PokèDruids [PkmnWattys2016]

Home Again

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Almost 4,000 words here.
Happy Black Friday.
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It felt like an eternity inside the hollow shell of ice. Not only was it bitter and frigid, not even the slightest hint of sunlight made its way into the sphere. All Eros could see was the eternal abyss, shedding naught upon the orb save a lone beacon of light above, ever as glorious as it ever was. And yet, he saw Xerxes and Surge as silhouettes as the first time, with only a faint outline representing their upper bodies. Even after the intense moment they just experienced, the sea and its ever-reaching darkness swallowed up their fears and let them experience their first sense of respite for the first time in a while.

And yet, it had its own terrifying moments; For example, while the area was eerily deprived of any Pokemon presence before, there seemed to be a Sharpeedo or two swimming about, which made the party less than comfortable. On top of that, Eros could've sworn he heard cracking every now and then; He even saw some lines in the ice he could've sworn weren't there before.

But in the end, it was no more than a simple wait for the ice to surface, holding everybody inside snugly yet comfortably. Xerxes didn't seem to mind the cold as much as Surge, who was trying to fit himself inside Eros' sweater, which Eros found to be awkward in many ways. Still, he didn't object to this, as he was a little cold himself. Most of the world was silent, as none dared to speak a word, as not to disrupt the natural beauty of the sea.

As time passed, it became apparent that the ice was rising a lot slower than anticipated, and it didn't travel straight up. After about half an hour, Eros noticed that Surge was nodding off. Normally, this would be fine, but Eros knew a little about hypothermia and that one shouldn't sleep when the temperatures are extremely low. As such, he explained this to Surge and shook him every so often, as to make sure he wasn't asleep. He wasn't particularly concerned about Xerxes, though, and found it more likely that she was watching him to make sure he didn't sleep. Another half hour later, and Xerxes was shaking Eros, too, every so often.

Eros wasn't sure what happened next; He remembered dozing off, despite having been just shaken by Xerxes. It was dark, or at least murky, for what must've been an hour. He surely gave her a heart attack, considering how vigorously she was shaking him when he woke up again. And yet, this didn't stop him from sleeping a second time; This time, he woke up to the ever-brilliant shine of the sun on his face. Surge was still snuggled loosely between his stomach and his shirt, as warm as could be. Eros was a tad chilly, but it didn't seem as if the ice had any difficulty keeping the heat inwards. All was calm.

And yet, too calm for them to be at sea, for he didn't feel any more waving or shifting from the ocean. Eros looked about, finding that the ice had a large chunk taken out of it. From this chunk, he could clearly see the edge of Morono's shoreline and forest area, slightly wavering in the heat of the shore. Even more beautiful was the sun, somehow just at the peak of the sky, glowing as grossly incandescent as ever, like a magnificent father of light.

Eros, assuming that Surge was still asleep, walked onto the beach, finding that being on stable, non-underwater land was refreshing for once. Surely, he took the firm and stable earth for granted before, and the sky's inability to inexplicably collapse at any given moment. "Damn," he thought, "I just destroyed a city... That's not going to settle well... And yet, what could have been done? Surely, there could have been a peaceable way to solve our problems, but... Could I have done it?"

Eros slowly made his way to the tree line, without Xerxes anywhere in sight. Assuming she must've gone for something and not wanting to risk losing her, he stayed put for around half an hour, which was enough time for her to come back. As she returned, she came with an armful of many colorful berries, some of which grew much farther inland than feasible.