The Mana-Verse

[Sakura Leic]

Calien sighed in relief seeing Pema was alright now as they got closer to the city.  Sakura was also deep in thought about what just transpired.

"This cold.....this cold is scary." Sakura concluded.

[Phi]

Pema grabbed the fur with one hand and pulled on it, further covering it over herself and Riagan's arms.

"Thank you, Ms. Aya." She smiled warmly.

[Quickman]

The Professor trudged forward until his foot hit a curb buried in the snow.  He looked around, shining his torch through the snow until he saw what he thought was a wall.  "There!  Over there!  I think, I think I see a barn!  We can take shelter within it!"

[Sakura Leic]

"A barn?  In a place like this?" Calien asked with a raised eyebrow.

[Quickman]

"Or a shed, whatever you choose to call it," the Professor gave a shrug and hurried his pace to get to the building.

Riagan, catching the rough shape of the structure in the torchlight, hurried over the snow with greater ease, thanks to his snowshoes.  He reached the building and after a cursory inspection, he found a hatch and opened it, shining the torchlight inside.  He couldn't see much aside from rusted farm tools and piles of hay.  Turning back, he yelled to the others. "It's a barn!  We can wait out the storm inside and continue in the morning!  Help me dig out the door, else we won't get inside!"

Adjusting Pema on his back, Riagan trudged over to the door and stuck his torch in the snow.  Taking off his snowshoes, he sunk into the snow and began to dig with both hands.

[Sakura Leic]

"Of course." Calien nodded as he and Sakura helped Riagan with the digging.

(I kind of feel like bring the Pigs back again right now, I was planning to bring them back again later anyway.)

[Blue Valkyrie]

Aya also assists with the digging user her barrier gauntlet to push back the snow and save the others some effort and keep them dry and warm, after a few minutes the door is clear the enter.

[Quickman]

With both hands, Riagan pulled the door open and grabbed his torch and went inside.  Shining it around, he found a pile of hay near the ladder to the loft and placed Pema on it, covering her with the fur.  He wandered around and looked at a few of the rusted implements and came across a dusty lantern hanging on a hook.  Knowing full well that the oil would be long gone, he took the lantern down, opened it, and put the torch inside, propping it on the wick.  The lantern shone brightly and he placed it back on the hook. "It looks abandoned.  Not the most ideal, but it will keep the winds off of us."

[Blue Valkyrie]

"Everyone in, I can take first watch if we want to get some rest." Aya offered as she put up the barrier around the inside of the barn to help keep the wind from biting at them through any holes in the structure.

[Sakura Leic]

Calien went inside with Sakura soon following when she heard a sound from behind her, which luckily wasn't more Chevals.  She turned around to see some familiar faces, the Pigs from earlier.

"What the, what are you guys doing back here?!" Sakura gasped.

The Piloswine among them explained that they were surprised that they survived the Chevals so they decided to follow them in hopes they could defeat the other monsters or at least find some shealter. 

"I see.....well I see no point in not letting you guys in, it's too cold for most of you after all." Sakura sighed as she led them inside.

[Quickman]

The Professor was the very last to get inside, having gotten turned around and taking a moment to survey their surroundings.  Finally entering, he looked around for an old implement and propped his torch in another lantern, and then pulled the door shut with both hands.  Struggling with the heavy wooden bolt, he slid it across the door and secured it.

"There.  That, that should help keep out the wind..."

((I almost left Prof outside, and I'll just say that everyone got in, including our zombies.))

[Blue Valkyrie]

"Everyone get snug and sleep if you need to."

[Phi]

Pema's eyes felt heavy and fluttered open and close. Struggling to keep them open, she yawned and rubbed her eyes, looking around at the others, "I can... help with the look... the lookout, Ms. Aya..."

She was visibly tired, if her quiet, stunted speaking wasn't already indication enough.

"It may be best for you to rest. Save your energy," Salem suggested.

She turned her head to Salem, "Maybe... I'll close my eyes for just... a little while..."

Pema curled her body underneath the fuzzy blanket and shut her eyes, nuzzling her face into the soft fur. Before she knew it, Pema was sound asleep.

[Blue Valkyrie]

Aya chuckles and glances out of a gap in the wall keeping an ear out for other surprises. "Snow isn't getting any better out there."

[Sakura Leic]

"I don't think it will get better in the morning but it's good we found this place when we did." Calien stated. "We need to regain our energy."

"Daddy can put your Lantern over here?" Sakura asked as she pulled out her book on Pokemon. "I want to find out what these Pigs actually are."

"Of course." Calien nodded as he moved the Lantern to her position so she could read.

[Quickman]

"Aye.  It's best we wait til morn.  We need to regain our strength." Riagan leaned his snowshoes and war hammer against the wall and busied himself with piling a mound of hay and draping his cloak over it.

The Professor didn't seem very comfortable around the pigs, so he grabbed his lantern and climbed the ladder to the hay loft.  There was a small window where he could peer outside and survey their surroundings, and after hanging his lantern on a hook, he rearranged a pile of hay, some of it sprinkling down over the ledge.

After moving a small crate, he put the lantern aside so that it wouldn't be seen through the hatch, and he perched himself by it, occasionally opening the shutters to peer outside. "I can, I can keep watch up here."

[Fxeni]

"I'm surprised this place is still standing. Must be remnants of an age gone by," Fxeni said as he looked around in the barn. It was very much unlike the town they were heading towards. While Heimdall itself used a lot of magitech, there was nary a sign of any in this barn.

[Blue Valkyrie]

"Perhaps, then again Sakura and Calien both lived out in the wild compared to the people of Iron Gate." Aya added still glancing out the gap in the barn while leaning on the wall.

[Sakura Leic]

"Most of the places I lived before were a bit more on the rural side, but they have their own surprises." Calien shrugged. "Still it's nice to see a barn again even though it's in rough shape."

"So the brown ones are a Swinub and a Piloswine, they're related so Swinub evolves into Piloswine." Sakura stated as she watched the Pig Pokemon eat some hay that wasn't occupied by someone before going back to her book.

[Phi]

"Pigs... Bacon... In my belly..." Pema murmered in her sleep, shifting around in the fur then falling silent again.

[Quickman]

Riagan nodded while reclining on his makeshift bed. "Aye... In winter when food is scarce, we're lucky to have pigs."

Up in the hayloft, the Professor snuffed his torch, but remained sitting by the hatch, peering out through the shutters in silence.

[Sakura Leic]

"Sakura and I usually have a hard time finding animals in the winter ourselves." Calien admitted. "Though Pigs....are somewhat controversial in my homeland.  Symbolically I mean."

"Ah what?!  Spoinks die if they stop bouncing?!  That doesn't make sense, the Spoink isn't boucing now!" Sakura exclaimed pointing at the Spoink who indeed wasn't bouncing as it was enjoying the hay.

"Maybe they didn't have enough information so they made something up." Calien pointed out "It wouldn't be the first time something like that happened."

"Maybe......" Sakura sighed

(That's one of the Pokedex entries I absolutely refuse to believe.)

[Blue Valkyrie]

"These pokemon did not exist when the empire was still around, I'm thankful the world recovered after Mar unleashed the chaos; these new creatures seem to have adapted well.

[Sakura Leic]

"Yeah....you'd be surprise how tenacious an ecosystem can be despite what's thrown at it." Calien stated. "Some things may go extinct but other creatures can take their place.  It's honestly amazing when you think about it."

"Tepigs breath fire with their nose." Sakura stated absentmindely "They also enjoy roasting berries to eat, but sometimes they burn them when they get too excited."

[Blue Valkyrie]

"They aren't going to light this barn on fire are they?" Aya raised an eye brow.