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Welcome to The Cave of Dragonflies forums, where the smallest bugs live alongside the strongest dragons.
Guests are not able to post messages or even read certain areas of the forums. Now, that's boring, don't you think? Registration, on the other hand, is simple, completely free of charge, and does not require you to give out any personal information at all. As soon as you register, you can take part in some of the happy fun things at the forums such as posting messages, voting in polls, sending private messages to people and being told that this is where we drink tea and eat cod.
Of course I'm not forcing you to do anything if you don't want to, but seriously, what have you got to lose? Five seconds of your life?
…Well, that was one way to explain the entire situation in only a few seconds! Lyra chuckled nervously, feeling like that wasn’t the best approach to take with nerve-shot folks (even if Quagsire seemed barely fazed by anything…?). Coughing slightly to draw the attention to herself, the Buneary decided to reframe that revelation by baking it with some comforting thoughts.
“Yeah, huh, as Virga said, we’ve got teammates who’re keeping Sta—ah, that ‘beast’ busy. So the coast’s clear for now!”
She smiled reassuringly at the staffers, but she internally balked. Calling Starr a ‘beast’ felt so… dehumanizing. Regardless, she pushed that thought aside to focus on the far more pressing matter, and the change in topic was reflected in her more serious expression.
“Still, time’s running quickly! We’ve got no clue how long they can keep that beast at bay, so we oughta get things rolling, stat!” She hummed and tilted her head, her gaze drifting back and forth between the Sandslash and the Golem on the back. “Maaaybe even literally?”
Lyra tapped her chin, her breeder’s mind supplying multiple lists of potential abilities and moves, then her trainer’s mind kicked into high gear to conjure a strategy. She eyed Virga, her gaze hopeful. “Hey, Virga! Dontcha have some kinda wind move to speed things up? Y’know, something like Whirlwind or… ah, Tailwind?”
Anubis scrambled roughly up the cliff, digging his paws in for purchase. Rescue the scientists. He had promised to do that, and he refused to break his oath. One paw after the other, over the cliffs edge and then he was bounding toward the makeshift den-
Koa's agonized howl reached Anubis ears. "Alpha!" he yelped. He half turned toward the passage, ready to bolt. Alpha needed him. He should be there. In the flames. Protecting them all from the beasts fire. That was his purpose. A good leader protects his pack. Don't worry, they can handle this.
The sound of Virga and Lyra arriving and talking gave him pause. Alcott, Polk, Hayward, and Finick. How could he... how was he supposed to do both? He couldn't be there for Alpha and keep his oath to rescue the ones trapped.
But he did know what Alpha would want.
Heart heavy, he turned back to the den with the trapped pokemon. This was his duty. "We're getting you out of here," he said firmly, scanning the group. "I can carry one," he said confidently. "We must go quickly, before the beast gets out again." A pragmatic voice nudged at the back of his mind. How? How didn't matter. Only what he needed to do.
"Dave!" Flames swallowed everything, black and roaring and all consuming. Dave was trapped there with the beast- He tensed, instinctively ready to surge forward, try to distract the beast and get him out. Aborting the movement, he halted as he glimpsed the golden chains around the beast. Trapping it. And spotted Dave within the flames, still standing.
His relief evaporated in the face of the Fire Blast that swept through the cavern.
The flames were spread thin, far weaker than they would have been in a concentrated burst, but they still hurt, that strangely corrosive dark-light fire that seared the very aura and dragged the worst thoughts and impulses to the surface.
When those flames made contact, the world shifted, and Koa was somewhere else.
He was standing on all fours. Not back in his human body, then, but something about this form was different. When had he evolved...? That wasn't important right now, though, not when that blinding golden titan was bearing down on him with great beating wings and gnashing teeth, threatening to burn his eyes out if he looked at her too long—
A pained cry echoed - his own? - flames swallowed his vision. Then emotion engulfed him. Hate. Hate so strong it burned his throat.Not directed outward. Inward.Desperation. Guilt. Save her save her he had to save.... Someone...
His voice rang with power. Strength he'd craved for so long was his. Finally, finally he was evolving, he had evolved. He could be strong enough, good enough to... save her.... Maple Starr-
The world snapped back to reality like a cracking whip. Ash and smoke choked him, and he was small. Small and weak and - a Failure. Again.
Darkness dogged his steps as he threw himself into action, and for a moment he felt something beside him, hounding him, nipping at his heels, a mental mirage of a dark furred Manectric trailing red chains. A voice, his own yet lifetimes away, sinking its teeth into his soul. Hope and hate merged, and for a moment, he felt only blacklight.
...
'Alpha!'
'Alpha!'
'Alpha!'
His breath crackled with lightning, his eyes glinting oddly in the firelight of purgatory, his paws burning from the strikes he'd delivered.
'Alpha, get out!'
Snapping out of his haze just enough to register Anubis' warning, he leaped for the cliff, scaling it in a frenzy and heaving himself onto solid ground. The phantom Manectric was nowhere to be seen and yet... a shiver ran through him.
Virga clacked her beak. "Hm. I have been experimenting with manipulating the wind in this evolved form." She eyed the relatively flat stretch of terrain that led back to the main facility. "Providing a forceful wind at the backs of the 'mon rolling across the cavern should be manageable."
Certainly preferable to attempting to carry them. Virga threw an incredulous glance at the firepup.
Hayward narrowed his eyes skeptically at this, perhaps figuring out whether or not it was a joke or credible plan. Eventually he accepted it with a tight nod.
"Alright. C'mon everyone. Let's be quick about it."
"Iiiiiii don't like rushin'..."
"Get a fucking move on, Polk!"
The Covenant researchers holed up inside piled out of the Annex and into Virga's care. The last of them, a diminutive Nosepass, faced resolutely northward until Finick tapped her a couple times and – seemingly – scrambled her magnetic orientation for the moment.
