Group RP Cobalt Crew Chronicles: Caverns of Cold Steel

@Captain Comet @Riddles Cave Crew is now restarting!

As the roars of the ice beast faded into angry echoes, Royce slowed down to allow the crew to catch their breath.

"A' richt!" Royce said in a low but steady voice. The darkness was becoming all-consuming apart from the glow of his eye. It seemed like the tremors caused by the beast's rampage had dislodged several of the Boldore illumination crystals. "Is a' body okay? A' in yin piece? Na frozen bones?"

"I-I'm fine, sir," a voice said shakily.

"State yer names!" Royce hissed. "Ah kin barely see ye as is!"

"I-it's Douglas, sir," the voice replied. "I'm the Timburr." Royce felt a slight breeze blow by his face, followed by an unpleasant thunk.

"Kryin' Karps, Doug, watch where you're swinging that plank!" Another voice said through what sounded like gritted teeth.

"Sorry, Levi!" the Timburr stammered. "I'll try to keep it closer!"

"Please do, for all of our sakes," the voice snapped back. After a moment, it continued. "Levi here, the Scraggy. Cold, and I now have a minor headache, but other than that, no problems"

"A' richt, thanks, Douglas, Levi," Royce said in confirmation. "Lassies, a'richt on yer ends?"

 

Boreas looked on grimly. "That 'talisman'," he growled, "was an enchanted snow stone*, and a big one at that. They're usually harmless, just a bit cold, but..." Ivysaur relinquished his hold on the icy projectile, which began to regain speed. Boreas clenched his claws. "If something that can advance** itself with such a stone is close by it can..." The Beartic clenched his teeth in apprehension as the snow stone punched through the collapsed entrance of Cavern 17 like wet paper. "Well, something big in this case seems to have noticed it."

The entire camp seemed to freeze as the echoes of the snow stone tumbling down the cavern disappeared. The air turned deathly still. Then, the silence was broken as a howling blizzard shot out from the now re-opened Cavern 17 and spiraled into the sky. Somewhere deep inside the mountain, the echoes of a roar cried out from the tunnel.

(*OOC: A larger-than-average Ice Stone, **Evolve)

 

Royce nodded. "A'richt, back thro' M15 we gang. Riley, ye 'n' ah wull tak' point. Amy, 'n' levi, middle. Doug, cover oor backs. Stick. Claise. Ah doubt we've seen th' lest beastie th'day."

The group continued to walk slowly through the tunnel. The temperature had gone back up from freezing to chilly; within the dim glow of Royce's eye, the Pokémon's breath could be seen in misty puffs.

Royce prayed that at least some of the Drilbur Ducts were intact. If th' vents ur collapsed, it wilnae be th' beasties that dae us in, he thought grimly..

"Sir?" Douglas' voice called out from the back of the line.

"Ay, Douglas?" Royce replied, not turning around.

"Do you... have any idea what that thing was?" the Timburr asked. "Ever seen something like that before?"

Royce didn't immediately respond, slowing in pace enough so that Amy almost bumped into him. After a few moments, he said curtly.

"A've seen hings lik' it," the Rolycoly said. "Nae that exact yin though."

Levi's pants scraped along the floor as he gritted his teeth uncomfortably. "Are they all that big?"

Royce laughed darkly. "Na," the Coal Pokémon said. "Bigger."

 

Boreas and Hartman looked back and forth, trying to keep track of everything happening around him. Bluegrass had just started running towards 17 with Angahrad running after him, while Demyx was volunteering to go in on his lonesome. Ciara and Puck seemed to be eyeing the sky, the former with a look of grim alertness, the latter fidgeting erratically, clutching at the berries braided in their hair.

"Boss, what's the plan?!" Hartman asked, breaking Boreas out of his shock.

Boreas grunted, shaking his head furiously. He glared down at Demyx and snarled. "Are you daft?!" the Beartic roared. "You don't have a hope of going in there alone! If a whole squad of Frosthunters couldn't fight what was down there, what chance do you--"

"Boreas!" Puck screeched, pointing at the sky.

Puck's next words were lost as a brilliant blue beam descended from the sky, encasing the Zoroark in a jagged pillar of ice. Ciara squawked in uncharacteristic surprise as she flew out of the way to avoid being frozen as well. Three more beams shot down in rapid succession, one hitting right between the Beartic and Dewott, one nearly hitting Bluegrass as he dejectedly walked back towards camp, the third streaking towards the nearby entrance of Cavern 10 and sealing it behind a solid icy wall.

All eyes turned to sky as hail started to fall. Whatever had roared deep within 17 seemed to have attracted the attention of... something. Strange, blue crystal-like creatures began to descend from the clouds by the dozen. They resembled large, hexagonal discs with glowing, emotionless eyes, that, despite their empty look, seemed to scream danger at the Pokémon below. As they continued to descend, wispy tendrils began to extend from the pointed tips of their bodies, rapidly growing lines of wickedly sharp icicles. From above, the creatures began to shake, creating an unsettling resonant jingling that sounded eerily like laughter.

"FROSTFLOATERS!" Boreas roared. "EVERYONE! GET TO THE MINES! NOW!"

 

"Well, lassie," Royce thought for a few moments. "A've ainlie run intae some o' th' wee'er ones meself. That's th' forst lairge yin a've seen alive n kickin'. Fae whit ah kin tell though, thay dinnae lik' rocks or metal that muckle. Thay dinnae lik' fightin' attacks either, though ah doubt a'body likes bein' punched in th' jaw. Doug 'n' Levi wull be oor best bet if we hae tae fight up claise."

"What sort of ones have you seen?" Douglas asked apprehensively. "I've heard of monsters called Frostfloaters, big ugly ice discs that carry you off to the Giant Chasm."

Royce scoffed. "Frostfloaters ainlie bide in th' clouds, we wilnae see thaim in 'ere. Th' ones ye hae tae worry aboot in tunnels ur th' Icegrudges. Mibbie an Icebanshee if ye'r a han'some laddie lik' me, ha!" The Rolycoly chuckled.

 

Spoiler: Current Camp Crew Locations Map

In the sudden chaos of the Frostfloaters descent, Hartman and Boreas batted their way through the closest of the creatures while making their way towards Cavern 16.

"Boss!" Hartman said between Fire Lash attacks with his fiery tongue. The nearest Frostfloaters hissed and dissolved into steam as the heat melted its icy body away. Still more continued to fall down, and Hartman was certain it wouldn't be long before the dropping temperatures would let the monsters reform. "What about Puck? We can't just leave him!"

Boreas roared and slugged two Frostfloaters together with a Superpower slam. The two crystal beasts shattered into shards with the sound of breaking glass, but even as the fragments fell, they began coalescing once again. The Beartic panted, growing tired from the repeated efforts to keep the creatures at bay. Looking towards the frozen Zoroark, the Beartic growled in frustration.

"Get to the others!" Boreas shouted. "I'll grab him!"

"But sir--" Hartman protested.

"Go, Hartman!" the Beartic was not negotiating. Puck may have been a superstitious scoundrel and a liar, but even he didn't deserve to be dragged off to the Chasm and left to such a horrible fate.

Boreas pushed his way to Puck and groaned as he lifted him up with both arms. The Frostfloaters, sensing a vulnerable target, began to converge towards the Beartic, whipping their icy chains. Hartman dove between them, lashing back at the tendrils with more Fire Lashes.

Still, the sheer amount of ice chains began to get through. The first few struck the Heatmor across the face, and he stumbled back, seeing stars.

"Hartman!" Boreas yelled, though he refused to drop Puck. He lurched backwards as another chain wrapped around the Zoroark. Then another. Then another. Exhausted from the earlier Superpower attacks, he lost his grip, and the Illusion Pokémon was lifted into the sky.

"No!" Boreas roared, trying to muster up another attack before dropping to one knee.

Hartman retracted his tongue and unleashed a Flamethrower attack. One of the Frostfloaters screeched as it join its vaporized brethren, but the remain two continued to lift the Zoroark higher. Four more Frostfloaters flew down and launched their chains at the Anteater Pokémon, binding his arms tightly to his sides. He too, began to be lifted into the air.

"Hartman!!" Boreas roared once more.

 

"Are you mad?!" Boreas said, between pants, though there was a glimmer of respect behind his eyes.

(OOC: Coin flip used, best two out of three. Heads was for Puck, Tails was for Hartman. The result was... two heads. Sorry, that's the honest result.)

Demyx's scalchop struck the chains with the power of a crashing tide. It cleaved through all of Puck's chains, who fell to the ground still frozen. The impact sent a series of cracks throughout the ice, and a clear liquid that smelled oddly of citrus began to seep through.

The bladed shell continued to slice through Hartman's chains, but through the pain, Demyx watched with shock as the scalchop failed to cut through the last tendril, and became stuck fast halfway in the ice. The Heatmor dangled dangerously by one wrist as he was lifted higher into the sky.

"Hartman!" Boreas roared into the air. The Frostfloaters hissed with displeasure at the loss of one of their targets, though not wanting to lose another, began to converge around the Heatmor to bind him again.

Hartman shivered from the cold cutting into him. He tried to send out another Fire Lash, but another Frostfloater chain wrapped around his neck, cutting off any fuel to make a flame.

"HARTMAN!" Boreas roared again.

The Heatmor looked down at his old friend with a mixture of grim acceptance and sadness.

"I'm... sorry, Boreas!" Hartman managed to yell back through the strangling chain. "I'm sorry. Get the rest of them out of here! Keep them safe! Keep them --" the chain around his neck tightened, cutting off last request. Still, the Heatmor struggled defiantly against his captors, but the chains held fast. The creatures carried Twist Mountain's second-in-command past the clouds, and then he was gone.