The CASTLE Team

"I am not this 'Ashes' you seek, Child," a gravelly voice boomed above her. "Leave, before I eat you." The Charizards' beady eyes turning back to the wall she had faced after glaring the small Charmander down.
Mara pushed herself up with difficulty as she stared up at the giant lizard, her eyes wide and full of sadness.
EAT me?...Why would she even do that??...Why would another dragon...

"...You're not Ashes...you're not even..." She couldn't finish her sentence as she tried to swallow the giant knot that came up in her throat. Mara sniffled as she steadied herself on her feet, staggering to the wall to hold herself up.
"Urgh..." she grunted, holding her claw up to her head. "S-sorry..." she muttered, her brilliant emerald eyes flashing on the ancient lizard in front of her before clumsily staggering back the way she had come.
"...Ashes..." She weakly cried out as she ventured back into the darkness, her vision swimming once more.

Caim's fur bristled as the snake coiled and slithered over and around his neck like a damn pulley, saying something about feeling rumbling below. However, his attitude lifted slightly when she said it was large and female. Could the dragon really have made it into this sandy hell with him? He found it hard to believe, but it was the only lead he had... and he reminded himself he did not want to venture back out into the damned sandstorm. With a true purpose and more importantly, destination in hand, he moved forward to another sandy whirlpool.

He figured it would work the same way, but he was momentarily distracted by the nosy little ghost that had decided to shadow him. "If it's someone you are looking for I would advise let yourselves fall through quick sand, it would let you go down to the lower floors, if you prefer to stay away than avoid them," it spoke, which left Caim staring at it trying to decipher its strange wording. First off, how would he know if it was the person he was looking for, second, he already knew about the sand; that was how he entered the chamber, and finally, the last part didn't even make sense. Whatever. He knew his destination, and it was at hand.

He made a move to glance at the snake as he took in a deep breath and after a moment, dove into the sandy abyss, hoping that this one would go as smoothly as the last.

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"...You're not Ashes...you're not even..." the small child whimpered before giving Angelus large emerald eyes filled with pain and staggering off clumsily, still mumbling apologies. The scene had left Angelus with an odd sensation as she watched the child move further back through the hallways, through the ocean of shadow. Was this guilt? Ha. She had not felt that in a long time, if it was... She didn't know why she felt for the little child; normally she wouldn't have given a warning and would have simply eaten him. Maybe her days with Caim had softened her.

Still, the feeling persisted and with a grunt of disapproval aimed mostly at herself, she trudged along back toward the child. "...Child," she called, "...Ergh... Mayhaps I was too hasty. Come back; maybe we can find this 'Ashes' and the exit to this miserable place together." She was surprised at her kind words as she turned back toward the way she had come. "That road leads to a dead end anyway."

The ghosty-thing was talking again...how irritating. It just had the very essence of arrogance as it spoke, and its wispy voice made her sensitive ears hurt. She hated creatures with deep voices, and those with harsh, uneven vocals because they made her head twinge and her vision blurry. As a snake, she was very sensitive to sound and used it to see most of her surroundings. Noises that irritated her senses made it hard to see, much less do anything else.

However, Deanna never expected Monster to just go plunging into the depths of the sand, at least, not without some indication. Couldn't he just stomp once for yes and two for no, or something? Honestly, the whole silent treatment was getting a little hard to work with. But a thought occurred to the young serpent as she heard how that sounded in her head. Maybe...maybe he couldn't talk? Could that be what all those weird squiggles in his mouth where? She felt bad for thinking so harshly of him, and as they came to land she reached around his neck and gave him the best version of a hug a limbless being could.

((Snow has just gone poof, so I have no clue what Coal should do right now D: So I guess simply skip me for now.))

Caim allowed the sand to swish and swirl him around, not wanting to "swim" in the wrong direction and get himself and the snake drowned in sand. The stuff was seeping into his nose, his eyes, his ears as they sank, and his body couldn't help but twitch in protest. He felt the snake's body clench slightly around his neck and his heart began to quicken in panic.

'No, Caim, no... Calm down, or you're just gonna run out of air faster...' he thought firmly to himself. 'Don't let it get to you... Just sink and you're have air... Sink and you'll have air...' It felt like an eternity, longer than the last, his lungs burning and his mind going fuzzy from the lack of oxygen. But he daren't breathe, lest he wanted to die with a lungful of sand.

Finally, the cool air greeted him as well as the floor. He landed less gracefully than the time previous, and it certainly showed. Coughing, gagging, sputtering on the ground, gasping for air, he lacked even the strength to stand and shake himself off. '...I really need to find stairs or... something...' the thought occurred to him. He looked back to the snake to see if she had made it.

He paused as he noticed the ghost follow them effortlessly down, and the sight of that little smug grin made his fur bristle. He was not going to deal with this asshole again. With a firm stance, he let loose a Flamethrower, its heat making the stream white and blue, firing it directly at the specter. No warning, nothing. It fell to the ground, much as the other ghost he had killed prior, and dissipated away, the screw and charred lab coat the only things that remained.

'Good,' he growled in his inner monologue, 'I don't have to deal with that bullshit anymore.' He looked back again to the little snake, wondering again if she were even alive.

((Skipping Angelus since I kind of need Ana lol))

The sand was suffocating, and Deanna tightened her grip around Monster's throat in her fear. When she felt his pulse begin to race and the muscles in his neck clench, she realized she was choking him. Quickly she released him and, in doing so, got seperated from him. He fell through first, and Deanna plummeted a few feet away in an undignified heap. Her coils were curled up on top of her head and she was completely stiff. Everything hurt.

She hissed lightly in pain, and tried to move, but all she got was a sharp stinging sensation traveling up her incredibly long spine. She wanted to fix her bow, as it was all dirty and skewed, but she couldn't get her tail to move around to the front of her. So she sat, staring at Monster, who looked at her for a moment before spotting the odd little ghost again. He wasted no time in dispatching it, and for the first time since their first meeting felt a twinge of fear. He wasn't all nice, and killed the other without warning or provocation. He was just simply annoying.

So that left the question...What would he do with her if she pissed him off?

"...Ergh... Maybe I was too hasty. Come back; maybe we can find this 'Ashes' and the exit to this miserable place together." The Charizard grumbled, her rough voice softer than it was before. "That road leads to a dead end anyway."

Mara turned around slowly, her legs shaky and her feet clumsy beneath her. Her large eyes looked up to the giant dragon after peering into the darkness she was headed for, hesitating before speaking.

"...You...you will?...You'll help me find him?..." She whimpered in surprise, her voice cracking as she stumbled towards the dragon. She offered the old creature a smile as she held her small claw out in friendship.
"I'm Mar."

(OoC- I'm sorry! I had no idea Winter was in the safehouse. I think I actually had a few more days to post but I won't make you guys wait any longer.~)

After dispatching the annoying ghost, Caim finally realized that he snake was no longer on his neck. Maybe it was just phantom-pressure he'd felt earlier. Either way, he looked around for her, concern rising in his ebony chest. He spotted her, regarding him with terrified, wide eyes, which only succeeded in confusing him. He tilted his head at her as he tried to figure her reaction out. He looked to the charred remains, then back to her, then repeated. Was... Was she scared of the ghost? But he'd just killed it.

A thought occurred to him as he pondered. Maybe it was because he killed it? Well, that was dumb. He'd killed the cofagrigus before and she'd had no objection. Stupid girl. He heaved a sigh and looked at her expectantly before moving further into the ruin. Well, if she didn't want to accompany him anymore because... he killed assholes, then that was her deal. She could go back to slithering around in the sand.

As for himself, he had a dragon to find.

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The child trotted back to her, hope filling his eyes. "...You... You will? You'll help me find him?" A smile gently broke onto his young face, and he held up a claw to her. "I'm Mar."

A low growl rumbled through her chest not in anger, but in thought. She would not give this child her name, no... but he needed to call her something. Angelus lowered one of her own claws in return, much larger in comparison to Mar's. "...Call me Dragon, Child," she replied finally, settling on what Caim called her in their mental conversations. "Now. Where shall we start?"

He just left her. Gave her a head tilt, a sigh, and just freaking left! How could he do that to her? It took Deanna a moment to regain herself after the brutal attack on the ghosty thing, and now she could barely see Black Monster anymore. She could still feel his footsteps, so that was a good thing, but he was really hard to catch up to.

She slithered as fast as she could, avoiding fallen blocks of stone and debris that hid inside the sands. The fox could just easily walk over this crap, but her? Oh no, just have to go the long way. Sometimes having no legs had disadvantages. Why couldn't she just find a nice tree to climb? She'd feel safe in a tree, secure and familiar. But no, she was stuck in sand, sand, and (oh look!) more sand. She hissed in annoyance as her bow got dirty, once again, after she had just fixed it. She was beginning to wonder if it was even worth it to follow this guy.

((Coal is just wandering around looking for snow, so if someone could find him in his search, then I will probably have something next post ^^; So skip for now.))

"...Call me Dragon, Child. Now. Where shall we start?" She grumbled, her face cold and emotionless as a stone. Mara shrank back a bit, her tiny claw instinctively curling up near her chest.

"Dragon..." she murmured to herself, pondering on it.
"Well...I don't really know...he said that..." She looked down in embarrassment as she tried to explain.
"That he...always wanted to see these ruins...before the sickness took our clan," the Charmander mumbled. "And...well...I thought this would be the best place to look..."

Mara shoved her claws together, angry at how stupid it sounded, her head pounding harder and her vision starting to swim again. She squeezed her eyes shut, tears welling up in them.
"Look, I know how it sounds! But he's gotta be here! He would never just leave me!" She cried out angrily as she collapsed on the ground unwillingly.

(OTL- I would find your lovely kitty, but Mara is a bit preoccupied. ^^:
And she's not unconscious, she's just all dizzy and stuff, the poor thing)

At the sound of her frantic slithering, the ebony ninetales paused and looked back to wait for her. Good. She was getting the message. A small bit of him was glad that she decided to follow him after all; maybe she realized that unless she turned into an asshole, he wasn't going to hurt her. There was just no reason. His tails twitched as his sapphire eyes followed her serpentine form get closer and closer. He even waited for her to board him; he figured why resist when she was probably going to do it anyway...

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Angelus gave a deep sigh of... something negative. She didn't know whether it was irritation, dismay, concern, or what when little Mara collapsed over his own feet. A rumble of dissatisfaction vibrated through her as she watched the whelp. She had agreed to not eat him... why? A snarl curled her lip as she began to walk away, but used her tail to try and keep the lad steady enough for walking. She was not carrying him. "...Keep your head about you, Child," her raspy voice sounded, "If he's here, we'll find him."

((Winter: you can always have Coal stumble along them : ) ))

Deanna was happy when Monster slowed down to let her catch up, he even seemed okay with her slithering right back up his leg to curl around his neck once more. When she looked like a bright pink scarf again, she settled her head on top of his to look around. She had never been this deep before, but she was certain that the voices she heard where somewhere to their left. But there was no door that way.

She tapped his shoulder with her tail, and pointed it down the corridor. "If you are looking for the voices," she hissed softly, "then I suggest going that way. We should run into them sooner or later." It was actually a mere guess as to which direction might take them that way, but if there was someone else down here, it shouldn't be that hard to find them. Right?

((Please skip ;-; I had my post writen out, but then I pulled a stupid move and lost it, and I don't feel like rewiting it all. Really sorry >.< Just say Coal stumbled onto the Charizard and Charmander while looking for a way out of the ruins.))

"...Keep your head about you, Child," The Charizard growled at Mara, but very subtly offering her tail for support. She gladly took it, wavering about but still staying on her feet.

"If he's here, we'll find him."
"Th....thank you..." Mara slurred, gripping the dragons' tail weakly.

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The undead dragon sniffed his way through the darkness, the only light coming from his tail: a black flame that emanated a pale, gray flickering glow.
Mara....
His heavy claws padded softly through the sands, his marred claws muffled. All that could be heard was the dragons' heavy breaths escaping his maw, echoing through the empty walkways.

(OoC- Ashes is comin in!~)

Richard sat in a pool of sand, a deep scowl on his face as even MORE sand poured onto his head... Then body, and slowly seeping into his mouth. The Houndoom never really cared about the desert, it was always a nice place for a visit when he was bored, but now he absolutely despised it. A stream of profanities was running through his mind, his tail angrily swishing against the pale ground. And out of all places I ended up in...

He was so sure he was the only life here, either. So far he had heard no voices [Although his head IS buried in the sand.], and hadn't witnessed a single footstep either. [That might've also been the sand's fault.] When he brushed away more of the soil, even more flowed down to replace it. A deep growl ripped from his throat. "Annoying fucking piece of shits shouldn't even exist-" and then began to cough and hack loudly when some of it slipped down his throat. "ARCEUSFUCKINGDAMNIT." Richard abruptly stood up, stomping on the ground as he roughly shook his pelt.

Enough with this... He began to move, paws sinking into the dunes as the ground metres away from his sunk into a hole. Out of the corner of his eye, Richard catches the sight of a black pelt moving, and the smell of a feline. "Hello?" he calls, wary. This must be an undead, he hadn't seen any living for such a long time... Although this foreigner didn't seem to smell like one of the infected.

[OOC: if it isn't clear, Richard just saw Coal pass by. :33]

Once she was settled again around his neck, she plopped her little head on his, her slack coils letting him know she was vaguely relaxed. Good. Caim didn't need her choking him again... "If you are looking for the voices," she hissed softly, "then I suggest going that way. We should run into them sooner or later." His ears flicked back to listen, and he looked to the way her little tail pointed. With a slight nod to himself and somewhat to her, he began trotting in that direction. With all of the walls, echoes were deceiving, and his ears couldn't be trusted. It was odd having to rely on another -other than the charizard- but as long as he got through this alive and intact, he wasn't going to complain.

It was some time of silent trotting before he slowed and eventually stopped, his nose sniffing the stagnant air. The torches that had lit the sandy caverns were out, and he had to let out the occasional spit of fire to see where he was going. However, it was a scent that had caught his attention. It wasn't the charizard he sought, but something else. He caught the scent of the cat from before, but there was another scent as well. He let out a soft growl before spitting out fire to see. He couldn't call out to demand who was there, so he hoped the snake would do it in his stead.

Though, with how much of a commanding presence he'd seen from her earlier, he didn't expect much...

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"Th-Thank you..." the child stuttered, and Angelus merely grunted in response. She withdrew her tail slowly to make sure Mara didn't fall again and continued to trudge forward. After a moment, she realized she was right back to the wall that mocked her prior, and growled deeply.

"This wall will not make a fool of me a second time," she snarled before opening her maw and unleashing a blinding flamethrower, liquid fire dribbling from her jaws like drool. The heat was intense, the air stirred and flowing as her fire ate at the stubborn wall. When the attack ended, she could see the glowing remnants, but the wall remained. Her fury intensifying, she clenched her fists and quickly brought herself about, her lithe, powerful tail smashing into the wall in a Brick Break attack. The weakened wall crumbled, showing a hallway on the other side.

"Look, Child," she chuckled in triumph, clearing the debris to make an open path. "A doorway." Her chuckle continued as she ducked through the hole, scanning her new surroundings. She would go through the entire damned labyrinth like this if needed.

It felt like they went on for a long time with nothing but the sounds of shifting sands. Other than the vibrations from the voices in the distance, which were near impossible to distinguish from way up on Black Monster's head, all was quiet. And it was creepy as hell. Deanna took to humming quietly to herself just to keep from going crazy, and hoped she wasn't annoying the beast which she rode.

Suddenly, said beast stopped, a vibrating growl beginning deep in his throat that tingled her sensitive nerves. The next thing she knew, a jet of flame burst forth from Monster and lit up the room. Slightly startled she tightened her grip just a bit and stared into the void. "Who's there?" she called out, braver than she felt. "Be warned...I, uh, I have a Monster with me!"

((OOC: Short post, I hate them. But now that there are other people with Caim and myself Deanna might freaking do something! lol))

Coal was once again alone. Snow had wondered off, leaving him on his own. He had tried to find her but to no avail. His paws has started to hurt from all the walking he was doing that it felt as if his pads had started to get blisters. He lifted one of them and looked at it. There was a slight red to it, but only because he had been walking on this rough sand for so long, but no blisters, yet.

He let out a sigh as he continued onward, his head and tail hanging low but his hears pricked so that no undead could get the drop on him, even if they did, there was really no point to running anyway.

Coal was truly lonely. He had found someone only for her to go. He didn't know her very well, they had only just met, but he enjoyed the company, and now, there was none. All he could hear was the tapping of his own paws on the sand. "Hello?" Coal stopped in his tracks to the voice. His yellow eyes looking both ways before turning his head behind him. It was another pokemon, clearly a Houndoom from the horns on its head and arrow like tail.

The Meowth swished his tail as he slowly turned around. It didn't look to be undead. "Um, Hello?" He said back, his golden eyes filled with concern at the thought of the pokemon attacking him. "Are you lost?"

"Look child, a doorway." the Charizard said smugly, gazing at the hole she just made in the wall. Mara chuckled goofily, the young lizard delirious with hunger.
"Why are you being...all...wavy..." She rambled, half giggling to herself before collapsing in a heap at the dragons' feet.

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A sudden explosion of dust and sand erupted into the tunnel behind him. Ashes growled as he sniffed at the air before approaching the hole.
Another dragon...he growled smelling the musk of the elder Charizard.
Gray flames licked at his jowls as he stalked towards the hole in the wall. His eyes glowing red and smoke curling from his mouth, he growled threatingly, baring his teeth at the intruder as the dust cleared.

(OoC- lol im sorry for the short post, my fingers are all bandaged so its hard to type)

(OoC: I know its my first post, but please skip me. .n.)

"Who's there?" the little snake called out, and Caim was glad that she took the cue. In fact, he was a little impressed that she managed to not make her voice crack. "Be warned...I, uh, I have a Monster with me!"

While the "Monster" bit might make whomever was lurking in the shadows attack, Caim didn't mind. He figured he'd be able to beat anything else within the confines of the ruins, as he'd really just blend in with the darkness. However, as he let out another tongue of flame, the hallway remained empty and his apprehension rose a little. His nose knew there was something there, and his ears pricked to listen intently on his surroundings, the echoes bouncing off the ancient walls.

He remained still, listening to everything he could. His pulse, the snake's soft breathing, the small shifts in sand beneath his paws. He reached further, going beyond the small bubble of sounds of his self and extended further into the hall, prying into its unseen depths. There, he heard the sounds of another-- no, two, and a distinct call he'd heard before. "Uhm, hello?" it called. "Are you lost?"

'No, but you probably are,' Caim grunted in his mind, opening his eyes to the same sight he had when his eyelids were in the way. Darkness and sand. That's all this damn place was... Frowning, he trotted forward a bit, using tongues of flame to light the way every so often. He turned a corner to find the black cat from earlier, then groaned. Thankfully, he spotted an unlit torch mounted on the wall and lit it, giving them permanent light. His tails swished a little as he stared down at the cat. What to do with it?

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"Why are you being...all...wavy..." the small child muttered before collapsing again, which only earned a groan of exasperation from the elder female charizard. Really? She poked him lightly with her tail, but there was no response. Ugh.

"Of course the only child I allow into my company is a fainter..." she muttered to herself, pausing when the musk of another charizard entered her snout. Her eyes widened and she whirled around to see the maker of the scent, who was already snarling and poised to attack. A cruel grin curled on her lips, and she stepped in front of the charmander. "Maybe it's better you're unconscious for this, Little One," she chuckled, her voice raspy and husky. "You would be useless in battle, I'm sure..."

She let out her own smoke, flaring her old wings in a show of dominance and territoriality. In short, "mine". "You'd best move, little man. I only seek to find my way out of this prison, but I'm not against cutting you down. Move."

"Um, Hello? Are you lost?"

......Really? Deanna just slapped the end of her tail on her head and let out a heavy sigh. "Someone threatens with a Monster, and all you can say is 'hello, are you lost'? Idiot..." she muttered angrily to herself, not really realizing she said it out loud. Her voice was dripping with sarcasm and disapproval at the others actions. Sure, she didn't exactly sound scary when she called out that she had a Monster with her, but still, if someone had said that to her in the dark she'd be turning to go the other way. Not asking if they were lost.

Speaking of Monster, he was currently jetting flames to seek out the voice that answered back. She could make out a black blob briefly lit by the fire's light, and when Black Monster lit the torch on the wall, she saw the Meowth from before. Ok, where did he come from? Monster approached and seemed to loom over the tiny cat, and for a moment, she had to giggle. They were both black as pitch and stuck in the dark, it was just too funny. Monster didn't seem to regard the kitten well as he stared down at it, so she took it upon herself to slither down his neck to get eye level with it.

"So...have a death wish often? Because you sure seem to like walking head first into danger today. Quicksand, Monsters," she took a brief look around and spotted the Houndoom, not really sure where he came from either. "And oh look, you found a dog. How nice for you." She curled back up around Caim's neck and lay atop his head, waiting to see what the kitten would do.

((OOC: Deanna had no idea that Coal was asking the houndy if he was the one who was lost. lol. Since she called out to whatever startled Caim and they found the kitty, she assumed it was for them. ^_^))

((Waiting for flutes reply, so skip me.))

Ashes' eyes widened as he saw the small body laying at the feet of the large dragon. The scent of the Charmander flooded his nostrils, which left no doubt in his mind.

...It's Mara! It seemed like his heart stopped for a moment as he realized that she wasn't moving. He heard nothing as his emerald gaze turned to the dragon stepping in front of her, flaring her wings in a show of dominance. He saw her mouth moving, flames escaping, but all that he could think was that this dragon had hurt his little sister. His breath grew ragged and short as he bared his fangs and sunk his claws into the soft sand.

"NOOOOO!" The Charizard roared in pure rage as he charged at her, ramming head-first into the dragons' belly. The two dragons collided with the ancient wall, the rock exploding into dozens of pieces.

(OoC- permission given to start a fight with Angie, lol)