With the sound of his alarm, Kit rolled slowly onto his side and slapped the screen of his phone until the sound stopped. He laid there with his eyes closed for a few beats before finally blinking into the darkness. It was the middle of the night, and the moon was high in the black sky with countless stars glittering beyond. Drawing a long breath, he dragged his hands over his face and shook his head. When he picked up his phone, there was a text from only a few minutes prior to his alarm. 02:24 [Saf]: Are you awake yet? His fingers moved quickly as he typed a response. After he sent it, he cast a long gaze at his partner sleeping soundly beside him. Though he knew he had things to do, he longed to stay under the safety of blankets with the warmth of another body radiating. He leaned in to press a lingering kiss to the smaller boy’s forehead and finally got up. * Saphira leaned against the back of the brick building, shrouded in shadows and practically invisible in her uniform.
The air settles, cool and stiff over the darkening expanse of wilderness before Saphira. The area is thick with foliage and fallen leaves, which have already begun to rot with the approaching winter freeze. They crunch stiffly under her boots as she attempts, carefully and quietly, to traverse the path she had mapped out just weeks prior. She has it memorized well enough, and most wild Pokémon have spared her less than a glance when they lock eyes with the brooding Drifloon strung loosely around her wrist. It's Saphira's first real mission. A group of league trainers, fairly young but overwhelmingly rambunctious, have been camping out on this route sporadically for the better part of a month. The area is dense with forest brush, keeping it fairly well hidden from prying eyes and greenhorn explorers. It's the type of setting popular in horror games- almost entirely secluded, pitch black, with abandoned concrete buildings scattered about and nearly overtaken by nature. The perfect