Chapter 1 - A Temple in the Sky

Tarphaggos is even more surprised at the sudden appearance of another. Iris can feel a flood of emotion emanating from the little turtle. A liquid sense of longing, loneliness and loss welling up deep inside it. But over the top of it all a sense of joy and a feeling of comradery. The turtle, with its usual slow and steady movements, begins to spin in a circle and then hops up on one foot.

The Tarphaggos stumbles for a moment after Iris shouted. Turning to her with a confused look on its face, covering its mouth with one flipper arm. After Iris sends her message through their link she can feel the confusion rising inside. When Light transforms back and curls up Tarphaggos waddles over to her and pats her on the head. It looked up at her when she asked her question, it sat down next to Light and crossed its flipper arms over its knees. Emotion begins to churn through the turtle once more. A memory half remembered of others like it, a group basking in the sun and enjoying each others company. Some wandering off never to be seen again. Others being taken by people who fell from the sky or lost in battles with creatures from the jungle around them. And then a long time alone on the beach. Beneath all of that, you can feel an even deeper sense of loss, something that should be remembered but cannot be. Like the memory was excised leaving scars and little else to know it was there. A single tear runs down its green cheek as it forces itself to stop remembering.

Yoko couldn't help but flinch in surprise at Iris' sudden shouting, and she quickly tensed up as she snapped her eyes over to her. Thankfully it was just a false alarm, so Yoko lets the tension ebb out of her and returns her attention to Layl once more. She kept a concerned eye on Layl as the girl stood back up, and she readied herself to spring into action and catch Layl should she start to fall. A moment later and Yoko gathered up the belongings she had left by her side and stood back up. "This is yours, right? Here," she said to Layl as she presented the unused potion to her, just moments before she took Layl's hand and pushed the potion into her palm.

With Layl now on her feet and the plan going forward seemingly settled upon, Yoko walked back over to where she had dropped her backpack. It was still drenched, just like she was, and thanks to her rummage through earlier, she learned that her backpack wasn't waterproofed. All of her gear had been thoroughly soaked through, except bizarrely enough the brown paper bag, which on the contrary felt as dry as a desert. Putting that mysterious matter aside, Yoko stows away the first aid kit and then picks up her backpack. "Which way?" she asked as she slung the backpack onto her back, seemingly alright to move on.

Tarphaggos smiles a bit as Light returns the sentiment, Iris feels its mood leveling out.

The group set off from the lakeside through the deeper jungle while following the twists and turns of the river. The sounds of life can be heard all around, the constant buzz of insects echoes from every direction and several times the group can hear some animal crunching through the brush far off in the distance. Every once in a while a jutting piece of masonry can be seen through the gloom, covered in moss and strange carvings. Occasionally glowing eyes watch the group before disappearing once more. Despite the racket that is being made by Yoko and Iris the group manages to reach the edge unimpeded. The water of the river cascading over the edge sparkling as it flys into the open air, creating small rainbows as it rains down. The jungle crowds up to the very edge of the island, roots and vines hanging out over the edge. Below the second island can be seen, a good deal larger than the first. The water pools into another lake immediately below the falls and several rivers branch off of the headwater, splitting and combining as they snake over the islands face. A few clearings can be seen, one with a small ziggurat poking from within demands attention. Another, which lies within close proximity to the lake, has a column of smoke rising from it. When the more perceptive members of the party stare closely they can see figures moving about working on tents or on other camp duties.

Iris wanted to smile and feel happy for the Tarphaggos, she really did, but she found it hard to. She was certainly glad to see the turtle recovering, though, and she let those feelings pass to the Tarphaggos. Light, even though she had not been channeled while Iris extended the invitation to the turtle and so couldn't know about the invitation, bounced ahead a few steps and then looked back at the lonely turtle, inviting it to tag along for as long as it was comfortable. Although, if the turtle refused, then Light would return to the Tarphaggos for a quick farewell before following after Iris. Iris was similar. Although she did not extend her invitation twice, it was still open, and if the Tarphaggos chose to remain where it was familiar, then Iris wished it the best of luck while bidding a friendly farewell. She had enjoyed the Tarphaggos's company while it lasted.

The trip to the edge of the island thankfully went unimpeded despite all the noise the group in the back made. Iris had an excuse for stumbling so much, it was hard to not step on branches and the like with double vision on, or at least that was how she made herself feel better about her ALceus awful stealth. There was nothing to report during the hike, but when Shossk and Calt reached the edge and stared down, Iris called for a halt from the back, "Wait. Shossk and Calt have reached the edge," and completely focused in on what Calt could see. Hopefully the others had stopped as she had asked because otherwise, Iris was going to be left alone without realizing it.

The view from the green owl's eyes was beautiful, but Iris didn't waste Layl's and Yoko's time with a scenic description. They would be seeing it in a bit, after all. What she did alert them while they had yet to reach the edge, though, was that, "So from the edge, you can see the second island. There are people... and it looks like they're camping? There's also some sort of temple that's still standing, so this island most likely has natives of some sort. They've spotted people... working on setting up camp or something along those lines." Iris readjusted her vision, returning to sensing mostly just what was around her. Now that she could see, and consequently walk, again, Iris gave the go-ahead, "Okay, so I think it's okay for all of us to see the edge for ourselves," assuming that the other two girls had stopped like she had asked them to.

The trio and their Pokemon would then, presumably, continue their hike and rejoin Shossk at the edge of the island. Through their channeled link, Iris gave Calt her thanks for his eyes while she waited to hear what the others would have to say.

Layl semi-ignored Iris' request, going out further after Shossk for a few moments, before stopping as she hears Iris start describing what was happening ahead. Normally she would have just went on without stopping, but Iris did have info it seemed, so she could stomp her need to keep up with Shossk for a moment for this.

Nacht followed right behind her, ever the patient companion. He probably would just go with whatever Layl did in the end.

After Iris gave the info about people, Layl tensed and started back to catching up to Shossk, Layl didn't want to leave Shossk alone after all, she still knew to remain as silent as she could, keeping her pace even as she stalked after Shossk's place up ahead. If they were going to be split up it should be evenly, besides, She and Shossk were the only ones actually capable of hiding well, so it only made sense to keep up with him.

"Calt," Shossk finally says, the first word he'd spoken since traveling down the river. "Fly downn and look to the bottom of this island. Iriss will tell us what you see. Do nnot draw attention to yourself," Shossk warns. With how full of animal life even this top island is, however, it seems unlikely that the group below, even if they do miraculously notice Calt from that far below, would see anything more than a bird.

Calt gives a feathered salute, then descends over the side of the island.

Shossk, meanwhile, looks out into the endless blue sky. Perhaps there were birds or other flying animals large enough to aid in his group's descent?

As Calt flys out over the precipice, he can see that the root structure beneath the island does wind together quite a distance underneath the island. The tangled roots twining together about 30 feet beneath the patches of earth. If someone could climb down them it would reduce the fall to about 50 feet. The island itself is covered in pits, holes and jutting rocks, as well as the aforementioned roots so climbing down, might be possible if someone was bold and sure handed enough. Calt spies that many of the caves and holes in the surface are filled with shadowy figures or patches of dried grasses that show where some animal has built its nest. Very wide, thick leaves grow from the roots, hanging low over them.

Both Shossk and Calt can see that there are plenty of flying creatures in the air over the island. Huge buzzing purple insects, large green and white creatures that look reptilian in nature, smaller multicolored birds. All making noise and competing with one another for space or food.

<Flying.> Now that she thought about it, Iris realized that before Calt, she hadn't had many chances to channel a flying Pokemon. Her own very specific preferences for her party, born out of a heavy sense of responsibility for each added Pokemon, meant that she had never owned a flying type, and until now, scouting from the air had never been something she had really taken advantage of. She'd just never really needed to use it, or when she did, it was too dangerous to split the party, but now she had just experienced free fall and over half of her time in this zone was spent while channeling and sharing the senses of a flying Pokemon.

Once Calt finishes his foray to the underside of the island, Iris returns her senses to her body. She gives her honest opinion and report, "There are enough vines, so it's possible, but it'll only lower us about... well, too far above the ground to expect ourselves to survive the drop. I would say... four or five stories high? Maybe more? Stories, as in building floors, that is. There are also what appear to be Pokemon living within hollows and caves on the side of this floating island. Personally, I don't feel confident enough to climb down the side without some sort of harness, I feel even less confident about climbing down the side while trying to fend off threatened residents."

Having all but given up on climbing down the rock, Iris's eyes are already focused on the blue skies when she concludes, "I think capturing a mount will be our best bet... but it all depends on the temperament of the Pokemon." She moves her eyes from the skies to Shossk and Layl. Moving from conclusion to introduction, Iris begins explaining what she thought might be needed for the capture of a flying mount, "Individual Pokemon respond differently to capture. Most of the time, they accept the command of their new trainer, but... I feel like that interaction is something AL wouldn't have been afraid to mess with. I think we should take out our new catches and see how they're doing. Now is a good time as any to check how a new Pokemon interacts with their new trainer."

Honestly, Iris was thinking that there might even be some kind of third option of going down to the second island, maybe a puzzle or something that creates some sort of way down, but she had only her intuition to go on for that idea.

Light sits on her haunches not too far from Iris but also not too close. She patiently waits, looking all around her at the new sights.