Shining Light in the Hailing Blizzard

Client: Lanturn
Objective: Escort Lanturn to the bottom of the dungeon
Place: Frozen Stream
Difficulty: B
Reward: 350 poke + Bounce Band

Oswald read through the mission pamphlet one more time, now wearing a cloth cloak that kept him slightly warm in the frigid cold. The stream under the ice kept flowing, as if some mystical force was pushing the water along under the ice, keeping it warm enough to not completely freeze over. Oswald had invited Vanilla along on this mission, to let her see what it was like to be a guild member, to actually help others while gaining some form of profit. The escort sat atop the frozen stream, staring longingly at the rushing water below. He kept talking about the ocean and how wonderful it would be to go back to it. He said that he had family waiting for him, and that he had enough of all the fighting going on due to...whatever it was that had made so many pokemon violently aggressive.

Vanilla followed along after Oswald through the chilly area. Her fur was thick enough that she didn't mind the cold, although going all the way out here for a rescue mission wasn't exactly the first thing she'd do. Hopefully the Lanturn wouldn't be too suspicious of an outlaw coming along, but she wouldn't bring up the topic unless they did. "Why does a Lanturn want to go to a place that has the potential to.. I dunno.. Douse it's flames?" She asked while gingerly touching her nose which was being nipped by the cold weather. Although her fur kept her warm, she did have a sensitive nose to this kind of weather.

"Well, it doesn't have legs it can walk around on, I bet he just feels more comfortable in the water. Besides, he said that he wanted to go see his family." Oswald replied, confusing the Minccino's nose touch to be a sign of being cold. He gently pulled her close to him and selflessly wrapped his cloak around Vanilla.

"I know I'd like to see my family sometime...you know? It's been so long since I've seen them." Oswald said, rubbing Vanilla's shoulder with his paw as the cold gently nipped at his body.

Vanilla removed the cloak, handing it back to Oswald. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the gesture, but she knew he needed it more. "Trust me... I'm a lot less cold than you are, but thanks." She said with a small smile. She caught his mention of his family, remembering her own. She was in fact, not the most popular of all her Minccino siblings. "Why don't you go visit them? You said you're allowed to leave when you want right?" She asked, confused as to why he never had. Vanilla herself probably wouldn't visit her family, as she didn't have a reason to. She didn't even know if they were still there now that she thought about it.

Oswald frowned, looking over to the patiently waiting Lanturn before replying, "They won't speak to me when they're six feet under...I'm sorry, I'm starting to make this awkward."

Oswald wiped his eyes with his arm before walking over to the Lanturn, who hopped around to face the Mienfoo with a glint of hope in his eyes as he said, "So, you're the team that's going to help me get to the sea?"

"Yes, you can be sure to count on us. Now, do you remember where does the dungeon ends, Lanturn?" Oswald asked, only to have the lanturn immediately with a tilt of his head. Oswald frowned, as it was obvious to see that the Lanturn had never even seen the end of this dungeon.

"So we're going in blind...alright then, just stay close to us, we'll take care of any enemies that come our way, alright? Let's follow the stream and I'm sure we'll find the end." Oswald stated, taking the lead as he started to walk down the ice covered stream. He turned, and motioned for Vanilla to come up to where he was, obviously wanting to speak to her.

Vanilla, feeling incredibly bad for even asking wandered over to Oswald after he had motioned. "I'm... Sorry about your family. I honestly had no idea." She said and gently took his paw in hers, squeezing it lightly. It was a comforting gesture, not meant to offend the Mienfoo in any way. "She gave him a smile, unusual for Vanilla to do. But if it was for Oswald, of course she would smile.

"You shouldn't have to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong. Like you said, you couldn't have known." Oswald replied, smiling a little at Vanilla holding his paw in hers. It wasn't the first time she had done this, but it was still very comforting. After a slight pause, Oswald turned to the Minccino and asked, "So what about your parents? What were they like?"

Vanilla thought for a moment. "I... Wouldn't say they were exactly the emotional and loving parents you'd expect. They taught us what we needed to know and expected us to do everything at one hundred percent. We were brought up to be thieves after all..." She said while still holding onto his paw. "I can't say it was a cold family. We had our warm moments filled with laughter, but I guess it was lacking? I don't really know to be honest. I've never seen any other families." She shrugged.

"Well, it sounds like a functional family, at the very least. I've seen worse." Oswald replied, remembering all of the retrieval missions that parents would send so that their run away child could be returned safely to them, sometimes offering very little in exchange for the hard work, despite some of these parents being quite wealthy.

The Mienfoo looked back, occasionally checking to see if the lanturn was still following them, and was somewhat relieved to see that the Lanturn was either not paying attention to them, or was too busy scanning the surroundings for any sort of threat.

"This place seems so strange, doesn't it? I mean, maybe it's not as strange as some of the other places around here, but just the way the water continues to flow under the ice...it's sort of cool when you think about it." Oswald said, the icy surface glinting ever so slightly from the light shining through a few holes in the snow clouds.

"Mmm.. Yeah you could say it's strange... I'm not too keen on falling into the water though." Vanilla said and rubbed her shoulder with one paw. The thought of falling into water that cold could make even Vanilla shiver. "Do you think anything really strong lives here? To be honest, I've never been to this area before. I would rather not run into a legendary or something really strong you know. This being a first mission and all." She said while glancing around. Escorting a mysterious Lanturn to the bottom of the dungeon would hopefully be easier than she was really thinking.

The mienfoo shrugged, not really knowing what to say to Vanilla, as this was his first time entering this particular dungeon. "But that's part of the mystery, isn't it? To see whether or not something is there, to have the satisfaction of being the first to see all that this mysterious place has to offer."

Oswald had to chuckle lightheartedly afterwards, as he added, "But yeah, running into a legendary pokemon would certainly be a bad thing. Especially on your second mission. But don't worry, you know I'll keep you safe."

Catching that he had said second, Vanilla thought back to the first 'mission' they had gone on. Really it had been a spur of the moment thing. She hadn't thought much on it since it happened. "How do you know we're the first to see this place anyways?" Vanilla asked. She was silently hoping there were no legendary Pokemon about. Although she could take Oswald's word on the fact he would make all attempts to keep her safe, she didn't doubt the power of any legendary Pokemon that might be slumbering nearby. Vanilla let out a small exhale, and noticed how easy to was to see her breath. She blinked her large chocolatey brown eyes, somewhat amused at this.

"Well, have you seen this place? Do you know anyone who has seen this place? If not, then how can you say otherwise." Oswald replied, knowing all to well that his logic was rather childish. Still, he didn't want the "magic" of the moment to be ruined by such questions.

"Besides, there aren't any paw prints nearby, so we're obviously the first to set foot on this lake in the last week." Oswald added, sticking his tongue out in lighthearted retort to Vanilla's skepticism. Besides, it was always best to try and stay positive during a mission, especially when it was to parts unknown.

Vanilla wrinkled her nose at his comment. "Of course I wouldn't know any Pokemon who have been here. You should know that..." She said and put her own paws together. She rubbed them together, attempting to generate a little warmth for herself. Her paws felt a little numb for some reason. Something up ahead caught her attention though, and she nudged Oswald with her arm. "Look... There's someone up ahead." She murmured.

Oswald chuckled at the Minccino's remark, glad to know that this was still going to be her first experience with this place. However, upon hearing Vanilla's observation, the Mienfoo quickly took up a defensive stance as he tried to scan further ahead into the snowy landscape. All he could see was black fur and a pink petal like protrusion coming out of the pokemon's head. With that small tidbit of information, the trained explorer could easily tell what kind of pokemon it was.

"It looks like a Sneasel, but I can't be one hundred percent sure if that is what it really is. Let's go up to it and see what it wants...cautiously of course." Oswald added, retaining his defensive stance as he moved closer and closer to the Sneasel, stopping only when the pokemon was just seven feet away.

Vanilla narrowed her eyes. Suspicions of the mysterious Sneasel arose and she kept a close eye on the wild Pokemon as they approached closer and closer. She saw the way it seemed to shift, waiting for them to approach. Vanilla had a sense for noticing little things about Pokemon, like their behaviors. Although she never mentioned it to anyone. The Sneasel flexed it's claws idly while watching them. "Oswald... I don't like this." Vanilla murmured quietly. Something about the behavior of the Sneasel was vaguely familiar.

Ruby eyes narrowed as it picked up on Vanilla's comment. The Sneasel's ear twitched as it crossed it's arms. "Well, well, well. Walking through the icy lands. Taking a trip? Walking all over my territory?" A high pitched female voice said. "This is the land of Meera and her clan. You're stepping on Meera territory you got that?" The Sneasel said holding up a claw. "You got five seconds to leave, or things will get darker than you can imagine." She said with a menace to her voice.

Vanilla frowned, she figured the Sneasel would have something to back up her threats. She knew this species and they were not the type to be trifled with. Meera smirked, obviously catching the Minccino was bothered by her comment. "Meera has taken out rescue teams like yours before. Stupid, all so stupid, and you'll end up just the same." She cackled, obviously amused by her own comment.

Her cackling was stopped half way by Oswald's paw connecting to the Sneasel's jaw, sending her flying off into the wooded area to the right of the stream, where a tree could be seen shaking from the impact.

Oswald fell to the ground on his paws, happy to see that he had taken advantage of the Sneasel's pride and managed to get in a good hit on her. Oswald stood, and replied, "I couldn't care less. I have to take my client to Silver River, and I will not be denied by the likes of you."

Oswald then bounced back over to Vanilla, closing the gap between her and where the Sneasel once stood in a single bound, obviously show casing how much more powerful he was now.

"We should get going before her back up arrives."

Vanilla nodded. "Yeah, good idea." She glanced back to check and see if their escort was okay. The Pokemon was a water type, meaning any ice type attacks wouldn't be that bothersome for it. She took four pawsteps forward, only to stumble backwards as a loud screech pierced her ears. She covered them with her paws. Her ears were ringing from the loud and persistent sound and she looked around with one eye while the other remained shut.

A Weavile shot out of the tree where Meera had landed. It's claws glowed white as it summoned up a hail storm. Chunks of ice began to fall from the sky as it landed on the ground. Being an ice type, it was unaffected by the hail and merely grinned as it readied itself to attack again. Being a Weavile it had a speed advantage over all the Pokemon there, and was incredibly cocky and sure of itself.

A rustle from the bushes and Meera was out again. "Fauner! Back me up!" Meera ordered as she charged towards Oswald. She had managed to take the attack by using the move Endure and smirked. Even if she was knocked out by the attack her teammates would finish the job with ease. She attacked with a Counter attack, now that she had taken a heavy blow from Oswald's attack she'd be giving him double the damage in a vengeful attack. Her ruby eyes sparked with a desire to destroy the Mienfoo on the spot as she swung with one claw.

From above, another Weavile was readying itself to attack. This Weavile was actually the one that had used the Screech attack. It was planning, plotting actually, using it's special move Nasty Plot and increasing the chances of a successful attack. This Weavile was the second ace in the hole and was deciding on its target. The Minccino would be perfect. Afterwards they would kidnap the Lanturn and hold it hostage. They had been watching from afar and were well aware that the ghost Pokemon was the escort. A small piece of hail landed in its paw, and it crunched it up in anticipation. It smirked as its power began to rise, readying itself to attack when the opportunity arose.

"Fool, you should never..." Oswald said, barely flinching at the screech, and instead using it to pinpoint the third, unseen target. With a quick motion, Oswald caught the Sneasel's arm using his Detect, and, while still holding on to Meera, he Bounced high up into the air, using the Sneasel's body as a cover to protect himself temporarily from the hail.

"Underestimate an opponent!" Oswald cried, letting go of the Sneasel long enough for him to deliver a kick to her side, sending her flying towards the Weavile in the tree before plummeting back down, specifically onto the Weavile still in the tree.

Meanwhile, the Lanturn winked at the Weavile ahead, using Attract on the Weavile, hopefully to great effect.

Vanilla charged towards the Weavile on the ground, who had obviously been affected by the Lanturn's charming move. She twisted neatly, delivering a Tail Slap right across the Weavile's face that sent him staggering backwards for several moments. She smirked. "Odd, usually I'm the one using attract." She readied herself to attack again, surprised that the Attract had worked so easily on the Weavile in the first place who was rubbing his jaw. Vanilla cringed in pain as a chunk of hail hit her and rubbed her head. She hadn't forgotten the fact there were chunks of ice falling and debated on seeking refuge in a tree and attacking from there, but the enemy in front was obviously a problem.

The Sneasel went crashing into the tree, where the previous Weavile had jumped out of the way to avoid getting hit. Meera was out for the count obviously having taken a heavy amount of damage. The Weavile in who had been in the tree dodged neatly away from the assaulter. It raised it's claws into the air and released a dark wave of energy towards Oswald. It was well aware of the fact the Dark Pulse attack wouldn't be that effective, but it knew all too well the secondary effect the attack had. It readied itself to attack with a Punishment attack as hail crashed all around them.

Oswald, due to the tree branch's shaking upon his landing, could do nothing but take the Dark Pulse, grunting as it pushed him back along the branch from impact, but didn't do as much damage as he would have initially thought. The wave surely would've made any other pokemon flinch, but Oswald's inner focus pushed away any potential fear that might have clouded his mind. Sharp pieces of hail cut along the Mienfoo's body, adding to the damage of the Dark Pulse. Still, Oswald knew that if he didn't defeat this Weavile here and now, then he would surely run off and increase his combat capabilities once more. With a deep breath, Oswald waited for the Weavile to strike, it's arm whipping through the air as it started it's swift decent towards Oswald.

Oswald's paw glowed faintly with an orange glow, and with a shout, he punched the Weavile square in the jaw with a Drain Punch, while the Weavile's Punishment hit Oswald in the collar, releasing a torrent of pain that was quickly diminished by the Drain Punch's special life draining properties.

Vanilla attacked the Weavile, still affected by the attract, with an Echoed Voice attack. It staggered backwards and shook it's head. Not only was it head over heels for the Lanturn temporarily, but now it's ears were ringing. Again she cringed in pain from the onslaught of the hail which was starting to get heavier. She shook her head though, and wouldn't leave the escort unattended because the weather was damaging her. "Honestly, this is too much..." Vanilla muttered under her breath.

The Weavile let out a screech of pain. It managed to keep it's balance though and jumped backwards with agile skill. It's face was damaged from the Drain Punch attack, and it needed to get away to channel more energy. It merely landed on the ground, grabbing the Weavile that was smitten and pulling it along away from the group. It began to hiss under its breath at the Weavile who only held its head because of the Echoed Voice attack.

The Lanturn winced as another chunk of hail hit her on the head, and, having had enough of this, started to bounce around rhythmically, the hailing chunks of ice quickly changing to a light, drizzling rain. She smiled in delight at the change in weather, but the Lanturn tilted her head when she saw a large, round shadow pass her by. She looked up, and her eyes widened as a snow covered piece of rock flew through the air at an ark, slowly losing it's altitude as it got closer and closer to the two fleeing Weaviles.

The Lanturn winced as the boulder crashed down, breaking out into 3 rocky pillars that trapped the two Weaviles' movements. The Lanturn sighed in relief, only to jump in surprise as another boulder crashed into the trio of pillars, obviously in an attempt to hit both Weaviles at once.

Oswald, having performed two Rock Tombs, threw his arms up in the air, smiling brightly as both attacks hit their intended targets. However, from this distance Oswald couldn't tell if he had hit both Weaviles, or didn't hit any at all.

Vanilla, taken off guard by the sudden flying rock jumped slightly. She relaxed as she realized that it was Oswald, who had used his Rock Tomb attack. The hail had turned into rain, although Vanilla wasn't happy about this either. Her fur was starting to become plastered against her body. She frowned in annoyance while her brow furrowed.

One of the Weavile tried to attack the rocks with his claws, but to no avail. The solid objects were too hard to break through with his attacks. The other one, not love struck, had managed to avoid the attacks. It narrowed its eyes at the Weavile who was stuck and huffed. "Sucks to be you." It said with a sneer and dashed away with agile grace. The escaped Weavile vanished into the trees.

"Hey!" Vanilla said. She shook her pelt once to shake off some of the excess water and padded over to the captured Weavile. He was clearly still under the effects of the attract and passed a longing glace at the Lanturn. "Should we let them escape? This one will be here... For a while. I know that for a fact." Vanilla said while eyeing the Weavile. She had decided on not using her Attract on this journey, for Oswald's sake.

Oswald nodded, "I'll report it to the guild once I get back from my mission. After that, they'll most likely come up with an Outlaw poster for them, and then another team will catch them. Right now, we just need to worry about getting Lanturn home."

"Or I could just do this..." The Lanturn replied, winking at the Weavile before firing an Ice Beam at it and encasing it in a block of ice. She smiled simply before bouncing further down the river, leaving a somewhat disturbed Oswald in her wake.

"I'm starting to worry about the mental stability of my client...is that a good thing?" Oswald asked, now starting to follow behind the Lanturn as he certainly didn't want her to go out into the wild all by herself. After all, the mission hinged on the client's journey to the bottom of the dungeon, and they needed to make sure that she would complete her task safely.