A Drifter's Course {Open}

[Pidgey]

The sun was slowly sinking behind the horizon, it's dying light casting a soft, golden glow across the sky. Everywhere, pokemon were preparing for the coming night; some seeking shelter in their burrows, while others were only just emerging.

Tiny rodent pokemon squeaked in warning, then scurried for their burrows as the shadow of a bird of prey swept over the grassy meadow. Ace winged his way through the cool evening air. The hour was growing late, and he was searching out a safe place to spend the night.

There were few tall trees growing on the vast expanse of the alpine meadow, and so the hawk like bird had to settle for a rocky out cropping. He perched on the ledge and positioned himself so that his back was to the rock, while he overlooked the meadow; that way, no one could possibly sneak up on him.

As the sun sank ever lower, Ace allowed his eyelids to droop and close. Another hard day of traveling behind him, he was hoping for a restful sleep. He was just starting to drift away when a sudden noise alerted his ears. His eyes snapped open and scanned the meadow below him, but in the failing light all he could see were dark shadows. "Who is that?" He demanded, trying to mask his anxiety. "I warn you, no games!"

[Ren]

"No games! No games!" a small voice exclaimed from the ground. A pichu waved her arms for emphasis. Smiling up at the bird, she clapped. "I wanna play, though!" she stated. She sat down and continued to look at Ace. "Kyou is a meanie and won't play with me! So you'll play with me, right?" she asked, her blue eyes getting big and round with pleading. Obviously, the baby pichu was out of her tiny mind, asking something at least three times her size to 'play', as she puts it. But when children are bored, they don't care who plays with them.

[Pidgey]

A small voice reached Ace's ears, floating up to him from somewhere below. He stretched out his neck and peered over the ledge. There, on the ground below, stood a Pichu. Flailing her little arms and calling out to him. Ace blinked in surprise; what was a baby pokemon doing wandering the meadow on her own? "Oh, hey there. I'll be right down." He answered, as he fluttered to the ground. He landed in front of the Pichu, and folded his wings neatly against his body. "I'm Ace. What's your name?" He asked, curious as to why the young Pichu was left alone to wander.

[Ren]

The pichu grinned, simply extatic that the bird-type had come down. "Everyone calls me Mel. Nice to meet you!" she stated cutely.

[Pidgey]

"And nice to meet you, Mel." Ace replied, still puzzled over how the tiny pokemon had found her way onto the meadow. "So, is Kyou your friend?"

[o~|*( |*/\/\*|~o]

"I wanna play!! I wanna play!!" chirped a newcomer, a purple and tan Pidgey. "What're we playin'? Huh, huh, huh??" she asked, her shrimpy wings flailing to keep her aloft above the others. "Oh yeah! I'm Lavender!" she added, trying to land by the Pigeotto and Pichu. Instead of landing, she rolled across the ground, disappearing for a moment before reappearing, hopping up to the pair.

[Ren]

"Yup!" Mel answered. "Kyou-Kyou is my friend. But he's mean and won't play with me!" she repeated. She noticed Lavender and watched the scene. "Yay! More play mates!" she exclaimed.

[miirik]

((I hope you don't mind my joining in...))

Not far from this strange scene, a night prowler emerged from her make shift den of grasses, stones, and mosses. Her tiny, but sharp nose quivered for a moment, the voices of several different Pokemon drifting to her acute ears. Yawning and stretching lazily, Miirik slowly walked toward them, her curiosity getting the getter of her. Two of them sound much too young to be out this early, even if they are nocturnal. she thought, her tail flicking lightly.

((I know, it really is late. But for her, a creature of the night by nature, things are a bit backwards.))

[Ren]

Mel looked at Miirik. "You wanna play too?" she asked happily. Shortly after, she let out a yawn. "I wonder where Kyou-Kyou is..." she muttered, looking around.

[miirik]

Miirik tilted her head to the side slightly. Play?...They want to play? She walked a little closer. A Pichu, a uniquely dyed Pidgey, and a Pidgeotto. All of which walk or fly under the sun. Why are they out of their nests?...the two younger ones could become easy prey to other creatures of the night... Her confused thoughts didn't break through to the surface, even though they wanted to. Instead, the Meowth femme simply decided to play along with the little "game", rather than asking a dozen different questions.

"Sure, if you'll have me...," she said in her normal quiet voice. She noticed the Pichu's yawn, but decided to keep the "shouldn't you be in bed?" remark to herself. "I'm Miirik, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you."

[Ren]

"Hi!" Mel exclaimed. "I'm Mel, and these are my friends Lavender and Ace! It's nice to meet you!" she said. She walked closer to the feline to get a better look.

[electricbanana]

Tammi looked around. She had been searching for a place to sleep, but it's hard finding a comfortable spot this late. By now they were all taken. And she had the nocturnal pokemon to worry about too. She heard some voices and started to panic. She was more cautious and scared at night. She peered at the pokemon through the leaves to see if they were predators.

[miirik]

((Hmm, maybe we should wait for Pinky and Iumii to come back before we continue this any further. Just a thought.))

Miirik nodded, taking in the new information and storing it for later if needed. She sat down, curling her tail around to the front, as Mel took a closer look at her. With a small smile, she asked, "Is this your first time seeing on of my breed? A Meowth?" The amulet on her forehead shimmered in the fading light of the day.

[o~|*( |*/\/\*|~o]

"Hiya hiya!" Lavender chirped, unaware the Miirik could be a potential predator. "Soz... you gonna play with us?"

[Ren]

Mel shook her head. "I've never seen a Me-..." she started to answer. She frowned and continued trying to say "Meowth." Finally, she got it and said "Meowth! I've never seen that before!" She felt happy that she got it right.

[Flay]

Meanwhile, while this was all occuring, Flay heard his tummy grumble. "Food....need...hm?" Flay said as he then stopped and moved into a crouch inside the tall grass. Bird's, Rodents, and a Meowth? Maybe this one is full, who knows. I, however, am hungry. Hungry hungry hungry. Flay thought as he stalked closer and closer to the group, going ever so slow. To the bird's he might be unsuspecting but, the Meowth was a feline itself and would possibly be aware of the coming hunter. Flay knew he needed to split them apart, and knew just the way. Flay was used to playing and using his fire techniques and it was windy, meaning the fire would spread quickly. Fire usually causes panic, he'd down it before. Panicked meals are easier to hunt, especially while trapped.

Flay soon opened his mouth and let out a fire spin attack come out of his mouth. Instead of aiming it towards, the group, he aimed it around the group, attempting to traps the birdies in a ring of fire. Flay also learned that cooked food was tasty and knew that no harm could come from cooking the food, a lesson he learned from his mom. Oh how he missed her. However, the flames soon spread around the group, now stalking closer to them as they grew. Flay knew also he could run through and even stand in the fires with less harm, fire didn't seem to affect him much being a fire type.

[o~|*( |*/\/\*|~o]

Lavender still sat, waiting for someone to say something-anything! But she caught a feeling of heat from behind her. Turning, she saw fire a distance away. "Guys...? Guys?? Fire!" she squabbled before hopping into the air and flapping her wings madly, aiming 5 or 6 quick Gust and Wing Attack attacks at the fire to push it back.

[Pidgey]

Ace's keen eyes caught stealthy movement in the grasses. Something was stalking them, hunting them. And Ace kept a suspicious eye locked on the shadow. And then, the shady figure exploded into action, using it's fire type attack to create a circle of fire around the group of pokemon.

Without thinking, Ace hooded his wings over the Pichu and the Pidgey, trying to protect them from the attack. When the worst had passed, he stepped away from them and glared dangerously at the fire pokemon. "You'll pay for that!" Surprised and angry, he rose into the air and away from the fire. Tucking his wings back, he dove toward the attacker, swinging his taloned feet forward he aimed a blow at the creature, hoping to drive him off.

[Flay]

Flay perked as the pidgeotto spotted him. Sharp eyes....gotta stalk better. Flay thought as it soon dove towards him. Flay chuckled as it did. He wants me to eat him, YAYS!!! Flay thought as he soon used detect. As the attack came towards him, Flay swiftly dodged the taloned strike and built fire up in his mouth. "Lunch time!!! Extra Crispy is my favorite!!" Flay said soon enough, he opened his mouth and released a powerful flamethrower towards Ace.

[Pidgey]

The attacker was swift, and evaded Ace's talons, leaving him to grasp at the air. Muttering curses, Ace beat his wings and gained altitude, wheeling to avoid being roasted by the flamethrower the attacker sent his way, though his tail feathers were a bit scorched.

He decided to try a new tactic. Beating his powerful wings as hard as he could, he whipped up a Whirlwind attack, hoping to catch the fire pokemon in the vortex, and send him spinning away into the sky.

There was no way Ace was going to let him hurt those little pokemon.

[Flay]

He's fast Flay thought as the bird dodged. Then, he began to attack from above, this wasn't good. He, was obviously a strong and talented fighter. That wasn't good, he wanted an easy meal. Soon, the whirlwind lifted him up into the sky. Flay really needed to do something and then thought of it. Flay let out a Fire spin that in mid-air, compounded with the whirlwind. The effect created a large, fiery tornado around Flay that soon began to spread and expand in the air. Flay didn't plan on that, he simply planned on using it as cover so the birdy didn't know where to hit him while in mid air and couldn't see him through the flames. However, as a Flaycat, he could still smell exactly where Ace was. Flay thanked his parents for teaching him about fire techniques and began to roll rapidly before soon enough, using the flames and wind and flying out of the tornado doing a Flame Wheel straight towards Ace though, if Ace dodged, would go straight towards the little birds, though Flay didn't plan on that.

[Ren]

Mel blinked, not sure what was going on. Soon, tears came to the baby pokemon's eyes as she started crying. "Waaaaah!" she cried, holding on to Miirik for comfort, since Ace was fighting. "I wanna go home!" she whined.

[Pidgey]

Even as the battle raged, the tiny whimpers of the baby pokemon reached Ace's ears. And for the first time since the attack, he realized just how much danger the little pokemon were facing. With the enemy caught in the vortex of his Whirlwind, maybe he had a few seconds to get a head start, and get himself and the young ones out of there!

He cut off the Whirlwind attack and swooped down to the little Pokemon, landing in front of them and crouching down low. "Quick, jump on my back little ones. I'll get us out of here!"

[Ren]

Mel sniffed, looking at Ace. Brushing her tears away with her tiny arm, she crawled on the bird-pokemon and hugged his neck.

[o~|*( |*/\/\*|~o]

Lavender nodded, but she'd rather fly away, ascending to about 20 feet above the chaos and fire and circling. Almost right ater complting her second loop, she suddenly remembered somewhere she had to be, and flew off.

[Pidgey]

((Ignore much of my last post. I made certain errors, and I'm correcting them in this post.))

As the cat was sucked into the Whirlwind, he unleashed a terrible blast of fire that sizzled through the air, and straight for Ace. Immediately, the Pidgeotto cut off his attack and wheeled to avoid the brunt of the attack, though the flames licked at his tail feathers.

To his horror, they ignited and scorched his flesh. With a Gust of wind, he killed the flames and glared down at the cat. Mustering his strength, Ace launched a deadly Sky Attack on his foe, tearing through the air at frightening speed, right for the fire pokemon.

[Sephalesh]

Just over the horizon a blue missile speeded at around 50 Mph over the plains. It was a metal missile, with one gleaming red eye. It made no sound as it crossed over the plains, except for one song. "Here I come, A barrel of fun!" Pokemon jumped out of it's way frantically in the setting sun. "73 bottles of fun! Hit one down and pass it around!" The metal missile accidentally hit a stalking meowth. It went flying into the air, screaming in despair. This missile didn't even slow down. "72 bottle of fun on the wall." It was heading straight for a Flaycat that was being attacked by a pigeotto using sky attack. The missle didn't even notice. "72 bottles of FUN!!!"

(enter Crash)

[Sephalesh]

(Hey, does anybody know where Flay is? I need to get Crash moved by tomorrow, so don't worry if I drop out of this thread, okay.)

[Sephalesh]

Crash zoomed pass the flaycat, barely missing the pokemon. He continued on where he almost hit the tree the little pokemon where close to. "Smash one down, pass it around! 71 bottles of fun on the wall!" He yelled as he passed by them. As suddenly as he had come he was gone, speeding towards the mountain.