Night in a Snow ForestThe Diamond Dust Forest was beautiful, as always; unfortunately, its namesake wasn’t here today; the sky was far too cloudy. Still, though, the pine forest was gorgeous, as always; the snow glittered when she shined her flashlight on it, spewing much-needed light wherever she pointed it. She might have been on a serious pilgrimage, but Aurora couldn’t but help but admire nature while she was out. The snow crunching beneath her feet, the quiet sounds of nocturnal Pokémon as they went about their business! She saw a Hoothoot! And even a Machoke! Although how a Machoke got out here, she’d never know. Thankfully, none of them were particularly interested in a battle, most of them just ducking away entirely. A Hoothoot followed her for quite some time, making her smile, but eventually, it got bored and flew away, leaving her to keep on trudging along.
A few minutes later, the wind started to pick up. At first it was nothing, just a strong wind that whipped snow into little tornados. Aurora trudged on with this, but she knew that that it could easily pick up quick. She pulled out a Poké Ball, opening it without tossing it, releasing one of her oldest and best friends; her Abomasnow. He formed from the energy, crossing his arms like usual, but then he saw where he was and turned to his trainer. She gave him a small nod, and without words, he understood what she wanted, and led the way for her, planting his feet firmly against the ground and leading the way.
Powerful BlizzardJust as she had feared, a blizzard was forming; it really didn’t take long at all for the sky to darken even more, blocking out any light the moon would have given them, and the wind throwing snow around reduced visibility even less. This wasn’t good, it wasn’t good at all... Aurora grit her teeth as she thought that, unease filling her completely. She wasn’t cold, at least not yet, but she was barely out of Aleal and a blizzard was already hitting! She knew that one was bound to come in
sometime, but not right out of the city! She spun her flashlight this way and that, but she couldn’t see two feet in front of her face!
The worst part was that she still had to go forward... there really wasn’t anything else she could do. When a blizzard came, the best idea was to find shelter, but there just wasn’t any! She was shielded from the full force of the wind, at least, by Blizzard. He led the way as they did the only thing they could really do, head towards the mountain; she knew that it had caves that she could take shelter in. She couldn’t see, and the only reason why she wasn’t being knocked over by the wind was because of her Pokémon, and she was kind of stuck somewhere without a lot of shelter, but even with all of that a problem, she, amazingly, wasn’t cold, not yet. Even though she was very concerned about finding some cover, she was deeply impressed that the League’s claims about her ice suit were turning out to be very true. She would already be freezing to death, but she wasn’t feeling even the slightest bit chilly, which honestly made the need for shelter a lot less of a problem, but she didn’t exactly feel like testing the suits limits... either way, she was glad she took the ice suit.
She and her Pokémon struggled against the winds in utter darkness, the latter handling it better, and moving as the winds did to protect his trainer, but they were getting nowhere fast. Just as Aurora was thinking about making an igloo, something that was better than nothing in an emergency like this, a light caught the edge of her eye. It was extremely faint, but it was the tell-tale show of a window in the distance. Without wasting any time at all, Aurora ordered Blizzard to lead her in that direction.
Cozy CottageIt wasn’t any more effort than it already was to get to the light source, which, to Aurora’s relief, turned out to be a cottage. It was someone’s winter home, surely, caught in the blizzard just as she was. Hoping they were home, and not stuck in the blizzard, Aurora reached up and knocked heavily on the door, looking behind her at her Blizzard before knocking again. It took a few moments, just long enough for Aurora to worry, but the door opened carefully, creaking open just enough to not let the blizzard in, but enough for Aurora to see some of the woman in the door.
Aurora only had enough time to open her mouth before she was suddenly tugged inside, slamming the door shut – comedically right in Blizzard’s face, much to his surprise, but he shrugged it off. He wouldn’t fit through the door anyway.
“Are you insane?! What on Earth were you doing out there in a blizzard?!” Aurora was still reeling a little bit from the sudden tug, staring at a very cozy-looking cottage before turning to the woman, smiling nervously and rubbing some snow out of her hair.
“I’m sorry, Miss, I’m on a mission and I got caught in the blizzard before I could find some shelter. Thanks a lot for pulling me in!”The woman stared at her in a slight annoyance; as far as she was concerned, Aurora didn’t answer the question, but, for at least a moment, she let it go, instead turning to open the door again, addressing Aurora’s Abomasnow.
“There’s some shelter and food in a building just behind the cottage. Some of my Pokémon are there, including my own Blizzaroi-ah, excuse me, Abomasnow. Feel free to help yourself.” Blizzard blinked, nodding to her in thanks, Veta returning the gesture before closing the door again. Aurora smiled softly and sweetly, appreciating the gesture regarding her Pokémon, but the smile faded when the woman turned back to her. She was a redheaded woman, wearing what seemed to be a well-worn white sweater and black leggings, the latter a little quickly put on, it seemed. She had her arms crossed, glaring at Aurora with a surprisingly fierce gaze, one that almost made her shiver and flinch away. The woman pulled her closer to the fire, sitting them both on a fur rug before saying,
“Explain yourself now before I think yourself a total idiot.”Aurora grinned nervously, sweatdropping nervously before sighing, shifting to get seated comfortably before rubbing the back of her head.
“I’m on a pilgrimage to honor Articuno, a Pokémon that helped Aleal be founded a long time ago.” She reached into her backpack, making the redhead’s eyes widen slightly when she pulled out the palm-sized jewel, clear with just the slightest tinge of icy blue, with a snowflake suspended in the middle, floating mysteriously as she moved the jewel. The redhead instinctively reached for it, but Aurora politely pulled it away, giving her a smile as she put the jewel away carefully.
“I had thought I would have been able to make it to the mountain before the blizzard hit.” Aurora caught a subtle roll in the eyes of the other girl and smiled anxiously, rubbing the back of her head again.
“Thankfully, I’m wearing a suit that is protected me from the cold so well I barely felt a thing. I just don’t want to try to test out its limits.”The woman looked at her outfit, obviously a little in disbelief, but Aurora reassured her by mentioning it was League made, which made her raise her eyebrows in an impressed motion, sighing softly as she replied,
“Fair enough. You can stay here for the night if you like. I was just preparing for an early bedtime, but I can prepare some food or you if you like.” Aurora perked up at the offer of food, smiling and nodding.
“Oh yes, please, if you don’t mind, although it would be nice to know the name of my gracious host.” The woman smiled as she made way into her kitchen, replying simply,
“Vesta.” Aurora smiled, too, as she got up, sitting herself on the couch and looking at the pictures set above the fireplace.
“Aurora.” She blinked, then got up, walking to the mantle to pick up a picture.
Just as Vesta came back, she looked at her, turning the picture to face her.
“Isn’t this Mia, the Fighting-type Gym Leader in Liggs?” Vesta set the bowl of stew she brought down and looked at the picture with a soft, loving smile.
“Yes, she’s my girlfriend.” Aurora jolted, suddenly whirling her head to Vesta, the picture, and back again.
“Really?! Oh my goodness, I heard she was dating someone, but you’re way prettier than I imagined!” Instantly, Vesta blushed, snatching the picture and setting it back down, yelling,
“Alright, let’s not make a big deal out of this! We’re dating, yes, it’s not something that needs to be put in the papers!” Undeterred, Aurora picked the frame up again, holding it so she could see Mia’s head next to Vesta’s.
“But you two are REALLY pretty together! You’re a gorgeous couple!”Again, Vesta grabbed the picture, glaring again, though this time, the glare’s power was considerably lessened by the fact that her face was almost as red as her hair. She snatched the picture out of Aurora’s hand and nearly slammed it on the mantle, instinctively holding her hands around it in a brief scare that she broke it, though, to her thankfulness, she didn’t. She turned to Aurora, trying to glare but more pouting, which honestly made Aurora smile and giggle softly. Vesta took a slow breath, calming herself before replying,
“Thank you, but please, be quiet, it’s embarrassing when people say that sort of thing.” Aurora couldn’t help but giggle a little louder, but she complied, going silent and looking at the picture again. Her smile soon faded into a soft frown, quietly asking, [color98d8d8]“Didn’t she lose an arm recently?”[/color]
Vesta paused, then slowly sat down, resting in the couch, a bit of a sad look on her face, but smiling optimistically anyway.
“Yeah... but don’t worry. She lost it just over a month ago, and she’s adjusting remarkably well.” Aurora saw the concern on her face and sat down with her, patting her thigh softly. Her natural instincts made her concerned for Vesta when she smiled hollowly like she did, so she asked,
“You okay?” Vesta smiled back at her, a warmer, more genuine smile on her face as she replied,
“Yeah. As I said, she’s handling it remarkably well. I worry, but she’s always been an optimistic person. I think she just needed a week or two to feel all of the feelings you’d expect from losing an arm. She just isn’t the type of person to stay in a bad mood for long. It’s actually a very sweet and amazing trait of hers, something I honestly find impressive. Heh, I wish I was the same.” Aurora smiled and giggled gently, looking at the picture again.
“Well, it’s good that she’s handling it so well. And I think it’s good that you do worry. Let’s you see the possible worst case scenario and prepare for it. I guess that makes her a good compliment for you, huh? She keeps you grounded in the present and have some fun, and you make sure she’s prepared for the future!”Vesta chuckled softly, blushing and waving her off gently.
“I suppose.” She paused a moment, as if remembering something, then looked at her.
“Wait, Aurora? As in Aurora Halloran? You’re a Gym Leader too, right?” Aurora blinked in surprise and smiled, nodding so Vesta could smirk softly.
“Thanks for the get well card. She appreciated the Berries more, but she still liked the thought.” Aurora giggled gently, shrugging it off; if Mia really was that kind of person, a get well card probably wouldn’t have been as well received as food.
“You just missed her, actually,” Vesta continued, making Aurora blink in surprise.
“We spent a few days after Christmas here, since I insisted on a snowy backdrop.” She smirked in a way that easily told Aurora that Christmas wasn’t
fully Christmas without some snow in a jokey way, something that made Aurora smirk in agreement. Vesta laid back, smiling softly as she closed, sighing contently,
“The past few days have been amazing. Made her some food that she liked, opened a few extra presents, we even had a Pokémon battle just for fun.” “Oh yeah? Who won?”Vesta smirked again, looking off towards the direction of the back of the house before putting her hands behind her head.
“Let’s just say that if it was official, I’d have something new to keep clean and shiny.” Aurora giggled softly as Vesta sighed, staring wistfully up at the ceiling with smile.
“I love that girl. We’ve been together about a year now, and I think I really am in love with her.” Aurora aww’d, but without even breaking her expression, Vesta told her,
“If you tell her I said that I’ll punch you in the face.” Aurora giggled softly, crossing her heart before Vesta started to get up.
“I’m going to go to bed now, but you’re free to use the couch. Good night, Miss Halloran.”Aurora smiled at her as she got up.
“Good night, Vesta. Do you think you’ll dream about your special girl tonight~?” She couldn’t help the tease, she couldn’t, but she had enough reflexes to dodge the dog toy thrown at her head. Giggling softly, she rested into the couch, closing her eyes, uplifted at the taste of someone’s love, reinvigorated for not only life, but her mission.
The next morning, the blizzard had abated, at least for now. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to keep going without a lot of worries. Aurora thanked Vesta for her generosity, shaking her hand before turning away, looking at Blizzard as he came around the house, smiling softly and going on her way. This time, though, she jogged, wanting to make sure that, if nothing else, she made it to the mountain before another blizzard set in. The last thing she needed was to be stuck out in the wild with that.
Once she finally made it to the mountain, she smiled up at the path waiting for her. It was old and worn, but it was visible, and she could sense the history behind it.