The sun shines brightly over the town of Nuxaon, but the large, walled town seems to be completely bare. From his post inside his hut, Kaestra the Leafeon stares glumly out of the open doorway, watching falling leaves frisk and spin in the wind. The breeze rustles the forest that surrounds the town, making an endless dull roar of trees swaying. The lack of silence is what bothers Kaestra most. The wind's cold fingers tug insistently at the leaves struggling to stay on their branches. It promises a cold and early winter.
"I wish I lived someplace where it's warm all year round," his companion, Tovi, says, hugging herself tightly. Kaestra feels a pang of pity for the short-furred Minun. She is sitting in a corner, her legs drawn up to her chest, as far away from the doorless opening as she can.
"Here," Kaestra says, getting up from their single straw pallet. The bed is warm where he sat on it. He waves a paw at it. "Sit over here. I have an idea." As the Minun uncurls herself, he walks around their simple, four-legged table. The wooden structure is cold to the touch. He puts his shoulder under the rough edge and heaves up, successfully lifting it onto its side. It wobbles for a few moments before coming to a rest in front of the doorway. Kaestra can instantly feel the amount of cold air blowing in lessen.
The Leafeon stands back to admire his work, proud. "I thought that would be harder," he admits out loud. He rolls his shoulders. Just accomplishing the one thing makes him feel better about his day.
"Good job," Tovi says from behind him, sounding slightly confused. "Are we trapped in here now?"
A wave of heat pulses through Kaestra's face. "I didn't think of that," he says. "I'm sure we can pull it back if we work together." He sits down next to Tovi, hoping he doesn't crowd her off the straw. "Tovi, yesterday, on the wall…" His thoughts keep coming back to the Sandslash guard.
Tovi frowns. She puts a paw to her throat, where the guard held her. "I've never seen anything like that before. I'm sure she's a strong warrior and has taken a lot of hits. But you just floored her." He sees her sneak a furtive look at him. "I haven't seen anything like it since… um… I should probably have told you..."
A ball of apprehension settles in Kaestra's stomach. "What?"
"I saw him." His confusion must have been written on his face because she elaborates. "I saw his son. They called him Janus. They hadn't built the wall yet, so I could watch from the forest. He came back one night, and even I could feel the anger building off of him. It's like Zai'an said. I ran before the fight started. I could sense it coming. I heard them, though. They all began screaming, but out of all of them I heard a mother crying for her child- it was horrible, and-"
Kaestra sits next to her, stunned. Part of him sits in shock, angry that she didn't tell him. The other part of him understands why she doesn't want to talk about it. I wouldn't want to relive it either. "I'm sorry," he says, though he's not sure what he's sorry about. He keeps his gaze fixated on his paws. "You don't have to keep talking about it. I understand." The words hang in the air, solemn.
Tovi looks at him, really looks at him. He can almost feel her mind working. "Thank you," she says, and he can tell that she means it. "But it feels good to talk about it. Almost like I can leave it in the past." She sniffles and quickly turns away, but not before Kaestra sees a glimmering tear trace down her face.
The silence immerses the hut, broken only by Tovi's occasional sniffles. Kaestra stares out their doorway, hating every second of it. Just to hear something, anything, he begins to speak, the words tumbling out of his mouth like they have a mind of their own. He closes his eyes as he tells her about the beauty of his forest, imagining every vivid detail. His feelings poured out like the river that runs by his home. He feels Tovi put a paw on his shoulder and opens his eyes again. He simply looks at her, and suddenly they both burst into fresh tears, holding each other close.
A rattle of metal wakes them from their stupor. Kaestra disentangles from Tovi gently and blinks his crusty eyes, rubbing them with a paw. He squints outside, over the table, hoping his eyes aren't red.
"Aren't you two sweet?" A purple bipedal pokes her head in through the narrow opening, managing to stick her paws through to hang casually over the table. A thin chain binding her wrists catches the light. "Am I interrupting something?" Her yellow eyes crinkle upwards to match her rakish smile. She nods at Tovi, who is blinking herself to alertness. "I heard you talking. So you saw him too? Janus's growth was weird. Ever since that stranger came, he just kept growing. Apparently, his mind must've mutated too. It was fascinating."
Kaestra struggles not to flinch away from the Purrloin's sharp smile. "W-wait," he says, determined not to show how unnerved he is, "You were here? When it happened?" Beside him, Tovi shakes her head.
The other pokemon raises her bound paws to examine her wicked claws. "I see everything. I saw what you did yesterday to old Drii on the wall, too."
Kaestra jumps up. Tovi jumps up with him. "Kaestra!" she snaps. "She's just playing with you!"
"Oh, I know what happened there," the Purrloin says. "I'll tell you if you get me out of here." She rattles her bindings meaningfully. "For now, though, I gotta go. My guard'll be mad if I'm not back by… five minutes ago." She smirks at the duo and saunters off to a tall building a few blocks down. When Kaestra looks out, he can see a white pokemon glaring across the town at him. He's not sure, but he thinks it's the guard that turned him out yesterday.
"What's all that about?" Tovi asks, smoothing down her bristled fur. "She's bad news. I don't like her. We need to get out of here, Kae."
"I need to know," Kaestra murmurs, watching the Purrloin get shut in a cell at the bottom of the tall building. He looks up at the small circle of sky surrounded by trees, distressed at the lack of birds singing. "If she knows… I need to get her out, Tovi." He looks imploringly at her, praying that she understands. He's afraid that she'll walk out on him and that he'll never see her again. Fear bubbles in his stomach.
After a long, tense silence, she nods, folding her arms. "I'm with you, whatever you do," she says firmly.
"Really?" Kaestra beams at her, even though he's not sure what he did to deserve her loyalty.
"Of course," she says, her eyes gleaming with new excitement. "What's the plan, boss?"
He nods, thoughts racing through his mind. A plan begins to form. "I think we need to move the town," he says. "I mean the pokemon. There are too many bad memories here. But if we can er, remove Janus, they won't have to live in fear of him anymore."
Tovi nods at the looming clay wall surrounding the town. "They obviously thought he might come back, and soon." She points at the building the Purrloin is being held. "That's Nuxaon's… well; I guess you could call it a guild. I don't think there's many pokemon left in it. A lot of those who didn't die just left."
"Maybe we can get them to help," Kaestra says, swallowing hard to rid his mouth of the foul feeling that suddenly appeared. "They can't be too happy with Janus. We can't pay them, but it's their chance to take down Janus for all he's done."
Tovi nods. "Yeah. I don't agree with your moving the town. I think it could be a good reminder to never let your concerns be overshadowed by power." She waves him off as he opens his mouth. "I don't want to start an argument, okay? Just… please think about the effects, negative and positive. I'll go talk to the guild."
"Thanks," he says. He doesn't particularly want to talk to a bunch of unfamiliar pokemon. They probably wouldn't like a timid creature like him. He smiles at the Minun, pleased. "I guess I'll wander around and explore the town.
"Have fun, I guess," Tovi says with a shrug, scampering off.
Kaestra shakes his head and watches her cross the town square to the jail. The building has two floors. The first floor seems to be entirely for its inmates. Eight cells face outward, barred by horizontal wooden slats spaced evenly apart. Kaestra isn't sure how they open. A staircase winds up the side of the brick structure. Tovi climbs bravely up the rickety steps and throws the simple door at the top open. "Alright," she shouts into the room, her paws firmly on her hips. Her voice echoes through the lonely town. "Are you all done cowering in here and feeling sorry for yourselves? Are you ready for revenge and savage buttkickery?" Colorful heads poke out of their homes. The Purrloin, the only inmate as far as he can see, pokes her head out. He smiles.
Annoyance flashes in the purple pokemon's eyes. Kaestra smirks and decides not to explore the town after all. He strolls over to her cell, plastering a nonchalant (or so he hopes) smirk on his face. "Look who it is," he says, leaning against the slats of her cell. "Having fun?"
She gives him an unamused stare. "Trying to be funny, tough guy?" She puts her paws through the slat nearest him. They aren't bound. Kaestra yelps and jumps away, his heart thumping heavily in his chest. The Purrloin makes a weird kurr-kurr sound he assumes is a laugh. "So how are you going to bring down Janus? At full strength, the guild couldn't take him down. And then what?"
Kaestra silently curses the other pokemon for being so intuitive. Many of his former doubts come rushing back to him. "I know that. We're going to try and trap him. I think. We can't hit him straight on. Wait, why am I telling you this?"
She ignores the question. He grimaces. She unnerves him so much that often he feels his only defense is his words. I need to keep my mouth shut around her.
"I suppose you're here to ask about your 'power'?" She wiggles her paws in the air to make air quotes. "I'm sure if you were an experienced pokemon full of battle skills, you might be able to use it to take Janus down. But now? Haha. Good luck!
"This all seems so trivial. Janus won't come back here to your forest. There are much bigger targets in the region. You have no reason to go after him. Unless…" The Purrloin gives him a sideways glance. "…this is a personal issue."
Kaestra silently curses her again. Of course. He hasn't realized it until now, but seeing Tovi so hurt by seeing Janus destroy the town has earned the enemy a dark hatred that sits in his chest. "I'm going to follow him," he promises. "For Tovi and this town, so they don't always have to be looking over their shoulder as they sit in the shadow of fear. They'll finally be free." As he says it, he feels certainty and hope bubble up within him. "I really mean it."
"Well," the Purrloin says, and a new gleam appears in her eye. It might be a glimmer of respect. "I'm sure it would be beneficial. It's hard to forget when the bloodstains on your house never wash out." She raps a paw against the slats of her cell. "I'll make you a deal. Get me out of here and I'll tell you what I know about what you did yesterday. Break me out, convince Zai to release me- doesn't matter. If you don't kill Janus, I'll probably be killed."
"What! Why?"
"Well, they need someone to blame," she says nonchalantly. "I'm Faris, by the way. It's been a nice talk, Kaestra." She retreats into the shadows of her cell.
Sensing the conversation has ended; Kaestra sits back and stares blankly at the sky. He doesn't remember telling her his name. Maybe Tovi said it. Speaking of Tovi, he doesn't hear her shouting anymore. Maybe her voice gave out.
She comes clattering down the wooden stairs as if on cue, a fierce grin on her face. "I did it Kae! They're going to help us! Well, most of them! They're with us! We can do this!" Her jubilant confidence is infectious. Kaestra finds himself beaming at her. "They're going to come with me back to HQ. I'll start planning. Are you coming?"
"I'll be there in a minute, okay?" Kaestra nudges her away. "Great job. I'll see you there."
She scampers away, and with her the quick burst of energy he had felt with her. He takes a breath of fresh air. It's tainted with something sour. He wishes for his home once again. His heart aches for his part of the forest. He had been happy there. He had been among pokemon he could call his family.
Kaestra looks around the town, reduced to nothing but a collection of horror and bad memories. The town's once-cheerful yellow Welcome to Nuxaon sign has toppled onto its back. The post office sits near the front, disheveled and crumbling. The bright red paint that once adorned the walls has faded to a rusty brown. Kaestra doubts they've gotten any mail lately.
Rocky gravestones split the ground randomly Nuxaon looks like it was once a full town, but now tombstones clump by the dozens, unadorned. Flowers rot by a few of them. Broken carts lie abandoned in the streets. One of them is missing a few wheels. Another is trampled. A third is splashed with blood. He averts his eyes.
This town is so broken…
"Um… excuse me? Mister?" A small pink pokemon toddles up to him, wringing her paws together. Her huge blue eyes are dark with worry. "I heard that you were going to stop the evil pokemon?" Her high, thin voice trembles. She looks at the ground, as if afraid to meet his gaze.
"I… yeah. We're going to try." Looking at the tiny pokemon, Kaestra feels another surge of anger at Janus. "I mean, we're going to stop him from hurting another pokemon ever again. I promise." He forces reassurance into his tone, even though his heart skips. Did I just promise to kill him?
"That's good," the Cleffa says. "I remember the attack. He didn't even look gray anymore. Just red and black. It matched his eyes."
Kaestra shuffles away, disturbed at the level of corruption even the youngest pokemon are experiencing. He leaves the Cleffa standing in the street, talking to herself and staring into the distance with her watery blue eyes. He turns away to rejoin Tovi and the other pokemon.
When he arrives, the moment he steps into the hut Tovi accosts him with a barrage of words. "Welcome back, Kae! Are you ready for the greatest plan of all time? You better be! We've been thinking for ages!"
Smiling, Kaestra lets the Cleffa slip from his mind. "What?" he asks, prying the Minun off of his leg. "It hasn't even been an hour. What are you talking about? Where are the others?" The hut is empty save them two.
Tovi peers out the door. "They're coming back now. I sent them off for stuff."
Two unfamiliar feline shapes walk silently on the road. They're identical in every way, except for their eye color. One's is a brilliant golden; the other's is a deep emerald green. The one with the yellow eyes is holding paper that snaps and billows in the wind. The other one walks with her paws clasped together. Floating beside her at head level is a small, dark shape with a feather stuck in it. They seem to be unaffected by the breeze.
A round shape zips past the felines, spraying the duo with powdery dirt. It laughs and circles the two, coating their white coats in a fine layer of dirt. Curses follow the pokemon as it comes to a halt by Tovi, a smirk on its face. It drops Tovi's cloth bag on the ground. The fabric is stained slightly blue. "Is this Kae?" asks the bug to Tovi, waving his antennae at the Leafeon. "He doesn't look like much."
"Neither do you," Kaestra retorts, ruffled. "It's Kaestra." Something about the pokemon seems very familiar. He suspects that he's seen one of his kind before.
"Whatever," he says. "I'm Vee. I'm a Venipede in case you didn't know." Vee slides away, poking his head into every crevice in their hut.
The felines arrive. "Here," the yellow-eyed one says, thrusting her load of paper into Tovi's arms. The pokemon turns her attention to Vee. Her companion brushes the dust off herself.
"Thanks, Sylvia." Tovi puts the paper on the table (now properly upright). She snatches the feathery object the other one was carrying, which Kaestra now sees is a jar of ink. Tovi gestures at the duo, who are now towering over Vee. "That's Sylvia and Cynthia. They're twins." She waves exuberantly past Kaestra. "Everyone's here!"
Kaestra tries to turn, but the small crowd has effectively boxed him in so that he can't turn to see the newcomers. Why are we all crowded in here? Aren't there bigger places we could be?
"Thanks for coming, everyone!" Tovi stands on the table, crinkling the paper underfoot. She waves her paws and eventually, the talking calms down. Cynthia reluctantly sets Vee on the ground. "Kae and I really appreciate it. This is Vee, Sylvia, Cynthia, Ryvian, and Zai'an." Tovi points out each pokemon as she talks. Kaestra feels a twinge of surprise as she says Zai'an's name.
I wouldn't expect him to hunt his own son.
"Thanks for the introduction," a rough, gravelly voice calls. "It's not like I know everyone here or anything." A few snickers erupt. Kaestra assumes it must be Ryvian talking.
Tovi ignores the comment. "So, obviously we're not going to be able to tackle the kid head on. Any ideas? Sylvia and Cynthia, can you two communicate telepathically?"
The twins exchange glances. "Only with each other," Sylvia says. 'And we can manipulate matter, but nothing much else." She smirks at Vee, who sneers back.
Kaestra bites his lip. If Janus is a dark-type like his father, they won't be much help for battling him. He hopes his feelings don't show. He smiles brightly at both of them as best he can. I'm glad Tovi is heading this up.
"No problem," Tovi says, clapping her paws together. She takes her quill, dips it in ink, and begins scrawling madly on the paper.
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