curiosity killed the cat ! [open/mod]

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[bg=#a23232] TAGGED: open / mod WORDS: # 657 NOTES: blah blah blah CREDIT: MADE BY EDWARD OF ON THE EDGE

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[tr][td][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=background,http://i36.tinypic.com/kar9kn.jpg,true][atrb=width,420,true][atrb=cellpadding,15,true]The two towers of Ecruteak City certainly were famous and an ancient landmark for the Johto region, however Cassie wasn’t even aware of where the buildings stood tall and proud as she rushed through the almost empty city. Rain thundered down, leaving the earth swimming in puddles and ripples flowing across the water as each droplet collided into it. She had come here to sight-see for sure, she definitely wanted to see the two towers which were rumoured to have so much magical history behind them, however at this moment she was far more interested in getting out of the thunderstorm and finding shelter before she caught a cold. That wouldn’t be a good thing to catch on her journey around the Johto region; it would certainly spoil her travelling days if she did contract a case of the common cold. Why nobody had actually cured the most contracted illness ever was a mystery to her.

Toffee coloured eyes squinted as the rain pelted in her face, Cassie dashed as fast as she could towards a building looming in the distance, her feet colliding into puddles and sending splashes of water up her legs, dampening her tights and coat. Not like they could be any wetter anyway, considering the rain was being so relentless. She almost stumbled as she leaped up the stairs taking two steps at a time, attempting to reach the top of the stairs faster so she could get into the safety and shelter of the building just at the top of the flight of stairs. A gasp of relief escaped her lips as she literally crashed through the door, pushing it open strongly as she staggered inside, panting furiously as she fought to catch her breath after running for what seemed like forever. Leaning over with her hands on her knees to keep herself standing, Cassie simply stayed still for a moment as she attempted to calm her panting body down after her run through the storm, water droplets rolling off her tanned skin from her hair and dripping off her clothes, pattering down on the wooden floorboards and leaving a steadily growing small puddle.

Slowly she raised her head to look around her surroundings, preparing herself to shout apologised to whoever’s house she had just barged her way into however her toffee eyes widened as she came to see that in this building probably wasn’t occupied by humans. It was dark, the only light shining through was from the dull darkness from outside because of the odd few holes in the roof, raindrops dripping down considering the upper floor’s roof was all but missing and the roof of the room she was in, had some damages as well. Despite the lack of light and the rain dripping through in some places, the building was far dryer and warmer than outside, despite the fact Cassie could see a few holes in the wooden floor, black scorch marks marking some of the walls. Slowly the cogs started turning in her mind as she placed her surroundings together. Was she.. In the burned tower?

Indeed, she had found shelter in the famous burned tower of Ecruteak City and she instantly felt relieved and also a little bit nervous, after all it wasn’t the sturdiest places in the world, which was clearly obvious by the holes dotted around the surfaces. Shivering, Cassie rummaged through her bag to bring out a torch she had packed in case she was stuck in a dark place, like this was. Her soaked clothes and hair caused her to tremble from the cold and wetness, biting her lip to stop herself from chattering her teeth, she decided standing around in front of the door wasn’t going to get her anywhere, so after flicking on her torch she carefully started to walk around the building, looking for a place to sit and perhaps change clothes, then wait for the storm to pass.
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[atrb=background,http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g16/ForTheLuvaDIRT/Melrosetablemiddle2.png] Blue eyes squinted through the rain, searching for shelter in a slow, but thorough way. Melrose was already soaked to his skin, so he didn't bother rushing to get out of the rain. He didn't want to risk slipping and injuring himself but he still didn't want to stay out in the rain too long, especially since he was starting to get cold. Normally his luxray, Antauri, would be by his side to guide him through the rain, but Melrose hadn't wanted his precious pokemon to get wet along with him, so he'd put Antauri into its pokeball--a thing he rarely ever did. It came to the point where he now felt strange without having the blue luxray at his side, its yellow-and-red gaze fallowing his every movement as it walked either behind him or beside him. The pokemon had learned long ago not to walk in front of him, having often gotten its tail caught under his boots as he walked in his long, unpredictable strides. So much for seeing the famed ghost pokemon around this area. Even ghost-types wouldn't come out in this weather! They'd probably have rain-drops falling through them, depending on whether they were the solid ones or not. Spotting a building in the distance, Melrose could contain himself no longer, and burst into a run for the place, ignoring the little voice at the back of his head telling him over and over again, "You're going to slip! You're going to slip!" that is, he ignored it right up until he did slip. Falling face-first into a puddle, Melrose cursed himself and his stupidity. He could almost hear Antauri and Nova laughing from inside their pokeballs. "God dammit... Tarnation.... Blasted... Stupid...!" getting up and wiping the most of the dirt on his face onto his sleeve, Melrose continued to curse, his mood quickly turning foul. Limping the rest of the way towards the building, Melrose pushed the doors open and slid inside, before becoming aware of just where he was. He hadn't been able to see clearly in the rain, but now that he was inside it was clear he was in the burned tower. Melrose shivered. The perfect place to be during a rainstorm-An obviously haunted tower. He was about to let Antauri out of its pokeball, but then decided against it as he looked along the floor and saw how unstable it was. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, Melrose found himself staring at a girl, one seemingly as wet as he was but certainly not as covered in as much mud. For a few moments, Melrose wasn't quite sure what to do. He wanted to give her a cheery greeting, but something about the towers made it such that he didn't want to raise his voice too loud, for fear of the floor breaking beneath his feet. It was at moments like these Melrose knew just how much Antauri meant to him, the luxray giving him a sense of confidence no matter what the situation. Uncertainly, he called out a meek greeting. "He-hello?" His eyes had completely adjusted to the room around him, and he could now see the girl more clearly than before, taking in her brown hair and eyes, and her cute--if not damp-- appearance. Maybe this wasn't too bad... Notes- Temporary table! IGNORE IT!

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[bg=#a23232] TAGGED: melrose/mod WORDS: # 623 NOTES: sorry it took a while. :c CREDIT: MADE BY EDWARD OF ON THE EDGE

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[tr][td][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=background,http://i36.tinypic.com/kar9kn.jpg,true][atrb=width,420,true][atrb=cellpadding,15,true]Setting her torch down on a small pile of wood, Cassie glanced around the dark area warily and a little curiously, after all this place was known for having the odd few pokémon scuttling around, mostly ghost types and she was hoping that one wouldn’t pop out and scare her while she was attempting to change. She could stay in these wet clothes forever after all, unless she wanted to catch a serious cold. Therefore she had managed to find a little corner to change with thick piled up planks of wood for her to sit on and wait until the storm passed. Letting out a shivering sigh, Cassie cringed as she shrugged her soaked coat off, the soppy material slipping down her skin, tossing it onto some wood so it could drip dry. Fumbling with her fitted t-shirt, she could almost groan in annoyance at the dampness, clearly the rainwater had managed to soak through her coat and onto her shirt, this was certainly a pain. Thankfully, she had a couple of spare clothes neatly folded into the corner of her bag, in case of emergencies like this, so it wasn’t too much of a problem.

She was just about to life her shirt over her head and put on a dry one when a sudden noise made her completely freeze up. Dark eyes widened in horror as she fumbled to pick up her torch, hoping that it was just a Rattata or some small feeble pokémon which she could easily defeat. Instinctively she reached for her Croconaw’s pokéball which was attached to the belt wrapped around her hips, her fingers brushing against the glossy material of the crimson and ivory sphere, getting ready to release Kai in case the creature lurking in the dark posed a threat to her. Waving the light into the darkness, Cassie almost dropped the torch in surprise as a young man suddenly made himself appear before her. Actually, she did drop it and it crashed onto the wooden floor, making a rather large thump and making Cassie squeal in shock and surprise from the appearance of the stranger and the light suddenly going out. Shit!

Thank god she didn’t take her clothes off in front of this guy, otherwise that would have been super embarrassing for everyone, especially her. “H- Hello?” She managed to breath out, crouching down close to the ground so that she could feel for her torch in the darkness, crap she had to find it now, otherwise how else would she be able to see anything? “I’m guessing your taking shelter from the storm, too?” She managed to ask with a slightly nervous chuckle, her fingers finally brushing against her torch after what seemed like forever of feeling along the ground in pursuit of her only source of light. “Got it!”

Standing back up to her full height, while shivering in the process considering she was still stuck wearing the clothes which had been battered by the cold rain, Cassie poked around for the button to switch the torch on. Unfortunately for her, it seemed the light had been damaged in the collision with the floor, the bulb flickering and causing the light to dim every once in a while. “Damn..” She grumbled, frowning at the devise which projected light so people could see. “This was a new torch too.” Kai had stamped on the last one, by accident, causing it to die in a matter of seconds with no way of repairing it. After glaring at her flickering torch for a moment, she looked up at the young man who had surprised her, toffee eyes scanning the damp blonde for a moment, now what was she going to say or do?

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[atrb=background,http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g16/ForTheLuvaDIRT/Melrosetablemiddle2.png] Melrose couldn't help but feel a stab of guilt at scaring the girl. That generally wasn't his tactic with young, cute girls. Flirt with them a bit, perhaps, maybe tease them a bit, but scare them into dropping items? No, that wasn't the usual at all. He could see, however, that the girl was a pokemon trainer, or, at least, had pokemon with her. He'd seen her reach for what must've been a pokeball before she'd screamed. He was somewhat puzzled at why she should scream at all. In a tower that was said to be filled with ghost-pokemon, one would probably expect the worst of battles and be on guard for anything. Even a slightly haggard blond would have been a relief. But then, that was just from Melrose's point of view, and she probably didn't see things the same way he did. At first, he'd been about to get down and help the girl find her torch, but he then figured he'd probably end up stepping on it rather than finding anything, so he stood still and answered her question instead. "Uh, yeah." he said, sounding awkward since he was still kicking himself inwardly for scaring the girl. Still, it had been a little funny... No, Melrose, you are NOT going to laugh at her, you fool. he silently snapped at himself, putting his manners in their place. "Sorry to have scared you..." he added, an almost childish note of guilt in his voice. When the girl found her torch and switched it on only to find the bulb flickering and dimming, Melrose's guilt was increased by tenfold. It was a new one, too. This just wasn't his day, it seemed. Still, he put on an apologetic smile and spoke. "I could probably pay you back for it, if you like." he said, scruffing the toe of his boot on the floor, a gesture that showed his obvious discomfort. He ran a hand through his damp blond hair, yet a another gesture that showed his discomfort. One of the two pokeballs on his belt did a little swing. Nova, his riolu, was sensing its masters discomfort and it wanted out of its pokeball. Not because it wanted to ease its masters discomfort, but rather because it wanted to witness it. Nova wasn't terribly fond of its master and seeing Melrose fidget and get upset or angry was something the black-masked troublemaker enjoyed. There was a slight click as the riolu broke out of its pokeball, and a beaming red light as it materialized in front of them. The small pokemon stood on its hind legs, and scanned its surroundings. "Nova," Melrose growled at the dog-like pokemon. "I've told you a thousand times not to do that!" Nova turned her head away from her owner, somewhat coyly, and turned to face the girl instead, its deep red eyes taking in the girls appearance. The riolu could sense that the girl had her own pokemon, and was naturally curious. It took a few steps towards the girl, fully intending to get its paws on the pokeballs and set free the pokemon inhabiting them, but it didn't reach its goal. Quickly Melrose grabbed Nova and placed her close beside him, glaring at the pokemon. His message to it was clear. Stay here or it's back into the pokeball with you. The small pokemon sat down with in a huff and crossed its arms, looking a lot like a teenager who had been grounded. Melrose returned his gaze to the girl. "Sorry about that, Nova gets a bit restless sometimes." Normally, he would have returned the riolu into its pokeball, but he wasn't quite sure what lurked in the shadows and he felt a bit better with at least one pokemon at his side. Even though Nova probably wouldn't respond to a single order in a battle. "I'm Melrose, by the way. And this is Nova." he gestured towards the black-masked pokemon. Muse- --- Word Count- --- Notes- ---