Chapter 2: First Day in the Village
Solestral was enjoying the sights, while Normad blazed through the sky. The wind was cooling as well, which was a welcoming respite from the scorching heat. Soon, she spotted a village in sight. The settlement was made up mostly of brown tents with intricate thin curve designs of blue and gold. As for the rest of the tents, they had unique features that stood out from the others. There were flowers surrounding the establishment, though some of them were grown around the tents. Looming in the background, there was a grassy hill, reaching about five hundred metres in height.
Normad descended upon the ground, next to a big brown tent; presumably where the village chief lived. There were pink flowers around the tent. Solestral recognised the species. It was the periwinkle, a poisonous plant that was consumed by certain group of animals. She assumed that it could have medical properties if taken in small doses.
Solestral and Paul alighted from Normad's back, and approached the tent's entrance. The entrance was opened; but it was rude to barge in, so Paul requested the village chief to grant them permission.
She accepted, "Yes. You all may enter."
They walked in respectfully in silence. Solestral was surprised that the tent was relatively empty for its size, but at least the main necessities were there. Instead of a water container, there was a small water pond that had a water filtration device connected to a pump to continuously pour fresh water into it. Solestral wondered whether the contraption was powered by electricity.
The Pokémon sitting behind the desk looked like a pink praying mantis wearing a kimono. The table was neat, except that there were some parchments of brown papers lying in front of her. She was in a process of writing something on it, but she paused due to their arrival. She graciously introduced herself.
"Good afternoon young Litten. Welcome to Periwinkle Village. I am Mistress Bloomsle, the village chief. It seems that Paul and Normad have brought you here. Is there something you want to ask me?"
Solestral got straight to the point and replied, "Yes. Do you know the location of a floating island in this region?"
"I do, but why do you want to go there?"
"A voice told me to go there. That's all I know."
Mistress Bloomsle's eyes widened a little, and she commented, "A voice? I see. So you must be the one…"
Solestral tilted her head and said, "I beg your pardon?"
Mistress Bloomsle shook her head and replied, "Oh, it is nothing. I think you need to go through some preparation before you can even set your foot there. The floating island is protected by a ward, which is the Mystery Dungeon. It is not easy to get through that obstacle."
"What is a Mystery Dungeon?"
"It is a magical dungeon that appears in places. The Dungeon is always changing, meaning if you go to a same Dungeon for a second visit, the interior will not be the same as the first time you went in. It is also a place where you can get rare item while fending off residents. The residents are the spirits of the Pokémon who choose to stay on this world so that they can battle the explorers to their souls' content."
Solestral was displeased, "Battling? What a pain. So how do I prove to you that I am ready to depart to that floating island?"
"I will assign missions to you. They can be rescuing, battling, or finding items. Once you are able to complete Level 3 mission, I will give you a map, and tell you the quickest way to get there. Does it sound good to you?"
"What?! I had to go through all these cra…" she abruptly stopped her rant. When she swallowed down the insult, she continued, "Ahem! So, will I receive my first mission now?"
Mistress Bloomsle smiled, "Not today. I would want you explore around the village. You might find some stores that can aid you on your missions." She took out a village map, and drew a red circle on a tent icon. She spoke, while showing the location to Solestral and her companions, "You can stay in there, below the first small tent at the west sector. You do not need to pay me, but I expect that you do your missions well. I will issue a mission to your doorstep tomorrow morning." She then passed the map to Paul since he had hands to hold it.
Solestral felt that Mistress Bloomsle seemed to be hiding something from her. "Hmm, it seems you have everything planned out for me. Were you expecting me? You didn't even ask for my name."
"Not at all. I am merely making sure you are ready before embarking on your journey." she answered calmly. "Now then, do you have any other questions to ask me?"
Paul spoke, "No, Mistress Bloomsle. Thank you for your help. Now, please excuse us."
Mistress Bloomsle waved goodbye while Paul pushed Solestral out of the tent with Normad following behind them. Once they were far away from the tent, the blue tortoise questioned Solestral,
"Do you think she knows you?"
She responded, "That is what I thought. But if she doesn't want to talk, there is no point arguing about it. Anyway, do I have to do the mission myself? I don't even know the way to the Mystery Dungeon!"
Normad commented, "We can… accompany you… if you need our… assistance."
Solestral was delighted. "Oh splendid! That will be great! Thanks!"
Normad continued, "We can tell you… where we live, so that you can find us… if you need our help.
Upon hearing that, Paul looked down and scratched his head. He took some time to consider allowing the invitation, as he was worried that his parents would think poorly of him for introducing a Fire Type Pokémon to his home.
He shook his head and answered, "Maybe not to my home. My dad does not treat strangers kindly."
Solestral joked, "Hmm, is he overprotective of you?"
He waved his stumpy hands and explained, "No, no, no! He doesn't want a Water Type to be friends with a Fire Type. In a way, he thinks I might be bullying you because you are weak to my water attacks."
"Hold on, I am a Fire Type, and you can use water techniques? Interesting… So, how do I use fire attacks?
"Umm…you just have to take a deep breath, and exhale as much as you can."
Solestral did as she was instructed. To her astonishment, a ball of fire came out of her mouth and landed on the ground. The fire lasted a few seconds before it extinguished itself. She wondered how she had managed to produce flames, and why her mouth was not scorched by it. However, those questions could be dealt later as she noticed that Normad was backing away from her. She enquired about his strange reaction.
"Normad, are you alright? You look rather panicky."
"I'm sorry. I am a…Grass and Flying Type, so fire attacks will be…super effective on me."
Solestral wanted to laugh at the hyperbolic remark but noticed the fear behind the response. Politely, she replied, "I see. I promise to be careful with my attacks when I am around you. Alright, let's take a tour of the village then! You can show me where you live while we are at it."
The group went around the village to show Solestral the sights using the map given to them by Mistress Bloomsle as a guide. They visited Paul's and Normad's homes which were respectively a tortoise shell tent and a light brown tent with a twin green leaf design on top. They dropped by the village library which contained various biography of Pokémon and research on Mystery Dungeons. They saw the village infirmary, and noted the location of various shops. Eventually, after having a dinner of fruits and vegetables, they finished the tour at Solestral's new residence.
Looking at her tent, Solestral was mildly impressed. She opened the entrance flap and found a water pond just like Mistress Bloomsle's at the right. Inside was also a leaf bed at the centre and a luminous fungus in a glass cup hanging on the ceiling. The tent was supported by six wooden beams, evenly spread out so as to stabilise it against a storm. Solestral noted that Mistress Bloomsle's home was supported by six metal beams. She assumed that being the village chief came with certain perks.
She spoke to the two Pokémon who accompanied her, "So, I guess I shall see you tomorrow?"
Paul replied, "Yup! We will call you to wake you up."
He returned the village map to her, which she bit on gently in her mouth before tossing it next to her leaf bed. She entertained the thought that she was getting better at doing tasks on four legs. She looked back at her two new companions and gave a court bow of her head.
"Very much appreciated. Alright, goodnight to the both of you."
"Good night," said the both of them simultaneously.
After Paul and Normad left, Solestral closed the flap of her tent and jumped onto her leaf bed. She tried to sleep, but the day's events had made her restless. She rolled all over her bed and sighed,
"Ah, since I have nothing else to do, maybe I should borrow something to read? Books always had the strange power to lure me to sleep."
She quietly left her home and headed off to the library. There, surrounded by wooden shelves, she saw a twin-tailed male purple monkey sitting on a wooden chair. He greeted her with her smile,
"Hello, are you new here?"
Solestral nodded and responded, "Yes. I just arrived in the village, and I will be staying here for a while."
He swayed his tail in excitement and said, "Ah. It is nice to meet you. My name is Hilton, and I am an Ambipom. If you have decided on the books you want to read, I can get them for you."
Solestral thought about the kind of books that would be best as boring her. A word popped up: history. "Thanks, Hilton. I would want to read about the historical affairs of this continent."
"Ah, I guess youngsters are interested in this nowadays. Alright, I shall retrieve what I have from the shelves."
He used his long tails to carefully pull a thin book titled The Influence of Dawn and Dusk in a Life Cycle stored above him, and passed it to Solestral to bite onto it.
He continued, "Feel free to return it back whenever you want to. I hope you like the contents."
She thanked him in a muffled voice due to the book in her mouth, "Thess oou."
He nodded and replied, "You are welcome. Take care!"
She walked back to her home, and opened the book on her bed. She flipped through the pages idly, till she spotted the title The Battle of the Day and Night. Curious, she read the page in greater detail. To her surprise, she discovered that the night time was longer than a daytime in all parts of the world! In disbelief, she continued to read the book. It stated:
As night time is getting longer than the day, no one knew what was happening with the Dusk Guardian who governs the night. One thing that was apparent was the war between the two guardians, and it seemed that the Dawn Guardian was the one that initiated the war. Soldiers from both sides battled each other at the Sea of Equality, without rest and food. No land has been taken over as of this moment. However, it was theorised that the Sol Soldiers would win the battle, due to the prowess of General Groudon.
Solestral found herself genuinely intrigued by the story, "Ooh! How intense! I should continue reading."
However, despite her enthusiasm, her brain was no match for the drowsy powers of a history book. Within minutes, she was taking a long cat nap.
Author's notes:
Another artwork! I will try to upload one chapter every 2 weeks.
art/Chapter-2-Ho-ho-ho-680047472
