[b][color=fff200]~Ryley Grisdoe~[/color][/b] A wise man once said that the eyes are the window to one’s soul. Ryley understood this as he looked into Melody’s eyes. The look she gave him was… interesting. At first, Ryley thought she was very grateful that he had come to help. But there was something else there, something he didn’t recognize fully. It was a bit unnerving. He’d have to be careful around it. [color=f49ac2]“T-thanks. For… for coming after me. I didn’t think anyone would.”[/color] Well, hey. They were a group. They needed to stick together to survive. He was sure others were on their way to help. Well… maybe not Abigai- Melody interrupted Ryley’s thoughts halfway through as she pulled him down to the ground. Dang this girl has some HM04! Why did she... [color=f49ac2]“Sorry.”[/color] After his initial reaction, Ryley understood why she had done that. He must still have been in view of the lumbering Onix. [color=fff200]“It’s ok. My bad”.[/color] Whispering apologies aside, they needed to act now. The Onix would find them eventually, and the earlier they tricked it, the better. However, Melody had an idea of her own. [color=f49ac2]“Let’s play dead. I don’t know if we’ll be able to lead it to the Spinarak nest in time. But… Onixes don’t eat meat, do they? I’m pretty sure they only eat rocks. So it was probably chasing us because it was angry, not because it actually wants to eat us. If it thinks we’re dead, it’ll leave us alone... uh, hopefully.”[/color] Play dead? That would leave them open to attack, but it was the quickest, and possibly the easiest way to get out of this situation. Provided it worked, of course. Ryley didn’t like leaving himself open to the possibility of instant death. Then again, Melody seemed to be proud of her idea, and probably wouldn’t want to abandon it after having thought it up. And with the Onix right next to them, arguing about something like that would be a death sentence for sure. So plan B it is. [color=fff200]“Okay, let’s do that. Be careful though, no playing ‘hero’ if this goes wrong”.[/color] Ryley sent out Fern next to him after talking to Melody. He motioned for Fern to be quiet, then whispered to her next. [color=fff200]“Stay in this bush. Don’t move unless I tell you to.”[/color] Fern nodded in response and hunched down in the foliage. With preparations out of the way, it was time to do something incredibly stupid so they wouldn’t die. When the Onix was looking away, Ryley crawled out from the bush, and lay down on the ground, still as a metapod. He held his breath and closed his eyes when the Onix’s gaze turned over towards him. This had better work. Dying wasn’t an experience Ryley wished to have. As the seconds ticked by, Ryley began to feel hopeful. Was this working? Was it actually working? If this actually saved them... [color=f7941d]“NO! Give them back! GIVE THEM BACK!”[/color] ...Damn it. Of firetrucking course Avery was there. Of freaking course. Why couldn’t it have been Blake, or Alex, or hell, even Abigail? Anyone besides freaking Avery. The timing of it couldn’t have been worse either. Oh life, why did you have to be so cruel. Ryley kept his eyes closed, not wanting to see the mess the situation had become. Well, more honestly, he didn’t want to alert the Onix of their ‘aliveness’, but that’s beside the point. Though after a while, Ryley couldn’t help but be curious of what was going on. The noises of battle were pointless without sight. Curiosity having consumed him, Ryley peeked a quick glance with his left eye of the scene. What he witnessed was the Onix eating a rock presumably thrown by Avery. Oh Avery… Well, at this rate, Avery was certainly going to die. Ryley needed to do something, but what could he do? Silence now dominated the area, nothing moving. Once the Onix made his next move, someone would get hurt. Fern still lay in hiding, but she couldn’t do much to help out in the long run. Maybe he should just return her to her pokeball now… ...Wait, that’s it! Ryley seized the idea, as well as one of his pokeballs, and threw it at the unaware Onix. Once it connected, the Onix disappeared into the ball, hopefully not realizing what had happened. There! Now that a couple of seconds were bought, Ryley picked his head off the ground and called out to Avery. [color=fff200]“We’re not dead! Quick, hide or play dead, or something!”[/color] Ryley quickly receded to playing dead right away. The Onix would break out for certain, and Ryley did not want it to know who had thrown the ball.