Rising Tides [Cynic Prompt]

Today was the day, to say the least Kohaku was more than just nervous, he wasn't even sure what all he’d need to bring with him. Probably some water, from the way the message was cryptically written it would be extremely hot. THat also caused him to debate on what pokemon he should bring with him, Temaki was a water based pokemon, and he didn’t want to put her through the pain of possibly drying out. He would definitely bring Kazame with him at least, the Sheltile fusion should feel at home in this hot area, especially since the other part of his DNA was Torkoal. With a huff, he looked at the pokeball that held Kazame within it, almost clutching it tightly. Sorbet was out of the question, Vespa he could bring, perhaps it wouldn’t be too bad on her. That would be two good fighting pokemon, right?

Kohaku momentarily shook his head, he didn’t have time to keep contemplating what pokemon to bring and what ones he shouldn’t, he had made his mind up, he would bring Vespa and Kazame with him for the time being. He did have another pokemon for back-up just in case, and that was Kaida and Ryoko, his Kangaskhan hybrid. There were still a few things to pack before he could travel to Ethermoor, he was told that he would be greeted upon getting there and escorted, if he could figure out who his escorts were. Once he made sure to have plenty of water in his bag, and even some small snacks just in case something went awry and he got separated from the escorts or something he could survive hopefully on his own.

He was more than nervous, but as he looked at the TD when he pulled the display screen up, he re-read the coded message, making sure that he understood it, in its entirety. Once he gained the grasp of it all, he left his home, locking it up to make sure nothing was left unchecked and unsecured. He had a few of his pokemon out to watch the place, and food placed out for them. He didn’t know how long the trip would take, but he hoped he would be back maybe that night, and at the latest the next day.

He walked up the craggy path from the middle area of Brookfell, going to meet the cab that he had called that would take him to Ethermoor now that it could traverse there. He smiled nervously at the cab driver, getting into the backseat and relaxing a little with his seatbelt on. The trip would take a few hours, and he was watching the scenery pass before him as the signs of Brookfell started to lessen and new, unknown scenery started to come into play. During the trip and the silence, Haku found himself drifting off here and there, and soon he was sound asleep in the backseat, hand clutching his messenger bag. He looked peaceful at the least, and the driver didn’t seem to mind.

Kohaku woke up when he felt the hovercraft jolt ever so slightly, his eyes sleepily looking around only to find the face of his driver staring at him. Kohaku realized where they were and what had happened, with a slight flush to his cheeks, he thanked the man and sent him the money virtually, wishing him a safe trip home. As he first exited the vehicle, he looked around at the darker colored soil that felt hard underneath his feet. But that had to be from the volcanic eruptions making this soil, and cooling over time. Ahhh, he didn’t have time to look over the scenery! Since he was in Ethermoor now, he did release his two pokemon, Vespa’s wings buzzed slightly as she got closer to Kohaku, making sure he was alright. While Kazame seemed to look around a bit nervously, he was still a little timid, but he would still fight if they had to. 

Kohaku gave both pokemon some encouragement so they’d know that he would be alright, and to follow him. Vespa stayed closely behind him, while Kazame stayed at his side, traveling at the same pace as him. The message was right, finding those that belonged to Cynic, the Harbingers was harder than he thought. Eventually however, he found what looked like two men, and he approached them. He was hoping these were the right guys, as he rubbed the back of his head nervously, he softly spoke to them. 

He was quick to mutter the coded password, the phrasing was weird but it was how it was written, and while the men looked at each other, as if scrutinizing his answer, Vespa’s wings beat a bit more fervently, as if to show her annoyance. Kazame snorted, causing some puffs of smoke to escape through his nostrils and the hexagonal patterns glowing a bit more, showing the coal that he was burning. 

It seemed after a quiet conversation he gained approval as the two men nodded and motioned for him to follow. Kohaku was quick to keep up with them, seeing they’d be walking from here on out. He still held his bag tightly, and his eyes looked around, taking the scenery and markers as he traveled. It seemed that Vespa was doing the same thing, and so was Kazame, it took a few more hours for them to get to their destination. They passed craggy cliffs, broken ground, oddly-shaped rocks, and plenty of foliage. Some things stood out more than others, a few items looked like little dinosaurs, or other easily recognizable shapes. Kohaku felt confident he could find his way here if he got lost.

He almost lost sight of the Harbingers as they entered into the hidden entrance in the side of the volcano, it seemed there was a hologram placed up to cause the illusion that this was blocked in when it really wasn’t. Kohaku followed them, as his pokemon traveled quickly, the narrow paths were almost too small for Vespa to fit, but she managed to get through it all the same. Kazame had no problems, being shorter than Vespa and his trainer. 

The edges of the craggy paths were narrow and dangerous, he could hear and at times see the lava as it bubbled underneath the volcano, threatening to bubble up and splash him. That’d cause a nasty burn. Several twists and turns, as the paths became winded and convoluted. Kohaku was worried that he wouldn’t be able to find his way back out, but perhaps the Cynic leader would give him a map or some way to cheat to find his way back out. The two harbingers abruptly stopped in front of what looked like a dead end, and Kohaku narrowed his gaze. Well there had to be a path forward, something was different here.

Vespa had the same thought, as she fluttered up to take a closer look at the wall, the Harbingers didn’t seem to stop her, maybe this was something he had to figure out on his own? He thought there was some kind of pattern maybe? Something he had seen on the coded message, but he could be remembering wrong. Kazame had walked up to inspect the wall as well, letting his tail twitch and his head craning to look at areas he couldn’t reach. Kohaku moved forward, nervously moving his hand out, as he touched a spot a light seemed to appear, and he went to touch another. Where he touched a light appeared, and he knew that the lights would be in some kind of order, or form some kind of image.

He directed his pokemon where to touch once it reset, the lights soon formed a picture of a pokemon, not one that he’d see personally and was having issues placing in his head, but he was more surprised when the wall seemed to open up, acting like there was a simple door in the middle of it. The Harbingers motioned him to go forward, and he nervously entered into the main room finally - he assumed it was the main room. 

He reached into his bag and pulled out a water bottle, sipping on the water greedily as he did so to hydrate himself. He offered an unopened bottle to his two pokemon, Vespa quickly downed some of it before helping Kazame drink the rest of it.

Alright, now their main goal was finding the cynic leader and having a conversation with them, they had to be in this room somewhere, right?

Word Count: 1430