Warrior Eevees #1: The Storm of Fire

18- The Mountain Tribe

Emmy floundered after the two Mountain Tribe Pokémon for what seemed like hours, gasping as she tried to keep her muzzle above the snow in some places. There was no time for her careful Psychic path making, the Glaceon moved too quickly. Then, like a gift from Arceus, Emmy's fur alerted her to a warm breeze that they were thankfully moving right toward.

The breeze was emanating from a low cave, a split in the mountainside that the Glaceon ducked down to fit through. Aqua's fins pricked up.

"Water!" he exclaimed and followed without hesitation.

Emmy had no intention of staying out in the snow a moment longer and hurried inside, followed by Rogue, who had to lie flat on his belly and push himself through with his legs. Fortunately, the cave soon widened enough that even Rogue could stand upright.

The cave was warm, blissfully warm. Emmy's pelt smoothed, her ears pricked up from where she had been guarding them from the snow, laid back against her neck. Sleet and ice began to drip out of her fur, and she shook herself, scattering it across the pale brown stone floor.

The whole cave was damp and sleek with a striking resemblance to something that Emmy's brain suddenly remembered was called an indoor swimming pool, apparently strongly reminded by the environment. The stone was slick with droplets, and steam hung in a cloud around the stalactite adorned ceiling. A pool of sparkling blue water glimmered in the center of the cave, lit by several small holes in the roof through which the icy wind could not penetrate.

Aqua had vanished entirely, into the water, Emmy assumed. The Glaceon nodded to her from where they sat with their backs to the cave entrance, obviously preferring the cold.

"The water is good to drink," Blizzard assured her. "I'll go get Avalanche. Snowball, watch them."

"What? You watch them!" Snowball protested, but Blizzard had already stepped back out into the snow.

Ripples split the surface of the pool, and a few moments later, Aqua melted back into visibility. His fins and ruff were flared comfortably, and his eyes were half-closed lazily.

"It's nice," he said simply.

Emmy was already soaked to the skin from the walk, so she stepped into the pool herself. It had a very gradual slope, from barely covering her paws to much, much deeper than her head, so she stopped before she was forced to do any swimming. The water burned pleasantly against her frozen skin, and she found herself wishing she had Aqua's gills that would allow her to plunge beneath the surface and stay there without fear.

But she could not relax. Some old human memory was disturbed by the scene:

A hot spring. That means there is magma in the mountain that heats the water.

She tried to ignore the clawing thought- It didn't change anything, after all. The Storm of Fire was coming, hot spring or no hot spring. She may as well enjoy it...

By the time Blizzard had reentered the cave with two other Glaceon, the snowbound world outside was beginning to feel like a strange dream. Aqua's head emerged from below the water almost as soon as the Glaceon arrived, not bothering to shake the snow from their pelts. Blizzard nodded to Emmy and Aqua.

"This is Avalanche," he said. "The leader of the Mountain Tribe. With him is Crystal of the Mountain Tribe."

Crystal was a young molly whose pale blue fur was spotted with extra diamond-shaped markings. The ripples of the hot spring reflected in her eyes, which were a color somewhere between purple and blue.

Avalanche stood next to her. He was a solidly built tom with fur so dark blue he looked almost part-Vaporeon, and made his sharp yellow eyes stand out all the stronger. His pelt was dotted and scratched with scars, and there were many nicks cut into his ears. Avalanche nodded to the visitors respectfully.