The CELADON Team

While he wanted to jump up and help the pretty flower girl the psychic fox beat him to it. Well, at least the sweet thing got a helping hand, and that psychic trick of his was really good at getting the stuff downstairs. Finally getting down there was a chore, his wings cramped against the walls of the stairway. Honestly, why would humans make a store where Pokemon were allowed to be out and not make the stairs and hallways big enough for anyone his size?

When he got to the bottom he stretched his sore wings as far as the room would allow, giving a few small flaps to loosen his shoulders before tucking the back again and dropping the treats. Earlier he had seen Lilia's favorite and wasted no time in getting it to her. Dill scurried into her hole and the large bird dragged some of the curtains and linens over to where she was and dropped them casually on the floor. He heard a soft voice coming from beneath him and saw Dill giving a big yawn. "It's pretty late, and we've had a long day... We should get some rest, yes?"

"Good idea Pickle," Vel said through a yawn of his own. He garbled a little, feathers ruffling and shaking as he relaxed himself. He had plans to build a nest but it needed something... The massive bird saw a pillow that was already torn and had feathers puffing out and pulled it towards him. Shredding it with his beak he spread the feathers around on the rest of the pile of linens before laying down and burrowing his way into them. "Goodnight everyone..." he murmured softly, eyes sliding closed as he finally fell asleep.
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Watching Cap and Monty struggled with the pillow stuck on Monty's fangs brought a big smile to Lilia's face. These two were the perfect company, and played much more to the humble nature the Eevee possessed than the luxurious types she was raised around. Though Vel had his moments of dramatics, the boy really could be down to earth when he needed to be. It was just most people didn't get to see that side of him. “You can get first dibs – I doubt you’ll want that one!” Lilia looked down at said pillow and couldn't stop laughing. "Well...maybe this one can have other uses." She giggled again and grabbed one of the smaller red pillow, leaving the larger ones for the others.

When she saw the others coming down the stairs Lilia felt her heart lighten a bit. It was good to know that everyone was safe, and when she saw the food her stomach growled a little bit. She giggled in embarrassment and hid herself behind her large, fluffy tail. Vel chirped in greeting, the sound muffled behind several bags of goodies, and dropped his burden on the ground before bringing one of them to Lilia. "Here you go Bon Bon, I found your favorite!" The small Eevee gave the colorful Braviary an affectionate lick on his beak as she took the treats. "Thank you Vel."

Lilia smiled as Dill let loose a cute yawn as she tried to suggest everyone getting some sleep. She thought it was a good idea herself and, after finishing her snacks, allowed herself a luxurious stretch. She pulled her pillow over between when Cap and Monty bedded down and where Vel had nested by Dill before curling up on it, tail falling just before her face. Her eyes slid gently closed and the small fox, surrounded by friends, fell into a peaceful sleep for the first time in a long time.

As the others gradually returned to the scene, Montague gave each individual a nod and warm smile on greeting. It was a miracle to find living, let alone friendly, creatures in this day and age and so the serpent was growing especially grateful of his good fortune. Although Capulet chose not to express such gratitude, Montague knew he felt it.
“Yeah, you’re welcome,” The ferret grumbled sarcastically, watching as the group made themselves comfortable without a word of thanks. Admittedly, they had offered to seek out bedding so couldn’t complain that their company was making good use. Besides, they’d supplied the food. Eying up the cans excitedly, a slick grin on his face, Capulet’s stomach was rarely satisfied.

As the chained duo settled down, the Seviper curling into a tilt ball whilst his head rested on the bedraggled pillow he’d carried, Capulet sat comfortably aside him. He would stand true to his offer to stay up. He wasn’t tired quite yet, but the overruling reason was his lack of knowledge of their current watchman, Mr. Gambit. They knew nothing about the guy and were prepared to let him protect them; warn them in case of danger? Capulet had soon realized were their survival guaranteed he’d have to stay up too.
“Night,” Montague muttered quietly, only seconds before sleep fell on him like an iron weight. He was out cold in an instance, the fatigue of the day too much for the serpent as he relished in the dreams to come. The Zangoose merely snorted, trying to disguise the smile that the sight triggered. Turning to the Alakazam, he gestured to one of the cans.
“Mind chuckin’ that over?” He asked quietly as not to disturb their slumbering company. ”Got a long night in store, eh?”

"Here miss." Jade heard a voice say to her. Suddenly, she felt the pillows get lifted away from her. She looked to see that it was the Alakazam who was taking them. He also offered to take the cans, to which the Bellossom was quite happy about. "Thank you very much, Gambit, was it?" She said and asked with a curtsy. She followed Vel downstairs where everyone else was and went over to a comfortable spot and gave a signal to Gambit. "Right here, Gambit." She said to him. The Bellossom was happy to be with these kind people. None of them seemed mean or hostile at all.

Gambit followed the others downstairs, keeping the load carried close behind him, so as not to push anyone else. When he reached the bottom, he placed them all gently down where the little miss directed him. Nodding to her, he backed away slowly. "My pleasure mon cherie." Taking up a post on the far corner, far enough away that he could watch both staircases and still have his back to the wall, he held his bo staff on both ends and pushed it against the back of his shoulders.

Nodding to Capulet's question, he flicked a can to him with Psychic, not moving from his post. He didn't want to move or talk, so as to disturb the others. "A long night, indeed." He thought, projecting the words into the Zangoose's mind. He never liked toying with the minds of others. When he did have to use telepathy, he used the barest form of it, never invading into their thoughts. Only enough for them to respond. He wouldn't hear any thoughts that he did not want him to hear.

((Hoping that's okay Snitch. I don't know the exact rules on Telepathy, but if you're not okay with it, I'll just say he walked over and talked to him. >.<))

((Skip~ Dill simply bid everyone a good night and fell asleep. Next round, I'll skip the time to morning, so every get their rest~!))

((Skip please, they are just asleep.))

(( Skip me too, please. Montague’s fast asleep and Capulet is silently keeping watch. :3 ))

(Since everyone else is asleep, Jade shall do the same. Skip.)

((Skip, Nothing to add.))

Dill woke to soft rays of sun caressing her metal hide, gently waking her from a restful sleep. Her sparkling sapphire eyes blinked open, taking in the time before she yawned and stretched her small, compact body. It had been a long time since she'd gotten that good of a sleep, and she could only thank her company. The thought of the others had her excitedly turning to see them, wondering if any of them had woken just yet. A quick pan of the room told her not just yet.

Still, all wasn't lost. While everyone else snoozed, she could get in a bite to eat, as she was still starving. The copper from last night had been a treat she'd likely not forget soon, but now was a time for a more substaintial meal. Pushing her way out of the little hole she'd dug for herself, she quickly assessed her next victim; the support beam she'd eyed the night before. Scuttling to it on her nubbed feet, she was in awe of its size up close. 'That would fill me for the entire day!' she squealed in her mind, too excited to notice that even leaning, it was still supporting the roof overhead. Giddy, she began nibbling at the dense metal, savoring each bite.

Capulet had successfully spent the majority of the night in a semi-conscious state, eyelids continuously threatening to snap shut to leave the Zangoose with an expression akin to a zombie. An hour’s sleep had taken hold of him on the approach to morning, the ferret collapsing from exhaustion despite the ferocious need to remain loyal to his duties. Fortunately, he awoke with a start in, thankfully in one piece alongside the same healthy and untouched group. However, it was his position wrapped in Montague’s coils that truly woke him.
“Get off me!” He growled a little too loudly, flailing out of the serpent’s grasp to smooth down his thick, ragged fur as if nothing had happened. It had been enough to wake Monty, the Seviper looking to his companion with tired eyes as a yawn escaped his mouth. A faint smile played on his face at Capulet’s obvious repulsion.
“You never complained before,” Montague grinned, his voice soft but tinged with good humour. He received a snort in response, though he caught Cap’s attempt to hide the smile it had triggered.

The duo stretching in unison, embracing the new day significantly quieter than their awakening, Montague and Capulet found the majority of the group still lost to slumber. The Seviper, rejuvenated by a generous sleep, was quick to let his eyes roam across the gathering. Even with Capulet’s inability to stay awake all night the Zangoose and Alakazam pair had proven themselves efficient watchmen. Smiling pleased, the serpent soon noticed an absence however.
“Where’d Dill go?”

(( Bromance, lol. xD ))

Jade was enjoying her sleep. Not because she was tired, but because of her dream, that involved the rest of her family. Everything from her dance troupe to her personal life with Stewart. However, things in her dream started to get dark, and it turned into a nightmare. In her dream, the Bellossom watched Stewart get pulled away from her. He kept getting further away, so she tried to chase after him. But whatever was taking her love away was too fast for her. And in just a few seconds, he was gone...

Jade snapped her eyes open, realizing it was all a dream. She looked a little panic striken from her dream as she sat upright. She looked around; still no sign of him. The Bellossom let out a sad sigh as she got up to stretch. Gambit, Vel, and Lilia were still asleep, and Dill was nowhere to be found. The only ones that were up were Capulet and Montague. She chose to let them be for a little bit, since she knew that some people weren't exactly morning people.

Stretching his arms up to the raising sun, Gambit let the light warm his sore bones. He hated standing still for so long. The night had been painfully boring, with Capulet half asleep most of the night, finally nodding off the rest of the night. Gambit hadn't slept a wink, as he was well used to. Looking around, he surveyed the rest of the party. Cap and Montague had woken up, and so had Miss Jade. However, Montague's question caught his ears, and he immediatly felt a pit of guilt. He had been watching for outside forces, and hadn't been paying attention when the little tyke had wandered off.

Looking around, he approached to other two. "We need to find her." He said, beginning to sound a bit nervous. He wasn't afraid she was in danger. Nothing had appraoched the building in nightfall that he had seen. However, a metal eater in a large building like this was bound to get in trouble. And that sort of trouble would mean trouble for the rest of them as well.

Thus far:
Lured by a demonic, psychic impulse, Devani and her newborn kit Nevada went down to the frigid edges of Lake Acuity, where an infected xatu (the source of the impulse) grabbed Devani, who held Nevada in her mouth, and took to the sky. Once it was clear that t were far too high for escape, Devani curled around Nevada and froze them in layers of insulating and wind-blocking ice. Thus frozen, Devani and Nevada kept warm and secure at high altitude, never knowing how far they traveled or their bearings as they and the xatu were swept huge distances by the wind.

However, when the ice began to melt on the outside of the ice shell, Devani knew that they were descending in altitude. Quickly, she used ice shard to propel their chunk of ice away from the xatu. As they hurtled toward the earth, she created more layers of airy ice crystals and cast protect around herself and Nevada, so that the force of impact with a hard, manmade surface was jarring but far from lethal.

The present . . .


CRUNCH!!!!!

Devani tensed with shock and adrenaline . . . but the impact wasn't actually very bad. More loud than anything else; layers and layers of ice of varying thickness made an interesting tinkling when broken individually, but a huge smash when broken all together, at terminal velocity.

Where am I? was her next thought, but she corrected herself: No, where are we? She nuzzled tenderly into the black and white ball of fur nestled into her stomach. He mewled slightly, still too small to open his eyes. It had been a while since her mate and other kits had died; sometimes, she needed to remind herself that Nevada, her blessing, was real.

Cautiously, she used her tail to shift away ice chunks and pushed her way out of the giant icy snowball splat, Nevada cradled in her mouth. It was morning, and the wind buffeted her long ears: she was on top of a very tall building. A skyscraper . . . what city is this? She looked around, and stared with trepidation at the lone door that opened into the building. Who knew what might have heard her collision . . .


After a long while nestled into his mothers thick, thick fur, a sudden sensation -- what was it? It was like the ground, the world, had been wrenched away -- he wanted to keen in terror; his tiny heart beat fast. But his mother lay around him, and after immeasurable minutes in what he would later call freefall, he stopped with a loud kind of whomp, which had such crunchy, tingly noise that he got amused. His mother nuzzled him a bit, then gently carried him to a place where the air pushed at his whiskers and fur. His tiny nose sniffed the air, curious at all the new scents surrounding him.

As she happily fed in the first time that seemed in eternity, Dill only half-caught the others' waking mutterings as her strong jaws chewed through the delightful meal like butter. Eyes flicking to their direction, the little aron popped her head over the small ride of debris that sheilded her from view. Looked like almost everyone was awake! "Good morning!" she exclaimed, supremely happy to greet the day with such good company. However, her bright smile soon turned into an embarrassed grimace as she realized that she'd begun the day's first and most important meal without her companions. How terribly rude of her! Quickly admonishing herself for her sins, she darted her eyes away from them, utterly shamed. "I-I'm sorry I started without you, I-I was just so hu--"

SLAM!

A terrified squeak of a cry came from the little aron as the impact hit above them. Little form trembling with fear, she stayed glued in place as she fearfully watched above her, as if whatever had made that sound would make its presence known if she just looked long enough. "Wh-What was that...?"

A tiny ball of brown fluff began to stir on her worn down pillow, reaching out with two paws to stretch out her back as she let out a big yawn. Orchid eyes blinked open and sparkled in the morning light as matching pink diamond bracelets clinked together softly to signify her rising. Lilia couldn't remember the last time since all of the horrors started that she slept that well. Nuzzling her tiara back onto her head she giggled at the antics of her two chained friends Cap and Monty as they awoke as well. When they asked where Dill had gone one ear twitched and she looked around just as the Alakazam mentioned looking for her. "There she is," she offered quietly before going over to see her little metal friend.

"Morning Dill!" she called cheerfully, approaching where her friend seemed to be feasting on a strange metal bar. "What are you doing?" Lilia got a happy 'good morning' in return before a flush of embarrassment covered Dill's face. "I-I'm sorry I started without you, I-I was just so hu--" SLAM. Lilia squeaked in surprise and backed away quickly, keeping herself close to Dill as she stared at the ceiling, praying whatever made that noise wasn't something coming to eat them. "Wh-What was that...?" Lilia could only shake her head, too scared to answer.

Velshaine was always a late riser, and today was no exception. After days of forcing himself into naps only he finally got a good nights sleep and he was not going to wake up early even if the building was on fire. But falling on top of him? That was a new one. As he started to rise he began to hear strange creaks and groans coming from the ceiling before a resounding slam forced him up and to his feet. Looking around in a panic he saw Dill near a support beam and the tiny Aron staring up at the floor above like it would talk to her.

"Dilly pickle, Bon Bon...step away from there," he warned quietly, worried that if he spoke to loud it would act like an avalanche and collapse on top of them. He could see the strange holes in the beam and was concerned what could have corroded such strong metal that way. "Does anyone know what happened to the support pillar?" He was addressing everyone, but his voice refused to move over a whisper and his eyes never left the column. "If that thing goes it will crush us. I suggest we move down a floor and go out that big hole in the side of the building. Now."

To anyone else the colorful bird would have sounded uncharacteristically harsh but Lilia knew better. Velshaine only got this way when things were serious. The great avian wasn't stupid, he was just overly jovial about little things and tended to miss subtle cues. But when it came to danger the protective giant was always ready to risk his own life to get others out of it. "Everyone else go on, I will follow you. I am too big for the stairwell and will block it. I need you to go first." Lilia looked up at her friend with a scared expression and put a paw on one of his taloned toes. "Be careful..." she whispered quietly, turning to Cap and Monty to wait for them to go with her.

"There she is,"

A panic hadn’t been in order as Capulet followed Lillia’s sweet voice to spot Dill happily chewing on some metal. Content the steel-type was safe, happily conversing with the pampered Eevee, the Zangoose heaved a relieved sigh and flashed an apologetic smile at the Alakazam for panicking him. Still, now that he was up, he felt inclined to do something. Some of Ari’s stash was still hanging around on the lower levels of the building, but with Montague still lazily re-familiarizing himself with consciousness, that was currently out of the question. Left standing awkwardly aside the stretching serpent, the normal-type was oddly patient with his companion, instead opting to observe the interactions around him.

A harsh crashing from overhead was enough to disrupt the morning tranquillity. Jumping at the sudden noise, his gaze quickly snapping to the ceiling, Capulet’s expression was hard, determined. Nothing was going to disturb this morning and he intended to deal with the threat as soon as his partner would permit. It had been enough to bring the Seviper fully out of his slumber, the snake uneasily following his companion’s gaze and knowing exactly what was running through the ferret’s mind. Not now, it was too early to fight. The duo exchanging a look, both party full aware of their differing responses to this situation, they remained motionless until Velshaine spoke.

"Dilly pickle, Bon Bon...step away from there. Does anyone know what happened to the support pillar? If that thing goes it will crush us. I suggest we move down a floor and go out that big hole in the side of the building. Now."

Shocked at the unusual gravity in the eccentric bird’s tone, Capulet eyed the creature a moment before deciding he was undeniably right. Nodding his head in firm understanding, although a little disappointed that a fight was not in order, the Zangoose made his way over to the stairwell – Montague obediently slithering behind. However, as Velshaine continued, expressing his inability to lead the way, the chained duo frowned in perfect unison; Monty deeming it rude to leave the avian most at threat, whilst Capulet was jealous to miss out on any potential action. However, from the look gracing the colourful bird’s face, there was no time for bargaining.

"Be careful..."

Nodding his head in agreement with Lillia’s quiet advice, the serpent held Velshaine’s gaze a moment, commending him for his bravery, before awkwardly slithering down the stairs. Capulet, using an arm lightly usher to way to both Dill and Lillia, walked almost protectively behind the girls as Montague fell back to ensure their blasted chain would bring no harm. Looking over his shoulder to the flower-creature and Gambit, the Zangoose’s expression was serious, eager to evacuate these innocents from the monsters looming above.
“Come on,” He ordered, disguising the growing unease in his voice.

Jade followed everyone else to where Dill was. As she was following everyone, there were creaks and groans coming from overhead. At first, it seemed like the Bellossom was hearing things, but then a loud SLAM! made her jump. It soon became clear to her why the building was creaking, as it was standing right in front of her.

The support beam was giving way.

"Dilly pickle, Bon Bon...step away from there. Does anyone know what happened to the support pillar? If that thing goes it will crush us. I suggest we move down a floor and go out that big hole in the side of the building. Now." Jade was surprised at Vel's sudden change in tone. Shit was starting to get real now, and if they didn't get out, they would be goners. Jade was starting to get scared, quickly running to the stairwell so she doesn't meet her end.

(OoC: So sorry for the rushed quality of the post...)

Gambit let out a sigh as Dill returned to the group. Saved him and the others a long search for such a small creature in this large building. When the shaking began, he thrust his staff into the ground, using it to support himself. Eyes quickily reaching passed Dill, Gambit quickily confirmed his fears. The support beam was giving out. And here the little metal tyke was, talking about sharing a meal. Gambit couldn't restrain a small smile that tugged at his lips, humoured by the childish actions. Oh, to be young.

Listening to Velshaine, Gambit motioned for the others to get moving. He was rather large for the stairwell too, though not quite as large as his new avian friend. Slowly walking towards him, so as not to cause too much distress on the building, he threw his arms back in a yawn. "I thin' I'll stay wit' you, monsieur." Still chuckling softly from Dill, he added, "If the buildin' starts comin' down, I reckon I can hold it, least for a few seconds." Again, he chuckled. Perhaps he could, if it would allow for the others to get out. Perhaps he could.

No pokemon or human noises were forthcoming from the building; indeed, the quiet aura of the rooftop wrapped in wind was eerie and foreboding. The howl of the wind sang a familiar tune, and, after around five minutes of waiting, Devani approached and sniffed at the door. There hadn't been humans, nor pokemon, there for some time, so she deemed it safe to seed some ice crystals in the cracks around the dor and hinges. Slowly, she made the crystals expand; within ten minutes, the steel and wood frame was warping; within fifteen minutes, the bottom hinge of the door blew. Devani slinked inside; the stairway was quite dark, but surprisingly still had a red emergency 'Exit' lights aglow. Sensing no danger, Devani went back to her featherlight kit still resting in the snowball-like remains of their crash and licked and rubbed him, for warmth.

"We'll be okay, Nevada, my sweet pea," she murmured "Mama will always keep you safe."

Barely old enough to mewl and squirm, Nevada wriggled and mewed strongly, which Devani took to be a good sign. She gently picked him up by the scruff of the neck and carried him out of the shrieking wind and into the dark, quiet stairwell, where she began to descend step by step.



Nevada squirmed. He was alone; there was bright light behind his closed eyelids; he heard a strange low whoooo-eeee that was constant. His emotions came out as squeaky mewls; he was unable to express the insecurity and bewilderment he felt.Mom? Mom?! But soon, the warm, loving, licking, nuzzling presence returned, and made soothing noises to him. It picked him up and took him into a dark place, where they went down-down-down-down, then stayed flat for a little bit, then down-down-down-down-down again.

"Does anyone know what happened to the support pillar?" Velshaine's honest enough question hit Dill like that impact just before, her eyes darting immediately to the floor. How... How awful! "If that thing goes it will crush us. I suggest we move down a floor and go out that big hole in the side of the building. Now." Her eyes glanced up to him, tears almost brimming in her large, sapphire eyes. This... was her fault? She glanced to the support beam riddled with holes, leaning against the wall. Her breakfast had caused them to evacuate the only shelter they had... It was all her fault...

Needless to say, she was fairly distraught.

Moving only from Cap's gentle push toward the stairs, she descended with Lilia, doing her best to keep her tears and sniffles stifled. However, halfway down to the second floor, the guilt and embarrassment grew to be too much and she fled, dashing down the remainder of the stairs, weeping uncontrollably. "I-I'm so s-s-s-sorryyyyyy!" she wailed, scuttling as fast as she could -which... sadly for her, was not all that speedy- toward the giant hole on the ground floor. She could see a mountain of flesh beyond it, but paid little attention to it until the stench hit her.

It smelled like a landfill of corpses. Decaying further in the day previous, still laying there doing nothing but melt under the sun, the dead snorlax still proved to be a fair barricade between the entrance to the department store and the outside world. Dill was stuck between having to face her newfound friends and going through that, but her guilt for nearly bringing the building on spurred her onward. She wriggled past the snorlax, heading for the open city.

Lilia moved carefully through the stairway, keeping close to Cap and Monty as they guided her down. Their chain swinging was an ominous sound down the stairs, her ears blocking out all but the rhythmic clinking like the haunting sound of an old clock. She was worried about Vel and the worry showed on her face, creases forming around her mouth and in her brow as she thought of what could happen if the ceiling caved in on the large Braviary. She didn't even have time to register the flower lady rushing down the stairs past her and nearly knocking her over.

The small Eevee squeaked as Jade all but ran to the first floor, nearly tripping over Dill who had appeared beside her. Smiling timidly at her little friend the smile fell once more when she saw the look on Dill's face. She blamed herself..."Hey Dill-" she began, but in a flash Dill was following Jade in a mad dash down the stairs, tears in her eyes. "I-I'm so s-s-s-sorryyyyyy!" The fox was completely flabbergasted as to the behavior. "Dill! Wait!"

Shooting a look to the chained duo she gave them a sad glance, turning to head down the stairs and catch their wayward friend. Dill just looked so upset, she had to try and do something. "Dill!" She kept calling for the Aron but upon reaching the bottom floor all she could make out was a flash of metal squirming past a decomposing corpse that nearly had the Eevee on the floor, the stench causing her to gag and cough. What the hell was that?! She couldn't even get enough air to breathe much less chase after Dill through all of...that.

____________________________

Vel waited for everyone to get downstairs, grateful to Cap and Monty for escorting the girls down. He made a mental note to thank that guy later. "I thin' I'll stay wit' you, monsieur. If the buildin' starts comin' down, I reckon I can hold it, least for a few seconds." The psychic fox stood his ground beside the avian and Vel gave him a reassuring nod. He couldn't be sure if the floor above them would collapse, but from the sounds it made it was a safe bet. But something coming down the stairs opposite the ones he guarded caught his attention.

"Something is coming," he warned Gambit, his wings expanding slightly and his chest puffing out. If whatever it was caused that loud crash before then it might be dangerous, and he wasn't going to let anything get his Dilly Pickle or Bon Bon. But what actually emerged was a small Glaceon and an oddly colored Eevee. "Okay...that's new..." Settling his feathers the bird took a few steps towards the new arrivals and eyed them carefully. "You two...alright?" he asked cautiously, trying to pick out if any of them could be infected. It wasn't likely a female with a kit was one of the Undead, but he had been seeing stranger and stranger with these beasts as of late.

Capulet, annoyed that Gambit was effectively showing up his own heroism with his decision to stay, emitted a slight growl as he was dragged down the stairs by Montague. He should be the one fighting, protecting the group – not an odd psychic and flamboyant, feathered diva! Still, the cowardly serpent at his side doubted his abilities. Monty was a battler, the pair working surprisingly well together in combat, but it was his faltering confidence that hindered their success.

By the time, the Zangoose had opened his mouth to argue and drag his companion back to the upper level to face this threat, they were already downstairs. The stench of rotting Snorlax seemed to have intensified with the night’s passing, Montague stifling a grunt of disgust as the smell hit him. But it was Dill’s sudden sorrow that alarmed him.

"I-I'm so s-s-s-sorryyyyyy!"

Frowning, confused to what the Aron felt the need to apologise for, Montague slithered forward, resisting the urge to gag at that overpowering aroma of death. Yet, she was running then. Scuttling towards the exit where the blubbery remains still lay, Lilia was first to react and was soon trotting devotedly after her.
“Hey!” Capulet snapped, catching glimpse of the steel-type wriggling out of vision. “It’s not safe! Come back!” Bounding forward, shifting to run on all-fours to give Montague a rather unpleasant tug at the neck, forcing him to slither close to the ground, he stopped abruptly at the entrance.
“Cap, wait!” Montague grumbled, his weight hindering the ferret’s ability to pursue the guilt-stricken steel-type. Cap glared him, demanding a good reason not to follow the youngster. “We can’t just leave!” The serpent gestured to Lilia and Jade. It was a bad decision, the lesser of two evils to allow Dill to run off alone in favour of two lives remaining obediently with them, but Capulet’s demeanour shifted. He did have a point.
“Shit,” Cursing aloud, angered that all their problems came back to the damned chain hanging slack between them; the Zangoose fell back to his haunches, defeated. Staring after the Aron, ashamed and annoyed he hadn’t the ability to help her without abandoning their other responsibilities, Capulet looked concernedly up the stairwell. What would Vel say? He loved his ‘Dilly-Pickle’ – he’d kill them if he knew they’d let her run off into a decaying mass of Snorlax.

Effectively caught between a rock and a hard place, Capulet ran a clawed hand over his face and over his ears as he contemplated his decisions. Gaze lingering on Lilia and Jade a moment, he quickly ruled out abandoning them. They couldn’t fight. A model and a flower – they wouldn’t stand a chance against the beast that no doubt was distracting Velshaine and Gambit. If it got past those two, he dreaded to think what would be in store for the rest of the group.
“Stay at the sides of the room,” The Zangoose ordered, voice serious as he heard light movement above. It didn’t sound like a battle, but you could never be too prepared. Turning to Monty, he gestured to the small space Dill had squeezed through. “Get through there and look out for her,”
“What? But the chai-“
“I’ll get as close as I can get whilst keeping my eye on the stairs. I’ll drag you out if there’s any danger, okay?” Montague was very much repulsed at the idea of slithering through the heart of that ungodly stench, but saw no way around it. He worried for Dill and this seemed like the duo’s best option of trying to protect their now separated girls.

With a stiff nod of his head, Montague held his breath and slowly slithered after the Aron, wriggling past the corpse as he persuaded himself he was somewhere else entirely. Capulet, walking backwards as Monty moved ahead, kept his head facing the room. He managed an apologetic smile at Lilia and Jade, hoping their obeyed his commands. Awkward, half the Zangoose’s body disappeared beneath the bulk, leaving on his head exposed and intense gaze on the stairs. The chain had reached its maximum length, difficulty becoming more difficult as Montague was forced to stop. Whilst not free of the grime, the stench overpowering and tempting another bout of vomiting, Montague had the Aron in his sights. He called to her as loudly as both the effects of the chain and stench would allow.
“Dill!”

Jade would've gone further, but she was stopped by an undead Snorlax corpse rotting right in front of the exit. She heard noises behind and turned just in time to see Dill run right through the corpse, Lilia following her but stopping right at the corpse. The Bellossom took a small step backwards at the smell of the rotting flesh. "No way in hell am I going through that mess..." She said.

She stood back as Capulet and Montague debated on what to do. The Zangoose ordered the Bellossom and the Eevee to stay at the sides of the room. Not one to disobey orders, Jade followed suit and went to one side of the room. The duo's idea of multi-tasking was weird. Capulet was keeping an eye on the stairwell while Montague went through the corpse to try to get Dill. Jade gagged (and nearly vomited) at the sight of the snake going through the corpse, as well as the smell of the corpse itself.

It was just terrible.

Gambit nodded back to the bird as the others left the room. Face twisting into a scowl, he put his weight on his back leg, preparing for an attack. Whatever was coming, it was almost there. Breathing slowed to a mere hush as he awaited the best to push through the wall, bringing the entire building down. He wasn't expecting, however, what actually arrived. A small Glaceon and a black eevee. Quickly scanning their bodies, he saw nothing denoting the infection. Letting the sigh that pushed itself out of his body turn into a slight chuckle, he grinned at the little child. Poor thing must be terrified out here.

One thing pricked his mind, however. How had these two gotten into the building? It seemed unlikely they had been here for long, and it was odd that they appeared right after the shaking. How did they get above them without any of the group noticing? Qietly, he inspected the newcomers once more, allowing them time to answer Velshaine. He would ask the question later, if he got the chance.