The UNION Team

Theo rubbed his eyes, but his wet paws only helped to get water in his eyes, he was tired from this long day. Before he was able to keep on going through sheer will power and adrenaline, but the fighting was over right now, and his eyelids were starting to get heavy. He couldn’t suppress the yawn that came out, he wanted to go to sleep, even for an hour at least, but this cave wasn’t the safest place. So Theo had to keep walking, to focus on just taking the next step for now.

He wanted to ask Luke if he knew where he was going, though Theo didn’t even know so he would still end up following the houndoom regardless of his answer. It was dark, and every rock formation looked exactly like the last, how he wished for some markings or signs around to point the way. But echoed voices were good enough too.

It was hard for him to make out the owners of the voice, or know what they were saying, but it was coherent nonetheless. The only clear thing he heard was “...STOP!” And despite how much his body objected to running into a fight to play hero, he couldn’t not help.

He ran towards the voices, forgetting to look back to see if Lostcall was running also. He made it just in time to see a ghost, and as he got closer it phased out and disappeared. “Are you two okay?” Readying his claws in case the ghost came back, despite knowing that his attacks would not do a thing against a ghost…

((So apparently Ryan is off the team...))

((In a hurry, can't post, please skip.))

((I'm going to try to stick to a policy of "no more skipping" after this, but at the moment, I'm feeling so uninspired. I can't write. :/))

(Same goes for me as the Fifteenth, I can't post because I'm kinda busy elsewhere and strapped for time, but after this I swear I'll always be punctual!)

He kept waiting for a surprise attack to come out of the darkness, but none came. The ghost that had disappeared as soon as he had come showed no signs of coming back. For that, Theo was relieved. He body still ached all over from the fight with the water undead. Back then the adrenaline rush, and his little episode helped him ignore his weariness, but now….now his whole body felt like it had weights attached to it. And he swore he could feel a nasty bruise forming on his back under the wet fur from when the thing had launched him against the rocks with that water attack. It was annoying because he felt the urge to scratch at it, but his arms couldn’t reach it, so he was stuck with putting up with it.

Theo wasn’t the only one in a sorry state. The Kirlia was tired, her eyes showing the expense of her weariness. Seruru, well, Theo had seen him get hurt a lot in one day, heck, he was hurt when he had first meet him, and he didn’t look any better now. He was worried that his body would give out if things kept going as they were right now….”Maybe, we should rest for a while.” He wanted to get out of this cave, and soon, but he also wanted to fall down to the ground and sleep right then and there..


((Not much to do since everyone skipped and Lost is in the safehouse -.-))

((Sorry, Tryvex, I'm having a hard time writing.))
Claire watched drowsily as the ghost disappeared.. soon replaced by Theo. Seruru had been right.. The Kirlia smiled as she started to doze off. Theo was safe, Seruru was right.. and she was tired. Very tired. She half-conciously curled up next to the Riolu before dropping off to sleep.

Another weak smile, as the Kirlia curled up beside him, and drifted off to sleep. It was almost alien, considering the events that'd taken Johto, and no doubt other regions, by storm.
Legions of the undead... and the Kirlia was sleeping soundly.
Seruru had spent most of his nights curled up in abandoned nests and trees, and had even followed a Hoothoot for an entire week, constantly taking its abandoned residence, before a particularly dark figure stole his guide away in the night...

Still, the Kirlia was a beacon of hope, in many ways. The Pokémon will to survive, and their belief in their kin. It was refreshing, to say the very least.
Slowly, he lowered his paw and stroked her head as she slept, "How very brave of her."

Then he turned to Theo, his smile quivering, "You're a sight for sore eyes, my little..." he paused, "...My big friend. For a moment, blind optimism seemed hopeless- but if there is an Arceus, he delivered," he patted the ground next to him. Theo was right, Seruru did look very, very close to burning himself out and just keeling over, but something in his eyes indicated that he felt as strong as ever, "Come, my friend. Sit. You look exhausted."

It had felt like a long time since he had seen someone sleep so peacefully. Pokemon tend to either be very tense even while sleeping, or they would be cursed with constant nightmares. He was glad that the kirlia had managed to look peaceful curled up to Seruru. He wasn’t sure if it was because she felt safe with others around her, if she knew that there would be someone to keep watch against surprise attacks, or for another reason, but he was too tired and sore to think too deep on it.

The riolu mentioned Arceus, a word and being Theo had totally forgotten about. He had only heard his mother talk of it a few times. Sometimes she would curse him for letting the humans get too close to their cave, and other times she would thank him after he and his sister did not return fast enough to the cave after sneaking out. But he never really understood what was so important about him, he never got the chance ask his mother….

"Come, my friend. Sit. You look exhausted."

“I feel like I haven't slept in days…”

Theo made sure to not sit too close to the riolu, he was still wet, the last thing they needed was the possibility of two pokemon getting sick at the same time. But it made him wonder, if the riolu had been there to see him during his little episode, would he really be inviting him to sit so close? But bad thoughts aside, he was exhausted, yet there was one question he wanted to ask that was bothering him too much. “That ghost didn’t hurt you two did it?” It could have answered why they both seemed so tired, and why Seruru looked like he had been in a fight with a rabid zangoose.

((Well now I've written myself into somewhere I can't really post. e.e skip.))

“That ghost didn’t hurt you two did it?”
For a moment, the Riolu seemed to refuse to answer. But eventually he let out a low breath, apparently winded, and looked up at Theo, "The Mismagius?" he tilted his head, "No, no... not at all. Was it not for her, I do not know if this Kirlia would still be our companion," he looked down at Claire, "Although, its sudden disappearance disconcerts me... Where is LostCall?"

It was confusing, if the ghost pokemon didn’t harm them and instead helped them, then why did it end up running away as soon as he got close? He knew he was bigger and bulkier now, but surely his appearance alone didn’t scare it off right?

Now Theo felt bad. He had meet one ghost type who was bad and automatically assumed that all of them where the same. And in doing so he had scared off someone who could have been a great friend. His mother taught him better than that; he should have not jumped to conclusions…

And his worrying only seemed to increase.

Seruru voiced his own concern, and by doing so it seemed to make the problem more real. Lostcall was still nowhere to be found. He had run off at the yell and hadn’t properly seen the houndoom follow him. “He’s probably off looking for the exit while we rest up, he was never one to keep still for too long…” Theo knew he was trying to convince himself more than the riolu, but he couldn’t help it, he was worried. Sure the canine could take care of himself, but he was tired and hurt just like the rest of them.

“We should probably take her lead and rest up. If Lostcall comes back and sees we didn’t take our chance to rest up he might get mad…” As he curled himself up more, he should really dry himself up more, but he was too tired right now.

Maybe, just maybe if Theo where to sleep for a bit, then when he woke up the houndoom would be there to reprimand them all for sleeping before getting out of the cave. At least...a Ursaring could wish….


((OOC: Aww T_T Lostcall is off the team now...Now we're down to 3 members...))

((And you two can time jump/shift/whatever to when they should wake up if you want))

How the hell did I lose track of that damn bear? Luke thought as he walked through the cave. One moment he was with him, the next he was gone. His teeth where clenched together as he kept going, stearing clear of bodies of water, and bodies themselves.
He raised his nose to the air and began to stiff for any familiar scents, but all he got was dampness and blood, it was sickening.

He could hardly see two tails in front of him, then he stubbed one of his paws on something. He was actualy glad no one was around to witness that embarasment.
Luke looked back to see what it was, to see a human skull. It made him do one of those 'eww' faces before continueing on to look for the others.

It was only a matter of time before he found the dumb bear again, as well at the diserters. A growl rumbled in his throat as he came to a stop.
"Where the hell did you run off to?" He growled at the Ursering, his tail flicking in anger as he waited for Theo's reply.

((Not gone yet Try, takes more then a missunderstanding to get rid of me.))

((Skip me again. Still really sorry. I wrote myself into a corner pretty hard.))

The little Riolu looked up at his team mate, the previously lost LostCall, and sighed softly. His Aura was radiating strongly, Seruru would never get any sleep if that continued.
"Theo came looking for us, I think," he offered, hoping his answer would suffice, "We are, after all, far smaller Pokémon."

Despite the coldness he was feeling from being entirely wet, Theo was feeling warmth from being curled up, as if the heat was coming from inside him to protect him as he tried to sleep. He was simply laying there, waiting for sleep to take him, trying to block out the random noises that the cave made and slightly getting mesmerized by the constant steady breathing of the two pokemon next to him. Yet when he was so close to taking that last plunge to dream world, he was woken up by growling.

Theo wasn’t a hardend pokemon, ready to jump up into attack position at the first sign of trouble, so instead of pouncing and getting ready to defend himself against a possible attack, Theo sat up and tried to rub the blurring sleepiness from his eyes as he sat dumbstruck at seeing Luke. Despite looking tired beyond belief, Theo was happy, Luke had come to reprimand him for sleeping just like he thought he would. But the angry tone of the hound brought him out of that happiness and into worriedness. Luke had yelled at him and was angry, he didn’t mean to make the houndoom angry…

“I, I heard a yell so I ran, and there was this ghost, and it ran away, but it wasn’t a bad ghost it was a good ghost, and then Seruru told me to sit, and then we talked, and then I started feeling tired and I fell asleep a bit wondering where you were.”

“I was tired, we haven’t rested all day, and we’ve been attacked so much…and I was tired….and…I’m sorry…” He didn’t like this feeling; it felt just like it did whenever he and his sister Lexi would get caught taking honey from their mother without asking. Ashamed and guilty, and for some reason it felt worse feeling this way against Lostcall, who had done nothing but save all of their behinds all day….

He knew he should have gone looking for him as soon as he realized they had gotten separated, but it felt like I had been days since he had last slept. The pads of his feet where sore and slightly swollen from running a lot, his muscled ached from fighting, and his arm was still sore from being frozen over, the urge to sleep was just too much for him. Even now as he apologized to Luke, he felt that nagging urge to curl back up and sleep, his eyelids drooping, threatening to close up mid sentence.

((I sometimes forget that Theo is supposed to be a child, think this post made me remember that |D))

((And we really should have them rest up, it's been more than 24 hours of pure fighting and fleeing >.<))

Luke kept his eyes locked on Theo, but he couldn't really stay mad, the bear was tired, and so was he. He let out a grunt before moving away from the others where he could sleep alone.
"Just sleep." He said to the bear before laying down. He let out a yawn, his teeth glistening from the small amount of heat coming from his mouth.
Luke looked around, spotting some nasty old human clothes. Getting up, he walked over to them, they where dry, and they looked like they would burn for awhile.
Not wanting to place the filthy rag in his mouth, for it could have sucked up the blood of an infected, and he didn't want to risk anything.

Luke walked back over to the others and placed the shirt in front of them and himself, before firing a small Flamethrower at it.
It managed to burn, just as he had hoped, and it wasn't burning to fast, so it should stay lit for a little while, at least they will be warm as they wall asleep.

Seruru watched silently as the shirt before him leapt to life in a glory of flames. It was a peculiar thing, because he hadn't even realized he was cold until the heat of the flames bathed him in comfort. He lowered his head and closed his eyes, "Much appreciated, LostCall."

He let out a little yawn, before crossing his paws over his stomach, "Now... I believe sleep sounds like a particularly good idea..." he smiled to himself, "Sleep well, my friends."
Then the little Riolu's smile faded, and shortly after, the only sound he made was a light breathing as he drifted off to sleep.

The cave air was crisp, cool, and it refreshed a tired old face as he slithered slowly along. Wrinkles, hard to see in the dim cave, were visibly relaxed by the breeze rolling about him. The Shuckle hummed happily and contentedly, even though he wasn't in the safest place. It was probably swarming with Infected, but he didn't care. He was just glad he had time to rest his mind and soothe himself with the morning air.

"It truly is a lovely day... shame that I can't enjoy it with those rily creatures about.. what a shame..."

With a disheartened sigh, he attempted to take his mind off the matter, and he started humming again. It was a peaceful tune, that he knew since he was a young boy, and it still rang clear from him as he began to song to lift his spirits.

"If I ruled the world.... every day would be the first day of spring....

As he continued his pleasant tune, he thought he heard something. Tony craned his old neck to see if something, or even less likely, someone was there. He scrinched his eyes, to glance upon what appeared to be sleeping kids! Maybe not kids, but young in his eyes. And he wanted to know what in the blue-blazes they were doing sleeping when monsters could be roaming about! With an increase in his stride, he scuttled over as fast as his old limbs would take him. Crying out in terror when he began to roll down a slope in the cave, curling in his shell defensively. He rolled, until he skidded to a halt. When he got the courage to peek out, he saw... survivors! Clearly not infected, but sleeping...

"Would you look at that...."

Tony crawled closer, and saw a fire blazing slowly beside a Houndoom, a Kirlia, a Riolu... and what appeared to be an Ursaring. Just sleeping, like there was nothing to worry about, when in fact there always was.

"I...guess I should make sure they don't get hut. Better make sure the youngins' don't get themselves hurt 'round here."

That's what he told himself, as he curled up beside the Houndoom, wondering when, if ever, they would wake up... and if they would be frightened by him.

Theo was left feeling crummy, Luke may have let it go, but the houndoom didn’t sleep anywhere near them, choosing instead to go to an opposite corner. Theo couldn’t help but feel ashamed, as if he had lost a bit of Luke’s respect by running off and sleeping while the hound was left alone to look for him. Maybe by running off, he had lowered his opinion of himself by showing that he is not reliable to Luke, that he would run off and abandon people in the blink of an eye….

Theo curled up once again, he will have to make it up to the houndoom now when they rested up…..He seemed like the type to care more about actions instead of words, so a mere apology wouldn’t do it….but that will wait, right now his mind was already drifting off.

---

Oh Arceaus, it was impossible to tell time in this cave. Everything was dark, and what seemed like the remains of a fire in between the three and Lostcall was now a pile of ashes. But he had to admit, he felt a lot better in terms of energy, if only his body could have recovered as much. His body was now a big old pile of bruises and soreness. If he did not have any fur, he would swear his body would be at least 40% bruised.

At least his fur dried up a bit during his sleep, though it was now messy and tangled from sleeping on his side, his mother would have instantly combed him had she seen him like this. So he was stuck with running his claws through his fur in a failed attempt at making himself seem neat.

Theo was getting hungry, they probably missed breakfast…..maybe once everyone woke up they could go find something to eat. Though they’d probably want to get out of here before they ate. But as long as they didn’t get separated again they could survive, so Theo did not wander off like he would have before meeting them, he would sit there hugging his knees as he waited till everyone woke up.

((So time change, felt that would be about right, feel free to change it if it seems like too much/too little...))

((And would have said hello to the shuckle but i really want to see Luke's reaction to the pokemon that randomly curled up next to him xD))

Luke lay asleep, but no dreams came to him as he let his body rest from the full day of nothing but fighting.
His body ached from the recent battle with the Lapras, but that was to be expected after getting knocked around. He wished things had gone a little more smoothly with that battle, but there was nothing he could have really done.
Suddenly, Luke felt something hard touch him. There was nothing there when he fell asleep, so why was he feeling it now?

The Houndoom raised his head, opening his eyes a little. Every part of him hurt, and his horn was killing like a nasty tooth ach.
Blinking sleep from his eyes, he looked over to where the strange object had placed itself, only to see a red and white shell.
It only took Luke a few moments to wake and relize that a pokemon that he didn't even know, just curl up next to him like they where buddies.
A low growl formed in the Houndooms throat as he pushed the shell away with his tail.
"Stay away from me." He said before getting up and servaying the area.

There was no scent of undead, none that was fresh, and that shell didn't smell of infection, so it was ok.
But he still didn't like how it just made itself at home with them when they didn't even know its name, and it theres.

((ooc: Sorry for any spelling or grammer errors, this was kinda rushed.))

The little Riolu pried his eyes open slowly, a yawn escaping his lips as the aura's of his fellow Pokémon came into view.
He wasn't surprised to find Claire, Theo and LostCall in his presence, but there was a fifth member to their little party now.
And it didn't emanate the deathly aura of an infected, either... had another Survivor found his way into their midst?

Pushing himself up against his cave wall, he slowly got to his feet, and took a few steps forwards as his eyes readjusted to the dark. He turned his gaze to his left, and out of nowhere, he found a Shuckle sleeping next to LostCall.
Seruru tilted his head, "Hello there," he extended a paw, "Are you part of our group, shelled one?"

After the quick snap from the Houndoom, Tony was unsure if he should stay with these kids, considering how rude they were already turning out to be, but he got renewed confidence when the Riolu asked he was a part of the group. Before he answered, he had something to say to the Houndoom.

"Listen kid, I'm sorry if I offended ya', but I was gettin' cold.... and at my age... cold is not a good sign."

He chuckled at himself. Making references to his own aging and death wasn't ever going to bother him it seemed. The old Shuckle turned back to the Riolu, who was rather close to the newly awakened Kirlia. He smiled kindly at them.

"Tell y'all what.... I'll make it up to ya' for creepin' ya' out. I got some berries I keep with me if y'all are hungry.... Oh... and you can call me Tony."

With that, he reached in his shell, and slowly, but surely, pulled out an assortment of various berries. Pecha, Oran, Sitrus, even Chesto. However, he wasn't done quite yet. With a content sigh at helping someone out, he tried to warm up, so maybe he could warm up enough to sing. Before he got there, he inhaled some smoke accidentally, and he gave a wracking, dreadfully painful cough, that made him shake and quiver, beforehe managed to breathe again.

"Would y'all happen to have some water?"

His voice came out wheezy, dry, and it betrayed how old he was.

Her mind was a wreck.

The damn infection ruined it. Why her, why her, she always asked herself before it really got to Linger, before the infection really had taken place onto her numb body. She couldn't handle it, she was weak, weak. Any more would kill Linger for good, yet, why did she keep trudging on? Why did she not give up, why hadn't she just given up? Because, she told herself, I have a reason to live. But -- no! She was infected, how could Linger possible have a reason to live? She was now a mindless freak, one that can't control her actions, one that has a taste for blood, one that can never go back to her old life. Why me?

The Flareon walked across the stone, rough floor of Union Cave, taking in the damp air and sneezing loudly. Linger looked about, it was dark, hard to tell where she was. She had been traveling through this damn cave for many days, many hours, and yet she still found no way out, she couldn't even find the dang entrance! Where the hell am I? The Flareon stopped dragging her paws across the darned ground and listened, still and alert, for any sounds.

"Would y'all happen to have some water?"

The voice sounded old, perfect. She would sneak up on this pokemon, and then go in for the kill, the pokemon did sound like a mess, almost like he was going to die anyways -- Wait, what was she thinking? No, no, no! She couldn't go eat another pokemon, at first she couldn't control it, now she can, she knows she can at least manage to go without killing them until after she asked for the way out, freedom from the damned cave!

Linger slowly approached the voice, and in an instant, she had found her way towards the pokemon, he was in a group with others. The other pokemon, which included a Riolu, Houndoom, Ursaring, Shuckle, and a Kirlia... some looked so familiar, why? Had she meet them before? Ever since she was infected, she has had short term memory loss, but still, she didn't remember them completely. Maybe it was just her imagination. She hid behind a large rock, watching.

But still, why do they look so familiar?