Chapter 13

The chaos had died down and the two felt it was now safe to leave the alley. They began to walk out onto the street when Gabriel took hold of her shoulder. "Wait," he said. "Let's be a bit more cautious." He didn't want them to waste any more time, but he knew that an encounter with the law enforcement would delay them further. "Perhaps we should send out your Linoone first, over the roofs, and check if it really is safe." She thought for a moment and nodded her head. She whistled and pointed up to the roof. Linoone burst forth from her cloak and climbed to the top of the building. Scyther began to breath heavily.

"Don't look at me like that. Her Linoone isn't as easily seen. You'd stand out on these straw roofs. If anything, you'd fall through." The riverside town wasn't very large; buildings were made of clay with an interior laden with straw. No building raised higher then the ground floor. Scyther shook it's head and looked away in anger.

Linoone scurried in from the front and climbed up Elaine's leg. As Gabriel and Scyther began to argue, Elaine sighed heavily and grabbed the young knight by the shoulder, pulling him out into the street. "It's all clear. Let's go."

They had been able to get through most of the town without event. They passed through the streets and people without so much as a second glance. Intending to sneak out undisturbed, they kept their heads low and proceeded to walk out.

"Are you harboring the thieves?" A guard yelled, shoving the old man.

"We'll arrest you if you are!" The other guard shoved him back. The elderly man was the punching bag for the three guards. Gabriel stopped as they walked by. The guards continued to shove the man and accuse him of hiding the thieves, of hiding him.

"Slave, don't do it. We're in the clear." Elaine said.

"It isn't right. He's getting in trouble for what we did." Gabriel quickly grabbed a guard, as he was about to push the man. "No more of this. He's done nothing wrong."

The guards smirked and without warning drew their swords. Heaving one guard at the others, Gabriel quickly unsheathed his sword. They came at him together and Gabriel had difficulty parrying their attacks. He took a step back and then another. He was losing ground. He looked to Elaine and nodded towards the old man. She quickly escorted him away from the fight scene.

Blocking a downward attack, Gabriel kicked a guard in the chest. He ducked quickly as the other attempted to slash at him. He brought up the hilt of his blade and used the pommel to uppercut the attacking guard. Hearing a battle cry, he quickly spun around and parried the oncoming attack. Sidestepping beside the guard, Gabriel tripped the guard using the flat side of his blade. Sheathing his blade, he dusted himself off and left quickly.

Scyther trailed behind him. After they turned the corner and were no longer visible to the defeated guards, Gabriel turned to it. "Thanks. Not like I needed help there."

"Thank you young man. Thank you so much." The old man was lying in his bed as Elaine tended to his bruises. They were in the old man's home near the marketplace. Gabriel was peeking out of the door, making sure no one had followed him.

"It was no trouble sir, honest. Rest up and you should be fine." He silently closed the door and turned to the old man.

"Please. You've gone through the trouble of helping me. You can stay here as long as you need to." He laid his head back and drifted off into a deep sleep.

"Since you've done your good deed of the day oh wonderful knight, might I suggest we leave?" She said sarcastically.

"Look, it was our fault he was getting hassled. It was only right that we help him." He crossed his arms and stood in front of the doorway, blocking their exit. Scyther sat in the corner and dozed off, Linoone wrapped around his neck like a scarf.

"We've done everything we can. We are leaving now slave." They stared at each other; neither was willing to give in to the other. He sighed loudly.

"Fine. Go if you wish, but I'm staying." He turned and allowed her to pass. She stepped up and opened the door, the orange glow from dusk pouring into the small home. She closed the door and groaned.

"It's too dark to travel now. " She pulled up a chair from the small kitchen table and sat down, slouching and attempting to relax. "We leave once we know he's ok. Besides, those two are already knocked out." Pointing to the Pokémon, she couldn't help but laugh a little. He pulled up a chair and sat next to her, neither were saying a word. "So… you never told me where you were from." Silence. "Well, where are you from?"

"Oh, I'm from Elatia. The capital actually." Many towns didn't have names, neither did major cities. There was no need. Territories themselves were named after the founding lord, most of the time.

He hadn't actually thought of home in some time. It saddened him to do so. Where were his friends and family? Where had they gone? Had they survived? There were, of course, no signs indicating otherwise. But, of course, his mind drifted to such thoughts.

"Hello? Gabriel? Are you listening?" He had drifted into his own thoughts and hadn't taken notice that she was talking to him.

"I'm sorry, were you saying something?" He tilted his head in that quizzical way.

"Nothing important…"

He had been lying there for hours, staring at the roof. He could hear the quiet snores as Elaine shifted in the chair. Feeling warm enough, he took off the blanket and gently placed it on her. He stared for a moment until he opened the door and stepped outside. It was pitch black; the entire town was deep in slumber. Around the corner an orange glow proceeded to get brighter and closer along with the small whisperings of people.

He heard them speak of gold and robbing, their low voices weren't quiet enough. He could hear them coming closer and closer. There were few footsteps, only a couple of them. "Bandits…" he whispered to himself. The first one turned the corner and he grabbed his head and brought it down onto his knee. Looking up, a bandit's right hook connected and sent him crashing into the ground.

The ruckus had awoken the local people and alerted the guards. Coming out, Elaine had grabbed her dagger and chased the would-be thieves. She and the guards chased them through the streets, unable to catch up. Gabriel had pulled himself up and climbed atop the roofs, Scyther beside him. Running atop the buildings, he ran alongside the streets. The lead bandit gestured to his left, indicating the alleyway ahead. "Perfect." Gabriel and Scyther bolted towards the alley, jumping down. The bandits turned the corner and were met with fist and blade.

Elaine and the guards had caught up, surrounding the trio. Apprehending them, the guards quickly thanked Gabriel for his assistance. One of the guards massaged his chin and stared at Gabriel with a dark intent. Looking to his captain, he spoke.

"Sir, are these not the thieves from the ferry?" Turning to face them, the guards found nothing there. They had vanished into the night.

They had snuck back into the old man's house without notice. Gabriel sat down on his chair and tried to fall asleep again. As he was drifting off, a hard slap to the head woke him up again. "You idiot…" Elaine whispered as she curled up in her chair, blanket wrapped around her.

Author's Note:

Jack188: Is the theme music necessary? Yes and no. Yes in that it helps both me as the writer and you as the reader understand the culture of Luthenia and the time period I'm attempting to get across. It helps develop the region and make it feel more... real. On the other hand, it's just really fun to have some outside work. I would also like to thank you for your consistent reviewing. It is some of my motivation to keep writing, to know that someone is actually reading this! Also, I attempt to hit my minimum word count of 600 for each chapter, though I'm thinking of moving it up to 1000 since they all seem to at least hit that (this one being 1340). I do want to write more, and i have every intention of doing so at the start of every chapter, but things tend to go alot quicker then I expect.

Pokeart will be showing up eventually.

Are you missing some of the other characters? Too bad! But don't worry, so am I. Lanz, Larken and the rest of the Elatian gang WILL be returning in due course. The mercenary troop will have to satisfy you in the meantime (when we finally catch up to them).