[ACTION | Caverns Expedition Log]

[antiseptic]

Log Deputy: Rei antiseptic and Charles makeitquick
Participating Characters: Jade Curtiss, Imogen Moreno, Flynn, Chris Ramirez, Ezreal, Melaka Fray, William Flemming, Varun "Banzu" Elmas, Eren Jaeger, Armin Arlert, Elhaym van Houten (Elly), Ondorus Univir, Lux Crownguard...possibly more! Feel free to gatecrash the party at any time.
Plot Description: A group of intrepid explorers set out in search of an iron mine. Things probably don't go as expected.
Warnings/Notes: Possible violence?

QUICK LINKS: Pre-exploration mingling | Travel | Arrival at Caverns | Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3

Overview:
At 6AM, the group will be meeting at the city gates, where there'll be some time for mingling and last minute emergencies before they set off.

The group will travel east through the Verdant Forest for around half a day before reaching the Caverns. It will be freezing with a few flurries of snowfall. Try not to get lost! Or disturb hibernating Pokemon, for that matter.

At the Caverns, Jade will split everyone up into three groups. Group 1 will consist of Elly, Eren, Armin, Ondorus, Chris. Group 2 will be Jade, Melaka, Banzu, Flynn. Group 3 is Imogen, Ezreal, Flemming, and Lux. These groups aren't fixed, and characters are free to protest and try move around! Ideally, each group will end up with at least 4 members just for safety's sake.

Aaand after that, the exploration begins! At first there'll be nothing but caves and tunnels, but it shouldn't take very long for that to change...


Misc notes: Feel free to go wild with thread-jacking! The mods recommend not strictly enforcing a post order since things will probably stall that way. Also, if anyone wants a random wild Pokemon bonding encounter going in the mountains during any of this, just respond to the Map post as usual!

If you need to ask any questions, the quickest way to get in touch with me will be through PMs.

Comments

Splinter encounter - for Ondorus and Armin. The rest of the group may assist as desired

[bravenewmods]

As the first group moved through the tunnels, suddenly, an ear-splitting roar pierced the quiet, echoing through the caverns. A second, answering roar came moments later. They were on either side of the group, and the combined effect was nigh deafening.

[tinytactician]

Ohhhhh Savior help us, they're all gonna die, they're gonna get eaten and they're gonna die and be dead and die and Armin's never going to learn to play the violin or write a novel or learn how to speak Oddish they're just gonna get eaten and die.

But first he's going to cling onto the nearest person who -- yep, it's Ondorus, awesome, hello complete stranger and fellow snack.

[stardunes]

...Well, it's not like Ondorus is any less startled and terrified; if Armin were any taller, he'd probably be clinging too. As it is, he just...goes rigid and puts his hands on Armin's head in a gesture that might have been soothing if he clearly wasn't freaking out all the same. Star's clinging to Ondorus' head also intensifies. Panicked group hug all around, here.

With Ondorus' Ralts trying to sense nearby emotion (...over the kernel of terror going on here) and him getting images of what she's sensing via his contact telepathy, they may be able to sense presences if they aren't too far away. Anything to see yet?

[reborn_love]

When the roars came, Elly's back went ramrod straight. She stared ahead of her, a brief moment of fear shooting through her. Vierge was a good ten paces ahead of them, as a forward scout -- which meant she could not get back and help -- and that meant that they had to work with what they had. She turned to the left, then the right. All her training told her that this was precisely what they wanted to not have happen: be surrounded, inside of a closed space. That was how good Rangers got killed.

Her heart nearly leaped into her chest. She took a deep breath, then she made herself calm down. She worked with Jade Curtiss enough to know that she had to keep her wits about her. Elly pulled her rod off her belt, then snapped it out to the side, and it telescoped out to its full length.

"Keep calm," she said, voice quiet.

[bravenewmods]

The ground starts to rumble around the group and two enormous Steelix come barreling down either side of the tunnel, straight at the group. They look... displeased.

[tinytactician]

...well, it was a nice life. While it lasted. Armin's very very pale, him and his Ralts buddy (though, granted, the Ralts is naturally that color), but there's a good bit of instinct here operating, so he attempts to figure out if the Steelix duo is really as irritated as they look, while simultaneously trying to project the most calm, soothing, "I-promise-I'm-not-going-to-hurt-you" emotions he can.

...all while hiding behind the rest of the group, because yeah, he doesn't want to get eaten. Or crushed. Or...whatever.

[stahlflugel]

Eren had fallen behind at some point. Blitz didn't want to walk anymore and was whining like a dumb little twat, sitting on his butt and refusing to take another step. Eren throws his wings up and tells him to go WAIT OUTSIDE THE CAVE, then.

Then there comes the twin roars. Blitz puffs up like a scared cat and makes a beedrill-line for the exit to the cavern. So much for not wanting to walk anymore. Eren turns and feels the ground rumble underneath his talons. Panic rises in his chest and he runs full tilt back to the group, coming to a skidding stop right in front of Armin (and, by extension, Ondorus) and spreading his wings wide.

Wait.

Steelix?! Are you fucking KIDDING?! TWO OF THEM?! That panic increases. Eren has nothing that would even kind of be effective against these ferocious beasts, and they're way too heavy to blow away with Whirlwind.

So instead, he opts for calling out to them.

"H-hey!!", his voice comes out in barely contained terrified squawks, "Slow down!! We're not here to hurt you!"

[stardunes]

Star and Ondorus flinch in tandem, feeling the weight of that "displeasure" bearing down like...well, like the beasts themselves. And the serpents are massive, practically embodiments of the earth itself in Ondorus' mind; they're the largest creatures he's ever seen, if not gods themselves then definitely of their creation and well-equipped to bring down the world around them.

The man is frozen in place, one arm held out in front of Armin as though to (ineffectually) shield the boy, the other...

...he wasn't prepared for this. He has to make contact with a Pokemon to commune with it, and racing up to try to touch these ones would go far past suicidal and into the realm of sheer impossibility. So, on reflex, he reaches out to the nearest Pokemon, hoping to just do something.

His hand lands on Eren's back, barely even forming a conduit before just shoving stored energy at him. What the Skarmory will (or can) do with it doesn't really come to mind. Ondorus has more pressing things taking up his attention.

[reborn_love]

"Savior's life!" Elly swore, heatedly.

The rod in her hand would do nothing; the power she was calling upon, she thought, would ultimately amount to little. She could maybe take one of the Steelix with her fire abilities, but she doubted she could run forever from them, and she knew that they would overwhelm her quickly. She drew a breath in, nonetheless, and raised her hand upward. Vierge was turning, but it would take him a moment to get here.

And what, besides, could the Dratini really do?

She caught the movement by Ondorus from the corner of her eye. She turned her head, looking at him, and whispered. "Do you--are you communicating? Through Jaeger, somehow?"

She had to think of a plan, to get them out alive. It was her responsibility.

[bravenewmods]

The Steelixes completely ignore the team as they go barreling down the tunnel, not at the team but at each other! Leaping into the air they meet head-first with a mighty crash, their massive bodies so long they miraculously don't impact with the team although everyone is now underneath two giant Steelixes with their heads smashing into each other.

The ground is shaking just a bit.

[tinytactician]

Ooops, lightbulb! Armin, his Ralts in arms, is going to sidestep any falling rocks, somehow all of a sudden miraculously unafraid -- hey, they still might die, but it's as an unfortunate side effect, not because they're actively in danger of being eaten! The Steelixes are angry at one another.

So he's going to hurry over to Eren, the resident Poke-translator and duck down, after glancing to make certain the other members of the group -- Elly and Ondorus, he thinks were their names -- are safe. Setting a hand on the familiar feel of sharp metallic wings, he shouts over the din -- "Eren! Ask why they're fighting! Try to make them stop!"

[stahlflugel]

Eren fully expects to take a hard-bodied tackle from the steel serpents. And fully expects to be crushed. A surge of energy flowing through him -- who had done that? That Ondorus guy? Whatever. It felt invigorating! But then the steelixes go after one another, crashing heads above them with a loud metallic "CLANG". Eren throws his wings up over his and Armin's head, protecting them from any falling stones.

"I don't know, shouldn't we just run while they're distracted?!" As a matter of fact, Eren is ushering his little blonde friend out from beneath the warring beasts and off to one side. "But... I guess I can try?"

"HEEEEEEYYYYYYY!!" Sorry about that loud, shrill screech that comes out as, "What's the deal, huh? What are you fighting over? ... And can you maybe do it somewhere else?"

[stardunes]

....WELL THAT WAS USELESS

That the behemoths aren't coming after them is a massive relief, but the environment is still loud and tense and Star is still pulling Ondorus' hair and making weird panicky noises and he's feeling that impulsive use of his powers like a punch to the gut now.

He lets himself be led away from the immediate danger and - at Star's harried prompting - reaches into that Calm Mind he uses to connect with and amplify her psychic sense. Taking deep breaths now, trying to ignore the still-frantic beating of his heart, and letting his Ralts show him what was going on. He may not be able to get up close and commune with a Steelix one-on-one just yet, but like this he can at least get the basics of whatever exchange they have (or don't have) with Eren.

[reborn_love]

"Gck!"

Elly dives down instinctively so she has that extra space when the two Pokémon crash into each other with a loud crash. She grimaces and turns her head, looking once at Eren. She frowns and nods, before she looks back at Ondorus. "See if we can get them to calm down. Armin's right, if we can get them to relax..."

[bravenewmods]

The Steelix continue to crash viciously into each other. They ignore Eren, but Eren can definitely hear what they're saying.

YOU BITCH! YOU ATE MY BERRIES!

LIKE HELL ASSHOLE! YOU ATE MY BERRIES FIRST! I DIDN'T TOUCH YOUR DAMN BERRIES!

LIAR I'LL CUT YOU!

NOT IF I CUT YOU FIRST!

Ondorus, however, manages to get something interesting from them.

Neither of them ate the other's berries.

[tinytactician]

Armin is sort of blind on what precisely is going on, but he has the vague impression -- from the mixture of poutiness, rage and petulance he's getting from the Steelixes -- that there really isn't any need to be too frightened. It's not that serious.

Also a craving for berries. Weird. "...what provisions did everyone bring?"

[stahlflugel]

What.

Really.

That was what they were fighting about? REALLY?

Eren listens to their conversation for a few more moment before turning to the rest of the group.

"So uh... They're arguing with each other about... who stole whose berries. Both of them think the other ate their stash. Soooo... I guess they're toddlers, or something." Eren rolls his eyes, "I didn't bring any berries with me. Does anyone have any?"

[stardunes]

Okay, this could go either really well or really badly, but-

Star fumbles through Ondorus' backpack and pulls out a bag of...dried berries. Ondorus takes it, hesitates a moment, then opens it.

[reborn_love]

Elly looked at Eren and shook her head, then looked at Ondorus. "It's... worth a try," she said. "If they start to go wild, I want us to take off the way we came, though, the moment there is an opening out from under them."

[bravenewmods]

[As the Steelixes smash into each other, suddenly they stop. Then, both of them start sniffing. Then they both turn and stare directly at Ondorus, looming over him.]

[stardunes]

(Internal screaming commences.)

Ondorus takes out a few in each hand, checking to make sure the amounts are equal as Star takes the bag back. He then steps forward, holding his hands up and out such that the berries in his hands...well, they might be visible. They're definitely smellable.

[bravenewmods]

[The Steelixes both gobble the berries. And not Ondorus's hands, fortunately! They suddenly look much more jolly! Those who can understand them will hear the following.

Honey the adorable hairless Mankey just gave us some rare ones!

Oh don't I know sweetie! They were absolutely scrumptious. We must thank the hairless Mankeys!

[stahlflugel]

Eren is so relieved he almost faints. Instead he just falls back on his butt and lets his head fall back against the wall of the cavern with a light "clang".

"They said they liked the berries, and they uh... want to thank us? And they called you 'hairless Mankey'," he adds with a snicker.

How bizarre. Eren loved berries as much as the next Pokémon, but it was amazing how relished they were by certain species.

[reborn_love]

"H-Hairless Mankey," Elly stammered.

"Um, good, then, we--we could definitely stand to not fight two of them." She sighed, leaned back against the wall -- without the clank -- and nodded, before she looked at Armin and Ondorus. "Good work, with the berries."

[tinytactician]

It's not funny. It's totally not funny.

...yes it is Hairless Mankey is hilarious. Cue some "very-relieved-to-be-alive"-esque giggling from Armin. "W-Well, I'm glad all's well that ends well."