The CASTLE Team

In the many months and years he had wandered with or without the demonic trainer, there was only one truth the black ninetales knew. One truth amongst the falsehoods that surrounded traveling, whether it was alone or in a group:

Deserts sucked.

His sapphire blue eyes squinted against the stinging sands as he helplessly and fruitlessly tried to navigate through a raging sandstorm. There was no path, no markers, nothing but miles of blasted, damnable sand. He felt the stuff in his eyes, nose, mouth, ears... every orifice was clogged. He coughed, which only allowed more sand to choke him. He shook himself as he gagged a little -which did absolutely nothing, of course- and he once again tried to find his bearings. No stars, no markers... he could barely tell what time of day it was. It seemed a hopeless situation, but then again, he needed hope in the first place.

It was then that he turned to his left, a direction that simply felt right. His gut usually never let him down, and it was the only guidance he could lean on. Trudging blindly through the whipping sands, he happened to glance up to see a large opening, with strange spherical statues surrounding it. Not really caring of the possibilities that could be hiding within the depths of the entrance, he bolted for it, his tired body burning of fatigue. However, as he dove in, he quickly discovered the stairs leading down and tumbled along them.

He wasn't sure just how far or how long e had fallen down those godforsaken stairs; all he knew was that he hurt. He groaned as he picked himself up, face and other parts of his body complaining as he did so. He shook himself once more, a fine aura of sand blowing off of him. With an annoyed flick of his tail, he silently trotted forward, the light jingling of his chain echoing ominously throughout the cavern. Just where the hell had he dropped off into?

The sand covering the floor shifted slightly, forming a long ridge-like bump. The soft earth started to bend and move, forming an S-shape and started traveling across the floor. A tiny head popped out to take in the surroundings. Deanna had been hiding in this horrible desert for about a week now, since she fled from town, and was hating that there was no lush grass or trees to hide in. No, she was stuck with hot, dry sand that burned her scales and dried them out. She was lucky she even found the old ruins in the first place. Her skin was flaking and dehydrated, and she didn't like it one bit. And her bow? So filthy! There was nothing redeeming about sand.

A crash in the room next to hers found Deanna diving back into the awful stuff, ignoring the burning in her eyes as she closed them too late. There was a groan and she feared it might be one of those things come to get her. She was an easy trrget for larger beasts, her length only got her so far. She lacked the muscle to back up and of the moves she knew. She really should just leave whatever it was alone. But...what was it? So, like any child, her curiosity overruled her better judgement and she dared to go in to take a look.

Deanna crept, still beneath the sand of course, just around the corner. All she wanted was a peek after all, not to get noticed or at all involved with whatever came inside. Her little head came out of the sand just under eye level, so she was sure she wouldn't be seen. But really? How inconspicuous was a bright purple spot in the middle of yellow sand? It's not like the poor child would know that. As far as she was concerned, she was invisible.

Caim paused as his eyes finally adjusted to the dim lights. He was in a ruin of some sort; strange markings, carvings and statues littered the walls and floor. He spied unlit torches lining the wall and instinctively lit one nearby with a tame flamethrower, not taking into consideration anything that could have been lurking nearby. Now with his eyesight unhindered, he took another look around the room.

He stared in silent awe at the high arched ceilings, the ornate carvings and runes. He had never really been one for history, but the mere appearance of it all had a strange sobering effect. He took a few steps forward and saw the sands slither in the peripheries of his vision. Though the desert had warped his mind a little, he knew something had moved. Tails high, each writhing like cobras, he snarled at the offender. He let loose a stream of flame above the sand, warning the other. While he could not use his voice, he knew that this would let any simpleton know to get the hell away from him.

Deanna was confused, the creature before her didn't seem to be one of the evil things that attacked her home. It just looked like a really big fox. It's coat was very odd, however. A black so dark it looked as though it swallowed any of the surrounding light and eyes the as cold as their color, ice. It was frightening, yet still quite lovely. Deanna couldn't help but inch closer. The creature, though, lit one of the torches lining the wall and lit up the room. He must have noticed her because he decided attacking was the best option.

The hot flame jetted overhead and Deanna could not help but jump. It shifted the sand from her body, completely exposing her. She stared up in fear at the massive jet black monster before her. With his tails fanned out, fire still licking at the walls behind her giving off an eerie glow, he looked as a demon come straight from hell. It scared the child half to death. She couldn't flee, couldn't move, she couldn't even think clearly. What was this beast that stood before her? What would it want from her?

Caim paused as the fire blew the sands off of the other pokemon, revealing the form beneath. His eye twitched in slight annoyance as he took the form in before him: a small, shivering little snake. ...Well... that explained the little slithering trail it left. Caim's brow quirked as he spotted the filthy pink bow tied around her neck. She stared up at him in fear, her body frozen stiff with it.

However, his cold eyes held no interest in her anymore. Satisfied that she was not a threat in the very least, his tails relaxed, as did his posture. He studied her for a moment before simply walking away without a word, dismissing her. He did not mean it as an insult, but he wouldn't care if she took it that way. He made his way to a nearby hallway and began to explore, curious if he were to find any food down in the depths of the ruin.

The strange creature stared at her. She was laying bare before him, unable to even properly defend herself, and it was just staring. his body relaxed and the serpent tails stopped moving. She tilted her head slightly, trying to get a better look at him, her body twisting just a little with the movement. 'What is he doing?' she wondered to herself. A moment ago he looked like he was about ready to eat her. And just as she was about to work up the nerve to ask him what he was doing, he left her, not saying a word.

Why? Did he mean her no harm? Or did he just not think she was worth the time to kill? Deanna couldn't understand what he was thinking. It was bothering her so greatly that she decided to follow him and see what he was up to. As long as he didn't notice her she wouldn't die, right? So back into the sands she went, intent on following the trail of the Black Monster.

Caim padded quietly over the soft sand, his mind off the little snake almost instantly. He was hungry and thirsty, and while he doubted that there was anything down there to satiate either craving, it was better than looking for it above with the sandstorm. His chain tinkled cheerily as he trotted, the sound once again darkly betraying his position. He paused for a moment to glare at it; he hadn't yet learned how to walk with it without making any sort of noise.

Whatever. He could probably kill anything in these ruins if the snake was a gauge of whatever lurked within. However, his paranoia kept his guard up as he continued to trod along until he reached a strange hallway. It looked fine, but... something was off. He took a tentative step forward, and felt it sink further than it should. He immediately retracted the paw and saw the sand shift an uncomfortable amount of movement. 'Quicksand...?' he thought to himself as he studied the hallway.

She followed closely, careful not to disturb the sand around him as the Black Monster walked. If he spotted her, he might not be so forgiving this time. But why was he heading so deep into the ruins? Was he looking for something? When he paused she took the opportunity to move past him and see what might be up ahead that could be so interesting. However, she forgot about the sink holes.

Caught up in the edge of one Deanna panicked, and her head popped out of the earth as she struggled for air. It had caught her, and she was slipping into the circling waves of sand. She cried out as her tail went through the hole that led to the next floor, pulling her weight down farther. She took a big gulp of air as she was suddenly sucked in, plummeting to the ground several feet below. A cry could be heard above as she hit, hard, onto the stony path barely covered with sand. She hissed in pain as her body curled in on itself. Stupid holes.

Caim's attention was diverted from the problematic sinkhole in front of him to the small snake that magically appeared in the sand. She sank and traveled more into the hole, only a tiny yelp escaping her as she disappeared into the abyss below. His ears perked, he strained to hear anything beyond her tiny yip. There was a tense moment where the silence was a terrible engulfing horror, but it was finally broken with a faint thud and another yip. He caught himself sighing in relief; not really for the snake's sake, but for the fact that there was a path ahead of him. He didn't want to turn back to that damned desert.

He leapt into the sand pit, taking a deep breath before letting the current pull him under. The terrible pressure and silence came, the sand squeezing him and threatening to choke him. He dared not cough or breathe, for that would only crush him quicker. His lungs began to burn and as his body screamed for air, his legs felt in the air, and before he knew it, he found himself hitting the cold stone floor. Head swimming, heart pounding and lungs burning, he lay on the floor panting hard, eyes attempting to roll into the back of his head. His tattooed tongue was lolled out as he regained his breath, and he was rather unaware of the other in the room with him. All Caim knew was that he was out of the damn sand and he never wanted to go back.

The impact from her fall left Deanna dazed. The world was blurry, but she could make out a dark shape landing in front of her. Curling into herself and forming a tight coil, the shy snake stared at the out of focus monster before her.

He didn't move towards her, that she could tell. But neither was he moving away. Did he even notice her? If he did, she didn't want to risk it. Her insecurities aside, the little snake wanted to live. "Please..." she begged softly. "Don't eat me..."

Caim groaned a little as he lifted his pounding head off of the sand, body and mind throbbing with pain. His vision was blurry and his hearing was muffled, but he strained to focus on the little purple line in front of him. It sounded like she was talking but a part of his mind really didn't care...

"Please... Don't eat me..." he managed to hear. His ear twitched, irritated as he gave her a stale glare. Honestly, sometimes he wished he had that damn dragon around so she could tell other pokemon to calm down... Getting himself together, he pushed himself up and shook the sand off, creating another cloud of sand. With an ever-excited grunt, he continued to explore, brushing past the snake, again, without another word.

It spared her...again. And he was awfully quiet, almost to the point of annoying. But then again, Deanna herself was particularly quiet. Something about the Black Monster intrigued the snake-child and she couldn't stop herself from following him once again. Even though it probably would just get her into more trouble, seeing as how it hadn't done her any good so far. But since he had spared her twice now, maybe he wasn't going to hurt her if she pushed a little harder.

"...Who...Who are you?" she hissed softly as she approached from behind once more. Boldness wasn't one of her characteristics but seeing as how this was the only living thing she'd come across since the house was attacked it couldn't hurt to try.

"Who... Who are you?" the little snake hissed at him, which made him pause to look at her, tails swishing a little irritated. His ear flicked a little, but he figured that she was going to follow him. After all, she was young and scared, and he was older and not scared. And if she was going to follow him, she'd need to know what to call him.

Still, the only one he really allowed to call him by name was the charizard, for whatever reason. He didn't mind nicknames. If they were too irritating, he'd just kill whomever ticked him off. As his dark blue eyes scanned the little snake's face, he gave her no answer, once again, and began walking deeper into the ruin. No emotion, no words.

Silence. Again. Oh, he could just be so infuriating! Stubborn man! Deanna hissed a little in annoyance, but followed him anyway. "'Black Monster' it is then..." she muttered to herself, the 's's only faintly drawn out, and she had clearly said it loud enough for him to hear. Deanna was feeling a little braver each time he ignored her.

The went deeper into the ruins for a while, and the little snake paused as a strange tremor in the floor kept bothering her. As a snake she was naturally sensitive to vibrations, since that was how her kind hunted, and these had been following them for a while. The tremors felt like something hitting the ground, then scratching, and getting up again. A twisted form of movement she wasn't familiar with. Something was stalking them.

Concerned that the vibrations hadn't given up their pursuit of the pair, Deanna made her way over to Black Monster and curled around one leg to let him know to pause. "Something is...following..." she warned, not sure if he knew of it himself. "There..." she hissed softly, pointing with her tail at a dark corner they had just passed by.

The strange tailed fox lay in the shadows as she listened to the voice talk. She wondered what and who they were but she just layed still and listened. The voice sounded like a snake by the way it was holding the s's. It also sounded young and the fox even heard the chill of being scared and angrier sweep in and out of the young voice.

The fox's ears twitched at every noise and sound in the castle ruins. She had grown used to the echoing sounds and the slight breeze and sand from the desert outside. She just sighed as she stud up and sniffed the air. Nothing special it seems. The fox thought as her eye never showed emotion and her face stayed emotionless. She waved her tails back and forth as she went deeper into the ruins.

She wasn't sure how long she was flying. She only had two things on her mind; find Lucas, and fly to Unova. If she could accomplish the second one, she could get the first one done. He always talked about it. "Lucas! Lucas!" she called out as she flew into the desert.

The sand didn't bother her that much, since she's part rock type. She spotted a castle in the desert. "Maybe he's there!" She flew in closer.

(OoC: Short post, I know, but here I am!)

Presence

Several beings were starting to appear partially dead and partially alive through the Relic Desert...the living were very few and as rare as a legendary. The Relic Castle was known to be a mysterious place with dangers and special beings even at his young ages.

Voices
Although survivors had appeared to explore it, the infected would be more than interested to get a bite out of them and destroy them. The question would be if the survivors could handle these macaber demons that had arised from the dead.

Evil...Cursed...Chaotic...Creepy...Corrupted...Nightmarish
Through the sandy floors of the Relic Castle, on the first floor, a grayish doll with red eyes was laid uppon the corpse of a Krokorok, the Desert Croc pokemon had it's face frozen in horror and suffering, although it was more than obvious that it had been an infected. The Doll suddenly was covered in a strange aura as he was lifted off of the ground and started floating.

AWAKE!
The red eyes opened as the veins started to appear onto it's eyes. The zipper that formed his mouth curled into a grin, he flexed his claws and tilted his head to the sides cracking his neck. He started walking through the Relic Castle...It was time to find these new beings that have walked into this forsaken place. And this Banette was dying to see who they are.

"'Black Monster' it is, then..." Caim heard the little snake mutter behind him. Black Monster? As long as she didn't shorten it to "BM", he could live with it. He continued along, not bothering to turn and look at her. After all, she hadn't addressed him directly.

Caim paused as the snake slithered her way around his leg. The feeling of cool scales against his warm fur startled him and was a little revolting; it felt like a damn dragon's hide... Annoyed, he looked down at her, waiting for whatever the hell she wanted. "Something is... following..." she hissed, worriedly. "There..."

She nodded to a general direction in the room, to which Caim turned his head. His ears swiveled about, but he didn't hear much other than the shifting of sand. She probably felt a weird vibration... His tails twitched as he studied the dark. There were plenty of places to hide, for any native pokemon. His lip curled in annoyance. He wished for the charizard for her ever-lit tail and light. Even if she was a raging bitch.

He stared directly at the little snake until he had her attention. He then wrote in the sand, "KEEP WATCH" and the retrieved his leg from her coils in order to move on.

Deanna watched, mesmerized, as Black Monster scribbled something into the ground. "KEEP WATCH." Too bad she didn't know how to read. He pulled his leg from her grasp and walked towards the noise. Though she had no idea what he had written, she figured the general idea was to not follow him this time. He was heading towards the strange vibration. Only...it had moved. How could it do that? She wanted to tell Black Monster that it wasn't there anymore when a loud scratching sound came right behind her.

Deanna screamed. Loudly.

A Cofagrigus appeared behind her, its coffin cracked and leaking a strange black ooze as it dragged itself along the ground. What was wrong with it? Could ghosts turn into one of those...things? Its eyes bore into hers and Deanna turned to slither away as fast as she could, but felt herself suddenly halted. Mean Look. She was too scared to flee. So instead, she screamed again, and launched a barrage of Poison Sting needles in its face. Hopefully Black Monster would come back.

((OOC: According to infection rules, ghost can become infected and go crazy, but when the 'die' they just disappear. So the can be infected but unless they are dual type can't be undead. This one is certainly infected, lol


And hey guys, Caim needs to be the one to save Deanna, seeing as how he is the only one she knows right now. Thanks in advance!))

As the fox made her way through the ruins she heard a scream. At first she just stopped and listened. Nothing and then another scream. The fox knew that someone Living was in trouble. She bolted. The ruins creaked and cracked as the fox ran through the castle. The young fox pokemon ran past undead after undead and she was not going to let anything, undead or alive to trespass in her territory.

Soon she busted through a door way and was almost hit by a Poison Sting. She growled as she turned and saw a Ekans being attacked by a Cofagrigus. As the fox looked at the ghost she knew it was infected. She kept in the shadows and watched for a moment but she had seen enough. She lept from the shadows and used her favorite combo. She jumped over the ghost and used Confuse Ray. For a split second, the Cofagrigus the stunned and the fox took that split second and she fired a Flamethrower, Energy Ball combo.

The ghost hissed and growled as the combo attack hit it's coffin. It then turned it's attention to our fox friend. It growled and fired a Shadow Ball. The attack was way off and hit the wall about 5 feet from the fox. She grinned and turned her head sharply, Run now!! If you know any better, that Mean Look should have worn off, so RUN!! The fox growled as she aimed another Energy Ball at the ghost types face.

(Skip me, Arco is still flying through the desert.)

While exploring, the Banette tried to pay attention to any possible sound...he could hear screaming, struggling, fighting...He followed the sounds he came uppon a chamber with a few pokemon...A Vulpix, an Ekans, and what seemed a cofagrigus.

The two beings were attacking the Sarcophagus as if he was infected. He shook his head and leaned on the wall crossing his arms. Ghosts are already dead. Zombified, they can not be. The virus makes Ghosts disappear into nothingness...Half ghosts become insane.

His words would eventually fall in deaf ears, he tilted his head twisting the screw bolt on his head as he yawned and smirked, wishing to see the rest of the fight.

Coal didn't like this place very much, there was to much sand, to much of it getting in his mouth and leaving it dry. What he would give for a drink of water, even just a drop, just to get his mouth wet again. His fur even started to get dusky from it, and no matter how many times he cleaned it, it went back to looking the same way, so he just stopped till he got out of here, back to the forests where there was plenty of water.

He didn't even remember how he found himself in the desert. He was just walked till he found himself in a sandstorm. He seeked shelter in what looked like a small shelter, but it was much larger then it looked, reaching deep underground. And in a matter of moments he found himself lost. It was just great. "Is there anyone here?" He called out as he stopped. He hoped whoever answered him wasn't one of those things. He wasn't in the mood for a fight, he just didn't want to be left alone in this death trap.

Just then, Coal felt himself beginning to sink. At first he thought it was his imagination, but it wasn't, cause he kept getting shorter and shorter, and when he looked down, he found himself sinking into the sand. His eyes went wide and he let out a scream of fear as he began to try and get himself out, but he kept slipping back in. Sinking sand, a horrible thing to get himself caught in. He let out another terrified scream. "HELP!" He shouted, his voice filled with panic as he continued to try and pull himself free of the sand. He hoped someone would come, this was not the way he wanted to die.

Caim turned to the bloodcurdling scream that sounded behind him, his fur already on end. There, an insane cofagrigus was attacking the small lizard, and before he could react, a vulpix jumped into the fray, igniting the ghost. "Run now!" it screamed. "If you know any better, that Mean Look should have worn off, so RUN!" There was another voice, but one he could not find the owner of, that commented, "Ghosts are already dead. Zombified, they can not be. The virus makes Ghosts disappear into nothingness...Half ghosts become insane."

The ninetales scoffed. Regardless of the decaying process, it was still infected. It just had different symptoms. Caim turned his attention back to the cofagrigus, then snorted in disgust.

Pathetic.

His tails flew up in aggression, his eyes glowing with power. With easy, long strides, he returned to the snake and the vulpix, his body darkening with each paw that struck the soft ground. He flew over the two as he released a dark pulse at the ghost's face, flinging it away into the wall. It struggled for a moment before disappearing, a strange death rattle escaping its broken form.

With a satisfied snort, he flicked his tails and looked back to the snake with a quirked brow. He wrote in the sand, "You OK?" and then stared back at her. He didn't pay much notice to the vulpix with the weird tail, but figured it wasn't a threat. He waited for a reply, his ears flicking for the other pokemon that had spoken.

Deanna watched in horror as the events played around her. A Vulpix, from out of nowhere, fell upon the ghost and stunned it, setting it alite. "Run now!! If you know any better, that Mean Look should have worn off, so RUN!!" but the Mean Look wasn't the problem anymore, the poor baby serpent was just TERRIFIED! She couldn't even think clearly much less get herself to move. But then, Black Monster showed again.

His body glowed with darkness, enhancing his exotic fur with deep purple and it hypnotized the snake. She watched as he blasted the wretched creature to the other side of the room, where it faded into nothing. All that remained was a bone chilling sound that echoed its demise. Black Monster came up to her and began drawing on the ground again. "You OK?"

Deanna blinked, and stared back up at him. In a flash, she was curled around his leg again, refusing to be moved. She hissed in fear and curled tightly to the slender appendage, not wanting to let go of its security. At the rate she was going the limb would snap before she let anyone remove her. "I have no idea what you draw, Black Monster, but thank you!" She had been so scared of the monster that just attacked her, yet with the Monster she currently attached herself to she had never felt safer.

Come hell or high water, she was not leaving this beast's side again. Whether he liked it or not.