Toughing Out

Story by UmiTheUmbreon on SoFurry

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#29 of Cassidy's Journey


Cassidy slightly shivered while traversing Victory Road's empty caves. The environment was chilly and silent. If it weren't for the torches, it would be pitch black as well.

Fenny stuck by her. They hadn't yet come across any wild pokémon during their five minutes of walking, fortunately, but he was ready to battle any they came across. He took a left at the end of the rocky corridor, leading to another.

Cassidy wasn't deterred and had wholly prepared herself for the mental and physical toll the unforgiving road would take on her, but she wanted to get out of this cavern. A few miles ahead, after passing another trainer and taking a sharp left, they saw an exit to her relief.

'That can't be the end...' Fenny said, staring a mile ahead at harsh sunlight breaking the cavern's entrance.

"Not even close, but it'll be a break from this." Cassidy walked at a brisker pace toward the exit keeping two more torches beside it, and shortly greeting them outside was warm sun, grassland, and stone walls lightly scattered across it from old ruins.

'I think we're elevated,' Fenny said as they walked north. Once they reached a stone bridge built beside a running waterfall and over its flowing stream, that was confirmed.

Cassidy stepped onto it and walked to the center, leaning over its edge and gazing west, the noisy waterfall behind. Beyond and at ground level was an extensive field of grass that spanned miles and what seemed like the ocean to the far east. The sun gave it a vivid touch.

Fenny stood beside her, his tail swaying. 'This is the best view I've seen in Kalos so far.' It was simple but captured the effect of silent nature well. The waterfall complemented it.

"I can see why." Cassidy stood with him for several minutes, but they had somewhere to be, and she didn't want to be on Victory Road during nightfall. "We've gotta get going, Fen."

'...Right.' He waited for her to continue their walk and followed beside. Once off the bridge, Fenny kept eyeing the view over the cliff's edge.

"And back into the caves..." Cassidy sighed. She saw its uninviting entrance miles ahead.

'Can't be worse than the last one.'

They traveled down the vacant path toward the next trial, taking in what nature and refreshing air they could before reaching the cavern in five minutes.

Cassidy entered without stopping this time, although she was forced to upon taking a few steps past its torches. "You wanna repeat that, Fen?" The ground ended straight ahead, replaced with many gapped, thin, and tall rock platforms extending to the far left and right. One had to hop across them to get to the other side of the cavern. It required balance and careful judgment, as one slip-up would result in them falling nearly ten feet onto hard ground.

'I was trying to be positive...' He eyed the obstacle course in front of them.

"Just follow me," Cassidy said and stepped to the edge of the ground. She took a short breath and primed herself, hopping two feet across and landing successfully on the first rounded platform, her boots beside each other. Cassidy shortly did the same for the next one, her body slightly edging to the right upon landing this time. She tried her best not to, but Cassidy looked at the dark floor below before back at Fenny. It brought her a pinch of apprehensiveness as her mind drifted to all that could go wrong. "Ready?"

'Y-Yeah...' He was concerned for Cassidy in the first place. Now he had to do the same. Fenny stepped forward and looked down at the potential fall.

"Keep your eyes on me and where you want to land," she said softly.

Fenny obeyed, judging the distance for a moment before hopping forward to the rock on Cassidy's left. He resisted the urge to look down, staring at Cassidy instead.

"It wouldn't hurt to up our pace." Cassidy looked ahead, counting fourteen more platforms until they'd reach the other side. Without much thought and a decent amount of judgement, she gracefully hopped to the next, then looked back at Fenny.

He was certainly a lot more nervous than Cassidy. His eyes were upon the next rock at first but started to shift below again.

"Hey."

Fenny looked back up. He felt the anxiousness in his chest.

Cassidy pointed to her eyes. "Here."

He nodded, crouching slightly and looking ahead at the platform before jumping the distance. Fenny's hind paw slipped upon landing, but it wasn't noticeable, especially in such dim lighting.

With caution and a few questionable landings from both, they successfully made their way across the abyss in ten minutes.

"Last one, Fen," said Cassidy. The platform was farther from the cavern floor than the others. She ground her boots, bent her knees, and jumped forward with a huff, ultimately landing on the other side and catching her balance with another step forward. Cassidy turned around and awaited Fenny.

He sighed under his breath, resisting the urge to look down while his eyes were on Cassidy's face. Fenny inhaled, held it, and hopped forward sloppier than he meant to. He landed on the cavern floor, but on the very edge. "Brai!" 'C-Cassi-' Fenny couldn't catch his balance, resulting in his body slowly falling backward. He helplessly reached for the air, his eyes dilated and his heart racing. Fenny suddenly felt himself stop, and it took him a moment to register that he was being held.

Cassidy stood at the edge of the terrain, leaned over with a firm grip on his arm. She pulled Fenny upright onto his paws.

He caught his breath shortly and looked back at what would have been a nasty fall. 'Th-Thank you,' he said, his eyes now on her.

Cassidy grinned subtly. "You okay?"

Fenny nodded, looking back once more. 'Yeah...'

She released his arm and turned to a flight of stairs ahead. "Good, we're not through yet."