As the wind picked up, snow flurrying about him in a blur of disorientating white, Rufus soon realized he had severely misjudged his abilities. His optimism lost, the gator had begun to panic as the strange weather proved a rather frightening opponent. He didn’t like snow anymore – not one bit. Shivering against the elements, he looked to the Umbreon accompanying him, concern written across his wide face as he struggled to manage a smile. He’d been trudging around for a while now, essentially in one big circle in a vain bid to find more berries for poor Adara. Rufus was sure the weather was angry at him – making him pay for what he’d done to the unfortunate Eevee – and although he didn’t particularly like it, he knew that he deserved it.
“Sorry,” He muttered to himself, fangs chattering as the cold continued to bite as his scales. Turning to Sealand, he emitted a whine of defeat. Resorting to hugging himself with broad, muscular arms for the purpose of both warming and comforting, he looked panicked behind him.
“S-S-Sealan! No b-berries,” Temperature invading his speech, Rufus was clearly beginning to suffer.
Growing sick of this, the gator was ready to give up altogether when a sharp pain suddenly shot up his foot. Yelping in surprise and pain, the Feraligatr instantly recoiled, foot held up as he stared fearfully down at the ground. A single spine was lodged in the flesh - not particularly painful, but a stinging sensation that had succeeded to draw blood. Watching hypnotized as the crimson droplets hit against the snow, Rufus, swallowing his fear peered closer. It was a small, spiky thing. A bush perhaps, yet the water-type saw no berries hanging from its aggressive leaves. Curious, he kept his foot raised, instead nudging the snow around the visible spines to gradually reveal a sandy-coloured ball. Convinced a bush so peculiar looking must be especially useful to Adara, Rufus let out a squeal of delight.
“Look!” He called out to Sealand, moving to gently pick up the surprisingly hard thing in his jaws. It was freezing, rigid, as tiny icicles intermingled with the prickly leaves. Careful not to damage such a precious item, the gator grinned over at the dark-type, ecstatic at his discovery.
“I di-ood,” It was difficult to speak holding the bush and particularly hazardous as the reptile’s tongue flicked dangerously close to those cruel spikes – one of which was still lodged in his foot. Satisfied with what he considered an exceptional discovery, the reptile turned tail, expecting the Umbreon to follow.
Trotting after the faint footprints left behind by the group, Rufus, although still shivering from the cold, walked with his head high. A smile stretched across his face regardless of the spiny ball attempting to distort the joy, the Feraligatr didn’t get very far until he found Famear waiting for him. Emitting a muffled squeal of delight at his friend’s loyalty as well as an incredible eagerness to present his companion with his find, Rufus stumbled in the snow in a mad rush to get to the fox’s side.
“-Amea!” The canine’s name emerged as garbled slur as Rufus skidded to a halt beside the fox, narrowly avoiding a full-on collision in his excitement.
“-Ook!” The large reptile shook his head, gesturing to the ball of spike nestled amongst his equally as dangerous fangs. However, in the midst of thrashing his bulky head about, a quietened groan echoed from within his mouth. Alarmed, a frown crossed the gator’s face. Bushes didn’t groan – they didn’t make any noise at all last time he’d checked. Concerned, he dropped the item at his feet, leaping back in shock when the spines practically unravelled to reveal a small, rodent-like creature. His injured foot still lifted, he turned to Famaer with fear – utterly clueless to what the hell he’d been carrying around.
“…Buh?” Staring down at the motionless creature, now revealed to be a near-frozen Sandslash, Rufus’ nose scrunched in distaste.
“No b-berries?”(( Introducing Seymour! :D Considering he’s unconscious, I haven’t included this as a post for him. ^^; ))
