Following a map that he had, Fianna approached a site that had an air of ancient history to it, judging from the look of the exterior of the buildings and the homes being all cracked and broken. Some even mostly gone just due to the passing of time itself, let alone whatever tragic event might have led this ancient civilization to its downfall. But, as it was with all the snow covering everything, it added an element of serenity to the entire scene.
On his shoulder sat Houdini, plotting his next great escape in his head. Fianna was eating from a pouch of dried berries & seeds, which he also fed to Houdini every other time. As he nibbled on the natural trail mix, his many eyes were fixated on a big, burly hiker who was standing near a cave entrance.
That cave looks like the perfect place to set up my next trick! he thought, tapping the shoulder of his trainer with one of his many legs. Fianna stopped and looked in the direction of the tiny yellow-and-blue spider, very lightly stroking his tiny body with his index finger, which he didn't really mind.
"Are you thinking about where you want to set up for your next escape routine?" he asked, knowing that it was the sort of thing that he enjoyed challenging himself with the most. He couldn't lie; even though he freaked his trainer out the first time Houdini performed his escape act in front of him, he felt like there was a ton of potential to perform new death-defying escapes inside of the cave.
"Always! Like, you know, it reminds me of a time where I trapped myself in my own Spider Web, while having a boulder coming down a mountain towards me, which I did to myself using my String Shot. I managed to get out of that one at the last possible moment, even though I had my legs bound to the stucky webbing and the vibrations of the boulder kept getting louder and louder! Doesn't that sound like a sick escape to you? Though, that one's not as amazing as this one other time where-" Fianna interrupted his rambling, attempting to get back to the point that was meant to be the entire purpose of his shoulder being tapped by Houdini's leg.
"So, what did you want to tell me?" Houdini pointed his front-right leg towards the big man near the cave entrance.
"That guy over there might know something about this place." Fianna seemed to think he might too, looking like a seasoned explorer of mountainous terrain.
"Let's go find out!"After meeting with the man, who told them about this place, Shasta Ruins, he mentioned something about treasure being inside of the mine. And not just that either, but also something about partnering up.
"That guy mentioned something about a girl dressed in black and gold who went into the mine by herself. We should go and catch up before she gets lost!" Things were going according to Houdini's plan, going into the cavern together to seek out whatever thrills might await inside.
"Yes, let's go inside and catch up!"Entering the mine, there was only darkness completely blotting out the content inside of the shaft. Fianna took the bag off of his back for a moment and took out the lantern that was inside. He also took out the matchbox from the bag and took out a match, striking the flint against the box. The friction caused an ember of fire to form on the head of the match, which was then used to light the lantern on the inside, creating a bigger, yet controlled, flame to form inside the lantern. The lantern and the fire gave Houdini an idea for a new stunt that he could try out some other time perhaps.
Fianna picked up the lantern, its beacon of light illuminating the space all around him and Houdini, who shot some of his webbing onto the ceiling and climbed up to it. His legs stuck to the ceiling as he walked upside down. Fianna stopped as soon as he couldn't feel the Joltik riding on his shoulder, looking around to see where he might have gone to. Houdini shot some more webbing, sticking to the back of the neck of his trainer. The sudden sensation of the sticky, stringy String Shot caused Fianna to leap up and let out a yelp of fright. The reaction nearly made him drop the lantern on the ground. He looked up at the ceiling and saw his Joltik with the webbing still in his mouth, which he used his teeth to cut loose from it.
"I'm right here, Fianna! Did you know that my feet are capable of sticking to walls and ceilings?" Fianna's heart was still racing from the start that Houdini had given him, appearing a little upset at the Joltik.
"Just tell me where you are, the next time you decide to try something like that, okay?" Houdini snickered a little bit, though he kept in mind that it was probably a good idea for the next time.
The walls were carved out more and more as time, and other people, have passed, dictating that the mine was rather old. It might even date back to the time of whatever civilization had once existed here. A few etchings could be seen on the walls. Some depicting humans. Some depicting Pokémon. Yet, some of them also depicted some sort of event that might have happened back in the times that civilization existed. As interesting as a lot of the glyphs looked to Fianna, there was a girl to chase after. So, with another one of Houdini's grand escape stories echoing through the tunnel, the pair carefully crept closer towards their target.
With his lantern held in front of him, Fianna could begin to make out the build of a person closeby. There was also long, magenta-colored hair, tied back with some sort of clip. There also appeared to be a Pokémon venturing further into the cavern with this person. Fianna wondered
Could this be the girl that hiker was referring to? Houdini didn't have to think twice; he scouted ahead and started to shoot string from its mouth. The webbing stuck to the ceiling. From there, he lowered himself down just a few feet in front of the stranger and the Pokémon, which looked more and more like an upside-down Snorunt to him.
"Hi there, person who was rumored to have gone into the mine by herself! he said as his voice echoed throughout the tunnel.
Fianna started to worry that this might lead to some sort of bad first impression already. So, he approached the backside of the gold and black-clad person quickly and blurted out loudly,
"Wait, Houdini!" He panted a little bit as he attempted to settle himself. He set down the lantern, identifying the person as wearing a skirt. Now he had a very strong feeling that this person was the girl that they had heard about earlier.
"Sorry if my Joltik startled you at all. He really enjoys a good 'escape' every now and then." Houdini couldn't help but snicker at his trainer's corny joke. Maybe it was the modesty that really tickled his funnybone. Regardless of whatever humor was involved, they both had a good feeling that they had finally found the person they were looking for.....maybe.
Houdini
Level 7 - Male
Compoundeyes - Unnerve
HP: 24/24
Thunder Wave||Screech
String Shot||Leech Life||Spider Web
Likes escaping from his own Spider Web - Escape Artist - Dicey - Rambles a lot
Found: Articuno Boat Mission 2011
Saying "ohai thar" to the cavern's other explorers