OPEN 9/3/Y1 Little Canyon Entrance

The first rays of the dawn were already quite high above the horizon as they cast their bright warm glow down on two exposed figures sitting tranquil and still on top of a small rocky outcrop. Their minds set on complete contemplation and their souls searching for a moment’s inner peace.

Having journeyed most of the last few days on foot following a map fragment, the morning’s meditation was certainly a chance for a well-earned rest for the two fire type pokemon.
Trying hard to concentrate on the whisperings of the September breeze, Blaize twitched his long, soft orange ear before strictly flapping it back against his head. There was no room for distractions during meditation time but today even the sun’s light was desperately trying to force its way through his eyelids. Screwing his eyes up tighter, he wrinkled his nose and grumbled under his breath. It was happening again just like yesterday, the day before and the day before that, come to think about it his lacking in concentration had come around coincidently after Pixie had asked him about his map fragment and insisted that they follow it in the direction of Trio Mountain. Reluctantly he had agreed and that’s what they had been doing ever since.

Agitatedly springing to his feet and cursing under his breath, the blaze pokemon’s mane and tail erupted violently in ember flickers as he heavily stormed away from his companion desperate to seek some shade. The sunlight didn’t appear to harm him in any way, it just was an unnecessary addition that seemed to have appeared one day and now constantly cycled. Meditating a few years ago in the eternal night had been much easier, but maybe surviving this change was one of Sensai Blaziken’s things he couldn’t teach back in the dojo cave.

Feeling her companion move away from beside her, Pixie the feral Vulpix snuck a peek out of her right eye to catch a glimpse at the ruffled Flareon before snapping it closed to resume her focus. She too like Blaize had to concentrate, her adoptive father had taught her well and even though she felt the strange warm, tingling sensation on her shiny black nose she had no intention of breaking her composure early. She had to ready herself for the days planned trek towards Little Canyon, she had to be mentally strong in case they met some unfriendly characters.
Reducing her breathing to a shallow whisper and feeling the rough texture of the granular surface beneath her soft paws, Pixie braced herself to patiently wait for her shadow to move all by itself.

The silence is broken as a giggling, light blue blur dashes through. It's Marina. Blaize's long lost sister. Well, one of them. She had been traveling with her Umbreon and Espeon sisters, yes... But the Espeon chased her off eventually after nearly getting them killed. "Pffffft... They were no fun anyways!" The Vaporeon glanced around. Her map fragment didn't point here. But, she didn't care. Nope. "Their fragments point to areas right near mine. I' am not going there!" The Vaporeon tilted her head, her bright yellow eyes narrowed. She sighed. "But now... I have no idea where I am!" She gave a sudden giggle. "Oops!" She waved her tail here and there, unaware that her friendly rival was in the area, with a friend. Compared to her rather serious brother, Marina looked like quite an idiot. And sometimes she was. Further evidence of this was demonstrated by her next action. "Ohhhh! I know! If I run in circles, I'll get where I need to go faster! Or something!" Humming, she began chasing her tail. With a giggle, she fell over... "Ooh, cool! The world is spinning!" After a moment, she glanced around... Still unaware that a Flareon and Vulpix may be watching her. She gazes at the entrance to the dungeon. Maybe she should go in there...

Having been resting in the shadows beside an unexposed rock face, Blaize’s ears pricked up at the haunting sound of cheerful laughter filling the air. The giggle pierced his mind like a sharp arrow and travelled rapidly down his spine causing him to shudder. He didn’t just know that sound, it was permanently ingrained in his brain attached to a memory he desperately wished he could forget.
‘Hehe, look at me..’ a high pitched, childish voice rang out crystal clear as he buried his face under his paws. ‘I bet you can’t catch me’.
That day he wished he hadn’t been so foolish to be easily tempted into a race against his at the time Eevee sister. He hadn’t expected her to dash straight for the nearest pool of water and jump right in like she was a Magikarp. He couldn’t recall actually leaping in after her only the panic and the accompanying sinking feeling that swiftly followed.

"Marina" he mumbled under his breath as the memories contiued to flow.

After his head had fallen below the surface and his fur saturated to the skin, he wasn’t able to look at going into the wetness ever again. Marina could keep her buoyancy and her delicate dives; but he’d rather be safer on dry land regardless of its own dangers.

Not able to take the taunting of the memories in his sheltered spot any longer, Blaize heavy footedly emerged back into the sunlight and jumped down a number of rocks to get a better look over the smoothing plateau that lead to the mouth of a wide opening. The gentle breeze that pushed the clouds above him licked the ends of his fur to dance like millions of tiny candles as he intensely stared at the spinning, jovial cerulean smudge not very far away from him.

His fears were instantly confirmed, but something was very different about Marina since he had last seen his little sister. Neither of them were small innocent Eevees; whilst he himself had a coat of intense orange and a proud flowing mane, she had the sleekest shine along the full length of her body, the smoothest pearlescent lustre he had ever seen and an elegant long tail at least double the length of his own. She in her own right was beautiful as a Vaporeon, but the evolution certainly hadn’t changed her clownish personality.

Watching her fall over and curiously inspect the wide dungeon entrance, Blaize instinctively leaned forward before violently pulling himself back away from the edge. The dungeon could be dangerous for a group let alone a lone pokemon, Marina could once again find herself hurt... But she didn’t need him and he didn’t need her that’s why he had been away from his family for so long. Sensai, Ralf and Pixie were his family now...but why the longer he stood there motionless did he suddenly feel so emotionally torn wanting to protect her.

Above the conflicted Flareon, Pixie still sat with her tails curled around her feet and her eyes firmly closed. At that moment she was the flutter of the feathers of the soaring Pidgy, the rumble of the earth caused by the Diglets and unexpectedly the laughter of someone she had never heard before. Blinking multiple times letting her eyes adjust to the brightness, the female Vulpix looked around quickly realising that her companion was nowhere in sight.
She didn’t have to question where the Flareon had disappeared off to, that was one of the many mysteries about Blaize. He wouldn’t have told her he was going, he’d just vanish and reappear at his own whim. That pretty much summed up everything she knew about him, no matter how many times either herself or Ralf had asked Blaize about his past or where he’d been he would just reply with ‘I don’t wish to talk about it, I am a wanderer that is all you need to know’.

Sighing, she didn’t want to admit that hearing the same excuse from him had bothered her. She secretly wanted to share a connection with him even if it was as bad as being an orphan born alone in a paralysed world. That would have been something. All she had was a fragment of his map, which she carefully picked up in her mouth by the corner and began to clamber back down to the plateau floor unaware that Blaize had spotted the owner of the laughter.

ooc: Let's wait for Dipsy to post. This is so much fun. 8D

ooc: Of course we can wait for Dipsy. I agree it is really fun I'm really enjoying writing my posts ^^

ooc: Sorry to keep people waiting D:

bic: A lone figure darted around the rocky outcrop. Her movements were jerky and nervous, her footsteps light but quick. The open nature of the canyon left her exposed, and she did not like exposed. Exposed meant there was no where to hide. She constantly glanced backwards, making sure that no rogue was following her.

Sevens paused for just a moment, scanning the area quickly. There didn't appear to be anyone here. No strangers, no rogues, no siblings either. She pursed her lips, thinking hard. She had thought they might be here.

A noise caught Seven's attention. A noise that sounded a lot like gigling. She poised ready to flee, her eyes darting around wildy. It appeared she wasn't alone after all.

The misty blue Vaporeon is still unaware of her surroundings. She doesn't know her brother is here, or his Vulpix friend, or even a strange Pokemon species she's never seen before. She's bored now. She wants to do something. Something fun. Unfortunately, all there is here is this dungeon. Little Canyon. She might as well go in, right? She's liable to get herself hurt... The Vaporeon heads in, still idiotically unaware.

ooc: I was thinking that our Vaporeon friend here gets in a lot of trouble in the Dungeon... The team starts to form that way... Just a thought... What should we do? xD

ooc: That's a good idea Pancake. I was going to have Blaize instinctively want to follow Marina whilst maybe Pixie interacts meeting Sevens in some way allowing Dipsy to interact with the group.
As much as I'd love to reply post, I am going to let Dipsy post before me so we can get into our correct posting order according to the team four banner as the rule is now in place. On your next turn Pancake are you doing to start a new thread for inside Little Canyon? or are there other rules in place for when a new thread for a place can go up?

ooc: I'll start a new thread once Dipsy posts, though that depends on getting Sorbett's bio finished, so I may do it sooner than that...

ooc: Dipsy is too busy to post, so we may move on. I will post a topic shortly.

(ooc: Ok I'll post here and on the other Little Canyon thread to keep things flowing. As soon as Dipsy is free I promise I'll do whatever I can to help her integrate Sevens into the RP and Sorbett when the bio is completed.)

Watching the energetic Vaporeon disappear into the dungeon entrance, Blaize flexed his claws against the rock in gritted determination. His mind was made up, justified by a combination of his natural protective nature and an inner lust to support his childish rivalry. If Marina could make it through the dungeon then he certainly could, he would just have to take things cautiously and analyse every situation to make the most responsible and appropriate outcome.
Sure she had it much easier being a water type in a rocky environment but he had the upper hand when it came to using ones brain.
About to leap down another outcrop of craggy rock to get to the smoothing plateau floor, Blaize twitched and instantly looked over his shoulder as a small cascade of pebbles rumbled down onto his ledge swiftly followed by a familiar feral looking Vulpix.

“Found Fu” …(Found you) Pixie mumbled happily with the map fragment still in her mouth as she shook herself free of dust and clambered back up onto her feet. “Host my Footin hup hair”. (Lost my footing up there)

Blaize rolled his eyes without much thought; talking with ones mouthful wasn’t seen in his eyes as very elegant but as Pixie wasn’t one of his sisters he let it slide. It was ingrained in him to be respectable and well mannered, even in the paralysed world he understood that a drop of politeness went a long way.

Pacing up alongside Blaize, Pixie took a last look at the map before tucking the torn parchment up inside the leather collar that hung around the Flareon’s neck. She always thought it was useful that he had such an accessory and she smiled internally to herself as the ruff of fur around the collar tickled her nose as she put the map away.
Finding herself blushing as she pulled away, she jumped startled as the pair of them locked eye contact.

“We’re leaving” Blaize spoke calmly, two words heated with intensity.

“To the dungeon…?” Pixie stumbled to question, still momentarily caught off guard. “Yes, yes of course. Little Canyon. It’s a decent size and we should be able to find some supplies in there, perfect for training but could be a bit tough for beginners”. The young Vulpix nodded proudly with her knowledge but instantly hung her head as Blaize answered with another short sentence stating that “He was no beginner”.

Watching the Flareon leap gracefully down onto the plateau floor, Pixie sighed but seeing the fuzzy outline boldly strut and jump around brought the smile back onto her pointed muzzle. Blaize was full of boldness and confidence, why couldn’t she be more like that?

Still both unaware of the Cheleo in the similar area Pixie followed Blaize's lead as the entered into the dungeon.

*Pixie and Blaize have left the area and are now in The Idiot's Adventure*