Super Mystery Dungeon's Road to Primeval Forest

"C'mon, Rain, don't be so grey. Going out'll be fun!"

Rain, sitting on her haunches, tried not fuel Cory's ego with a snicker, instead opting to roll her eyes at the corvisquire's poorer-than-usual attempt at a pun. "You know, Cory, your bad jokes make me want to go even less since I'll have to hear them the whole time. Besides..."

She raised her forepaw towards the opened doors of the Clover Guild's main floor that revealed a lightly peppered landscape outside. "...It's not even supposed to snow in Capim Town, right? We're supposed to be close to the equator."

Cory, not one to be deterred from his mischief, only brightened at this. "Exactly! Some 'mon here said 'rift-caused' but that just means this might not happen again! I can promise you there's nothing better than seeing the aurora when it's snowing!"

Rain rolled her eyes. Back on Earth, the aurora appeared only in the far north and south, and of all the major settlements in this new world, Capim Town was probably furthest from the poles.

But then again, she thought, other Guildmembers have said they've seen them here before, which makes sense considering this world is vastly different from Earth.

She looked down at her grey paws and white chest-tuft with a feeling of mixed melancholy.

That much couldn't be any more true.

Rain turned her head towards Cory who was still expectantly waiting for an answer. She let out a sigh, and Cory ruffled up his feathers and couldn't help but stand up a bit more straight; he knew this was a sign she was becoming interested in his proposition.

"Cory," asked Rain, "are you sure the pokemon that told you this place has a clear sky is... reliable? I don't think you have the best reputation around here."

Cory held a wing to his chest. "Rain, Rain, how can I make your fears go away?"

Rain tried to keep a straight face. "Every pun you do cuts the chance of us going by half."

"Okay, okay, fine. The oddish that told me was convincing enough that I am willing to go. It's not too far, anyways; just an hour's journey so we should make it pretty quickly!"

"'We?' Quickly for you or for us? I have to walk using my tiny legs."

"It's only an hour away -- if you don't mind me using a saying that I've heard around here --as the crow flies."

"I'm not going."

"Wait wait wait! That means it's just a half-day walking for you, if I had to guess. I can pack us berries and I'll stick by your side! If we leave soon we'll make it a bit before nightfall so we can setup camp before the aurora appear!"

Rain paused for a moment. "You'll carry the berries and the equipment?"

"Just a blanket is all we really need. Your fur is bigger than you might think, you know. I'm sure I can fit the berries and blanket into my bag."

Rain looked at the closed door once again, uncertain, but she did admit to herself that her interest in seeing the aurora -- something she had always wanted to do as a human -- hadn't diminished whatsoever. She then tried to imagine if it would be worth the effort.

Cory took notice that her puffy tail started to slowly but surely wag back and forth as she took counsel with herself. Ever the opportunist, Cory used this to his advantage. "So, what berries do you want me to pack?"

"I didn't say yes, Cory," came Rain's curt reply.

He looked at open doors. "I think some roasted Pecha would go pretty well with the snow outside, don't you think?"

Rain looked outside once more at the snowstorm and felt the cool breeze enter the stuffy guildhall. She breathed in the crisp air and could've sworn she recognized the scent of a wilderness punctuated by exotic flowers that remained steadfast against the unexpected snow. She let out a sigh, and the cold air that had entered caused her breath to form a small cloud of condensation that slowly dissipated. Cory cocked his head to the side in anticipation as Rain's tail continued to wag. "Go get the berries before I change my mind."

With a furious flap of his wings, Cory flew off, leaving Rain to prepare herself for the trek. She scurried up the stairs and back to their room, her tiny paws skittering up and almost tripping on the final step, causing her to let out a meek "Eek!" that she was glad no one was around to hear.

Cory said he'd take care of the blanket and food, so I guess I just need to...

She walked through the curtains -- they offered less privacy than a door, annoyingly, but was definitely easier for a bird and quadruped to manipulate -- and looked around. I need to... what?

Well, there really wasn't much she could do, but considering this was technically an expedition, one thing was certain: she'd want to don her scarf in true Explorer fashion.

She ran to the chest table beside her bed and, sure enough, her lined light-and-dark grey scarf was atop it. She grabbed it with her paws and -- in a long-practiced maneuver -- threw the already-tied scarf over her head and down onto her neck where it sat nicely on her white tuft of hair.

Satisfied, she returned back down the stairs and to the lobby where she waited for Cory to appear. She took the moment to enjoy the cool breeze coming through the open doors once more, wondering if her enjoyment of this powerful chill meant something... greater?

Then again, it's hard to compete with the serene aroma of the flora in spring.

It didn't take long for her introspection to be interrupted by a God-awful pun.

"Don't just stand there, Rain, or you'll catch a cold! If that happens you'll start to sneeze rather swiftly."

Art by v-anon

Cory landed beside Rain, dropping a few berries in the process. Rain raised an eyebrow at him but before she could object he quickly pecked them off the floor with his beak and placed them back in the bag.

Rain still couldn't help but comment, "Ew, that's gross; I don't want to eat those."

"You know Explorers eat food off dungeon floors, right?"

"Dungeons don't make terrible puns; your beak does. I don't want to catch whatever condition you have."

"It's fine!" Cory insisted, raising a wing to his chest and lifting his head high, "Those are for me, anyways. There are more pechas stuffed further in my bag."

"Roasted?"

Cory somehow grinned despite having a beak, his eye twinkling in the incoming white light. "Delicately."

Rain looked out at the serene white that had come over Capim Town and couldn't remember the last time she had been in snow; at least not since arriving here. She wondered how it'd feel in this new body. Her tail once more wagged as she stood up and took the first step towards their destination. "Let's get a move on, then, or we'll be late."

The snowfall that had befallen Capim Town had intensified into a blizzard, but further away -- towards the distant mountains where Cory claimed he had been told by his "oddish pal" there was a spot where the mountains held back the clouds back letting the sky open up unlike anywhere else -- it had calmed into a series of flurries which, for the most part, flowed ahead from the mountains rather from the rear of Rain.

Either the snow isn't anywhere as bad as I remember or Cory is right, she thought as she walked on her own towards the now frost-tipped peaks, I'm able to handle the cold pretty well as a pokemon.

The snow let off a nearly silent crunch that was the only sound aside from the occasional gust of wind. It was too quiet for her own liking... she hadn't heard a pun in ten minutes and they were -- she hated to admit -- now something she had become used to. She scanned the skies and tried to look out for a rogue bird anywhere, and as luck would have it she was able to make out a tiny black-and-blue speck rapidly approaching.

She continued to walk forward until Cory was almost upon her. She stood still and prepared to say hello as the corvisquire flapped his wings to soften his descent, but he still landed with a light thud; the combination of these two threw snow into the air and into Rain's face and grinning mouth.

"Bleh!" she cried, spitting the snow out of her mouth, "Now I got your talon-snow in my face! What's the hurry? We should still be on schedule, right?"

Cory's eyes sparkled bashfully. "Well, define on-schedule."

"Cory!"

"We'll make it there if nothing happens."

Rain's ears automatically drooped back. "Is something going to happen?"

"Uhm, probably? I flew ahead to the forest you see up ahead at the edge of the clearing. There's a bridge further in to cross the river."

"Go on."

"Well, I flew upstream to make sure nothing would come down river since you weren't blessed with the gift of flight like yours truly~" he said, once more holding his head up high.

Rain, ever-used to his display of vanity, merely remained silent. Not getting any response, Cory rolled his eyes and continued. "Well, Rain, I'll have you know I saw some little sheets of ice upstream, flowing downriver, towards the bridge in the woods ahead. The river is wide so there's a pillar in the water holding it up. Wood-n't you believe it; if we don't go and hurry up, it might strike the bridge!"

Rain's eyes widened at this and Cory bent down to face her closer. "Oh, so now you pay attention."

"Not now, Cory! I don't want to swim across a cold stream! Let's hurry!" she exclaimed, hurrying off into a sprint, kicking up a small cloud of white power in her wake. Cory ruffled his feathers, removing the snow so that he could fly. Despite Rain's small size, once he was clear to take off she was already a great distance away. He spread open his wings and, with a tremendous flap and leap off the ground, he took flight, rapidly gaining ground on his eevee partner.

Rain was still running at a full sprint -- the cold wind whistling by her ears and caressing her fur -- when Cory caught up to her, but he slowed his pace so he could match her speed. Although she was exhaling a great deal, when she glanced up at her companion, Cory was able to see she had donned a grin, much to his surprise.

"You're enjoying this?" he squawked, "it sounds like you're dying."

She continued to press on, trying to match his pace. "I don't know what got into me," she said between heavy breaths, "but it feels good to be out and run. To explore. If there's one thing I can appreciate about this world, its that I can genuinely feel like I'm on an adventure into the unknown. I never really had that before, back where I came from."

Cory saw she was pushing herself so he subtly slowed his flight speed. "An adventure? Even with me and my puns that I just love to say on the fly?"

Rain looked up at Cory with a smile she couldn't suppress this time -- she was too focused on enjoying the moment as she sped through the forest, her feet crunching on the snow as a gale of cold wind blew from before the duo -- and spoke. "In spite of your awful puns? Then yes, Cory. Especially with you."

Art by Flareon-anon

After a final sprint through the forest, Cory and Rain reached the riverbank, where the exhaustion of the latter finally caught up to her. She skittered to a halt as she saw the sturdy stone bridge, took in a few heavy breaths, and collapsed onto the soft snow.

"Come on, Rain!" Cory exclaimed, motioning to the bridge before them, "It's right here. Let's cross before the pack of ice tears it away. Look! There it is! Hurry!"

Rain, however, remained unmoving, instead lifting her head up from the snow and looking as the scene in question unfolded. A sheet of ice almost the span of the river floated towards the bridge. She remained splayed on the ground and watched as the ice struck the pillar of the stone bridge in the middle of the river and... continued to watch as the ice sheet broke in two upon impact and continued downriver. She turned her head towards her companion.

"Cory," Rain said.

"Yeah?" came the reply.

"The bridge."

"Yeah, it survived!"

"It's made out of stone."

"That's very observant of you, Rain."

"Well why'd you use a wood pun earlier? I could've told you a bridge made out of stone wouldn't be toppled by a little bit of ice."

"I'm not a structural engineer! Besides, Rain, we're in the forest, why would--"

Rain looked up at Cory with not a single sign of amusement in her eyes. Cory, therefore, decided to avoid the word "would" to the best of his ability.

"There, uh, wasn't any more appropriate pun to use considering the number of trees around us?"

"Cory..." Rain sighed, "ugh, just give me a second."

Rain let her face fall back onto the cool snow below. It took far more than a second for Rain to recuperate, but Cory just stood by her side silently, watching Rain.

Rain jut let out a sideways glance and a smile. "I'm way too out of shape. I need to run like that more... We need to go out on adventures more."

Cory let out a chuckle. "Well, I wouldn't know the struggle, wings and all. I don't mean to sound so lofty but I can't help if I'm not as grounded as you, Rain."

"If you do two in the same sentence ever again I swear I'm never speaking to you."

"Change of topic!" Cory declared, hopping beside Rain as she slowly made her way towards the bridge crossing the swift river.

"Into what?"

"I don't know. Ask me anything."

Rain pondered this for a moment as she ascended the bridge, climbing up one stone step after the other -- although not without a bit of hesitation from her experience with Mystery Dungeons. She looked at the flowing river and thought briefly of a spot she had discovered many years ago.

It was a flowery meadow -- a hidden gem, really -- which had the local stream run by. In spring the flowers would bloom, and it was there, in the midst of all the beautiful colors and smell of nature, that she fell in love with flowers. She'd go every spring and, at one point, wondered if she'd ever share that place with someone special. Such thoughts were now a world away, but it did make her realize there was something she never knew about Cory.

"Cory, I don't think I ever asked, but have you ever had a partner?" she said as she reached the top of the stairs for the bridge.

"Nope! You're my first partner, Rain!" Cory responded as he flapped up, bypassing the stone steps completely.

"No that's not what I meant. I meant, well, someone special?"

"You're shiny!"

"Not like that."

"Oh! Like a non-Explorer partner! Nah, no one seemed to ever appreciate my lovely puns." Cory said, to which Rain gave a feigned look of surprise which he ignored as he continued. "But I'm sure some right 'mon will come around with a proper sense of humor sooner or later."

"So the species doesn't matter?" asked Rain as she crossed the bridge, peeking over and looking at the flowing river whose small chunks of rogue ice floating by were dodged by a few swimming water-types as they journeyed upstream. I sure hope he doesn't like loudreds. I'd probably die if that happened.

"Well all that matters to me is that someone can appreciate my wonderful visage and im-peck-able comedic timing, unlike a particular eevee I know," he said over Rain's annoyed groan, "So anyone will do!"

They passed over the central pillar holding up the bridge and Cory looked over the side and stared for a moment at the mons swimming by before speaking. "I will say though..."

"Huh?" asked Rain.

"What's that thing you call humans the water-types with fins? Not like squirtle but, like, magicarp?"

"Do you mean fish?"

"Fish, exactly! Anything but a fish. I don't know why, but fins just don't do it for me."

At this Rain idly shrugged as they crossed over the bridge. Perhaps it was the long trek or instead the ascending and descending of steps that reminded her of dungeons, but either way she felt her stomach rumble.

"Okay, Cory, I'll take some of those pecha berries now."

The corvisquire nodded and leapt forward, plucking open the bag he had. He looked in for longer than Rain would've thought be necessary to hand over a few berries, so she asked, "Is everything okay?"

He said nothing so Rain grabbed the bag from Cory and peered inside. Her visage shifted from the bag to him.

"Cory you dropped all our berries."

All he could manage was an "Oops?"

She closed her eyes in despair. "We are going to starve."

Art by v-anon

Rain's stomach growled once more, but a useful thought finally crossed Cory's mind; unsurprisingly, it wasn't a pun.

"I know! I'll fly above and look for some wild berries! I'm sure I'll find plenty."

"Even in the snow?"

"Well not normally, but the snow here is pretty fresh so I'm sure there'll still be berries around!"

She shrugged and continued towards where Cory pointed out while he took flight. She walked at a tired pace for no more than five minutes before Cory returned with a bag full of pechas.

"You'll never believe what kind of bush I found! We're in luck, though unfortunately they're not roasted."

Rain didn't even register the last part as her stomach rumbled too loudly for her to hear. She sat down, her wagging tail making brushing against the snow, leaving behind one arm of what a human would call a snow angel. Cory landed rather gracefully and he displayed his bag to her; Rain was about to grab one before she stopped herself.

Cory anticipated what she was about to ask and beat her to the punch. "No, I didn't use my talons to grab these."

"Good. Then did you--"

"No, not my beak either."

"Thanks, that would've been even worse," said Rain, but she looked at the berries in confusion now. "So how'd you grab them, then?"

Cory raised his two wings at her. "With these! It was tough using them, but I did it just for you!"

Rain let out a smile that promptly disappeared as she bit into a fresh and cool pecha berry. She spoke with her mouth full but Cory hardly minded. "Thank you; I really appreciate that."

Cory held his head up high in pride. "You pecha!"

The eevee finished gagged on her berry her berry, her only thought being that Cory absolutely timed it so she couldn't object to such a terrible pun. While she still chewed on it, while doing so gathered up a small pile of snow, grabbed a pawful of it, and hurled it at Cory's face.

The corvisquire wiped his beak clean with a wing but, being himself, had no choice but to indulge the deepest, darkest urges within him. "There's snow way you'd do that again."

If Rain rolled her eyes any harder they would've fallen out of her sockets.

Cory was then met with a barrage of more snowballs as the Rain went on a tirade against how her partner's puns. Cory, trying his best to avoid the onslaught, couldn't help but accept this punishment for this between two snowballs that hit their mark. "Alright, alright, I deserve that."

Gates to Infinity's Icy Sanctum

The small clearing of open field surrounded by towering trees was almost silent; the winds that had accompanied Rain and Cory's journey towards the mountains and through the cols had ceased once they entered the interior valley. Indeed, the only sound to be heard was the frustrated groans of Cory paired with the sound of flint striking steel.

"Aargh! Rain if we ever do this again, you better evolve into a flareon."

Rain merely watched as Cory sat in a rather inelegant position using his talons to strike the firestarter, sending the sparks flying seemingly everywhere but onto the pile of wood. Cory let out another groan of frustration as he struck the two together once more, and Rain didn't know how to help. Cory had done most the work of getting the larger peices of wood and trying to start the fire; all she had done was gather small pieces of sticks to ignite it easier.

"Well Cory, if I did evolve into a flareon," began Rain, hoping to lift her companion's mood while also filling herself with immense regret, "I'd probably start to sneeze fire. That'd be even more... uh, ember-assing."

She felt like she lost a whole IQ point there, but it caused a wave of alarm to wash over Cory who forze up and slowly swiveled his head from the bundle of wood towards Rain. "Say that again."

Rain rolled her eyes as she tried to not burn up out of shame and evolve prematurely. "Ugh. Ember-assing."

Cory let out a series of loud laughs that sounded more like caws, dropping the flint and steel as he tried to stand up to hug Rain for finally seeing the light of his ways. Throwing the flint and steel onto the pile of wood, however, was a far more effective firestarter than all of Cory's efforts, and the pile of wood burst into flame.

Cory let out a squawk and backed off, trying not to get seared, and Rain let out a giggle at the sight. Once Cory had calmed down, hopped over to Rain to give her a feathery hug and begged her to continue down the noble path of punnery (Rain would abandon it immediately) he released her and said that, now they knew where to go and had a fire to come back to, they were ready to see the aurora.

Cory took flight and soared towards the skyline, leaving Rain behind for just a moment before diving back down.

"Alright," Cory said, "just follow me. The valley opens up further down and the show looks like its about to begin!"

Rain nodded and Cory fluttered his wings into a hover, slowly raising himself onto the low-lying branches and flying from one to the other, leaving Rain to follow.

They proceeded away from the fire they had started, the warm orange glow being replaced by the black of night. But as they continued further and further, just as Rain was about to lose sight of Cory in the treeline as the darkness deepened, an ethereal blue began to appear.

It started off with a slight glow, first, but intensified at an almost exponential rate, pushing back the darkness and illuminating the entirety of the land.

Rain ran through the forest, looking up at the branches above to follow her corvisquire guide, but after she had barely caught up last time she called out, "Cory! You're going too fast! I'm going to lose you!"

Cory, who was looking ahead with his wings spread and ready to lift off once more, turned his head back towards Rain. His red eye shone with delight. "Just keep your eyes to the sky, Rain."

With that, he flew off, and Rain lost sight of him.

Dammit, Cory! she thought as she ran to the tree he was perched on and then proceeded to run down the last directions she saw him fly towards.

Dumb bird she thought, running after trying to catch up, scanning the sky looking for a really bad-humored corvisquire, why can't you just wait for--

Her complaints exited her mind as the thick canopy gave way to the heavens. She continued to dash forward, but it was something she was no longer conscious of, not doing so in chase but rather in awe, leaping and bounding over piles of snow as all her attention was focused to the shimmering nighttime sky.

As Rain ran beside tall grasses and trees she could make out the little specks of snowfall that themselves glowed in the light; the ones immediately in front of her snout revealing their delicate and intricate crystalline structure, but the ones further away -- as numerous as motes of dust -- glowed blue and white like the stars while under the luminous dance of the aurora.

She couldn't help but let out a gasp of amazement and wonder as she refocused her attention away from the soft white snow that suppressed all sound -- even her running, leaving only small pawprints behind -- and gazed towards the sky.

The surrounding mountains served only as a backdrop to the cosmos. The light-blue midwinter lights danced in the night, their delicate appearance and reappearance as they meandered through the sky like a river changing course captivating Rain completely.

One mighty stream was accompanied by a second, then a third and a fourth, each ribbon of light both fluttering in its own cosmic flight while also simultaneously being in sync with its companions.

Art by Zeiky

Once she found the perfect spot and skittered to a stop, Rain didn't know for how long she stood among the silence and watched that astral dance.

She did realize at some point, however, that Cory had joined her, standing beside her and taking in the same scene. The aurora-illuminated bits of snowfall glowed blue and fell from the highest of points, making it impossible to know where the stars ended and the snow began.

It really didn't matter, anyways, since the entirety of the scene -- the silence and stillness of the world paired with the aurora above -- made everything impossibly perfect, just as Cory said. She admitted as such to him.

"So I take it this was worth the journey, Rain?" Cory whispered as even he was in awe of the scene before them.

Rain matched his low voice. "Absolutely Cory. This is more beautiful than I could've imagined."

The quiet returned, a noble stillness that the two of them could enjoy wholeheartedly. Cory, however, was not one to enjoy silence as much as Rain, and he spoke once more. "You know, Rain, what's that synonym you humans have for a journey? Not like an expedition or adventure but one some human mentioned? Named after some ancient human hero?"

Rain, still watching the skies, answered innocently, "Odyssey."

Cory ruffled his feathers. "Odyssey, right. Our little expedition could be called that, right?"

Rain still wasn't paying Cory any mind, her focus still on the aurora. "I guess, yeah."

"Well, you know it was an oddish that told me about this place, right?"

It would've taken a lot for Rain to avert her sight from the scene before her, but she knew what the tone in Cory's voice meant and sought to stop it from ruining the moment. She looked at him with her blue eyes as if to dare him to continue.

Cory, always one to take a dare, did so with flair. "So I guess you could say this is what an oddish-sees."

The silence of the night in that valley was broken only by the sound of a single snowball hitting its target square in the face followed by a loud squawk and a "that's what you get!" whose supposed anger was undermined by a lighthearted giggle.