Nature Used Blizzard! Trouble for Popcorn! Chapter 3
Waking with a start, Popcorn sat up, her lungs pumping as she took in rapid breaths. Instantly regretting it as she felt a mixture of cold and hot battling within her air chambers, she burst into a fit of violent coughs. She would keel over, clutching at her chest, feeling the fuzzy threat of falling unconscious once again. As she spasmed, she felt a large hand patting her on the back.
"You take easy, ya? Cold storm not good for little ones." It was a thick, heavy accented voice that Popcorn had never heard before. She couldn't force herself to turn to face him, or what she assumed to be a him, nor could she likely have seen him, for the tears in her eyes brought upon by her fit. She felt utterly helpless as she laid there, every cough threatening to send her back into the dark void.
"Smaller breaths you take. Not clutch lungs so hard," came to voice, and she felt the person's hands upon her head and legs, pulling her out of the fetal position. The voice of reason was enough as she attempted to regulate her breathing, and slowly the coughs weakened, and she was able to work in breaths between each one. Several minutes passed by, the person's hands never leaving her frame, making sure she didn't bunch back up.
They slid away when she was finally able to move of her own accord, fingers gently wiping away the tears from her eyes. As the world became clearer, she was able to make out a small campfire, a blinding orange that was hard to look at. Beyond, a white wall of snow. She followed it with her eyes until her vision came to rest on the source of the voice, a hunching figure of orange and yellow.
"Da. Much better. We worry you not wake up, see? This good news, bwahahaha!" Before her, with a booming laugh, was a very large Emboar, massive on pretty much all accounts. Judging from his squatting position, he was likely two heards or so taller than her father, and likely twice as wide. Not all of it was fat, however, as she could see that his muscular arms were stretching out his jacket to near maximum capacity.
Popcorn could not help but recoil slightly, the sense of danger of a stranger suddenly gripping at her. It only seemed to amuse the male, however, as he let loose another booming laugh, a giant hand slapping heartily against his knee.
"Little one face blizzard, but fear of old Hesh? Very much funny. Or maybe little one just get caught by accident?" he questioned. Or, at least, she figured it was a question. His laugh faded into a chortle as Popcorn attempted to find her voice, feeling less and less threatened as the moments went by.
"I-I....w-was l-looking f-for s-something," she stammered, finding it hard to speak without shivering, or letting her teeth chatter too much. She still felt very cold, and it felt like there were ice needles poking away at her lungs. The large boar noticed it, and motioned for her to move closer to the fire he had built, being particularly kind enough to motion to the side opposite of himself.
"Bahahaha! Hesh guess little one lose precious cell phone in snow and think it more important than life?" Again, the booming laugh lashed out, and it seemed to surround the both of them in the little ice hut. Popcorn felt a small wash of anger at the comment, not liking to be mocked, no matter how dumb of an idea facing a blizzard was.
"It was my friend's important flute!" she practically yelled, cutting the Emboar's laugh short. She flushed as she realized that she'd raised her voice at someone who likely had rescued her from dying, and she glanced downward, head hanging slightly.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to yell... I did it so that my drunken friend wouldn't," she said quietly, feeling slightly better about voicing her reasoning. She still had to say that maybe it was dumb, but....it was better than Hitomi trying to brave the cold while she was in no shape to do so mentally, or physically. She failed to notice the more somber expression of the Emboar as he nodded to himself, looking her over.
"Da. Sorry, I am as well. Mean no offense to noble little girl. How important this flute is to risk one's life?" he questioned as he leaned forward to poke the fire with a bare hand, re-ordering the smoldering branches that served as the base. Popcorn fished for an answer, as of that she was unsure of what to say.
"Well... I guess... it wasn't really the flute... I wanted to make sure my friend didn't come out here and hurt herself," she finally managed to stay, her gaze drifting to the fire and staring at it deeply. She became lost in thoughts of Hina and Hitomi, and how important they were to her. So important that she'd managed to walk out in a blizzard in place of her friend.
"Mmmm, mmm." Hesh, as Popcorn assumed his name was, nodded in agreement to her statement, seemingly lost in his own thoughts as well. Then, without warning, he would stand, the tips of his ears hitting the ceiling and causing the snow there to instantly melt, releasing quite a bit of steam that began to spread. He inhaled deeply, and then slipped two fingers into his mouth, releasing the most powerful whistle Popcorn had ever heard. So powerful, in fact, that she had to cover her ears.
With a large grin, Hesh dropped back down onto his rear, and Popcorn swore the whole hut jumped at the impact. She was not so rude as to mention it, though, but it did overwhelm her a bit. She kind of gaped for several long seconds before looking around, and then once more looking towards the Emboar.
"W-what was that for?" Hesh chuckled to himself and nodded his head.
"Give moment, you see," was all that he said as he wiggled himself to get more comfortable. Popcorn found that waiting for the mystery of the whistle was causing her to be a bit anxious. She shuffled uncomfortably, resisting the urge to ask further of the man who likely would not give her any information. It wouldn't take too long for the mystery to be revealed, as the wall of ice behind Hesh suddenly dissipated into nothing but steam and a gust of cold air that almost took out the fire.
Just as quickly as the cold had come, it left again as Popcorn found herself sitting in a warm aura, generated by tall, slender Blaziken. He was just as tall as Hesh, and he not only radiated heat, but an intimidating character. His fierce gaze locked onto her, their eyes meeting, and Popcorn felt utterly paralyzed. It was like his eyes were looking not at her, or through her, but deep into her very soul.
"Da! Kristof! Little girl made through. Fight blizzard for friend, she did." Hesh stood, brushing absentmindedly at his clothes, though no snow remained on them. The Blaziken, apparently 'Kristof', didn't take his eyes off of Popcorn for even an instant. He stepped closer, and she felt even more heat wash over her. He moved ever closer, and the heat continued to grow more and more intense, up until he was practically face to face with her.
She couldn't even feel how hot her cheeks were from the blush of embarrassment she suddenly felt with the strange man's nose practically touching hers. She felt as though she were being judged, yet she had no defense to testify on her own behalf. The scrutinizing male simply hovered over her, the metaphorical gavel hovering over the block.
"Do you feel hurt anywhere? Are you injured at all?" he suddenly asked, Popcorn rather taken aback at how soft and sultry his voice was. It was such a tone that likely would have melted her heart quicker than his heat melted the ice if she hadn't been so shocked. She managed to shake her head, affirming that she was fine. 'Kristof' seemed to be relieved, his eyes closing as he nodded, then quickly rising once more and turning to Hesh.
"And I've told you a million times to call me Chris, Hesh! Stop trying to make me sound foreign!" His tone was much harsher, but the large Emboar merely laughed it off, this time slamming the palm of his hand on his large belly, which lightly jiggled from the action. The reaction caused Chris to grimace slightly, but it faded as he turned once more to Popcorn.
"He said you braved the blizzard for a friend? What does he mean, exactly?" Feeling a bit uncomfortable, Popcorn decided to tell the whole story about what had happened when she'd been called to Hina's house. Leaving out minor details, she covered the basic premise that she'd gone out on Hitomi's behalf, admitting that without much thought, she'd done it to ensure that Hitomi wouldn't wander out into the storm.
"I see," was all that Chris responded with at first. Popcorn didn't quite catch any hint of emotion in his voice. After a long, awkward silence, Chris would look off into the distance, and it was only then that Popcorn noticed her surroundings. The blizzard was still raging in full force, the cold wind and snow whipping about beyond the reach of Chris' heat circle.
"Let's see it through to the end, then. I'm sure your friends are worried, if they're even still awake..." Chris' words made Popcorn wonder how long she'd been unconscious. Then she realized that Chris was intending for them to go back out into the blizzard. Even with his circle of heat, that seemed rather unsafe.
"B-but, what about taking shelter? Won't we freeze to death? I mean...you're generating a ton of heat, but how long does that last?" Her barrage of questions was answered by Hesh roaring out in another laugh. Even the corners of Chris' mouth twitched into the slightest of smiles before he turned away and started to walk without any warning.
"It won't go away. It's pretty much like second nature at this point." Chris offered no further explanation, and Popcorn thought better of not pressing him about it. She merely fell in stride behind him, Hesh sauntering along beside her. She had to wonder how the Blaziken knew where to go, or where anything was in the snow. She couldn't see anything, and after a glance, she kind of assumed that Hesh didn't, either. But she held her tongue, still feeling like it might have been inappropriate to ask.