The PORT Team

Well, Garland’s company was particularly unusual to say the least. Leaving the cave also seemed to be the abandonment of all normality and rationality as the buffoonish Gyarados and Whiscash proved in their antics. Watching the giant water-serpent lark about, making jibes and terrorizing the unfortunate ocean-dwellers in the vicinity, Garland couldn’t help but realize how drastically his life had changed. Chuckling at the surrealism of his current situation, the Swanna smiled absently until Bass drifted into his line of vision.

"Hey babe. Why don't we go dancing? Come on, it’ll be fun,”

It took all of Garland’s masterful self-control not to burst out into hysterics at the fish’s proposition. Barely disguising the maniacal grin that the offer had threatened to trigger, the swan, unable to speak in fear of destroying the façade, took a moment to answer. Feigning consideration, Garland, having collected his demeanour as quickly as the hilarity of the situation would permit, eventually turned to Bass with wide eyes.
“I-I can’t dance,” He muttered shyly, batting an elegant wing in front of him girlishly. Jaws couldn’t miss this. Looking back to the cavern for glimpse of the aquatic duo that had proven the only sane company, the avian was glad to find the pair of them slowly approaching. “Besides, there’s no music, sweetheart,” Garland continued, gaze returning to the love struck fish. Poor guy…But, it is fucking funny!

Awww, she was so cute when she was being shy.
Bass grins both widely and eagerly and extends the loops of his golden whiskers towards the white feathered flying-type.
"I can teach you..." He says as romantically as he can muster, flapping his tail to maneuver the top half of his body into an unmistakably bow.
He winks one round eye and, from his cavernous blue-lipped mouth, slowly begins to hum a deep vibrating rhythm that causes the water around him to stir and ripple. It sounds vaguely like a dance tune of some sort.
"I'll supply the beats, my lady." He grins at the Swanna, extending his whiskers outwards and bending them into shape for the flying/water type to take.
"If there's one thing I'm master of...it is the dance."
He turns a small circle in the water, the movements of his tail causing the tattoos on his navy blue skin to ripple.
more causally, noting out of the corner of his eye the approach of the other two.
As weird as they were it just wasn't a party without them.
"Besides there's no harm in getting out there and shaking a tail feather." He adds cheekily and smiles to let the white-feathered avian know it was a joke.

"Shall we?"

Jaws' scaly lips curled upward into a smile as he followed suit and slipped into the cool water. It seemed they'd caught up to the others right on time, as Bass, being the romantic that he was, attempted to coerce Garland in teaching him how to dance. Jaws nearly sunk to the bottom right then and there out of pure shock. "Master of the Dance"? "Shake a tail feather"? Catching Garland's mischevious glance in their direction, it was all Jaws could do to keep from bursting at the seams with laughter. This guy...!

Cheeks expanded with trapped laughter, Jaws put his head in the water to bed his laughter back down. If he lost it now, who knew what beautiful romance he'd interrupt? He resurfaced only to catch the beginning hum of the fish's tune, and jsut couldn't help himself. Laughing, snickering, he turned to Nerissa and offered her a clawed hand. "Wanna join in? Like we're gonna let some fish hog the dance floor, right?"

"Wanna join in? Like we're gonna let some fish hog the dance floor, right?"

Nerissa smiled brightly at the offered claw and finally knew she had something to be confident about. If there was one thing that all Seel and Dewgong knew, it was dance. Moving through the water fluidly and gracefully was the staple of her kind, and they used it to create beautiful routines. Her mind trailed off to one she had seen her mother doing and with only a smile and nary a word she did a couple of circles around Jaws before moving off to the side.

Her longer body moved smoothly through the water, the NeverMeltIce around her tail often catching the sun's light and glinting off of her smooth fur. She performed the routine as she had seen her mother do countless times, spinning and twirling through the water to a beat only she could hear. Nerisssa's smile never faltered as she drew her body into a curled ball under the water before suddenly propelling herself up, breaking the surface of the water in a graceful leap that arced over the others traveling with her. She twisted mid air, her crystalline item catching the full light of the sun and shinning hundreds of prismatic colors onto the surface of the water, broken only by her graceful dive back into the water.

Swimming back up to Jaws she offered a cheeky smile and waved her fin. "I think they will have a harder time keeping up with me," she offered playfully, giving the large reptile a wink. "Let's give them a run for it, shall we?" She hadn't had this much fun in what felt like forever, and it more than soothed her fears of being back out in the open. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad life after all.

"I can teach you..."

Garland quirked a brow at the tone Bass adopted, smirking challengingly at the fish’s confidence in his abilities as a teacher.
“Oh, can you now…” The Swanna muttered in response, batting his eyelids as Maelstrom began singing in the background. He had to admit, this guy, although about as alluring as a Feebas, was sweet enough. Bass didn’t deserve this sort of treatment and for a millisecond, Garland felt guilty enough to perhaps drop the ongoing joke. Of course, such emotion never lasted long in the avian. He grinned as his admirer continued, finally nodding his head in defeat. “Oh, alright then,”

"Wanna join in? Like we're gonna let some fish hog the dance floor, right?"

The lovebirds had returned. The gator and seal soon set off into a dance of their own, the fluid movements of the female proving especially enchanting. Garland watched a moment, a genuine smile on his features that was almost paternal, proud in its nature. Snapping himself out of such admiration, silent appreciation for a moment of pure, untainted joy in such a horrific world, the Swanna’s attention returned to Bass. Flicking out a wing, the tip of the feathers splayed akin to a Spanish fan, Garland looked over the pristine white with sultry eyes.
“Maybe I can dance a little...” He purred, thankful his wing shielded the broad grin that lighted his face. It was coming increasingly difficult to uphold this charade, but not enough to forfeit this one dance. “Come on then,” Garland smirked, holding out his wings and awaiting guidance from the self-acclaimed master of dance. “Teach me!”

(( Aww, only in Port could there be a dance off mixing complete adorableness and hilarity. xD Kaze you have my permission to manipulate Garland in dance however you want, lol. ))

With an even wider grin stretching his thick blue lips the Whiscash bows commically low, extending his dexterous golden whiskers towards the beautiful white-feathered Swanna.
They curl around the top of the wings, holding a few of the larger wing feathers out like fingers as he starts, in complete contradiction of the tune the Gyarados is now cheerfully belting out, starts to pull the snow-white avian into a graceful waltz.
Though his mosaic of different tattooes show of his reckless and none too intelligent tendencies he knows the appropriate way to romance a gal as fine as the one he was with was by showing what a gentleman he could be.
Carefully he leads the Swanna in a graceful circle across the water's surface, nowhere near as fluid and graceful as the Dewgong's delicate routine but a simple and neat dance for two.
With a flick of his tail he glides in a circle, holding the snow-white wings, first to the left, then to the right before his heart-shaped tail flicks again for one step forwards and another step back.
With his widest grin he winks at his partner and spins the Swanna around in a graceful circle, breaching the water in a dive no less impressive than that of Nerissa solely for the wave it kicks up behind him.
Nodding his head sagely he wraps one whisker carefully around his partners waist.
"My lady."

He really should have expected to be the only pokemon there with two left feet.

Jaws floated in the water, agape, as Nerissa literally danced circles around him, the other pokemon swiftly getting into a groove. A smile crept onto his face, his eyes softening with pure joy. This... this was what he'd been missing. Happiness. These pokemon... the world was ending and in all likeliness, there was some undead tracking them as they went on their own business. But even now, in the darkest of hours, they could do this.

Just... have fun.

His heart suddenly tons lighter, a burden of some sort lifted from it, he moved to and fro, but refrained from actually attempting to dance until Nerissa had safely gotten a small distance from him. After all, he was known to thrash. Getting up on a nearby rock, he jivved and jived, shimmying to a beat only they could hear. He laughed at his own failed attempts of the dance, but he no longer really cared. He was having the first droplets of fun in what seemed centuries and he was not letting that go.

Nerissa kept time with Jaws, never letting it bother her that he was a little out of rhythm. Her smile never fell or even faltered as she danced around the rock he was upon, leaping out occasionally to join him. The strange circles that Garland and Bass kept going around in didn't make sense to the Dewgong but it was still no less entertaining. Even Maelstrom was getting in on it! It was strange to see such a gathering dancing in the middle of the ocean but right now, not a single one of them cared.

Life was perfect, if only for just that moment.

((Ugh...short post. Sorry.))

Of all the things Garland had done in this life, waltzing with an enamoured fish was most definitely one of the strangest. Allowing himself to be led in the slow dance, the Whiscash’s whiskers substituted for hands, the avian was struggling to keep a straight face. Bass was so hopelessly romantic, his efforts commendable, but essentially, wasted on the Swanna. Again, Garland felt the familiar sting of guilt at the severity of the guy’s crush, forcefully dismissing the emotion as he was spun around in a circle as a whisker snaked around his waist.

"My lady."

Smirking, seductive, Garland used a feather to lightly bat away the wandering whisker.
“You rogue,” He gave Bass a wink, intentionally dropping his voice an octave lower to his natural drawl. Although fairly feminine without the ongoing exaggeration to uphold a most spectacular joke, the shred of sympathy lurking in the bird pressured him into subtly revealing the truth. He couldn’t keep up the charade forever, small shifts such as the lowered voice giving insight into his true identity as a male.

His attention slipping to the other creatures sharing the expansive, watery dance floor, Garland’s smirk widened at the sight of Jaw’s shimmying on a nearby rock. Yeah, this was no doubt the strangest situation he’d had the privilege of sharing. But admittedly, it was a pleasant change. Undisturbed by the undead, a short dance out of a sheer love for life was most definitely a rarity to treasure. Garland was fairly convinced he would never forget this moment.

But everything had to come to an end.

Garland neck craned to the skies at the sound of a familiar cry; the cry of his own kind. Oceanic orbs seeking out the source, the avian gave a disappointed huff at the sight he was greeted with. A flock of Swanna, several Wingull flanking the formation, dotted the skies, their bloodstained forms becoming increasingly focused as they lost altitude.
“Heads up,” Was Garland’s warning accompanied with a quick gesture to the approaching undead. Gently recoiling his wings, he flashed an apologetic smile at the fish, genuinely saddened at the end of what had been a surreal, but undeniably pleasant, scenario.

(( Hope you don’t mind my adding a bit of action. The situation was becoming too adorable, so I thought some undead might crash the party. xD ))

Bass smiles up at the Swanna, his round eyes filled with the unmistakable gleam of the love-struck.
Arceus Above, she was so graceful, so sweet...
The cry of another Swanna ruins the peaceful atmosphere. For a moment Bass feels a sinking sensation in his stomach, worried it was some relative (or worse mate) of his dance partner taking an objection to him but the truth was much worse.
From a distance it was impossible to tell if their eyes were red but the feathers of the approaching bird and its flock bore stains of dark purple.
"Shit!" Bass swears, temporarily forgetting he is in the presence of a lady.
Turning towards Garland he offers an apologetic smile. "Sorry about this Sweetheart, we can finish our dance once these motherfuckers have been taken care of."
Ducking under the water's surface Bass dives, appearing to abandon the others to their fate for a short moment as he turns around, his belly scraping the sea-floor and with a few mighty whacks of his paddle-shaped tail, launches himself from the water into the air.
His long golden whiskers dart out with a surprising agility and lash around a few startled wingull, crushing their wings to their sides.
Still in mid-air Bass calls up the power of electricity from inside himself.
The latent electric organs his species used to navigate were far more developed in him than in others and from them Bass could draw the static electricity in the atmosphere into a far more powerful attack. Being able to do so was, Bass privately thought, the only reason his trainer took him in.
With a strong smell of ozone Bass sends a Spark attack through his conductive whiskers.
His captives, doubly weak to the electric barrage, screech just once before the powerful yellow sparks that crackle around his whiskers burn three of the wingull to a crisp. Purple tainted feathers of white and blue burn black and start to smoke as the undead are fried as surely as if they had flown into high voltage power lines.
Landing back in the water with a splash Bass releases the blackened corpses to float away and raises his long coiled whiskers menacingly, electricity crackling across them in a haze that promised death to all that dared come near enough to attack the fish's date.
With a smile and a wink at the Swanna Bass suddenly shifts.
His massive blue bulk seems to fold in on itself and disappear leaving a strange doll apparently carved from clay floating serenely above the waves.
The Whiscash is using his massive stamina to his advantage, replacing himself as a target for the powerful flying-type attacks with a Substitute Doll.

Jaws had reached that ever-elusive feeling, that over-whelming happiness that he hadn't experienced in years. It was nearly like a drug, painting the world in colors and convincing him that all was well. But with Garland's warning came a crashing wave of sobriety. The gator glanced up, following the swan's gaze to see some of the other's brethren and some wingull flying right at them in the sky. Cursing lightly under his breath, the situation quickly went downward. Maelstrom simply vanished underwater and Bass launched himself into the air with an electrical attack. Jaws himself wasn't sure what he could do, other than use the only long-range attack he knew. He sucked in a large gulp of air, and then let it out in a furious Roar.

Many of the birds scattered, the attack taking its toll on the flock. However, they weren't alone. A infected version of Garland swooped down, sharp beak nearly piercing his tough hide in a vicious attack. Grunting, he grabbed the bird's thin neck between his hands and snapped it apart, tossing the two halves away before getting swarmed by more. Thrashing, biting, punching, Jaws was a tornado of teeth and claws as he fought through his own troubles, squawking and pecking. Shit...!

Their gentle fun was quickly interrupted by a flock of vicious swans, similar to their own Garland. Swanna then...and a species that the Dewgong was actually familiar with. Wingull, the rats of the sea. Nerissa was forced to dive underwater to avoid an unpleasant Air Slash sent her way and surfaced close to the rock Jaws had been dancing upon just moments ago. She didn't have much in the way of fighting other water types, but she did have something that the winged foes wouldn't like. Ice.

Charging up an Aurora Beam she let it loose in a thick concentration of the feathered fiends, freezing some of them solid and sending them sinking into the sea to their deaths. Thanks to their evil dual typing the damage to the ones who weren't frozen was normal, but at least she was doing something to hurt them. Jaws was tearing into the winged devils like they were snowdrifts in his way, while the Whiscash started sparking the hell out of them with electricity. How did he know an electric move? Not willing to dwell on it Nerissa went back to shooting Aurora Beams at the undead birds, praying they ran out of bodies before she ran out of ice.

Garland couldn’t deny he was a little unhinged at the group’s brutal disposal of a flock that bared far too close a resemblance to his own bloodstained form. The Wingull, he didn’t’ care about, but those Swanna had the same lithe build as he. Jaws snapped their necks like twigs, the combined efforts of the creatures surrounding him seeing countless kin spiral bloody beneath the lapping waves. As unsettling as the reality was, that he could be dealt with just as swiftly, Garland soon shook away the thought.

A few powerful flaps of his wings roughly propelled him out of the water and into the skies – circling a gathering out of the group’s range. That last thing he wanted was to be mistaken for one of the undead blighters currently bombarding them. Flecks of dried blood stained his feathers, seemingly a shared fashion amongst their decaying attackers. Flying with an elegance and speed that the sluggish birds could only dream of, Garland darted about the flock, tearing through the feathery masses with a blend of Air Slashes and Brave Bird attacks. There only so much his attacks could do, however he knew his species well enough to understand which type of attacks bloody hurt. Bass had already demonstrated one of them in the form of Spark. Garland hated electricity. As long as lover boy kept up with those regular flashes of electric, the birds would be disposed of in no time.

(( Feel free to attack Garland if you mistake him for an undead, lol. ))

The damned birds were everywhere. He ended up dismissing normal attacks and simply just went to use any means possible to rid them from the air around him. Snapping necks, with a fierce right hook, chomping heads and spines with his powerful jaws, even crushing bones with his powerful tail and legs. They were easy enough to knock out of the air, but whenever he got rid of one, two always seemed to replace them. His tough hide was beginning to wear, small scrapes and pokes earning their own beads of blood. This was enough. He wasn't about to get taken down by some flock of sissy birds! Unleashing a Waterfall attack, he brought a part of the sea around him with him as he climbed the flock aurrounding him, bones snapping with each movement that further propelled him upward. When he reached the end of white birds, he came back down, feet out to catch any that he'd missed, his own personal feathery shoes as he re-entered the water.

Upon surfacing, the flock seemed to be nearly gone, much to his own satisfaction. He got back on his perch, the rock he'd stood on earlier, and readied himself for more.

It was a joy to see Jaws get back on his feet and start tearing into the birds, but the jolts of electricity that kept shooting into the air made Nerissa very nervous. She already had a fear of Whiscash and seeing one wielding her greatest weakness was more than intimidating. But despite everyone's best efforts the birds kept diving and attacking them. Was their any end to them?

When three came for her at once Nerissa found herself out of Aurora Beam and had to send Icy Shard at them, glad that it was able to hit more than one of the winged bastards. But unbeknownst to her they were actually driving her further and further from the group. Like a wild hunting pack they were thinning her out from the herd, easier to pick off when alone. But all she knew was that she was running out of things that would hurt them.

Whilst Garland had been content in slicing open the necks of his kin with brutal precision, his position in the air was proving a rather regrettable decision. In the heart of the fray, the avian found himself dodging not only the attacks of the feathery enemies but also his own comrades. A Dragon Rage rushed past far too close for comfort, near obliterating its target as the Swanna turned annoyed to the creature responsible. Expecting whom he saw, Garland had not been anticipating the Gyarados leaping through the sky.
“Fuck!” He muttered, annoyed, swiftly changing his course of direction to avoid being crushed by the enormous creature. Yet all too soon, what appeared a rather strong asset to the team was making his leave. Too distracted by an undead’s slash to the face, Garland hadn’t time to sway Maelstrom’s decision, instead taking out his anger on his now decapitated attacker.

Then Jaws attacked.

Caught beneath the Waterfall attack, whilst Garland was fortunate enough to miss the gator’s deadly claws and jaws, he was effectively pummelled by the water that was assisting him. The pressure knocking him out of the sky and down into the waves, the Swanna spent a moment beneath the water, surveying the sinking, bloodied birds. There was an eerie grace about the gruesome sight, but whilst he would have enjoyed further observation, the need for air forced him flailing back to the surface. Gasping, heavy, saturated wings feebly trying to boost him back to a floating position, the Swanna was forced to seek refuge with the Jaw’s rock.

Frowning as he reached the reptile’s perch, Garland, using a combination of drenched wings, hooked beak and grasping claws gradually manoeuvred himself to join the Feraligatr.
“Move over!” He grumbled, voice muffled by his beak working as leverage to hoist himself up. However there was still screeching. Looking across to the source to find Nerissa effectively separated from the group’s bulk, Garland gestured to the battling female. “You gonna help your woman?”

No doubt that would get the reptile to move.

Suspended eerily above the waves the tiny doll rocks back and forth slowly with the motion of the water underneath it. Compared to the fish that had sacrificed a portion of its strength to make it the doll is tiny, frail looking.
A few sharp gusts of wind from the flock that would have slashed into the Water Type's rubbery skin miss entirely to hiss into the water.
The little substitute doll rocks back and forth serenely until suddenly it is replaced by Bass again.
The golden whiskers lash out and scorch more feathers, the long whiskers moving almost like snakes to wrap as many of the opposing birds up as they can before sending the searing burst of electricity through them.
Not wanting to risk hurting his beloved the Whiscash picks out only the Wingull from the scattering flock, concentrating on searing their bodies with Spark and then hiding behind his Substitute doll between strikes. The change from a large target to a small one and back again allows him to escape most of the damage of the sharp beaks and wings that try to jab at him.
Sparing any moment he can to look around for the Swanna he sees the bedraggled feathered avian haul itself up from the water onto the rock where the massive reptilian bulk of Jaws waited to tear apart more of the flock.
The numbers of birds were lessening its true but the Dewgong babe was nowhere to be seen and the Gyarados had chickened out and ditched them.
With a cracking sound the Whiscash's substitute breaks and Bass winces as this rubbery skin is lashed by blades of air.
The fish-like pokemon dives under the surface to avoid the attacks of the airborne undead, surfacing near the rock after a few flicks of his paddle-like tail.
"You o.k. hon?" He asks the Swanna with concern.

Jaws remained in a furious rage, thrashing and killing whatever dared to bring itself within the range of his weapons. A white figure soon appeared in his periphery, causing him to turn with a clenched fist about to shatter the thing's skull with his bare hand. He stopped however, when he recognized Garland's drenched form, pausing in his attacks to stare dumbly at the bird. "Move over!" he grumbled, fighting to get a foothold on Jaws' rock. The bird glanced up at him, somewhat irate before adding, “You gonna help your woman?”

The casual comment made Jaws turn, searching for Nerissa's elegant white form. He knew that the comment was a jab, but there was no time for a rebuttal. Spotting her going further and further out to sea, Jaws tensed as he realized what the Undead were doing. "NO!" he cried, despite himself, and dove into the bloodied waters. Swimming as fast as he could, he was a torpedo in the water, aimed right at the horde near her. "Nerissa!"

"NO! Nerissa!"

Garland, essentially unconcerned for the seal’s wellbeing against the undead, was more pleased that Jaws had vacated. However, not without a powerful dive, a splash of bloody water succeeding to stature the Swanna’s bedraggled form even further. Still, Garland had no time to dwell on. He soon managed to scramble onto the rock, utterly drenched and looking as if he were ready to kill something. It was a shame his admirer was the one to swim up to him.

"You o.k. hon?"

Despite the genuine concern in Bass’ voice, Garland managed nothing but an irritated hiss, a vicious glare landing on the lax fish.
“Never better,” He grumbled, bad mood only quwelled by the memory of the fish’s appaling attempts at flirting with him. Regardless, Garland was still fucking pissed. “Shouldn’t you be doing something?” Shaking his reddened wings in a vain bid to dislodge some of the stubborn droplets weighing him down, the Swanna knew that flight would be useless. He’d be able to glide on the water again, of course, but against his flying brethren, he’d be a sitting duck – well, swan.

Grumbling unintelligibly to himself, his blue orbs wandered across to Nerissa and Jaws. Although it was cold, callous, he couldn’t help but think that the bird’s tactics had come as a blessing. The thrashing female was basically a beacon to the feathery undead, drawing them away from his own less-than-perfect state. Although admittedly, he hoped the lovers would successfully emerge from their current predicament.

The large Water Type slinks back into the Water rather guiltily.
"Sure thing doll." He says as he turns back towards the remaining flock, taking the hint and allowing the distinctly bedraggled Swanna some space. A girl never liked to be looked at when she wasn't feeling her best, he could deal with that.
Besides his sweetheart's poor bedraggled feathers had given him an idea. Could the other birds not fly with soaked feathers?
It was worth a try, even if it wouldn't hurt them too much.
"Watch out!" He calls towards Jaws and Nerissa, being mobbed by the cawing cloud of unnatural birds and starts to swim towards them.
He does so slowly at first, though his paddle shaped tail is beating viciously beneath the surface, and slowly gains speed. As he does the water ripples beneath him and slowly starts to draw upwards underneath his belly.
Bass sets his jaw firmly, determined to help rescue the pretty Dewgong and be a hero to his avian girlfriend.
If they brace themselves for the impact the attack is going to do little more than knock them back a few feet but if he can grow his Surf attack large enough it will sweep the birds down into the water.
With a soft hiss of water on water the wave grows, the large fish riding on its curved back as he approaches the flocking sea birds. In some of their ruby red eyes he thinks he can almost see hints of surprise at the sea rising up to meet them.
Inwardly he prays the Ice Type decides not to dive and get caught up in the base of the wave.

She was almost completely alone out in the middle of the water, the birds driving her from the rest of the group. It took her a while but she finally noticed when Jaws scream for her. He barreled through the water at tremendous speed scattering several of the birds, but one had a grip on her tail and was trying to raise her up out of the water. With a scream Nerissa shot an Aqua Jet, knocking the bird off and wrenching her tail from its beak, but at the cost of ripping the delicate appendage's tip down the middle. Crying in pain she dove under water and hid, curling her wounded tail to her as Jaws fought above.

Blood began to circle around her as her cut seeped into the open water, likely to attract anything else undead within miles should the current take it. Worried for the group she knew that they had to get rid of the birds now or else they wouldn't be able to escape. Rising back to the surface she shot out a few Ice Shards before going to the Feraligatr's side. "Jaws we can't keep this up..." The pain in her tail was excruciating and just moving it to stay afloat was painful. If she was forced to swim for it now then she would be a goner. "If they keep attacking I won't be able to swim at all."