[IC] PMD: Explorers of the Unknown

[Marlowe]

In the middle of Lumi's nest, her form laid twisted, her head deep between her front legs as her back legs splayed out behind her, with their pads facing the ceiling. The morning sun's rays shone through the window in her room, casting its light into her pale brown fur and warming her sleeping body. The rays steadily spilled upwards until they reached her face, and that was when they disturbed her from whatever dream that she was having. A light groan left her maw as she raised her paw towards her muzzle and rubbed her citrine eyes as if she was going to be able to massage the sun away. Flopping completely onto her back, she stretched out her sore body as she stared up at the ceiling above. After a moment, she rolled over onto her side and looked out into the rest of the bedroom. The bedroom wasn't a giant one, but its walls were painted a pretty night blue and dotted with yellow and white dots that looked like stars. There were three other nests other than her own, and each of them were filled by the sleeping forms of her sisters.

"Sable, Toffee, Fawn," she yawned out as she padded over to the Eevee that bore a reddish-brown coat, noticing that her face was buried into her tail. "It's morning, it's time to wake up..."

The reddish-hued Eevee let out a little whimper and peered up at her with dark chocolate eyes. "Too early..."

"It's almost sunhigh, Toffee! Dad's gonna head to work soon, and we're gonna miss breakfast!" Lumi complained. Arceus, she was one of the younger sisters of their family, but sometimes she felt like she was older than Toffee and Sable combined. "And the adventurers are coming back to Sunspear today! We can't miss them!"

She could almost imagine Toffee rolling her eyes behind her tail fluff. For a moment, she thought that Toffee wasn't going to get up from bed, but the larger Eevee finally lifted herself up onto her paws and stretched out her back. Lumi smiled and wagged her tail before she turned towards Sable's and Fawn's nests, seeing that her other big sister and little sister had gotten up and were blinking the dreariness from their eyes. Finally, everyone was up and out of bed. That meant she could finally head downstairs for breakfast~!

Lumi trotted out of their bedroom and onto the small balcony that looked out onto the main room of the first floor. The wooden floors below glistened with the sunlight that shone through the windows, and the smell of cleaning product reached her nose. Her ears pricked up at the sound of a pan clattering against a stove top reached her ears, and her eyes turned towards the source of the sound. Their father stood at in the cozy corner kitchen, his pale fur soaking in the sunlight as vine sprouted from the leafy green tuft of fur at his chest. The vines worked carefully, cutting up a pinkish, cylindrical piece of mock meat that was seasoned with herbs. She watched carefully as he placed the round pieces onto the searing pain, the hiss of smoke following soon after as it rose into the air.

"Morning, Dad," Lumi greeted, walking down the small set of stairs that led to the first floor.

The Leafeon didn't turn to her, instead choosing to concentrate on cracking open eggs and pouring them into a bowl. "Morning, Lumi, dear. Are your sisters awake?"

"We sure are," Sable's grumpy voice sounded not far from behind her.

Fawn, her younger sister, brushed up against Lumi's fur. "Smells yummy!"

"Yeah, what are you making?"

"A surprise," their father finally turned to face them with a tender smile, his leafy ears twitching slightly. "Go get yourselves settled down at the table. Your brothers should be up soon."

The four sisters did as they were told. Lumi hauled herself onto one of the wooden chairs that framed a long, oaken table. There were loaves of bread already on the table, complete with rich butter and a glass of fresh orange juice. It wasn't often that they got to have such a nice breakfast; most of the time, their father left prepared food for them before heading out to work. Either way, Lumi was happy about the sunny, warm morning and the smell of roasting imitation meat and egg and onions. She couldn't wait to tuck into whatever her dad was making.

[PrankFox]

An irritating, insistent poking paw kept jabbing into Sora's side. He reached out and swiped in the general direction that the irritant was coming from without removing his head from where it was stuffed completely underneath his tail to block out the light of the sun that was creeping through the partially parted curtains covering the window. The poking stopped for a moment and he let out a sigh; snuggling deeper into the nest that was kept warm by his dark coat. Unfortunately, after only a short time the poking continued, this time at a more rapid pace, and the whining voice of his youngest brother, Cane, assaulted his ears, "Sora! Wake up! I'm hungry and I don't wanna go downstairs by myself."

A low groan pulled itself from his throat and he pulled his tail away from his eyes to glare at Cane who was staring at him with watery brown eyes. "Why don't you go and bother Storm and get him to go with you," he grumbled and looked over towards their middle brother's nest. The gray-brown ball of fur that was Storm seemed completely undisturbed and content to continue sleeping despite the whining that was happening.

Cane pouted and drooped his ears, "Because he's mean to me and I don't wanna go with him."

The long sigh that came from Sora was impressive as he rolled onto his side and then hauled himself to his feet and shook out his fur. The struggles of being the oldest of the three. "Just give me a second and I'll come down with you alright." Cane's eyes lit up as Sora walked over to Storm's nest and hunted for where his brother's ear was flattened against his head in sleep. He stuck his head close and took a deep breath before blowing a stream of air directly into the other Eevee's ear; sending Storm at least ten feet into the air with a yelp.

He jumped backwards out of the way as Storm hit the ground and immediately swiped at him with yellowish eyes narrowed. Cane giggled delightedly behind him as he turned to walk back towards the door, "Breakfast is almost ready and I can hear everyone else already up and moving. If you don't hurry up there won't be anything left." He could hear the grumbling as his brother started shuffling around the room to wake himself up and come downstairs.

Cane followed happily behind him as he stepped out of the now well lit room. He wished he could stay in bed for longer in the deep greens and browns that decorated the room like a growing forest, but he knew he'd never hear the end of it if he didn't go downstairs with Cane. He could smell the different foods being cooked by their dad and he shook off the last of the dredges of sleep as his stomach began to growl instead. He could also hear all four of his sisters already down at the table and quickened his step a little bit so that he could get into his seat before everything got served.

"Morning," he called out to everyone and Cane echoed him shortly after as he plopped into one of the chairs at the table. His tail began to wag slightly as he looked across the bread and everything on the table.

"Good morning," his father returned his greeting and glanced over to just see the two of them, "Where's Storm?" he questioned with a slight frown.

Sora glanced towards the stairs but he didn't see his middle brother on his way down yet, "He's coming. Didn't want to get out of bed this morning as usual." He tried to excuse his brother's behavior but he was getting more and more irritable and rude as time went on. Either way he was looking forward to whatever food was being made by his father and what was going on today. "Aren't the adventurers coming back today?" He directed the question towards his sisters, "Are we gonna go see them?"

[Marlowe]

Slowly but surely, her brothers left their room and wandered down to the kitchen table. Lumi wagged her tail back at Sora and Cane. Were they as excited as her? Didn't they want to see the adventurers too? She could imagine it now, a parade of them marching down to the town's center, where they would all be celebrated like the heroes they were! They were gone for months... everyone just had to miss them! "It's gonna be amazing! What do you think they found? Oh, oh, what kinda Pokemon do you think they're like?" she chattered on and on, her neck fluff seemingly poofing up the longer she went on.

Their father said nothing as he approached the table while balancing platters on his vines. Carefully, he served each of them their own plates, revealing their full breakfast course-- omelettes chock full of creamy cheese and the slices of meat and dotted with herbs from their garden. "Hmm... I'd like to think they're normal Pokemon, just like you and I," he hummed, quite pensive. "Please be careful. I don't want you getting into trouble out there..." he turned to Sable, who was already carefully picking apart her omelette. "Sable, won't you go with them?"

Sable's long ears flattened. "Why me?" she whined.

"You're the oldest," their father pointed out, "and, quite frankly, the one I trust the most with taking care of your little brothers and sisters. I'd go along with them, but I need to be at work by sunhigh."

Lumi caught sight of Sable rolling her eyes, but her eldest sister said nothing. Sable had been as prissy as she was for as long as Lumi could remember, but she supposed it was just because she was the oldest and grumpiest. She turned back to Sora. "I heard one of them was a Swellow. An actual, fully evolved Swellow! I wonder how big their wings are!"

[PrankFox]

Lumi's excitement for the adventuerers return to Sunspear was infectious and Sora couldn't help the smile that crept up on his or the wag of his tail. "I bet they're all super strong. Maybe like a Tyranitar or a Garchomp, that'd be awesome to see!" It would be so cool to get to leave the city and explore remote caves and forests, fight dangerous villains, and return home to a city that cheered for them. The whole family could make like a team or something, that'd be super cool. Though he doubted that Sable or Storm would want to join. The two of them were always grumpy and would probably just want to stay in bed all day. Speaking of his middle brother, Storm had finally made his way downstairs to join them at the table, but didn't talk to anyone beyond a mumbled greeting to their dad.

He was dragged out of his thoughts by their father coming to the table with a number of plates and Cane practically vibrating his seat across the floor with how excited he was to see the adventurers. His mouth immediately started to water at the delicious looking food in front of them. "Thanks dad!" he chirped with Cane immediately echoing him again.

Of course Sable didn't want to tag along and watch them, she never did. Still he wasn't going to let her, or Storm's, bad attitude take away his excitement. Honestly, they were old enough that they could watch themselves, they didn't need Sable there to tell them what to do, but he didn't want to argue with his father before he had to leave for work. Maybe he'd bring it up tonight at dinner.

He met Lumi's eyes as she spoke and his own widened in awe, "Woah, that's awesome! I bet they're bigger than dad is from ears to tail. Maybe bigger!"

Cane gasped and turned to look at the rest of his siblings, eyes wide, "What if some of them are like us?! Or even evolved!" He didn't think it was possible but the younger Eeevee's tail began to wag even harder at the thought.

"There might be, but you gotta finish eating if we want to get there before everything starts." Sora told him with a fond look as Storm rolled his eyes. "How long is it gonna take us to get there so we know when to leave to get the best spot to see?"

[Marlowe]

More visions of grandeur flooded Lumi's mind as she imagined the adventurers. A Swellow with big wings? A giant Tyranitar or an awesome Garchomp! Or maybe, just maybe, there would be some just like them, like what Cane said. An Eevee, or maybe even a Flareon, or Vaporeon... it'd be absolutely amazing, like a dream come true. The only evolved Eevee she had seen was her father, since their mother hadn't been of their evolution line in the first place. Her heart hurt for their mother, who had died when most of them were so young. Even now, when she tried to remember, her face was just so foggy...

"The walk to the city square should take about thirty minutes, so you better finish up your breakfast quick," their father said once he made sure everyone was eating. His brown eyes sparkled with something that Lumi didn't quite recognize. "Please, be careful out there. Stay close to Sable, alright?"

Lumi nodded, stuffing another piece of the omelette into her mouth. Her father's cooking wasn't anything great, but it was tasty enough to get the siblings to eat most of their food. Toffee picked at her food as if she was uninterested in it, though, while Fawn filled most of her belly with the warm loaves of bread their dad had left out for them. Only a few minutes passed before the Leafeon in question turned towards the clock on the wall and blinked in surprise.

"I need to get going! Sable, remember what I told you!" he told her, which only prompted an exasperated look from the long-earred Eevee. He rushed about the table in a haphazard frenzy, nuzzling each of them before he darted out the door and left them on their own.

Lumi turned to the rest of her brothers and sisters, perking up her ears. "Is everyone almost done? We're going to be late if we don't hurry!" She fidgeted in her chair as she giggled. At this point, she wasn't even hungry anymore.

"I've been done," retorted Sable as she pushed her plate away. The most elegant of her siblings cast a dull half-glance at the reddish Eevee not too far from where she sat. "How about you, Toffee?"

Toffee let out a nervous chuckle, lifting her paw to scratch her nose. "I'm done, but I think I'm gonna stay and clean up this mess. I don't think Fawn wants to go, either..."

"I wanna stay home and draw!" Fawn yapped loudly as she fluffed out her already very fluffy mane.

Sable's ear twitched as an annoyed light shone in her eye, but she turned to Storm without saying anything to her sisters. "How about you, Storm? You coming?"

Lumi frowned. Why couldn't Toffee just clean all of this up when they got back home? And Fawn had the whole day to draw. She hoped that Storm and Cane would come, at the very least.

[PrankFox]

The excitement, of at least some of them, at the table was palpable and Sora couldn't help but get caught up in the possibilities. It'd be so cool to one day be one of those adventurers. Maybe they'd even get to work with some of the Pokémon they saw in the parade today. That would be even cooler.

Thirty minutes! That was a long walk and it was already getting closer to when the parade was supposed to start. They'd have to hurry if they wanted to get a spot where all of them could see. He stuffed more of the omelet into his mouth and nodded at his father vigorously, "We will be!" He didn't really want to stick close to Sable. She was always grumpy and if she'd just suck the fun out of being there. Maybe she'd just leave them to watch while she went and did something else. That way Lumi, Cane, and himself could have a better time.

"Bye dad! See you later!" He called after their father as the Leafeon rushed out the door. He wished that he could've stayed and had breakfast with them, but he knew that work was important. They'd at least get to eat dinner together later, and maybe they could bring him back some cool souvenir or something from town. He downed the remainder of his juice and nodded at Lumi with an excited grin, "Ready!"

Cane shoveled the last of his omelet into his mouth before nodding hard and jumping out of his seat to wait on the rest of them, "Let's go, let's go! I wanna get a good spot!"

Sora watched Sable talk to their other sisters and frowned. Why didn't they want to come? It would be less fun if they weren't all there, but he didn't want to try and force them either. They'd be able to tell them about it anyway.

Bored yellow eyes met Sable's as Storm pushed his food around on his plate, "Yeah, sure. Not like there's anything else to do around here anyway."

As grumpy as Storm was it was still nice that he wanted to come with them, hopefully he wouldn't drag the mood down along with Sable. Sora hopped down off his chair to join Cane and Storm followed shortly after. "Ok that's everyone! Let's go!" Honestly, the walk would probably be shorter than 30 minutes just because of how excited they were. At least if Sable and Storm didn't slow them down. Either way he wanted to get to Sunspear as quickly as they could.

[Marlowe]

Storm was coming too? Lumi felt her ears curve downwards at the realization. Sable and Storm were older brothers, but not the cool type of ones. They were more of the grumpy, bossy ones rather than anything else. Holding back the temptation to roll her eyes, she bounded off of her chair and walked to the door. "Let's go, let's go!" she chimed as she bounced on her paws, her fur beginning to puff out with sheer excitement.

"Alright, alright, don't get your tail in a knot," Sable mumbled as she padded to the door after them.

Toffee waved to them with a paw. "Have fun, you guys!"

"We'll try to."

The warm midday breeze immediately brushed through her fur as Sable opened the wooden door. Sable walked them down the dirt path down their little lawn, which had begun to bloom with fresh spring flowers. The rocky mountains around them arched high into the air and provided them some protection from the harsh sun above. Lumi smiled as she followed her big brother and sister down a small path that led away from their homely wooden cabin and down a small slope that led to town. Sunspear was more than a nice town, she had thought more than once during her brief time on this world, mostly because she hadn't seen any other towns in the world as of yet. In reality, Sunspear was nothing special; it was a simple village on the cliff side with small stone buildings. Luckily enough for the townspeople, the cliffs had also provided ample protection from the brunt of the winter weather, especially the blizzard that passed through about two months ago. Lumi had thought that their whole place was going to end up buried in the snow!

Underneath Lumi's paws, the rough rocky paths soon became smooth, cool cobblestone. Her perked ears could already hear the hub-bub of the town and smell the yummy treats that came from the stalls. There were all types of Pokemon on the street-- some were probably heading to work, while others were probably as excited as she was about the adventurers coming back. Her tail waved behind her like a flag in a storm. "Everyone looks so happy!" she commented as they passed by a pasty stall being run by a yappy Rhydon conversing with a Seviper.

"It's cause the weather's nice," Sable answered. "Winter was horrible. I can't wait to be old enough and be able to move somewhere warm."

[PrankFox]

Sora bounded after Lumi towards the door with Cane shortly behind him. Sure he was a bit older than them, but he still felt the same amount of excitement that he had every time that they got to go into town to do something cool or fun. Storm followed after at a more bored pace but still gave half-heartedly to Toffee as they all left the house and began the walk down the street towards the city proper.

"Sure, whatever."

Why did he even bother coming if he was just gonna be miserable the whole time?

"Don't get too far ahead!" he called out to Cane who had bounded down the stone path the second that the door was opened tail fluffed and wagging with excitement. If any of them were going to get into trouble it was Cane. He didn't mean anything by it, he was just too excitable for his own good and got carried away sometimes.

Thankfully the sky was clear and the mountains were shielding them from the worst of the weather as they always did. He could already smell the city scents on the wind. The mix of Pokémon of all kinds along with the smell of cooking foods, particularly sweets. He was pretty full from breakfast but he'd never say no to sugar. He doubted Sable would let them though and Storm wouldn't want to deal with Cane while he was hopped up on sugar. Still it was the perfect day for going into the city to see a parade of powerful adventurers.

He bounded up to walk beside Lumi as they all looked around the hustle and bustle of the city. The adventurers would be walking the main street so they needed to find someplace there to set up. "Yeah! We should try to find something to bring back for dad since he has to work. He said he would've come with us if he could." He knew their father worked hard and wished the Leafeon could take a break sometimes. It was the least they could do really.

A frown crossed his face as Sable talked about leaving. She would really just walk out and leave Sunspear, just like that? He hadn't really thought about what he would do when he got older, did he want to leave too? See the world and everything else it had to offer? Maybe even become an adventurer!

"Come on, let's go find a spot close to the road so we can all see!" Cane called out from a little ways ahead of them on the path they were walking.

He grinned slightly at Lumi before rushing past Sable and Storm to catch up to Cane who squealed and turned to run towards the main part of town. If they were gonna be here might as well have some fun for a bit.

[Marlowe]

This was nice. Even though Sable was being a bit grouchy and Storm wasn't saying a thing, it felt great to be together. There was a sense of unity between their little squad that Lumi wasn't sure it could be found among all families. She knew she was lucky for her brothers and father. They never spent a day hungry, and there was enough love and adventure to go around. The pale-furred Eevee nodded when Sora said that they should get something for their dad before they went home. A gift chock full of sweets would be great for him; if she remembered, the Leafeon loved sugary things. Which made sense, because he was a Grass-type. Weren't they among the types of Pokemon that loved sugar?

She blinked when Cane dashed off, saying that they should get a good spot. Lumi's grin became more energetic when Sora darted off after him, which made her do the same. "Hey! Wait up!" Sable called out behind them in surprise.

Lumi didn't listen. She ran after her two brothers, careful enough to weave herself through places where the hustle-and-bustle became thicker. She was excited, but not too excited to spur an accident or make someone trip. Within a few moments and nearly empty lungs, she arrived at the town square. Already, Pokemon of all shapes and sizes were gathering in a circle, leaving the path open for the adventurers to move through. There was a sweet smell in the air, and she didn't know whether it was the newly blooming flowers or the cones of cotton candy. Having been somewhat distracted, she shook her head and turned to look for Cane and Sora. Where she had come to a spot was a good place to watch the parade. Not many large Pokemon had gathered there, save for a Tauros who had been laying on the ground next to a chattering group of Pidgey. When she caught a flash of Cane and Sora's pelts, she raised a paw and waved.

"Heyyyyy! Over here, this is a good spot!" she called out to them.

[PrankFox]

Sable's call fell on deaf ears, despite their size, as Sora zigzagged between legs and around swinging tails of the larger Pokémon that were heading towards the square to wait for the adventurers to return. He could feel the smooth stones underneath his paws and let the excited grin stay on his face as he raced after Cane. His brother was quite a bit smaller than he was, so it was a little difficult to keep him in sight, but he managed to do so even after turning to look back and see Lumi racing after him.

He put on a burst of speed when they got to a clearer part of the square in between several little, colorful market stalls that were selling a number of fun and different things. He was pretty sure he saw cotton candy at one, their father would really like that. The additional speed allowed him to catch up with Cane and carefully tackle his younger brother to the ground.

Cane yelped in surprise as they both went tumbling to the ground, thankfully not into anyone else's legs, breathless and laughing. The smaller Eevee shoved Sora off with a paw to the face, "Get off! You're heavy!" Though there wasn't a lot of force behind the shove.

Sora let himself get pushed and they both got to their paws, still slightly breathless, and began to look around the square. The other three had to be somewhere. Thankfully it wasn't too crowded yet and Sora easily caught sight of Lumi's pale pelt and waving paw. "Come on Cane!" He quickly bounded through the circle of other Pokémon that were there and flashed Lumi a grin as he arrived with Cane shortly behind.

"This is a great spot! We'll be able to see everything from here!" He looked around the area and gave a friendly smile to the Tauros who was laying nearby before peering through the crowd to see if he could see Storm and Sable. He caught sight of them fairly easily and waved a paw at his brother who tapped Sable before they came to join them.

Storm's expression was indifferent as always, but he could see the gleam of annoyance in his brother's eyes and had to fight not to roll his own. "They should be here soon, I think!" He plopped down onto the ground to finish catching his breath, but he couldn't stop his tail from waving excitedly at the prospect of the types of Pokémon they'd see.

[Marlowe]

Lumi's smile spread so wide that her face hurt from all of her grinning. Her excitement was practically brimming at the seams. She just wanted to bounce around and all over the place! When were these Pokemon going to show up, anyways? Sitting down next to Sora, she felt her puffed fur brush up against her brother's. To other Pokemon, they probably seemed like uncontrollable puffballs of energy. Who could blame them? It wasn't every day that they got to see a whole adventurer's team return to town after weeks of exploration! Her thoughts were interrupted when a trumpet sounded from one of the rooftops. Lumi glanced up to see that a thick-pelted Raichu had climbed up to one of the ledges and blew into the instrument several times, producing a low, guttural groan that made her belly rumble with the vibrations.

"The explorers are here! Everyone make way and clear the road!" the Raichu announced.

A small cluster of Pokemon appeared at the end of the road. The ones around her shifted anxiously-- even the Tauros got up onto its hooves, looming over her like a big fuzzy rock. Lumi stood on her toes, trying to peer around the large beast. Great. Now she couldn't see at all! A loud huff escaped her as she flattened her ears against her head. She wasn't about to be scammed out of a great view. Sucking in a deep breath, she leaped into the air and landed almost neatly on the Tauros' back. Luckily for her, the Pokemon didn't seem that bothered by her perch. Lumi's eyes went wide as the group made their way into the city center. There was that pretty Swellow! And was that a Luxray?! She was so excited that she hardly noticed the quiet that had fallen across the crowd or the dried up wounds that marked their bodies.

"What's happened?" the Tauros below her rumbled with concern.

Sable, who had appeared rather uninterested in the parade, now sat solemnly and quietly, staring in the direction of the entourage. She bundled Cane close to her.

The adventurers stopped in the middle of the town center, their eyes downcast. That was when Lumi realized that something was completely and definitely wrong.

"Weren't there more than a dozen explorers? Now there's like seven at most..."

"Where's everyone else?"

"They look exhausted."

Questions flowed through the air like a malevolent storm as the Luxray stepped forward, his crimson and golden eyes narrowing as he turned his head to the crowd. "The Ember Cave expedition," he rumbled, "was a complete failure."

[PrankFox]

While Sora kept his fur flat, though he could feel Lumi's fluffed with excitement next to him, he couldn't stop the rapid wagging of his tail as he looked around the area. Cane was sitting on his other side, next to Sable, and Storm was standing slightly to the back looking disinterested. Though Sora could see his eyes flicking back to the road every so often, so it was obvious he was excited to some degree about the adventurers returning.

His eyes followed Lumi's up as the Raichu blew the horn and had to stop himself from fully vibrating with excitement, though it wasn't going very well. Cane sprang to his paws as the announcement that they'd returned rang through the streets, and even Storm fully turned his head to look through the crowds.

The huff that came from Lumi was echoed by him at almost the exact same time as the Tauros blocked their view of the street. As his sister leapt up onto the back of the larger Pokemon he quickly scrambled underneath and stuck his head out from in between their front legs. His eyes went wide as he looked across the small group that was standing there, the Swellow that his sister had mentioned wasn't gliding through the air and was instead standing, head slightly down, next to the rest of the group. He stuck his head out slightly further and could see a Sandslash and Absol as well amongst the team, but none of them looked exuberant or happy to be home. This was certainly not what he'd expected.

His head turned upwards at the Tauros' question, and he heard Cane behind him, "Hey I wanna see!" as Sable pulled him closer in silence.

The questions flooded from the crowd and his head turned every which way trying to pick up on who was saying them. Storm finally came up next to him and he could feel the fluff of his brother's fur. Not with excitement, but concern and fear. He met Storm's eyes briefly before they both looked out to the crowd as the Luxray made his statement.

Immediately there was a eruption of noise and questions from the Pokémon around them. Sora flattened his ears against his head and turned to look back towards Sable for some sort of guidance as to what they should do.

[Marlowe]

What? How could the most important mission their town sent adventurers out on be a failure? Lumi's ears flattened against her head, her fur puffed up so far that she looked like a pale brown marshmallow more than an Eevee. The adventurers in question hardly seemed like adventurers; they just looked like deflated stuffed animals at most. Her ear swiveled to the side when she heard Cane's voice pipe up behind her. It was best if he didn't see what was going on, right? Should she even be seeing this?

"We set off towards Ember Cave approximately two months ago in search of any explanation regarding the Sage Stones," the Luxray continued. "After arriving there, we were faced with many types of feral Pokemon, as expected, but getting to the Sage Stones themselves was a whole other feat. We spent several weeks scouring the cave and many times we became lost in the labyrinth. As we traveled deeper, the Pokemon there became fiercer and fiercer, much more than we have previously encountered. It was only when we lost three of our members that we decided to turn back."

The Swellow bunched up her feathers. "These Pokemon are very ferocious. They seemed to have been putting their lives on the line to protect the Sage Stones, even though they seemingly bring about negative effects," she said. "Sadly, we were not able to retrieve the bodies of our fallen comrades, but--"

"We ask that everyone in Sunspear stay away from Ember Cave for now. Entering is dangerous, if not lethal," the Luxray growled. His eyes swept across the crowd as he held himself high, though from here Lumi could see that fresh scars, bright under the sun, marred the Pokemon's body. "For now, we recuperate and wait. That is all."

The group of Pokemon trudged through the groups of Pokemon, even when several of them burst forth from the main crowd and ran up to them in search of answers. Lumi stared at the commotion in front of her, her eyes wide with shock and fear. They actually failed the mission... how was that possible? The Tauros under her shifted to the side in order to get her to jump off his back. When she was safely on the ground, the giant Pokemon was one of the first to shuffle towards the smaller roads away from the city square.

She felt Sable's paw swat the tip of her ear. "Let's get going."

"B-but--"

Her normally stoic, dark eyes flared with emotion."No buts, Lumi. You saw what you wanted to see. Now it's time to go home," Sable sounded unusually somber as she got Cane to his feet and began to lead them away.

Lumi frowned and tossed a look at Sora before she ultimately followed after her big sister.

[PrankFox]

The amount of noise was uncomfortable as it assaulted Sora's ears as he continued to look through the legs of the Tauros. He pushed himself up against the gray-brown fur of his brother next to him as the Luxray spoke about Ember Cave. He was pretty sure he had heard about the mission leaving but he didn't know any of the specifics. Feral Pokémon? He didn't remember anything being mentioned about that other than their father telling them not to go outside of town after dark, or stray too far, but that was something he had always said.

"Arceus, they didn't decide to turn back until three of them were dead, that's ridiculous." Storm's voice was bitter, as it always was, but there was an undertone of disbelief and sadness to it that wasn't common for his brother.

He looked at his brother with a slight twinge of annoyance, "They had a job to do and they were trying to keep us safe, you can't blame them for that." He looked back at the ruffled feathers, fresh scars, and broken claws that turned the powerful adventuring party into a group of beaten down failures. "They knew what they were getting into." Even he wasn't sure he really believed what he said.

"Did they?" Storm asked him with a scoff, and it was obvious he didn't believe that either.

As the Luxray made his final statement the crowds around them began to disperse. He scrambled away from where he had posted up underneath the Tauros' body in order to not get stepped on as the larger Pokémon moved away from the square. The noise had faded a bit but there were still several others who ran up to the group with a barrage of questions. He didn't know what to feel. How had they failed? They were a group of the most powerful Pokémon in Sunspear, yet they'd lost the fight. It didn't make sense.

He moved slowly to stand next to Lumi as Sable herded them together to take them home. He flinched slightly at the force in her voice as she bundled Cane along. Storm followed shortly after with a look in his yellow eyes that Sora couldn't place.

"Why're we leaving? I wanted to go see them and talk to them!" Cane whined from where he was pushed along.

Sora met Lumi's look before just shaking his head slightly, "Let's just go." The excitement from the morning had faded hard and fast. All he wanted to do now was get home and bury himself in his nest. Maybe their father would know something more about what had happened.

[Marlowe]

The air that had once crackled with excitement and jubilee now weighed heavily upon her shoulders. Lumi nodded at her brother solemnly, her ears drooping to the ground. Cane sounded so excited, too. How could they prove the adventurers were so great if they came back looking like... well, that? Their little group of Eevee had been quickly gathered up by their very not happy sister, and Sable made sure the lot of them were paying attention to her when she spoke. "Don't tell Dad about what happened. You know how he feels about this kind of stuff," she growled menacingly, moreso towards her and Sora rather than Cane or Storm.

Lumi looked down at the floor as they walked. It'd make sense that they didn't talk about this to their dad. She wasn't old enough to remember her mother that well, but that didn't mean she would rub salt in her father's wound by saying that adventurers had died. She glared up at Sable once the bigger Eevee had turned away. When she was sure that neither Storm or Sable were paying attention, she brushed up against Sora and whispered into his ear.

"What do you think they saw back in Ember Cave?" she asked him. Lumi hadn't a clue on what was in it. She had been wondering ever since the explorer team set off those months ago. Now, she was more confused than ever.

[PrankFox]

Sora's ears drooped even further, if that was possible, as Sable growled at them to not tell their father. He felt a flash of indignation at his older sister since she seemed to be focused more on himself and Lumi than the other two; especially since Cane was usually the blabbermouth. He didn't want to get in trouble though, or make their father upset, so he kept his mouth shut and just turned his head away from Sable as she began to lead them home.

Storm walked next to Sable, occasionally muttering something to their sister that Sora couldn't hear. Not that he really cared all that much. They were probably just talking about what exactly to tell dad, but he couldn't help but feel upset that they were being excluded. They weren't the worst when it came to not listening, and Storm always had his tail in a twist. Maybe that's why the two of them got along so well.

His younger brother was walking a step in front of him and Lumi, his fluffy tail now dragging the ground and his head down. He felt a pang of sadness for Cane. He'd been so excited to see the parade and meet the adventurers, and now his memory of them was one of stress and fear. Cane usually bounced back pretty quickly from disappointment, but this was something that meant a lot more than just a dinner he didn't like. Cane had been very young when they'd lost their mother, but he'd heard stories, and seeing the team like that must hurt more than he could imagine. He wanted to try and cheer him up but he didn't know how.

As Lumi's fur brushed up against his darker coat he swiveled an ear towards her, but kept his eyes on the others to make sure they weren't listening in. "I dunno. The Luxray said something about feral Pokémon, and that they were protecting the Sage Stones, but I don't really understand what that means." He hadn't thought much of it when the team left, it happened often enough, but this one was definitely weird. Pokémon didn't just go feral, it didn't make sense.

He paused for a moment to really make sure that the other three weren't paying attention before whispering to his sister, "Do you think we should go and check it out? I know they said to stay away, but we're a lot smaller so maybe we'd see something they missed." He was also just really wanted to know about what was in that cave. It had to be super strong and the prospect of that made his fur prickle with curiosity. They could sneak out, they'd done it before, and just come back before anyone noticed they were gone.

[Marlowe]

If only Lumi knew what the Sage Stones were. It would have saved them a lot of trouble with guessing what had happened down there. She had learned legends of the Sage Stones and how they granted Pokemon great power. But every time they did, it would come with a twist. What twist was that? Did that mean they'd have to protect he Sage Stones forever, like a knight to a king? She tipped her head over at her brother, her maw tightening slightly as she listened to him speak. Maybe they should check Ember Cave out. There was a voice that nagged at the back of her head, suggesting that this might not be so much of a good idea. But the thought quickly vanished under the pretense that they were to be actual explorers. Working in the dark and sneaking around, but explorers nonetheless!

"We should! There has to be some cracks we could squeeze in in that cave," Lumi whispered back. There just had to be something, somewhere that the explorers couldn't get to!

Sable glanced over her shoulder, making Lumi swallow the words in her mouth. The largest Eevee of their group twitched an ear over at them, her eyes narrowing slightly. "What are you chattering back there?"

Lumi ducked her head. There was no way that their big sister could know about their plans. "Nothing," she mumbled, sinking her fangs into her bottom lip right after. She glanced over at Sora, her eyes widening slightly in warning. The less that everyone else knew about this, the better.

[PrankFox]

The Eevee adventuring team was a go! Sora's tail started to wag, just the smallest amount, as Lumi whispered back to him. Exploring some dark, spooky cave, keeping to the shadows, and maybe seeing some crazy cool stones with his sister. What could be better? They just had to make sure that no one else heard about it, there was no way that Sable would allow it, and Cane would just go blabbing about it to everyone in the house. No, this had to be a secret just for the two of them.

He nodded subtly in agreement with his sister, "And we're so much smaller than the team that the crazy Pokémon in there probably won't even see us." This was gonna be so cool!

As Sable turned back towards them he met Lumi's eyes and saw the warning in them. No way he would spill what they were planning, "It's a secret" he told her; meeting his sister's eyes and then looking at Cane hoping she fell for the bluff that they were talking about a way to cheer up Cane. If they found something cool in the cave it also wouldn't be a lie. Hopefully.

---

They'd picked a night when their dad had work early the next morning, so he would go to bed early and leave them with free reign to escape out the windows in their room to meet up at the front of the house. Hopefully they would be there and back before anyone noticed they were gone. Sora could only imagine the trouble that they would get into if Sable saw them. Still his excitement at doing something so daring overrode the voice in his head that screamed this was a bad idea.

He waited until Cane and Storm had both settled down into their nests and their breathing evened out before he stood carefully and crept over to the window. He had unlocked it earlier in the day to avoid the noise. He took a deep, quiet breath and...

"What're you doing Sora?" Cane's faux whisper called out to him.

Dammit He pulled his paws off the windowsill and turned back to face his brother who was staring at him from his nest. "Um, I was just gonna go out for a nighttime walk, less crowded you know."

"Oh! Can I come?" The attempt at a whisper died and Sora flinched at the loudness of Cane's voice; looking over quickly to see Storm lift his head with blurry eyes and an annoyed expression.

This was not going as he had hoped. Why did Cane have to be such a light sleeper? He sighed, Lumi was going to kill him, but there was no way he would be able to get out of the house without Cane or Storm going and telling Sable he was sneaking out, or worse telling their dad. "Fine, fine you can come, but you have to promise to be quiet, quieter than you've ever been, and listen to everything that I say without questioning me ok."

Cane nodded vigorously and made a show of snapping his mouth shut.

He looked over at Storm to see his brother still watching him through narrowed eyes. "If you're planning on doing something stupid, don't."

Sora rolled his eyes in response, "Well if you want to stop us from doing something stupid you should just come along too." He knew Storm would go and wake up Sable and he was desperate to keep that from happening. He watched Storm grumble a bit before pushing himself to his feet and walking over to join them. He was honestly surprised it took so little convincing, but he wasn't going to complain. Lumi was probably already waiting for him and they needed to go, time was ticking.

He helped push Cane out and then followed after Storm. The three brothers crept around the side of the house towards the meeting point that he and Lumi had decided on to make their way to Ember Cave.

[Marlowe]

To her, the moon hung like a very fat Snorlax in the sky. There was hardly a sound filtering through the air. In the distance she could faintly hear the town's Kricektot sing her lovely nighttime sonata, like she always did during this time of night. And even though there was a stillness in the air, nothing happened. It was like everything was frozen in ice. Times like these always discomforted Lumi and made her want someone, anyone, really, to just talk or sigh or break the quiet. There wasn't even the rustle of fur or the scuff of a paw against the windowsill. Where was Sora? Didn't he say to meet her out here? She felt her mane puff up a little as she snorted. If their dad found out about this, she'd never forgive her brother!

Then, there was a sudden ruffle. Lumi turned, hoping to see Sora. And... company. Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. "Sora! You said it'd be just be us two!"

They weren't going on some fun field trip! This could be dangerous! Her cheeks puffed out stubbornly as she glowered at Sora, then Cane and Storm. We don't have the time to argue, so I guess we just gotta go. "Whatever," she growled, her ears flattening slightly. "We better go now if we want to be back by the time dad wakes up."

And so off they went. The trip to Ember Cave couldn't have taken more than an hour, she figured, because the moon hadn't moved much in the sky by the time they cut through the crags in the mountainside. They had even had to go through some thorny shrubs and muddy puddles too, which stuck into and soiled her fur. There were times when they even crept a bit too close to the edge of the cliff and she even got to look down into the valley below. So that was the river that everyone talked about. It looked so tiny from so far up, and the distance between her and the surface of the rushing white-water river frightened her.

Thankfully, they arrived at the mouth of the cave safe and sound. The entrance overlooked another deadly drop below, but at least if they fell, they had the chance to be caught by the current of the river. It was a big opening, she realized, one that yawned out into the valley like a sleepy Salamence. There was a warmth that emitted from inside, and she wondered why that was so. Were there fire Pokemon in there, or was it just naturally that hot inside a cave?

Lumi puffed out her chest as she looked towards her brothers. "I'll lead the way!" she stated proudly. Her tail stuck out behind her, a flag bearing the pride yet silent fear that ran through her body. She wanted to be an explorer, so that meant she had to be brave in the face of danger, right? She glanced down towards the younger of her siblings, her eyes softening for a moment as she patted his head with a tender paw. "Stay close and don't go off too far, Cane. Storm and Sora, let me know if you see anything that might help us." After giving the two older brothers a curt nod and a determined smirk, she turned and lead the way into the cave itself.

It was... well, dark to say the least. And musty. Spears of stones hung from the ceiling and jutted from the ground. The main pathway was wide, but narrowed as they went deeper and deeper. So far, there were no Pokemon around, but the closing in of the walls started to get her nervous. Thankfully, the space fluctuated here and there, giving them space then making them squeeze against walls and travel in a line. Eventually, they came across another large area. To her surprise, there were one or two torches that lined the walls and lit up the area, and that was when she could finally see shadows move in the corners of the room. Paws, legs, tails, everything of the sort slithered against smooth stone.

Swallowing nervously, Lumi pulled them close to the wall and behind a row of stalactites. "We need to get around those Pokemon. Do you guys see any openings?" she asked them before she turned and scanned the room again. There had to be smaller openings around here somewhere.

[PrankFox]

It was more of a pain to herd Cane quietly around the side of the house than Sora thought it would be, but once they finally crested around the corner to where their sister was waiting under the bright moon he prepared himself for the anger that would no doubt come from Lumi. "I know!" he told her in a loud whisper, "Cane is a light sleeper and then he woke up Storm. I figured it'd be faster just to bring them along rather risk them going to tell dad." He tried to ignore the sting of anger as he flattened his ears down in response.

"So where exactly are we going then?" Storm's disinterest tone rang from behind them as they began to pad quickly down the road in the direction of Ember Cave.

"You'll see," Sora told him. He didn't want to tell either of them anything in case they tried to back out and run home to tell dad or Sable what they were doing. He just heard an annoyed grumble from his brother as they continued on.

He was grateful for the fact that Ember Cave wasn't far away from home since he knew Cane would start to lag if they had to go too far. He kept their younger brother in between himself and Lumi with Storm trailing in the back as they shoved through thorns and splashed through puddles. By the time they got to the mouth of the cave their pelts were a thorough mess. Not to mention the faint shaking he could still feel in his legs after he'd looked down off the side of the narrow path they'd been on to the dark, watery depths below.

The excitement hit him hard though as they finally stood in front of the open mouth of the cave. The heat wasn't stifling, but he was grateful that his fur wasn't any thicker than it already was. He just hoped that it didn't get hotter the deeper they went. He glanced towards Lumi as she puffed out her chest and declared that she would lead the way. He wanted to argue that he should get to lead the way since it was his idea to come check out Ember Cave in the first place, but he already screwed up getting out of the house so he let her have it.

Cane looked a mix of nervous and excited as he peered into the darkness of the cave, but Storm looked apprehensive as Lumi spoke to them. "Ok, I can do that," their youngest brother said with a faint quiver to his voice.

"This is stupid," Storm told them, "If the adventuring team couldn't survive in there what makes you think we can?"

Sora looked back at the gray furred Eevee, "We're not gonna go super far in, and we're small which means they won't be able to see us as well. Besides we aren't looking for a fight, we just wanna see." Even with his words he could tell that Storm was still suspicious of the situation, but he sighed and followed after Lumi into the darkness of the cave.

His nerves were starting to get the better of him as they were forced into the narrow spaces of the tunnels. There was no noise that permeated the air around them except for the sound of their breathing and his own heart racing in his ears. Cane was pressed as close to either himself or Lumi as he could get when the opportunities arose, but Storm still trailed behind a bit; looking nervously around the tunnels with pinned ears.

Sora sucked in a quiet, sharp breath as he saw the torches illuminate the space ahead. The shadows cast across the walls reminded him of the nightmarish type abilities that their dad told them some Pokémon could have. He followed low to the ground after Lumi as she pulled them to the side. He peered out around the side of the wall of pointed stone to get a better look around. He couldn't see any small openings around the edges of the room, but he pulled back sharply as he saw a long tail pull itself deeper into the shadows that hid the edges of the room. A big part of him was starting to think this wasn't such a good idea.

He looked back to Lumi to tell her that he couldn't see anything, and as he did he noticed that the small, fluffy form of Cane had vanished from where he had been standing next to Lumi. He felt a massive spike of panic as he began to look around the area for his brother, "Lumi, Storm. Where's Cane?" Storm's yellow eyes went wide as he also began to look around the space nearby.

Sora was about to throw caution to the wind and call out for Cane when he caught sight of his brother's head poking out of a crevice in the wall a little ways deeper in the room. He looked rather pleased with himself as he waved a paw at them. Sora let out his breath slowly and Storm visibly sagged next to him. He padded up to Cane and whispered frantically to him, "We told you to stay close! This place is dangerous and you need to tell us when you're going somewhere."

"Oh, right, I'm sorry," Cane told him, ears drooping. "I found a way out though."