Cavern
"To our evil lair!" She exclaimed with some evil laughter, then took Kairi's hand and headed off towards the hut, running so that Kairi could keep up, but so she was still leading. Finally they reached the hut and Kat opened the door and hopped onto the bed to disturb the pile of covers she assumed was Mike.
Mike had been sitting across the room, with his legs kicked up on the table and a chair tilted on two legs when they burst into the room, making him fall over with their sudden and loud arrival as they jumped onto the bundle of blankets had had left on the bed. "Should have expected something like that," he muttered, sitting back up.
Kat looked over to Mike and down at the sheets that were now revealed to be empty. First evil plot of the day foiled, but ah well. "Sorry about that." She apologized and got off the bed to give him an apologetic hug, then plopped back down onto the bed. "It is time to plot out our evil scheme to prank ze village." She told him in a very bad attempt to mimic a stereotypical evil genius' voice.
"Alright then," He said, turning his chair backwards and sitting on it, with his legs on either side of the back part. Kairi sat on the floor between them, and began going over the specifics.
"Alright, before I went to the lake I talked with a few of the villagers, and they said the show begins at five. That means, Kat, you need to be out in the clearing around four thirty, to pull pranks on any early arrivals. Meanwhile, I'll go to the entrance to the clearing and Mike will stay here, in the middle of the village. Once he knows everyone is cleared out, He'll have to send a signal, and then I'll return to town to start our trouble. Any objections so far?" She asked.
"Four thirty? Got it," Kat nodded, committing the time to memory. She had yet to figure out whether she wanted to go around and pull individual pranks or if she was going to do something that involved everyone. The trick was not to be seen, and not to be noticed, something she would have to work on, but she believed simply invisible would do the trick. "No objections here." She said with a wide grin. This was going to be fun.
"Great! Oh, by the way... have you learned to make illusions yet? That might be effective," Kairi clapped her hands, thinking of the possibilities. "I've seen ghost-type morphs create illusions and stuff before." she nodded.
"Um, I dunno, I guess I could try." She nodded to herself and then closed her eyes and held out a hand, trying to focus on creating an illusion. What should she do... hmm...? A flower would work well enough for a first time. She pictured a small daisy in her mind and focused on that, concentrating hard on getting the daisy in her hand. She peaked open an eye to view her progress and saw that she could indeed create illusions, though it was far from perfect. It was slightly see through if you held it to the light and there was no smell to it, but it felt real enough so she figured it would work well enough. "I'll practice a little while I wait for the people to show up." She said, twirling around the daisy in her hand for a moment or two before getting up and tucking it behind Mike's ear then sitting back down with a grin. He looked cute with the flower.
Kairi giggled and Mike stuck his tongue out playfully, letting her put the daisy behind his ear. Kairi put out a hand, wanting one for her as well. She gave a cute smile, to get the ghost to make one for her. Kat chuckled slightly at Kairi's request, unable to say no to the cute smile of the Vaporeon. She closed her eyes and concentrated again, a pink daisy forming in her hands this time, unlike the white one she had given Mike. This one smelled very, very, very faintly of the flower's scent, the practice helping Kat make her illusion a little more realistic. Finally it finished forming and she handed it to Kairi with a smile.
Kairi took it gleefully and clapped, putting it behind her ear as well. "You're getting better," Mike noticed with a smile. "I wonder what else you can illusion up..." he pondered, and then shrugged. "We'll find out later, if you want time to practice." he smiled, standing up.
Kairi stood as well, still grinning. "Well, are we agreed on the plan, then?"
Kat nodded and stood up. "Agreed!" She said happily. She also wondered what else she could create, but she decided that she would try later like he had suggested. "So do either of you know the time?" She asked curiously to see how long it would be before their plan went into action.
"Give me a minute," Kairi said, looking out the window. She thought for a moment, and then nodded. "It's about ten in the morning, I think," she nodded again, crossing her arms. "Human time is lost when no one brought a watch, so we all learn to use the sun for time," she explained when mike questioned it. "That gives us more than enough time to go look around, though," she smiled. Kat blinked as Kairi informed that they could tell time from the sun pretty accurately. All she knew about solar clocks was 12 o clock was when the sun was in the center of the sky, and that was basically it.
"Alright, let's go look." She said with a smile as well. She liked spending time in the main part of the village; it was fun in its own sort of way, even if it was just watching the different sorts of pokemorphs. She walked over to the door when she felt a small twinge of pain in her head. She paused and shook her head to get rid of it, but once it was gone, the two flowers were as well. It seemed she could only hold illusions for certain amounts of time.
"Hm?" Mike looked up as he noticed the flower disappear.
"Oh," Kairi said, a bit disappointed, as hers popped out of existence as well. Mike just laughed and put an arm around Kat as they walked out, looking around the small area of the village.
"Sorry," She apologized about not being able to hold the illusion before walking with them into the village. "So what shall we do today, Hm?" She asked them as she watched the other pokemorphs, eyes watching a young zubat with what seemed to be his older brother, before turning back to her two friends.
"Oh, what isn't there to do around here? Usually I play pranks and stuff on the others, but the forest is pretty nice if you're feeling anti-social," she chuckled. "There are all kinds of pokemorphs around here, though. Your choice what we do, I was thinking of wandering," she said with a slight shrug as they walked past a group of pokemorphs.
"Wandering works," She agreed with a shrug, really impartial to whatever was decided. She was really in the mood to do just about anything, and she got to look at a few more interesting pokemorphs that way. And so they wandered through the village, Kat's eyes glancing here and there as she floated alongside Mike and looked at the different people while they walked.
After a little bit of walking, Kairi gave a sudden laugh and ducked behind a tree, giggling and pointing ahead of them. There was a bunch of pokemorphs looking into the well, and they seemed to be either angry or disgusted, or a bit of both. "It worked," she laughed, wiping tears from her eyes.
Kat took one look at the faces of the pokemorphs and burst out into her own bit of laughter. "Ah, now that... that's a thing of beauty," She sighed as she finally managed to breath. It was always a wonderful thing to see a prank work, and the faces on those pokemorphs were going to be remembered for a long time.
Mike just shook his head with a smile as he watched the morphs looking from one to the other, as if wondering what to do about their tainted water. Kairi continued laughing, and considered going back for a second round once this had blown over. Kat grinned, proud of their accomplishment, but then turned to Kairi.
"Shh, what'll we do if they catch us hiding and laughing over here?" She said, though still grinning as it really didn't matter either way. If they were caught laughing over here, then they would just have to make a quick get away, but hopefully she was only overestimating their hearing.
"Oh, don't worry. I've laughed like this before behind their backs and they never caught me," she assured them as she stood, taking both of their arms in hers. "But let's continue on, shall we? Don't want to get caught at the scene of the crime," she winked, leading them off in the other direction, still giggling a little.
"No, though of course we wouldn't have to worry about that because we're not criminals," Kat said with a wink in return as they walked off in the other direction. She was a little surprised by the fact Kairi had never been caught from laughing too hard, like Kat was used to, but she supposed it made sense.
"But of course," Kairi smiled, and they turned down a different path than the main road. It went into the forest, going deeper into the back area. Above them was a mountain, and further down the path was a small opening into the mountain, shrouded in darkness.
"Eh?" she blinked, looking around. "This isn't... Hm." she blinked. "Must've taken the wrong back road..." she muttered. Kat looked around and thought for a moment.
"Well, hey, while we're here..." She thought aloud before floating down the path in a mix of caution and curiosity until she had reached the mouth of the cave. She looked into the dark cavern but couldn't make out anything with the glare of the daylight and decided to wait for the other two to make it down here before exploring the inside.
"Hello?" She asked into the cave and received her own voice, causing a wide grin to form. "Echo!" She said into it. "Echo!" Came the reply. Kat was such a child sometimes...
Kairi gave a small grunt as she walked down, looking around in the cavern. "Helloooooo!" she yelled, and her voice also echoed. She giggled a little, and then put out a hand for Kat as Mike walked up. He looked from Kairi to Kat, then signed. "I suppose we're going inside, huh?" he asked.
"Of course, we can't just leave a mysterious cavern unexplored, now can we?" She said with a smile. "Don't worry; we should be able to see just fine inside." She reassured him incase that sigh had been because he was scared of the creepy looking cave.
"Alright then," he shrugged, taking their hands and looking into the cave, before stepping inside.
There was a long stairway down into the darkness, but after a moment his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. Kairi looked around, her eyes glowing a slight green as she peered around the cavern in night vision. "Hmm... it's a straight path forward, so far," she said with a nod, stepping deeper into the cave. Kat floated forward, feeling at home in the cave, her outline actually glowing slightly with some sort of light purple haze.
"Hmm, I wonder if there's any valuables kept in here..." She muttered as she floated along, not straying too far from the group, though occasionally distracted by something here and there. She also semi wondered if there was anyone living or hiding up in here, but if there were, they had probably left with the first few shouts of Hello.
Mike and Kairi wandered through the cavern, looking around as they walked. Occasionally, there would be a rock in their way or something, and their progress was impeded, but they continued to go deeper into the almost welcoming darkness of the cave.
"Think it's the end of the path yet?" Kairi asked as they walked in silence, poking around.
Kat shrugged. "Maybe, either that or maybe it continues on through the mountain and comes out on the other side?" She suggested absently as she was looking at something odd on the ceiling. She lightly poked it and drew back instantly as a high pitched shriek echoed through the cavern, quickly followed by a chorus of shrieks. "Ack!" Kat let out her own shriek as she was swarmed by a flock of Zubats. She quickly dove down and hid behind Mike as they angrily flew out of the cavern. "Note to self, do not poke Zubat." She said, still hiding behind him. Mike had jumped at the sudden loud screeching, his fur standing on end. Kairi had fallen over with the zubat flying past her, and was surprised by it as well.
"Let's... uh... not do that again," she said, confused by all of that noise. She stumbled around, falling into mike's arms. Mike looked from Kairi to Kat behind him, and gave a small laugh.
"Agreed." Kat nodded before playfully bopping Mike in the head lightly for laughing at them. She looked forward to the pathway that led deeper and then to the one the Zubat just flew by. "So shall we continue?" She asked, wrapping her arms around Mike's middle in a sort of hug and resting her head on his shoulder so she could see Kairi.
"If we must," Kairi stood, swaying a little as she took the lead. They continued deeper into the cave, up a staircase the zubat had been hiding. They were in an open air room, yet still under the ground. There was a hollow feel to it, even, as they could hear their own footsteps as they walked. There was something standing in the middle of the room, but mike couldn't tell what it was. The structure in the center of the room began to glow slightly as they approached. Kairi stopped as it glowed, stepping back a little.
"I don't know about this..." she whispered, but Mike took another step forward. a voice echoed around the area, like a thousand little noises. The object in the center began to shake slightly, and then something floated down from the ceiling, followed by several others that looked similar, but were shaped differently. The form had a white eye in its center, and a black body that eerily resembled a letter.
Kat shook her head, still startled by the noise it had made, then she turned and looked around at the creatures around them. She could vaguely recognize them, but from where or what she wasn't sure, though she thought it was from her mythology book, containing pictures of legendary pokemon. "What are they?" She asked to see if either Mike or Kairi knew, or if the things themselves might answer, backing up towards the structure a bit as she wasn't sure if they were friendly or not.
Mike was about to answer, but the pokemon gathered together to make a word. "UNOWN," it read, and then they rejoined the others and continued circling around the area. "But... why are they here?" Kairi whispered, and all of the Unown stopped spiraling, and began to gently float around the area, in wide circled above them. They sang a slow song, of their own name.
Kat shook her head. She had little idea of what they were; let alone why they might be in the cave. "It's gotta have something to do with this thing, but what, I haven't an idea. Hm...." She turned, seeing that other then singing very scary sounding songs, they weren't doing any harm, quite yet. She stepped up to the structure, examining and lightly running her fingers over its surface as if that would help her remember something, anything, about the strange alphabet pokemon.
as she touched the stone, it glowed again, and all the Unown stopped. Her vision was covered by the image of something running through the forest, powerful legs running forward through the trees, as if something was being chased. Or running towards something...
She pulled back and blinked, replaying the vision in her mind. What the hell was that? A forest... Could it be near where they were? But there were a thousand forests throughout Hoenn, it could be anywhere. Then again, why would the Unknown be here if whatever it was had nothing to do with here. "Something's coming." She muttered, closing her eyes to see if that might help her concentrate and perhaps figure out what was running and why was it running.
Her vision changed again, and instead it became an overhead view of their group from behind, with the Unown floating in the figures vision.
Mike stepped forward. "Kat? What is it?" he asked in a whisper, the Unown spinning around and going the opposite direction.
"I don't -" She began to answer when the vision changed. Whatever it was, it seemed to have arrived. She spun around and looked up, searching for the elusive figure wherever it may be. Finally her eyes locked with what she believed was its. "It's here." She whispered without taking her gaze off of it.
Standing above them, on a rocky ledge over the entrance they took to the room, a regal looking dog stood above them. His face was hidden by a red and yellow mask, and brown fur covered his body. on his legs were four shackles, which clanged together when he jumped down to the floor below, landing across from them and straightening as it turned. Kairi had stepped back and was looking at the dog in shock, unable to speak. Mike was also speechless, but managed to name the beast of legends.
"En...tei..." he whispered.
Entei, the legendary dog of fire. Kat gulped down nervous fear, but managed to stay where she stood. It took her a few moments to be able to do anything, but she found her ability to speak before the ability to think. "Why..." She paused, her voice too quiet to hear so she spoke up. "Why have you come?" She asked before she thought about how it might accidentally offend the legendary. But it was a good question, seeing as the legendary dogs were said to live in Johto, so why was one in Hoenn?
The noble beast bowed its head to them, its eyes serious, while still looking regal. "Natural balance is shifting. As the Legendary Pokemon, it is our duty to make sure the earth is maintained." He explained, without moving his mouth. "Hoenn is in peril. Rayquaza, the God of Dragons, has begun to gather the remaining Legendaries to try and solve this... Disease," he said, looking them over.
"So... are the others here, as well?" Kairi asked. "Suicune, and Raikou?" she said, gathering her courage.
"I cannot speak for the others," Entei shook his head, slowly stepping up to the Pillar, and then around it to face them. "They come on their own accord. We only can hope they have not been infected yet."
Kat shivered. The thought of the legendaries being infected... The world would be in some major trouble if just 3 of them were infected, and there was no telling how many there were that might not show. But then it hit her how they could use this to their advantage.
"Where is this meeting being held?" She asked. If they knew the location, perhaps they would be able to go and see what legendaries were infected and confirm if Kyogre was among them, and then... Well, she and Mike could work a strategy from there, first they had to see if they could get to the meeting at all.
Entei hesitated, then turned away and walked to the other end of the room, looking out an opening in the wall as he thought if he should tell them or not. "Mirage Island," He said after a moment, turning back to them.
"The Isle that is said not to appear except for a select chosen..." Mike muttered, having heard rumors of this mysterious piece of land. It seemed fitting, though; no humans would be looking for the island, so the meeting would be safe for all the pokemon. And, Sky Pillar was right around the corner, so Rayquaza would also make an appearance, he figured.
"Makes sense," Kairi nodded after a moment, her hand on her chin. "That way, pokemon in the sky, land, and water would all be close by," she figured.
((By the way, remember how I was posting the story? Well, some artists have offered to draw the characters. ^^ Persium, for one, has been doing a lot of sketches and stuff. I'll send them to you next message, when I can get them all together. ^^))
{Oh my god, awesomeness! ^________^ Please send them when you can!}
Kat nodded. It was the most logical choice by far, even if it might be hard to get to. Then she remembered that it was only hard for them, it was probably easy to get too for the legendaries. Either way, it was a giant boulder in her plan because it meant that the party was invite only. Well, they could possibly be invited, but would she dare ask a legendary for it? What the hell, might as well try. "Do you think... that perhaps... we could tag along?" She asked in a somewhat quiet voice, having a very hard time summoning courage to ask him.
((Here's the first finished one she sent me,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/atiragram/lakecopy.jpg?t=1180238301
Click. n.n she also says she's bi and wants a threesome. ... or she might be joking, I'm not sure.))
The Entei thought for a moment. "Why would... We allow you to enter our private meeting?" he asked, leaning down at them. It wasn't a denial; it was... a challenge, almost. He wanted them to prove they should be able to join the legendary pokemon, and not try and capture them all when they got to Mirage Island.
Kat searched her mind for a reason and finally decided to simply tell him the true reason. "Because we don't mean any harm. We believe Kyogre might be infected so all we want to do is check, and see if any of you might know how to cure this virus." She explained what they wanted to do. "If it makes you feel any safer, if you allow us to come, we'll leave our pokeballs here." She added, in case that might be the reason why.
Entei chuckled, shaking his head. "Only a truly good person would tell the truth on such a sensitive matter." He said wisely, nodding to her. "Your pokeballs won't be able to capture us legendaries... and no one would dare attack such a large group. You are welcome to join me," he said, and bowed onto his front legs. Mike and Kairi looked at one another, then followed suit, bowing back.
Kat was a bit surprised at the easy acceptance. She didn't make a move at first, but then seeing Kairi and Mike bow, she quickly gave a deep bow as well. "Thank you, very much." She thanked him while she still stayed bowed, before standing straight again after Entei had stood. "How will we reach the island?" She asked, seeing how no one knew where it really was except those who were chosen to know.
Entei nodded, turning away again as he straightened up. "I cannot carry all of you at once. However, if you go to Sky Pillar, in the southern seas, the dragon god Rayquaza will allow you to travel to the island." He explained. "I will report to the Pillar before you, to ensure Rayquaza will allow your passage."
Kat nodded. She hadn't expected Entei to carry them to the island, and it wasn't too far away from their original plan, just a longer boat ride. "Thank you." She thanked him again, and it seem like there was no other questions to ask. She glanced at Mike questioningly to see if he had anything else to say to the legendary.
Mike stepped forward, crossing his arms. "If the legendary pokemon are meeting in Hoenn... what of the other areas, like Kanto, Johto, and Sinnoh?" He asked. Entei shook his head. "The regional borders have been closed to prevent the spread of the virus, and all Pokemon trading centers have been closed for the time being. At the moment, Hoenn is quarantined to prevent mass outbreak in other areas." He nodded. "As of now, the legendary pokemon are working to keep it that way, as well as the remaining Humans."
"Smart. Though at the rate things are going, it can't be too long before the virus spreads to the other areas through the oceans, regardless of the quarantine..." Kat muttered more to herself than to anyone else. Still, closing the borders would slow the spread of the virus and meant that they would only have to worry about what went on in Hoenn, for the most part. "Wait, does that mean you'll be staying in Hoenn after the meeting is over, or will you all return to your own areas again?" She asked.
"We have our own sections of the world to guide," Entei nodded. "We cannot stay longer than intended," he explained, padding his way to the far wall, and looking out of a hole in it, down at the forest. "The Legendary pokemon are meant to remain in the places they have been for centuries... now and then, we leave for a short period of time. Some travel, some wander."
Kairi thought about this. "What happens if you stay away too long?" she asked curiously.
Entei shook his head. "We have never been away long enough to see the results. Legends say that the natural balance will be thrown, and regions would turn into chaos." he sighed. "So we should return almost right after the meeting is over." he nodded, and then looked out the hole again. "Hmm... something seems to be going on below..."
Kat sighed. Well, she had originally been hoping they would stick around, so perhaps she could ask them for help with Kyogre if it was indeed infected. But... saving the world from complete chaos was probably more important then having a security blanket, so she said nothing about it. However, she perked up in curiosity as Entei pointed out something in the forest.
"Hm?" She walked over beside the legendary and stared out the hole, needing to shield her eyes slightly from the light. "Where?" She asked him to point out where whatever was happening was taking place.
"Human eyes probably cannot see it... the center of town," he said, his eyes half closed as he looked out at the village in the distance. "It seems the pokemorphs are... Hm..." he concentrated, listening for a moment. "Discussing a ceremony, of some kind."
Kat blinked for a moment or two as the information found its way into her brain. "Ack, that means were late!" She exclaimed as she backed away from the window. They were discussing the ceremony, so nothing important was going on quite yet, so they might make it back in time if they were quick.
"Sorry, but we have to run. Hopefully we'll see you again at the meeting!" She said goodbye to the Entei with a final, small bow of her head and then turned to Kairi and Mike. "Come, we gotta hurry if we want to get to the ceremony on time." She said, not sure Entei would quite trust them if he knew they were a little mischievous.
Entei nodded as they left, watching them gather themselves together and leaving Entei alone with the Unown, which had begun to spin around once more. "A storm is brewing," he muttered, but he wasn't talking about the perpetual rain outside. He shook his head, and jumped from the window.
Kat floated down and beside the two of them as they all ran for the village. Really she couldn't go past Kairi, the only one who knew where the village was, but Kairi moved quickly enough so that she didn't really need too. Finally all three of them ended up a little outside of the main part of the village, close enough so that they could hear what was going on, and far enough so they wouldn't be seen. "So, where's the ceremony being held again?" She asked Kairi so she would know where she was going.
"Alright, you need to go back to the lake for me to be able to give directions. from the lake, there's a path off to the right," Kairi explained. "If you do down that path, you'll get to the path to the clearing," she explained. "Simple enough." she nodded.
"Got it," Kat said as she committed the directions to memory. She supposed she should start heading over there now, so she would be able to get a good spot to pull off the prank. "Alright, I guess I'll head over there now. See ya both soon." She grinned and gave them a small farewell salute before turning and walking towards the lake, heading towards the spot where the ceremony was going to be held.
Mike had been sitting across the room, with his legs kicked up on the table and a chair tilted on two legs when they burst into the room, making him fall over with their sudden and loud arrival as they jumped onto the bundle of blankets had had left on the bed. "Should have expected something like that," he muttered, sitting back up.
Kat looked over to Mike and down at the sheets that were now revealed to be empty. First evil plot of the day foiled, but ah well. "Sorry about that." She apologized and got off the bed to give him an apologetic hug, then plopped back down onto the bed. "It is time to plot out our evil scheme to prank ze village." She told him in a very bad attempt to mimic a stereotypical evil genius' voice.
"Alright then," He said, turning his chair backwards and sitting on it, with his legs on either side of the back part. Kairi sat on the floor between them, and began going over the specifics.
"Alright, before I went to the lake I talked with a few of the villagers, and they said the show begins at five. That means, Kat, you need to be out in the clearing around four thirty, to pull pranks on any early arrivals. Meanwhile, I'll go to the entrance to the clearing and Mike will stay here, in the middle of the village. Once he knows everyone is cleared out, He'll have to send a signal, and then I'll return to town to start our trouble. Any objections so far?" She asked.
"Four thirty? Got it," Kat nodded, committing the time to memory. She had yet to figure out whether she wanted to go around and pull individual pranks or if she was going to do something that involved everyone. The trick was not to be seen, and not to be noticed, something she would have to work on, but she believed simply invisible would do the trick. "No objections here." She said with a wide grin. This was going to be fun.
"Great! Oh, by the way... have you learned to make illusions yet? That might be effective," Kairi clapped her hands, thinking of the possibilities. "I've seen ghost-type morphs create illusions and stuff before." she nodded.
"Um, I dunno, I guess I could try." She nodded to herself and then closed her eyes and held out a hand, trying to focus on creating an illusion. What should she do... hmm...? A flower would work well enough for a first time. She pictured a small daisy in her mind and focused on that, concentrating hard on getting the daisy in her hand. She peaked open an eye to view her progress and saw that she could indeed create illusions, though it was far from perfect. It was slightly see through if you held it to the light and there was no smell to it, but it felt real enough so she figured it would work well enough. "I'll practice a little while I wait for the people to show up." She said, twirling around the daisy in her hand for a moment or two before getting up and tucking it behind Mike's ear then sitting back down with a grin. He looked cute with the flower.
Kairi giggled and Mike stuck his tongue out playfully, letting her put the daisy behind his ear. Kairi put out a hand, wanting one for her as well. She gave a cute smile, to get the ghost to make one for her. Kat chuckled slightly at Kairi's request, unable to say no to the cute smile of the Vaporeon. She closed her eyes and concentrated again, a pink daisy forming in her hands this time, unlike the white one she had given Mike. This one smelled very, very, very faintly of the flower's scent, the practice helping Kat make her illusion a little more realistic. Finally it finished forming and she handed it to Kairi with a smile.
Kairi took it gleefully and clapped, putting it behind her ear as well. "You're getting better," Mike noticed with a smile. "I wonder what else you can illusion up..." he pondered, and then shrugged. "We'll find out later, if you want time to practice." he smiled, standing up.
Kairi stood as well, still grinning. "Well, are we agreed on the plan, then?"
Kat nodded and stood up. "Agreed!" She said happily. She also wondered what else she could create, but she decided that she would try later like he had suggested. "So do either of you know the time?" She asked curiously to see how long it would be before their plan went into action.
"Give me a minute," Kairi said, looking out the window. She thought for a moment, and then nodded. "It's about ten in the morning, I think," she nodded again, crossing her arms. "Human time is lost when no one brought a watch, so we all learn to use the sun for time," she explained when mike questioned it. "That gives us more than enough time to go look around, though," she smiled. Kat blinked as Kairi informed that they could tell time from the sun pretty accurately. All she knew about solar clocks was 12 o clock was when the sun was in the center of the sky, and that was basically it.
"Alright, let's go look." She said with a smile as well. She liked spending time in the main part of the village; it was fun in its own sort of way, even if it was just watching the different sorts of pokemorphs. She walked over to the door when she felt a small twinge of pain in her head. She paused and shook her head to get rid of it, but once it was gone, the two flowers were as well. It seemed she could only hold illusions for certain amounts of time.
"Hm?" Mike looked up as he noticed the flower disappear.
"Oh," Kairi said, a bit disappointed, as hers popped out of existence as well. Mike just laughed and put an arm around Kat as they walked out, looking around the small area of the village.
"Sorry," She apologized about not being able to hold the illusion before walking with them into the village. "So what shall we do today, Hm?" She asked them as she watched the other pokemorphs, eyes watching a young zubat with what seemed to be his older brother, before turning back to her two friends.
"Oh, what isn't there to do around here? Usually I play pranks and stuff on the others, but the forest is pretty nice if you're feeling anti-social," she chuckled. "There are all kinds of pokemorphs around here, though. Your choice what we do, I was thinking of wandering," she said with a slight shrug as they walked past a group of pokemorphs.
"Wandering works," She agreed with a shrug, really impartial to whatever was decided. She was really in the mood to do just about anything, and she got to look at a few more interesting pokemorphs that way. And so they wandered through the village, Kat's eyes glancing here and there as she floated alongside Mike and looked at the different people while they walked.
After a little bit of walking, Kairi gave a sudden laugh and ducked behind a tree, giggling and pointing ahead of them. There was a bunch of pokemorphs looking into the well, and they seemed to be either angry or disgusted, or a bit of both. "It worked," she laughed, wiping tears from her eyes.
Kat took one look at the faces of the pokemorphs and burst out into her own bit of laughter. "Ah, now that... that's a thing of beauty," She sighed as she finally managed to breath. It was always a wonderful thing to see a prank work, and the faces on those pokemorphs were going to be remembered for a long time.
Mike just shook his head with a smile as he watched the morphs looking from one to the other, as if wondering what to do about their tainted water. Kairi continued laughing, and considered going back for a second round once this had blown over. Kat grinned, proud of their accomplishment, but then turned to Kairi.
"Shh, what'll we do if they catch us hiding and laughing over here?" She said, though still grinning as it really didn't matter either way. If they were caught laughing over here, then they would just have to make a quick get away, but hopefully she was only overestimating their hearing.
"Oh, don't worry. I've laughed like this before behind their backs and they never caught me," she assured them as she stood, taking both of their arms in hers. "But let's continue on, shall we? Don't want to get caught at the scene of the crime," she winked, leading them off in the other direction, still giggling a little.
"No, though of course we wouldn't have to worry about that because we're not criminals," Kat said with a wink in return as they walked off in the other direction. She was a little surprised by the fact Kairi had never been caught from laughing too hard, like Kat was used to, but she supposed it made sense.
"But of course," Kairi smiled, and they turned down a different path than the main road. It went into the forest, going deeper into the back area. Above them was a mountain, and further down the path was a small opening into the mountain, shrouded in darkness.
"Eh?" she blinked, looking around. "This isn't... Hm." she blinked. "Must've taken the wrong back road..." she muttered. Kat looked around and thought for a moment.
"Well, hey, while we're here..." She thought aloud before floating down the path in a mix of caution and curiosity until she had reached the mouth of the cave. She looked into the dark cavern but couldn't make out anything with the glare of the daylight and decided to wait for the other two to make it down here before exploring the inside.
"Hello?" She asked into the cave and received her own voice, causing a wide grin to form. "Echo!" She said into it. "Echo!" Came the reply. Kat was such a child sometimes...
Kairi gave a small grunt as she walked down, looking around in the cavern. "Helloooooo!" she yelled, and her voice also echoed. She giggled a little, and then put out a hand for Kat as Mike walked up. He looked from Kairi to Kat, then signed. "I suppose we're going inside, huh?" he asked.
"Of course, we can't just leave a mysterious cavern unexplored, now can we?" She said with a smile. "Don't worry; we should be able to see just fine inside." She reassured him incase that sigh had been because he was scared of the creepy looking cave.
"Alright then," he shrugged, taking their hands and looking into the cave, before stepping inside.
There was a long stairway down into the darkness, but after a moment his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. Kairi looked around, her eyes glowing a slight green as she peered around the cavern in night vision. "Hmm... it's a straight path forward, so far," she said with a nod, stepping deeper into the cave. Kat floated forward, feeling at home in the cave, her outline actually glowing slightly with some sort of light purple haze.
"Hmm, I wonder if there's any valuables kept in here..." She muttered as she floated along, not straying too far from the group, though occasionally distracted by something here and there. She also semi wondered if there was anyone living or hiding up in here, but if there were, they had probably left with the first few shouts of Hello.
Mike and Kairi wandered through the cavern, looking around as they walked. Occasionally, there would be a rock in their way or something, and their progress was impeded, but they continued to go deeper into the almost welcoming darkness of the cave.
"Think it's the end of the path yet?" Kairi asked as they walked in silence, poking around.
Kat shrugged. "Maybe, either that or maybe it continues on through the mountain and comes out on the other side?" She suggested absently as she was looking at something odd on the ceiling. She lightly poked it and drew back instantly as a high pitched shriek echoed through the cavern, quickly followed by a chorus of shrieks. "Ack!" Kat let out her own shriek as she was swarmed by a flock of Zubats. She quickly dove down and hid behind Mike as they angrily flew out of the cavern. "Note to self, do not poke Zubat." She said, still hiding behind him. Mike had jumped at the sudden loud screeching, his fur standing on end. Kairi had fallen over with the zubat flying past her, and was surprised by it as well.
"Let's... uh... not do that again," she said, confused by all of that noise. She stumbled around, falling into mike's arms. Mike looked from Kairi to Kat behind him, and gave a small laugh.
"Agreed." Kat nodded before playfully bopping Mike in the head lightly for laughing at them. She looked forward to the pathway that led deeper and then to the one the Zubat just flew by. "So shall we continue?" She asked, wrapping her arms around Mike's middle in a sort of hug and resting her head on his shoulder so she could see Kairi.
"If we must," Kairi stood, swaying a little as she took the lead. They continued deeper into the cave, up a staircase the zubat had been hiding. They were in an open air room, yet still under the ground. There was a hollow feel to it, even, as they could hear their own footsteps as they walked. There was something standing in the middle of the room, but mike couldn't tell what it was. The structure in the center of the room began to glow slightly as they approached. Kairi stopped as it glowed, stepping back a little.
"I don't know about this..." she whispered, but Mike took another step forward. a voice echoed around the area, like a thousand little noises. The object in the center began to shake slightly, and then something floated down from the ceiling, followed by several others that looked similar, but were shaped differently. The form had a white eye in its center, and a black body that eerily resembled a letter.
Kat shook her head, still startled by the noise it had made, then she turned and looked around at the creatures around them. She could vaguely recognize them, but from where or what she wasn't sure, though she thought it was from her mythology book, containing pictures of legendary pokemon. "What are they?" She asked to see if either Mike or Kairi knew, or if the things themselves might answer, backing up towards the structure a bit as she wasn't sure if they were friendly or not.
Mike was about to answer, but the pokemon gathered together to make a word. "UNOWN," it read, and then they rejoined the others and continued circling around the area. "But... why are they here?" Kairi whispered, and all of the Unown stopped spiraling, and began to gently float around the area, in wide circled above them. They sang a slow song, of their own name.
Kat shook her head. She had little idea of what they were; let alone why they might be in the cave. "It's gotta have something to do with this thing, but what, I haven't an idea. Hm...." She turned, seeing that other then singing very scary sounding songs, they weren't doing any harm, quite yet. She stepped up to the structure, examining and lightly running her fingers over its surface as if that would help her remember something, anything, about the strange alphabet pokemon.
as she touched the stone, it glowed again, and all the Unown stopped. Her vision was covered by the image of something running through the forest, powerful legs running forward through the trees, as if something was being chased. Or running towards something...
She pulled back and blinked, replaying the vision in her mind. What the hell was that? A forest... Could it be near where they were? But there were a thousand forests throughout Hoenn, it could be anywhere. Then again, why would the Unknown be here if whatever it was had nothing to do with here. "Something's coming." She muttered, closing her eyes to see if that might help her concentrate and perhaps figure out what was running and why was it running.
Her vision changed again, and instead it became an overhead view of their group from behind, with the Unown floating in the figures vision.
Mike stepped forward. "Kat? What is it?" he asked in a whisper, the Unown spinning around and going the opposite direction.
"I don't -" She began to answer when the vision changed. Whatever it was, it seemed to have arrived. She spun around and looked up, searching for the elusive figure wherever it may be. Finally her eyes locked with what she believed was its. "It's here." She whispered without taking her gaze off of it.
Standing above them, on a rocky ledge over the entrance they took to the room, a regal looking dog stood above them. His face was hidden by a red and yellow mask, and brown fur covered his body. on his legs were four shackles, which clanged together when he jumped down to the floor below, landing across from them and straightening as it turned. Kairi had stepped back and was looking at the dog in shock, unable to speak. Mike was also speechless, but managed to name the beast of legends.
"En...tei..." he whispered.
Entei, the legendary dog of fire. Kat gulped down nervous fear, but managed to stay where she stood. It took her a few moments to be able to do anything, but she found her ability to speak before the ability to think. "Why..." She paused, her voice too quiet to hear so she spoke up. "Why have you come?" She asked before she thought about how it might accidentally offend the legendary. But it was a good question, seeing as the legendary dogs were said to live in Johto, so why was one in Hoenn?
The noble beast bowed its head to them, its eyes serious, while still looking regal. "Natural balance is shifting. As the Legendary Pokemon, it is our duty to make sure the earth is maintained." He explained, without moving his mouth. "Hoenn is in peril. Rayquaza, the God of Dragons, has begun to gather the remaining Legendaries to try and solve this... Disease," he said, looking them over.
"So... are the others here, as well?" Kairi asked. "Suicune, and Raikou?" she said, gathering her courage.
"I cannot speak for the others," Entei shook his head, slowly stepping up to the Pillar, and then around it to face them. "They come on their own accord. We only can hope they have not been infected yet."
Kat shivered. The thought of the legendaries being infected... The world would be in some major trouble if just 3 of them were infected, and there was no telling how many there were that might not show. But then it hit her how they could use this to their advantage.
"Where is this meeting being held?" She asked. If they knew the location, perhaps they would be able to go and see what legendaries were infected and confirm if Kyogre was among them, and then... Well, she and Mike could work a strategy from there, first they had to see if they could get to the meeting at all.
Entei hesitated, then turned away and walked to the other end of the room, looking out an opening in the wall as he thought if he should tell them or not. "Mirage Island," He said after a moment, turning back to them.
"The Isle that is said not to appear except for a select chosen..." Mike muttered, having heard rumors of this mysterious piece of land. It seemed fitting, though; no humans would be looking for the island, so the meeting would be safe for all the pokemon. And, Sky Pillar was right around the corner, so Rayquaza would also make an appearance, he figured.
"Makes sense," Kairi nodded after a moment, her hand on her chin. "That way, pokemon in the sky, land, and water would all be close by," she figured.
((By the way, remember how I was posting the story? Well, some artists have offered to draw the characters. ^^ Persium, for one, has been doing a lot of sketches and stuff. I'll send them to you next message, when I can get them all together. ^^))
{Oh my god, awesomeness! ^________^ Please send them when you can!}
Kat nodded. It was the most logical choice by far, even if it might be hard to get to. Then she remembered that it was only hard for them, it was probably easy to get too for the legendaries. Either way, it was a giant boulder in her plan because it meant that the party was invite only. Well, they could possibly be invited, but would she dare ask a legendary for it? What the hell, might as well try. "Do you think... that perhaps... we could tag along?" She asked in a somewhat quiet voice, having a very hard time summoning courage to ask him.
((Here's the first finished one she sent me,
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v358/atiragram/lakecopy.jpg?t=1180238301
Click. n.n she also says she's bi and wants a threesome. ... or she might be joking, I'm not sure.))
The Entei thought for a moment. "Why would... We allow you to enter our private meeting?" he asked, leaning down at them. It wasn't a denial; it was... a challenge, almost. He wanted them to prove they should be able to join the legendary pokemon, and not try and capture them all when they got to Mirage Island.
Kat searched her mind for a reason and finally decided to simply tell him the true reason. "Because we don't mean any harm. We believe Kyogre might be infected so all we want to do is check, and see if any of you might know how to cure this virus." She explained what they wanted to do. "If it makes you feel any safer, if you allow us to come, we'll leave our pokeballs here." She added, in case that might be the reason why.
Entei chuckled, shaking his head. "Only a truly good person would tell the truth on such a sensitive matter." He said wisely, nodding to her. "Your pokeballs won't be able to capture us legendaries... and no one would dare attack such a large group. You are welcome to join me," he said, and bowed onto his front legs. Mike and Kairi looked at one another, then followed suit, bowing back.
Kat was a bit surprised at the easy acceptance. She didn't make a move at first, but then seeing Kairi and Mike bow, she quickly gave a deep bow as well. "Thank you, very much." She thanked him while she still stayed bowed, before standing straight again after Entei had stood. "How will we reach the island?" She asked, seeing how no one knew where it really was except those who were chosen to know.
Entei nodded, turning away again as he straightened up. "I cannot carry all of you at once. However, if you go to Sky Pillar, in the southern seas, the dragon god Rayquaza will allow you to travel to the island." He explained. "I will report to the Pillar before you, to ensure Rayquaza will allow your passage."
Kat nodded. She hadn't expected Entei to carry them to the island, and it wasn't too far away from their original plan, just a longer boat ride. "Thank you." She thanked him again, and it seem like there was no other questions to ask. She glanced at Mike questioningly to see if he had anything else to say to the legendary.
Mike stepped forward, crossing his arms. "If the legendary pokemon are meeting in Hoenn... what of the other areas, like Kanto, Johto, and Sinnoh?" He asked. Entei shook his head. "The regional borders have been closed to prevent the spread of the virus, and all Pokemon trading centers have been closed for the time being. At the moment, Hoenn is quarantined to prevent mass outbreak in other areas." He nodded. "As of now, the legendary pokemon are working to keep it that way, as well as the remaining Humans."
"Smart. Though at the rate things are going, it can't be too long before the virus spreads to the other areas through the oceans, regardless of the quarantine..." Kat muttered more to herself than to anyone else. Still, closing the borders would slow the spread of the virus and meant that they would only have to worry about what went on in Hoenn, for the most part. "Wait, does that mean you'll be staying in Hoenn after the meeting is over, or will you all return to your own areas again?" She asked.
"We have our own sections of the world to guide," Entei nodded. "We cannot stay longer than intended," he explained, padding his way to the far wall, and looking out of a hole in it, down at the forest. "The Legendary pokemon are meant to remain in the places they have been for centuries... now and then, we leave for a short period of time. Some travel, some wander."
Kairi thought about this. "What happens if you stay away too long?" she asked curiously.
Entei shook his head. "We have never been away long enough to see the results. Legends say that the natural balance will be thrown, and regions would turn into chaos." he sighed. "So we should return almost right after the meeting is over." he nodded, and then looked out the hole again. "Hmm... something seems to be going on below..."
Kat sighed. Well, she had originally been hoping they would stick around, so perhaps she could ask them for help with Kyogre if it was indeed infected. But... saving the world from complete chaos was probably more important then having a security blanket, so she said nothing about it. However, she perked up in curiosity as Entei pointed out something in the forest.
"Hm?" She walked over beside the legendary and stared out the hole, needing to shield her eyes slightly from the light. "Where?" She asked him to point out where whatever was happening was taking place.
"Human eyes probably cannot see it... the center of town," he said, his eyes half closed as he looked out at the village in the distance. "It seems the pokemorphs are... Hm..." he concentrated, listening for a moment. "Discussing a ceremony, of some kind."
Kat blinked for a moment or two as the information found its way into her brain. "Ack, that means were late!" She exclaimed as she backed away from the window. They were discussing the ceremony, so nothing important was going on quite yet, so they might make it back in time if they were quick.
"Sorry, but we have to run. Hopefully we'll see you again at the meeting!" She said goodbye to the Entei with a final, small bow of her head and then turned to Kairi and Mike. "Come, we gotta hurry if we want to get to the ceremony on time." She said, not sure Entei would quite trust them if he knew they were a little mischievous.
Entei nodded as they left, watching them gather themselves together and leaving Entei alone with the Unown, which had begun to spin around once more. "A storm is brewing," he muttered, but he wasn't talking about the perpetual rain outside. He shook his head, and jumped from the window.
Kat floated down and beside the two of them as they all ran for the village. Really she couldn't go past Kairi, the only one who knew where the village was, but Kairi moved quickly enough so that she didn't really need too. Finally all three of them ended up a little outside of the main part of the village, close enough so that they could hear what was going on, and far enough so they wouldn't be seen. "So, where's the ceremony being held again?" She asked Kairi so she would know where she was going.
"Alright, you need to go back to the lake for me to be able to give directions. from the lake, there's a path off to the right," Kairi explained. "If you do down that path, you'll get to the path to the clearing," she explained. "Simple enough." she nodded.
"Got it," Kat said as she committed the directions to memory. She supposed she should start heading over there now, so she would be able to get a good spot to pull off the prank. "Alright, I guess I'll head over there now. See ya both soon." She grinned and gave them a small farewell salute before turning and walking towards the lake, heading towards the spot where the ceremony was going to be held.