Wardens Eternal

Chapter Twenty-Five: Found and Lost

The pokemon of the Southern Gulf were slow to realize their victory over their oppressors once the Warden had entered the manor. A few of the brigands were still putting up a fight here or there, but none of the holdouts lasted any longer than three hours. By the time the fighting had stopped, almost every one of Lady Winter's enforcers, as well as the Scraggy that accompanied the buyers from overseas lay dead. Less than a dozen managed to flee the settlement with nothing more than their worthless lives.

The good news was that not a single one of the villagers had perished throughout the battle. How the fruit pickers and performers managed to drive out a small army of hardened criminals without losing even a single life was beyond them, but they welcomed the miracle nonetheless.

The bad news was that their town bore victim to the battle's collateral damage bringing it to the brink of ruins. The streets and walls were littered with bodies, blood splatters, and battle damage. Many of the bamboo huts they called home had been destroyed one way or another. They had their work cut out for them if they were going to rebuild, but at least their home was theirs again.

As ironically as it sounded, the residents were equally relieved that all of their children had been kept in the dungeon during the time of the battle, keeping them safely out of the way and sparing the youth the sight of bloodshed. One of the first orders of business was to remove all of the bodies so the kids didn't have to stay cooped up or have to look at the corpses.

The bodies were dragged aboard the ship that brought the Pignite and company overseas, fitting since a notable portion of the bodies belonged to the ship's crew. The idea was that the pod of Lapras could push the vessel out to sea and scuttle it once they were finished loading. Besides, it wasn't like the Pignite or his father were going to be in any position to reclaim it. The loading was almost finished save for one: Salamance.

The dragon had barely survived the lightning strike and the crash that followed, still barely clinging on to life with whatever semblance of strength he had left. Unfortunately for him, the ditch he dug as he crash-landed ended inside what was left of Primarina's home. The Selkie lacked any pity when she found him. She had a grudge to settle with the wounded reptile, a desire to avenge her beloved mate Walrien's execution by the dragon's claws. No one stopped her as she sealed the dragon inside a coffin of ice. That said, it did require a lot of teamwork to carry the large dragon's frozen casket back to the ship.

The blood splatters required far less effort to clean up, shifting the sand underneath did the job for the most part. Everywhere else, the crusty red film could easily be scrapped, sanded, or scratched off. With the last of the bloodshed cleaned up and the last passenger loaded aboard the ship, it was safe to let the kids out of the dungeon.

Many of the youth were confused as they emerged from the darkness back into the light. Many saw their hut homes in splinters, their hometown still littered with battle damage. But most confusing was the lack of the mean pokemon. One by one, each child began to rejoice and cheer, laugh and play. One of the most beautiful sights any of their parents had ever seen.

Celebrations and relaxations carried on into the evening, many of the parents finally having the chance to freely lounge around and socialize without the threat of interruption. As night began to fall, every hut regardless of condition was quickly torn down with ease. Every piece of the bamboo walls and grass roofs served as fuel for many great bonfires on the beaches throughout the night. The Southern Gulf was going to be rebuilt, and it's residents wanted a clean slate to work from. As for having a place to sleep in the meantime, everyone was perfectly content to just fall asleep on the sand with the stars watching from above and friends and family all around them.

The Southern Gulf had a reputation for being a paradise, starting tonight, that reputation is now a reality. . .

Wardens Eternal

Dawn the next day, and Scarlett awoke to find herself still wrapped up in her mother's embrace, feeling as her chest rose up and down with each breath. It just wouldn't be enough, so Scarlett rather forcefully pushed herself tighter into her parent's fur. It had been years since the vulpix could remember when she last cuddled with her mother, her hope was that it would help Lady Winter realize how things had changed, but how they could also go back to a better time.

"You always were the cuddler, you know that right?" The ninetails whispered, her previously emotionless tone now beginning to show contentment and happiness for the first time in years. "Your sister liked to snuggle too, but she didn't come in here and demand it like you did, you were very persistent when it came to cuddle time." The mother quietly chuckled, "Your father thought it was absolutely adorable."

The adult flinched the moment she heard the words come out of her mouth. For a while, the widow couldn't believe she had actually said something positive about her beloved. After years of directing negativity at her mate, it felt very strange to say something nice instead. Memories she had long suppressed under her emotionless facade began to wiggle free. The Ice queen tried to prevent them, but with her daughter again curled up in her grasp, she was helpless to stop them from returning.

The ninetails snarled briefly as she shook her head, trying to force the memories back into submission with grief and anger, it worked but not before a single image flashed across her mind. Too quick to discern what it was, but just long enough to leave her curious and longing for it to return.

That moment of weakness was all that she needed, within moments her former life had flashed before her eyes. Her childhood as a white vulpix herself, her first crush and the day she first met Igneo and Swalen. At first, the relationship was purely professional, As an Exploration Team, the boys had coin and Winter, being an inspiring entrepreneur knew what to do with that coin. Not every choice she made guaranteed their coin back, but it worked out enough that they always came to her for such services. A few years and Winter was having a hard time trying to ignore the fun, but kind Arcanine that always made her day. She was falling in love with the fire type. At the time, she had just evolved into a white ninetails so she was a popular subject for most of the guys. She still wasn't sure who tipped Igneo off that she was smitten with him, but she didn't care when he admitted he returned the feelings.

A few more years and they became a couple, mates, but even then she wanted something more, a family. Igneo admitted he wanted to start one too, but thought it would have been unwise at the time considering his work as an explorer. That, and they couldn't find a place to settle down to their liking, so they decided to postpone until they could make one. Twelve years, Igneo would bring in the coin that she would take and invest in developing a new settlement. That settlement was the Southern Gulf, and when the couple retired and settled there Winter adapted the title of lady since technically she did own either all the businesses or the land they were built on.

Another year went by, and Winter began to feel as though she was sick, she wasn't: She was with child, actually two of them. Little Flaris and Glacia were born both deaf and blind, so helpless but so full of life. As soon as the kits opened their eyes, Igneo wanted to be with the little red vulpix as much as possible. Said vulpix wanted to be with her father just as much if not more.

Those two months were the best of Winter's life, every minute detail from that period of time chipped away at her current persona little by little. Part of the ninetails wanted to smile, another to cry, but mostly she just wanted the longing to end. She missed those days, when everything always turned out alright. Those nights where she could fall asleep next to the love of her life, and sometimes be joined by a certain baby girl.

Scarlett took the opportunity to again snuggle into her mother's embrace, looking up just in time to see her mother look down at her in confusion. The ninetails' confused expression persisted for a few seconds before she started to cry. Scarlett was up in a heartbeat, coming around in front of her resting mother before softly poking the white kitsune's nose with her own.

Lady Winter looked back with teary eyes before picking herself up of the bed, visibly weakened, she managed to rise to her feet. The ninetails reached out to the red vulpix with one paw, touching just behind Scarlett's ear before sliding down to the side of her face.

"Flari- Scarlett," Winter weakly smirked as she corrected herself, "Since when did you become such a beautiful young woman?"

Scarlett could only respond by tackling her mother in the strongest embrace she could muster.

Wardens Eternal

When Scarlett announced her idea as to what would happen next to the residents of the Southern Gulf, a few quickly and loudly objected at how the former Ice Queen was getting off so easy. Thankfully, Martian was quickly able to restore order with a single word, allowing Scarlett to fully explain her plan and eventually convince the villagers to accept it.

It wasn't exactly a secret that the Pokemon overseas were rampant with corruption, feudal nations constantly warring against one another for power and territory proved to be a breeding ground for all sorts of less reputable practices. Their nobility did nothing but embrace the corruption, willing to resort to any means to achieve an edge over their rivals. That attitude created a sort of cold war between the continents on opposite sides of the sea. Corrupt nobility on one side trying to expand their operations on the other, and the Sheriff's offices and exploration teams trying to stop them.

Lady Winter didn't hesitate to do business with many of those corrupt nobles, the Pignite and Emboar she tried to sell her daughter to being just one example. In effect turning the Southern Gulf into a beachhead for those kinds of pokemon, a place to regroup and launch their operations from in exchange for a slice of the profits. That meant that Lady Winter knew almost everything there was to know about those ventures. They all had to run through her first.

As the ninetails cooperated with the Sheriff, confessing everything she knew, he was able to compile so much intelligence and testimony regarding illegal operations along the coast it would keep the law enforcement community and any exploration teams helping them busy for weeks. Regardless, Winter's confession almost single-handedly uprooted every corrupt foreign activity on the continent. Add in that the Southern Gulf would no longer serve as a staging area for future operations, and the pokemon from overseas would soon find themselves kicked off the continent for good with no way to get back and start over without a fight.

As for Winter herself, while her cooperation didn't completely excuse her involvement, it did help make a deal that avoided a prison sentence. The ninetails was to be exiled from the local area never to return, she was free to choose where she'd go next on the condition that she'd never again wield power or go anywhere without explicit permission from the local Sheriff or the equivalent wherever she settled down.

Winter would no longer pose a threat to anyone ever again, but she'd still be in control of what was left of her life. All in all, the deal satisfied all involved parties.

As for Glacia, things weren't working out so well. Having others tend to her needs all her life, the white vulpix never learned how to fend for herself growing up, leaving her completely reliant on other pokemon to do everything for her. Add in the fact that she continued to believe herself superior to everyone else, and her potential future didn't look too good.

Had Winter been a better mother, teaching her daughters how to survive on their own in the world rather than try to shield them from it, it would have been a different story. Again, the ninetails' attempt at protecting her offspring had only hurt them in the long run. Scarlett was lucky that she had the opportunity to correct it on her own, as well as the wisdom to see it through. Glacia made it quite clear she didn't want to change regardless of who tried to persuade her.

Winter tried to plead with her daughter, begging for a chance to correct another of her mistakes. Glacia refused with a pout, soon verbally lashing out at her own mother, breaking the ninetail's heart. The guilt was inescapable, Winter had set the white vulpix on this path, but now that she realized it would only lead to ruin she wanted to get her daughter off it. Glacia was adamant on sticking to it, something Winter could only blame on herself.

Scarlett had no better luck trying to get her sister back, the icy kit continued to mock and belittle her twin while ignoring everything the fire-type tried to say.

"Glacia, Sister! Stop! Listen to me" Scarlett finally raised her voice as she managed to corner her sister, giving the twin no choice but to acknowledge her presence. "Please, don't do this. Don't do this to Mother, she's just made peace with Father's passing. Don't make her lose you too, don't make me lose you. Please. . ." The fire type pleaded with tears in her eyes, if this didn't work, only Arceus knew what would.

"Out of my way filth!" The ice type commanded, raising a paw and proceeding to slap her twin on the side of her jaw. It was a light slap, nowhere near enough to do anything to the battle-hardened fire type, but she still flinched.

Almost out of reflex, Scarlett glared at her twin and retaliated with a smack of her own. The fire type definitely hit harder then her sister's weak and dainty slap, but definitely not hard enough to significantly hurt her. Then again, with her sister's inexperience with pain, it felt like absolute agony for her. Either way, Scarlett felt really good after finally realising her pent up irritation caused by her sister over the years. Turning her tails to the whimpering pile of fur behind her, Scarlett strode right out the door and slammed it behind her.

Then she promptly collapsed onto the floor and began whimpering herself: She'd failed to get her sister back, failed to help her mother rescue her daughter from the mistakes of the past, and she left her sibling to fate by striking her. Quillian's shoulder provided an excellent point to let her tears flow as the owl embraced her to provide support, paying no mind to the teardrops that fell onto his feathers. . .