike skull-man back there!”

 “I’m fine.” she assured. What she could really go for now as a good warm blanket or a walk on a midsummer’s day, both seemed well outside the realm of possibility in this haunting place “But why don’t we just wait a second, okay?”

 Many seconds more later, there came tumbling down the rest of them. First was their guide, the wibbly wobbly tree which fell through and sprinted away on the tips of his rooted heels well out of the way so the second fellow didn’t have to worry about hitting them. Not that he didn’t need to, Pluck was a ground type after all. The cubone had slid all the way down and into to the slushy landing, plopping to his feet while his teeth clattered like bugs.

 Who would’ve known wearing nothing other than a skull on your head was an awful way to weather the cold – either way he came shiver over to the rest of them whilst their electric tree loomed in the distance. He gave one look to the fallen Ekur and took in a frustrated sigh.

 “Y-You know he’s frozen, right?” he scanned everyone as if he weighed his options, looking mighty miserable he turned to face Ifi “I thought you’d be first.”