Frozen Resolve

Chapter 6 : Catnip

"Yes...I am the challenger" Randy said to the male Pyroar with a bow. "Oh? Your name would be...?" the male Pyroar asked. "Randal Silverwood...and yours would be...?" Randy asked. "You dare question the name of our king?!" a Pyroar roared. "How dare you ask his name?" roared another. "Silence, my name is Pycardas...for I am up for the challenge!" he roared.

"Randal Silverwood, I honor your bravery, and I shall give you one last chance to run...now make up your mind" Pycardos roared. "Randy, run when you still can!" I shouted. "No, I'm staying here. I am challenging you, king Pycardas!" Randy yelled, followed by a moment of silence. "It's all my fault...for getting him into this horrible mess..." I thought to myself.

"I admire your courage, Silverwood...I have one question before I annihilate you, what is motivating you to battle me?" Pycardas questioned. "Is it fame? Glory? Leadership?" he asked again. "No, none of those, king Pycardas. I wish to leave this place with Icy, my Vulpix friend. This young Deerling here, and that Deino over there" Randy replied and pointed at Derp.

"If you win the battle against me, the four of you shall go back unscathed, but if you lose..." Pycardas said and narrowed his gaze. "Kill us all" Randy replied shortly as I felt my head get a little dizzy. "Randy, what?!" I yelled after I managed not to pass out from the situation. "Challenge accepted, we shall start our battle at this very place when the sun vanishes under the horizon"

"You feeling better now?" I asked the Deerling who lay on the ground next to me, but she didn't reply. "I...sniff...I-I...sniff...I miss dad..." she sobbed. "It's going to be alright...we'll find a way to bring you to town and find your mother, ok?" I tried to comfort her, then slowly rubbed my tails against her teary cheeks.

"What's going on? What are we waiting for?" Derp asked, he was sitting next to the sobbing Deering, seemingly looking around even though he couldn't see. "We're waiting until the sun fully sets. a voice called out, then a shirt came flying towards my direction. "Randy, why are you taking off your shirt?" I asked and looked away. "Whoops, take care of it for me, I don't want it to be burnt a few minutes later!"

"Deerling, what's your name?" I asked, attempting to change the topic. "M-my name is Della, I'm going to be 6 in two months" she replied. "I'm Icy, I'm 15 right now, and that Rockruff is my friend Randy, this Deino is Derp, who got lost in this savannah. We were here to take him to Post Town, we'll take you there too, okay?" I said to her and forced out a smile. "Big sister Icy...how are you so brave...? I'm...scared..." she mumbled with another sob. "Because Randy is going to win, definitely!" I replied with a confident smile, but that wasn't the truth. Even though I tried to act bravely in front of her, deep down I was just as scared as she was.

"Silverwood...are you ready to fight till your death...?" a growl caught my attention, looking towards the left, the sun had already vanished upon the mountains as the sky became darker. "Yep, definitely am" Randy's voice replied from a distance, but when I looked towards him, I felt myself getting lightheaded again. "Randy, why the hell are you playing with dirt before a serious battle?!" I screamed. "Whoa!" Della said with a gasp.

"Because sand is snad" he shouted back. "What does that even mean? "What is snad? Are you being serious or not?!" I shouted. "Of course not!" he replied with a smile. "Where in the heck is your courage coming from?" I asked. "The middle of nowhere!" he shouted back as I let out a sigh. "Alright, Randy has officially lost his mind, we're all dead..." I thought to myself.

"Big sis Icy...?" Della's small voice interrupted my thoughts. "What is it, Della?" I asked. "I...feeling a little dizzy and tired...maybe because of the blood I lost...can I...take a small nap...?" she asked. "Of course" I replied and rubbed my tails gently against her neck as she lay down until I heard her soft and steady breathing on my tails.