PR: Accept your fate now

Tanis had said that the north was dangerous. The Lost had honestly been hoping that the Lady would listen, and he honestly hoped that she had believed him when he said that they had settled past her boarders. Well, inevitably she found out.  And she was less than happy about it. Now, the Lady was trying to figure out where to pick up and move to, and the Lost had been sentenced to go check out a path. They had heard that the route had some dangerous Pokemon on it, and as a punishment it was the Lost’s job to check. He was less than amused.
The Lost sat up on the back of the Cathedral, who almost hap-hazardously lumbered down along the trail that the Lady had sent him to scout on. They had been up and down it a few times, and from what either of them could tell it was the best way out of the lands. The Lost had not gotten used to his new mount though. The Cathedral was clumsy, reckless, and not that comfortable to sit on. The man had a death grip on the reigns as he was jostled around by the dinosaur below him, who paid absolutely no mind to his rider. Overhead, the Celestial drifted on the breeze to keep watch of their surroundings. If this place was supposed to be dangerous, the last thing the Lost wanted was to get caught off guard by a wild Pokemon… or a pack. The Fanatic also latched himself to the man’s back like he did to the Lady, scanning the snow covered ground behind them as they moved. He winced as the Cathedral  roughly jumped up a boulder, and then hopped over the other side. Oh he needed a different Pokemon for things like this. The Cathedral would probably make a wonderful Pokemon for combat, but for scouting and difficult terrain trips he was… frankly, awful. He was used to riding difficult Pokemon, but this was just getting silly.
The Lost glanced up to the Celestial, daring to bring one hand up if only for a moment to try to shield his mask from some of the bright light that filtered down through the cover cast sky. She drifted along, looking down at the Lost off and on to make sure he hadn’t been launched off of the larger Pokemon. The Lost lowered his hand, taking a grip on the reigns again – and just in time for the Cathedral to headbutt his way through a fallen log. “You’re going to kill me if you keep this up,” the Lost grunted, wincing as he was pulled into the front of the saddle. The Cathedral didn’t even bother to look back at him. The dinosaur just continued his romp down the path. The Lost sighed, trying to lean back a bit and relax. The Fanatic rattled in his scabbard, and the Lost glanced back. “Do you see something?” He questioned. The Fanatic rattled again, before falling quiet.
The Lost pursed his lips. If the Fanatic saw something, he wasn’t being clear about it. The man glanced around somewhat nervously, trying to scan to see if he could spot anything at the edge of the woods, or in the rocks to his side. He knew he wouldn’t be able to see anything though. He knew he very strictly relied on the Pokemon to spot things for him, and it made him a little nervous. After another jostle from the Rampardos, the Lost reached to check to make sure his short sword was still at his side. Sure enough, it was… but it didn’t bring the Lost as much comfort as he had been hoping. His teeth gritted under the mask. The Celestial hadn’t seen anything yet though. Perhaps the Fanatic had seen nothing. It was hard to tell with the sword; even the Lost couldn’t read him sometimes. He didn’t assume the Cathedral would notice anything unless it was right in front of his face. The Pokemon didn’t seem that… bright, needless to say. As the Cathedral continued down the path, the Lost began to relax a little bit more, before he felt like all was fine again.
Which was his first mistake.
Only the Fanatic had seen the attack coming. A snarl ripped out of the grey on his right, and from the rocks leapt an ice covered Houndoom, teeth bared and ready to take a bite out of the Lost. The Fanatic saw it though, despite its camouflage against the rocks, and had just enough time to swing around the Lost’s shoulders to deliver a blow with its sheath to the dog. It yelped and hit the ground, quickly scrambling to its feet. The Fanatic drew itself out of the scabbard, ready to attack again when the dog got up. The Lost had hardly seen the attack, and he was quickly looking for any others. Houndoom did not commonly travel alone from what he knew.
Sure enough, two or three more went to flank the Cathedral’s side. The Pokemon let out a angry snort as one of them tried to bite at his arm, and the large dinosaur turned to ram his head into the smaller Pokemon’s side. The Houndoom went flying into a nearby tree, and was done for the moment being. The Lost frantically reached for his sword, trying to get it out to protect himself. The Cathedral’s movement tossed the Lost to the side of the saddle, shifting the saddle over as well and making it almost impossible for him to get a good hold on his weapon. And the attack left the Rampardos open for long enough that one of the other two Houndoom grabbed a hold of the Lost’s cloak with its teeth. With a powerful tug, the Lost came tumbling down off of the Cathedral’s back as the other Houndoom tried to keep it occupied with bites and bouts of flame. The Lost landed hard, hitting his head against the ground as he tumbled to it. He could hear the panicked quacking of the Celestial overhead, and the sound of Air Slashes raining down onto one of the ice alchemized Houndooms.
The Lost hardly had time to collect his thoughts before the Houndoom that had pulled him off of the Cathedral was trying to sink its fangs into the man’s arm. The Lost winced and brought up his cloak, trying to use it to shield himself from the Pokemon’s frigid mouth. And he hardly had time to realize that the large Pokemon he had been riding on was about to crush him. The Cathedral had been pushed back by the  other Houndoom in panic, not particularly fond of the idea of getting bit by Ice Fang. He rolled out of the way just in time for the dinosaur’s foot to come slamming down right next to him, which got between him and his assailant. He tried to roll to his feet, wincing and struggling to draw his sword. The man got it out in time to block the Houndoom’s next lunge with it.
Behind him, the Fanatic was locked in combat with the initial dog. The sword brought its scabbard to block a bite, before swinging around to slam into the creature’s neck. The Houndoom howled, letting go and backing up a few feet before it unleashed a tornado of fire from its mouth. The attack sent the Fanatic crashing into the rocks, tassel singed.  The Fanatic shook a few times as the Houndoom paced closer, ready melt the sword in more flames. As it lunged again, the Fanatic floated up. His body glowed a bit, before he swung down. His blade was nowhere near hitting the Houndoom- but it wasn’t his blade itself that he was trying to hit. The sword glowed a bright green, before a sharp blade of energy cut out through the air and into the Houndoom. The Sacred Sword sent the Houndoom crashing down the rocks, leaving it out for the remainder of the conflict.
The Lost was not as young as he used to be, that was for sure. He was struggling to keep the Houndoom back, and at this point he was largely failing. The Houndoom drove him back towards the rocks, snapping quickly at the Lost so he would keep trying to block. Luckily, the Celestial had his back now; the Ducklett circled overhead and dropped a few Air Slashes on the Houndoom when she could. That kept the dog back more than the Lost could, and he appreciated it. The Fanatic had gone over to assist the Cathedral, who had gone to having to fend two Houndoom again. The two other Pokemon worked on driving off the dogs with sword slashes and powerful headbutts. The Lost suddenly felt less worried. Yes, they would be fine! The Pokemon all seemed to have it in their control-
The sudden lack of Air Slashes, a pained quack, and a rain of blue feathers caught the Lost’s eye and ear just in time to see the pack leader, with the Celestial’s neck in mouth, leaping down from the rocks. The Houndoom slammed the Ducklett into the rock and snow, cutting off her frantic flapping and screeching. “Celestial!” The Lost called, gripping his sword tightly; which left him open for attack. The Houndoom that had been after him slammed into him when the Lost’s attention shifted away from it, and the man found himself pinned against a rock with a large, angry dog on top of him. The icy fangs snapped at the Lost, threatening to bite down on his mask or worse, his throat. The Lost tried to keep an arm between him and the dog, fighting off the panic and sense that something else was deeply wrong about this.
Was this it? The Celestial might be dead. He might be dead. He could not see what had become of the Cathedral and the Fanatic. The had had the upper hand last he had checked, but if there was even more Houndoom… the Lost wasn’t sure if they were strong enough to fight that off. The Houndoom’s fangs buried themselves into the Lost’s arm, and he let out a staggered cry of pain. The Houndoom violently tried to shake his arm, teeth serrating into his skin through his cloak and his shirt, and even his bracers. The Lost tried to bring the pommel of the sword down on the dog’s face, but as he tried to raise it the blade snagged in the rock. He couldn’t get enough space to maneuver the sword. The Houndoom’s teeth withdrew from the Lost’s arm, before lunging at his neck.  The Houndoom caught the scarf he wore, trying to pull that away so it could get the man’s neck. The Lost frantically let go of his sword and tried to grab the Pokemon’s horns, which had been a bad idea. Not only were they sharp, but they were freezing.
This was it. The Lost was going to be torn to shreds by ice Houndooms in the north. He frantically tried to punch the Houndoom. It didn’t care. It slammed him against the rock again, making his head spin. He could feel the creature’s breath on his neck, a mix of burning hot and freezing cold. He tried to get his focus. It was over wasn’t it?
He could see a massive dark shadow towering overhead through his blurred, spinning vision. It moved quickly, and the Houndoom on top of him let out a pained yelp as it was suddenly dragged off of him. The Lost brought a hand up protectively to his neck, trying to sit back up with the hand that had not been bitten. There was the thunderous sound of flapping wings, and an indescribable call he had never heard of before. He squinted. He could slowly make out the forms of the Houndoom that had assaulted him, as well as the alpha Houndoom, who were pitted up against a Pokemon that was larger than any he had come in with. Easily standing at 7’, the white bird’s neck was splattered with blood from a wound. She let out a angry cry, slamming her wings out against the dogs before her. The jumped back, snarling.
It took the Lost a moment to realize that the gargantuan bird before him was the Celestial. She stared down angrily at the remaining Houndoom with her violet eyes, wings held out to the side. Now she was imposing. Now she was large. Now she was a terrifying Swanna. They had harmed the Lost. And she could not protect him Now she could.
The Celestial let out a shrill cry, before she gave her wings a few powerful flaps. The wind kicked up with each one, before the force of the Hurricane sent the two Houndoom flying into the woods. She tilted her neck up, waddling a few feet from the Lost to make sure the other Pokemon had fled. Sure enough, the Houndoom knew better than to keep trying to fight. She turned and waddled back to the Lost, tucking her wings against her side. She worriedly craned her neck down to the trainer, nuzzling his neck and his wounds with her beak. The Lost winced, and tried to reach up to pat her where her neck wasn’t hurt.
“Thank you, Celestial… You saved my life,” he grunted, wincing as he tried to sit up. The Cathedral and the Fanatic came rumbling back, having driven off their set of dogs. The Fanatic drifted over and helped the Lost up with the support of his tassel.  The Lost winced, before reaching out and carefully trying to get back onto the Cathedral. The Celestial helped. The dinosaur had suffered some cuts and bites, but nothing he couldn’t handle. The Fanatic was as fine as he could be.
“Let’s get back,” the Lost muttered, trying to be careful how he held the reigns. The Fanatic latched onto the Lost, making sure he wouldn’t fall off. The Celestial looked to the Cathedral, before giving the Lost another nuzzle. She took to the sky in a flurry of snow and feathers, and with that the Cathedral set out; albeit, he was much slower then he originally had been.
The north would not be easy. He wondered if the Lady could even survive it. Time would tell.