bottlecaplogs | April Catch-All

[Yeah, this is just lame. Siffrin agrees.]

[They scramble their way up after Guilmon, placing their paws... perhaps a little bit too carelessly, now that they've been this way once already. But so far no disaster has struck!]

Do you see any other good ways down?

Hmmm...

[He looks around, trying to find something safer as they climb. It takes a few moments, but something soon grabs his attention.]

It looks like there's some small ledges down... that way.

[He tries pointing with his tail, careful not to swish the flames around. It's a bit of a diagonal descent, off to the side from the path they took before.]

If we're careful, maybe we can drop down?

Worth a try.

[Siffrin tests their stability on the cliff, then leans from side to side to try and see a few slightly different angles on the ledges. Let's not overshoot a drop because of their depth perception again.]

[They think they can make it, though.]

Guilmon can always go first!

[He doesn't really understand depth perception, but he is bigger, and if you're bigger, that means you're supposed to help people who are smaller, so he...

Angles himself a little, and then drops, though he does flail his arms a little on the way down.

On the positive side, he lands safely, albeit with a slight stumble and a wince.]

[Having Guilmon down there first does help. Siffrin knows how big Guilmon is, so they can tell how far away the landing point is.]

[They bunch up their haunches and drop down, kicking off from the cliff wall a little.]

[Unfortunately, immediately upon landing, they can tell that something has Gone Wrong. Maybe they landed a bit too roughly, maybe the ledge wasn't quite enough to support both their weight at once, maybe the two of them are just unlucky, but -]

UM -

[The ledge is crumbling underneath them.]

Wah!

[In a frantic scramble to avoid falling to their doom, Guilmon scoops up Siffrin and tries dropping down to the next platform, which... hopefully won't cause as many problems? Maybe?

One can hope.]

[Nice catch! Siffrin flinches violently when grabbed without warning, but has enough awareness of what's going on to not try to fight back.]

[Next platform!]

[Which is. Also crumbling, though definitely a bit more slowly. Think fast Guilmon!!]

[~~The good news is they're definitely at least halfway down now~~.]

[Ummm... well, obviously the answer is to... hop? Maybe that won't make them fall so fast or hit so hard! It makes sense in his head...]

[You're doing amazing sweetie]

[The platform crumbles, and they drop. Siffrin tries to dig their claws into the cliffside as they fall, but only succeeds in pulling another large chunk of dirt down with them -]

[They bounce off a couple rock outcroppings and skid to a halt on a ledge. Oof.]

[Good news: they're much closer to the water now! Bad news: there's no way up.]

Nn...

[Guilmon steadies, now that they're done falling, and carefully sets Siffrin down.]

Maybe we can record, and then Guilmon can dig a tunnel?

[If Mightyena gets mad, they can explain it!]

[Oof. Siffrin staggers to their feet, shakes out their fur, and tests each paw one by one. They're very sore and bruised and scraped up - they're sure Guilmon is too - but fortunately, they don't seem to have broken or sprained anything.]

[Siffrin should've been more careful. Stupid. Just climb down the cliff, yeah, sure! What an idiot they are --]

[...] Y-yeah.

[While Guilmon is recording and sending the sea spray, Siffrin inspects the ledge they're on, then the cliffside next to them. They pace back and forth, testing the cliffside with their paw.]

...ugh. We might have to swim out... [This far down, it's all rock. Claws are good and all, but can Guilmon actually dig through this? Siffrin certainly can't.]

Guilmon's used to digging through rock!

[Well, cement. He made his secret hiding spot bigger by digging further into it before. So maybe he can do that here?

Wriggling his claws, he turns to face the cliff.]

Swimming might be hard with my tail, but we can do that if digging doesn't work.

[For now, he's gonna try using Dig into the rocky cliff face. Fortunately, Charmeleons can do just that!]

[Right. Siffrin eyes Guilmon's tail. They have to keep it from... going out, presumably?]

If I swim next to you, I can hold it in my mouth and try to keep it from getting splashed? [They offer, hesitantly. Sounds... difficult, but they're feeling like this is all their fault, so it's only fair. The trick will be to keep the waves from splashing it...]

[So: any luck, Guilmon? Or is the rock too tough to dig through without tools?]

Mm, that could work...

[His claws do make a little dent in the rocks, but...

His face crinkles up.]

A tunnel might take a while.

[He snorts out a little smoke. Dang it!]

[They're only a few hops away from the surface of the water, here. Siffrin leans over the side of the ledge, then calls back -] I'm going to go check how rough the water is!

[They're not too worried about making it down and back - the cliffside looks much less steep down from here. It's climbing up the rest of the way that would be a problem.]

[They jump down and disappear.]

[They're back two minutes later, ears, eye, and paws peeking over the edge. They're just now realizing something they've forgotten to ask:] Do you know how to swim?

Guilmon can swim!

[He even moves his arms like he's paddling... despite not being in the water yet. Just roll with him.]

We just have to keep the fire safe.

[Siffrin nods seriously.]

The spot where the water crashes against the rocks is going to be the trickiest. After that it should be easy. [The waves are very calm right now, fortunately!]

Okay! Guilmon will just be careful not to get too wet.

[He inches tentatively toward the edge, digging his claws into the rocks, just to be safe.

He grimaces a little as he dips into the water, thanks to his typing, but... it's a start?]

[Siffrin waits for Guilmon to enter the water, then gingerly takes the Charmeleon's tail in their mouth, about halfway down. They tilt their head to make sure the fire stays above the water and paddle furiously.]

[This is awkward. But they are taking it very seriously!]

[It's very muffled with the tail in their mouth, but:] Mmf. Beach is around that outcrop, left. But away from the rocks first.

[Guilmon shivers as they swim, but he tries to follow the directions as best he can. It feels different, though. Wrong...]

Swimming is supposed to be fun...

[His words come out in a whine, but he'll do his best to persist!]

Mmgh, [Siffrin agrees mournfully through Guilmon's tail. They haven't had a chance to swim in a while, they think, even when they were human-shaped... but this is definitely not as fun as swimming should be.]

[Okay, they're far enough away from the rocks now, they're safe from the spray! Siffrin starts turning, legs pinwheeling through the water.]

[Good. That's less spraying water. It still feels wrong being submerged like this... But it's better.

He'll just keep kicking and paddling, so Siffrin doesn't have to do all the work.]

[It takes - well, what isn't actually all that long, but feels like forever with the doggy paddling and the craning their neck back and with poor Guilmon shivering miserably. But finally, they round the outcrop and reach the beach, staggering out of the waves.]

[Siffrin lets go of Guilmon's tail as soon as it's safe and starts gearing up to shake themself off - then realizes they prrrrobably shouldn't be doing it so near the Fire Pokemon. They stop, their fur still dripping.]

[Hmm. Actually, they've just had a thought.] Do you think I should dive back in and get Numel a view from underwater...?

[Dry land! Guilmon flops in the sand when they finally make it, just sitting there and soaking in the warmth. Dry, dry... Safe and dry.

Oh. Siffrin was asking something important.]

If you want to! Guilmon should probably stay here, though. Being wet wasn't very fun...

April Catch-All

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