The party travels to Silvertree...hopefully

Well that was reassuring, Maya thought as she readjusted the straps on her pack with one hand and carried Bo about with the other arm. The yellow fluffy wool of the Mareep was warm and comforting in the wet cold. In fact Bo didn't seem all that phased by the weather, just squinting at the wind and ice. Maya's jacket and multiple layers had held up well so far and her insulated boots were doing a good job of keeping the cold and wet out but her feet still felt cold. She gently stamped her feet to get blood flow going but she didn't do it too hard because this ground was unstable.

"So basically walk and hope we get lucky. Got it," she said, eyeing the frosted lake warily. It didn't look exactly reliable or... well safe. But she didn't really have any other better ideas at the moment so she couldn't really complain. [/font]

Zandrophin had always enjoyed cold weather, but as with anything else, too much of something can become miserable. The temperature alone was enough to convince those less suited for travel to turn back, but this group was prepared for such things. Perhaps what they hadn't counted on so much was the sheer force of the wind and the blinding snow. His hair had been blown back by the wind and crystallized by the ice that now wove itself between the follicles. Mentus was curled up so tight that Zandrophin could feel the pressure from his tail on his neck. He heard Marcus' request for a sound-off, and decided to take part.

"Your eyes are still open, O Fearless Leader...in fact we're pretty sure our eyelids are frozen open...we'll let you know if anything comes along."

The psychic trainer continued to press forward, his companion constantly scanning for any sign of danger.

Okay...good, all still here. We just have to keep moving. Just keep...moving. Marcus kept marching as he fought the wind and snow and ice smacking him straight in the face. It was getting progressively harder to keep his legs shuffling in their normal pattern and his chest was tightening up in an unfamiliar way.

He tried to rub his hands together and felt his digits refuse to bend. They stayed stock still and he couldn't feel anything when he tried to warm them up through friction. Well that's not good...at this rate they'll be falling off before we get there. Feet won't be any better... "And I rather like my fingers and toes at the moment. I'm sorry, Lex; I hate to bring you out in this cold, but I need you now." With a flash from his pokeball, Marcus released his baby Wynaut into his slowly stiffening arms. "WY! W-wy?" Lex looked around and then, noticing he was in Marcus' arms, hugged his dad as good as he could, pressing his body up to Marcus with a happy purr-like sound.

Continuing to shuffle forward into the path made by Sofa's large body, Marcus held Lex out from his body. "Buddy, I know it's cold; but I need you to help me." Bending his body to make his head tilt in a quizzical look, Lex stared at Marcus in confusion. "I need you to protect me. It's a move called Safeguard. It's...it's like a ward." Lex continued to stare without understanding. "You can do it. I know you can. We haven't trained you for any moves; but your other moves are second nature for you...this one is harder. It's something you have in you. You can use it if you know how...just focus on preventing things like burning and freezing and poison...specifically freezing if you can."

Lex's balloon body was starting to deflate in reaction to the cold and frustration at not knowing what was wanted of him by his father figure. He started to inflate himself and then tightened his face as he tried his best to protect Marcus. "Hey, it's okay. Don't worry. Deep breaths. Don't get stressed, it never does any good. Calm. Calm...That's it." Slowly, a light sparkled forth from him and sprinkled around and onto Marcus' body. "Yes, that's it! Good job, Alexander. A bit more like that." Lex used Safeguard effectively and coated his trainer in sparkling dust. Instantly, Marcus could feel the movement in his fingers come back. However, the cold still clung to him tightly. Guess that'd be too much to ask for. Oh well...cold, I can deal with. Putting Lex inside his jacket, he continued his trekking with a smoother gait.

The excess sparkles from the Safeguard flew with the wind, trailing behind Marcus like a comet's tail.

After the group was sufficiently coated in Safeguard, the trip became much easier. They followed the treeline and kept their steady shuffle north along the lake as planned, Sofa marching on at the front of the line. As they moved on, Marcus could have sworn he heard a sigh of frustration from literally just over his shoulder, but when he spun around, nothing was there...at least, he couldn't see anything there.

Whenever Marcus' fingers started to feel tense again, he had Lex use the Safeguard once more, but after the third time, the little balloon was starting to look worn down.

He has just learned the move, and has been making far too much to call it a normal use of Safeguard...

"Okay, buddy. It's time you go back into your ball. We'll be fine from here on out. Don't give me that face, I know what I'm doing." Lex gave a neutral look, which is a big deal for a perpetually smiling Pokemon, and then hugged Marcus' chest again before being pulled back into his ball. "I already owe you my life. Thank you."

---

Marcus' fingers never felt tense a fourth time after putting Lex away, and it wasn't until Marcus realized this that he noticed he could see Sofa again. The snow was clearing up. The blizzard dissipated so abruptly Marcus barely had time to think about it before the snowfall had stopped altogether.

With this new development, Marcus turned back around and saw that everyone was still alive and in line. "Sofa, hold up. Well folks, it looks like we've made it through the worst."

This time...

Maya was equally perplexed and looked around at the sudden halt in the blizzard, like they were in the eye of a storm but that wasn't possible in a blizzard was it? She held Bo close to her and reached out with her other senses, feeling for any strange aura and or power that might be behind this. There was something, something that sent a shudder down her spine that wasn't caused by the cold, but she couldn't' recognize or get a good enough grasp of it. The seals on her arms felt warm for a moment, she felt a haze come over senses, telling her that she had tried reaching out too hard and seals had to dampen her senses. Lest the paper seals break and tear to shreds if she went too far with it.

"There is something strange here," she said, frowning. Though she could say if it was bad or good at this point. It was almost like they were inside a reversed snow globe, the snow swirling around not too far behind them.

Zandrophin could sense the apprehension from Marcus' companion.

Do you sense anything, old friend?

I'm trying, Sir...there's still a lot of interference.

Try to cut through it, if you can.

He came up swiftly and silently behind Marcus, all the while scanning the area.

"Alright," he said in a hushed tone, "what's happening? Mentus and I are blind...has your friend picked up something?"

Zandrophin didn't like...whatever this was...one bit. He hated being unable to sense his surroundings. There was definitely something out there...something powerful enough to block him. He had his theories...but they were only theories. Even so, all of his theories made him uneasy.