The path Harvest ran was a strange and winding one, and with the pace she was keeping it was a wonder that Gumi could keep up with her at all. She was lucky to have found the rhythm to running so quickly - the last thing she wanted was to get left behind and lost in the woods. It was almost scary how quickly this was all becoming natural to her - being a pokemon, helping Harvest…
Harvest suddenly stopped, and Gumi scrambled to brake besides her. For a moment she thought Harvest had finally run out of energy, but then she was hit by a smell so sickly sweet that it made the air itself feel sticky. Around them, the trees bloomed with golden leaves, which seemed to emanate the smell that filled the air. Ahead, the trees grew together so thickly that there was only one clear path leading inwards.
"Here we are… Honey Grove," Harvest announced, her voice shaking with exhaustion.
"Well, let's go in," Gumi said, and started to walk forward, but she quickly realized that Harvest wasn't following her. She stood on the spot, frozen and shivering as she looked towards the grove. Gumi frowned and stomped a paw. "Come on, Harvest! We're going to go save your family, right?"
"Yeah… we are," Harvest said, her voice trembling with what Gumi now knew was fear. "But… it's scary. I've never been in Honey Grove by myself. If Miss Vespiquen is angry, then that mean the other pokemon living there are angry, too."
Gumi tilted her head. "Yeah, and? You said that you'd be okay. You even got me to come help you." Even though I don't know how to fight, she added mentally.
Harvest nodded, gulping nervously. "I said that, but… I've never fought before." She bit one of her claws. "And Miss Gumi… can you actually fight? You said… that you think you're human, didn't you?"
"I am human!" Gumi shouted, and Harvest flinched away from her. The irrational anger Zorua felt drained away, leaving her feeling guilty about her outburst. "But… you're right. I'm not sure if I can. I don't know anything about being a zorua…"
Harvest looked down at the ground, shuffling her feet. Gumi watched her, but after a minute of silence it became clear that the teddiursa wasn't going to reply. Gumi sighed and sat down, wondering what to say. "What do you want to do, then? Should we go back? Your brother said something about sending for help…"
Harvest finally looked up. She almost seemed scared by the idea of going back. "No! We came this far… we can't go back now!" She took a deep breath and shakily exhaled. She still shook with fear, but she clenched her paws with something that was almost determination. "Come on, Gumi… let's go rescue my family!"
She walked towards the tunnel golden trees and paused just before walking in, staring up at the leaves as they shimmered in the sunlight. Gumi walked up beside her, and placed a paw on Harvest's arm. The two of them made eye contact, and Gumi nodded and pulled her paw away before standing up and walking towards the thick wall of trees along Harvest.
As she entered the grove, Gumi became aware of a strange aura that seemed to permeate it. At first she thought it was simply the overwhelming sweetness in the air, but she couldn't shake the feeling that the forest was shifting and changing around her. She glanced at Harvest, and the look of growing worry on her face was all she need to confirm that it wasn't just in her head.
"Oh no," Harvest muttered, her eyes wide and her paw gravitating towards her mouth. "It's… it's become a mystery dungeon."
"A mystery dungeon?"
Harvest nodded, and then gave Gumi a confused look. "Don't you know what one is?"
Gumi shook her head. "I… don't think so."
Harvest frowned, and turned her attention to the forest surrounding them. "It's a place where the power of nature grows out of control. They're dangerous mazes that never stay the same for long… and they're always filled with dangerous traps and wild pokemon."
The power of nature? Can it really do that? "And your family still came here?" Gumi asked incredulously.
"Miss Vespiquen is Honey Grove's warden… she's supposed to make sure that this doesn't happen. But if she's so angry that she's attacking innocent pokemon, then that means she isn't maintaining the power of nature anymore. We have to be really careful, Miss Gumi…"
"Right…" Gumi nodded, and turned her attention to the forest around her. They were on a clear path, but around them the trees grew so thick that even a joltik wouldn't be able to squeeze through the gaps. The branches shifted as if they were being blown by the wind, but it wasn't wind that shifted them. The trees were growing, their branches stretching and budding new leaves that just as quickly withered into nothing. She chanced a look behind her, but the way back was gone, blocked off by a stand of swiftly growing saplings. Their only option was to keep going.
Harvest clenched her paws at her side, and then nodded to herself. "I can do this," she muttered. "I can be brave." She started walking down the tunnel of trees, her eyes firmly fixed on the path ahead of her. Gumi followed behind, her attention on the teddiursa's back and slumped shoulders. Can she really do this? she wondered, letting her attention drift to the trees around them. Can I? All of this is hard to swallow at once. Gumi looked down at herself, with her small, weak-looking body. It didn't look like she could be much help in a fight. Maybe if I were still a human, I could help. I could… I…
Gumi stopped in her tracks. What could I do? I… can't remember. She searched her mind desperately for the barest memory, but she couldn't even bring up an image of her own true face. Everything had happened so fast that there had been no time to try. She could feel her heart beating faster as panic welled up in her. I can't remember anything about being a human… but why?
"Miss Gumi! Watch out!"
A coiled mass of sticky silk flew towards Gumi's face. She ducked, and the string shot flew harmlessly overhead, giving her a chance to gather her thoughts. A pair of wurmple blocked the path, surrounded by the beginnings of a silk nest.
"Harvest, are you okay?" Gumi shouted as she ran up to the teddiursa's side. She looked at the wurmple, and immediately understood what Harvest meant by "wild pokemon". There was no spark of intelligence in their eyes; only a mindless aggression towards anyone who intruded on their territory.
"I'm fine, but you- ah!" One of the wumple interrupted her mid-sentence with a tackle, striking her in the stomach. She winced backwards, but after a moment's hesitation she returned the attack by scratching the wumple with her claws. "M-Miss Gumi, I need your help!"
Gumi blinked and hesitantly nodded. "Uh, right!" She turned to the other wurmple and tried not to look into its blank eyes. She could remember that wurmple weren't too strong, but she didn't want to get any of their sticky silk on her. She'd have to take it out before it was able to entangle her. She took a deep breath, and with a yell launched herself at the wurmple, scratching at it with her front feet. The combination of blows seemed enough to knock the wurmple down, and it squeaked as it escaped into the undergrowth.
Harvest managed to knock out her own opponent shortly after, and she turned to Gumi with a tired smile. "I - we did it, Miss Gumi! Our first battle… you're really strong, to knock out a pokemon in one hit." She looked down at her paws, and then nodded. "If we just keep doing that, then we'll be able to reach the end of this dungeon in no time!" She sounded enthusiastic, but Gumi didn't think her logic was very sound. Wurmple weren't very strong, and the fact that Harvest considered them difficult didn't bode well for the rest of this adventure. Still, there was something satisfying about fighting and winning, even against something weak.
At least I remember pokemon, I guess… but humans train pokemon, so I guess that's to be expected. She started walking, and this time Harvest let her take the lead. She didn't mind it - knowing that she could fight made Gumi feel a little braver. And I remember things about humans… just not about me.
The path began to narrow, and the canopy above grew thick and tangled, hiding the blue of the morning sky. The light that filtered through the leaves was pale and golden, making it look as if the air itself had turned into honey. She couldn't help but slow down to enjoy the sight of it.
"Honey Grove really is pretty, isn't it, Miss Gumi?" Harvest asked, a small smile on her face.
"Yeah… I've never seen anything like it."
"It's the only place in Ouza where these sweet-smelling trees grow like this," Harvest explained. "You can find them growing by themselves in some places, but the power of nature became so strong here that they were able to grow into a whole forest."
The path began to open up again, and the thick golden light gradually gave way to clear sunlight. Gumi couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that it hadn't lasted longer. "What do you mean by nature's power, anyway?"
Harvest blinked. "You really don't know? Everyone knows about that…"
"I guess humans don't," Gumi replied curtly, picking up her pace as she crossed the next clearing. Not being able to remember anything was starting to get to her - especially since Harvest kept giving her worried looks, like there was something wrong with her. They traveled the forest in silence for a time, occasionally fending off attacks from wild wurmple or cherubi. None of them were particularly strong, and they fell easily to their attacks. Even Harvest seemed to be getting more confident, striking harder and faster than before.
It was Harvest who slowed down next, looking around the forest with a growing expression of familiarity. "I think I know where we are," she said, coming to a stop entirely. "This looks like the road that leads to Miss Vespiquen's home."
Gumi nodded, her ears twitching. Now that Harvest had brought it up, she could hear a faint buzzing coming from ahead. "We should keep an eye out, then. Your family might be somewhere around here."
"Okay," Harvest said, pulling close to Gumi and sucking her paw. The buzzing gradually grew louder as they progressed down the gradually narrowing path, making Gumi's ears itch. Up ahead they could see clear sunlight, and the two began to speed up. They both wanted to get out of the shifting tunnel, even if it meant running towards danger…
The two burst out of the path running into bright sunlight. Gumi skidded to a halt, while Harvest stumbled and fell face-first into the ground. As she got to her feet, Gumi took a chance to gape at the clearing they had run into.
It was full of wildflowers of all shapes and colors, many of which Gumi couldn't even begin to recognize. The scent they put off was sharper than the sweet scent of the trees, filling the forest with a heady floral perfume. Combee flitted around the wildflowers, diving into the patch to collect nectar and coming out sprinkled with pollen. A massive wax-encrusted stump stood at the center of the field, surrounded by more of the busy combee.
"Wow," Gumi whispered.
Harvest brushed herself off, looking towards the stump in the center of the field. Her breath caught suddenly and her eyes widened. There was something leaning against the stump, something that seemed like it was just a piece of wood until it moved and growled in pain.
"Mom…" Harvest said, her voice quiet. "Mom!" She broke into a run across the wildflower field, and Gumi chased after her, scattering pollen and startling combee into the air. As they got closer she realized that it was an ursaring leaning against the stump, panting heavily and cradling a small green-furred teddiursa in her arms. Harvest stopped by her side, eyes wide as she took in her mother's condition. She looked even worse than Hunter had. "Mom, are you okay?"
"Harvest…?" Ursaring groaned, opening her eyes and looking down at Harvest. A look of dawning horror appeared on her face. "What… are you doing… here?"
"I'm here to help you, mom!" Harvest put her paws on Ursaring's arms, shaking her slightly. "Hunter made it home, but when he said you were attacked, I came right away." She looked down at the smaller teddiursa wrapped in Ursaring's arms. "Is… is Blue okay?"
Ursaring slowly and painfully moved into an upright position, revealing the green teddiursa. He squeezed his eyes shut as he clung to his mother, shaking in fear but clearly uninjured. "He's fine… but Harvest, you need to get out of here. It's too dangerous... If Forsythia comes back, then…"
A thick, buzzing voice cut the air.
"Then what, Serenity? Then I will be angry?"
Gumi looked up towards the source of the voice. The combee massed and chattered in incomprehensible worry as a Vespiquen emerged from the stump, her eyes glowing red with fury. Ursaring wrapped her arms around the young teddiursa in her arms, but Vespiquen's attention was on Harvest.
"More trespassers… are you also here to steal from my children?" She flew a circle around the group, her eyes passing from the family of ursine pokemon to the lone zorua staring up at her, and hissed softly. "I should not be surprised… it was a poor move to let one of you escape. They have brought reinforcements."
The voices of the combee around her began to grow in volume, but Vespiquen turned sharply to face them. "Silence!" she shouted, and the combee withdrew, looking terrified and silent. Vespiquen glared for a moment longer, and drifted towards the ground.
"You are trespassers and thieves, and thus you will be punished." Her eyes narrowed, and she turned to Harvest. She withdrew against Ursaring, shaking with fear as Vespiquen flew closer. "Then you will understand why we have rules…"
She's turned her back, Gumi realized, as the gem on Vespiquen's forehead began to sparkle with light. That means…
Instinct took over then for Gumi. She dashed at Vespiquen's exposed back and made a flying leap. For a few long seconds she worried that her jump was too long or too short, but then her paws made contact with the hard carapace of her abdomen. Without delay, she latched onto Vespiquen's thorax with her teeth.
"AARGH!" Vespiquen cried out and began to thrash and beat at Gum with her arms. Gumi held on for as long as she could before she went flying, and she landed on the ground with a yelp. She didn't stay down for long though, and came to her feet just in time to leer angrily at the Vespiquen. "Why, you insolent…"
"Harvest!" Gumi shouted, startling the teddiursa to attention. "Let's fight her! Then she'll have to let all of us go, right?"
Harvest stared incredulously at Gumi, but at least the look in her eyes wasn't fear. Hesitantly, she nodded, turning towards Vespiquen and bracing herself more sturdily on the ground. Gumi smirked and turned as well. Maybe it was easier to fight with someone by her side.
"We'll beat her together! Right, Harvest?"
"R-right!"