I really wish that inspiration would stay and not fly away like stupid flies.

Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Thank you. *Phantomness bows*

Chapter 9

After the old wizard had been disposed of – not dead, but paralyzed, at least for a few hours, and Morty was standing guard – the group continued on deeper inside. The floors were slick ice and three of them fell, Koga somehow the only one who managed to keep his balance in his special climbing boots. Ash had bumped his head against the floor and now was holding a hot potion wrapped in a handkerchief over the bump.

Aya shivered as she took a second cloak out of her pack and draped it over her shoulders. “Why is it so cold here?”

Koga frowned, but froze when he saw ice forming on the edges of his sai. “I… what is going on? Surely it can’t be that cold?”

Lance turned around in time to see Koga and Aya freeze into ice statues. The fire spells he knew danced in front of his eyes, but a whisper in the back of his mind warned that it would be a very bad idea.

What if they were pure ice now? They’d melt into water and die… and there would be no way to bring them back. Ash seemed to realize this as well, and did not release his monsters.

“Let us go.” Lance said, and they headed deeper into the cavern. It was not long before they found the casket, sitting on a table of ice, a frozen pedestal covered with scrolled writing from a bygone age.

Ash reached out for it, but Lance shook his head. With his gloved hands, he carefully touched the sides of the casket. They sprang open almost at once. Inside, a blade of pure, jagged ice glittered, and as he grasped the silver hilt to lift it out, he could hear it sing and his Dragon Blade hum in reply, affirmative.

What?

It… felt belonging, like his Dragon Blade. Ash raised an eyebrow in reply, and a few moments later, Aya and Koga came running, no longer frozen. Incredible!

“What happened?” Koga frowned. There was no trace of ice or even water on him or Aya, but they knew that they had not imagined being frozen. The others hastily reassured them that it had indeed happened, and Ash said that it might have something to do with the sword.

Lance was currently examining the blade, frowning. There was no core of fine steel inside. The blade was solid ice. It would surely melt if they removed it from this cave. Yet he did not wish to leave it here.

And if it was the real Blade of Ice, they had to bring it to Moltres’s temple as proof, didn’t they?

Not much more was said as the group exited, but they found both Morty and the man in the silver robe missing!

“Why didn’t he call us?” Aya frowned.

“I do not know.” Koga looked worried. Though Morty might not look strong, he was a Priest of Honou and had several fantastically powerful spells at his disposal. He wasn’t bad with the whip either.

Ash felt no vision coming on, so he relaxed. It probably wasn’t that important. Still, he felt annoyed.

One member of their party had vanished into thin air, after all.

“Lance, I do not know why but I feel somewhat nervous…” He confessed, as they climbed down the frozen waterfall. Barely had they reached the bottom when the ice began to crack and splinter.

“Curses!” The man swore as he released his Dragonair. It created a shield around them, but they were going to wind up buried in ice at this point.

“Lance, can this dragon swim?” Koga called.

“I don’t know! It’s only ever flown before!”

“Well, we don’t have much of a choice! If we stay here, we’ll never dig our way out! The moment that shield goes down, we’re done for!”

“You’re right!” Lance said. “It’s not worth risking our lives for! Dragonair, swim!”

The dragon blinked large placid eyes at them.

Aya swore under her breath. She came up with a vial of black liquid. She tossed it to Ash, who stared at her uncomprehendingly.

“Just feed it to the dragon!”

Lance grabbed it from him, said a mental apology, and tossed the contents down the dragon’s throat.

For a moment, it gurgled, and then suddenly, its horn lit up and it dove underwater.

All of them scrambled to hang on. At least the shield prevented them for drowning, but it was a very uncomfortable half hour as they bounced down the river and out of the cavern. Outside, Lance recalled the dragon – things had gone badly, as she was still unhappy.

Aya apologized, but it had done the trick. Now, all they had to do was find the Blade of Thunder, and then, well… they’d get the Blade of Fire, and everything would work out, right?

It had to. Otherwise, why was she wasting her time? At least it helped her skills stay sharp! And Koga hadn’t scolded her once yet this mission.

Maybe things would not be so bad after all?

“So, how do we find the Blade of Thunder?”

“We could go back and find the Priestess of Moltres again.” Koga suggested.

Ash sighed. He didn’t think the Priestess liked him very much. Well, he had been rather uncouth…

He should have been more polite last time! But lamenting over past failures boded ill for future endeavors.

It was time to look straight ahead and run.

However, they were all exhausted from the ordeal, and the dragon also, so perhaps tomorrow…

Ash wondered idly where the others had gone. He knew Lance had Dragonair, but surely he had others?

Lance did not speak of them, and he knew why.

Dragonair was his first. This was the pokemon who would become his partner. Lugia had deemed the others as distractions, and they had been taken away until this trial was complete.

He did not understand what pivot he turned, what thread he wove, in Fate’s tangled mess, but he would obey his patron.

For now

End Chapter

Completed 5/24/06

Lance is a bit antsier in some ways, but relaxed in others, in this fic. I love faceting characters!