I hope the reviews aren't just trolls trying to get my hopes up; But I appreciate them nonetheless. What was your first impression of Lina? And I hope this chapter is to everyones liking.

Disclaimer: I do not lay claim to Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, nor to I lay claim to Who We Are; these belong to their respected owners.

Ch2: Sentimental Mind

I stared silently at the ceiling. Rustic stones, cragged slightly, bulging out, lessening the room's volume. The moon's pearl light shown through the window, illuminating the darkness. My breathing was still, lacking any sort of rhythm; constantly alternating paces. "Sinclare…" Alana whispered, "are you still awake?" "Yeah I can't sleep…" I sighed loudly, raising up from my straw bed. "Were you really a human?" "Yep." "Do you remember anything from your old life?" Alana asked. "I get fragments. I remember the name Lina," I said releasing another sigh, clutching my paws. I was enraged for some reason at the very mention of that name. "Sinclare, can I…I can I sleep with you?" I blushed severely, eliciting an audible gulp. "A-are you all right?" I choked out, anxiously rubbing my hands over my legs. "I'm scared. Pretty childish huh?" "Not at all," I said smiling. "I consider anyone that isn't afraid a fool. Nobody can stare danger in the face and not be scared, it's impossible. We are all afraid at some point in our lives." "…And yes. You can sleep with me if you want." I watched as Alana subtly climbed from her bed into mine. Laying beside me, our backs touching only slight.

"Good night Alana," I whispered, releasing one last sigh, before drifting off into slumber. Now get out of my sight! My eyes shot open abruptly, the subtle light of dawn was leaking into the room, creeping across the floor, like an insect trying to avoid detection. I was breathing deeply, Was…was that my voice? "Sinclare…" Alana grumbled in her sleep. Is she dreaming about me? My left arm was wrapped around her waist. I was coddling her! I tried to retreat but, to no avail, I couldn't. I would have to remain this way until Alana woke. Shit! Shit! Shit! The door began to rattle suddenly. The clanking of the metal latch caused Alana to stir even more, "Sinclare…" she muttered again. "Hey you two wake up in there!" A voice boomed causing the door to rattle even more. My ears… I groaned cusping my paws over the throbbing appendages. "Alana wake up." The voice was breaking the decibel level. "Morning Sinclare," Alana smiled turning over and pressing her maw into my neck, inhaling deeply.

"Alana come on we have to go!" her eyes snapped open, quickly withdrawing, her blush deepening. I raced over to the door unlatching it hastily, and dashed into the open area where the others were waiting. "Sorry," I said nervously rubbing the back of my head. They were all staring at me, I could feel it. "Its all right please join us," the guild master said with pep. I could here a loud huff and puff from the side of me. I quickly turned and discovered Alana breathing heavily with an ever deepening blush. "Welcome!" Wigglytuff cooed, giving the young vixen a swift bow, of which she gracefully returned. "All right everyone lets recite the creed!"

"One: Don't shirk work!"

"Two: Runaway you pay!"

"Three: Smiles go for miles!"

"Okay everyone let's do our best!"

"HOORAY!"

Everyone began to disperse, Diglett and Dugtrio tunneled underground, resuming their duties. Sunflora went up stairs, Loudred went back to his post, the Guild master returned to his quarters, doing Arceus knows what, Chatot turned towards Alana and I, mentally preparing what she was going to say. "Come you two, let me pick a job for you today, follow me." I glanced at Alana, and she looked at me, causing a slight blush. I smiled at her and said, "Come on let's go." I followed her with Alana close behind, I glanced over to find Croagunk fiddling with a cauldron bubbling with purple liquid. I'll brush it off for now I thought calmly, nearly tripping on one of the ladder rungs. I elicited a sigh of relief, stepping on the second floor of the building. I glanced around other exploration teams one consisted with a Shuppet, a Murkrow, I couldn't tell what the other one was. bulletin boards were hung, with numerous jobs listed on them, from Pokémon needing to captured and brought to justice, exploration, to rescue missions. "Sweet," I muttered to myself. From what I could tell these jobs pay handsomely, items were also given as rewards. "All right, let us see…" she grumbled, her keen oculi scanning over plethora of posters.

"Ah yes here is a good start for you two." the parrot snapped the flyer from its hinge and casually tossed it to me. "Hi my name is Spoink…" I read aloud, "I lost my precious pearl in the Drenched Bluff, and I'm to scared to go back for it, so I am offering a large reward for whoever retrieves it." "We're going to retrieve a lost item?" Alana shouted feeling her blood boil, "I would prefer it if we went to go explore and unknown location. Discovering hidden treasures and such." "Hush now!" Alana gulped as I gave a slight chuckle staring at the bird. "We'll take the job. Come on Alana," I said rolling up the paper and stuffing it into our treasure bag. A vague memory blasted through a mental barrier. A bloody face made itself known, I gave a sharp gasp, my head began to ache and I felt light headed. With haste I pressed my paws against my cranium, trying to soothe the pain. "Sinclare! Are you okay?" What the hell was that?! "It's nothing, come on." I said flashing a reassuring smile.

I'm scared… I inwardly grimaced at my own melancholy thoughts, trying to shoo them away before they brought tears with them. I slowly stepped up ladder, and exited the building. Giant torches continuously blazed outside on both sides of the building, standing alongside totem poles, with the heads of various Pokémon carved on them. "Sinclare, what happened?" Alana asked with contempt. "Its nothing Alana, I'm fine." I lied. "You're lying to me…"

Damn…

"A horrifying memory came bubbling to the surface." "Of?" "I don't want to talk about…" I said, slowly descend down the stairs, wanting to rid my mind of the memory I had just experienced. "Sinclare…d-did you hear anything this morning? Anything out of the ordinary?" "You uttered my name a couple of times, but other than that nothing," I heard her sigh in relief. "What were you dreaming about anyway?" I turned to the left.

Leaving the crossroad and Treasure Town behind, setting out on our very first adventure! I turned to Alana, she still hadn't answered my question. "Well…I…er…" She stuttered. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I said with a smile. "But I do want to tell you!"

"Okay then…"

"I'll admit I was dreaming about you Sinclare," Alana shouted, "are you…are you weirded out by that?" I smiled, "Not at all. Its normal to have friends in your dreams, especially close friends," I blushed slightly looking up at the sun, high in the sky. "You and I have only known each other a day Alana, yet I feel closer to you that any friend I have ever had." "Same here Sinclare!" "Okay, let's go get that pearl!" I shouted, dashing down the path towards the drenched bluff, I could already hear the water rushing. Aww nature's symphony… I felt happy, for the first time in a long time.

I could see the bluff in the distance, rocks stacked about, droplets trickling down, gradually eroding it away. The ground around us became increasing more rocky, "Ugh this seems like such a chore now…" I groaned slowing my pace. "Hey what happened to that pep in your step and the vigorous excitement you had?" She asked giving a chuckle. "I have no idea, for some reason it just became dust in the wind…" "The memory from this morning was a bloody face," Alana gasped in shock. "Wow heavy…" she trailed off, moving closer to me. A blush began to grow as she move closer to me, becoming deeper with each passing moment. "Wait a second…" I stopped in my tracks observing our surroundings. Paying close attention to the subtle movements. Leaves swayed in the wind, gently rusting masking any sound that didn't break their decibel level. I shrugged it off and returned my attention ahead, only to find a Lileep inches from my face. "Waah!" I exclaimed, lashing out with a roundhouse kick that the Pokémon easily evaded.

"You don't belong here." She said in a raspy voice. A slight twinkle nipped at the corner of my eye drawing my attention. It was spherical, light pink; it was the pearl! "Alana the pearl is just north of here. Did you see it twinkle in the North?" "Yeah I did." "Get the pearl, I'll take care of the over grown flower." I said cockily, dodging a swipe of one of her many tentacles. I failed to understand how the slender tube managed to hold up such a bulbous appendage. The Pokémon elicited a loud shriek, then charged attempting to bash me with its head. I sprang into the air flipping with ease. Thoroughly slamming the moving plant into the ground with my conjoined fists, fracturing the ground slightly. "Sinclare, catch!" Alana shouted smacking the orb with her tail, making sail in my direction. With swift paws I caught it; quickly stuffing it into the treasure bag.

"Let's get back to the guild." I said, "Mission complete!" Alana cheered. "Know any celebratory songs, Sinclare?" I thought for a moment, I had a numerous variety of songs on my iPod sure there was something on there that was cheerily celebratory. "Nope, sorry," Alana looked a bit disappointed, "Aww I wanted to hear you sing again." "When have you ever heard me sing?" I asked cocking my eyebrow. "Last night I was awoken by the most mellifluous of melodies, your voice." "Do you remember any of the lyrics?" "So won't you save us, duh duh duh, show no fear, something something all uphill from here." "Oh, yeah I remember singing that, although I had no idea you were awake." "Will you sing it for me again? Please!" She eve resorted to using puppy dog eyes, rendering my defenses defeated, overshadowed by my admiration for her.

"Up on the mountain, down in the king's lair, pushing these boxes in the heat of the afternoon, oh afternoon! Its who we are, doesn't matter if we've gone to far, doesn't matter if it's all okay, doesn't matter if its night or day. So won't you save us," I sang, "what we are, show no fear, its all uphill from here!" I finished slightly embarrassed, I never sang in front of anyone before, only once but I can't remember where. Though its seemed like it was against my will. "Ah-maze-ing!" I blushed heavily, watching as the fox leapt into the air with glee. "Satisfied?" I asked with a narrow grin. "For now…" she replied, playfully bumping into me. "Well, to bad," I said noticed her giving me a weird look.

"Now that you heard me sing…I have to kill you so you won't tell anyone." I stated ominously. The vixen gave an audible gulp and looked at me with fear. "Just kidding," Alana sighed in relief, "But serious don't tell anybody." We both laughed approaching the crossroads "Thank you so much for retrieving my pearl!" Spoink danced around the room happily with his pearl placed at the pinnacle of his head. "Here's your reward," he said casually tossing us a coin pouch filled with money. Two thousand coins to be exact.

"This is all for us?" Alana cried, her eyes gleaming. "Yep, that's not even near how much my pearl is worth. Bye now," Spoink left, Alana was still fawning over the profit we made as Chatot snatched the pouch from her paw, taking all but two hundred. "This is all we get?!" "This is like ten percent." I said. "Every guild member needs to pay their dues." Chatot said, strolling down to the second floor. "Fuck…" I mumbled, gingerly tossing the pouch into our bag. Disappointed terribly.