Author's Notes: Hello ~! This is the first fanfiction I've posted on this website, but expect more! I'm not a professional writer, nor do I aim to be, but I decided the PMD fandom needed more *good* fanfiction. So, I came up with this idea that I think is pretty cool, and I hope you all will too!
Fandom: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky, medieval-esque AU. (though they don't speak that way.)
Pairings: mainly DusknoirxGrovyle, and some Hero(m)xPartner(m) and WigglytuffxChatot on the side. (Also implied DialgaxCelebi?)
Warnings: Yaoi. OC's (but only hero, partner, and Sableyes). Also, all characters are portrayed as humans, not Pokemon.
And now, without further ado, please enjoy Thievery and Tyranny, Time and Trust. Thank you~!
The lightning crackled ominously in the dark clouds above the thief's head. The rain poured down past the treetops of the forest, weighing him down with every step… but still he trudged forward. He made sure to travel solely in darkness, to avoid the glowering lights of the flashing lightning.
Suddenly, a sharp pain coursed through his side, and he fell to the ground in agony. He had to bite his lip to avoid shouting out and risking revealing himself to those who might be nearby. His wounds, throbbing and bleeding, had gotten more painful after his narrow escape from death.
'I might as well have stayed… I'm going to die here anyway…' the wounded thief thought fleetingly, but he pushed this mentality to the back of his mind, and dragged his body off the ground.
He traveled on like this for hours and hours, but his condition only grew worse. Every time he fell down, he would pick himself back up off the cold, wet, forest floor with great difficulty… but still every step brought him closer to his destination. He narrowed his eyes and glanced through the rain. At last, it was in sight! The castle…
"I must congratulate you two," said Dusknoir. The dinner you prepared tonight was most excellent."
"Thank you, Lord Dusknoir!" beamed Sunflora.
"It was our pleasure!" added Chimecho.
Dusknoir smiled as the both of them made their way down the stairs to the large kitchen in the basement. Even though the girls had only recently joined the staff at Shadow Manor, they seemed eager to do their best, and had easily surpassed the talent of his previous chef, Andre, who had passed away a month ago.
Andre was a member of the Sableye clan, which also resided at Shadow Manor. When Dusknoir first came to power as lord of the manor, he had been virtually powerless in terms of military. However, the Sableye clan leader, Verann, came to him with an offer, and Dusknoir just had to accept it. Verann had offered the full military cooperation of the clan, as well as household servants (not to mention access to their vast collection of rare jewels!), in exchange for two things – a place to stay for all the previously semi-nomadic clan members, and for Dusknoir to marry his daughter Kerina.
Since Shadow Manor was a very large place, there was more than enough room for about thirty more guests… but Dusknoir sometimes had trouble with his second request. The idea of marriage seemed far-fetched, especially with someone like Kerina. She was a relatively average-looking girl, even moderately attractive, but she rarely talked, never smiled, and always seemed to show up at the weirdest times. She was also quite young, too young to be married, but still Verann had insisted on her being engaged instead of her older sister, Sorei, who had taken up the position of doctor at Shadow Manor. Kerina was obviously Verann's favorite.
Thinking about Kerina was awkward for Dusknoir, seeing as he was about to be married when he had never even so much as kissed a girl before, so he usually pushed thoughts of her out of his mind. However, lately, that had proven to be impossible with everyone in the household constantly chattering about the wedding, which was now two weeks away.
Dusknoir made his way up the marble staircase and sank down in his lavishly decorated throne. He sighed in exasperation. 'This next week is going to be so exhausting…'
Suddenly, a shriek was heard from downstairs. Dusknoir leaped up and hurried toward the noise. He was halfway down the staircase when he ran into Chimecho.
"L-Lord Dusknoir!" she squeaked, her eyes wide with what seemed to be terror. "Come quickly!" They dashed downstairs as fast as they could to the double-door entrance of the manor. The heavy wooden doors were swung open, and rain was pouring onto the floor, forming an increasingly large puddle. In front of the doors sat Sunflora, overwhelmed with horror. She was kneeling over the bloody, unconscious figure of a stranger, someone who looked out of place in an environment such as this one. His ratty clothing had been torn many times to reveal bleeding gashes all over his body. Blood was pouring out of them just as rain was pouring in the doorway, forming a second, deep-red puddle next to the clear one.
"W-we just c-c-came downstairs, a-and th-th-there was a knock on the d-door… and he just collapsed!" stappered Sunflora. "Oh my gosh, w-w-what do we do?" she wailed, as her eyes began to brim with tears.
Dusknoir and Chimecho hurried over to where the stranger lay on the floor. Chimecho knelt and pressed her ear to his battered chest.
"He's still alive," she gasped, "but his heartbeat is very faint! We need to bandage his wounds, quickly!"
"Let's take him to Sorei. She'll have medical supplies," suggested Dusknoir frantically. "You two find her as quickly as possible, while I take this guy upstairs."
"R-Right!" Sunflora and Chimecho scurried up the staircase.
Dusknoir knelt down beside the stranger and scooped up his body with both arms. He climbed back up the staircase as fast as he could while carrying the weight of another person. He had just reached the next floor, when Sunflora and Chimecho ran towards him, bringing along Sorei, the doctor.
"There! There they are!" they were shouring to Sorei.
Sorei glanced at the figure in Dusknoir's arms, and spoke softly. "Follow me."
They rushed to Sorei's room, the clinic, where Dusknoir set the person he was carrying on the bed. Sorei walked over with a roll of thick, white bandaging, and began tending to his wounds. Being skilled at medical practices, it didn't take very long until every cut was wrapped with precision, and the blood ceased to escape from his body.
"You're in luck," muttered Sorei, "any longer and his heart would've stopped completely."
Dusknoir gulped. "Is he going to be okay?" he asked Sorei. "Will he survive?"
"Yes, he'll survive," said Sorei. "But he'll have to stay here in the manor for about two weeks, until his cuts have completely healed. They're quite deep, so—"
"T-two weeks?" interjected Dusknoir. "But the wedding is in two weeks!"
"Well," said Sorei, indifferently, "I guess you'll just have to accept an extra guest then…"
Sorei walked to her bedroom and closed the door. She could be a bit rude sometimes…
Suddenly, Chimecho turned to face Dusknoir.
"Sunflora and I wouldn't have been able to get him here by ourselves. It's all thanks to you that he's still alive," said Chimecho.
"Oh my gosh, she's right!" blurted Sunflora. "You totally saved his life!"
Dusknoir flushed. "I… I… It's not like I meant to! It's just…Y-you can't just let someone die like that…"
He had never planned on being a hero, really, but life throws things at you, and sometimes you have to accept the most unexpected events.
The two girls, smiling from ear to ear, left the room to go wash the dishes, leaving Dusknoir and the stranger behind…
Dusknoir looked over to the one on the bed, and got his first good look at him.
His messy, brilliant green hair was tied into a crude, short ponytail by a long, slightly crumpled leaf. The rest of his hair and his bandages covered most of his face, but his closed eyes still looked surprisingly serene for someone who had just almost died. Even through all the bloody bandages, it seemed as though he were only sleeping.
Dusknoir looked down at his neck to spot a single emerald-colored velvet band tied around it. It was frayed and dirty, and had lost much of its former luster. What a horrible way to take care of such a valuable item! His torn shirt had been removed by Sorei when she was bandaging his chest, and was hanging from the bedpost. It was a simple light brown, something only peasants and vagabonds wore. This and the velvet band made for the strangest combination of clothing Dusknoir had ever seen. How could he have afforded something like velvet if he couldn't even buy himself a decent shirt…?
The lord sat down in the chair beside the stranger, and sighed. All this thinking was making him even more stressed than he usually was, what with the preparations for the wedding beginning to wrap up every aspect of his life… He closed his eyes and sighed.
"These next two weeks are going to be so stressful… with the wedding and all…" he muttered, then stopped. He was talking out loud, to an unconscious stranger! 'No,' Dusknoir assured himself. 'I'm just talking to myself, that's all.' He continued speaking, albeit softly.
"I mean… I don't think I'm ready to be married yet… Kerina's okay and all… but is she really the right person for me? …Well, it's not like her father gave me a choice. I needed the army! I just couldn't refuse, y'know…" Dusknoir stopped again. This was so stupid! Here he was, blabbering about his feelings, things nobody was supposed to know, in front of a complete stranger… but then again, it did feel somewhat comforting, being able to let this out. And the green-haired young man seemed understanding, even trustworthy, somehow…
Dusknoir got up out of the chair beside the bed and walked toward the door. He turned the knob and was about to leave the room, but looked back for an instant, back at the mysterious person laying silently in solitude. He thought fleetingly, 'I wonder what he's really like…', then walked out of the clinic and shut the door behind himself.