The ICIRRUS Team

Paladin was in the basement of the Burned Tower, curled up into a ball in the corner. Morning frost gently bit on his wounds as the floor of the Burned Tower lightly creaked. Even though the building was basically completely exposed due to the destruction of it years ago, Paladin still felt safe and protected inside.

He gave a shaky breath as he stood up, wobbling. He didn't get much sleep last night because of all cawing and growling outside. He sniffed the air for any trace of life, but couldn't smell anything due to all the dust. 'Someone should really clean this damned place.' he thought.

He sat down again, thinking of what to do. Should he go outside to look for food? Or should he stay inside. Or maybe he should explore his new shelter? 'Yes' he thought. 'Exploring my new surrounding is a good idea.' with his remaining energy he managed to stand up and walk away from the corner he was hiding in. He felt the bright sunshine hit his body as he concentrated on sounds around him.

Paladin froze. He had heard a very faint shuffling noise of something- possibly something alive, maybe undead. He frowned, not having eyes to survey his surrounding. He slowly took a step back towards the corner he was hiding at. He felt afraid- no, he felt happy, or maybe he felt angry, he mentally growled at himself, he has no time to sort out his feelings of the situation! Someone was there that could possibly kill him!

After thinking of what to do, he finally stepped forward, head held high. He snarled a bit before speaking. "Who's there?! Reveal yourself!" he roared. He was going to say show yourself- but of course, he couldn't see so he didn't see any point in that. His body tensed as he waited for an answer.

Paladin yawned. "Look, I don't need your whole life story, a name would've been just fine." he replied, a bit relieved that it isn't an infected. "I don't believe I'm infected, I was attacked by them but I don't think I am." Paladin gave an exasperated sigh. Why did some Pokemon need to ask so many questions? Paladin wasn't a huge fan of questions, that's for sure.

"No, I haven't seen anything suspicious around here, obviously because I'm BLIND bud. I don't even know what you look like, care to tell me what Pokemon you are?" he asked, annoyed.

"A Gallade, huh? Male counterpart of Gardevoirs? Too bad I still don't know what you look like- even though I could make a rough guess." Paladin sighed. He thought for a second.

"Oh? Have you never been to the region- Unova? I'm from there. I'm a dragon type Pokemon called Deino. My species is blind from birth until we evolve into our final evolution." Paladin explained. "Oh, and m'name's Paladin. Nice to meet you."

After what seemed like a minute the strange pokemon said."A Gallade, huh? Male counterpart of Gardevoirs? Too bad I still don't know what you look like- even though I could make a rough guess."After a second the strange pokemon said"Oh? Have you never been to the region- Unova? I'm from there. I'm a dragon type Pokemon called Deino. My species is blind from birth until we evolve into our final evolution." then the deino said"Oh, and m'name's Paladin. Nice to meet you." After Paladin finished talking blade answered back saying."NO I don't think I have been to unova,but I've heard its very beautiful there from one of the commanding officers. I didn't know your species was blind from birth till they evolve to their final form."Blade whispered to himself saying "unova certainly does have some interesting pokemon." Blade looked up quickly and said "Its nice to meet you too, and if you don't mind I'm going to start looking around for the entrance to the secret base I'm looking for,your welcome to come with me if I do find it,it will provide better protection then sitting out here."

After searching long and hard for information to get to others, to help them find the cure or a new place for the uninfected, she finally came across the words that there was a base in the Johto region, Ecruteak City's Burned Tower Basement to be exact. So after a few days of constant flying, she almost practically dropped from the sky when she saw the tower, but she made her self land on her feet when she saw all of the repulsive, bloody carcasses.
Once she landed, she almost burst out in tears, remembering the moment she realized she would no longer see her parents ever again. Annie stopped herself, knowing that it was a must to stay strong, no matter what happened in her journey...
She carefully stepped over the bodies as quick as she could, she could not stand the sight of all of them, so the bird's main goal was to just get to the crispy tower. Accelerating her speed, it felt like she just couldn't take it anymore. Without thinking about it, she kept her attention to the bodies, so by the time she was sprinting, her body full on slammed into the thick, wooden doors of the building. Falling backwards, the landing was a lot more softer than she thought it was going to be, and that's when it hit her. Screaming, she climbed off of the body and ran into the building, slamming the door closed as fast as the pokemon could, which wasn't very fast.

Paladin started walking towards Blade when he suddenly heart a crash from above, he whirled around, looking to where he supposed the first floor would be. He gave a loud snarl. "WHO'S THERE?!" he roared, ready to attack and kill if it was an undead. He jumped onto a wooden ledge, barely hanging on- trying to climb his way up to where the door was.

He slowly made his way up and when he reached the door, he stood his ground, glaring at whatever was in front of him. He smelled blood and death- that's for sure. He gave a low snarl- thinking that the Pokemon in front of him is infected- he roared and charged forward, ready to bite.

As Blade was about to start looking, he noticed Paladin walking towards him; he heard a crash and a loud slam from the first floor. Blade knew Paladin was going to go after the source of the sound, so he ran up there with him -- the "code" that he had set up for himself in this living hell was to protect the living. when he got to the the first floor, he saw an Altaria in front of the door; he looked at it and, seeing that it wasn't attacking them, noticed fear in its face. Before he could move, Paladin started charging at the Altaria; Blade had to move fast. He grabbed Paladin and told him to stop and listen to him. Blade told him that this Altaria was very much alive, and he intended to prove it by first explaining to Paladin his test. "Okay, we know those spawns of Satan out there can't talk; they can only growl. So my test here is to see if she can talk or not, okay?" Blade waited for an answer to see if Paladin will go through with his plan.

He had been so hungry... for so long... Such a terrible hunger, ripping itself through his tired body... It was unbearable.

Hunger...

There were small sounds of stirring around him, and it infuriated him. He hated anything alive...

All life was to be consumed.

He lifted his head and saw with his still functioning eyes a light, white fluffy thing... and all three of his mangled, serrated teeth glistened with old blood and saliva in the ambient light around him. There.... THERE!

His maimed wings, though they were not what truly made him fly, flapped and heaved his heavy, swollen body into the air. All of his mouths roared in rage and fury, wanted the soft, fluffy blue and white warm flesh before him.

With a shriek, the mouths tore into the unwitting, frightful altaria, quickly tearing her limbs from her body, discarding the cloud-like wings and going for the flesh beneath them.

She screamed; her voice, even terrified, was a pure note, one that was quickly and abruptly silenced. The air echoed with the memory of the woeful sound, and was chorused with the soft sounds of her body being quickly devoured.

((Ooc: This post was rushed. Sorry for it's crappiness/shortness.))

They were lurking everywhere on the outside. Around corners, in the bushes, even near the scared tower to the west. Nevan had attempted taking refuge in the Pokemon Center... however, thanks to a confrontation with a small gang of undead Meowth. She had been unable to successfully find shelter.

She panted. Her paws beat repeatedly across the earth as she flew around the corner of a building and took a moment to catch her breath in its shadow. "I... need... to find...," she panted. Looking up at the sound of a spine shivering hiss, one of the Meowth's had caught up to her. Immediately, she blasted a Psywave at it and sent it flying a good twenty feet. She then broke into a full on sprint. As memory served, the burn tower was just up ahead. Maybe she could find somewhere in there to pin herself up for at elast an hour? She needed rest, else she were going to pass out.

She quickly made her way towards the building. Once there, she swept into the entrance of the Burned Tower. Her tail slammed the door shut, and she took a moment to catch her breath.

((ooc: once again, I apologize for how bad this is! I'm leaving right now. So other posts will come when I return!))

(OOC: It is fine. Good luck with where you are going.)

Tarinthe heard several shrieks, the tearing of flesh, slamming doors, and running from one of the air ducts connecting the Pokemart to the outside. He used his optic abilities to spy on the commotion. The gang of Meowth from the Center were chasing a small Espeon- the unwitting pokemon must have tried to settle there to rest. The Espeon ran, pausing at the corner of the building adjacent to himself, and used a Psywave to fend off a Meowth who had caught up, then streaked over to the destroyed Tower in the west corner. With a great SLAM! of the heavy, charred oaken doors, they had gotten inside safely. That, at least, is a bit of a relief. They seem to be uninfected. Tarinthe thought, stretching his lithe form and standing up slowly. He could not fully stand up, however- the ducts in which he had chosen to stay were much too short.

Tarinthe ended up crawling his way to the cover of the duct leading outside instead, keeping his magnet off of the metal sides as best he could. In order to enter the ducts he had needed to open this one, so all that the large Luxray did when leaving was magnetize the grate cover so that it slid easily up into the shaft, and subsequently back to it's place again.

Tarinthe slowly padded his way behind the gang of Meowth, towering over their rotten forms. They felt his heartbeat a second too late- He released a Spark and burnt them to a crisp before they could react. I should have dealt with them sooner. Had they not been searching for that Espeon, they may have found my hiding place. Tarinthe made a note to try burying the bodies that had piled up in the area lately- they had begun to rot some time ago, and made the town a ghastly sight- as he made his way over to the Burned Tower. Again using his vision, he spotted a couple of new pokemon, a Gallade and some new type, along with a large Infected and the Espeon.

The Luxray rushed into the tower, entering with a mighty Roar attack in order to scare the Infected beast away from these seemingly uninfected pokemon. "GET AWAY FROM HERE! YOU ARE UNWELCOME!" Turning to the 'normal' pokemon, Tarinthe shoved the door open and ushered them out of the building, as the beast screeched and howled at the group.

(OOC: I am unsure if the Hydreigon had found Annie while inside of the tower or burst in so that he could attack, but I am confident that he will have the sense to leave once his duty has been completed. As such, leaving the tower seems to be a better idea than staying.)

(Ooc- Please do not resize any text. It will just be corrected. And yes, the harbinger leaves when its' duty is done)

Paladin heard scraming and the tearing of flesh- and so many ther sounds that he wished he didn't hear. He backed away only to hear the door open and slam shut- then heard the door reopen and felt something usher him outside. He felt his body step in a puddle of sticky liquid, probably blood.

He felt anger boil inside of him as he let out a growl. "Who are you necomers and are you infected?! State your name and species!" he roared at whoever ushered him out and whoevr slammed the door.

Nevan was in a state of utter confusion after her entry into the tower. She had been so quick to run in. She had gone without notice that any sort of monster could have possibly been within the Burned Tower. Taking shelter behind a rather large piece of rubble. The Psychic type found her body quivering beneath a beam that had had a large piece of the ceiling structure prop itself over. It was almost like a makeshift home, though for now it was what she was calling her little hiding spot. It was dark enough to conceal most her body, meaning if those Meowth from outside decided to follow her. They'd be able to easily spot her half lightened form. Until she could fully collect herself, the Espeon had little intentions of removing herself from her spot.

With eyes tightly shot, and her heart pounding in her chest. The forked tail of the Espeon had wrapped around her form so that she was in a tightly nit ball. The door had once again flung open, and with it came the Roar of a creature she couldn't identify at the moment. She was a shy one. More so, she was easily frightened without her companions around. Her trainer.. her brother, they were all gone! She had been so strong with them, so confident. Now, she was nothing more than a mess fighting to stay alive in a screwed up world. The two she had treasured most in her life were gone, and they were nearly always on her mind.

She slunk back even tighter in the mess of rubble. Her limbs were tucked in tightly, and her large ears had pressed themselves tightly to the back of her skull. Her amethyst eyes opened, the soft glow of a pink tint flashed around them. If whatever had came in was an infected, then she'd have to fight! She'd have to stay alive for her brother and her trainer! If she could kill an infected, that just meant there would be one less infected in the world. Nevan's eyes slid all around the room in search of any form. Be it living or dead. In her view, there was but one. A Luxray. In her state of panic, she couldn't fully identify whether it was alive of apart of the ranks of the Undead. In the past. The Espeon had seen some infected who looked almost perfectly normal. Many times, they had been ones who had only recently been turned.

For the longest time, she stared at that Pokemon. Every muscle in her body was tensed, and even her fur was standing on end. Was it the one that had spoken? Oddly enough... it almost seemed like she had once heard its voice. If so, it was nothing more than a faint echo in the back of her mind. She shook loose the thought, and at the sound of other voices. Her ears pricked and she lifted her head. Were there others? They were all talking. Making full sentences that weren't broken, or had any form of grunts or growls to them. Were there actual living Pokemon in her presence? Cautiously, she took a single step from the comfort of her spot so that her face could just barely be seen from the dark debris. One demanded to know whether or not her and that Luxray were infected or not. More so, their name and species.

"I-I'm Nevan... an Espeon," Nevan stuttered, her voice soft and sweet as she retreated her head back slightly. She made eye contact with no one. "I'm not infected." Having a quiet voice sometimes frightened Nevan. If they didn't hear her, might they attack? Despite the beckoning of the Gallade, she refused to move from her spot. She stayed quiet, once again tucking herself in so that she was barely visible within the shadowed protection of the debris.

Tarinthe was startled to hear the small, apparently blind, pokemon he was ushering speak so fiercely toward him and the Espeon. But again was he shocked to hear the Gallade speak of a hiding place within this burned facility. "Are you mad? A building such as this could not possibly hold a secret hideout. I have been living in this city since the outbreak, and have not seen a living pokemon exit."

He twirled the magnet fastened to his tail idly while listening to the Espeon. "I-I'm Nevan... an Espeon," her voice was light and saccharine... Tarinthe thought the name sounded familiar, but thought nothing of it for the moment. "I'm not infected."

"Nor am I." He growled to the young one. "As you should plainly be able to discern from my speaking. On the subject of names and species, I am Tarinthe, a Luxray. It would be pertinent to introduce yourselves as well." He glared at both the Gallade with the fancy armour and the pokemon of unknown species whilst stating the last phrase.

[OOC: Temp. Image for Paladin's actual Appearence until I get off my lazy butt and draw him. ORZ]

Paladin scowled. "I'm Paladin. A Deino." he replied, trying to shake the blood off his feet. "And what was that thing just a while ago- all that growling and that roar. What happened to that other Pokemon that was at the entrance?" Paladin asked, rather confused about what happened 3 seconds ago.

The Deino stood for a moment, before walking a few steps ahead and sitting down. Turning his head left and right. "Look- can someone please just explained to me everything that had happened. I'm blind, I have no idea what you Pokemon look like, and I didn't witness anything, I just heard stuff. I need a full explanation." he sighed, sounding defeated. He twisted his head a bit to reach his back to tend to his many cuts, bruises, and burns, awaiting a answer at the same time.

Nevan remained in her corner for a few brief moments, listening to the multiple Pokemon in the room. Her eyes focused on them each, noticing one looked badly wounded. It was unfamiliar to her. Before the epidemic. The Espeon had noticed quite a few Pokemon that she had been unfamiliar of. Her ears had also caught talk of a new region, and her trainer had said they'd someday go. Was that Pokemon from the new region? She scrutinized him for the longest time. Especially whenever he began to speak. She had only just arrived, and feeling as though she had no place to talk. The Sun Pokemon merely remained quietly as she took a measly step from beneath the debris she had hidden herself in.

A ray of sun shown its way through a burnt hole in the ceiling. It was near the makeshift hide out she had fled to once entering the tower. There she inched to, and she sat with her tail neatly rapped around her paws as the Luxray introduced himself. She had calmed down a considerable amount, and now her mind felt much clearer than it had in her panicked state. Her heart was beating at a softer rate, though it was still quicker than it normally was. The warmth of the sun's rays comforted her. Her fur and skin soaked in the light as she listened to the voices around her. Tarinthe... now that name sounded faintly familiar. She searched the recesses of her mind, however couldn't put a paw on whether she had met him in the past or not.

The Gallade had began speaking next. Going on about some sort of base the 'guardians' had made. She blinked, her eyes watching him closely as he spoke angrily to the Luxray who had dismissed the idea of such a haven. If those so called guardians had abandoned it, then how in the world would it be safe for any of them? 'This tower is old... and weak from being burned,' Nevan thought as she took a glance of her surroundings. 'I doubt anything here would be worth trying to hide in.' She couldn't help but to flash a glance back at where she had taken refuge. She had a nasty habit of trying to hide whenever in a panic, after all she was fairly shy. Even now, she remained quiet. Even though the Gallade had briefly directed his attention to her.

"I'm Paladin. A Deino." The small pokemon scowled,but then looked utterly perplexed. "And what was that thing just a while ago- all that growling and that roar. What happened to that other Pokemon that was at the entrance?"
"Look- can someone please just explain to me everything that happened? I'm blind, I have no idea what you Pokemon look like, and I didn't witness anything, I just heard stuff. I need a full explanation." Ah, so that's why he was not as startled as myself or Nevan.

The Gallade with the fancy guards spoke next. "I'm Blade." He growled toward Tarinthe. "And I am not mad, there is a secret base under this building, only a secret group called the Guardians know about it and only a Guardian can reveal its secret entrance. I happen to be one." He added quickly. "They used the base as a meeting place, but after everything went to hell they abandoned it. That is why no one has come out of here."

"I see." Tarinthe bowed his broad head in acknowledgment to Blade's ranking. "I apologize if my statement before caused any ill feelings, by the way, I spoke quickly and did not think beforehand."

The Gallade continued on without reply. "Paladin, I'm sorry, but the Altaria that was here got killed. I was only able to slash the belly of the beast, leaving a scar on it." He took a breath. Must not talk this much very often, Tarinthe commented to himself, while Blade then addressed Nevan. There's no reason to be scared Nevan, I won't hurt you. I don't think Paladin here will hurt you, unless you threaten him, either." Again Blade addressed the entirety of the group in the building. "Now, I'll say it again, if you want you can follow me back down stairs and we can look for the secret base." With the last statement, he started toward the stairs.

Tarinthe was about to follow when he noticed that Nevan was not paying very close attention, and thus probably missed most all of the conversation. He padded toward her, envying the way her pelt caught the measly solar rays and shone brilliantly, even within the gloom of the Tower. "T'would be a fine morning, had we not been in the midst of terrible times." He rumbled, staring solemnly up at the hole allowing the sunlight into the room.

((OOC: My, rather long post I suppose. Mostly restating others, unfortunately.))

Paladin stood there for a moment. A bit confused of the situation, but then decided to follow Blade. It wasn't like he was going to be left alone or anything, all he really wanted was to just be able to see what was going on around him for once, instead of having to rely on his damned hearing and smell to get by. He quickly followed Blade on his stubby legs, bumping into several walls and stumbling on many rocks, being decorated in even more wounds than before.

As soon as he reached the stairs he suddenly tripped, sending him rolling down the stairs as he screamed swears and curses. Finally smashing onto the wooden floor of the bottom, he stood up shakily, having a large frown on his face. "Damned fucking stairs- I hate them."