Hey guys! I've updated my profile a bit to include more information about the story. Who knows, maybe you'll find something...interesting.
Um...yeah.
10/24: Also, if you saw that accidental Chapter 11 upload...sorry! That wasn't supposed to come out yet :P
It'll be around soon, don't worry!
Let's get on to the story!
"We're almost there guys…just a bit more!" exclaimed Cameron.
"God damn Cameron, I still don't know how you made it all the way to the Lost Forest with us! It's pretty damn far!" replied Amber.
"Maybe you'll have some appreciation for me now, huh?"
"Shut it Cameron, we're tired here, no need for your bragging," gasped Faith.
Sans slowly limped along with the rest of the group as they climbed the grassy hill, almost to Fountain Bluff. They had been walking for nearly twenty-four hours straight, and everyone (except for Cameron) looked like they were going to die any second. Sans' feet stung from constant movement and pressure and his legs felt like they were going to give out every step he took.
"please tell me we're here after this hill."
Sans looked up and saw Cameron paused, looking over whatever was after the hill.
"hey cameron, what is it?"
Amber was the first to join Cameron at the top of the hill.
"You know, I never got to see your house. Neither has Faith."
"I suppose that's a good thing," Cameron laughed nervously. Faith crawled her way to the top of the hill and gaped at the sight, annoying Sans, who was not yet there.
"Pretty good view," she coughed, still out of breath from the walk.
"i…want…to…see…" Sans collapsed on the top of the hill, Amber laughing.
"Sans, you won't see it if you don't look up."
"c'mon, it's not like there's woaaaaah."
Sans forced himself to stand up next to Papyrus to overlook the sight.
"cameron, uh…this doesn't look like a mystery dungeon."
"Sans, that's because this isn't a mystery dungeon. It's Lapras Port, the town I'm from."
The bustling town was full of houses ranging from small huts to huge shops, even a giant castle that could be reached across a river. Various wood docks were stretching out into the sea and river, little specks carrying goods to giant sea turtle looking things.
"those must be lapras then, huh?"
"Yep. Our town lives on the shipping industry, buying and selling supplies to other towns."
Amber poked Sans.
"The sea you see here is the same one the Exploration Union overlooks, just much more north."
"wow…but why didn't we just follow the coastline?"
"Most of the coastline between this continent and the Dark Sea consists of craggy and sharp rock structures that are difficult to navigate, not to mention are chockfull of unexplored mystery dungeons and powerful Pokémon. Lapras Port is located in an opening in the jagged coastline." Faith's eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Yet…it's far too dangerous for us. Even Team Inferno and Team Forest are known to have experienced difficulty in coastline mystery dungeons."
"well…that's unfortunate i suppose." Sans shrugged.
Amber suddenly started jumping.
"Cameron, tell me we're going to stay at your house!"
Cameron sighed and faceflippered himself.
"I…guess we can see if my parents are home."
"Yaaaaay!" Amber did a frontflip with a huge smile on her face. Sans smiled to see her happy; she really had rebounded from that emotional breakdown.
"I want you guys to meet a friend of mine first. Come on, let's slide down this hill." Cameron jumped and landed on his belly, sliding down the steep hillside. "WOOOOO HOOOO! Come on guys join in!"
"I'm up for this!" Amber dove down and joined Cameron in the sliding. Faith sighed then finally jumped in to join them, the three whooping and cheering as they flew down the hill.
"paps, let's do it." Sans grabbed a giant leaf from a nearby tree and jumped on it to use as a sled, and grabbed his bone to control his slide. The instant he jumped off he noticed the numerous jutting rocks and slanted trees that could block his descent. He glimpsed the other three in the corner of his eye easily dodging the obstacles, likely having done this hundreds of times before. Looks like Sans' decision to use a leaf and his bone would be good.
"be careful paps! lots of obstacles!" Sans shouted up the hill to his brother.
Now, the hard part.
Sans pressed his bone to the right of the leaf to steer himself left, dodging a rock. He ducked to dodge a giant branch, then found himself directly in front of a giant rock ramp.
"aw crap." He flew up into the air, clutching onto the leaf for dear life, when he realized this was supposed to be fun. He had psychic powers; if was going to fall and get hurt he could just stop himself. So why not enjoy himself?
Sans grabbed the leaf and did several backflips in the air, screaming with joy the entire way.
"Yeah Sans, that's how you do it!" shouted Amber from the hill.
Sans touched down riding the leaf like a surfboard, riding the grassy waves of the hill, dodging obstacles and doing cool tricks the entire way down. He heard Papyrus' gleeful cheers from behind him, so he knew he must have been enjoying himself as well.
When he reached the bottom of the hill, Sans did a couple leaf donuts before slowing to a halt.
Amber trotted towards him.
"Sans that was freaking awesome! I haven't seen anyone try to do that before!" She smiled and looked away.
"Well, I have but…it didn't end so well."
"NYEEEEEH!" Papyrus flew by the two, posing dramatically as he slowed down.
"I, THE GRRRREAT PAPYRUS, AM A MASTER OF LEAF SURFING!"
"You got that right Papyrus," laughed Faith. "Anyhow, Cameron, who's that friend you want us to meet?"
"Follow me into town. Hopefully she's here."
Cameron led his friends towards the town gates, where a couple of Sawks were acting as guards. They initially became defensive, but instantly calmed down when they saw Cameron, letting them in without resistance. It made Sans a bit curious, but nothing too crazy.
As they walked through town, they saw Pokémon of various shapes and sizes walking around doing their normal business, passing by shops, houses, and storage facilities. However, every time they came near someone, they became quiet and started whispering to whoever was closest to them. Sans wondered why that could possibly be. Cameron seemed to be relatively neutral about returning home, but he walked around the town knowing where everything was and who most Pokémon were, despite being gone for a decent length of time.
Cameron turned left towards a dock, where a Lapras was talking to a Pelipper, who was carrying a sack of mail in it's talons.
"Oh, great timing," said Cameron, "now you can meet two of my friends in this town."
Cameron started running up towards the dock, attracting the attention of both Pokémon, who both smiled. The other four trailed cautiously, making sure not to attract too much attention.
"Lapras! Pelipper! It's been awhile since I've seen you guys!"
"Hee hee, I didn't think you'd be back from the Exploration Union so soon, especially being at a branch so far from here," laughed Lapras. "What brings you back home?"
"We were given an assignment at Fountain Bluff, so we decided to stop by."
Pelipper's smile turned into a frown momentarily.
"Cameron, are you sure that's a good idea, considering that…you know…"
"We can stay at the nearby Exploration Union branch's headquarters if we need to," explained Cameron. "They're in this town anyways."
Amber ran up to Cameron along with the other three.
"Geez Cameron, don't leave us behind…" Amber took several deep breaths before recollecting herself.
"Oh yeah, guys, this is Lapras and Pelipper. I've known them as long as I could remember."
"Nice to meet you!" exclaimed Amber. "We're Cameron's friends."
Lapras turned to Cameron.
"I know about Amber and Faith, but who are those two?"
"Oh, they're Sans and Papyrus, they're new around here. They joined our exploration team after we rescued them at Leaky Caverns."
"Well, it's great to see you're making new friends Cameron," chirped Pelipper. "I've got some mail to deliver, but we can catch up later. Bye!" Pelipper took to the sky carrying his bag of mail and flew off.
"Hey Lapras," began Cameron, "are you free today?"
"Most of my shipments have been delivered already, so yeah. What do you need?"
"Mind taking me to the Quartermaster's Castle? I need to let him know about our little mission."
Lapras suddenly jolted at the request.
"A-Are you sure Cameron?"
Cameron nodded.
"Yeah, I can't just barge in and stay without letting the Quartermaster know."
"whos the quartermaster?" asked Sans, inquisitively. Lapras pointed a flipper at the giant castle across the river.
"The Quartermaster keeps track of all the money and stock that comes through Lapras Port," she explained. "Everything we do runs through him, he manages pay, you know, that stuff."
"Isn't that like a dictatorship?" asked Amber, tilting her head.
"In the wrong hands, yes," explained Lapras. She glanced quickly towards Cameron before turning back to Sans. "Fortunately, the Quartermaster is a nice man. He's very fair with pay and nobody's really against him. The town has really exploded with him at the helm."
"Well, I'd be delighted to meet this Quartermaster!" exclaimed Amber.
"Well, I'm glad that you are!" replied Lapras. "I can take you there via the scenic route. The view of the sea is very nice at this time of year."
"I like the summertime views better personally," remarked Cameron. "But I must admit the spring view is pretty nice."
"Well, Cameron you do know it's almost the end of spring, right?" said Lapras.
"Time really flies, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, it's like you left just yesterday," joked Lapras. "Come on, hop on my back. I can give you a ride."
"are you sure about that?"
"I've carried weight ten times heavier than all of you combined. This will be easy."
"ok then."
Team Green hopped onto Lapras' back, Cameron near the front, followed by Faith and Papyrus, then Amber and Sans at the rear. Sans noticed Lapras and Cameron were having some sort of silent conversation with each other, but he left it alone. Wasn't his business to deal with it.
"Woah Sans, look at that sunset!" Amber poked Sans, who turned left to see. The shiny reds, oranges, and purples reflected off the seawater, the light sparkling off the crests and dips in the waves. The beach Krabbys blew bubbles into the air, light shining and refracting through the water spheres. Water droplets from Lapras' wake shot into the sky, making the whole scene seem like a misty mirage.
"I've heard about this happening at another place in the world, but I didn't know this kind of event occurred here!" exclaimed Amber, her eyes sparkling like the sunset.
"It's great living on the western coast. You're always surrounded by water and there's always a great view of the sunset," said Lapras. "Nothing will ever cease to amaze you."
"wow…this is…something you live for."
Sans continued to stare at the beautiful sunset, trying to ingrain the memory into his brain forever, when he felt some pressure on his right shoulder. Amber had seemed to fallen asleep next to him and rested her head on him. It felt a bit awkward for Sans, but he also felt at peace. Something told him that this is the way things were supposed to be; no fighting, no Amalgamates, pure peace, and…no Sans.
Staring at the sunset ran some interesting questions through Sans' head. If he and Papyrus truly were the Pokémon stated in the Prophecy…and if so, when the Prophecy is completed…what then? It mentioned the world being restored to it's youth. In Sans' mind that meant reverting to a previous state of balance. Does that mean…if the world is saved…he and Papyrus must go? If what Alakazam said was true, the two brothers would not be from this world, so maybe they would go back to wherever they were before when the Prophecy is completed.
He looked to his right at Amber. It would likely crush her, and the other two as well. Despite being completely new and helpless, they took him and his brother in and became friends. It was a bit unfamiliar to Sans for some reason, but he liked it. He wished peace in this world would be permanent and he could stay to experience it. He didn't want to go.
But destiny may have decreed otherwise, and there was nothing to do to change that. He felt helpless, but at least there was likely a lot of time in between then and now.
Sans was jolted from his pensive state when Lapras suddenly turned right into an inlet.
"We're almost there!" she exclaimed. Amber awoke next to Sans and suddenly jumped up.
"UWA! I missed the sunset! Awwwww." She turned to Sans.
"How was it?!"
"it was pretty cool."
"Daaaarn it!"
Darkness was beginning to set in on the quaint little shipping town as Lapras turned to make her way towards the castle. She soon stopped at a dock connected to the castle's entrance via dirt path.
"Here you go guys, the Quartermaster's castle is up there!" Lapras whispered something to Cameron before leaving. "I can give you all a ride to Fountain Bluff tomorrow morning if you wish."
"That would be great Lapras! Thank you!" Cameron waved goodbye as Lapras left to go home. He turned to the rest of the group. "The castle is just up here. Let's go!"
"Um…Cameron…are you sure the Quartermaster would be okay with you knocking on his door at this time?" asked Amber. "It's kinda late…"
"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll answer…I think."
"Wow, that's great," mocked Amber.
"Haha, nice impression of me. How flattering."
"You're welcome."
The group started hiking up the hill, sending Sans back into his pensive state.
Sans knew none of what he thought of was permanent, or set in stone, or even what would truly happen, but thinking of the possibilities allowed him to calm himself a bit. If his memories returned, then maybe it could help him, but he didn't really get anywhere in that aspect. For now, he might as well enjoy himself while he could.
Finally, the group stepped through the outer wall doors and walked up to a mansion located within. The wooden door had a knocker in the center. The lights were on inside; someone was home.
"Cameron, you sure about this?" asked Faith.
"Um…now that you think about it and now that I'm here…not really."
Sans noticed that Cameron was now shivering violently, extremely nervous for what seemed to be no apparent reason.
"uh…you okay buddy?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm good…"
"You don't look so good Cameron," piped Amber.
"I-I can do this…yeah I g-got this…" Cameron slowly shambled towards a door knocker and hit it.
"Oh god…oh god…"
Sans heard footsteps from behind the door, likely someone coming to open the entrance.
"Oh guys…one more thing you should know…"
He heard the keys rattling to undo the lock.
"What is it?" asked Faith.
The wooden door swung open, revealing two tall penguins, shocking literally everyone.
"CAMERON?!" shouted one of the penguins. "Why are you home?"
"Yeah uh…" stuttered Cameron, "the Quartermaster is my dad."
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Down to the Bone!
If you ever have any ideas or constructive criticism for my story, please let me know.
I'll see you all in the next chapter!
-Blox