Malantau Howling Precipice

[Tetra]

Panic fully took root in Koa's heart. The final straw on the back of one too many harrowing encounters in a short span of time. Vengeful ghostly hounds, a malicious wall painting, an angry dungeon and a furious saint and now some kind of flaming beast and fire. Raw fear overrode all conscious thought and warred with all his protective instincts. His mind screamed louder at him to run but his body refused, legs locking.

All he could do was stare, limbs trembling, at the wall of flames and the figure beyond. Coward.

Swirling tails. A lupine form. A familiar flash of silver fur. It took his petrified mind several moments to attach meaning to what he was seeing. ...Seir?!

---

On the other side of the flames, Anubis halted abruply. An unnatural bolt of fear shot through him, making his hackles rise and ears flatten. Danger! Flee! Flee! That panic, that urge... it wasn't his own, it felt foreign, and yet it was overpowering. His heart raced against his wishes and his body quivered. He shifted closer to the Buizel, not so much out of protection as an instinct to stay close in the face of a threat. Strength in the pack. Had he come this far only to be wiped out by an enranged beast of legend? Before even reuniting with his trainer in this strange place?

Through the fire and steam, a peculiar sight met his eyes. What appeared to be a Nintales, yet with fur of silver and flames of blue facing down the ice creature. Beneath the unnatural fear still eating at him, Anubis felt a sense of admiration. This Ninetales seemed noble and strong, a mon of principle and power. Who was this that even the wretched ice creature would flee?

 

[Weazel]

Archie drew his scalchops, fear sending his heartbeat into overdrive. Not Again Never Again. The words echoed in his skull, his legs were rooted in place. Was he going to die? Was this how his time in Forlas would come to an end?

No. It was over before it even started. That strange Ninetales made another appearance, carrying the injured Shinx on his back, and drove the Saint away. But, what was he even doing here?

---

Dustin grimaced, skidding to a halt as his body was ceased by an unnatural fear. His tail lashed this way and that, the fur standing on end, as he subconsciously moved closer to the Houndour. Then, a wall of fire, a silver Ninetales, and the dead horse bolted into the fog. Well, how about that, miracles did happen.

The Buizel took the lead, around the flames and back to their traveling companions. Koa seemed frazzled, but unhurt. And Archie…

“Still throwing yourself into danger at the slightest provocation, huh?” Dustin quipped. Archie had his Razor Shells summoned, his shells clenched in parallel death grips. The Dewott didn’t even seem to realize until he’d shot Dustin a confused – annoyed, even – look. Then he dismissed the blades and returned them to his sides.

“You have our thanks, Seir,” the Dewott said, addressing the Ninetales.

 

[Inkedust]

Seir watched the Wight's Bane flee with a stony expression before his gaze settled back onto the Wayfarers. He gave them a polite nod, which doubled as a bow.

"There had been reports of a disturbance in the area," he explained without prompting. "It seems that your unexpected arrival here was the cause."

The shinx on his back shuffled, murmuring something under his breath. The ninetales looked at him with an unreadable expression.

"Alongside the arrival of... new companions. I do not recall meeting either of you three –" he tossed his head from Shinx, to Anubis and Dustin "– offworlders too, I presume?"

"Aye," Shinx coughed. His accent was one that belonged to nowhere. A seafarer through and through. "Didn't know the afterlife meant bein' sent to another world. Thought that was just a thing for the stories of younguns," he muttered. "Almost makes me wonder what woulda happened if that funny lookin' rapidash had got me." He then let out a hearty laugh. "Good thing it didn't, I ain't exactly keen to try!"

"You were lucky, Altair," Seir said to Shinx pointedly. "And I do not wish to entertain the thought of what could've happened had I not been patrolling the area."

 

[Tetra]

"Many thanks, noble Ninetales," Anubis said to the strange Ninetales as he dipped his head. "And yes, we ar-"

A flying ball of blue fur interrupted him as Koa bounded up and practically tackled him. "Anubis!" he barked joyfully. Saints, he was so warm. And small. Seeing Anubis as a Houndour again was bizzare, but Koa didn't care. He was too happy to see a friendly face after everything, especially one of his own team members. For a moment he simply stood, pressed against his old friend and enjoying the warmth. The nagging fear that he'd been left out, that no one had been summoned, dissipated. This was still bad, so many offworlders getting pulled here. Powehi was going to be pissed.

Anubis' more composed demeanor shifted and he gave a wide canine grin, tongue lolling. "Alpha!" His tail wagged fiercely and he licked Alpha's face, even as his trainer tried to affectionately push him away. How strange, to hear his trainers voice come from the throat of a mon. Another canine no less. Now all truly was well. The cub and Alpha were safe. Oddly, though it'd only been hours since he had seen Alpha, Anubis detected a strange weariness and hardened edge to him.

There would be time for proper questions later. "Thank you for protecting him and returning the cub to us," Anubis said to the Ninetales. He nodded at this 'Altair'. Not as nice a name, but he could fault the cubs parents? "You are truly of a courageous spirit and we owe you."

Koa's joy at seeing Seir was almost as great as seeing Anubis. Almost. Honestly, he'd have preffered to leave and spend time with Anubis but he couldn't. He quickly composed himself and dipped his head in greeting. "Thank you for your help, Seir," he said. "This is Anubis," he said. "He was on my team back home. Anubis, this is Seir." The little Shinx was a stranger to him, however. He had a plethora of questions for the Ninetales. "It's good to see you but what are you doing all the way out here?" He found himself staring at the Shinx, hard. ...Did he know that name?

"...Wait you said your name is Altair?"

 

[Weazel]

Seir had heard reports? Reports by who, and when? They hadn’t been there that long – hours, at best – and had seen neither hide nor hair of any other Pokemon. Archie frowned, and shook his head.

“Couldn’t possibly be us, we were teleported here only recently,” the Dewott said, “And we were lost in a Mystery Dungeon until shortly before Glastrier found us.”

There was no way a Pokemon had had time to notice something amiss, report back to Seir, and for the Ninetales to make it out here. Not unless the Pokemon had been stationed very close by to begin with. Either something else was going on, or there was something Seir wasn’t telling them. Maybe even both.

Before the Dewott could pursue the line of inquiry further, a blue blur shot across the snow and crashed into the Houndour he’d been traveling with. In short order, it was revealed that the Houndour he’d taken for a very odd feral was, in fact, one of Koa’s trained Pokemon from his own world, by the name of Anubis. In short order, the two were all over one another, and Archie’s train of thought had been entirely derailed.

“That could be us, you know,” Dustin teased, leaning over towards him with a smirk. Archie rolled his eyes. It was nice to see a familiar face, and part of him was glad it was Dustin rather than Spencer who’d ended up on Forlas, but the Buizel’s irreverence was often equal parts amusing and frustrating. Dustin took his continued silence as permission to keep talking, “Well? Are you going to introduce me to the nice fox?”

“Seir, this is Dustin,” Archie said, dryly, “a pain in my ass.”

“Would you call me a Legendary pain?” The Buizel teased, emphasizing the word in a way that implied there was a greater meaning to it Archie was missing. The blank look he gave the Buizel seemed to throw Dustin off his game somewhat, the orange mustelid’s easy grin faltering momentarily. The Dewott was clearly missing something, but there were too many more pertinent questions right now for him to interrogate the Buizel. Such as why Koa was suddenly so interested in the Shinx.